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Thus, Natsuki Minamiya was forced to sit through another entire hour of the heated sounds emanating from the bathroom.
From Yukina's embarrassed whispers of "Please, Senpai, be gentle—Ms. Minamiya's still outside…" to Nagisa's breathless cries of "I'm flying again!", eventually devolving into nothing but incoherent murmurs blending chaotically with the ceaseless roar of rushing water.
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An hour later, when the trio finally stepped out of the bathroom, both girls still had cheeks flushed red, their hair damp and glistening from a quick toweling. Their eyes were equally moist, giving the impression they'd been crying—yet sparkling with unmistakable delight.
Bokue guided the two blushing girls gently toward the living room couch.
Yet, the moment he sat down, Natsuki, who had already positioned herself cautiously at the far end of the sofa, instinctively scooted further away with noticeable discomfort.
"…What's wrong?" Bokue raised an eyebrow, confused by her odd reaction.
"Nothing." Natsuki tightly crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes remained calmly detached, but a subtle wariness lingered behind them.
"It's just—I don't particularly want to come into contact with your aura right now. I feel like just breathing it in might impregnate me."
"That's ridiculous..." Bokue rolled his eyes, sighing. "Anyway, back on track. What exactly is this 'urgent' situation you mentioned?"
"Alright." Natsuki nodded, swiftly switching gears back into her professional demeanor.
"Based on the Special Zone Guard's recent intelligence, it's now certain that members of the Black Death Emperor Faction have indeed infiltrated Itogami Island. We've already apprehended two of their operatives, and from them, we extracted some critical information."
"Specifically, they've gotten their hands on an ancient weapon known as Nalakuvera."
"Ancient weapon?" Bokue repeated skeptically, unimpressed by the grandeur of the description.
"Indeed," Natsuki explained calmly.
"Nalakuvera is a divine weapon forged by the Ancient Gods, capable of annihilating entire civilizations. Its power is immense. Fortunately, the Black Death Emperor Faction currently lacks the ability to properly control it. The weapon's commands are written in an ancient, unknown script, entirely unrelated to any modern language. Even with our Guard running at full capacity, we've barely decoded its name, 'Nalakuvera.' We're still leagues away from deciphering the complete control instructions."
"Then what exactly makes this situation 'urgent'?" Bokue began impatiently, then stopped mid-sentence as a sudden realization struck him.
He remembered clearly that yesterday, when he visited Asagi's apartment, she had proudly announced she'd just successfully translated some unknown stone tablet sent by an anonymous "challenger."
If memory served, Asagi had even complained jokingly that the tablet didn't seem to contain historic records at all—instead, it read suspiciously like an instruction manual.
If that tablet was actually the operational manual for Nalakuvera, and considering the Black Death Emperor remnants were already infiltrating Itogami Island...
"This instruction manual you mentioned—was it engraved onto a stone slab?" Bokue jumped to his feet suddenly, a surge of golden spiritual energy beginning to swirl around him.
Natsuki blinked in surprise but quickly nodded. "Yes, exactly. But how did you—?"
"No time to explain. I need to get to Asagi's place right now." Bokue shook his head urgently, already preparing to activate a teleportation spell.
However, just as he moved, a familiar voice echoed ominously from beyond the apartment balcony.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You're not leaving here, Bokue Keikain."
That voice...!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
An explosive force erupted suddenly, shattering the balcony windows and sending shards of glass raining into the apartment like deadly hail.
The ferocious gust of magical energy burst inward, slicing through the room like shurikens thrown in a hurricane.
As the dust cleared, a massive purple serpent, towering a hundred meters high, loomed just beyond the shattered balcony. In front of it, floating leisurely in mid-air, was a familiar golden-haired figure.
"…Dimitrie Vatler," Bokue narrowed his eyes coldly. "Looks like you swim pretty fast—already back from your little vacation in the middle of the Pacific?"
Bokue carefully released Yukina and Nagisa, whom he had shielded instinctively during the explosion, then calmly rose from the sofa, approaching the balcony's broken edge to stare Vatler down.
"But I don't have time for your nonsense right now," He said icily, his voice low and dangerously calm.
"At least for the moment—get lost."
It was a final ultimatum.
While Bokue didn't exactly hate the arrogant vampire noble, he knew for certain that if Vatler persisted in obstructing him, he wouldn't hesitate to erase him completely.
But Vatler's reaction exceeded Bokue's expectations.
"Get lost? Now that's quite impossible. After all, I've been entrusted with an important mission this time." The golden-haired vampire smiled elegantly yet ominously, checking his watch in exaggerated fashion.
"Right about now, my dear associate Gardos should have already captured your precious blonde hacker girl—the renowned 'Cyber Empress,' I believe she's called? Ah, the dangers of carelessly answering unknown emails… truly unfortunate."
Vatler's eyes glowed with a twisted excitement as he faced Bokue.
"As for my task, it's merely to keep you busy until our lovely Cyber Empress finishes decoding the rest of Nalakuvera's commands. Of course, that's Gardos's wording. Personally, I'm quite thrilled to challenge you once more. I intend not only to hold your attention—I want to defeat you. Consider this victory my appetizer before I battle the weapon of the gods itself!"
As he spoke, Vatler became increasingly manic, even waving his hands theatrically with excitement.
Yet his enthusiasm was met by nothing more than seven simple, chilling words from Bokue.
"I see… So that's how it is."
Bokue slowly lifted his head, locking eyes with Vatler. Within those golden pupils burned a piercing coldness, as if the frost of ten thousand winters had instantly condensed into his gaze.
That simple, terrifying stare froze Vatler completely, the vampire's entire body stiffening as though suddenly decapitated.
It felt… like death itself was breathing down his neck!
Thump-thump.
An eerie, heavy heartbeat echoed audibly to everyone present. Bokue breathed deeply, closing his eyes. For the first time in nearly a decade, he felt it clearly again—the sensation he'd experienced when his True Power first awakened.
Memories flooded back vividly—his childhood days at the Keikain Clan, where elders and relatives screamed venomously, attempting to crush his spirit and seal away his potential.
Yet their hateful actions had no effect at all—like logs thrown carelessly into a blazing fire, they only fueled the inferno.
Bokue clenched both fists, feeling unparalleled, invincible power surge through every fiber of his being.
He exhaled softly. An extreme heat wave exploded forth, instantly evaporating all moisture from Dimitrie Vatler's body, leaving the vampire painfully dry and parched.
Glancing upward, the golden energy radiating from Bokue expanded, filling the entire sky and blotting out the sun.
And when his gaze returned downward, fixing Vatler directly in place, the arrogant noble felt as though he faced the Judgement of a Supreme God.
In Bokue's eyes, now burning pure, radiant gold, Dimitrie saw clearly the primal fury capable of incinerating entire galaxies.
You arrogant fools...
Who do you think you are, to even think of challenging me like this?
Do you truly not fear death??
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