As I engage in a staring contest with Ichirou, the devil began regenerating at a swift pace. The medics that Ferd called earlier arrive to give aid to the barely conscious Casablanca and Hibiscus. Meanwhile, Merissa is trying to break out my and Ichirou’s quarrel albeit, she can’t utter careless words as Ichirou’s grimacing stare might shift to her.

Merissa visibly becomes paler and I can hear the faint pounding of her heart as she alternately glances at me and Ichirou and between the giant devil that looms over to us as it recovers its form.

“Um…Umm! This isn’t the time to--!”

“You stay out of this, dwarf.”

“Y-Yes…”

Under the gloomy dark night where the three moons shine brightly and clouds soar over the sky, Merissa perfectly synced with the gloominess as she tried to interject between us just to be leered at and told off. Merissa becomes more restless as the giant devil began rocking the ship with the waves it created.

I know very well that we won’t get anywhere with this and I need to somehow do something fast. I know that I worried Ichirou like this but I didn’t expect him to be this furious. No, I guess considering how long he waited for our return made him extremely anxious…

With that in mind, I guess a half-assed apology wouldn’t cut it. I have to sincerely say sorry to him.

“Ichirou-nii…”

“Asagao…you’re apologizing now?”

“…”

“You’re easy to read.”

“What do you expect me to say at this moment then?! Don’t you think you kind of ruined it?! Stupid Ichirou! I was sincerely going to apologize but you just have to say that!”

“I am the one angry here! Forget it! I can’t accept any of your apologies now even if you beg for it!”

“Then how do you suppose we do to that annoyingly big and stupid devil?! Aren’t you getting a bit unreasonable given the situation, stupid Ichirou!?”

“That’s the second time you called me stupid!”

“Because you are stupid, see, because of you, I am getting really furious too!”

“Fine, whatever you say!”

Our conversation didn’t get anywhere and it felt so pointless. As I started thinking that he won’t even budge from where he is standing, he promptly made big strides towards me and wraps his arms around me and tightly covers me in his embrace. My feet left the ground and my whole body was raised up.

Eh…?

“W-Wait…! Ichirou…This is a bit embarrassing…! This won’t fix our problem right now…!”

“T-That’s not it!”

“Then...?!”

“Divine Possession, you wanted to do it, right? We shall talk this over once we get rid of that hindrance.”

“Ah, yes! I want to fight again like that. Please enter inside me.”

“Stop with those innuendos! One day, I will just see myself with a sword stuck in my body because of King Ashfon! Also, you’re turning into quite a battle junkie.”

“Hmph, shut up!”

Even though he is angry at me and in return, I got angry myself, he did not let it be a reason not to fight. I got angry at him for no particular goddamn reason even though I am at fault here but that is more the reason we wanted to remove this annoying hindrance.

Our emotions coincide, our feelings are on the same wavelength and we started to understand each other more and more.

He is a friend of mine and he knows that. He treats me as a friend and I am aware of that. We may have our differences because of our gender, of which I am a bit awkward but, nevertheless, we’ve reached a closure so strong that a simple quarrel like this can just be an everyday occurrence.

“[Divine Possession!]”

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The same sensation runs over my body like before. Ichirou fades into a blue pale light and slowly enters my body. The sensation that is so warm it felt good that it made me a little flushed and had my heart pounding for a little.

A passage of seconds…

Bursting with power, overflowing with energy, bright light exploding from where I stand, I firmly grasp the sword which can destroy any form of evil that we both detest in my left hand and clasp my right hand which is covered with the spiritech limb.

Standing proudly with my two feet that are also covered with metal, I stare at the giant devil. The gloomy night sky is pervaded with brilliant blue light that flows fluidly like an aurora.

I am now at my best!

“Asagao…”

Merissa’s faint and perturbed voice enters my ears. As I look around, I saw her sitting in her rear with an awed face and gaping mouth. Her eyes glitter with tears as she stares dumbfounded at me.

“N-Nivalis…”

“M-Merissa?”

“N-No! Nothing! Asagao…you’re…amazing…”

“Merissa, I shall end this troublesome enemy so we can talk. There are many things we need to talk about after all.”

“”

“You don’t have to threaten her.”

With my enhanced senses, I created multiple single plated barriers around that giant devil. It’s not to limit its movement but it is my scaffolding to create the most violent turbulent this sea could have!

FWISH!

Like a thunder soaring through the sky and leaving trails of blue flash, I ascend at the speed of sound and spin around and swing my sword to the giant devil.

FLASH!

Without any resistance at all, I cut a huge heap of flesh from the devil as blue thin slashing light erupted from our attack. Using the plated barrier all around the giant devil, I bounce again and again as I slash and hack with a spin.

Vortex of blue light rises upward, creating a torrent of power that surges from each stroke of my sword. The giant devil is helpless against my assault as it is too big to dodge. It is practically a hitting target for me and what’s worse is that it cannot regenerate anymore due to our resonated purification power.

Before we knew it, the giant devil is reduced to nothing but a floating chunk of flesh in the sea, unmoving and unable to respond to anything anymore. It is not an exaggeration to say that something like this isn’t much for me and Ichirou in this form. Even though this power is borrowed from Ichirou as a whole, I don’t mind it as long as I can fight.

What left is to completely destroy it in one blow.

“”

“I already have something in mind. Please do not interrupt.”

“[Burst!]”

I soar towards above the devil’s remains and created a foothold for me to stand. Squeezing out more power from my core, violent divine power erupts that forms like a whirlpool and later on takes on a form of a morning glory. An array of large transmutation circles floated up into the sky reaching the clouds and lighting up the vast ocean.

Gripping the sword in my left hand, I point it down where the devil’s remain is. And then…

“[Blooming Thorn, Divine Possession – Ipomoea Nil Judgment!]”

The large array of transmutation circle spins at an unimaginable velocity while lining up slowly. From the sword that I hold towards the target gush a myriad of large thorny stem composed of blue lights. It’s like a giant beanstalk suddenly grew out from my left arm and had the giant flower above as its body.

The large thorn crept down towards the giant devil completely swallowing it while purifying every last bit of it. Furthermore, due to the shock of the sudden power blasting from the sword, my left arm that desperately holds into it becomes fractured.

I felt some bones keep breaking and at the same time, repaired instantaneously. The muscles keep getting shredded and at the same time, reconnected spontaneously.

After reassuring myself that I have completely annihilated the giant devil under the presence of the large thorn, I breathe a sigh of relief. The violent power that I summoned calms down and the large circles and thorns slowly disperse into particles of lights. The left sleeve of the shirt that I am currently wearing becomes tattered but the black dragon fiber is still intact like it is still new.

Since it’s in a sorry state, I didn’t bother to wear it longer and takes it off exposing my bare shoulder into the cold breezy night that achieved its calmness and serene silence after I killed that giant devil.

“It’s over and…that was kind of fast…”

After spelling that out forcibly from my mouth, Ichirou immediately separates from me. The metallic limbs that were covering my right arm and legs disperse into a light and pull away from me. A huge bulk of energy sweeps out from my body and in an instant, my body immediately limps and the barrier that I am using as foothold disappears.

“Ah…”

“Woah there!”

A cold metallic right hand and warm robust left arm cradle me softly. It is obviously Ichirou who caught me in his embrace while staring at my eyes. We are now descending from the sky as normal gravity dictates since there is nothing to set his feet on.

“You certainly overdid it with your own experiments!”

“I can’t help it! That was the second time I felt powerful. I want to learn more of what I am capable of in that form.”

“You’re getting too excited!”

“Spare me…I…seldom wins tough battles. I am basically…a loser you know…”

“Fine…”

“And…well…”

“What is it?”

“S-Sorry…for making you…anxious about us…and…”

“And…? I want to actually hear it.”

“S-Stop teasing me! I know that you are still angry…”

“The more reason you need to say it.”

“F-Fine…T-Thank you…for saving us.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed?”

“Because…even after what happened…I got angry at you earlier even though I shouldn’t. Now I kind of…feel a little regretful about it…”

“Ohh!~”

“Stop staring, stupid Ichirou!”

After thinking about earlier, yeah, getting angry at him for being angry was kind of stupid.  I feel really ashamed of my behavior earlier because I just realized that I acted like a child. I can feel my cheeks burning up as I admit such unsightly act. Ichirou just stares at me while smiling leaving no trace of his angered countenance earlier.

“T-Then…can…you forgive me together with Casablanca and Hibiscus?”

“How can I not? After showing me such face, I guess you’re really sincere about it.”

“Thank you.”

I can feel my face slackens as I heard Ichirou’s forgiveness. His body is oddly warm and I can feel how big it is compared to mine. It’s toasty and oddly, it felt comforting, however, it is far from the feeling of familial love or as a target of romantic affection.

A close friend or like a brother in arms would be the correct term I guess. Not to mention he already has someone he loves.

Physiological reaction through physical means from girls should be natural…like getting hard…but I guess it’s a little problem if it is from girls thirteen years old and below. Yeah…I can’t forget that time when we were in the underground cavern…

This made me think of his preferences when it comes to girls and had the urge to ask about it right now but I feel like it will ruin the mood.

“I am no longer angry at you Asagao but, that girl that stated that she is responsible for this, I got some nerves to pick with her!”

“Ah…yeah…Merissa…”

I hope this ends well.