Chapter 606: Zodiac (3)

The explosion of power manifested in space, and the clash between Mukuro and Yuki was escalating to a dangerous level. Fortunately, they were in space; otherwise, the human city would have been reduced to rubble by the energy impacts.

"Ahhh!!"

Every time Mukuro used her spear to strike Yuki, the latter countered with the Orbs of Truth.

With Mukuro's level, the Orbs of Truth were sufficient. Nonetheless, the physical endurance of both fighters was put to the test in this battle.

Both Mukuro and Yuki had incredibly strong physiques. Mukuro's physical strength was second only to Tohka among the spirits, while Yuki was an Uchiha who had far surpassed even Senju Hashirama.

"Michael, Lataib!"

As Mukuro twirled her spear, black holes began to appear around Yuki, and meteors were launched at him.

"Useless..."

Yuki remained expressionless. He raised both hands, and an incredible repulsion force began to condense around him, causing the black holes to dissipate. However...

"Michael, Jerez!"

Mukuro's spear pierced through a black hole. Yuki's Rinnegan narrowed as he swiftly dodged, but the spear managed to touch his spiritual armor, shattering it into thousands of particles.

"Hehehe Fum... Next time, Muku will aim for your heart... I'll seal your heart, and it will belong to Muku forever... Hehehe."

Mukuro's eyes gleamed with a fantastic and intoxicating sense of capturing her prey.

On the other hand, Yuki did not panic. He already knew about Mukuro's abilities and what her angel could do—seal at the atomic level. It wasn't surprising that this spear could seal his spiritual armor.

Instead, the feeling of wanting to devour emerged again from his Sephira crystal. His smile widened, and his strength increased.

Mukuro possessed a weapon capable of hurting him, which excited him. His Uchiha blood boiled for battle. He clenched his fist; he was definitely going to hit this girl.

(The time for playing is over...)

"At first, I wanted to buy time until those guys arrived to win your heart, but I've changed my mind..."

Yuki's astral suit enveloped his body once again, and his Orbs of Truth merged to form a sword.

"I'll hunt you down and take you by force!"

(Those guys are no longer necessary, destroy them...)

After murmuring internally, Yuki's shadow disappeared.

Yuki was no longer going to wait for those mages who would help create a dangerous situation for Mukuro, forcing her to trust him. It was no longer necessary since Mukuro was regaining her memory from the other timeline. Therefore, Yuki discarded them.

---

[Large quantities of Reiryoku detected]

[Spirits confirmed, deploying Bandersnatch combat units]

[Initiating Hunt...]

In space, DEM warships began preparing their army, optimizing their systems for a large-scale war. The mages, along with the robotic units, were also deployed, and among the mages, three stood out.

These three women were at the forefront as leaders of this war.

"Is this excessive? They're just two spirits..."

A girl with long blue hair tied in a ponytail, with some bangs hanging loose, couldn't help but comment. Such an alignment for a pair of spirits seemed like overkill, like using a chainsaw to kill a chicken. It was too much combat power and a waste of resources, causing her to blink her beautiful brown eyes in doubt. Along with the mole beneath her left eye, she looked very sexy. However, due to her high school girl appearance, she lacked maturity, yet she was still quite beautiful.

The name of this girl was Mana Takamiya, codename Adeptus 2.

"We're facing 'Emperor,' who destroyed the base on Neryl Islands. His power level exceeds rank 'S,' and according to information, he possesses more than one Angel."

Ellen, the commander of this armed unit, also thought it was excessive. She was enough to hunt these spirits as the world's strongest mage. She was confident that even if she wasn't enough, with Adeptus 2 and Adeptus 3, it wouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately, Westcott thought differently. Emperor demonstrated great combat power, so he was cautious and sent an entire fleet to hunt spirits. In fact, even with all this combat power, Westcott believed it wasn't enough. He had a feeling this battle wouldn't be easy. Still, Westcott didn't hesitate to send the fleet, as he was more interested in testing Emperor's power, and sacrifices were necessary for that.

"But there were no Adeptus combat units at the Neryl base, only common mages."

Even with Ellen's explanation, Mana still thought it was excessive. Neryl was a base with little defense, although they had a battleship patrolling at that time, which was destroyed. For Mana, these immobile battleships were easy targets for spirits. However, they had to follow orders, so Ellen said no more.

"Grr... What do you think, Artemisia?"

Growling in dissatisfaction with Ellen's silence, Mana turned her head and asked the other girl who had not spoken a word so far.

Artemisia Bell Ashcroft was a girl with long, blonde hair tied in a semi-braid. She had fair skin and blue eyes.

Her CR-Unit armor was futuristic neon blue, making her look like a medieval knight, matching her beautiful blue eyes.

"I will follow orders..."

"Eh~?"

Mana couldn't help but grimace. She had known Artemisia for some time in 'SSS' and was surprised to hear this mechanical response, as if she didn't care at all about what was happening.

(Now that I think about it... Does Artemisia hate DEM?)

The kind Artemisia that Mana knew hated DEM's policies. Her joining DEM was a surprise. However, this Artemisia was quite different from the one she remembered. She was no longer sociable and kind, appearing somewhat robotic and unnatural, making Mana narrow her eyes and think deeply.

"Let's go!"

And before Mana could continue questioning, the warship's hangar opened. The warships expanded their Territories so as not to affect the mages in space combat. After all, they were in space, and without oxygen, even mages would be unable to fight. Fortunately, with large-scale Territory, this wasn't a problem, as they would have full mobility and oxygen, as if they were on the planet.

Ellen, leading the group, flew towards the spirits, followed by Artemisia.

Having no other choice, Mana followed Ellen. The fight between the two spirits was at its climax, and soon one of them would fall, the perfect opportunity for the hunt.

*Beep

[High intensity Reiryoku detected]

Unfortunately, the DEM fleet, along with the Bandersnatch unit and Ellen, couldn't continue as a strange character stopped them.

"Emperor..."

Ellen's eyes narrowed. The person who stopped DEM's advance was Yuki, or more precisely, his clone.

"Emperor? Isn't he supposed to be fighting now? What's happening?"

Mana was as surprised as Ellen. She checked the images and Reiryoku waves, confirming that Yuki was still fighting Mukuro.

(A clone?)

As someone who had fought Kurumi, she understood that the person in front of them was not the original, so she relaxed a bit. Clones weren't as strong as the original and could be easily defeated. Ellen thought the same, but unlike Mana, who relaxed, Ellen raised her guard as this was another ability of Emperor that wasn't in the database.

"The passage is closed, return from where you came."

Yuki crossed his arms, looking at the imposing fleet in front of him, large enough to capture several spirits at once.

"And if we refuse?"

Ellen raised her energy sword and confronted him, a mere clone daring to block their way.

"If you refuse, then fine."

Raising both hands, Yuki acted as if he didn't care, but at that moment, his eyes shone, and his smile widened.

"But I'll annihilate you if you take another step..."

This stern declaration made Mana and Artemisia shiver. Simultaneously, a kind of black skeleton formed around Yuki, increasing his aura.

-----

TN: A mere clone? Lol a clone killed a fragment of overlord in previous world