Yurei looked directly into Hiro's eyes and took a slow, steady breath.
Her crimson gaze, though slightly dulled from exhaustion, still carried an undeniable intensity.
"My Blessing can be used in place of the chains," she said softly. "But I need you to trust me."
A faint blush remained across her cheeks, adding an unexpected vulnerability to her otherwise regal composure. Hiro didn't look away.
Despite the chaos outside—the explosions, the monstrous roars, the collapsing buildings—everything in that moment narrowed down to her eyes.
"I trust you," he replied firmly.
For a fraction of a second, something flickered across her face. Relief. Resolve.
"Good," she murmured.
Without warning, Yurei reached forward and gently cupped his face with both hands.
Her palms were warm. Before Hiro could even process what she was doing, she leaned closer and closer.
Their faces were now only centimeters apart. Hiro's heartbeat thundered in his ears. His thoughts scrambled, trying desperately to make sense of what was happening. But he remembered her words.
Trust me.
Her breath brushed against his lips. It smelled faintly of strawberries—sweet, though tinged with the metallic hint of blood from earlier injuries.
"Are you sure about this?" she whispered, her voice barely audible beneath the distant rumble of battle. Hiro swallowed hard.
"Y-Yeah," he managed. It wasn't a bold declaration. It wasn't heroic. But it was sincere.
Yurei's eyes softened slightly. "Then don't regret this."
She closed the remaining distance. Their lips met.
For a split second, Hiro froze. His mind went blank. He had never experienced anything like this before. It was warm. Soft. Shockingly real. Then instinct slowly took over.
He began responding,awkwardly at first, but gradually syncing with the movement of her lips. The world outside disappeared.
There was no collapsing city.
No Class Five Abyssal.
No screaming skies.
Only the warmth of her mouth against his.
And then her tongue gently pushed past his lips.
Hiro's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could react, she deepened the kiss. Her tongue moved deliberately, confidently, exploring his mouth and guiding the rhythm.
It wasn't rushed. It wasn't careless.
It was intentional. Aether began to hum faintly around them. Their breaths mingled. Their saliva mixed. The air between them grew warm and charged.
When she finally pulled away, a thin strand of saliva still connected their lips before snapping softly. Hiro stared at her, stunned and breathless.
She reached down and took his left hand in hers. Her palm trembled slightly.
"I, Yurei Skyfall, have given you my first kiss," she said solemnly. "Do you take responsibility, Hiro Yukishima?"
His thoughts were in complete disarray. First kiss? Responsibility? What does that even—
But when he looked into her eyes, he saw something deeper than embarrassment.
This wasn't random, this wasn't impulsive.
This was ritual.
Binding.
Important.
"I… Hiro Yukishima… accept full responsibility," he said, his voice steadier than he felt.
The moment the words left his lips, a surge of pink light erupted from the back of Yurei's hand.
A glowing heart-shaped sigil materialized across her skin, pulsing brightly. From that sigil, chains burst forth.They were not metallic. They were made of pure, shimmering pink Aether.
The chains spiraled outward, wrapping around Hiro in smooth, deliberate motions.
Instead of pain, he felt something strange.
Comfort.
Warmth.
Belonging.
And beneath it— Dread.
The chains circled his arms, his torso, his legs. Then one looped gently around his neck.
The instant it made contact, a violent surge of energy exploded inside him.
Hiro gasped.
It felt as though something dormant inside his body had been ripped awake. For nineteen years, it had slept.
Now it roared.
The world shifted.
Colors sharpened.
Sounds became clearer.
He could hear distant screams, the crackling of flames, the pulse of Aether in the air itself.His muscles tightened and flexed involuntarily as raw power flooded his veins.
A burning sensation ignited in his chest.
"So this… is Aether" Hiro muttered.
The mysterious energy that only women could wield freely. But this was different.
This wasn't refined.
This was primal.
Savage.
Deep within his soul, something stirred.
A beast. It opened its eyes. Panic surged through him.
"I'm turning into a Beast Slave," he thought wildly. "It's really happening."
"Hiro, stay focused!" Yurei's voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. "Accept the feeling. Don't fight it!"
The beast inside him roared. A thunderous sound tore from Hiro's throat as violet energy erupted around his body.
The chains tightened instinctively. The primal force surged violently, trying to consume his mind.
Images flooded him—destruction, slaughter, cities reduced to ash beneath claw and fang. He could feel himself slipping. But he didn't resist.
He remembered her words.
Accept it. The chains around him pulsed brighter, suppressing the beast's dominance. They didn't erase it. They contained it.
"It's working…" Yurei whispered, watching as Hiro's body glowed with a deep purple light.
But suddenly—The primal force surged again.
Stronger.
A thousand times stronger.
A violent shockwave of Aether blasted outward, cracking the remaining walls of the ruined building.
The chains around him began to fracture.
"What's happening?!" Yurei gasped.
Her Blessing strained visibly. "As limited as my Blessing can be," she thought frantically, "it should still be enough to enslave his Beast Form… unless he is—"
The building trembled violently. Chunks of ceiling fell. The air grew suffocating.
Hiro felt like he was drowning in an endless ocean of bloodlust and instinct.
He was sinking. Falling deeper into the beast's abyss.
Then—Soft lips pressed against his once more.
Yurei kissed him again.
This time, his eyes were open. Through blurred vision filled with swirling Aether, he saw her face up close. Her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson. Her eyes were closed tightly, pouring everything she had into the connection.
"Hopefully… giving more affection will increase my Blessing's output…" she thought desperately.
The chains brightened. The connection deepened.
Inside Hiro's mind, something changed.
A massive door materialized in the darkness of his consciousness. It was ancient.
Crimson. Sealed with a heavy lock.
The door slowly creaked open.
Beyond it was nothing but endless void.
Instead of suppressing the primal force—
The door absorbed it. Violet energy poured inward, swallowed whole by the abyss beyond the threshold.
Unlike the chains, which restrained the beast—
The door consumed it. Gradually, the overwhelming presence began to fade.
After absorbing an immense amount of the energy, the door shut with a resounding boom.
The crimson lock sealed tightly. The force inside thrashed violently, trying to break free. At that moment, Yurei's pink chains appeared within his mental landscape, wrapping around the sealed door and reinforcing it.
The shaking slowed, then stopped.
Silence.
The beast was not gone.
But it was contained. In the vast mental ocean where he had been drowning, Hiro saw a hand reaching toward him.
Yurei's hand.
Light broke through the darkness. He reached back
.
"Crap," he thought faintly. "I'm really a slave now."
And then—
BOOM!!!