Within Shinsen-en Temple, opposite Nijo Castle's Sakura Garden.
In the waterside pavilion.
A wine-red-haired youth with hair reaching his waist, wearing crimson gloves patterned with stars and draped in a white cloak, smiled while gazing towards Nijo Castle:
"My oh my, Nue's been defeated? What a pity. I was planning to devour him after his success - now it's rather wasteful."
Hearing this, the explosive-haired black child Opacho trembled and called out:
"Hao-sama."
As if not hearing Opacho, Hao Asakura continued stroking his chin:
"But come to think of it, that technique used to defeat Nue - wasn't it what the SDS calls Concept Entanglement? The move you consider the hallmark of a Demigod."
As Hao spoke, Opacho nervously eyed the three figures blocking the lakeside pavilion's entrance.
SDS Supreme Chairwoman Lacus Clyne.
The Witch of the Void, Natsuki Minamiya.
And the Shrine Maiden of Mount Osore, Anna Kyōyama.
Faced with these three famously powerful women blocking their path, even Opacho couldn't help feeling tense.
At this moment, seeing Hao Asakura's attitude, Lacus let out a faint white breath:
"So it was your scheme behind Nue after all?"
Lacus gazed deeply at the youth before her:
"Hao Asakura."
"Oh? You came all this way to block me just to ask that?"
Hao Asakura tilted his head slightly, his grey eyes glancing back at Lacus before he smiled:
"I merely gave that counterfeit some necessary knowledge."
Hearing this, Lacus's heart sank.
But before she could say anything, Hao Asakura continued:
"Though compared to that counterfeit, I'm more curious about the man who defeated him."
"Hmm, Luo Shu was it?"
"Heh heh... Despite his life essence not having transformed yet—by your SDS's standards, merely Hero Rank—he's already mastered Demigod Rank methods."
"And judging by appearances, he's already touched upon the truth of magecraft?"
"Luo Shu... How interesting."
At these words, Lacus's pupils contracted sharply, her eyes seeming to explode with intensity as she stared at Hao Asakura with a hollow, ominous gaze:
"If you dare lay a hand on him, I'll kill you!!"
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
Hao Asakura narrowed his eyes at this woman radiating murderous intent, yet curled his lips upwards:
"How intriguing."
"Even though your emotions have been thoroughly devoured by those dangerous Abyss Artefacts, you can still emit such pure killing intent."
"Now that is truly fascinating."
Natsuki Minamiya raised an eyebrow at this. With a snap, she opened her fan to cover half her face:
"Casually targeting another's student isn't good manners, Hao Asakura."
"Don't paint me as the villain, witch."
Hao Asakura glanced at Natsuki Minamiya, smiling as he said:
"Compared to humans, I'm quite benevolent."
Natsuki's cheek twitched: "Benevolent? That's a rich joke."
She narrowed her eyes, gazing at the invisible yet oppressively terrifying presence behind Hao Asakura:
"Have you forgotten how many lives your flames have consumed?"
"Well now, I'd like to ask in return." Hao tilted his head. "Do you count every grain of rice in each bowl you eat?"
"Hao!!"
Lacus coldly snapped, her right hand gripping empty air as if seizing something.
At that moment, Anna Kyōyama raised her hand, straightening her 1080 prayer beads:
"Why waste words on trash like him? Let's just finish him here and now!!"
"Oh?"
Hao Asakura stroked his chin, visibly intrigued:
"Finish me?"
"With your beads? Or perhaps the trump cards the SDS and the Cabinet brought along?"
"Or maybe..."
Hao turned towards the pond beside the pavilion, observing his reflection in the water as he smiled:
"You're relying on this unfamiliar Demigod?"
Lacus's expression remained unchanged, but the previously calm water surface began rippling in concentric circles.
The next instant, the clear water was covered in crimson-black ripples.
From within emerged a woman with golden-red eyes, clad in black-and-red gothic attire, her doll-like perfection rising slowly:
"My, my. Discovered so quickly?"
Kurumi Tokisaki slowly emerged from the water, smiling as she narrowed her eyes at Hao Asakura:
"Should I say it's our first meeting? Mr Asakura."
Yet Hao Asakura gave Kurumi a peculiar look and said with puzzlement:
"How strange."
"What's strange?" Kurumi asked, confused.
Internally, Kurumi was actually highly wary of Hao Asakura.
Though she'd long obtained intelligence about him through the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System from Lacus, and thanks to Lacus's arrangements, had successfully ambushed this Demigod using the Asakura family's heirloom artefact from Anna Kyōyama's possession, bringing Natsuki Minamiya and others along.
A Demigod plus three Hero Rank individuals wielding Demigod Rank Abyss Artefacts - according to the SDS internal estimates, such a lineup should have a chance of capturing Hao Asakura when catching him off guard.
But actually facing him, Kurumi felt uncertain.
Was this man truly just a Demigod?
As Kurumi hesitated, Hao Asakura looked at her with that same strange gaze:
"Don't you find your own condition rather odd?"
"Hmm?" Kurumi blinked, looking at Hao Asakura in confusion.
Then, as if confirming something, Hao Asakura said with genuine bewilderment:
"You've reached the Demigod Rank without comprehending the essence of techniques; your aura is chaotic yet extraordinarily potent."
Shaking his head, he continued:
"Though a Demigod, you're inferior to that Luo Shu in Nijo Castle - at least he's begun grasping the essence of techniques."
Hearing this, Kurumi's expression turned peculiar:
"The essence of techniques? Do you mean concepts?"
Unlike Hao Asakura, she didn't understand his terminology, but could make some guesses.
The problem was, while she couldn't discern Hao's depths, he'd instantly identified her issues - which unsettled her.
Staring at Hao Asakura, who looked at her like some panda-level national treasure, Kurumi hesitated:
"...Are you truly just a Demigod?"
Hao Asakura merely smiled:
"Demigod? That's just your definition."
"I'm simply a Shaman."
With that, he seemed rather pleased, even his expression softening considerably.
Hao Asakura turned to Lacus and smiled:
"You've found quite the companions, Lacus Clyne."
"But if you want to kill me, you'll need to double your numbers and bring that Luo Shu along too."
As his words fell.
The eyes of everyone present narrowed.
Then, crimson flames rose in the void.
A pair of enormous red hands reached out, grasping towards Hao Asakura and Opacho. Just before contact, the hands flipped over, carefully cradling them in their palms.
Staring at the suddenly appearing fire giant and feeling its nearly suffocating pressure, Lacus's expression darkened:
"So this is the Soul Fire you obtained from the Star's Origin—the legendary Spirit of Fire?"
Hao didn't answer, merely floating upwards atop the Spirit of Fire's palm. Smiling down at Kurumi Tokisaki from above, he said:
"Your existence has clarified many of my doubts."
"For that, I'll spare you all this time."
"But next time, if you plan to ambush me, prepare more people—at least enough to make the slaughter enjoyable."
With these words, Hao glanced at Anna Kyōyama, shaking his head with some regret:
"This time, the Asakura family is borrowing external forces to oppose me?"
"How utterly stagnant."
"Go tell the Asakura brats that if there's a next time, their branch might as well be demoted to a lesser lineage."
"The Asakura family shouldn't be led by tools."
As he finished speaking, crimson flames surged skyward, engulfing the Spirit of Fire above.
After the flames vanished, Natsuki Minamiya looked up at the pavilion, closing her fan with a snap:
"...Gone already?"
Kurumi Tokisaki giggled in response: "My, my, it seems we've been graciously spared."
Hearing this, Anna merely glanced at Kurumi before turning to Lacus, the mastermind behind this ambush, and said coolly:
"Consider this intelligence on Hao as the Asakura family owing you a favour."
Though the ambush had failed—indeed, they hadn't even fought—for Anna, simply meeting Hao and assessing their enemy's condition was already a worthwhile gain.
As for owing the SDS a favour?
It was the Asakura family's debt—what did that have to do with Anna Kyōyama?
At Anna's words, Lacus nodded slightly, acknowledging the debt.
Anna said nothing more and departed on her own.
Seeing this, Natsuki glanced between Kurumi and Lacus. Though she had questions, recognising the inappropriateness of the moment, she simply said:
"When you see Luo Shu later, tell him to return to school soon to complete his leave formalities."
"Honestly, skipping an entire month after term started—how dare he text me to write his excuse notes?"
With these parting words, Natsuki—who'd been invited as reinforcement—also took her leave.
Only when the pavilion held just herself and Kurumi did Lacus finally sigh, voicing her frustration:
"After all our preparations, it turns out we were the ones being spared?"
"This won't be easy to explain to Luo Shu."
Kurumi looked apologetic: "Sorry, I truly didn't have confidence earlier."
Lacus merely smiled reassuringly:
"Not making a move was for the best. After all, our initial goal was to prevent Hao from interfering with Luo Shu's advancement. Although we didn't manage to keep Hao here, at least Luo Shu succeeded on his end."
Hearing this, Kurumi Tokisaki let out a sigh of relief, though she also felt a subtle awkwardness.
Hao Asakura's remark that she was inferior to Luo Shu, who had just advanced to Hero Rank, had somewhat shattered her confidence.
Could it be that as a Demigod who relied on external forces for advancement, she was the weakest among her peers?
This kind of thing... absolutely not!!!
With remnants of her chuunibyou tendencies, Kurumi Tokisaki couldn't bear the thought of being the weakest among those of the same rank.
Just as her expression turned unnatural, Lacus offered words of comfort:
"Don't take Hao's words to heart. He's not exactly known for being truthful."
"What do you mean?" Kurumi started in surprise. "Was he bluffing us just now?"
"...That's a possibility." Lacus paused briefly before nodding.
"Then why didn't you...?" Kurumi didn't quite understand.
At this, Lacus gave a gentle smile:
"Because time is on our side, isn't it?"
As she spoke, she glanced towards Nijo Castle.
Seeing this, Kurumi immediately understood and also turned her gaze towards the castle.
"You're right. In the end, it will stand with us."
Lacus then chuckled softly and said:
"Let's go. It's time to meet our 'Hero'."
"'Hero', huh? That title might make someone blush, don't you think?"
Kurumi laughed at this before following Lacus's lead.
She couldn't wait to tease a certain someone!