Ch 338: Clashing Legions.

The rescued Chevaliers, after conferring with the Chief of Staff, all decided to spend the rest of the night inside the Fort. After resting they would assume command of Forts on the northern side of Japan, freeing fresh Chevaliers who would move closer to the Forts under threat.

Around 9:00 in the morning, Noah was fully rested and had filled himself with ectoplasmic fluid from the Shrine. In reality, the fluid was converted into mana the instant it entered his body, and touching the pool had been like unlocking an inner reservoir container that he didn't know existed until now.

Noah wondered if this was some kind of hidden reward, but his mana capacity had significantly augmented and he instinctively knew that the number of Legion he could summon was directly determined by his Magic attribute, on a 1 per 1 ratio. Which meant that he could currently summon no less than 294 Legions.

Less than a third of what a Legatus could do, but he didn't care. He had his Valkyrie-type combat golems.

Those black Legions were exclusively equipped for melee combat, which meant that he would have to be careful about using them.

He wanted to make a few tests using Rikka's Legions, but she was still asleep. She would wake up before long, and…

"Please excuse me, Lord Noah." said a soldier after clearing his throat. "There is a civilian who wishes to speak with you. She said she has important information but refuses to speak to anyone but you."

Noah nodded, unsurprised at being referred to as a Lord. His achievements, saving six Chevaliers from certain death, had caused his credibility and fame to shoot through the roof, as far as the soldiers were concerned.

"Please lead me to her." said Noah before following him to the Fort's entrance.

Standing there, surrounded by three soldiers, was a young woman wearing a school uniform consisting of a white shirt, black blazer, blue skirt and black stockings. Her long, straight black hair were gathered into two pig tails over her shoulders by yellow scrunchies, and the left side of her face was mostly hidden by longer bangs.

The girl smiled at him as if he was a long lost relative. And to her, maybe he was, in a way.

Of all the people he expected to meet today, Kurumi Tokisaki, the Spirit known in her original fiction as Nightmare, certainly was not on his list.

"I know her. I wish to speak to her in private." said Noah to the soldiers, who nodded and walked away.

Noah offered her his arm with a smile.

"My, you are quite forward." chuckled Kurumi as she took it, and they both walked out of the Fort.

"It is nice to meet you properly, Kurumi. As you surely already know, I'm Noah." smiled Noah once they were far enough.

"How do you know my name?" frowned Kurumi, her steps faltering for a second.

"A special power of mine. Do not worry, I have no interest in outing you."

"…You are full of surprises, Noah." nodded Kurumi. "The more I learn about you, the more interesting you prove to be. What more do you know about me?"

"Let's see. Your Angel's power is about… time control, I think, and you can bring copies of yourself from the past or future."

"Close, but not quite correct. I cannot go into the past. The other me all come from futures that are not meant to be."

"And I assume the one facing me is another you, not the original?"

"Guys who do not let their girlfriends keep some secrets are pretty unpopular, you know?" smiled Kurumi, shaking a finger at him.

"Girlfriend, is it?" nodded Noah. "I am not opposed to dating you, as long as you understand that you would not be my only lover, and that I don't want you to kill innocent people."

"I only kill when necessary. It is much safer to keep a low profile." shrugged Kurumi. "Noah, I would love to spend hours chatting with you, but I needed to speak with you urgently, and I am already taking a huge risk being seen with you. I can't stay long."

Noah nodded, using Promise to scan his surroundings. A few soldiers were watching from afar, but he didn't detect any malice from them. They were just curious.

"You need to leave Japan and return to Cassell College, Noah." said Kurumi with a serious expression.

"Why?"

"Because I learned that some very powerful people are planning to capture you. Today."

"Where did you learn that?" asked Noah.

"I have an… online boyfriend." sighed Kurumi as she looked around. "At least, that's what I made him think. That man is an engineer in Deus Ex Machina Industries. A baldy in his thirties who worked on a new anti-spirit weapon prototype. And he was all excited during one of our last chats, telling me all about the upcoming field test of several large area-of-effect suppression devices. They are going to use them against you."

"Kurumi, did you catfish someone from DEM? That's seriously bold." grinned Noah.

"It allows me to get information on our enemies." shrugged Kurumi. "Those guys always are on the hunt for Spirits, and the safest place is to hide right under their noses. So, will you leave?"

"Those suppression devices, what can you tell me about it?"

"They are big. Large enough that a truck is needed to move them. They have an effective range of at least five hundred meters from their estimations, although their effect won't just stop past that limit. They might interfere with our Angels over a significantly larger radius. And DEM can't keep them active for more than about twenty minutes before they overload and suffer damage. DEM made six prototypes, and they intend to use them all against you."

"I see. Thank you for the information, Kurumi." smiled Noah.

Seeing his expression, she blinked.

"You aren't taking this seriously? You'll be incapacitated by those devices, and that baldy said that several Campiones would come to take you."

"I am taking this seriously." nodded Noah. "And I am genuinely moved that you took a huge risk to come warn me. But I already knew about the Campiones. I have gone through some pain hiding my real power just so I could bait them into going after me. Because I want to save Tenka, Yuzuru and Kaguya."

Kurumi stared at him in disbelief for long seconds before she spoke again.

"But those prototypes…"

"There is a little detail that very few people know. People assume I am a Spirit because I caused a spacequake when I entered this world. But I am not actually one. If those generators work like those anti-spirit collars, they won't do anything to me. I know, because I tried one, and it didn't impair me in the slightest."

"If you're not a Spirit, what are you?" asked Kurumi, taking her arm off him and making a step back. Disappointment was visible on her face.

"I am the key to finding the person you seek, Kurumi." said Noah with a soft voice.

"You… you know even about that…"

"I do. But now isn't the right time. As you said, it is dangerous for you to be seen with me at this time. How about we exchange phone numbers, Kurumi? Soon after my business in Japan is over, I will call you, and we can go on a date and continue this conversation?"

"…Not yet." replied Kurumi, shaking her head. "Too much chance your phone would fall into the wrong hands. If you can evade capture, I will find a way to meet you later."

Noah nodded and created a small card. He scribbled his phone number on it and gave it to her.

"This should be safe enough."

"I will call you soon." agreed Kurumi. "Be careful, okay?"

"Sure. It would be a shame if I couldn't go on a date with such a pretty girl." grinned Noah.

Kurumi giggled and walked away. Noah watched her go, mentally going over everything he knew about the Kurumi from Date A Live.

Like Kotori, Toba's Spirit, Kurumi was once a normal human girl, and she was turned into a Spirit by the very same Spirit that had murdered Origami's parents, among countless others, and turned Kotori into a Spirit unable to control her new power.

The fictional Kurumi could control time, rewinding it to cancel wounds, bring clones of herself from alternate timelines, or something like that, and routinely killed delinquents and other trash of society to steal their 'time' and recharge her own abilities.

She was also relentlessly pursued by a gorgeous girl named Mana, a fighter prodigy working for DEM, who Noah really looked forward to meeting her, assuming Lilith had created her. And Noah had no reason to assume she had not.

The Kurumi from this world seemed to be acting smarter than the original, managing to stay under DEM's and the AST's radar.

With a shrug, Noah returned inside the Fort. Rikka was now awake, and he was going to compare his new Legions with her own.

…

"Noah, a hostile force of close to a thousand Legions is leaving the Mie prefecture." warned Rikka. "It seems they are headed towards us. ETA twenty minutes."

Noah nodded, using Promise once again to scan the surroundings. He had spotted the devices Kurumi had mentioned a while ago, camouflaged as simple transport containers on trucks trailers. Two of those tucks were already parked, while the other four were on the move, but headed in the general direction of a small grassy valley between two mountains. A valley that was the logical battlefield for intercepting a force coming from the east before they could fire on the Fort.

And, still using Promise, and paying close attention to vehicles staying close to the generators, as well as big, luxury vehicles entering the valley, Noah had already spotted Long Tian Yun, Sun Tzu, the three Campiones and their Spirits, and a whole bunch of bodyguards and technicians.

"It's time to get this show started." smiled Noah.

"I still think it's a hare-brained plan, Noah-sama." said Kisara.

"I have complete trust in Noah-sama." smiled Rikka with a devoted expression.

"…How much of that is this Psyconnect thing talking?" asked Shiori.

"Hard to say." shrugged Rikka. "Even before he used that on me, I quickly learned that Noah-sama routinely pulls miracles from his sleeves."

"There is still time for you to evacuate the Fort, Princess." said Noah. "Even if I do not think it necessary."

"I am confident in your victory." nodded the Princess.

Noah smiled, nodded to her, and walked out of the room, followed by Rikka, Hatsune, and Kisara. The other Chevaliers had already been reassigned to other posts.

Kisara would have been, too, but, after Rikka explained to her in details how she had been enhanced, Kisara had, albeit with some reluctance, agreed to be put under Psyconnect and sign a soul contract. As a result, Kisara could currently summon 163 Legions. A number that would climb to 284 once those that had suffered lethal damage during the previous battle recovered.

Noah borrowed a military car from the base and drove toward the alley. And because he was feeling cheeky, he deliberately chose to park it a mere hundred meters from one of the trucks carrying a camouflaged device before they left it and walking down the valley's center, pretending not to be aware, but secretly enjoying the tension and stress he caused to the hiding DEM personnel.

The valley was a national park with a few trees and soft slopes. The ground under the grass was firm, and the nearly uninterrupted lines of sight would make it suitable for a martial arts duel. Noah stopped, turned to Kisara, Rikka and Hatsune, and nodded. The girls summoned a few dozen Legions each, ready to add more if necessary, and Noah walked a hundred meters further before stopping again. He turned straight toward Long Tian Yun's direction, and waited.

…

Long Tian Yun smiled in anticipation as one of his men jogged to him before stopping and adopting a ramrod posture, carefully looking away from the "guests".

"Young Master Long, the target is now stationary, and looking in our direction."

Long Tian Yun didn't need the confirmation, as he could see Noah, about five hundred meters away, standing in the middle of the valley. About a hundred meters behind him were three Japanese Chevaliers, all women, and about 150 Legions.

"Ohoh, it seems we were expected." chuckled Sun Tzu. But his expression was severe as he glanced at Long Tian Yun. "A mistake was made."

The simple, seemingly neutral words were said with a tone of great condemnation.

"I am truly sorry, Illustrious General." winced Long Tian Yun. "I will investigate the leak and punish the people responsible most severely."

"As you should. Still, our time was not wasted, and he came anyway. His pride truly must reach the Heavens."

Sun Tzu turned to one of his assistants.

"Inform our friend that we will take action now."

"Yes, Illustrious General." bowed the assistant before leaving to contact the British Hero, William the Conqueror. He and his Legions would, according to their plan, hang around the edge of the valley, and would capture the Fort once Noah was neutralized.

Long Tian Yun's face twitched as words made of two meters tall, glowing yellow letters appeared above Noah.

"Don't keep us waiting."

"This guy…" muttered Natsumi to the side, her eyes wide. John Pluto Smith stood beside her silently, looking imperturbable.

"Ah, I really want to fight him." sighed Doni.

"Wait for your turn." smiled Luo Hao, stretching. "It would be impolite of us to make him wait, so…"

Luo Hao moved. In five mere steps, she stood just four meters from Noah.

…

"You must be Luo Hao, this world's greatest martial artist." smiled Noah with a polite nod. "A pleasure to meet you."

"That pleasure is shared." said Luo Hao with a radiant smile, openly looking him up and down for an instant before meeting his gaze. "I was quite intrigued when one of my friends suggested I help with capturing you.  A male Spirit who collected many achievements within mystic Moon, where your Angel cannot be used. Looking at you, I can already say that you are an experienced martial artist. And I must say that today, you gave me quite a good surprise already. How did you learn about our ambush?"

"It's an honor to meet you, General Sun Tzu." nodded Noah to the Legatus who had just hurried over, standing one step behind Luo Hao.

"Young Man." nodded Sun Tzu.

"To answer your question, I knew from the very beginning." shrugged Noah. "Long Tian Yun contacted General Sun Tzu and the Campiones from his father's office, without for a second wondering how I might have busied myself while waiting for them. Need I say more?"

Sun Tzu nodded as he stroked his long white beard. "A good move. Some people these days have no awareness… And yet, despite knowing about this ambush, you decided to face us."

"I was planning to seize the Campiones' Spirits soon. Long Tian Yun decided to pay a huge sum for the privilege of gathering them and presenting them to me. Why would I decline such a gracious gift?" chuckled Noah.

Had Long Tian Yun been close enough to hear, Noah imagined he might burst a vein from anger and indignation.

"Although, the involvement of the British was not part of my calculations. Considering they seem content with waiting, I assume you have some kind of agreement with them?"

"I will leave that to your imagination, young man." chuckled Sun Tzu.

"I also wanted to meet with Her Eminence. I am sure I would benefit from sparring with her."

"That is a good mindset to have for a martial artist." nodded Luo Hao, grinning. "If you do not disappoint me during our fight, I am definitely making you my disciple!"

"Your disciple? I have a slightly different arrangement in mind." smiled Noah.

"Oh? Please do tell." said Luo Hao.

"I will defeat you, and make you my slave. I will have you train me to hone my fighting skills, and later bring you to my home beyond the confines of this world, where I gather some of the strongest martial artists from dozens of worlds. You will have plenty of worthy opponents to grow even stronger than you currently are."

"Me, your slave?" nodded Luo Hao, her smile fading a little. "I have never been so disparaged. I should simply kill you for this. And yet, the opportunity to meet other experts is quite alluring. However, I can also take everything you can offer by force! Now is time to let our fists speak!"

"You can indeed, if you defeat me." nodded Noah, assuming a fighting stance. "Let's settle it with our fists."

Luo Hao nodded, and Sun Tzu wisely walked away. When he was well away from them, the fight started.

…

"Why is he able to move to fast?" demanded Long Tian Yun, angrily berating the leader of DEM's engineers after watching Noah fight Luo Hao.

"The generators are all running at their nominal specs, Sir. That Spirit should not be able to keep up with Her Eminence." frowned the engineer, his face pale.

"Well, it seems that reality doesn't agree with your conclusions." sheepishly said Voban.

"My Lords, we cannot increase the output. Some of of the more fragile parts would break almost instantly…"

Annie Carlton tuned out the engineer's comments. She could feel the suppression through her link with Natsumi. Thankfully, their disguise had been good enough that no one noticed Natsumi wore higher heels than usual and yet was a few centimeters shorter than they remembered.

No, there was one person who had noticed. The Sword Emperor, Long Tian Yun's personal bodyguard, had stared at Natsumi for long seconds before turning away, but hadn't said anything. Annie had never heard him say anything at any time. Not that she hung out much with Long Tian Yun.

Noah and Luo Hao had started exchanging blows slowly at first, as Her Eminence, like Annie, had assumed Noah would be limited to the level of a normal human martial artist. However, their pace had quickly accelerated to the point where she was having a hard time following their moves. Even to her relatively untrained eye, she could say that, while Noah was an excellent fighter, Luo Hao had an edge on him. She could see it in the way Luo Hao made minimal movements, seeming not as fast as Noah's moves, and yet delivering huge momentum when they made contact.

For having experienced it herself, Annie knew that Luo Hao could deliver, with a mere ten centimeters movement, a force far exceeding that of the full wound-up punch of a trained martial artist putting their entire body weight into it.

And Noah, despite being gradually pushed away, despite being clearly less skilled, was managing to avoid any direct hit to his head or torso.

"They are monsters, both of them." whispered Natsumi with a tone that sounded both awed and disgusted. "They're smiling!"

"They are." nodded Annie. She glanced at Salvatore Doni, who was literally shivering with excitement.

…

"You are doing very well!" praised Luo Hao as she rained blows after blows on him.

"Thank you. Your style is quite tricky to counter." nodded Noah. His usual defensive style of deflecting incoming blows to the sides to create openings was not working so well, as Luo Hao could instantly turn a straight punch he deflected into a hook, as if the laws of inertia were a mere suggestion to her.

To defend himself, Noah was forced to push her fists and kicks farther away, making bigger moves, and offering her openings. Using his own style against him. She had not managed to land any solid hit yet because he was significantly faster, but that didn't leave him too many opportunities to counterattack.

He had to keep her at arm's length, but even then, he could feel impacts from compressed air, as if her range exceeded the reach of her little fists. If not for his resilient body, Noah would already have been pounded into the ground by the shockwaves.

And he knew that if his focus lapsed for even an instant, Luo Hao would punish him ruthlessly for it.

What Luo Hao didn't know, however, was that Noah was not actually fully focused on the fight. He kept watching the British Legions with Promise as he fought with her.

"Take your sword." nodded Luo Hao, suddenly stepping back.

"My sword?"

"I can tell from your movements that you usually fight with a sword. And I want to defeat you at your best!" smiled Luo Hao. A sword appeared in her hand, made of glowing red light.

"Interesting. How did you create it?" asked Noah as he took two of his Eclipse swords from his inventory.

"It is made of my Ki."

"I see. My own swords are a bit special, but since I am the one who made them, I do not consider it cheating. I hope you don't mind."

"If you made them once, you can make them again, so I will shatter them." grinned Luo Hao. "I hope you don't mind."

Noah snorted and resumed the fight.

As expected, Luo Hao was just as monstruous with a sword as with her bare fists, and Noah smothered some small irritation that, despite all his years training himself, he couldn't pressure her opponent, who compensated his greater speed and reflexes with smaller, sharper movements that, somehow, had just as much strength behind them as his own.

Suddenly, Noah jumped back as he heard footsteps running toward them. Salvatore Doni was running towards him with a crazed expression, sword in hand.

"I want in! Fight me!" yelled the Campione.

"Doni! Don't interrupt my duel!" shouted Luo Hao with a cold voice.

"I don't care if you beat me up afterwards!" shouted back Salvatore Doni.

Noah shook his head and activated Augment, its blue-ish white light appearing beneath his feet.

…

Annie sighed heavily as Doni tried to join the fight, blabbering some self-serving nonsense about Noah having two swords meaning that he should join to "even the odds".

Luo Hao would probably kill him, and Annie sent a side glance at Tenka, wondering if it would be a good idea to try to claim her. But Noah did something that surprised her. After some sort of magic array shone around his feet for an instant, he jumped high into the air, seemingly standing on some floating brick, and six red balls of light appeared around him. From each of those light balls was shot a red laser that strafed towards the valley's periphery. For an instant, she wondered what he was shooting at, and as several fireballs rose into the distance, and the interference to her link with Natsumi started fading, Annie suddenly understood.

Noah had just destroyed the anti-spirit generators.

"He knew." frowned Sun Tzu, who had just returned. "All along, he knew even about this!"

…

Noah had a simple reason for destroying those devices.

He wanted the fight to be a little more interesting for the watching deities.

As he landed back on the ground, he immediately stepped to the side to evade some kind of wind blade created by Salvatore's sword.

"Yes! That's it! You're strong as expect… gafuu!?!"

Salvatore suddenly folded in half as Luo Hao closed the distance with her movement technique and sunk a palm into his stomach.

"You fool of a man. Wasting my pleasure! As a reward for your crime, get a taste of my ultimate technique! The Twelve Divine Palm Strikes of the Phoenix!"

"Visit of the Young Phoenix!"

"Phoenix Eye Pierce the Veil!"

"Phoenix Claw Steals the Heart!

"Flying Phoenix Crash!"

"Red Phoenix Basks in the Sun!"

"Golden Phoenix Spreads its Wings!"

"Phoenix Flock!"

"Heroic Phoenix Exerts a Thousand Pounds!"

"Phoenix Wings Bring Celestial Signs!"

"Phoenix Dragon Yin Yang!"

"Flight of the Phoenix pair!"

"Great Phoenix Blots the Sky!"

By the time Luo Hao's attacks allowed his limp body to hit the ground, Salvatore Doni, despite having his constitution enhanced by the nourishment of his bond with a Spirit, was as good as dead. Noah had distinctly heard the crack of his ribs, sternum, hips, spine, jaw and skull. He was oozing blood from his mouth, nose, eyes and ears already.

"That… was a magnificent technique." nodded Noah, impressed by Luo Hao's fluid movements and unrelenting strikes. "But I saw two punches and two kicks."

"This is Twelve Divine Palm Strikes of the Phoenix technique. It had Palm Strikes in the name. You must have seen wrongly." smiled Luo Hao with the certainty of someone handing over heavenly decrees. "Before we resume our battle, I will allow you the opportunity to secure the Spirit Tenka. When that piece of refuse dies, the collar will not restrain her anymore."

"…I'll be right back." nodded Noah before flying toward Tenka and the other Campiones, Sun Tzu and Long Tian Yun.

John Pluto Smith, aka Annie Carlton, had her magic gun in hand, but kept it pointed toward the ground in a non-threatening manner, with Natsumi half hidden behind her. Dejanstahl Voban sent him a predatory smile, as if daring him to start something with him. And Yun Tian Yun was slowly stepping away, trying to project a brave face.

Noah stopped behind Tenka who was getting agitated, feeling the effect of the collar start to weaken. She flinched as he touched her to engrave a Stop rune on her back, just under the collar, but Noah kept a firm grip on her. The unfastened the gag, getting it out of her mouth, and removed her blindfold.

"Your name is Tenka, right?" asked Noah in a soft voice, facing her. "Please wait just a little longer, and I will free you."

Tenka didn't respond immediately, as her jaw was aching, and she was blinking furiously, her eyes needing some time to adapt after having been blindfolded for a long time.

Noah turned to 'John Plutot Smith.'

"I wish to speak with you and Natsumi after I am done with Luo Hao and the British. As long as you do not initiate, things can remain civilized between us."

John Pluto Smith turned toward Long Tian Yun for an instant before looking back at Noah, sighing.

"I have accepted money to help subdue you. My reputation will take a large hit if I abandon the mission when I have already been paid."

"…I understand." nodded Noah before turning to Voban. He didn't deactivate Promise and kept watch over Annie and Natsumi as he did, but didn't believe it would prove necessary. Not with Luo Hao having just demonstrated what might happen to those who got in the way of her duel.

"Lord Voban, I will let you go, but your two Spirits stay behind, unharmed. Or you can try to fight me, after I am done with Her Eminence and the British Chevaliers."

"Bold words, when you have yet to defeat her." shrugged Voban. "Try to survive her and the British first, if you want me to take your words under advisement."

Noah nodded and looked at Long Tian Yun last. Sword Emperor stepped forward, shielding him with his body. And just from the way he stood and held his sword, Noah understood that he was extremely skilled.

"I will not retaliate for today." said Noah. "You spent a lot of money to spare me the chore of tracking every Campiones, so I will gratefully accept your gift."

Long Tian Yun's jaw tightened, and he felt extremely humiliated. But he also didn't dare speak.

"Whaa!?!" exclaimed Tenka as Noah took her in his arms and flew toward Rikka, Kisara and Hatsune. She instantly struggled in his grip, but he held her firmly.

"Please protect Tenka, and be ready. It will start very soon."

"We were ready from the start. I look forward to it." nodded Kisara.

Noah turned and with a few quick jumps, faced Luo Hao again.

"Thanks for waiting." nodded Noah.

"Are you going to fight seriously now?" asked Luo Hao. "Your power has increased significantly. You should have done that from the start."

Noah glanced at the thousand or so Crusades waiting three kilometers away, then back at Luo Hao. "Ideally, I would like for our fight to last much longer. But me and my companions have all those Crusades to deal with, not counting the possible thousand plus Legions that Sun Tzu might summon. So, I will defeat you quickly with one of my trump cards, and we will fight properly another time."

"I look forward to seeing what someone as surprising as you considers a trump card." fearlessly smiled Luo Hao. "Bring it on, and I will shatter it, whatever it is."

Noah stored one of his Eclipses in his inventory and summoned Seifuku. He unsheathed his Zanpakuto and held it horizontally in front of him.

"Bankai. Shihai no Oza (Throne of Domination)." said Noah with a soft voice, letting go of the handle.

The sword floated in the air and shone with an intense black light that expanded before disappearing, leaving behind a throne of polished black marble. The first of the five hourglasses above it turned, and sand began to fall.

"You now have a time limit to defeat me, Luo Hao." declared Noah.

Luo Hao snorted and jumped high in the air, before descending on the throne with a mighty flying kick.

She was shocked, however, as she passed right through as if the throne was only an illusion and she created a sizable crater on the ground. Suspicious, She turned and sent a palm strike to the hourglass, with no better result.

"Interesting. But you gave me a clue as to how to defeat it. I simply have to defeat you!" shouted Luo Hao before using her movement technique again.

She attacked him in a flurry of sword strikes, palm strikes, and swift kicks, and Noah slowly retreated as he defended.

Luo Hao was going all out this time, and without Augment, Noah wasn't sure he would have been able to keep up. But he did have Augment, and managed to avoid any significant injury until the last grains of sand fell from the upper part of the first hourglass, and a black chain burst from the base of the throne, connecting to Luo hao's left wrist and instantly forming a snug shackle around it.

Luo Hao's face displayed consternation as she suddenly couldn't move her left arm. It had become a dead weight. She couldn't even twitch her fingers.

She glanced at the throne, saw that the second hourglass had already turned, and understood the seriousness of her situation.

Luo Hao slashed with the Ki sword she held in her right hand, but the sword passed through the chain as if it didn't exist. Gritting her teeth, she slashed again, this time aiming at her own arm, just above the shackle, and severed her own hand.

And she saw with surprise that a white, translucent ghost hand was attached to her stump, the wrist still bound by the black chain.

And she still couldn't move her left arm at all.

Blood burst from the stump before she forcibly stopped it with a string of Ki energy, tightening it around the stump.

"Cutting off your own hand? You're insane!" exclaimed Noah, horrified.

Luo Hao snorted, and seeing an opportunity, closed the distance in less than a blink, reforming her Ki sword and slipping under his relaxed guard. She managed to sink her Ki blade about ten centimeters into his stomach before he could shove her away.

"Gah!" gasped Noah. He wasted no time using Greater Healing on himself as he resumed his defensive posture. The wound impaired him somewhat, but Luo Hao had it far worse with one arm unusable, and he had an easier time defending overall.

And a second black chain burst from the Throne, taking Luo Hao's right wrist this time. The Ki sword dissipated as her arm fell limply to her side.

Luo Hao let a small sigh escape as she changed her posture and attacked with kicks.

Noah was once again impressed by her skill as she managed to launch quick and dangerous kicks despite her limp arms flailing around and impairing her balance.

"How about you concede defeat, Luo Hao?" asked Noah. "The winner has been decided already. As soon as you do, I'll heal and restore your hand."

"A true martial artist never gives up, no matter how dire the circumstances!" declared Luo Hao with a determined expression. "If I have to lose, I will do so knowing I fought to the very end! And I will defeat you next time to avenge this humiliation!"

"I do not doubt it." nodded Noah. "Once I enhance you, you will likely kick my sorry ass, at least for a while."

The third chain connected to Luo Hao's left ankle, and still, she somehow managed to attack him by performing spinning kicks, even if she needed one or two seconds between each to recover her balance and generate momentum.

And Noah, using Promise, saw the British begin to act. The Crusades where shifting their formation, preparing to move forward. And if a thousand of them weren't enough, hundreds more were materializing behind the group, cleverly hidden from his sight… But not from Promise.

Clearly, there was a Legatus among the British Chevaliers.

On Noah's right, Sun Tzu was also starting to materialize his own Legions.

"Come!" declared Noah as he lifted Seifuku into the air.

294 Black Knight Legions appeared behind Noah, and Rikka, Kisara and Hatsune reacted as well, bringing their own summoned Kamuys to a total of 714.

…

"How can a Spirit summon Legions?" blurted out Natsumi, her mouth agape.

"Get close to me! Beams are about to fall like rain!" ordered Annie, and Natsumi nodded. Annie, channeling her Spirit's power, created a defensive shield around her. Voban was already doing the same.

Annie saw one of the Black Knights grab Luo Hao and get her out of the way, the chains binding her to the black throne extending. Noah was summoning more and more Legions, but this time, they were of a different type. They looked distinctly female, like Valkyries from the Norse mythology. Furthermore, there was something strange about the way they appeared. instead of gradually gaining consistency around shimmering air, they just instantly popped into existence.

And there was something, about the way they moved, that made them seem a little more 'alive' than regular Legions.

Noah was summoning about three dozen of them each second, close to a thousand Valkyries were standing behind the Black Knights when the Chinese Legions, the Tianjun (Heavenly Army Soldier) opened fire. The British divided their force into two, one half charging forward while flying just above ground, the other one opening fire as well.

While Noah still seemed to be adding more and more Valkyries, Sun Tzu and the British still had roughly a three on two advantage in numbers, and it seemed certain that Noah and the three Japanese Chevaliers would be crushed in short order.

From what Annie could see, the Black Knights had no way to fire at distant targets, but their energy shields seemed particularly strong and they took the brunt of the deluge of fire. The Valkyries, on the other hand, were shooting back with their spears, and those that were injured immediately retreated behind the others. Annie stared at one of them in particular, and saw its injury heal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Noah wasn't just a monster, the Legions he summoned were monsters as well!

And then, two things happened almost simultaneously.

Many of the Tianjun suddenly went down, suffering grievous injuries on their backs, and as some of them turned, Annie saw more wounds erupts on them as well, and flashes of blue light similar to those produced by the Valkyries' spears erupted from thin air, close to the Tianjun. It took her a second to understand that an invisible enemy was attacking them from behind.

The Tianjun were caught completely flat-footed, and hundreds of them were already down when a few lucky ones managed to hit their invisible assailants.

A few lost their invisibility as they collapsed, severely injured, and Annie saw more of those Valkyrie-type Legions, those ones having silver hair. Judging by the ongoing carnage, there had to be at least a hundred of them.

Sun Tzu quickly reacted, organizing two thirds of his Legions into firing lines, shooting randomly, and more invisible Legions collapsed. Sun Tzu's counter, however, was far from perfect, as his lines were almost instantly disorganized by more invisible enemies fighting within their ranks.

Annie estimated that Sun Tzu would eventually win against the invisible Legions, but not without losing about half of his numbers, and the other Valkyries and Black Knights were still there.

"John, look!" shouted Natsumi as she pointed to the two groups of Crusades. Annie saw them starting to disappear, one after another. Not because they were destroyed by the Valkyries' fire, although some of them were every second, but they were just… being unsummoned.

Annie shifted her gaze to her right, toward the small group of British Chevaliers mounting their wyverns, and the Legatus she now knew was hiding among them.

Only, the wyverns and Chevaliers were now on the ground, dead. Where they had once been now floated two of the three female Japanese Chevaliers, bloody swords in hand. Annie had not seen them move.

And the Tianjun suddenly stopped fighting and were unsummoned as well.

Annie shifted her gaze to where Sun Tzu had been, half expecting to see him dead, but the Illustrious General was still standing, both hands resting on the head of his cane.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Long Tian Yun hurriedly climb into his car, the driver speeding along the road as soon as he was inside.

The nearly two thousand Legions belonging to Noah and the Japanese moved into a vague semi-circle, keeping a distance of two hundred meters from the place where the Campiones and Sun Tzu stood.

Noah, followed by the three female Chevaliers, one of them carrying Tenka, landed near them.

…

"Let me go, I am not some damn package for you to carry around!" grumbled Tenka, and Hatsune let her stand.

Noah smiled as Sun Tzu lifted his hands in surrender.

"You have bested me. From beginning to end, we were all dancing in the palm of your hand."

"Battles are won by the one who knows the most about their opponents." nodded Noah. "I seem to remember having read that somewhere."

Sun Tzu chuckled before lowering his hands. "What are you going to do with me now? Hold me for ransom, maybe?"

Noah wasn't an idiot, and knew Sun Tzu had suggested what would be his most desired outcome. He created a Soul Contract.

"I am not interested in ransom. If you agree to be bound by a magic contract, I will let you go."

Noah created a hand made of hardened light and used it to bring the contract to Sun Tzu, who examined it carefully. It was a simple employment contract, stating that Sun Tzu would work for Noah for the rest of his life, and could not betray him in any way.

"I will not sign this Contract." declared Sun Tzu. "You could use it to make me fight against my home country."

"…Is that your only objection?" asked Noah.

"Yes, but it alone is enough to make me choose death."

"I can respect that. Let me be blunt, Illustrious General. Within a few years, I will control this world. I do not intend to replace the existing governments or erase borders, but I will enforce global peace, and the various heads of state will have to acknowledge my authority and work to integrate the occasional reforms I will direct into their national laws, or they will be replaced by people who do."

"You have seen what three Chevaliers benefiting from my enhancement could do. Try to imagine what the situation will be like if I have to bring in tens of thousands of my subordinates from the worlds I already control, all of them able to teleport around or fight your average Spirit on an equal basis."

Sun Tzu frowned so much that his brows almost touched.

"What did you do to Luo Hao? I do not see her anymore."

Noah wasn't surprised. In the chaos of the battle between thousands of Legions, his Thorne had finished its work, and disappeared along with Noah's new slave.

With a mental command, he summoned her, and Luo Hao reappeared near him, her left hand restored, but with a collar-like tattoo around her graceful neck.

She glared at him for an instant before sighing.

"I lost, and you got your hands on me. But you better keep your promise to let me meet experts from other worlds, or I will oppose you as much as I can."

"I look forward to our next sparring match, teacher." smiled Noah, and he could feel Luo Hao relax just a little. She was still massively unsatisfied with the situation, of course, but Noah would help her come to terms with her enslavement.

"Your decision, Illustrious General? With you on my side, the transition for the Chinese Federation would likely be smoother, causing less hardship for its people. If not…"

"…If you cannot beat them, join them. I have read that somewhere, too." finally shrugged Sun Tzu. He was a pragmatic, and experienced enough to know that Noah's words were likely true. After today, he didn't think anyone would manage to stop him, unless by treachery.

Noah nodded, and told Sun Tzu how to sign the Contract. The old man did, and Noah turned his attention to Voban and the twin Spirits.

"Lord Voban, will you leave alone, or will you remain as a corpse?"

Dejanstahl Voban looked at Noah, then the Legions behind it, and sighed. Without a word, he let go of the chains connected to the twins' collars and walked away.

Noah walked to the twins who were mumbling a question through their gags.

Noah put a Stop rune on them and removed their blindfolds and gags, then transferred their collars and shackles into his inventory.

"Kaguya, Yuzuru, my name is Noah. I will take care of you both from now on." said Noah.

He finally turned to 'John Pluto Smith' and Natsumi and noticed that Natsumi had placed herself in front of her Campione, as if wanting to protect 'him'. Reading her expression and body language, Noah decided to leave them alone for now. It wasn't like he wouldn't be busy anyway.

"Lord Smith, you are free to go. As long as you treat Natsumi well, and I think you do from the way she's acting, I do not mind you keeping her as your Spirit."

"That is a very gracious offer, considering the circumstances. I think I will take it." nodded Annie.

"I trust that after today, you will not accept any more mission that has me as a target. Or worse, someone I care about. And I will ask you to come visit me in the College in a few weeks. I think I can work out a mutually profitable arrangement."

"I will not guarantee that I will visit. You are rather bad for my blood pressure." chuckled Annie as she gestured to Natsumi and walked away. The green-haired witch gave Noah a nod of gratitude before following her Campione as they headed for one of the cars. A few of Long Tian Yun's men were still there despite Long Tian Yun's hasty departure, probably terrified of what the consequences would have been if they had left someone like John Pluto Smith stranded.

Noah unsummoned his Legions and started retrieving his Valkyries.

"What are you going to do with us?" asked Tenka with a hostile tone.

"You girls will live with us. From now on, you are part of my family."

"…Family? Then remove that damn collar and my shackles, and undo whatever you did to seal our Angel away." demanded Tenka.

Noah walked to her and transferred the collar and shackles in his inventory, as he did for Kaguya and Yuzuru.

"I will not unseal your Angel for now, Tenka. After everything you girls experienced, you are very angry and resentful, and you have a right to be. But I can't have you lash out and kill people who have never wronged you."

"You're just like them!" glared Tenka. "You say nice words, but you just want to use us!"

Kaguya and Yuzuru nodded vehemently.

Noah sighed with a sad smile. "Tenka. I know you were blindfolded and too far to hear, so you didn't witness most of what happened, but I just defeated this world's strongest, and with my friends, crushed an army of almost three thousand Legions. Your powers would not actually add much to what I can already do. I am not really interested in them."

"Then why?" demanded Tenka. "You must want something from us."

"Well, to put it simply, I want you because you girls are cute."

"Cute?" repeated Tenka, her tone full of disbelief. But Noah could see her face redden a little.

"Yes. You girls are very beautiful, and I want you by my side."

"Question. Which is the cutest, between Kaguya and me? Surely it is me." declared Yuzuru.

"What are you saying, Yuzuru? It's obvious I'm the cutest one." retorted Kaguya.

Noah almost rolled his eyes as he remembered a detail about the Yamai twins. They were ultra-competitive with each other. In the fiction, they fought for real, until the protagonist appeared and somehow convinced them to change their contest into one of seduction and romance.

But Noah didn't want to choose. He didn't know if it was the case here, but in the fiction, the 'winner' would absorb the 'loser' to become the true Yamai Spirit. Noah needed to convince those two to stop competing.

"I would need to get to know you both for some time before I can say who is the cutest." said Noah to win some time. "Let's return to the Fort. We have earned ourselves a celebratory feast, and there will be plenty of delicious food."

"Shouldn’t we press the advantage? The British must be reeling. We can retake our Forts!" asked Kisara, but Noah shook his head.

"If they attack another Japanese Fort, we will stop them." said Noah as he shook his head. "But if they decide to pack up and leave, It's better if we don't end up killing more people than necessary."

Kisara took a deep breath and nodded. She knew Noah was right, but she was still unsatisfied. Noah squeezed her shoulder for an instant.

"We won't let the Chevaliers who betrayed Japan escape unscathed. For now, let's return home."

"Yes."

"User has fulfilled the conditions for quest n°2."

Noah blinked as he read the system message and consulted the quest list. The quest about creating the most powerful faction in the CassellCollege was now considered done. He guessed that enslaving Luo Hao more than compensated for the difference in numbers compared with the Student Union and the Lionheart Society.

Noah used his Sanctuary and put Luo Hao, Tenka, Kaguya and Yuzuru inside, since they were now too many for the car they had borrowed earlier. And as he drove, his phone rang.

…

"For someone who claims not to have any interest in Shin, you're spending quite a bit of time with him." teased Anju.

All the girls of the squadron were washing themselves in the river near their base. Once they were done, it would be the guys' turn.

Despite the water being unpleasantly cool in this weather, Akeno liked those moments, as the conversations became less restrained.

"I'm picking his brain." chuckled Akeno. "Of all of us, he is the one who has the most experience fighting the Legion… I'll also admit that I love seeing the faces Kurena makes when she sees me with him."

"I don't make faces!" retorted Kurena angrily, making the girls chuckle.

"Alright, you don't." grinned Akeno. "Not that you have to worry, since I have a lover already."

"Yes, you mentioned him before. His name is Noah, right?" asked Kaie with an eager expression.

"Yeah. And he's the most handsome man in the world!"

"He can't look better than Shin." grumbled Kurena, and she reddened as she saw everyone looking at her with fond smiles.

"Ah! You say that because he's your boyfriend, Akeno." grinned Anju. "You must be looking at him with the pink filters turned on."

"Ufufu, I don't know about that." grinned Akeno. "Asuka, what do you think of Noah's appearance?"

"Stunningly handsome." shrugged Asuka. "I never saw his bare torso, but with all the training he does, he must have a great body as well."

"Ohhh…" exclaimed several of the girls.

"You must miss him a lot." nodded Anju.

"I miss his touch, the feeling of his arms around me, and the games we play. And I know he misses me, whenever he isn't busy chasing after other girls." nodded Akeno. "But we can communicate with each other once in a while, and that helps."

"Chasing after others?" asked Anju, blinking. "Why are you saying something like this as if it doesn't worry you that your boyfriend may cheat on you?"

"It's only cheating if I do not know about it or allow it." shrugged Akeno. "My relationship with him is unusual. We're lovers, but I don't mind him pursuing other girls, as long as they are aware that they aren't his only ones. And I am allowed to do the same, as long as it is with girls, and I do not pretend to be single."

"A polyamorous relationship?" asked Kaie, surprised.

"Yes." nodded Akeno. "Basically, a harem, and I am sort of the main wife. What about you, Anju? Is there anyone who caught your interest?"

"No one, but don't you dare try to change the subject after dropping a bomb like that on us!" smirked Anju. "Spill the beans! How did you meet Noah, and how did you end up accepting being part of a harem?"

"Let's see… My friends and I were on a patrol when we stumbled upon a girl named Suzu. We became friends, and she joined our group. We didn't know at the time, but Suzu already was one of Noah's lovers, and she had been separated from him by circumstances. We helped her find him based on the description she gave us."

"So you aren't the main wife because you met him first?" asked Kurena.

"No. There is no official main wife in the harem, but I am the closest to it because I have been entrusted with a lot of responsibilities. Over the last two years and a half, I have gathered quite a few people under my banner. Although I do not have a banner. The people I have alluded to earlier, those who will join us after we capture a Shepherd, were recruited by me. If my faction followed the formal structure of a military, I'd be a general."

"And Asuka, Lyta and Aife?" asked Anju.

"I'm under Akeno until the end of the deployment." nodded Asuka. "After that, we'll be equals. She may fancy herself as the main wife, but she'll be sorely disappointed if she expects she'll still be able to order me around."

Akeno smirked as she heard the mistake Asuka just made. The others realized it, too.

"You're also part of his harem!" exclaimed Kaie with wide eyes. "You're sharing your sister's lover? How kinky!"

"Adopted sister." winced Asuka. "We have no blood relation. And I agreed to join his harem, but I'm not in it yet. Hard to be when I never met Noah in person! And if someone has a problem with it, I'll box their ears."

"No, It's perfectly fine." smiled Anju. "A bit unusual, but then again, we are on the frontline, and death can come at any time. We need to enjoy our days as much as we can."

The girls of the squadron nodded.

"But still, I can't believe Noah would go seek other women when he already has you." frowned Kurena. "You're incredibly beautiful yourself, and those boobs of yours! How the hell are they so big? I feel cheated somehow."

Akeno glanced down at her own naked breasts, partially immersed in the water, and chuckled.

"Ara ara, are you perhaps jealous, Kurena? You do not need to be. Science has gone a long way, and there is nothing wrong with improving on nature."

"Are you saying yours are… not natural?" blinked Kurena.

"No, they are. My mom is quite gifted in that regard, and I inherited her good genes. But several girls in the harem got a little bit of help with their… their…"

Akeno didn't finish her words as she felt very strange all of a sudden, like something inside her was tearing itself off, and a glowing white sphere burst from her chest.

Everyone stared in utter shock as the sphere flew two meters away, shining so brightly that they couldn't stare at it directly, and the sphere inflated, taking a humanoid shape. Almost humanoid.

Then, the glow dimmed, and in its place floated a naked young woman who looked a lot like Akeno. That is, if one ignored the long white lizard tail that started just above her buttocks, the black horns curving upward, the long silvery white hair, and the sky-blue eyes. Her feet touched the water's surface, and she stood on it as if it was solid.

"Oh, crap…" facepalmed Asuka.

"What? What is happening?" gasped Kaie, speaking for them all.

Akeno was dumbfounded. She understood what just happened, but she was caught completely by surprise!

Albion stared at her hands, opening and closing her hands repeatedly, then started touching her body in various places with a growing grin.

"Ahah…. Ahahah! I am free!"

"Akeno… What… Who is… that?" asked Kurena, pointing with a trembling finger.

Akeno sighed heavily, but before she could answer, she was tackled by Albion and kissed rather roughly.

"Thank you! Akeno! Almost a thousand years without a body! The long wait is finally over! I am so happy right now!"

"Alright, stop that, Albion! I'm happy for you, but you're making a scene!" protested Akeno.

"Eheh, I don't care!" laughed Albion. She still stepped back.

"A… dragon-girl? Dragonkin?" muttered Mina.

"My name is Albion! One of the two Heavenly Dragons!" haughtily proclaimed Albion, smiling. "Since you are my partner's friends, you are my friends as well!"

"Huh, thank you?" replied Mina.

"Akeno. Explain." demanded Anju with her trademark intimidating smile.

Anju wasn't a pure-blood Alba, but she shared with them their esper ability, intimidation. Akeno had seen it at work already, when three of the guys had tried to peep on them and got caught. It seemed very similar to Akeno's own Charisma attribute whenever she used it to threaten someone.

"A moment, please." sighed Akeno. Now that her cover as an almost normal person was so utterly blown, she didn't care anymore and took her smartphone from her inventory.

She ignored the strange glances as she called Noah.

"Noah! Albion just came out of my body! Do you know anything about it?"

"Yes. I just finished a quest, and Albion and Ddraig being granted bodies was the reward. Is everything…"

"Couldn't you choose a better time?" shouted Akeno. "I was in the middle of bathing with all the girls of the squadron! How am I supposed to explain this to them?"

"…Well, sounds like a you problem." chuckled Noah.

"You!"

"I'm currently driving, and talking on the phone while driving is forbidden. Wouldn't want to catch a fine. Talk to you later!"

"You useless man!" shouted Akeno.

"I love you too!" chuckled Noah as he ended the call.

Seeing that getting angry would be worse than useless, she closed her eyes, slowly exhaled, and put her smartphone back in her inventory.

Now feeling a bit more calm, she faced the others.

"…I wanted to keep a few things secret until you actually needed to know about them, but, well, this happened. This is Albion, my partner for the last three years or so."

"I am going to tell you why I had a dragon's soul inside my body, but please wait until we're back to the base. You're going to have a whole lot of questions and I don't want to have to answer them twice."

Anju nodded and activated her ear clip. "Everyone, gather in front of the hangar in ten minutes. Akeno has a confession to make! A big one!"

"Why do you make it sound like I'm guilty of some great crime?" complained Akeno.

"Because you are! You better be prepared to answer a lot of questions."

Akeno nodded and got out of the river, reaching for a towel.

…

"Rikka, I will abuse my authority as your temporary boss and let you deal with reporting the outcome of the battle to the Chief of staff. I'll just pretend I am tired from summoning all those Legions." cowardly said Noah once they were back in the Tutelary Fort.

"Yes, Noah-sama. Leave it to me!" smiled Rikka, happy to be useful to him.

"Thank you." said Noah. "I will be in my Sanctuary if I am needed."

"Understood."

"Princess Shiori, please follow me." smiled Noah, being deliberately vague, and Shiori froze like a deer in headlights.

"Al… Already? I'd have preferred proper courtship first..."

"What are you imagining, Princess?" asked Noah as his smile widened. "We're only going to have tea with Luo Hao and the Spirits."

Shiori blushed intensely as she realized he had deliberately made her misunderstand.

"You lout! Delinquent! Ruffian! This wasn't funny!" exclaimed Shiori.

Noah chuckled and gently took her hand, leading her out of the room. Shiori didn't resist.

"Alright, maybe it wasn't in very good taste." acknowledged Noah as they walked.

"It wasn't…" nodded Shiori. "But considering what you did earlier, I think I can overlook it. Just barely."

"Just barely, eh? It looks like I have quite the high maintenance Princess in my hands. You didn't tell me about Rin's reaction to my declaration of intent. How did she take it?"

"That is not for me to tell. That is for you to find out."

"Fair enough." nodded Noah.

He opened the door to his room. He put the Sanctuary on the desk, and they went inside.

He wasn't really surprised to see that Tenka, Kaguya, Yuzuru were trying to enter the fake bamboo forest that bordered the Sanctuary, while Luo Hao was observing them thoughtfully.

Sensing them appear nearby, she turned to them.

"This place is surrounded by some mystical boundary."

"This is a pocket dimension. There is nothing beyond that border. Luo Hao, this is Princess Shiori Fujinomiya." shrugged Noah.

Shiori made a deep curtsy.

"A pleasure to meet you, your Eminence."

Luo Hao nodded, acknowledging the courtesy, and almost immediately forgot about her. She was only interested in martial arts, and to her, those who didn't train were simply wasting their lives.

He created a table and chairs for everyone, then tea and snacks. A lot of snacks.

Tenka, Kaguya and Yuzuru walked closer.

"Take a seat, everyone." smiled Noah. "Feel free to try anything you like."

"Are you going to bind those three spirits to you like you bound me?" asked Luo Hao when Noah was done and sat down.

"No. I do not think it will be necessary." firmly said Noah.

"Why?"

"I could bind them and have them follow me reluctantly, always looking for a loophole or lapse to turn against me. Or I could actually do the work and earn their loyalty, and they would follow me from their own will. Which do you think is the better way in the long term?"

"The latter, obviously." instantly replied Luo Hao. "But you used the former against me."

"I wanted to save energy for the fight against the British and Sun Tzu." shrugged Noah. "But that doesn't mean I will just rely on that bond to compel you. It isn't too late to earn your loyalty yet."

"…I see." mused Luo Hao, clearly reevaluating him. "…What do you plan to do with me?"

"Once that war with the British Empire is resolved, you will follow me to Cassell College and spend a significant portion of your time inside Mystic Moon. I want you to keep your eyes open for anything strange."

"Anything strange?"

"I serve a Goddess, and her name is Lilith. She sent me to this world because she could predict that two major crises would occur, and the first of them is deeply linked to Mystic Moon. And I already noticed a few anomalies. A certain unique item that I found in a secret area tried to devour my soul and possess me."

"Devour your soul? That's impossible. It's a mere VR game." scoffed Luo Hao.

"It should be impossible, yes." nodded Noah. "And yet, the special ability that automatically protects my soul against intrusions activated itself."

Luo Hao narrowed her eyes and nodded after a few seconds.

"…I will be on the lookout."

"Thank you. Do not mention to anyone, especially the game characters, what I just said about this soul attack. It would cause major trouble. This goes for you as well, Tenka, Kaguya, Yuzuru."

"We do not play that game anyway." shrugged Kaguya.

"Affirmation. We had no opportunity to play anything." added Yuzuru.

"Do you want to play it? I'll buy you terminals if you wish."

"Yes! I am not only cuter than Yuzuru, but I will prove that I am stronger in this game as well."

"Denial. Kaguya is childish and delusional. She is lucky to have kept up with me so far, but her luck won't hold much longer."

The twins started to bicker, and Noah tried to tune them out.

"Is Mystic Moon, interesting?" asked Tenka between two mouthfuls.

"If you like to fight, move your body, or train yourself to become stronger, you will probably like it." nodded Noah. "You can also see some nice scenery and make friends. I would advise you give it a try, Tenka. You might grow bored inside the College when most of us will be connected to it."

"…Alright." nodded Tenka.

"Princess, what do you think are going to be the reactions from the various heads of state?"

Shiori thought for a few seconds.

"…I expect the British Empire to cut their losses and leave Japan within two or three days at most, then try to negotiate some diplomatic resolution. There is however a significant chance that they might try to overwhelm you with more Legatus and Chevaliers, assuming they do not know exactly how the previous ones died."

"If they were very confident and didn't expect William the Conqueror and the other Chevaliers to be defeated, they might not have followed it with scout familiars. If they didn't, if they relied on satellite reconnaissance, all they should know is that a battle involving over four thousand Legions occurred, and that it was surprisingly short."

"They might try to contract Long Tian Yun, his men, or Sun Tzu to know how they died ended." nodded Noah. "I do not care if they do. If they leave without causing more damage, that's good enough for me."

"Yes." nodded Shiori. The Chinese Federation may reduce the intensity of its conflict with the Roman Eastern Empire, possibly freeing Caesar enough that he might visit you. You had garnered mild attention before due to being a male Spirit."

"But now, as a Legatus able to summon two new types of Legions never seen before, one possibly able to make itself invisible, and as a Warrior-type Spirit who defeated Her Eminence without the use of any Legion, every country will consider you as the greatest non-affiliated potential threat, or potential opportunity."

"You will receive a lot of offers and invitations, but the assassination attempts probably won't start until they get a clear idea of your capabilities. They will not want to anger you if they do not feel confident."

"I am fine with that." nodded Noah. "I will try not to make any more waves than necessary. I need maybe two months of relative peace if possible, to focus on Mystic Moon and to enhance a few more or my companions. I also need to deal with Eve, since I heard she wanted to kidnap me as well."

"Eve? That's interesting." nodded Luo Hao. "I tried to meet her several times, but it was like trying to grasp smoke. That woman is a ghost."

"Were you trying to make her your disciple?" smiled Noah.

"If she passed my test." nodded Luo Hao.

"We will see how that goes. If her personality is decent, I want her to join my faction as well. And I am going to tell you something that might help you come to terms with your present situation, Luo Hao. Soon after I am done solving those two crises Lilith alluded to and getting this world to accept my authority, Lilith will send me to another dimension where there will be not just one inhabited planet, but a dozen, with a total population of about fifty billion."

"She warned me that those worlds do not have advanced technology. That they are full of martial artists who harvest some kind of energy from their environment to grow stronger. And presumably, wild beasts that can do the same and grow stronger as well. And since their technology should be comparable to ancient China, we can safely assume that least some of the top cultivators become so powerful that they can travel through the void between those worlds."

Noah almost laughed at the sudden eagerness Luo Hao displayed. She was leaning forward and grinning with excitement.

"I want to go there!"

"You will. Lilith told me that I would be able to bring with me those who are bound to my Throne. I already promised Oda Nobunaga, and there will probably be others."

"Oda Nobumanga?" exclaimed Shiori, surprised. "There is a Japanese Legatus we do not know about?"

"No." shrugged Noah. "Not Oda Nobunaga the Legatus Legionis. Oda Nobunaga the Heroic Spirit, coming from a parallel Earth. She's a woman, by the way."

"What is a Heroic Spirit? Someone like us?" asked Tenka.

"No. I will keep it short. On another Earth, there is some great being with almost godlike powers that was tasked with recording humanity. As part of its mission, it recorded the souls of particularly influent and powerful individuals. Heroic Spirits are beings that were born from those records, with the memories and personality of their living counterparts, powerful bodies with strength and speed many times higher than normal humans, and whose abilities were further reinforced by their own legends."

"Compared to you, Tenka, I think that Okita Souji, as an example, a legendary swordswoman, do not have as much destructive power as you. However, she is immensely faster and more experienced, and you would lose to her almost instantly."

"Are you calling me weak!" bristled Tenka.

"I am not. Strength is relative, and combat power is only one of many kinds of strength. But how much combat experience do you actually have, Tenka? Can you fight someone who can move faster than your eyes can follow?"

"That's…" frowned Tenka.

She couldn't move that fast, and she knew it. Tenka would usually attack her enemies by waving her sword-form Angel, Sandalphon, towards a distant enemy, and the sharp energy waves coming from it would cross the distance at great speed and sever her targets. But if an opponent reached her in actual melee, she wasn't that good. That was how Salvatore Doni had defeated her, when she was still weak from coming into this world.

"Those Heroic Spirits are the martial artists you referred to when you said you have many at home?" asked Luo Hao.

"They currently are on a long-term mission and won't be back for another year or two, if all goes well. But there are many more strong people back home, from different backgrounds. I collected interesting people from many worlds, and Heroic Spirits come from just one of them…"

"In a few minutes, I will show you all how to enter and leave this pocket dimension. But for now, you are not allowed to leave my side and wander on your own. Your Angels are still sealed, and some soldiers might freak out and do something stupid if they see Spirits without collars. Once we're in the College, we will relax that rule."

Kaguya, Yuzuru and Tenka nodded.

"Speaking about those, when are you going to remove those seals?" demanded Tenka.

"When I am confident that you girls won't lash out at random people. Try to become friends with Princess Shiori, Rikka and the other girls you will soon meet, and it will go a long way. An alternative would be to make you sign magic contracts that would prevent you from using your Angel except in self-defense, but the notion of what exactly constitute self-defense comes with exploitable loopholes, and I'd rather not replace the bonds you just escaped with new ones. So, try to get along with the people from your new family, okay?"

"…Okay, I will try." reluctantly nodded Tenka before reaching for another snack. Kaguya and Yuzuru both looked at Shiori, then nodded.

Noah nodded to himself, pleased. The three Spirits surely had developed traumas from their ordeal, but they weren't broken, and while they clearly didn't trust him yet, they were at least willing to give him a chance to prove he wasn't like the Campiones they knew.