Five minutes later.
Meteora and Rui Kanoya, piloting his giant humanoid mecha, finally arrived.
They were met with a puzzling scene:
Blitz was unconscious, Alicetelia stood silently in place, Gai Takarada had been rescued from the "little black room," and—most bizarre of all—Natsumi Kyouno, for some unknown reason, wasn't wearing any clothes…
Looking at this utterly baffling scene, Meteora couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened here?"
This was completely different from what they had originally planned.
In their original plan, the invading Natsumi Kyouno was supposed to strike swiftly while Altair camp was unguarded, defeating one of their creations with lightning speed.
After that, Altair and the other creations would surely retaliate ferociously. At that moment, Natsumi and her group would immediately retreat from the area and head to the already sealed-off park.
There, Natsumi—disguised as Meteora—would battle Tokisaki Kurumi and seize the opportunity to seal her shadow and angel.
Meanwhile, the real Meteora, using illusion magic to take on Natsumi appearance, would stall Altair and the others, creating the chance for the real Natsumi to strike.
Once Tokisaki Kurumi shadow and angel were sealed, Altair would be the only major threat left in her camp.
With so many creations on their side, plus Natsumi mastery of replication abilities, Meteora believed their chances of victory were high.
All they needed to do was keep consuming Altair power, then use the Unsealer's [Gate] to seal Altair "Holopsicon," and victory would be theirs.
It was a good plan.
However, Meteora and Kanoya, who had been lying in wait in the park to ambush any pursuers, never encountered anyone.
It wasn't until Selesia contacted them and informed them that the battle was already over that they, bewildered, rushed to the scene.
"In short, we were played."
Selesia expression was complex as she explained the entire sequence of events to them in detail.
Naturally, this included the part where Tokisaki Kurumi suddenly summoned the Unsealer and sealed Natsumi.
"So... Natsumi is now just an ordinary girl?"
Meteora stared blankly at Natsumi, who was now wrapped only in a leather coat, barely covering herself. "You can't use any of your abilities now?"
"Mm..."
Natsumi looked miserable. Whether it was due to the cold night air or the loss of her power was unclear. "My spiritual power's been sealed. I can't use the Fake Witch or even summon my Divine Spirit Equipment."
"Why could Kurumi summon the Unsealer?"
Kanoya face was full of confusion. "Even in the original work, she only fused with Honjou Nia's spirit crystal and could use Zafkiel. That's it."
Because of Kurumi danger level, before the mission started, the Tachibana Company had provided them with comprehensive information about her.
After all, no one knew which time period's Kurumi had been summoned.
So they were prepared for the worst—that Altair might have summoned a version of Kurumi who could use Zafkiel.
However, to their surprise, the enemy didn't use Zafkiel, but instead summoned the Unsealer.
And she had directly sealed their strongest fighter?
Could it be that Altair had again obtained some ability from a secondary creation and given Kurumi the power to use other angels?
"That wasn't Kurumi."
Recalling the figure that fled at the end, Natsumi said with certainty, "That was another me."
She was sure of it—Kurumi would never say something as clichéd as "Don't think this means you've won."
Moreover, the fact that the opponent used the Unsealer further proved her point.
This newly descended creation, while indeed summoned by Altair to counter Natsumi, wasn't actually Kurumi.
She was another Natsumi.
Or rather—the real Natsumi.
That also explained why, when she used Zafkiel to probe the identity of the newly arrived creation, all the information came up blacked out.
It wasn't because the new creation had the same level of authority as Altair.
It was because the new creation was another Natsumi—someone who could also use Zafkiel.
Realizing this sent a chill down Natsumi spine.
This was the natural panic of a fake when faced with the real thing.
"So it really was like that..."
Selesia had clearly suspected as much, but now that Natsumi herself confirmed it, she sighed heavily, her head throbbing.
Everyone else began to understand the situation as well.
Just like how Natsumi disguised herself as Meteora to ambush Kurumi, the real Natsumi had used the exact same tactic—disguising herself as Kurumi to ambush the fake Natsumi.
Disguising as Kurumi was a brilliant move.
Because of Kurumi high threat level, Meteora camp would naturally prioritize sending Natsumi to deal with her rather than Altair.
Moreover, without the City of Devouring Time, Zafkiel wasn't at full power in her hands, so even if it got sealed, it wasn't a huge loss.
And the threat from shadow space and her clones didn't exist in the first place.
That's why, when the shadows were sealed, "Kurumi" remained calm.
Both the shadow and Zafkiel had been decoys.
And the decoy was a complete success.
In exchange for sealing Zafkiel, the real Natsumi had sealed the fake Natsumi spiritual power. A massive win.
Even if she couldn't use Zafkiel, the real Natsumi still had access to the other nine angels.
But the fake Natsumi, now that her spiritual power was sealed, couldn't even summon her Divine Spirit Equipment.
"Altair... really played her cards well."
Natsumi couldn't help but sigh internally.
It seemed Altair had realized her mistake—she should've tried to recruit Natsumi during their first encounter, not eliminate her.
Having learned her lesson, Altair chose to summon a second Natsumi to counter the first.
This not only minimized the uncertainty Natsumi posed to her plans, but also created conflict between the two Natsumis, increasing narrative interference—a perfect two-birds-one-stone strategy.
If it hadn't been for Alicetelia's spontaneous rescue, Altair plan might have worked perfectly.
Thinking this, Natsumi glanced toward the silent Alicetelia.
At that moment, seeing Kurumi summon the Unsealer had completely blown her mind.
Add in the confusion of suddenly losing her powers and the disorienting feeling of free-falling from the sky, and she temporarily forgot she even had a system.
She forgot there were experience tickets for Kurumi and Yamai Kazuki in her spatial backpack.
If she had used the tickets, she could have saved herself.
But using them would have certainly lowered her role-play rating.
Without a good enough excuse to justify it, she might even fail her main quest.
According to what the system had said earlier, dying in the mission world meant randomly losing one previously acquired ability. Failing the main quest meant lower-quality abilities on the next draw.
Both punishments were harsh.
Luckily, thanks to Alicetelia's help, she neither died nor failed her main quest.
"Back then, when Natsumi got sealed, I was really panicking—I almost wanted to grow wings and fly over myself!"
Recalling the earlier moment, Mamika Kirameki showed a relieved expression. "Thank goodness Alice-chan rescued Natsumi in time. Thank you, Alice-chan—you really are a good person!"
"For the last time, I didn't do anything."
Alicetelia responded coldly, patting the white horse beside her. "It ran over on its own. Had nothing to do with me."
As if to confirm this, the white horse let out two proud snorts, as if declaring that it had made the right decision.
"No, it was your will that saved Natsumi."
Gai Takarada, the disheveled, greasy-haired creator, interjected, "This white horse was a reward granted by the goddess after you passed the Trial of the Noble Knight. It is your soul-bonded companion. It must have sensed the conflict in your heart and made the most knightly decision on your behalf."
"Conflict... huh?"
Alicetelia placed her hand over her left chest, feeling the faint rhythm of her heartbeat. A trace of confusion appeared on her resolute face.
In her original world, she had indeed been an outstanding knight.
For her country, her people, and the future, she had always bravely fought on the front lines, seen by everyone as the final hope.
But after being summoned to the real world by Altair and realizing that all the suffering she had endured up to this point had merely been entertainment penned by others, she grew increasingly extreme—even going so far as to kidnap her creator and force him to rewrite her story.
Yet, that had proven futile.
The initial rage gradually settled, and in looking back at her actions, she began to realize that perhaps she had gone too far.
Over time, she occasionally conversed with Gai Takarada and gradually came to understand that her tragedy was not mere entertainment in someone's writing, but a way for her creator to convey the meaning of hope to readers.
"Alicetelia, you don't need to dwell on it."
Meteora spoke at just the right moment, offering comfort. "The Military Uniform Princess Altair never intended to help you. According to our deductions, her goal may very well be to destroy this world, and all of us are just pieces in her game."
"Destroy this world?"
Alicetelia was briefly stunned, then frowned and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Seeing that Alicetelia didn't accuse her of trying to sow discord but calmly asked for reasons instead, Meteora was reassured and proceeded to share her full theory.
"I see… Reconstruction Power, Acceptance Power, and Interference Power…"
As she contemplated these three concepts and the meaning they represented, Alicetelia turned to look at her creator. "So that means, as long as I receive enough acceptance, my world really can be changed?"
"Exactly." Meteora nodded. "However, the main theme of your world is 'Protecting the flame of hope in the deepest darkness.' If you try to change it directly to something like Mamika world—where even after fighting enemies, everyone can hold hands and be friends—the readers won't accept that."
"Sigh... whatever. Let the creators worry about the creators' job."
Perhaps because the whole thing was too complicated, Alicetelia gave up thinking and sighed. "Gai Takarada, I won't interfere with your writing anymore. But you must promise that what you write will be worthy of the word hope."
"Of course, of course," Gai Takarada quickly swore to the heavens. "Although you will go through more suffering, I promise that the ending will be a happy one."
"That's enough, then."
Alicetelia's expression lightened a little, as if she had put down some kind of burden.
Just as a child cannot blame their parents for not being able to provide a perfect life, a creation should not forcefully change things either.
Because once they change, are they still who they were?
Since the people of this world acknowledge her story as a symbol of hope, doesn't that mean all her efforts up to now have had meaning?
"I am a knight who protects the world. If the Military Uniform Princess really intends to destroy it, then I cannot turn a blind eye."
Alicetelia took a deep breath, and her expression became resolute once more. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know."
Seeing that Alicetelia had finally come to terms, Gai Takarada showed a relieved smile.
Not having to fight against her friend anymore, Mamika Kirameki was also very happy.
"Alicetelia, there's no time to waste. There's something I want to ask you."
Now that Alicetelia had become an ally, Meteora no longer hesitated and asked, "Why hasn't Altair, the Military Uniform Princess, taken any action?"
This was not only Meteora greatest doubt,
But also a lingering question in the heart of the transmigrator Kurumi Tokisaki—now known as Natsumi Kyouno.
From Altair perspective, Natsumi was the only creation not summoned by her, yet had descended into the real world—a huge variable in her plan.
And now, that variable had been sealed, with all abilities rendered unusable.
If she wanted to eliminate her, now was the best opportunity.
But not only did she not do that, she hadn't helped at all from beginning to end during the fight.
She hadn't even shown up when that man named Blitz was defeated and captured by Selesia.
According to the original plot, Blitz and Altair should have had a good relationship, shouldn't they?
Facing the puzzled stares of the group, Alicetelia remained silent, seemingly unsure where to begin.
"The Military Uniform Princess… has been missing for two weeks."
In the end, she didn't offer any speculative guesses or assumptions, but simply shared what she knew.
"Ever since Kurumi Tokisaki—or rather, Natsumi Kyouno—descended into this world, she hasn't appeared again."