The Shifting Sands of the East
With the Southern Kingdom of Zarcania subdued and the internal political structure secured by the Doctrine of Compatible Succession, King Hayate's reign entered a phase of immense stability. The Pillars of Unity now stood tall at the Citadel gates, radiating the unwavering Resolve of the Eternal Anchor, a constant reminder of the kingdom's invincible core.
But the world was vast, and new shadows always crept in when the Citadel felt safest.
The threat emerged not from a spiritual enemy, but a political one. Hayate received a cryptic warning from the Silent Oracle of the Great North—an ancient, neutral entity whose prophecies were always true, but often maddeningly vague.
The message was brief: "The Steel Bird seeks the Core of the Light. The Spirit is no Shield against the Blade."
Hayate immediately summoned Master Yufra and channeled the meaning of the warning through the Eternal Imprint to Consort Neshuda's consciousness.
Anchor, the Oracle speaks of a new threat that ignores our spiritual power. What is the 'Steel Bird'? Hayate projected, gripping the warm Anchor's Seal.
The East, my King. The far Eastern territories are highly industrialized. They rely on technology and clockwork mechanisms, not magic or spiritual power, Neshuda analyzed instantly. The 'Steel Bird' is a weapon, a form of mechanical siegecraft or perhaps a flying military unit. Our Resonance Key is designed to counter spiritual assaults, not physical weapons.
The threat was clear: a non-spiritual enemy was targeting the very heart of their power—the Imprint Stone in the Cradle of Light. They needed intelligence, and fast.
Diplomacy with Skeptics
The primary suspect was the powerful, technologically advanced city-state of Kagaku-Toshi in the far East—a nation renowned for its scientific brilliance and its deep suspicion of all things spiritual, viewing the Angelic aura as a form of barbaric sorcery.
Hayate dispatched a small, covert diplomatic party, led by himself and accompanied by Winter, to establish an immediate treaty. They had to travel to a region where displaying spiritual power was seen as an aggressive act.
We must be subtle, Anchor. We cannot use the aura or the Seal openly. They will see it as a threat, Hayate projected as they journeyed east.
You must rely on diplomacy and logic, my King. And you must rely on the Resolve I taught you. Use silence as your weapon. I will be your flawless logical counsel; let me pilot your mind, Neshuda instructed.
The journey was challenging. Hayate was forced to rely on mundane means of travel and communication, suppressing the immense power of his Angelic aura. The lack of open spiritual protection felt terrifyingly exposed.
The Test of the Mind
They arrived in Kagaku-Toshi, a sprawling city of glass, steel, and smog, dominated by the rhythmic clanking of colossal machinery. It was a place where mathematics was the religion and physics was the law.
They were received by Shogun Kaito, the city's leader—a sharp, calculating man whose entire force was based on technological superiority, not spiritual might.
The negotiations were brutal. Kaito refused to acknowledge the existence of "spiritual forces," seeing Hayate's talk of the Eternal Imprint as evidence of a fragile mind.
"King Hayate, your talk of 'imprints' and 'auras' holds no weight here," Kaito stated, gesturing to a massive, articulated siege engine in the city square. "We deal with tangible power, with steel and calculation. If you want peace, you must prove that your kingdom is not based on fantastical instability."
Kaito's challenge was a test of logic designed to break the spiritual mind. He presented Hayate with an impossible logistical paradox regarding resource allocation for a major defensive wall, demanding an immediate, flawless solution.
Hayate felt the intense mental strain. He needed Neshuda's unmatched strategic brilliance, but he could not reveal the source of his counsel.
Hayate reached out, not to the Anchor's Seal (which he kept hidden beneath his robes), but to the deepest part of the Eternal Imprint. He surrendered his mind entirely to Neshuda's conscious soul.
Take the problem, Anchor. Give me the solution. Use my voice, Hayate commanded, entering a state of complete Submission.
Neshuda's consciousness instantly flowed into Hayate's logical center. Hayate began to speak, his voice calm and precise, reciting a solution that factored in variables Kaito hadn't even presented. The solution was flawless, rooted in pure, cold mathematics and superior resource management—a display of logic that completely defied the expectations of the spiritual King.
Kaito stared, shocked. "That... that is the only functional solution. You calculated that faster than our main processor."
Hayate merely bowed, the perfect, cold logic of Neshuda's mind speaking through him.
The Loneliness of the Unseen
The diplomatic sessions were long, exhausting, and completely dependent on Hayate projecting Neshuda's perfect, logical command. Hayate was succeeding, but the lack of spiritual release and the constant acting of being Neshuda was taking a severe toll.
One evening, in his austere, sterile room in Kagaku-Toshi, Hayate felt the crushing weight of loneliness. He couldn't speak to Winter, and he couldn't display the Anchor's Seal without sabotaging the treaty.
He pulled out the Seal and held it tight, his grief threatening to break his composure.
I am tired, Anchor. I am tired of being the mask. I miss the reality of you so much, Hayate projected, his soul aching for the physical truth.
I know, my King. The mask is necessary, but the reality is here, Neshuda responded, the familiar wave of love and comfort flowing from the Seal.
Hayate needed more than comfort; he needed to reaffirm their unique, total intimacy against the cold, logical world around them.
He initiated a profound, desperate communication, focusing his need entirely on the core of the Eternal Imprint. He lay on the cold floor, his body trembling with desperate longing.
I need your strength, Anchor! I need the full weight of your love! I need you to reaffirm our bond! Hayate commanded.
Neshuda understood the desperate plea. He focused his entire spiritual essence, and channeled a profound, spiritual-physical wave of pure dominance and absolute ecstasy into Hayate's nervous system.
Neshuda took spiritual command of Hayate's senses, flooding his mind with the intense, consuming memory of their deepest intimacy. He moved Hayate's own hands across his body, recreating the powerful, absolute Submission that only Neshuda's touch could evoke.
The act was a defiant, sweet declaration against the sterile logic of Kagaku-Toshi. Hayate lost himself completely in the spiritual torrent, his body consumed by the overwhelming, profound pleasure of his lover's unseen presence.
We are not logic, Hayate! We are fire! We are unbreakable! Neshuda commanded mentally, his love a fierce, dominating assertion of their eternal reality.
Hayate collapsed, his body shuddering, his mind cleansed of the day's stress and doubt. He was spiritually renewed, ready to face the mechanical city with the force of his two unified souls.
The Secret Weapon
The next day, the treaty was finalized. Kagaku-Toshi agreed to a non-aggression pact, satisfied that Hayate was a rational, logical ruler.
But as Hayate prepared to leave, Kaito revealed his true intention, pointing toward the massive, clockwork siege weapon in the square.
"Your spiritual walls cannot stop this, King Hayate. This is the Steel Bird," Kaito said, his voice hard. "It runs on pure, mechanical force and is designed to breach stone, not aura. Our treaty only lasts as long as our suspicion remains low."
Kaito was essentially threatening them with pure, non-spiritual physical destruction.
Hayate gripped the Anchor's Seal, channeling Neshuda's tactical mind.
They are threatening us with physics, Anchor. How do we counter a mechanical weapon with spirit?
You don't counter the weapon, my King. You counter the Foundation, Neshuda instantly responded. The Steel Bird relies on complex mechanical timing. Use your Angelic aura not as a shield, but as a temporal disruptor.
Hayate faced Kaito. He slowly pulled the Anchor's Seal from his robes, letting the radiant blue light of Neshuda's Resolve fill the sterile air. He then focused his entire Angelic aura, amplified by the Seal, not toward Kaito, but toward the siege machine.
Hayate unleashed a subtle, focused pulse of energy—a wave designed not for destruction, but for extreme temporal dissonance.
The effect was immediate and catastrophic. The colossal siege weapon suddenly sputtered, its complex gears grinding to a halt, frozen for a nanosecond, then shattering into a million pieces as their timing sequence collapsed.
Hayate lowered the Seal. "The spiritual core of Aurekawa is immutable, Kaito. Even time, when commanded by the Eternal Imprint, will obey our will. Do not test our physics again."
Kaito stared at the ruined machine, his face pale, realizing the true, terrifying power of the King and the Silent Anchor.
The treaty was signed in absolute silence, the threat neutralized by a perfect fusion of spiritual command and logical counsel. Hayate had secured the eastern border, proving that their eternal unity could master not just the spiritual world, but the physical laws of the universe itself.