"Listen carefully, Chris!"
Kōichi lowered his voice, adopting an outrageously flirtatious and domineering tone.
"Sure, Darkness is my lover, but that's only because I'm indulging her hopeless masochism! The truth is, I've had my eye on a lively, easy-to-bully, short-haired Thief like you for ages! Starting today, don't even think about escaping from the palm of my hand. Whether it's your coin purse or the secrets you're hiding beneath that cloak, I'm going to steal every last one, little by little! So be a good girl and become Daddy's exclusive plaything! Kuhahahaha!"
The utterly shameless, villainous declaration plunged the entire Magic Item Shop into dead silence.
"W-Waaaaah! Kōichi-san is a huge pervert! A total creep! How can you even say something like that out loud?!"
Chris's face instantly turned red all the way down to her neck. Even the tips of her ears looked ready to bleed.
Overwhelmed with shame and outrage, she covered her face. Tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes as her legs went weak and she slid helplessly down the wall.
"That's horrible... Saying something like that in front of everyone... H-how am I ever supposed to show my face again...?"
"Ah... Aaaaaah!! That's it!!"
Darkness let out a scream loud enough to shatter glass.
She collapsed to the floor, hugging her shoulders as her entire body trembled violently, her face flushed with absolute ecstasy.
"To make such a filthy, depraved confession to another woman right in front of me, your lover... Kōichi, are you really the reincarnation of the Demon King?! The pleasure of being completely ignored and humiliated in public... My body... I-I'm going to break..."
"Kuhahahaha! Delicious! Absolutely delicious!"
Vanir burst into mad laughter, greedily feasting on the negative emotions filling the shop. Kōichi's mortification was so intense he wanted to disappear, while Chris radiated utter despair and humiliation.
"These exquisite negative emotions, overflowing with immorality and the betrayal of a trusted companion, are nothing less than a grand banquet from Hell! Kōichi-kun, I acknowledge you! You truly possess the potential to become an outstanding depraved Adventurer!"
Nearby, Kazuma frantically pressed the shutter on his recording crystal while muttering to himself.
"I'm going to be rich... I can definitely sell this to nobles who are into this kind of thing and make a fortune..."
Sylphy, meanwhile, innocently clapped her little hands.
"Daddy, cool! Big Sister Chris, all red!"
In the dark, damp cellar beneath the Magic Item Shop, Vanir gave a loud snap of his fingers.
A ring of eerie gray light slowly rose from the floor. The glow seemed to swallow every trace of perception around it, forcibly confining even the divine aura in the air within a tiny space.
"Kuhaha! The bargain is struck! Kōichi-kun, take your little troublemaker and your new plaything inside. Within this Barrier, even if the Demon King himself descended upon this place, he would not sense the slightest trace of this child."
Vanir elegantly licked the lingering taste of negative emotions from his fingertips, then gave Kōichi an unmistakably malicious look.
"Incidentally, thanks to that heartfelt confession of yours, Miss Chris's negative emotions have now reached their peak. Should you wish to do anything even more depraved inside the Barrier, I would not object to 'eavesdropping' from out here."
"Shut up, you masked bastard!"
Kōichi roared with a dark expression, then awkwardly turned toward Chris, who was still crouched in the corner with her cloak wrapped around herself like a ball.
He held out a hand, trying to help the deeply traumatized Thief to her feet.
"Um... Chris, what I said just now was only an act to save Sylphy. Don't take it seriously. Anyway, come into the Barrier with me for now."
"Don't touch me! You depraved freak with nothing but short hair and secrets on your mind!"
Chris sprang away like a startled cat with its fur standing on end.
Her adorable face was so red it looked ready to bleed, and humiliated tears shimmered in her eyes as she grumbled in a way that sounded completely unlike her usual cheerful self.
"'Exclusive plaything'... 'steal every last one'... How can you say something that embarrassing without even changing your expression?! The Goddess Eris is definitely going to punish you by making sure you never pull an SSR for the rest of your life!"
Despite all her angry complaining, Chris's resolve quickly crumbled when Sylphy called out to her in a frightened little voice.
"Big Sister... scared..."
Her heart softening, Chris reluctantly shuffled forward and followed Kōichi into the gray Void Barrier.
The instant the three of them stepped through, every sound from outside vanished.
Darkness's unsettling moans, the rapid clicking of Kazuma's recording crystal, and Aqua loudly demanding compensation for emotional distress from Wiz all disappeared without a trace.
Deep within the cellar, an ancient moss-covered stele seemed to sense some destined return the moment Sylphy entered.
Golden light began to seep through the cracks across its surface.
"Daddy, over there! Shiny!"
Sylphy pointed toward the stele, her tiny silver wings fluttering restlessly behind her as though she wanted to fly straight toward it.
Kōichi soothed the little girl in his arms and slowly approached.
As he drew closer, the previously blurred ancient writing began rearranging itself before his eyes, transforming into lines of system text he could understand.
["Divine Vessel" bloodline detected... Identification Code: Sylphy.]
[Synchronizing Watcher permissions... Current Holder: Kōichi Hayashi.]
[Warning: Heavenly Ruins, Obsidian Court, has entered its awakening countdown.]
"W-what is this?"
Chris stepped closer as well.
As she watched the strange phenomenon unfolding across the stele, the lingering embarrassment on her face gradually gave way to a serious expression.
"Kōichi-san, this child... I think she might be more than just 'trouble.' The divine power coming from this stele is older than... than any Divine Treasure I've ever seen."
A crisp crack rang out.
At the touch of Sylphy's fingertip, the ancient stele that had endured countless ages shattered completely, crumbling away like a broken eggshell.
Countless tiny crystalline fragments floated through the air, reflecting the Barrier's dim gray light.
Then, at the very center of the shattered stele, a parchment woven entirely from starlight was revealed.
"Wow! Sparkly map!"
Sylphy clapped excitedly and tried to grab the floating fragments. At the same time, the divine aura around her grew denser and even more unfathomable.
Kōichi reached out and took the parchment.
The instant he unfolded it, an extraordinarily detailed map of the area surrounding Axel appeared before him.
Deep within an otherwise ordinary forest outside the city, an icon marked Obsidian Court now glowed with a faint black light.
Along the edge of the map, a line of small golden text appeared, visible only to Kōichi.
[Only the Watcher and those of his bloodline may open the back door to Ragnarök.]