A night of brilliant stars.
The corpse of Leviathan, colossal as a mountain range, slowly slid into the lake.
It had already proceeded to the lakeside. Even though it had fallen, the majority of its carcass would float above the water's surface. Pitch-black bone fins pointed obliquely toward the sky, resembling unyielding black thorns growing wild, weaving together into a burning throne.
On Leviathan's chest, forest-white ribs bloomed like white Manjusaka flowers on the banks of the River Styx.
In reality, this bone flower, symbolizing death, was contracting and curling, stabbing into that massive heart. Gurgling spectral blue blood ceasedlessly surged from the trembling heart, dyeing the originally clear lake water into that shimmering blue.
The girl, wearing an open black coat, stepped upon that pitch-black throne of thorns that was blazing with spectral blue flames. She revealed a rather strained smile to Kujou Katora and Hayabusa, who were supporting each other on the shore.
That spectral blue flame, capable of burning souls, was completely harmless to the girl.
The judgment method of [Dominator's Aegis] was extremely eerie and unreasonable. According to common sense, a dam of a thousand miles collapses from an ant hole. No matter how large the gap in power, as long as the frequency and number of attacks are sufficient, they can slowly chisel through a fortress-like defense.
But [Dominator's Aegis] was completely different. Its judgment method was immunity.
Mental-type attacks with mental power less than half of the Dominator's mental power could not affect Su Yuzu at all. That boundary was like an insurmountable threshold, steadfastly guarding Su Yuzu's bottom line.
The wind by the lakeside at night blew the girl's skirt hem to flap wildly; Su Yuzu only felt that the muscles and joints all over her body were aching. She barely managed to hoist up a smile for Kujou Katora and Hayabusa on the shore.
Behind Kujou Katora and Hayabusa, those burly men who usually wore forced and terrifying smiles on 'ordinary days' also gave Su Yuzu a thumbs-up, revealing heartfelt smiles of approval... like survivors of a disaster.
The young girl standing on the burning throne was no longer just the girl they had to respect because she had tamed their boss. She was a warrior they could acknowledge.
Su Yuzu's legs were both trembling. However... at least everything was resolved.
[Ding—]
[Leviathan Phase 2 assault completed.]
[Rewards are being calculated.]
The familiar mechanical woman's voice rang in Su Yuzu's ears. However... the moment she heard that familiar mechanical woman's voice, Su Yuzu's small face turned pale in an instant.
Su Yuzu only then noticed again... although the giant beast beneath her feet had 'died', the erosion domain it had unfolded had not disappeared. Kujou Katora and Hayabusa on the shore also noticed the girl's expression. They still didn't understand what was wrong with Yuzu.
[Warning—]
[Warning—]
[Warning—]
[Leviathan has entered the third phase.]
[...]
Su Yuzu's field of vision was completely filled with those bright red [warning] frames.
'How can this be!???'
Indeed... the process of killing this Third Sequence Chimera Amalgam seemed a bit too smooth. After losing its twin fins, Leviathan, which bombarded everything within the erosion domain with mental attacks, was just a fish on the chopping block for Su Yuzu.
This was too smooth. Smooth to the point that it was as if someone had delivered Leviathan to Su Yuzu, waiting for her to dance on the stage and present a good show of a girl and a giant beast.
Looking at the surrounding erosion domain which showed absolutely no sign of disappearing... and was even becoming darker and heavier, a terrifying sense of powerlessness suddenly assailed Su Yuzu's heart.
No wonder... no wonder Kujou Katora would die here.
Thump—
Standing on Leviathan's carcass, Su Yuzu clearly heard the beating sound of the giant beast's heart beneath her.
Thump—
That dull, powerful heartbeat sounded again. This time... Kujou Katora and Hayabusa on the shore heard it too.
"Leave there!!!"
"Leave!!!" Kujou Katora looked at Su Yuzu standing on Leviathan's corpse, her eyes splitting with horror.
The lake water, glowing with spectral blue light, bobbed up and down; the fluorescent water churned, slapping against Leviathan's colossal carcass. The next second—
The giant beast's forest-white... snake-like spine was dexterously extracted from the carcass, stabbing viciously toward the back of Su Yuzu's heart.
Su Yuzu looked at Kujou Katora's crimson eyes on the shore, looking at the world reflected in those crimson eyes. The last thing she could manage to do... was to pull a gorgeous parasol from her Material Inventory.
[☆☆☆]
[Girl's Umbrella]
Although it looked somewhat delicate, it was truly an early-game divine artifact. Its attack power was not even inferior to some four-star weapons.
Crack—
The forest-white tail bone whipped onto the opened surface of the parasol. Su Yuzu's entire body fell heavily toward the shore... she couldn't even distinguish whether that crisp sound was the sound of the parasol's ribs snapping, or the sound of her own bones being broken.
The pitch-black throne of bone thorns rose up.
Thump thump—!
Thump thump—!
The heart pierced by the flower of dense white bones was beating, and then... Leviathan's petal-like ribs bloomed one after another. beneath the spectral blue flesh and blood of the heart, a pair of dark golden vertical pupils opened.
A woman's plain white lotus-root arm reached out from the flesh and blood, breaking through the flesh as easily as peeling open a fruit section. Almost naked... a woman whose vital areas were tightly bound only by sparse white bones was held up by the flower of white bones.
On the pitch-black bone fin throne, a plain white bone flower bloomed. The woman, legs crossed and resting her head on her hand, looked down upon the crowd by the lakeside.
Su Yuzu, held tightly in Kujou Katora's embrace, felt a burning stinging pain on her back. She looked at that woman... the woman's imposing manner was in no way inferior to Soga Yura in a violent rage.
Third Sequence... Peak.
Su Yuzu only then reacted. The most important characteristic of a Chimera Amalgam is that although they have the outer coat of a beast, the core is human. Just like that man entangled by an octopus last time.
But this time... Leviathan, from beginning to end, had not revealed its side as a human. Its colossal body size had made Su Yuzu subconsciously ignore this point.
Despair spread in everyone's hearts.
"Lady Kujou..."
"Lady Kujou..." Trembling, Hayabusa tugged at Kujou Katora's clothes. "Listen to me."
"Flee with Miss Yuzu."
"I will use 'Displacement' to send you and Miss Yuzu back to Miss Yuzu's dormitory."
"The Fourth Action Division... will turn our flesh and blood into a shield for you and Miss Yuzu before the 'Displacement is complete'."
"You and Miss Yuzu... cannot die."
"Absolutely... absolutely cannot die."
"Not just for us, but for everyone in the Tokyo metropolitan area."
"Please do not refuse..."
"I really... really liked that song you sang to me back at the school."
"If there is a chance..."
"I really want to hear it one more time."
Thump thump—
Su Yuzu's heart beat, her gaze wavering. She suddenly realized something.
That new grave by the lakeside. That person buried by the lakeside.
The person wearing a crisp black suit revealing a weeping appearance... the face silently displaced from Hayabusa to Kujou Katora.
The grieving woman knelt on the ground. She took out an old music box from her bosom... wound the clockwork, and then buried it in the earth.
"Listen to it one more time."
"Hayabusa."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉