The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

For some reason, Xiu Er suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She looked back at the entrance of an alleyway, where there was clearly nothing.

And according to her scans and probes, there really was no one nearby.

But her heart inexplicably sensed something.

And so, Xiu Er stared at that spot for several minutes.

She trusted the judgment of her heart.

Thus...

She increased the energy input to her detector, overclocking it.

This time, Xiu Er finally found something.

First, it was a woman. Second...

Strange, why couldn't she probe any more information?

And then, her confusion was answered.

Because a mass of mosaic appeared in Xiu Er's visual system...

At that moment, Xiu Er's mechanical pupils sharply contracted.

"Mm..."

"What am I...?"

When Kotori woke up again, it was already noon the next day.

She sat up, a dazed look on her face.

She looked around—the familiar bedroom, the familiar layout, the familiar ceiling, and the familiar sound of cooking from the kitchen.

"I remember, I was fighting a Hunter..."

Kotori pressed her hand to her forehead, trying to recall what happened yesterday.

She only remembered that, due to a moment of carelessness, her opponent had seized an opening and finally pierced her through the chest.

To be honest, even with her powerful regenerative abilities, the pain of an attack hitting her body was still very real.

If it weren't for the lingering ache in her chest, she would have thought last night's ordeal was a dream.

But her memories broke off after being pierced through the chest by the Greatsword. After that, it was like a download getting stuck—she just couldn't remember anything.

So now, she was very curious about how she got back.

Could it be that the Hunter had sent her back?

No, that couldn't be...?

Knock knock knock.

The bedroom door was knocked on, and her older brother's voice came from outside.

"Kotori, are you awake? Lunch is ready."

"I'm awake! Coming!"

Kotori hurriedly dressed, tied on her white ribbon, dashed into the bathroom for a quick wash, and then sat obediently at the dining table.

While eating lunch, she watched Shido.

Kotori felt something was off.

Shido's expression didn't seem to know what had happened last night.

But if she hadn't come back on her own last night, then knowing her brother's personality, he definitely wouldn't have slept until she got home.

As for the possibility that she had defeated the Hunter and returned victorious, Kotori had dismissed that from the start.

So why was Shido pretending he didn't know anything?

Thinking this, Kotori bit down gloomily on her chopsticks.

Today was a day off, a school holiday, so Shido was naturally staying home.

"Brother..."

"What is it, Kotori?"

It was still that familiar gentleness, but Kotori wasn't thinking about that right now.

"Last night... how much do you know?"

Even though she was still in her obedient little sister form with the white ribbon, the aura of a Commander emanated from Kotori when she asked this question.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Shido took a deep breath, stopped what he was doing, and met Kotori's gaze with a serious expression.

"Everything."

Chapter 26: Your Days of Opening Teleportation Gates Are Over

This was a monochrome world of only black and white, devoid of anything else. As far as the eye could see, only the [Tree] stood at the center of this world, and on the Tree, there was a cracked part resembling a maiden's form.

Beyond that, nothing but desolation.

Neighboring World.

Originally, it was an ability released by one of the Origin Spirit's angels, the Angel of Law [Rin-ne Eden].

A powerful effect that rewrote the real world into the [Neighboring World].

The Dimensional Device could still be used, but Xiu Er was unwilling to leave just yet.

In this world, all rules could be modified, meaning the Origin Spirit became the [God] who dominated everything here.

The only way to break it was to have the Origin Spirit's spiritual power attach to oneself, thereby becoming immune to this unreasonable modification.

And Xiu Er happened to be capable of doing just that.

"Detected host application, energy conversion starting..."

"Conversion complete. 5% of energy has been converted into the target [Origin Spirit]'s spiritual power."

[Dimensional Energy] was what the system had used to replace Xiu Er's original energy source when it integrated and modified her body.

It was the only energy source designated by the Dimensional Device, and it also had the property of accommodating all energy types and converting them into any other form.

Thus, Xiu Er obtained the Origin Spirit's spiritual power in this way, making herself immune to the effects of [Rin-ne Eden].

Just then, countless branches flew in from all directions in the distance, each with a tip as sharp as a sword.

They flew toward Xiu Er.

Facing such an attack, Xiu Er deployed her defense.

"—[Codex Opening]—[No Passage]—"

A golden shield instantly blocked the all-directional attack heading toward Xiu Er.

Branch Sword, this was a high-level skill of Rin-ne Eden, possessing the effect of ignoring influences imbued with the Origin Spirit's spiritual power.

While blocking the Branch Swords, the detection radar picked up energy reactions hidden within them.

Xiu Er saw them—palm-sized Bud Spheres...

Boom!!!

As the spheres struck Xiu Er's shield and exploded, a cloud of pollen-like light particles scattered in all directions.

These pollen particles must not be touched!

When the pollen landed on the shield, Xiu Er clearly sensed that the shield's energy consumption had skyrocketed.

Understanding the situation immediately, she evacuated that area at her fastest speed.

—[Codex Opening]—[Speed Violation]—

—[Codex Opening]—[Bullet of One]—

Boosting her speed to the maximum, Xiu Er transformed into a golden streak of light, weaving back and forth through the enemy's rain of swords.

Fortunately, although she was trapped inside the Neighboring World, the Dimensional Energy supplied by the world itself had not run dry, still continuously pouring into Xiu Er.

Thus, such a high-power expenditure of armaments did not affect her much.

In the detection radar, no matter where Xiu Er flew, she could not locate the enemy's position.

Tch, can't modify me, so you just modify the world to hide yourself instead?

How troublesome.

However, despite Xiu Er currently dodging the enemy's relentless attacks in a sorry state, she had not fallen behind at all in analyzing the Neighboring World.

For instance, right now.

"Analysis complete."

"—[Codex Opening]—[Pseudo-Codex]—[Rin-ne Eden]—"

As Xiu Er activated the incomplete Angel of Law she had just copied, at that moment, an invisible ripple spread outward from Xiu Er as the center.

It only stopped after sweeping across 1,000 meters, and all the branches and buds that the shockwave passed through vanished in the next second.

By analyzing and copying [Rin-ne Eden], Xiu Er had temporarily wrested a small portion of world control from the enemy's hands.

The world finally fell silent.

After all the attacks vanished, Xiu Er finally came to a screeching halt.

"You really are an unstable factor."

A voice, indescribable like static noise, manifested in this world.

The one who had dragged Xiu Er into the Neighboring World earlier now reappeared.

That mass of mosaic she had seen just minutes ago once again entered Xiu Er's field of vision.

To be honest, seeing a walking mosaic in the real world was somewhat unsettling.

It was as if she had been hit with a cognitive filter or a perception-blocking buff.

Though the other party hadn't revealed their appearance, Xiu Er had long since identified them.

The Origin Spirit, Mio.

After Shido confessed everything, Kotori learned that Kannazuki and the others had told him the truth against her wishes.

Though she was a bit annoyed, they were worried about her after all, so Kotori couldn't say much and had to forgive their presumptuousness.

Given that her seal had been broken from the earlier battle with the Spirit Hunter, Kotori immediately made a decision.

"Since you know I'm a Spirit now, you naturally should know what you need to do, right?"

"What do I need to do?"

Faced with Kotori's sudden question, Shido didn't immediately grasp what his sister meant.

Seeing Shido like this, Kotori's anger flared up.