Angel Qian Huanyue

Even though Qian Huanyue had promised not to hurt her, Hii Hibiki still felt weak in the knees.

"So the Quasi-Spirit who attacked me earlier was a contestant in some kind of competition?"

"Yes." Hii Hibiki answered softly, a trace of trembling still in her voice. She soon steadied herself. "Quasi-Spirits who wander into this area get attacked by its contestants, even if they don't have an invitation."

Judging by how vast and empty this place was, Qian Huanyue had mistaken it for some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. So she had simply wandered into the wrong area?

"But why are you here?" Qian Huanyue caught the gap in her explanation and tilted her head. "Are you a contestant too?"

"...!" Hii Hibiki shook her head and rushed to explain. "No, no! My best friend was chosen to compete. I just wanted to come and see her... Only one person can survive this competition, and the winner gets a Soul Crystal."

"I thought maybe I could help her somehow..." Hii Hibiki gave a helpless little laugh.

"What a ridiculous competition." Qian Huanyue frowned.

What is this, a Holy Grail War?

"My, it certainly is." Kurumi frowned too. After using [Tenth Bullet] to read the past of this place, she had a rough grasp of the situation. "It's rather distasteful."

"What's a Soul Crystal? Is it like a Spirit Crystal?"

"Huh?! Huanyue, you don't know?" Hii Hibiki let out a startled cry, then quickly explained.

"A Soul Crystal is like a spirit's heart. No, it is our heart! That tiny crystal is where our Spiritual Power comes from."

At that, Qian Huanyue lifted her chin. "That sounds a lot like a Spirit Crystal."

"And if a Soul Crystal ever shatters—"

"You die!" Hii Hibiki drew a finger across her throat as she spoke.

"Oh. So it works much like a Spirit Crystal."

"They're probably similar," Kurumi said. "As Spirits, we have something more complete."

"Spirits?! W-w-wait, what?!" Hii Hibiki's voice rose in astonishment.

"You're... Spirits?!"

Qian Huanyue leaned closer with an amused smile. "Mm-hmm. That's right."

Kurumi chuckled as well. The memories transmitted through [Tenth Bullet] had shown her what the Quasi-Spirit girl before her was facing.

If Huanyue had been trapped somewhere with no way out, Kurumi would have done everything she could to force her way in, if only so she would have no regrets.

Anyone who forces friends to part forever is the worst! Unforgivable!

The resemblance to her own experience, and the sense that she understood Hii Hibiki, brought the First Spirit to mind. Kurumi felt a flicker of anger.

"So your Angels...?" Hii Hibiki's mouth fell open. "They aren't 'Nameless' Angels, are they?"

Hope shone in Hii Hibiki's eyes.

Her heart pounded. The tiny hope she had nearly lost flared back to life.

A Spirit's power was worlds apart from that of a Quasi-Spirit living in the Neighboring World. Hii Hibiki had felt how different they were from her.

If she did everything she could to meet their requests...

Maybe they could defeat Puppeteer.

Defeat the cowardly ruler who looked down on everyone in the Tenth Domain.

If she did not act soon, her dearest friend Yūkage, who had been covered in injuries lately,

might not last long enough to claim the Soul Crystal.

She could not stand by and watch her friend become fuel for someone else's growth.

In fact, she had been searching for someone powerful whom she could use her "Nameless" Angel, [King Killing], on.

It could swap her body with a target's and directly take their abilities.

Taking an ability would also swap their personalities. Once activated, she would become the person she had taken it from, and the swap could not be undone unless that person gave up what they had received from her.

That was why she had hidden in the grass earlier and watched Qian Huanyue and Kurumi so closely—she had been deciding whether either of them would make a suitable target.

"Hellooo—" Qian Huanyue leaned toward the dazed girl's ear and breathed softly.

"Eek—" Hii Hibiki jolted.

Qian Huanyue had caught the anger in Kurumi's eyes despite how little she showed it.

Wanting to befriend the Quasi-Spirit girl while easing Kurumi's anger, Qian Huanyue decided to help Hii Hibiki.

Though it seemed the girl had plans of her own.

"Need a hand, little one?"

At first, Hii Hibiki had been terrified of her, afraid she would attack her as mercilessly as the Quasi-Spirit from earlier had.

But now, her words felt like a handful of water offered to someone dying in the desert.

Hii Hibiki's impression of Qian Huanyue as a mischievous little devil vanished like mist. In her eyes, Qian Huanyue seemed bathed in holy light, as though she had become an angel.

"...Why?" Hii Hibiki felt something tremble deep in her heart. "Why would you help me? We have nothing to do with each other. We're complete strangers."

Qian Huanyue touched a finger to her lips and pretended to think, though her mind had gone completely blank.

At last, she folded her arms and gave an offhand answer with a chuckle:

"I want to see how strong I really am. Does that count?"

"My." Kurumi turned her red eyes toward Huanyue, unsurprised. A knowing smile touched her lips.

After all, this person had always been such a strange "good person."

Sometimes she was too softhearted, too kind, too quick to let her guard down. In some ways, that made her especially easy to hurt—the younger Kurumi's other selves knew that all too well.

But Kurumi did not dislike it.

"Huh?!" Hii Hibiki looked even more astonished.

What a far-fetched reason...

Was she helping me out of pity?

Yet when she had been helpless, someone had reached out to her.

In that moment,

Hii Hibiki thought Qian Huanyue looked incredibly cool.

"Then let me add one more reason—" Qian Huanyue gave her an adorable smile. "I want to be your friend. Does that count?"

She's a silver-haired beauty like me, after all.

And I think I scared her earlier. If I'm gentler now, maybe I can improve the awful impression I made?