"Thump!"
In the early morning, a dull thud accompanied by a sharp pain in his backside violently kicked Itsuka Shido awake from his deep sleep.
"Ugh! Ouch, ouch, ouch…" Shido clutched his backside, groggily opening his eyes, only to see his younger sister, Itsuka Kotori, standing by his bed with her hands on her hips.
She had already changed back into her black Commander's jacket, a precious jewel in her mouth, and her expression was more serious than ever before.
"Idiot Older Brother! Stop sleeping! Something big has happened! Come back to Fraxinus with me immediately!"
Kotori's tone was beyond question, not even giving Shido time to complain. She directly shouted towards the door, "Come in! Take him!"
Two strong crew members entered in response, taking the still pajama-clad and bewildered Shido by each arm, dragging him directly out of the bedroom, not even giving him a chance to change clothes.
"W-wait! Kotori! What exactly happened?! Let me change my clothes!"
"No time! I'll tell you on the way!"
A moment later, Shido was practically "thrown" into Fraxinus's transfer device.
A flash of light, and he had already appeared on the familiar bridge, still wearing his cartoon-patterned pajamas, his hair messy, looking utterly disheveled.
"What… what happened exactly?"
Shido rubbed his sleepy eyes, looking blankly at the tense atmosphere on the bridge.
All the crew members sat upright, even Kannazuki was serious, and data and images scrolled rapidly across the main screen.
Kotori didn't answer directly. Instead, she strode to the command seat, took the precious jewel out of her mouth, and pointed forcefully at the main screen:
"Reine, show him! From the very beginning!"
"Understanding." Murasame Reine responded calmly, her fingers rapidly operating the control panel.
The image on the main screen stabilized, first showing a slightly blurry, clearly phone-captured photo. The background was a brightly lit night market, and the focus of the photo was a silver-haired girl sitting on a small stool at a barbecue stall.
She was wearing an ill-fitting white nightgown, barefoot, holding a huge skewer of meat with both hands, eating with an oily mouth, her golden eyes squinted in happiness, her expression pure and content. Next to her, a busy barbecue uncle with a scar on his face could also be seen.
"This is… Chinatsu?!"
Shido instantly sobered up considerably, his eyes wide, "How could she… be at a night market? And dressed like this?"
"This is a photo that circulated on social media around 8 PM last night, taken at the Central Night Market in Amamiya City."
Kotori's tone was heavy, "We only discovered it this morning through public opinion monitoring. Keep watching."
The screen switched, showing several continuous photos and short videos.
The silver-haired girl could be seen holding a "Cashier" sign, sitting in front of the stall, eating while seemingly handling money.
There were many tourists around, the line was long, and many people were secretly taking pictures of her.
"She… she's helping the uncle sell barbecue?" Shido felt his brain struggling to process it.
This was too far removed from the image of the proud, powerful, sometimes sad, sometimes dangerous Herrscher of Heavenly Judgment he knew.
"It seems so. And because of her, that stall's business was exceptionally booming."
Reine added, "According to analysis, she seems to have used the power of Understanding to handle the accounts."
Next, the screen showed surveillance footage from inside the night market. The time stamp was close to 10 PM.
In the footage, the silver-haired girl had already left the barbecue stall and was strolling through the night market, curiously looking at various stalls. From time to time, stall owners would smile and hand her some snacks.
She looked like an ordinary girl, full of curiosity about everything.
"This… isn't this pretty good?" Shido looked at Kotori's serious expression with some confusion, "She looks… very adapted?"
"Good?" Kotori sneered, "Keep watching! The important part is coming!"
Reine fast-forwarded the footage. The time jumped to around 11:20 PM.
The surveillance footage suddenly began to shake violently, accompanied by terrified screams and crashing sounds!
A group of obvious gangsters stormed into the night market, starting to smash and rob frantically!
Stall carts were overturned, goods scattered everywhere, stall owners fled in panic, and the scar-faced uncle who had treated Chinatsu to barbecue earlier was knocked to the ground, motionless!
"How could this happen?!" Shido's heart tightened.
Just then, the surveillance footage captured a blurry white figure suddenly appearing above the night market!
Immediately following that was a bloody scene recorded by all surveillance cameras, one that would be unforgettable for a lifetime:
Spear of the Void appeared out of thin air, instantly piercing the gang leader and pinning him to the wall! Gang members trying to escape were forcibly pulled back by an invisible force, hanging in mid-air and begging for mercy.
Space twisted, bodies were crushed, exploded, and blood and flesh flew everywhere! Finally, there was a close-up of a row of terrifyingly expressive heads hanging on the night market entrance archway!
The entire bridge was silent, only Shido's heavy breathing, caused by extreme shock and discomfort, could be heard.
His face was pale, and his stomach churned.
The footage finally froze on a high-definition photo: the silver-haired girl stood in a pool of blood and minced flesh, a hint of a freshly bloomed, almost innocent smile on her face, which instantly froze upon seeing the terrified eyes of the stall owners.
Behind her was a scene like hell; in front of her were ordinary people, scared out of their wits, looking at her like a monster.
Her bewildered expression formed an incredibly stark contrast with the hellish scene around her.
"…This… this is what… Chinatsu did?" Shido's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelief.
"As you can see, after analysis, it wasn't." Kotori's voice broke the silence, carrying a deep weariness and lingering fear.
"Last night, the sub-personality codenamed Heavenly Judgment appeared alone in the night market and brutally massacred a gang that was harassing the night market. The psychological impact and social repercussions… are immeasurable."
"Although the spiritual power fluctuations are completely consistent with the previous Herrscher of Heavenly Judgment, the behavioral patterns show significant differences from the 'main personality' observed previously."
Reine analyzed calmly, "More direct, more brutal, lacking awareness of and empathy for human social rules. We initially judge that this is very likely the first time the 'sub-personality,' mentioned in previous reports as being filled with destructive desires, has operated independently in the outside world for an extended period and caused such an extreme incident."
Kotori crossed her arms, looking at the pale Shido, and said word for word: "Do you understand now, Shido? Our previous analysis needs to be corrected. This personality is not simply 'powerful malice.'"
"She possesses her own set of simple, direct 'views on justice,' based on the logic of her own power. She believes she is 'punishing evil and protecting the weak.'"
"But her methods… completely transcend the moral and legal bottom lines of human society; they are pure power suppression and reign of terror."
Reine added: "What's more troublesome is that, judging from her final expression, she seems completely unable to understand why the stall owners were afraid of her."
"This cognitive bias makes her behavior even more unpredictable."
"She might be smiling at you one second, and the next, because of some 'offense' or what she deems 'evil,' she instantly transforms into the most cruel enforcer."
Shido felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Kotori pointed to the photo on the screen of the silver-haired girl standing in a pool of blood, her expression bewildered.
"It seems our Understanding of 'her' is still far from enough." Kotori bit her precious jewel, her tone heavy.
"This personality is like a ticking time bomb. Her power, her Understanding, her moods… all are extremely unstable factors. We must re-evaluate all our coping strategies."
She looked at Shido, her gaze complex: "Especially you, Shido. You seem to be the only one who can establish some level of communication with 'them' right now."
"However, contact with such an existence is far more dangerous than you imagine."
"Next time, the Angel she wields against an enemy might, due to some misunderstanding, or her whim of 'justice,' be directed at you, or other Spirits around you, or even ordinary civilians."
"We must quickly figure out what exactly is going on with this 'sub-personality'! Why did she appear alone? What is the relationship between her and the main personality? And most importantly—"
Kotori's gaze was as sharp as a knife, looking at Shido:
"If next time, she appears before you and shows you that 'innocent' smile, what will you do?"
Shido looked at the bloody scene and the girl's bewildered expression on the screen, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. All sleepiness had long vanished, leaving only heavy pressure and immense confusion.
Chinatsu… what kind of 'she' lives inside your body?
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