Ex-Machina in Dimensional Travel Chapter 15

Xiu Er was unconcerned.

Under her surveillance of the country's network, no matter where Kurumi moved, Xiu Er could locate her in an instant.

Even if Kurumi hid deep in the mountains and forests, Xiu Er could use the Codex of the Whispers to find her coordinates.

Ahem, that was getting off topic.

Back to the previous subject.

Due to certain experiences in the past, Miku Izayoi had developed an extreme disgust toward men. To her, men were even more disgusting than bugs like cockroaches.

In the original story, Shido had also been forced to approach her while cross-dressing because of her terrible attitude toward men.

But honestly, Miku Izayoi's character setting was extremely unpleasant.

As a result, Xiu Er had never been able to like this character when she watched the anime. Even if Miku improved somewhat after being won over by Shido later on, it could not change Xiu Er's impression.

Still, in Xiu Er's view, Miku's Angel was quite useful.

Her Angel, the Gabriel, could play all kinds of music with different effects. Some could enhance allies, while others could directly harm enemies.

More importantly, it could control the thoughts of its listeners.

Miku had relied on that ability to turn her female fans into toys for her own amusement.

Xiu Er stood outside the school gate. Her current appearance was one she had disguised with the Fake Demoness. Hiding her distinguishing features before going out had already become a daily habit.

Although Xiu Er had precisely located Miku within the campus, this was still a school.

She could not possibly clash with Miku in a school filled with countless ordinary people.

The school's security guard had also noticed Xiu Er. In his eyes, this student, who was clearly not from the school, was probably trying to enter for a visit.

After all, there was an idol Diva on campus, and most of her fans were women. Perhaps this girl had come for that idol as well.

Most of the others who wanted to enter had the same reason.

But rules were rules. The school did not allow students from other schools to enter freely.

So the guard walked up to Xiu Er.

"Miss, the school does not allow unrelated outsiders to enter. Please leave."

Xiu Er glanced at the guard.

She knew that he had been watching her ever since she arrived.

She simply had not expected him to wait so long before warning her.

Still, she had never intended to enter the school directly to look for Miku. She had already explained why.

There were too many ordinary people. If a fight broke out, Xiu Er was not cruel enough to harm innocent bystanders, and Miku might control the students and use them as human shields.

At Miku's current stage, she really might do something like that!

So Xiu Er chose to wait for her on her way home from school.

Time skipped ahead to the end of the school day.

As usual, Miku Izayoi waved goodbye to her adorable and enthusiastic fans.

After bidding them farewell one by one, she set off for home.

Today should have been another ordinary trip home, but for some reason, Miku felt an unsettling sense of discord in her heart.

Her intuition told her that something bad was about to happen.

Miku was surprised that she would suddenly have such a thought, but she took it to heart.

She trusted her intuition deeply.

So, as she walked, she carefully observed the passersby around her.

After turning a corner,

she saw a hooded figure leaning against the wall, as though waiting for someone.

Although she could not see the person's face, their build and the blue-violet hair strand that had fallen from the hood because it would not fit inside allowed Miku to determine their gender.

She let out a small breath. As long as it was not a man, it was fine.

As for what this person was doing here, Miku did not pay it any mind.

What a joke. She had no mood to care about such things right now, and the unease in her heart was gradually growing. She admitted that she was starting to panic.

What could possibly make her intuition sound such a frantic warning?

What people feared most was often the unknown.

Then, after she passed the girl, she received her answer...

"Inquiry..." An emotionless voice came from beneath the hood. "You are Miku Izayoi, correct?"

At that moment, alarm bells rang wildly in Miku's mind, and an intense sense of danger abruptly descended upon her.

"Wha...!"

She was merely someone who acted as an idol. Her combat awareness was practically nonexistent, and since she usually dealt only with ordinary people, she naturally had very little combat experience.

Thus, in Xiu Er's eyes, Miku's surprise had left her body full of openings.

Without giving her time to react, Xiu Er flashed in front of Miku, grabbed her by the throat with one hand, and slammed her toward the wall behind her.

But Miku did not crash into the wall as expected. Instead, she fell into a Golden Passage that had appeared on the wall at some unknown time.

Xiu Er followed her straight in.

Scene change—

When she emerged from the other end of the Golden Passage, Miku discovered that her surroundings had changed.

This was no longer the familiar road from before. There were no pedestrians anywhere, and the surrounding buildings were all abandoned. This place was likely some deserted construction site.

And the person who had attacked her was currently straddling her, choking her throat.

After realizing she had been brought somewhere unfamiliar, combined with the pain from being slammed onto the ground, an emotion called fear arose in Miku's heart.

She had no spare rationality to consider the ability the other party had displayed. She only knew that she had to give it her all now.

Pinned beneath the other party at such close range, she was weaker than her and could not break free.

So she tried to speak and use her ability, because her power was activated through sound.

But the hand gripping her throat was as firm as a steel vice. No matter how she struggled, she could not move it in the slightest. As a result, she could not utter a word.

"...Let go... urgh..."

Feeling the hand around her throat gradually tighten, Miku could no longer maintain her usual elegance.

Hmm? She could still talk?

Xiu Er discovered that Miku could actually still speak. Her mind had already calculated every possible method, and she immediately made her next move without hesitation.

She raised her other hand, slid her fingers into Miku's wide-open mouth, which had opened from oxygen deprivation, and pressed down on her tongue.

"Mm...!"

Good. With her throat constricted and her tongue pinned down, Miku could no longer make any sound.

After the attack, she was covered in dust. Her violet-silver hair had also been stained with dirt and no longer shone as it once had, while grime marred her beautiful face.

Unable to make a sound, Miku was reminded of past events. Tears began to flow uncontrollably from her violet-silver eyes.

She looked pitiful, like a frail woman being forcibly subjected to something unspeakable.

She had already manifested her Astral Dress. Although she could not use her voice to activate her abilities due to being choked, the use of spiritual power did not require that.

But Xiu Er's suppression was extremely powerful. Miku could not move beneath her, and her struggles had even dirtied the magnificent Dress of Light she wore.

She could summon her Angel.

But what would happen after summoning it?

The Angel of Sound, taking the form of a giant pipe organ and a keyboard of light—the Gabriel—manifested before them.

But after Xiu Er sealed her voice, it could no longer serve any purpose.

Unable to make a sound, fear and panic prevented her from activating any of her abilities. She could only become a fish awaiting slaughter on the chopping block.

This was precisely what Xiu Er had calculated before approaching Miku. Everything was proceeding as smoothly as she had planned.

Of course, she had many backup plans as well, but given the current situation, none of them were needed.

Miku's Angel had always been more support-oriented. Facing Xiu Er after being ambushed and having her fatal weakness seized, her swift defeat was only natural.

Driven by a powerful survival instinct, Miku began clawing at Xiu Er.

But the other party's body was like steel. Miku even felt as if her fingers were about to bleed, yet Xiu Er remained completely unharmed.

Her continuous struggles, along with the commotion caused by summoning her Angel, knocked the hood off Xiu Er's head.

A doll-like, exquisite face entered Miku's view, wearing a cold expression utterly devoid of emotion.

An eerie gleam filled those inorganic golden eyes.

The inhuman mechanical structure on her face finally allowed Miku to understand that the other party was not human.

Upon learning the truth, shock filled her eyes, as though this were the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Her mind was on the verge of collapse.

Xiu Er no longer looked at Miku, who was pinned beneath her. She precisely controlled the force in her hand, keeping it strong enough to prevent Miku from making a sound but not enough to endanger her life.

It was not as if she wanted to kill her.

She had been troubled over how to make Miku summon her Angel, but she had not expected Miku to cooperate so well.

Then, without paying Miku any further attention, Xiu Er began analyzing the Gabriel.

Thus, the two remained in that position. Other than Miku's movements gradually growing weaker, nothing else changed.

At this abandoned construction site where no one would ever pass by, nobody would know what had happened inside.

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Episode 19: Entrance with Its Own BGM

When Xiu Er finished her analysis and released Miku, Miku no longer had any strength left.

Her gaze was unfocused, tears had left several streaks across her face, and oxygen deprivation had flushed her cheeks. Her dress was covered in dust, and not a single part of her body remained clean.

Miku lay limp on the ground, with only the occasional rise and fall of her chest proving that she was still alive.

Due to the lack of oxygen in her brain, Miku's thoughts were now muddled, as though she had broken down. Only her survival instinct forced her to greedily breathe in the long-awaited air.

Seeing her in such a miserable state, anyone unaware of what had happened might think she had been violated by some villain.

Judging by Miku's condition, she probably would not regain consciousness anytime soon.

Therefore, Xiu Er released the other's neck and took out a tissue to wipe the saliva off her fingers. An Ex-Machina body defended against everything except grime; if it got stained with filth, it still had to be cleaned.

As for how to deal with Miku now, Xiu Er chose to leave her here and ignore her.

There was no need to worry about that. First, according to Xiu Er's calculations, Miku would regain consciousness soon.

Second, this place had been chosen by Xiu Er from the very beginning. As soon as she had set Miku Izayoi as her target, she had investigated every location in that area.

After multiple rounds of screening, this absolutely deserted construction site had become one of the locations Xiu Er selected.

Moreover, Xiu Er had already brought the surveillance devices and various Spirit-detection devices in those selected areas under her control.

Therefore, no matter what she did to Miku here, nobody would discover it. Even when Miku summoned her Angel earlier, no one would know.

Naturally, there would be no chance of someone coming to pick up her body.