The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

"I actually questioned a machine. That was incredibly irrational of me."

Shido had managed to convince himself.

Xiu Er immediately lost interest. She had thought Shido might lose his temper and use Tohka's spiritual power within him to manifest Gokurokugai and trade a few blows with her.

Unfortunately, his rationality returned far too quickly.

Since there was nothing else to do, Xiu Er didn't intend to linger, but before leaving, she decided to clarify one thing.

"[Reply] This unit did not take the 'Hermit's' life. The previous action was solely for treatment."

"Huh?"

Shido was stunned. He had seen with his own eyes a laser pierce through Yoshino's head, yet she claimed it was treatment?

Though looking at Yoshino in his arms, there were indeed no wounds on her body, but was that possible?

In front of others, Xiu Er always spoke with minimal nonsense, or in the manner of the Mecha-Kai species—an emotionless mechanical persona—all to maintain the image of a selfless intelligent armed robot.

After dropping those words, Xiu Er opened a Space Gate and vanished before everyone's eyes.

This sudden incident ended with Shido's date with Yoshino as a failure.

Shido looked at Yoshino's body. Just as she had said, all the wounds had disappeared. She really had been "treated."

At that moment, the earpiece in his ear finally crackled with Kotori's voice.

"Shido! Can you hear me?!"

"Huh? Ah! I can hear you."

Snapped back to reality by Kotori, Shido quickly responded.

"What's wrong, Kotori?"

"You dare ask 'what's wrong'!?"

Kotori's voice suddenly grew loud, rattling Shido's eardrums with pain.

"Hurry up and bring Tohka and Yoshino back to the ship. I'll deal with you later."

"Okay..."

Faced with his little sister's orders, Shido could only reply dejectedly.

There was no helping it. He was the one at fault.

He had indeed been impulsive just now, so he willingly accepted the punishment.

Ending the call, Kotori leaned back in her chair.

At least the Spirit Hunter hadn't attacked Shido. The stone in her heart finally settled.

But there was still one doubt.

Just now, before the Hunter left, she had glanced up at the sky.

And on the Fraxinus's screen, she was looking directly at their ship, her mechanical eyes meeting the camera.

She had found them!

But thinking about it, with technology like that, it probably wasn't hard to detect an invisible ship.

Yet in Kotori's view, things weren't that simple.

Because she always felt that the Hunter in the image seemed to be staring right back at her.

Kotori didn't know why she had this illusion, but a strange, unsettling panic filled her heart...

Chapter 22: Kotori's Choice

Controlling water and cold air was the ability of Yoshino's ice Angel.

No wonder almost every time Yoshino appeared, it rained—turns out it was her "artificial rain."

As for defense, she could use this ability to condense ice shields with astonishing defensive power.

For Xiu Er, she wasn't lacking in defense.

Rigel didn't actually provide much of a boost to her; controlling water and cold air was just a bonus.

But that didn't stop Xiu Er from collecting it. Just like some people enjoy going for full completion and achievements in games.

Besides.

Since she was already here...

If she could take it, why not?

It wasn't like taking it would be a loss.

Originally, the purpose of coming to this world was to contact, analyze, and replicate the power of the Spirits, so naturally she would try to collect every Spirit as much as possible.

Now, Yoshino's Angel had also been collected.

What remained were only the [Demon Lord], [Hoshimiya], and [Angel]. As for the others she hadn't mentioned, Xiu Er really didn't want to approach them, and those few were all directly connected to Mio.

The first two were manageable, but the third—according to the original timeline, at this point in time, the Spirit [Angel] had not yet been born.

Xiu Er had no way around it either. The [Angel] was something that Origami Tobiichi, after a series of events in the original work, was granted a Spirit Crystal by "Phantom" and thus came into being.

If she wanted to meet that version now, there was only one method: use Kurumi's Zaphkiel, employ the [Twelfth Bullet] to send herself back to the past, and she could meet the spiritified Origami who had arrived in that time period through the same means.

But her own Pseudo-Codex didn't have abilities beyond the Bullet of Eight, and going to find Kurumi...

A joke. First she'd beaten Kurumi up, and now she'd been marked as an enemy.

Going to find her now?

Haha, sure, she could find her if she tried, but the other party would be dodging her at all costs. Would she actually help?

Better to just wash up and sleep. If the other party did help, Xiu Er would think something was wrong.

As for the Dimensional Device that had brought her to this world—

When the system had remodeled and integrated itself into her body, Xiu Er had gained a clear understanding of all the device's data and what it could do.

The answer was: no.

The Dimensional Device could break through world barriers, opening dimensional channels between different worlds, allowing Xiu Er to travel to other realms.

But there was one catch: the timeline she crossed into was random, and once she arrived, the current time would be locked.

This world would be recorded and fixed by the device, leaving an anchor point at the current time node when Xiu Er departed. The next time she returned to this world, she would resume from that time anchor.

Similarly, after Xiu Er left No Game No Life, the instant of her departure was recorded in the device. The next time she returned, she would arrive at the exact moment she had just left.

So even if she spent centuries in another world and then came back, to outsiders it would look like Xiu Er had just opened a door, stepped in, and then stepped right back out.

Getting off track.

Without any time limit, Xiu Er actually had plenty of time to wait for Origami to become a Spirit.

But Xiu Er pursued efficiency. If she had any other option, she would never endure such a long wait.

Besides, Origami becoming a Spirit was tied to the past. Judging from Origami's current situation, Xiu Er could tell that her own arrival hadn't affected that event.

Still, there were two Spirits she hadn't contacted yet. The Origami problem didn't need to be rushed.

And her next target was already decided...

At that time, after Xiu Er left, Shido and Tohka brought the unconscious Yoshino back aboard the Fraxinus.

Reine volunteered to handle Yoshino's physical examination, taking the still-unconscious girl from Shido's arms and heading to the medical bay, while Tohka went home first.

Shido, kept behind by Kotori, endured a long, scathing lecture from her.

Shido understood that Kotori was just worried about him, so he had no complaints.

Although this operation had ended in failure, the goodwill Shido had built with Yoshino hadn't dropped. As long as the next date went smoothly, it should succeed.

In the end, after sending Shido home, the matter finally came to a close.

Some time after the Yoshino incident—

Watching the screen as Shido successfully sealed Yoshino, everyone on the ship erupted in cheers.

Only Kotori was different. Her expression wasn't exactly good, as if something had been troubling her for days.

"Commander, have you had something on your mind lately? I've noticed you've been in this state for a few days now."

The golden-haired handsome man beside her worried about Kotori's condition.

The man named Kyouhei Kannazuki, with golden hair, was the vice-commander of Ratatoskr and a subordinate Kotori trusted deeply.

He was also the former ace of the AST, now transferred to Ratatoskr and serving under Kotori.

Seeing his beloved commander wearing such a troubled expression, Kyouhei resolved to help her solve the problem.

"Feel free to tell us. We'll definitely help you."

Kyouhei said confidently.

The commotion caught the attention of the other crew members, but they said nothing, only looking at Kotori with serious expressions.

They had all witnessed her behavior over the past few days. Kyouhei had simply voiced the question on everyone's minds.

Seeing her crew's attitude, Kotori had to admit she was a little moved.

But this really wasn't something they could handle.

"...What if I said it's related to the 'Spirit Hunter'?"

Faced with Kotori's answer, Kyouhei wore an expression that said "I knew it."

"I thought as much..."

Everyone aboard the Fraxinus knew one thing: their commander was also a Spirit.

Kotori Itsuka, identification name [Demon Lord], had once released a wide range of flames as a child due to a rampage of her spiritual power, which was sealed by Shido when they were young.

Now, the seal was at risk of breaking, requiring Shido to seal it again.

But regarding the matter of sealing Kotori, Shido seemed to have forgotten, and they had chosen not to inform him. Kotori herself felt the time wasn't right to tell him yet.

But now, that Spirit Hunter who had suddenly appeared was targeting all spirits with clear purpose, copying their abilities.

Then, as a spirit herself, she would definitely become a target on his hunting list.

And from that glimpse the other night, Kotori was certain that she was next.

Thinking this, she ultimately declined everyone's goodwill.

"Thanks, but don't trouble yourselves. I'll handle it myself."

Watching Kannazuki's face full of grief at being unable to help, the gloom in Kotori's heart dissipated somewhat.

Though Kannazuki usually acted like a pervert—despite his handsome looks and top-tier strength, how could he be such a degenerate?

That was how others evaluated Kannazuki.

But when serious matters like this arose, he was also a strong figure worth relying on.

That was one of the reasons Kotori trusted him deeply.

Finishing today's work, Kotori bid everyone farewell and teleported from the ship to a path near her home.

This time, she didn't choose to teleport directly home.

And she didn't head toward home; instead, she turned and moved in the opposite direction.

Today, her instincts were screaming in alarm—if she went home, she might drag Shido into this too.

Kotori's intuition told her that today, that guy would come for her.