"They're all my avatars, but because I haven't released them for so long, their conditions are... pretty terrible," Kurumi admitted, her expression filled with awkward embarrassment. Daryl's face, however, was even more bewildered.
Wait... all of them are Angels? Even that girl lying on the stage who looks like she's being cremated?
Just then, an even larger beam of light approached rapidly. Kurumi turned to see a group of mechs carrying large crates hurrying over.
"Tohka, the food's here! Please stop eating my hair—your drool is terrifying... sob..." Kurumi's clone couldn't hold back her tears any longer. The result was a chain reaction—Yoshino started crying even harder.
A massive crate was hauled onto the stage. The starry-eyed, food-obsessed Tohka suddenly sniffed the air. Her eyes sharpened instantly.
Whoosh! With one mighty swipe, she shattered the crate. A mountain of snacks and fast food spilled across the ground. Saliva flowed like a river as Tohka dove headfirst into the pile, tearing open packages with both hands and devouring the food in a frenzy.
"This... is an Angel?" Daryl stood dumbfounded once again. Was this starving ghost really an Angel? He must still be dreaming.
Bzzz... The buzzing grew louder as more mosquito-like monsters swarmed closer. With threats coming from both land and sky, Yamai could barely keep up.
"Angel-sama, please allow us to join the fight!" GHQ soldiers leapt down from the mechs—turns out the first wave hadn't just brought supplies, but reinforcements as well.
"I'll leave it to you!" Kurumi restored their Voids, empowering them to battle. The soldiers immediately joined the defense, holding back the ground swarms. Breathing heavily, Yamai finally had a moment to speak.
"Kurumi-chan, did I do well?"
"Yes, very well." Seeing her earnest, childlike gaze seeking approval, Kurumi smiled and gave her firm praise.
"Kurumi-chan! Could you summon Origami Tobiichi to help? Shu Ouma is ascending higher—I can't defend much longer!" Yamai pleaded.
"Origami? But she doesn't have a manifestation device," Kurumi said, puzzled. What could a human possibly do here?
"Kurumi-chan, how could you forget? Origami's Angel—Metatron—is one of the strongest, second only to Tohka!" Yamai gave Kurumi a questioning look.
"Ugh! I completely forgot!" Kurumi groaned, biting her lip and pressing a hand to her forehead. Back in Date A Live Season 3 Episode 10, Origami had released her Angel, regaining her status as a Spirit. Ten years later, so many things had become hazy.
Kurumi created another clone, transforming it into a silver-haired Origami Tobiichi standing before her.
"Kurumi-chan, please give me orders," Origami said calmly. She was never good at expressing emotion through her voice.
"Eliminate the insects!" Kurumi ordered.
"Order received. Astral Dress—Metatron!"
A burst of white light enveloped Origami. Her attire shifted into an elegant, bridal-like Astral Dress—pure white, short in the front and long in the back, revealing her legs wrapped in white stockings. A radiant golden halo hovered above her head, resembling a crown.
Bzzz... The dark cloud of insects swelled, surrounding the entire stage with no escape.
"Crown of the Sun." Origami soared into the air. The golden ring above her head blazed brilliantly, shining like a second sun. Its light pierced through the dark clouds—within moments, the entire swarm was vaporized. That golden radiance wasn't mere light, but concentrated laser beams. As long as Kurumi's time energy held, no number of weak enemies could stand against them.
"Now that's an Angel..." Daryl said in awe, gazing reverently at Origami.
"Are these really Angels...?" he muttered, glancing back at the stage—and his expression froze. The purple-haired glutton had devoured half the crate already, the blue-haired loli was still sobbing into another Angel's leg, and the red twin-tailed girl looked like she was about to burn herself out completely. Were these truly Angels? No, he must still be dreaming.
Boom! Boom! The ground shook violently as more than twenty massive insects, each over twenty meters tall, emerged from the skies. It seemed Shu Ouma's assault had advanced to a new stage.
"Cloud Wings!" Origami's Astral Dress shone with pure light—and then she vanished in an instant. Yes, vanished—she had moved faster than the limits of space itself, reappearing directly before one of the colossal insects.
"Light Blades!" With a single command, golden blades of light sliced a massive insect into pieces. One, two, three—soon dozens of them circled Origami, cutting through the swarm. Wherever she passed, the ground was littered with insect corpses, falling like rain.
"Amazing." Though being the energy reservoir felt awful, Kurumi couldn't help but be stunned by Origami's display. Those were giant insects—each one that Yamai had to charge up to destroy—and Origami was cutting through them effortlessly.
Judging by her current combat power, Origami far surpassed all Spirits from the first and second seasons of Date A Live, even exceeding the inverted Tohka from the finale of Season Two.
Kurumi's eyes shifted toward Tohka, who was still eating from the second crate of food. In Season Three, Tohka's power level had easily eclipsed Origami's. Which meant... her ultimate trump card was actually this glutton.
"Kurumi-chan! Shu Ouma's been swallowed!" Origami, clad in her Astral Dress, instantly teleported to Kurumi's side, looking down at the reclining Kurumi.
"He hasn't been eaten—he's entered the jellyfish's interior. Origami, go help him! On his own, he can't reach Mana's true core." Kurumi raised her head, her gaze piercing the towering, multi-kilometer battlefield.
Although Shu appeared unstoppable, empowered by Gaia's will, the truth was that Gaia hadn't even begun to seriously attack him yet.
"But here—!" Origami looked toward the stage surrounded by enormous insect monsters. As Shu advanced deeper, the viral creatures became increasingly powerful. If she left now, the defense line would surely collapse.
"It's fine, go! Tohka should be recovered soon." Kurumi turned to glance at Tohka, who was already devouring her third crate of food. It had to be about time.
"Understood." Origami spread her Cloud Wings, vanishing in an instant, her teleportation bringing her straight into the jellyfish's gaping maw to aid Shu's assault.
Reality, however, had a cruel sense of humor. Even after finishing her fifth crate, Tohka continued gorging herself, utterly ignoring everything around her.
As the enemies grew stronger, Yamai's defensive line was forced back onto the stage. Every moment, insect monsters broke through, and the GHQ soldiers had to slay the ones that slipped past. Daryl didn't dare blink, constantly standing guard over Kurumi's safety.
After a long night of grueling battle, just as the defense was on the brink of collapse, GHQ reinforcements finally arrived—ten thousand elite soldiers carrying lollipops and rabbit plushies as requested.
With their Voids restored, the army joined the fight, pushing the line outward once again. The lollipops and plushies were also delivered safely onto the stage.
"Yoshino! Your Yoshinon is in that box! Go find her!" one of Kurumi's clones coaxed, prying the tearful loli off her leg.
"Really?! Yoshinon, Yoshino's coming to save you!" Yoshino sobbed as she crawled into the large crate, digging through a pile of white rabbit dolls in search of her beloved partner.
"My avatars are all so innocent..." Kurumi murmured, lying back under her blanket, her eyes narrowing in quiet thought. In the original, Kurumi's clones had always been composed and mature—extensions of her will.
But her own clones were different. Each had a simple heart. They had their own personalities, yet all revolved around her as the central consciousness, utterly loyal and devoted.
The flow of time energy also confirmed it—she was the core, the mother body, and all her clones existed to serve her. It was a structure unlike the original Kurumi's, each having pros and cons.
In the source material, Kurumi's clones could act independently, but they occasionally developed conflicting wills. Her current clones, though naive, would never defy her. Overall, her version had more advantages than drawbacks.
"Yoshinon! Not that one!"
"Yoshinon! Not that one either!"
"..."
Yoshino's method of searching was unique—she would call Yoshinon's name and wait for a response. If the plush didn't answer, she tossed it aside. Within moments, a mountain of discarded rabbit dolls surrounded her. At this rate, she'd never find the right one.
"Tenth Bullet." Kurumi raised her flintlock pistol, injecting a memory of Yoshinon into one of the rabbit dolls.
In truth, Yoshinon was created by Yoshino's spiritual power—a manifestation of her emotions. A gentle, caring friend born from Yoshino's longing for companionship.
Thus, Kurumi used her own spiritual power to create a Yoshinon for Yoshino. By converting her time-force through the primordial essence into ice energy, she could manifest a Yoshinon that only Yoshino could hear.
Indeed, in the original, though Yoshino spoke with Yoshinon, only she could actually hear the rabbit's voice. After all, a bestowed soul wasn't a true one. To everyone else, Yoshinon was just an inanimate puppet, existing solely within Yoshino's world.
"Yoshino, I'm here." The familiar yet bizarre voice—half witch, half doll—echoed. It was the kind of voice that made people want to comment immediately. That was Yoshinon's voice.
Yoshino's face lit up with joy. She quickly found Yoshinon among the pile of plush toys and hugged her tightly, tears of happiness sparkling in her eyes.
"Ah! Yoshino, you're squeezing too tight—I can't breathe!" The peculiar voice continued, audible only to Yoshino and the Kurumi clones.
"I'm sorry! I was just so happy. Without you, Yoshino was scared..." she said softly, lowering her head shyly.
"Ah, honestly... Yoshino can't be left alone, can she?" Yoshinon's teasing tone returned.
"Mm! So, don't leave Yoshino ever again," Yoshino said firmly, rubbing the plush's soft fur against her cheek with a radiant smile.
"Are these really Angels?" Daryl muttered blankly as he watched the scene. The sight of the little girl talking to her toy—this wasn't divine. This was childlike innocence, pure and simple.
"Kurumi-chan! Can Yoshino do something to help you? Even if I can't, Yoshinon surely can!"
"Ah, Yoshino is quite capable," came the playful voice again, making Yoshino blush.
"Then Yoshino and Yoshinon, hold off the ground swarms for me." Kurumi smiled kindly.
As Yoshino, clutching Yoshinon, climbed onto her giant rabbit Angel and leapt onto the beach, Kurumi's smile froze.
The Frost Banquet erupted. The chilling power of ice spread across the shore. With three Spirits drawing upon her energy at once, Kurumi felt her strength drain away—her body nearly collapsing under the strain.
"They really are Angels..." Daryl's eyes nearly bulged out. Even the smallest of them was terrifyingly strong—this single moment of frost froze the entire sea solid.
"Then I'll help Shu Ouma purge the virus core. Kurumi-chan looks like she's in pain." Kotori Itsuka, lollipop in mouth, rose into the air, her body blazing with red flame. Beside the massive empty crate, one of Kurumi's clones stared in disbelief—the entire box of lollipops was already gone.
The sky above burned crimson, filled with writhing tendrils of monstrous energy. Kurumi's body trembled before she sank weakly to the stage. With four Spirits attacking simultaneously, her energy output could no longer keep up with the drain.
"Kurumi-chan! Are you hurt?" came a bright, energetic voice—the unmistakable sound of the gluttonous one.
"Kurumi-chan doesn't get hurt. Kurumi-chan is just tired. And since you're full, get up there and fight!" The clone Kurumi tugged Tohka's cheek in petty revenge for the earlier drool incident.
Boom! A deafening explosion shook the hearts of all who remained. The sky itself collapsed as crimson light clashed violently with silver brilliance. The heavens cracked apart.
Crack! All over the world, countless pillars of light shattered under the sweeping darkness. People everywhere turned to dust as their Voids broke apart.
Gaia's will had awakened in full. Learning from its failure ten years ago, the Counter Force no longer released its power gradually—it unleashed everything at once.
Whoosh! From the sky, three figures plummeted downward. Above them, a colossal behemoth descended, ready to crush them completely—to end them once and for all.
The Void energy was suppressed to its absolute limit. One-fifth of the global population perished instantly. The survivors, half-crystallized, lay helpless on the ground—breathing faintly, their eyes filled with despair.