*Tenguu City, Turning Point, 5 Years in the Past...*
After expelling Shido and Kurumi from this timeline, Yuki relaxed a bit. After all, if his calculations are correct, this is the second time Itsuka Shido has traveled to the past. If this continues, it will disrupt all progress in this timeline.
Yuki knew something terrible must have happened to force Itsuka Shido to time travel, but it definitely wasn't bad enough to create a paradox, where a timeline was devoured. Therefore, before expelling him, Yuki gave a bit of his power to Itsuka Shido, hoping he could fix his future in that timeline.
"My head hurts..."
Natsumi was confused. Time travel is complicated, and fixing paradoxes even more so.
"Onii-chan!"
Suddenly, another boy appeared in front of the little Kotori. Yuki recognized him instantly, and how could he not?
"Itsuka Shido from this timeline..."
"Him again?"
Natsumi couldn't understand. How important was Itsuka Shido to this timeline, and why wasn't he in the future?
"Onii-chan!"
Little Kotori tried to step toward her beloved brother, but unfortunately, due to his unstable energy, Shido ended up hurt, and the flames grew fiercer. At this rate, Shido would die...
"Will you intervene again?"
"No..."
"...."
Natsumi frowned. Yuki had already intervened once; she didn't understand why he wouldn't do it again. Not to mention, the first spirit was watching everything calmly, as if none of it had anything to do with her.
This made Natsumi reevaluate the first spirit. If she let Itsuka Shido die, it would explain why he didn't exist in the future—he had already died. And it also highlighted the cruelty of the first spirit...
"Don't worry, someone else will intervene..."
*Bam, Bam*
Yuki hadn't finished speaking when another person suddenly appeared and attacked the first spirit. Several pillars of energy flew, and another spirit appeared...
"That's Tobichi-san!"
"Good eye, but to be precise, it's the Origami from the alternate timeline."
It was the Origami from the same timeline as the teenage Itsuka Shido.
Natsumi fell into thought, slowly beginning to understand why teenage Itsuka Shido was here, while Origami hunted the first spirit, who simply received all the attacks Origami shot at her.
Metatron is a powerful angel, with a wide range of movement and long-range destructive force. Yet, it didn't even scratch the first spirit. Origami was at best a Low Tectonic, and the difference in power was enormous.
"Will you expel her too?"
"No, that's not my job. In fact, this is where the fun begins."
Yuki was right because as Origami and the first spirit fought, a wormhole opened in front of the frightened little Kotori and the injured young Itsuka Shido...
And this time, it was Yuki's turn to frown...
The person who emerged from the portal was a man whose mere aura made one's soul tremble. The shining crown on his head rotated slowly, and his eyes were cold and sharp. Seeing him, Yuki was reminded of his former life as an Assassin. Those eyes—they were like returning to his old self.
"Yuki-kun?! Is that you?!"
"Yes..."
Yuki didn't deny it; there was no need. This was Yuki from the first timeline, and judging by his energy level, his power had surpassed Yuki's by far...
*(Rank 5, High Destructor!)*
"What power!"
His former self from the first timeline had changed a lot—not just his astral suit, which was now completely jet black without a trace of any other color, but the previous red had disappeared. There were a total of seven black swords flying around him, protecting him, and from the appearance of the swords, Yuki already knew to which spirits they belonged.
*(Kurumi, Tohka, Nia, Kotori, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Origami... Natsumi...)*
The eight had died and been assimilated into the crown, which explained why his power was so immense.
*(But... It's still not enough...)*
But compared to the Requiem, this level of power was still insufficient. The Requiem is a cosmic-level weapon, and there was something off about the Yuki from the first timeline. He had assimilated a total of seven spirits, yet his strength only reached the first stage of High Destructor.
It should be noted that the current Yuki, with three spirits in his crown, was already a Mid Destructor. If his calculations were correct, he only needed two more thrones, and his strength would reach High Destructor. Therefore, something wasn't right with the Yuki from the first timeline. Yet, this wasn't the time to think about that, as his other self had already moved...
---------------------------------
"Hm? What timeline is this?"
After being pursued through the timelines by the first spirit, Yuki scanned the area with his heterochromatic eyes and sighed after escaping. He had no choice but to open another wormhole and jump, so the coordinates were random...
"Eh?"
But as he tried to find information in Rasiel about this timeline, what was happening in front of him caught his attention...
"Itsuka Kotori..."
Seeing the little girl with red hair, Yuki's eyes shone with pain for an instant. Itsuka Kotori had been a good companion. You could say it's because of her that Yuki is in this timeline. If it weren't for saving her from total annihilation by the first spirit, Yuki wouldn't be fighting with her again, which caused such a hunt through the timelines.
Yuki sighed—such a coincidence was wonderful...
*Boom, Boom, Boom*
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
At that moment, the little Kotori looked at Yuki. The latter felt his Sephira crystal flicker, frowned, and Kotori's power went out of control.
Having just been transformed into a spirit, she had no control over her strength, and with the added resonance, Kotori's energy erupted into a sea of fire.
Such a disaster Yuki would not allow to continue, as it would attract the attention of the first spirit. He moved at high speed, and before Kotori could react, Yuki's palm had touched her belly, and at the same time, his Sharingan spun and created a mark on her stomach.
"Five-Point Seal!"
"....!?"
Kotori's eyes widened in shock as her energy began to recede...
"Onii-chan... Onii-chan... No... No... Onii-chan..."
But even if her energy was sealed, Kotori's consciousness clung on, calling out to her beloved brother trapped in the flames.
"...!?"
And it was then that Yuki also noticed the injured boy. This was Kotori's lost brother. An indescribable feeling passed through his soul when he saw him. He lowered Kotori and approached unconsciously, as if something was calling him...
*Boom, Boom, Boom*
The closer Yuki got, the more he began to tremble. The boy in front of him was special to the point that his level of connection surpassed even that of the spirits...
He moved closer, and when he touched the boy, the latter began to disappear, under Kotori's sleepy gaze...
"Onii-chan.... No..."
Unfortunately for Kotori, her body reached its limit, so she couldn't help but faint. However, the image of Yuki touching Shido and making him disappear was imprinted in her mind, and her Angel Camael trembled, receiving all of Kotori's hatred and fury...
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*Spiritual World, Castle of the Sky*
*Brommmmmmmmmmm*
The Castle of the Sky in Yuki's spiritual world trembled, and the chains around it were broken one by one...
*[GAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!]*
The Demon King's roar made the entire spiritual world tremble. His imposing and authoritative aura rose, and the seal of the Ocarina weakened instantly...
*[Return....!! I want to return! I did it! I defeated him!... I could do it! I won!... Cyrene!]*
"He's more conscious..."
Yuki murmured, aware of all these changes, and also understood why Itsuka Shido had disappeared.
"A fragment of the Void Hero..."
The Void Hero's soul was so vast and powerful that a simple fragment was enough to form another being. This left Yuki speechless...
Even so...
"No time for you to emerge..."
Using the Ocarina, Yuki stabbed toward the Castle of the Sky, and the melody echoed throughout the spiritual world...
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TN: Ohh so shido was just a part of his soul.. I see I see