On the other side of the city—

Nia's apartment lay steeped in the stillness of night.

Moonlight, pale as water, spilled through the balcony's glass doors, draping the entire room in a veil of silver mystery.

Rei Ao slipped soundlessly out of the bedroom.

His footsteps were as light as a cat's, not stirring the faintest noise.

He eased the door shut, careful not to wake Tohka, who was sleeping inside.

Just then, Tohka's cheeks still glowed with a satisfied blush; the corners of her lips were slightly upturned, as though she were lost in a sweet dream.

Nia was curled up on the sofa, her glasses askew, clutching Rasiel to her chest as she slept deeply.

Her breathing was even and gentle, broken only by the occasional quiet murmur.

Ellen lay on another couch, breathing just as steadily, eyes firmly closed.

On the surface, she also seemed to have drifted into dreamland—though her lashes fluttered now and then, hinting at inner unrest.

Rei Ao's gaze was drawn to the figure outside.

Kurumi Tokisaki stood with her back to him.

Her astral dress blazed beneath the moonlight; the stars overhead and the dress's filaments intertwined like a work of art.

The golden clock in her eye reflected the city lights, its spinning hands seeming to whisper the secrets of time.

Sliding the door open, Rei Ao walked to her side.

"Can't sleep?"

His voice was low and gentle, breaking the night's hush.

Kurumi did not turn; she only swirled the wine glass in her hand.

The red wine—pilfered at some point from Nia's cabinet—shimmered in the glass, casting a beguiling glow.

"Ara, Rei Ao-san, finished so quickly?"

Her tone retained its familiar tease, yet it lacked its usual effortless poise, as though she were hiding something.

Rei Ao chuckled softly. "My stamina is better than you think."

He had, after all, shown restraint for Tohka's sake.

Resting an arm on the railing, his iridescent eyes studied Kurumi's profile.

In the tranquil night, the air between them turned subtly, complicatedly charged.

"But I imagine you're out here for something other than that, aren't you?"

Silence spread between them.

"Rei Ao-san…"

Kurumi finally spoke, her voice so light it was nearly carried away by the night breeze, like a murmur from distant memory.

"Do you believe there is such a thing as pure evil in this world?"

Her words held a trace of confusion and pain—scars buried deep for years.

Rei Ao did not answer at once.

He reached out and took her glass.

A sip of the cheap wine spread its sourness across his tongue, yet it could not dampen his thoughts.

"Good and evil are relative," he said slowly, eyes drifting toward the horizon.

"In all the worlds I've traveled, almost nothing is purely black or white."

"What about the Origin Spirit?" Google seaʀᴄh ɴovᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet

Kurumi suddenly turned; the hands in her clock eye spun madly.

Golden light flared in the dark—the flame of hatred.

Her gaze was filled with vengeance and pain.

"The monster that tricked me… that made me a Spirit—surely that is pure evil?"

Her voice quavered; painful memories flooded her heart.

In the moonlight, Rei Ao saw, for the first time, the anguish hidden deep in her eyes: not the eyes of a centuries‑old hunter, but of a wounded girl—

eyes brimming with helplessness, despair, fury;

the look of a small creature, hurt and licking its wounds alone in the dark.

"Tell me your story."

He returned the glass to her, his tone gentle.

"I want the true version—not the 'Worst Spirit' tale others recite."

Even knowing the facts, hearing them from the one who lived them carried weight.

His eyes showed concern and understanding, telling her this was a safe harbor where she could pour out her pain.

Kurumi's fingertips trembled; her thoughts drifted back.

"Long ago, I was just an ordinary young lady…"

Her voice was bitter as she chewed on the painful past.

"Naïve. Foolish. I believed the world was as beautiful as Father painted it."

Her eyes brimmed with longing and regret—

longing for her carefree self, regretting her innocence and folly…

"Until one day, a beautiful woman appeared before me."

Her tone sank lower.

"She said she could grant me endless time—let me stay forever young and beautiful, let me protect the world…"

Her fingers unconsciously brushed the clock in her right eye—her emblem of torment.

"I believed her."

"And then… I became this."

Loathing and resignation laced her words:

loathing for what she now was, resignation at fate's cruelty.

Rei Ao listened in silence; he knew Kurumi had held this in far too long and needed a release.

"When I realized I'd been deceived, it was already too late."

Her nails dug deep into her palm; blood seeped out, yet she seemed not to feel the pain.

"Zafkiel gave me power over time—yet cursed me to devour others' time."

"That woman who called herself Soun… She created Spirits only to—"

Her voice seethed with rage and hatred—an unrelenting grudge against the Origin Spirit, Soun.

"—to harvest Spirit power and resurrect the dead," Rei Ao finished.

Kurumi's head snapped up, eyes wide in shock.

"How do you know?"

Confusion colored her voice; she could not fathom how Rei Ao knew a secret she seldom voiced.

Rei Ao did not answer directly. Instead he asked,

"So for three thousand years you've hunted evildoers, gathering time—so one day you can kill the Origin Spirit?"

"Exactly."

Cold fire blazed in Kurumi's eyes—the fire of vengeance that could burn all.

"I'll return to the past, slay the beginning itself, kill the Origin Spirit, change everything!"

"For that, I will gladly become the 'Worst Spirit' all fear."

Her voice was full of resolve.

For revenge, she would pay any price.

~~~

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