I'm not going to be an Spirit! (Translate)

Tokyo, inside a warehouse.

Dim lighting cast mottled shadows from the high warehouse ceiling, and the air was filled with a faint scent of machine oil and packaging paper.

On the empty shelves, a few lonely crates were scattered, covered with a thin layer of dust. Occasionally, gusts of wind caused discarded cardboard boxes on the floor to rustle faintly.

Alicetaria sat atop a stack of discarded crates, silently gnawing on a cheap, flavorless piece of bread.

To avoid drawing attention, she had removed the imposing heavy armor she originally wore. Now, she was dressed in an ordinary hoodie and casual pants, which looked somewhat old and worn—likely scavenged from somewhere.

Though she was living like a fugitive, she had no complaints about it.

After all, in her original world, life had been far harsher.

To battle against the evil black sorcerer and the endless demon army he summoned, Alicetaria had spent nearly every moment in harsh conditions on the battlefield.

Compared to that, she even considered her current life to be much easier.

After finishing the last bite of her bread, Alicetaria licked the crumbs from her lips and turned to look at the person sitting across from her.

The girl had long, dark black hair as deep as the night, an air of grace and elegance about her, dressed in a lace-embellished formal gown. She looked like a well-bred young lady from high society.

This rundown and gloomy warehouse seemed completely ill-suited to her presence. A banquet or a tea party would be far more fitting.

Her right eye was a bewitching wine-red color, adding an eerie allure to her otherwise pure demeanor. And when the wind blew her bangs aside, a golden left eye inlaid with a clock could be seen.

Only when that ancient clock appeared did Alicetaria remind herself that this girl was not an ordinary person—like herself, she was a creation.

This creation had joined their faction about two weeks ago.

Because she didn't use the internet, Alicetaria's understanding of her was limited to what the girl had introduced herself and what she had shown during battles.

Oh, and her name—

Tokisaki Kurumi.

Her lips always bore a polite smile, her demeanor ever so elegant, and she treated everyone—herself included—kindly and amiably.

Yet precisely because of this, Alicetaria subconsciously remained on guard around this creation.

After all, this was the Altair faction. Everyone here had joined because they harbored deep dissatisfaction and hatred toward this world.

Mamika Kirameki was an exception.

Because she had already betrayed them, she no longer counted as part of the Altair faction.

"Is something the matter, Miss Alicetaria?"

Perhaps having noticed the gaze, Tokisaki Kurumi tilted her head slightly and looked at Alicetaria, smiling as she asked.

Hearing this, Alicetaria was taken aback.

She thought she had been discreet in her observation, but hadn't expected to be noticed.

Still, since she had been caught, there was no point in hiding it.

"I was wondering why you joined us."

Alicetaria pondered for a moment, but true to her straightforward nature, she chose to speak bluntly. "From what I've observed these past few days, someone like you—a refined noble lady—doesn't seem to belong here."

"Well, that's quite a shallow judgment."

The corners of Tokisaki Kurumi mouth curled into a deeper smile. She countered, "In that case, as a royal princess, do you think you belong here?"

"I'm a knight first, and a princess second."

"And I'm not some pampered lady. Trust me, Alicetaria, there's no place more suitable for me than here," Tokisaki Kurumi said flatly. "If you're worried I'll become another Mamika Kirameki, you can rest easy. I'm not some naive little girl who doesn't understand the dangers of the world."

As she spoke, her eyes sharpened, her tone growing cold. "Once the Military Uniform Princess told me about this world, I had already made up my mind."

"Then that's good."

Hearing the firm conviction in her words, Alicetaria pursed her lips and said nothing more.

She stood up and said, "I'm going to bring that guy some food."

That guy, naturally, referred to the creator she had kidnapped—the author of Scarlet Alicetaria, Gai Takarada.

The only reason Alicetaria had joined the Altair faction was because she wanted to change her own world.

According to Altair, the creator was like a god who created her world. So if she wanted to change the world, she only needed to make the creator obedient.

Thus, she had forcefully broken through the police blockade and kidnapped her creator, locking him up in their base's dark room, and was now forcing him to rewrite the story of Scarlet Alicetaria.

Under Gai Takarada rewriting, the story that once followed a main character group holding onto hope amidst an apocalyptic shadow had now become a story even more childish than those meant for children.

However, despite the rewritten story, Alicetaria didn't feel any change.

She felt like she had been deceived.

But Altair told her that the world's rules were resisting the change. To truly alter her world, she needed to continue battling other creations and increase her interference power.

As for Gai Takarada?

She couldn't release him. She couldn't kill him either. The only option left was to keep feeding him and keeping him locked up.

"Bang bang bang!"

On her way to the dark room, three gunshots suddenly rang out.

It was the sound of a revolver—one Alicetaria was very familiar with.

It belonged to another creation in the Altair faction, from the anime code·Babylon—Blitz Talker.

Tonight, Blitz was on night watch. If he had opened fire, that meant enemies had appeared.

And they were already very close!

Alarms blared in Alicetaria's mind. There was no time to ponder who was launching a surprise attack. Without hesitation, she tossed aside the food and water, and with a thought, summoned her shining silver armor and long pole lance.

Not only that—a fully armored white horse also appeared out of thin air before her.

Alicetaria nimbly mounted the saddle. In less than three seconds, she was ready for battle.

"Hyah!"

With a tug of the reins and a cry from the warhorse, she burst through the warehouse's aging wall and charged toward the direction of the gunshots like a thunderbolt.

Her pegasus galloped through the air, rising swiftly. From above, Alicetaria could see everything clearly.

Dressed in a coat and wielding a revolver, Blitz looked very disheveled. His clothes and skin were scorched, as though he had been hit by some kind of energy. He was being chased by three creations.

And those three were ones Alicetaria knew.

Selesia, Meteora, and Yuuya Mirokuji.

"Did they believe they stood a chance after that sword-wielding man joined Meteora camp?"

A suspicion formed in her heart regarding the source of this night raid, and Alicetaria's expression grew grim.

Though the situation didn't favor her, Blitz was her comrade—she couldn't stand idly by.

Her lance began to glow with radiant magic, flashing in the darkness. Preparing for a charge, Alicetaria locked onto the weakest of the three—Selesia—as her breakthrough point.

"Wait, Alicetaria-chan!"

Just as she was about to charge forth on her steed, a pink figure appeared before her.

Seeing this person show up so boldly, Alicetaria frowned and barked, "Traitor! How dare you still show your face before me? Shameless!"

The creation standing before her was, of course, Mamika Kirameki.

Hearing Alicetaria's accusation, a trace of conflict flickered across Mamika face. But already prepared for rebukes, she quickly steadied herself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to betray you all, but the situation at the time forced my hand."

Mamika took a deep breath and said sincerely, "But please listen to me, Alicetaria-chan—you've all been deceived by the Military Uniform Princess. She never intended to help you. She's been using you all along…"

However, before she could finish, a spirit-powered bullet shot toward her, forcefully cutting off her words.

Mamika had to summon magic to defend herself.

Though she had gained new settings that allowed her to resist spiritual power to a certain extent, it only reduced the damage—it didn't grant immunity.

Taking a direct hit wouldn't seriously wound her, but it would definitely affect the upcoming battle.

Inside the warehouse, Tokisaki Kurumi, who had already summoned two flintlock rifles and donned her divine spirit equipment, began to rise into the air. Aimed at Mamika, she fired several more rounds.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Temporarily forcing back Mamika Kirameki, Tokisaki Kurumi cast a sidelong glance at the female knight beside her and asked coolly,

"She's the enemy. You can just take her out. Why waste time talking?"

After she finished, she noticed the slightly conflicted look on Alicetaria's face. The corners of her mouth curled into a mocking smile.

"Or are you still treating someone who betrayed you as a comrade?"

"No, of course not."

"Good."

Kurumi looked toward the other three creators who were chasing after Blitz and said calmly,

"I'll leave this magical girl to you. I'm going to assist Blitz and finish her off quickly."

As she spoke, a massive clock shadow appeared behind her. She rushed toward the area where Blitz was facing intense pressure.

Alicetaria took a deep breath. Her hesitant gaze turned firm once again.

"In order to change my world, I've already resolved to use any means necessary."

She raised her lance, now fully charged with magical energy. Her eyes were icy cold as she pointed the tip at Mamika Kirameki.

"Mamika, if you try to stop me, I'll crush you along with everything else."

"Sigh…"

Seeing the look in Alicetaria's eyes, Mamika let out a deep sigh.

She could tell—those were eyes that wouldn't listen to reason.

Alicetaria had always been stubborn. Once she decided on something, no one could pull her back from it.

"In that case, I'll just have to use the old-fashioned way."

A dreamy pink light, mixed with multicolored stars, spread out from her magic wand. Mamika shouted,

"Sorry, Alicetaria-chan. I'll just have to beat you first and reason with you later!"

The next moment, the brilliance of the lance and the magic cannon from the wand fired simultaneously, briefly lighting up the pitch-black night sky.

At the same time, Tokisaki Kurumi officially joined the battle.

"Good evening, everyone."

Blocking the attacks of the three creators alongside Blitz's gunfire, Kurumi said with elegance,

"Even I didn't expect such courage from all of you—not only finding our base, but daring to launch a night raid."

"The more time passes, the more it benefits you, doesn't it?"

Meteora expression remained calm, the magical book in her hand already glowing, ready to cast.

"Still, I didn't think you'd actually show yourself. I thought you'd sneak in from the shadows and strike from behind."

"Such little tricks would be useless against you now that you've been given new settings, wouldn't they?" Kurumi chuckled lightly.

"In that case, I might as well face you head-on."

"But your Military Uniform Princess—or should I say Altair—doesn't seem to have any plans to fight head-on."

"And your own Natsumi hasn't shown up either, has she?"

" That's true …"

It seemed that not only did her side have a plan, Altair side did as well?

Originally, Meteora thought that someone like Altair, with her pride and arrogance, would surely be the first to appear if they were ambushed.

Surprisingly, she was holding back well—even now, she hadn't made an appearance.

If that's the case, then they had no choice but to revise their battle plan. Before drawing her out to the sealed park, they would have to fight a fierce battle here first—to force Altair to come out.

"Selesia, go hold off Blitz. Yuuya, you're with me to take down Kurumi!"

Although Selesia combat strength wasn't that high, Blitz had already sustained considerable damage from the earlier group assault. Even Selesia should be able to hold him off easily now.

As for her and Yuuya Mirokuji, the two of them could handle Tokisaki Kurumi.

"Hangaku!!!"

With a fierce shout, Yuuya Mirokuji summoned a ghostly female warrior clad in samurai armor behind him.

This was his Companion, a powerful curse that, in his original world, was bound to his body.

It could be said that more than half of his combat strength came from this Companion, named HANGAKU.

Fighting alongside his Companion, Yuuya stomped the ground and launched a ferocious assault against Kurumi.

Meanwhile, Meteora did not join in the attack. Instead, she rushed toward the ground.

Her target: Kurumi shadow!

Her magical weapon, the Thousand-Mile Book, suddenly glowed. In less than a breath's time, it transformed into a long-staffed magic wand.

"Release Seal: Master!"

Meteora—or rather, the one now transformed into Meteora: Kagamiya Shichika—shouted loudly.

"Seal it for me!"