Gabriel used the Hōgyoku.
Kurumi's base attribute stats were pushed upward—reaching the highest limits permitted by the level of Authority her existence could currently withstand.
_________________
Name: Kurumi Tokisaki
Race: Human
Title: Nightmare
Job: Spirit
Authority Level: 5
***
Strength (STR): 105 (80+) {20+}
Vitality (VIT): 90 (65+) {20+}
Agility (AGI): 144 (95+) {20+}
Intelligent (INT): 306 (225+) {20+}
_________________
When the process finished, Kurumi slowly opened her eyes. In front of her, her status screen displayed the updated data.
On the other side, Gabriel activated Gigan, linking Kurumi's vision with his own. He compared what the girl now saw with the memory records from moments earlier.
"Raising Agility and INT first?" Gabriel said calmly.
Kurumi gave a small smile, then closed her status screen.
"Ara~," she said sweetly. "Were you peeking? Is that your ability… or a privilege of being Master? Whatever the reason, it's still impolite."
She withdrew her hand and stepped back half a pace. Her skirt swayed softly with the motion. Both arms folded around herself.
"It feels like… you saw me completely without clothes," she continued dramatically. "How tragic, to have a Master like you."
Her words were clearly exaggerated—but the faint blush on her cheeks showed that even she knew they weren't entirely empty.
Even so, Gabriel had indeed glimpsed fragments of Kurumi's past through Gigan… including moments that were never meant to be seen by anyone else.
"T-thats nonsense," Gabriel muttered quickly. "Ash would never do something like that."
Without looking at her again, he stood and walked away, trying to preserve the dignity that had nearly just collapsed.
Kurumi's smile widened at his reaction, clearly amused.
"Ara~" she said softly, her voice like velvet brushing against skin, "a reaction like that… means I'm not wrong, does it?"
Hearing that, Gabriel's face turned even redder.
"Impossible!" he shot back. "Ash couldn't have seen your past either, Spirit of Shadow."
Kurumi stopped right in front of him.
That statement—without him realizing—confirmed everything.
Her mischievous smile deepened.
"You're the one who said it~" she whispered.
Gabriel froze.
The realization came too late.
The next instant, three pairs of pale white wings unfurled from his back, and his body shot through the night sky, leaving behind a thin spiral of mist.
Silence fell.
Kurumi stood alone on the rooftop, watching the fading trail of pale light in the sky.
The night wind played with the ends of her twin tails.
Then she let out a small laugh.
Soft. Gentle. Trembling like a glass bell.
"Ara ara… he ran away," she murmured.
Her hand rose to touch her own lips, the smile still lingering.
"So it's true… you really have seen it, haven't you, Pianist-san."
There was no anger in her tone.
Nor embarrassment.
It sounded more like curiosity that had finally found its answer.
Her gaze lowered to her own shadow on the rooftop floor.
"I wonder which past it was…?" she whispered.
"The me who held a gun for the first time…?"
"Or the me… before becoming 'Nightmare'?"
A quiet pause followed.
Her expression softened—the theatrical mask cracking just enough to reveal something much quieter beneath.
"If you saw everything… and still held out your hand," she continued softly, "then…"
A small smile appeared.
Not a teasing one.
A human one.
"…you really are a strange person, Ash."
She turned slowly, her gothic skirt swaying with the motion.
"Seeing someone's darkness usually makes people step back," she said lightly. "But you made a contract instead."
Her gaze lifted to the sky again.
"Very dangerous."
It wasn't a threat.
It was an evaluation.
Then her flirtatious tone returned, faint but alive.
"In that case… don't run away next time, okay?"
A wink.
"Because now… you've seen far too much to pretend you don't know me."
***
In another district of Tengu City, a dark room was lit only by the cold glow of computer screens.
Seated before the monitor was Reine—calm as ever, though her gaze was deeper than usual.
On a bed not far from her lay another girl.
The same face.
But younger. Purer. Quieter.
A simple white dress covered her like morning mist.
Mio Takamiya.
"A moment ago…" Mio said softly, her voice gentle yet hollow, "I was… pushed out of Kurumi's Sephira."
Her fingers tightened around the bedsheet.
"It felt as if… that Sephira no longer belonged to me."
Silence.
Reine gave a small nod, showing no outward surprise—yet her thoughts were moving rapidly, assembling possibility after possibility.
"This world…" she finally replied, her voice as calm as a still lake, "…has already diverged from the path we once knew."
Mio looked at her.
"Should we accelerate our plan?"
Their gazes met.
Reine slowly shook her head.
"No. That would be more dangerous."
"If the flow of fate has already changed, forcing it will only put Shin at risk. We cannot afford a misstep."
She fell silent, her thoughts drifting toward two presences that were never meant to exist.
"Ash… and Winters," she murmured.
Mio tilted her head. "Who are they?"
"They were not part of the original calculations," Reine replied. "But the greatest distortion in the structure of fate began after their existence appeared in this world."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"Kurumi's Sephira lost its linkage immediately after their intervention."
Silence fell.
Mio lowered her gaze, processing.
"So… they're the cause?"
"Not necessarily the cause," Reine corrected softly. "But they are the center of the anomaly."
A pause.
"And an anomaly… can become a threat. Or an opportunity."
Mio looked at her without blinking.
"What should we do?"
This time, Reine turned fully toward her.
Her eyes were gentle—an expression rarely seen.
"For now… stay here."
"Do not go out."
"Do not interfere."
She added more quietly,
"As long as they move, we observe."
"This world is reshaping itself… and we still don't know what form it will take."
***
Meanwhile, Gabriel shot forward with no clear destination—more accurately, he was running away.
Running from Kurumi's smile that knew a little too much.
The night wind split the pale mist around his body, and before he truly realized it, he was already standing on the rooftop of another building.
In front of him rose a massive structure layered with steel and black glass.
Deus Ex Machina headquarters.
Gabriel slowly descended to the edge of the building, staring at it like a child who had found a new toy.
A geometric Gigan circle opened before his eyes.
Layered symbols rotated, interlocked—
like a heavenly machine calculating the world.
In an instant, invisible "circuits" spread into the surrounding reality, touching cameras, heat sensors, communication networks, even the Realizers of the Wizards.
Information poured into his mind in a torrent.
Defense structure.
Standby units.
Emergency escape routes.
Bandersnatch storage.
A faint smile formed on his lips.
"Interesting…"
Pale white mana began to overflow from his body.
Not an explosion.
More like dimensional pressure slowly bearing down on the world.
The next second, the Spacequake sirens wailed across the entire district—
then spread throughout Tengu City.
People calmly followed evacuation procedures.
Sidewalks split open.
Emergency lifts descended.
Key buildings sank underground like giant LEGO blocks pulled by unseen machinery.
On the other side, DEM headquarters reacted instantly.
Steel panels shifted.
Hangar gates opened.
Wizard units armed with Realizers shot out, forming aerial formations.
Their helmet visors lit up.
Behind them, heavy container doors opened one after another: BANDERSNATCH.
The unmanned red-eyed combat units dropped onto streets and rooftops, their weapons rotating to active status.
Radar lock confirmed.
One anomaly source.
Gabriel.
He simply watched them all… with an expression far too relaxed for a situation like this.
From empty space, Ragnarok was pulled free, its blade like a fragment of forgotten light.
Pale wings spread from his back.
Mist spiraled.
Without warning, Gabriel shot straight toward the DEM forces—as if he had just found a new game.
The Bandersnatch units and Wizards moved almost at the same time.
Flashes of Maryoku lasers cut across the night sky—deadly lines of light crossing from every direction.
Gabriel accelerated through the air.
Not merely fast—his movement felt like he was leaping from one gap in space to another. Every shot narrowly missed his body, leaving only trails of heat through the pale mist following him.
The attacks that failed to hit their target instead slammed into buildings and roads below, shattering concrete, blasting glass apart, and leaving glowing craters across the already-evacuated district.
Amid the rain of gunfire, Gabriel's expression didn't change.
Faint.
Almost enjoying it.
He raised one hand, half-extended toward the sky.
"Mana Zone."
The air trembled.
Not from an explosion—but from authority.
Mana spread like an invisible ocean, and the surrounding space seemed to bow, turning into his personal domain.
____
Author's Note:
Mio was forced out because Kurumi's status shifted into Gabriel's Servant.
Everything tied to Kurumi's system—including Zafkiel, which has now become a Job—transferred to Gabriel.
It will be explained in the next chapters 😎
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