Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

It's truly hard to believe that someone like her would now resort to such ruthless methods to commit evil, even indiscriminately harming people's lives.

The cold ground and damp soil, a situation that would normally make people uncomfortable, actually helped Kohinata Mirai calm down from her previous emotional outburst.

【…】

Feeling the coolness spreading throughout her body, Kohinata Mirai began to think for a long time.

[Hibiki was threatened and taken away by Rei. Yes, it must have been very painful, but if it's Rei, I believe her. I believe she would never harm Hibiki's life.]

Finally, after a rather lengthy period of thought, and despite having no basis for it, Kohinata Mirai chose to trust the Zero she remembered.

Of course, it's also possible that Kohinata Mirai's current mindset is unwilling to consider or accept the possibility that things could be even worse.

P.S. Maybe it's just "Good morning"?

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Departure

"Do you really enjoy lying on the ground that much? I remember the anchor I used on you wasn't very strong; it was just enough to allow you to move a little."

While Kohinata was thinking, Rei had quickly finished her tasks and, using the faint light from her blade as a light source, walked to Kohinata Mirai's side, who was lying on the ground.

"...Zero Clothes."

White combat boots landed on the ground not far in front of him. Looking up, he saw Lingyi in the same posture as when they first met.

[Should I ask Hibiki what will happen...? If I ask, will Rei tell me?]

The next moment after seeing Zero, this thought popped into Kohinata Mirai's mind.

She was worried about Lingyi's changes, but she was also concerned about what kind of treatment her friends who had been taken away by Lingyi would receive.

No, never mind. Regardless of whether things are as I believe, if I ask, Lingyi will probably only give me the worst possible answer.

However, Kohinata Mirai soon dismissed the idea.

"Phew, I don't understand your thinking. Oh well, never mind."

Seeing that Kohinata Mirai hadn't responded and seemed lost in thought, Rei shook her head and dropped the subject.

"Once I get you up there, my job for today will be done. So, please get up from the ground first." 59

Then, while saying this, Zero used her hand, which was covered by the black lining of the armor, to grab the anchor on Kohinata Mirai and pull her up from the ground.

"Huh?"

Suddenly pulled up from the ground, Kohinata Mirai, whose body had not fully recovered from the electric shock, almost fell down again.

Fortunately, her body was supported by an object outside her body in time, preventing her from suffering secondary injury.

"Stand still and follow me. Don't waste my time."

After regaining her footing, Kohinata Mirai felt Rei's voice enter her ears from beside her, and the next moment, the hand that had been supporting her body left her.

Kohinata Mirai watched as Rei, who was pulling herself along by the restraints on her body, moved in a certain direction.

"Well, I see."

Kohinata Mirai responded and followed Rei's lead in the direction she was heading.

This feeling is slightly nostalgic; I remember being taken away in the same way back then.

Silently following Zero, Kohinata Mirai, having a brief moment of free time, had some thoughts stirring in her mind.

[I really don't understand you anymore, Lingyi. What exactly have you been through since then? And why are you doing something like kidnapping Hibiki?]

He pondered to himself that, as time went on, the initial shock of the intellectual girl had subsided.

After calming down, she began to unconsciously think about the causes of her current situation.

No, I still don't understand. There are just too many things I don't know.

However, lacking the necessary information, she obviously couldn't deduce the truth of the matter and could only follow Lingyi to the edge of this not-so-large space in pointless thinking.

"Since no one is here anymore, let's fill this space back in. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens later and causes a collapse, it won't be good. This will come in handy."

Reaching the edge of the space, to a damp but sturdy wall, Lingyi turned around and said this to the space where the clutter had been recycled, squatting down and placing her hands on the ground.

[Is this feeling... Is Zero going to use that magical ability?]

When Kohinata Mirai saw Rei's actions, she quickly recalled the magical abilities that the girl in front of her had once displayed.

The next moment, under her gaze, Lingyi did something, and a large light array composed of small, earth-yellow hexagons appeared at the bottom of this dark underground space.

"Then there's the cost. Let me think about what things we currently have that we don't need right now, or that are no longer useful."

Lingyi pondered, then looked at the Black Widow anchor on Kohinata Mirai's body, and went forward to disassemble it.

"Use this, plus this one that was hastily made but for which we've lost motivation."

Next, Zero opened the white portal and took out several yellow mechanical arms that Kohinata Mirai was very familiar with.

"Well, that should be enough. If it's just about filling up space, this is about right."

As Lingyi said this, she threw all the aforementioned items into the light array on the ground. Then, these items melted before Kohinata Mirai's eyes, turning into an earth-yellow symbol that she did not recognize.

"As expected, if alchemy can only achieve this level without using memories as a price, it is completely inadequate in terms of convenience and speed of action, making it unsuitable for combat."

"We still need to find an energy source that can supply energy for a long time, and with the appropriate armor, we can make the best use of this technology."

As the strange, yellowish-brown markings were filled in, ordinary soil began to grow on the ground. Lingyi looked at this scene and muttered to herself as if deep in thought.

[It seems that Lingyi's use of this ability is much stronger than when I first met her. I remember back then she could only break through walls.]

On the other side, Kohinata Mirai, now freed from her restraints, looked at the scene before her and thought to herself.

"Let's go, stop looking. If you don't want to be buried in the ground, stick close to me."

Just as Kohinata Mirai was pondering, Zero's voice came from behind.

"Well, I see."

Turning around, looking at Rei who had already carved out a new space on the mud wall, Kohinata Mirai didn't say much and followed her.

After she stepped inside, she turned to look at the entrance and found that it had begun to slowly close.

In an instant, the two of them went from a spacious outdoor area to a completely dark space, only slightly larger than a home bathroom.

It's so dark, I can't see anything.

The cramped and narrow space made it hard for Kohinata Mirai to breathe for a moment.

"Don't get distracted, or I won't be responsible if you fall and get swallowed up by the ground."

Lingyi's voice rang out again from the darkness ahead, offering this reminder.

"Hmm...I understand."

Upon hearing this, Kohinata Mirai remained silent for a short while, suppressing the growing doubts in her eyes, and responded.

"That's fine then... Then, um, location confirmed, destination to choose... and direction to go is this direction."

Seeing that the girl had regained her attention, Lingyi also spent a short time confirming the next steps, and the light from the magic circle in her hand illuminated the dark space.

P.S. Good afternoon.

Chapter 100: The Final Exchange

Above the pitch-black night sky, a bright moon, still disc-shaped and without any strange halo, hung in the air, its pure white light casting a white blanket over a smooth, deserted road.

Along the roadside of this deserted highway, a patch of ground, overgrown with weeds and not covered by cement, shimmered with a faint, earthy yellow light. The damp soil first bulged up like a mound, then cracked like a volcano.

Finally, when everything returned to silence, a sloping pit appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

Inside, there was a slightly tired black-haired high school girl whose school uniform was covered in mud and dust, and a platinum-blonde girl wearing black and white armor who was supporting an earth-yellow magic circle with one hand and half-supporting a light green magic circle with the other.

These two are Kohinata Mirai and Rei, who have just returned to the surface from the depths of the underground using heretical technology.

"Alright, I'll stop here. You should be able to walk up this distance by yourself."

After dispersing the two spell arrays in her hands, Lingyi turned around and glanced at Kohinata Mirai behind her, asking this question.

"Yes, that's fine."

Kohinata Mirai nodded; as a former member of the track and field club, she still possessed such physical fitness.

"That's good. I'll be going now. Oh, by the way, do you have your own way home?"

Lingyi had just taken out the red crystal she used for teleportation when she suddenly remembered something and casually asked a question.

"Um, I have my phone with me... Ah, where did my phone go?"

Kohinata Mirai was about to say no problem, but just as she was about to take it out of her clothes to show it, she belatedly realized that she didn't have her phone with her.

Prior to this, for convenience, she and Hibiki Tachibana had placed some luggage-like items aside, including their cell phones. However, with the subsequent series of events, it became even less likely that she would be able to retrieve her phone.

"Is that so? It's good that I asked, otherwise it would have been troublesome. The security at night is not exactly safe."

Looking at Kohinata Mirai's answer on the screen and her somewhat troubled movements, Rei said this.

"Well, I think the security situation here is alright. After all, Lingyi, you've already taken down so many of those awful people... well, you know. So in my opinion, the security here has always been pretty good."

Upon hearing Rei's statement, Kohinata Mirai organized her thoughts briefly before correcting Rei's statement.

At least from her own experience, the number of serious crimes in the city dropped precipitously after that day.

"Disarm? Oh, you mean what I did casually before? Please, Hinata, don't underestimate the malice in people's hearts. What I did won't deter anyone for long."

Rei made this statement after noticing Kohinata Mirai's correction.

"And, aren't you being a little too casual with me? Don't forget, it was me who just used your life as a tool to kidnap your friend."

Then, below the screen, Zero's eyes narrowed slightly as she gave Kohinata Mirai the same reminder, emphasizing the same point once again.

"I know that, but I can't bring myself to see Lingyi as that kind of bad person."

Faced with Rei's emphasis, Kohinata Mirai, who had been thinking for a long time and had made up her mind, spoke gently and calmly.

"Why? You know your friend is currently in a state of uncertainty, like Schrödinger's cat, with no clear answer to whether he's alive or dead. How can you be so calm?"

Lingyi was somewhat confused. She couldn't understand why, as time went by, Kohinata Mirai, who had been a little flustered before, had become so calm.

"because……"

Hearing Lingyi's question, and looking at the girl in front of her with a cold expression, which seemed to be limited to that, Kohinata Mirai once again recalled the other's actions and everything the other had done in the past.

"...I believe that you, Rei, would not hurt Hibiki. In fact, knowing what you have done before, no one would believe that you would become someone who would casually harm other people's lives."

Finally, covered in dust, Kohinata Mirai gave this answer calmly but firmly under the full moonlight.

"ha?"

Looking at Kohinata Mirai's answer displayed on the screen, Rei was speechless for a moment.

"You two are actually quite compatible in some ways. One of you tries to reach an understanding with the enemy on a battlefield where the two are clearly on opposing sides, while the other, after witnessing me do such a terrible thing, inexplicably believes me without any reason or evidence. You're both equally strange."

Lingyi couldn't help but complain that she felt Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Mirai might have some kind of mental problem.

"Hibiki, has she ever done that? Hmm, it does seem like something she would do?"

After hearing about Tachibana Hibiki's actions from Rei, Kohinata Mirai spoke gently.

"Forget it, continuing to talk to you is just a waste of time. I'll leave after I've taken care of how you get home."

Anyway, what Kohinata thinks in the future is not important, and Rei is too lazy to do anything to correct her anymore.

"What are you going to do, Lingyi? Are you planning to take me back?"

Kohinata Mirai asked with some curiosity.

"How could that be? I don't have that time. Of course, I'll find someone who has the time, energy, and free time to take you home."

Lingyi said this naturally, and then with a slight thought, a portal emitting white light appeared beside her.

"Armour request: Tiger Shark Cannon; Special ammunition request: Illumination flares."

With Zero's command, the white-glowing portal flickered, and the next moment, it spat out a black, double-barreled cannon-like object.

"Preparation complete, then the phone call, oh, I still need to deactivate the armor first."

Then, at a speed that left Kohinata Mirai completely speechless, Zero removed the tight-fitting armor from her body. A white light enveloped her body, and as the light dissipated, her original casual clothes were revealed.

The main body consists of a simple black and white dress and black stockings that cover almost the entire body of Lingyi.

The only glimpse of her fair and beautiful skin was her seemingly slender and delicate hands, and the absolute territory that was faintly visible between her stockings and dress.

"Lingyi, what are you wearing?"

This was the first time Kohinata Mirai had seen Rei dressed like this. She had seen her dressed before, usually in casual shirts and trousers.