Chapter 573: AST

Yuki slowly opened his eyes and looked around, stunned by the sight.

Everything around him was in ruins, which confused him. Just before entering Kurumi's world, he felt the world's rejection. Yuki helped her enter, but Kurumi's spiritual power created a massive spatial anomaly, causing the current disaster.

For Yuki, this was a first. No matter the world, he and his girls were always welcomed. However, this world seemed hostile towards spirits, denying their existence. If Yuki weren't a Champion, the world's rejection might have been stronger than Kurumi's, possibly causing a spatial earthquake large enough to engulf an entire country.

Setting these problems aside, Yuki searched for civilization and quickly found it. A few kilometers away was a city, partially in ruins.

"Oops, I forgot about the spatial earthquake. It's even stronger than I thought..."

Kurumi covered her lips with her hand and laughed. Despite her complete control over her powers, she couldn't manage the earthquake's size since she had let her guard down from traveling between worlds, and her spiritual powers had grown significantly.

"If you knew, you should have told me. I could have prepared my crown, and none of this would have happened..."

Yuki felt helpless, but he just shrugged.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Yuki noticed something. His Sharingan spun, and he saw a small, floating, invisible object above. Its spherical shape and lens made Yuki instantly deduce it was a spy camera.

"Wow, we just arrived, and they're already watching us..."

This world's technology was advanced, though not to the level of the Guilty Crown world. Thanks to Mana, the technology here was even stronger.

"Ara? Danna-sama, we have visitors..."

Kurumi looked to the horizon, and Yuki followed her gaze. Several women in mechanical suits were flying towards them at high speed, using the thrusters on their armor.

"Ground Self-Defense Force, Anti-Spirit Team (AST)..."

"AST?"

"They're magicians specialized in neutralizing and combating spirits... In other words, they're spirit assassins..."

Kurumi laughed because AST's mission was to kill all spirits, but so far, they hadn't managed to kill a single one. At most, they could drive spirits away, always leaving empty-handed.

This is why Kurumi laughed; no matter how many AST members came, they couldn't kill a spirit.

"Oh?..."

Yuki was curious. He rested his hand on his chin and waited for the women to approach, interested in the mechanical armor. It resembled the power suits from Academy City but looked more modern and used Mana.

If possible, Yuki wanted to steal some power suits, bring them to Tsugumi and Ayase, and start mass-producing them for the Misaka sisters. This way, the next world in trouble would have power armor to increase their strength.

What Yuki didn't know was that while he watched them, the AST women were sweating cold bullets. They were about to face a spirit that had caused such a massive spatial earthquake, indicating a power level far beyond any spirit they had ever fought.

When they arrived, they had to stop, seeing two spirits amidst the destruction, one male and one female.

They were momentarily shocked by the male spirit, his kind aura making them lower their guard for a few seconds. But they quickly shook their heads, noting that despite his kind aura, the crown on his head made them feel like they were in the presence of an emperor, and the black orbs on his back frightened them. They swallowed hard.

"Nightmare...."

They recognized the female spirit as the worst spirit, increasing their doubts. They had never fought two spirits simultaneously, especially not a male one.

"Be strong! Remember your training!"

Ryoko Kusakabe, the current captain of this group, spoke. She also had doubts but, as soldiers, they couldn't retreat. At her signal, she fired, and the members around her did the same, except for one person.

"Onii-chan....."

A beautiful girl with short, silver bob-cut hair stood out. She was younger and more attractive than the other group members but now wore an incredulous expression as she looked at the male spirit.

She recognized him instantly—his kind aura, his face, his hair, his eyes, everything.

"Impossible... No... No...."

She shook her head several times and closed her eyes tightly, hoping this was just a dream from which she would soon wake up. But reality is cruel. No matter how much she denied it, the truth was before her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she seemed on the verge of crying.

"Origami! What are you doing?! Fire!"

Ryoko noticed Origami's anomaly. Her best soldier was in shock, which was not good. After all, Origami's hatred for spirits was ingrained in her bones. She would be the first to charge into battle every time. However, now she was standing there, stupefied.

"I...I..."

Origami tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. It was impossible for her to explain that the male spirit was her missing older brother and that she couldn't raise her weapon against her family.

She desperately wanted this to be a nightmare.

"Hehehe...."

"Hihihi..."

However, their words were interrupted by the spirits' laughter. For Kurumi and Yuki, these feeble attempts to harm them were amusing.

Their shots couldn't even penetrate their spiritual armor. While ordinary spirits might have issues, for them, it was like a joke.

"Switch to projectiles!"

Seeing that continuing to fire was useless, Ryoko ordered a weapon change. Origami tried to speak, but it was too late. Ryoko didn't give her a chance and fired without hesitation.

*Boom, boom, boom....

"Hihihi"

"Hehehe"

The laughter didn't stop. They let the missiles hit them; it was futile. The missiles couldn't penetrate their spiritual barriers. To damage them, advanced energy attacks or powerful physical attacks were needed. The missiles, at most, left a crater, which was not worth mentioning.

"This can't be real...."

"It's useless...."

AST gradually lost confidence. They had always driven spirits away or forced them to materialize their angel forms. But facing this spirit pair, they were as defenseless as chicks.

These two didn't even bother to dodge, just standing there while the AST fired their heavy weapons. It was futile. The only option left was hand-to-hand combat, but they had a feeling it would be useless.

"Retreat!"

Kyoko didn't hesitate to order a retreat. If they couldn't even penetrate the spiritual armor, continuing was pointless. Staying would be akin to suicide.

"Honey, mind if I handle this?"

"Go ahead, Danna-sama..."

However, before they could turn and flee, Yuki spoke, and his Sharingan was replaced with another eye.

It was the Rinnegan. He raised his hand.

"Banshō Ten'in..."

An incredible force pulled the group of girls.

"Eh?! What's happening?!"

Unable to understand what was happening, the girls tried everything to break free, even overloading their thrusters. But it was futile; they were drawn straight to the male spirit and then...

*Bam

"Guh?!"

Yuki lowered his hand, and all the girls fell to the ground at once. Thanks to their activated 'Territory,' they weren't hurt by the fall, but they were left breathless, still pressed to the ground as if something enormous was pulling them down...

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TN: They do be trying so hard to act like villain