"I... I just..."
After a long pause, Yuri still could not come up with any way to argue back.
"All right. I really do have feelings for Akuto-kun."
In the end, under her little sister's stare and the pressure of reality, Yuri, the very image of a shy girl, finally revealed her true heart for once.
"Good. As long as you're willing to admit it."
Hikari nodded in great satisfaction. So long as Yuri was willing to acknowledge it, Hikari had ways to help her turn the situation around.
"But Hikari, if it's one against two..." Yuri knew very well how charming Liliana was. And with Erica added on top of that, she honestly did not feel she had much chance even in a one-on-one contest.
"It's fine. Big Sis, don't you have me? If we sisters work together, we'll definitely snatch Akuto-onii-sama back from those evil Italians!"
Hikari pumped her little fist toward the sky, full of determination.
"Huh? Y-you! Hikari, your meaning is...! You're still so young. How can you be thinking things like that?!"
Yuri could accept her own feelings, but the idea of involving Hikari as well was far harder for her to accept.
Hikari saw that clearly enough, and she had no intention of pushing too hard all at once.
This time, her goal was only to give Yuri a bit of advance warning.
So she casually revealed the next few steps ahead of time.
"Well, anyway, I like Akuto-onii-sama too. Otherwise, why would I always be bringing him bentos?"
"As for marrying Akuto-onii-sama, that can wait until I'm around your age, Big Sis."
"But even without my help, don't you still have Ena-onee-sama helping you? One of you is the very image of the pinnacle of martial grace, a kendo Yamato Nadeshiko, and the other is the pinnacle of literary grace, a tea ceremony Yamato Nadeshiko. I believe that if the two of you joined forces, Akuto-onii-sama definitely wouldn't be able to withstand it!"
Hikari waved her little fist again in encouragement.
"Hikari, you..."
Yuri could not help laughing helplessly, and what made it even harder not to laugh was that after thinking it through carefully, she realized Hikari was not actually wrong.
She did love Akuto, and she did have the wish to marry him one day. But even so, did that really give her the right to forbid Hikari from wanting the same?
Clearly, it did not.
Judging from the way Hikari interacted with Akuto, her feelings for him were genuine. Even as Hikari's older sister, Yuri had no right to ignore that or to stop her by force.
The most she could do was urge Hikari to think carefully and not do anything that might harm her own body. That was all.
After all, Hikari was only twelve.
"All right... if Ena agrees, then I suppose... it wouldn't be impossible."
Because she had so little confidence in a one-against-two situation, Yuri ultimately accepted the idea that Seishuuin Ena might share the same man alongside her.
Now that Italy and Southern Europe had sworn loyalty to Akuto, Fusou would surely make its own move as well.
Rather than let random women draw close to him, Yuri felt it would be better if it were herself instead. After all, she really had loved Akuto for a long time, and she really had thought seriously about marrying him when she grew up.
It was only that she had never been able to reveal her true feelings. And now that she had missed her chance, and Akuto had already become a Godslayer, all she could do was join the struggle alongside others.
At this moment, Yuri's feelings could be summed up in one sentence.
She regretted it deeply.
...
Meanwhile, while Yuri spent the whole night thinking about what she ought to do once Akuto returned to Fusou, Akuto's side was lively in a very different way.
The evening stretched long and indulgent, with the four women surrounding him in turn. Compared with when there had only been Erica and Liliana, the addition of Arianna and Karen made the whole rhythm far more sustainable.
With only Erica and Liliana, Akuto could exhaust both of them too quickly, leaving no one left to keep him company before the night was over.
But with four of them, there was far more time to recover, and the balance became much steadier.
Even so, Erica, Liliana, and their two maids were still no match for Akuto in the end.
By the time the long night finally faded into dawn, all four women were utterly spent. Even after Akuto had already bestowed pieces upon them, they still lacked the strength to keep going. One after another, they drifted off and slept until noon.
"Mmh..."
Erica slowly opened her eyes and saw Akuto holding her close. Warm affection immediately filled her face.
Although Akuto had fallen asleep beside Liliana the previous night, he was with Erica now when morning came.
Which meant he had clearly changed positions at some point, dividing his time between them so that each got her share.
Realizing that Akuto really had been trying to live by his own principles, and that he really was that greedily affectionate, Erica could only smile and shake her head.
No matter what, he truly had done the best he could, and he had kept his promise.
The only flaw was that the number of women around him was a little too high.
Of course, Erica also had enough self-awareness to know that even in a one-on-one situation, not even Athena, as the Fang King, would necessarily have the qualification to monopolize him.
So all Erica could do was help Akuto as much as possible, and leave him with impressions vivid enough that he would want to spend more of his time with her.
Thinking that, Erica smiled gently. She leaned in, kissed him softly, and then rolled over so that she was above him.
"..."
Akuto opened his eyes with a resigned expression and found Erica smiling down at him.
"My king, good morning. I wonder, would you have any interest in some morning exercise with me?"
By now, Erica could switch between different ways of addressing him with effortless skill, using each one to create a slightly different mood.
"Erica, do you know what kind of man you're challenging? I'm a man who took on four at once."
Akuto's hand settled familiarly at her waist. It was not quite as flawless as it had been the night before. There was still a faint fullness there, as though she were not entirely recovered yet.
"My king, of course I know exactly who I'm challenging. So... what's your answer?"
Though her violet eyes were already beginning to waver, Erica still bravely pressed her challenge.
"All right. I admire your courage."
Akuto licked his lips, still carrying the faint trace of Erica's lipstick, and then called upon gravity magic.
A sharp gasp escaped Erica as the sudden crushing force descended. Even with a body now comparable to that of a Godslayer, it was not easy for her to bear. Her body faltered, and in the next instant she fell helplessly into Akuto's arms, where he stole another kiss from her.
...
An hour later, in the dining hall, Saint Raphael wore a rather subtle expression as she looked at Erica.
It was a little ironic. Not long ago, Erica had been laughing at Raphael for losing her composure, and now Erica had firsthand experience of the same thing.
The soft sounds of embarrassed coughing and flustered breathing could also be heard here and there from Liliana, Arianna, and Karen nearby.
Raphael's lips twitched slightly as she looked from one to the next.
In the end, she had to admit it.
Accepting that Akuto had other women had been the correct choice. Otherwise, even as Europe's strongest holy knight, there was no way she could have handled someone as overwhelming as him alone.
After shooting Akuto a helpless glance, Saint Raphael spoke quietly.
"The Black Prince does not appear to have any intention of entering Italy. At present, that leaves only one god still in Italy - the Persian war god, Verethragna."
"Akuto-kun, do you intend to handle this personally, or are you planning to let someone else take action and create more artificial Godslayers?"
Hearing that, Akuto gave the answer he had already settled on.
"This time the situation is a little special. I'll deal with it myself."
"As for creating more artificial Godslayers, there will be plenty of chances for that later."
"Oh? The situation is special?"
Raphael tilted her head in confusion. Wasn't he just a crippled war god with incomplete authority? What was so special about that?
"That's right. I want to try a new experiment."
"And besides... it seems the test subject has already delivered himself."
Boom!
As though answering Akuto's words, a thunderous roar shook the distant sky.
...
The sky over Sicily was torn open as a white phantom descended in the distance, wrapped in a pressure wave fierce enough to rip through the atmosphere itself.
An ordinary person would already have been paralyzed by the sheer divine majesty of the catastrophe Verethragna displayed.
But Akuto knew that the imposing exterior was deceptive.
Because the Persian war god Verethragna was now in an unprecedentedly incomplete state.
Only six incarnations remained to him - Strong Wind, Boy, Bull, Ram, Phoenix, and Boar - circling around him as they radiated a violent yet incomplete divine aura.
The reason for that was simple.
Four of the war god's ten incarnations had already fallen into Akuto's hands.
With four of the ten missing, Verethragna's strength no longer even reached the level of a chief god.
A shrill cry rang out.
Taking the form of a divine phoenix, Verethragna shot toward Akuto's location at a speed far beyond what the naked eye could follow.
"Since the enemy has come to my door, I have no choice but to go and receive him."
"You all keep eating. I'll be back soon."
After glancing around at everyone present, Akuto stepped forward and vanished into the sky above the manor.
By the time Akuto had laid down his defensive spells, Verethragna, still in his Phoenix incarnation, had already arrived before him.
The war god's eyes, now turned completely golden, locked onto Akuto. They burned with pure fighting spirit, as well as a trace of madness forcibly suppressed beneath the surface.
"O one who has broken free of fate, with this shattered body I desire to fight thee in a final battle to the death."
(End of Chapter)
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