Chapter 67: The True Form of DD-chan
Special Circle SEMA Division.
The building is empty.
In front of a data room that does not exist on the building’s blueprints.
The head of the Special Circle SEMA Division confronts Alice and others.
Alice does not dare to move an inch.
Anyone who can sit in a high position at Special Circle SEMA, regardless of their personality, character, or leadership skills, is undoubtedly powerful.
Because Special Circle SEMA is a solid violent organization.
The head of the Kawano City Special Circle SEMA Division—Moto Katsukazu.
Before withdrawing from the front lines, he was known as the “ACE Brave.”
But he was merely a “brutal brave.”
Relying on his overwhelming strength, he acted arbitrarily and frequently disobeyed orders, making major mistakes during missions.
This led him to be demoted to such a remote small city…
“Sigh, if only our tactic of playing good cop and bad cop had worked back then…” Moto sighed.
“If you had returned early, you wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
“When did it start?” Alice silently gathered the blade of blood.
“What do you mean? The plan? Or my death?” Moto posed confidently.
“Why are you, or rather, why are you all hiding such actions from the Special Circle SEMA headquarters?”
Alice’s mind flashed back to the crossed-wing logo she had just seen on the equipment.
Moto shrugged in response: “After all, to return to Special Circle SEMA, you need to achieve enough results.”
“But what kind of fantasy monsters could there be in a place like this… unless you could create them yourself…”
“So you plan to create fantasy monsters? Are you crazy—”
“Not really, the creation of the White Spirit was just an experiment to fulfill my small needs; it’s not their ultimate goal.”
Moto laughed. It seems the half-blood dragon princess is not as clever as imagined.
“This experiment was initially successful; I indeed created a fantasy monster named White Spirit.”
“And various urban legends and spooky curses based on it.”
“With this, I can hunt down these fantasy monsters for performance and return to frontline combat sooner.”
Moto spoke incessantly, as if he had been holding back for a long time, eagerly looking for someone to confide in.
However, this also marks that he is planning to strike hard.
“I am curious, how did you find this place…”
Yes, why would DD-chan know about this? Alice glanced at DD-chan out of the corner of her eye.
“If I said that as long as you all pretend you didn’t see anything, then nothing happened… would you believe me?”
“But I heard your catchphrase is—only the dead keep secrets.”
Alice replied immediately.
“You really know me~ But the facts seem to be different, because I’m already dead and just went on and on.”
Alice was buying time.
Her brain raced, contemplating countermeasures against the current situation.
If Kanade and Chika stay here, they will surely be caught in the conflict between the ACEs.
But the direction of the door is blocked by this man.
At this moment, the only option is to let them enter another world…
“Tsukimi, take this.”
Alice tossed a black card in her hand to Kanade.
“That is—an S-rank black card? I see, no wonder you can open this.”
Moto exclaimed, understanding dawning upon him: “The academy is really willing to invest heavily, actually giving you the relic of that S-rank?”
Then Alice threw a silver bracelet from her pocket to Kanade.
It was a basic weapon used by the academy’s students during training, which could expand by infusing magical power.
Although Kanade had not received systematic training, he had at least received some guidance during the summer vacation, and could manage to act as a certain combat force when necessary.
“Take Amamiya inside; if what DD-chan said is true, then it should lead to another world.”
Alice’s actions drew Moto’s attention to Kanade and Chika.
His gaze was filled with hostility and murderous intent.
It made Kanade freeze up like a frog targeted by a snake, unable to move.
But the next moment, the perspective shifted.
The viewpoint provided by DD-chan allowed Kanade to break free from that murderous gaze.
“Oh? A monster tamer?” Moto spread his hands with interest.
As if expressing that he would not interfere with Alice’s plan.
“You go first; once I deal with him, I will catch up with you—”
“Are you sure you want to set a flag here!?” DD-chan interrupted Alice’s words.
It nervously watched the scene before it.
It could sense that the man serving as the head was not an ordinary person.
Even Alice might not necessarily be his opponent…
Unless…
Damn! It regretted.
“DD-chan, aren’t you coming back to our side?”
Moto suddenly spoke, leaving both Kanade and floating DD-chan stunned.
“We created you; shouldn’t you be by your creator’s side?”
“I…”
“No, it’s you who twisted it—” this time, it was Alice who interrupted Moto.
“What?”
“DD-chan is unlike you; it… is not an evil spirit.”
…
…
Dokidoki-chan.
Her image is that of the mascot from the largest shopping mall in Kawano City.
She was also a costume worn by staff at the lost children center within the mall.
She was greatly beloved by children and parents at the time, leaving a deep impression in people’s hearts.
But a devastating fire destroyed the mall.
In the aftermath of the fire, reporters captured an image of the dokidoki-chan costume with its face distorted by heat.
This photo was later noticed by an employee while compiling urban legends and spooky curses for Special Circle SEMA, and was adapted.
Thus, the evil spirit Dokidoki-chan was born.
To correlate the actions of this evil spirit with the memories held by many children and parents, the dokidoki-chan who once played with lost children in the center was given the notion of being able to possess others.
Those gazes that sought to prevent children from getting lost again transformed into uncomfortable stares.
The meaning of always being by your side was twisted.
Only to evoke fear in people’s hearts, becoming the sustenance that nourished the fantasy monster White Spirit.
Dokidoki-chan’s true form.
Was merely a mascot that kept company with lost children, protecting them and helping them reunite with their families.
…..
“I… am not an evil spirit?”
DD-chan, realizing the true nature of its origin, froze in mid-air for a moment.
Moto politely refrained from interrupting.
Instead, he wore a nostalgic expression, seemingly confirming Alice’s statement.
“So… these children are entrusted to you.” Alice said softly, and then suddenly pushed off the ground, swinging the blood blade and charging toward Moto with a speed that could leave an afterimage.
“Run!”
DD-chan quickly snapped back to reality and shouted at Kanade and others.
Knowing that staying here would only be a hindrance, Kanade grabbed Chika’s arm and dashed deeper into the data room.
There stood another, even heavier door.
Kanade pulled out the black card Alice had thrown him.
The moment he successfully swiped it to unlock the door.
A strong airflow from behind pushed the two into the room.
It was a pure white room.
DD-chan had returned here once again.
The only color in the room was the wooden box placed in the center.
Inside lay the token of the mother, no, the fantasy monster White Spirit—a bell.
“DD-chan, wh-what should we do?” Kanade struggled to get up from the floor.
“Make a wish,” DD-chan replied.
If the truth was really as Alice predicted.
Then the so-called White Spirit was a “tool” created by Special Circle SEMA.
Using its characteristics of granting wishes, they intended to utilize it as a “wishing machine.”
White Spirit had the trait of demanding a hefty price after satisfying a wish.
As long as you wish upon the token,
You could enter another world by “paying the price.”
Entering the inner hall of the White Spirit shrine, where the true body of White Spirit resides.
However, Kanade could not make the wish since he was the only one still capable of fighting present.
If he were to be recuperated by the price and appear directly before White Spirit…
DD-chan glanced at Chika, who had also been blown to the ground by the airflow.
The latter made eye contact with it as if she understood DD-chan’s thoughts.
“I understand… even if it’s me, I want to help…”
With that, Chika unsteadily stood up.
Her glasses were nowhere to be found, and her once quaint braid had transformed into flowing hair that reached her shoulders.
She walked straight toward the wooden box.
“Please let me meet Senpai again—!”
Dingling~
A dreamy chime resonated in the ears of Kanade and Chika.
……
……
“Is this all you can do? Half-blood Dragon Princess?”
“Is this the extent of your combat power with the dual bloodline of vampires and dragons?”
Moto easily dodged Alice’s attacks while mocking her.
“Why don’t you show me the power that killed the ‘Elemental Sovereign’ back in the day~”
Alice, clad in black combat gear, and Moto, in a white uniform, weaved through the narrow room.
The air they generated sent papers in the data room swirling into the air like a heavy snowfall.
“Are you not going to pull out your fantasy spirit armament? Didn’t you go out of your way to get it after sending me a message?” Moto kicked Alice in the side, launching her away.
Alice’s petite figure crashed through two thick walls before coming to a halt amidst a cloud of dust.
“…Why?” Alice’s voice emerged from the haze.
“Who told you how to create fantasy monsters?”
“Where did you get your authority from?”
“Do you really think you can control a ranked species in this way?” Alice bit into a pill.
Dragon’s blood boiled.
“It seems you’ve misunderstood the most crucial point~ Alice Astrea…”
Moto clasped his hands together in front of his chest.
——Fantasy Armament—Activate.
A luxuriously designed giant sword formed between his hands, radiating a dazzling light.
“Do you really think that I am the true ruler of Kawano City?”
“…What!?”
“You think that the fantasy monsters created from spooky tales possess the ability to fulfill every wish?”
“On that day, He—descended with the authority of dusk.”
“In front of Him, I was as weak as a baby, unable to resist and was killed—”
Moto’s clear eyes took on a sinister shade of red.
“He tore White Spirit apart and donned its skin, scattering the twilight’s afterglow upon that world.”
“The true ruler of Kawano City is not me.”
“But Him—”
The Lord of Twilight, the master of yin and yang, the God of mist.
A shadow traversing between light and darkness.
The messenger of desire and price, the lord of illusions intertwining reality and fantasy.
The Pseudo-God—White Spirit.
