"Mmm..."
Waking up feeling sore all over, Kurumi reflected that last night had truly been an intense experience for her.
Of course, while intense, it was also a day of happiness, because she had never felt such novel sensations before. The warmth of being enveloped in love was something she found herself reluctant to leave behind.
Opening her eyes, having resolved to leave first thing in the morning, she cautiously prepared to get up and slip away.
"Stop fidgeting, sleep properly."
Before she could even rise, Ryuya held her down. Kurumi realized he seemed to be wide awake.
"No, I just need to use the bathroom, Ryuya, don't get the wrong idea."
Her face slightly flushed, Kurumi offered an excuse.
"Now, now, Original, don't lie."
Before Ryuya could respond, a voice spoke up, startling Kurumi.
"You... you all are?"
Seeing the two clones behind Ryuya, Kurumi's first thought was that things had gone south.
After all, if she, the Original, couldn't resist Ryuya's charm, how could her clones be any different?
Sure enough, it was just as she feared.
"Stupid Original! You have your fun and then just want to leave? Do you know how we feel?"
Glaring indignantly at the Original Kurumi, the Kurumi clones emerged one after another from the Shadow Domain, soon crowding the room.
They all stared coldly at the Original Kurumi. Their message was clear: You had your fun, but what about us? This is no way to treat us!
"You traitors! You sold me out already?"
Feeling that the clones had probably revealed all her plans, the Original Kurumi got angry, putting on a fiercely stubborn face.
Glaring resentfully at her clones, she knew escape was probably impossible now.
[After gaining Kurumi's love, you learned about the past of the Worst Spirit, Tokisaki Kurumi, from her.]
[Originally, Kurumi was the daughter of a wealthy family. But her parents' business failed, leading to severe company losses and the loss of all their capital.]
[Devastated by this blow, Kurumi's parents passed away in a car accident, worn out and heartbroken. During this time, her best friend, Yamauchi Sawa, was the only one who stayed by her side, constantly talking with her.]
[Touched by Sawa's friendship, Kurumi finally emerged from the pain of losing her parents. She decided to eliminate all the unfairness in the world… a simple, somewhat Chuuni-like initial goal.]
[It was around this time that she encountered the Phantom, the woman named Takami Mio.]
[With the help of the Spirit of Origin, Kurumi became the Time Spirit and began carrying out acts of justice. She accidentally encountered the Fire Spirit. Discovering the Spirit was destroying the city, she fought a hard battle and finally defeated her.]
["Kurumi, thank you, really, really... thank you."]
[Expressing heartfelt gratitude for Kurumi granting her release, the Fire Spirit transformed back into her human form. Kurumi recognized her as her best friend, Yamauchi Sawa.]
["Sawa, why? Why?"]
[Completely unaware of why Sawa had become like this, feeling deceived, Kurumi embarked on a path to find the Spirit of Origin.]
[After listening to Kurumi's story, you also told her everything about Mio, your identity as the Earth King, and your many lovers.]
["Ryu, you say you are a King? The King of the entire Earth? And a future Planetary Spirit?"]
[Looking at your sincere expression, Kurumi could hardly believe it all.]
["Alright, Kurumi, let me show you something amazing today."]
[Smiling at Kurumi's skepticism, you directly deployed a bounded field, then flew high into the sky, transforming into the White Dragon of Britain.]
["Oh my god... It's... it's actually true?"]
[Showing immense interest in your draconic form, not only the Original Kurumi but also the Kurumi clones climbed onto your back, wanting to experience soaring above the Earth.]
["The Earth? Boring. Let me take you on a tour of space."]
[Setting your sights on the entire universe, under your protection, Kurumi and her clones thoroughly experienced an extraordinary thrill.]
[After bringing Kurumi and the clones back to the inn, you began analyzing the truth behind the past events with Kurumi.]
["Kurumi, I know you hold a great grudge against Mio, but I hope you understand that Mio's personality is absolutely not the kind to be unscrupulous or reckless."]
["She might do many things to pave the way for me to become a Planetary Spirit, but unless absolutely necessary, she would definitely avoid causing innocent deaths. If you think she deliberately used Sawa's death to provoke you, I don't believe she would do such a thing."]
["Please give me some time. When my power recovers, I will provide you with the magical energy, and we can go back to the past together to see what really happened."]
["Okay, I believe you, Ryu."]
[Trusting you completely, Kurumi also felt that the Spirit of Origin probably had no reason to target her or Sawa with some conspiracy. After all, Mio's goal was to create Spirits, not destroy humanity. She must have had her reasons for keeping things hidden.]
[Resolving to face the future with you, a relaxed Kurumi also talked about the AST and DEM organizations.]
["Ryu, AST stands for Anti-Spirit Team. It's mostly composed of women, with only some clerical staff being men."]
["This unit has excellent individual combat capabilities and various weapons. It's an official organization formed by the United Nations, aimed at eliminating the Spacequakes caused by Spirits."]
["Hah, even though the Spacequakes caused by Spirits only result in minor damage each time and haven't killed a single human, we're the ones labeled as evil. They're just a bunch of bastards standing on their moral high ground."]
[As she shared information about the AST, Kurumi believed that the AST's combat members were mostly passionate, justice-driven, simple girls who were being used by profit-obsessed higher-ups.]
[She never held a grudge against those soldiers. What Kurumi despised were the high-and-mighty masterminds who thought they controlled everything.]
["Spacequakes don't cause major crises?"]
[Hearing this unexpected information from Kurumi, you suddenly realized this was seven years before the main story. Many Spirits hadn't been born yet, and the sparse Spacequakes naturally wouldn't threaten humanity.]
[And the Spacequakes, originally a terrifying phenomenon, were less severe because the Earth now had a King. The strengthened spatial boundaries of Earth, while still fluctuating when Spirits appeared, prevented the city-destroying, humanity-ending disasters seen in the original work.]
[The reason Spacequakes were portrayed as so terrifying was fundamentally because certain leaders, conspirators, and profiteers saw great research value in Spirits.]
[Wanting to stir up human resentment towards Spirits, these so-called Spacequakes were less about the Spirits and more about man-made disasters orchestrated by these humans!]