"Who exactly are you? Explain yourselves, now!"
Kyouka broke the silence with a sharp, demanding voice. Her eyes fixed hard on the two women who had just appeared, her grip tightening on the reins connected to Yuuki's slave form.
The girl with the deep purple-black hair turned slowly.
"I am Shikoku, Second Pillar of the Eight Thunder Gods. Remember that well, human." She answered with a thin smile.
Strangely, rather than looking at Kyouka who had asked the question, her eyes drifted to Naoki with an ambiguous gaze that was difficult to read, as though she had just discovered something extraordinarily valuable to play with.
"The Eight Thunder Gods..." Kyouka murmured quietly, searching her memory for any reference to that name and finding nothing. "I've never heard it before. What about you, Tenka?"
Tenka tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, her expression remaining unhurried. "Same as you, Kyou-chin. They're clearly not human, even if two of them look very much like us."
Kyouka looked at the three enemies in front of her and spoke with finality. "Whatever your identities, attacking Unit Seven's headquarters is a declaration of war. I'm taking all of you into custody right now. We can discuss the details in an interrogation room once you're no longer a threat."
"Hey, Shikoku! What do you think you're doing interfering?!"
Rather than showing any gratitude for being pulled free from Naoki's spatial vortex, Rairen turned on her companion with a look of open frustration.
"Oh, because I care about you deeply, of course~" Shikoku replied in a tone of exaggerated warmth, before breaking into a mocking laugh. "Besides, weren't you about to die rather pathetically in there if we hadn't shown up?"
"I could still fight." Rairen shot back stubbornly.
Shikoku glanced around at the scattered remains of Shuuki covering the ground in every direction. "Your entire force has been wiped out without a single survivor, Rairen. In my vocabulary, that's called a crushing defeat."
"I agree with Shikoku's assessment." Jouryuu added briefly. The dark-skinned woman finally spoke, backing Shikoku's argument in a cold, unanswerable tone.
"Ugh. Damn it." Rairen could only mutter in irritation.
With Jouryuu weighing in, she knew there was no point continuing to argue against their decision to intervene or retreat.
Having calmed Rairen's temper down to something manageable, Shikoku returned her attention to Naoki. The look in her eyes carried a weight of genuine regret, as though she found their brief encounter deeply unsatisfying.
"I'll admit this is a little disappointing." she said, drawing the words out with a lilting cadence. "Our main purpose in coming here was only to test the Anti-Demon Corps' combat strength, and I suppose that goal has been achieved. Your ordinary members are nothing to us, but I have to admit the strength of a Captain is on a different level."
She paused, tilting her head as her gaze settled on Naoki with growing intensity.
"In the process, I heard a very interesting rumor about a man who had managed to awaken a Peach Fruit Blessing. At first I dismissed it as exaggerated nonsense."
"But after watching with my own eyes what you just did to Rairen, I have no choice but to believe it, even though it makes no sense. This is the first time any man has ever gained power through eating a Peach Fruit. In every world before this one, nothing like this has ever happened."
Shikoku let out a long breath, looking faintly disappointed.
"Honestly, I would very much like to take you with me right now. Unfortunately, seeing that even Rairen was no match for you, I suppose we have no choice but to retreat reluctantly this time."
Before she actually left, Shikoku threw out one final question with a captivating smile.
"Tell me, what is your name, Unique Human?"
"Kamikawa Naoki." Naoki answered simply.
"Hmm. So your name is Naoki~? I'll be sure to remember it." Shikoku replied.
As she said the name, she slowly ran her tongue across her own lips in a provocative gesture, as though tasting it.
Watching the enemies preparing to withdraw, Kyouka found she could no longer stay still and simply watch. She had no intention of letting these intruders walk away after turning her headquarters into a wreck.
"You think you can just leave after causing all of this?" Kyouka said, pulling the reins on Yuuki. "Don't count on it."
Without hesitation, she snapped the chain connected to Yuuki in his slave form.
Yuuki, powerful as a warhorse in his slave transformation, shot forward with speed that cut through the air. But his path was immediately blocked by Jouryuu.
The horned woman moved fast, meeting the combined attack of Kyouka and Yuuki and triggering a fierce physical clash between them.
Seeing Kyouka move, Tenka had no interest in remaining on the sideline either. She stepped forward with a dangerous smile that carried a warning inside it.
"Well, since Kyou-chin has already acted, I suppose I can't keep standing in the back watching." She glanced toward Shikoku. "Besides, I may let my boyfriend interact with other women, but that absolutely does not extend to Humanoid Shuuki like you. Your name is Shikoku, isn't it? Just so you know, a jealous woman can be genuinely terrifying~"
Shikoku showed no sign of alarm. She laughed softly instead, meeting Tenka's gaze with sharp, calculating eyes.
"Oh? I'm not frightened at all. I'd actually like to find out firsthand just how strong a Captain really is." Shikoku spread her arms. "Though I should mention, I'm not a blunt instrument who likes brawling like Jouryuu or Rairen. I prefer to use my mind. Fight them if you can!"
With an elegant motion, Shikoku produced a card bearing the image of a Shuuki. In an instant, dozens of monstrous Shuuki came crawling out from it, flooding the area and charging blindly at Tenka from every direction.
Meanwhile, Naoki walked calmly toward Rairen, who was glaring at him with undisguised hatred.
"I won't be letting you leave here alive, Rairen. I'm the type who doesn't like leaving problems for the future."
Hearing that, Rairen felt her dignity as a divine being trampled underfoot.
"Don't get arrogant with me, you lowly human! How dare you speak as though you've already won, standing before a god!" she roared, her fury overflowing.
"I've learned a little about gods." Naoki said with open contempt. "But a minor god like you, one whose name doesn't appear in a single myth anywhere, I have absolutely no respect to offer something as unknown as you."
Those words didn't only sting Rairen. Jouryuu, who had been dominating Kyouka, and Shikoku, who was trading tactics with Tenka, both showed a visible shift in mood at the same instant. The air around them cooled. They had been insulted, their divine status dismissed as meaningless by a human being.
If even those two reacted that strongly, the effect on Rairen, whose temper was already a live wire, could only be imagined.
"YOU... HOW DARE YOU!!" Rairen screamed, black lightning cracking and snapping across her entire body as she lost control completely. "I WILL ERASE YOU FROM EXISTENCE, UNGRATEFUL HUMAN!!"
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