Like her comrade Auris, Lupa also experienced unexpected circumstances during her fight. Despite being a child with little to no physical bulk, every hit Yukino made against her stung like hornets. Even several bones fractured.

No matter how Lupa tried to attack Yukino, her arms and legs always missed miss by a hair. Now desperate, she decided to release a giant wall of flame shaped like a wolf’s head, which made Yukino back away.

Lupa held her left forearm and panted. “What the hell was that…?! How were you doing that, you brat!”

Yukino approached her. “Every move I make is a lucky strike that hits harder than it should, and you’ll never hit me as long as I’m careful.” Her eyes showed unrelenting determination. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done to Big Sis!” she pointed.

Lupa grinned. “Hahahahahaha! And you think I’ll go down easy?!” her pupils transformed into upsidedown crosses. “Nono Cerchio… Call of the Wild!”

A cold gust of wind pushed Yukino away. When she opened her eyes, countless massive wolves made of ice surrounded the area. They snarled and lunged at her at blinding speeds. Yukino shielded herself with runes and closed her eyes. However, she felt no bite from the ice wolves. Kenkō flash-stepped to her location and effortlessly decapitated them by simply touching their necks.

Unfortunately, more wolves formed in thin air as Lupa laughed at their predicament. “You idiots! I’ll never run out of good boys! It’s what it truly means to be Queen of the Jungle!”

Kenkō, having had enough, flash-stepped in front of the enemy. “Don’t you mean ‘Tundra’?” She slapped Lupa before she could react; teeth flew out.

She held her cheek and looked at Kenkō from afar, “Ow!! You goddamn bitch!! You think you can mess with— Huh……?” Lupa’s vision became hazy, and her body experienced dizziness. “W-What…? What did you do?!” Her balance waned.

Kenkō pointed at her. “I gave you a dose of diphenhydramine as soon as my hand touched you. I figured that you were controlling them.” Yukino nearby noticed the ice wolves undulating strange patterns as if they became broken mechanical toys. Kenkō pulled out a syringe gun filled with orange fluid and pointed at Lupa again. “I’m gonna give you the quickest K.O. in history. Battles aren’t always about physical might.”

Now enraged, Lupa gave out a very animalistic roar. “Don’t fucking toy with me, you bitch!!” She charged forward. Lupa dodged the first syringe fired at her, but little did she know about its other mechanic. The projectile exploded behind her, forming an orange gas cloud. Now blinded, Lupa stopped in her tracks and coughed.

Suddenly, her body felt very numb, and she fell on her back. “What’s happening…? I can’t move. The fuck is this?!” she struggled to no avail.

Kenkō walked to her and brought along a curious Yukino. The former kneeled. “Asking doctors is always good—but I’m afraid I can’t help you. This concoction of mine disables demons temporarily. You can’t even use your magic. So for now…” she placed her palm on Lupa’s forehead while smiling, “…get some rest.”

Lupa shook her head in place, “No…! No, please……! I don’t want—res……….” Her eyes closed.

Kenkō and Yukino stood victorious, and the ice wolves dispersed into the air like snowflakes. It mesmerized the latter, and next, she hugged Kenkō, “Yay! You did it, Big Sis!”

Kenkō became bashful and hugged her back. “Oh, don’t say that…! If it weren’t for the one and only Yukichi—I wouldn’t have won at all! Yukichi. Yukichi. Yukichi. Yukichi…” she repeated it seven more times.

In another area far away, there were now only thirty devils left. Every corpse disappeared into red smoke.

With a long black whip, Kakunō got a hold of one by the chest. The monster did not bleed as it pierced right through the cavity. Suddenly, other devils nearby magnetized to the former devil. They clumped up together like a big red ball and struggled to break free. Kakunō flailed his whip all around with enough force to smash through the durability of devils. His enemies all turned into red mush.

Eventually, the “ball” turned into a useless pile of red mush itself. Now, only ten devils were left, who charged at him once more. Kakunō effortlessly weaved through them and jumped high in front of one devil to place his hand on its face. The halberd from before came out sailed through its skull. For the others, Kakunō went on the melee, but a very unpredictable one. The halberd’s length, size, and blade shape changed nonstop without warning.

Now, only one devil was left. Kakunō chuckled, stored his halberd back via runes, and decided to kill the last enemy hand-to-hand. Matching blow for blow at first, he gave him very decisive moves as it went on; the devil thought he went for a right hook, only for a left cross to occur. In the end, a simple roundhouse kick bifurcated the devil’s torso.

Kakunō stood victorious. “Wooohooo!!” then he sighed, “No wonder Hokori loves using his fists….” He chuckled. Behind him, he heard a voice yell: “big bro.” As he turned around, the others greeted him. Yukino ran to him and retold how she helped defeat one of the demon generals. “Oh, I knew you would win, you little rascal!” Kakunō patted her head, making her giggle. “So… any clue where he went?” he looked at Haruto.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t call. But I’d say it wouldn’t hurt if we checked in there.” Haruto pointed at the ruined palace in the distance.

Kenkō turned around. “Oh yeah. That does look like a place he would go inside. He used to scavenge for lost treasure, of all things…” her eyes drooped.

Back at the throne room, Hokori had the upper hand until now—when Meretrix finally had her power back in full due to all the devils now dead. She threw a fiery fist at him to a wall. Getting back up, Hokori sensed the battle was now more difficult. He walked back into the fight and chuckled. “Ya better be ready, Trixie. I ain’t playin’ no more—cus this is gettin’ fun.”

Meretrix scoffed his resolve and created more fire tornadoes bigger than the last. The caged girl nearby crouched and covered herself in defense.

Hokori neared toward Meretrix. At that moment, she realized his arm muscles doubled in size. Trying to block his straight punch to the gut with a wall of flame only proved futile. Meretrix coughed out blood and rolled on the ground several meters away. As Hokori sprinted to her for a turning kick, Meretrix noticed his leg muscles enlarging. She dodged by a hair but lost her footing in doing so.

Meretrix decided with one last shot: instead of throwing fire tornadoes, she instead clad her arms in them. A mere graze alone was enough to erode walls instantly. Hokori stood by and grinned. “Hahahahahaha! Now that’s more like it!” he cracked his knuckles and neck, “Don’t fail me now, Trixie! Now, I’m really gettin’ my fix!”

Meretrix chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, hon… I don’t plan to!” she flash-stepped toward her opponent. Curtains all around the room billowed more violently the longer they fought. Each first clash matched in overall power. Hokori did not mind his burns and peeled skin, nor did Meretrix with her bruises and compound fractures. They both showed each other a large, toothy grin with eyes lit up.

Now over with the punches, all that was left was a classic headbutt. They held each other’s shoulders and leaned backward at the same time. A massive shockwave permeated the throne room, making the caged girl crouch down. Windows shattered, and even curtains tore up.

Both fighters smiled the whole time they did it. Now, they felt disoriented. Hokori fell to his knees while Meretrix fell on her back. Both panted heavily. “It is… my loss…” she declared.

Hokori stood up and chuckled. “Oh, man… Ya beat me to it. I would have said the same thing.” He moved closer to heal Meretrix via touch; blood vessels spread around her body. “I do wonder, tho. You weren’t the same before. What changed, Trixie?” he raised an eyebrow.

Meretrix sighed. “I never changed, Hokori,” she shook her head. “People just expect me to act flirtatious—due to my busty build and my past job in a brothel.” She stood back up and looked at him. “Ever wonder why I was named this way? My upper-class mother wanted a son. She thought of me as garbage, so I was thrown away like the rest. I didn’t fair well with my cast off father, either….”

Hokori held her left shoulder, giving her a serene smile. “I didn’t tell you ‘bout dis, but I need ya to catch some Zs to make it look like you didn’t go down smoothly. Ya cool with that?”

Meretrix nodded while smiling back. “I don’t mind….” With permission, Hokori dealt her with a karate chop to the neck. He rested her on a wall—and took a look at the fluid tank behind him. Caressing his chin with a thumb and index finger, he still had no clue what to do with the boy inside.

“Take him… Make sure he’ll never be harmed…” the caged girl spoke to him. In response, Hokori freed her and asked if she was his mother; she shook her head. The only information he got from her—was that she had long wanted someone to adopt the boy. She could not bear to see him trapped forever in the ruins of Smaragdos.

The girl moved to the fluid tank and encoded a password on its control grid. The fluid drained—and the hatch opened. Hokori caught the little boy’s fall. He had short, messy brown hair that felt slimy. The boy never woke up no matter how Hokori shook him. “He’s still alive,” the girl explained, “He’ll wake up someday. Don’t forget about the demon general over there, too.” she pointed at Meretrix.

“Where you be headin’, then?” Hokori raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry about me. I have things to do here.” She closed the fluid tank with a button.

Hokori carried the boy on his back while carrying Meretrix in his arms. His family caught up with his whereabouts outside. Yukino noticed his and gasped. “Is that my Lil Bro now?!” she looked excited.

Kakunō raised an eyebrow and sighed. “Whatever you say, Yuki…” he walked to Hokori, “…Care to tell us how you got this kid?” Hokori only gave him a “long story” response, so Kakunō called in more flying carpets via his Pocket Hub. The other two generals were taken with them back to the airship.

An excited Yukino ran toward her mother and hugged her. She held her hand, walking her to the clinic section, “Mama, look! I have a Lil Bro now!” she pointed at Hokori, who placed the boy on a hospital bed.

“‘Lil Bro’? What are you saying—” Looking down, Tokino put her hand on her mouth and gasped. “By the Gods…! Who is this poor thing?” she looked at her husband nearby.

“Hokori found him back in Smaragdos. We don’t know his name yet. But according to him, he’s still alive,” Haruto explained. Kenkō confirmed his claim, diagnosing that the boy was not in a coma, yet his state was still similar. She told them briefly that what they should ask—was not when he would wake up—but how.

None of them were sure if the boy would even remember anything in his life. The worst-case scenario would be him waking up as a barely functioning human being. However, Kenkō reassured the Minagawa couple that he would be in good hands once transferred to the Imhotep Inn hospital. Kakunō gave the boy clothes that did not fit him anymore. A nearby Yukino thanked him for his deeds.

Hokori patted Haruto’s shoulder from behind. “So, boy… How’s it feel to be a father now!”

“I’m already a father…” he turned his head around, eyes squinted.

“Well, how does it feel to have a son, now?!” he patted his shoulder again. As a result, Tokino came in to take his arm off her husband, confusing both of them. Politely, she told Hokori not to touch her Haruto like that. From afar, Kakunō became annoyed by her uncalled-for behavior.

Ultimately, both parties thought nothing of it and continued conversing.

Tokino sat in the library section and closely observed her husband, who now paid no mind to the one man who once pulverized him to death in the Fools’ Theater colosseum. She clutched her chest, showing eyes of deep worry, “Oh, my Haruto… I’m fine with you viewing Hokori as a longtime brother. But I—still don’t like him—let alone accept him. Please be safe….”

Back at Smaragdos, a man wearing a plain white shirt and blue jeans stepped into the palace’s throne room. In front of him was the caged girl. “Did they take him…?” he asked softly, showing a blank face.

“Yes… Hokori and his family accepted him,” the girl nodded, “But for what purpose? You never told me.” her eyes squinted.

The mysterious man walked around the room and observed the infected walls. “Since they took him… things will become more ‘exciting’ as they say. Specifically—it will be the start of new ‘thrilling’ experiences for me.” He turned to the girl again, still showing his lifeless expression, “…Once it happens—the world will become very… very… very… interesting. A new age of ‘fun’ as people call it….” He walked out of the palace.

The mysterious man sighed with his eyes closed. “Ode to the joys of living… If only mother could lull me again. I wish to father a happy night, as well….” he smiled intimately, humming the tune of “Auld Lang Syne.”