Under a sky filled with countless stars, a streak of dark red light cut rapidly across the night.
"Hiro, to the right!"
Rize was held tightly in Amano Hiro's arms. In the fierce wind, her long hair scattered and flew wildly, occasionally slapping against his face.
Massive earthquakes were erupting across both hemispheres, and the shockwaves they created rolled on endlessly.
The scene was incredibly spectacular, carrying a strange kind of magic. Watching it made one feel delighted.
Amid the roaring wind, Rize's voice could barely reach Amano Hiro's ears.
"It's right up ahead!"
With her reminder, Amano Hiro gave a powerful beat of his wings, slowing down and approaching the building complex ahead at a relatively steady speed.
The buildings in front had distinct characteristics, a mixture of modern architecture and ancient style structures.
At first glance, it looked like they had arrived at a movie studio.
Sunlit Garden was not far from the CCG headquarters, which was troublesome.
If they could not end things quickly, CCG reinforcements would arrive soon.
It was not entirely bad. At the very least, this was not the suburbs. They could not use missiles here.
Without that kind of large scale destructive weapon, even if there were traps, he had nothing to fear.
The two carefully observed the movements below. The entire complex was brightly lit, and figures could occasionally be seen moving about.
There was no mistake. No evacuation had taken place. He had already seen three people wearing long coats and top hats walk out of a building and enter an old mansion.
They were undoubtedly members of V.
After circling overhead two and a half times, Amano Hiro landed on the rooftop of a nearby building.
Rize looked at Sunlit Garden in the distance, her expression complicated. She had escaped from here. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.
Thinking that this place would soon be destroyed, her emotions were hard to calm.
Amano Hiro pulled a cheap monocular he had picked up from a convenience store out of his pocket and observed the situation at Sunlit Garden.
"Don't worry. Soon, this place that was your childhood nightmare will cease to exist."
His confident and firm words fell into Rize's ears, calming her turbulent emotions somewhat.
Rize hugged his arm tightly and replied softly, "Mm."
After observing for quite a while, he did not see any members of the Washuu family appear. It seemed they were not here.
Still, he had not expected to wipe out the Washuu Clan in one go. Being able to eliminate V first would already be tremendous progress.
Perhaps before he even made a move, Furuta Nimura would have already slaughtered most of the Washuu family members.
While observing, Amano Hiro took out his phone and handed it to Rize. "In a moment, take a few overhead shots of Sunlit Garden."
"Ah! Hiro, you... you..."
Rize's startled cry made Amano Hiro turn toward her. She had just opened the camera and suddenly noticed what looked like photos of herself.
Curious about when Amano Hiro had taken pictures of her, she thought she would check his photography skills.
She did not expect that the moment she opened the gallery, the photos inside would make her face burn and her heart race.
She was so shy she could barely handle it. They were all photos from her most passionate moments.
Her face had already flushed all the way to her ears. "Hiro, you can already see everything. Why did you… why did you take these kinds of pictures!"
Amano Hiro instantly realized the problem. This was bad. He had been found out.
He quickly pulled Rize into his arms and gently kissed her red lips.
"It's just recording our beautiful life. Life is so dull. You need a little spice now and then, right?"
Rize's fingers trembled slightly as she flipped through the gallery. How many had he taken? She had not even reached the end yet. There were shots from every possible angle.
"Even so... you still shouldn't… I'm deleting them."
Amano Hiro hurried forward to grab the phone back, but Rize deftly dodged aside.
She selected all and deleted them. The exquisite photos vanished completely.
Looking at the disappeared photos, Rize let out a sigh of relief. She then opened the recently deleted folder and cleared it entirely before finally relaxing.
Amano Hiro smacked his lips regretfully. "Alright, alright. Come here and give me a kiss. We've got serious business to handle."
Rize let out a soft snort but still leaned in to kiss him. She was not truly angry, just unbearably shy.
Seeing that Rize had completely relaxed, Amano Hiro turned his head, the corners of his mouth already curling upward uncontrollably. He had backups.
Carrying Rize, he flew over Sunlit Garden another two and a half times.
After taking the distribution shots, he beat his wings fiercely and vanished into the night in an instant.
"Hm? What was that sound?"
Kaiko had just stepped outside for some air and happened to hear the sound of wings beating when Amano Hiro accelerated.
He looked up and scanned the sky but did not notice anything unusual.
Then he thought of Carnage and snorted. "Hmph. Your end is coming soon."
......
After returning home, the indoor heating instantly dispelled the chill clinging to them.
Glancing at the time, it was already past midnight. He would go inform the manager about this tomorrow.
Amano Hiro sank into the soft sofa and could not help letting out a comfortable sigh.
Doing nothing and just lying down really was the most comfortable thing. He turned his head and looked at Rize, who had just changed into her pajamas and walked out. "Lap pillow."
Rize heard him and looked at Amano Hiro, who occasionally acted like a child. Her smile was exceptionally gentle. "Okay. Coming."
Lying on her soft thighs with his eyes closed, feeling her gentle strokes on his head, Amano Hiro felt an unusual sense of peace.
It had been more than a year since he transmigrated. So much had happened in that time.
From an ordinary office worker, to becoming a man eating monster,
then through countless battles, to now returning to a humanoid being who no longer needed to eat people.
That year had felt as long as a lifetime. There might have been many imperfections along the way,
but the one thing he regretted least was winning over Rize. She was truly irresistible. He could never get enough.
Under Rize's soothing caresses, he unknowingly fell asleep.
Listening to Amano Hiro's steady breathing, Rize kept a smile on her lips.
Her hand never stopped moving, only growing lighter and gentler.
Amano Hiro had a dream. He dreamed about transmigration,
about systems, about Rize. Everything had been just a dream.
He woke up and saw his familiar bedroom and the alarm clock ringing endlessly.
He had returned to that unchanging life of an office worker, commuting back and forth in endless repetition.
In the morning, he could not touch the familiar warmth. In the evening, he could not see the familiar figure.
He felt terrified, as if a giant hand had seized his heart.
Amano Hiro jolted awake from the dream, sitting up abruptly, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"What's wrong, Hiro? Did you have a nightmare?" The soft voice by his ear brought him back to his senses.
He turned and stared fixedly at Rize, whose face was full of gentleness and faint concern, then pulled her tightly into his arms.
He suddenly realized he could no longer imagine what life would be like without Rize.
Rize felt Amano Hiro holding her tightly, his body trembling slightly. She gently wrapped her arms around him in return.
"I'm here."