"We finally escaped! Mika, you're amazing!"
Yuichiro and Mika appeared on a Sea of Consciousness; it was hollow, desolate, and devoid of life.
This was Mika's Sea of Consciousness after his Demon Transformation.
onikiri had returned to its sword form by now; it was still fuming at how Mika had looked down on it earlier.
A relaxed smile spread across Yuichiro's face now that Mika was safe.
"Eh? Mika, you're not a Shorty anymore. Whoa, I've changed back too?!"
Yuichiro suddenly realized he had returned to his height of 1.7 meters.
"Before, your consciousness occupied the 'Little Yu' I was imagining from my childhood. Once I stopped the fantasy, you naturally returned to the current Yu. Also, don't call me Shorty; I was just in my childhood form. If I wanted to, I could even turn into an old man."
Mika explained to Yuichiro with a smile, his tone both helpless and tender.
Yuichiro found the experience quite novel and was a little surprised.
"So you're saying that world just now was just your imagination? That's incredible!"
Mika looked at his right hand, feeling a sense of unreality himself; even Lady Krul had been no match for him.
As Mika was lost in thought, a hand reached out in front of him.
"Anyway, welcome back, Mika."
The smile on Yuichiro's face pulled Mika's thoughts back. He gave a light chuckle and reached out to grasp Yuichiro's hand.
"Yeah! I'm back, Yu!"
In this scene of "a comrade returning after going through hardships and blackening," an ill-timed voice cut in.
"I'm relieved to see that your relationship is still so good."
This tone, gentle yet cold and detached, immediately made Yuichiro and Mika's hair stand on end!
Mika quickly launched an attack toward the direction of the voice, but there was nothing there... "Mika! Behind you, watch out!"
Yuichiro's expression changed drastically as he shouted a warning.
"Have you already grown to this extent? I'm very pleased, but I'm sorry—I'm here to kill you."
To Mika, the voice sounded as if the speaker were whispering right into his ear; he could almost feel the other person's breath.
Alarm bells rang in his mind. Without the slightest hesitation, a thick, disc-sized barrier of Demonic Aura condensed behind Mika.
This was all the Demonic Aura he could urgently mobilize in such a short time.
Bang!
The Demonic Aura barrier shattered upon impact, but fortunately, it barely managed to block the attack. Mika flew back with the force of the aftershock, adjusting his body in mid-air to land safely.
"Cough... cough..."
Mika felt a lingering fear. If he had misjudged the position of the barrier just now and let the opponent succeed, he would likely have been severely injured.
Mika looked toward his previous position and saw an "angel" standing there.
The figure had an exquisitely beautiful face that made it impossible to tell their gender. Beneath long eyelashes were soul-stirring eyes filled with indescribable emotions. They wore an ill-fitting, loose robe that, combined with three pairs of white wings, maintained a sense of beauty.
He was none other than the Progenitor, Sigmado.
Facing the Progenitor directly, Mika felt his hostility inexplicably decrease, as if his heart were unwilling to be his enemy.
However, Mika quickly snapped out of that strange feeling. The attack just now meant the opponent was certainly not on his side.
"Mika, are you okay?"
Yuichiro hurried to Mika's side in concern. After confirming Mika wasn't seriously hurt, Yuichiro drew his blade against the newcomer with a dark expression.
"You bastard, who are you?"
The Progenitor's lips curled up slightly as he spoke unhurriedly.
"A human? I am not. I didn't expect that after countless ages, you and Mika would still be together. It truly warms my heart."
Yuichiro found the words strange. What did he mean by "countless ages"? He was only sixteen and had only known Mika since he was eight. Did eight years count as countless ages? Judging by the wings behind the figure, this should be a Seraph.
The Progenitor chuckled, having no intention of clarifying.
"I don't intend to make small talk. Let's get straight to the point. Two against one is a bit unfair to me."
The Progenitor didn't have time for more chatter. He raised his hand and shouted directly at Yuichiro.
"Sleep!"
Before Yuichiro could react, his eyelids suddenly felt heavy. As he was about to collapse, onikiri at his waist trembled. Yuichiro's consciousness snapped back, and he regained his footing.
"Thanks, onikiri!"
"Oh? A demon carrying multiple layers of curses... how rare."
Only then did the Progenitor notice onikiri's presence. With a brief perception, he saw through onikiri's background.
"Forget it, then I'll just have to settle this quickly."
The Progenitor had wanted to take it easy, but since he couldn't directly incapacitate Yuichiro, he would just deal with both of them at once. It wouldn't take much longer anyway.
The Progenitor swung his right hand horizontally, sending a slash flying. Yuichiro sensed the danger and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding it, while not forgetting to warn Mika behind him.
"Mika, get out of the way!"
Mika frowned, manifesting a longsword in his hand. He swung forcefully, meeting the Progenitor's attack head-on with a blade of qi.
But soon, Mika's expression changed. Realizing something was wrong, he scrambled to get out of the way.
Mika's arm felt a scorching heat. Even though he had dodged, the power in the Progenitor's attack still made his heart skip a beat. His own attack seemed to have been swallowed up. Despite being so much stronger than before, was it still not enough?
However, Mika also felt a familiar aura within this power—a Vampire.
Mika frowned and asked.
"Are you a Seraph or a Vampire?"
Watching the two of them struggle even against his casual strike, the Progenitor felt even more confident in the success of his plan.
"It's hard to say. Maybe I'm neither. I am whatever you think I am."
"Get out of my Sea of Consciousness, you Riddler!"
Now that they were in his own Sea of Consciousness, he couldn't escape like before. This was like the final layer of space; there was nowhere left to retreat.
Do I have to fight this monster? Mika felt a surge of panic.
"Don't worry, I'm here."
Yuichiro's hand rested on Mika's shoulder. Feeling the warmth and weight from the shoulder, Mika gradually calmed down. At least he had family by his side.
The two teamed up against the Progenitor. Although the process was pathetic and they found it hard to even launch an attack, their seamless cooperation still forced the Progenitor to spend quite a bit of time.
"I'm getting a little tired of playing."
The Progenitor's gaze turned colder, and energy began to gather above his head.
He had originally wanted to save some energy, but for the Progenitor, time was more precious. So, he prepared to settle things here with one blow; he still had to deal with Shinoa Hiragi's side.
Yuichiro supported Mika, who had just been accidentally sent flying. Panting heavily, Mika sensed the flow of the Progenitor's energy through the Sea of Consciousness, a hint of bitterness in his heart.
He was also brewing a power. Compared to what the Progenitor was charging, it was somewhat lacking, but the effect of this power was to forcibly eject Yuichiro from his Sea of Consciousness! Only once Yuichiro left would he dare to go all out against the Progenitor. Though the Progenitor was stronger than him, it was only to a certain extent.
He didn't discuss it with Yuichiro because he knew Yuichiro would never choose this.
However, it seemed Mika didn't need to make Yuichiro leave. Just as the Progenitor began charging, over a dozen black chains burst out of the void, binding the hand he was using to channel energy. The outputted energy also began to be absorbed by these iron chains.
A voice entered Mika's Sea of Consciousness.
"Caught you, Father!"
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