Harald announced an emergency campaign alongside Coelestis’ aerial mages. “If Elon has approached our great city, it would mean pirates followed him. They’ve had ties for five years. And so, I pray for our victory. Our people are at stake.” He dismissed the archmages.

Back home, Hokori’s family had to be more prepared than ever. In the living room, Yukino helped Kakunō test out his weapons to see if they worked. At first, she was confused and even scared by his request, but he showed her a safe way to check.

Yukino touched the weapon with one hand and channeled a little magic in it until she could feel the round Core. If it felt like it was shaking, it became defective. Kakunō proceeded to repair two weapons.

Yukino observed closely. “Big Bro, what exactly is a ‘Core’?” he turned to him, tilting her head.

Kakunō finished repairing the first weapon: a battleax. “Everyone has one near their hearts, Yuki. It’s like a battery for magic. If it runs out, we die. A.S.I., or Arms Soul Imprintation, is what happens when a weapon imitates your Core. It takes some time to do so. Once it does, it never changes.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Does Uncle have a ‘Core,’ too?”

“Yes, but it’s not the same. For Children of Zeus like him, it’s more like a factory for special ‘cells’ that augments—and even transfigures his body at absurd levels. Theoretically, his strength is limitless. He can’t even die at a molecular level. Only atomic.” He further explained that even Hokori’s Core had limits. However, as he and Kenkō observed throughout the years—they deemed it nigh-infinite.

“Is there a way to remove a Core?” she asked.

“Yes, there is,” Kakunō nodded. “But the three methods are too gruesome to speak of.” He fixed the last weapon: a double-edged dagger.

Moments later, Tokino walked to Yukino and suggested staying with her big sister at home instead. She reminded her of the times when she cried in despair over the numerous deaths of her comrades.

Yukino shook her head. “No, it’s okay, Mama! I can handle it this time! I know they’ll be ready to die. I don’t find that sad. It’s just that—It’s just—It’s……….” Tears flowed out, and she hugged her mother. “I want them all alive, but I can’t control that! I don’t want to hear them scream. It’ll be my fault again!” She bawled harder.

Tokino rubbed her back. For the first time, she told her straight in the eye, “It’ll never be your fault, honey. None of us have any control. Of course, they’ll die. But there’s no misery in that. We mages may not be heroes, but we wear our love and pride every day. If so many have to die—it would be a death to remember.” She held her close. “Oh, Yukino… I bless the Gods eternally for having such a wonderful daughter like you.

“Remember what you told Papa? You’ll fight no matter what, even if we’re not there for you. I know saying you’re strong won’t be enough, so I’ll tell you this instead. None of us think you’re weak, so don’t fool yourself to be one…” she smiled.

Yukino dried her eyes and nodded. She smiled back and ran to Kenkō from afar.

Kakunō turned to Tokino. “Um… Thanks, I guess.” His eyes turned away, “…Could you kindly close the door, ma’am? I’m busy.” He tweaked a gold revolver.

Tokino felt no right arguing about his attitude toward her and turned to the door. “I know apologies won’t do. But my Yukino speaks highly of you, and I can never deny that. You’re an amazing sibling to her, and you’re my dear brother no matter what….”

He sighed and turned to her again. “And to you too, ma’am. Never mind the squabbles. I love you all—forever till the end…” his smile filled with confidence.

She smiled back with her eyes closed and went outside. “Forever till the end, indeed….”

In one of the two imperial mage estates, Hagel surprisingly prepared for battle but requested a mission that would keep his distance from Hokori. The king accepted and demanded Sakusei’s team to follow it, much to their frustration. “By the Gods, kid. Grow the fuck up….” Bernard complained.

In one of the two archmage estates, Aria denied partaking in the mission. No matter how much Danielle shouted at the top of her lungs, she posed still like a Greek statue. Moments later, she decided to join, but only if it met her demands:

1. They should do an Irish jig at least once when they see her.

2. They should never mention her name even in emergencies, preferring “Hera” instead.

3. They should prostrate themselves when they see her defeat an enemy.

4. Harald must talk to her thirty seconds from now, or it would be too late to turn back on her previous requests.

Danielle popped several nerves. “What the fuck is wrong with you!! Apart from everything, you’re now just being a huge thorn up our asses!”

“One… two… three… four….” Aria slowly lifted her fingers while bending her back to look at nothing in the sky.

Danielle grunted. “Screw this bullshit! How about you stay where the fuck you are! Is that too much to ask?” She walked away, grumbling.

Feuer stepped in and tried to talk Aria out of it. No matter what, she kept counting and never even bothered to look at him. Fortunately, just as Aria said twenty-seven, Harald overheard Danielle’s irritated demeanor.

The king held Aria’s right shoulder from behind. Due to her posture, she instantly saw his face. She immediately kneeled and gave a four-minute-long speech about honor in battle and that she would never fail him.

As Feuer facepalmed, Hokori stood beside him. “Cheer up, pretty boy. At least ya ain’t dealin’ with three walking parodies. Then again tho, it ain’t like I hate them.” He chuckled.

With all that, arch/imperial mages went inside their airships.

Like Earth’s Medieval Age, Harald led the ranks into battle. The king’s transport flew in front. Its interface sent a message throughout the city—prompting other airships and flying vehicles to move away. The citizens cheered on for their victory after being told of their mission. Nuns even kneeled and prayed.

Yukino looked through a camera feed outside and gasped upon witnessing two more airships flying alongside theirs. An hour later, her eyes widened further when they flew above the clouds; gigantic metal carriers containing more airships levitated around the area.

At a checkpoint, aerial mages saluted Harald’s arrival. Like Coelestis’ brigade mages, they wore the usual cape and beret, this time with a white color scheme. They also rode on flying carpets regularly.

After being told what to do by their king, a hundred more airships accompanied them. All-black, aerial mage transport was much smaller and sleeker than what was available below—and ten times faster.

In Hokori’s airship, the mentioned had troubles with his stomach. It was not like hula-hoops—more like roller coasters. He hogged over the sink for five minutes as Kakunō rubbed his back. “You okay, dude?” he asked.

Hokori panted. “Of course, I ain’t…! Prolly ate somethin’ that turned bad last night. Uuaaagh!!”

Kakunō noticed his vomit being distinctly red with visible glass shards. Kenkō stepped in, just in case something was wrong.

In the library section, the Minagawa family read “How To Train Your Dragon” all the way to the third installment. The daughter wondered why dragons in their world were nothing like the books. “Some can be benevolent, Yukino. I’ve had some encounters during my time in the Alaric Empire.” Haruto explained.

After the read, Yukino walked to Kakunō and asked how they could find the enemy. It was simple. Research mages thoroughly analyzed pirate hotbeds to this day. For over a mega annum, documented sky patterns had been considered 99.99% accurate. “Big Bro… I’ve never seen you use your power before. What is it?” she asked another question.

He chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, Yuki, but I don’t have any. Children of Hephaestus always have to think outside the box. Still—I’m blessed with meticulous hands and a vast magic pool.”

“I bet you can’t beat Papa, though,” she teased and giggled.

“Oh yes, I can. In fact, I could handle both your parents at the same time. I could even defeat Feuer when I’m serious.”

Yukino pouted and doubled down on her statement. “What makes you so sure, huh…?!” she crossed her arms.

Kakunō chuckled again. “Experience, Yuki. I wouldn’t even tell you if I never fought him…” he smirked at her. His words made Yukino pout more, continuously punching his right shoulder lightly while calling him “not cool.”

Tokino stepped in and told Yukino not to mess up his driving. She gasped and apologized with a bow, walking away.

Kakunō turned to her, “Thanks…” he smiled.

She nodded with her eyes closed and followed her daughter from afar.

In the Pokemon battle board, Haruto’s Zacian-Crowned managed to defeat the once unbeatable Mega Rayquaza. Even when it had 100% Accuracy, the sky dragon’s Earthquake missed that time. Haruto picked Play Rough for his turn. “Oh my God! Fuck yeah! I finally won! Woooooooh!!!” he raised his arms high.

Hokori grinned. “Hahahahahahaha! Boy, you ain’t never told me you’ve got that spirit in ya. Das what I like from my enemies, too….”

Both smiled confidently out of respect and shook hands in a high five manner. It evolved into an arm-wrestling match. No matter what, Haruto struggled and grunted.

Hokori chuckled. “Don’t try it, boy. Fractures are hell.” They both let go. “Besides all dat—the real fun’s boutta start…” he walked past him and observed the cockpit’s camera feed.

The aerial mage squadron flew in front, now spotting pirates in the distance. Thousands sprawled everywhere. They gave each other commands via radio contact on intercepting the enemy; one of the phonetic names given was “Beehive,” “Tiger,” and “Dante.” Their airships accelerated to their targets, scattering throughout the area. At Mach three, they weaved through their foes’ own ships.

The pirates stood confused, seeing the squadron fly back to their previous location. Then, a crewmate noticed proximity mines under their hauls. “Duck down!” he shouted. Instead of explosions, enormous flashbangs occurred all around the area. The blinding white light made numerous pirates walk back aimlessly and fall to their deaths.

The aerial mages informed Harald of the enemy via a call. In return, the king contacted his comrades to prepare for battle.

Tokino kneeled before her daughter and asked her if she was truly ready. Yukino nodded quickly, eyes narrowed and filled with undeniable resolve. She placed her hands on the floor to cast a shield. However, Hokori held her shoulder. “No need for dat, kiddo… Those skyfarers may be outdated—but they got ammo that cancels runes no matter what.”

Haruto walked to him. “So, what should we do? We can’t just stand here and do nothing!” his eyes narrowed.

“Easy, boy. We just need God on our side—or Gods in this case. Don’t worry. She can bite back hard….” Hokori pressed a button on the cockpit’s control panel; its symbol was two crossed scimitars. Their airship’s massive arsenal was now ready for automatic use. The other ships did the same.

Hokori chuckled and declared, “Democracy time, y’all!!” He played AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” via The Every Hub. Moments later, they finally entered the battlefield. The initial cluster missiles fired, destroying one hundred pirate ships in one go. The aerial mage ships split apart to attack in other areas.

Next came the blasts of pure plasmic energy from specialized cannons; both sides were capable of doing it. Eventually, it became an all-out dogfight. The aerial mage squadron would periodically dive down and rain fire from above and swoop back up to do the process again. The one main advantage Harald’s whole team had was blinding speed.

However, the pirates had two aces up their sleeve. They purposely outdated their airships so that specific bigger ships could manufacture them in mere minutes. The other advantage they had, was the one thing that made them very feared by the rest of the world.

The pirates loaded their special cylindrical ammunition in bronze cannons. As the blue projectiles fired, one aerial mage gasped with eyes widened. “Fly home, boys! I repeat, fly home! Airlocks are coming!” he shouted to his comrades. A sphere of energy midair quickly turned into a wide cubic area in a split second. The mage’s craft stopped moving altogether, falling into the sky.

Moments later, more and more aerial mage ships fell victim to these attacks. Anything inside the cube would momentarily cease to a complete halt.

Yukino witnessed the horror of her comrades’ descent through the cockpit’s camera feed, tears welling up. Fortunately, her big brother quelled her despair. The aerial mages ejected themselves from their craft immediately.

Instead of parachutes, they rode on carpets and sliced through the air at tremendous speeds to the enemy ships. Using Runic Art, they pulled out dual curved blades held backward. Combined with their unpredictable swerves and turns midair, they were nigh-unstoppable.

On the pirate side, they countered by using pistols that shot green plasma. Their method was only a bit successful, but enormous chain guns proved to turn the odds against the aerial mages.

Hokori chuckled. “Dat’s our cue, folks! We gon’ fight them head-on!” he walked to an exit door.

“Where’re you going?” Kakunō turned his head around.

“Gettin’ a quick detour, das what!!” Wearing his earpieces, he jumped down from a railing outside and grabbed a homing missile fired at the enemy. He obliterated a pirate ship in front with just a straight punch. There was no end to Hokori’s one-sided battle, jumping from one after the other.

Meanwhile, some foes managed to hitch a ride outside the family airship. Tokino was the first to attack the infiltrators, and eventually, her husband joined in. Yukino also did her part by spreading runic arrays on the pirates’ bodies, paralyzing them.

On the other archmage airship, Feuer stood outside and rained an igneous meteor shower at the enemy. Danielle used her Piano Wire technique again to slice the infiltrators into ribbons.

The pirates from afar stood confused by the unusual wind change around them. It turned into a violent hurricane that literally blew them away from their ships, then down below. Aria levitated nearby. “Rot in pieces, trash….” her eyes filled with indifference.

Moments later, microscopic runes covered entire pirate ships as far as the eye could see. After Harald snapped his fingers, numerous disassembled down to its last floorboard. The king’s team, along with the aerial mages, moved forward. “I see him very clearly…” he told a brigade mage onboard.

“What do you mean, your majesty?” his eyes squinted.

“I see the ‘final boss’ as Hokori would put it. He is twenty kilometers away, standing outside.”

“Oh, yes… I forgot that about you….” The mage went inside.

The captain’s airship stood midair from far away, alongside two slightly smaller ones. The said captain formed an O-shape with his hand. Channeling runes, he placed it on his right eye. He grinned and heartily laughed, extremely excited about the king’s arrival.

Elon stood from behind. “I’m guessing you’ll be the one taking Pompilius’ head? It would be a damn shame because I don’t want them dead. I may have given out toys—but I’m no monster, mate.”

The captain snickered. “Hahahahahaha! You’d be surprised about my answer, bud! As I said, we’re not pirates of old. When we witness the strong—we admire them dearly! Especially that beast of a man!” He went back inside, still joyfully laughing at the prospect of upcoming fights.

In the two smaller airships, a man and woman video-called each other on their cockpits. Like everyone else in their crew, their stereotypical attire had a more casual and modern look.

“Do you think we’ll be fighting them soon? They look pretty dangerous….”

She giggled. “Of course, we will, honey… It’ll be very poetic….”

Their brown leather jackets showed bolded white text on the back: “SHE’S #1” for the former and “HE’S #1” for the latter.