A feverish tension spread across the entrance to the human settlement.
The air grew heavier, so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
The angelically pure smile on Azril's face made a hair-raising contrast with the icy cruelty in her words.
Her blue-and-gold heterochromatic eyes swept, with amused interest, over Schwi—who stood as if facing a mortal enemy—and over the humans trembling in the distance like startled lambs. Then they settled back on Jibril.
"So then, Jibril-chan~"
"You've slipped out for days just to play this game?"
"Watching these weak little ants struggle on the brink of death? Sounds pretty fun, meow~"
Azril tilted her head; jade-green hair lifted lightly on the wind, her tone bright with childlike curiosity.
Jibril's heart sank.
The situation she feared most had come to pass.
Azril's thinking always revolves around battle, destruction, and god-slaying.
Jibril had once been the same.
So there was no way Azril would understand what she was doing now.
"Just out for a casual stroll, that's all, Azril-senpai."
Jibril worked to keep her voice flat and calm, even adding a trace of her usual lazy, careless air.
"Oh?"
Azril blinked those gemlike eyes, clearly unconvinced.
Her gaze slid to Schwi, who stood silent and on guard as faint magical sigils began to course over her frame.
"But, Jibril-chan~"
Drawing out the words, she tapped her chin with a finger, feigning puzzlement.
"If you're just strolling, why are you hanging around with an Ex-Machina?"
"And these human ants who aren't even worth warming up on?"
Her look raked across Schwi like something solid, steeped in the Flügel's innate arrogance and contempt for the Ex-Machina—a bias rooted in their very creation.
"…"
Jibril was momentarily at a loss,
mind racing for a way to deflect.
Admit she was protecting them?
That would be no different from declaring war.
Azril would instantly mark this place as an anomaly to be purged.
In the few seconds Jibril hesitated,
Azril seemed to have an epiphany.
Clap—!
She smacked her hands together, and her smile bloomed even "brighter"—beautiful, and chilling to the core.
"Ah! I've got it, meow~!"
She gave her light-woven wings an excited flutter, leaned close to Jibril, and confided as if sharing a secret:
"You think straight-up killing is boring, right?"
"So first you pretend to befriend them, watch as they build hope and a false sense of safety~"
"Then, at the happiest moment, you pinch out that pitiful little flame yourself—while they make the most despairing, most twisted faces!"
"And finally—boom—wipe out everything!"
The more Azril spoke, the more animated she became, a cruel delight glittering in her eyes.
"Right? Right? That's it, isn't it!"
"As expected of Jibril-chan—you always come up with such fun ways to play, meow~!"
She spread her arms, as if to sweep Jibril into a hug.
"Wonderful. Let's play together!"
"It's been ages since I savored the pleasure of slowly tormenting the prey, meow~"
"Who should we start with?"
"This Ex-Machina? Or those humans hiding over there?"
Jibril could only sigh inwardly. Sure enough, everything was veering toward the worst-case scenario.
…
Meanwhile, inside a relatively sturdy stone house in the settlement,
Couronne clamped a hand over her mouth, peering through a crack in the wall at the scene outside, her heart pounding as if it might burst from her chest.
She couldn't understand what the newly arrived winged woman was saying, but she could feel, with terrifying clarity, the abyssal malice and power pouring off her.
A presence that existed for destruction—nothing else.
Couronne had no doubt that a mere flick of that woman's finger, a single spell, could erase the settlement—and every living soul in it—from the face of the earth.
And if Jibril and Schwi fought that terrifying being to protect them—
victory or defeat aside, even the aftershocks would be more than fragile humans could ever survive.
This place would be reduced to dust in an instant.
What do I do?!
What can I do?!
Crushing panic and despair seized Couronne.
As one of the settlement's de facto leaders, she had to find a way—had to protect everyone.
But facing something so far beyond imagination… what could she possibly do?
A name flashed through her mind like the lone candle in the dark—
Rei Ao-sama.
"Right! There's still Rei Ao-sama!"
If anyone in this world could resolve the crisis before her, it could only be Rei Ao-sama!
Without the slightest hesitation, Couronne focused her mind, grabbing at the last straw and frantically calling up the interface of the chat group that bridged dimensions.
A blue screen appeared in the air—visible only to her.
Her fingers trembled violently with fear,
but she still typed at top speed:
Couronne: "@Rei Ao, Rei Ao-sama, are you there? We're in huge trouble!"
Couronne: "A terrifying Flügel has found us—Jibril and Schwi might not be able to hold her!"
Message sent, she stared at the screen, praying like mad that Rei Ao would see it.
…
Of course, Rei Ao wasn't in war-torn Disboard at this moment.
He'd spent a few peaceful, ordinary days after returning from Touka's world.
Now he was tucked away in a quiet corner of a modern city, sweet scents thick in the air.
Inside a warmly decorated, adorable dessert shop, Rei Ao sat across from a gentle, demure young woman with blue-violet hair—Michiru.
Between them sat a petite young woman in a cute dress, white-haired with a little ahoge, cheeks adorably puffed like a hamster as she munched away—
Kanna, eyes narrowing in bliss over a limited-edition deluxe parfait piled high with strawberries and whipped cream.
"I'm really sorry, Rei Ao," Michiru said, cheeks flushing, her tone full of apology and embarrassment. "It's the weekend and I even made you make a special trip…"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Also, get 50% off your first month on every membership tier this December! Take advantage of this offer and join. Thank you!