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[Crossover] Ch 164: The Rain Gold Guardian Knight
🕑 Added 2025-07-25 08:53:13 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
Aya Tokoyogi stood still, her eyes locked on Ryo like a still, bottomless lake.
He was holding Natsuki Minamiya in his arms—the witch dressed in an elegant gothic dress, now seemingly unconscious.
Unseen movement, incomprehensible strikes, and magic that couldn't even be sensed—Aya couldn't see a single opening for escape.
Worse yet, she had a sneaking suspicion Ryo wanted her to resist. Like a child poking at an anthill, curious to see the chaos. The man in front of her had that same childish cruelty.
Resistance would be pointless. It would only lead to death.
And she wasn't ready to die—not before her goals were achieved.
With a soft sigh, Aya glanced at Natsuki, then lowered her head slightly and said, "As you wish, I have only one answer to give."
The Witch of the Notaria bowed her proud head in submission.
Ryo raised an eyebrow slightly, a small smile playing on his lips.
"You're more reasonable than I expected, Witch of Notaria."
He had assumed Aya Tokoyogi would at least make an attempt to escape. Direct surrender had been the less likely outcome.
That's why he said she was more sensible than expected.
Looking down at her still-bowed head, Ryo added, "Alright, you can lift your head now. For the next few days, just stick by my side. I don't need anything from you at the moment."
"I understand," Aya said calmly.
There was no joy, no resentment—only quiet indifference.
No one present believed she truly accepted Ryo as her superior. The moment she found an opportunity, she'd try to break free. Everyone knew that.
As for Ryo, he didn't mind. To him, Aya was a backup plan—eye candy at best.
If she was there, fine. If not, no big loss. A person who submitted only because of overwhelming strength was not someone he intended to trust or use seriously.
Then Ryo looked down at the peacefully sleeping Natsuki in his arms and said, "How long are you planning to keep pretending?"
"...Tch." Natsuki clicked her tongue in annoyance and opened her sky-blue eyes, glaring at him.
This guy clearly knew she was faking it, and yet instead of playing along, he just had to call her out. What a jerk.
"No longer pretending?" Aya said coldly. "Natsuki."
"...Aya," Natsuki said awkwardly.
She'd thought she could face Aya calmly, but clearly, she'd been wrong.
When the prison barrier came down, her first instinct had been to fake sleep—to avoid confrontation.
Because she didn't know how to face this old friend.
"So that's it. Taking down the barrier was a trap," Aya said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Natsuki. She noticed Natsuki wasn't struggling at all in Ryo's arms—and she began to understand.
Glancing down at the prison seal that was slowly restoring itself, she sensed nothing within. Coldly, she laughed.
"Never thought you'd actually dismantle the barrier—and in this way."
Thanks to Ryo's casual swing earlier, the prison seal had already been sealed back up, completely intact.
But everyone who had been trapped inside… was gone. Dead. Only Aya and Meiga Itogami remained.
The prison's magic worked through dreams. If Natsuki wanted to, she could use a huge amount of magic to rewrite the "death" of those prisoners.
But clearly, she had no intention of doing that.
Aya let out a mocking laugh.
"Is this really okay with you? You've violated the demonic contract. Are you prepared to face the consequences?"
As the key to the seal, Natsuki had a duty to preserve it—and the lives within. Now the prisoners were dead, the barrier was broken, and punishment would surely follow.
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Natsuki's body began to glow faintly.
Golden light began to gather behind her, and a knight clad in radiant golden armor slowly emerged from the air.
"The Rain Gold knight," she muttered, not even needing to look.
The Guardians—demonic kin granted to witches as payment for a contract. They served as enforcers of that contract, appearing when a witch broke her oath.
Normally, a witch could command her Guardian freely as a servant, but if she violated the terms of the contract, that same Guardian could be the one to end her life.
Aya's face twisted into a sneer. "If you've got any tricks left, now's the time. Otherwise, your so-called guardian is about to kill you himself."
Just as this 'old classmates reunion' looked ready to turn fatal, Ryo finally spoke, slightly surprised. "You're worried about her?"
Aya fell silent.
Expressionless, she stood like a statue, her eyes cold, unmoved.
Natsuki twitched at the corners of her mouth. She wasn't sure what to say anymore.
One thing she did know: she and Aya were on the same page about one thing.
Ryo was perfectly fine—except he just had to open his mouth.
As Natsuki fell quiet, the Rain Gold knight raised a hand, reaching for her head.
Ryo turned his head slightly and looked at him.
The knight froze, then slowly lowered his arm, gears groaning as he dropped to one knee before Ryo.
"…?" Aya's eyes widened.
To stop a Guardian knight with just a glance—who was this man?
A high-ranking demon? Or something even more dangerous?
As she tried to figure it out, Ryo rested a hand on his Zanpakutō.
"How about we make a deal?" he said.
The Rain Gold knight's gears whirred softly.
"In exchange for nullifying the contract, I'll grant you the soul of a pureblood demon."
The knight silently lowered his head and pressed it to the ground, as if swearing loyalty.
"Then we have a deal," Ryo said casually.
He drew his sword. The Rain Gold knight's form twisted like smoke, then vanished into the blade.
Once it was done, Ryo turned back to Aya and smiled. "And what about you?"
She didn't reply.
Even though she understood what he was offering—a way out of her own demon contract—she still didn't answer. Didn't kneel.
Ryo didn't press. He simply turned to Meiga Itogami, who had been playing invisible this entire time.
"You'll be assisting Koyomi with taking over the administration of Itogami Island."
"…That's just…" Meiga forced a wry smile.
No options, no questions—just a flat-out order. Wasn't this way too different from how he treated Aya?
But Ryo was already walking toward the pier, casually saying:
"Natsuki-chan, the technique behind that prison barrier was pretty interesting. Can you make me a copy?"
A world constructed from dreams—that kind of tech had huge potential. Naturally, Ryo wanted to get his hands on it.
Natsuki glanced at Aya, who had quietly followed behind them with a cheerful smile. Her head began to ache immediately.
"…We'll talk later," she muttered.
She was starting to feel like letting Aya out and leaving her with Ryo might have been the worst decision of her life.
These two were definitely going to gang up on her.
It felt like she'd just invited two walking disasters into her house.
Natsuki Minamiya's mood hit rock bottom.
.
.
.
