Tale of Discovery

Chapter 294: Capture ; Not the End

With the twin spirits following me, I continue to walk toward the severely injured Ellen and the girl tending to her.

Due to the girl being preoccupied with Ellen's injuries, she doesn't notice our presence all the way until we're right behind her.

I take a brief moment to deliberate on what I should do now before releasing a sigh and proceeding to place my foot against the girl's back.

Startled, the girl flinches, but that's about it, as I immediately circulate Destruction through my leg before channeling it inside her.

Following that, a brief scream escapes from the girl's lips before her body 'breaks down' into imperceptible bits.

"You monster," an exhausted and pained voice reaches my ears as Ellen glares at my face.

"What are you saying?" I say with an odd look on my face, "You are out here trying to kill a bunch of girls for simply not being human, yet you dare call me a monster?"

Ellen doesn't react to my words, be it due to a lack of energy to do so or simply because she doesn't care at all.

Taking a close look at her body, I notice that three out of the four locations her limbs were sliced off have stopped bleeding entirely.

Upon closer inspection, I notice that the wounds have closed up - forcefully so.

Taking a glance at the blood flowing out of where her left arm was sliced off, I shrug once before stepping forth and crouching beside her.

Then, I press my palm against the place of interest and utilize Healing Factor.

Shortly, along with the awed voices and expression of a certain pair, blood stops flowing out and a bright light covers the wound. Then, a 'new' arm covered in light slowly begins to 'grow' before the light eventually fades.

All of a sudden, Ellen raises her regrown arm and lets out a burst of energy, which I prepare to block using Vector Manipulation, however, the energy moves in a different direction - toward the speaker.

Following this, the speaker gets knocked back a few meters while remaining relatively undamaged.

Just as I'm about to question the oddity of her actions, a gentle voice that seems to belong to a young girl reaches my ears as I feel my vision darken ever so slightly.

Shaking my head, my vision returns to normal, but the gentle voice continues to resound within my ears as it hums in a calming manner.

"Is that it?" I say in a mocking tone while staring at the speaker through which the humming noise is coming from.

So, they were trying to get me to listen to some girl humming? From what I can tell, her humming did something to... mentally. The problem is, I can't tell what exactly it was supposed to do.

Nevertheless, this is quite an intriguing happening. A voice that can negatively affect me couldn't possibly be something that anyone can achieve.

So, I am led to two conclusions: Either the voice is a computer-generated one that's possible due to the technological advancement of this Platform, or the one humming has some sort of power and ability.

"Well, whatever," I mutter while staring at Ellen's face, "I can get all the answers I want from her anyway."

At this moment, I hear two loud thumps behind me, causing me to use my senses as a means of hastily checking the situation, only to find both twins lying on the ground with their eyes closed, obviously unconscious.

---

"Ara, I didn't expect to see you again so soon~" Kurumi's voice reaches my ears the moment I step through the teleportation gateway I created.

Fortunately, my usage of the gateway wasn't interrupted this time around by a certain Code...

"Yes, I didn't expect this either," I reply with a wry smile covering my lips.

Just to be sure, AI, is this Kurumi a Binary Factor or a Code?

{The former.}

So, 'she' is elsewhere, huh? Oh well, it doesn't make much of a difference... I think.

"Oho?" Kurumi utters as a shadowy figure forms from the ground right in front of me, "Why have you brought a maiden here, if I may ask? You can't be possibly wishing to partake in unlawful ventures, are you?"

"Yeah, about that," I say while walking toward one of the few sofas present in the dark room, "The matter is nothing like what you're assuming."

Along with that, I telekinetically move the now-unconscious Ellen in the air and set her down on the sofa.

"Kurumi," I say while staring at Ellen's comely face, "I hope that you can keep her here for me and make sure that she doesn't run away."

"My, my," Kurumi says before chuckling and continuing, "That's an odd request to make. I truly hope you don't mind explaining to me what value this lady holds to you."

Rolling my eyes, I turn around to face the dangerously curious girl and approach her.

Once I am right in front of her, I look into her eyes and say in a casual tone, "Isn't it obvious? She's my enemy. I intend to have her held captive here for reasons I believe you should know of."

"For interrogation and using her as a hostage for compromises, is that it?"

"Indeed," I respond before moving my face closer to hers and whispering, "And I think that there is no other better place than here for this."

"Understood," Kurumi says as a bright smile forms on her lips, "I will see to it that she remains healthy enough to be useful and have her stay put."

"Thank you," I say before closing whatever distance left and kissing her cheek.

"It's nothing worth being appreciative for," she replies along with a gentle giggle.

Having done what I came here for, I bid Kurumi farewell before leaving the building through the same method I used to get here.

As such, I find myself standing above the bodies of the twins who have yet to regain their consciousness.

How long are they going to remain like this? Don't tell me they're out for the whole day...

Glimpsing at the speaker which I have already destroyed, I let out a sigh of exasperation at the thought of the voice being capable enough to render 'spirits' unconscious for an extended period of time.

"Yeah, no," I mutter before stepping forth and crouching beside the one that should be 'Yuzuru' and proceed to nudge her shoulder while saying, "Hey, wake up."

Thankfully, after pressing on for a few minutes, Yuzuru's eyelids twitch before she half opens them and stares at me with a blank look on her face.

"Report: Yuzuru has been defiled."

"Wrong," I say while rolling my eyes, "You just fell unconscious, and I woke you up; that's all."

"Doubt: You appear to be someone who has no qualms about assaulting an unconscious girl."

"That's a pretty rude thing to say," I state before flicking her forehead, "Forget it. Let's wake your sister up."

"Realization: Kaguya has been defiled as well."

"I told you, that's not what happened," I respond. What's with this girl? First, there is her 'unique' manner of speaking, then there is her thinking pattern.

And here I was thinking that there couldn't be anyone odder than Origami when it came to these...

---

"Well then," I am going out to check in on Reine.

"Uh, okay. Be careful!" Tamae says in an anxious tone.

Nodding my head, I look over at Origami and the rest before saying, "Stay here for now. I will be back soon."

"Shido, take me with you!" Tohka immediately exclaims, "I don't want to stay here!"

Listening to her whining, I place my right hand behind my head and say, "Not this time. The situation outside isn't the best, so I would rather have you stay here."

Having said that, I don't wait for her response as I directly turn around and exit the building.

Once outside, two pairs of eyes lock onto me as Yuzuru says, "Inquiry: Where are you going to be heading?"

"Meeting up with a teacher," I respond, "And, you two are going to come with me."

Hearing my words, the two of them both look at each other and nod their heads before turning their attention back to me.

"Request: Lead the way."

"Don't do anything sudden on the way there either! My all-seeing eyes will stop you the moment you attempt to do so, and then you will have a taste of my Sturm Lanze!"

"Oh, is that so?" I say while giving Kaguya a casual look.

Shaking my head, I gesture to the two of them to follow me as I begin walking and mutter, "Reine, can you hear me?"

"Yes," comes a response from the intercom, "I am in my room right now."

"Yes, yes, and I am supposed to find this room on my own, right?"

Other than complete silence, I get no response from Reine, indicating that she indeed wants me to find the room on my own.

Well, whatever. At most, this will delay me by ten seconds at most...

--

Sliding the door before me open, I directly walk inside and set my sight upon Reine who is sitting in front of a computer screen and typing something in.

"We have a problem," she says, "Something is coming this way."

As expected, the previous sorry excuse of an ambush wasn't the end of it.

"How is the island doing?" I question as I walk over to her and create a stool beside the chair she is sitting on.

I take a seat on the stool, while Kaguya and Yuzuru walk over to the bed and sit as well.

"If you're referring to the individual facility at the bottom-most section of the island, it's already done for. Other than that, the damages were minimal."

"Alright," I respond, a little dispirited that I won't be getting to see what those machines down there were supposed to do.

"Forget it," I say, "What do you mean by 'something' coming this way? Is it a spirit?"

"No, a ship."

"Oh? Something similar to the Fraxinus?"

"Not exactly, but yes," she responds while squinting her eyes as she keenly stares at the screen in front of her.

"In that case, I will take care of it," I state before looking over at the twins and saying, "The only problem I have right now is that I don't know what to do with them."

I wonder if it's possible to forcefully seal spirits...

"You can leave it to us," Reine says with a hint of confidence in her voice, "But, more importantly, how are you planning to deal with the ship?"

"You'll see," I respond with a bright smile on my lips.

It has been quite some time since I've had the chance to freely let my powers loose. Naturally, I won't overdo it by using more energy than what's necessary, but I can still have some fun nevertheless...