Date A Live: Red Crown Chaplain

26 - Sacriligious Wounds (Part II)

Kurumi shoots herself again, calling upon the power of her Sixth Bullet: Vav. With eyes closed, she clicks her tongue in irritation.

"Can we get an update?" Mana approaches as she cleans up the site of their recent occult escapade. She frowns at the presumption of bad news. "Have we affected the old past in any way?"

Kurumi shakes her head, silently looking at Mana.

She snaps. With a grunt, she angrily smashes a nearby pane of glass from the window.

"Then what have we been doing up until now?!" She strains her frown in anguish, her hand shaking with fear and fury. "All that research about runes, sigils, and occult writings, and the implementation didn't change anything!"

Kurumi shares her sentiment, but she doesn't show it.

Ever since Laura arrived in this world, her Angel's powers have always been out of the ordinary. That's not to say that each Spirit has an individual theme or theatric, but especially to those religiously inclined, she brought many symbolism. Her theme of a crown and being some kind of high ruler. The name Keter Adom is the Hebrew equivalent to what they discovered is, simply put, the Red Crown, and this Red Crown's abilities show occult circles and symbols in their wake.

Kurumi witnessed such a thing whilst she first stalked Laura. The sigils drawn in the process of absorbing the corpse and blood were all of an occult nature and eldritch influence. Such things that cannot be simply understood, backed up by the visions of the old past, they hoped to gain answers through their own rendition of the eldritch occult, combining it with Spirit power and the theories of modern magical science, all for it to earn no fruit whatsoever.

"We're running out of time, right?! What've we achieved so far? Nothing! We can't keep stagnating like this. Onii-chan's out there and this world's running out of time and quickly!" Mana's breathing became labored at her outburst of emotion.

A sudden presence of another's Reiryoku explodes into the scene! Sensing this, the two rush over. It was where Origami was as she was re-examining the symbols left on the pages of books and writings on the concrete ground of the warehouse.

Armed with her CR Unit and Kurumi with her Astral Dress and Zafkiel, they train all their guns at the emerging figure. What once was slouching was now rising into the standing position.

"Origami-san?" Kurumi calls out her name, but the unfamiliar power of Phantom bleeds into the Reiryoku within the very air they breathe. "This is a harsh time to be under this circumstance."

Clad in clandestine whites and a bordered crown fluttering an expansive snowy veil, the individual before them stands.

She waves her hands in front of her. "W-Wait! Wait! Don't shoot! I'm not your enemy!" Origami panickedly shouts, but her unfamiliar awkwardness and proclivity to flustering emotions raise an unbecoming suspicion for the girl. "I-It's me, Origami! But I'm not from this time! I was sent to this time and into this body. I'm here to help!"

Hearing this, Kurumi still trains her pistol but slowly closes in on the spirited Origami.

"Oh really?" she says condescendingly. "What makes you think we can trust you?"

Origami's eyes dart to the side. Her eyebrows raise as if confused by a suggestion from an unknown source. Right after that, she extends her arm and open hand.

"Keep that pointed at me, but hold my hand! There's someone you should talk to!"

Mana and Kurumi look at each other, receiving a nod from the blue-haired girl as they remain alert. Kurumi holds the arm of this Origami in a wrist handshake position. The gothic lolita's eyes shrink in shock and severe alarm at the one she hears through time.