Inside DEM's Japanese branch.
Westcott sat in his chair with a gloomy expression, his gaze icy and intense as it fixed on the medical report in front of him—the checkup results for DEM's strongest combatant, Ellen.
According to the report's conclusions, the previous mission had caused varying degrees of physical strain on Ellen's body, along with a certain level of psychological trauma.
Combined, even the slightest touch now caused her pain.
Forget about going out to fight—even wearing the Realizer Unit had become a major problem.
How had things come to this?
Ever since Durandal first appeared on the world stage six years ago, followed shortly by Schicksal's entry into Japan, the world had undergone two massive shifts in his eyes.
DEM had gone from "starting later than Schicksal, but with Realizer Units spread globally—at this rate, we'll surpass them sooner or later," to "Durandal is as strong as a demon, DEM can't compete," and then to "an unknown Valkyrie easily defeated our top Wizard. Realizer technology might be completely outclassed by Valkyrie armor and Stigmata tech."
"How long until she recovers?" Westcott asked, his voice low.
"Well…" The doctor in charge of the examination hesitated before giving an uncertain reply.
"Physically, with DEM's medical equipment, she could fully recover within three days. But the psychological aspect… that depends on the patient herself. It could take a day, a week, or even longer."
Truthfully, Westcott wasn't particularly worried—or rather, his concern had never really been about Ellen's injuries.
He'd already known the extent: her physical wounds weren't severe, and Ellen herself wasn't so fragile mentally. She'd bounce back soon enough.
What really worried him was the impact of this incident.
After the failed kidnapping of Mobius, he'd had a feeling Mobius would retaliate. Yet, up to now, Mobius hadn't said a word.
That deepened his unease considerably, and Ellen's latest setback pushed that worry to its peak.
In this world, Realizer Units were far more widespread than Valkyrie armor and Stigmata.
The latter two were technologies Mobius had specifically developed for Schicksal's internal use—not publicly released, and certainly not sold abroad like Realizer Units.
So, even though Schicksal had started earlier than DEM, covering most of Europe within a year and extending its influence across the entire continent within two, that rapid expansion had stalled after DEM emerged.
Though Schicksal continued to grow, the pace had slowed significantly.
Meanwhile, DEM, aggressively promoting Realizer Units, achieved rapid global expansion, building friendly ties with numerous countries and factions.
While they didn't have the pervasive control Schicksal wielded within its sphere, the mutual goodwill alone was enough to satisfy DEM.
Westcott wanted to rule the world, but he was never in a hurry.
He understood that once his goal was achieved, any previous setbacks, no matter how severe, could be overturned in an instant.
Yet, the current situation left him uneasy.
Schicksal's tight control over the nations within its sphere made Mobius's voice practically the only one that mattered, even influencing policies unrelated to Spirits.
Though she hadn't extended her reach there yet, no one doubted she could.
This also meant Schicksal was completely united—a rope no one could easily cut.
DEM, on the other hand, was different.
The various factions that had joined them in targeting Mobius weren't driven by unity; each had its own interests, things they wanted from Mobius.
Even though they all used DEM's Realizer Units, who among them would swear before God, in front of everyone, that they weren't coveting Valkyrie armor and Stigmata?
Leaving aside the pros and cons of Valkyrie armor versus Realizer Units, Stigmata was a miraculous technology that allowed even a slender girl to effortlessly flip an armored vehicle.
Sure, someone in a Realizer Unit could do that too—but only within a Territory. Outside of it, they were just ordinary people.
Allies bound by self-interest were the worst kind when those interests went unfulfilled and their schemes came to light—quick to blame each other and throw their own ranks into chaos.
Especially now, with DEM, their leader, having been thoroughly humiliated by Schicksal.
At that thought, Westcott's expression darkened further.
He could already imagine the letters and communications that would soon pour in from around the world.
The ugly faces of those wretched humans never failed to disgust him, no matter how many times he saw them.
More importantly, if Mobius chose this moment to bring up that assassination attempt and settle scores, Westcott had no doubt those politicians would push him to the front as the prime scapegoat.
No matter how much he claimed not to fear Mobius, that was under the premise of not being directly targeted and believing the gap between DEM and Schicksal wasn't too wide.
Even someone as arrogant as Westcott knew what would happen once Mobius viewed him as an enemy.
Taking another deep breath, Westcott dismissed the doctor, set the medical report aside, and opened his phone.
Sure enough, a flood of messages poured out in rapid succession.
Skimming through a few, they were all asking him what to do, whether DEM truly had the capability to confront Mobius, if his confidence meant he still had hidden cards to play, and why he had encouraged their diplomats to participate in the operation against Mobius.
Westcott nearly laughed in bitter anger.
When they'd planned this, everyone had been all smiles and cooperation. Now that things had gone wrong, they wanted him to take the fall.
Good things always seemed to surprise him, while bad ones unfolded exactly as he feared. What a wretched feeling.
But he had to placate these people while planning his next move.
Mobius's research on Spirits had exceeded Westcott's expectations.
Like others aware of Inversions, he believed Seele Vollerei's condition was due to the power of Inversion—even without spiritual energy, or any energy at all. It had to be connected to Mobius's methods.
After all, spiritual energy, the Neighboring World, and Spacequakes were all interconnected.
If Mobius claimed to have a way to resolve Spacequakes without killing Spirits, then blocking spiritual energy couldn't be impossible either.
Originally, Westcott had thought the method was related to Ratatoskr, with the key lying in that Itsuka Shiori. But Tohka's combat power and Seele's appearance had led him to other conjectures.
Come to think of it, DEM had no need to face an opponent they couldn't possibly defeat.
Since Mobius's research on Spirits had already left everyone else far behind, and she likely had more than one Spirit in her grasp, while his so-called "allies" were already thinking of pushing him out as the scapegoat…
Westcott narrowed his eyes, then found Mobius's personal frequency on his phone.
After careful consideration, he sent a short message.
"Long Live Schicksal."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.