XP Is Free, but I Still Recommend Seeing a Doctor More Often

"Yahoo! Target reached!"

Above the Chaos Sea, Ishtar, the female driver, piloted the Sky Ark Ma'anna out of a vortex in fold-jump space and descended over the Garden of Vanity rising from the sea, dropping Samael onto the open platform at its summit.

Looking at that face, whose eyes habitually flickered as he observed the battle and put on a thoughtful expression, a powerful sense of familiarity broke through a thousand years of time. Ishtar leaned closer, patted Samael on the shoulder, and teased him with a grin.

"After all these years, you're still the same—looking like you're full of bad ideas! But that puts me at ease. It's better to deceive people than be deceived. This is how you ought to be."

Was she praising me, or insulting me?

Forget it. Nothing nice ever came out of her mouth, so I'll just take it as praise.

Samael could neither laugh nor cry. He rolled his eyes inwardly and nodded helplessly as he watched the refreshed Ishtar head for the battlefield.

After briefly regulating his breathing and waiting for the obstruction in his internal Aether flow to ease somewhat, he could not wait to return to the battlefield and help everyone bear the pressure.

"Long time no see, Little Samael."

However, just as the ancient serpent moved to act, a pair of slender arms reached around from behind and pressed down on his shoulders.

At the sound of that familiar voice, Samael turned, and his slit pupils reflected a soft, alluring green-haired face that resembled Enkidu's, yet differed somewhat.

"Come on, wounded patient, stand still and behave. Don't move around. Let your teacher examine you and see whether you've grown up."

With one hand, Shamhat lightly traced the contours of Samael's face and the lines of his chest muscles. Her