Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Last Sword

It had been surprisingly easy to win over Yoshino, and Su Mo found himself somewhat taken aback. But thinking it through, spirits were all innocent and naïve beings, unworldly and simple—easy to deceive, in other words. Just a little kindness was often enough to win their favor.

If it were someone with even the most basic common sense, Su Mo guessed that no matter how much he risked his life, he would never have gotten this far.

Now that Yoshino had been won over, Su Mo did not forget that if he could raise her affection to the maximum, he could sign a contract with her. From that point on, her life would be tied to his will, and he would also be able to draw one of her abilities.

Now was the perfect moment.

But the strict conditions of the contract came to mind, especially the clause that if the host died, the contracted spirit would die as well. This gave Su Mo pause—he wasn’t sure if he should sign with Yoshino. As a Reincarnator, Su Mo was destined to travel through countless worlds, each with unknown dangers. If he died one day, wouldn’t that be a tragedy for her as well?

He’d already involved Tohka—could he really drag another person down with him?

Of course, he could choose to be selfish: once he was dead, what did it matter if the world drowned in chaos? As long as he enjoyed himself, why care about others’ lives? While Su Mo was caught up in his dilemma, a piercing shriek split the air from outside the hallway.

A missile, as thick as a baby’s arm, shot toward them.

It tore through one wall of the apartment in an instant, its trajectory aimed straight at Yoshino beside him.

Debris and dust exploded everywhere.

Snapping back to himself, Su Mo’s eyes widened in shock. At that critical moment, he saw Yoshino, who had been panic-stricken, close her eyes in fear—yet the rabbit puppet in her arms suddenly leapt to meet the missile head-on.

"Icebound Doll—"

A surge of powerful spiritual energy burst from her, an astonishing chill flooding the room and dropping the temperature to freezing in an instant.

A moment later, a rabbit-shaped puppet, as large as a truck, appeared in front of Su Mo. This was Yoshino’s Angel, capable of deploying a barrier of rain and frost to protect its mistress—anything inside would be frozen, even within the Territory, giving it incredible defensive power.

Yoshino herself was controlling her Angel, so there was no danger of it running amok.

In the blink of an eye, the terrifying cold froze the missile solid. The projectile was encased in a thick layer of ice, cracking noises echoing through the air.

A second later, fractures spread like spiderwebs over the ice.

Boom—

The missile shattered into countless fragments, shards of ice raining down from above.

Now the apartment looked as if an entire wall was missing—a gaping hole had been blasted open, and through it, one could see a group of people in mechanized armor floating in the sky, aiming their guns and cannons at this very spot. Among the AST members, Su Mo immediately spotted Origami Tobiichi.

Origami was hefting a rocket launcher even larger than herself, the muzzle still steaming—a clear sign that the previous shot had come from her.

[——Target confirmed. All members, commence attack!]

Ryoko Kusakabe, commander of the AST strike team, shouted the order. Instantly, nine AST operatives in long-range combat gear primed their exosuits for battle.

Their armor consisted of full-body wiring suits, propulsion units, and was packed with as much ammunition as possible—annihilation gear far too heavy for a human body to bear. But the Realizer’s absolute force field, the Territory, made it easy to manipulate forces at will.

In simple terms, they could control the magnitude and direction of force, completely ignoring Newton’s laws—after all, this was the island nation where Newton’s rules didn’t apply.

Every weapon was trained on Yoshino. Bullets rained down, each one deadly.

In that crisis, Su Mo acted.

Snap—

A crisp finger snap rang in Yoshino’s ears, and suddenly Su Mo was in front of her, shielding her with his own back.

At the same time, a streak of inky black light appeared in midair—his throne.

With its formidable defensive power, the throne soared into the air and intercepted the hail of bullets. The barrage crackled and spat against the throne, but not a single round left a mark, even though these munitions could shatter steel beams with ease.

Yoshino, and the AST members above, all stared in disbelief.

In Yoshino’s eyes, there was now a look of admiration. In her whole life, only her other persona, Yoshinon, had ever protected her before, making Yoshinon her great hero. Now, for the first time, someone else stood before her, shielding her from harm.

Yoshinon carved the image of Su Mo’s silhouette into her memory.

The AST members above were dumbfounded. Thanks to their Realizer gear, they could observe everything on the ground from hundreds of meters up. When they saw a young man step out of the apartment, confusion rippled through them.

“Who is that? Why is there a civilian still in the building?” one member asked in surprise.

“I don’t know. Did he summon that throne?”

“Could he be a spirit too…”

While they speculated, a cold, emotionless voice cut in. Origami stared down at Su Mo, a fleeting hint of emotion flickering across her usually impassive face, but she insisted, “He is absolutely not a spirit!”

“But…”

It was well known that, aside from those like them—modern magicians wearing Realizer suits—only spirits could wield such incredible powers unaided. And that throne was clearly not a Realizer device.

“No buts,” Origami cut them off, then turned to Kusakabe. “Captain, let me go rescue him. Spirits are extremely dangerous; we can’t let him stay with one.”

“It’s too dangerous, and we don’t even know if he’s friend or foe. Besides, that recluse is no pushover. Our gear is weak in close combat—rushing in could be fatal,” Kusakabe objected, eyes fixed warily on Su Mo below. Was he a spirit or a human? And if a human, why help a spirit?

Ordinarily, Origami would have agreed. But this was about Su Mo—the most important person in her life, the one she had depended on as family after her parents’ death. Even against Kusakabe’s orders, she was determined to save Su Mo.

Without waiting for permission, Origami activated her propulsion unit and dove from the sky, clearly defying AST regulations.

Seeing Origami’s descent, Su Mo was reminded of her last reckless rescue attempt when she’d found him together with Tohka.

“Origami…” Su Mo murmured softly, withdrawing his sword and focusing on her.

As soon as she reached him, Origami shouted, “Su Mo, get out of here! That’s a spirit—she’s dangerous!”

Her eyes flashed with hostility as she stared at Yoshino in her angelic form. If Yoshino made a single wrong move, Origami had resolved to protect Su Mo at any cost, even if she couldn’t win.

“Don’t worry, Yoshino won’t hurt me.” Su Mo brushed his hair back, trying to sound relaxed, then turned to Yoshino. “Alright, Yoshino, you can dismiss the angel.”

Obediently, Yoshino lifted her head and dispelled her angelic form, quietly standing behind him.

Origami was surprised by this, but she remained stern. “Spirits are dangerous. Their very existence brings disaster to the world—they must be destroyed. I’ll never forget what happened five years ago, when a spirit stole my parents from me.”

“Origami, isn’t that a bit extreme?” Su Mo frowned. Clearly, hatred clouded Origami’s judgment, but he tried to reason with her. “Not all spirits are evil. Take Yoshino, for example—you’ve fought her many times, but she’s never harmed any of you. Instead, you’ve exploited her kindness again and again to hurt her.”

Origami was at a loss for words, but her brow furrowed. “Even so, the existence of spirits is a mistake. They could trigger a spatial quake at any moment, bringing disaster to humanity. Such beings should not remain in this world, or more people will end up suffering as I have.”

The greatest problem between humans and spirits was that spirits could not control their power, and spatial quakes were all too easily unleashed.

If not for that, perhaps they could have talked things over. But in such circumstances, reconciliation was impossible—eliminating spirits was the only option left to humanity.

“What if Yoshino no longer emitted any spirit waves, and never lost control again? Could you let her go?” Su Mo suddenly suggested.

“No spirit waves?” Origami echoed, glancing at Su Mo. If a spirit emitted no spiritual waves, she would be indistinguishable from an ordinary human and impossible to detect.

But how could that be possible? Turning a spirit into a normal human—such a thing was unthinkable.

Yet, seeing the seriousness in Su Mo’s eyes, Origami hesitated. In the past, she had abandoned all emotion, never wavering even for a moment. Only before him did such hesitation ever appear.

After a moment’s thought, Origami nodded.

“In that case…” Su Mo seemed to make up his mind. He turned sharply to Yoshino, asking solemnly, “Yoshino, are you willing to make a contract with me?”

As he spoke, Su Mo communicated with the system, following the same rules as his contract with Tohka. A beam of light shone from his heart, connecting to Yoshino’s, and the terms of the contract appeared in Yoshino’s mind.

[Su Mo is attempting to form a contract with you. Do you accept?]

A mysterious voice echoed in Yoshino’s mind, leaving her flustered. But hearing Su Mo’s voice, she lifted her head. She already knew all the contract’s terms—yet she did not hesitate, nodding firmly.

“I…I accept!”

The next moment.

Their hearts began to synchronize, a beam of light shooting from Yoshino’s chest and returning to Su Mo’s. He felt a new, heavy presence alongside Tohka’s in his heart, as if he could hear Yoshino’s heartbeat—a strange and unique sensation.

With the contract sealed, Yoshino’s spiritual power began to withdraw, slowly being sealed away.

[Contract successful. Commencing power extraction!]

[Extracted ability—Persona Creation!]

[Yoshino’s unique power: the ability to create a secondary personality and assign it any traits desired.]

Hearing the system prompt, Su Mo was momentarily stunned. The system hadn’t given a notification last time—was it because he’d completed a mission now?

He didn’t dwell on it. He could feel the new power within.

Each time he made a contract, he could extract one ability. From Tohka, he’d gained the angel Shidou, granting him power to rival a spirit. Now, from Yoshino, he had won a new ability.

But when he realized what it was, Su Mo couldn’t help but twitch.

“Persona duplication?”

Understanding the ability left him bewildered. It was just like Yoshino’s creation of Yoshinon: he could now create a secondary personality, assigning it any character traits at will.

If he wanted his alter-ego to be brave or timid, he could shape it however he wished—as if forging a whole new person.

But… what use was this ability?

Wouldn’t he just end up with a split personality?

Suppressing his complaints, Su Mo finally turned his gaze back to Origami.

“Well? I’ve completely sealed Yoshino’s spirit powers. Try sensing her—there’s no trace of spiritual waves left. She’s now an ordinary human.”

As expected, Origami immediately used her Realizer device. A transparent visor appeared before her eyes, data flickering across its surface. The scan confirmed that Yoshino now emitted no spirit waves at all.

Origami was dumbfounded. “How can this be?”

With Yoshino’s power sealed, there would be no more outbursts like before—unless Su Mo allowed it, such things were impossible.

While the two spoke, the AST members above descended slowly from the sky.

A dozen girls in Realizer gear faced Su Mo and Yoshino warily.

“Origami, what are you doing?” Kusakabe shouted angrily, aiming her laser cannon at them, her eyes full of suspicion.

Su Mo glanced at the silent Origami, then turned his attention to the AST members. He had spoken so much to Origami only because they were classmates and he pitied her circumstances—he had no wish to fight her. But if the AST stood in his way, he would show no mercy.

“Seems like you won’t let us leave without a fight,” Su Mo muttered. The throne floating above his head shattered with a thunderous crack.

The fragments burst into beams of light that merged into his sword, transforming the simple blade into a magnificent broadsword—like holding a blade forty meters long.

Dark, ghostly light illuminated the space, warping the air as if reality itself began to collapse.

“Final Sword!”

Su Mo unleashed his ultimate move—the throne-fused Shidou Sword, Tohka’s most powerful attack, now revealed in this world at last.