"What are you doing?!"
Emiya reacted instantly, reaching out to catch Nono's foot mid-step as she tried to step into the tub.
Her foot was delicate and dainty, pale with a soft pink hue. As she tapped the surface of the water, it rippled gently. The graceful arc of her arch and ankle traced an elegant line in his hand—so soft and smooth it was almost mesmerizing.
Wait, no! That wasn't the point!
"What are you trying to do, Nono-jou! Can you not go into divine gold mode again?!"
Emiya firmly held her foot in place, confused by whatever wild idea had taken root in her head again.
"Hah?! Didn't you say you were out of mana and needed to replenish it? I finally mustered the courage to help you, and now you're the one refusing?"
Nono pressed down harder with her foot, gripping the tub edge with both hands and leaning toward the water like she was too stubborn to back down.
If she weren't a flustered girl acting awkwardly, this would've looked exactly like an attempted assault in a bathroom.
"Nono, have you seriously misunderstood something?! I didn't even finish what I was saying, and somehow you immediately figured out how to replenish mana?!"
"I got the gist from your words earlier, okay? I'm not clueless about sex! When I say I'll help, I mean it! I keep my word!"
From the way she said it, it sounded like she was some warlord snatching a young man to be her consort and vowing to take responsibility after doing him…
"What sex knowledge—? No, stop! That's not it at all! You completely misunderstood, now stop right there!"
Emiya grabbed her ankle to move it aside, but in the next second, she leaned in again. He pushed her back, and she twisted to the side, trying to climb in with her other leg…
And just like that, the two of them got into a weird struggle—a chaotic bathtub scuffle broke out.
Ten minutes later—
Emiya sighed and wrapped himself in a bathrobe, shivering a little.
After their ridiculous skirmish, the bathwater had turned lukewarm. He had to drain the tub and give up on soaking, settling for a rushed shower while trying to calm his swirling thoughts.
Nono, who now realized she'd completely misunderstood the situation, glanced at his tightly wrapped body and muttered under her breath while averting her eyes, "Why so wrapped up? Not like I didn't already get a good look…"
"Have you got it now? Mana replenishment means supplementing bodily fluids. That includes blood and… well, what you were thinking. Technically, your method works, but sex is a very inefficient way to do it."
Worried she'd go off on another wild tangent, Emiya explained seriously, "The standard way for us magi to replenish mana is through blood. Compared to, you know, 'that', blood carries more mana and is easier to use."
"Blood is a superior mana medium—many rituals, incantations, and formations require blood to activate."
Even without formal magecraft training, this sort of thing was common knowledge. Throughout Earth's history, blood had always been central in mysticism. Blood sacrifices in black magic were nothing new…
"Hey, are you listening? This is about the relationship between blood and mana…"
Emiya spent half an hour patiently giving her a crash course in blood as a magical medium, while Nono sat stiffly, trying her hardest not to remember just how embarrassing her actions had been.
Eventually, she stood up, still pouting, and walked off in a huff.
"Where are you going now?"
"To get a knife. You said you need blood, right? I'm going to go cut myself and give you some!"
She growled through clenched teeth.
———
While Nono was busy "replenishing mana" for Emiya in their suite at the Regent Hotel, the world outside had already been swallowed by night.
Typhoon "Dandelion" was nearing landfall, and the wind grew more aggressive by the minute. The skies far off in the distance had turned a gloomy, turbulent gray, like the monstrous Typhon himself stretching hundreds of twisted heads across the sky—his hateful eyes fixed on the coastal city, ready to unleash a furious storm.
It hadn't started pouring yet, but the wind made the rain feel like slanted darts. People rushed to raise umbrellas like shields in front of them or ducked into buildings and cars.
A black Maybach sped down the highway. Mist rose off the wet asphalt, and in the fog, vague black shapes seemed to flicker like sprinting phantoms.
Inside sat two unlikely people: Chu Tianjiao and Zero.
It had started just a short while ago.
Following Ange's instructions, Chu Tianjiao had delivered a box containing the Black King's flesh to Zero—the one representing "the boss".
He was briefly stunned when he saw her. Was this really the contact? She looked like a middle school intern! Could she even be trusted?
He didn't voice any doubts, though. Following protocol, he unlocked the safety seal and let her inspect the contents. Once confirmed, he resealed the box and completed the handoff.
Everything was going smoothly—until Zero suddenly said something felt wrong and urgently pulled him toward the car.
He was about to grumble about being dragged around by a girl when—
Whoosh! An arrow embedded itself into the pavement.
Startled, he looked up and saw layer upon layer of black shadows advancing.
Dead servants? No… these ones wielded weapons!
One glance at the swarm, and despite being S-rank, he didn't try to act tough. Without hesitation, he got in the car with Zero and floored it.
And so, they'd been fleeing ever since.
No matter which off-ramp they took or how wildly he swerved—even crashing through landscaped medians—they always ended up on the same road again.
It was like being trapped in a loop.
Chu Tianjiao prided himself on being a veteran driver with over ten years of experience. He knew this city like the back of his hand—even the location of street food vendors—but now the scenery outside didn't match anything he knew.
In other words, it looked like the real world, but something was off. The "background" was wrong.
"We're in a Nibelungen, aren't we?"
He kept his hands on the wheel and asked the petite girl beside him.
From her earlier calm and quick warning, he figured she wasn't just some clueless kid. Her boss had always been mysterious—no surprise that his people were the same.
"Most likely. When we opened the box to inspect the contents, we probably leaked the Black King's aura. It attracted those things… and now the Nibelungen's controller has locked on to us."
Zero clutched a communicator. She'd been trying to contact Jotoku Mai this entire time, but the signal kept cutting out. It was unclear if their reinforcements would find them.
Because a Nibelungen was a separate dimension.
Even if Mai pinpointed their location, they might pass each other without ever realizing it—they were on two different planes.
Chu Tianjiao understood. He sighed like a worn-down man thinking of the wife and child waiting for him at home.
What a shitty day.
If he died in the Nibelungen, they'd never even find his body. Not even the famed corpse retrieval team from Kassel could help.
He'd just vanish—another deadbeat dad in the memories of his son, Chu Zihang, and ex-wife, Su Xiaoyan.
Suddenly, Zero barked, "Turn left! Now!"
"Hang on!" he shouted back. Trusting her instincts, he spun the wheel with lightning-fast reflexes. The Maybach veered off the road, tearing through the neatly trimmed grass and blooming roses of a median strip.
And just in time.
A massive black shadow barreled in from the right—like a hill rising from the ground.
Holy shit, that thing was huge!
It was easily large enough to flatten the entire street. Chu Tianjiao had zero doubts: if they had collided, the Maybach would've been pancaked on the spot.
He exhaled sharply as he swerved back onto the road, not even daring to glance back.
But Zero, like a humanoid scanner, calmly reported:
"Flattened head, cylindrical body, raised sides, two dorsal fins and a crescent-shaped tail fin… That was an adult whale shark. Estimated length over 20 meters, weighing more than 20 tons."
Chu Tianjiao pursed his lips.
He wasn't exactly a walking encyclopedia of marine life, so he just muttered, "Damn, that's one big fish."
(End of Chapter)
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