(Heartfelt thanks to "Tieba Third Master" for the 1888 reward, and to "Youcai Luobo," "Heartbroken, Heartless," and "Yunqi Qinggu" for their rewards!)
Only after the twisted figure had completely vanished from this space did the enormous clock face disappear into a phantom as well...
"Uh..." An indescribable exhaustion suddenly washed over Kurumi's mind. Her body swayed, and she collapsed toward the ground...
"Kurumi!" The Spirit girls who had come back to their senses cried out in unison as they watched Kurumi fall. Kotori, who was closest to her, quickly reached out and caught her.
"Hey, hey, are you okay?!" Seeing Kurumi begin to pant in her arms, her eyes filled with barely restrained fatigue, Kotori looked utterly astonished.
"Didn't you say using the 'Twelfth Bullet' wouldn't have any effect?..."
"Yeah, yeah! You weren't lying to us, were you?!"
"Th-That won't do..."
"Didn't Master tell you not to push yourself too hard?!"
"Displeased. If Master sees you like this, he'll definitely blame himself..."
"If you keep acting recklessly, I won't help you when Darling scolds you..."
Hearing the Spirit girls' different words but identical concern, Kurumi felt a little unused to it. She turned her head aside and forced a laugh.
"The 'Twelfth Bullet' can send whoever it hits back into the past, but it can only return them to the same day. It cannot rewind them to an exact point in time. To make sure Husband did not miss the precise moment, and to give Husband enough time to remain there, I merely used a little too much spiritual power..."
"There's really nothing seriously wrong, right?..." Kotori pouted somewhat unhappily.
"There are so many Spirits here, with more than enough spiritual power to spare, yet you insisted on doing this alone. It's a good thing Brother left. Otherwise, if he