"—"
Shido felt his heart tremble at Tohka's answer.
Her expression reminded him of when they had first met.
That cold tone, that attitude that shut everyone out.
"Now it's your turn."
Tohka pointed Nahema at Shido as she spoke, looking down on him.
But just then, Lingmeng's voice came from outside the wall.
"Hehe... looks like the old, aloof Tohka hasn't gone out of production after all?"
"Hmm?"
With a surprised murmur, Tohka and Shido both turned toward the opening in the wall.
As the smoke cleared, they saw Lingmeng floating in the air with the Elemental Spirit in her hand, a little dust on her clothes but otherwise unharmed.
"Oh? Not a scratch? You really are strong."
Tohka spoke calmly, without a trace of surprise on her face.
"Right back at you."
Lingmeng wiped the dust off her face and smiled.
"So going dark really does make you three times stronger, and turning good makes you ten times weaker, huh? You're even stronger now than you were with your full Spirit Power.
Now I finally understand why that Isaac guy wanted us to go Inverse. With this much power, you really could change the world."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Well... don't sweat the details."
Lingmeng shrugged casually, then pointed her Angel at Tohka.
"If you want to fight me, bring it on! I'll knock all of you back to your senses!"
"You arrogant fool!"
A vein bulged on Tohka's forehead. She used her Spirit Power to lift herself into the air, then flew straight at Lingmeng.
But Lingmeng calmly turned aside, dodging her.
As though that had lit a fuse, Yoshino and Yamai burst into wild laughter too.
Powerful black Spirit Power erupted from both of them, and they summoned their Angels in