Sorry for the delay. Here's chapter 9 everyone!

Location: Camp Tenguu Military Base, Meeting room

"What's the meaning of this?!" Screaming right into her superior's face, Ryouko Kusakabe slams the stack of papers in her hand onto the table, creating a loud slapping sound. "Those DEM members have a clear authority to break away my commands under certain situations? This is just like AST has been sold to the DEM!"

"I have to agree with her, Major Tsukamoto." Origami adds. "While we're using their equipment to fight against the Spirits, we're owned by JGSDF and we only accept their orders, therefore, any units under our commands shouldn't have any special treatments."

"I understand your concerns." The Major nods. "I'm also against this idea. However…"

"Why would we listen to a team which couldn't catch even a Spirit in where the number of spatial quakes happened the most in these years?" AST members immediately turn to the exit to see unfamiliar faces heading into the room.

"Hey, who are you?" Ryouko asks in slight anger in her voice.

"The name's Jessica Bailey. Our units are just assigned to your squad. Looking forward to working with you." The woman, who seems to be the leader of the group, replies with a mocking smirk.

"DEM's members…" Origami whispers under her breath.

"So, I heard that the Spirits somehow blended into the society and lived amongst us, right?" Jessica then changes the subject. "Why didn't you all just capture them while they're sleeping or knock them down and then kill them? Surely our supplements aren't that bad for those tasks, or is it because you're so useless?"

"Hey, mind your words!" Ryouko grunts. "Even if we want to do that, do you have anything to counter if the Spirits another unexpected spacequake? Nightmare could do so with ease, and…"

"Of course we have." The brunette interrupts. "But why bother thinking about it when we just have to kill the Spirits in the first place?"

"You're underestimating them." Origami speaks up. "If you're that good, then why couldn't you catch the Spirits in Arubi Island?"

That nearly catches Jessica off guard, but she properly counters: "That's because we were just using the Bandersnatches. Those things are meant for support only."

The Major decides to interject: "That aside, miss Bailey, why are you here?"

…

After some briefing, DEM members go out of the room, leaving the AST members behind…

"That woman's attitude, ARGH!" Ryouko is pissed.

"Calm down, Captain Kusakabe." Tsukamoto calmly speaks. "Getting yourself worked up doesn't solve anything."

"Maybe the number of times she were denied her rest causes this."

"You're the lucky one here, Origami. I don't want to hear it from you." Ryouko grits her teeth.

"That's not me." The others immediately turn to Origami who just denies that…

"Hey, is that under your hat the entire time?" One of AST's members asks while pointing towards the location.

Immediately reaching her right hand to that, Origami grabs the squishy object and brings it down to her face, to see it being Shanghai waving at her with a bright smile. Her eyes widen in shock as she asks: "Kuro-sensei? Why are you here?"

"Poking around and having fun." The doll's smile is still there for a second, before the subject is changed: "And I want to see what DEM is planning."

"Wait, that doll is talking?" Ryouko backs away in fear. "Doll can't speak!"

The white-haired girl sighs and throws the doll away, which just floats up in the air much to the others' surprise. "If you get what you want, then leave."

"Well, I would like to talk a bit about a Spirit, actually." The doll then lands down on the Major's table, causing her to slightly back away in her chair. "Codename Diva. She's by far one of the most annoying ones."

"Diva? Wait a second, where did you get that info?" Tsukamoto finally finds her voice back.

"He's helping Ratatoskr, Major." Origami reveals. "And he's the one fighting against DEM in the island alongside Nightmare and Goddess."

"…He?" All three others ask at the same time.

"You know the new English teacher in my school? That's him controlling the doll with magic." The girl answers.

Everyone then focuses back on the doll, as he… SHE materializes some pictures in the air. "The new Spirit, Miku Izayoi, was also human. As how you name her, she's specialized in using her voice as the weapon to manipulate sound waves around her. However, these sound waves could be solidified, so you will have to constantly dodge her attacks. Earmuffs are a must if you don't want to be controlled by her."

"Why did you give us this?" Ryouko is suspicious at the doll's actions.

"While I don't like how you work, I can understand why. Also, our priority is to protect the people from the Spacequakes. If you cooperate with us, I can find out the core problem and deal with it so the Spacequakes won't happen again, and the Spirits can also be dealt with." The doll shakes her head once.

Everyone then turns to Origami, who nods. "He's saying the truth. Westcott is up to something, and he's here to stop him."

"The founder of DEM?" The Major asks. "I know he's cruel, but…"

"That's for you to find out." The doll interrupts, as she puts another stack of papers on the table. "So, Origami, ready for the Ten-oh Festival?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you want, I could try to make a date for you and Shidou, in exchange of these info..."

"Deal."

"HEY HEY HEY! Origami, don't just casually accept things like that!" Ryouko shouts up. "And you! Don't just make up deals like that!"

The doll just giggles behind her hands. She then says: "I have enough fun. See you in the school Origami." And with that the doll just disappears.

A little silence… and the Major speaks up: "Origami, can you give us more details about this… person?"

A few nights later

"Do you have me on your radar?"

"Affirmative. Be careful there, Kuro. If what you said were truth, you're going to get yourself a harmful treatment."

"I know. That's why Shidou shouldn't approach her at this point."

After the alarm, Ratatoskr has contacted with Shidou to head to the possible location of the Spirit. However, Kuro has intercepted it and told Shidou to head into the Fraxinus and observe, as he warned about the possible danger this Spirit could give him.

After entering the arena, Kuro then hears the song the new Spirit is performing in the middle of the area. Taking a look around the area, he slowly closes in her location without a sound. "That's a good singing, not gonna lie…"

"Hey, don't get mind controlled that easily." Kotori scolds through the earpiece.

"Hehe, just admiring some good traits left in that girl." Kuro smirks.

After a few moments, the girl stops singing, and he decides to make his presence known by slowly clapping his hands. That surprises the singer, as she tries to look down to see where Kuro is. "Ara? Did I gain an audience? Where are you? Can we talk a little bit?"

"Check her parameters. You are not going to like this."

"Be careful there." Reine says her wish.

Kuro then makes his footsteps be known, as he approaches the Spirit so she could know where he is. When she could see his figure, Diva starts saying: "Aw, you climbed up even here to see me? Good evening, I…" Only to stop instantly when she sees who she's facing against.

'The fun begins.' A message appears on Fraxinus' screen, as Kuro starts speaking: "Good evening, young lady. It's rare to hear such a wonderful song in a quiet night like today."

"All parameters are dropping fast!" Masaomi warns.

'I know.' "Even rarer when the singing started just after a spacequake. Though, if you want more audiences, maybe you should pick a better time." Kuro slowly walks left-to-right in front of the girl, waiting for her next reaction.

"Levels dropping below half!"

'Welp, time for bring up my defense.' Preparing a shield spell in his mind, Kuro stops walking and facing Diva again, whose power starts raising up. "But, you knew there would be no one hearing you, because you caused this, right? Spirit of Sound, Diva… Miku, Izayoi."

At that moment, Diva takes a huge breath-in, and Kuro immediately raises up his barrier spell, just in time the Spirit shouts at him with immense power, pushing everything out of the cliff except himself. After the scream, the Spirit calms her breath, but notices that Kuro is completely unharmed. That irritates her. "Why don't you just fall and die? Just get out of the stage and die!"

"Heh, die? Been there, done that." Kuro chuckles as he drops his spell. "That's quite a scream. No wonder you're a famous singer. That doesn't change the fact that your attitude needs to be fixed."

"Stop wasting your saliva and go to hell!" Another scream, and this time Kuro decides to step on the side and run on circle, as Diva tries to blast him off the stage. "You are contaminating the air around you!"

"Aren't you doing the same? That level of sound would consider to be unhealthy for the people around you. Even you as well." Kuro mocks the girl as he keeps dodging.

"It's not the time to joke, Kuro!" Shidou shouts into the mic.

"Hey, my objective here is to do so." Kuro grins.

Then, the rooftop explodes, and debris falls on top of the two. They temporarily stop fighting and raise their shields up, and Diva looks up to the sky to see AST members aiming their weapons at her. Her expression immediately lightens up as she rushes to them, ignoring Kuro. AST immediately attacks the Spirit, but with her constantly dodging and her sound shield raising up all the times, their weapons are not working very well.

"Well, I have some breathing space." Kuro jokes again, as he watches the fight going on. He then notices DEM members staring at him from afar. "Welp, guess I draw to myself some attentions."

"Should you retreat now?" Kotori asks, not very concerned of the man's safety.

"Nah. Need to make sure my student is okay after this."

After more clashes, Diva decides to be enough and pushes every AST member out of her with her power and then teleports away. Seeing that they fail again, Ryouko grits her teeth in anger…

"Calm down, lady, or you're gonna burst some veins." Snapping to her right, the Captain is surprised to see a man standing on an invisible platform waving his right hand at her while pocketing his left in his coat. "Nice to see you again."

"Kuro-sensei? Why are you here?" He turns to a surprised Origami as she asks the question.

"Can't I be concerned of my student?" He grins, then reveals: "I'm gathering some info from the Spirit by directly confronting her. Well, I'm aware of her hatred towards us men, but this kind of level is very concerning."

The white-haired girl sighs after hearing his explanations. "So what did you find?"

"Well, you are going to need…" He stops right there as he materializes a sheathed katana in his right arm as he swings it up to deflect a surprise attack from Jessica. "Hello young lady. Did Ellen ask you to send her regards to me? How kind of her." Obviously the last part is to mock the girl.

"Hm." Seeing that her attack is not effective, the DEM soldier backs away. "Even a surprise attack doesn't work on you. Still, I can't see how Ellen could lose to you."

"Maybe you will find out after I beat Westcott up." Kuro just shrugs nonchalantly, earning surprise looks from the others. "Don't be late tomorrow, Origami." His katana disappears, and he snaps his fingers loudly… and he's gone.

"…And he didn't say how to defeat the Spirit." Ryouko facepalms, then scolds Jessica: "Thanks to you that we lost a good piece of information."

"Well sorry then." Jessica replies with a mocking tone.

"I could try asking him again." Origami offers.

"Please do." Ryouko says with a thankful tone. "Alright everyone, let's head back."

…

The same night

"So try not to piss off any women, okay? Otherwise that happens." Kuro concludes his advises to Shidou, ending with a joking tone.

"I believe I had that experiences with Tohka." Shidou sweatdrops at the thought, though he's appreciated Kuro's help. "But, Miku hates men, right? How can I approach her?"

"Well, you're not going to like it."

"…Oh no."

…

At the moment

"Can't we just take her power and be done with it?" Kurumi suggests tiredly as she lazily lies on her bed. "She's just RED, worse version."

"You know that would break the future, right?" Emerald is against the idea, as she's cutting some fruits at the table. "Also, she needs to be punished for what she has done. Taking away the power is way too light."

"I know." Burying her face into the pillow, Kurumi then turns her head towards Emerald and asks: "How do you feel living in this world?"

"Good, so far." The 'teacher' answers. "Better than your father doing his job in Mahora, that's for sure."

"At least he got himself…"

"I'm pretty sure you're jealous of them."

"No…"

"You are… well, were, to be exact." She then changes the subject: "Anything on the First Spirit?"

"Still nothing. Even tracing back the sources didn't help much."

"…"

"…"

"So, what's for festival?"

The next day

"That's her. The Spirit of Sound."

"Try not to approach her yet, Shidou. Right now we need to determine her reactions towards everyone."

"Where are you right now Kuro?"

"America."

"Why are you there?"

"Well, need to find The First Spirit. Anyway, focus on dealing with her, and remember what I have told you."

"I will."

Closing his phone, Kuro then looks up to the main HQ of Asgard Electronics. "If I'm correct…" He says to himself, before heading into the building, blending in the people by wearing a suit replacing his usual lab coat.

Approaching one of the reception tables, he asks the staff working there: "I want to talk to sir Woodman. Is he currently here?"

"I'm afraid you have to come back at another time. He's having a meeting right now." The staff replies with an apologetic voice.

"It's alright. However, can I leave a message?"

"Sure. What is it sir?"

Instead of answering, Kuro pulls out his phone and starts typing what he needs. He then faces the screen to the staff. "Don't question it. Just make sure no single words are left off. And the last line is my number. Tell him to contact me soon as well."

The staff excuses him to start writing them down on the computer and sending the message to the boss. Once it's done, the staff nods. "It's done, sir. Do you need anything else?"

"Hm… that's it, for now. Thanks for your help." Kuro nods and says his goodbye, then leaves the building…

Once he's outside, he looks at the screen of his phone and contacts Fraxinus. "Kotori, how's the analysis on Diva, sorry, Miku to be exact?"

"Her personality, you mean?" Hearing a confirmation from the man, the Spirit of Fire answers. "Yuri-hardcore and men-hater girl, that's all it needs to summarize her."

"Anything else?"

"Not very much… Wait… she could control her power even without transforming, huh? Shidou would have a bad time."

"Yeah, I have discussed that with him. He needs to look out for himself this time."

"Don't worry. We will watch over him. You do your work."

"Thank you Kotori… Do you have Woodman's number?"

"Do you expect us to have it, considering how he communicated with us in the past?"

"…Good point. See you later." Closing his phone, Kuro then scratches the back of his head before asking himself: "Now, what to do…" Suddenly his phone rings up, signaling a message being sent to him. He reads it… "Good, get his attention."

…

Half an hour later. AE's HQ. Meeting room

"Hm… I was expecting… less people." Kuro opens the conversation first. "Scratch that. I was expecting a conversation between us only Woodman, with your secretary at best."

"When you mentioned her name, you should expect her parents to be concerned about the matter as well." Woodman calmly responds.

"True, true…"

Arriving at the time the Founder of Ratatoskr has made the accommodation, Kuro entered the meeting room seeing him and his secretary… and a couple of staffs he's unfamiliar with. However, the woman somehow reminds him of Kotori. And with Woodman's words, he can confirm that they're her parents.

Taking a seat to the left of Woodman (the secretary is standing to the right and slightly behind him), Kuro continues: "I'm a little surprised that you have answered me that soon. Considering I'm a stranger…"

"The reports said otherwise." Woodman sends him a warm smile. "With your, Goddess and Nightmare's help, our organization is a few steps closer from achieving our goals. I thank you with greatest gratitude."

"Don't mention it." Kuro then leans his head on his right arm and closes his right eye as he says: "I believe you know at least one of the reasons I'm here…"

"We do. It is about the First Spirit, correct?" Woodman replies.

"Yes. If you are aware, we're trying to trace her power down to the past. However, we seem to miss some details here. Even when I asked Reine about her possible location, she had no ideas."

"Hm… I can point out some more events for you to look into." Woodman offers. "Though, may I ask why you want to find her?"

"I need to learn how she works, so I could prevent Westcott from using her." He then changes the subject: "Of course, it's just one of many reasons. About the number of Spirits known around the world…"

"I believe that should be our question to you. You seem to hold a lot of knowledge to identify one."

"I mean, counting the dead ones."

"…Then I'm afraid I can't tell you. There are… mismatched cases, if you understand it."

Kuro nods, then sits straight up. "Alright. I guess that's all I could get from you. So, for the exchange, you can ask me a few things."

Woodman's smile never falters. "I would like to ask about you, actually. Reports from Fraxinus said that you were able to stop Nightmare and Ifrit's attacks with no troubles. And in Arubi Island, you were able to win against a full-equipped Wizard, one of the best I might add. While you told them to not report more, you did tell them that you can reveal yourself vocally. So, may I ask, what are you?"

"…" Kuro lets out a small chuckle. "What, huh? Very well then. I… was human. And I am, if you ignore all of my powers…"

"May I list it out?" Haruko Itsuka speaks for the first time. "Stopping Nightmare and my daughter's attacks, changing appearances, unrivaled speed, unlimited magic, surviving mines close range. Those things can't stuff in one human."

"Yeah, they can't." Kuro lets out another chuckle. "Centuries ago… to me, not to my friends… I died saving the others from a devastating curse."

That earns a small gasp from the married couple, as Tatsuo Itsuka apologizes: "We're sorry for bringing that up."

"It's alright. I did it myself, so no bad feelings." He then looks up to the ceiling and continues: "If I could summarize who I am… Well, a walking corpse, revived and become a God, then a servant, a King, then…"

"That's a long list, I would say." Woodman chuckles. "Though, become a God?"

"Well… not literally. I received their power and took their place in protecting their world, therefore people started calling me that too. Walking corpse is the right one, though."

"It makes sense how you easily defeated the Spirits, then." Haruko nods understandably. "May I ask what your relationship with Nightmare and Goddess is?"

"...You know, I was a little surprised when I found out how you can accurately call Emerald Goddess." Kuro smiles.

"…She's a goddess?" This time Karen speaks up with her monotone. "So your power is from her?"

"…Yes, and no. The Goddesses from her world are created from the people's belief towards the previous generations of them. I accepted the power in her parallel world."

"I see." Woodman nods. "So, is it possible that Mio is one of them?"

"…Low chances. While I wouldn't say it's impossible, the First Spirit didn't match any Goddesses in the past. Personality, or appearance."

"What about Nightmare?"

"She's my biological daughter." Kuro then laughs at the others' surprised faces. "Always expecting these expressions whenever I talk about my family."

"That's… a surprise." Woodman's expression turns to his normal self. "But why did you let her turn herself into a Spirit?"

"…That's not something I can say freely, I'm afraid. However, I could tell you this: She wouldn't dare doing anything outrageous unless I allow her to do so. So if you believe that you're the good guys, you have no fears facing her. About her turning herself… well, she's at that 'age', to make it short."

"…A rebellious time in her life, huh?"

"Pretty much it." And with that, everyone laughs, except the secretary though she does have a small smile on her face. He then looks at his watch and says: "We still have some times left. If you want to know something, you should say it now before I return back to Japan."

Hyperdimension. Leanbox

"Haizz, it's been a long time…" Vert sighs out loud. "I hope Emerald is okay."

"I'm sure they're fine!" Neptune says with her Neptune-assuring tone. "Kuro is with them, right? Nothing bad can happen to them!"

A large group is inside Leanbox CPU's personal room, having a tea party after a hard working day.

"I'm more worried about the people surrounding them, though." Noire has another concern. "They are having a very bad guy to fight against. He sounds worse than Arfoire."

"Same sentiment." Blanc agrees. "We can't really directly interfere though. That guy would try to capture us if we stay there for too long."

"What about a short trip?" They then turn to older IF, as she says: "The girls seem to have a festival in the next days. We can visit them then return with no problems."

"YAY! Let's go…"

"Not before preparing ourselves, Neptune." Charlotte Orleans, mother of Kurumi, interrupts. "In that festival, there's a rouge Spirit with power to manipulate sound. If we're not careful, we might end up leading ourselves to 'that' ending."

"Oh come on, Charlotte! Don't bring that up!" Neptune whines.

"I have to agree with Charlotte." Vert is on the queen's side. "They're not just having fun. They're dealing with people that could blow up a city if triggered."

"Fine…" Neptune's mood slightly goes down.

IF concludes: "Okay, tomorrow we will head to their places. For now, finish our tea."

Chapter 9 end!

Be careful out there, readers. The virus pandemic is not over yet.

See you in the future!