บท 26: Chapter 25

The first thing I do is send a message to Shiori, to show concern while warning that I'll be out of touch for now.

I go down to the basement to take care of the Origami that I just "kidnapped" after the fight.

I take the elevator down to the basement and walk calmly through the silent corridors, my footsteps echoing around me.

As I walk, I think about what I'm going to do. Now that Origami won't kill her parents or meet the Spirits, what's going to happen with the Metatron?

I really don't want anyone else to have that angel, the fact is that Origami is not suitable to extract the full potential of Metatron. Metatron is extremely powerful, but Origami is very impulsive in a fight.

This ends up reducing the many potentials of this angel, it's mainly for long-range combat but Origami uses it in close to medium-range fights, showing her inability to choose the best option for such a powerful angel.

If someone like Kurumi ends up getting this Angel, I don't even want to imagine the damage it could cause, and that's why I prefer it to stay with Origami rather than an unknown variable.

However, if Origami doesn't witness the Spirits in childhood, maybe Phantom will end up giving Metatron to someone else.

Now that she's not going back in time, she'll be unable to see a Spirit in her life, so the chances of her having Metatron drop.

I'm really tempted to ask Kurumi to send me back in time so I can kill Origami's parents myself.

In this world, only 3 people should be able to alter history without creating time loops. Being Shiori for being the protagonist of the world, Kurumi for having the Angel of Time, and me, who shouldn't exist in this world's timeline.

I walk to Origami's cell while thinking a lot about what to do to ensure the world doesn't change too much. The world hasn't changed yet, probably because Origami obtained the Metatron much earlier than in the original, so if I'm going to do something, it has to be in the next few months.

I reach the room where Origami is and enter.

It's one of the new rooms, being a white room with a set of handcuffs on the wall, and 4 medium mirrors on the walls and 1 large mirror on the ceiling with an entrance door and another on the side being a bathroom. Origami's body is lying on the floor of the room.

Her arms and legs are twisted in an unnatural way while she is unconscious.

"...I'm not in the mood to fix this yet," I say calmly.

I decide to ignore these injuries while just healing the general injuries on her body. Her astral armor has disintegrated, revealing her in a school uniform.

I decide to give her a bath, then take off her clothes and drag her body without much care through the room, taking her to the bathroom, then throwing her clothes in the trash, as she won't need them anyway.

She hasn't regained consciousness yet while I clean her body. I shampoo and scrub her body and hair, then put her in the shower and turn on the water, letting it wash away the dirt, blood and soap.

"Urg," she groans in pain as the cold water touches her body, seems she's close to regaining consciousness. I finish cleaning her in the shower without hurry, even if she wakes up, I don't care.

I have no plans to let her out of this basement, so I didn't bother hiding who I am at this point. I activate a Reiryoku reversal territory and place it around her. This prevents her from using her powers.

After finishing washing her, I drag her body back the same way and put her hands in the handcuffs, although there's no need for that since now she's like a normal human with her arms and legs not in much shape to do anything.

"ARG" The pain makes her let out a sound as her eyes slowly start to open.

"Where...am I?" She says with a slightly hoarse voice.

"..." I just watch her calmly.

"Kuroiwa...Aurélio," she notices me and says my name, then tries to move but just shakes the chains.

"Yes...it's me, so... how are you doing?" I ask in a shameless way, knowing her situation is bad.

She looks at me indifferently, then looks at the handcuffs.

"What are you doing..." she asks calmly.

"I don't know... what do you think I'm doing, Origami?" She seems indifferent, but I see irritation in her gaze.

"If you don't answer, I..." She says in a threatening tone, but I interrupt, saying,

"Will you kill me? I don't think someone who can't even activate their Angel can do anything in this situation."

She seems surprised at the mention of the Angel.

"..." she looks at me carefully, and then I see a glimpse of recognition on her face followed by a flash of hatred.

"SHINIGAMI," she says with hatred while thrashing violently in the chains.

"That way you look like a wild animal, Origami, let's be more... civilized, we can have a great conversation, I have time," I say to her calmly.

"SHUT UP, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD," she says, not seeming to want to listen to me.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure the way you are, you'll kill me," I say mockingly as I approach her.

"Then kill me, here I am... in front of you, without Astral Dress, without Angel or Demon King, I'm not even using Reiryoku to reinforce my body, you just have to attack me as a Spirit and I'll die," I say, stopping in front of her and opening my arms.

"METATRON...METATRON...metatron?" She yells, summoning her Angel, but fails, she calls it again and nothing happens, then repeats the command one last time doubtfully.

"As I expected... you're just talk, you don't have the strength to back up your arrogant words," I say, mocking her.

"What did you do," She says coldly.

"Nothing much... you're just too weak to be affected by something like this." If she had a massive energy release, she could bypass the territory and summon the Angel, but she has less energy than me, so naturally she can't do anything.

"..." She looks at me with hatred while trying to break free from the chains.

"Seriously Origami... you're dumber than I thought."

"What did you say?" She looks at me angrily, which is now common at this point.

"With your limbs like that, do you think breaking free from the chains is useful?"

"...Or do you think that miraculously crawling on the floor like a worm, you can kill me?"

"If so... then I guess I ended up overestimating you, Origami... but what else could I expect from a girl blinded by vengeance."

"Shut up, an aberration like you has no right to judge me," her tone dripping with venom as she insults me.

"An aberration, you say... funny, aren't you a Spirit too?"

"..."

"No answer, of course... hypocrite, do you think the saying of becoming a monster to defeat a monster is a good thing?"

"Or do you think you're different from me because you didn't go around killing people?... how many people weren't evaporated by your attacks on that island?"

I'm sure Origami was the one who caused the most destruction among the 5 of us on the island.

"All those families who lost their loved ones... like you," when I mention this, she is instantly filled with fury.

"SHUT UP, YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, MY PARENTS DIED BECAUSE OF MONSTERS LIKE YOU" She yells while shaking and rattling the chains.

"I see...yes, you're right, a terrible monster killed your parents... codename Angel, according to you, right?" She seems slightly surprised, but her rage is still greater than reason.

"Interesting, isn't it... Angel, Angel, Angel, this Spirit only appeared once... do you know who it is?... I'm sure you don't, but I know it, yes, I know it well, I even know where it is... hahaha, you'd be surprised how close it is."

Her expression changes with every word I say.

"You..." She is full of disbelief.

"TELL ME" She yells in a commanding tone.

"...You know, Origami, I don't like people like you... those who are dominated by their own feelings, that kind of person is the most prone to causing problems... honestly, you're no different from a furious animal in my eyes," She ignores what I'm saying, even though I'm being quite honest.

"I DON'T CARE, TELL ME WHERE THAT BITCH IS" She continues in a frenzy while screaming at me.

"Tsk... don't you think you're being too arrogant for someone trapped on the wall?"

"I don't see why I should say anything to an arrogant person who doesn't even know how to ask politely," I look at her with disdain, waiting for her to speak.

"What do you want... I'll do anything, just tell me where the Angel is," she says.

"It's not enough... if you want to ask for something, you must do it the right way... I'll fix your arms and legs and release the chain... I think you already know what to do," I start to fix her while walking to detach the chain from the wall so she's still chained, but can move.

As soon as she has freedom of movement, she kneels on the cold floor, and since she's naked, I see her white back that matches her hair.

"Please... tell me where I can find the Angel," she says, her voice a mix of submission and humiliation, but I know Origami cares about nothing other than revenge, so she's willing to do anything to have a chance to get her revenge.

I step on her head, pressing it to the ground, while putting a mocking smile on my face.

"Ha, in the end you're just a bitch who has no pride at all," she doesn't care what I say and maintains her posture.

"Hahaha, aren't you going to say anything? Where's all that arrogance you showed before?" I step on her head even harder, to make up for the shot she gave me with the Cry Cry Cry when I used my Angel for the first time.

Her head is pressed hard into the ground, but she doesn't even react, not caring about the humiliation as she waits for my answer.

"You're so boring... and very stupid too," I remove my foot from her head and step back a little.

"Raise your head," I order, which she follows, in her eyes I see hatred, but she does as I command.

"...Do you think you could prevent your parents' death with Kurumi's power? Do you think you could get revenge by going back in time?" I question, wanting to hear her answer just to shatter her hope.

"Yes... with that power I could," she speaks with conviction.

"No... you couldn't, only 3 people in this world can change the past and you, Origami, are not one of them," I tell her as if it's obvious, which she doesn't understand.

"I don't know what that has to do with you telling me about the Angel," she questions with seriousness and indifference.

"Tsk, your underdeveloped brain can't even piece together such simple things after knowing the past can't be changed," I say to her with slight irritation for ignoring the points.

"?"

"Okay, I'll give you information and you try to put the pieces together, that way you'll find out who the Spirit with the codename Angel is," she nods her head while giving me her full attention.

"First, the Angel only appeared once, isn't that strange? All Spirits have several recorded appearances, so why doesn't the Angel have any... the answer is... that it shouldn't have been there, in other words, Angel is a spirit that shouldn't have existed at that moment in time," I say with conviction.

"...I still don't know how that helps."

"Tsk... the Angel uses a white Astral Dress," I say the second thing and hope she understands the implications.

"I already know that. Do you really know about it?" Now she looks at me with distrust.

"Third thing, the Angel uses energy attacks like cannons... does that ring a bell? Your parents were hit by it, remember?"

The mention of her parents makes her face an irritated expression.

"Yes, but how does how it attacks matter?"

"Origami, have you been stupid since birth or are you just pretending?" She seems offended by what I say.

"ORIGAMI, PAY ATTENTION... Tsk, are you connecting the dots? Only one Spirit can have a power... in other words, no two Spirits have the same powers."

"What do these things remind you of?" I ask without expecting an answer.

"A Spirit with a white suit, energy cannon-type attacks, a Spirit that shouldn't have been there at that moment... do all these things remind you of something?" Her expression darkens, but she denies it.

"...I don't know what you mean," she says indifferently.

"I see... you're simply denying it..."

"I'll tell you the name of the Spirit with the codename Angel, since you refuse to accept the answer on your own."

She looks at me attentively, but I notice fear in her gaze, she fears what she's about to hear.

"The name of the Spirit with the codename Angel is... Tobiichi Origami, a Spirit that came from the future to the past, and in the end all she did was kill her own parents, creating a time loop," I say to her while savoring her expression.

"..." She mutters something I don't hear.

"Could you speak louder?" I notice the despair in her look.

"...lie... Lie... LIE, IT'S A LIE, YOU'RE LYING AND, LIE, LIAR YOU'RE JUST DECEIVING ME," she yells desperately, trying to deny reality.

Since her powers are restricted, she can't reverse what I'm saying, which is great, as I don't want her to blow up my house.

She keeps screaming desperately that I'm a liar who's lying and tries to punch me, I hold her hand.

"I'm not lying... I'm quite honest about this kind of thing, you're just denying the obvious, you know I'm right."

"SHUT UP, THIS ISN'T TRUE"

"How is it not? You're the one with the Metatron, you're the only Spirit I've seen with a white Astral Dress that uses cannons as a weapon."

"Isn't that the description of the Spirit with the codename Angel? Wasn't that the being you saw that day, the one that killed your parents with an energy shot?"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP" She now has tears in her eyes, a look of pure despair, if she was normal, she would certainly have reversed it.

"Wasn't it you, Origami, who wanted to go back in time... to that day? That fits perfectly with the information I provided, don't you think?"

Her despair increases with every word I say.

"..." She's now lying on the floor, crying and denying reality.

"...You know... now that you didn't go back in time... your parents can still be saved," I say to her, which gets her attention.

"..."

"...Is that true?" She says through her tears.

"Yes... unfortunately," I confirm to her.

If this happens, the world may change in a way I can't predict... and it's already quite difficult to predict what will happen, I don't need more difficulty.

"...But I don't want that, if your parents stay alive because you didn't go to the past, the future of the world will be rewritten, which will make it difficult to predict... so I'll go to the past and kill them myself."

"What... NO, YOU CAN'T" She realizes what I said as she despairs.

"...And what will you do to stop me?" She tries to advance and punch me.

"...Is that it? HAHAHA... do you think a weak punch like that will stop me?" I just need Kurumi to agree, then I can do this murder.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD IF YOU TOUCH MY PARENTS" She now shows her fury towards me, but can't go too far with the chains holding her.

"Isn't it better this way? At least you get rid of the stigma of having killed your own parents."

"I WON'T LET YOU DO ANYTHING TO THEM" She yells.

"Of course, try to stop me then... or convince me... I'll come visit you every day, I haven't confirmed yet whether I should kill your parents or let the future change."

Something good might happen if the future changes, so I have to think carefully.

"Anyway, I'm leaving for today, enjoy your stay in this room, you're going to spend a good time here," I say, turning to leave.