As Ex-Machina In No Game No Life: Zero [Chapter 21]

There were others, but they were tangled up in the complex web of the Spirit of Origin, a mess I had no desire to touch. The first two were manageable. The third, however, was a problem.

According to my data, the Spirit "Metatron" Origami Tobiichi did not yet exist. She would only gain her powers later in the timeline. 

The only way to meet her now would be to use Kurumi's Twelfth Bullet and travel back in time. 

But my counterfeit Zafkiel was incomplete, and Kurumi herself now viewed me as an enemy. The odds of her helping me were zero.

My own Dimensional Engine was also not an option. It could punch holes between universes, yes. But it had a strict rule: when traveling, the timeline of arrival was random. 

Once there, however, it created a temporal "anchor." If I ever returned to a world, I would arrive at the exact moment I had left. 

Time within a given universe was a river I could not navigate, only exit and re-enter at a fixed point.

This meant I had all the time in the world, literally. I could wait for Origami to become a Spirit. But waiting was inefficient.

For now, that problem could be set aside. I had my next target.

….

After the confrontation, Shido and Tohka had brought the unconscious Yoshino back to the Fraxinus. Reine took charge of her medical care, and Tohka was sent home. Shido stayed behind to receive a long and thorough scolding from Kotori.

A few days later, the crew of the Fraxinus watched on the main screen as Shido, on his second attempt, successfully sealed Yoshino's powers. The bridge erupted in cheers.

All except for Kotori. She stared at the screen, a troubled look on her face that had been there for days.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Kyouhei Kannazuki, her handsome and loyal vice-commander, asked with concern. "You've seemed... distant."

The other crew members fell silent, their eyes turning to her. They had all noticed. Kannazuki was just the first to speak up.

Kotori appreciated their concern, but this wasn't a problem they could solve for her.

"...It's about the Spirit Hunter," she said, her voice low.

A grim understanding fell over the bridge. They all knew her secret. Kotori Itsuka was a Spirit herself. Codename: Efreet. And the Spirit Hunter was hunting Spirits. It was only a matter of time. 

That look she had seen, the one that pierced through the ship's cloak... it had been a promise. She knew, with a certainty that chilled her to the bone, that she was next.

"Thank you for your concern," she said, forcing a commander's smile. "But I will handle this myself."

That evening, she didn't teleport directly home. She had the transporter set her down several blocks away. Her intuition, a sixth sense that had kept her alive for years, was screaming.

Tonight. It's coming tonight.