A beautiful girl who transmigrates into a Herrscher of the Void is treated like an elf and conquered

Chapter 116 A Silent Warning and a Heavy Truth

Origami, along with Shido, like two silent shadows, finally stopped deep in a quiet alley several blocks away from that scorched battlefield.

The echoes of the explosion could not be heard here; only the distant clamor of the city gradually recovering from the spatial tremors could be heard.

After confirming that the surroundings were absolutely safe, Origami completely deactivated the display device and returned to her casual clothes.

She turned around, her pale blue eyes, like two bottomless pools of icy water, staring straight at Shido, who was still in shock and not yet fully calm.

Her gaze was sharp, carrying an unquestionable scrutiny that made Shido subconsciously hold his breath.

“You appeared last time when we were fighting the ‘Princess’.”

The sound of origami was calm and still, yet carried a heavy weight: "This time, you are still here."

"Ah...yes..." Shido lowered his head somewhat awkwardly, unable to refute the fact. Being involved in core events related to spirits twice was indeed too much of a coincidence.

Just as Shido nodded in agreement, Origami exuded an undeniable aura of authority, her tone commanding: "Don't tell anyone about this."

Her gaze was fixed on Shido, as if she wanted to imprint every single one of his reactions.

“And,” she continued, her tone unwavering, “forget everything except me—including everything you’ve seen and heard.”

She must be referring to... the elves, to Chinatsu Hououin, to that terrifying "Judgment" Herrscher, and to everything that happened today.

Shido's heart skipped a beat. Although he already knew about the existence of spirits from Kotori and Fraxinus.

But hearing such a direct warning from Origami, an elite member of the AST, was a completely different experience. He hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked:

"...Are you referring to...that girl and Chinatsu's affair?"

Origami did not answer, but stared silently at Shido with her cold eyes. That silence itself was like a tacit agreement, or a deeper warning.

"Hey, hey... Tobiichi. What's going on between that girl and Chinatsu—" Shido couldn't help but press.

Although Ratatosk had already explained the concept of elves to him, he wanted to hear Origami's perspective from the front lines, from those directly fighting the elves. He wanted to know, in the eyes of warriors like them, what exactly were elves?

“That’s an elf,” Origami finally spoke, her answer brief and almost cruel. “And something I must defeat.”

This answer is cold and direct, reflecting AST's consistent stance.

But Shido remembered Chinatsu's broken yet resolute gaze at the end, the sadness when she confessed her identity, and the madness with which she rushed towards Eren and the moment she protected herself.

...He could not simply equate "elves" with "something that must be defeated".

He mustered his courage and asked the question that had been lingering in his mind: "...Was...that elf a bad person...?"

Upon hearing this question, Origami's usually expressionless face seemed to show an extremely subtle change.

Shido seemed to see her bite her lip slightly, though the movement was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible.

After a moment of silence, Origami spoke in a voice even lower than before, as if suppressing some heavy emotion:

"My parents were killed by elves five years ago."

“…What—” This completely unexpected answer struck Shido’s heart like a hammer blow, leaving him speechless. He could only stare in shock at the girl in front of him, whose expression remained calm, but whose eyes seemed to be churning with something deep inside.

So... this is why she's so obsessed with defeating the elves?

Origami didn't look at Shido's shocked expression; her gaze seemed to pierce through time, returning to that desperate day five years ago, but her voice remained eerily calm:

"I don't want... anyone else to experience the same thing."

"Yeah……"

Shido murmured, feeling a dryness in his throat.

He subconsciously raised his hand to his chest, as if trying to suppress his heart pounding violently upon learning the cruel truth.

A complex mix of emotions welled up within him. Sympathy for Origami's plight, an awareness of the tragedy caused by the spirits, and a complex, indefinable feeling for Chinatsu intertwined within him.

He took a deep breath and suddenly remembered something else that concerned him.

He glanced at the origami still staring intently at him, hesitated for a moment, scratched his cheek, and asked a question:

"Speaking of which, Tobiichi... is it really okay for you to tell me about the Spirits? No, even though I asked you first..."

This should be considered an internal secret of AST, right? Is it really okay to tell this "ordinary" high school student so easily?

Origami fell silent upon hearing this, seemingly weighing something. After a few seconds, she slowly spoke: "No problem."

“...Is that so?” “As long as,” Origami added, her eyes sharpening again, “you don’t tell anyone else.”

"...If I had told you?" Shido asked almost instinctively.

Origami paused again, her pale blue eyes revealing neither threat nor anger, only a pure, almost factual seriousness.

She looked at Shido and answered clearly, "I would be troubled."

"Is...is that so...that's really incredible..."

Shido was taken aback by her overly serious answer, but at the same time, he felt the heavy weight behind her words. He quickly nodded solemnly.

"I promise you, I won't tell anyone."

Upon hearing Shido's promise, Origami nodded almost imperceptibly and said nothing more.

She shifted her gaze from Shido to the faint light of the normal world filtering in from the alleyway's exit, as if the heavy conversation from just moments ago had never happened.

But for Shido, everything he experienced today, and the cruel truth that Origami revealed herself, has been deeply etched into his heart like a brand.

The figure of Chinatsu Hououin, the destiny of the spirits, the stance of the AST, and the sorrow and hatred stemming from five years ago.

All of this made his future path even more shrouded in mystery, and even more... resolute.

Chapter 117 Retrospective and the Fog

At night, under the dim light of the streetlights, dragging his leaden legs and with even heavier thoughts, Shido finally returned to his familiar home.

Pushing open the door, the bright lights in the living room and the faint aroma of dinner lingering in the air created a stark contrast with the world outside, which had just experienced a near-apocalyptic battle.

“I’m back…” His voice was filled with undisguised exhaustion.

"Welcome back, Shido!"

Kotori, who had been waiting at home, jumped up from the sofa with a jewel in her mouth.

She was still wearing the school uniform of Raizen High School, but she had changed her headband to a black ribbon symbolizing a commander, and her expression was more serious than ever before.

She walked quickly to Shido, carefully examined him, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief after confirming that he had no obvious external injuries, but her brows remained furrowed.

"Hurry, to Fraxinus!"

Kotori lowered her voice and pulled Shido upstairs without giving any room for argument.

"The details must be analyzed immediately!"

Shido was almost in a daze as Kotori pulled him onto Fraxinus, hidden high in the sky, via a teleportation device.

The familiar bridge environment could not bring him any sense of security at this moment. His mind kept replaying the bloodshed, maniacal laughter, and the earth-shattering lightning and spatial tearing outside the factory.

In the relatively quiet lounge, Murasame Reine quietly handed him a cup of warm black tea and a simple bento box, but he had no appetite.

Kotori crossed her arms, her face more stern than ever before, the jewel in her mouth making a crunching sound as she chewed it.

"Alright, you can talk now." Kotori sat down in front of Shido, arms crossed, her eyes sharp.

"Tell me everything that happened today, from beginning to end, in great detail! Don't leave out any details!"

Shido took a deep breath, sat down in the chair, and began to recount his encounter with Chinatsu and Origami at the entrance of the amusement park.

He talked about the intervention of origami, the awkward atmosphere among the three at the amusement park, lunch at the old shop, the spacequake alarm, being taken to the City of Food by the nightmare, and... everything that happened in the abandoned factory that overturned his understanding.

He recounted in more detail the unofficial history (anecdotal account) told by "Walter Young" about the Eurasian catastrophe thirty years ago, the birth of two elves, the massacre of the DEM, and the sacrifice and legacy of Walter Joyce.

He described the broken yet resolute look in Chika's eyes when she "awakened," the sadness and determination she showed when she acknowledged her identity as a spirit, and the words "I like you" that shook him to his core, followed by their farewell.

Then came the battle outside the factory.

He recounted how Chika faced the DEM army alone, how she went from initially struggling to later laughing wildly, and how she used her rational powers to construct weapons for combat.

He described the arrival of Alan Mathers, the brief but brutal melee, the near-cut-in-half gruesome scene of Chinatsu being stabbed in half, and the horrifying sight of her body being stitched back together with nails and forcing herself to stand up.

Finally, there was the most stunning transformation.

"...Then, she collapsed. I...I rushed out after her and saw..." Shido's voice trembled uncontrollably again, as if that hellish scene was reappearing before his eyes.

"She... Phoenix Inu... suddenly unleashed a completely different, even more terrifying power and spirit armor! She said... 'Humans, your existence is a mistake'... She summoned countless monsters, used a portal... to devour all of DEM's artillery fire, and then threw it all back... She... almost single-handedly destroyed the entire DEM force."

He couldn't continue speaking; his hands gripped his knees tightly, his knuckles turning white.

The image of that cold figure, back to the sunlight, wielding the blade of destruction, clashed violently in his mind, almost tearing him apart, compared to the image of the girl who had tearfully bid him farewell.

Kotori listened in silence the entire time, only the occasional sound of her forcefully biting into a candy revealing her inner turmoil. When Shido finished speaking, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

“As expected…” Kotori’s voice was low, “It roughly matches the situation we pieced together from remote observations and the data sporadically transmitted back from AST via origami, but the details are even more… breathtaking.”

She looked at Shido with a complicated expression.

"First, it's about the history told by 'Walter Young'."

Kotori said in a deep voice, and Reine, who was beside her, nodded silently in agreement with this direction of analysis.

"We cannot immediately verify the authenticity of this 'secret.' Data on the Eurasian air disaster thirty years ago is top secret, and DEM is extremely tight-lipped about it. But if this is true..."

She paused, her tone heavy, "That would completely change our understanding of the origins of the elves, and nail DEM to the pillar of shame for being anti-human."

"But at the same time, this could also be something that 'Walter' fabricated for some purpose, to gain sympathy or to divert attention."

“Secondly, there’s Phoenix Inu Chika’s condition.” Kotori’s fingers tapped unconsciously on the table.

“Based on your description and our data analysis, she initially did indeed exhibit the powers of a ‘Herrscher of Reason,’ but the level of power was not high, seemingly due to damage to the spirit crystal that served as the source of her power. This partially aligns with the claim that she received a ‘legacy.’ However…”

Kotori's tone suddenly became more serious, filled with deep confusion and wariness:

"The stance she later displayed, known as 'Divine Judgment,' had power attributes—space and lightning—that were significantly different from the power of 'Reason'!"

"The energy levels are worlds apart! This is absolutely not a power that someone could immediately grasp and use so skillfully after just receiving the inheritance! It's more like..."

Her gaze was sharp. "There was another, more complete and powerful source of power lying dormant within her all along, but it was only activated at the crucial moment!"

“And,” Kotori added.

"Her final declaration that 'all humanity is wrong,' as well as her actions of summoning monsters and ruthlessly destroying everything, contradict the tragic image you previously described of her as 'leaving so as not to be a burden to you'!"

"The change was too fast and too extreme!"

Shido opened his mouth, wanting to defend Chinatsu, to say that perhaps she was corrupted by power, or perhaps she lost control due to inheriting Welt's painful memories.

...But he couldn't bring himself to say it. Reason told him that Kotori's analysis hit the nail on the head. That absolute indifference and destructive urge was completely different from the Chinatsu he knew before.

Kotori stood up and paced around the room. "To sum it up, Shido."

She stopped and looked at her brother, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Henryuin Chika, or rather, this new 'Herrscher of Reason' and 'Herrscher of Judgment,' is shrouded in mystery. She has revealed multiple, and possibly contradictory, aspects of her personality and sources of power."

"She could be a victim burdened with a tragic past, or she could be a deeply hidden and dangerous being with terrifying power."

Seeing Shido's confused and pained expression, Kotori sighed, jumped off the chair, walked up to him, and pressed her hands firmly on his shoulders, forcing him to meet her extremely serious gaze.

"Shido, I know she's the first girl you actively pursued... It's understandable that you have special feelings for her. Her final confession and that 'fallen' attitude certainly easily aroused your protective instincts and desire to save her."

Kotori's voice carried an undeniable seriousness.

"But listen! You must remain vigilant until you fully understand her true nature, the source of that terrifying power within her, and the real intentions behind her contradictory words and actions!"

Her tone was almost a warning: "The destructive power she displayed today is devastating! If that power gets out of control, or if her 'madness' is real, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"That will no longer be a matter of personal feelings, but a security crisis concerning the entire Tiangong City, and even the world!"

Shido lowered his head, looking at his hands. Images of Chinatsu confessing her love in tears flashed through his mind, as did the image of her laughing wildly and destroying everything.

The interplay of these two images left him feeling utterly confused.

“I…I know, Kotori,” he replied in a hoarse voice.

“But… I can’t give up. I want to know the truth no matter what. I want to know why she became like that… I want to know if it’s possible… to pull her back from that path.”

Kotori looked into Shido's eyes and saw that familiar, almost stubborn kindness and determination, and sighed softly. "I knew you'd say that... you idiot brother."

She released her grip and sat back down on the bed. "Ratatosk will do everything in its power to analyze all the data we've gathered today, try to verify 'Walter's' story, and track down Chika's whereabouts."

“And you.” She looked at Shido.