Chapter Thirty-Five: The Most Wicked Elf

Kurumi Tokisaki stood at the podium, her single exposed eye, red as a ruby, sweeping over the class. Such an unusual self-introduction naturally drew the attention of everyone present. Yet, the meaning behind the word "spirit" that Kurumi mentioned was unclear to most. Due to the strict information blockade maintained by various countries, even though spirits appeared frequently in this world, the general public had no idea they existed at all, nor that they were the true cause of spacequakes. To everyone, spacequakes were simply regarded as a natural disaster.

However, at least three students in the class couldn’t help but look up at Kurumi upon hearing her words.

Among them, Origami Tobiichi’s gaze was fixed intently on Kurumi. For someone to openly admit to being a spirit—when so few even knew the term—was truly astonishing. As a member of the AST Spirit Combat Division, Origami was particularly sensitive to such matters, especially since her parents had been killed by a spirit five years ago, which shaped her hatred for their kind.

Yet, it was class time, and she was surrounded by innocent, ordinary students. Filled with suspicion but uncertain whether Kurumi was joking or not, and lacking her detection equipment, Origami couldn’t sense whether Kurumi emitted a spirit’s aura. She couldn’t confront her directly in front of everyone, so she could only glare at Kurumi while her hands, hidden beneath the desk, clenched tightly.

As for Tohka, she appeared a bit confused. Thanks to the arrival of Yoshino, she was no longer completely ignorant; at least she now knew she wasn’t the only spirit in the world. In fact, having experienced Yoshino’s kindness and cuteness firsthand, Tohka felt a natural affinity toward other spirits.

So when Kurumi introduced herself as a spirit, Tohka, who had been lazily pondering what to eat for dinner, immediately perked up, curiosity gleaming in her eyes as she studied Kurumi.

Su Mo, for his part, was initially surprised, but being well-versed in the plot, he betrayed no emotion.

After all, he already knew Kurumi Tokisaki was indeed a spirit—the one codenamed Nightmare.

She was also known as the most evil spirit in the world. Spirits like Tohka were, at their core, still kind-hearted. Though spacequakes caused tremendous destruction, these incidents happened unconsciously. As an old saying from Huaxia goes: “Good intentions, though unrewarded, are still good; evil without intent, though unpunished, is not evil.” As long as one did not commit evil deliberately, one could not be called wicked.

But Kurumi was different. She was labeled the most evil spirit because she had personally killed over ten thousand ordinary people—not as collateral damage from spacequakes, but with her own hands. For a spirit to kill so many directly was far more heinous than deaths caused by spacequakes. That’s why she carried such a notorious reputation.

Su Mo watched Kurumi standing at the podium, a wicked smile on her lips, and began to ponder her purpose for joining the class.

In the anime, Kurumi sought to unleash the Twelfth Bullet—traveling through time and killing the First Spirit to change history. But the Twelfth Bullet required an enormous amount of spiritual power and time—essentially the total power and time of one spirit. If Kurumi acted alone, using the Twelfth Bullet would almost certainly kill her. Even if she succeeded in traveling through time, she’d have no strength left to alter history.

To carry out her plan, she deliberately approached Shido Itsuka, the original protagonist, because by then he had already sealed the powers of Tohka, Yoshino, and Kotori within himself. By devouring Shido’s spiritual energy, Kurumi would acquire the strength she needed to travel through time.

Yet, in this world, Shido did not exist. Although Tohka and Yoshino’s powers were sealed, they weren’t stored within anyone; their power remained in their own bodies, simply rendered unusable by the contract’s effects.

So, was Kurumi’s target now Tohka and Yoshino?

As Su Mo pondered, Kurumi’s gaze inadvertently drifted in his direction. Her previously wicked smile now glimmered with excitement as she stepped forward, stopping right before Su Mo’s desk.

“Ah—at last, I’ve found you, Mr. Su Mo. This time, I won’t let you get away from me!”

Kurumi pressed a slender finger to her lips, her expression almost dazed, as if struggling to restrain her emotions, her delicate body trembling slightly.

Su Mo was puzzled by her greeting.

“You know me?” To be honest, Su Mo felt as if he’d ended up with the wrong script.

Why did everyone know him since he arrived in this world? First it was Origami, now Kurumi—it was as if they’d met long ago, but he had no memory of it.

“Oh, I just remembered—Mr. Su Mo hasn’t been to the Neighboring World yet!” Kurumi murmured cryptically, nodding in realization before smiling and formally introducing herself. “In that case, let’s start over. My name is Kurumi Tokisaki. I just transferred here and I’m not familiar with the school, so I hope you can show me around after class.”

With those words, Su Mo immediately felt the envious, jealous, and resentful gazes of his classmates settle on him.

It was as if he could hear their thoughts:

“You already have Tohka and Origami, and now even the new girl isn’t left for us…”

It was as though he was being utterly monopolistic.

Faced with Kurumi’s invitation, Su Mo weighed his options. Though he didn’t know her true intentions, it seemed better to keep her attention on himself rather than risk her harming Tohka or the others. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry—at least for now.

If it were any other spirit, Su Mo wouldn’t be afraid, given the power of the Xia Ge Aidi Sword and help from Tohka and the others. Even a group fight would be manageable. But with Kurumi, unless the First Spirit herself intervened, even all the other spirits combined might not be enough.

Who could say whether the Kurumi before them was even the real one?

As a spirit, Kurumi’s Angel—Zafkiel—granted her control over time. While not overwhelmingly powerful, its abilities were bizarre: the Eighth Bullet allowed her to preserve and create copies of herself from the past. With enough time, she could create a clone every second. Paired with her uncanny shadow barrier, she was almost impossible to capture.

Trying to seize her was like reaching for the moon.

Yet, she seemed quite interested in him.

It was all a mystery, but Su Mo nodded in response. “Alright.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll be counting on you, Su Mo,” Kurumi replied, covering her mouth with a charming laugh that could enthrall a crowd. She gracefully made her way to the seat behind Shiori Itsuka, whose previous occupant vacated it without protest.

The seating arrangement thus became rather delicate.

Su Mo sat by the window, second to last row. In front of him was Tohka, behind him Origami Tobiichi, to his right Shiori Itsuka, and diagonally behind, Kurumi Tokisaki. It seemed as though he was surrounded by girls on all sides.