After returning to the crib, Souta sent Kurumi several more private messages.
Some of them were even outrageous self-exposés like: "Want to know a secret? I've got a very special relationship with Izayaoi Miku."
He was sure that if Kurumi saw a message like that, there was no way she could ignore it. She'd definitely hound him for answers.
But once again, no reply.
"...Something is wrong."
Souta frowned slightly, then muttered a command and instantly teleported to the Date A Live world.
A second later, the scene before him changed.
Blue sky, white clouds, an endless grassland—just like what he saw during Kurumi's video call back when he was in the Akame world.
Though, there was something very different now.
He looked up at the sky and saw a colossal, cloud-obscuring projection of a clock, half-hidden in the sea of clouds.
Massive golden hands, the size of mountain ranges, rotated slowly atop the enormous timepiece.
"Zafkiel... how did it get so big?"
Souta's eyes widened.
That was one hell of an evolution.
"No... wait. That's not a physical object, it's a time-condensed projection. It doesn't have a material form anymore."
Souta extended his spiritual sense and carefully examined it, quickly detecting the difference.
Zafkiel no longer had a physical body, it had merged with the concept of time itself, projecting only an illusion into the material world.
This conveniently eliminated its biggest flaw: vulnerability to direct attacks.
Souta hadn't forgotten the scene where Kotori once blasted a hole in Zafkiel.
How it recovered in the original plot, he had no idea.
"So Zafkiel's evolution is complete... as for the other one..."
Souta's gaze shifted to a second massive, disc-shaped projection beside the clock.
It too blotted out the sky. Twelve giant symbols flickered along its edges, each glowing like stars in the night sky.
Souta studied them and recognized the twelve zodiac constellations.
If his guess was right, this was Lucifugus, the "Demon King" Kurumi had used in the side novels.
Each zodiac symbol represented a power.
It could manipulate space, a true "Demon King"... no, now it should be called her second Angel.
Unlike Zafkiel, the disc's projection was still blurry, not yet fully formed.
Souta guessed Kurumi's evolution wouldn't be complete until the disc was fully stabilized.
Whether she'd wake up by then was another question.
"I had my suspicions before... but I didn't think Zarathustra would actually show up."
He quickly recalled Kurumi's position from the earlier video call.
After orienting himself, he looked behind him.
Sure enough, not far away stood the towering projection of her Sephira Crystal.
Inside the projection, a naked girl curled into a ball, floating in midair, arms wrapped around her knees, head tucked between her legs.
Souta hurried over to get a closer look.
But the moment he touched the Sephira Crystal's projection, a repelling force pushed him back.
Not wanting to interfere with the evolution process, he didn't force his way in.
Instead, he stood outside and called out:
"Say something, or I'm taking naked photos of you."
Click! (He mimicked a camera.)
Frowning, Souta's worry deepened.
He was so concerned he didn't even have the mood to appreciate her flawless skin and delicate body.
Extending his spiritual sense, he detected many people approaching the area.
The celestial phenomenon overhead was too eye-catching, it had caused a major commotion.
But the scale was so large that no one could pinpoint the exact source yet. Explorers were still blindly searching the area.
Souta frowned further. If someone stumbled upon Kurumi , that would be bad.
So he used divine power to conjure an illusion barrier, hiding the spring scenery within.
Then he added a Muggle-Repelling Charm, anyone who got close would subconsciously steer away.
With that done, he sat down cross-legged outside the projection, prepared to wait for Kurumi to awaken.
And wait he did, until nightfall.
Thanks to his enhanced body and mind, he could go months without rest, so he had no problem with patience.
He stayed alert in case anything went wrong.
If Kurumi's life force weakened, he'd use divine power without hesitation to save her.
During this time, Inori unexpectedly spoke up in the group chat.
Inori: @Souta. Thank you.
Inori: I'll sing for you.
Souta: Lucky me. So, has your leader, Gai Tsutsugami, made up his mind yet?
Inori: We just arrived at base. He's reading the proposal you gave him.
Souta: Tell him he's got three days to decide. If I don't hear back by then, I'll seek another faction to partner with.
("Three days" referred to three days in the Guilty Crown world.)
He wanted to push Gai into making a timely decision. Time flowed differently between worlds, so Souta himself didn't care too much about the deadline.
Chelsea: Starting a new religion again? Tsk, so quick to abandon the old for the new!
Souta: Chelsea, you've been getting bolder lately. I'm seriously considering summoning a few more Headless Horsemen to keep you company.
Chelsea: Too busy with state affairs. Logging off.
Shiroyasha: @Souta. So the newbie's singing really that good?
Souta: Yup. Inori's a famous national-level singer. Listening to her is a real treat.
Shiroyasha: Oho? A diva? Got any videos? Upload to the shop, I wanna see! Chop-chop!
Souta: Why do you need a video to hear singing?
Shiroyasha: Come on, I know you too well. If you're this impressed, she's gotta be drop-dead gorgeous. You'd never praise someone this much just for their voice. Heh. I want to see what kind of outfits she wears. If they're ugly, I'll sponsor some myself.
Souta: Stop projecting your pervy logic onto me. I'm a divine being, not some shallow mortal.
Shiroyasha: Pfft, stop pretending to be a "god." Have you done anything godlike at all?
Queen of Nightmare: So there's even a diva in this group? As the Demon King cast from the heavens, I am intrigued! Do you have any albums I can listen to?
Ruri's back to her chuunibyou antics.
Souta was honestly curious about her.
If she'd read the group announcement, she should have tried the two system verification methods: smash it or throw it.
Both were simple and would have proven the phone's unbreakable, unlosable nature.
As a normal person, that kind of phenomenon should've inspired awe. She should be taking the system very seriously.
So how was she still talking like some edgy overlord?
Maybe... she didn't try the test? Or was too frugal to break her "new" phone?
Or maybe she did test it... but didn't feel the impact. That was also possible.
Of course, the most likely explanation—
She just didn't read the announcement. Too long, didn't read.
Souta: I'm with Kurumi right now. Once I head back to Inori's world, I'll upload her songs so you can all enjoy them.
Altair: You're with Miss Kurumi? Is she okay? Nothing went wrong, right?
Souta: Not sure yet. She's been in a deep sleep and hasn't woken up. I'm staying here to keep watch, just in case.
I'm hitting the 500k word fatigue zone. My thoughts are slow, and writing feels heavy. Updates might be slower for a few days. I suspect I'll hit the same slump around 1 million words too, but I'll try to pace myself.