Chapter 18: Thus, the Ice Melts Away [1]

[Kotori PoV]

[Several minutes earlier...]

There many sweet things in the world, and for Kotori, one of those was the 'sweetness' of the Chupa Chups within her mouth. However, she can't seem to enjoy that very sweetness right at this very moment.

"...Reine"

"The connections that we've placed to monitor <Seraph>, <Princess>, and <Tyrant> was confirmed to be neutralized. That confirms that another party have probably known about it and proceeded to render it useless"

"That party...DEM?" Kotori asked, her tone slightly on edge as she said her guess.

"We haven't gathered enough data to completely confirm such claim..." Reine replied as she then took a glance at the monitor, still blurred. "However, sightings of unidentified factors have been spotted have been roaming around several kilometers of Tenguu City."

"So DEM?" voiced Kotori now again.

The assistant responded plainly, "Most likely."

"Tsk. They probably have an inkling about our involvement then." Kotori blurted out, frustration laced in her voice. "Hm. Did you already make some arrangements such as intercepting their networks?"

"Already done." Reine informed. "Though not completely, it will be able to slow them down albeit slightly."

"I see... that should be enough. We just need to wait for results to come..."

And so, time passed...

"Commander! The connection between <Princess> and <Tyrant> have been restored!" A sudden shout came from a crew member down the control room.

Finally, good news came. Kotori nodded with a smile, however, one of her brows rose. Only Tohka and Tenka? Why?

"Good job... how about that of...<Seraph>?" Kotori questioned as she raised a brow.

"Ah. For some reason, our connection is still terminated, commander." Kannazuki informed in the place of the crew member. "We are still trying to regain our connection... should we stop this?" He then teased.

Kotori then huffed, a faint expression of annoyance showing up on her face.

"What's with that question? Did you perhaps have less time sleeping to the point of asking such question, Kannazuki?" Kotori answered. "Hmph, of course, you should continue to reconnect."

"Yes, of course commander~"

Kannazuki replied not bothered by the harsh words thrown to him by Kotori. With hat said, he got back on his station as he then remembered one more thing to say.

"Oh, now that I think about it. Shidou-kun should be on his way as well? Are you sure he'll be alright, commander?"

"Of course... he should be."

"That's a lot of trust you have there. However..." Kannazuki muttered. "Shidou-kun tends to be reckless... won't it be more reassuring to send him some help?"

"....you mean help from Tohka and Tenka who was also in the area?" Kotori responded. Kannazuki then nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that should be okay. Let me handle it, however, I'm not sure if they will help Shidou."

"Better to try, right?" Reine chimed in, Kotori just nodded at her words with a doubtful expression thinking whether those two would accept their request for help or not.

And with that said, they got into work.

——

[AST PoV]

[A few minutes earlier...]

"——B team, go on ahead! We're going to trap [Hermit]!"

""Roger!""

From the transmitter, she heard the voices of Ryouko and the other AST members responding to her.

Origami together with 2 members of the AST, delicately changed their direction, and withdrew from the main team chasing after [Hermit].

The target location would be around 1 kilometer ahead from the intersection point.

While the Territory was neutralizing the G force, which was strong enough to normally make someone's consciousness turn hazy or make it impossible to open their eyes due to the wind pressure, they reached the targeted location.

"...."

And with the feeling of kicking the air she used the brakes, and diverted to that direction.

In her sights, she already caught a glimpse of the [Hermit] advancing in her direction.

At the same time the 3 members as the B team confirmed the sighting, they dispatched themselves to left and right, they made an instruction in their minds and 2 anchor units which were equipped with the thrusters under their armpits, were shot out to the ground.

From the total of 6 anchor units light threads were stretched out, and entangled with each other to form a net.

"Deployment of the laser web completed, machine Beta and Gamma tied together confirmed!"

"Okay, we're going to corner her!"

When Origami said that, she heard Ryouko's shouting voice through the transmitter which was chasing after the [Hermit].

"...!?"

[Hermit] finally arrived and seemed to have realized that an ambush has been set for her.

But——it was too late.

From the front, and both the left and right the light of an entangled net with magic barred her way.

From behind, Ryouko and the A team were pursuing her.

And from above, Origami and the B team were floating with the completed Laser web.

"A-ah, ah, aah...!"

The [Hermit] who was attached to the back of the doll, opened her eyes wide and let out a voice filled with despair.

"All members—attack!"

However, the AST did not show any sympathy or mercy to the opposing Spirit.

Together with the orders, all of the AST members pulled out the laser blade <No pain> which is a standard high-powered close combat equipment, and charged at [Hermit].

However...

"U...uaaaaaahhhhh—!?"

The same time with [Hermit]'s scream, there was an incredible turbulence occurring in the surrounding.

And the raindrops that were pouring down froze up and turned into hail, swirled around and covering [Hermit]; it became the shape of a blizzard dome.

Origami did not care about it, and swung down the <No pain> at the ice storm barrier protecting [Hermit].

However, there was an immediate change. Origami frowned.

From the point that touched the barrier, the <No pain>'s blade and Origami's surrounding Territory were making a cracking sound and begun to freeze up.

Origami immediately, made the sword <No pain> vanish, and de-activated her Territory.

"...…Kuh!"

The weight of her body and the equipments she was wearing, suddenly returned and the scenery which she was clearly visible until now turned blurry and she became unable to see.

In addition to that, the piercing cold air that was filled in the city and the cold raindrops pouring down from the sky, attacked Origami's body for the first time.

In the blink of an eye, from the greenhouse environment it became something like climbing a snow mountain in the middle of winter. Her heart made a big leap as if she got frightened, and it made Origami's breathing painful.

"Basic Territory re-activate..."

Inside the exhausting feeling close to making her fainting, she somehow managed to get that language out of her mouth.

When she did that, an invisible barrier once again manifested around Origami, and gently made her body float. She activated her thrusters, and somehow managed to escape from [Hermit]'s barrier.

"Kuh...Everyone, are you alright!?"

Ryouko's voice was heard. They might have used the same method as Origami to escape [Hermit]'s barrier too.

But when all the responding voices were counted, including Origami, the total was only 5.

2 more people probably got frozen together with their Territory.

"...…"

Origami brought her eyes to the blizzard dome that was born on top of the frozen road.

Goooooooooooooo——it was making low howls while winding up a whirlpool, it has a hemisphere of an estimated radius of 10 meters.

The ice bullets imbued with the Spirit's mana raged, and formed a fortress of cold air.

Plasma blade and the Territory which normally has no substance were also frozen, it became obviously clear that this isn't a normal blizzard.

"Tsk...this is annoying. What are we going to do about this?"

"It is not like there is no way..." Origami having said that remark, she sent the data of the barrier which she had scanned earlier ago to the other members.

"This is..." a gasped was heard, seeing how Origami analyzed this in the spur of the moment.

"Yes. The value of mana covering the barrier is not a big deal. It will react to the magic output of our Territory, and would temporarily focus its defensive power on that one spot."

"Which means...in a de-activated Territory condition, we won't get frozen?"

"Probably."

When Origami said that, Ryouko groaned with difficulty.

"That doesn't sound so realistic. No matter how much we can escape getting frozen up, it is still a barrier with lumps of ice bullets whirling around it. Although the wiring suits has some bullet-proof properties built-in but...I don't think our body would hold out until we reach her."

Ryouko said that, and another member raised her opinion.

"How about—a bombardment of attacks using a gun with no magic applied to them."

"...That would also difficult. Even if by any chance we were able to pass through the barrier, the Spirit still has its <Astral Dress> you know? Using a physical attack which is not covered in magic, we wouldn't even cause any injury to the Spirit after all."

That is true, what Ryouko said actually does make sense.

The Spirits' <Astral Dress>, can only be broken by the magic output released by the [Realizer].

However, the barrier of this blizzard that is covering the surrounding has that kind of magic readings.

It is a 2 layered wall of different attributes. That was a troublesome thing. But, Origami activated her thrusters and, flew up to the sky.

"Origami?"

"Doing it like this is okay."

Origami muttered that, cast her eyes down and prepared her breathing, to increase her focus.

And in her surrounding, the territory that was deployed which normally has a radius of 3 meters instantly expanded to nearly 10 meters.

The radius of the territory, the more it expanded, the lower the density would become which causes its ability value to drop.

The territory now which had now expanded to a 10 meter class radius would probably not be able to stop the Spirit's attacks.

But—right now this was okay. Just like that Origami got close to a residential apartment nearby.

"What...!"

—*GOGOGOGOGO*...!

The top part of the building that enters the range of the expanded Territory got twisted out, and was grabbed mid-air.

The concrete of the outer wall was peeling off, the heat insulated materials were shredding, and a sound that was painful to the ears sounded and the concrete foundation of the building was forcibly twisted out. It might be the furniture of the offices inside the building, whether its personal computers or documents these things were leaked out of the Territory, and falling away separately.

It was quite heavy. Her brain started to get the intense burden and a violent headache attacked Origami.

"O-Origami...…!? What the heck are you doing?"

Origami didn't care about her and continue making the top part of the building float, she then flew above the [Hermit]'s barrier.

And then, after taking a small breath she said,

"Crush her, with a good amount of materials. With this, the barrier should de-activate for an instant. And we aim that."

"...Seriously, you're always so reckless...!"

After Ryouko said that with a sigh mixed in it, she gave her orders.

"Everyone, did you hear that!? Although it is rough but there seems to be no other way. All members, charge output to maximum and standby outside the barrier's range! Everyone is going to attack at the same time when the barrier disappears!"

""Roger!""

The remaining AST wizards, were readying their stance with all of their equipments and activated their Realizers.

Origami prepared by breathing, and swung down the hand that was carrying the building.

The lump of metal and concrete that has an incredible weight, dropped right down towards the blizzard dome.

But...

Origami distorted her eyebrows a little.

On the building parts that she had just dropped, she was attracted to four lines on it, and following along with the line, the giant lump of concrete got sliced into four.

"...…"

And that was not all.

The separated debris was chopped finely into pieces and what's more it all happened in a flash.

By the time it touched the ground, all of it turned into fragments and smaller debris.

And the [Hermit]'s barrier was—still, going strong.

"This is—!"

And the moment she made that voice, from her ear *Beep* *Beep* an ear hurting buzzer got delivered.

"Origami! Th-The Spirit readings increased! This reading is—!"

Before Ryouko could even finish, Origami made the Territory which had expanded to almost 10 meter class, condense to almost 2 meters which is smaller than her usual one.

The large-scaled equipments that were struck outside the Territory field followed the laws of gravity and fell to the ground.

At that moment—in front of Origami, two figures having identical night colored hair occured. Both were carrying weapons—swords to be exact. However, one in particular was carrying a boy...a boy so familiar to Origami that her eyes went wide as she realized his identity.

"...!"

At the Territory that was jammed together to increase the defensive characteristics, an intense burden was forced on it.

There was no need to even think about the reason. It was because one of these girls that appeared right in front of her, came slicing at Origami with her sword.

"Heh, you defended against that huh?" The one who attacked her, Tohka, said in wonder.

"You aren't giving your all in the first place. Of course she could." Tenka uttered blankly as she sighed. "I better get going then rather than deal with these insects..."

"...please slow down... I might spill the contents of my lunch while in the air...!" Shidou pleaded, his face slightly pale.

"Try to do that and I'll slice you in half."

"... understood..." Shidou weakly responded, his eyes downcast as he tried not to do the most possible thing he probably could while in mid air.

Tenka then jumped away. Better get this job done. In a few more moments, that bastard will come back...and Tenka suppose that he should at least receive some welcome...in a form of a slap or pinch that is for suddenly leaving her and Tohka in the air.

Somewhere, Rei shuddered...

Meanwhile, as this interaction took place, Origami who was a few meters away shouted.

"What's the meaning of this...!"

Origami exclaimed as her expression changed that to a furious one, and drew out the laser blade <No pain> from her hips, and released a sword strike at Tohka whose body was covered here and there by her thin [Astral Dress].

After Tohka dodged that in a flash, she rested her legs on top of the rooftop fence on a nearby building. Origami quickly disengaged and tried to follow the other <Princess>.

However, she was quickly intercepted by the previous Spirit who quickly appeared before her and slashed her down to the ground as she managed to block it with her sword hardly.

"What are you other Spirits doing here!?"

While facing the sword of light at her, she asked the Tohka that suddenly appeared.

While flipping her front hair that was wet from the rain to the back, Tohka made a bored smile.

"Umu, sorry about that, I will not let you disturb Kotori's brother...uh, what is his name again? Uh, Shi... Shidou... oh, Shidou. We kind of need him to fulfill his job."

"What...?"

Despite wondering why Shidou's name came up, Origami fixed her grip on <No pain>. She needs to get out of here fast and get Shidou. In any case, he should be in danger right now. She would not leave him in the hands of this monsters!

"Kuh—why did [Princess] and this...new Spirit appear here? Did they come here to save [Hermit]?" Ryouko said that irritated. "Also, is that...a hostage?"

Yes. The Spirit with an AAA rank—codename [Princess]. Alongside her was an identical figure. Bearing the same face and eyes. These two could be said as twins.

From the girls in front of her, the Spirit reading which usually can't be detected was now, giving out a weak signal.

"Tsk, we'll deal with [Hermit] later. All members change your target to these two [Princess]! We also need to retrieve that boy while in battle as safely as we could! Let's quickly delay this Spirit so some of us can go to rescue that bot immediately!" Ryouko shouted—it might be the most appropriate decision.

It might be the chance to shoot [Hermit] but they would be helpless if these [Princess] attacked them, when they are focusing on shooting. Besides, one also held a hostage in their hands. This is getting ugly.

The barrier was certainly a problem but as long as they take some distance from it, the [Hermit] would not commence an attack on her own, it was a natural decision to postpone her attack.

But—she wondered why.

Ryouko and the others floated up from the ground, and looked at Tohka who was looking in their direction; she felt that Tohka made a small nod. Tenka then blinked away while carrying Shidou like some baggage on top of her shoulders as he wailed in fear as for how fast Tenka was going. It was like Tohka's expectations were going along as planned. Well, repaying Kotori with this should be something simple since they practically had the same goal.

However, there was not enough time for careful consideration. When Tohka kicked the building fence, she once again lifted her sword and approached Origami.

"Umu... So just delay and not kill... that should be easy? Right?" Tohka muttered lastly as she saw Tenka move away as she carried Kotori's brother like a ransack in the air.

"What are you...!" Origami tried to say something before Tohka formed a ball of energy at the tip of her blade and shot it towards her.

Origami hurled as fast as she could as she simultaneously condensed her barrier to block the shot.

"Kuh—!"

"Tsk tsk. No talking. Fight. Just like you in this Mecha Mecha Squad, we also need that Spirit...our kin, to be with us for some talks." Tohka muttered blankly trying to humor Origami as she grunted. "Talk about ruining our date. You should be lucky Sis wasn't the one who is here to delay you."

"....I see...."

Origami fixed her grip on her sword of light and, kicked the sky to accept her challenge.

——

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[A/N: Yahallo guys! I'm back. It's been already been a year since this fic started and it is a wonder that this is still alive and kicking lmao.

Though I might say that my drive for writing has been considerably diminished seeing how slow I update this fic, one might guess that this fic is already in its deathbed. Well, not really....

Anyways, yep. Imma make like 3 or 4 more chapters to end this arc and before the year ends. Look forward to a double update...or something.

With that said guys, ciao~

[PS: Check my other fic in Fanfiction.net will ya xD]