LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 253.2
Chapter 253.2. God-Tier
He was serious about wanting to protect Hana. Honestly, Yukihana thought that with Hana, who was a bundle of combat talent, and Jun, whose combat skills were that of an average person, it was clear who would need protecting. But he decided to keep that thought to himself—no need to invite trouble.
Yukihana stayed with the fleet, just in case.
He took a deep breath, touched the cat ears, and ran his hand along the fox-tail scarf that twitched slightly, as if alive. Only then did the shock from the divine-level magic start to fade, and he began to feel calm again.
[Gogogo, Sakimori-san! Why are you so proactive with beastkin but won’t give me any of that dark-lucky-ecchi chaos? We’re both users of dark magic, so it’s only fair I get some miraculous, unspeakable experiences too!]
Floating weightlessly in spirit form, Shizuku pouted, clearly displeased with his actions.
[Not sure I get it, but isn’t it fine to pet beastkin ears or tails? It’s like stroking a pet, right?]
Tilting his head, he absentmindedly stroked Karin’s cat ears. Was this really so strange?
[No cat would blush and pant like that! She’s a catgirl, not an actual cat! You could totally get away with taking her home, you know!]
With a shriek, Shizuku transformed into a beastkin monkey and angrily glared at me. Hmm… She might be right—Karin’s cheeks were slightly red. The fox-tail scarf, at least, didn’t seem to have an issue.
“Is there a problem?”
As he muttered, still playing with the soft, warm fox-tail scarf,
“Tch! You may have control over my body, but you’ll never steal my heart! If you want that, you’d better show up with a marriage certificate—and the title of vice president of Amatsugahara Corporation! Oh, and don’t forget the dowry! It better be generous, because my heart is expensive!”
“Yeah… she seems perfectly fine.”
The fox-tail scarf opened her mouth, clearly determined to wring every last drop of profit from the situation. Since she was even pricing her own heart, she would probably be thrilled with a political marriage. If he offered her a bathtub full of cash, she’d likely sell her heart without hesitation.
After all, she had betrayed her fallen father in a heartbeat to follow me. This foxgirl’s sense of honor was absurdly high—pure swordswoman spirit, through and through. Her danger sense was off the charts, and it seemed the word “betrayal” didn’t exist in her vocabulary.
[Sakimori-san! You’ve invoked my wrath! Now we must see if my anger is righteous or reversed! We’ll let the gods decide—if you can catch popcorn in your mouth three times in a row after tossing it from the top of a lamppost, then it’s reversed wrath!]
[So, I just need to climb a lamppost and eat popcorn?]
Reverse wrath? That sounded ridiculous. And with those conditions, it would be easy.
[No riddles! Don’t overthink it—you’ll just turn it into a riddle!]
Shizuku spun wildly through the air, fully monkey-mode, screeching in frustration. Perhaps it was time to stop teasing her.
[By the way, Shizuku, wasn’t the timing of this attack a little too perfect?]
At my serious telepathic inquiry, Shizuku, who had been fuming, stopped mid-air and looked at me gravely.
[I thought so too. If Satchan hadn’t sent that odd thought of “Come back quickly deruu!” we’d still be on the fleet, swaying on the waves.]
[If I hadn’t decided to go ahead on Ku, the city might’ve become a ruin. The enemy forces were far too coordinated, and there were too many of them. This wasn’t a normal stampede.]
Narrowing his eyes, he surveyed the ruined city spread out before him. Tens of thousands—impossible. And instead of surrounding the area, they focused on a single breakthrough point. The intent to bring down Hakata City was unmistakable.
[…I hate to say this, but stampedes can be artificially triggered. Scatter enough Elemental Cores, and countless dungeons will form, releasing swarms of monsters. When that happens, special monsters appear to command the chaos.]
[So the Earth Federation triggered it to stop us?]
Bringing 3,000 soldiers here was no small task. Just securing food and housing for them was a challenge. If the stampede had already brought the city to its knees, then what?
Even if the city fell, the tens of thousands of residents wouldn’t all be wiped out. Many would’ve built barricades or hidden away, waiting to be rescued. Our army, stretched thin by rescue efforts, wouldn’t have the time to search the Federation’s fake dungeons. That would be their plan—normally, at least.
[They’re trying to stop me by any means necessary. But something’s off—this method is strange.]
Still, he wasn’t normal. Frowning, he mulled over the enemy’s odd strategy.
[Maybe it’s just to stall us?]
[I have lots of familiars to handle scouting. The best move is to flee, second-best is to hide. This isn’t the Sengoku era—they won’t withdraw just because they run out of food. Like you said, this is just a delaying tactic.]
He stroked his chin, deep in thought. Why were they buying time? If they were here, wouldn’t that give away their presence? Yoiko’s report couldn’t be trusted, and the familiars were vulnerable to magic. He had doubted that the Earth Federation army was even in Kyushu, but… this situation seemed like proof they were.
If they were hiding, why reveal themselves? It didn’t add up.
No, they weren’t here. This was a ploy to lure him away from Amatsukahara Corporation’s headquarters. The real target must be somewhere else.
Still, leaving Hakata like this wasn’t an option. At the very least, he had to deal with whoever scattered those Elemental Cores.
“We’re landing. Let’s go say hello to the people of Hakata.”
He gave Ku the order to descend. Headquarters was in good hands with Sachi. Now, it was his turn to deal with Hakata.