The Ex-Machina in Dimensional Travel

Xiu Er, still disguised, rubbed her forehead with a troubled expression.

Let's rewind time a little...

After ending the vacation she had given herself, Xiu Er immediately decided on her next target—the Wind Spirits, the Yamisei Sisters.

The moment she made that decision, she began synchronizing with surveillance systems across the country to search for them.

This method had never failed her. In modern society, there was no one Xiu Er could not find.

In the end, just as quickly as before, she found the sisters' whereabouts.

On the surveillance footage, the two were at the venue of an eating contest. Judging by where they stood among the crowd, they were contestants.

It seemed that this time, they had chosen this event to settle their score.

Once she had their location, Xiu Er did not hesitate. She used One-Way Street to open a Space Gate, appearing directly in an empty alley near the eating contest before blending into the spectators.

After waiting for quite a while, the contestants fell one after another until only the Yamisei Sisters remained.

In the end, both collapsed at the same time and were declared joint first-place winners by the organizers.

And so, their duel ended in another draw.

Once the crowd dispersed, the Yamisei Sisters each clutched their overstuffed stomachs and supported one another as they left.

Just as they reached a sparsely populated area, Xiu Er stepped in and blocked their path.

Faced with this unfamiliar girl standing before them, the Yamai sisters stopped and curiously observed her.

At that moment, Yuzuru Yamai—the one with the better figure and the less energetic appearance—looked toward Kaguya Yamai beside her.

"Inquiry. Is she an acquaintance of yours, Kaguya?"

"How could that be?!"

"Besides, we are always together. If I had met someone, how could you not know?"

Kaguya hurriedly denied it. Yuzuru, who had been watching her, did not say anything else. After all, just as Kaguya said, if she had encountered someone, there was no way Yuzuru would not know.

"Mm... true."

The two looked at Xiu Er again, seemingly waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Inquiry. Are you Yuzuru Yamai and Kaguya Yamai?"

Upon hearing Xiu Er's words, both of them widened their eyes slightly.

When they had won the eating contest earlier, the organizers had announced the victors' names. It was not strange for someone to know who they were.

But when the unfamiliar girl in front of them asked that question, both felt an inexplicable sense of discord coming from her.

Yuzuru frowned slightly.

"Affirmative. That is us. What business do you have with us?"

They knew that groups like AST held obvious hatred toward Spirits. Those people had extremely poor attitudes toward Spirits.

The person before them felt somewhat strange overall, but she had not attacked them outright.

So Yuzuru chose to communicate.

Yet Xiu Er felt a trace of surprise at Yuzuru's question.

Based on her previous experiences:

Princess Tohka had chosen to attack immediately after speaking with Xiu Er. Hermit Yoshino had fled the moment she saw Xiu Er. Witch Natsumi's first thought after hearing that question had been to use her Angel to control her. Nightmare Kurumi had simply treated her as an enemy.

Yet now, the Berserkers, the Yamisei Sisters, remained wary but chose to speak with her.

"Answer. My purpose is to challenge you. I hope you will accept my challenge."

Kaguya's reaction to Xiu Er's words was clearly stronger than Yuzuru's.

They understood now. Xiu Er was one of those people and knew their identities.

But what they had not expected was for this person to so arrogantly want to challenge both of them alone.

"Hah? Challenge me? Where did you get that confidence?"

"Answer. Not you. Both of you."

"Fine, but what is your purpose? I do not believe you came merely to challenge us."

Rarely, Yuzuru did not use her usual manner of speech. Instead, she stared seriously into Xiu Er's eyes, trying to see something within them.

"Answer. I want to witness the power of your Angels firsthand."

"Supplement. Let whoever defeats me first be the deciding condition of your duel."

After Xiu Er made that proposal, the Yamisei Sisters' attitudes wavered.

Before Yuzuru could say anything more, Kaguya had already stated her position.

"Hey, Yuzuru, since she so arrogantly wants to see our strength, then let us satisfy her."

At that moment, her eyes began to fill with increasingly intense fighting spirit.

Seeing her sister's attitude, Yuzuru said nothing more.

"Fine."

Seeing that they had agreed, Xiu Er did not hesitate. She directly used One-Way Street to teleport the three of them to a deserted island she had selected beforehand.

And that brought them to the scene from the beginning.

The Approaching Storm

"We ate too much. Let's do some post-meal exercise to help digest it."

Those had been their exact words.

Since they had agreed so readily to Xiu Er's request, she naturally returned that respect.

So what should they do? She took a look at their current surroundings.

A deserted island, a beach, and the ocean.

Easy decision. Beach volleyball.

And then Xiu Er somehow became the referee.

When Xiu Er had just teleported the Yamisei Sisters here, her disguise naturally collapsed on its own due to her use of armaments.

Several rings were projected above her head by the disc-shaped mechanical device overhead. Her originally lively amber eyes turned into lifeless mechanical cameras, while her previously soft, springy skin reverted to hard machinery.

Yet when the sisters saw Xiu Er's inhuman appearance, they did not show much surprise. Instead, they wore expressions that said, "Just as expected."

"So you are the Spirit Hunter that has appeared recently."

Though it was phrased as a question, when Yuzuru said it, it sounded as though she had already confirmed the fact.

Spirit Hunter?

What was that?

Xiu Er, who had returned to her original form, showed no other expression, but an emotion called "confusion" appeared within her.

She immediately began searching online. Golden fluorescent light flickered within the device operating above her head.

This was the result of Xiu Er's modifications. Ever since she had connected to the country's network, she had begun altering the device above her head.

Aside from the Dimensional Device added by the system, Xiu Er had also installed many interesting little plug-ins within it, along with mobile phone functions.

Now, Xiu Er could play music, make calls, and project short videos through the device above her head.

Back to the point.

Let's return to the present—

In the end, when Kaguya delivered a powerful spike and Yuzuru finally failed to receive it, letting the ball land on the ground within the court, Xiu Er immediately blew the whistle. The whistle came from the mechanical device above her head.

Under Fake Demoness's disguise, as long as she did not activate her armaments or get attacked, merely operating the device would not cause Disguise Collapse.

"Winner: Kaguya Yamai."

According to Xiu Er's precise records, Kaguya had won by reaching the target score first.

"Complaint. Next time, I will definitely win."

Xiu Er watched the Yamisei Sisters' interaction and silently picked up the volleyball that had been tossed onto the ground.

From her observations, the ball had been protected by the sisters' spiritual power. Otherwise, it would have exploded from the very first hit.

Using the residual spiritual power on the ball, Xiu Er successfully recorded the Yamisei Sisters in her identifier.

"Inquiry. May we begin fulfilling the promise?"

"Fine, fine, fine. Let us show you our power."

"Affirmative. We will not hold back."

With that said,

Within Xiu Er's Energy Detector, the energy readings at the Yamisei Sisters' positions gradually rose.

Violent winds suddenly erupted around the Yamisei Sisters. The two slowly floated into the sky alongside the gale, and their attire changed amid the storm.

Xiu Er merely stood where she was. Her floor-length hair swayed wildly in the wind, but she herself stood firm within the gale, unaffected by anything else.

She simply removed her disguise.

"—Codex Opening—Pseudo-Canon: Gokurokugai—"

Pseudo Gokurokugai was the first armament Xiu Er had obtained in this world, as well as the one she used most often. There was no particular reason—it was simply easy to use.

At that moment, the Yamisei Sisters high in the sky also completed their transformation.

They had now returned to their original Spirit Astral Dresses. Both wore restraint suits in different colors, sexy and somewhat revealing.

Symmetrical wing-shaped inorganic structures were mounted on each of their shoulders. The mechanical wings carried a strange sort of beauty.

A black chain tipped with a diamond-shaped blade appeared beside Yuzuru Yamai. It was the Angel possessed by her, the Doppelganger—Raphael - El Na'ash.

In contrast, Kaguya Yamai also revealed her Angel, Raphael - El Re'em. A massive Assault Rifle far longer than its wielder's height appeared in her hands.

Now, both sides were prepared.

From the moment the Yamisei Sisters had summoned their respective Angels, Xiu Er had been quietly analyzing the data.

Kaguya Yamai was the first to attack.

She raised El Re'em in her hands, its spear tip aimed directly at Xiu Er, and charged toward her target from high in the sky. Propelled by the wind, her speed surged. If it struck, Xiu Er would probably experience being pierced straight through on the spot.

Facing Kaguya's attack, Xiu Er could originally have dodged.

At the very least, when it came to speed, Xiu Er dared say that the Wind Spirits before her could not keep up with her.

After using Speed Violation, the original energy-consumption problem was gone. She could pour more energy into her armament without concern, increasing her own speed to a greater extent.

But to analyze the opponent's Angel, she still needed to experience its exact power at close range.

So...

"—Codex Opening—No Passage—"

As Xiu Er deployed a shield to block the attack before her, she discovered a black chain attacking her from behind at a speed even faster than Kaguya's.

That direction should have been a blind spot in human vision. Without extensive combat experience or monstrously sharp intuition, one would definitely be drawn to the attack from the front and overlook the ambush from behind.

But for Xiu Er, a Ex-Machina, such tactics had no effect whatsoever.

The sisters' coordination was decent. They did not need to say much; as the people who understood each other best, they worked in perfect sync.

Boom—!!!

The spear tip struck the shield.