"Onii-chan!"
"Shichen!"
"Shichen-nii…"
While Shichen was still staring at Tobiichi Origami in disbelief, Tohka and the others arrived as well.
They'd been transported over by Fraxinus. With that kind of massive spiritual power surging, there was no way the ship's sensors wouldn't pinpoint the location.
They were all still in their Astral Dresses; only Sawa and Reine weren't there.
"What are you all doing here?" Shichen glanced at them.
"With spiritual power flaring up this hard, how could we not… that's?" Tohka turned toward Origami, and the moment she saw her, she froze.
What first hit her was Origami's outfit— stunning and mesmerizing.
The long dress hugging every line of her body, the skirt blooming like a flower, the glowing silk threads extending from a halo-like ring floating above her head— all of it was pure blinding white.
It was like a bridal gown that only the purest of girls could wear, and at the same time, it made people think of an angel.
But what made Tohka hold her breath wasn't that. It was who she was. Even with such a drastic change in appearance, that face hadn't changed at all.
"That's Origami, isn't it?" Kurumi was the first to say her name.
"How did she end up like this?"
"Question. Origami… she turned into a Spirit, didn't she?"
"Yeah. In that form, she definitely looks like a Spirit…" Tohka said, nodding firmly.
"Aaaaah—!!"
Origami suddenly grabbed her head and screamed in pain, her spiritual power going out of control.
"Let's get out of here. We can't let AST show up and interfere." Shichen raised his hand with a wave; he and Origami vanished from the spot together.
An instant later, the AST squad arrived— and found nothing.
Origami was clearly not in a normal state. Shichen took everyone out over the ocean instead.
Spirits could fly, so there was no need to worry about footing—or about harming civilians.
Even out above the sea, Origami didn't calm down. She just kept holding her head and screaming, completely different from her usual calm.
"She… why did Origami become a Spirit?" Tohka couldn't help asking.
"Nia, you didn't explain it to them?" Shichen looked over.
"Ah! I forgot. I thought you would've already told them," Nia said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tohka asked.
"It's simple. None of you were originally Spirits. You were humans. You only became Spirits because of the First Spirit."
"What?" Tohka, Kaguya, and the others stared at her in shock.
Kurumi and Kotori, on the other hand, stayed calm. Even after becoming Spirits, they still remembered their lives as humans.
But Yoshino and the rest had had their memories erased.
Even using Rasiel, Nia couldn't find anything about their human lives. Someone had tampered with it.
"Of course, I can't be a hundred percent sure," Nia added. "Maybe one of you did start out as a Spirit."
"Nia is right," Shichen said. "Except for Tohka, all of you were originally human. The First Spirit implanted Spirit cores into you, and that's how you became Spirits."
"So we… used to be human?" Kaguya murmured.
"Question. Then why is Tohka a Spirit?" Yuzuru asked curiously.
"That part's simple," Shichen said. "You all received Spirit cores and gained the power of Spirits, so you became Spirits. But Tohka herself is the incarnation of the Spirit core— so she's a pure Spirit."
"So that's how it is…"
"I'm the incarnation of the Spirit core?" Tohka blinked in confusion.
"You didn't know?" Kaguya asked, surprised.
"Hehe, I've never really understood my own situation either," Tohka said with a goofy smile, not particularly bothered.
"It's fine. No matter what you are, you're still my Tohka." Shichen rubbed her head, reassuring her.
"Shichen… mm!" Tohka nodded hard, smiling happily.
"Shichen really does spoil Tohka~" Kurumi teased.
"You're all the same, you know~" Shichen shot back immediately.
"Ah-la~"
"...Mm…"
Even if it sounded like a cheap consolation line, it still made everyone blush a little.
"Onii-chan, this is so not the time," Kotori muttered, cheeks red.
"You're right…" Shichen's expression hardened again as he looked back at the raging Origami.
Origami becoming a Spirit didn't really shock him. What shocked him was the timing.
This didn't match the "script" at all.
From what he knew, Tobiichi Origami shouldn't have become a Spirit at this point in time.
Even with his presence throwing many things off course, there were still limits.
After all, Origami's parents weren't dead in this timeline— they'd vanished. Her hatred shouldn't have festered to this extent.
So how did she become a Spirit?
There was only one answer: the one who turned her into a Spirit had to be the First Spirit.
But why?
By rights, there shouldn't be any need for that anymore.
If he wanted to understand, there was only one thing he could do: investigate in person. Go back into the past.
"Shichen, can you bring Origami back to normal?" Tohka asked.
She stepped in front of him with her sword drawn, facing Origami with a serious expression.
"There is a way…" Shichen said. "But weren't you two pretty much rivals?"
"That's different. I want Origami to go back to normal." Tohka shook her head, still facing forward.
"If that's what Tohka wants, then of course I'll do it," Shichen said with a smile.
"As expected of Shichen… In that case, I'll go stop her!" Tohka said, and shot forward toward Origami.
"Wait—" Shichen watched her rush off and shook his head.
He could've easily stopped Origami himself— but if Tohka wanted to help, he'd let her.
"Shichen, I want to help too. Is that okay?" Kurumi asked.
"Sure. Anyone who wants to help can go."
"Then let's go together!"
"Right!"
"Zafkiel!"
"Camael!"
"Raphael — El Re'em!"
"Raphael — El Nahash!"
"Zadkiel!"
What Shichen hadn't expected was that everyone joined in—even Yoshino.
He wasn't sure if it was Tohka's influence, simple kindness, or because Origami had now become the same as them.
"Why aren't you going?" Shichen asked Nia, who was still standing beside him.
"Ehehe~ my Angel Rasiel isn't exactly combat-type. I'd just be baggage," Nia said, scratching her cheek.
"Fair enough. Then we'll just observe from here."
"Got it~" Nia laughed and slipped her arm around his, snuggling closer.
"...You could at least think about the situation," Shichen said drily.
"Nope~ I finally found you, you know. I need to soak up more of your presence… Besides, Tohka and the others will be fine."
"Mmm, I think so too." Shichen looked toward the distant battle, face calm.
Origami's talent for combat was indeed high, and her Angel was anything but weak. But she'd only just become a Spirit, and right now she clearly wasn't in her right mind.
Tohka and the others, on the other hand, were in perfect condition— and he'd strengthened them even further. Their recovery was on a different level entirely.
They'd also been Spirits far longer, deeply familiar with their own Angels. And it was many against one— taking down Origami would be easy.
"Aaaah—!!"
Origami suddenly let out a more crazed scream. In response, beams of light formed around her in midair, then solidified into slender wings, joining into a ring around her.
An Angel.
"Shemesh—!"
Origami shrieked without awareness. The ring-shaped Angel above her head began to spin, scattering light particles all around.
The particles then turned into beams and rained down in every direction— like a shower of light.
But this was no ordinary rain. Each particle carried terrifying destructive power.
Tohka and the others immediately threw up spiritual barriers.
The rain of light fell everywhere. Some struck their shields; others crashed into the sea.
With shields to block them and power to spare, they were fine. But the sea was a different story— every beam that hit threw up a huge column of spray, churning the waves into chaos.
"This firepower… is pretty scary," Nia murmured, watching the display as she hugged Shichen's arm tighter.
Shichen ignored her and shouted to the others: "Don't hold back— just subdue Origami directly. I can treat her afterward!"