Killing intent.
The kind of killing intent that could drop the temperature of the entire city of Heian-kyo to absolute zero burst from that petite Fairy Knight's body in the same instant.
Even as just a remnant of the Last Dragon, even without releasing her True Name — Fairy Knight Lancelot's capacity for execution was beyond question.
The heavy cavalry sword in her grip was already radiating with devastating luminescence.
The moment she hit the ground below, the tens of thousands of humans packed down there would not even have time to scream before they were ground to dust.
…!!
Shin's expression went white!
This special mission had given no clear victory conditions, but allowing Melusine to massacre every human in Heian-kyo would be indistinguishable from a complete mission failure!
At that razor-thin instant —
The Saint's Corpse sealed within his body, dormant all this time, shuddered violently.
A sensation like parched skin touched by flowing water moved through him — clarity burst outward from the deepest seat of his consciousness.
Shin felt his mind cleaner and sharper than it had ever been. The heaviness that had clamped down on his body fell away in a single breath.
— Just as it had once helped everyone break free of DIO's control inside the Heavenly Eye, the Saint's Corpse was doing the same work here.
At the same time —
Melusine had already stepped forward and leapt from the high platform, descending toward the dense crowd below!
She can't — she absolutely cannot—!!
With the Saint's Corpse breaking the charm, Shin didn't hesitate for a single heartbeat. Under Yachiyo's stunned eyes — she hadn't known the chains on him were broken — he didn't turn to strike her. On pure reflex, he chose to stop the slaughter that was about to begin.
He didn't spare a glance for the one responsible behind him. Channeling the power of the [Spine Dragon], he launched himself forward with a single explosive burst, throwing himself through the air and catching the about-to-commence Fairy Knight in a firm embrace.
"Extermination operation… obstacle… eliminate!"
Charmed as she was, Melusine's combat instincts remained — even seized mid-air, her sword swept reflexively toward his neck.
The blow was enough to cleave iron and crack steel, but Shin wasn't particularly frightened. At his current physical tier, even getting his head separated from his body or being split down the middle was survivable.
"Don't harm him, Melusine!"
But his attacker from behind spoke up unexpectedly.
Yachiyo urgently called off the Fairy Knight's attack. A flash of panic crossed her brow — as though calling him "my dear" had not been a gambit for control, but something that had simply slipped out.
Shin had no time to think about the implications.
Melusine's sword stopped half a millimetre from his throat.
He didn't waste this hard-won window.
He clamped both hands on Melusine's small shoulders, locking her entire body firmly against him.
The [St. Trina's Nectar] he still had on him was out in an instant — he pressed it over her mouth without hesitation, forcing her to inhale.
As a dragon-kind being, Melusine almost certainly couldn't overdose on the Nectar.
He felt a little bad about it — forcibly pinning a beautiful girl and rendering her unconscious was objectively quite brutal — but there was no time for niceties.
Mmph…
The Nectar acted with frightening speed. True to form, Melusine's eyes rolled back and she went limp in his arms, sinking into him.
Shin didn't look at the group chat, and didn't spare a glance for whatever expression Yachiyo was making behind him.
The jet-black wings on his back unfurled — vast, blotting out the moon, whipping up a wind strong enough to extinguish every last light in the pavilion.
The gust swept down to the crowd below and sent them scattering in alarm — they'd never know how close they'd come to dying just moments before.
"…Wait…"
"Don't go—"
Yachiyo's voice wasn't enough to stop him. This wasn't a case of a beautiful girl calling him an affectionate name and him going weak in the knees.
Cradling the unconscious Melusine, he became a black streak and shot away — not looking back — out of the capital and into the dark hills and bamboo groves beyond the city walls.
Behind him, only the brilliantly lit, battered remains of the pavilion.
And at its top, Yachiyo, staring into the empty night sky in silence.
"…"
"…"
Yachiyo stared long after the silhouette had vanished, and finally let out a slow, tired exhale. She turned her gaze up to the moon.
Her expression was complicated — half resignation, half a loneliness she couldn't quite swallow.
She knew, of course, that with the means her dear possessed, having tricks she didn't know about was only natural.
The name "Yachiyo" — she'd taken it from a story he'd told her once. She'd thought, the moment she said it, he would understand immediately.
But they were coming. The emissaries from the Lunar Capital.
If she couldn't go through with her plan to clear away the humans, she had no choice but to abandon her private wishes and go back with them to the Moon…
"Why… why did I have to fall for such a dreadful do-gooder…"
"He could have just driven away the Lunar Capital's emissaries and left — why does he have to throw himself into caring about humans who have nothing to do with him…"
Yachiyo was turning the problem over in her mind. She was beginning to wonder whether she needed to arrange a switch with the other version of herself — the one in the bamboo.
If it were "Kaguya," she could probably win his trust far more easily.
But that version of herself — she would never willingly agree to go back to the Moon. And without that, there would be no one to stop her dear from letting himself be consumed, piece by piece, for these…
In the moonlight, the noise of the mortals below was nothing but an irritating blur to Yachiyo.
Until — against all expectation, against all reason — the familiar voice that should have already left came drifting back to the ears of the girl of matchless beauty:
"Do you mind if I hear what's weighing on you, Lady Yachiyo?"
…
To be continued…
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