The battlefield was silent.
Smoke drifted lazily through the broken trees. The ground was scorched in long arcs, earth split open where spells had detonated. The air still carried the faint scent of ozone.
And in the centre of it all, Akira stood.
His eyes were closed. From beginning to end, he had taken only a few steps during the entire battle. Now that it was over, he didn't move at all.
Erika frowned.
Even now, she could feel something different from him. A faint, unnatural coldness radiated from his still figure, the kind that made people instinctively keep their distance.
But she didn't care about that.
She called out to him.
"Akira."
No response.
She stepped closer.
"Akira… are you fine?"
Still nothing.
Then Selena's voice echoed gently in her mind.
"It's fine, Erika-chan. He's just lowering his processing speed."
Erika blinked.
"Lowering…?"
Selena explained calmly.
"Raising it is easy for him. Suppressing emotions is simple. Restoring them takes longer."
Erika's grip tightened slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Selena continued,
"At 50%, he prioritises cognition and suppresses emotional response. When he disengages, he has to reintegrate those suppressed layers."
A small pause.
"Normally, it takes about a minute."
Erika swallowed.
"Normally?"
Selena continued,
"This time may take longer. His emotional activity has increased significantly recently."
Erika's heart skipped.
"Is there a problem?"
Selena replied,
"No. It just means there's more to restore."
Erika hesitated, then asked softly,
"Is there any way I can help him?"
Selena said,
"Well… there is one way, I guess."
Erika asked,
"What is it?"
Selena said,
"Remember what we talked about. Right now, he doesn't need an equal. He needs an anchor."
Erika's eyes softened.
"What should I do?"
Selena said,
"Just go and hold his hand. Comfort him silently. That's all he needs right now."
Erika asked,
"That's all?"
Selena replied,
"Yes. That's all he needs right now."
Erika nodded and walked toward Akira.
Iori, who was standing next to her, called out, "Wait, sister, it might be—"
Erika replied calmly, "It's fine. I'm just going to hold his hand."
Then she walked up to Akira and gently took one of his hands in both of hers.
She didn't say anything.
She just stood there beside him.
A few seconds passed.
Then his fingers twitched.
Slowly, Akira opened his eyes.
They were still slightly unfocused, distant, but after two slow blinks, the faint emptiness faded, replaced by his usual brightness.
His shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.
"…That's why I don't like using it," he muttered quietly.
Then he noticed the warmth around his hand.
He turned slightly.
"Oh, Erika?"
She looked up at him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he replied immediately with a smile. "They didn't even land a hit."
She shook her head gently.
"Not that."
A small pause.
"When you fought… You felt different."
She hesitated.
"…It made me uneasy."
Akira blinked.
"I was just trying to intimidate them," he said after a moment. "And it's more efficient that way."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"But you scared me, too."
Akira panicked a bit hearing her say this.
He held both her hands tightly.
"…It's just temporary," he said quietly. He hesitated a bit and added. "I'm really fine. It's just… when I raise my processing speed, emotions get suppressed. That's all. It's not dangerous, I promise."
He paused again, clearly searching for better words.
"I don't even like using it," he added. "It's annoying."
Another silence.
He opened his mouth slightly, as if to add something else.
Then stopped.
He didn't know what to say.
Erika looked at him for a few seconds.
Then her expression softened.
"I know."
She squeezed his hands gently.
"As long as you're fine… and you come back to normal like this…"
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I'm happy."
Akira didn't say anything. He just looked into her eyes silently.
Erika did the same.
For a moment, a peaceful, sweet silence appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
Then Iori coughed.
"Guys. I know you're dating and all, but I am, like, right here."
Both of them let go of each other's hands and jumped back at lightning speed.
"Huh. So, this is how it is." Iori teased.
Then he shook his head dramatically. "Ever since you two started dating, you've completely forgotten this poor, lonely big brother."
He placed a hand on his chest. "Even though I helped you get together. You didn't even thank me."
Akira and Erika both froze.
They remembered.
The bath.
The manipulation.
The setup.
The trap.
Slowly, both of them turned toward Iori at the same time.
Iori blinked.
"…Why are you both looking at me like that?"
Erika smiled sweetly.
Too sweetly.
"Ah, right, oni-san… you're right."
She cracked her knuckles, radiating anger.
"I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me."
Iori took one step back.
"Wait—"
Erika immediately reached him and grabbed his shoulder.
"Yeah… how should I thank you…?"
A few minutes passed.
Iori was now kneeling on the ground with a massive, exaggerated bump on his head. Another on his cheek. Even a black eye.
"I was just trying to help…" he said pitifully.
Erika brushed off her hands calmly.
"Well, thank you for your help."
Akira sighed.
Despite everything, Iori really had helped them.
Even his natural healing factor wasn't recovering fast enough from Erika's "gratitude."
Akira decided to help him. He telepathically asked, "Hey sis, did my experimental healing potion, that LC-α, finish synthesising yet?"
Selena replied, "I did. Why? Wait… are you going to use it on him?"
Akira answered, "Yes. He helped me here. I need to repay the favour by testing… I mean, helping him, right? Can you send it to me?"
Selena sighed. "Fine. It's not that dangerous anyway… probably."
She sent the vials to his system inbox.
Akira took one out and handed it to Iori.
"Here, Iori. A healing potion."
Iori looked at it suspiciously.
"Why is your healing potion blue?"
Akira replied calmly, "It's something I created called Cerulean Dew. You're the first person to try it. Are you excited?"
Erika realised something.
"Did you make it from the blue spider lily?"
Akira nodded.
"Yes."
Iori's expression turned emotional.
"Akira… thank you. But I don't deserve the honor of being first…"
Akira uncorked the vial.
"Oh, don't be shy."
Before Iori could finish.
He tilted his chin and poured it in.
Iori flailed dramatically for a second.
Then froze.
The swelling visibly shrank.
The bruising faded.
The black eye lightened.
Akira nodded, satisfied.
He pulled out a notebook and calmly wrote:
"LC-α. First live trial. Success."
Iori stood up, flexing his arms energetically.
"Oh! This potion actually worked!"
Erika narrowed her eyes at the vial.
"He won't turn into a huge monster like Muzan did, right?"
Akira replied casually, "Don't worry. He probably won't."
Iori stared at them.
"…Guys. That 'probably' is doing a lot of work."
Akira ignored him.
"Forget about it, let's talk about the attack just now."
All of them turned serious.
"I think they were testing me," Akira said.
"Testing you? Who are they?" Erika asked.
Akira shook his head. "I don't know. Do you, Iori?"
"Well, your family has too many enemies," Iori replied. "So it could probably be one of them."
"That does not help narrow it down," Akira said flatly.
Erika said, "They were human mages, right? So, maybe a rogue mage guild?"
Iori nodded slightly. "Many supernatural factions use human mages as pawns. We can't really be sure who targeted us."
Akira sighed.
"Well… seems like I just have to go and ask them directly."
Erika looked at him sharply.
"You know where they're from?"
Akira explained. "They were using long-range information-gathering magic to watch us. During the fight, I traced the return path of their surveillance spell before destroying it."
"I see. That's great," Iori said.
"Well, I'll go and ask them immediately."
Erika frowned.
"Wait. You're going to fight again this soon?"
"Don't worry. I won't use that again." Akira assured her.
For Akira, fighting was usually for fun. And this time, he had also scared Erika. He didn't plan on using that state again unless absolutely necessary.
But Erika still looked worried.
"At least take me with you."
"I wish I could," Akira replied gently. "But it's better if I go alone this time. And you seem tired too."
Only then did he properly notice how pale she looked, and realised it's because she hadn't drunk his blood for a while.
He said with a smile. "I'll come back to you soon. Don't worry."
"But…"
Erika knew Akira would be fine. Still, she was uneasy about him fighting again so soon.
Selena telepathically said, "Don't worry, Erika-chan. Come join me. We can watch him from the throne room. It'll be more fun that way."
Erika sighed.
"…Fine."
Akira thought for a moment.
"If you're worried about me losing my emotions like before, don't. I won't fight like that."
He paused.
"I'll fight using this."
He took out the Darth Vader armor from his inventory.
Erika and Iori both stared in shock.
"Is that the Darth Vader armor?" Iori asked.
"You're going to use that?" Erika added.
Akira adjusted his hair calmly.
"Well, I need to conduct combat testing, don't I?"
A faint smirk appeared.
"And besides…"
He raised his hand.
The armor pieces shot toward him.
One by one.
Gauntlets locked into place.
Chest plate sealed.
Cape unfurled.
The helmet descended last.
Click.
The mask sealed with a sharp metallic snap.
Mechanical breathing filled the night.
In his hand, a hilt materialised similar to Vader's.
Then with a sharp hum.
A crimson blade ignited.
The red glow reflected in their eyes.
Then the distorted voice spoke.
"Tonight…"
A slow mechanical inhale.
"They will feel the true power of the dark side."