Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

"-Codex Opening-Pseudo-Codex-El Re'em-"

Facing the incoming attack, Reine hurriedly rolled to the side. The bed beneath her was pierced through as a result. If she had not dodged, that bed would have been her fate.

The opponent had come prepared. It seemed they knew her identity.

Understanding the situation, Reine no longer concealed her true identity.

She raised a hand toward her opponent.

"Ain Soph."

In response, Xiu Er made the same motion.

"-Codex Opening-Pseudo-Codex-Ain Soph-"

Starting from beneath the two of them, white and black swept across the space.

Both sides returned to this space once again.

"Converting energy into target Mio's spirit power. Replacing 50% of weapon functions with Mio's spirit power... Replacement complete. All attacks will carry target Mio's spirit power."

Xiu Er had finished all preparations. Now, she officially began her challenge against Mio.

At this moment, Reine revealed her original form.

She had now become—Mio.

In the original work, she had been the beginning of all these Spirit incidents, the source of so many tragedies.

Her features were as exquisite as a work of art, without any trace of her previous exhaustion. Her pure white gown made her seem like a Goddess descended to earth. A floating halo behind her was embedded with ten stars, nine of which were dim and lusterless—the manifestation of her having divided away her own power.

The ten stars represented the ten Spirit girls.

Mio merely floated quietly in the air, her expression exceedingly grim. Her brows furrowed tightly, and without a word, she raised her hand and summoned her first Angel, the Angel of Death—Ain Soph Aur.

A flower with a pistil shaped like a maiden appeared before Mio's hand.

Unfortunately, just as she summoned her Angel, an attack came from behind her.

A massive Assault Rifle wrapped in raging winds tore through the air from afar with a sonic boom. Mio dodged it with a sidestep.

She also caught sight of the source of the attack. It was someone identical in appearance to Xiu Er, holding a El Kanaph that had just fired.

But the attacks did not end there.

At Mio's sides, two more "Xiu Ers," one wielding Gokurokugai and the other El Re'em, flanked her from both directions and attacked at the same time.

Close combat began.

Ten minutes after the battle began—

Constantly disrupted by close-range attacks, Mio was forced into hand-to-hand combat with the two "Xiu Ers."

Light gathered into "ribbons" that danced around under Mio's control, raining dense attacks upon the two "Xiu Ers."

Unfortunately, attacks at that level could not break through the defensive armament, No Passage, on their bodies.

The light ribbons lashed and stabbed against the semicircular shields without stirring even a ripple, preventing Mio from shaking them off.

"-Codex Opening-Pseudo-Codex-Gabriel-"

As Mio fought the two "Xiu Ers," music that should not have existed echoed through this otherwise empty Neighboring World.

Mio hurriedly found a moment to look over.

She saw another "Xiu Er" with the device on her head unfolded.

She stood below, activating her armament and playing an exhilarating song she had downloaded to launch March, providing BGM for the battle.

From that point onward, the other "Xiu Ers" fought with increasing ferocity. Then another "Xiu Er" joined in, wielding Great Flame of Destruction, making the pressure at close range grow ever greater.

The "Xiu Er" in the distance holding El Kanaph also kept firing arrows at Mio.

While resisting the pincer attack of Gokurokugai, El Re'em, and Great Flame of Destruction, Mio also had to spare attention to evade attacks from El Kanaph.

She kept searching for an opportunity to escape, but the three "Xiu Ers" gave her none. Every time, they instantly caught up to her.

As for teleportation, Mio possessed that ability, but whenever she tried to use it, another "Xiu Er" would activate One-Way Street and lock down the space.

Their attacks coordinated with one another flawlessly, making it difficult for Mio to evade them every time.

Moreover, their shields remained active throughout. No matter how Mio counterattacked, she could not inflict any effective damage.

Mio could even feel that their attacks were becoming increasingly tricky, making each evasion more difficult than the last.

Then Metatron joined the battle.

The floating cannons pursuing and attacking her left Mio dazed for a moment. She had no memory of such a thing.

In other words, the opponent had obtained it from a future Spirit through Kurumi!

It was not difficult to guess. Mio knew the powers of every Spirit very well.

And these identical "Xiu Ers."

Mio dared to conclude that they were not mass-produced machines, but Doppelgangers created after the opponent obtained Kurumi's power.

"-Codex Opening-Pseudo-Codex-Binder-"

A gold-edged chain suddenly coiled around Mio's right arm like a swimming dragon from somewhere nearby.

The mental fatigue brought on by prolonged, intense combat caused Mio to let her guard down for a moment, allowing her opponent to seize the opportunity.

That single strike directly disrupted Mio's next movement, and El Re'em impaled her straight through the waist.

That one blow also completely disrupted her movements, allowing Gokurokugai from the other side to slash across her back.

Sensing danger, she took the opportunity to Shifuru a fierce burst of spirit power from within her body.

But just as Mio was about to do so, a huge gold-inlaid axe burning with flames appeared before her eyes.

Boom!!!

It came down from above and cleaved her from the air into the ground.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground from Mio's point of impact.

The distant "Xiu Er" drew El Kanaph once more. El Re'em, serving as the arrow and filled with the power of wind, tore through the air toward Mio in the crater.

The fierce attack struck into the ground once again, causing considerable tremors throughout this Neighboring World.

Several seconds later, Mio rose from the ground again.

Her body was now covered in wounds, and her formerly pure white hair and Astral Dress were stained with bright red.

She did not understand why things had turned out like this.

But Mio was given no chance to think. This time, five El Re'ems gathered with violent winds flew toward her again, centered beneath her feet, creating a savage gale capable of shredding anything apart.

In the distance stood five "Xiu Ers," each holding a El Kanaph.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Mio covered her mouth as she coughed violently, struggling to climb to her feet once again.

"-Codex Opening-Pseudo-Codex-Camael: Megiddo-"

This time, what greeted her was golden-red energy rushing straight at her face.

The energy struck her body everywhere while she was completely unprepared, and burns began appearing across Mio's body.

She had no opportunity to counterattack. The moment she moved, the next attack would arrive immediately.

Having already obtained analytical data once before, Xiu Er had long since grasped most of Mio's information. During the battle just now, she had continuously recorded all kinds of data on Mio.

In the end, she became increasingly accustomed to her opponent's rhythm during battle, gradually taking control of the situation.

The Ain Sophs they had both released at the start also allowed Xiu Er to directly seize half of the opponent's authority. It was equivalent to banning Mio's second Angel outright, while converting part of the machine's energy into Mio's spirit power. Armaments carrying Mio's spirit power could also deal effective damage to Mio.

In the end, Xiu Er had only succeeded in defeating Mio by cleverly exploiting the mechanics. This scene continued for nearly another ten minutes...

Departure and Arrival

The "Xiu Ers" landed near the crater.

Within it, the battered Origin Spirit had lost her former radiance. Her pure white gown was stained with blood, and her hair, dirtied by the attacks of the "Xiu Ers," looked utterly disheveled.

After enduring an inhumane, prolonged, uninterrupted bombardment from all manner of weapons.

Mio lay at the bottom of the deep crater, face up. A long spear remained lodged through her waist, pinning her to the ground.

All of this had happened within the Neighboring World. No one would know what was happening now.

"Announcement: The target has lost the ability to move. The mission to neutralize the target is complete."

"..."

"Received."

The "Xiu Ers" surrounding the crater turned into particles of light and disappeared one after another, until only the last one remained.

That "Xiu Er" walked straight to Mio's side and looked down at her on the ground.

"Announcement: This unit has no intention of obstructing your plan. The purpose of this visit was solely the power of the Spirits. Once the objective is complete, this unit will leave."

Hearing the "Xiu Er" speak, Mio's eyes widened slightly.

"Display your Angel, Ain Soph Aur. This is the final objective."

Light glowed in the other's eyes. Her emotionless words sounded like a final declaration.

It was not a negotiation, but a notice.

"So, in the end... I brought this upon myself?"

Mio spoke faintly.

She had decided to eliminate the other party because she considered her an unstable factor.

Then, when she saw that the other party could actually copy Ain Soph, she began to sense that something was wrong. To prevent her trump card from being copied, she resolved never to show it.

In the end, she was defeated by the other party. Yet Mio had not actually suffered any particularly serious injuries and still had the strength to fight again. It was just that she had realized something: there was no longer any point in continuing to fight this mechanical creation.

Mio had studied Earth's knowledge and possessed a very clear understanding of this world.

Therefore, she was certain that this Spirit Hunter was absolutely not something that could exist on Earth.

An alien?

She was not sure.

Mio had no way of knowing, and the other party would not possibly answer her.

The other party had also proven that what she said was true. She had not harmed Shido, nor had she killed any Spirits, so she had not truly affected Mio's overall plan.

Forget it. Since the other party truly would not affect her plan, she had no reason to continue. She was tired and did not want to spend her limited energy on something meaningless.

"Ha..."

She sighed.

Mio now returned to the state she had been in as "Muramasa Reine."

Those lifeless eyes drooped beneath heavy lids as she slowly raised an arm.

She summoned her first Angel, the Angel of Death, Ain Soph Aur...

Nia sat on the sofa, as usual, searching Codex of the Whispers for information she wanted.

It was one of her hobbies.

The television in the living room was playing a program. It was not for her, but for Xiu Er, who had been sitting in the living room all day.

Nia was afraid she would be bored sitting there doing nothing, so she had turned on the television.

Xiu Er merely sat quietly on the sofa, watching television expressionlessly, her mechanical eyes glowing constantly.