"What? Mo Xiao is a girl?!"
Akatsuki Kojou was so shocked by the news that he could not recover for a while. After so many incidents, the impression Mo Xiao had left on him had long since become unshakable.
But now, his childhood friend was telling him that the incredibly powerful man was actually a girl?
"Right, Kojou, hurry and come with me! And Asztarte, are you all right?"
Asztarte, who had released her Familiar state, was leaning against the wall to rest. Hearing Aoba Asagi's question, she immediately replied.
"Affirmative. However, excessive magical power has been consumed. Rest is required."
Aoba Asagi frowned slightly. Asztarte had been attacked by a large number of anti-magic bullets while in her Familiar state, so it was only natural that she had overexerted her magical power, but...
Aoba Asagi steeled herself and shouted, "Asztarte, rest here properly. Kojou, come with me!"
"Huh? Natsuki, she..."
Aoba Asagi immediately hoisted Natsuki onto her back, pointed at a nearby manhole cover, and explained what had happened to Kurumi.
Without another word, Akatsuki Kojou flipped into the sewer, with Aoba Asagi following closely behind as they rushed toward the place where they had been separated from Kurumi.
They had not run far through the sewers before Akatsuki Kojou, who was relatively sensitive to magical power, sensed the fiery aura raging through the air.
Aoba Asagi crouched down and looked at the reddish-brown molten metal on the ground, her expression growing far more serious.
"Back at that alloy door, Tokisaki chose to face that strange old man covered in flames alone because she was too exhausted to continue. Even this door was burned to slag. Tokisaki, she..."
"She's fine. I can smell Tokisaki's scent."
"Smell?" Aoba Asagi's furrowed brows had not relaxed once. "Kojou, this is not the