Date Acceleration II (Complete)

Chapter 19

Even if she had wanted to let out a sound, the only thing that escaped her lips was hoarse, ragged panting. The overwhelming tension that gripped her, coupled with the fleeting spark of excitement she felt in the moment, had drained every ounce of her strength. Her body, pushed beyond its limits, and her mind, clouded by exhaustion, finally gave way. Tokisaki Kurumi's legs quivered, the tremors spreading from her knees to the rest of her body, before ultimately giving out. With a soft thud, she crumpled to the ground, her figure sinking into stillness as if the earth itself was pulling her down to rest.

"Me!"

A Kurumi clone called out with concern to the original who was trying to process the whole scene and composing herself.

"Are you alright?"

"Take your time."

"You can do it."

Subsequently, the young girls surrounding her all issued voices of anxious concern. With hair tied unevenly between the left and right side and a clock-shaped visage for a left eye, they were all clones of Kurumi with the exact same appearance as her.

Kurumi gave out a few hoarse coughs before slowly standing up.

"Un......it's no big deal."

Right now, Kurumi was located on the roof of a building very late at night. With the moon now covered by the clouds, only the streetlights on the ground provided a dim illumination to look around.

"............"

Kurumi looked down to stare at the murky darkness of her own shadow. While slowly lifting her leg──gack! She trampled down with the heel of her leg. This was not to call out her Angel or the other clones lurking in the shadow. Just──nothing more than to feel relief about the Spirit caught inside the center of her shadow a moment ago.

Yes, until beforehand, Kurumi was in the midst of a confrontation with the presence of a certain Spirit classified by the name Phantom. With its existence hidden away in mystery by covering with a layer of noise, it was the Spirit who can turn humans into Spirits. And so, the figure after being stripped away of that mosaic──turned out to be none other than the assistant teacher for Shido and the others and the Ratatoskr analytic officer, Murasame Reine.

But even so, merely kicking the shadow wasn't enough to verify the current status inside. Although there was only a single entrance, Kurumi's shadow was roughly divided into two areas. One space is similar to a storage sanctuary where clones can freely squirm to come in and out as they like. Connected to that, there was another space designed like a stomach to plunder the "time" of intruders. Of course, Kurumi had sent the swallowed up Reine to the latter. Using the oppurtunity given by the strange golden retriever.

That space was also involuntary for Kurumi. Not only could she not spit out those swallowed in, it was also completely impossible to peek into to understand the situation inside as well. It was just like how humans are unable to use the naked eye to look inside their own body.

......The reason for kicking against the shadow was simply because there was no other destination to transmit the emotions burning up. No matter how mighty the Spirit, it was impossible to be alive after being caught in that space. It was a difficult attempt. Having recovered briefly from the silent and tranquil atmosphere returning, Kurumi breathed out a light sigh.

"Really──that was too easy. For a Spirit to excessively break up her own power......to that extent."

As if speaking to herself, Kurumi muttered out loud.

In fact, this was not her original power. As a result of Kurumi's surprise attack, she didn't even have the time to equip her Astral Dress. However, the more important thing was the result. Reine had disappeared while Kurumi was still standing there. She tried to use the element of surprise and tried to recreate the power that pierced her. Only that fact was the outcome of that battle.