Chapter 663: Codename: Swordsman

"Tobiichi, Tobiichi-san and the others, are they dead?"

Looking at the AST members lying all over the ground, Itsuka Shido felt his teeth chattering. The mere thought of having to face such a Spirit in the future made his scalp tingle.

"Kannazuki?" Itsuka Kotori's gaze turned toward Kannazuki Kyouhei.

"Reporting to the Commander, according to the information we have received, these AST members are not in any life-threatening danger; they have simply fainted." Looking at the information fed back on the screen, Kannazuki spoke up. "The opponent's sword strike was very strange; even though it clearly pierced their bodies, it did not cause any harm to them at all."

"They just fainted?" Upon hearing this, Itsuka Kotori let out a sigh of relief. "If that's the case, then there is room for maneuver."

"Room for maneuver?" Itsuka Shido instantly felt his back drenched in cold sweat. "Kotori, my dear sister, what do you mean by that?"

"Don't you understand what I mean?" Itsuka Kotori said, squinting her eyes.

"This is truly a misfortune!" Seeing Itsuka Kotori like this, Itsuka Shido could not help but let out a mournful cry.

"Wait, wait, Commander, there's a situation!" Just at this moment, a crew member suddenly let out a cry of surprise, causing everyone to focus their attention on the large screen.

When they saw the image displayed on the screen, they all could not help but open their mouths wide.

"Ugh, did I... faint?" Kusakabe Ryoko, who was lying on the ground, struggled to stand up, her eyes still somewhat dazed.

She subconsciously pressed her hand against the spot where Lingyun's Long sword had previously pierced her, but strangely discovered that there were no bloodstains there, not even a wound. If it weren't for the lingering, faint stinging sensation, she would have suspected that the scene of her body being pierced just moments ago was a hallucination.

However, Kusakabe Ryoko soon discovered something wrong; she felt that her field of vision seemed to have lowered quite a bit, and the clothes on her body had become loose and baggy. The Tactical Realizer, which had been extremely well-fitted to her, was now scattered on the ground because it no longer fit her physique. To her, it felt as if the entire world had grown several times larger.

When her gaze fell upon the other AST members, her pupils shrank, and she let out a scream.

"This, what on earth, has happened!"

The figures of the AST members within her line of sight had all shrunk significantly; no matter who it was, they had all shrunk into the appearance of eleven or twelve-year-old lolis.

"Ah—"

"What, what is this situation?"

The other AST members also woke up one after another, and when they discovered their own changes, they likewise let out screams. Even Tobiichi Origami had a trace of uncontrollable surprise on her face.

"Can you analyze what this situation is?" Looking at this bizarre scene, even Itsuka Kotori could not help but shiver.

She had watched with her own eyes as those AST members shrank bit by bit, eventually turning into the appearance of little lolis.

"The analysis report is out. We found the Spirit power left behind by that Spirit on the AST members. In other words, the reason these AST members have become like this is due to the effect of the Spirit's power. However, the Spirit power remaining on them is constantly dissipating. According to this trend, they should remain in this state for about two to three days." The crew member typed rapidly on the keyboard, exhausting almost all of the Fraxinus's computing power, and finally managed to arrive at an answer in a short amount of time.

"Can you calculate how this unknown Spirit's Spirit power managed to do this?" Itsuka Kotori asked.

"The abilities a Spirit possesses may have a great deal to do with the Angel they possess. If that is the case, then what this Spirit possesses is likely the power of time," said Kannazuki Kyouhei.

"The power of time—in other words, this Spirit used their own Spirit power to revert the time of the AST members' bodies back to when they were young?" Itsuka Kotori said, biting on a lollipop.

But her expression soon became serious. If this situation were pushed a little further, could it turn a person into an infant, or even a fertilized egg? If that were the case, then this Spirit's ability would be a bit terrifying.

"This kind of ability is just too foul, isn't it!" Itsuka Shido could not help but groan.

"No, no, no, I think the situation might not be as bad as that. After all, to make a person's time regress, the further back it goes, the greater the consumption must be. It might be very difficult for this Spirit to regress a person's time to that extent." Kannazuki Kyouhei pushed up the glasses that had appeared on the bridge of his nose at some unknown time.

"I didn't expect that you, a masochist, would still be somewhat useful at times!" Itsuka Kotori glanced at him and said.

"Of course! If Commander Kotori could trample me under her feet, that would be the greatest reward for me!" Kannazuki Kyouhei's gaze suddenly turned toward Itsuka Kotori, his eyes filled with little stars.

"Snap—"

Seeing this scene, a bunch of veins suddenly popped out on Itsuka Kotori's forehead, and then she snapped her fingers crisply.

The command room hatch opened abruptly, and two large men walked in from outside. The two of them bowed to Itsuka Kotori, then quickly arrived in front of Kannazuki Kyouhei, grabbed his arms directly, and dragged him out of the command room. Judging by their movements, it was clear that they were already very practiced at this.

Watching Kannazuki Kyouhei being dragged away, a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on Itsuka Shido's forehead. Although he had been on the Fraxinus for some time, he still could not accept some of the daily routines of this warship.

After Kannazuki Kyouhei was dragged out, Itsuka Kotori turned her gaze toward the other members.

"Now, it is time to give this newly appeared Spirit a codename! Everyone, start coming up with a codename for him!"

"A codename?" Hearing Itsuka Kotori's words, the crew members present began to whisper to one another.

Just at this moment, Murasame Reine, who was to the side, suddenly spoke up: "Let's call the new Spirit 'Swordsman' (Saber)."

"Swordsman?" Hearing Murasame Reine say this, Itsuka Kotori pondered for a moment, her tone carrying a hint of affirmation. "Reine, you really were deeply impressed by this new Spirit's Sword Skill!"

It wasn't just Murasame Reine; even Itsuka Kotori felt extremely amazed by the feat of Lingyun destroying all the small Missiles with that one strike during his first move.

"Since that's the case, then report the appearance of the new Spirit and the Spirit's codename now!" Itsuka Kotori said.

"No, Commander, the Swordsman's Spirit power fluctuations have disappeared." One of the crew members suddenly shouted.

"When? Can the monitoring system track his movements?" Itsuka Kotori asked hurriedly.

"This, looking at the records, the opponent seems to have disappeared after repelling the AST members," a crew member said.

"Since that's the case, then there is nothing we can do for now. Record this Spirit's Spirit power fluctuations first; if he appears next time, we must include him in our monitoring at the very first moment!" Itsuka Kotori said with a serious expression.

"Yes!" The crew members present responded in unison.