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 dreamlandthough 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 winepilfered at some point from Nia's cabinetshimmered 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 painscars 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?"
Kurumi suddenly turned; the hands in her clock eye spun madly.
Golden light flared in the darkthe flame of hatred.
Her gaze was filled with vengeance and pain.
"The monster that tricked me that made me a Spiritsurely 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 centuriesold 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 versionnot 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.
"Nave. 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 timelet me stay forever young and beautiful, let me protect the world"
Her fingers unconsciously brushed the clock in her right eyeher 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 timeyet cursed me to devour others' time."
"That woman who called herself Soun She created Spirits only to"
Her voice seethed with rage and hatredan 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 timeso one day you can kill the Origin Spirit?"
"Exactly."
Cold fire blazed in Kurumi's eyesthe 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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(Bonus Chapter) Chapter 779: Reason for the Birth of the Origin Spirit!
Just as Rei Ao and Kurumi were absorbed in conversation,
a voice suddenly came from behind them:
"The Origin SpiritMio Takamiya was created by us."
Both of them turned around at once and sawEllen standing in the doorway to the balcony.
"You're still up?"
Rei Ao raised an eyebrow, a trace of surprise in his eyes.
"Only pretending to sleep,"
Ellen answered calmly; her voice carried no emotion at all.
"When I heard you two talking about the Origin Spirit, I knew it was time to tell the truth."
She walked toward them unhurriedly.
"I know exactly where that Origin Spirit came from. She's dangerousand she's vanished."
Kurumi's gaze turned instantly lethal.
The flintlock pistol of Zafkiel appeared in her hand, its muzzle aimed straight at Ellen, as though the trigger might be pulled the next second.
"You're sayingyou created the Origin Spirit?"
Her voice quivered with rage, a tremor born of painful memories and the shock of the revelation.
Ellen looked directly into the barrel and nodded.
"Years ago, Isaac, Elliot, Karen, and I the four of us were survivors. A massacre had taken everything from us."
Her tone was eerily calm, as if recounting someone else's story, though a flicker of pain passed through her eyes.
"We swore to change this ugly world. Our method was to create a god who could rewrite reality."
"So you triggered the Eurasian Sky Disaster? You killed one hundred fiftymillion people?"
Kurumi pressed the gun barrel to Ellen's forehead, her voice shaking with fury. Hatred blazed in her eyesnot only for the Sky Disaster, but for everything she herself had suffered.
TokisakiKurumi desperately wanted to pull the trigger and end Ellen, venting thirty years of agonybut reason still restrained her.
Ellen closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and steadied herself.
"The ritual ran out of control.
"We only intended to gather the world's mana and create a perfect Spirit but the energy surge exceeded anything we'd anticipated."
She opened her eyesblue pupils swirling with regret, guilt, and helplessness.
"When the dust settled, Mio Takamiya was bornand the world was beyond recognition."
"Do you know what she did?"
Kurumi's finger tightened on the trigger, murderous intent surging.
"She lured innocent girls into becoming Spiritsused them as tools!"
Her fury and grief toward the Origin Spirit were boundlesssympathy for the victims, hatred for Mio.
"I don't know"
Ellen shook her head, stating frankly what she did and did not know.
"Once she was created, Mio broke free of our control. Elliot chose to shield her.
By the time we realized she had escaped, it was already too late."
Her voice overflowed with helpless remorsefor her navet and for unleashing an unpredictable force with her own hands.
Bloodlust flashed in Kurumi's eyes.
"Because of the arrogance of you and your comrades, how many lives were lost? How many had their fates warped like mine? What right do you"
"Enough."
Rei Ao's voice was not loud, yet it seemed to shake the very air.
He clasped the wrist of Kurumi's gun hand; with the other arm he drew Ellen into his embrace, holding both women at once.
"Rei Ao!"
Kurumi blinked, surprise and displeasure crossing her face.
"What are you doing?"
She could not fathom why he would protect someone she deemed a criminal.
"!!!"
Ellen struggled, but Rei Ao's arm was like a steel vise; she could not break free. Confusion and unease filled hershe could not guess his intent.
"I just think it's rather absurd that you're quarreling over an Origin Spirit while I'm standing right here."
Rei Ao's tone was almost casual, as though the fate of the world were a trivial matter; a teasing confidence glimmered in his eyes.
"Have you forgotten who I am?"
He narrowed his gaze at the stunned pair, hinting that he possessed the power to change everything.
Both women froze.
In their minds flashed his identitythe Administrator of the Trade Chat Group, a being linked to countless worlds.
That title had become a mysterious symbol to them, signifying limitless possibilities and unknown power.
"The administrator of the Trade Chat Group" Kurumi murmured, astonishment flickering in her eyes.
"a being connected to countless worlds"
Ellen, too, grasped it, her eyes now bright with shock and with hopeas though she glimpsed a thread that might alter destiny.
Rei Ao smiled in satisfaction.
"Remember now?
"Eliminating the Origin Spirit or reshaping this worldneither is difficult for me."
He looked down at the two women in his arms, gaze gentle yet utterly sure of himself.
"As long as you're willing to pay the corresponding price and make a deal with me."
The words were dripping with temptationyet they truly did hold out a hopeful future.
Under the moonlight,
Kurumi's and Ellen's expressions shifted from stunned to contemplative.
Rei Ao's words were like a pebble tossed into the stagnant pond of their longfixed thoughts, sending ripple after ripple across the surface.
Their hearts churned with conflict and hesitation.
Should they trust Rei Ao? Should they accept a bargain swathed in so much uncertainty?
"What price?"
Kurumi asked warily, a glint of caution in her eyesshe knew there was no free lunch; every wish demanded payment.
Rei Ao released them and stepped back. His iridescent eyes shimmered in the night.
"That depends on what you want."
"Miss Kurumi, is it vengeance you seek? Miss Ellen, redemption? Or a grander wish still?"
He shrugged lightly, voice relaxed.
"The price varies."
His words enticed them, coaxing each to voice the deepest desire in her heart.
Ellen's brows knitted.
"You truly can change this world? Even correct the mistakes we made?"
Expectation and undisguised doubt shone in her eyesshe struggled to believe that what they had failed to mend could be mended by anyone else.
~~~
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Chapter 780: Murasame Reine? Or the Origin Spirit Mio Takamiya?
"Changing the world is easier than you think."
"I can even take you to other worldsperhaps one of them has the kind of society you've always dreamed of."
Rei Ao smiled calmly, sketching a future full of hope and beauty for the two women.
Kurumi's clockeye twitched.
"What if I want the Origin Spirit to disappear completely?"
Those simple words carried the deepest obsession of Kurumi's life.
Ever since regaining her memories, she had spent every waking moment hating the Origin Spirit.
"Child's play."
Rei Ao's smile was steady, his gaze full of confidence.
"But would that really satisfy you? Think of all the years you've devoted to this goal Doesn't it deserve a bigger payoff than simple revenge?"
"I think you two should give it some serious thought."
He gave each of them a light pat on the shoulder and vanished, leaving them to wrestle with their thoughts.
Even after Rei Ao's figure had completely disappeared, Kurumi and Ellen remained on the balcony, each lost in contemplation.
The truth about the Origin Spirit, the fall of DEM Industries, the bargain Rei Ao had offeredthe night's revelations were overwhelming.
Their minds felt like snarled threads: impossible to unravel, impossible to know which way to turn.
Kurumi's nails bit deeply into her palms; the glow of her clockeye flickered, the outward sign of her inner struggle.
For years, revenge had been the only lighthouse guiding her through the darkness.
Now someone had told her that vengeance could be achieved with easeonly to dangle an even greater temptation: a "greater reward" that went beyond revenge.
"Do you truly believe he can rewrite the world?"
Kurumi finally broke the silence, her voice as rough as sandpaper scraping metal.
She fixed Ellen with a stare, trying to dig the answer out of her eyes.
Ellen hugged her own arms. Moonlight stretched her shadow long and thin, twisting across the floor like a wolf's silhouette.
"DEM's destruction is proof enough."
Her voice trembled. "Power that defies all logic maybe he really does come from a higher dimension."
Thinking of the tragedy she herself had helped create, her fingernails almost pierced her skin.
"If I can correct my mistakesany price would be worth it."
Kurumi's breathing steadied. She looked up at the moon; something in her outlook had begun to shift.
