Date A Mysterious Being

Chapter 26 - Demon King

Use the ID; open the door.

Shidou looked around cautiously and then stepped into the room.
The walls were of a construction similar to the isolation area on Fraxinus, with a space surrounded by reinforced glass in the dimly lit research area.

"...!"

His eyes flew open. Tohka was inside the glass partition.
Perhaps she was sleeping- her head hung where she was restrained in a chair.

"Tohka!" he cried, but his voice didn't reach the other side of the reinforced glass.
Most likely, it was the same configuration as the space on Fraxinus. In which case, there had to be some control on this side that would allow him to get inside to Tohka. He sent his eyes racing around the room.
And then he froze in place.
He'd thought he and Miku were alone in the lab, but now he spotted a man sitting in a chair with his back turned to them.

"Ngh-"
Shidou sharpened his gaze, fully on guard, and turned Sandalphon toward the man. Miku readied Gabriel's silver pipe.

"Aah, I've been waiting for you. You're Princess's...friend, I suppose?" the man said quietly and stood up. And then he turned slowly toward Shidou and Miku. "I believe this is the first time we've met, yes? I'm Isaac Westcott of DEM Industries."
Dark ash blond hair, tall. Sharp eyes somehow reminiscent of a predator.

Looking at this face, hearing this name, Shidou furrowed his brow minutely. "Isaac...Westcott."
Yes, this was the managing director of DEM Industries, Isaac Westcott. Anyone who had watched TV, read a newspaper, or checked out the news online would have heard his name at least once.

Westcott nodded rather dramatically. "How good of you to come. And Diva-" He looked at Miku, then turned his eyes back on Shidou and cut himself off.
He looked befuddled for a moment and then frowned dubiously. "What...are you? You can't be... No, there's no way..." Westcott put a hand to his mouth as if considering something.
Not understanding what the man was up to, Shidou frowned.

"I'm Itsuka Shidou. I came to rescue Tohka! Set her free right now!" He turned the tip of Sandalphon toward Westcott.
Westcott's eyes opened wide. But not because he was shocked or frightened by having the Angel turned on him. He stared baffled at Shidou for a moment.

"Itsuka...Shidou. Hm?" he said finally. "Heh-heh! The boy who can use Spirit powers... I thought it was impossible when I first heard about you, but well now, I see. That's how it is. Heh-heh. Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Shidou grew even warier at this sudden change and tightened his grip on the Angel's hilt.
But Westcott paid him no mind as he laughed out loud, holding his stomach.

"Well, isn't this amusing? So in the end, everything is in the palm of her hand."

"What is going oooon with this person?" Miku asked in a disgusted tone. "Does he have a few screws loose or something? Aah, this is why I haaaate men!"

"I don't think the fact that he's a man has anything to do with it," Shidou replied, a little fed up, and then turned back to Westcott. "Laugh all you want. I don't care. Release Tohka!"
He thrust Sandalphon forward, and Westcott's shoulders shook merrily.

"And what will you do if I don't do as you ask?" the older man asked.

"Sorry, but you'll do it even if I have to force you to."

Westcott snickered. "I wonder if you could."

"I think I can," Shidou told him. "I'd do anything to save Tohka."

"That was a joke." Westcott shrugged. "I'm not strong like Ellen. Up against a Spirit and a boy wielding an Angel, well, it's terrifying. Nothing I can do."