"You recognized me? Figures, just a mask isn't enough to fool a familiar friend."
Having his identity instantly revealed by Raiden Mei, Ren dispersed the white spirit bird mask on his face into ethereal blue flames, revealing his true features hidden beneath.
A gentle smile, like a spring breeze, touched Ren's lips. Amidst the chaotic and terrifying battlefield, his relaxed and composed demeanor brought a strong sense of reassurance to Raiden Mei.
"Yes, I remember Ren-kun's build and voice clearly. Besides, Ren-kun just used those special sword techniques designed for slaying giant beasts, distinct from Hokushin Ittō-ryū. It's only natural I'd recognize you."
After subconsciously calling out Ren's name, Mei felt a twinge of regret, worried she might have done something wrong.
Ren appeared before her in a black phantom thief outfit, wearing a white mask; he clearly intended to hide his identity. By blurting out his real name, had she inadvertently caused trouble?
Fortunately, Ren showed no displeasure at having his identity revealed. This allowed Mei to relax, and a soft, serene smile graced her delicate features.
Come to think of it, she mused, if Ren-kun truly didn't want me to know his real identity, he wouldn't have used his real voice when talking to me. He definitely would have disguised it somehow.
But then, why did Ren-kun suddenly change into this black, wing-like coat? Is there some deeper meaning?
Looking closely, Ren-kun looks so cool and handsome in this outfit right now. It gives him a mysterious, powerful, and deeply captivating aura!
Raiden Mei, now seventeen, still possessed a hidden chuunibyou heart.
After carefully examining Ren's phantom thief attire, she found herself utterly captivated by its stylish and cool aesthetic.
A large shadow fell over Mei's slender figure.
Facing the renewed threat, Ren once again swung the Jizo Mitama blade in his hand. A crimson-black sword light shot out from the katana, simultaneously slicing the approaching Titan robot in two and creating a safe zone around them, clear of enemies.
Kallen, wielding a Mosin-Nagant Sunwheel pistol in each hand, fired streams of explosive bullets. Her figure moved like a phantom, weaving nimbly through the Titan robot legion, resembling a swift night raven leaving behind trails of cold, ethereal afterimages.
The ice power awakened within Kallen froze the surrounding Titan robots, rendering their cumbersome mechanical bodies immobile, unable even to fire their cannons.
Meanwhile, the Mosin-Nagant Sunwheels in her hands, empowered beyond their limits by Jizo Mitama's authority, unleashed roaring volleys of high-heat explosive rounds. A battle song woven from ice and fire rang out as Kallen single-handedly crushed all the Titan robots with ease.
Boosted by the awakened bloodline power granted by the Kaslana Stigma Will, Kallen managed to freeze nearly all the Titan mechs. The defensive line formed by her alone was flawless; not a single Titan robot slipped through to disturb Ren and Mei's private conversation behind her.
"Mei-senpai, did you feel anything uncomfortable just now?"
There were hundreds of Titan robots invading Chiba Academy. Ren had initially thought he would need to test the power Higokumaru could unleash after fully reclaiming Jizo Mitama in this battle.
But judging by the current situation, Kallen alone was sufficient to control the entire battlefield, steadily destroying all the Titan robots.
Therefore, using the safe moment Kallen had created, Ren repeated his earlier question to Raiden Mei.
Ren had already carefully observed Mei's delicate ankles and found no injuries; she seemed perfectly healthy.
What Ren truly wanted to ask Mei wasn't about physical discomfort, but whether she had experienced any unusual mental sensations.
Before Ren arrived, the cold, arrogant figure standing there facing those female students was clearly not Raiden Mei herself, but the Shadow Mei lurking within her heart!
Ren was very familiar with Shadow Mei. The moment he met those golden eyes, he recognized who stood before him.
A Shadow within one's heart taking control of the physical body in the real world... Although Shadow Mei acted out of self-preservation, to help Mei out of a predicament, Ren had never witnessed such a bizarre situation before.
Furthermore, judging by Mei's current behavior, she seemed unaware that Shadow Mei had "hijacked" her body for a period. Mei retained the memories of that time and believed she herself had made those choices.
This kind of extraordinary peculiarity was likely the reason Cocolia had targeted Raiden Mei.
"Uncomfortable? No, I don't feel anything uncomfortable... If I had to say, maybe it's just that I got too angry earlier, and my mind went blank for a moment."
Faced with Ren's question, Raiden Mei hesitated before carefully giving her answer.
Earlier, because the bullying girls tried to destroy her bond with Ren, Mei had fallen into a cold, clear rage.
It was as if some critical switch had been flipped; she had unknowingly reverted to the cold and arrogant Raiden Queen she once was, perhaps even crueler than before.
Only when Ren appeared before her did Mei snap back to reality, returning to the gentle and virtuous kendo senpai image Ren knew.
Mei was somewhat afraid that Ren had seen the true side she unknowingly revealed, worried he might start disliking and distancing himself from her because of it.
---||---
While Kallen vigorously cleared the battlefield...
Slightly farther from Chiba Academy, atop a tall building offering a clear, bird's-eye view of the entire battleground...
A graceful and elegant woman with short, ash-blonde hair, clad in black and green armor over a white inner dress, stood with a large, emerald-black mechanical scythe resting nearby.
She had already opened a private communication channel to a certain Schicksal Overseer. Like a living recording device, she was relaying everything happening here in real-time to Otto Apocalypse, the one who had dispatched her to protect and monitor Ren Amamiya.