"Why did it happen to me and not to Miku?"
Kotori tried to figure this trouble out.
"We are both humans who were granted the powers of Spirits. We went through the same process…"
"Maybe the type of Reiryoku resulted in a difference between the nature of usage? I mean if it can affect your powers surely it would affect your expression of power, right?"
"Hmm, I don't know even if you ask me…"
Wu Yan shrugged.
"It could also be due to the Phantom's lack of finesse five years ago, she probably used you as a guinea pig to figure out how to properly turn humans into spirits. Maybe Miku is the result of the Phantom getting better at turning humans into spirits."
Wu Yan said that. However, Kotori leered at him. He bitterly laughed.
"Of course, this is just a hypothesis. I think the spirit's power has more to do than the skills of the power planter."
Wu Yan scratched his cheek.
"Fire is a destructive power. You were so young at the time that nobody could have expected you to control your powers. The pent-up energies leaked out and you rampaged, that is probably the side-effect, yeah…"
Wu Yan sighed.
"But, what if Phantom designed this intentionally?"
Kotori turned silent.
The Phantom is an unknown entity, why would this entity turn humans into spirits. Why would it give away precious Sephira Crystals, choosing girls to use them on?
He also wondered about the criteria used to pick Miku and Kotori. Did the entity pick them by chance or some intricate design?
In any case, they had to first determine if the entity known as Phantom is a friend or foe.
Did Phantom create Kotori as a spirit to wreak havoc on humanity?
Did she turn Miku into a spirit so she would treat humans like toys and garbage? Giving her the instrument she needed to affect the affairs of the world?
They had too little intel on Phantom. They only know the entity can make humans spirits through the distribution of Sephira Crystals. It is entirely possible that the spirit is doing this for fun or for some other nefarious motives.
Kurumi who has been in touch with the entity in multiple instances came up blank when asked for clues. Phantom is very good at cleaning its tracks. It is clearly trying to stay in the dark.
It is no wonder that Kotori wants to drag this mysterious entity into the open.
If DEM founds out about Phantom's possession of multiple Crystals then they would probably make her the priority target.
Westcott will definitely aim for this entity.
"Hey, you two…"
While Wu Yan, Kotori, and the operatives are pouring over various possibilities, Miku pointed out her frustration with puffed cheeks.
"Don't go into your own worlds like that, okay? You're going to make me feel unsafe…"
Miku pursed her lips, she was directing her complaint to Wu Yan.
"Who is this Phantom? What do you mean by rampage? Can you please answer me?"
"Sorry…"
Wu Yan bitterly laughed.
"The Phantom is the codename of the entity you call God. Kotori was turned into a spirit by that entity five years ago. That entity gave the young Kotori her Sephira Crystal."
"That is basically it…"
"I see…"
Miku nodded. Then she glomped Wu Yan again.
"Darling is worried about me, that makes me so happy. It is fine, however, as I can control my powers. I never lost control of my powers before. Moreover, you also sealed my powers so you don't have to worry about me…"
"Well…"
Wu Yan continued.
" 'We' are worried about you, it isn't just me. Did you just filter out the rest by yourself?"
"We still don't have many clues to work…"
Kotori scribbled something using the keyboard near her. She looked at what little intel they had on Phantom while frowning.
"If we can directly observe Phantom, I feel like we would be able to glean more intel…"
"Forget about it…"
Wu Yan poured cold water on her idea.
"Few have seen this Phantom. Kurumi who talked with this entity multiple times also told us the entity approached her, she couldn't track down the entity alone."
"Furthermore, after Kurumi had her abilities sealed, the Phantom disappeared from her contacts."
Wu Yan sighed.
"But, Kurumi told me that when she left us to find the second spirit, the Phantom appeared again."
"What?!"
Kotori stood up immediately.
"Why didn't you tell me something so important?!"
"Look, I wasn't planning on keeping this a secret."
Wu Yan pursed his lips.
"The Phantom only gave Kurumi two leads. Then, it disappeared. We don't even know what motivated the elusive spirit to do so, even if I told you, what could you have done?"
"I could have done something."
Kotori slapped her armrest with slight annoyance.
"If we know where Phantom materialized and when she encountered Kurumi, we could send people to investigate the area, maybe we can pick something up?"
"Sure…"
Wu Yan agreed to disagree.
"In the five years since she turned you into a spirit, that Phantom has been active all these years, however, you only caught a few grainy footages of Phantom, we can tell the entity is very vigilant and proficient at avoiding detection."
"Plus, Phantom most likely knew about Kurumi's alignment with us. Yet, she chose to contact Kurumi anyway. I think the entity knew better than to leave dirty trails for us to sniff it out."
Kotori choked on her words. She leered at Wu Yan.
"Who said she didn't leave a clue?! That clue is right here."
Kotori pointed at Miku who gasped.
"Phantom erased my memory, maybe it tempered with Miku's mind too."
Kotori looked at Miku with slight animosity.
"If we can thoroughly scan Miku's memories, maybe we can obtain a few clues?"
Miku started sweating cold bullets.
Wu Yan silently prayed for Miku, Kotori is obviously not in the best mood right now.
