"Miss Miyabi, I've thought of a way, but… but it requires you to make a small sacrifice…"
Arden's tone carried a hint of difficulty, because no matter what plan they used, the final strike still had to be delivered by Miyabi; neither he nor Ju Fufu possessed the ability to instantly kill an Overlord-class Ethereal in one blow.
And this method truly did require Hoshimi Miyabi to make a sacrifice.
"Sacrifice what?"
Hearing this, Miyabi asked in confusion.
"It requires sacrificing… probably… the face of a Void Hunter?"
Arden sounded somewhat unsure.
"Doesn't matter!"
Miyabi shook her head indifferently. "As long as we can eliminate the Ethereal and save more people, what does sacrificing a bit of face matter!"
Although she was deeply loved by the citizens of New Eridu, matters of pride and image genuinely meant nothing to Miyabi.
"Good!"
You said it yourself!
"Fufu!"
Arden called out to his own tigress.
"Understood!"
Already perfectly in sync, Ju Fufu and Arden exchanged only a glance and reached a mutual understanding in an instant.
Only Miyabi stood there bewildered, still not understanding what the two of them were planning to do.
"Celestial Talisman Arts: Might!"
Arden slapped a talisman onto Ju Fufu's forehead, granting her a strength-boosting buff.
"Miss Miyabi, don't move!"
As his words fell, Arden suddenly stepped forward and, with a thump, dropped to his knees in front of Miyabi; before she could react, he stretched out both arms and wrapped them around her black-stockinged legs.
"!!"
Miyabi instinctively wanted to fling him away, but although Arden's actions and posture looked like those of a pervert, his serious expression and what he had just said made her suppress the urge to cut the lecher in half with a single slash.
What happened next made Miyabi realize that Arden and Ju Fufu were genuinely thinking of a way to deal with Nidhogg, not merely taking advantage of her.
Thump~!
After Arden hugged Miyabi's black-stockinged legs, Ju Fufu also knelt down behind him and wrapped her arms around his legs.
"Human Rocket, launch!"
With Ju Fufu's loud shout, she began swinging Arden and Miyabi like the head of a flail.
And faster and faster!
Whoosh—whoosh…
The motion even stirred up a fierce gust of wind.
When the rotation speed reached its limit…
"Maximum rotation reached, requesting coordinates!"
"Human Rocket Launcher, Stage One ready! Coordinates…"
As he spoke, Arden's head poked out from beneath Miyabi's short skirt; he glanced at Nidhogg's position. "3-1-5… fire!"
Receiving the command, Ju Fufu released her grip.
Whoosh~!
Arden and Miyabi shot out like rockets, streaking toward Nidhogg at terrifying speed.
When Ju Fufu's strength finally ran out, the two were already directly beneath Nidhogg, extremely close to it.
"Human Rocket Launcher, Stage Two ready! Coordinates…"
Arden's voice rang out once again from beneath Miyabi's skirt.
He poked his head out, took another look at Nidhogg's position, and said, "Good… luck!"
"Fire!"
With Arden's resolute shout, he pushed with all his strength, then released his arms from around Miyabi's legs.
Feeling the immense force pushing up from her legs, Miyabi had countless complaints she wanted to voice, but concern overwhelmed everything else.
Falling like this… I won't die, right?
"Daoist Arden? Arden?"
Miyabi looked down and saw Arden, wrapped in glowing talismans, waving up at her.
"Hah…"
Looks like he can land safely.
As she relaxed, Miyabi noticed that Arden's lips were still moving.
Although she couldn't hear him clearly, judging by his lip movements…
"Le… leave it… to you…"
"Mm, leave it to me!"
At this moment, Miyabi's conviction became incomparably firm.
Like a hero's party challenging the Demon King to save the world—companions sacrificing themselves one by one to clear the path—now Hoshimi Miyabi, the hero, had finally arrived before the Demon King.
At this moment, she had only one final mission—deliver the finishing blow that would defeat the Demon King!
Miyabi felt the blood that had been calm within her body for so long begin to boil once more; that was the sense of mission… the drive to save the world!
The force Arden imparted gradually faded, and Miyabi, as the Stage Three "rocket," reached her highest point.
She was positioned perfectly between Nidhogg and the massive spatial rift, slightly higher than Nidhogg itself.
There could be no more perfect attack position.
This opportunity had not come easily, and she could not betray everyone's efforts and expectations.
"Hah…"
Miyabi adjusted her posture, faced the oncoming Nidhogg, gently closed her eyes, and focused her spirit.
If Ju Fufu and Arden were intercontinental ballistic missiles, then Hoshimi Miyabi was the nuclear warhead mounted atop them.
"Let me end everything… Lingering Snow!"
A blade of light wreathed in blue flames tore across the sky, the power within it so immense that even Hollow Zero trembled in response.
...
Scott Outpost.
Having far exceeded the suppression mission's requirements and slain the Overlord-class Ethereal Nidhogg, the group exited Hollow Zero and returned to the outpost.
However, alongside the joy of victory, there was a subtle sense of strangeness on everyone's faces.
Especially Miyabi, who looked lost in thought, repeatedly practicing her draw-slash posture before quickly sheathing her blade again, muttering something about "rocket training."
"Daoist Arden, what was that move just now? It was awesome!"
Harumasa gave Arden a thumbs-up, his bright smile flashing white teeth that seemed to sparkle.
He clearly wanted to try it himself, but unfortunately, his frail constitution didn't allow it.
"That was a move Fufu and I created ourselves, called the Human Rocket Launcher. Originally it was just the two of us, but this time, with Captain Miyabi included… I guess it became Human Rocket Launcher: Three-Stage Combination Mode?"
Arden pondered for a moment and casually coined a name that was vivid but unreliable, and dangerously easy to misinterpret.
Judging by how he kept nodding to himself, he seemed quite satisfied with it.
"Human Rocket Launcher: Three-Stage Combination Mode? What a cool name—and so powerful!"
Nearby, the innocent Soukaku's eyes sparkled with admiration. "I want to learn it too! Brother Arden, can you teach—"
"No!"
Before Soukaku could finish, Yanagi cut her off.
Because an image uncontrollably surfaced in her mind—herself and Soukaku replacing Arden and Ju Fufu, forming a "Human Rocket Launcher: Three-Staged Combination!" together with Captain Miyabi.
After all, Soukaku was also incredibly strong, and Yanagi's build was similar to Arden's, making her perfectly suited to be the Stage Two "rocket"… no, stop, there's no coming back from this!
"Why?"
Interrupted, Soukaku protested unhappily.
She was like a child who had discovered a fun game, only to be told by an adult that she wasn't allowed to play.
"You're still young. That's a move only adults can use." Yanagi came up with an excuse on the spot.
"Oh~!"
Although disappointed, Soukaku obediently accepted it.
Hmph! When I grow up…
"Human Rocket Launcher: Three-Staged Combination…"
Miyabi frowned, looking oddly cute and absent-minded, as if savoring the feeling of "combining." Although there was some suspicion that Arden had taken advantage of her, she didn't actually dislike it. "It wasn't bad… If we encounter another crisis and need to use it again, I could also—"
"Captain, please have some self-restraint!"
For some reason, Yanagi suddenly felt exhausted.
She had a bad feeling that her "daughter" was about to be led astray by a bad boy. (Maybe)
A captain who cared about nothing except training and fighting, a member who ate and played around like a child, and a sickly one who thought about taking leave every day—without Tsukishiro Yanagi holding Hollow Special Operations Section 6 together, it probably wouldn't function at all and would have disbanded long ago.
===BREAK===
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