Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

The next moment, the hair ornament transformed, and a key appeared in Xiu Er's hand.

Click.

The door opened.

Putting the Fake Demoness, which had reverted back to a hair ornament, back in place, Xiu Er walked into Kurumi's house and closed the door behind her.

After checking the living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a series of other rooms, Xiu Er confirmed that Kurumi was indeed not home.

So where did she go?

Based on previous surveillance records, Xiu Er was certain that this time period was when Kurumi should be at home.

An urgent matter? That didn't seem likely either.

Checking the city's surveillance again, none of Kurumi's usual routes showed any sign of her.

So either she was in a blind spot of the cameras, or...

In a corner behind Xiu Er, a patch of eerie shadow appeared.

As if to prove Xiu Er's speculation, countless hands made of shadow suddenly burst out from the shadow behind her.

"-[Codex Opening]-[No Passage]-"

A golden particle membrane enveloped Xiu Er, blocking all the surging shadow hands.

And because she had used other armaments, Xiu Er's disguise automatically dissolved, revealing the mechanical structure beneath the camouflage.

Seeing that the ambush had failed, the other party no longer hid and responded to Xiu Er with words.

"Ara~ Forcibly entering someone else's home, Miss Robot's personality is really quite terrible~"

A black-haired woman dressed in a black-and-red gothic outfit stepped out from the shadow on the wall.

One long ponytail and one short one hung on either side of her head like the hour and minute hands of a clock, and intense hostility could be seen in her scarlet eyes.

Notably, the girl's left eye was different from a normal person's—the scale of a clock was imprinted in her eye, and the hand inside was moving counterclockwise.

Although she knew the girl before her was the Kurumi she was looking for, Xiu Er still asked a question, just as she had with Natsumi.

"[Question] Are you Tokisaki Kurumi?"

Just for the sake of formality.

"I am indeed. May I ask, Miss Robot, what business do you have with me?"

Kurumi tapped her chin, tilted her head, and looked at Xiu Er with a puzzled expression, as if she really didn't know.

To this, Xiu Er didn't answer, but instead...

"-[Codex Opening]-[One-Way Street]-"

A [door] composed of golden energy split open on the ceiling, then fell downward, swallowing both Xiu Er and Kurumi.

During this time, Kurumi didn't try to dodge; she quietly waited to be swallowed by the Golden Gate, a smile on her face, her thoughts unknown.

Xiu Er was curious about this too, but she couldn't show any emotion right now.

Could Kurumi have some other agenda?

Xiu Er could only guess as much.

The scene shifted to an outskirts area.

This was the battlefield Xiu Er had chosen to prevent damage to the residential buildings, but she hadn't expected Kurumi to cooperate so readily.

"Ara~ Spatial abilities, is it? I really want to know what faction is behind you."

"..."

Xiu Er said nothing, silently pulling out Gokurokugai.

"[Princess], [Hermit], [Witch]..."

"Next up is me, right? Copying the Angels of Spirits—you people really have some nerve."

It was then that Xiu Er realized Kurumi seemed to have misunderstood something. She appeared to think Xiu Er was an anti-Spirit combat robot created by some faction, copying the Angels of Spirits to carry out some unknown plan.

Since the other party had already come up with a setting for her, what could Xiu Er say?

Of course, she accepted it.

"If you want it, then come and take it yourself!"

Kurumi flashed a wild grin, two flintlock pistols of different lengths appearing in her hands. Starting from her feet, black shadows spread outward, transforming the outskirts into Kurumi's Shadow Paradise.

At that moment, Xiu Er moved. There was no way she would actually wait for Kurumi to finish setting up the field.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Speed Violation]-"

In that instant, Xiu Er erupted with astonishing speed. Golden energy blasted out, tracing a straight golden line.

In the blink of an eye, she was before Kurumi. The blade of Gokurokugai slammed into her, but Kurumi seemed not to have reacted at all, her smile unchanged.

'Not the real body.'

"-[Codex Opening]-[Traffic Control]-"

Xiu Er reached the conclusion at once and deployed her defense in an instant.

Countless bullets flew in from Xiu Er's flank, deflected to the rear, striking a group of Kurumis behind him.

At that moment, Kurumis began surfacing from the shadow-covered area, each wearing that unchanging smile.

Eerie laughter spilled from their mouths, rising and falling in waves across the zone.

Meanwhile, the true Kurumi had long since merged into the crowd of clones. Finding the real body among those clones, indistinguishable from the original, was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The Kurumis watched Xiu Er with mocking smiles, their laughter grating like ridicule.

Xiu Er looked at them and sighed helplessly inside.

'Ah, as expected, Kurumi is the most troublesome one...'

Chapter 9: Pseudo-Codex—Zaphkiel

Kurumi's clones poured bullets at Xiu Er, but every shot was blocked and deflected by his shield before it could hit him, ultimately striking another Kurumi clone instead.

To put it precisely, every bullet they fired at Xiu Er was returned to them intact by Xiu Er.

Faced with this utterly unreasonable defense, the Kurumis had no way to break through. Realizing that ranged weapons were completely useless against Xiu Er, they stopped firing and switched to close combat.

But what happened? In melee, Xiu Er, wielding Gokurokugai, cut through the Kurumi swarm like he was in an empty field, going on a one-man rampage.

Countless Kurumis emerged from the shadows, only to be slain by Xiu Er and sent back into the darkness.

Time reached five minutes into the battle.

The Kurumis noticed that Xiu Er's offensive was growing fiercer by the moment. At first, they could still exchange a few moves with him, but now they couldn't even last a single blow.

Their original plan to exhaust his energy supply also fell apart.

Just look at how he only got stronger the longer he fought—you're telling me that thing's energy consumption isn't low?

Anyway, Kurumi understood that dragging it out like this would only see her own spiritual power and time drained first.

As for her usual tactic against enemies—the ability to absorb their "time"—it had no effect on Xiu Er.

She had tried it the moment he entered the house, but for some reason, she couldn't extract any "time" from him at all, as if he were a lifeless object.

That was also why Kurumi thought Xiu Er was a robot.

Honestly, she really didn't want to let him steal her Angel's power, but if she didn't use it now, she would lose.

And the option of "running away" was discarded.

Kurumi could vaguely sense that if she chose to flee, he would find her immediately, no matter where she hid, even at the ends of the earth.

She couldn't spend the rest of her life hiding in the shadows either.

"Tch, didn't expect you to be this troublesome."

Just as Kurumi grumbled in frustration, a voice she had heard only moments ago sounded beside her ear.

"Found you."

"!?"

Kurumi instinctively tried to slip into the shadows, but...

"-[Codex Opening]-[One-Way Street]-"

Xiu Er locked down Kurumi's space, and the result was that Kurumi was ejected.

Kurumi flew into the air.

Blood sprayed from the wound on her abdomen, tracing a perfect semicircle across the sky.

Xiu Er had analyzed Kurumi's original body and gained a basic recognition of it. Now, having fully analyzed all the Kurumis, the real body's position was naturally locked down.

A diagonal upward slash—a heavy strike sent the original Kurumi flying into the air.

The situation turned dangerous, and Kurumi no longer hesitated.

"Come out! [Zaphkiel]"

A massive mechanical clock appeared behind Kurumi.

Using spiritual power to stabilize herself in midair, Kurumi looked down at Xiu Er below, one hand clutching her abdomen, looking utterly disheveled.

And she saw it.

The moment she summoned her Angel, Xiu Er's eyes lit up with an eerie gleam.

Guessing what Xiu Er was doing, Kurumi wanted to end the fight quickly. She raised the flintlock pistol in her hand.

"[Bullet of Four]"

The hour hand pointed to four. At the four position, a mass of spiritual power gathered and entered the gun she held.

Then, she aimed it at her own head.

Bang!

A gunshot.

The moment Kurumi shot herself, the wounds on her body vanished.

Xiu Er did not act. While defending against the other Kurumi clones, she was also analyzing Zaphkiel.

Her primary goal was to analyze Zaphkiel, not to defeat Kurumi. Forcing her Angel out was precisely why Xiu Er had waited so long.

"[Bullet of One]... [Bullet of Five]..."

Following the same sequence as before, Kurumi applied her buffs to herself.

Bullet of One—instantly accelerates the target it hits, achieving a teleportation-like effect.

Bullet of Four—reverses the target's time upon impact, producing a healing effect.

Bullet of Five—grants the target a brief glimpse into the immediate future.

Kurumi would not use other bullet effects against Xiu Er, because she knew it was pointless—he could deflect that kind of attack.

"Analysis complete."

And Xiu Er, the moment the other party used her ability, had already parsed its data.

Then—

"—Codex Opening—Pseudo-Codex—Zaphkiel—"

Golden energy coalesced behind Xiu Er, taking shape. A clock identical to Kurumi's materialized at his back.

Faced with this situation, Kurumi merely let out a troubled sigh.

"As expected, I absolutely cannot let you see my Angel."

She had already foreseen this outcome when she peered into the future. Her mood was hardly any better now.