“Yuri..are you seriously planning on destroying an entire country..even for you this is a tad extreme don’t you think..!”

Helgi got up and walked up to Yuri, who was looking back at him with a curious expression.

“Well i can’t just let that monster escape.” She glanced at Hikaru “No offense Hikaru”

“None taken. That is an appropriate way to describe what used to be my father.” Hikaru nodded in agreement.

“Okay good.” She looked back at Helgi and continued “Especially when it means so much to Hikaru. We’re partners now, so we have to stand up for each other through thick and skin!”

Holding up her fist in front of her, she nodded determinedly.

“..I think you mean through thick and thin. And what are you even on about! Just because you got the hots for him, you’re going to destroy an entire country for him!?”

Helgi held out his arms, motioning her absurdity.

“Wha. H-hey! I do not have the hots for a guy! I’m a man damnit..it’s just because we are close now..! Like family..!”

Fighting through her flustering. She shook her hands in front of her dismissively.

“Then would you do the same for me? Me and you are basically family too, aren’t we. What would you do if it was me in his position? Tell me.”

Folding his arms, Helgi waited for her answer.

“Weeeell..i guess i would just..tell you to get over it and to deal with it whenever it does happen..and i would promise to help then..”

Pursing her lips, Yuri looked away and added “Which i totally would!”

“Right..now compare that to what you’re doing for Hikaru..see my point? Seems a bit unfair. You want to be fair to those closest to you right?”

Trying to stop Yuri from committing another ridiculous genocidal level act, Helgi tried to make her downplay her commitment for Hikaru to the same level she had for him. Cleverly adding the part about her being interested in him, in order for her to attempt to to deny her affection for him and deny his claim, thus stopping her from committing her ridiculous act.

Her answer to his clever plan was not what he expected.

“Ugh! fiiine. You’re both important to me, so if something similar happens to Helgi, i will also ruin a country for you, okay?”

Sighing, she looked at Helgi to see if he was happy with her answer.

He had not expected this. Instead of downplaying her commitment to Hikaru, she instead chose to power up her commitment to him as well.

Hikaru smiled at Yuris commitment to those close to her and rubbed her head softly.

“Mm..?” She glanced at Hikaru before continuing her conversation with Helgi.

“...Why do you still look unhappy. You want even more? How greedy can you be!”

She made an irritated expression.

“No, that’s fine. Just that this world seems to have made you even more unbelievable..”

After that response. Helgi had no choice but to give up. There was no way to beat that sort of commitment from Yuri.

There was however, still someone who did not agree with her decision.

“Hey! What the hell are yuh talkin about!? Yer wanting to destroy my country!? Are yah insane! How many people would die! Besides this is my countreh! Yeh can’t just destroy it however yah want!?”

Ahab yelled angrily.

“Do you have any family living here?”

Yuri asked blankly.

“Not since my pappy died, No, why?” Ahab answered.

“Any friends? Lovers?” She added.

“Well..the nature of my job needs meh to be very casual with people so..” Ahab began but was cut off by Yuri.

“That’s a no then. And what about this being your country. Doesn’t your own government want to kill you? You have no future here anyway right?”

She said with a bored expression.

“I mean..fair point but that still doesn’t-”

“What about your last living relative. Your father. Wasn’t his whole legacy about making people aware of the monster below? Surely by defeating the monster and sealing it away, you’re sort of immortalising his legacy. Making sure that something good came from his journey below. Potentially saving many countries. Making yourself and your father, literal heroes”

Yuri spoke fast, filling Ahabs head with half baked reasonable sounding arguments and dreams of heroism.

(Though i’m just doing it because it’s important to Hikaru..)

“A-aye..i believe yer right..sealin away the beast is worth it..” Nodding while slightly confused. Ahab agreed and went back to steering the ship.

“You’re not the only one with people skills Helgi” She grinned.

“I can’t really call that people skills though..you just pressured him until he accepted it..” Helgi shook his head.

“Hey it worked didn’t it. Besides we always need a driver, it’s convenient!”

She looked over at Ahab who was now steering the ship again.

“Hey Ahab, you made sure to steer us off a bit right?”

Yuri asked, as they approached the the top of the gigantic hole.

“Huh? Why would i be doin somethin that unpredictable, we could crash into an island above us!”

Looking at her with a squint, he wondered about the nature of her ridiculous question.

“Because..otherwise, we will end up right where we got down. At the guards main airship base.”

She pursed her lips and sighed.

“Oh. Right. I guess i forgot since what the lad said was so unbelievable.”

Ahab was still dazzled by what Hikaru had told them and by Yuri filling his head with her words.

Hikaru was the son of a former god. Almost a real god himself. or would have been at least, which doesn’t make it any less impressive.

“Aye still can’t get over the fact we got someone that woulda had churches built for him by now! Right here! On the same ship as this old sack of bones!”

“Yeah. It’s very impressive”

Helgi answered dismissively, looking out into nothing.

“Yeh don’t sound vereh impressed?”

“No, i am. Just deep in thought right now..going through an old conversation. Which happens to be related to the subject at hand..”

Closing his eyes, Helgi scratched his head as if having trouble remembering.

“Oh? What’s it about, son?”

Ahab inquired.

“Just a private promise i made. Trying to remember to make sure i didn’t remember it wrong..although i really hope i did..”

“Is everythin alright sonny..? Yah know a promise is nothin but an exchange of words. If it’s somethin yah don’t like, you don’t have to do it.”

Ahab advised.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“Yes, i’m sure you know a whole lot about breaking promises, you conman of an airship driver”

Helgi smirked and turned away.

“Well, curses be had with me tryina help!”

Ahab fumed while concentrating on steering the ship.

(Too bad this wasn’t a normal promise.)

Helgi looked over at Yuri, who was busy chatting with Hikaru, in an effort to cheer him up.

“Come on Hikaru, Hi~ka~ru~ i wanna know, please~”

Pulling on Hikarus sleeves while dragging her words, she kept pestering him.

“I much rather not.” Hikaru denied her request.

“What are you up to now, Yuri?”

Helgi walked over to them.

“Hm? I’m trying to get Hikaru to tell me more about how he used to be like as a child”

She smiled mischievously and pulled on Hikarus sleeve.

“So come onn~ Tell me about little Hikaru~”

“Yuri. How indecent of you. I thought you were a more innocent girl than that.”

Helgi reprimanded her while wearing a grin plastered over his face.

“What are you talking about..? Wait you think i meant..his..no!”

Yuri held her hands up in front of her.

“That’s now what i meant at all!” She was blushing heavily while denying the claim.

“What are you referring to Yuri..?”

Hikaru asked, oblivious to the underlying meaning of Helgis claim.

“Well it means that she wants to know more about your- mnpff!”

Helgi was stopped from finishing his sentence by Yuri physically stopping his mouth from moving by covering it with her hands.

“About your childhood! Like i was mentioning earlier! Yes only that!”

Smiling awkwardly, she continued holding Helgis mouth.

(Though..i am pretty curious...considering his body..WHAT AM I EVEN THINKING!?)

Releasing Helgis mouth, she pinched herself hard enough to tear up.

“Very well..if you feel that strongly about it. I relent.”

Hikaru finally agreed after seeing Yuri tear up, falsely assuming it was because of her being upset at him.

“Alright! What did you do as a child, tell me all about it!”

She perked her ears to their limit.

“What i did as a child..i believe it was mostly studying. How to be a functioning god, how steer the believers, a lot of history about all the events concerning gods. Considering how gods were effectively immortal..the history concerned enough material to last a thousand years of learning, most of it minor disputes or similar things...”

He sighed from merely remembering that ordeal.

“That sounds..like an ineffective way of teaching..”

Helgi smiled awkwardly.

“Boring too.” Yuri nodded.

“It was very dull. Due to that, i would often sneak out, towards where the edge of the grass was. A cliff that fell into the mortal realm. I would sit there and stare at the people and animals. The mortal realm was fascinating. The environments were so different in each place. With it, the animals and the people changed drastically as well. I would spend hours looking at the everyday interactions of mortals.”

Smiling fondly at his nostalgic memories, Hikaru continued.

“That is also why i chose to learn the way of the blade.” Hikaru motioned to his sword.

“Because you thought it looked cool..?” Yuri asked.

“That as well,” Hikaru chuckled “It was due to how fascinated i was with mortals using tools and technique. Honing their skill. Using their entire concentration. For them, combat was a matter of life and death. Any edge they could get over their opponent was as important as breathing. It was a completely different world from how the gods fought. For them combat was just another minor event. They fought using their instinct and innate powers. There was no reason to hone their skill. Since the opponent would not die anyway. Even if they lost, it wasn’t of much importance since their life is never in danger.”

“I seeeee. So you were entranced by the excitement and risk of losing. Kind of like how exciting it is to steal a valuable well protected item, for the fear of being caught at any moment..!”

She felt a slightly deeper connection to Hikaru. He wasn’t as stoic as he tried to make himself appear. In fact he was similiar to her. That made her incredibly happy for some reason. Much more happy than finding a similar interest with a close friend.

“Indeed. It’s something wonderful. Living in a world of risk. It is a kind of freedom i envied. So i would train with a stick, day in, day out. Without using strength exceeding that of a mortal, i tried to make it as authentic as possible. It got me crude remarks from my sister, but it was well worth it.”

While reminiscing, Hikaru closed his eyes.

“Sounds like you were a very driven kid..” Yuri smiled while listening, Hikarus fondness for his past being pleasing to observe.

“I was. Although my sister was even more driven than me.” Hikaru opened his eyes into a furrowed squint.

“She spent her every waking hour studying and learning from the others. She wanted to become a god worthy of her title like the rest. That is probably why she took father's side. For me, our banishment to the mortal realm was a blessing. For her..it was a curse robbing her of her dreams.”

Hikaru closed his eyes and sighed softly.

“It isn’t your fault.” Yuri put her petite hand over Hikarus roughened larger hand.

“If i had kept my mouth shut about my foolish dreams. If i had tried to take most of the blame. Perhaps then my sister would have been sitting where she wanted..”

Feeling the regret coming back to his voice, Yuri squeezes his hand again.

“It wasn’t your fault or intention to ruin her dreams. It was the incompetence of your so called father for dragging his family into trouble.”

She assured him.

“Indeed..it does however..feel unfair. My desires of wanting to live in the mortal realm were granted. Yet her desires of staying where she thought herself to belong, were neglected.”

“The world is unfair. It was her own choice to resort to helping her father. It wasn’t your fault.”

She assured him again, stroking his hand slowly.

“Perhaps you’re right..”

He answered dully, though Yuri knew that he did not believe that. All she could do to ease his pain was simply to be there for him.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the other side of the world. Standing with her claws against the neck of an unfortunate human. Was Sköll, about to finish off her prey. She was interrupted by a sudden itchy feeling in her nose.

Achoo..!

Her sudden sneeze gave the person she was holding the opportunity to escape.

“Someone must be talking about me..” She wiped her nose with her fur covered hands.

“Ah he ran away. Well whatever. I got another relic, might as well head back.”

--

“Almost at the surface now, prepare yerselves, aye will head straight for the nearest floatin island for cover”

Ahab said while walking up to the lanterns and decreasing their strength.

“Alright, then our next course of action should be..getting me more spells. Much more spells.”

Yuri smiled with a glint in her eyes.

“I doubt there are any mass supplies of magic spells here. The most they have are basic utilitarian spells. I looked through various military documents, there was no mention of anything more powerful than a magic spell to cool their food supplies”

Helgi said with a shrug.

“Since Yuri is not able to produce runic spells around here. That does not leave us with many options.”

Hikaru added thoughtfully.

“That’s the thing! There is a really easy way for me to-”

Her words stopped halfway through as they were ascending into the surface.

All around them, for as far as the eye could see, were airships floating under familiar red balloons.

“Aye think that’s the least of our problems right now..”

Ahab said, shrinking behind the steering wheel.

“Craaaap..how did they find us!?”

Looking around while sizing the impossible number of airships around them. Yuri saw a familiar building sticking out in the background. The same building they had so roughly escaped from along with their new airship.

“....Ahab... you...IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE WE WEREN’T CLOSE TO HERE, DIDN’T I!?”

She yelled at the top of her lungs.

“I’m sorry!? I tried to steer it away from there, but it was hard to tell where i was going in the darkness!”

Ahab cowered beneath the steering wheel, hoping the guards would fail to notice him.

“Well sorry doesn’t cut it..! Sorry Ahab, gonna have to leave you here. Helgi prepare your spells to create a smokescreen, i will use two spells and blow away as many of their ships as i can. While they panic, Hikaru will carry us both away, using their own airships as footing.”

Quickly making a plan in her head, Yuri prepared her gauntlet.

“Wait, you can’t leave me here!!”

Ahab cried out to the rest.

“You will be fine. Just surrender peacefully and we will make sure to break you out later~”

She smiled with clear intentions of never coming back for him.

“Yah can’t do that! They’ll kill meh! The lad is strong surely he can lift me as well!”

Desperately trying not to get abandoned, Ahab clung to Hikaru.

“Like i said..just wait in jail, and it will work out..so..” Yuri was pulling at Ahab to make him let go of the poker faced Hikaru “Just go and surrender peacefully!”

Yuri and Ahab continued to struggle while Hikaru looked upon them trying to pull on his body. His eyes blinking stoically, before he grabbed both of them by the collars of their clothes.

“Calm yourselves. There is no time, decide now, before we are covered in arrows.”

Hikaru said, glancing at the ships surrounding them.

“I don’t know, Yuri. I always wondered what it would be like being a hedgehog”

Helgi shrugged.

“This would be much easier if you would just man up, you old man!”

Yuri clicked her tongue at Ahab.

“Like i would let myself be captured! They have meh as a number one priority for some reason, remember!”

Ahab yelled loudly, frustrated.

The guards at a few of the ships closest to them began to shuffle around strangely.

“You are that for a good reason!”

Someone yelled from among the guard ships.

The guards who had moved earlier began attacking the other guards on their ships. Most of the guards were slashed down by their fellow guards. At least on the ships closest to them. Confusion and chaos erupted among the other guard ships, unsure if they should fire upon their friendly ships.

As soon as the confusion began, the guards who had attacked their fellow guards jumped off the airships.

BOOOOOM!

The airships they jumped off from exploded into bright light, before releasing the black smoke of the burnt wood and cloth.

These ships being situated around Yuri and the rest, made for a very effective smokescreen against the other countless ships waiting to shoot all their ammunition at them.

“...What just happened?”

Helgi said, completely surprised at this seemingly random turn of events.

“Perhaps we should ask these people.”

Hikaru nodded towards the end of their ship, where several guards holding onto some sort of portable paragliders, stood quietly.

“You there! Who are you! If you’re here to join my crew then forget it! Unless you have some way to get us out of here, then by all means you’re welcome!”

Yuri approached the peculiar guards who began walking towards her.

“We finally found you..our leader..”

One of the guards said while slowly approaching.

“Leader? Well if you insist i don’t mind you calling me that” Yuri smiled with satisfaction.

The guards walked past her.

“...Huh?” Stopping, Yuri blinked and looked back.

The guards approached Ahab and bowed before him.

“Sir. We infiltrated the guards to create an escape route for you. You must come along with us please. For your own safety.”

“Huh? Uh? Well aite, as long as i get outta here!”

Ahab agreed on the first suggestion that could get him out of the current mess.

“The smoke is dissipating. Sir, please hold on to me.”

One of the guards advised.

Ahab did as suggested and held onto one of the guards who then unfolded his paraglider and jumped down from the airship.

“....What is this all about! How come i wasn’t the leader!”

Complaining, Yuri folded her arms, watching the rest of the guards unfold their gliders and jump off.

“Yuri. We should probably follow them, since they have an escape route, you can pout later”

Helgi sighed at her immature behaviour.

“I’m not pouting. And fine, let’s go, hold on to me you too!”

Yuri activated a rune on her gauntlet and held out her arms, which Helgi and Hikaru wrapped one of their own arms around.

They slowly felt their weight disappearing, until they felt almost completely weightless.

Helgi and Hikaru ran off the edge of the ship while holding onto Yuri, just as arrows had began pouring through the veil of black smoke, and began to glide along, following the distant gliders of the fake guards who were carrying Ahab.

“Good thing i always have a feather fall spell ready...i would be fine even if it was the only spell i could use..”

Sighing with relief as their ship slowly sank into the darkness, bombarded with arrows.

The trip slowly followed the fake guards through the air, with Hikaru and Helgi using Yuri as some sort of makeshift magical paraglider.