Just as "Welt" asked Kurumi that question which struck straight at her core, and the instant Kurumi froze, her inner thoughts having been exposed—
Boom!!!
An indescribably terrifying energy fluctuation erupted violently from the top floor of the commercial skyscraper in the distance, like a sleeping giant suddenly awakening!
The intensity was so immense that even the sturdy modern structure groaned under the unbearable strain.
The exterior glass on the top floor completely shattered in the violent spirit energy oscillation, raining down like a crystal-clear, yet deadly, shower!
This energy was so pure and so dominant, carrying an absolute will that seemed intent on "correcting" or even "deleting" a certain existence, and it instantly traversed hundreds of meters.
It locked its destructive focus firmly onto "Welt Yang," who had just appeared and was emitting strong Herrscher of Reason fluctuations!
"!? " Almost simultaneously, the expressions of the two people in the vicinity most sensitive to spirit energy—"Welt" and Kurumi—changed drastically!
Kurumi's golden clock eye suddenly contracted to the size of a pinhead. The deadly sense of crisis instinctively urged her to retreat into the shadows, but her heavily injured body and the close-range energy pressure delayed her reaction by half a beat.
As the primary locked target, "Welt's" feeling was the clearest.
It was the feeling of being targeted by the malice of the entire world, with nowhere to run, only to face it head-on!
Chinatsu, hidden behind the crowd and diligently playing the role of a frightened girl, felt her heart sink through the proxy's shared perception.
(As expected, it went straight for him!)
There was no time for hesitation, nor any chance to evade. The lock-on mechanism contained within this attack rendered any conventional displacement meaningless.
"Welt's" eyes sharpened, and the cane sword he held in his hand instantly dissolved into countless light particles.
He pressed his hands sharply forward in the air, and massive spirit energy, accompanied by the Herrscher of Reason's Jurisprudence Authority of "Understanding" and "Reconstruct," erupted at full force!
"Buzz—!" In the air, countless hexagonal, honeycomb-like energy barriers instantly constructed and unfolded layer upon layer!
They were tightly connected, radiating an indestructible density. Complex and profound geometric light patterns flowed across each layer of the barrier, seeming to embody the concepts of all "defense" and "isolation" in the world!
A full seven layers! Like seven enormous, translucent pink petal shields, they stood resolutely between "Welt" and that destructive energy!
(... Hey, hey!) Chinatsu saw this familiar defensive structure through the consciousness link and almost lost her composure internally.
(You temporary worker! What kind of messed up database did you read from my mind?! How did you project the 'concept' of this thing?! Isn't this thing notoriously famous for 'not being able to defend against anything'?! )
She practically wanted to facepalm. In this emergency, the proxy construct seemed to have extracted the conceptual information related to the "Strongest Defense" from her memory.
It then instinctively materialized it, even though this "strongest" was somewhat undeserved.
However, the ultimate weapon "Creator Reverser," painstakingly built by DEM Co. and aimed at "reversing creation," possessed power far beyond what Chinatsu's amateur Jurisprudence Authority could resist.
That deep blue beam, seemingly containing the mysteries of cosmic creation and destruction, pierced the first pink light shield without any obstruction, like a hot knife cutting through butter!
Then the second layer, the third layer... "Crack! Crack! Crack—!"
The sound of shattering was incessant. The layered defensive barriers shattered one after another before the "Return to Origin" beam, like bubbles under the sun, unable to even slow its speed!
Finally, under the almost despairing gaze of Chinatsu (and the members of Fraxinus secretly observing).
So powerful, so dominant—how could it be resisted? How could it possibly be resisted! Absolutely impossible!
That deep blue beam pierced the final, seventh barrier and slammed precisely and fiercely into the center of "Welt's" chest!
"Er Ah—!" "Welt" let out a suppressed groan of pain. His entire body was carried backward by the immense kinetic energy contained in the beam, crashing heavily into a discarded wall behind him and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Thanks to the system previously scanning and locking onto Chinatsu, the temporary target switch meant that the Creator Reverser's specialized inverse calculation program targeting the Herrscher of Reason failed to fully load.
However, the pure energy impact it inherently possessed, enough to "return to origin" the vast majority of existences, still caused devastating effects!
Through the core connection, Chinatsu could clearly "see" that the surface of the temporarily transplanted herrscher core instantly developed several fine, spiderweb-like cracks the moment the beam hit!
The spirit energy that originally flowed steadily within the core instantly became chaotic and sluggish, and its most core Jurisprudence Authority of "Understanding" and "Reconstruct" seemed to be temporarily "frozen"!
(The core... cracked?!) Chinatsu's heart violently shook, and a sharp, pulling pain originating from the depths of her soul transmitted to her.
(Construction ability temporarily disabled... Thankfully, the core link isn't broken; I can still retrieve it... But I can forget about using large-scale construction authority for a while... I need to retrieve it quickly; it feels like the core will turn into scrap metal soon.)
To outsiders, the situation was even more intuitive and horrifying.
"Welt," who was struck, did not tear or evaporate like a normal being, but instead began to "flicker" violently!
His image became extremely unstable, sometimes clear, sometimes blurry, with blue light particles like data streams constantly dissipating from the edges, resembling a holographic projection with a bad signal, or a program on the verge of crashing.
He tried to prop up his body, but his arm passed through empty space.
He looked down at the spot on his chest where he was hit; there was no wound, but a constantly spreading, mosaic-like distorted area.
"... System... Error... Protocol... Damaged..."
He let out intermittent whispers filled with electronic static, his voice having lost its previous composure and filled with unstable fluctuations.
This appearance strongly resembled the state of a spirit just before disappearing (Lost), after their spirit dress collapses from severe injury!
Almost simultaneously with the Creator Reverser opening fire, several figures descended from the sky accompanied by the dense whine of thrusters—it was the AST Unit, rushing in at full speed after receiving the order!
Takamiya Mana led the charge, her lightsaber pointing directly at Kurumi, who had just recovered from her shock and whose gaze had become incredibly dangerous.
"Nightmare! Your opponent is me!"
Mana shouted sternly, leading her subordinates to quickly deploy into a battle formation, completely sealing off any route Kurumi might take to approach or assist "Welt."
And Origami, the moment the attack launched, had already pounced like a leopard, tackling the still-stunned Shido to the ground and shielding him with her body.
At the same time, she used the momentum to roll backward and sideways, quickly moving away from Chinatsu and "Welt," who were at the center of the storm.
Almost the second after Origami completed her move, two other AST Unit members landed precisely beside Chinatsu.
The Realizer rifles in their hands were not pointed at her, but the muzzles were slightly lowered in an alert posture, subtly forming an encirclement on her left and right.
"Phoenix-in Chinatsu! Please stay where you are and do not move! Cooperate with our investigation!"
One member warned sternly, while the detector on her helmet tightly locked onto Chinatsu.
However, the information feedback from the detector confused them—this transfer student still showed no effective spirit energy fluctuations, appearing no different from an ordinary human.
According to the AST Unit's operational guidelines, they could not use force against "civilians" if the spirit's identity could not be confirmed and the target showed no aggression; they could only restrict and monitor.
Chinatsu "cooperatively" raised her hands, her face displaying a perfect mix of panic, confusion, and helplessness, her body trembling slightly.
Her gaze looked "incredulously" at "Welt" in the distance, who was flickering and seemed ready to dissipate at any moment.
As if she had been terrified by this sudden, horrific attack.
(Act! Keep acting! The core hasn't been retrieved, this act cannot stop!)
The situation on the scene instantly became clear:
Center, the "Welt" proxy was on the verge of collapse, the herrscher coredamaged. On one side, Kurumiwas tightly entangled by Mana's squad, unable to break free. On the other side, Chinatsuwas under AST "protective" surveillance, seemingly safe. Slightly further away, Shidowas firmly protected by Origami, still unsettled. On the top floor of the distant skyscraper, Ellen Matherswatched everything indifferently, awaiting the final outcome.
"Welt's" body flickered more violently, the light particles constituting his body dissipated faster, and the mosaic-like distorted area covered almost half of his chest.
He raised his head, his pale golden eyes now appearing somewhat dim, seemingly piercing through space.
He looked toward a certain direction on the top floor of the distant skyscraper, and then seemingly unintentionally swept his gaze over the "trembling" Chinatsu, as if he wanted to express something.
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