Kakunō continued flying down to save his falling comrades. However, pirates kept shooting at him with their cannons. He could not twist and turn for long, lest another airlock attack would hit him and send him to his demise.

He grunted. “Damn it! I can’t reach them in time. I’ll have to use these again….” He quickly pulled out peculiar roller skates via runes. Using runes again, they phased through his feet to wear them instantly.

Down below, Tokino drove her carpet as fast as her mind could to save the two. Haruto also did his part. However, Kakunō bested them in a matter of seconds. The skates allowed him to slice through the air at Mach 2.

He caught both his comrades, “Are you alright?” he asked. Yukino burst into tears and hugged him tightly while bawling out his nickname. He handed her to her parents. Tokino checked for injuries and sighed in relief for her daughter coming off unscathed.

Tokino covered her mouth and gasped upon seeing Kenkō’s charred back. “By the Gods…! I should—” Kakunō stopped her with his hand. He healed his comrade instead. Though not as fast, he was skilled enough to regrow bone and skin.

Kenkō slowly opened her eyes and coughed. Yukino smiled with tears rolling down her cheeks from afar. “Big Sis….”

Suddenly, massive explosions in the area startled them all. It turned out the pirate airships were taken care of by aerial mages.

Hokori also did his part, destroying twenty ships a second with one punch. He never lost his grin, and after his fun, he jumped on Kakunō’s flying carpet. “Damn, son! Never seen you wear those before. What are they?” He talked from behind.

“‘Sky Treads.’ It makes me soar like an eagle. One of my greatest creations.” Kakunō stored them back.

He raised an eyebrow. “Ay, hol’ up. Aren’t those just a pair of ‘Air—”

“Sh-Shut up! It’s an original design!” Kakunō’s cheeks reddened, pointing at him with a shaking index finger.

“Whatever ya say, fam….” Hokori’s eyes rolled. “So… what you gon’ do now?”

Kakunō stood up. “Kenkō and I will fight. Simple as that. Are you ready?” He turned to her.

She sighed. “I don’t have to tell you every time. I’ll follow you no matter what.”

Yukino insisted on joining as well. Tokino discouraged her immediately. She noted that any more heartache would break her mind beyond repair. Haruto agreed 100%.

Yukino turned around and hugged her parents. “It’s okay… Mama, Papa. You should be proud of me. I never cried when I saw other mages fall to their deaths.” She let go and held her chest. “I owe Big Sis my life. Big Bro, too. They’re my heroes…” she smiled.

Unexpectedly, Tokino smiled back with tears. She held her daughter’s shoulders. “Go for it, honey. Help out your siblings to your fullest. Stay close to them, alright? Make us proud….” She wiped her eyes with a finger.

Haruto sighed with his eyes closed. “You’re all grown up now, Yukino. Be a hero to them, too, if that’s what you believe. I’m no hero myself, so it’s your task to show that.”

Yukino nodded at her parents, full of sheer confidence.

A chuckling Hokori stepped in and patted her head. “Go get ‘em, kiddo… Ya got your Uncle’s pride by your shoulder at all times.”

She nodded again. “Hm! I won’t let any of you down!” She hopped on Kakunō’s carpet.

Now fully prepared, they flew to one of the pirate airships.

In the front deck, they dodged multiple enemy fires.

Yukino wondered why her big sister opened The Every Hub and put on earpieces in their intense situation. Fortunately, she gave her a brief answer, “I love playing music during battle, Yukichi. Especially this one.” She played her all-time favorite: “Good-bye Declaration” by Chinozo. The song deeply resonated with her—due to being a shut-in back in her small town near Novus.

Kakunō moved in front for the first attack. Using the battleax he fixed, the blade became large enough to bifurcate an entire ship in half. Blood splattered everywhere. The gorey scene disoriented Yukino a bit. However, she pressed on and followed her big sister.

Kenkō moved in next and used her innate ability to punch gaping holes through her enemies. The energy around her fists acted like molecularly thin scalpels before they made contact.

Kakunō used his revolver again. Yukino stepped in for assistance. She jumped up high and instantly cast runic arrays aimed at the pirates’ eyes; all they could now see was total darkness. “Nice goin’, Yuki!” her big brother praised.

Kakunō switched with his double-edged dagger that dispelled shockwaves every time they hit. One pirate ship after another, their coordination was as perfect as the Minagawa couple.

The pirates eventually used chainguns against the three. In response, they split up to take them all down decisively.

Yukino sneakily cast runes under a gunman’s feet. It made him slip around the place and fall over a railing.

Kenkō utilized a technique that covered her body in a gel-like substance. Even an enemy’s plasmic projectiles slipped out of the way. She counterattacked with her hands working like powerful defibrillators.

After dodging the blasts fired at him, Kakunō neared his foe, pulled out an estoc, and pierced his chest. Instead of bloody murder, it went through him with no pain. However, the man became slippery to the point he had no friction. Just as he fell from the ship, a missile hit him in midair unintentionally.

Now together again, the three siblings faced their greatest enemy yet. A large, hefty man, twice Kakunō’s size. He had a noticeable beer gut. He laughed at them maniacally and pulled up the prized weapon of any crewmate ship: two gold gauntlets that stockpiled kinetic energy. A lone attack decimated a quarter of the airship. Any more would have destroyed it.

Luckily, the three siblings beamed with pure confidence as they moved closer to the enemy.

Yukino managed to cast runs onto the gauntlets when they temporarily ran out of kinetic energy. Its metal components heated up to glowing red-yellow. The foe yelled in immense pain, desperately trying to take them off.

Thanks to the opening Yukino created, Kenkō lodged a spear hand to the man’s gut. She quickly ran away from the area. The menthol inside the foe’s system triggered hypothermia. He vomited on the floor three times. As the man looked back up, he saw Kakunō in front, preparing his katana.

At that moment, the final chorus of the Chinozo song played in Kenkō’s ears.

Kakunō delivered ten swift strikes that did no damage whatsoever. After storing his weapon, the enemy experienced six hundred thousand volts for thirty seconds. With that, a corpse fell over the ship’s railing.

In perfect timing, the music stopped just as they won the battle.

After conquering the thirty-fifth ship, the three siblings sat down for a breather.

Kenkō hugged her little sister tightly. “Oh, Yukichi! Every time I’m with you, you glow brighter than the sun!” She repeated her nickname over and over again.

A while back in time, Feuer’s team flew beside Hokori’s. Even king Harald himself drove by.

“Yo, Danielle! How ‘bout we do some karaoke night after all dis?” Hokori exclaimed.

She sighed with her eyes closed. “You can’t sing a note to save your life, pal… But alright. I haven’t done much after all my book-reading.”

“Sweet! Can’t wait for my score…” he gave a thumbs up.

Haruto turned to Hokori. “So what’re you going to do? Fight Elon face-to-face?”

“Nah, boy…” he shook his head. “I’ll have my fun with Long John Silver’s elite four!” He looked at Harald up above. “How ‘bout you, my man! You gon’ deal with him?”

“Yes, Hokori,” he nodded. “As earthly people say… I have a score to settle with Elon. We may not be able to apprehend him at all, but at least I can convince him to leave our premises for now.” The king flew away with his men.

Haruto stood confused over Harald’s statement. He asked Hokori what he meant by it.

He grinned and chuckled. “The power of The Raven, boy. Fate to Elon is like a primal instinct. He did every crazy bullshit last night cuz he knew the illegal skyfarers would save his ass. In fact, all Earthly Mythos can do a lot of crazy bullshit. The sky’s the limit for them.”

Five minutes later, they finally approached the strongest opponents. With a joyful grin on his face, Hokori could see the four supreme guards of the pirate captain. He cupped his hands and yelled out their names.

Haruto’s eyes widened. “What are you doing…! Don’t catch their attention.”

He snickered. “Hahahahahaha! Ain’t no one here will go full Metal Gear, boy. We’re here to do a little beating.” Case somewhat in point, Feuer summoned a massive wave of magma flying straight at the four elite pirates.

The mentioned pirates threw out his attack kilometers away with their bare hands. They never received a single scratch.

Feuer carresed his chin. “Hmmm… Just what I expected. These remarkable pirates have not lost an ounce of power through the years….”

Hokori flew beside him. “Of course not, pretty boy! Otherwise, my ass won’t even be here!” He leaped out of his flying carpet to face them all at once.

With permission to fight from their captain, the elite four decided to turn a crewmate ship into their designated arena. Hokori greeted them with praise and reminiscence. He called them one by one via their names in order of birth: Shōyu (醤油), Shio (塩), Miso (味噌), and Karē (カレー). None of them were reborn humans or hailing from Mikadzukihantō, but their roots traced back to the nation.

They were large, impeccable men who pushed their physique to its utmost limit—all because the one man in front of their eyes dethroned their title of the strongest.

Hokori grinned. “You know what I think, fam? All y’all taste worse than the last, but at least you go down easy on the stomach! Hahahahahahaha!” His joke enraged them instantly.

Far away, the man and woman from before continued video calling each other inside their airships. Both hearts filled with sheer excitement over the prospect of the duel they always wanted becoming true.

“By the Gods, would you look at that, Grace? The Minagawas are finally here!” William exclaimed.

“I know, honey… I got butterflies in my stomach right now.” She loaded her pistols. “Let’s find out whose love is stronger. After our fun—we shall have a drink with them.” She turned off her video feed.

He chuckled with his eyes and mouth closed. “Of course…”