Shirou's Thirty Million Avatars

"Yes, we're already lovers." Lala answered without hesitation.

The Suit Man turned, fixing Shirou with a terrifying glare: "Kid, did you trick Lady Lala? This is our failure—we have to eliminate you here and now."

The moment he finished speaking, he clenched his fist and charged.

"You started it, so this is self-defense."

Shirou extended his right hand, blocked the fist, reversed his grip, and with a slight push, hurled the man out the window.

Seeing this, the other Suit Man's expression shifted, and he charged too. "You little brat!"

"Your turn." Shirou grabbed his arm, flipped him, and sent him flying after the first.

"Figures. I knew this was how it'd go."

No sooner had the complaint left his lips than a man appeared beside Lala. He wore armor with a cape, his features handsome but twisted with fury.

"Earthling, did you deceive Lady Lala?"

"No, I'm sincere."

"To speak such shameless words on a first meeting."

"Haha... in reality, this is our first meeting, but in my dreams, we've met thousands of times."

The Armor Man took a deep breath, forcing down his anger, then turned to Lala: "Lady Lala, is this your wish as well?"

"Yes!" Lala puffed out her chest, a hint of irritation in her voice. "I don't care about any heir business. Every single day, you make me go on blind dates, completely ignoring my feelings. Shirou said he'd protect me, so I've decided to be with him. Sastin, go report that to my father—tell him I've found my lover."

The Armor Man, Sastin, looked Shirou up and down, his rage deepening. "Such a feeble Earthling could never inherit Deviluke. Lady Lala, when your father learns of this, he will surely come to destroy Earth."

So that's it! Shirou instantly pieced it together—a story of an alien princess fleeing an arranged marriage. He didn't know the original tale, but with himself as the male lead, it was bound to have a happy ending.

Catching a flicker of hesitation in Lala's eyes, Shirou knew she was worried her actions would endanger the planet. This was the moment for a man to step up.

He strode forward, blocking Lala, and declared loudly: "I get it now. Lala is a princess of Deviluke, and your planet faces a succession crisis, so you keep setting her up on blind dates. She doesn't want that, so she fled to Earth and met me. I have no interest in inheriting your Deviluke, but Lala is my lover—I'll protect her with my life. So if you want to take her, you'll have to walk over my corpse."

Sastin seemed to like Shirou's last line. A faint smile crossed his face, a sword materializing in his right hand as his expression turned serious: "Earthling, you're clever—piecing it together from just a few words. But with that frail body of yours, what can you really do?"

"I don't know how strong you are, but with that armor, I'm guessing you're from the Martial Combat faction." Shirou chuckled. "So let's fight! Men settle things with their fists."

"My thoughts exactly! It's too cramped here—let's go outside."

"Fine."

Seeing them leap out the window one after the other, Lala quickly followed. At the same time, Peke's voice came from the hat on her head: "Lady Lala, is that Earthling really that strong?"

"I don't know, but Shirou looks so confident—he probably won't lose too badly."

In the park near Tsukimi's house. The night was deep, and silence reigned.

Sastin, clad in his armor, gave his longsword a light swing and said solemnly: "Deviluke Royal Guard Captain Sastin. Your move."

An alien royal guard captain—sounded pretty impressive.

Shirou silently noted this, raising his guard a notch.

Anyway, let's test the waters first.

"Water Clone Jutsu!"

Instantly! Ten Shirous materialized out of thin air behind him.

"I'll go first!"

The leftmost clone stepped forward, his mind stirring as a snow-made baseball bat appeared in his right palm.

Within three seconds, the snow bat gradually transformed into a sharp ice sword.

"Tsukimi Shirou, ordinary Earthling, at your service!"

With that, the clone charged forward.

This speed, far beyond expectations, nearly caught Sastin off guard. Relying on his rich combat experience, he twisted his body to dodge the blade's edge and swung his sword to block Shirou's rapid flurry.

In just a moment, their swords clashed several times in succession.

Another blade crossed, and the ice sword in Shirou's hand snapped in two.

Sastin sheathed his sword and stood, his gaze shifting to the half-broken ice sword on the ground, his expression growing serious:

"Young man, I apologize for my earlier rudeness, but... if this is all you've got, you'd best give up on Lady Lala."

The clone didn't reply. He glanced back at Lala, who was watching from a distance, and mused:

"I thought you'd fight me with the intent to kill. Seems this isn't a life-or-death battle, just a showcase for me to display my strength."

"In that case, I'll show a bit of my real power."

"Susanoo!"

The next moment, a translucent black giant enveloped Shirou entirely.

Head, torso, arms, legs—they gradually took shape.

As the legs formed, a black, semi-transparent giant over sixty meters tall stood upon the earth, wielding a black blade, looking down at Sastin below.

If he poured in more Chakra, Susanoo could grow even larger and taller, but that would cause greater destruction to the surroundings.

So, for a one-on-one fight, sixty meters was enough.

"I'm coming! Are you ready, Sastin?"

The clone roared, raising the black blade high and slashing it down at him.

Boom!

After the thunderous crash, a massive crater scarred the ground.

At the crater's center, Sastin stood drenched in blood, using his sword as a crutch, kneeling on one knee.

Seeing this, all ten Shirous, including the original, rushed over and gathered around the crater's edge.

"You okay, Sastin? Why didn't you dodge just now?"

"Sorry, young man. I wanted to test your strength, but it seems I overestimated myself."

Sastin's lips curled slightly. He looked between Shirou and Lala, who was running over, and said with a smile:

"Looking at it this way, you two standing together actually look quite compatible. If it's you, you might earn the King's approval."

"Don't talk like that's some kind of last words!"

Shirou (the original) jumped into the crater, green light radiating from his hands as he began healing him.

After a long while.

"Phew... you're fine now."

Seeing that Sastin's injuries had healed, Lala breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but her outward attitude didn't change.

"Sastin, I'm not going back with you."

"Yes, Lady Lala. From now on, I'll stay on Earth to guard your safety."

Sastin turned to Shirou, his expression grave:

"Young man, if you truly wish to be with Lady Lala, this is only the beginning."

"In the universe, countless aliens have their sights set on Lady Lala. Only by defeating all rivals and earning the King's approval can you walk down the aisle with her."

Shirou nodded repeatedly.

I get it! I've seen this story way too many times.

"Taking on the whole universe? Sounds pretty interesting. I'm mentally prepared."

Chapter 43: A Person Who Can Scare Little Kids Crying

The next night, inside the White Mist Space.

Their clasped hands parted. Tsukimi Shirou looked at Celestial Dragon Shirou in surprise and asked:

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Shouldn't I be looking at you like this?" Celestial Dragon Shirou said in a teasing tone. "In the near future, you'll probably marry into the Deviluke royal family and change your name to Shirou Deviluke, right?"

"What's wrong with that? This is something countless people would kill for!"

"Nothing, you lucky bastard."

"Uh... haha..."

Shirou chuckled dryly. He'd thought the guy was looking down on him, but it turned out he was just envious.

Fair enough—Deviluke was the Galactic Overlord, ruling over the entire galaxy.

If you thought about it pragmatically, this move not only landed you the galaxy's number one beauty as a wife, but also let you inherit a vast empire that commanded the whole Milky Way.

"From what I've gathered all day, Lala is a scientist on par with Bulma. That said, most of her inventions tend to have a few flaws."

"Of course, those flaws aren't really a big deal. If you ever need any high-tech gear in the future, I can have Lala whip it up for you."

Celestial Dragon Shirou shook his head with a smile and warned:

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? Haven't you already figured it out? Lala doesn't actually like you—she's just using the pretense of being your lover to dodge the arranged marriage her family set up."

"In other words, if she falls for someone else down the line, you'll end up with nothing."

"And that kind of thing happens pretty often, you know."

"For example, finding a fake lover, only to realize the one you truly love is the childhood friend who's been by your side all along."

"Don't say such unlucky stuff!" Tsukimi Shirou shot back irritably, then comforted himself, "With a twist like that, how could I not be the protagonist of this story?"

"Yeah, yeah... Mr. Protagonist, what's the currency on Deviluke? Can gold be used for trade? Do me a favor and buy me a ship, thanks."

"A spaceship?"

"No, a flying wooden ship—like Enel's. Or an iron one works too."