Date a Live: The Inverse Spirit of Paradox
Chapter 10: Code Name [2]

As the battle progressed, Rei started to worry for some reason. He felt that AST was waiting for something. And whatever it is, it probably won't do him any good.

[Space Manipulation] Rei only had a range of 100 meters around him. He could freely manipulate the [Spaces] within that range.

AST was already aware of this from many occasions, analyzing its behavior and ability in reruns of battles.

The drones that attacked him in close combat had completely caught fire. That's why AST members keep a distance of at least 150-200 meters from him, firing their rifles at a safe distance.

But knowing the shots was not enough to stop Rei, as he could instantly close the distance between them by teleporting himself to them.

But here we can say that it is easier said than done. After all, performing such a trick led to the fact that Rei had a serious problem, such as total immobility of the body a few seconds after teleportation.

The problem at the moment was that his body was in a state of adapting to the , rendering him unable to move. This also applies to some of its abilities, which can easily destroy an entire AST in just a few minutes.

Even Rei did not know that he would face a situation where he would not be able to use all of his abilities. He could not even imagine that just using all his strength and his would be a burden rather than a gain.

"Well..." A groan came out of him.

He noticed that consistently defending his [Barrier] using the [Floating Blaster] that would attack his enemy remotely and using [Fire] as the destructive domain around him had already reduced his health.

"Quite a play.." said Rei with an indifferent gaze.

Although some of his abilities were not available in this fight, it did not mean that he could not destroy them.

"It's time to put an end to this joke" Rei murmured as he began to try to move his body, feeling himself beginning to slowly master his new strength.

-

"wind pressure. Normal, checked. Normal equipment stability, checked. Starting [Elimination]."

And then Origami pulled the trigger.

YONGYG!!

——

[Some seconds before]

"Aah!!!!" The AST members shouted as Rei's [Floating Blaster] stabbed into his leg, and finally the man fell to the ground with a collision.

Whether he died in an accident, Rei didn't care.

"You!! Cursed Spirit!!" The other AST members growled furiously as he fired a reckless barrage of missiles, paying no attention to anything else.

His friend may have been killed, and his position is still unconfirmed, whether he is alive or dead. The best option was to step back and try to see if he was still alive, but he wasn't. The woman was blinded by anger and attacked the Spirit as hard as she could.

"Too sloppy. And it will be the result of your downfall" Rei murmured as one of his [Floating Blaster] tried to pierce through the witch but was hindered by his [Region].

However, the [Region] finally collapsed as Rei sent endless attacks there. And a moment later, he suffered the same fate as his friend, and he fainted.

Just like how Rei was now slowly regaining his ability to move, in other words, his fear that he had a while ago would disappear if he mastered this power and controlled it properly.

It was then that he suddenly sensed the danger that something was going to hurt him.

And he's right.

It was so fast that when it was just within Rei's perceptual range, he realized that he was moving in that direction.

And then he felt an instinctive choice appear in his mind.

Block or avoid.

If he doesn't do any of those options in the blink of an eye...

He's gonna die". Well. not literally, but seriously injured is the proper term.

It was a bullet.

The bullet did not seem to be affected by the purple flames due to the wind pressure it created around it. And maybe the bullet was made of a very hard material like tungsten, and he guessed that the bullet was made specifically to fight against the Spirit. The estimated speed of the bullet was about 4000 meters per second.

In fact, it was extremely fast even by spirit standards.

This analysis is done in seconds. His thought process shot a hundredfold. This was one of the available abilities given by hers.

However, this ability can only be used for a limited time per day with a long cooldown due to its negative effect on the user's mind. This would cause a severe headache later on, but it was a small price to pay for noticing that a bullet was flying towards him.

All this time, he thought and thought. No matter how hard he tried, the only way out of this predicament was to take action that could almost be done.

"Now..."

Deciding to trust his instincts, he lowered his head as quickly as possible, but as accurately as possible, and dodged the bullet just in time. It ended with him getting blisters on his cheeks.

But then the others followed, and Rei already knew about it.

However, this bullet was not something he could avoid, as it was fired directly at him from a point that could be called a blind spot. On the side of his head when he dodged, to be exact.

And for whom, it is remarkable to make such a shot - obviously, it is "he".

Impressive, very impressive. It was him, Origami, who could do something very precise, like this shot.

Ray grinned and accepted the challenge.

Rey quickly makes a move that violates the laws of human physics.well, if she's "human" at all and catches a bullet with her right hand.

"As I thought....."

His hands, which were covered with glove-type armor, did not suffer any significant damage. It was only slightly punctured when the bullet tip landed on his armor, which did not hurt too much at all, except it was just numbness caused by the impact of the bullet.

"No matter how good your gear is. it won't break through tough armor ......"

Ray muttered, narrowing his eyes, which looked murderous in the direction from which the shot had come.

——

"!!" Origami, who was still looking at his target through binoculars, inevitably gasped in shock at what Spirit had done.

"What?..! He dodged the first one and caught the second one by hand?!"

The same goes for Ryoko, whose eyes are wide open as she looks through her binoculars.

That was totally unthinkable. At least in human terms. What they were facing right now was not a human being, but a Spirit, so such a thing might have been included in their expectations.

But even so, they did not think that this Spirit would actually do such a trick.

"....Mission fails. Do you understand what I'm saying correctly, Origami?" Ryouko commented, staring at Origami with a stern look, implying that he would not be able to make excuses after that.

"...."

Origami remained silent and looked like she was about to sulk when her hateful eyes were still focused on her target.

“Do not sulk. Just like in our agreement, we'll back out now. Did you hear this commandment? Immediately retreat, and also, if you can, take away those who are injured, and to the victims, the same thing. ... If you can't, just back off. We don't want to add to our losses anymore" Ryouko said as he gritted his teeth.

Losing on the battlefield is common. Over the years, he had experienced many deaths of his peers, friends, and acquaintances.

Although some of them looked sad, depressed, and angry, they still answered in unison.

Some tried to pull out the bodies of their teammates, but once they were exposed to the flames, their bodies became unrecognizable as they turned them over, the burnt corpses slowly being crushed, turning into ashes.

"....Yeah"

Origami, who still does not want to leave, reluctantly follows Ryouko's orders. He was so focused on killing Spirits that he didn't think that some of his team-mates sacrificed themselves in order for him to eliminate spirits.

He also felt guilty and sad, but his revenge on the Spirit was paramount. No, the priority of AST is to destroy the Spirits.

Is correct. He was just doing his duty along with his selfish desires.

That's all, everything he needs to take care of. That no one should suffer a fate similar to his, when a loved one is killed by the Spirit.

And a moment later, AST began to completely retreat from this place.

——

"Tsk," Rey clicked her tongue, and before long a drop of blood flowed from her mouth.

'Damn it.' his grunts in heart, wiping his lips with his finger.

The tricks he had done earlier, as well as the use of his mind speed ability, returned like a boomerang to him at this moment.

Rei felt his head overheating, which made his vision somewhat blurred and blurred at the same time. And speaking of his body, he experienced some tingling pain in his muscles and bones.

Although the first problem cannot be fixed immediately, this does not apply to the second, which begins to heal slowly, although not quickly, it is still seen that his body is in the process of healing.

Rey knows that AST, unable to eliminate her with this effort, is starting to retreat.

"As if I'm gonna let you go easily unscathed ..."

Rei, who saw his hand holding a bullet that was slowly burning and turning into dust, furrowed his brows, and his eyes were filled with slight disdain.

Obviously, if someone tries to kill you and take your life, will you feel joy or sadness as your main emotion? Of course you'll be angry.

Although Rei is used to it, things are different when your enemy is not a threat. But now it is an obvious danger.

The freak will answer yes, but that doesn't apply to Rei, and probably not to many people.

It was his second chance to live again. His second life, which was given to him by chance from his encounter with the Gods, was like most of the cliched Isekai.

It was as if he would not feel angry and let go of someone who could threaten his life to such an extent. So the answer is to destroy them now.

"Fuck the plot. I'll do it my way." Rey's lips curled up into a happy smile.

He then gathered the mana around him and compressed it into his sword. The purple sword resonated with mana and shone ferociously as the flames around it were devoured by it.

The moment mana and fire began to gather on the sword, it emitted an astonishing and dazzling light that illuminated almost everything in sight.

The mana was vigorously compressed in such a way that one trigger would unleash its devastating destruction along a certain path.

——

[POV Author]

The Ratatoskr

"Commander! A large amount of mana had been detected on the Spirit. Looks like he's trying to cause a dimensional crack that comes from !"

"This destruction should have been total annihilation. With range....! It would reach and cut the northwestern region all the way to the northern region of Tengu City!"

"Kannazuki! Deploy a separate area and try to intercept the attack! Reine, quickly analyze the damage estimate. You spread and distract the Spirit! We can't let him wipe a quarter of Tengu City off the map!"

"Yes!" Soon after, the same response was heard from the crew.

"Reine, go and have someone prepare Fraxinus' main weapon, we must prepare everything at all costs to try and handle what she will do," Kotori ordered as she stood up from her seat.

"Kotori, do you want to personally try to stop the Spirit?"

"....Yep. After all, I can't let him destroy and destroy most of the city. Besides, I believe that I can postpone it even for a moment or try to resist what he is trying to do," he said Kotori, starting to prepare to leave the Fraxinus plane.

"You know, if you die, it'll all be over. I know, you know how dangerous this Spirit is just by calling. But you still want to face it?"

"I'll do it, and even you can't stop me.

"It has been a long time since you used your Spirit Power, is it alright for you to fight against the possibility of a Spirit ranked SS Threat?"

"Don't worry, I won't die or just give up, even if the enemy is that strong."

"...Is that so? Then, we'll drop you off at the safest and nearest place." Reine said with a sigh.

"Commander! Preparation has begun!"

One of the crew members informs Kotori that a transfer key has been prepared to take off her landing.

Kotori, who heard this, looked at Reine and said "Don't worry, I'll return safely" - Kotori assured him and all members of Fraxinus' team that she would return.

"Good luck out there, don't push yourself." Reine said as she showed a worried smile towards Kotori.

"Understanding," Kotori replied as she lightly waved at Reine with a fierce smile on her face.

The next moment, light began to form under Kotori's feet.

His eyes narrowed towards his target.

Just then, purple-red flames flared all over his body.

And in the middle of this flame stood the figure of a young girl - Kotori.

It seems like she is a girl who dresses up in cosplay. His sleeves fluttered in the wind, half of his body seemed to fuse with the twinkling flames. On her waist was a sash of fire, as if it was the heavenly gown of a heavenly angel.

And on his head, two inorganic horns grew. This appearance was not like a princess, but like an Oni.

No doubt, it is .

"Burn, !"

With those words, flames began to appear all over his body, forming what looked like a huge stick.

After which, as Kotori grabbed the stick, a red sword appeared on it.

It looked like a huge battle axe.

He then flew as fast as he could and arrived, hovering in the sky a few meters between him and the other Spirits.

Kotori then lightly swung the huge war ax into the air as her icy pupils, her eyes, emitted a strange red glow. A smile played on his lips, an expression that approached overwhelming excitement.

"And now - Let our Meeting (battle) begin."