Kazuma had still been grumbling moments before, but the instant he heard the words "Egg of Heaven" and "ritual," the lecherous look vanished from his face.
He still looked like a complete deadbeat, but a shrewd gleam flashed through his dead fish eyes.
"Egg of Heaven? That sounds exactly like one of those hidden boss quests that drops top-tier gear at a rate of only 0.01%..."
Kazuma slapped his cheeks, retied his cloak, and flashed his signature scumbag grin.
"In that case, leaving something that dangerous in Aqua's hands would be a complete waste. Come on, Kōichi. Let's head to the cemetery and see whether that guy in black has any valuable loot worth stealing!"
The two figures quickly disappeared into the shadows of the Succubus Shop, racing toward the deathly silent and ominous Axel Cemetery on the outskirts of town.
Late at night, Axel Cemetery lay beneath an unnaturally thick blanket of white mist. Withered trees swayed in the wind like twisted ghostly hands.
Kōichi dragged Kazuma along as he continued muttering under his breath, the two of them stumbling through the soft, uneven soil.
Just as they rounded a massive monument dedicated to unknown heroes, Kōichi's [Breeze Sense] suddenly caught an extremely faint yet all-too-familiar metallic clink.
"Who's there? Come out!"
Kōichi abruptly pressed a hand against Kazuma's shoulder. A breeze curled around his fingertips, ready to form a wind blade at any moment.
"Huh? Whoa! Don't attack, it's me!"
A petite figure nimbly vaulted out from the monument's shadow.
Her short silver hair shimmered faintly beneath the moonlight. A thin scar marked the lower left side of her mischievously smiling face.
She wore her signature short green cape and rather skimpy Thief outfit, and was guiltily trying to hide several thin wires behind her back.
"Chris?"
Kōichi froze for a moment. His tense body immediately relaxed, and a trace of tenderness slipped into his voice without him even realizing it.
"It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you drinking at the tavern? Did you come all the way to this creepy place to rob graves?"
When Chris realized it was Kōichi, the wariness in her eyes immediately softened into her distinctive, slightly awkward affection.
She hurried over, first shooting a disgusted look at Kazuma, who was staring at her thighs, before leaning closer to Kōichi and lowering her voice. There was a note of urgency in it.
"Shh! Keep it down! I'm not here to rob graves. I followed a very dangerous man here."
Her gaze lingered on Kōichi's face. A faint, unnatural blush rose to her cheeks, and she quickly looked away in embarrassment.
"That merchant with the obsidian scales ring stole a... well, a dangerous Divine Treasure that absolutely cannot be allowed to remain in the mortal realm. It took me a lot of effort to track him all the way here."
Watching Chris pretend to be composed despite her obvious nervousness, Kōichi could not help thinking of her true identity as Eris, the Goddess of Heaven.
The two of them had long understood the truth without ever openly acknowledging it. Even so, seeing this Goddess run herself ragged in the mortal realm while cleaning up one disaster after another always stirred an inexplicable urge in him to protect her.
"What a coincidence. We're here for him too."
Kōichi naturally reached out and took Chris by the wrist. Her skin felt slightly cool beneath his fingers. Chris trembled faintly but did not pull away.
"Hey, hey, hey, you two..."
Kazuma, who had been completely ignored, finally let out a jealous wail.
"Kōichi, we came here to risk our lives, not go on a date! Why does a rotten guy like you get along so well with a cute girl like Chris? This is so unfair! Isn't this supposed to be the part where I, the protagonist, make a spectacular entrance and win Chris's heart?"
"Shut up, Kazuma."
Kōichi and Chris retorted in perfect unison. They looked at each other, then both broke into knowing smiles.
"Come with me."
Chris took Kōichi's hand and pointed toward the faint purple glow emanating from deep within the cemetery.
"That man in black is using the egg to perform some kind of summoning ritual. If we don't stop him soon, the evil will sealed inside it is going to awaken!"
After passing through the final patch of frost-covered, withered shrubs, the sight in the deepest part of the cemetery made all three of them hold their breath.
A clearing had been forcibly carved out of the graveyard. The surrounding gravestones had been neatly pushed over, forming an enormous circular magic array that radiated an ominous purple light.
At the center of the array, the merchant in the pitch-black cloak knelt on both knees with his hands raised toward the sky. He chanted a cryptic incantation so shrill and grating that it sounded like fingernails scraping across glass.
The white sphere Aqua had so carefully nurtured as a dragon egg was now floating roughly two meters above the ground.
Its once-pristine shell was covered in pulsating purple lines that resembled blood vessels. Each throb produced a low hum that made their souls tremble, and the immense magical power was even warping the surrounding air.
"This is bad. The summoning ritual has already entered its final stage!"
Chris clutched Kōichi's sleeve tightly, her silver eyes filled with anxiety.
"The egg is forcibly drawing in the negative energy from this cemetery to use as a catalyst. It's trying to open a rift to a higher dimension. If whatever is sealed inside gets out, all the spirits in Axel will go berserk at once!"
"Hey, Kōichi, look at that egg!"
Kazuma crouched behind a fallen gravestone. His face had gone pale, but his dead fish eyes gleamed with professional instinct.
"Those purple patterns... Don't they look like some kind of high-purity magical crystal? If we can pry them off, we'll be rich!"
"Is now really the time to worry about getting rich? You useless good-for-nothing. All you ever think about is money and Succubuses!"
Kōichi muttered the complaint under his breath, but his gaze remained fixed on the black-clad merchant's left hand.
The obsidian scales ring was flashing with an eerie red light in rhythm with the incantation. It was clearly the key to controlling the entire magic array.
The man in black seemed to notice the intruders, but he did not stop chanting. He merely turned his head slightly, revealing a cruel smile beneath the shadow of his hood.
"Heh heh heh... So you have finally arrived, chosen observers. On this night forsaken by the gods, bear witness to the descent of the Great Will!"
With his final piercing shout, the purple light at the center of the magic array exploded.
It transformed into countless tiny bolts of lightning that struck the Egg of Heaven.
Fine cracks spread across the shell, and a sacred yet overwhelmingly oppressive presence swept across the cemetery like a tsunami.
"No time to waste!"
Kōichi sprang to his feet and brought his right hand down sharply. Several blue wind blades tore through the air toward the man in black's throat.
"Chris, grab the egg! Kazuma, disrupt the magic array!"