I become speechless of what Susanoo said to me. It was just a simple and normal line but somewhat, there is something weighing it. I don’t know why but maybe because of the sudden change of air around him?

I could only stare at him in the eyes with bewilderment and mouth agape. The clouds, the breeze, or even the sunlight, none of those are making me hallucinate, right?

“Um…err…did…did you really missed me that much? You can just tell that to me I front of others, why are you talking like that now?”

“…Nothing special…I just…want to talk to you alone…”

“Well…we’re talking now…”

“Yeah…I’m glad you’re safe, Asagao. I am really glad…I want to greet your sisters too but…that’s too much of wishful thinking.”

“Why…are you so dramatic? You can just talk to them…”

Susanoo went quiet and only look down woefully. I want to say something but I don’t have any idea what’s in his mind. He is unpredictable and there are so many mysteries about him. Not only that, he openly admitted to assassinating and killing people.

“I wish I could talk to her too…to…Ni--…no…nevermind…I am just glad that you are doing fine. To see you do your best, to try to clean up the mess that I have left…I am really proud of you and your sisters for coming this far.”

“Ni--? I don’t get you, I don’t understand what you are trying to say. What do you want from me? What do you want from Higan, Casablanca, and Hibiscus? Tell me!”

“Asagao…I am Ast--! Times up…”

“Eh?”

“Sorry, I’ll leave now.”

“Eh?!”

What…?

WHAT?!

Susanoo cuts his words and suddenly said his goodbye. The melancholic and depressing air around him changes again into a lethargic one in an instant. He was about to say something but he didn’t continue further…

What’s his deal?!

Not only that, not only him, everyone is having a leisure time amidst the crisis we are about to face.

When I got to the kitchen earlier, Shouko was happily cooking and Topaz sat there watching her cook with a drool on her lips. Everyone is taking it easy…

Well, I guess it’s not that bad.

Since my mood was flattened, I better do something else or I’ll sink into another deep, depressing thoughts here. I guess one thing hasn’t changed about me is my tendency to think negative and my self-loathing.

However, in the middle of contemplating of what to do, something unexpected occurs…

BOOM!

It must be the best day of my life…

The ship shakes a little as the explosion happens. I instinctively run towards the deck to see what’s going on because I’ll be honest, I don’t like the idea of crashing into the sea because I can’t swim. No, the idea of crashing itself is scary enough.

As I arrive at the main deck, I immediately saw the back of Cattleya who was panicking as she doesn’t know what to do. I approach her and tap her shoulders which gave her a little shock.

“Eeeep!”

“C-Calm down! Miss Cattleya, it’s me…Asagao.”

“Ah…Good morning…not! Um…”

“What’s happening?!”

“We’re being attacked by devils…flying devils no less.”

“That’s…really problematic…”

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! My power is so useless…I don’t think I can even help in this situation…”

“What…was your magic again?”

“I can…summon calamity spells…such as typhoon, earthquake, blizzard and even call down a meteor.”

“That’s…really not useless…but just inappropriate in the situation.”

“Sorry…”

“Well, leave it to us this time! There will be a time where you will shine so for now, bear with it.”

“Miss Asagao! You’re so nice…like what Miss Higanbana and Alstroemeria said.”

“I’ll be going now. Just take a breather…Demon Lord Cattleya.”

I left Cattleya and head towards the edge of the ship to see the people fighting.

“Bring out the guns! Bring out the cannons! We’re going war, boys!”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Merissa’s commands can be heard through a microphone like a tube. From the ship’s sides, tube-like cannons and barrels pops out while producing mechanical sounds and peeks forward. I squint my eyes and I really saw flying devils.

There are winged devils with four limbs, winged devils with a form of a dragon, bird, or even lizards that they are bigger than our ship. There are even devils that fly without any wings which I assume that uses flight magic. Those look bad knowing that they are archdevils…

BANG

BANG

BANG

The cannons and barrels started blasting and barraging them with lasers and Gatling guns while the ship makes evasive maneuvers to evade the devils.

“Niyahahaha! This is… really fun! Asagao, see you later! I’ll just stretch out some limbs!”

Mimi laughs as she saw the swarm of flying devils. She stretches her arms and cracks her knuckle. After that, black dragon-like wings came out from her back and starts flapping. Her hands morph into a black skeletal claw, the one that she uses when she was in behemoth mode but it is much smaller to fit her image. She flies towards the devils and started hacking them with her claws…

“Niyahahaha! Come on! Fight back you useless sack of shit!”

Merissa’s vocabulary is rubbing hard to Mimi. I should discipline her later to avoid using such foul words, especially around the younger girls.

After that, I notice a flash, no, a blur that jumps up that destroyed a devil. After losing momentum, I immediately notice who it is…

“I’m falling!~”

“Geez, please don’t do something so reckless! I’m worried too…”

“Don’t worry, Hibiscus!~ I know you and Emby will catch me. Well, even if you don’t it’s fine!~”

“Geez…! Ah, Emby, to the left!”

“Pii!”

Emby opens his beak and produces a concentrated power made up of solar light. He fired it towards the flying the devil to the left which killed it instantly and it didn’t stop from there. Emby sweeps the sky with that laser killing more devils. Since they are in divine ascension, it was an easy feat for them.

“Good job, Emby!~”

“Pii!”

Hibiscus praises the piece of shit Emby while catching Alstroe in the air. As soon as her feet landed on the back of Emby, Alstroe jumps up again to kill more devils.

“That’s unfair…”

I quietly muttered. It was an unlikely combination in aerial combat. I can’t believe that something this simple looks so brilliant. That’s why Alstroe wants to ride behind Hibiscus or Casablanca…no…I’m sure she just wanted to cuddle with them.

Geez, that’s really unfair!

Come to think of it, where’s Casablanca?

“Ha! Go, go, go! Be crushed!”

I saw Casablanca riding her crescent moon and charging towards the devil but stops halfway. From the center of the swarm of the devil, a small black sphere appears. Casablanca concentrated on the place and clenches her fist while staring at it.

As she fully clenched her fist, the black sphere started absorbing the devils within its vicinity. The devils got pulled into it and through their own mass together with the gravity absorbing the devils inwards, they are slowly crushed.

That’s…a little brutal, to be honest.

“Niyahahaha! You look more dangerous than your cute appearance suggests!”

“No, Mimi is also cute!~”

“I want to flatter each other but there are more of them!~ Let’s go, Casablanca!”

“Yes!”

Casablanca and Hibiscus are certainly learning and growing. Their honest pursuit of power is what makes it possible. As I was in a daze looking at the two’s tremendous growth, Shouko and Ichirou appears beside me.

“Shouko? You’re not supposed to move so much…”

“Don’t worry. I want to help as much as I can too. Being a burden is too much for me so at least, let me assist.”

“But…how?”

“Ichirou, if you may.”

From Shouko’s words, Ichirou gathers power in his palm and in a flash, a long bow appears. A bow that usually used by Japanese archers. Ichirou passes it to Shouko and she draws it. As Shouko draws the string and points it to a devil, a makeshift magical arrow appears and Shouko fires it.

FWISH

As a slight gust of gale passes, the devil was cleanly shot in its head and dies. I look at Shouko and Ichirou with a surprised and questioning gaze.

“As you can see, Asagao, I am able to still shoot arrows such as that.”

“Wait…how?! You…just used Ichirou’s conjured weapon… with a magical arrow no less!”

“We already tested it. Maybe because I have Ichirou’s soul inside me, the weapons his conjure recognize me as Ichirou too and the spirits enable me to freely conjure an arrow as long as I hold this bow.”

“Amazing…!”

Ichirou also conjures a bow of his own and started shooting down devils. It seems that he won’t jump there with the others.

“You’re not going, Ichirou?”

“Yeah, I’ll shoot arrows from here too with Shouko. I don’t think I can fight them in the air. I can actually survive a fall at this height. No, I definitely will survive the fall. I’ve already experienced it once, however, going back to the ship will be impossible so I’d rather not.”

“Uwaah…I bet I’ll wet myself if I were to fall in such height…Even if we use divine possession too, there’s no guarantee that we can return.”

“W-Wet..?! No…A-Asagao…what about you? I think you should stay here too.”

“No, I can at least join them too, you know. I’ll just find Shouta.”

I left Ichirou and Shouko shooting arrows. As I walk around trying to find Shouta, I saw the figure of that man, Susanoo. He was just standing and staring the devils from far off distance.

I don’t think it he can do anything in this situation too…or so I thought…

“[Mortem]”

Susanoo quietly whispers. A word imbued with strong Arcana magic was sent to nothingness, however, looking at the devils from his side, they die without any indication of being hit or shot. The way kill now sent a cold shiver down to my spine again.

It seems he got an upgrade that no one can hope to reach. What’s the deal with this guy? He’s been overpowered right from the starts and becomes much stronger because of his pursuit of laziness…

Yeah…the way he fight those devils without moving an inch of his muscles is a proven laziness…

I walk past him like I saw nothing.

After that, I meet Higan…carrying Topaz in her arms. Higan is…breathing heavily…

“W-What’s with you, Higan?”

“A-A-A-A-Asagao! S-S-S-She’s also a devil right?! I really really really really should do something about her! Haa…haaa…!”

“CALM DOWN!”

“IF SHE’S A DEVIL, I CAN’T LEAVE HER UNATTENDED! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!”

“GO FIGHT OUT THERE! ALSO, YOUR INTENTIONS ARE SO CLEAR!

“GEEZ! YOU DON’T SEE A DEVIL THIS CUTE OFTEN!”

“Come here you little…”

Higan put down the trembling Topaz and painfully parts with her. She really wanted to attack her, huh…

Higan calms down and the scared Topaz retreated behind me to hide from Higan. I gave Higan a light bonk on her head since she is misbehaving a little.

“Calm down you idiot, you just got over your first period. Are you going to be fine?”

“Hmm? Of course. Who the hell do you think I am!?”

“Such cocky words…if you are aiming to be the beast queen, you should behave more.”

“I get it. So, Asagao, use that to me. It’s been a while now since then…”

Since she is already reaching her hand to me, I grasp it and pull her a little towards me. Higan just showed me a smile and I return it with a wry smile too. I don’t have to concentrate anymore. I am already in sync with Higan right from the start.

I pass the divinity and it flawlessly flows to Higan without any resistance. It’s a proof that she wholly accepts me without abandon. Her trust to me is like breathing, it's natural.

“[Divine Ascension]”

Contrary to my expectation that a pillar of light will shoot out towards the sky, Higan was enveloped with bright light that it looks like a cocoon. I myself was blinded by the light as it shines through the sky.

Even I was taken aback from such new development of power.

The cocoon began cracking. Crack forms everywhere and more divine light spills out from it until an explosive amount of light surges.

It was no longer the Higan that I knew that first time we did Divine Ascension. Maybe because she has gotten powerful or I am already resonating with this body more or even both.

Higan emerges from the cocoon, however, my eyes are strongly glued to her because of…her appearance…drastically changes…

Her tails that are five in numbers should turn into nine, proving that had reached the heights of being a fox clan, however, right now, her tail compose of only one…just a single tail. That’s not it, that’s not what made me look Higan like I saw an ephemeral godly being…

Higan’s hair…becomes completely white together with her tail and ears and her eyes becomes crystal blue like the sky, as if like, she became completely like me…traits that doesn’t deviate…from being a Lionheart…

However, she is not a child of my Mother, Nivalis. She is the child of Astlan Lionheart and Izuna. It’s impossible for her to have such kind of traits.

“Asagao, watch me…”