Just one second after opening the door—how could someone just mysteriously vanish?
She rushed to the window—it was closed. Immediately she dashed out of the classroom, but there was no one in sight.
What on earth just happened? Someone suddenly disappearing without a trace—it left Yui utterly terrified.
Should she report it to the teacher? But would the teacher even believe her? Most likely, they'd just think she'd gone crazy.
As her mind descended into chaos, another figure suddenly emerged in her thoughts—she should go and tell him about this strange, eerie incident.
"Someone just vanished into thin air? Yuigahama, I didn't think you were like me—"
The voice belonged to Zaimokuza, but he stopped mid-sentence, because the look on Yui's face was clearly not a joke.
But still—how could a person just disappear like that without a reason?
Meanwhile, another student—Yazuki—stood to the side, hand on chin, appearing as if lost in thought.
At least, that's how he seemed to others.
In reality, he had already begun to activate his Angel Domain to envelop his body. But it couldn't be deployed instantly.
He needed to go through a warm-up process—a gradual power overflow to repeatedly stimulate the angelic force, fully activate it, and fortify both his body and the Angel Domain.
When the time was just right, his demonic eye opened deep within his left eye.
A complex magical array composed of intricate geometric patterns surfaced across his retina.
Next, a clock-like formation appeared within the magical array, with the hour hand first spinning clockwise, then slowly reversing in a counterclockwise direction.
His vision began to shift—everything within a five-meter radius of where Yukino had been standing began to rewind like a movie playing in reverse.
This was his ability to read spatial residues—to observe images lingering in the space where an event had already occurred.
His brow twitched slightly—he had spotted Yukino. At the same time, the corners of his mouth lifted in a cold, sinister curve.
Beneath Yukino's feet was a magical array.
Upon analysis, it was a dimensional transfer circle, and it carried the power of a god. In simple terms—it was a summoning circle from another world.
No wonder he'd felt a strong sense of disgust all day. So this was the reason.
Thinking about Yukino's current predicament, he realized that this summoning was unlikely to be for a good purpose—especially since he himself had once been tricked in a similar way.
Now, a surge of darkness welled up from deep within his soul.
While searching for a way back to Earth, he had never stopped trying to uncover the identity of the god who had wronged him. After defeating the first world, he discovered that its gods had nothing to do with the summoning incident. In fact, those gods didn't even know what "Earth" was.
In all the worlds he traveled afterward, he found no trace either.
But this current summoning—this otherworldly summoning—might finally lead him to some clues.
"Yazuki-kun? What should we do? Yukinoshita—"
"Let's search the area. She couldn't have just disappeared like that. I think you had a brief lapse right as you pushed her, and she took advantage of that moment to sneak away."
"Huh? That can't be. I have a great memory, and I was fully aware at the time. You don't believe me either, do you?"
Yui Yuigahama's face showed a mix of frustration and sorrow.
"Calm down. Think about it this way—if I were the one who saw Yukino disappear suddenly and came to you with this story, would you believe me?"
"I would! Because Yukinoshita disappeared right in front of my eyes!"
"Okay. Anyway, just try to calm down. I'll help you find her. And stop blaming yourself."
Yuigahama's expression made it look like she felt responsible for Yukino's disappearance—there was a hint of guilt and unease in her face.
"Th-then can she really be found?"
"Of course. She still owes me like ten meals—I'm not letting her skip out on that debt!"
Yazuki's confident words finally gave Yuigahama some peace of mind.
"I'll go check around the third-year classrooms. Fatty, you head to the second-year side. Yuigahama-san, you search around the first-year classrooms."
That was what he said, but Yazuki himself headed to a more secluded place—he was preparing for dimensional transfer.
If a magical array allowed for transfer, it meant the two worlds were connected, not completely cut off by a Voidstorm barrier. In that case, even without a transfer circle, coming and going wouldn't be too hard for him.
If it had happened outside his view, he could have ignored it—but now that fate had thrown this into his path...
Heh.
At that moment—the Demon King's eyes flared fiercely.
==========================
Elsewhere—on Yukino's side:
After being fully engulfed by the light, she felt a sensation of weightlessness, like stepping into empty air.
But that feeling passed quickly—her feet once again touched solid ground. The surrounding light faded away, and her icy-blue eyes took in her new surroundings.
This wasn't the familiar classroom of Sobu High School.
The floor was white. The ceiling was white. The walls were white.
Then, a figure entered her field of vision—a woman of breathtaking beauty, almost too perfect for a human.
She looked like a goddess.
"Nice to meet you. I am Ariadoa, a goddess residing in this Unified Divine Realm. For certain reasons, I've summoned you from Earth to this dimension."
She really did call herself a goddess. Yukino was stunned by the words.
"I imagine you've encountered several dangerous incidents today, haven't you? In truth, those were caused by the curse of the Demon King from the otherworld, Yadetre."
"The Demon King's curse… on me?"
Yukino murmured in disbelief. Was she dreaming?
"Why?"
"It's simple—because you are the one destined to save the world of Yadetre from the Demon King's clutches. That's why the Demon King has gone to such lengths to kill you across dimensions."
That explanation made Yukino's eyes widen. It was getting increasingly fantastical. She was the one who would defeat the Demon King?
"So, Hero Yukinoshita Yukino, please save—"
"Send me back!"
In that instant, Yukino responded with steely resolve, returning to her usual calm demeanor.
She had a nagging feeling that this so-called goddess wasn't quite right.
Something about her was too hurried, too anxious. And the moment she spoke those words, the goddess's gentle expression momentarily cracked.
"If you're a goddess, then why don't you just save the world yourself?"
"Th-that's against the rules! Gods wish for humanity to flourish through its own strength, which is why countless mortal worlds were created. Only a human can save the human world."
"Hypocrite."
Yukino dared to say it because she realized something important: as long as she didn't will it, this so-called goddess couldn't force her to go to that other world.
As for the threat of force—if the goddess could truly do that, she wouldn't have wasted time talking.
And at those words, the face of this supposedly benevolent goddess twisted—revealing a trace of malice.