"Hm? Why did you all stop? Keep dancing!"
Tianqi Sanluo felt she might have gone a bit too far.
But that didn't matter — they wouldn't stay frozen forever.
For the first time, she realized how pleasant it felt to stand by as an absolute powerhouse and simply watch others fight.
"..."
After a long, awkward silence, Kurumi's face once again curled into a chilling smile as she raised her twin pistols.
"Ah~ Miss Mana, don't you want to continue our battle? You weren't like this when you killed me before."
At that moment, Mana came to her senses, took a deep breath, raised her spirits, and lifted her lightsaber, pointing it straight at Kurumi.
"Nightmare, let's settle this once and for all!"
Just then, a door-opening sound came from behind Shidou—
"Shidou!"
"—Shidou!"
Two voices called out his name from the rooftop.
"Tohka… Origami!"
Shidou turned around in shock, calling their names.
How could the two of them move freely inside Kurumi's barrier? They shouldn't even be able to move!
But when he saw them, the answer was clear.
Simple — Tohka was wearing a Limited Astral Dress, while Origami was equipped with her Realizer Unit.
"Are you alright, Shidou?"
"Are you hurt?"
The two spoke in unison, then immediately glared at each other unhappily before turning their eyes back to Shidou.
But soon, they both noticed Kurumi standing ahead of them and raised their weapons.
"Yatogami Tohka, Origami, are you two unharmed?"
Mana also noticed their presence, and when she saw Tohka's limited Astral Dress, she froze in surprise.
"Tohka, that outfit you're wearing…"
Seeing Mana's blue-and-white Realizer suit, Tohka cried out in shock,
"Shidou's Sister No.2! I should be the one asking why you're dressed like that — you look just like an AST—"
The two locked eyes for a moment. Mana quickly realized the situation, but Tohka only tilted her head in confusion.
Just as Mana was about to speak, Kurumi's laughter interrupted them.
"My my, everyone's here. How convenient."
Almost simultaneously, Tohka and Origami shouted:
"Kurumi—! I thought you'd run away, but here you are!"
"Your actions are far too suspicious. What exactly are you planning?"
"Huh?"
Shidou frowned. They both met Kurumi?
Could it be that, to be safe, Kurumi had sent her clones to intercept them?
Origami, sure — but Tohka should've known from Reine that Kurumi could make clones.
Had Tohka forgotten? Or did she not even understand what a 'clone' was?
Of course, after both finished speaking, Tohka and Origami immediately noticed the contradiction in their words — Origami was the first to point it out:
"Your statement is strange. Because just now, Tokisaki Kurumi was fighting me."
"What…"
Tohka's face filled with surprise—then she shook her head and glared back at Kurumi.
"Whatever it is — clones or not — I won't allow you to hurt Shidou!"
"I agree with part of that."
Kurumi twirled gracefully, lips curling into a wicked grin.
"Fufufu… Ah, how frightening~ So scary~ To think you'd rely on numbers to defeat weak little me."
Her words dripped with sarcasm — the embodiment of hypocrisy.
"But of course, I'll be giving my all… right, we will?"
"—Huh?"
Shidou had never heard anyone refer to themselves as "we."
But soon, they all understood.
The entire rooftop of Raizen High was covered in Kurumi's shadows. From within them, countless pale, slender hands reached out.
They filled every inch of the wide rooftop, innumerable and unending.
As Kurumi laughed, figures began crawling out of the shadows —
each one a Tokisaki Kurumi wearing the same Astral Dress.
"Fufufufu." "My, my." "Hehehe."
"Well then, what shall we do?" "Everything looks so delicious."
Each Kurumi muttered and giggled to herself, creating a nightmarish, surreal scene.
Notably, the shadows didn't extend within one meter around Tianqi Sanluo — and every Kurumi near her was wise enough to keep their distance.
"W-what…?"
"What's going on?"
"This can't be real…"
"Incredible…"
While everyone was frozen in shock, the real Kurumi — holding her flintlock rifle, her angel behind her — spread her arms and lifted her chin.
"Fufufu… Tell me, isn't it beautiful? They are all my past selves — my experiences, my forms that existed in different timelines."
"But don't worry — though they are my past selves, they are merely clones. They don't possess my current level of power."
With that, Kurumi aimed her flintlock rifle at Mana.
"Miss Mana, now you understand, don't you? You can never truly kill me."
"..."
Shidou and the others were overwhelmed by the pressure.
If earlier it had been a three-against-one advantage — no, four-against-one —
now it had become a hopeless three-against-many.
"Then let's end this."
Kurumi spun gracefully, issuing her final verdict.
"Don't underestimate me! Nightmare!"
Mana shouted, soaring into the air with her Territory deployed.
The two shields on her shoulders transformed and fired multiple beams of light.
The descending rays pierced through several of the Kurumi clones, felling them instantly.
But the others dodged with ease, taking to the skies and unleashing a rain of bullets upon Mana.
"Hmph… that's all you've got?"
Mana activated her Territory barrier, deflecting the shots while slashing through nearby Kurumis with her lightsaber — a true goddess of war.
But down on the ground, Kurumi's main body aimed her flintlock toward the sky.
"Seventh Bullet—[VII]."
A shadow seeped from the Roman numeral VII, entered the barrel, and was fired upward.
The bullet couldn't possibly wound Mana through her Territory, but—
Though no physical harm was done, Mana's body froze in midair —
as if only her time had been stopped.
Taking advantage of the moment, dozens of Kurumi clones swarmed toward her.
"Mana!"
Shidou cried out desperately — but he was powerless.
Tohka and Origami swung their swords to protect him,
but they were outnumbered. Both were quickly pinned to the ground.
Several Kurumis leapt onto Shidou, pressing him down,
even forcing his mouth and tongue still to prevent him from biting through it in suicide.
All of this happened within five minutes.
But really, that outcome was inevitable.
Tohka's Astral Dress was limited; Origami's combat ability was average and her equipment incomplete.
And the only one capable of matching a full Spirit — Mana — had lost her ability to fight the moment her angel's power was sealed.
"Kurumi, it seems the match is decided."
Tianqi Sanluo watched the spectacle with satisfaction.
"Mmmph—Tohka…"
Pinned down, hands restrained, body pressed against the ground, and his tongue immobilized,
Shidou tried to make a sound, but it came out as muffled grunts.
Kurumi, meanwhile, smiled serenely and approached him.
"Ah, at last… I can finally enjoy you properly, Mr. Shidou."
"Mmmph mmph mmph—!"
Shidou's muffled cries were incoherent.
"Kurumi! Don't you dare hurt Shidou!"
"Let me go!"
Tohka and Origami struggled fiercely, but couldn't break free from the Kurumi clones holding them down.
Just then, Kurumi seemed to remember something, raising an eyebrow.
"Ah, right. There's still something I haven't done yet."
She returned her flintlock to her angel, Zafkiel, freeing one hand and lifting it high.
The next moment, just like before, the city's spatial quake alarms began to blare again.
"Mmmph mmph mmph—!"
Shidou realized what Kurumi intended to do — his eyes widened in panic as he struggled desperately, but it was useless.
"Fufu… Hehehehe! Alright! So that you'll never dare deceive me again, I'll carve a mark of despair upon this world!
This time, countless people will die!"
"Mmmph (No)!—"
Ignoring Shidou's desperate cries, Kurumi swung her arm down.
Instantly, the air around Raizen High rumbled with a dreadful sound —
the atmosphere itself trembling as though an earthquake had struck.
And then—
"Huh? Eh? Eh?! What—?"
Kurumi's grin froze on her face as she glanced around in confusion.
Because — nothing happened.
"Kurumi, don't look at me. I don't know anything about this.
I've got no reason to play tricks on you."
Seeing Kurumi's gaze drift toward her, Tianqi Sanluo impatiently waved her hand.
"—Didn't you know? When two spatial quakes of equal magnitude collide, they cancel each other out."
At that moment, as everyone stood bewildered,
a voice Shidou knew all too well echoed from above.
Struggling to raise his head, he could just barely see —
a blazing crimson figure descending from the sky.