The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

Mukuro gained a new understanding of this mechanical being.

She sensed that this mechanical girl was different from the previous one—the last had crushed her with speed and power, while this one, though still beyond her reach, was far inferior to the first.

Yet the shield before her was terrifyingly tough.

No matter how Mukuro attacked, the shield precisely blocked every strike.

But for some reason, the opponent only defended, never counterattacking.

And throughout, those golden mechanical eyes kept flashing with light, just like the previous unit.

Mukuro didn't know what that meant, nor did she have time to think about it now.

Since a frontal assault couldn't break through...

She launched another attack at Xiu Er, who, as expected, deployed her shield in that direction.

"Seal Breaker, Release!"

With the activation of [Release], a black hole suddenly opened in the opposite direction from Xiu Er's shield. A halberd identical in appearance to Seal Breaker shot out, striking Xiu Er's unprotected back.

"Data collection complete. Analysis complete. Mission... accomplished."

After saying this, Xiu Er's body instantly disintegrated into countless golden particles of light.

Seeing this familiar scene, Mukuro immediately went on alert.

This one was fake too?!

She looked around in confusion, trying to find the enemy that might ambush her the moment she let her guard down. But no matter how hard she searched, she found no trace of any mechanical girl.

Meanwhile—

In a certain house far away on Earth, a girl with blue-violet hair suddenly lifted her head, gazing at the sky outside the window.

A strange light flickered in her golden eyes...

Chapter 28: Waiting for the Rabbit

Got it!

At this moment, Xiu Er knew her plan had succeeded.

[Zaphkiel · Bullet of Eight]

The ability summoned versions of herself from different time periods, all of which were weaker clones of the original.

But Xiu Er's Bullet of Eight effect differed from Kurumi's.

The clones he summoned, unlike Kurumi's, each had no self-awareness. They were hollow puppets with only basic intelligence.

He could act as the main brain, connecting all these clones together and issuing commands, just like the original Mecha-Kai species.

The difference from the real Mecha-Kai was that the originals, after all, had their own thoughts. Xiu Er's clones were different—they were truly mindless machines, mere tools.

As mentioned earlier, they had basic intelligence, so they could accept Xiu Er's orders and complete tasks.

This was a good thing.

If they were like Kurumi's clones, each with their own consciousness, Xiu Er would have to worry about being "overthrown by his inferiors."

And Xiu Er's clones actually shared something in common with Kurumi's.

That was that the clones were weaker than the original and couldn't use the original's abilities.

Kurumi's clones didn't have Zaphkiel, and Xiu Er's clones, while retaining full mechanical functions, could only use one armament at a time.

Simply put, unlike Xiu Er, who could summon all his Angels at once, each clone could only wield a single Angel.

But that wasn't a big problem either—there was more than one clone.

Imagine every clone holding a [Sky Dasher], all charging up for a volley of arrows fired at once.

However, summoning clones required Xiu Er's connection to operate, which placed a hard demand on his computing power.

In other words, it took up operating memory, and a considerable amount at that.

Xiu Er usually didn't use this method often. Fighting Mukuro this time was just a conservative choice.

Through the data and visuals shared by his clones, Xiu Er easily completed the analysis and replication of Mukuro's Angel from Earth.

After finishing the replication, Xiu Er understood exactly what his [Pseudo-Codex · Seal Breaker] could achieve.

It hadn't lost its original abilities—[Closure], [Open], [Release], and [Unseal] were all preserved.

Among the Angels he had copied so far, only Nia's [Codex of the Whispers] had suffered the greatest loss.

Thinking of this, Xiu Er could only say, 'Old lady, your Angel is the most useless!'

And now, of the ten spirits' Angels, he had collected nine. Only the last [Angel] remained.

Origami Tobiichi.

The last girl in the original story to become a spirit.

For now, there was still a considerable amount of time before Origami became a spirit.

And as mentioned before, if there was a way, Xiu Er absolutely wouldn't wait idly.

And now, Mio has set her sights on him too.

So, to collect Origami's Angel [Extinction Angel] as quickly as possible, there's only one way left.

"So you came to me?"

Nia looked at the girl sitting in the living room watching TV, a hint of bewilderment in her voice.

Earlier, she had no idea what was happening. A golden Teleportation Gate suddenly opened in her living room, and then that familiar mechanical girl appeared right there.

To be clear, after being rescued by Xiu Er before, Nia had used the Codex of the Whispers to learn a few things.

There existed an organization in this world intent on helping Spirits. After confirming the threat through her ability, she didn't hesitate—she went straight to Shido's door.

After introductions and a little verification, the other side confirmed that Nia was indeed a Spirit.

And her goal? To freeload off the Spirit Apartment built by Ratatoskr.

At this moment, this very room was inside that Spirit Apartment.

When using her clone, Xiu Er had been hiding out in Nia's home.

After explaining the whole story to Nia, the other party didn't object and simply let her in.

Truth be told, even without a reason, Nia wouldn't have refused a request from someone who meant as much to her as a lifesaver.

"I get the situation, but I don't have the power to help you either."

Yes, when she realized Xiu Er was hiding here because the Origin Spirit had her in its sights, Nia did consider helping.

But when she used her Angel to start investigating the Origin Spirit, she was shocked to find that her Codex of the Whispers had stopped working.

Xiu Er naturally understood why it had failed. And her reason for coming to Nia wasn't to uncover the Origin Spirit's true identity through her.

Because she already knew. She just hadn't told Nia about that part.

"You'll know soon enough."

Xiu Er answered Nia briefly, then fell silent again.

What was it?

Nia could have just used her ability to flip to the answer, but she felt that would ruin the fun.

So she even stopped drawing her manga, choosing instead to keep Xiu Er company and see what the other girl was up to.

And so, they waited, for who knows how long...

"Here it comes."

"Huh? What's coming?"

Just as Nia, bored out of her mind, was using the Codex of the Whispers to look up information, the quiet Xiu Er suddenly blurted out this cryptic remark.

Then, a patch of shadow gathered around them, coalescing in front of Nia.

Seeing the sudden event, Nia, who had no combat ability to speak of, immediately ducked behind Xiu Er.

Next, a black-haired girl in a gothic dress of black and red, with twin tails, emerged from the shadow on the floor.

Her eyes were closed, and her face wore that unchanging smile.

"[Sister] Nia Honjou, I need your hel—"

Stating the purpose of her visit, the girl slowly opened her eyes.

And then she saw it. Nia, on guard... and in front of Nia, a blue-violet haired girl whose face was all too familiar.

The girl stared at her expressionlessly, but Kurumi could see in her eyes the look of a predator spotting its prey.

"Hello."

The girl in front of Nia spoke.

"I happen to need your help too."

!!!

Kurumi instantly recognized this girl.

That familiar feeling—no mistake, it was...!

The thought of fleeing had barely crossed Kurumi's mind when a gust of wind swept through the living room.

At a speed none of them could track, Xiu Er appeared right in front of Kurumi.

In her hand, a small key had somehow materialized, its tip pressed against Kurumi's chest.

Xiu Er gave it a gentle twist, and the sound of something locking echoed through the room.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Seal Breaker: Close]-"

[Pseudo-Codex: Seal Breaker]

This was precisely the Angel Xiu Er had just obtained, and now, to prevent Kurumi from escaping, he used the ability [Close] to seal her power...

Chapter 29: In a Future World

Spirit power. She couldn't feel spirit power.

Kurumi realized that when Xiu Er inserted a key with a golden trim into her chest, her ability became unusable.

And her spirit power felt as if it had been locked inside a container.

Her face full of terror, she stared at the all-too-familiar mechanical eyes before her—the nightmare she had endured not long ago.

"What are you trying to..."

Before she could finish, Xiu Er covered her mouth.

"Quiet. It'll be over soon. It won't hurt."

Hearing this devilish whisper, Kurumi, realizing she was likely about to be in trouble, immediately looked over at Nia.

What the hell is wrong with you, why is the Spirit Hunter here, what's your relationship, and why are you just watching!

Many questions—Kurumi desperately wanted to grab Nia and demand answers. At this moment, she couldn't care less about why Xiu Er's way of speaking resembled a human's.

Come on, if he could disguise himself as a human, couldn't he also simulate emotions and human speech patterns?

Xiu Er didn't give Kurumi more time to think.

With that, a small part of the device on his head unfolded.