Time passed almost unnoticed, carrying with it a chain of not-so-small events.
The night stretched calmly across the sky, yet the atmosphere below told a different story—chaotic and unnatural.
People wandered aimlessly, clutching pink glow sticks with stiff, mechanical movements, like puppets with their strings pulled too tightly.
They were victims of the mass hypnosis that had occurred several hours earlier.
The culprit was Miku.
On the rooftop of a building, Gabriel sat at the edge, silently observing the scene.
The hem of his black robe adorned with silver ornaments fluttered gently in the night wind.
Behind the fringe of his silver hair, Gigan's layered geometric circles rotated slowly, accompanied by additional thin rings hovering faintly before his eyes.
Through them, he watched Kurumi together with Shido. It had been his instruction—to assist Shido in rescuing Tohka and dealing with Miku.
"At the very least…" he murmured inwardly, "even if the storyline has changed completely, I can still guide it so it doesn't stray too far off course."
His focus shifted.
His gaze now shifted toward Kaguya and Yuzuru.
"Even while under hypnosis," he thought, "they've already adapted. Their relationship with Shido has changed… it's no longer about love, but friendship."
He fell silent for a moment.
"That, too, is the result of my interference."
The wind whispered across the rooftop.
Gabriel tilted his head slightly.
"So… perhaps this is the better solution?"
A faint smile formed on his face.
"Well, whatever the outcome… I'll consider that I've done my best."
But slowly, that smile faded. His senses caught a wave of Ki he knew all too well, approaching from a distance.
Before long, Nia—clad in her Astral Dress—arrived at the edge of the rooftop and walked toward Gabriel.
Gabriel did not turn.
"Why does the Spirit of Knowledge approach Ash?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be occupied with drawing the fate of a world?"
Nia blinked softly at the title.
"Spirit of Knowledge, huh?" she murmured casually. "Whoa, I got an official title now? That's kinda cool."
She stepped a few paces closer, her black shoes tapping lightly against the concrete rooftop.
"If by 'drawing the fate of the world' you mean the Author's job…" she hooked a thumb toward herself, "…the deadline just passed."
She glanced briefly at the night sky, then returned her gaze to Gabriel.
"So right now, I'm in free observation mode. Creative break." Her smile softened—thinner, more genuine.
The night wind stirred the edge of her Astral Dress veil, but her tone remained light.
"You know, you're weird," she said casually. "You've got power on that scale, yet you act like a secret NPC who only shows up to help with events."
She glanced at him from the side.
"Seriously, if this were a manga, you'd be the type of character the fandom keeps demanding a POV for—but the guy himself keeps dodging the camera."
Nia gave a small shrug.
"You could just step onto center stage, shock everyone, and end it. But nope. You're busy tidying everything up from behind the scenes instead."
Gabriel lowered his gaze slightly.
Not denying it. Not affirming it either.
Like someone who had been seen through—yet felt no guilt.
A faint smile lingered on his lips. Almost imperceptible.
"The stage is bright," he said quietly.
"And light always needs something to absorb its excess."
His eyes shifted toward the crowd of Miku's mass-hypnotized victims moving unconsciously through the streets below.
"Ash is not light."
A brief pause.
"Ash is a pale mist… that absorbs the rumble before it can become a storm."
A flicker of interest passed through Nia's eyes.
"Hee~" she said lightly. "That's a pretty cool line."
But the moment her words fell, the air around them changed.
An unfamiliar—yet fairly powerful—wave of Reiryoku brushed against their senses.
Gabriel recognized the type of energy. Nia did not.
A few seconds later, its source appeared.
A girl descended slowly onto the rooftop—Ren.
At the same time, Nia had already summoned Rasiel. The book floated open beside her, her eyes sharp with curiosity.
She read softly, almost like reciting a confidential note.
"Ren… a Spirit born from the Origin Spirit?" Her brow lifted. "The background sounds cliché, but the execution isn't. And her Angel… Samael… hee~ so it's a concept-type rather than an element-type."
Rasiel's pages rustled softly, as if responding to her curiosity.
Almost at the same time, Ren glanced at the book. Her gaze was flat—not threatened, not impressed. More like a collector assessing a rare artifact.
"Rasiel," she murmured quietly. "An Angel with the Authority of knowledge, hm?"
Nia was about to respond, but another voice cut through the night air.
Calm. Deep. Without excess emotion.
"In this night filled with chaos," Gabriel said, still seated at the edge of the rooftop, "what brings the Spirit of the Jester to this place?"
The night wind blew stronger, his robe trembling faintly.
Ren stared at Gabriel for several seconds before answering.
"I was merely enjoying the noisy night," she said softly.
"Then I saw you here."
The wind brushed her hair aside slightly.
"So I approached."
A pause settled between them.
"Or… does my presence disturb you?"
Silence lingered for a moment.
"No," Gabriel replied shortly, without turning.
Nia didn't immediately lift her face from Rasiel, but her smile tilted further—the smile of someone who had just found a puzzle piece that fit perfectly.
"Fufun…"
Her fingertip brushed the edge of the page, and the book's sheets rustled softly.
"A concept-type Spirit… moving without an emergency call, without a mission, without any worldly reason…" she murmured lightly. "Just because she 'saw someone.'"
Only then did she truly glance at Ren.
"Rasiel's note: the most common reason used by living beings when they themselves haven't realized why they care."
The book closed halfway, the glow of its letters dimming.
"Very interesting."
Ren returned the gaze without blinking. Flat. Calm. Like the surface of deep water whose depths could not be seen.
***
Several hours had passed.
The sky above the DEM complex roared without pause. Flashes of magic erupted like man-made lightning, their shockwaves rattling glass and steel alike.
Yuzuru and Kaguya danced within the raging winds, Mana cleaved through the air with precise strikes, Yoshino fought alongside Yoshinon, and Kurumi's clones moved like living shadows.
Meanwhile, the DEM Wizards, Bandersnatch units, Jessica—even AST forces—were dragged into the chaotic vortex of war.
Inside the building, the devastation was no less severe.
Walls were cracked.
The floor was shattered.
Thin smoke lingered in the air.
At the center of the room, Miku stood frozen.
"You… how are you still alive?" her voice trembled between horror and disbelief as she stared at Shido. "After your heart was pierced?"
The memory was still vivid.
Ellen's figure. The blade. The cold sensation piercing through the body. And the most undeniable proof—blood still darkened the floor, not yet fully dried.
Miku was someone who always appeared flawless on stage—a glamorous figure with the aura of a true star. Her long blue-violet hair, styled in a hime cut, flowed elegantly, adorned with a yellow flower-petal clip.
Her eyes shimmered like silver beneath the light. Her yellow Astral Dress, layered with blue and white ruffles, was decorated with crescent moon and lily motifs—soft and delicate, in stark contrast to the brutal ruins surrounding her.
But now, there was no stage. No spotlight. Only fractured reality.
Shido stood several meters away from her, breathing heavily, his clothes torn—yet clearly alive.
Not far from him stood Tohka.
But not the Tohka Shido knew.
A blackish-purple aura wrapped around her body like lightless flames. The sword that looked like condensed crystal trembled, emitting suffocating waves of Reiryoku.
Her Astral Dress had also changed—darker, and slightly more revealing.
Tohka's eyes were cold. The traces of her battle against Ellen still lingered in the air—fractures of energy not yet fully faded from when Ellen finally withdrew alongside Westcott.
Now, within that ruined room, only three figures remained.
Miku. Shido. And Tohka—who had sunk into the deepest side of darkness.
The air felt heavy.
Silent—before the next storm would strike.
"Next… you two."
Inverse Tohka's voice was flat. Cold. Not a trace of the warmth Shido once knew remained.
Nahemah rose.
The tip of the dark crystal blade pointed straight at Shido and Miku. Dense Reiryoku pulsed around it, like the restrained breath of a beast moments before it lunged.
"Wait!" Miku stepped forward half a pace, her idol's voice now cracked with panic. "Weren't you friends?! Why has it come to this—and how are you alive after your heart was pierced?!"
Shido didn't take his eyes off Tohka.
"Tohka…" he murmured softly, confusion clear on his face. "I'm sorry… I don't understand what's happening either."
There was no reply.
Only—Movement.
Tohka swung Nahemah.
SLASH—!!!
A surge of dark purple Reiryoku erupted, tearing through the air like a wave of pure destruction. The floor split apart even before the attack fully struck it.
Shido moved without thinking.
He stepped in front of Miku.
His body trembled. Instinct screamed that this was foolish—suicidal, even. But his heart had already chosen.
If someone had to be destroyed first, let it be him.
Yet in the fraction of a second before the wave swallowed them, a sword of pure light manifested before them.
Sandalphon.
The clash of the two forces shook the room. Dark Reiryoku and heavenly light collided, hissed, and tore at each other.
Part of the attack was halted; the rest was deflected, slamming into the metal floor and walls behind them—leaving blazing scars of destruction.
Dust and sparks of energy filled the air.
Inverse Tohka lowered her blade slightly, her eyes narrowing.
"Sandalphon… I see," she said coldly. "Tell me. Why do you possess that Angel?"
Shido panted, still standing protectively in front of Miku.
Before he could answer, a voice echoed—low, faintly resonant, as if coming from the edge of the void itself.
"Dark Hime," it said softly, "would you object if Ash were to invite you to dance tonight?"
___
Author's Note:
Ehehe~ let's have Ash and the Dark Hime share a dance together 😎
If you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave your best Review, drop a Comment, add it to your Favorites, and… give me all your power stones. Muehehe~
(•_<) tehe~