I Became a Spirit in Date A Live, but I Refuse to Date

Her voice trembling with tears, Lingmeng pleaded with him.

She was terrified that Shiori would ignore her warning and stay. She was afraid something would happen to him because of her.

"..." Shiori lowered his head, his expression dark.

He hated that he had no power to help Lingmeng. He hated that he had said he would save her, yet could do nothing for her.

In that moment, he felt painfully small and helpless.

After a long struggle with himself, Shiori spoke through trembling lips.

"Okay... I'll leave!"

With that, Shiori turned and left. He knew it might not be the right thing to do, but for now, it was the only thing he could do.

Watching Shiori go, Lingmeng quietly sighed.

I guess someone as ill-fated as me can only wander alone.

Well... none of that matters now, as long as Shiori is safe... Huh? Why are my eyes wet?

Lingmeng wiped the corners of her eyes. Was she crying?

"Oh, how touching. Well? We generously gave you time to say goodbye. Aren't you moved?

"After you become one of Lord Isaac's test subjects, you'll never see that girl again."

Anlia Finlander, who had watched them from the start, burst into a deranged laugh once Lingmeng and Shiori had said their final words.

Lingmeng's expression shifted, settling back into anger.

"Cut the crap! If you want to fight, then fight! It's not over yet, so you don't know who'll win! Even without my powers, I won't just stand here and let you do whatever you want!"

Pointing Elemental Spirit at the people in the sky, Lingmeng declared war.

Seeing that Lingmeng really had given up using her powers for someone who had nothing to do with her, Chiba Shizuna closed her sleepy eyes and muttered.

"Just as Lord Isaac said, the Element Maker really is a remarkably human Spirit. But for a Spirit, that kindness is probably a sin, isn't it?"

One Against a Hundred

"Haha! Weren't you just saying you'd wipe the floor with us? Where did all that confidence go?"

Lingmeng's battle against hundreds of DEM Wizards had begun.

Led by Anlia Finlander, the Wizards rushed at Lingmeng, attacking with glowing white blades, Gatling guns, and missiles.

As Lingmeng fended them off, she gauged their strength.

Even DEM's ordinary Wizards were stronger than the average AST member, though they still fell short of Origami.

Even without her powers, Lingmeng could beat them in close combat. But doing so would cost her stamina.

They might not be especially strong, but they had the numbers to wear her down.

And they were the least of her worries. The three Wizards ranked among the world's top five were far more troublesome.

After observing them for several minutes, Lingmeng had a rough grasp of their strength.

Say Origami, equipped with a standard AST CR-UNIT, was one-quarter as strong as Ellen.

Each of these three was roughly one-third as strong as Ellen. Working together, they were probably a match for her.

Three Wizards whose combined strength rivaled the world's strongest Wizard, plus a crowd of Wizards stronger than ordinary AST members.

Thinking about the forces DEM had sent to capture her, Lingmeng had to admit her body was in high demand.

Not that she was happy about it.

"I told you, I won't let you have your way!"

"Aah!" ×N

Lingmeng swung at the group of Wizards ahead of her with all her strength.

After knocking them back, she raised Elemental Spirit and darted toward Anlia Finlander to attack.

"Hah! Take this!"

Lingmeng struck without a moment's hesitation.

From what she had seen, the ordinary Wizards posed little threat. The real danger came from the three ranked among the world's top five. She needed to deal with them first.

"!!!"

Anlia Finlander had not reacted yet. But just as Lingmeng's blow was about to land, something appeared in front of her.

Clang! Only after the metallic impact rang out did Lingmeng realize that a high-tech metal shield had blocked her attack.

"This is..." Lingmeng frowned slightly.

"Whew, that was close, Anlia Finlander."

Beside them, Chiba Shizuna wore a look of relief. She was probably the one who had deployed the shield.

A moment later, her expression turned serious.

"You should be done charging by now. You can attack, can't you, Emilia Relos?"

"Don't order me around! I'm at max power all the time!"

Behind Chiba Fumina, Emilia Relos held a glowing blue-and-white longbow taller than she was. She aimed it at Lingmeng.

"Take this, Element Maker!"

Emilia Relos released the string, and a blue beam shot out.

Not good!

Lingmeng realized that if she stayed where she was, the beam would hit her.

She immediately pulled back Elemental Spirit and tried to dodge.

Whoosh! Lingmeng barely avoided the beam, but it grazed her cheek, drawing a trickle of blood.

"Haha! You're wide open!"

Seeing Lingmeng busy dodging and neglecting her defense, Anlia Finlander laughed wildly and seized the chance to slash at her with both swords.

Lingmeng reacted in time, raising Elemental Spirit to block every strike.

After several seconds of attacking and defending, Lingmeng and Anlia Finlander both jumped back.

Lingmeng glared at Anlia Finlander.

The woman kept aiming for her heart and head. Weren't they supposed to capture her alive as a test subject? Why was she attacking so viciously?

Is Anlia Finlander some kind of sadist?

"Wow. The three of us surrounded you, and all you got was a scratch. You really are something, Spirit."

Chiba Fumina marveled at Lingmeng, who had suffered no serious injury.

"Hmph! She's just putting on a brave face!"

Emilia Relos curled her lip in disdain.

Anlia Finlander, meanwhile, sounded disappointed that the exchange had ended.

"What's wrong? Keep going. Just a little more, and I could have cut you open and taken a good look~ I've never seen the inside of a Spirit before~"

Wow... Are any of DEM's Wizards normal? Why are they all so unhinged?

The corner of Lingmeng's mouth twitched. All three women were behaving in ways she found deeply unsettling.

But that was not the most important thing. More importantly, her situation was looking grim.

In simple terms, the other side had a warrior, an archer, a tank, and hundreds of foot soldiers.

On her side, there was only one mage—herself. And she could not even use her mana. She had to fight hand-to-hand. It was a terrible matchup.

Even so, Lingmeng had no choice but to push through...

"Is anyone there? Somebody, help!"

Shiori ran through the streets as fast as he could, shouting for help.

He had left, but that did not mean he intended to abandon Lingmeng while she was fighting.

All he could do now was find a way to contact Kotori and get them to help.

But he had no way to contact anyone. The citizens had fled to the shelters because of the earlier false Spacequake alarm, so there was no one whose phone he could borrow.

For the first time, Shiori felt just how weak, pitiful, and helpless he was.

He could do nothing. He could not help at all. Getting through this depended entirely on Kotori and the others.

It had been that way with Tohka, and it was the same now with Lingmeng.

The thought brought an indescribable ache to Shiori's chest.

"Please, anyone! Come out!"

Shiori cried out to the sky.

Perhaps in answer to his plea, he had barely finished speaking when he ran into something.

"Ow..." Shiori fell to the ground and rubbed his aching head.

Then a voice he knew all too well spoke.

"Shido, why are you here...?"

The voice was cold and devoid of emotion.

What!? Shiori thought in surprise.

He was dressed as a girl. Apart from Kotori, Lingmeng, and the crew of Fraxinus, no one should have known he was Shido Itsuka.

Yet this person had recognized him at a glance, and her voice sounded familiar.

Could it be...?

With that thought, Shiori looked up at her face.

Sure enough, it was Origami Tobiichi, his classmate and an AST member whom he had seen just yesterday!

A Request

"Origami, why are you here!?"

Shiori stared in surprise at Origami, who stood alone in the street.

"I was worried you might get hurt, so I came to find you."

Origami answered in her cold, flat voice.

"Shido... why are you dressed like that...?"

Looking at Shiori's clothes, Origami tilted her head in confusion.

Shiori scratched his cheek awkwardly, unsure how to answer.

"Well... please don't misunderstand. There's a rea—"

Click.