Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey: Chapter 17

Though it was pinned to the ground, Zadkiel still tried to break free of the Chains.

But like prey caught in a hunter's net, no matter how it struggled, it could not escape.

After confirming that he had completely sealed off its ability to move, Xiu Er raised an arm and aimed it at Zadkiel.

No—on closer inspection, Xiu Er was aiming at Yoshino on the back of Zadkiel's neck.

It was to prevent Yoshino from retracting her Angel and breaking free to escape.

Xiu Er could catch up with her immediately, of course, but it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The raised arm suddenly changed. The entire limb began to transform, eventually taking the form of a cannon.

The shoulder of that arm was replaced by a golden mechanical clock. Below it, where the arm should have been, were eight different slots, each topped with a cylindrical canister engraved with a different number.

Beside every slot ran a thin, elongated tube that extended downward before converging and connecting to the cannon barrel.

The pitch-black muzzle pointed directly at Yoshino on Zadkiel's back.

"-Codex Opening-Zayin-"

At that moment, the music that had been playing until now stopped. Then, the clock on his shoulder rang out.

The canister marked with the number "7" lit up, then retracted into the slot beneath it.

Golden energy flowed through the tube from Slot Seven and finally reached the barrel.

The entire process, from transformation to firing, took less than a second.

Golden light flared within the barrel, and energy shot forth.

There was no time to react. The golden laser pierced through Yoshino and the Zadkiel beneath her in an instant.

The expected wound did not appear on her body. Yet Yoshino and the Zadkiel beneath her froze in an eerie stillness.

Only then did Xiu Er descend, landing atop Zadkiel in front of Yoshino.

Looking at his handiwork, Xiu Er was very satisfied with the results of this modification.

As a Ex-Machina, updating and iterating upon his own body was nothing unusual. But modifying himself by integrating the abilities of Spirit Angels into his body was unprecedented.

Even though he had long calculated the final outcome and success rate, excitement still filled Xiu Er's heart when he truly tested it in battle.

Some might ask what had happened to the AST members who had been chasing Yoshino earlier.

In truth, Xiu Er had dealt with them first from the very beginning.

In an instant, he hacked into and interfered with all of their Realizers. Then, against the AST squad that had lost Territory protection, he used one of Gabriel's abilities—Solo.

And to be safe, Xiu Er had even increased the output of Pseudo-Canon: Gabriel. The result was unsurprising: every AST member's mind was completely controlled.

Only after giving them the command, "Go home and rest. When you wake up, you will remember nothing,"

did he proceed with his attack on Yoshino.

Xiu Er slowly approached the frozen Yoshino.

His analysis of her Angel—Zadkiel—had also been completed.

During their first encounter, Xiu Er had already obtained her ice abilities.

This time, he had merely come to complete Yoshino's Angel, Zadkiel.

As expected of a defensive Angel.

The relevant data was automatically sorted and categorized in Xiu Er's mind. He understood everything in an instant.

Since his objective had been achieved,

he looked toward Yoshino, who remained frozen in time.

Tears born of fear and pain still streaked her face. In that frozen state, she looked like a beautiful painting.

Xiu Er saw the wounds on her body, caused by the earlier AST attacks and his own shot just now.

Well, since he was partly responsible, he would help heal her.

That was what he thought.

"-Codex Opening-Dalet-"

He raised his arm, still in cannon form. The familiar chime rang again, and the canister marked with the number "4" lit up as it had before.

At present, he had no actual healing methods. Using Dalet as healing was the only thing he could do for now.

"Wait!"

Ignoring the sudden shout, Xiu Er fired at Yoshino's head. A golden laser pierced straight through it.

Only after doing all that did Xiu Er turn to look at the source of the voice.

A blue-haired boy stood atop rubble beside the Giant Rabbit.

The Spirit girl named Tohka held a sword in one hand and gripped the boy with the other, supporting him to keep him from falling.

Xiu Er stared at the two of them expressionlessly.

He saw it.

Besides Tohka, who had recognized him and was watching him with extreme vigilance, there was also the blue-haired boy.

In the other's eyes, Xiu Er saw an emotion called "anger"...

Shido's Attitude

Looking at Shido's gaze, filled with such intense emotion,

Xiu Er found himself unexpectedly interested.

Itsuka Shido.

The original protagonist. A classic kind-hearted Japanese male lead who possessed the power to seal Spirits. He was too kind to watch Spirit girls suffer unjust persecution, and so he had set out on the path of saving Spirits.

The conflict between humans and Spirits in this world was neither entirely complicated nor entirely simple.

Many people had died because of Spirits, but the Spirits had never wished for it either.

Of course, Kurumi was an exception.

But Kurumi also claimed that those she killed were all scum of society. Moreover, she was fully aware of how terrible her actions were. In her mind, as long as her plan succeeded, everyone she had killed would be revived, and no one would be harmed.

Therefore, Xiu Er had no opinion on that matter.

But one thing was certain: all of this mess had been caused by Isaac, the director of DEM, and that so-called Origin Spirit.

So, one look at Shido's furious expression was enough to tell that he had no idea what Xiu Er had actually done just now.

Xiu Er saw that at a glance.

The current story had only progressed to Yoshino's part, and because of his interference, he did not know whether Shido would still be able to successfully seal Yoshino tonight.

But that was not something Xiu Er needed to worry about.

Dalet reversed the target's time, returning the target's physical state to a certain point in the past.

Thus, for Yoshino, who had been struck by Dalet, her condition would return to before she had been injured. Her wounds would naturally disappear, achieving the purpose of "healing."

But the only Spirits Shido had encountered so far were Tohka and Yoshino. Naturally, he knew nothing about Kurumi's abilities.

So, in his eyes, the laser that had pierced Yoshino's head had undoubtedly killed her.

That was why he was angry.

Ignoring his battered body, Shido angrily questioned the other party.

"Why did you do that?!"

"Shido..."

Sensing Shido's anger, Tohka, who was supporting him, could not find any words to calm him down.

All she could do was tighten her grip on her sword and stay alert for the person across from them to suddenly attack.

Though her spiritual power had been Sealed, she could still use a minimal amount of it. But Tohka vividly remembered the machine standing before her.

Even at her former strength, she had been unable to harm that guy. Instead, Gokurokugai had been stolen from her.

Tohka was far weaker now than she had been back then, so facing Xiu Er again filled her with pressure.

Faced with Shido's questioning,

Xiu Er gave no response.

No other expression ever appeared on that lifeless face devoid of emotion.

His pair of golden mechanical eyes simply stared down at Shido and Tohka, making them shudder.

Shido waited.

Ten seconds passed.

The stasis around Yoshino dissipated, and time began flowing through her once more.

Her small body fell from atop Zadkiel, and her landing spot happened to be where Shido stood.

That sudden change made it impossible for Shido to maintain his earlier stance of confronting Xiu Er.

All he wanted now was to catch the girl's "corpse," but his body had not yet recovered. At the moment, he even needed Tohka's help just to walk.

Tohka naturally understood what Shido meant and hurriedly joined him in catching the falling Yoshino.

At that moment, Zadkiel began to dissipate as well.

Having lost his foothold, Xiu Er simply descended to the ground again.

"Shido! Can you hear me?! Calm down, now!"

Kotori watched the scene on the screen and kept shouting through the communications channel.

Only when she saw Shido and Tohka crawl out from the rubble did she finally calm down somewhat. Though Shido had been injured while protecting Tohka, Kotori considered those minor issues.

But when Shido went to question that Spirit Hunter, Kotori's heart leapt into her throat again.

That idiot brother!

Yes, everyone aboard the Fraxinus had witnessed Xiu Er's actions as well.

When he revealed his cannon arm modified with integrated Spirit power and genuinely used Nightmare's ability, all of them widened their eyes.

According to their readings, although Yoshino's head had been pierced by that laser, she had not actually suffered any harm.

And when Yoshino's stasis was released, the readings showed that the injuries on her body were recovering at an extremely fast rate.

The wounds on her body gradually vanished, as though time were reversing.

Kotori naturally realized that he had not killed Hermit, but Shido did not know that!

What if that Spirit Hunter decided Shido was an enemy?

She wanted to explain the situation to Shido through the communications channel immediately, but the channel contained only the sound of interference.

"Commander, I think his earpiece might be broken."

"Or perhaps the other side has jammed communications throughout this area."

Either possibility was bad news.

Seeing that Xiu Er was merely staring at him,

Shido finally calmed down from the fury that had clouded his mind for an instant. Ever since Xiu Er had fixed his gaze on him, there had been a strange gleam in those eyes. Was he scanning him?

Only then did Shido remember that the other party was merely an intelligent machine, and that all of its actions should be attributed to the person controlling it from behind the scenes.