CH. 426: Shrewd Angels

"That got a little out of hand," Asahi whispered after returning to his room in the Underworld castle.

Haruhime almost lost trust in everyone because of his rushed decision. He hadn't fully understood Haruhime's cautiousness until now. She had no friends in Susanoo Familia as she treated Susanoo and his servant with hostility. To make up for her weaknesses, she fought tirelessly in the dungeon.

'A former princess and gruesome dungeon. A perfect mixture to get some traumatizing memories.'

(Forget about her, my love. We're meeting Yasaka today. The real kitsune!)

'The kitsune who is probably yet to be a milf… I am kinda looking forward to it.'

"What is this milf you two talk about?" Ddraig chimed in with a curious question of her own. "You are strange sometimes… most of the time."

(Let's ignore this uncultured dragon.)

'Why don't we discuss our plans for the next world? I should go straight into the canon, I guess. There isn't any prior event worth exploring.'

(True. As for world changes… we have to make it strong.)

'Ain't no fun without challenge.'

(I'll adjust it according to your wishes.)

'Great. Now, onto my next task.'

He had to find someone to accompany him to the meeting with Youkai. Letting Grayfia, his queen, accompany him would be overkill for a small meeting like this. Saeko and Shiori were out of the question as they were busy helping Yuriko.

'I'm gonna take Rika.'

He hadn't spent much time with the former elite sniper recently. Now was the perfect time to let her have some fun.

(I sure hope she doesn't go ballistic on the kitsune.)

'Ah, well. Rika will get swept into curiosity for the fluffy kitsune.'

(What about Haruhime? I wonder... what would their reaction be?)

He did want to take Haruhime to show her the kitsune race of another world. The only thing stopping him was the uncertainty of Youkai's behavior in this timeline. Haruhime might distance herself further should the Youkai turn out to be impolite scum. Though the chances of it happening were minuscule considering the kitsune he met before.

(It's pretty surprising you… want her as a daughter. You used to hate kids like they were a plague… remember those days?)

'Of course I remember. But things happen, I guess. Saya was a big factor in making me realize… the excitement to hold my kid. Fuck, stop getting me impatient!'

"Kid this, kid that. Give this a break, you two." Ddraig returned, seemingly more frustrated than the last time. "You're the strongest people of this world… but I never see you talking about getting strong!"

(My love.)

Asahi sat down on the bed and closed his eyes. A shining blue dagger with golden grip and pommel manifested in his hands, leaking grains of sands as it floated statically.

[Dagger of Time (Rank EX): A concept dagger based on the Dagger of Time wielded by the Prince of Persia.

—Catalyst Conversion (Passive Skill): The dagger absorbs the essence of your mana and converts it into the primordial substance known as sands.

—Time Manipulation (Active Skill): The dagger harnesses the sands to seamlessly bend the fabric of time.

Price — 499,999 KP]

The Dagger of Time could dial back the clock, slow down time, and even restrain weak enemies. The Dagger from the Prince of Persia series was an all-around superb artifact. But with a change to store nearly limitless sands, the dagger simply had no match in weaker worlds.

Asahi, however, wasn't after the dagger for its unique ability. All he wanted was to get deeper insights into the machinations of time. The 'Acceleration' skill orb gave him the Time element, but the Rank-F element was too weak to empower an elemental form.

The dagger was here to give first-hand demonstrations of advanced time manipulation skills. A simple but effective way to level up the Time element.

Asahi pressed the golden button embedded above the dagger's pommel. The sand stored in one of the six tiny slots evaporated in an instant. A golden haze spread in the room.

(Slooooow.) Even Klyscha's voice was dragged in the slow world.

Asahi hardly felt any change as his perception used to decelerate the world.

'Time to study—'

"Asahi!!!"

The loud voice belonged to someone who shouldn't be in the Underworld in any situation.

"Gabriel? What the hell is she doing here?"

He put back the dagger and approached the door. A knock came from the other side.

"Lady Gabriel, please."

Asahi could feel Gabriel and Sandalphon behind the door. He hadn't met Gabriel since he promised to accompany her to the new house. Knowing Gabriel, her addiction must have kicked in and forced her to seek him. Lost in idle thoughts, Asahi opened the door. Gabriel's pout turned into a wide grin as soon as she saw him.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Gabriel's first question was passive-aggressive. "I-I was waiting for you to come."

Asahi pinched her cheeks. "I was a bit busy."

In truth, he didn't have time to prepare anything special for her.

"Sandra, go away," Gabriel tried to shoo Sandalphon out. "Let me play with my husband."

As much as she liked her friend, she didn't want any intrusion in her time with Asahi. There was also the envious fact that Sandalphon visited Asahi often.

Sandalphon gave a bitter smile to Asahi. "Teacher… Lady Gabriel ran from Heaven. Father asked me to look after her… Should I go now?" she asked with a long, spiritless sigh and shook her head. "I shouldn't ask… nobody wants me around."

Asahi couldn't help but inwardly applaud the angel. She was also getting a hang of tricking much like Gabriel. The innocent angels were becoming twisted with desires. Not that he minded their emotional growth.

Sandalphon gave him one last look and turned around to depart, only to have her hands grabbed by both Asahi and Gabriel. The couple dragged Sandalphon into the room.

"Let's play!" Gabriel shouted, returning to her naïve self. "Invite Shizuka and others. The more the merrier."

She was ready to kick her friend out moments ago. Now she wanted others to join. Asahi wondered if she had two sides, one angel and the other devil. In all honesty, he could tell what Gabriel was thinking. Since she couldn't get some alone time with him, she might as well go all out to invite others and build more bonds. The Seraph had become shrewd in her own right.