The sudden appearance of the Heavenly Judgment Spirit was like a bombshell dropped on the Fraxinus's bridge!
The main screen clearly captured the silver-haired, golden-eyed figure in a black and white Astral Dress, none other than Heavenly Judgment, the one who had previously slaughtered gangsters with lightning speed and shown extreme uncontrollability!
It wasn't Chinatsu, whom they had expected, but this more dangerous, unknown sub-personality!
"Heavenly Judgment?! How could she be here?!"
Kannazuki Kyohei quickly asked for instructions, a rare seriousness on his face.
"Commander! What should we do now? Should we immediately force Shido back?"
"Oh no! Shido is in danger!"
"Will she and The Hermit clash?"
"The target Spirit's emotions are already unstable, plus this variable..."
The bridge instantly filled with suppressed exclamations and anxious discussions, disrupting the originally orderly combat rhythm.
Kotori's face also turned extremely grim; she fiercely bit through the precious jewel in her mouth and quickly ordered:
"Immediately analyze Heavenly Judgment's spirit wave pattern! Evaluate her threat level to Shido! At the same time, notify Koushi..."
Her words stopped abruptly because the monitoring screen showed that black-haired young man—Koushi Hōoin.
Upon hearing the chaotic reports from the communication channel and seeing Aqua's figure in the distance, he had already shot towards the department store like an arrow from a bow!
"Koushi Ge! Wait!"
Kotori immediately tried to stop him through her earpiece.
"The situation has changed! Heavenly Judgment has appeared, and her danger level is unknown! Don't approach rashly yet! We will re-evaluate..."
"Evaluate what?!"
Koushi interrupted Kotori while rapidly moving through the ruins; his voice came through his hurried gasps, carrying an unprecedented urgency and determination.
"Kotori! You saw her, didn't you? That's Heavenly Judgment! That's the guy who killed people without blinking an eye in the night market! She's so close to Shido now! Who knows what she'll do next?!"
"I can't just hide and watch anymore!"
Koushi's voice was firm, even carrying a hint of an irrefutable roar.
"If because of my hesitation, because I didn't show up when I should have, something happens to Shido..."
He paused, his voice deepening, yet containing a more profound strength:
"...I will regret it for a lifetime. Absolutely!"
With that, he no longer paid attention to any further persuasion Kotori might have been giving through the earpiece, directly cut off the temporary communication, and accelerated to his limit, his gaze fixed on the half-destroyed building ahead.
Watching the resolute Koushi leave on the screen, and the tense, uncertain scene inside the building, Kotori clenched her fists, ultimately not forcefully stopping him again.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and sternly shouted to all crew members:
"All hands! Maximum alert! All systems prioritize the safety of Shido and Koushi! Analysis cannot stop! We must find a solution for Heavenly Judgment in the shortest possible time! Quick!"
Fraxinus became like a machine instantly overclocked, entering an unprecedented state of tension.
And on the ground, Koushi was rushing towards the center of that perilous vortex, relying on his will and speed.
— — — — — — Perspective returns to the interior of the half-destroyed department store — — — — — —
Aqua leaned idly against a broken load-bearing pillar, her slender fingers twirling her silver-white hair, round and round.
Her golden eyes lazily scanned the ruins, finally landing on Shido and the blue-haired Spirit, who were locked in a strange silence with the puppet.
(Hmm... why is Weak Goodness so slow? He was the one who frantically pulled me from my moon training with that 'Home in danger! Come quick!' thought, but now he's nowhere to be seen...)
She pouted, deciding not to wait any longer.
(Forget it, I won't bother with him. Anyway, since I'm here, that little blue-haired girl and her rabbit down there look quite interesting, I'll go chat with them first ~ ☆)
Having made up her mind, Aqua took a step, her high heels echoing clearly in the silent ruins as she leisurely descended the stairs.
Her gaze directly bypassed Shido, who was somewhat at a loss, and fell upon the still-stiff Yoshino and the Yoshino behind her.
"Yo ~ we meet again, Miss Rabbit, and Yoshino ~ ☆"
Aqua greeted them in her unique trailing tone, a smile of undisguised curiosity and playfulness on her face.
Yoshinon, who had been downcast due to Shido's words, and the timid Yoshino behind her, seemed to freeze for a moment after seeing that it was Aqua, then recognized her as the "kindred spirit" who had shared food with them at the shrine last night.
Yoshinon's stiff posture relaxed slightly, and she responded in a much more natural tone than when she had faced Shido earlier:
"Oh my ~ it's the kind Miss Aqua from last night! What a coincidence ~"
Yoshino, though still shy, also nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, as a greeting.
However, what happened next made Shido and all the Fraxinus crew watching through the monitors nearly pop their eyes out—
Aqua walked very naturally in front of Yoshino, and then... extended her arms, and firmly hugged the petite, green-jacketed blue-haired girl, along with the rabbit puppet in her hand, into her embrace!?
She even affectionately rubbed Yoshino's soft, fluffy blue curly hair with her cheek, like she was holding a large doll or pillow, letting out a satisfied purr:
"Mmm ~ so soft, it's really comfortable to hug ~ ☆"
"Ugh...!"
Yoshino's entire face instantly turned crimson, steam almost rising from her head, her body stiff as a board, her clear blue eyes filled with bewilderment and extreme shyness, looking as if she was about to faint from an overload of embarrassment.
"W-wait a minute! Miss Aqua!"
Yoshinon, however, reacted, her puppet's mouth opening and closing, letting out a somewhat flustered but not truly resistant complaint.
"Although the Yoshinons are grateful for your hospitality yesterday, suddenly hugging Yoshinon like this is too sudden! Yoshinon will break!"
Aqua seemed to hug her even more enthusiastically, even subconsciously blurting out: "Hmph ~ this king will hug whoever this king wants to hug..."
But halfway through her sentence, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and a very subtle expression flashed in her golden eyes.
She paused, then actually loosened her arms, carefully placing Yoshino, who was almost cross-eyed, back on the ground, and smoothly tidied her clothes and hair that she had messed up.
"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore ~ ☆"
Her tone was still relaxed, but the previous self-appellation of "this king" did not reappear.
"Shido... is this, is this the same person as shown in the data...?"
Kotori's voice, slightly stuttering from extreme shock, came through the earpiece.
Shido himself was in a petrified state, mouth agape, unable to speak for a long time.
The dangerous Spirit they had imagined, the "Heavenly Judgment" who had caused a bloody massacre in the night market, was now hugging another Spirit and rubbing her face, like a normal girl who loved cute things?
The character discrepancy was simply too great!
However, shock aside, Shido and Kotori both keenly caught a crucial piece of information—from Aqua's conversation with Yoshinon, they learned the silver-haired Spirit's name.
"Record it," Kotori immediately ordered, "Target Spirit Heavenly Judgment's sub-personality, confirm her self-proclaimed true name is—Aqua."
The situation, due to Aqua's completely unexpected appearance and behavior, became even more confusing.
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