"Rustle, rustle~"
After the wind and waves calmed, the waves gently lapped against the shore. At the edge of the sea, a pale whitish light appeared, and the starry night sky disappeared. Dawn had arrived.
The sea breeze gently caressed the young man's face. The slightly salty air mixed with the scent of flowers entered his nostrils, causing Nakano Yu to frown slightly.
"Yu-chan?! You're awake?!"
Seeing Nakano Yu move, Marika, who had been waiting quietly, lit up with joy. As her words fell, she looked nervously at the young man in her arms, quietly waiting for him to wake up.
"Mm… Marika… the sky, it's already dawn?"
Opening his eyes drowsily, Nakano Yu smiled faintly when he saw Marika, then turned his head to look at the sea.
"Yu-chan was unconscious for a long time. Do you feel okay?"
Her gaze fixed on the awakened young man's face, Marika stroked him, and her eyes uncontrollably became misty.
For some reason, Marika suddenly began to sob, tears falling and soaking her clothes.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Noticing something was wrong, Nakano Yu turned toward Marika and asked.
"I almost… I almost lost Yu-chan…"
Marika hurriedly wiped her tears, but no matter how much she wiped, the tears continued to flow from her eyes.
As she spoke, her sobs turned into broken gasps.
"It's okay, I'm fine, right? Marika, don't cry anymore. You won't be beautiful if you cry."
Hearing this, Nakano Yu gently raised his hand and wiped the tears from the girl's cheeks, then said softly with a light breeze.
"Yu-chan! I don't want to recover! I just want Yu-chan!"
Looking at the young man, Marika's emotions suddenly erupted. She tightly hugged Nakano Yu and said.
"Alright, alright, I'll stay with Marika, and Marika will also recover."
Infected by the girl's emotions, Nakano Yu gently patted Marika's back and whispered in her ear.
"Okay! Yu-chan, promise me, next time, you absolutely must not do such dangerous things!"
After a long time, Marika finally pushed the young man away and said with a serious and sincere expression.
"I promise, Marika!"
Nakano Yu also cooperated, raising two fingers and swearing.
Looking into the young man's eyes, a wave of impulse rose in Marika's heart.
She knew that Nakano Yu must have experienced many things like today, and that in the future there would be no fewer of them.
Marika was afraid; she was truly afraid that Nakano Yu would save her, but she herself…
Thinking of this, Marika's hands holding the young man's shoulders tightened inexplicably, and her body leaned forward.
"Yu-chan… I want to…"
Looking at Nakano Yu from only a few centimeters away, Marika's words were soft, entering the young man's ears and stirring his thoughts.
"Marika, have you thought it through?"
"Mm…"
"Rustle, rustle~"
The waves layered against the shore, white foam decorating the sky-blue sea, making the ocean even more colorful.
Perhaps swallowed by the demonic wolf, the bright sun became gentle, no longer scorching or burning the skin, but… warming.
…
"Speaking of which, why didn't Marika call for help? I passed out right after midnight, right~~~?"
Sitting by the shore, Nakano Yu held Marika and asked casually.
"Because there was no signal nearby, not even satellite signal."
Marika frowned. Her first thought had been to call for help, but when she took out her phone, she discovered there was no signal. The big, stupid stone giants also couldn't communicate. Marika had no choice but to wait for Nakano Yu to wake up.
"It must have been hard for Marika, waiting for me for so long."
Nakano Yu said, gently pinching the girl's cheek.
"I've already waited a long time for Yu-chan, this little bit doesn't matter."
Marika shook her head and said, then stood up and lightly kissed the young man on the cheek.
"Hey! Yu-chan, let's go back!"
Looking at Nakano Yu, Marika grabbed his hand and said.
"Alright!"
Nodding, Nakano Yu responded. In the next moment, a strong wind wrapped around the two of them, carrying them high into the sky as they flew toward Japan.
Long after Nakano Yu and Marika left, teams of fully armed soldiers with loaded weapons sealed off the area.
Under the blessing of Gale Fury, Nakano Yu and Marika soon saw the port of Japan. Seeing this, Nakano Yu slightly increased his speed, looking at the excited Marika. Soon, the two of them returned to the center of Tokyo.
Landing on the rooftop of the Tachibana apartment building, Nakano Yu held Marika's hand, unwilling to let go for a long time.
"Yu-chan, these two days were really happy. Thank you, Yu!"
Marika also did not want to separate from Nakano Yu, but it was already the next day. She had only planned to stay at Nakano's place for one night, and if she didn't return, her father would probably worry.
As soon as she returned to Neon, Marika felt her phone constantly popping up with message notifications. Without thinking, she knew it must be her father.
However, Nakano Yu was holding Marika's hand at this moment, with no intention of letting go.
Looking at the system description of his new power, Nakano Yu's eyes flickered.
"Authority: [Cut Through]: from — [God of Disobedience Asclepius]."
"[Cut Through]: Authority seized by defeating the God of Disobedience Asclepius. Can cut and destroy matter, energy, phenomena, injuries, curses, concepts, etc. Using [Cut Through] causes varying burdens depending on the target and the cut."
After understanding the ability of [Cut Through], Nakano Yu raised an eyebrow.
No wonder Asclepius's face worsened so much after using Cut Through on [Torn Silver Hand]. So this thing puts a burden on the user himself.
But thinking about it, if it could cut at will, then this authority would be too terrifying.
Thinking of this, Nakano Yu closed the system panel and his gaze fell on Marika.
With a thought, under the influence of [Cut Through], Nakano Yu's eyes glowed with emerald green light. Under the influence of that light, two thin lines, one black and one red, appeared in his eyes:
"Can be cut: Izanagi's curse, cold constitution."
"Hmm? Izanagi's curse?"
Seeing the two curses and diseases that could be cut, Nakano Yu frowned.
Originally, he thought Marika was suffering from some incurable illness, but he never expected it to be a curse.
And Izanagi's at that! That figure is a supreme god among supreme gods in Neon mythology, even considered a creator god. How could such a being be connected to Marika?
Moreover, he did not sense the aura of a god on Marika, so why would there be Izanagi's curse?
That also explained why he could not remove this curse even using Wing Contract on Marika.
Although he was not sure where Izanagi's curse on Marika came from, in any case, it was best to cut this thing as soon as possible, otherwise, if it dragged on, it might cause irreversible damage to Marika.
Thinking of this, Nakano Yu's palm lit up. Under Marika's curious gaze, the light slid through the air, suddenly cutting the two black and red lines.
The moment they were cut, Nakano Yu felt weakness in his legs, as if his entire body had been drained, but that feeling disappeared in an instant.
"Yu?"
Looking at Nakano Yu's strange actions, Marika quickly reached out to support the young man. Although she did not quite understand what Nakano Yu was doing, she knew that Yu must have done something when his face suddenly became so bad.
And… she felt as if something had disappeared from her body, making her feel light. Was that… an illusion?
The young man, who had recovered, shook his head and said, reaching out to ruffle the girl's hair: "It's nothing, Marika. Just rest well during this time. Everything has already been resolved."
Hearing this, Marika immediately understood that Nakano Yu's condition was because of her. Remembering what Nakano Yu had said earlier about healing her body, could it be…
"Yu, are you really okay?"
Looking at the young man, Marika did not know what Nakano Yu had sacrificed to heal her fatal illness, but it was definitely not as easy as he said.
"Don't worry, I'll head back first. See you tomorrow, Marika."
After Nakano Yu finished speaking, his body slowly rose, and before the girl could respond, he turned and flew away.
Watching Nakano Yu leave, Marika pressed her lips together. It seemed she was starting to owe Yu a favor.
Returning to Nakano Yu's room, after entering his bedroom through the window, Nakano Yu impatiently took out both divine artifacts.
Asclepius's bowl was no longer of much use to him. To use it required sufficient pharmacological knowledge, which he unfortunately did not have. He could only keep it for now. If Maruo could use it, he might give it to him.
He just didn't know whether Asclepius's bowl could transform modern pills or something similar.
Tossing Asclepius's bowl aside, Nakano Yu looked at today's main item: lucky snake emblem!
He already had ten draws in hand. After killing the God of Disobedience Asclepius, although it was a summoned Heretic God and did not activate a hidden mission, it still gave him five roulette chances. That was a total of fifteen draws!
If the lucky snake emblem could affect the system roulette, wouldn't that mean he could obtain even Authorities and divine artifacts in a single draw?!
Thinking of this, Nakano Yu hugged the lucky snake emblem and immediately opened the system roulette.
"System, five draws!"
Nakano Yu was very cautious and did not immediately go for ten draws; instead, he tried five to test.
"Ding! Please spin the roulette, Host!"
The system voice sounded, and Nakano Yu spun the roulette with all his strength.
Soon, the system prompt rang in his ears, and then the young man's face became darker and darker as Yen in the system space increased five times by one or two coins each.
"What a scam!"
Throwing the lucky snake emblem from his arms onto the floor, Nakano Yu cursed.
Is this broken thing an 'unlucky snake emblem'?! Five draws, all just one or two yen! Not even enough for a lollipop!
Gritting his teeth, Nakano Yu looked at the lucky snake emblem, but in the end, he still picked it up with the wind and stored it away.
After all, it was a divine artifact. If he really threw it away, he would still feel a bit regretful.
Sighing, Nakano Yu simply used all the remaining ten draws. Unfortunately, there was no reaction, and nothing changed except that the Yen in the system space increased by dozens of coins.
"Damn system, you're the one that's broken!"
Summoning Joyeuse and [Torn Silver Hand], Nakano Yu roared, and Joyeuse transformed into a demonic sword.
"You bastard! Prepare to die!!!"