Tale of Discovery

Chapter 259: Bullet Assault ; Encounter

While patting the sleeping Kotori's head, I continue my search for Kurumi using Clairvoyance.

Unfortunately, even after looking around for more than half an hour, I am still unable to find her. Well, I was already expecting this, so it's not much of a surprise that I'm unable to find her.

Just as I'm about to retract my sight back, a bright light shines quite a distance away from where my sight is.

Curious, I expectantly move my sigh over to the location that the light shined, only to be shocked by the sight of Kurumi, who is wearing a red and black dress, leaping from building to building as golden streaks go past her.

What shocked me isn't the Kurumi herself, but the multitude of golden bullets seemingly appearing out of thin air around her and moving toward her.

Suddenly, a weapon that seems to be a flintlock pistol appears in her right hand before she raises her arm and begins accurately shooting down a few of the bullets appearing around her.

Hey, Irene, can you tell me what's going on over there?

{Negative. The range between Father and the battling entities is too far.}

So, I just need to get closer, right?

{Affirmative.}

Letting out a small sigh, I gently get off the bed and fix my appearance up before using Permeation to pass through the wall and using Flight to soar into the sky.

Once I'm high above the city, I focus on the location that I saw Kurumi and her imperceptible assailant at.

The next moment, I am stunned by the sight of Kurumi's arm which was holding the flintlock pistol abruptly burst into pieces.

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Despite this, Kurumi keeps her composure as she continues to dodge the golden bullets which have now increased in number.

Furrowing my brows, I begin descending toward her at a brisk pace, intending to save her, however, before I can reach her, something shocking happens.

Behind Kurumi, space seems to tear before a dozen bullets appear from within it, with each one of them seeming to have different trajectories. However, that thought doesn't last long as the bullets suddenly take a sharp turn before three of them strike Kurumi's legs.

Following that, I land right in front of Kurumi just in time to witness her legs blowing up into chunks of flesh before what's left of her body drops to the ground.

"Kurumi!" I subconsciously exclaim as I use Vector Manipulation in preparation for the incoming bullets to reflect them.

Surprisingly, the bullets all freeze mid-air before beginning to break down into minuscule particles one after another.

A few seconds later, all the bullets are gone, with the only abnormal thing remaining being the tear in space. Upon looking inside the tear, I find a pair of blue and red eyes looking back at me as a melodious voice reaches my ears, "I will be waiting for you."

The moment her voice fades, the tear begins closing up before everything returns to normal.

Placing my doubts aside, I turn around, intending to tend to Kurumi, only to stop due to an absurd sight,

{WARNING: Code waves detected.}

Following AI's warning, a black figure that seems to have grown from the shadow on the ground begins to gain color, ultimately revealing an unharmed Kurumi that's dressed exactly like the one on the ground.

"Kurumi?" I doubtfully mutter while casting a glance at the severely injured yet alive Kurumi on the ground.

Why are there two versions of Kurumi? One is a Binary Factor, while the other one is a Code... This is odd.

Are they perhaps twins? Anyway, I should treat the injured Kurumi.

Before I can do what I intended to do, the Kurumi that just appeared raises her arm as a flintlock pistol appears in her hand while she mutters, "How unfortunate."

"Hey, what are-"

Before I can finish my statement, Kurumi pulls the trigger while pointing the tip of the pistol at the injured one on the ground, resulting in a giant hole appears in the body's chest before it dissolves into dark into the building's rooftop.

My eyes widen as numerous questions pass through my mind. After a short while, I take in a deep breath before staring at Kurumi's face and asking, "Tell me what just happened."

"Ara~ Shido. What are you doing here?" she responds, ignoring my statement and acting like she just noticed me.

Somewhat dissatisfied with her intention of hiding the truth, I furrow my brows and ask, "Who are you?"

Is she the same Kurumi that I met a few days ago and the one that went on a date with me this morning? I doubt it.

The fact that she is a Code and not a Binary Factor should be proof of that. For all I know, the one that just died which just died could be the Kurumi I know. Hence, the reason I am irritated.

Nevertheless, she referred to me the same way the other one did and is speaking in a manner similar to the other one, indicating that there is more to the matter than what I am suspecting.

As a response to my question, Kurumi adopts a slightly saddened expression as she says, "What are you asking, Shido? Could you have forgotten me already?"

Squinting my eyes, I deliberate on her words for a moment before concluding that there really is more to the matter than what I suspected.

"Say, Kurumi," I say in a solemn tone, "Would you like to go on a date sometime soon? A proper one, that is."

Beaming a smile, Kurumi nods her head and says, "Sure. However, make sure to set the location and time for us to meet."

Nodding my head, I take in a deep breath before peering into her eyes and saying, "I want to select the location of our date at some other time with you. At that time, I hope that the current you can come over."

Hearing this, the smile on Kurumi's face freezes as a glint passes through her eyes before she asks, "You noticed?"

Instead of responding to her, I simply continue staring into her eyes.

After a short while, Kurumi begins laughing in a manner that she had never done so before with it sounding both creepy and cute at the same time.

"Fine," Kurumi states once she's done laughing, "I hope you don't disappoint me then."

Following that, Kurumi seems to melt into the ground as her presence gradually becomes imperceptible.

--

Arriving home, I head over to Kotori's room in order to cover her naked body up properly before exiting the room and entering my own.

There, I directly head over to my bed and lie down beside Yoshino while wrapping my arms around her petite body.

Hah~ Today's events were a little too shocking. First, there is the matter with Kotori being a Code, or more accurately, a spirit. For some reason, AI was unable to detect it.

This raises a curious question - Are the spirits who have gotten 'sealed' by me detectable as Codes?

{Negative. Due to the sealed entities' prowess being directly connected to Father, their Code waves are undetectable unless Father wills otherwise.}

That's good to know. Perhaps, this information will come in handy in the future.

Well then, I have already told Kurumi regarding my plan of discussing our date location together. Hopefully, she takes that as me asking her to attend school.

If that happens, I will be able to discuss with her as much as I want to while slowly finding what the heck happened today.

I'm certain that the pair of eyes that looked back at me in the tear belonged to Dominion.

Looks like Kurumi really did know her. Not only that, but the two of them seem to be enemies.

Leaving that aside, from what I saw Dominion's powers are a little troublesome if dealt with blindly. She seems to be the type of opponent one must have proper information about before facing them off in battle.

Well, that is a matter for the future. Right now, I should focus on the AST and see that they properly learn of their place.

Before that, I better find any other spirits that may exist, as it would be troublesome to have them just running around all over the place without supervision and potentially being targeted by the AST for simply being what they are.