In the early hours of the morning, the moon hung high in the sky, casting a bright glow that made the otherwise dark environment visible. But after a while, a large cloud appeared, obscuring the moon and plunging the ground back into darkness, making this night seem particularly long. At this time, most people had already finished their day's labor and fallen asleep, so it was arguably when defenses were weakest everywhere.
DEM, a world-renowned large enterprise, is the only organization besides Ratatoskr capable of manufacturing Realizer units. The Realizer units secretly equipped by military and police forces in various countries, including the AST, all come from DEM. They advocate for the active extermination of Spirits, but Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, the executive director of this organization, founded DEM to obtain the power of Spirits by acquiring the spirit crystals within them, using Realizer units to kill Spirits to achieve his goals.
Behind the goal of killing Spirits was merely to capture and imprison them, extracting the spirit crystals from their bodies. And currently, he should not have absorbed Honjou Nia's Anti-spirit crystal and gained her abilities. This means there is still time, and Yoshino wants to rescue Honjou Nia.
On a small island in the Pacific near Neon, a DEM branch company was established. In the island's forest, a blue magic circle appeared, emitting a faint glow. The hexagram magic circle looked very magnificent. Within the light, the figures of five beautiful girls emerged; they were Yoshino and the others, who planned to attack DEM this time.
Tokisaki Kurumi looked at the constantly operating magic circle on the ground, a curious light emanating from her eyes. This was the second time she had seen power other than spiritual power, but the shock in her heart still made her carefully observe this lovely Spirit sister of hers. She thought about how she once had the idea of devouring Yoshino to gain enough time to return to the past. Now, thinking about it, she was truly fortunate for her cautious nature; she almost capsized.
"This seems to be the small island where DEM is located. Heh! It seems that ambitious people in that world never build their bases in prosperous cities. Now it seems to be no exception in this world either." Toujou Nozomi, now wearing a hooded cloak, looked at the tarot cards in her hand. The 'Darkness' pattern on them made her eyes narrow into a slit. They talk about eliminating Spirits for a different kind of safety, but in the end, isn't it all for their own selfish desires?
"Now I've used a magic circle to hide all of our auras. The people at DEM won't notice us." A small magic circle appeared in Yoshino's right eye as she looked at the DEM building not far away, the magic circle constantly rotating in her eye. "I can sense spiritual power fluctuations in the building. It seems the Spirits captured by DEM should be imprisoned in this place."
Yoshino waved her hand, and a mirror appeared before her. However, what the mirror showed was not them, but the scene at the entrance of DEM.
"It seems there are two women in mechanical armor guarding the entrance, and there are hidden cameras nearby. The security seems very tight, and the mechanical armor they are wearing is much more sophisticated than the equipment of the AST. Do we want to go in silently or just stride in? My dear sister." After organizing the information from her clone, Tokisaki Kurumi turned to look at the four girls present. This was their plan; her side just needed to create enough commotion.
"No, this time we won't sneak in. The Spirit captured by DEM four years ago must have suffered a lot of torment on this island during these five years. I don't think anyone would not be tempted by the inside of a Spirit." In the original story, she was tormented for five years, and her spirit crystal was extracted. That man, with no power whatsoever, dared to be so arrogant; it was truly unbearable. "Now I want them to know that Spirits are not existences they can manipulate at will."
"Yes, because the power of science developed the Realizer unit, equipment that can counter Spirits, and the organization also has Ellen Mira Mathers, known as the strongest magician in the world. It is because of this woman that Isaac fearlessly captures Spirits. This operation is not only to rescue the imprisoned Spirits but also to give them a warning: to tell them that even the strongest magician is nothing to fear in front of a Spirit." Shiina looked at the gloomy-faced Yoshino, who had matured a lot. She was no longer as naive as before. Although mature, she was still too kind. "This operation must not cause any casualties. We already know about Yoshino as a Spirit. If this incident marks Yoshino as dangerous, then AST members will attack her whenever she walks down the street."
"Hmm, when I came here before, I was forced to retreat by a magician named Ellen. Her Realizer unit is indeed very strong, but now, besides Yoshino, do the rest of you really have the strength to attack DEM together? Don't accidentally drag us down, okay?" Tokisaki Kurumi, back in her spirit dress, looked at Toujou Nozomi and the other two in their hooded cloaks, provoking them. She did sense special power in the three of them, but as ordinary people, did they really have the strength to act together?
"Oh my, I can't pretend I didn't hear that." Countless tarot cards surged around Toujou Nozomi, continuously rotating. Each tarot card emitted a purple magical energy. Toujou Nozomi's pupils glowed purple, making Tokisaki Kurumi feel a faint sense of threat from her. "Although they call themselves magicians, now I'm going to show them what true magic is."
"Although Rin is an idiot, to help Yoshino well, I have also been diligently cultivating, wanting to be helpful, meow. In this operation, I will show everyone the results of Rin's cultivation, meow." Two daggers formed from materialized magical energy appeared in her hands, and Rin's figure instantly vanished, appearing behind Tokisaki Kurumi, pressing a dagger against her neck, looking coldly at the sweating Tokisaki Kurumi. Seeing that she had achieved the desired effect, she released her.
At this moment, a sweating Tokisaki Kurumi realized that she had truly underestimated these three, as well as Minami Kotori, who had not yet displayed her abilities. Just as Tokisaki Kurumi was about to speak, she saw a ball of white light enter her body, and instantly felt her internal power and energy increase significantly.
"I want to protect Yoshino, so now I have the power of guardianship. With this, I can heal Yoshino when she is injured. But I know that having only the power of protection is not enough. I don't want to just stand behind Yoshino. I also want to stand in front of Yoshino and block all enemies who want to harm her." Minami Kotori looked coldly at Tokisaki Kurumi, who was squatting on the ground, the white light in her hand turning into a pitch-black color.
"Curse..." Tokisaki Kurumi, who had become the test subject for the three's abilities, was miserable. The amplification effect she had just felt now turned into an indescribable pain. Although it wouldn't be fatal, it could make one lose their combat ability.
"Now is not the time for this. Our operation has begun. We will enter from three different places. Sister Kurumi and Sister Nozomi's group will split into two. Yoshino and I will enter alone through the main gate." She waved her hand, dispelling the magic circle that enveloped them.
"Don't worry about me, Sister Nozomi. Let me see your efforts during this time. I will now properly 'entertain' everyone at DEM for their 'care' of the Spirits all this time."
Yoshino's right eye emitted a blue light. From now on, she was serious.
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