~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon

~ Bonus Chapter every 200 Powerstones!

Despite the gothic lolita's explicit refusal, Bokue Keikain's approach to problems had always been simple and direct.

If I actually listened when you told me not to follow, wouldn't that make me look bad?

So the scene shifted to the island's Special Security Force headquarters building.

Pure white corridors, comprehensive ventilation systems, and operating room after operating room lining the halls.

This was the classified underground level of the Special Security Force headquarters. Normally, only critically injured Security Force members and officers at director level or above could enter. Others needed approval from the Artificial Island Management Corporation.

Natsuki Minamiya happened to fall into the latter category—she was an Attack Mage for Itogami Island's Special Security Force with the rank of director, granting her access privileges.

And today she'd brought a special guest—Kanon Kanase, whom Bokue had yanked down from the fireworks display earlier.

Well, technically two people. The other was the black-haired masked angel who'd been fighting Kanon, currently undergoing examination by Security Force medical specialists in the adjacent operating room.

As for Kanon, Natsuki was personally handling her case.

Under the shadowless surgical lights, the silver-haired girl lay still on the operating table like a pure white angel. Monitoring wires covered her pale body, the steady beeping of her heart rate the only sound echoing through the quiet air.

"So what exactly is going on?"

Beside the operating table, Bokue casually materialized a chair through matter reconstruction and sat down, propping his chin on his hand as he gazed curiously at the still-unconscious silver-haired girl.

Anyone would be curious.

After all, it had only been half a day. This morning at school, she'd been an ordinary human girl. By evening, she'd transformed into a masked, bandage-wrapped girl with angel wings who could fly, attack, and fire energy blasts.

The contrast was staggering.

"...Didn't I tell you not to follow?"

Natsuki didn't even bother turning around at his voice, continuing to operate the various instruments in the operating room.

"Can't do that."

Bokue yawned behind his hand, turning to look at the blonde girl sitting beside him, whose expression seemed somewhat tense.

"If she were a complete stranger, that'd be one thing. But she's my sister's classmate and friend. Plus, Asagi and I just met her this morning. Just abandoning her here would be completely irresponsible."

"Sister?"

At that term, Natsuki paused her operations momentarily, turning with a puzzled look.

"Yura Keikain goes to Saikai Academy?"

"Oh, not Yura. I'm talking about Nagisa."

Bokue scratched his head.

"Since she always calls me Big Brother, that makes her my sister, naturally."

"...I see."

After a moment's consideration, Natsuki turned back to her work.

She had no interest in exposing others' private matters. And given this guy's track record, who knew if his actual girlfriend Asagi already knew about her boyfriend's relationship with his two "sisters."

After all, she'd already witnessed the "embracing from both sides" firsthand. Adding one more in the middle didn't seem impossible.

Still, young people these days really knew how to have fun...

The gothic witch mentally sighed—despite maintaining a loli body, she was actually twenty-six years old.

"Hmm?"

As new data appeared on the screen, the gothic girl who'd been repeatedly hitting refresh suddenly froze, her expression turning grave.

"Wait, this is..."

"What's wrong?"

Sensing Natsuki's emotional shift, Bokue realized she'd discovered something crucial. He immediately stood and strode over to the computer controlling the instruments.

Though one glance made him give up entirely.

He couldn't understand the complex data at all...

Natsuki didn't look at him, just stared at the screen while shaking her head and murmuring: "This might sound contradictory, but it seems you were right to follow after all... Let me ask directly—when you made contact with them earlier, did you notice anything abnormal?"

"If I had to say, it seemed like someone was controlling them."

Bokue recalled the earlier situation.

"So what's going on?"

"I don't know either..."

Natsuki took a deep breath.

"According to the instrument readings, this girl has several times the normal number of spiritual circuits in her body. That should be absolutely impossible."

"Yeah, I don't follow."

"...Let me put it this way. Normal humans are born with seven spiritual circuits. Being able to utilize thirty percent of their capacity makes someone a first-rate spiritual power user. Complete mastery and perfect utilization creates an Awakened One, granting power comparable to gods and buddhas."

The gothic girl glanced at the data on the computer screen.

"But this girl has over ten spiritual circuits. Though her usage is crude, the sheer number has already qualified her for evolution to a higher dimension... no, she might already be evolving. That's probably why the island's detection equipment showed no response during the earlier battle."

"In simple terms, her power has reached a higher dimension, making it undetectable by monitoring instruments."

Is that so? I didn't feel anything though.

Bokue thought to himself.

That said, he understood Natsuki's explanation. To use an analogy, it was like Aizen facing Mugetsu Ichigo—the power differential was so vast it became imperceptible.

And while Kanon couldn't fully utilize all her spiritual circuits due to poor efficiency, she genuinely possessed that level of power.

Using another Bleach example, it was like early Ichigo with Old Man Zangetsu sealing away almost all his spiritual power, forcing him to scrape by on the pitiful fragments of reiatsu that leaked through the seal.

"Wait, I think I've got it!"

Lightning seemed to flash through her mind as Natsuki spoke, her face showing massive shock.

She even stepped back half a pace from the sheer surprise.

"Yes, that explains it! Just as you said, Kanon Kanase having so many spiritual circuits isn't natural. Remember I mentioned all the masked angel corpses we found had their spiritual circuits removed? I think that's where hers came from. Someone's deliberately conducting survival-of-the-fittest experiments...!"

Before she could finish, the data graphs on the computer screen suddenly fluctuated.

Simultaneously, the silver-haired girl on the operating table seemed awakened by the sound. Without warning, she opened her pure, clear silver-blue eyes. Her pristine angel wings burst open behind her, the monitoring sensors sliding off automatically as her form floated into the air.

"Watch out!"

Natsuki had already reacted, shouting a warning as her Chain Projection materialized behind her.

But Bokue didn't need the warning. With a wave, he'd already constructed a spiritual barrier protecting the bewildered Asagi and Astarte.

He himself didn't matter, of course. But Asagi was just an ordinary human girl, and Astarte's familiar [Rhododactylos] wasn't an omnipotent defensive barrier. Getting hit by higher-dimensional energy would undoubtedly have severe consequences.

But the awakened Kanon did nothing. As if some program had been forcibly activated in her brain, she opened her eyes without hesitation or delay, her form vanishing directly into thin air.

She'd actually escaped.

~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!