Yuki was completely unaware that in another world, chaos had already taken over, and conspiracies were waiting for him...
He was still explaining Origami's seal to Kotori.
"Five years ago? Were you with her five years ago?"
"Yes and no, it's complicated."
Technically, it wasn't Yuki—it was a Yuki from the future of a parallel timeline within another parallel timeline, a temporal anomaly that only Chaos and Order could explain.
To be honest, trying to explain what was happening gave Yuki a headache. Everything was so confusing, which is why he preferred to keep his distance from Origami as the seal on her chest weakened. Finding a way to explain this temporal anomaly without hurting her was not easy.
"Ugh!"
Kotori's head hurt from trying to understand what was going on. However, suspicion shone in her eyes. If Yuki had been present five years ago, it meant he was also there when her brother disappeared. But since the time she and Yuki had agreed upon hadn't come yet, Kotori didn't ask...
"So, what do we do?"
"Let's leave them alone for now. Mana will take care of protecting them."
"Okay."
In the end, they both left the matter of Miku and Origami unresolved...
Yuki, on the other hand, sighed. If possible, he wanted to travel through time and fix the timeline. But it was a shame that whether he traveled or not, the damage was already done. Unless he possessed the abilities of the Supreme Champion, he couldn't repair the timeline.
This made Yuki temporarily change his objective, not to mention that Kurumi had not yet returned from the Neighboring World. If it weren't for Rasiel informing him that Kurumi wasn't in danger, Yuki would have already gone to look for her.
Even so, Yuki needed to confirm his theory...
"Nia, are you free? Let's go on a date."
"Huh?"
After relaxing a bit and returning home, Yuki suddenly spoke, surprising Nia...
"Hya~ Of course!"
Nia blinked in surprise, but she soon understood the meaning behind Yuki's proposal and accepted it. She even moved closer, pressing his arm against her chest, as if she had been waiting for these words for some time.
"Hm? Yuki?"
Tohka noticed this, but she was too innocent to understand the expressions on Yuki and Nia's faces.
---
**England, DEM Base...**
After Ellen's loss, Isaac had been busy accumulating resources. War in the near future was inevitable, and Isaac was going to bet everything on a single strike...
To do that, he needed to 'convince' the DEM board of directors...
"This is absurd! Arbatel and two more battleships have been destroyed, along with an entire troop of Bandersnatch."
The board members were furious. Like any company, each of the capitalist partners invested to make a profit, and DEM, being the world leader in technology, was a very wealthy company with significant influence.
Unfortunately, in the last few months, everything had been getting worse. The warships had been destroyed, and Isaac, the current president, hadn't mentioned it to them. Worse yet, they had never approved their activation.
Isaac was using his authority as President to pressure them into accepting his demands.
They needed to put limits on Isaac and prevent DEM from being destroyed—or more precisely, prevent Isaac from continuing to spend their money.
No one likes it when others spend their money, and for these greedy capitalists, this was what enraged them the most...
Unfortunately, they didn't have the power to fire Isaac. On the contrary, it was a bad move...
Because Isaac was never someone easy to deal with, especially for those without power...
"Well, that was quick."
Ellen's expression didn't change after seeing all the scattered corpses on the ground. On the contrary, she admired how quickly Isaac got rid of his business partners.
"Just a bunch of fools trying to give me orders on how to run my company."
Wiping his hands, Isaac responded to Ellen's words. DEM was created by him, and he was the one in control.
DEM never needed a board of directors, and the only reason these people were still around was for the funds. Isaac needed money to grow DEM quickly and take over the world...
But now they were no longer necessary. On the contrary, they were an obstacle preventing Isaac from achieving his goals, so they had to be eliminated...
"So, what are you doing here, Ellen? Have you found anything new?"
"Yes, it's about Diva."
Diva had been very active recently in Tenguu City, which, of course, hadn't gone unnoticed by DEM. However, since Tenguu is a city controlled by Ratatoskr, DEM had done nothing to capture Diva.
Isaac wasn't foolish enough to send Ellen on a hunt. The Emperor would likely stop her, and even worse, Ellen could die...
"Oh? Diva was recruited into AST? Well, this is an interesting turn of events."
There were few things that could pique Isaac's interest, and this was one of them.
"The Emperor did nothing?"
"No, so far, we've detected traces of Reiryoku from the Emperor."
"Hm."
Isaac pondered. Something wasn't right. From what they knew of Yuki, this male spirit was hunting, and with Diva causing chaos in Tenguu City for so long, the Emperor's absence was strange. Even more unusual was that Diva was cooperating with AST...
Something was definitely off...
(I need to send someone to AST to investigate.)
But before Isaac could sink deeper into his thoughts, Ellen handed him other documents that Isaac couldn't ignore...
"Takamiya Mana, she's alive."
"That's right."
Mana's photo and file had appeared in AST as a new recruit. Since the Emperor had destroyed the space fleet, Mana had disappeared, and DEM thought she had died in action. It was so common that they didn't bother to investigate her tracker and verify her vital signs. After all, many magicians died that day.
But apparently, things were not as simple as they seemed. Takamiya Mana was alive, and the fact that she was recruited almost at the same time as Diva only meant one thing.
"The Emperor has his eyes on Diva."
"That's what I thought too. Mana is being controlled."
"Yes, she's a very convenient bait."
Isaac knew it wouldn't be that simple, and Mana's presence in AST confirmed it. The Emperor wouldn't let Diva go. Having Mana to watch over her—or perhaps something more—was also a trap for DEM. With Mana in AST, DEM could contact her, but the question was why not do what they did with other spirits—kidnap them...
Why go to all this trouble?
There were too many questions and no answers...
"What should we do, Ike?"
"For now, nothing. If we use AST to bring Diva in, the Emperor will surely stop us. We still don't have the power to oppose the Emperor."
Unfortunately, it was the truth. Although DEM had deep ties with the Japanese government and it would be possible to pressure them into handing over Diva, with Mana in AST, the Emperor would act immediately, and Isaac wasn't willing to take that risk.
Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous for both sides, and Yuki was thinking the same. There was too much at stake in the war against DEM, and neither side was ready yet.
"Huh? Or do you perhaps have an idea, 'DEUS'?"
[...]
Suddenly, Isaac smiled, his eyes narrowing as he stared at a particular direction in the room. Ellen quickly transformed into her battle suit and stood in front of Isaac upon noticing.
At the same time, the space in front of Isaac began to distort, and a figure covered in computer-generated mosaics appeared...
"Well, this is a surprise. Deus is honoring us with his presence. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Isaac's smile widened even more when he saw the first spirit appear. Ellen, on the other hand, remained on guard, knowing that apart from the Emperor, the first spirit was one of the few who could defeat her—especially now that she had to protect Isaac.
However, Isaac remained calm, gently touching his chest, causing a change in the static surrounding the first spirit's figure, like an animal facing a predator, a deep fear...
"I've come to make a deal."
-----
TN: If two witches watched two watches, which witch would watch which watch? 🤔