Chapter 12: <Codename> [3]

[A/N: I read the comments section quite often and some complain that even though I make the MC sound OP, he is literally weak and the past chaps especially when he faced the AST.

Well, I have a reason for that though.

It's about the Spirit's power basing when they first got their crystals and summoned their Angel in full Spirit form.

In the Light Novel 04, there was this part mentioned where Kotori who was given by a new Sephira Crystal and turned into a Spirit experienced crucial pain and was unable to control her Spirit Powers and caused flames all over the neighborhood. In short, she herself doesn't even have full control of her Angel back then and it lasted up until Shidou had sealed her....

There was also the part when Wetscott in LN11 (which would probably be in S4 next year so spoilers ahead for those who haven't read the LN) inserted the Qlipha Crystal in his body turning him into a Spirit (or half Spirit I guess? No exact term was mentioned as far as I remembered....) that he stole from Nia. He just said a brief description of its abilities yet he was unable to use it immediately that it was as if he only had a grasp of its description and couldn't use it's power "yet".

About the other Spirits, I don't remember anyone else having mentioned the side effects in LN but there could already be a logical guess(restrictions, side effects when using full form for d first time) for the others. An example for that was the Yamai Sisters who probably caused a typhoon in their area added with spacequakes.

So as you can see, there are some restrictions when the Spirit's full form was "first" truly used.

<This is from the LN reference okay>

This also applies to our MC. Though I may have really made him look somewhat weak, that's because of the backlash or rather restriction when it's the first time they use there full Spirit form.

Some may say that it only applied for the first time when they received their Sephira Crystal, but please, this is a fanfic so I'll have some bullshît reasonings for all over this.

If you want to see some OP vibes, well, in the next few chaps you could. That's when he had at least already holds control of his Angel and the new abilities that his body was still adapting at.

And speaking of the [Divinity] thingy... well, it will be explained bit by bit as the story progresses.]

Okay okay...

With that said, here's the chap~

——

[A few minutes earlier]

Raising his sword upwards which showed intense heat and crackles of electricity emanating around it—he uttered a chant as he slashed it down.

"[Sword of Judgement]"

It was then a surge of shockwave made out of the compressed mana within the sword was released with that swing—

Towards where the AST's retreat course was at. And then he realized....that even of he successfully eliminated them with that attack, the place behind them—Tengu City would undoubtedly be devastated as well in the process.

'It is a shame....and also my bad?' Rei thought rather apologetically in his mind.

That really wasn't what he wanted but that is the least of his concerns at the moment. He would just remain as a bystander after this attack and try to lay low for a while. He was feeling that some third party already got the wind of this battle and would try to come here immediately so he felt that it was time to retreat.

'Whether the AST would sacrifice themselves to intercept and block his attack, or maybe if they flee or dodge the attack. The aftermath would closely be the same——a part of Tengu City would be erased from the map', Rei thought to himself as he somehow showed a conflicted smile under his indifferent expression.

And so, as he said, [Judgement] was received.

The condensed slash made out of reiryoku was released from <Raguel>. The dark violet slash had release a shockwave with a vertical height reaching 1000 meters in the sky and with the horizontal width of 100 meters. The length of the cut had almost stretched several kilometers long.

What he did was extremely cruel and even unnecessary if he may say. He could've just eliminated them by directly warping the space around them or by launching those mini black holes. There was no need to involve those innocent lives being taken in the process.

The innocent lives that were lost with that slash, destroying the determined destiny that should've happened in this world, and other more. It was all left to be obliterated with that single slash.

It was apparent from he is to see the cause of his destruction. He was sure that even Origami and the AST wouldn't have survived that sudden strike out of nowhere. Escaping from that sudden slash ranging and winding with hundreds of meters was close to impossible....

'Unless some third party or some miracle happens..... wait? No, no, no need to jinx myself ugh...', he groaned internally as he thought of that.

Continuing from his thoughts earlier, even if they did survived, they would probably be in coma or severely injured making them unable to perform their duties as AST for a while.

Soon, he blinked his eyes in confusion. From where he had shot at, there seems to be a broken [barrier], or rather a [territory] that tried to resist his slash.

In any case, the said [territory] was literally crumbling to pieces and he can't see any wizard producing it. In short, that means that the one who did it was probably incapacitated or worse, dead.

If Origami and the AST somehow survived that then—he would take care of them next time they meet in the battlefield.

As Rei heaved a heavy sigh, he felt that he somehow had broken through a shackle or chains that were restricting his body ever since he summoned <Raguel>.

It was this time that Rei gave a somewhat joyous yet tired smile. Right at this moment, even though the result cane out quite late, he then realized that his body had almost adapted and was now in control of his new abilities.

————

[<Fragment of Chaos>: Fragment No. 969, [Mimic]-{Foundation}]

....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: [Divinity] extraction in process; [Mimic]-{Foundation} in process....]

....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: [Mimic]-{Foundation—World of DAL; Spirit Sealing} assimilation starting....]

....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: [Mimic]-{Foundation; Spirit Sealing(fake)} has been assimilated]

.....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: .... foundation assimilation to the host has been completed....!]

.....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: [Divinity] extraction in process; 7.4% complete]

.....

[<Fragment of Chaos>: Interference shall be postponed until the Host's next breakthrough]

————

"Phewww..." Rei exhaled as he tried to relax his mind from

Rei had a short rundown of his new abilities in being summarized on his mind.

First and foremost were his armaments. His <Sword>, <Armor>, and <Lances>.

The sword, which was his Angel—<Raguel>, has the capabilities of controlling and conducting flames and immense reiryoku on its blade. It was also a very sharp, elegant, and tough sword that could slice boulders of rock like butter.

The armor, which had 3 pairs of wings gave him perks in such as improved and faster and more efficient ability to fly in the air. It could also be used as a means of weapon just by its sharp iridescent colored metallic feathers protruding from it. The astral armor gave him enough defense to protect his upper and lower bodies.

The lances have an ego of their own and just like this of the blasters he was using previously, they could also shoot rays but it's destruction that it causes pales in comparison on the blasters.

Instead, these lances specializes on <Piercing> through enemies in close range combat. The [territory] made by wizards could be destroyed in a matter of 3-5 shots from this.

Moving on to his abilities....

Rei's abilities such as [Spatial Manipulation] and fla—no, [Purgatorial Flames] were strengthened to a higher degree.

The limits of his [Spatial Manipulation] which has a range of approximately a 100 meters before had now reached up to 200-300 meters around him. The cooldown, reload, or reiryoku installation to use [Spatial Manipulation] was also lowered making it more faster to use.

Also, the reasonings and understanding of the concepts of [Space] were now made to be etched in Rei's mind in order for him to use [Spatial Manipulation] more better compared from before. Still, that doesn't mean that he mastered them all already, he still needs to practice it or use it on combat so that he could get it to that level.

Next comes the [Purgatorial Flames], or [Flames of Redemption] if he would be given a chance to pick a name for it. It's destructive capabilities and powers were strengthened. It was also a type of flame that would never burn out unless the user dispels or stops it, or Rei runs out of Reiryoku, or the inflicted target has a means to remove or offset its effect. Other than that, he could apply these flames as a means of armament by infusing it with <Raguel's> sword, <Astral Dress>, or his <Lances> increasing the effects that each armaments gives such as attack, defense, and mobility.

This strengthened abilities all have a common disadvantages which was the higher consumption of Reiryoku when using them which would be his weakness and a big flaw if he rather uses his skills wastefully on battle, or if he is fighting in a battle of attrition.

Moving on from the Strengthened abilities of his, what comes next was the new abilities such as [Temporal Mind Process Acceleration], [Reiryoku Burst], and lastly, [Spirit Sealing] which he still doesn't know right at this moment....

[Temporal Mind Process Acceleration] was one of his abilities that he used earlier which enhances your mind's processing by a total of 1000 times for a certain amount of time.

[Reiryoku Burst] was a simple yet useful ability. In exchange for a immense amount of Reiryoku, all abilities will be strengthened exponentially for a certain amount of time.

And lastly, the ability which even he didn't expect to have was the [Spirit Sealing] ability given by Mio Takamiya, AKA <Deus>, to Shidou Itsuka, the protagonist of this world. But at the moment, the information that he received—or rather, {COPIED} the ability. [Spirit Sealing] was still unknown to Rei at the moment.

In summary, he has a total of two new abilities gained....not knowing that there is another one which he himself didn't notice.

This only took a few seconds to be analyzed in his mind. His abilities, how it works, the effects, and so much so were now being engraved to Rei right at this very moment.

'It seems that my [Temporal Mind Process Acceleration] was surprisingly still on the work despite already feeling the backlash a while ago....' Rei pondered in surprise and....pity to himself later as he could not imagine the how heavy the headache and migraine he would deal with later.

His business here was done, he certainly gained more than what he would've expected from this day.

"To think that practicing on making a 'blackhole' would end up me awakening my Spirit's true form and gain new abilities out of nowhere.... How should I explain this day..... lucky?" Rei uttered with a smile.

And then he remembered that he almost died carelessly due to the sudden backlash of those newly gained abilities which somehow dampened his mood.

Shaking his head, he started to clear his thoughts.

"Hm... I can practically use [Gate] and desummon my <Astral Dress> after this. Well, time to go home now, I'm rather spent—huh, what....?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed.

It felt....quite hotter than usual even though knowing that his purple flames would never cause something like that inconvenient for him, he instantly knew that something else caused it.

He then felt someone enter his perception and he directly looked for it to notice whose identity it is to dare come this scorched place.

Rei then widened his eyes landing on a figure of a petite girl being engulfed with crimson flames. She wore a kimono and she had two inorganic horns from the side of her head.

As her red hair flowed amidst the blazing flames around her, she looked at Rei with a cold gaze with her red pupils showing an odd red glow.

On her hands was a gigantic weapon—a battleaxe or a halberd if one may presume.

But most importantly, Rei couldn't help but ask himself why is she here? She shouldn't have appeared here...

Rei didn't really expect to meet her this early—Kotori Itsuka, AKA <Efreet>, one of the main heroines of this world and also the little sister of the protagonist, Shidou Itsuka.

It was then he remembered that he literally tried—or rather did annihilate a portion of the northwestern side of Tengu City. So looking at it logically, there was a reason for here to be right here.

Rei could already somehow guess what her intentions were. It could be guessed with just a simple assumption.

It's whether to have a conversation to him, or to eliminate or stop him from what he was doing.

The odds of the former happening was high. The <Ratatoskr>, the organization she was in believes that they should protect or save Spirits rather than killing them which was the exact opposite of <DEM> led by Westcott.

But basing on what he just did...and also by her appearance in Spirit form, the latter has a high chance as well.

'The odds of winning against her for now....is probably unknown. If I was in my perfect state while using <Raguel>, I could probably much defeat her with just incapacitating her'

Rei could not kill her, at least, if she is a threat that would hunt him down like the AST, then yes. But he knows that isn't the case.

That's right, though this may sound as an excuse, his Reiryoku reserves despite being incredibly high was going down rapidly, he also needs to conserve it in case for his plans for tomorrow.

When Kotori noticed that Rei was now looking at her.

Kotori then lightly waved that huge battleaxe in the air as her cold pupils, eyes that were flashing with an odd red glow. Her mouth had a smile on it, an expression that was close to being enraptured by delight.

"Now then. Let our Date (battle) begin."

Rei then heard what she said. His expression remained indifferent all of the time as he looked at her, turning his body and facing her direction, he felt his lips twitch as it tried to curl up with a smile.

"You.....a Spirit like me as well, huh?" Rei decided to feign ignorance about knowing her.

Also, it would be weird and suspicious if he did know her in the first place. So deciding to say something vague that wouldn't really give his identity of was the most logical move.

"Hm..? It's seems that I was a bit late since the damage is already done," Kotori said as she looked at the massive ravine like line stretching out to Tengu City.

"Didn't you think of the consequences you would face after causing this much destruction?" Kotori added.

"They were the first ones to attack me, right? Isn't it natural to retaliate and fight back?"

"I can't refute that, but well, why would you cause that much destruction in the first place? Did you know that you have seemingly devastated and destroyed not only you target, but involved innocent people as well?"

"Is that so? I don't really care that much, it's their fault in the first place. About the people caught in it, I'm sorry I guess?" Rei answered indifferently.

Kotori then felt an urge to beat and punch this guy right before her. This Spirit knew that he involved and took innocent lives in the process of his fight and only apologized to it with a very insincere....or rather emotionless expression.

It was as if he was just treating those lives as an unnecessary collateral damage made in the process.

'The coming of a second nightmare, huh.'

Suddenly, Kotori felt something beep on her ear. It was a call from Reine.

[Kotori, it's me Reine. <Fraxinus> now had severe damages due to the Spirit's attack. I advise that you should fall back immediately since there is really nothing worth to do there anymore]

Kotori then thought, leaving here without gaining results would be a waste of time. She could rather fight this Spirit here or engage with him through further conversation to dig some details.

"Reine, huh. It seems that we would have a problem starting tomorrow. How long would it take for <Fraxinus> to be back in action?" She answered while keeping her guard up towards Rei who was just silently staring at her with his cold glowing amethyst-like eyes.

[It would take a month or two. Either way, it seems that you have no plans on falling back]

"I don't have such plans at the moment. Also, this would be a great time to test his abilities and to also check if he would rather have a peaceful negotiation or not," Kotori said.

[Un. Then good luck out there and also, his codename has been decided, it was....] and after saying that, Reine ended the call.

Kotori then looked at Rei with a meaningful expression while also having some expectations for him about what she just discussed with Reine.

"Thanks for waiting, honestly. I expected you to at least attack me while I'm busy talking to my friend you know?" Kotori brushed her bright red hair which made it gallantly sway amidst the raging flames of the battlefield.

"No, don't mind it. Well, let's get straight to the point, are you my enemy or not?"

"It depends... Also, do you have a name?"

"Name you say...well I don't remember having one, but even if I do, but why should I tell you that, isn't it courtesy to introduce yourself first before asking for someone else name?"

Rei lied in response about not knowing his name. Well, it would be known to her tomorrow at best so why hide it up to now?

The answer for that is Rei just doesn't feel the need to tell her. It's a hassle. A lazy and meaningless excuse as he just really wanted to go back home for today.

"Heh, forgive me for that. You can just call me <Efreet>. Then Shall we have our Date (battle) begin, <Seraph>?"

"<Seraph>?" Rei questioned rather curiously making a crack out of his indifferent expression.

"Yeah, your name. To be precise, it was the codename that was given to you by us as a Spirit, a beautiful and elegant name unbefitting for the destruction and devastation that you just caused right?" Kotori sarcastically said with a fierce grin starting to form on her face as she readied her battleaxe.

"<Seraph> you say.... Heh, sounds pleasant and great enough. If I may say, you have good naming sense," Rei commented back.

"Hmph. I'd like to have a more civil conversation with you but that would only happen after I beat the sense out of you," Kotori rather said confidently as she made a battle stance as her red eyes glowed fiercely just like the roaring flames surrounding her.

"Ha! Aren't you underestimating me too much? I might have problems dealing with the AST earlier due to some circumstances but that isn't the case now, you know? Be careful of your words, <Efreet>," Rei then sent a confident smile at her.

Rei then held <Raguel> firmly on his hands as he prepared a battle stance himself. As for his injuries, its healing was now close to be passable.

In short, he has the body and stamina to spare for at least a single fight against this Bro-con Sister right before him.

It was then, Rei and Kotori's eyes met each other, staring at each other for a brief second, flames began to spread all around their surroundings.

And at the next moment, the collision between crimson and purple flames erupted and clashed over covering the battlefield in a sea of flames.