"Haru, you're not hurt, are you?"
"...Amin?"
Haruno instinctively called him by his familiar nickname.
Turning around, she saw Nanashi standing beside her.
"This monster—"
"Don't worry. I've already suppressed it," Nanashi said calmly, pulling her gently back down to the ground.
Just as he claimed, the monstrous beast was completely immobilized. It couldn't even let out a roar.
Nanashi grimaced slightly. He hated its breath.
It stinks!
"This…"
Haruno stared, stunned by the overwhelming power Nanashi wielded—so much more terrifying than the boy she once knew.
"Picking on Haru? Did you get my permission?"
With a cold glint in his eye, Nanashi raised his hand.
BOOM!
The lizard beast—perhaps a skeletal reptile, or more accurately, a bone-plated giant lizard—was launched hundreds of meters into the air by a single strike.
Then, with a resounding explosion, its body shattered mid-air, scattering into chunks of bloody meat.
It didn't even have time to scream.
A notification from the Doomsday Chat Group popped up:
[You have gained 10,000 Doomsday Points.]
Nanashi ignored it.
He turned to Haruno, his voice soft. "Are you okay?"
"…"
Haruno's heart pounded as she looked at his familiar face, those gentle words, and that quiet strength.
Yet, she nervously clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. "Thank you, Nanashi-kun… But I'm Haruno Yukinoshita—Yukino's sister."
"…"
Nanashi studied her face for a long moment before murmuring, "Haruno."
"Mm."
Pain tightened in Haruno's chest. She quickly shifted the topic. "Nanashi-kun… can you tell me what's going on here?"
After a moment's pause, he explained the Doomsday Game to her.
Then he said, "We need to find Yukino and the others."
"Others?" Haruno blinked in confusion.
"My friends. And… my girlfriends."
"???"
Haruno's eyes widened. "Isn't Yukino your girlfriend?"
"She is. One of them. I have… several girlfriends."
"Ha?"
Haruno's mind stalled at the unexpected reply.
Nanashi didn't press the topic. "This isn't the time for that. I'll explain everything later—once we find the others."
With that, he took off, bringing along a somewhat dazed Haruno.
"I wonder how the others are doing..."
Yukino stood alone in a frozen landscape.
Glittering ice spread outward from her feet, covering everything in an ever-growing circle of crystal frost.
All around her were monsters—dozens of them, towering and monstrous.
Frozen solid.
Encased within her expanding glacial field like life-sized ice sculptures.
Suddenly, with a sharp crack, a black panther the size of a tank lunged at her from behind a newly formed icicle.
"Yukino! Watch out!"
A voice called from above.
"Onee-chan?"
She recognized it instantly, even as her right hand moved on instinct.
A surge of freezing air burst forth.
Click! Click! Click!
In seconds, the black panther was encased in solid ice, crashing into the ground with a deafening thud.
Nanashi and Haruno landed beside her.
"Y-Yukino?!"
Haruno stared in disbelief.
She had just witnessed her younger sister summon a wave of ice with nothing but a gesture.
Is this really the Yukino I know...?
"Onee-chan? You're here too?" Yukino asked, visibly surprised.
"She was also summoned into this world," Nanashi answered, stepping in. "Yukino and I have already survived two Doomsday Games. She's strong now."
"So that's what happened…"
Haruno's doubts—about Yukino, about Nanashi—began to fade.
She realized now that, somewhere along the way, these two had grown strong together in another world. Without anyone else knowing, they had become a part of each other's lives.
"…Onee-chan."
Yukino's gaze dropped to their joined hands.
Nanashi had discarded Haruno's exoskeleton armor earlier—he found it insulting to rely on such things when he was present.
And when they descended, he had been carrying Haruno in his arms.
They were still holding hands.
Out of habit. Out of instinct.
Haruno quickly let go and smiled sweetly. "Nanashi-kun protected me. Your boyfriend's really something, Yukino. I'm also surprised… I didn't know you had superpowers."
"…"
But Yukino could see through her.
She knew her sister too well.
That smile… was forced.
Those words… were calculated.
In the past, she might've been shaken by them.
But not this time.
Not anymore.
"Stop pretending, Onee-chan!" Yukino's voice rang out, clear and unyielding.
"You like Nanashi-kun, don't you?"
Her tone was calm, but the accusation struck like thunder.
"Yukino…"
Haruno's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it.
When had her shy little sister become so bold?
"I don't know what happened between you and Nanashi, but the way you look at him… it reminds me of how I used to look at him."
"We're the same."
"Stop hiding behind your mask, Onee-chan. Don't do that just because of me…"
Yukino's voice trembled slightly at the end, her head bowing.
She didn't want her sister to keep faking a smile, suppressing her feelings, just to avoid hurting her.
"Sigh…"
Nanashi let out a long sigh.
This is my fault, he thought.
But his heart was greedy… and simple.
He wanted Yukino.
He wanted Haruno too.
He wouldn't give up either of them.
"Yukino. Haruno. We'll talk more about this later. Right now, we have to find Marin and the others."
"Wait—Marin and the others are here too?" Yukino's eyes widened in surprise.
But she quickly nodded.
Now wasn't the time to fight or argue.
This world was full of danger. Monsters were everywhere. If the others were here, they might already be in trouble.
"Then let's move quickly."
Yukino took Haruno's silent hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Then she turned to Nanashi, holding out her other hand.
"Later… tell me the story between you and my sister."
"Yukino…"
For the first time, Haruno felt that Yukino had truly grown up.
Even she—an elder sister—had been taught a lesson by her younger sibling.
At some unknown point, the safety of the group was confirmed.
Through the communication interface, they learned that everyone was in stable condition.
As they located more members of the party, each one was found unharmed.
Megumi
Her subtle and quiet presence masked her completely, rendering her undetectable to any nearby monsters.
Marin
Her succubus powers were... unusually effective. When they found her, she was surrounded by over a dozen monsters acting like loyal bodyguards—all of them charmed and under her control.
Chika
Now the embodiment of a wind spirit, she sported translucent wings that allowed her to flit through the forest with ease. Her wind magic let her fend off lesser monsters without much effort.
At the very least, none of them had run into anything like that Godzilla-sized monster.
The skeletal lizard Haruno encountered had only been a juvenile.
With everyone gathered at last and brief introductions made, they got to know one another—and they also learned that Haruno was Yukino's older sister by blood.
Nanashi, however, made no move to act immediately. Time in this realm seemed to flow differently. There was no reason to rush.
With a thought, Nanashi created tents using divine power—purely through faith.
A campfire appeared, and before long, a temporary camp had been established.
"Amazing! Nanashi-kun, how did you do that?" Chika asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
This was creation from nothing—literal magic.
As someone with whom he shared a connection, Nanashi indulged her interest.
He unfurled his Chaos Wings—one black, one gold—gleaming under the starlight.
"Wow! So beautiful!" Marin's mind instantly jumped to cosplay—angels, demons, and dramatic wings.
After a quick explanation of faith-based magic, Nanashi turned to Megumi.
"Megumi, do you want to become my angel?"
Her personal combat strength was still lacking. But if she had an angel's form, with suppressed presence and enhanced power, she could be formidable.
"I'd love to, but… how do I do it?" Megumi tilted her head curiously.
"It's simple," Nanashi replied. "Just think about how much you like me."
"I see."
She closed her eyes.
In an instant, Nanashi felt her desire—pure affection and an earnest yearning for love.
It was exactly this purity that had drawn him to Megumi in the first place.
A golden light of faith descended upon her.
Under the astonished gazes of the others, Megumi transformed into a radiant angel, hovering in the night sky.
"I feel… stronger," she murmured as she retracted her wings and halo and softly touched down.
"Way more convincing than a cosplay angel!" Marin exclaimed.
Eyes sparkling, she turned to Nanashi. "Can I become an angel too?"
"I don't think your succubus nature aligns well with angelhood," Nanashi replied gently.
"Aww… why not…"
Marin drooped, visibly disappointed.
"But," Nanashi added with a smirk, "you might be a perfect candidate for the Apostle of Sin."
"The Apostle of Sin?"
"It's when you think about sinful or wicked things."
"Sinful and wicked…" Marin trailed off, falling deep into thought.
Then she blushed—a deep, rosy red. A dreamy grin tugged at her lips.
"Hehehe…"
Her voice gave Chika pause. She subtly edged away.
Nanashi watched in silence.
He could feel it—the sin. The sin of lust.
In that moment, Marin's thoughts became all too clear to him.
She was fantasizing—about binding him, putting on a bizarre cosplay, stepping on him in high heels, whipping him, dripping candle wax…
A vein popped on Nanashi's forehead.
What in the hell…?
The sheer volume of spiritual pollution was overwhelming.
He quickly severed the link to her thoughts and, without hesitation, granted her the Power of Sin.
A dark aura engulfed her.
Unlike Megumi's golden glow, Marin's wings were pitch black, her halo dark as night. Horns and a sinuous tail—typical succubus features—completed the look.
To Nanashi, her form bore a striking resemblance to Mostima.
"I'm a fallen angel!!!" Marin cheered, thrilled with her transformation.
"It's called the Apostle of Sin," Nanashi corrected with a helpless sigh. Marin always got excited about cosplay-like transformations.
"…"
Meanwhile, Haruno stood frozen.
Of everyone there, she was the only one truly shocked by Nanashi's current powers.
He could turn humans into angels… or fallen angels.
"Nanashi-kun… have you become a god?"
Nanashi shrugged with a casual smile. "No. This is just one of my abilities."
"Then… can I become an angel too?" Chika asked, her big, shimmering eyes fixed on him.
Nanashi smirked. "Do you love me?"
"Huh?"
Without a word, Nanashi pulled Megumi into his arms. Megumi understood instantly and kissed him on the lips.
"See? Megumi became an angel because she loves me. What about you?"
"I—I…"
Chika's cheeks flushed crimson.
"I'll go get more firewood!" she blurted, and scampered away in a flustered panic.
Poor girl. So shy.
Of course, Nanashi had said that on purpose.
He's that shameless.
He wasn't about to let Chika—whom he had already been with—slip away from him.
"…"
Haruno silently observed Megumi's radiant presence… and the changed forms of Marin and Chika.
It was clear to her now.
Megumi was one of Nanashi's girlfriends.
While Chika and Marin weren't romantically declared, they were clearly close.
What shocked Haruno most, however, was not Nanashi's power…
But that Yukino stood silently, watching their intimacy unfold—completely unmoved.
"Onee-chan, Nanashi-kun, come with me. We need to talk."
Yukino spoke calmly as she led the way into the forest.
"Uh..." Nanashi turned to Megumi, intending to explain the situation.
But Megumi gently shook her head. "It's okay."
She was always so understanding and composed.
Unable to resist, Nanashi kissed her sweet lips once again.
"Kanae, keep an eye on things here."
"Got it," Kanae replied as she appeared from the shadows.
With her presence, Nanashi could relax a little.