Like a broken doll, she knelt in place, muttering to herself over and over, completely unresponsive to any external threats.
The immense shock and regret left her mind blank; the world seemed to have lost sound and color.
She had pulled the trigger herself; the target was supposed to be a Spirit, but the bullet tore through the chest of the one person she wanted to protect most.
This realization, like the most malicious curse, instantly destroyed all her beliefs and sanity.
She didn't even notice Tohka's figure, which was rushing toward her with towering fury.
"Origami! Danger! Get up! I'll chew you out later for introspection, but right now, get on your feet!"
Ryouko Kusakabe, terrified, grabbed Origami, who was like a walking corpse, and quickly gathered with the other AST Unit members, forming a defensive formation, shielding Origami tightly behind them.
"Everyone! Defensive formation!" Ryoko screamed hoarsely, although she knew that facing the rampaging [Princess], these defenses would likely be as fragile as paper.
They held up the defensive barriers generated by their Realizer units, tensely facing Tohka, who descended upon them like a goddess of vengeance.
Tohka's figure crashed like a meteor in front of the AST Unit formation, and sandalphon ruthlessly slashed down with a shriek that tore the air!
"Boom—!"
A violent explosion sounded; the Territory violently twisted and shattered the moment it touched the blade!
Several AST Unit members were directly thrown back by the savage energy shockwave, their equipment blaring alarms under the strain.
"Hand over that white figure... now!" Tohka hovered in mid-air, sandalphon pointed directly at Origami, who was heavily protected by the AST Unit, her voice as cold as ten thousand years of ice.
Her rage demanded release, and her sorrow demanded blood for blood!
But even in such intense fury, her attacks deliberately avoided the distant city and civilian areas; all the destructive energy was concentrated, aimed solely at the AST Unit's defensive line and Origami behind it.
Tohka had only one target—Origami, who was kneeling on the ground like a doll!
Although her attacks were savage, they retained a heartbreaking "precision"; all her fury was focused on Origami's direction, deliberately avoiding the other AST Unit members desperately defending around her.
This baseline—retained even in extreme rage—of not harming "unrelated parties" further highlighted the tragic nature of her actions.
The AST Unit members gritted their teeth, desperately resisting Tohka's torrential assault.
They knew Origami was not alright and that this operation had likely resulted in a grave mistake, but protecting their comrade was their only conviction at that moment.
Just as Tohka raised sandalphon, preparing to break through the AST Unit's defenses and deliver a fatal blow to Origami—
"Buzz—"
A faint Spatial Quake tremor, yet one that seemed to resonate directly in the depths of the soul, arrived.
In the air between Tohka and the AST Unit, the space above the plateau rippled visibly, like water disturbed by a tossed stone.
Following this, a spatial gate, its edges flickering with dark purple electricity, silently opened out of thin air.
A leg, wrapped in high-quality black stockings and contoured like a work of art, elegantly stepped out of the gate.
Her heel lightly touched the void, yet it sounded crisp, as if stepping on an invisible staircase.
Heavenly Judgment fully manifested from the spatial gate, like a deity descending to the mortal realm.
She maintained her proud and cold posture, her white hair gently fluttering in the night wind, her golden eyes carrying a hint of indifference that seemed to see through everything as she surveyed the chaotic battlefield below.
Looking at Tohka below, who was consumed by rage and fiercely attacking the AST Unit, she prepared to issue her invitation again, speaking in her unique, cold, and seductive voice:
"Tohka, do you see?
This is humanity's 'protection'!
They only bring harm and death!
Your anger and sorrow are the injustices this world inflicts upon us!
Join Anti-Entropy, and together with me..."
Her voice was clear, cold, and penetrating, like a demonic whisper, following a pre-rehearsed script, attempting to guide Tohka completely toward opposition against humanity.
However, just as her gaze "casually" swept across the battlefield—her seemingly indifferent glance—it inadvertently fell upon the blue-haired young man lying in a pool of blood, his chest a mess, his life hanging in the balance.
Itsuka Shido.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
Heavenly Judgment's previously fluid and magnetic voice was abruptly choked off, as if grasped by an invisible hand.
The expression on her face—one of slight mockery and indifference, suggesting everything was under control—crumbled piece by piece, like shattering ice.
Her golden eyes, which had previously held arrogance and detachment, instantly lost all brilliance and highlight, becoming hollow and deathly still.
The sounds of the world seemed to instantly recede; she could only see that blinding patch of red and the lifeless profile of the young man.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Her half-open lips trembled slightly, but she failed to utter a single syllable.
It was as if all her calculations, all her schemes, and all her prepared lines were utterly swallowed in that moment by the eyes reflecting the glaring crimson.
The highlights in her eyes... extinguished, little by little.
Only a cold, bone-chilling stillness remained, as if even her soul had instantly frozen.
She remained suspended in mid-air, frozen, maintaining the posture of a slightly raised hand, like a perfect doll that had suddenly lost all power and instruction.
The sounds of the entire world seemed to drift away from her, leaving only the image of the young man lying in a pool of blood, endlessly looping in her eyes devoid of light.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"