AWB Chapter 110 The Great Attack: Breaking Through Before the Battle
Chapter 110 The Great Attack: Breaking Through Before the Battle
As Mei watched Miki run into the restroom, he remained lost in thought.
“Mr. Ming, shouldn’t I follow her and keep an eye on her every move? After all, your omniscience probably makes it inconvenient for you to go to the toilet.”
Faced with Miku's question, Ming nodded and then shook his head. "It is indeed inconvenient, but I have my own way. Miku, you don't need to get involved..."
Seemingly thinking about Miku's lesbian hobbies, she became hesitant to speak.
He then stopped speaking, closed his eyes, and concentrated his mind. His slight voice, like a vibration, traveled across the ground like radar, enveloped in spiritual energy.
"It's really clear. As expected, the Ninth Demon King has an extremely good control over sound."
Ming thought to himself that if he could gather the sound waves into his hand and turn them into vibration waves, he might be able to penetrate the internal organs of the body.
Just as Ming was sensing this, on the other side of the restroom where Miki was...
Because of her father's rejection, Miki felt an unprecedented sense of loss. Not wanting to worry her fellow members of AST, she went alone to the women's restroom stall at the banquet and sat on the toilet, crying silently.
After entering the restroom, Miki sat on the toilet, crying as she recalled Origami's courageous act, and a feeling of shame welled up inside her.
"AST is not a useless unit!" That's how Origami retorted to Kotaro back then.
Thinking of this, the girl felt an overwhelming sense of shame, but she had no one close to confide in, so she could only hide in the toilet and mutter to herself to console herself.
"When I didn't dare to stand up, it was Origami-senpai who stood in front of me and retorted to my imposing father without any hesitation."
Thinking of this, a seed of sadness quietly sprouted deep within Mikie's heart.
"I don't want to quit AST!" Miki cried out in her heart.
"That was a path I chose with great difficulty, and in order to stay here, I must... I must! Make myself stronger."
Thinking of this, Miki's eyes hardened again, and the flame of "belief" burned fiercely, burning away all the sorrow in her heart.
Having made up her mind, Miki slowly stood up from the toilet, preparing to push open the bathroom door and step out. As she walked forward, she pondered deeply:
"In short, what I should do now is to successfully complete this mission... and then tell my father that the AST is not a useless force! And I don't want to leave the AST!"
Mikihime silently encouraged herself, trying to calm down. Then she slowly took a breath and steadily pushed open the door.
As she cautiously peeked out, her gaze was immediately drawn to what was in front of her. There, in front of the sink at the entrance to the women's restroom, stood the strange maid she had met briefly in front of the banquet hall, acting suspiciously. Seeing this, Miki became curious and went forward to investigate.
"How long am I supposed to keep dressing like this and fawning over the guests!" the maid muttered angrily to herself, completely unaware of Mikie's arrival beside her.
Seeing this, Mikiko gazed at the maid for a moment, then murmured thoughtfully:
"Hmm... I do feel like I've seen her before..."
Just as Mikie was beginning to feel a sense of familiarity, the strange maid suddenly attacked, lifting her bangs and shouting angrily:
"Aaaaaaah! This fringe is the reason I can't see anything!"
"What! Ashley!"
When Miki saw the maid lift her bangs, she couldn't help but look at her face, and a face that she could never forget suddenly came into view.
Hearing the sound, Ashley turned her head and was startled to see Miki standing beside her. Ashley was terrified and said in a low voice:
"Huh! You're Miki Megumi! When did you appear?!"
Seeing this, the two stared at each other in silence. After a moment, Miki remembered what she had said to him and spoke first:
"Ashiri... It's so good to be able to see you alone. I have a question I'd like to ask you!"
Finally, Mikie asked the question, but what awaited her was a cold, merciless punch, followed by the words:
"I don't want to hear it, you can just stay here and rest forever!"
Having anticipated Ashley's sudden attack, Miki nimbly dodged to the side and seized her wrist, firmly controlling her.
Seeing her hands restrained, Ashley's face was filled with rage as she shouted at Mikie in a deep voice, "Let go! You...you bastard!"
"I will not give up until I have asked all the questions I want to ask!"
Seeing Mikie's unwavering resolve, Ashley's struggles lessened slightly, but did not cease.
Seeing Ashley's struggles lessen, Mikie took a deep breath to calm herself. "What was your purpose in taking Ashcroft? And what about the 'stolen lover' you mentioned earlier?"
Upon hearing the question, Ashley's expression darkened, and she suddenly sprang up, raising her leg to kick Mikie. Caught off guard, Mikie hurriedly released her grip and retreated rapidly, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Seeing that she had missed, Ashley's eyes sharpened as she stared at Mikie, and she said in a deep voice:
"What's the point of telling you all this now! What help can someone like you possibly offer!"
At this point, Ashley did not hesitate for a moment and kicked out with all her might. Seeing this, Mikie did not dodge or flinch, but straightened her chest and took the attack head-on.
Upon hearing the question, Ashley suddenly became agitated, leaping up and kicking at Mikie. Caught off guard, Mikie instinctively let go, stepped back, and narrowly dodged the kick.
Seeing that she missed, Ashley angrily yelled at Mikie:
"What's the point of telling you all this now! What help can someone like you possibly offer!"
Upon hearing this, Ashley did not hesitate for a moment and kicked out with all her might. Mikie did not dodge, but instead stood up and took the hit with her body.
Then, she sincerely extended both hands, grasped Ashley's right hand, and met Ashley's gaze with eyes devoid of any malice, and said firmly:
"I joined AST because I wanted to help others! So I will definitely help you... and prove it to you!"
Just as Mikie revealed her ideal, Ashley seemed to hear a sound and froze.
This reminded Ashley of the past, when she herself had said the same thing: "I joined SSS to help others!"
The orange-haired girl seemed to reappear before her, leaving Ashley stunned in place.
Seeing Ashley's stunned expression, Miki stepped forward and continued calmly:
"And Bell also told me to stop those three... so..."
Ashley, upon hearing the word "Bell!", snapped back to reality and repeated it.
"Hmm!" Miki asked softly, looking puzzled as she heard herself interrupted.
Just as Ashley was about to press for more information, the announcement of the start of the press conference suddenly broke the silence, interrupting their conversation. Upon seeing this, the two of them simultaneously rushed out.
As the speeches echoed from the banquet hall, Miki and Ashley hurriedly ran towards the light ahead.
During the run, Mikie kept pressing Ashley with questions about her "lover," which made Ashley increasingly anxious.
"You're going too far, you're really annoying!"
Ashley was running forward desperately, turning her head to shout loudly at Miki, who was chasing closely beside her, which seemed quite annoying.
"It's okay if you find me annoying, but please be sure to tell me!"
"What exactly are you doing this for... no, I should say, for whom are you trying to steal [Ashcroft]?"
Miki talked as she ran, her stamina seemingly inexhaustible, which Ashley found extremely annoying.
"Stop babbling! Are you some kind of curious child?!"
"We've made up our minds! The three of us will handle this ourselves... If you want to know, go investigate for yourself!"
Ashley stopped answering and, like a nimble cheetah, charged straight towards the magnificent and solemn entrance of the venue without hesitation or looking back.
When Mikie ran into the banquet hall, she saw Kotaro standing next to the black cube-shaped box in the center of the platform, giving an enthusiastic explanation:
"Distinguished guests, before opening it, I should first explain the combat performance of [Alice]. [Alice] is a [manifestation device] that strengthens defense to the limit. When it reaches its strongest output power, it can even open a top-tier [freedom domain] that blocks any external attack interference."
"The defenses are so strong that I can't even describe them in words. I'd rather you all see for yourselves in the work ahead!"
At this point in his impassioned speech, Kotaro suddenly raised one hand high and pointed straight behind him, a gesture full of power and confidence, as if endless secrets awaited to be revealed where he was pointing.
This was perhaps the second time he had been so confident since he thought he had defeated his elder brother.
His gesture clearly indicated that he wanted the mysterious magician sent by DEM to come on stage to unveil the mystery of [Alice] and reveal it to the eagerly awaiting audience.
However, something unexpected happened at that moment! Time passed by, and the DEM magician, who should have made a dazzling appearance and become the focus of the entire audience, did not appear on stage for a long time.
The entire scene fell into an eerie silence, while the AST members below the stage stared intently for a long time.
"Mr. Ming, when do you plan to make your move? Do you need my help?" Mei Jiu whispered in her ear.
"There's no need. I'm only responsible for the final cleanup. I probably wouldn't choose to take action here unless someone hurts my family."
"Oh! Miku understands."
In that instant, all the lights that had been as bright as day suddenly went out without warning, leaving not a trace of light, instantly swallowing everyone present into boundless darkness.
The injured guests in the audience were somewhat astonished, while some thought it was just an entertainment program before the opening ceremony.
"What happened? They're all gone! All the lights are off! Did you do this, Ashley?" Mikie, who had just arrived, stood in front of the door and called out to those around her with a puzzled look on her face.
"Where is that powerful magician that DEM Company assigned..." Kotaro pondered with some doubt.
Until a teasing girl's voice came from the black cube next to Kotaro:
"Are you looking for him again, Mr. Gaslff Nightstalker? He should be fast asleep in the lounge right now, shouldn't he?"
Following the sound, one could see Cyril, Ashley, and Leonora standing upright on the stage, their intentions quite obvious.