Cloud simply extended his right hand.
With a trajectory that embodied "striking later yet arriving first"—pure martial simplicity—he precisely caught Mature's slender wrist, which packed explosive power despite its delicate appearance.
"Wh-what?!"
Shock and excitement flared in Mature's seductive emerald eyes!
Her attack...
Those claws that could shred steel... were neutralized so casually?!
"Too slow. Too weak."
Cloud shook his head, looking at her like a child who didn't know her limits.
"Your Beast power feels like a kitten's scratches against me."
"YOU'RE DEAD!!!"
Cloud's contemptuous words drove Mature into a fury!
The divine blood within her went berserk!
A savage, bloodthirsty, primal aura erupted from her body—
But before she could fully unleash it—
Cloud smiled.
"Trying to transform now? Too late!"
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A force even more overwhelming than Mature's—pure, saturated with "divinity" and "destruction"—his Chaos Divine Flame exploded from his body like the Big Bang, rocketing toward the heavens!
In that instant, Mature froze completely.
She felt her vaunted "Beast" power—her pride—cowering before this god-like presence...
Trembling like a mouse facing its natural predator, desperately trying to retreat into the deepest recesses of her bloodline!
And her body... was trying to kneel against her will!
"No... I can't...!"
Mature summoned every ounce of willpower to suppress the soul-deep urge to submit!
Her eyes—filled with shock and terror—locked onto this man wreathed in golden-purple divine flames, his presence like a descended deity. Her voice trembled with pure fear:
"Who... what are you?!"
"The power inside you... why... why is it more noble than the Divine Tribe's blood?!"
"Only now you think to ask?"
A mocking smirk curved Cloud's lips.
"Don't you think... it's a bit late?"
He was about to crush this disobedient "viper" on the spot—
When suddenly:
Thud.
Mature abandoned all resistance.
She dropped to both knees before Cloud, lowering her beautiful, proud head!
In a voice dripping with fervor, reverence, and absolute submission, she spoke each word deliberately:
"Your servant, Mature of the Beast..."
"Greets the Divine Son!"
Cloud: "???"
He stared at this gorgeous woman who'd gone from "kill on sight" to "instant prostration" in the span of a heartbeat, utterly bewildered.
Divine Son? Again?
Does the Orochi clan's internal training manual have some serious issues?!
...
Through a "friendly" conversation—and the System's real-time "translation"—Cloud finally pieced together the whole picture.
As the "Beast" wielder among the Hakkesshu, Mature possessed the keenest sensitivity to all forms of power.
She could clearly perceive the purified, upgraded "Orochi power" within Cloud—perfectly fused by the Chaos Divine Flame Scripture!
That power, to her senses, represented the difference between royalty and commoner!
She and Goenitz possessed Orochi power too—but diluted versions.
What Cloud carried was the purest essence, closest to Orochi's divine origin!
Hence her instinctive, absolute submission.
As for why Goenitz hadn't noticed...
In Mature's words:
"That old fanatic's brain has room for nothing except 'Our Lord Orochi.' He's a complete zealot. His eyes have long been blinded by faith."
"I see."
Everything clicked into place for Cloud.
And a bold—no, outrageous—plan began forming in his mind.
He gazed at this gorgeous woman kneeling before him with "fanatical" devotion, ready to "dedicate herself" at a moment's notice, and let a devil's smile spread across his face.
"Mature, was it?"
"How would you like... to work for a boss with better prospects?"
"How would you like... to personally drag that holier-than-thou priest off his pedestal?"
"How would you like... to become a god of the new world?"
His seductive words instantly lit up Mature's eyes!
She knew...
She'd bet correctly!
She'd latched onto the ultimate golden thigh!
...
And so, a diabolical scheme to "turn the Hakkesshu, drive Goenitz insane, and leave Orochi a commander without troops" was hatched on this ambiguous, conspiracy-laden night.
On the hospital rooftop, the night wind still howled.
But the atmosphere had shifted entirely—from drawn blades to something resembling a cult's recognition ceremony.
Mature—the femme fatale known for "sexy" and "dangerous" on the Yagami Team—now knelt on one knee before Cloud. Those languid, seductive eyes burned with "desire" and "fanaticism"!
...
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