Kotori shot one last glare at Shido before turning her attention back to Kurumi, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the situation.
"I'll wipe that smirk off your face." Kotori said coldly.
"Ara~ I'd love to see you try." Kurumi replied with a playful lilt, her expression were unchanging.
Despite her casual tone, Kurumi didn't let her guard down. She knew better than to underestimate the Spirit standing before her. From the moment Kotori arrived, Kurumi had been watching her closely. There was danger in her body, and Kurumi knew better than to underestimate her.
Still, her gaze wasn't solely fixed on Kotori.
Out of the corner of her eye, she kept tabs on Shido, the unpredictable variable in all of this. No matter how powerful Kotori was, it was Shido who posed the greatest threat to her.
A single mistake, just one, could cause all of her carefully laid plans to crumble into ashes.
Kotori knew that. And so did Kurumi.
But Kotori didn't waste another word. She simply let out a cold, dismissive "Hmph.," before launching forward like a comet, flames erupting beneath her feet and leaving a fiery trail in her wake.
In a flash, she closed the distance, halberd blazing with searing energy. With a fierce cry, she swung it down at Kurumi, the blade engulfed in a blaze that twisted the air around it.
Kurumi widen her eyes since she can't believe that Kotori released a deadly attack on her first attack.
The sheer heat rolling off the halberd scorched the air, and as it neared her, Kurumi felt the intense pain on her skin, as if flames were licking at her flesh, threatening to burn through her insides.
Now, with the flaming halberd hurtling toward her, Kurumi's playful expression finally turned grim.
With the flaming halberd closing in fast, Kurumi had no choice but to summon her clones as a shield against the oncoming strike.
Boom!
A sharp explosion rocked the air as the flames collided with the clones. Smoke burst outward, engulfing the area in a thick, choking cloud. For a moment, they were block why the smokes, no one could tell what had happened within the haze.
Kotori didn't move. Her eyes stayed fixed on the smoke, her halberd was lowered but still burning with embers. She knew better than to assume it was over.
Even if her attack landed, there was no way Kurumi would go down that easily.
Just as Kotori had expected, a figure slowly stepped out from the thick smoke.
Kurumi.
Her once elegant form was now disheveled, her astral dress scorched in several places, edges burned and tattered. Bruises marred her arms and body, the effects of Kotori's attack evident in every strained breath she took. Yet, even through the pain, her crimson eyes still gleamed with that same twisted light only to reveal a reveal a eerie smile.
"Fourth bullet, Dalet!"
The moment she uttered the name, the massive spectral clock materialized behind her, ticking ominously as its hands shifted to the corresponding numeral. A dark stream of Reiryoku flowed into her flintlock, humming with raw temporal energy.
Without hesitation, Kurumi raised the gun to herself and pulled the trigger.
The bullet struck her, and immediately, time itself seemed to rewind across her body. The burns faded, the bruises disappeared, and the rips in her astral dress slowly mended as if they had never been there at all.
Kotori narrowed her eyes. She'd seen that bullet's power before, but it didn't make it any less troublesome.
Once her wounds had healed, Kurumi raised her flintlock once more, aiming it at the I on the clock.
"First bullet, Aleph!"
The clock behind her ticked in response, the Roman numeral I glowing ominously as Reiryoku surged into her weapon. Without a moment's hesitation, she fired the bullet again into herself.
In an instant, her body disappeared and she launched upward, soaring into the air to put distance between herself and Kotori.
But Kotori wasn't about to let her go that easily.
Seeing this, Kotori followed Kurumi closely while sending barrage of fiery slashes.
But who was Kurumi, since she know the danger of Kotori Kurumi decided to take this seriously.
Shido looked at the sky and knew that Kotori could temporarily suppress Kurumi.
His gaze shifted to the battlefield below where Tohka and Origami were fighting with all their might, yet still being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Kurumi's clones.
"Thread Manipulation."
He waved his hand, and in an instant, silver threads shot out, binding Kurumi's clones in a restraint.
The clones reacted as the threads wrapped around them, realizing too late that they were caught. They tried to struggle free, but each movement only caused the silver threads to tighten. A sharp, agonizing pain surged through their bodies as the threads dug into their skin, drawing blood. The more they fought, the worse the pain became, and still, the threads refused to budge.
Seeing the opportunity, Tohka and Origami didn't hesitate. They launched their devastating attacks in unison.
Tohka's blade shimmered with violet energy as she swung it through the air, unleashing a wave of purple sword energy that cleaved through the battlefield with terrifying might. At the same time, Origami raised her gun, firing a series of piercing lasers that cut through the air with blinding speed.
The clones, trapped by Shido's silver threads, had no escape. Their desperate attempts to break free were futile, and they could only wait for their inevitable destruction.
As Tohka's sword wave collided with the clones, and Origami's lasers struck and the clones vanished in an instant. They dissolved back into the shadows from.
"Are you two alright?" Shido asked, his voice laced with concern as he approached Tohka and Origami. He could sense the exhaustion lingering on them after the battle with Kurumi's clones.
"Yes, but what's wrong with her?" Tohka nodded at Shido seeing his care then she asked him solemnly while looking at Kurumi who was facing Kotori.
Tohka and Origami saw Kurumi laughing and enjoying her date with Shido as if she were just an ordinary high school girl, but then when they were about to go back since they lost Shido and Kurumi, the two suddenly found the sky became dark while their bodies felt heavy.
A sudden burst of reddish-black lightning streaked across the sky, striking the Ferris Wheel with terrifying force. This made the two know that something was going on and they were sure that Shido was definitely involved in this trouble.
Just as they expected, they saw Shido floating on the sky while facing a girl in reddish black Gothic dress. However, when they saw the face of the girl, their eyes widened on disbelief since they were familiar with that beautiful face especially her signature perfect smile.
But from the looks of it, Kurumi's smile looked malicious as if she were planning to do something bad at Shido.
They wanted to interfere but Kurumi summoned her clones to stop them and that is how it led to this situation.
...
Shido look at Tohka and found it hard to explain to her.
"You see Tohka, Kurumi is also a Spirit just like you. She's the same as you Tohka, she was alone but she carried heavier responsibilities."
"What do you mean by that Shido?" It was not Tohka who asked the question but Origami.