Chapter 96

In conclusion, apart from these four people, Mio Takamiya doesn't care about the life or death of anyone else. She respects the spirits as her lover's saviors, but if it comes to sacrificing them, Mio Takamiya won't hesitate at all.

Now we also need to add Tohka, who has already been won over.

Dinner time passed quickly, and Black Amber had no desire to stay any longer. However, she still feigned concern by saying, "Seven Deadly Sins probably doesn't want to see Shier," before leaving the airship with the help of Fraxinus.

After this 'outsider' had completely left, Kotori turned to Shiori and asked, "So, what do you plan to do with the witch?"

Seemingly worried that Shiori might get carried away by her emotions and forget what Seven Deadly Sins had done, Kotori continued, "Although she looks so pitiful now, based on Tohka's account and Fraxinus's deduction, it's clear that you were her target."

"We don't know what she's up to, but even Tohka can't tell the difference from her disguise. As long as she's wearing your face, whatever she does will cause a lot of trouble."

As Kotori said, although Seven Deadly Sins helped Shiori avoid disaster to some extent, otherwise she might have been captured by DEM, this cannot cover up her inherent malice towards Shiori.

Tohka also said, "Shiori... I don't really like her... I hate that guy more than Shier..."

She looked somewhat pitiful, seemingly because she knew that Shiori was going to treat that annoying being the same way she treated herself, but because Tohka understood the loneliness of being rejected by the world, she couldn't selfishly try to dissuade her.

In the end, she could only use her personal likes and dislikes to annoy the Seven Deadly Sins.

Shiori understood Tohka's feelings. It was like when a younger sibling suddenly appeared in a family, and the older siblings would naturally worry that the younger sibling would share the affection that belonged to them.

After all, Shiori's situation is somewhat similar to this one, except that Shiori is the one who inserted herself, and she is on the older sister's side.

She gently patted Tohka's head to comfort her, but couldn't say anything more.

After all, whatever she says is from the perspective of "righteousness," not "Tohka's." Tohka is willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness because she is kind and sensible, but if Shiori uses such a statement, it is moral blackmail.

"Anyway... I want to try contacting her first, since I don't even know why she suddenly dislikes me."

Shiori Kotori said.

I knew you'd say that.

Kotori wasn't surprised. Her words weren't meant to stop Shiori, but to help Shiori make a decision from a broader perspective. Both involved using Flash to dodge Darius's Q, but one was a prediction and the other was a bluff, so the difference was significant.

"But as I advise, Shiori, you'd better not have any contact with her alone. You only have strong recovery abilities, not immortality. Facing this spirit who is hostile to you, sincerity alone is useless."

Shiori knew this too. Although Seven Deadly Sins had shielded her from the disaster, it didn't mean that Shiori would be unmoved by the situation. As an ordinary high school student, Shiori never imagined that she would one day become someone's kidnapping target, especially not far from the school.

This realization made her acutely aware of the turmoil she was in, and cold sweat began to spread across her back.

This was just too much of a coincidence. If it weren't for the Seven Deadly Sins taking on my appearance to seek revenge, I would undoubtedly have been taken away. How long would it have taken to be discovered? How long would it have taken to be rescued? These were all unknowns, and what would happen during that time was even more uncertain.

Even her previous near-death experience had not given Shiori such a strong sense of crisis.

"But..."

If not alone, how else can we have contact?

Don't be fooled by the fact that Schicksal and DEM look down on the elves as if they're easy prey. In reality, apart from these two organizations, other organizations would only get beaten up when facing the elves.

The same goes for Ratatoskr (who doesn't deploy Eliot).

Kotori's suggestion was no different from a notification to 'abandon the strategy'.

This is also the meaning hidden in the Kotori.

Shiori is her older sister, and a very good one at that. Even when she's in Commander Mode and often speaks harshly to Shiori, it doesn't affect Shiori's position in Kotori's heart. How could Shiori be so kind as to ask Shiori to Kotori a spirit that is clearly hostile and could hurt her at any time?

As Kotori's close friend, Muramasa Reine naturally understood the meaning behind her words.

While it's possible to give the Spiritron Crystal to another person... if the Vessel doesn't have the same compatibility as the Seven Deadly Sins, it will take a long time to purify it.

If possible, Reine didn't want to waste so much time; rather than doing that, she would rather try to see if she could resolve the Seven Deadly Sins' hostility.

Thinking of this, Reine said, "Should we ask Yulande?"

It's been so long, Möbius should have seen through my plan by now, and probably wouldn't mind helping me out, since she needs my strength and goodwill too.

Even without meeting or confirming, Reine's brilliant mind had already guessed that Möbius coveted her power. Reine didn't care about this, as Mio Takamiya didn't care about her power at all; she only cared about whether she could revive Maori.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Rita's Imagination

Asking Schicksal... that's possible... but why do I feel like I've been asking Schicksal all the time lately...?

Shiori and Tohka didn't see anything wrong with it. After all, they had both received a lot of care from Yulande and had been saved by Schicksal. They had a very good impression of Schicksal and were used to relying on Schicksal's help.

Kotori, however, felt a bit uncomfortable. She was, after all, a high-ranking member of Ratatoskr, and she had planned to find some kind of pledge of loyalty to switch to Schicksal and be given important responsibilities, or at least be valued. But why did she have to ask Schicksal for help whenever something happened?

Although he thought so, considering that he had just troubled Yulande and had also benefited from the Valkyrie Shier's help, he couldn't say anything at this moment.

"Let's go to St. Freya first, and then talk to Yulande about this."

Kotori said, "But don't make it too obvious when the time comes... never mind, I'll just say it when the time comes."

I definitely have to go to St. Freya, since there are quite a few elves there, and it wouldn't hurt for Shiori to get to know them.

Having made her plans, Kotori took Shiori and Tohka back to the Itsuka Residence. She didn't give any instructions to Seven Deadly Sins, after all, she was an elf, and the fate of an elf was not something Fraxinus could interfere with. With Shier by Shiori's side, Kotori wasn't too worried about any major problems. Judging from Seven Deadly Sins's attitude towards Shier, she wouldn't dare to appear in front of her casually.

As for the Seven Deadly Sins, they simply left and were never found again, and Kotori didn't care.

To reiterate, although she didn't outwardly show any dissatisfaction, Kotori's willingness to heal this spirit who intended to harm her older sister, and her lack of prejudice towards her, already demonstrated Kotori extreme forbearance.

Kotori had mixed feelings, and so did Black Amber.

Having finally agreed to Amber's request, Black Amber almost messed things up on the first day, all because of the unexpected Seven Deadly Sins incident. She felt extremely frustrated, and even though she had vented a lot before, she was still getting angrier the more she thought about it after returning.

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Shier."

Back at the St. Freya Hotel, seeing Rita standing on the first floor to greet him, Black Amber's face darkened, but she put on an embarrassed expression. "Sister Rita..."

"Are you tired? Yulande was worried about you all day and wanted to see you. It's just in time, dinner is ready."

Rita's smile remained flawless, like a machine modeled from a model, but the slight worry in her eyes nicely softened her coldness.

When they met yesterday, Rita took a liking to this girl. Not only was she quiet and sensible, but she also spoke softly and gently, just like an ordinary girl.

If Rita hadn't confirmed it repeatedly, she would never have imagined that the other party was Valkyrie of the same level as herself.

She had initially thought the other person was older than they appeared, but after spending time with them, she didn't feel that way at all. In addition, even as S-rank Valkyrie, she had never seen the other person in all this time.

Before today's events, Rita thought the other party was carrying out a secret mission in seclusion, but judging from today's situation, Rita had a more logical and reasonable guess: Shier Fulei might be Dr. Möbius's experimental subject.

Inversion is a secret to 99.999% of people is not the case for Rita. After all, Rita has personally entered the Neighboring Realm and lived there, and even personally absorbed the Neighboring Realm that was originally sealed in Yulande's body.

Rita vaguely sensed something was wrong with the Spiritual Power and had explained it to Möbius.

From Möbius, Rita learned about the Spiritron Crystal's ability to continuously search for a new host and the possibility of Spirit Inversion.

In Rita's eyes, Shier's condition was the result of Möbius's research on the technology of Inversion Spiritual Power.

"Shier doesn't feel tired."

Black Amber was unaware of all the speculation Rita had been having. Hearing that she was going to see Amber, she felt a little flustered. Was Amber going to hold her accountable? No... Amber wasn't that kind of person, but even if she wasn't, she didn't want to see her right now!

"Dinner has already been eaten in Fraxinus."

"Is that so? Then let's have some dessert after the meal. It was originally intended for Yulande, but she said she wanted to control her diet."

Rita sensed Black Amber's resistance, assuming it was because she didn't want to face criticism.

After all, although they are both S-rank Valkyrie, Yulande is indeed her and Shier's superior. It's normal to be afraid of being criticized for such a big commotion on their first mission. However, Schicksal already knows more about this matter, and it was an unexpected accident that was beyond their control.

Rita reassured her, "Yulande is also very impressed that you were able to resolve the matter in such a short time."

These words weren't entirely meant to comfort her. In fact, from the sounding of the Spatial Quake alarm to the appearance of the black sphere, the entire time was less than two minutes. Within two minutes, they had managed to control two elves and a Strongest Magician, something even Rita admired.

Of course, Shier's mission was not to resolve the Spatial Quake, but to protect Shiori Itsuka's safety. However, according to Schicksal's information, the situation at the time was that Tohka got angry and ran away, Shiori Itsuka chased after Tohka. Shier was unsure whether she should follow her.

From a mission perspective, Shiori cannot be allowed to leave our sight. However, everything that Schicksal and Ratatoskr have done together is based on Shiori Itsuka sealing the spirits. If the task of appeasing Tohka is made more difficult by the presence of Shier, a third party, then that would also be a problem.

Furthermore, Shier was not officially appointed or directly commissioned by Schicksal, but rather went at Yulande's request, so she really couldn't bear any responsibility.

The summary, when pieced together, is something like this: ' Shier Fulei impulsively went to school to be a student, encountered Spatial Quake alarm, went to investigate, and within two minutes defeated three monster-like enemies who, despite their best efforts, could not defeat her.'

Rita and most people thought so, but Black Amber knew their own situation best.

She wasn't worried about accountability or criticism at all; was there anyone in her Schicksal to hold her accountable?

Black Amber didn't want to see Amber before things were settled! Even if Amber wanted to comfort her, it wouldn't work!

I, Black Amber, am someone who can always be trusted. How could I leave a stain on this undefeated record?! Seven Deadly Sins!!!

She gritted her teeth in anger, but she couldn't refuse Amber's repeated invitations, even though the person making the invitation wasn't Amber herself.

Damn it, Natsumi Kyouno, this isn't over between us yet!

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Way of Resurrection.

Having decided once again to teach that green-haired elf a lesson, Black Amber followed Rita to Amber's room.

Rita knew the two had something to say, so she considerately didn't enter the room.

Just as Black Amber had expected, Amber showed no dissatisfaction with her mistake, nor did she seem to care about it at all. Instead, she expressed concern about whether Black Amber could adapt to this kind of life, since both of them knew Black Amber's personality.

Previously, Amber had chosen Black Amber as her first choice because she didn't have any reliable people to ask for help, but this was on the premise that Black Amber could handle it. Now she had experienced it for a day, although she had only spent half of the time at school, but she could already feel whether she was comfortable or not.

To be honest, Amber somewhat hoped that Black Amber, as her other self, could integrate more into human society, and school is undoubtedly the most carefree stage of human growth, which is part of the reason for this request.

Unfortunately, it's only the first day...

"You won't see anything in just one day."

Black Amber honestly replied, "But a fake is still a fake. I can blend in with my acting skills, but an ordinary school can't accept my true personality."

That's true.

"Then... give up on this?"

Amber assumed she didn't like it, so she said, "Asking Origami won't cause any problems."

This is also Rita's top choice.

"... That's not necessary."

Black Amber said nonchalantly, "Anyway, I don't really have anything to do right now, and after having such a smooth life for so long, it's not so unacceptable to create some trouble for myself."

She had done everything she could as Möbius. All that was left was to wrangle and wait for the right moment. She was basically unable to get involved. From Amber's and Ratatoskr's perspective, the Elf's conquest had just begun, which meant that the plot had only just gotten on track.

But in Black Amber's view, the so-called "hunting down" of Pokémon was just a pastime. She never cared about hunting down any Pokémon; she just followed Amber's interests and made Amber happy until everything was finished.

Once everything she's planned and prepared is in place, then the plot and the drama itself become meaningless. The recognition she gains in this world is far greater than just following the plot; she can even simply treat recognition as a string of numbers.

When her plan succeeds, Amber will officially possess the power to influence the galaxy, and only then will Black Amber have a sense of security.

As for the plan failing... Black Amber doesn't think that's possible. After all, Mio Takamiya is a love-struck person. As long as she provides a revival plan that is feasible, she won't be an obstacle at all. As for Wescott... that's even less likely.

They thought they had captured Niya Honjo, but it was just a feather from Feathered Dust. The real Niya Honjo had already changed her appearance and started a new life, pursuing the ultimate in the world of anime.

As for all the DEM research over the years, it was nothing more than me giving them the results that were several versions behind the mark through Feathered Dust.

How could they possibly create a complete Divine Erosion Tome for Wescott?

There are quite a few ways to revive Mao Takamiya. Whether it's the Jujutsu Kaisen Spirit Summoning optimized by the Herrscher of Reason or the Type-Moon Spirit Puppetry, both can easily bring Mao Takamiya back. Furthermore, if Black Amber is willing, she can even use Mio Takamiya's power and the System Shop to build a budget version of Throne of Heroes on this planet.

However, that would require a lot of recognition, so Black Amber wasn't really willing to consider it, nor would she need to go to that level.

Even if the plan fails, they can still call in the Herrscher of Reason. Although calling in thugs will undoubtedly lower their reputation and image in Amber's eyes, they have no choice but to do so for the sake of profit. Even if they can't beat Mio Takamiya, they can at least make Mio Takamiya unable to take action against them because of her fear.

Everything has been arranged. All that's left is to wait for the Moonlight Throne to be fully set up. Until then, let Amber roam around this world as she pleases.

Hmph... those old fogies and self-proclaimed Immortal are nothing but brutes with power. Could they have planned all this? Could they have gone this far? Could they have created this situation? That's right, only I can have gone this far.

Thinking of this, Black Amber smiled, but it wasn't the healing and sweet smile of Shier. Instead, it carried the arrogance and ease of someone who had long held a high position and was extremely confident in their abilities. This expression wouldn't have been very suitable for Shier's face, but it was just right for Möbius.

"Then... shall I continue to ask you to handle Shiori's matter?"

There were only two people here, and besides, the other person's face was not much different from Shier's, so Amber certainly wouldn't care about ruining her image. However, she really didn't expect that Black Amber would be willing to continue while showing no interest.

"Um."

After mentally refining her self-acceptance and restoring her confidence, Black Amber calmed down.

Time quickly passed to the next day.

Kotori Itsuka had already sent an invitation to Amber for the party last night, inviting not only Yulande, Rita, Shier, but also all the Elves of Schicksal, and even Möbius.

'But Shier and Möbius can't play together...'

Amber was somewhat helpless about this, and after asking Black Amber, she crossed out Möbius's name.

After all, Shier isn't the type to refuse new friends. On the contrary, Möbius is known to be very busy, so it's perfectly normal for him not to attend. Kotori didn't even think Möbius would come; she just invited him out of respect.

He's going to be the boss of the company she'll switch to later.