Shoujo Grand Summoning

In the dark night, one could barely tell where the darkness began and where it ended…

There are silver gems dotting the night sky. The soft glow of the moon also rained down on Tengu city. Like a faint silver sash, the moonlight enveloped the city.

The DEM branch company in Tengu city is also glittering with lights. There are multiple spotlights for spotting intruders here. It made the DEM buildings look like somebody's coloring them in technicolored-fireworks.

That is how it looked like from the outside anyway.

Upon closer inspection, there are cold, emotionless, and metallic machines lurking in dark corners and shady warehouses.

Bandersnatches.

Autonomous combat androids created by DEM.

These machines are lying in wait, their sensors working at full capacity through those malicious red eyes on the androids. The machines patrolled DEM's turf systematically.

These robots are inferior to magicians. However, they make up for this lack of prowess by sheer numbers.

Although there are Bandersnatches all over the place. These machines are just scouts for spotting enemies. They are the first line of defense before the real cavalry, the magicians arrive to defend.

With multiple lines of defense, this place is like a fortress.

Alas, the machines are still vulnerable to exploits.

In a dark corner, the shadow cast by a nearby building started twisting supernaturally. It extended upwards like a geyser in a swamp.

From within this pillar of shadow came a humanoid shape. Slowly, the individual stepped out from the shadow. Her face got revealed by the moonlight.

She's an incredibly gorgeous lady.

She's so beautiful it's scary.

She had uneven twintails and she wore a gothic Lolita dress with red and black colors mixed into it. That's the same red as blood and the black of night.

However, her most striking feature is her eyes.

She had different eye colors.

Although her right eye is flashing with a bloodthirsty red, her left eye is a golden clock instead of a normal eye. The clock hands are also ticking in that clock-eye of hers. It's strangely terrifying to look at her bizarre left eye.

The noble-looking lady also had a chill-inducing smile. She looked at the tall DEM main building with a sinister sneer.

"The second spirit identified after the first spirit of origin…"

She giggled although there is no hint of amusement in her laughter.

"I wonder if she's here?"

Kurumi left the Itsuka residence to search for the second spirit…

She looked at the dozens of buildings and facilities around her, some of them dozens of floors tall. She flashed a look of slight frustration.

"So many places to check…"

"Looks like we have to find her…"

Kurumi's shadow expanded outwards as dozens of girls identical in appearance to her came out of her shadow.

These are time copies made using Kurumi's Angel, Zaphkiel. She used the Eighth bullet, Chet to make these copies. The time copies are drawn from her time axis.

They are all nigh identical copies of Kurumi, they can use Kurumi's Angel, Zaphkiel the flintlock pistol and rifle.

However, unlike the real Kurumi, these time clones can't use the Twelfth Bullets of Zaphkiel. They are also far weaker than the original Kurumi. However, the clones are stronger than average magicians.

These clones are perfect for Zerg-rushing the enemy or swarming enemies with superior numbers.

"Let us begin, 'me'…"

Kurumi ordered her time clones.

"Since we are all expending valuable time here, let's wrap this up as quickly as possible…"

Kurumi roamed her eyes over her clones. Then, she closed her eyes.

"Hubby-sama gifted me so much Time, I don't want to squander it on searching…"

"Of course…"

"Hubby's time…"

"We can't…"

"Possibly…"

"Squander…"

"Let us make haste…"

"Let's go…"

"Time to search…"

The time clones giggled like jesters before merging into the shadow beneath them.

The original Kurumi stood there while gazing upon the main building. She dived into her shadow too. She sneaked into the main building through shadows…

DEM, main building, top floor…

A shadowy figure emerged from the ground of the luxurious office. The humanoid silhouette approached the big table in the center of the room.

Kurumi swept her red and golden eyes over everything in the room. She slowly moved forward in those elegant high heels of hers.

Her footsteps reverberated in the room. Her grin grew wider as she moved forward. Then, she stopped after a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes.

Vrmm

At the same time, vibration sounds echoed in the room. A golden lightsaber appeared in a flash.

Without stopping, the golden saber went for Kurumi's head.

Clang

The lightsaber met Kurumi's flintlock in a violent thud. The shockwave also generated a gust in the office. The gust blew apart Kurumi's bangs, revealing her golden eye.

Kurumi looked at the assailant who is locked in a struggle against her flintlock pistol. The intense clash generated sparks between them.

"Ara…"

Kurumi smiled towards the assailant like she's meeting an old friend.

"Who are you?"

"You blocked it, huh?"

Ellen in her Pendragon CR unit mused out loud. She's not shocked to see Kurumi here.

"It seems we have a big fat rat running loose in our office…"

"Hihihi…"

Ellen frowned when the spirit giggled like a banshee.

She unleashed a quick swipe with her light saber but she still missed despite using superhuman speed to hack at Kurumi.

"Ara ara…"

A burst of playful laughter came from behind Ellen.

"I suppose you're the one known as the strongest magician?"

"You know about me?"

Ellen turned around to see Kurumi standing five meters away from her. She couldn't immediately ascertain how Kurumi moved so fast away from her.

"You're the second spirit to identify me…"

Ellen sized up Kurumi.

She turned grim.

"You're Nightmare, aren't you? So nice of you to save us the trouble of looking for you…"

"Oh, my… Did I get discovered?"

Kurumi lifted her skirt for a polite curtsy.

"Let me introduce myself. My name's Tokisaki Kurumi…"