"Fine, let's put all that aside for now."
Kotori finally managed to restrain her urge to snark and steered the conversation back on track.
"I came here to warn you—watch out for any underhanded moves from those with ulterior motives. Though, you probably already have some idea yourself."
Miku was naturally assumed by Kotori to be a bodyguard specifically brought along.
Even though DEM had the power to subdue Spirits, if the Spirits really went all out here, Durandal would undoubtedly notice the situation. And then, a simple apology wouldn't be enough to resolve things.
"If there's nothing else, you should head back. Unless you plan to attend alongside Schicksal later?"
Black Amber spoke with boredom.
Seeing her well-intentioned reminder falling on deaf ears, Kotori felt somewhat deflated and soon left the room. Not long after, the second half of the meeting commenced right on schedule.
However, holding this meeting was rather pointless, since Black Amber wasn't about to let anyone lecture her on what to do.
Faced with successive condemnations and inquiries, she deflected everything cleanly.
By the time the half-day meeting concluded, all anyone had gotten out of it was: 'Schicksal is cooperating with Ratatoskr regarding Spirits and will not prioritize armed action against Spirits in the future.'
As for the specifics and core details? Nothing.
Naturally, this didn't sit well with the others, but Black Amber's attitude was simple: So what if you don't agree? If you want to keep fighting Spirits, go right ahead.
And Schicksal's entry into East Asia couldn't be halted either.
This meeting, which everyone had attended with the mindset of tearing a piece of flesh from Schicksal, ended just like before—with them gaining nothing.
But… what couldn't be obtained at the meeting could perhaps be obtained outside of it.
Some felt that for Mobius to make her first public appearance in person yet not bring Durandal along was downright disrespectful—as if she didn't take them seriously at all.
Others, however, sensed something off.
Not only had Mobius come without Durandal this time, but she also hadn't brought any guards. Her itinerary was transparently clear, almost as if she was waiting for something.
Yet, even if Mobius had arrangements and precautions in place, even if she was deliberately waiting for them to make a move, they still had to act.
Europe, Africa, and this quarter of Asia that was East Asia had already been marked as Schicksal's sphere of influence.
The Americas, Oceania, and Africa could no longer sit idly by and watch Schicksal expand. But Schicksal's internal power structure had always been shrouded in mystery, and who knew when Mobius would next appear in person—maybe decades from now.
They had to consider whether this was their only chance in this lifetime.
After all, in a few more decades, Mobius might really become the 'ruler of the globe.'
Having sat through another afternoon of meetings, Miku's brain had turned to mush.
Dazedly following behind Black Amber, she felt like a student who had just woken up, dressed in a hurry, and was now trudging to school—her body moving, but her eyes utterly dead.
Thankfully, they finally reached the lobby leading outside. The fresh air helped clear Miku's mind.
"It feels so quiet here?"
Looking at the bustling street scene under the setting sun, Miku was somewhat surprised. "There aren't many people on the street at all. Doesn't match what that girl said at all."
"Even if there really is an ambush, it wouldn't be here."
Black Amber said flatly. "Attacking here would practically announce who the culprit is, wouldn't it?"
"I think people like them could talk the dead back to life—they'd find some way to weasel out of guilt no matter what."
Miku had never held a good impression of such individuals, given her own past experiences involved people like them.
Black Amber didn't deny that point; after all, she herself possessed similar skills.
"I'm not some powerless idol at the mercy of others. No matter how silver-tongued they are, they wouldn't dare act so openly."
"Mmm…!"
How could Miku miss such a pointed jab?
Mobius was truly detestable, daring to bring up her most unwillingly faced dark history right in front of her. That gorgeous, captivating face suddenly seemed repulsive, and anger flared up inside her.
But then reality crushed it back down.
Getting angry was useless. Better not bother.
As Black Amber had said, the two weren't attacked right away. Instead, they smoothly boarded the black car that had brought them.
However, it didn't take long for Miku to sense something wrong.
Though she'd never been here before and wasn't familiar with the roads, she still had some sense of direction. This route… didn't seem to be heading toward the train station they came from.
"…"
The driver's appearance hadn't changed—it was the same driver as before. Miku even recognized her: a big sister from logistics.
A spy? Brainwashed? Or had someone disguised themselves as her?
Miku instinctively wanted to speak up, but seeing the green-haired girl still working on her laptop, she hesitated… If even she could sense something wrong, surely Mobius could too. Yet she hadn't said anything. Did she have other plans?
In the suffocating silence, the car slowly drove into an empty construction site. A group of men and women wearing various styles of Realizer Units emerged from all directions, surrounding the vehicle.
"So this is the place you picked? Rather lacking in style, don't you think?"
Just as Miku was at a loss, Black Amber finally spoke.
"As expected, I couldn't hide it from you, Bishop Mobius."
A blond man stepped forward. He wasn't wearing a Realizer Unit, but a formal suit, and he pointed a handgun at Black Amber's head.
"But you still came. Came without any Valkyries around. Is that confidence… or arrogance?"
Despite being the one holding the gun, the cold sweat on the man's temple betrayed his lack of composure.
Seeing that the other party was still fiddling with her laptop, ignoring him, the man immediately said, "Don't even think about calling for help. We've jammed all signals in this area. Put down your things, step out of the car, and raise your hands."
To intimidate, he aimed the gun at Miku. "Otherwise… this is what happens to you."
Under Miku's bewildered gaze, the bullet stopped in mid-air before her, halted by a barrier of spiritual light.
Now it wasn't just Miku who was stunned. The man who fired hadn't expected his warning shot to lead to such a dramatic scene. But he quickly realized—the one following Mobius around was definitely no ordinary person.
That glow… it looked like how a Spirit defends itself.
"Careful! This assistant isn't normal!"
Not being combat personnel himself, the man couldn't say for sure if Miku's move was a Spirit's ability, so he could only shout a warning before quickly putting distance between them, his heart sinking.
If she really was a Spirit, then this ambush was…
Damn it! He'd never seen a Spirit with such light purple hair in any intelligence reports. A newly born Spirit? Why hadn't there been even a hint of activity?
Miku, too, was unsure how to handle the situation.
Should she lose her temper now? Or play the ordinary person and watch Mobius continue fishing?
"What are you standing there for?"
Seeing Miku still frozen, Black Amber genuinely began to doubt her intelligence. "Do you think I brought you out for a stroll?"
"Huh…?"
"Use your ability to control them. Now."
Black Amber took a breath.
"…Oh."
Only then did Miku speak. "Don't any of you move."
An invisible wave of spiritual power swept through the construction site. The magicians, who had been on alert, immediately stiffened, finding themselves unable to do anything.
The last time she'd used this ability was during her first meeting with Durandal. Miku secretly glanced at the green-haired girl beside her, only to find her completely unaffected as she stepped out of the car. A sense of "of course" washed over Miku with a tinge of disappointment.
Developing some awareness of being a tool, Miku followed and got out, trotting over to stand beside Black Amber.
"Use your ability to make him confess the entire plan to coerce me. And record the whole thing."
Black Amber knew she couldn't expect the other to understand her intentions seamlessly like Amber would, so she directed.
"Huh?"
Miku's feelings instantly became complicated.
She had been imagining a scene like 'Mobius outwits the villains with sharp words and precise judgment to uncover the mastermind'…
Good thing she hadn't said it out loud, or Mobius would surely have looked down on her again.
And truly so.
Black Amber would only think Miku's head had gone soft.
Why waste breath interrogating when you had an ability that could get answers with a single question?
Though she had the Fenghuang Down, explaining that thing was too troublesome.
A Spirit's ability was much more convenient for explaining to the outside world. Besides, if she kept using Amber's things for everything, Amber might start thinking she was incompetent.
If you had something usable right at hand, better to use that.
Effortlessly obtaining the names of the mastermind and involved parties from the man, Black Amber then unhurriedly led Miku back to the car. "Tell her to drive back to St. Freya."
"Eh? She wasn't replaced?"
Miku was puzzled. "Was she hypnotized? Or was she a spy from the start?"
"Of course she was replaced."
"Eh? Then aren't we going to pick up Miss Chris (the driver)?"
"You really are a curious little thing. Perhaps you'd make a good researcher—curiosity is, after all, an important component of human progress."
The girl's originally somewhat languid voice grew soft, but Miku knew full well this was actually a sign of Mobius's impatience. A sense of danger shot from the base of her spine to the back of her head.
"How about you stay in my lab? Compared to being an idol, the roles of assistant or lab rat suit you better."
"I… I still want to be an idol…"
Miku didn't dare ask more. She hurriedly instructed the driver upfront, "Drive back to St. Freya!"
The pieces on the chessboard were largely in place now. All that remained was to wait patiently for time to advance her plan.
Her appearance this time wasn't simply because the Selene was completed and she wanted some fresh air.
The purpose of inserting herself into the game wasn't just to catch some mastermind behind the scenes—who on this planet could be darker than Schicksal anyway?
Black Amber's true goal was to deploy 'beam splitters' for the Selene across the globe. Using the satellite-form Selene as the source, refraction would occur worldwide.
The resulting magnetic field would maximize the amplification of the Selene's power and expose Earth's true nature—the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Then, Amber would merge it into her own body, attaining the same Primordial Origin as Takamiya Mio, and absorb the spiritual power evaporated from Mio by the Selene, completely replacing her.
Black Amber couldn't understand why Earth's energy could produce a galaxy-level bug like Takamiya Mio, but she knew Earth couldn't create another god of that caliber. So, the target had to be Mio.
This plan carried risks, but they were worth taking.
Moreover… if things really went south, they could always call back that self-proclaimed Celestial to cover for them.
Since they had already attained the level of an Emanator, there was no reason not to use her.
To achieve this plan, the beam splitters had to be deployed…
If possible, given Black Amber's methods, Schicksal could have forcibly taken control of the world long ago. But to reach that level in a mere thirty years would inevitably involve bloody, dark methods. In fact, if they hadn't stopped in the twenty-fourth year, they would have basically achieved it by now.
But… those were methods Amber could not accept. So ever since Amber also arrived in this world, Black Amber had ceased using them.
Watching the green-haired girl's rare expression of calm, Miku finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she wouldn't be dragged into this one's laboratory after all.
--+--
In stark contrast to Miku's mood was Itsuka Shiori's.
Facing the beautiful woman with long green hair before her, Shiori felt nothing but nervousness.
She wasn't seeing a green-haired beauty for the first time. She had seen photos of Mobius before.
Both her exquisite features and her bearing made a strong impression, and even the sense of danger she carried only made one want to probe her inner thoughts more.
The beauty before her was different. Compared to Mobius's petite figure, this green-haired beauty was a mature woman who had passed the girl stage, possessing a feminine allure, her every movement carrying the charm of an adult.
And according to what Murasame Reine said in her earpiece, combined with the fact that the other party showed no intention of dodging a Spacequake, the woman before her was undoubtedly a Spirit.
This wasn't Shiori's first contact with a Spirit. She should have been more composed than before. But the other's far more assertive personality compared to Tohka's, and her deep understanding of humans, had Shiori being led by the nose.
"Shiori-chan, you need to take control of the conversation."
Murasame Reine reminded.
I'd like to… but this is completely different from the situation with Tohka…
Having just gone along with the other's prompting to deliver a string of compliments about her appearance, and now seeing her expectant look, waiting for more, Shiori curled her toes.
She really didn't have that large a vocabulary!
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.