The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

"—[Codex Opening]—[Pseudo-Codex]—[Piercer]—"

Facing the incoming attack, Reine quickly rolled to the side, and the bed beneath her was pierced through as a result. If she hadn't dodged, that bed would have been her fate.

Her opponent had come prepared. It seemed they knew her true identity.

Understanding the situation at hand, Reine no longer concealed her real self.

She raised her hand, pointing it at the opponent.

"[Rin-ne Eden]."

In response, Xiu Er made the same motion.

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

With the two of them as the starting point, colors of white and black streaked across space.

Both sides returned to this space once more.

"Converting energy into the spiritual power of target [Mio], replacing 50% of armament functions with Mio's spiritual power... Replacement complete. All attacks will now be imbued with the spiritual power of target [Mio]."

Xiu Er was fully prepared. Now, the true challenge against Mio began.

At this moment, Reine revealed her original form.

Now, she should be called—[Mio].

In the original story, she was the beginning of all these spirit incidents, the source of so many tragedies.

Her features were as delicate as a work of art, devoid of the earlier fatigue. A pure white gown made her resemble a goddess descending from the heavens. Behind her floated a halo of light, embedded with ten stars, nine of which were dim—a manifestation of the power she had divided and given away.

Those ten stars represented the ten spirit maidens.

Mio simply floated quietly in the air, her expression unusually strained. Her brows were tightly knit. Without a word, she raised her hand and summoned her first angel, the Angel of Death—[Sanctuary of Myriad Manifestations].

A flower with a pistil resembling a maiden's form appeared before Mio's hand.

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

A massive assault rifle wrapped in gale-force winds let out a sonic boom as it flew in from a distance. Mio sidestepped and dodged it.

She caught a glimpse of the attack's source. It was an existence identical in appearance to Xiu Er, holding a [Sky Dasher] that had just finished firing.

But the attacks didn't end there.

From Mio's flank, two more "Xiu Ers," one wielding [Gokurokugai] and the other [Piercer], flanked her from left and right, attacking simultaneously.

Close-quarters combat began.

Ten minutes after the battle started—

Constantly interrupted by close-range attacks, Mio was forced into melee combat with two "Xiu Ers."

Light gathered into "ribbons," dancing around under Mio's control as dense attacks rained down on the two "Xiu Ers."

Unfortunately, this level of assault couldn't breach the defensive armament [No Passage] they wore.

The light ribbons lashed or stabbed against the hemispherical shields, not even stirring a single ripple, leaving Mio unable to shake them off.

"—[Codex Opening]—[Pseudo-Codex]—[War Song Diva]—"

Just as Mio was locked in battle with the two "Xiu Ers," music that shouldn't have existed echoed through this otherwise empty Neighboring World.

Mio quickly stole a glance.

She saw another "Xiu Er" with a head-mounted device deployed.

Standing below, he activated his armament, playing an impassioned track he had downloaded, unleashing [March] to bring BGM to the fight.

From then on, the other "Xiu Ers" fought with increasing ferocity. With the later addition of a "Xiu Er" wielding [Great Flame of Destruction], the pressure in close quarters grew heavier.

In the distance, the "Xiu Er" holding [Sky Dasher] kept firing arrows at Mio.

While resisting the pincer attacks of [Gokurokugai], [Piercer], and [Great Flame of Destruction], Mio also had to divert her focus to dodge the attacks from [Sky Dasher].

She kept searching for an opening to escape, but the three "Xiu Ers" never gave her any chance, instantly catching up every time.

As for teleportation, Mio did possess that ability. But every time she tried to use it, another "Xiu Er" would lock down the space with [One-Way Street].

Their attacks were perfectly coordinated, making it nearly impossible for Mio to evade.

And they maintained shields throughout the entire fight. No matter how Mio counterattacked, she couldn't deal any effective damage.

What's more, Mio felt that their attacks were becoming increasingly precise, making each dodge harder than the last.

Then came the later addition of [Extinction Angel].

The floating cannons chasing after her attacks left Mio momentarily dazed. She had no memory of this thing.

That meant—her opponent had obtained it from a future spirit through Kurumi.

It wasn't hard to guess. Mio knew the powers of each spirit well.

And these identical "Xiu Ers"...

Mio dared to conclude that this was no mass-produced unit, but a clone created after the other party had acquired Kurumi's ability.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Binder]-"

A golden-rimmed chain, like a swimming dragon, suddenly coiled around Mio's right arm from some direction.

The mental fatigue from prolonged, high-intensity combat caused Mio to momentarily let her guard down, allowing the opportunity to be seized.

This single move directly disrupted Mio's next action, and she was pierced clean through the waist by [Piercer].

Because of this, her trajectory was completely thrown off, and she was struck on the back by [Gokurokugai] from the other side.

Seeing the dire situation, she seized the moment to unleash a violent shockwave of spiritual power outward from within her body.

But just as Mio was about to do so, a giant, flame-wreathed, gold-inlaid axe appeared in her vision.

Boom!!!

It cleaved her from the sky down into the earth from above.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground, centered on Mio's point of impact.

In the distance, "Xiu Er" drew [Sky Dasher] once more; [Piercer], serving as the arrow, gathered the power of the wind, and with a sound of piercing air, it shot straight at Mio in the crater.

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

Seconds later, Mio stood up from the ground again.

Her body was now covered in wounds everywhere, and her originally pure white hair and Astral Dress were adorned with fresh red.

She didn't understand why she had ended up like this.

But Mio was given no time to think; this time, five [Piercers] converging with gale-force winds flew towards her again, forming a violent, shredding tempest centered on Mio's feet.

In the distance, there were five "Xiu Ers," each holding a [Sky Dasher].

"Cough, cough, cough..."

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

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Great Flame of Destruction: Cannon]-"

What greeted her this time was a golden-red energy blast aimed directly at her face.

This energy struck various parts of Mio's body without any defense, and burns began to appear all over her.

There was no chance to counterattack; the slightest movement would bring the next attack instantly.

Having already analyzed the data from the first encounter, Xiu Er had long grasped most of Mio's information and, during the previous battle, continuously recorded various data on Mio.

Ultimately, this allowed her to increasingly adapt to the opponent's rhythm during the fight, gradually taking control of the battle situation.

Furthermore, the [Rin-ne Eden] they had unleashed against each other at the start allowed Xiu Er to directly seize half of the other's authority, effectively banning Mio's second Angel, and converting part of the unit's energy into Mio's spiritual power. Armaments possessing Mio's spiritual power could now inflict effective damage on her as well.

In the end, Xiu Er had merely cleverly exploited the mechanics to succeed in defeating Mio. Finally, this scene continued for over ten minutes...

Chapter 32: Departure and Arrival

The "Xiu Ers" descended near the crater.

Inside the pit, the Origin Spirit, scarred and battered, had lost her former radiance. Her once pure white ceremonial dress was now stained with blood and grime, and her hair, sullied by "Xiu Er's" attacks, looked utterly disheveled.

Having been subjected to relentless, uninterrupted bombardment by various weapons in a brutal manner.

Mio now lay in the deep pit, face up, with a long spear still embedded in her waist, pinning her to the ground.

All of this happened within the Neighboring World; no one would know of the events unfolding now.

"[Notification] Target has lost combat capability. Objective of neutralization complete."

"..."

"Received."

The "Xiu Ers" surrounding the pit gradually dissolved into particles of light, until only one remained.

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

"[Announcement] This unit had no intention of obstructing your plans. The sole purpose of this mission was to acquire the power of the Spirit. Objective complete, this unit will depart on its own."

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

"Display your Angel, [Sanctuary of Myriad Manifestations]. This is the final objective."

The other's eyes glowed with light, her words devoid of any emotional color, as if making a final proclamation.

It was not a negotiation, but a notification.

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

Mio said faintly.

It was she who, deeming the other an unstable factor, decided to eliminate her.

Then, upon seeing the other could replicate [Rin-ne Eden], she began to sense something was wrong. To prevent her trump card from being copied, she resolved never to reveal it.

Finally, she was defeated. But in truth, Mio had not sustained severe injuries; she still had the stamina for another fight. It was simply that she had come to understand one thing: continuing to fight this mechanical construct was meaningless.

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

So she was certain that this "Spirit Hunter" could not possibly be an existence that would appear on Earth.

An alien?

Uncertain.

Mio had no way of knowing, and the other party was unlikely to answer either.

And the other party had confirmed that what they said was true—they hadn't harmed Shido, hadn't killed any Spirits, and thus hadn't truly affected her overall plan.

Forget it. Since the other party indeed wouldn't interfere with her plan, she had no reason to continue either. She was tired and didn't want to waste her limited energy on meaningless matters.

"Ah..."

She let out a sigh.

Now, Mio had returned to the state she was in when she was "Muramasa Reine."

Her lifeless eyes drooped with heavy eyelids as she slowly raised her arm.

She summoned her first Angel, the Angel of Death—[Sanctuary of Myriad Manifestations]...

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

It was one of her hobbies.

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

Nia was afraid she'd get bored sitting there doing nothing, so she turned on the TV and let the program play.

Xiu Er just sat quietly on the sofa, expressionless, watching the television, her mechanical eyes glowing all the while.