Pant, pant

Shiori watched as her younger sister Kotori, who had been following beside her, spoke over her communicator for a while, then replaced the white ribbons on her head with black ones, switching back into commander mode.

She immediately had a bad feeling. Perhaps it had not come out of nowhere; perhaps she had expected it.

Huanyue had laid the groundwork for this.

She just had not expected it to happen so soon.

Before long, a piercing alarm sounded through the streets.

Woooo—woooo—woooo—woooo—woooo—woooo—woooo—woooo—

Guided by the staff, the lively crowds dispersed in an orderly fashion in an instant. The place that had been filled with laughter only moments earlier was left with scattered footsteps and the echoes of the alarm.

"Shiori, is it a spacequake?" Tohka came closer, worry flickering in her eyes.

"Hmm... probably not, Tohka." Shiori shook her head, her expression turning a little more serious. She looked up at the lingering embers of the fireworks in the night sky and sighed. "The fireworks are over."

"Sorry, we probably won't be able to keep having fun," she said softly.

"Given the situation, we can only teleport everyone back to the Fraxinus first." Kotori received some information through her headset and nodded. "Let's return to the ship for now."

"Ah, okay." Shiori nodded.

The teleportation light faded, and everyone appeared inside the ship.

Aboard the Fraxinus.

Seated in the commander's chair, Kotori looked at the report on the giant screen. Invisible flying swords filled the sky over Tenguu City, their terrifying numbers densely packed across the display. She could not help commenting, "Tch, you're really going all out, Huanyue."

"Has Huanyue run into trouble?" Shiori frowned, then pondered it as a figure surfaced in her mind.

Short pink hair and a gentle smile.

"Rinne...?"

"Oh! What's happening? I want to