The door closed.

Soon, noises that could make one blush and heart race began to echo.

In the living room, Nia buried her head under a cushion, curling up on the sofa.

"Ahhh … m‑my ears are no longer clean …"

Kurumi gave a faint snort, her figure slowly melting into the shadows.

"Out of sight, out of mind ~"

Only Ellen still stood where she was, staring at the bedroom door with a complicated look.

She had no idea what she was thinking—only that an unprecedented confusion churned inside her.

DEM Industries was in ruins; Isaac was dead. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt

And she—once the deputy director of the Second Executive Division—had become a prisoner of the enemy.

What unsettled her even more was that she actually felt a trace of… anticipation for the "training" that was about to begin.

The sounds grew louder. At last Ellen could not stand it; she turned and walked out to the balcony.

The night wind lifted her golden hair while the distant city lights sparkled like stars.

One era had ended, and she was standing on the threshold of a new one.

…

Dark clouds gathered across the night sky like a surging tide, swallowing most of the city's lights and leaving only scattered points of brightness flickering in the darkness.

Aboard the Fraxinus, Ratatoskr's command bridge

Cold blue light filled the space, the atmosphere so tense it felt solid.

Kotori Itsuka bit down hard on her lollipop; the crisp crack sounded especially sharp in the silence. The minty coolness burst on her tongue, yet it could not dispel her unease.

Her eyes were fixed on the main screen.

In the satellite image, the once‑towering DEM headquarters looked like a giant had stomped it flat—charred wreckage radiating an eerie aura in the night.

The bastions that had symbolized humanity's cutting‑edge anti‑spirit technology were now twisted metal and collapsed stone, silently telling of brutal destruction.

"Is it confirmed? The entire headquarters—is it really gone?"

Kotori's voice carried a barely detectable tremor.

She turned to the analyst beside her, Reine Murasame. Kotori's red twin tails swayed, the ribbons at their tips flickering like flames.

Reine pushed up her glasses; the heavy dark circles under her eyes looked starker in the cold screen‑light. Her voice was frighteningly calm, like a machine without emotion.

"Absolutely confirmed.

"Thermal‑residue analysis shows the destruction occurred at 3:27 p.m. today and lasted no longer than fifteen seconds."

She pulled up data; the numbers dancing across the display were shocking.

"All core personnel life‑signals have vanished—Isaac Westcott included."

Kotori unconsciously twirled the candy stick in her mouth—her habit when thinking, each turn weighing another possibility. Beneath her white commander's uniform, her shoulders tensed.

"Any idea who did it? Destructive power on this scale…"

Her words brimmed with doubt and vigilance. Ratatoskr's intelligence net was vast, yet they had no clue who caused this catastrophe.

"No known Spirit," Reine replied, summoning another data set.

The energy‑signature curve on‑screen lay completely outside known parameters.

"The profile is nothing like a spacequake—more like pure lightning energy, at an intensity current physics can't explain."

A rare hint of emotion crept into her voice; even she, who had seen much, was shaken.

Kotori frowned. As Ratatoskr's commander she knew every documented Spirit and magic detail by heart, yet a being that could level DEM HQ in five seconds was an utter phantom to her.

"There's one more thing," Reine added, fingers flying over the keys.

The display switched to a blurry video clip.

"Ground stations report that a Spirit codenamed 'Princess' appeared in the area a few hours before DEM was destroyed."

"Princess?" Kotori sat bolt upright, surprise flashing in her eyes. "The new Spirit who appeared and vanished mysteriously a few days ago?"

She remembered that Spirit well; now it seemed she was entwined with this cataclysm.

Reine nodded. "The same one.

"Strangest of all, our sensors caught her having brief contact with an unidentified individual just before the destruction."

On screen, a violet‑haired girl stood beside a black‑haired young man. Their figures were stark against the night. Before their faces or actions could be discerned, heavy interference blanketed the image—static blooming as though to conceal some secret.

Kotori stared at the blurred male figure, confusion flickering in her crimson eyes.

"That man… Magnify his face for analysis."

"We've tried," Reine admitted, a rare crack in her composure. "Every recognition algorithm fails.

"It's as if some force is preventing us from seeing him."

Even the world's most advanced Spirit‑monitoring system—and Reine's own abilities—were powerless.

A chill crawled up Kotori's spine; she felt invisible eyes watching them from the dark. Still, she was commander—decisions had to be made.

"Keep tracking the Princess's whereabouts," she ordered, voice firm.

"Raise the ship to maximum alert.

"I have a feeling… the world is about to change beyond recognition."

Her gaze returned to the ruins on the screen. A nameless dread welled up within her.

A colossal storm was brewing—

and they were about to be swept into its heart.

~~~

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