Chapter 686: Meeting

"You said that when you went out to buy things earlier, you felt like something was watching you in the dark?"

Inside the small shop, Lingyun frowned as he spoke to Tokisaki Kurumi.

"Yes, although that feeling was very faint, I still managed to catch it," Tokisaki Kurumi said, shrugging. "To be honest, if my strength hadn't increased by so much, I wouldn't have been able to know that someone was actually watching me from the shadows."

"It seems the other party's methods are quite sophisticated!" Lingyun said.

"The other party's methods are not only sophisticated but also very cautious. Once they discover even a trace of me noticing them, they immediately and quietly relocate," Tokisaki Kurumi said. "And this relocation is very swift; if I didn't have a few tricks of my own, I wouldn't have been able to track their movements."

"Who do you think the other party might be?" Lingyun asked.

"I don't think it's likely to be people from Fraxinus. If it were in the past, they might have really done something like this, but after our conversation a few days ago, we can now be considered to be on the same side. Given Itsuka Kotori's personality, they wouldn't do such a thing," Tokisaki Kurumi analyzed. "And while the AST unit stationed in Tengu City is also opposed to Spirits, they clearly lack this capability now. Once you rule those out, the final result becomes very obvious."

"That's right, just as I thought: it's DEM Industries," Lingyun nodded. "These guys are truly like Yin Souls that refuse to disperse! Even though the destruction of Nilier Island last time already caused them huge losses, they still dare to pop up again, not knowing when to quit?"

"No, I actually think their appearance in this place has a certain connection to us destroying Nilier Island," Tokisaki Kurumi said.

"You should know that Westcott has been conducting Spirit inversion experiments on Nilier Island. But since we both destroyed Nilier Island and rescued Bentiao Eya, this situation will undoubtedly cause their research to fall into a predicament. If other Spirits were to appear in Tengu City at this time, it would inevitably be a huge surprise for them. In order to keep their experiments going, Westcott will definitely have DEM Industries make a move against other Spirits!" Tokisaki Kurumi analyzed.

"That sounds very reasonable."

"I think that since DEM Industries has discovered my presence, that little girl should be appearing soon, right?" Tokisaki Kurumi tapped her lips with her finger, a mysterious smile on her face.

"That girl, who are you referring to? Takamiya Mana?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow.

"That's right, it's her!" Tokisaki Kurumi nodded.

"Maybe if you go for a stroll outside now, you'll be able to see her!" Lingyun said jokingly.

"Go for a stroll outside? Good idea!" Tokisaki Kurumi's eyes lit up. "It just so happens that the flour and such in the shop didn't have much left after Tohka's ravaging earlier; I'll just go buy some back!"

As she spoke, Tokisaki Kurumi waved at Lingyun, then sank into the shadow beneath her.

Watching Tokisaki Kurumi's actions, Lingyun shook his head helplessly and turned to walk into the shop.

As for whether Kurumi might lose to Takamiya Mana, Lingyun never considered it. After all, in the original work, Kurumi's main body was able to defeat Takamiya Mana when she summoned Zafkiel. Not to mention Tokisaki Kurumi, who has now become a Time Spirit of the Cloud Realm and whose strength has expanded by who knows how many times.

On the main street, Tokisaki Kurumi, dressed in casual clothes, raised an eyebrow. In her perception, several cameras had already locked onto her silently. Although the other party was very discreet and the cameras weren't even pointed at her the whole time, in the eyes of the vastly more powerful Tokisaki Kurumi, this behavior was no different from covering one's ears to steal a bell.

This feeling of being watched in the dark made Tokisaki Kurumi feel extremely disgusted, but for the sake of her plan, she temporarily suppressed the urge to destroy all these things and turned to walk into a shop.

"Nightmare has appeared?" Takamiya Mana, who was on standby at the AST base, stood up immediately upon hearing this news. "Report the current coordinates of Nightmare to me immediately!"

"Hmm, so you've come?"

Tokisaki Kurumi, who had just walked out of the shop, raised an eyebrow. She felt a malice in the shadows that had locked onto her tightly.

The person she wanted to find had already appeared, and Kurumi followed her plan, turning into a deserted alley after walking for a distance.

"Stop right there, Nightmare!"

Just as Tokisaki Kurumi reached the center of the alley, a sharp, angry shout rang out.

Tokisaki Kurumi looked up and saw a figure appear in the sky. This figure hovering in the sky had a neat ponytail, a tear mole under her left eye, and a face that looked somewhat similar to Itsuka Shido's.

"So it's Mana-chan, it's really been a long time!" Tokisaki Kurumi said with a smile, greeting Takamiya Mana.

"Shut up, Nightmare!" Takamiya Mana looked at Tokisaki Kurumi, her eyes full of disgust. "You executioner with hands stained in blood, today I will definitely cut you down completely!"

Sharp laser blades instantly extended from the shield-like armor on Takamiya Mana's hands, and her figure dove down from the sky, lunging toward Tokisaki Kurumi.

"Hee hee, Mana-chan is really heartless. It's been such a long time, and I wanted to say hello to you, but I didn't expect Mana-chan to try to kill me the moment we met!"

Tokisaki Kurumi chuckled, tapped her toes on the ground, and her figure instantly appeared dozens of meters away, avoiding Takamiya Mana's diving attack. Subsequently, the shadow at her feet began to spread rapidly, and another Kurumi emerged from the shadow.

Looking at this suddenly appearing Kurumi clone, a trace of astonishment appeared on Takamiya Mana's face, and she set her body into a defensive stance.

"Main body, do you have something for me? Is it another fight with that little girl?" The clone's gaze fell on Takamiya Mana.

"Main body, fight with me?"

Hearing the clone's words, Takamiya Mana's heart sank. Could it be that the Nightmares she had fought and killed before were all just clones? But if that were true, it would explain why she had killed Nightmare so many times before, yet she always appeared again; it turned out she had never truly killed Nightmare at all.

Thinking of this, a cold light could not help but flash in Takamiya Mana's eyes as she fixed her gaze on Tokisaki Kurumi. As long as she killed Nightmare's main body, then Nightmare would never appear again, right!

"No, take these things home, and at the same time tell Lingyun that I might be back a little late." Tokisaki Kurumi handed the bag in her hand to the clone.

The clone took the bag and nodded: "Understood."

After the clone disappeared into the shadows, Tokisaki Kurumi finally turned her gaze back to Takamiya Mana.

"Now let us two old friends catch up, Mana-chan!"