Tengu City—a mysterious city. Here, you never know what is hidden. But no matter what, whenever it is destroyed, it always recovers as if someone saved a checkpoint and reloaded.
But regardless of that, what was meant to come still arrived. Today, a girl appeared here. And along with her came the ear-piercing wail of sirens and violent explosions.
"Uuuugh, damn it. What the hell is this place? Why does it feel so awful…" Drowsily opening her eyes, Tohka looked up at the clear sky with confusion.
Ever since she parted ways with Miku that day, Tohka had soon fallen into a deep sleep. She didn't know exactly what the situation was in the original story, but here she could sense the world rejecting her. That was what forced her to return to that place to slowly merge with the world. In the original story, before the plot began, she had shown herself a few times. But here, she had remained asleep until now.
"This scene looks kind of familiar… Where is this…?" Blankly surveying her surroundings, Tohka never imagined she'd arrive here. Wasn't this the very first scene? And what she was about to face was a whole group of girls in armored swimsuits and that so-called protagonist.
"Ugh… so dizzy…" But at this moment, Tohka didn't pay any attention to that. She didn't even know how long she had been asleep, and her head was now muddled to the point she couldn't tell east from west. Helplessly glancing at the throne behind her, Tohka decided to rest for a moment before worrying about anything else. Moreover, she could feel that even though she was much better, there was still a lingering rejection. Which meant it wouldn't be long before she was sent back to the place she had been. But this would be the last time—after this, she would be able to act freely in this world.
"Hm? Here they come." But just then, Tohka sensitively detected that someone was hurrying toward her from behind. Actually, she didn't even need to be that sensitive. This entire city was empty and desolate—there was simply no one else around. So, the footsteps were extraordinarily obvious. Of course, Tohka knew full well where the people had gone. Even though she could sense that this world was far less open than Marvel, if she wanted to, she could wipe out the entire city without leaving a soul alive. Of course, that was just a thought—she wasn't about to do something so extreme.
"Huh, the protagonist?" Lazily casting her gaze toward the approaching figure, she saw a blue-haired boy. But Tohka remembered having read countless fanfictions before, so to test her hunch, she casually swung her sword. A massive blade of energy shot toward the boy.
"Aaah—ah—!" Feeling the intense killing intent rushing toward him, the boy instantly froze. He could sense death itself in that attack. But the sword strike wasn't aimed precisely at him, and merely grazed across his chest. His once tidy uniform was shredded in an instant.
"Tch, a boy." Sighing in disappointment, Tohka lost interest in him.
"Haa… haa… haa…" In contrast to Tohka's nonchalance, the boy had fallen square on his backside, gasping desperately for breath. He'd been truly terrified—if the girl hadn't held back, he had no doubt he would have been sliced clean in two. Even so, cold sweat covered his whole body. Subconsciously glancing behind, he was aghast to see that the attack had practically carved through the entire city.
"Um…" But seeing that she didn't even spare him a glance, instead seeming lost in thought (spacing out), the boy hesitated a moment before mustering his courage to step forward. He came to the edge of the crater and stared blankly at the girl in blue-purple armor.
Even though he already had a cute little sister at home, he couldn't help being captivated by Tohka. Her long hair flowed like water, and her entire body radiated a powerful aura. Coupled with her serious (spacey) expression, she looked exactly like a supremely cold queen.
"If you don't want to die, you'd better leave here at once." At last regaining her senses, Tohka cast him a sidelong glance and spoke calmly. She could feel several presences rushing toward them. These auras were very similar to hers and Miku's—but much, much weaker by comparison.
"You…" But the boy didn't leave. Instead, he looked at her in puzzlement, not quite understanding what she meant.
"Hmph, finally here." But Tohka didn't bother explaining—she was already watching as several bright lights rapidly approached through the sky.
"Tch, these things again." Knowing full well what they were, Tohka couldn't be bothered to let them get closer. She casually swung her blade, and a streak of blue-violet energy shot toward the lights. A moment later, a series of explosions boomed overhead.
"A newly appeared Spirit…" Just then, several voices rang out above her. Tohka looked up and saw a group of girls in armored swimsuits. She ignored most of them, instead focusing her gaze on one in particular.
It was impossible not to notice—the look in that girl's eyes was too peculiar. While everyone else regarded her with wary hostility, this girl stared at her with an almost seething hatred.
"Tobiichi Origami." She was too distinctive—Tohka recognized her at a glance. That cold, expressionless demeanor and the stark white hair—she was well-known in certain circles as an outwardly serious, but actually very experienced old hand.
But recognition or not, Tohka knew this battle was unavoidable. The moment Origami spotted her, she charged straight in. A massive energy cannon locked onto Tohka's forehead.
Seeing the cannon charging, Tohka wasn't the slightest bit flustered. She calmly raised her hand, manifesting a barrier. Then she let the blast hit her square in the face.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted, the shockwave forcing Origami to leap back. As for Tohka, she remained absolutely motionless.