I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit

After receiving information about Diva—the identity, personality, and abilities of Miku Izayoi—from Melusine, Itsuka Kotori began implementing her plan to capture the Spirit.

In concrete terms: she wanted Itsuka Shidou to crossdress as Itsuka Shiori.

Melusine had offered an alternative: she could simply turn Shidou into a real girl. But Kotori shot down that suggestion immediately—and accompanied her refusal with a glare that practically screamed die.

Melusine could more or less understand Kotori's reasoning… After all, if Shidou really did become a girl, Kotori wouldn't be able to marry him anymore.

Come to think of it… Shidou's original identity was Shinji Takamiya. His adoptive father, Itsuka Ryouzou, was a classmate and close friend of Shinji Takamiya. Their mother, Itsuka Haruko, was the childhood best friend of Makoto's sister, Shinji Mana…

This whole family setup is a damn mess.

Incidentally, Ryouzou and Haruko were also the developers of Fraxinus's onboard manifesting device.

Disguised as Itsuka Shiori, and with Kotori and the others providing support, Shidou began establishing contact with Miku Izayoi. So far, it was going well. Miku had indeed taken interest in Shiori.

Melusine wasn't surprised—just deeply unnerved. There really are guys who look that good in women's clothing?

Especially someone like Shidou—his personality as a boy came off a little indecisive, but as a girl, he triggered all sorts of protective instincts.

Though, in Melusine's case, that instinct turned into a desire to bully. That face… if I gave it just one punch, I bet it'd cry for hours. How satisfying.

She wasn't particularly worried about Shidou during the mission. With Tokisaki Kurumi acting as backup, his life wasn't in danger.

Not to mention, Melusine had already shared Miku Izayoi's abilities with Kotori and the team. If they still messed up and let themselves all get brainwashed, leaving Shidou completely isolated like in the original timeline—then frankly, they'd deserve a good collective slap to the face.

As for how to build rapport—whether it was unbrainwashed Yoshino or the Yamai sisters whispering sweet things to Miku about Shidou, hoping to improve her favorability toward him—well, that was outside Melusine's jurisdiction.

"If you really want to save all Spirits, then go overcome that hurdle yourselves. Can't be harder than flying across the Divine Titan Sea like I did."

While Shidou and company were sweating over Miku's affection levels, Melusine was soaring above the Pacific as usual, wings spread wide, searching for Honjou Nia.

Melusine's magical detection radius could stretch dozens of kilometers. By inputting the Spirit power signatures she'd gathered from Tohka and the others, she could fine-tune her detection to pick up on Nia's unique wavelength.

And today, for the first time—she finally got a hit.

An unfamiliar Spirit energy entered her range. Her molten gold eyes narrowed, her focus sharpening like a blade.

"There you are, Auntie Nia… you really made me search."

Melusine had been worried, honestly. She'd been flying over the Pacific every day—if DEM had caught wind of her and gotten spooked, they might've relocated Nia. That would've made things very complicated.

She only knew Nia was in the Pacific because the source material mentioned it in passing. If she'd been moved, Melusine would've had no way of tracking her.

Fortunately, Nia was still where she was supposed to be. Maybe they hadn't had time to transfer her. Maybe DEM underestimated her. Or maybe… they thought she wasn't a threat.

Melusine didn't care either way. As long as she got her objective.

She didn't have fairy sight like the ones that could see the heart, or Merlin's clairvoyance, or Gilgamesh's All-Knowing, All-Powerful Star. But her eyes could still perceive what mortal sight could not.

She could see far—far enough that it practically qualified as high-grade clairvoyance.

After all, how many mysteries in this world could rival the Dragon of Albion?

Even as just a fragment of that beast, she stood among Chaldea's apex Servants.

To her, "far" meant nothing. Everything was within reach.

There—it was a small island.

Even from kilometers away, she could make out the marks left by human habitation.

Through her magical senses, the camouflage over the island was like soaked paper—fragile, easy to pierce. Beneath it lay the truth.

The unique wavelength of Spirit energy—only a Spirit could emit such a signature.

There was no mistaking it. It was Honjou Nia—the second Spirit ever recorded. The one who bore the all-knowing Angel, Rasiel. A cheat-tier Spirit.

At least, she should've been.

But this poor woman had hated her own powers so much, she avoided using them—eventually becoming the only Spirit captured by DEM, and tortured in their labs for five years.

It reminded Melusine of a certain "King of All"—omnipotent, omniscient, but too stubborn to actually use his abilities, and ended up screwing himself over.

One became the most pathetic Spirit. The other got his elbow chopped off by a random guy.

And it didn't end there. After Nia was rescued in the original timeline, Westcott used her to trigger an inverse transformation. He stole her Spirit Core, and her Angel Rasiel became the Demon Lord Belial.

With Belial, Westcott succeeded in killing Shidou. All the Spirits except Kurumi fell into despair and inverted. If Kurumi hadn't used the Sixth Bullet to rewrite the past, it would've been a total Bad End.

Even then, Westcott managed to kill Shidou 204 times. Kurumi saved him 204 times without anyone knowing.

So Kurumi, seriously—you still wanna say you don't like him? You changed history two hundred and four times for someone you "don't like"? You're tougher to crack than a Möbius strip.

Wings slicing through the sky, Melusine zeroed in on the island, the air around her compressing under pressure.

She wasn't hiding her presence at all. She was coming in loud.

They probably already noticed her. Good.

She had the power. The confidence. The ability to crush every enemy, every scheme, every threat.

Suddenly, something stirred.

From within the hidden facility, a stagnant Spirit signature—like a still lake—woke up.

Melusine didn't know how, but she understood.

A call for help…?

It was a strange feeling. Like instinctively putting your phone away just as the teacher walks by.

Her golden eyes blinked. Then from their depths, golden flame flared.

A soft smile curved her lips.

"Sure. Go ahead and ask."

"I swear on this sword… I'll answer your trust. I won't keep you waiting long."

In the next instant, her speed doubled.

The air cracked with strain.

Even pressure that could crush steel couldn't stop the dragon streaking toward the horizon.

Thunder and heat burst in her wake.

The moment Melusine locked onto the base beneath the island, the alarms began to blare.

This was a high-priority DEM site. Its guards and scientists were top-tier. Elite across the board.

Because this facility contained an asset beyond price:

"[Material A]."

The world had gods. And scientists, when they discovered gods, didn't kneel—they dissected.

Divine authority was real. Tangible. It transcended logic and sparked obsession.

Humans are arrogant. When gods descend, they don't worship—they try to take their place.

But arrogance always demands a price.

Just like Niobe, who lost her children for angering Apollo and Artemis.

And today, these arrogant people—these inhuman researchers—looked up and saw divine wrath hurtling from the sky: the wrath of a dragon.

Even with early warning, it was pointless.

She was too fast. Far too fast.

The facility was underground, camouflaged and fortified. But the defenses above ground shattered in less than half a second.

No warning. No demands.

Just overwhelming, terrifying force.

Though caught off guard, the defense systems responded.

Heavy artillery unfolded from steel walls. Each turret locked onto a single being: her.

BOOM.

Flames roared from barrels.

Humanity bared its fangs—their so-called "technology"—against the strongest dragon.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM. BOOM.

Rounds exploded skyward. Compressed fire burst like howling gods.

Weapons humanity feared—and took pride in.

Enough heat to melt steel. Enough force to crack the earth.

…And all of it, pitifully weak.

The bombardment was endless. Black smoke swelled. Flames surged.

And then—within that chaos—a streak of deep blue blazed forth.

The smoke split apart. A meteor ripped from the inferno.

The defense AI tried to track her—but before it could, a blade of sky-blue light fell.

Turrets forged from alloy split like tofu. Fields collapsed like paper.

Humanity's proudest technology—pathetic against a fantasy lifeform at the pinnacle of myth.

One slash shattered all pride. The explosion faded behind her.

"Target… locked… recalibrating trajectory…"

The system knew no fear. No despair. Only its orders.

Remaining cannons began to retarget. Obstacles sprang up in Melusine's path.

Alloy doors. Energy fields. Electric nets.

She broke them. Sliced them. Shredded them.

She didn't dodge. She didn't flinch.

Her golden pupils blazed like stars as she declared:

Resistance is meaningless.

Alloy doors exploded.

Fields shattered.

Electric nets fell in two.

"To think you could cage a dragon's wings. To restrain what soars above all… How arrogant. How naive."

The turrets turned, too slow.

Her voice echoed—cold, clear—from right beside them.

She grabbed a cannon with her left arm, twisted it until it bent, then drove clawed fingers into its frame.

Metal screamed as it split.

Then—with one smooth motion—she tore the turret free. Cables and steel snapped like paper.

And with that, Melusine hurled the massive weapon into the next volley of fire.

The explosion cracked midair. She dropped like a meteor, smashed one turret apart, then grabbed another barrel and pulped the next with it.