Back to the battle of the couples, they traded attacks on equal footing. Whenever William’s bullets teleported into another location, Haruto would swiftly slice all of them. Whenever Tokino moved ahead of time, Grace’s bullets would appear at unexpected angles. They fired too fast for her to dodge in time.

Other times, William would land hits against his opponent. Grace would receive stab wounds, even through her flawless acrobatics. At that moment, everyone expressed their true selves, and their smiles never faded.

Willam fired at Haruto at point-blank range. He turned around on reflex, thinking it would appear behind him again. Instead, it reappeared in front of his back and hit his shoulderblade. He grunted and fell to his knees.

Willaim lent a hand. “Are you okay? It looks like you can’t heal yourself.”

He slowly stood up and plucked the bullet out. “No, it’s okay. I’m still learning with runes.” As mentioned, he cast arrays over his back and chuckled. “That was pretty clever. I should have known better when it comes to pirates.”

He smiled. “Hahahahaha! Of course, bud. But I don’t like playing dirty all the time.” He pointed his pistols at him. “So… are you ready again?”

Haruto showed him a confident grin. “Always…”

On the other ship, Tokino deflected many bullets—but eventually received one at her right shoulder. And the next, and the next. She quickly found out Grace intended to weaken the grip of her rapier. Luckily, her passive healing via runes was a Godsend. She blinded Grace with a magic flashbang and stabbed her three times.

Grace jumped backward and smiled. “Amazing, dear. I can never hope to heal myself that fast.” She panted.

Tokino smiled back and pointed her weapon. “Are you mad for what I did?”

“No, not at all,” she shook her head. “You’ve got the pirate spirit in you. I’m so blessed.”

The couples’ smiles glowed further.

Thirty minutes in, none of them still broke a sweat. Not only did their duels stain them red, the two separate airships they stood on changed color.

On Haruto’s side, the heat of battle intensified to the point he laughed in sheer excitement. William felt the same. Just as he fired, he slashed. Blood dripped out of them so much their skin turned paler by the minute. Even then, they carried on their duel with smiles.

Portals with bullets appeared above Haruto, so he jumped and spun his swords in midair. Coming back down, he chuckled and flash-stepped before William. “What’s the matter? Didn’t you say you won’t hold back!” He delivered a diagonal swing to his stomach.

He fired more shots while dodging his swings. “Hahahahahahaha! At what point did I ever? Come on, Minagawa. Let’s dance to our heart’s content! Move until the world ends!”

He deflected most of the bullets coming out of the portals. “Hell yeah!” His heart raised.

Meanwhile, Tokino stabbed Grace more than she fired at her. Her heart synchronized with the joy of battle. Her footwork felt weightless. However, Grace never backed down. She shot countless bullets right at her. Too many to deflect in time, she decided to move between all of them.

The shots reappeared before Tokino at the last second. She now had to deflect and dodge at the same time. The bullets formed holes in her lower torso and legs. It was too much for passive healing to handle. Even then, her smile never faded.

Tokino now yearned to surpass her limits. She concentrated dangerous amounts of magic on her legs. Any energy leakage would have detonated her limbs off.

She charged at Grace in one nanosecond and thrust her whole rapier through the gut. However, a bullet dealt hers at point-blank range in return.

They quickly jumped backward. Tokino and Grace panted and healed themselves while sitting.

One had fifty tendons on the leg and foot muscles snapping at the last minute. The other had a gaping wound on the belly, entrails spilling out. No matter what, adrenaline flowed through their systems at an all-time high.

Grace giggled. “Are you having fun, sweety…?”

Tokino smiled and panted. “I sure am… Those bullets; I can’t foresee them when they change location. Amazing…”

“I know, right?” she stood up. “So what do you say, dear? Wanna use Zenith Corpus? I’ll finally use my innate ability.”

She sighed. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m incapable of that. And I never know why….”

“Oh, I see… I’ll use my power normally then. Keep your eyes peeled!” Grace disappeared in thin air.

Back with Haruto, he conversed with William once again. Unlike his wife, he agreed to William’s offer of undergoing the highest state of being of any Child of Athena.

During Zenith Corpus, William’s Aperture’s Dream now allowed him to create portals in any given space. He formed fifty. “Are you ready, bud? I’ll stop if it nearly kills you.”

He nodded with his eyes closed. “Of course…” He showed William his bright yellow eyes. “I call it ‘Fenrir’s Gift.’ I now have the perception of a thousand falcons.”

He chuckled. “Fascinating, indeed. It seems my luck ran out. But don’t think you’ve won yet!” He set his pistols to full auto.

Haruto summoned enormous nodachi around the ship, but William dodged all of it by going through his portals. However, this was a mere distraction. Haruto extended his right-hand sword far enough that they became twice as long as the ship they stood on. He cleanly cut through its top. “Are you okay with this?” he asked.

“It’s no big deal, bud,” he shook his head, “My crew repairs airships in a jiffy. Thank the Gods my son isn’t here.”

With that, the conclusion of their duel was now in session.

They created even more enormous nodachi and portals. William used his power in conjunction with his teleporting bullets. It proved to be the most decisive attack Haruto had faced yet. He had one ace up his sleeve, however. Unlike his previous battle with Hokori, he could now use his ultimate technique to its fullest extent.

He extended his swords again, but only as a distraction so he could summon gigantic versions in front of William. However, it was also a distraction. William now resorted to creating portals on the defensive.

Haruto flash-stepped and materialized countless swords around himself. They all merged with the ones he held, now glowing gold and silver. He took a breath and, “Starbright… Torrent!!!” delivered thirty slashes and a double-cross swing. Blood covered his whole self.

Haruto stood victorious and sheathed his weapons as William fell on his back behind him.

For the first time, Haruto could now use Runic Art to heal people, albeit much more slowly than his wife. William slowly opened his eyes. “Damn… That was—beautiful. I gave it my all. But I guess—I didn’t have the same qualities….”

Haruto smiled. “That’s not true. I threw in a gambit in hopes I could make an opening. I just got lucky.”

He chuckled. “I guess you’re right. Say—wanna have a drink with us later? Don’t worry. My wife and I know a lot of ways to sneak into Coelestis….”

“Sure… I’ll do anything for my friends.” He lent a hand.

A while back in Tokino’s fight, Grace constantly teleported around the place. It confused her foresight even further. However, it did not mean it stopped working. With that, she wasted no opportunity given to her.

Tokino now attacked at another angle whenever Grace moved to another location. “I knew it… I can foresee a small timeframe before she teleports.” She held her rapier tighter. “I hope you’re ready, Grace….”

As more teleporting bullets fired, Tokino moved out of the way and attacked at the last second when Grace would reappear.

She flash-stepped in front of her opponent. She decided to use her ultimate technique: an 8-hit thrust in the shape of a Celtic cross called “Father’s Grazia.”

Grace now had torso wounds the size of saucers. Surprisingly, she stopped her fall with her left foot and continued firing at full auto. Tokino stood perplexed since her opponent never lost her vigor. Still, she seized the moment before it could turn against her.

Tokino endured the rain of bullets and flash-stepped before Grace again. She delivered a clean hit on her stomach and lodged her rapier deep. Grace still held her pistols tight, but at the moment, she had no strength to pull the triggers. Unlike Tokino’s enemies before, she dropped her weapons and smiled.

Tokino stopped Grace’s fall with her arms. The latter breathed heavily. “Spectacular, dear… We’ve only just met—yet I’m already proud. Thank you…”

Tokino laid her down and healed her injuries. When asked if it was necessary, she giggled with her eyes closed. “It’ll always be my duty to patch up a friend. To think I already consider you as one. You’re truly amazing, Grace….”

She smiled and sighed. “My William and I know the ins and outs of your city… What do you say? Shall we have a toast to our newfound platonic love?”

“Of course… You’re precious to me, now. My Yukino would love to meet your son.” She lent a hand.

After their fun and heartfelt duel, the husbands gave each other a long fist-bump, while the wives gave each other a long hug.

A while back, Harald arrived at Aviary’s ship. It turned out Elon fell asleep wearing sunglasses on the lawn chair. At first, the king wanted to create thunderous noise via Runic Art. Instead, he politely shook the Earthly Mytho.

“No, no, please! Not the cassowaries!” Elon woke up scared and confused. His eyes turned to his opponent for the day, who showed a stern look. He sighed and slowly walked toward him. “I guess apologies are not welcome anymore, huh, mate?”

“Quite right you are,” Harald nodded with his eyes closed. “But I don’t hate you. Sadly, the deed must be done. For all your crimes—I alone shall bring you to justice.” Countless microscopic runes appeared all around him.

Elon chuckled. “I won’t say my will is stronger than justice itself, mate. But I believe my fate surely is. I’ll keep making toys forever till the end, your majesty.” Crows flew above the ship.

They exuded their magical pressure against each other. Harald felt like he got tied up in a dessert with corvids feasting on his exposed entrails. Elon felt like he got sentenced to a guillotine with a jagged, rusty blade that could never hope to slice his neck again and again.

Elon chuckled once more. “Nevermore… Forever I am….”