Consciousness was adrift in chaos…
At times, he felt like he was floating. Other times, as if sinking.
His sense of time had dulled to nothing. Pain surged from every direction, making thought itself impossible.
He didn't know how long had passed. But amid the void, a faint light appeared, and the pain began to recede. Somewhere distant, a voice filtered through the haze...
"You're awake? The surgery was a success. You're now a beautiful young woman. From here on out, you'll have to compete with other pretty girls for men."
"…What?!"
As if jolted from a nightmare, Itsuka Shidou sat bolt upright—only to be hit with a wave of vertigo that sent him toppling sideways before he could even check whether his, ahem, "equipment" was still intact.
His head landed against something soft and warm, accompanied by a faint, soothing fragrance that defied description.
The scent calmed the dizziness clouding his mind. His stiff limbs relaxed instinctively.
Murasame Reine looked down at Shidou, who had collapsed into her lap. She blinked dumbly, then gently raised her hand to stroke his head with surprising tenderness.
"There, there. Good boy."
The gentle voice filtered into his ears, and Shidou could feel the heat rising in his cheeks… along with an inexplicable feeling of familiarity.
He looked up at Reine, who radiated a calm, maternal presence—and then glanced over at Melusine, whose golden eyes blinked slowly in confusion.
"Lancelot, you scared Shidou."
Still cradling him, Reine turned her cloudy gaze toward Melusine. The knight just shrugged, unconcerned.
"I was trying to wake him up quickly. I found this trick online recently. Supposedly, it works miracles on unconscious boys. I've been wanting to try it—and clearly, it worked."
That method was way too dangerous for someone's heart! For a second there, I seriously thought I'd been gender-swapped!
Though Shidou didn't say a word, Melusine could see it all in the indignant glint of his eyes.
To be honest, Melusine did kind of want to turn Shidou into a girl permanently… Maybe it was the old "if I had to suffer through it, why should you be spared?" mentality.
Why is it that I ended up becoming a girl, but you still get to walk around with your original parts, huh?
Not that she was entirely female—her future summoning possibilities still included male Spirit Origins. But she hadn't found a full gender-swap method. All that magic she learned in Frieren's world, and not one spell could do it. Maybe the Savior God Blade had something, but she didn't really want to use that.
Now, if it were something like the Kämpfer bracelet or a twin-tail transformation device that let you switch back and forth freely—that she could use to play some gender-bending prank on Shidou. But a permanent change? Way too evil. Beyond even her brand of mischief.
Besides, that'd just earn her the wrath of Shidou's entire harem of Spirits.
If she did have a gender-change divine artifact, she figured it'd be best used on some irredeemable scumbag—turn him into a girl and toss him to a mob of vengeful beggars… or let wild dogs and boars have their way with him.
All that physical overexertion had left massive gaps in Shidou's memory. He still didn't fully understand what was happening—until a stab of pain brought his recollection back. Clutching his throbbing head, he murmured:
"Tohka… Miku… Everyone… Are they okay?"
He tried to push himself up out of Reine's lap—but Melusine promptly pushed him back down onto the bed.
"Calm down. It's over. Everyone's safe."
Her voice was cool, but firm—reassuring in its certainty.
"They've all been treated. You're actually the worst off. So my advice is to rest. Seriously."
"It's… over?"
Shidou's sluggish brain struggled to process that.
"Of course. Yatogami Tohka, Izayoi Miku, and the others are fine. What you should be worried about is how to keep them from worrying about you once they see you."
Shidou was quiet for a long time. Then, in a hoarse voice, he said:
"…Thank you, Lancelot."
He wasn't stupid. He could piece it together—this girl had saved them all.
"Thanks, huh? Then I'll accept it without shame."
No need for humility—it had been her doing.
Reine remained silent, her foggy eyes watching the two of them with unreadable calm.
Suddenly, a shout shattered the moment.
"HEY! Lancelot! Why are you sneaking off again?!"
Kotori burst into the room, fist raised—and punched Melusine straight in the head.
It didn't faze her in the slightest.
Kotori, however, clutched her hand in pain.
"Gaaah—! What is your skull made of, marble?!"
"I did warn you. Attacking me unprovoked only gets you hurt."
"…You damn Spirit—!"
SO INFURIATING!
What pissed Kotori off the most was that—after seeing Melusine's battle against the reversed Tohka—she knew the girl wasn't bluffing. Everything she said was true.
Reality was right in front of her. She couldn't even argue.
That just made it worse.
And the worst part? Melusine had the nerve to calmly say:
"Kotori, a proper young lady shouldn't use such foul language. It's unbecoming."
"URUSAI URUSAI URUSAI!! Who asked you?!"
Kotori stomped her foot like a petulant child.
Melusine secretly wished her voice actress had been Rie Kugimiya. Then she could've heard the legendary "Urusai" triple combo in real life.
"You almost got me sidetracked… What were you doing running around again?! I told you not to leave your room!"
Melusine gave her a blank look, while Shidou, alarmed by her words, sat up in a panic.
"Wait, Kotori—what do you mean, her room? Don't tell me Lancelot's injured?!"
He already knew it was thanks to her that they'd all been saved. If she'd been hurt doing that… guilt surged up inside him.
"It's really nothing—"
"Nothing?! You tanked Tohka's Sword of Endwith your head, remember?!"
Kotori crossed her arms, leaning forward as she glared at Melusine's porcelain-doll face. "Are you brain-dead?! Who just stands there and takes an attack like that instead of dodging?!"
"The Sword… of End?!"
Shidou gasped. His pale face drained even further.
He knew that sword. Back then, when Origami shot him and Tohka thought he'd died, she lost control and summoned it—intending to erase everything.
It was only because Shidou reappeared and sealed her powers that the sword was never released.
He'd never seen its full power—but Kotori had explained just how terrifying it was. That was why he'd acted so fast to stop it then.
And now, he was hearing that Melusine had taken the brunt of it… without dodging?!
Freshly awake and still weak, Shidou almost passed out again.
Two pairs of intense, emotional eyes were boring into her now—Shidou's worried, Kotori's furious.
Melusine panicked just a little.
"I knew what I was doing! I'm the strongest, remember? That kind of attack barely managed to scratch my dragon scales—it took, like, a few seconds to heal!"
"If all patients acted like you, saying 'I know my own body best,' what's the point of having doctors?! What, should hospitals throw out all their diagnostic machines?!"
Clearly, Kotori wasn't buying it.
She'd seen way too many people skip checkups, insisting they were fine—just because they didn't want to pay for a medical exam.
But Fraxinus's medical tech was far beyond any hospital's.
More importantly, it was free.
So why the hell was Melusine running around like she was fine?
"You're not talking your way out of this! I don't care if you feel okay—you're going back to the med bay. You just went through a crazy battle! Rest, or else!"
Kotori's voice hardened. There was no room for argument.
Still… Melusine didn't bolt. Probably because she heard the concern behind those words.
She'd never been great at refusing sincere kindness.
Since Shidou, the most severely wounded, had finally awakened but still needed lots of rest, Melusine and Kotori tactfully exited the room.
Melusine had come to help wake him up. Kotori had chased Melusine down after she'd wandered off.
Now that Shidou was safe, they had no reason to linger.
They walked down the corridor, sleek with polished metallic floors that reflected light like a mirror.
Maybe Fraxinus has a super-powered janitor like the Hyperion? I wonder if they can air-split like that one?
Setting a mountain ablaze with a single mop strike is a little much though…
"Sigh…"
Lost in nonsense, Melusine was pulled back when Kotori sighed loudly.
"You really caused me a huge headache, Lancelot."
Melusine gave her a sidelong glance. "Honestly? I think you're feeling pretty satisfied inside… because I did what you always wanted to do, but couldn't."
"…Fine. You're right."
Kotori shrugged without shame. "Seeing that guy get killed by you? Felt so damn good."
After neutralizing the reversed Tohka, Melusine had returned her to Fraxinus—then immediately sought out Honjou Nia.
"I want you to tell me where DEM's Executive Director, Westcott, is."
That was what she'd said the moment they met.
Yes—Melusine had gone after Westcott.
The biggest scumbag in the entire show. The root of all tragedy. The main villain besides Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott himself.
What—were they supposed to spare him until the holidays?!
Westcott's danger lay in his ability to steal and use the powers of reversed Spirits. In canon, he relied on Ellen early on, stole Nia's powers later, and even took over Isaac's own Spirit Authority at the end.
But now? Ellen was out of commission. Nia had been rescued. Westcott had no cards left—and had even exposed himself trying to push Tohka into reversal.
Frankly, Melusine had wanted to kill him since day one.
She'd only waited until she could rescue Nia first—then used her powers to locate Westcott and eliminate any chance of failure.
Because Westcott, being human, could move. Charging straight into DEM HQ would've risked failure and tipped him off.
Melusine didn't leave things to chance.
"What you did was satisfying," Kotori admitted. "But it created problems too."
"That lunatic may have been evil, but he was smart. His authority kept DEM's other idiot execs in check. Now that he's gone, those morons are bound to stir up trouble."
A clever villain is dangerous, yes—but a bunch of stupid ones is no picnic either.
And DEM wasn't just some company. It had ties to militaries and corporations around the world. It was one of only two firms capable of producing Realizer Units.
Kotori recalled how, when the Self-Defense Force was about to court-martial Origami, Westcott had walked into the tribunal, said a few words, and the charges were dropped.
That was how afraid the Japanese military was of DEM—and how powerful Westcott was.
Melusine understood Kotori's concerns. In the source material, DEM's board had literally dropped orbital satellites on Tengu City just to try and take out Westcott.
But in the end—as Kotori said—it was nothing more than trouble.
With Westcott and Ellen gone, DEM had lost its edge. Even if its buffoonish leadership tried something, Ratatoskr would soon dismantle them completely.
And DEM… would never rise again.