Spirit of Reversal against the World

It's been 3 weeks since I last saw Shido at the market. During this time, I've ended up having 4 confrontations with the AST.

Aside from furnishing my house, I've also noted down everything I could remember about Date a Live—I can't afford to forget

these important details. I'll keep noting down anything I remember in the future.

Getting back to the AST, my confrontations with them initially happened by accident while I was trying to discover the name of my Angel.

On my first attempt, I ended up releasing too much energy, which instantly alerted them, causing a SpaceQuake alarm to go off right afterward.

With each of my attempts, I've made some progress in this area. I've also become a bit more experienced in combat.

I think I can increase my Karma this way, considering I've caused a certain amount of destruction and even injured some AST members.

With this, I also maintain the image that I'm just a regular Inverse Spirit, which might be useful in the future.

Now, there's about 5 days left until the start of school, and I'll make one last attempt this week to summon my Angel.

I'm feeling confident this time—I think I even know its name. I just need to use my Reiryoku and call it out by name.

It's a beautiful afternoon, and I'm walking through the streets looking for a place to start. I'm sure the AST will interfere.

The AST commander seemed pretty irritated during our confrontations, though he still commanded with caution.

I arrive at an area I like and begin using my Reiryoku. Another thing I'm testing right now is the

deliberate creation of a SpaceQuake. As far as I can remember, both Kotori and Kurumi did this.

Then the alert sounds: "—This is not a test. This is not a test. A SpaceQuake occurrence has been predicted.

People in the area, please move to the nearest shelter immediately."

A few seconds later, my SpaceQuake happens.

"Just as I thought, nothing happened." It was another gamble. I thought I wouldn't be hurt by my own SpaceQuake,

and I was right. It destroyed everything around but didn't affect me. Of course, I already had my Astral Dress

ready to get out of the way if things got dangerous.

I figured this might be possible since Kurumi didn't seem concerned about the SpaceQuake she caused affecting her.

Naturally, it could just be her confidence that she could escape when it happened. But all Spirits appear during

SpaceQuakes, so I thought it was entirely plausible that it wouldn't harm me, though if it's caused by another Spirit, it might hurt me.

"Now I've got a card up my sleeve," I whisper with a smile. What opponent would expect an attack that looks more like self-destruction?

Also, this now makes it seem like I've appeared in the world naturally, just like other Spirits.

Then they arrive. "AST." Strangely, I don't see the commander. "I guess it doesn't matter... but it's better to keep an eye out.

Kusakabe, as far as I remember, isn't the type to leave her comrades behind."

I look around at the crater I made. I triggered the SpaceQuake 15 meters above the ground, and it extended for about 100 meters,

creating a hole twice the size of the one from when I first arrived in this world. But instead of an irregularly shaped hole,

it's perfectly symmetrical, and there's a reason for that. When I made this SpaceQuake, I focused on compressing it,

increasing its force while reducing its size. This SpaceQuake now, if we were to measure just by energy,

would be about six times its current size if it hadn't been compressed.

Boom Boom.

I'm bombarded by the AST members. But this time, I'll surprise them. I'm going to summon my full

and my , of course taking all possible precautions. If I remember correctly, Isaac Westcott suffered

consequences when using the for the first time. I don't expect it to be different for me, so I must be ready to escape if everything goes wrong.

Then I fly upwards, reaching the same altitude as the AST, and I pronounce the words.

"Kami-sama Kara no Okurimono," I say, thus invoking my full . Its meaning is etched into my mind,

and I can't help but think about the irony. Its meaning is "Gift from God," which fits perfectly since I got my second chance thanks to my goddess.

Following the AST's reaction of surprise, I look at my Astral Dress. Now it covers a few more areas, with the most notable changes being the extra details

in gold and black and the gauntlets on my hands. They're the size of regular gloves but made of some unknown metal. They're black with gold details.

The AST momentarily stops attacking, but without letting go of the surprise on their faces, I call out my .

"Nathanael," I call my . An intense Golden and Black glow appears, and then a large forms in my hand.

It's gold and black with a white blade, its handle is black with gold accents, and on the main blade, there's a

golden cross with a black core. At the top of the handle is a sharp end that can be used for thrusting at

those in front, while at the back of the scythe, there's a smaller blade curving upwards. My Angel

is a bit more than a head taller than I am, reaching just over 2 meters in height. Its meaning is "Gift from Heaven."

Thanks to my armor, combined with the , I feel the greatest sense of freedom I've ever felt in my life.

The armor is light, but I can tell it's incredibly strong, while the scythe feels slightly disproportionate

but fits perfectly into the gauntlet. I feel like I can wield it with one hand or both to adjust its force.

I know how to use it even though I've never held a scythe before. Now that I notice, my armor emits a faint black aura—I guess it's because I'm an Inverse Spirit.

The AST looks even more surprised; after all, I'd never drawn my Angel before. But I won't give them time to react before I exhaust myself,

since I'm not used to this level of power. I advance.

Holding the scythe with both hands, I attack the closest person. I'm much faster than before; the girl in front of me can't even react,

only letting out a strange sound.

"Ah..." In an instant, I slice her in two from top to bottom, splitting her body. Instant death. My angel passes through her Realizer

and her body as if they were nothing, ending her life before she could even realize it.

"What the..." an AST member questions, after all, it happened so quickly that they couldn't even react to save their comrade.

But without giving them time, I move on to the next one, cutting their head off. When I do this,

they finally snap out of their stupor and back away while trying to hit me with shots.

I speed towards a girl holding a rifle; she drops the rifle, pulling out a sword while raising a territory.

But I raise my false territory, which now can be called a territory because it's much better compared to before.

Everything within 100 meters is within my reach, so I strike to the side when she tries to block with the sword.

If the territory breaks, I change the direction of my strike.

Since we're flying, I swing the blade under her, attacking upward. Even though I've never fought with this weapon,

I feel I know exactly what I can do with it.

The girl, not fast enough to change the sword's direction, tries to dodge to the side. Her territory breaks as if it were nothing,

while the scythe cuts off her left arm and her head.

After being decapitated, it's instant death, so I move on to the next.

I notice several of them are trembling with fear. The nearest one is 67 meters away; the others have moved out of my territory's range, but that doesn't matter.

However, when I'm 20 meters from the target, I suddenly freeze. I feel my body being restrained, barely able to move a muscle.

"Damn," I think as I raise a barrier to protect myself from any attacks.

It happened sooner than I expected, but the consequence of calling my for the first time has hit now. By sooner,

I mean way too soon, considering only 1 minute and 30 seconds have passed since I summoned my Angel.

Even so, I know that this won't be a problem in the future, and based on this demonstration, I know this Angel is very powerful.

After all, even Tohka Yatogami couldn't break through territory, Realizer, and human body with a simple strike.

After all, this isn't even the Angel's ability—these were just normal strikes, made much stronger due to the power boost from the Astral Dress.

Strangely, the AST still doesn't approach while stopping the bombardment.

"Why?" I ask myself, but I can't do anything, so I just stay still, waiting until I can move again.

Since they've stopped, I deactivate the barrier. My Angel and Astral Dress consume a lot of Reiryoku, to the point where I'm practically

wasting energy since I still have no control over it.

After a few minutes, I suddenly sense danger and activate my perception alteration, slowing my perception of time by 1000 times.

Now, it's as if the world has stopped. Then I notice it, and I can only curse in my head. "Damn."

A shot is about 40 meters from hitting me. It was so fast that it traveled 60 meters within my territory before being noticed.

And that's when I remember a weapon I had forgotten about because it didn't seem that relevant.

"Anti-Spirit Rifle ," I think, while cursing my memory for forgetting about this weapon.

This weapon itself isn't so problematic; my barrier could stop it. But I don't have time to create a barrier—only my mind is perceiving

everything slowly, but my body is still normal.

My armor could withstand this shot, but the bullet is aimed at my head, so the armor is useless.

"Think, think, think, how can I get out of this?" Many thoughts race through my mind, but most of them would need time, and I don't have that luxury right now.

I decide to sacrifice my arm to stop the bullet. After much consideration, the only viable option is to raise a small barrier in my hand.

It will be fragile, but it will reduce the impact, then I'll disperse part of the damage using reversal while

forcing my body to move and catch the bullet with my hand.

As I mentally prepare for the pain that's about to come, I pray to my Goddess that this works and deactivate the time perception enhancement.

Everything happens in an instant. I feel searing pain as I look at my arm. Just as I expected, the bullet itself didn't pierce the gauntlet,

but my arm's bones were shattered. This happened because the impact of the bullet reverberated through the arm and into the armor.

Even though the barrier reduced part of the impact, it wasn't enough.

I also feel that my arm has been dislocated. Fortunately, it worked. I hold back tears as I use reversal to heal and mend the injuries in my arm.

This was the greatest pain I've ever felt in my entire life, but I've received mental training to endure pain, so I can handle this better

than a normal person. Additionally, being a Spirit helps to dull the pain.

If I could use my powers normally, I could have caught that bullet like it was nothing. But because of the weakness from activating the Angel

for the first time, I nearly ended up dead.

I can even guess who it was—Tobiichi Origami and Kusakabe Ryouko. I'm not entirely sure about Origami since I haven't seen her since I kicked her,

but I'm certain Kusakabe is involved.

I enhance my perception and expand my territory. Now, everything within a 1000-meter radius is within my reach.

Then I notice Tobiichi Origami and Kusakabe at the edge of my territory.

Origami is holding the Anti-Spirit Rifle , while Kusakabe is using binoculars. Origami fires another shot,

but I easily stop it with my now Reiryoku-reinforced hand.

I glare angrily in their direction and notice Kusakabe saying something to Origami.

"I'll remember this, Origami, just wait and see, and you better not let your guard down," I say to the empty space, with a tone that hides a hint of hatred.

Now Origami retreats with Kusakabe, but before that, I see her look at me. I'm sure she got the message, even if she couldn't hear it.

Now she's just accepted it as a challenge.

I see the AST members approaching, but they're keeping a distance of 110 meters.

I guess they know I keep my attack range at 100 meters. But that's their mistake. I maintain this range only because the reversal

can only reach that far, but my power as a Spirit reaches wherever I can perceive, which means I can strike them anytime within a 1000-meter radius.

And if I had enough Reiryoku to cover the city, I could naturally affect everything in the city.

Also, in the future, when the Karma increases enough, the reversal range will also grow.

I use my Reiryoku rationally since I don't have much to waste, but it's enough.

All AST members fall to the ground. What I did was alter their perception of depth and their own bodies.

To them, it will seem like they are out of sync with their own bodies, with their vision affected by a lack of depth,

leaving them with no option but to stop flying.

Thankfully, my movements are returning. I wait another five minutes. "That should be enough." I can now make basic movements and fly

without much trouble, although it's still difficult.

Descending to the ground, I begin to reduce the energy release as much as possible while deactivating the Angel.

I fly low between the buildings while gradually undoing my Astral Dress.

After 10 minutes, I've fully undone it while staying on the ground.

Now I head back home.

An hour later, I arrive home. My muscles ache, and I have a terrible headache.

I'm not in the mood to eat anything, so I drag myself to the couch and throw myself onto it, closing my eyes to try and sleep.

Change of POV:

I'm awaiting orders right now while keeping that Spirit who killed my colleagues in the sights of my rifle.

Experimental version of the Anti-Spirit Rifle . Although it's not yet complete, with a limit of 2 shots before it overloads,

its firepower is incredible.

With this weapon, I'm sure I can take down that Spirit. Although I'm a little surprised by his , we're 990 meters away from the target,

hidden by a camouflage device, making it impossible for him to find us.

"Master Sergeant Tobiichi Origami requests permission to fire," says Kusakabe, commander of AST, to her superiors.

Origami is eager to shoot but must wait for orders. Fortunately, she wasn't temporarily removed, even though she initiated the attack against her

commander's orders. Due to her injuries, she narrowly avoided harsher punishment, only receiving a light reprimand instead.

After taking a direct kick from that Spirit, even though she protected herself, it was still strong enough to break two of her ribs.

At the moment she was hit, she felt like her organs were being crushed by the impact.

If it had been just a little stronger, she would have died.

For some reason, the Spirit stopped and remained still in the air, but because of this, she can easily keep her sights on his head,

although failure is still an option.

The chance of successfully killing him still exists.

"Permission granted. Fire at will, Master Sergeant Tobiichi," were the words she had been eagerly waiting for. Mentally preparing herself

not to make any mistakes, "This is your end, Spirit," she fires.

"!!!"

But what follows shocks her. The Spirit, who was immobile, moved his arm at insane speed and caught the bullet like it was nothing.

Kusakabe, who was watching with binoculars, was also surprised by this.

"How could he react to that!" she thinks.

But Origami is not satisfied with the result and uses the weapon's second shot. Again, he stopped the bullet with his hand. "Tsk..."

Now she notices he's looking directly at her.

She feels a shiver run down her spine. As someone with considerable experience, she knows this is a clear threat.

She feels like grabbing a sword and going there right now, but before she can put that thought into action, Kusakabe starts talking.

"We're retreating. Orders from the superiors..."

"Also, that Spirit has just been given a codename."

"S-Class Spirit ."

Origami is surprised by this decision; after all, he was classified as S instead of AA or AAA.

"I understand your surprise, but it appears they noticed he's stronger than he's currently showing."

If that's true, his classification makes sense because just from the damage done so far, he could easily be classified as AA.

While packing up her equipment to retreat, Origami takes one last look of disdain at .

"I accept your challenge..." she whispers as she leaves, now that she has returned the threat made to her.