"Haruto, could you lend a hand and kill her for me?"
Kurumi asked, tears welling up in her eyes, as if she were about to break down crying at any moment.
Haruto shook his head.
Seeing this, Kurumi didn't look surprised.
From the moment she first laid eyes on Haruto, she had a hunch—Haruto wouldn't help her kill Mio Takamiya.
There was no evidence, just intuition.
But as it turned out, her intuition was right.
And Haruto's reason for refusal was simple:
If Mio Takamiya were truly erased from existence, the timeline of the "Spirit" world would collapse entirely. By then, the timeline, which was barely being held together by convergence force, would inevitably fall apart.
And the consequences of that timeline collapsing—
Tsk tsk.
After receiving her answer, Kurumi, with her weakened body, began walking outside.
She was going to try breaking into a known GOC site.
Hoping to obtain a weapon powerful enough to kill Mio Takamiya.
Even though the odds of her actually acquiring it were less than one in ten thousand.
Seeing this, Haruto sighed and rubbed his forehead helplessly.
He tugged at the past-timeline Kurumi beside him, signaling her to support him.
Then Haruto walked toward Mio Takamiya.
"Though I can't kill her, there is another way."
Hearing that, Kurumi immediately turned back, her big teary eyes blinking.
The tears were sucked back in.
Haruto crouched down, and his fingertip was stained with a touch of blood.
Plunder.
Haruto gently traced his finger across Mio.
Crystals began to form in his hand.
These were the Sephira Crystals that made up Mio Takamiya.
Aside from the previously leaked Flame Spirit, Ice Spirit, and the Time Spirit just used—
The other seven were now in Haruto's hand.
Once all the Sephira Crystals were extracted, Mio Takamiya's body began to dissipate, and finally crumbled completely.
Watching this scene, tears trickled from the corners of Kurumi's eyes.
At last, it was done.
Haruto released six of the Sephira Crystals.
They instantly scattered into the air.
In doing so, though Mio Takamiya's consciousness no longer existed—at the very least, the spirits themselves still remained.
As long as the raw material existed, the convergence force of time would still have something to work with, and the timeline wouldn't collapse.
As for the crystal Haruto kept—
That was the original sephira crystal representing Mio Takamiya's essence.
The one who would later be called… Yatogami Tohka.
Though by that time, it would probably be a completely different consciousness altogether.
Because that origin crystal would not fuse with a human in the future, but would give birth to its own consciousness.
So Haruto didn't release it and simply kept it with him.
At that moment, Kurumi came closer, eyes still wet, but smiling sweetly at Haruto.
"Then, as promised, from now on Kurumi will let Haruto do whatever he wants with her."
The moment she said that, the Kurumi from the past timeline blushed bright red. She hadn't yet experienced the passage of time and was still a pure and innocent girl.
She couldn't handle something like this—
Especially when she herself was involved.
However, Haruto just rolled his eyes.
"Cut it out. This crystal has no trace of Mio Takamiya's consciousness—it's a completely pure sephira crystal. Don't even think about it."
As he said that, he swatted away the little hand Kurumi had reached out with.
Haruto knew all too well what this girl was thinking.
Having her hand slapped away, Kurumi instantly acted as if she'd been heartbroken.
"I didn't mean it like that~ I just wanted to repay Haruto's kindness."
Haruto sighed, clearly getting a headache.
Maybe he should let her go argue with Ai Hoshino instead.
In any case, Haruto absolutely wasn't going to hand over that future-Tohka Sephira Crystal to Kurumi.
And as time slowly passed—
With Mio Takamiya's suppression gone—
Kurumi's spirit form gradually recovered.
"Since Haruto is so cold, then Kurumi won't stay here to be an eyesore. But no matter what, even if I have to be a slave or servant, I'll stay by Haruto's side to repay you."
Saying this, Kurumi used "being an eyesore" as an excuse to run off.
Haruto rolled his eyes again.
That girl was clearly still thinking about her best friend.
After all, Kurumi's friend—the one who had turned into the Flame Spirit—
Had also only become a spirit out of utter despair.
Claiming she was being an "eyesore" was just an excuse to leave.
As for why she'd really come back—it was because Kurumi didn't trust the original spirit crystal.
She was afraid it might still carry Mio Takamiya's consciousness so she wanted to stick with Haruto to keep an eye on what happened next.
Haruto didn't expose her.
Anyway, as the Spirit of Time, Kurumi understood full well the dangers of messing with timelines on a large scale.
As for small-scale alterations—
Well, as he'd said before:
The "Spirit" world's timeline was already as tangled as a ball of yarn, so what's a few more snags?
More lice don't make you itch more, more debt doesn't stress you further.
Meanwhile, Origami Tobiichi—who had remained silent the whole time—was now curiously studying the spirit crystal in Haruto's hand.
"If the First Spirit is gone… then what about my parents...?"
Haruto, of course, knew what Origami meant.
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said,
"Things will definitely change—but let's go to that timeline later and adjust it a bit. Even if convergence force is strong, this whole mess of yarn isn't something easily untangled."
Origami gave a small nod, half understanding.
Regardless, if things could be changed, that was good enough.
Time passed.
A few days later, Kurumi returned with her Four Heavenly Kings.
She looked like she was in a great mood.
Haruto didn't ask what had happened.
High school girls' psychological trauma is usually tied to things like school bullying or family problems.
Just thinking about it was unpleasant.
Most likely, Kurumi had gone over and shot whoever caused the damage.
After all, as the so-called "Worst Spirit," she was quite practiced at that sort of thing.
As a side note, that so-called "Worst Spirit"—
The over 10,000 people Kurumi had killed—
Were all evildoers she had encountered.
Only then did she kill them and turn them into Reiryoku fuel.
Having temporarily fulfilled her wish, Kurumi had practically latched onto Haruto. Whether it was to observe the outcome of the original spirit crystal—
Or to repay the kindness she owed him—
She was definitely going to stick with Haruto.
Haruto didn't mind.
After all, if she wanted to stay, she'd have to sign the Absolute Contract Codex.
And once that codex is signed, unless one becomes a Supreme Divinity, its bindings can't be broken.
A free helper—why not?
Especially since Kurumi alone could do the work of countless people.
Time-slicing really was a great ability!
(Endorsed by a certain capitalist chairman.)
With everything settled, this time, Haruto personally took action and began traveling across timelines.
"World" activated.
While jumping between timelines, Haruto also casually gave the "Spirit" world's parallel convergence force a helping hand.
He even untangled some of the old timelines a bit.
Then, the group arrived at the exact time when Origami Tobiichi's parents were killed. And for the location, Haruto specifically chose a street not far from Origami's home.
Seeing that familiar neighborhood again, Origami grew visibly emotional, wanting to rush home.
But Haruto held her back.
"This timeline is far messier than the previous one—and the reason... just watch for now. I know you're anxious, Origami, but hold on."
Haruto said helplessly.
This time point... someone's about to show up.
Hearing this, Origami's face turned pale.
Combining all the clues from earlier, a terrifying suspicion began to form in her mind.
But this suspicion...
Was just too hard for her to accept.