— — — — — —

  With Fujiwara Chika putting it like that, there was no way Veyron could turn her down.

  Not that he really wanted to.

  Truth be told, he was pretty curious about the quirky bunch in the group chat—familiar, yet strange companions from other worlds.

  Before heading out, even though Chika had mentioned this "space-time Gap" function that would basically pause time in his world while he was gone, Veyron still knocked on Kaguya's door to let her know.

  "A space-time Gap... Sounds kinda like the 'Moment' part of my ability," Kaguya muttered, frowning. "But are you sure those people are trustworthy? You can guarantee they mean you no harm, directly or indirectly?"

  "In theory, yeah," Veyron replied after a pause. "But if anything could be predicted, there wouldn't be something called an accident."

  "...Then take this."

  To his surprise, Kaguya pulled a long wooden box—over a meter in length—from under her bed.

  Inside was a beautiful sheathed bde, the scabbard decorated with a fiery red cloud-and-bird pattern.

  "This was one of Eirin's collection pieces," Kaguya expined as she lifted the sword out. "She said it literally fell from the sky in the ancient nds of Shinto during her travels in the age of gods."

  "She gave it to me as a birthday gift years ago, but now I'm giving it to you. I hope it'll be useful."

  With that, she unsheathed it just a little.

  Sching—

  Instead of a typical metallic scrape, a bright, birdsong-like ring echoed out.

  The bde, just like its sheath and hilt, was engraved with vivid crimson cloud-and-bird patterns.

  "This bde..."

  Veyron had a feeling. A very specific, legendary kind of feeling.

  "Its name is Bloodwing," Kaguya confirmed, sliding the bde back into its sheath and handing it over. "Be careful, Father. Though both Eirin and I have held it, the sword never once acknowledged us as its true master."

  Such a sharp bde!

  Feeling the immense sword aura resonating from the weapon, Veyron took a sharp breath.

  "Wanna give it a test run before you go meet those people?" Kaguya asked eagerly.

  "Of course."

  Outside, Veyron took a deep breath, focused, then unsheathed the bde.

  With a clear birdsong-like ring, a crimson ssh arced through the air, cutting through bamboo, grass, stone, even the very air in front of him. A trench several hundred meters long tore into the earth.

  "At that level, even the high-tier yokai wouldn't stand a chance," Kaguya said, eyes gleaming.

  But before she could finish praising him, Veyron staggered.

  His muscles spasmed and convulsed violently.

  "Eirin, you never mentioned the bde hits back this hard," Kaguya thought, vanishing in a blink and catching Veyron before he colpsed.

  "That's not on the bde," Eirin's calm voice echoed in Kaguya's mind through a secret technique. "Seems more like he triggered something in himself. Try giving him a sugar boost. Didn't he stock up on candy and stuff recently?"

  Just then, Veyron managed to croak out, "Kaguya... give me sugar."

  No hesitation.

  Kaguya dove into the space between moments and returned with bags of sugar and chocote bars.

  Veyron dug in like a starving beast. Bit by bit, the pain faded—his muscles stopped twitching, his organs settled, and his breathing steadied. With a long exhale, he finally sheathed the Bloodwing Bde.

  "How do you feel? Need me to have Eirin come check you over?" Kaguya asked.

  "Wait—she can just come down here?" Veyron looked around.

  "Technically, no. But since she's the one assigned to supervise my exile, she can pop in once or twice under the pretense of checking if I'm behaving." Kaguya replied.

  "Nah, that's fine. I was expecting this kind of backsh," Veyron said. "Just didn't think it'd hit so suddenly—especially during my first real sync with the Bloodwing Bde. Caught me off guard."

  Kaguya fell silent as Veyron grabbed her hand and pced it on his arm.

  "Feel that?"

  Kaguya: "...?"

  "I'm stronger than before."

  Kaguya stared at him, unimpressed. "...When did you get the idea I'd have your physique memorized?"

  "Ahem, fair point," he ughed. "But you remember that surprise I mentioned when I first joined the chat group, right? I just unlocked the first stage of my Gene Lock. It lets me awaken dormant combat instincts and gives my body a temporary boost."

  "Some of the boost sticks around permanently, but the price is rough—overdrawing on my potential means major backsh. The first time's always the worst. But as I keep unlocking more stages, my body will adapt."

  "Eventually, I'll be able to do it freely, with no harm... and no limits."

  .

  .

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