This is not the date I wanted.

"Great~"

With a cheer of joy, Shidou moved his body slightly, adjusted his head to a comfortable position, and squinted his eyes comfortably.

He felt Mengyue's small hand gently stroking his head. The touch of her fingers was very soft and comfortable, which made Shidao feel very safe and peaceful.

Now he seemed to understand why Tohka and the others liked to be patted on the head so much.

"Cough-cough-"

Just then, a light cough sounded beside his ear. Shidao turned around and found Maria and Maruna standing beside him and looking at him.

"Shidou, is Mengyue's lap pillow that comfortable?"

Maria stared at Shidou's face and asked with an unhappy look on her face.

"Of course he is comfortable. Can't you see that he has completely forgotten about our existence?"

Junai shrugged with a smirk.

"——!?"

Realizing that the two of them were watching his strange remarks, Shidou's cheeks suddenly turned red. He quickly left Mengyue's legs, stood up, waved his arms, and shouted with full momentum.

"Alright! I'm fully resurrected! Let's start training. I'm sure I can escape successfully this time."

"Shy."

"Shy."

"The method of concealment is really obvious."

The three of them couldn't help but complain about Shidou's simple reaction.

"Cough-cough-"

Shidou coughed awkwardly twice and asked Mengyue with the intention of changing the subject.

"Hey, Mengyue, although it's a bit strange to ask now, why do you want me to do this kind of training? Can you tell me?"

"Yeah, that's fine." After thinking for a while, Meng Yue nodded and explained, "Actually, there's not a very complicated reason. To put it simply, someone might want to kill you next time."

"Want to kill me? Why?"

Shidou's eyes widened in surprise.

"Shidou, do you still remember what the purpose of DEM is?"

Without directly answering Shidou's question, Mengyue asked back.

"You want to turn the elves into despair and obtain the spiritual crystals in their bodies—"

Halfway through his words, Shidou seemed to understand Mengyue's intention. He held his breath, thought for a long time, and asked with a serious expression.

"Are you saying...DEM is planning to kill me and turn everyone around in one fell swoop?"

"Yes, after all, this is the most concise and effective method for DEM."

Meng Yue nodded silently.

As the bond between Shidao and the spirits deepens, Shidao becomes more and more important in their hearts. From the previous example of Tohka's reversal, it can be seen that if Shidao, the pillar of the spirits, suddenly disappears, it will cause a terrible impact.

"how so……"

After realizing that his kindness was being taken advantage of by the enemy, Shidou clenched his fists unwillingly.

"Besides, I'm afraid DEM isn't the only one who wants to kill you."

Hearing Mengyue's words, Shidao was suddenly stunned.

"Eh? Besides DEM, is there anyone else who wants to kill me?"

After hearing Meng Yue's words, Shidao asked with some confusion. Apart from DEM, he didn't remember making enemies with anyone else.

"Kuang San! It's Kuang San!"

Seeing Shidao's confused and silly look, Mengyue reminded him silently.

"That guy wanted to kill you from the beginning and take the spiritual power in your body for himself. Now, except for Kurumi and 'Phantom', all the known elves have been sealed by you. Not counting the possibility of Rokuko's elves who are hidden very deeply and have not been discovered yet, the spiritual power of the elves is basically stored in your body. Now is the best time to make a move. For Kurumi, you are no different from a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered."

"Eh……"

Hearing Meng Yue's analogy, Shidao couldn't help but frown. Meanwhile, Junai couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I see. So this training is to teach me how to deal with DEM and Kurumi's assassination?"

"Well, that's it." Meng Yue nodded and said, "The same is true for not letting you use Qin Li's healing flame. Although it is a good trump card to save your life, you must not rely on it too much. Don't think that it doesn't matter if you break an arm or something because of it. Got it!"

At this point, Mengyue seemed to recall that Shidou used his body to block Rokuko's attack, and warned with a stronger tone.

“…Haha, I understand.”

In response to this, Shidou could only laugh dryly and nodded.

"In short, just stay alive and that's all! We've almost rested enough, so let's start training, Mengyue!"

After understanding Mengyue's good intentions, Shidao had no intention of complaining about the hard training. He patted his cheek and said with motivation.

"No, I won't be your opponent in the next training."

However, Mengyue shook her head at Shidao who was full of enthusiasm.

From the previous training, Mengyue was very clear that apart from the improvement in Shidao's vigilance and reaction speed compared to the beginning, he had not grown in other aspects at all.

The reason is not Shidao, but herself. As Shidao's teacher, she knows Shidao's personality, habits, and way of thinking in various situations. With the ability of "future prediction", it is impossible for Shidao to escape from her assassination. Continuing to train will only cause unnecessary psychological trauma.

No, in fact, I'm afraid it has already caused psychological trauma.

Recalling the training just now, Mengyue had actually planned to let Shidao go, otherwise she would not have reminded him at all. As long as she quietly pushed him from the back, Shidao would be game over.

The shooting action of the pistol was just a little joke by Meng Yue. But who would have thought that Shidao would overreact and summon an ice wall with an angel, and then backed up and was hit by a truck.

(Am I some kind of monster?)

To be honest, Meng Yue was really shocked at that time. She wanted Shidao to know how to protect himself, but she didn't want Shidao to be afraid of her.

"Eh? Why?"

Shidou asked in confusion.

"because……"

Meng Yue avoided his gaze awkwardly. She didn't want Shidao to dislike her for anything, as she felt like she would lose if she said it out loud.

"Because the goal has been achieved. The training just now is to strengthen your ability to respond to crises, and to prevent you from over-relying on healing abilities. In fact, my fighting style is somewhat different from DEM and Kurumi, so it is not suitable for reference. The next step is targeted training."

"Well... then let's do it again, just once! I will definitely complete the task."

Shidou said with some dissatisfaction.

In response to Shidou's insistence, Meng Yue took a few steps back and looked at him with a disgusted expression. "Wow... Shidou, do you like being killed so much? Have you awakened some special interest?"

"No way!! I get it, let's just move on to the next training."

Seeing Meng Yue misunderstanding, Shidou hurriedly denied it.

"That's right. Even in the virtual world, time is precious. So - Juna."

"Hi~"

After answering Mengyue in a leisurely tone, Ormori Kunai walked in front of Shidou.

"From now on, I will be your opponent, Gokawa Shido."

With a malicious smile on her lips, Junai snapped her fingers, and the scene in the virtual world switched again, returning to the familiar Amamiya City that Shidou was familiar with.

No, it seems a bit wrong to say familiar. In this simulated map, Shidao could not see the same citizen NPCs as in the real world. Instead, in buildings, shops, trees, streets - in every corner of the city, Sergio could see black-clad nuns who looked exactly like Juna.

If we estimate, the number of people seems to be no less than 1,000. "Hahaha, we can fight again!"

"I've been putting up with you for a long time, Shidao. This time I can finally beat you up with a clear conscience."

"Hit him in the face! Hit him hard in the face!"

"I'm going to beat you until you cry!"

"..."

Hearing the smirks coming from all directions, Shidou couldn't help but sweat on his forehead.

"Um... Miss Junai, did I make you angry in some way?"

"That's not true at all." Junai shook his head and replied with a smile, "This is just a performance to increase the tension. I definitely don't want to beat you up because I don't like you. Although I personally sympathize with you, in order to maximize the effect of the training, I will do my best to kill you!"

(You are definitely seeking revenge!)

Shidou thought with a smile on his face.

"It's no problem Shidou."

At this moment, Maria suddenly walked to Shidao's side and comforted him gently.

"Even if you are killed by my sister by being dismembered, I will heal you with my lap pillow when I revive you."

"...Thank you very much, Maria."

Shidao was silent for a long time before he stiffly said these words of thanks. He was sure that both Junai and Mariya had been led astray by Meng Yue.

(But...it is indeed very targeted training.)

Shidao couldn't help but sigh.

This move of Junai is the data clone that was used when invading Fraxinus. Although each individual is not strong, they have the advantage of numbers. From this point of view, it is indeed similar to the clone created by Kurumi using the "Eight Bullets".

(Eh? Speaking of which…)　

For some reason, looking at the murderous Juna in front of him, Shidao suddenly had a sense of déjà vu.

"Well, the training has begun. Be prepared, Gokawa Shido!"

"Wait! Wait a minute Juna!"

Looking at the swarming Junai, Shidao suddenly thought of something and hurriedly called for a stop.

"Pause. Junai."

Meng Yue stopped Junai and asked Shidao.

"What's wrong Shidou?"

"No, it's just that before the fight, I suddenly thought of something and wanted to confirm it with Junai."

"Huh? What's the matter?"

Junai tilted his head in confusion.

"Um...what did you say?"

Paying attention to Juna's expression, Shidou hesitated for a moment before carefully asking,

"Ju Nai, do you have other twin sisters at DEM?"

02 Night Raid

==============================

Friday, February 9th, 00:31.

At this time, Liang Yi Meng Yue had returned to her room in the Elf Apartment.

Since they had to go to school today, she and Shidou finished their computer space training an hour ago and returned to their respective rooms to rest.

However, Meng Yue did not choose to fall asleep directly. Perhaps because of what Shidao said during training, she just sat cross-legged on the bed, turned on the computer and started some investigation.

At this time, with the help of the Sage of Dawn, a video file appeared in her computer.

That was the surveillance footage of the Ratatoskr headquarters sea base where Shidou and his friends went a month ago.

Opening the video, you can see that the base has been breached by DEM's surprise attack, and there is gunfire and smoke everywhere. Westcott, the leader of DEM, personally went into battle and appeared directly in front of Shidou and Nia.

(Damn, the resolution is so low.)

Meng Yue couldn't help but complain. Because the camera was a little far away from Shidao, after zooming in, only a few extremely blurry little cubes could be seen.

"Ju Nai, please help me process this picture."

[Hey~ You can handle this kind of thing yourself. 】