Qian Huanyue: Huh? I'm Mio Takamiya? How come I didn't know?

"Oh my... This really is..." Sweet Loli Kurumi covered her mouth. With every magician defeated, the gun in her hand had fallen idle.

"Completely one-sided."

"Oh my, it certainly is for now."

"Huanyue-chan is amazing!"

"Oh my, things are looking good."

The battle had become a rout. The Seraph of Thousand Blades had blasted the magicians so badly they were barely fit to show on-screen.

Their Territories groaned under the crushing spiritual pressure.

"Where is Sister, the Second Spirit?"

Qian Huanyue seized the defeated Ellen by the hair and pulled her close, forcing Ellen to meet her eyes.

Ellen grunted in pain and glared at her. "You think... I'd tell you anything?"

"Then I'll kill..." Qian Huanyue paused to study Ellen's face. It barely changed, as though the death of a teammate mattered less to her than information about the Second Spirit, Nia Honjo.

"Oh dear—"

"Westcott."

Ellen's pupils contracted sharply. "Who are you? How do you know that name?"

"Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott." Qian Huanyue repeated the name one word at a time. She felt oddly like a villain, with the "world's greatest magician" before her looking like a helpless lamb crushed by the forces of evil.

"Don't tell me what I want to know," she said, deliberately softening her voice, "and I'll kill him."

Ellen's impassive expression finally wavered.

Who was she?

She had the power to defeat me.

And that beautiful silver hair...

A realization struck Ellen Mira Mathers. She remembered a day thirty years ago.

The ruins thirty years ago, the most violent Spacequake in history, that pure-white figure floating in the sky...

The sight of silver hair streaming in the spiritual wind gradually overlapped with the girl before her. (It wasn't her.)

The First Spirit, summoned by the last few magicians left in the world.

Of course. If she was the First Spirit, changing her appearance wouldn't be difficult, would it?

If she was Origin, it was no wonder she'd defeated me.

Qian Huanyue watched Ellen's expression with interest. Shock flashed through those usually composed eyes, followed by confusion, before settling into the fear of sudden understanding.

What on earth was she thinking?

"I see..." Ellen murmured, realization in her voice. "If it's you, everything makes sense."

She raised her head and regarded Qian Huanyue with a complicated look.

"The First Spirit..."

"??"

For a moment, Qian Huanyue thought she'd misheard.

Huh?

I'm Mio Takamiya?! How come I didn't know?

Is your memory that bad? Did you forget what Mio Takamiya looked like in thirty years? Don't mistake me for her just because we both have white hair, you stupid woman! You're only thirty-two!

She could even sense the Kurumis behind her—who had been on guard, ready to finish Ellen off or provide support—collectively staring at Ellen in speechless disbelief.

No one in the world hated the First Spirit, Mio Takamiya, more than Kurumi did. Knowing Mio's true nature, the Kurumis would never mistake the two Spirits for the same person.

Qian Huanyue took a deep breath. The urge to send this woman, who had let her imagination run wild, straight to the afterlife was almost overwhelming.

"Listen to yourself, Ellen Mira Mathers. You call yourself the world's greatest magician. Has spending all those years inside a Territory squeezed your brain until it shriveled?"

Qian Huanyue gripped Ellen's throat, her face cold.

"Mmgh..."

"Now put those useless fantasies away. I'll ask you again—where is the Second Spirit, Nia Honjo?"

"And don't let me hear the words 'First Spirit' again. Don't think you can stall with that nonsense, either. If you don't tell me..."

...she was going to run out of threats.

"Oh my—treating a lady like that isn't very gentlemanly."

Qian Huanyue paused but did not let go. She glanced sideways.

Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott stepped out from behind the rubble. His signature white suit was spotless, and he wore that same unreadable, fervent smile.

A few surviving DEM magicians followed him. Clearly, he had waited until the outcome was settled before showing himself.

"Why did you come here, Eccentric?!" Ellen rasped.

Westcott seemed not to hear her. His gaze went straight to Qian Huanyue, and he studied her with interest, a flicker of wonder in his eyes. "What astonishing power... Even greater than I expected. It seems Ellen's failure to stop you was no surprise after all."

Qian Huanyue raised an eyebrow. She kept her grip on Ellen's neck and said coldly, "You've arrived just in time. Did you come all this way to give me the information?"

"The information? Perhaps." Westcott chuckled and slowly raised a hand, brushing his fingertips across the corner of his mouth. "After all, I still need Ellen to do a few things for me. As for the Second Spirit..."

"She's being held in an underground facility on Nirill Island." As he spoke, Westcott tossed a keycard to Qian Huanyue.

"Seraph of Thousand Blades." Qian Huanyue caught the keycard and summoned her Angel. Keeping her word, she released Ellen, who stumbled half a step back. Red marks remained on her neck.

"San-sans, time to go." She rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of mental exhaustion.

"Okay." ×5

The five Kurumis answered in unison, and the City of Devouring Time rapidly drew inward.

Soon, not a single Spirit remained in sight.

Ellen finally caught her breath. She pushed herself up from the ground and stared at Westcott's back, her voice full of despair and anger. "What are you doing, Eccentric?!"

Westcott looked back at her, his smile unchanged. "Ellen, you're too naive. My plan can't afford to lose a piece as important as you."