I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit

Miku Izayoi's ability lay in her voice.

Purely in terms of combat strength, she was genuinely weak.

Melusine struggled to think of any Spirit whose direct fighting power was lower than Miku's.

That said, Miku's ability was troublesome.

She could control the minds of anyone who heard her voice.

While she couldn't affect other Spirits, manipulating ordinary civilians was child's play for her — in the original story, she had once controlled a massive number of people to scour the entire city in search of Itsuka Shidō.

Even Spirits who had already been sealed by Shidō weren't immune to Miku's power.

There had been a scene where Shidō tasted the pain of complete betrayal, saved only because Yatogami Tohka happened to be wearing headphones at the time.

Yeah... headphones were enough to block her control. This ability really is kind of pathetic.

Although Miku had a few other powers too, Melusine honestly found them even more unimpressive:

Amplifying strength,

Dampening pain,

Using sound waves to physically harm enemies.

Truly pitiful.

"Really now," Miku said, smiling dazzlingly like a starlet under a spotlight, "this is supposed to be our precious time alone together, and you bring up those disgusting creatures called men? How mean of you."

The twisted expression from earlier had vanished, replaced by a radiant, almost blinding smile.

Touching a finger playfully to her lips, Miku giggled coyly.

"But, seeing how cute you are, I'll forgive you this once."

It seemed that Miku hadn't believed Melusine's offhand claim about being a "boy" in the slightest.

...Hmm.

Melusine suddenly remembered that scene from the original story — the one where Miku slipped her hand under Shiori's skirt.

Throughout this encounter, Melusine had only said a single line; Miku had been chattering to herself the whole time.

Yet her enthusiasm never wavered.

"Why aren't you answering me?"

Miku's voice was filled with sweet mischief.

"You know, your silent, knightly aura is very attractive too, like a loyal protector. But your voice is lovely as well — like the sound of a clear, still lake."

"There's nothing I wish to say to you," Melusine replied coldly.

"You really do seem to have quite a bit of hostility toward me... How puzzling."

Miku's delicate brows furrowed slightly — but the crease disappeared almost immediately.

"No matter," she said with a dazzling smile. "Whether you love me or hate me, it's all the same. I'll adore you either way."

The next thing Miku said carried the bewitching force of her Spirit power.

"So then... before I make you mine, [won't you please tell me your name?]"

The instant Melusine sensed the charm-laced power woven into those words, her expression grew even colder.

Miku, confident of her success, watched Melusine expectantly as she slowly opened her mouth to reply.

However, the moment the words left Melusine's lips, Miku's smile froze.

"You are not worthy to hear it."

If Miku really wanted to know Melusine's name, it wouldn't be difficult — she could just ask any of the brainwashed girls around them.

Of course, it would only be the alias "Lancelot" that Melusine had provided.

But no — Miku hadn't asked them.

She had wanted Melusine herself to say it.

And this was the answer she got.

"If you wish to know my name, it's easy. I never intended to hide it."

"But I will not personally tell you. Because you are not worthy."

Melusine's anger wasn't without cause.

Miku had just tried to control her — Melusine, whose soul was Fenghuang fused with the Spirit foundation Mélusine.

In other words, from Melusine's perspective, Miku had just attempted to defile her precious Master — Fenghuang.

If it weren't for the fact that Fenghuang's will was dominant, Melusine would have already unleashed thirteen consecutive Noble Phantasm releases, obliterating Miku's spirit core on the spot.

Leaving behind those merciless words, Melusine strode coldly past the stunned Miku and made her way toward the door.

Since Miku had just entered through that very door, the girls under her spell had automatically parted to create a wide, empty path — and so, no one stood in Melusine's way.

Of course, it wasn't like that yuri Spirit would just let her walk away so easily.

With a burst of dazzling starlight, Miku switched into her Astral Dress — her Spirit armor.

At the same time, a massive surge of Spirit power exploded outward.

In this state, the controlling force of Miku's voice would reach its peak.

She parted her lips slightly, her seductive voice about to unleash another command:

"Stop—"

But she never finished the sentence.

In the split second that followed, before her mouth could even form the words, an overwhelming, paralyzing sense of dread crushed down upon her.

Acting purely on instinct, Miku funneled all the Spirit power she could muster into defense.

Yet when that pure, shining lake-light flashed through the air, her protective barrier didn't even last for a heartbeat — it shattered instantly.

All she could feel was a terrible, overwhelming impact slamming into her body.

The compressed force spread outward like a shockwave — demolishing walls, shattering pavement, and whipping up violent gales.

Luckily, there was a lake next to the café, and the area was usually deserted — so no civilians were caught in the blast.

Moreover, thanks to the explosion of Spirit energy between Miku and Melusine, the city's Spacequake alarm had gone off.

Instead of rushing over to investigate, any nearby civilians would be fleeing in terror to the shelters.

Come to think of it... calling it a "Spirit Alarm" might be more accurate than "Spacequake Alarm," since it's mainly about notifying AST of Spirit appearances.

Floating just a few centimeters above the lake's surface, Melusine glanced up at the sky.

Her entire body was clad in lake-blue armor, a sleek, elegant mask covering her face.

Miku hung limply in her grasp, unconscious but alive — Melusine had made sure not to kill her.

"Tch. This Spirit is way too weak... I didn't even use my full strength."

Melusine cast a contemptuous glance at the unconscious Miku, muttering under her breath:

"If I hadn't pulled my punch just now, you'd already be dead."

Though Mélusine deeply despised Miku and would have liked nothing better than to kill her, it was Fenghuang who was in control — and she didn't want Miku dead.

At least, not yet.

If Miku had actually posed a threat, then she wouldn't have hesitated.

But the truth was, Miku's powers were simply no match for her.

Besides, Miku's Astral Dress — her Spirit armor — was ridiculously fragile.

Melusine recalled how Kurumi Tokisaki's Astral Dress had only been rated C-class, and judging by the ease of destruction, Miku's must be around the same level.

In comparison, Tohka's armor and angelic abilities both ranked at AAA.

When facing Kurumi back then, Melusine could afford to go all-out, because Kurumi could heal herself instantly using Zafkiel.

But Miku didn't have anything like that — her Angel, Gabriel, could only dampen pain at best.

Honestly... how did I end up getting targeted by a crazy yuri Spirit today...

A familiar urge to sigh rose in Melusine's heart.

And the worst part is... now she knows about me.

Thanks to Manager Yami and the others, Miku could easily find out that Melusine's name — or rather, her alias — was "Lancelot."

And just now, she had revealed herself as a Spirit.

Should I just kill her...?

But no — Melusine didn't really want to.

Partly because Fenghuang wouldn't allow it, and partly because... frankly, Miku's sins weren't grave enough to warrant death.

Of course, if she dared come after her again, Melusine would show no mercy.

For now, she needed a safer solution.

Hmm... Maybe I should seal her memories. Make her forget everything related to me every time she blinks.

The idea was inspired by A Certain Magical Index — Kamijō Tōma's relationship with Misaki Shokuhō.

In that story, Misaki had physically damaged Tōma's brain's memory circuits, so that he couldn't retain any memory of her, no matter how many times they met or talked.

Every encounter between them was, for Tōma, a "first meeting."

Yeah... Kamijō really is something else.

Melusine's memory seal would function similarly — causing Miku's mind to automatically filter out any and all information related to Melusine.

The only tricky part was defining the scope of "all information related to Melusine."

After all, Itsuka Shidō was somewhat connected to her too.

If Miku forgot about Shidō because of the seal, things would get complicated — and Shidō might actually come after her for it.

While Melusine was concentrating on setting the seal, a sharp whistling sound split the air above her.

Trailing long plumes of flame, several missiles came screaming down toward her position.

Melusine didn't even glance at them, continuing her work calmly.

Before the missiles could reach her, they exploded — as if they had slammed into an invisible wall.

The blasts were tightly contained, the force compressed inward rather than expanding outward.

When the smoke and fire cleared, Melusine and Miku remained completely unscathed.

"Tch! Just as I thought — useless."

High above, a squad of girls clad in high-tech armor and minimal outfits stared down at them, their leader clicking her tongue in frustration.

If you had to describe them in one word... "mecha-girls" would fit perfectly.

After all, there were two things guaranteed to make a guy's heart race:

giant robots and cute girls.

And these girls had both.

They were AST — Anti-Spirit Team, part of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, tasked with eliminating Spirits responsible for spacequakes.

The woman who had just spoken was Kusakabe Ryōko, the squad captain.

Though she had bravely led her team into battle after the spacequake alarm went off, she was now extremely tense.

"Captain Kusakabe, identities of the Spirits confirmed. The one lying on the ground is Diva. The standing one... is Meteor."

Two Spirits appearing at once — one of them being the only Spirit known to have caused an S-Class spacequake.

Even though Diva seemed incapacitated, just facing Meteor alone was terrifying enough.

For a brief moment, Kusakabe hesitated —

not because she feared for her own life (she had long made peace with dying), but because she didn't want her young squad members, who hadn't even experienced love yet, to die needlessly.

However, she quickly steeled herself.

If AST failed to act here, their organization might very well be disbanded for good.

"All units! Maintain distance! Long-range bombardment only! Probe the enemy's abilities!"

Each Spirit had unique powers — some manipulated time, others created fire.

Since it was their first time encountering Meteor, intel was scarce.

All they knew was that her flight speed exceeded any human-made aircraft.

Thus, Kusakabe decided to prioritize reconnaissance over direct confrontation.

Please, let Meteor be a Spirit with a gentle personality... she prayed silently, raising her weapon.

"Open fire!"

The sky rained bullets and artillery shells like a torrential downpour.

But none of it even grazed Melusine.

A shimmering, transparent barrier shielded her and Miku from all harm, keeping the fire and smoke at bay.

It was nothing more than Mana Burst — an almost laughably simple technique.

Releasing dense magical energy to strengthen the body and block attacks.

The more mana you pumped out at once, the stronger the effect.

Crude but highly effective.

And for Melusine, whose heart was literally a dragon's, mana was cheaper than air.

The energy she released didn't even compare to what her heart regenerated in a single beat.

That said, while the missiles and shells couldn't hurt her, the constant explosions were seriously annoying.

Ugh... better hurry and finish this seal.

Just then, through her magical perception, Melusine noticed someone break formation above —a single figure, radiating strong killing intent, hurtling straight toward her.