"Hi! Did you miss me? ♬"
A cheerful female voice rang out as a pink energy arrow shot toward Hoshimi Miyabi. It burst before her, and clusters of pink crystal sprang up, trapping her inside.
"Who's there?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi jerked her head up. At some point, pink crystal flowers had spread across the plaza, each one enclosing a citizen.
At the far end of the plaza, a girl with long pink hair appeared. Wrapped in petals and starlight, she swept into the battlefield steeped in Ether and ill omen.
Elysia—the second of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. Her Signet was [True Self].
The girl's pink hair fell like a waterfall, her eyes seemed to hold an entire starry sky, and a smile forever curved her lips.
The moment she appeared, Dead End Hollow stopped expanding. With a wave of her hand, she gently soothed the raging Ether Energy!
"Dan?"
Yanagi studied the figure, then her pupils contracted. Was that the First-generation Void Hunter, Lieutenant Colonel Dan of the Baton Army?
What was she doing here?
Had the Municipal Government sent her to help?
"Nope. It hurts a little to be mistaken for someone else, but that's okay... Cute girls get special privileges."
Elysia flashed directly in front of Yanagi and bent down to speak to her.
"Hello, fellow pink-haired beauty. I'm Elysia, but you can call me Ely. It's cute, just like me ♪."
"Elysia?"
Yanagi murmured the name. The resemblance was striking, but this girl truly wasn't that First-generation Void Hunter.
Especially with that unusual introduction and the intense way she looked at her... Years of working cases told Yanagi that look was a lot like the "yuri" she'd read about in novels.
As Yanagi pondered, Griseo emerged at the Hollow's boundary. Her sky-blue hair stirred softly, and the Signet of