Chapter 262: Kurumi's Four Heavenly Kings - The Honest Man Appears (Two-in-One)
"Ara, Esdeath, did you get injured from last night's battle?" With a sharp gaze and brilliant intelligence, Kurumi immediately noticed that the sadistic Queen's steps were a bit abnormal, Speaking to test her.
"Heh." Esdeath lifted her proud face, her expression arrogant, sneering, "I won."
The few people dining in the restaurant simultaneously turned their gaze toward her.
"It's hard to imagine just how much Eric loves me…" Esdeath didn't care about the attention of others.
"!" The girls at the table blushed.
"Disgusting~! How bold~" Porche screamed from the side.
Wendy almost buried her face in her bowl.
Da Vinci nodded in approval, looking at Eric with the expression of "This is how it should be, Captain Eric is doing great."
"Eh?" Miku's face was full of surprise, how did she just arrive and someone else already beat her to it?!
"…!" With her wine-Akame half-squinting, Kurumi struggled to control herself, but the muscles in her face twitched, creating an awkward facial expression.
"…!" Their gazes silently met, and there was a faint electric shock sound in the air.
Kurumi snapped her fingers, and the shadows at her feet twisted around her body, forming the red and black spiritual attire Shinwa Armor - Threefold.
"Zafkiel (Clockwork King)!" She stomped her right foot on the ground, and a huge clock appeared behind her.
"Why are you summoning an angel?" At this moment, Esdeath wasn't wearing her usual white military uniform, but rather casual clothes—loose shirts and pants that still couldn't hide her curvaceous body.
However, she wouldn't avoid the fight just because of this.
"Want to fight?" Esdeath's movements were faster than her words, her pale hand clenched into a fist, adopting an attacking stance.
"Esdeath-nee, Kurumi-nee, please don't fight!"
"Hurry, Perona, go get the Captain! Only he can stop the two of them!"
"Protect my body well!" Perona's soul left her body, her transparent shadow passed through the floor and disappeared.
"Dalet (Fourth Bullet)!" The shadow of the Clockwork King "IV" was sucked into the muzzle of her handgun.
"?" Esdeath tilted her head, fully aware of the ability of the Clockwork King's "IV" number, realizing that this wasn't the ability used at the beginning of the battle.
"Bang!" Without hesitation, Kurumi fired, and the bullet imbued with "IV" hit Esdeath's body.
"You... what is this?!" Esdeath's blue eyes widened, and the pain in her legs seemed to vanish like flowing water.
"Heh heh." Kurumi suppressed her laughter and said, "I just sent your time back to before last night."
"The pain is gone, right? Don't thank me~"
Esdeath didn't expect Kurumi to pull off such a move. Even if she lost her mind and charged at her, that would've been within her expectations…
But reversing her own body's time…
"Hahahaha…" Esdeath mocked Kurumi, "I didn't expect you to do something so self-deceptive."
"…!" Esdeath was right, Kurumi couldn't refute her words.
"I should really thank you. I get to relive such a heart-wrenching experience again."
"…"
In the end, the fight ended with Kurumi's silent defeat.
…
"Damn it!" Kurumi, who had always portrayed herself as a lady, returned to her room, finally cursing out loud.
"Hehehe…"
"It's all because 'I' wasn't decisive enough, letting Esdeath get ahead."
"Exactly, 'I'."
The shadows in the room seemed to come alive as one by one, pale arms reached out. In an instant, the room was filled with Kurumi's figures.
"I shouldn't say that, though. Didn't Esdeath's night raid news come from 'me,' telling 'me'?" One of Kurumi's clones said, "I should have known this would happen but didn't step in."
"I knew that Esdeath had worked hard to bring Miku into the team yesterday, so I didn't interfere. I'm really thoughtful, 'I.'"
"Such quiet effort, but Eric won't increase his affection for 'me,' right?"
Hearing the chattering of her clones, Kurumi's main body, although angry, slowly emerged from the mood, stretched lazily, and narrowed her eyes.
"My power is Eric 's power. Even if Esdeath is ahead, she can't take away my right to spend the rest of my life with Eric ."
"But 'I'." A path opened in the crowd, and a clone of Kurumi stepped forward.
Her hair wasn't tied up but instead adorned with a rose-designed hairpiece. She wore a black and white dress, and to hide her clock face, she wore a medical eye patch on her left eye.
She spread her arms in an awkward pose and said, "This is why I should've signed a contract with the 'Night King' in advance, letting him carve the runes on my body, right?!"
This was Kurumi during her intense "Chuunibyou" phase. While it felt cool at the time, looking back, making such "Chuunibyou" remarks and gestures now felt utterly embarrassing.
Honestly, seeing this clone was like unveiling her embarrassing past in front of everyone. Fortunately, they were all 'herself,' otherwise if Esdeath found out…
Honestly, Kurumi didn't want to see this clone, and if killing herself didn't feel so bad, she would've already considered ending this clone's existence humanely.
"That's right, it's better to take the initiative first," another voice agreed, coming from the crowd.
The clones immediately turned their eyes toward that voice, just like before, quickly parting to make way for the Speaking clone.
It was another Kurumi wrapped from head to toe in bandages, with her right hand and left foot, and of course, her left eye also covered.
Although she looked pitiful, it wasn't because of any serious injuries.
She, like the eye-patch-wearing Kurumi, was a special individual Kurumi didn't want to see, her embarrassing black history standing right before her. Kurumi's eye twitched continuously.
"What do you want to say?"
Bandage Kurumi smiled meaningfully and pointed at the main body Kurumi.
"The answer is simple. We should take the initiative. Even if we were a step late, Eric 's night tonight belongs to us!"
"…!" The main body Kurumi stepped back, shocked by her words.
The main Kurumi said solemnly, "Don't joke around. A girl must be reserved!"
"That's why Esdeath got ahead." Bandage Kurumi shrugged.
The surrounding Kurumi clones also chimed in:
"Exactly, 'I'."
"It's all about taking the initiative, 'I'."
"I also think Bandage King, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Kurumi, is right."
"…'Kurumi's Four Heavenly Kings'? What is that?" Kurumi raised an eyebrow.
"…" The surrounding Kurumi clones went silent, all eyes turning toward the other two Kurumi clones.
One was dressed in a white sweet Lolita dress, with a heart-shaped eye patch covering her left eye.
The other was wearing a neat and elegant Gothic-style outfit, with a knife-shaped eye patch covering her left eye.
So these four seriously problematic "children" are the so-called Kurumi's Four Heavenly Kings?!
Kurumi's face sweated, and she felt extremely troubled by her clones who had special fetishes.
The one wearing a flower-patterned black kimono with petal designs on the outside and a bandaged waist Kurumi pulled out a set of underwear from her chest. Proudly, she said:
"I knew something like this would happen, so I've already prepared my final outfit."
The surrounding clones cried out "Whoa!" in unison.
"Such thoughtful preparation, 'I'."
"Truly, only 'I' could think of this."
The Kurumi clones started praising each other.
Seeing the provocative underwear, the main body Kurumi shouted, "No, where did you get this outfit from?"
The Kimono Kurumi walked over holding the clothes, "Of course, I got it last time when I was shopping on Fishman Island. I made sure to leave money there though."
"That was my money!" Kurumi retorted.
"Oh, don't be so picky, 'I'." The Gothic Kurumi stepped forward, "We're all the same person, 'I' can definitely wear it."
"Stop it!" Kurumi couldn't help but shout. Being a girl, how could she possibly choose to wear such underwear in front of everyone?
"Hmm? Did you secretly wear it yourself?" Kurumi suddenly realized.
"Uh…" Gothic Kurumi froze, her gaze becoming unfocused.
"This outfit just doesn't meet the requirements for me." The sweet Lolita Kurumi said.
The last of the Four Heavenly Kings, a Kurumi in a white dress adorned with ruffles and a flower-like soft hat, holding a white parasol, looked like a princess from a fairytale, standing out from the other Kurumis in black and red outfits.
"What should we do, 'I'?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
The surrounding clones looked confused and asked.
Sweet Kurumi shook her head, taking the underwear from Bandage Kurumi's hand and spinning around in place.
In the blink of an eye, the underwear in her hand changed into a more revealing style, with two suspenders added.
"Whoa!" The clones exclaimed.
"This is bold, 'I'."
"No wonder the sweet Lolita phase of 'I'
understands 'battle attire.'"
"If I were Eric , I wouldn't be able to hold myself back from 'I' wearing this!"
Seeing such a magical scene unfold, the clones clapped in applause, urging Kurumi to change and "go tempt Eric ."
"Are you kidding me?!" Kurumi's face turned bright red.
"And tonight, let's storm into Eric 's room, 'we' will help 'I' pin him down and make it happen."
"Exactly."
"I'm so pure, love is a battlefield for girls!"
"I agree, when 'I' can't hold back, 'we' will come…"
While the Kurumis were eagerly discussing, the door "creaked" and was opened.
All the Kurumi clones turned toward the door, where Eric and Esdeath stood.
Eric scanned the room, settling on the hand of the Sweet Kurumi, wearing that provocative set of underwear.
Esdeath let out a "Hah" and said with a playful smile, "I thought the shirt pajamas were impressive, but I didn't expect…"
"Ahhh!!"
The main Kurumi cried out, and all the Kurumi clones disappeared into the shadows, vanishing from sight.
'Why am I the only one who has to suffer through this embarrassing scene?!' Kurumi thought, deeply pained, collapsing onto the floor.
"Thud." The hanger Sweet Kurumi had held fell in front of the main body Kurumi, along with the underwear.
Eric bent down, sneaking a glance at the clothes. Oh no, will this be a 404?
He gently placed his hand on Kurumi's back, "No matter what, I really like Kurumi."
"Ah, that's not it, let me explain, Eric !" Kurumi's wail echoed in the room.
…
Since they decided to go to the next island for shopping, they headed to the Kingdom of Goa to collect their "protection fees."
After three days of sailing, Miku was initially excited, but quickly became tired of the same scenery and stayed in her room.
When she finally stepped on solid ground, she regained her energy. "I didn't expect sailing to be so painful…"
"Yeah, but I won't let you leave," Eric said.
"Darling, how could I leave you?" Miku tightly clung to Eric 's arm.
"Haha, but don't you need to buy clothes?" Eric looked at Miku's shiny spiritual outfit, noticing many people around were looking at her, whispering, "That outfit is so gorgeous!" "Where did she get that?"
"So, what style of clothes does Darling like? Will you come with me to buy them?" Miku, acting like a child, made cute gestures whenever she came close, with a "bo-yo bo-yo" sound effect.
"Hahaha, you should go shopping with them. I have something important to handle on this island," Eric said, patting her head like comforting a child.
"Hmm…" Although reluctant, Miku let go of her arms, "Then Darling has to come back quickly."
"Of course… What are you doing?"
Miku closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pouting, "Eh? You ask what I'm doing? Isn't it obvious? It's a goodbye kiss…"
Even though she saw Esdeath, Miku still refused to let go of Eric 's neck, glaring at Esdeath, but Esdeath didn't care.
"Ara, Miss Songstress, you can't do such things in front of so many people~" Kurumi grabbed the back of Miku's neck.
"Ah… Miss Kurumi, you're so evil."
"Come on, let's go pick some clothes. You have a lot to buy, right?"
Seeing Kurumi, Miku, and Wendy walk away, Eric assigned tasks.
Eric , along with Deidara, Akame, and Kurome, went to summon new characters, while the others either accompanied Esdeath to the palace to collect money or went shopping in the town's sightseeing area.
On a deserted beach, Kurome controlled the corpse of Fishman Arlong, walking into the center of the summoning array and releasing control.
Deidara, witnessing a summoning for the first time, skeptically asked, "You summoned me like this?"
"Yes…"
To be safe, Eric spent 300 million Berries in the system store to buy the "Great Sword·Samehada."
"This is…!" Deidara immediately recognized the weapon, "You were going to summon him?"
Placing Samehada next to Arlong's corpse, Eric shouted:
"Come forth, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the 'Tailed Beastless' honest man!"
The summoning array's lines began to glow, and Deidara's eyes widened in shock, "This can really work?!"
A tall figure slowly emerged, wearing a black cloak embroidered with red clouds.
"Where am I?"
"Yo, Kisame, did you die too?"
(END CHAPTER)
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