Interception

Although he hadn't seen who had been behind him, it wouldn't be hard to find out. There were only five other people in the building besides them, six including Choo Choo. He just had to ask them one by one.

Unfortunately, they had split up to try different attractions. Otherwise, this would have been much more convenient.

Just...

"No. I'm resting here. How would I know where the others are?"

"Master, Bella doesn't know either."

Before Kaino could continue asking, Bella gave her answer.

"Come to think of it, you've looked miserable ever since you came back with the water. What happened?"

Seele frowned as she asked Kaino.

"Tell us. Maybe we can help solve it?"

"...It's complicated, and I can't explain it all right now. To put it simply, we may end up trapped in this World Bubble for some unknown reason, and one of them might know more specific information."

"Oh, right. That Seele might know something too."

Remembering Rita's final warning, Kaino added that.

"Tch, right, right. Sorry we don't know as much as that Seele."

Seele made a rather sarcastic remark from the side, then turned serious.

"If you think they might know, then we'll ask them one by one. And that Seele—if she refuses to talk, we'll hang her up and interrogate her, then..."

"Stop, stop, stop! There's really no need!"

Kaino hurriedly stopped Seele from continuing.

We agreed on the first half, but wasn't the second half way too violent?

And Seele, could you really bring yourself to do that to someone who looked exactly like you?

Even Bella was looking at them strangely now, all right?

"Master..."

Bella's eyes flickered. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I don't know what you mean by leaving this world, but if it concerns your safety, Bella can help you capture that Seele."

"No, no, absolutely not. There's no need, no need."

How had the two of them reached a consensus so quickly?!

Kaino was genuinely afraid that if he didn't properly talk sense into them, they would turn around and tie that Seele up in some corner.

"Not to mention, if we really need to force her to tell us, I can use Feather of the Underworld. And if things truly don't work out, we can leave directly using my powers."

"You can leave? Then why aren't we leaving now?"

This time, it was Seele's turn to be confused.

"You and the other Seele wanted to participate in this tournament and win it, didn't you? I only registered because of that. So if we can keep competing and win the championship, that would naturally be better."

After all, Kaslanas took promises very seriously.

If not for that, Kaino, whose Honkai energy reserves had already recovered enough to return to the proper world, would not have continued participating in this tournament.

Hearing Kaino's words, Seele froze. Her eyes widened slightly before she nodded faintly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

"However, if it gets too troublesome, we'll leave immediately. Even if that means soaking in the Quantum Sea for a few more days."

Kaino smiled and nodded.

It was good enough that she had given up on the idea of coercing someone.

"How are you feeling now? Come on, let's go find them."

Kaino stood and held out his hand to Seele.

Seele looked up at Kaino, her gaze blank.

"Kaino, who are we going to find?"

Kaino tilted his head and blinked.

For a moment, he couldn't make sense of the situation.

Then, as if realizing something, he turned to look beside him. Sure enough, Red Seele was floating not far away with her arms crossed, watching them.

"Don't look at me. Seele suddenly woke up. As the owner of this body, she naturally pushed me out."

Red Seele spread her hands, looking innocent.

"Huh? Seele, were you just talking about something important? Do you need my help?"

Blue Seele belatedly realized something and hurriedly asked.

She had been resting inside the Stigmata and had no idea what had happened outside. After all, not every consciousness hiding inside a Stigmata had the habit of watching from the sidelines.

In response, Red Seele merely waved a hand.

"Idiot Seele doesn't need to know so much. Just obediently follow us. Oh, and remember to give me the body at critical moments."

"Ah? Ah, okay."

Seele nodded blankly.

"Alright, then let's get going. I'll first see where they are..."

As Kaino spoke, he activated the authority of the Herrscher of Wind, stirring up a faint breeze throughout the entire building.

In an instant, the situation throughout the building appeared in Kaino's mind... though it was a little taxing on the brain.

Using this method, Kaino immediately found Seele and the Captain. Coincidentally, Rozaliya and Xiao Shi were there too. Not only that, but...

Why was there a creature with donkey ears on its head in his perception?

Yae Sakura?

Kaino frowned.

In his perception, she was holding a tailed lifeform—he couldn't tell whether it was Rozaliya or Liliya—and racing toward the main entrance.

What was going on?

"Attention, all beast tamers! A cyber electric donkey has abducted our contestant Rozaliya! A cyber electric donkey has abducted our contestant Rozaliya! All beast tamers, proceed immediately to intercept her! All beast tamers, proceed immediately to intercept her!"

Xiao Shi's voice echoed through the building's loudspeakers, sounding incomparably furious.

"How dare she openly abduct a young maiden right in front of me, the Herrscher of Sentience... That cyber electric donkey is finished!"

Interception

"What happened? That pink-haired brat got captured?"

Kaino wasn't the only one who heard Xiao Shi's announcement. Red Seele beside him spoke with a surprised expression.

The incident had happened too suddenly. No one had expected it.

"Yeah. Seele, I'll go intercept her first. You and Bella go find Xiao Shi, then ride Bella over to find me."

Kaino nodded, opening an Imaginary portal leading outside the building. He tossed a Feather of the Underworld to Seele and the others, then rushed through the portal as he spoke.

"You can use it to determine my location and contact me."

"Wait, we..."

Before Red Seele could finish speaking, Kaino had already closed the Imaginary portal.

"Tch."

Red Seele pursed her lips, looking displeased.

Pushing the plane's control stick forward with force and watching the scenery continuously recede, Yae Sakura... no, more accurately, Yae Kasumi, let out a sigh of relief.

After thinking for a moment, Yae Kasumi fastened a seatbelt around the sleeping pink-haired girl beside her.

Her strength was inferior to that of the pink-haired girl everyone called Rozaliya, whose current name was Delta. She had only managed to knock her out and bring her onto this prepared aircraft because Delta had relaxed her guard after learning the truth...

And because the Herrscher of Sentience and the others had initially only chatted and watched the show. They had only tried to stop her after she had tied Delta up and taken her away.

"Mmph... My head hurts a little. How hard did you hit me?"

Suddenly, Delta, who had been slumped in the seat beside her, made a sound. She opened her eyes and rubbed her neck.

"As expected of Lady Delta. An ordinary person would likely sleep for half the day, but you woke up after only a short while."

Yae Kasumi nodded while flying the plane. Her donkey ears brushed against the cockpit ceiling, making her look rather comical.

"Hah? So why did you hit me? Were you really in that much of a hurry?"

Delta looked thoroughly displeased. She curled up her tail so it could fit more comfortably inside the cramped cockpit.

"And you even got a plane? What the hell? Is there some flood or monster chasing us from behind?"

"In a broad sense, there is."

To Delta's surprise, Yae Kasumi actually nodded seriously at her joke.

"While we were confronting each other, I suddenly sensed a breeze rise throughout the building. At the same time, my instincts kept warning me, urging me to leave that place."

"And because you became lost in this World Bubble, there are some things you don't know. Before carrying out this mission, a woman... well, let's call her a person for now. She approached the Ferryman and proposed a deal. The contents were..."

"Heh, say whatever you want. We're already out, so we just need to return to the ship later, right?"

Delta shrugged indifferently and interrupted Yae Kasumi. That Ferryman acted all mysterious every day. Why should she care about his business?

She only needed to take care of herself.

Delta took out the instruction manual she had received for entering the tournament. She stared at it with a complicated expression, folded it up, then took a deep breath...

"Probably not."

After remaining silent for a while, Yae Kasumi suddenly spoke, interrupting Delta as she tried to work up her emotions.

"Tch, you..."

Delta was about to complain when she noticed something off.

A shadow had suddenly appeared on the instruction manual she was staring at. She abruptly raised her head.

A white-haired figure was crouching on the windshield, watching them.

"That flood or monster may have run from behind us to in front of us."

Yae Kasumi said calmly.

"So you two really knew each other already?"

Using the authority of the Herrscher of Wind to ward off the violent wind, and the authority of the Herrscher of Thunder to cling to the aircraft, Kaino raised an eyebrow and knocked on the plane's windshield.

Unfortunately, the glass was well-insulated, so the two inside probably couldn't hear him.

Although he could directly simulate air vibrations inside and speak using the authority of the Herrscher of Wind, judging by Rozaliya's wary expression, communication would probably be useless anyway.

As for Yae Sakura, he couldn't see her expression because she wore a mechanical mask. But judging solely from her utterly unruffled movements even after seeing him, he could tell she had no intention of stopping.

...Come to think of it, with those ears being so conspicuous, what was the point of wearing that mask?

Honestly, Kaino didn't understand.

But since he didn't understand, he would just catch her and ask.

Kaino retrieved Xuanyuan from Imaginary Space, stepped forward, and slashed a gash through the plane's side wing as easily as cutting tofu—not because the plane was poorly built, but because before the Soul Steel used to forge a God Key, it truly was no different from tofu.

Having lost a side wing, the plane immediately lost balance. No matter how Yae Kasumi adjusted the control stick inside the cockpit, she could not stabilize it again.

"Just as I thought."

Yae Kasumi sighed. "I truly cannot operate these technological creations."

"With it broken like this, even if you let Hyperion's Ferryman fly it himself, he'd still be helpless. Here, take a parachute. Let's land quickly."

Delta rolled her eyes at Yae Kasumi and took two parachute packs from beside her.

"No need. We have already reached our destination. The plane isn't flying very high. All we need to do next is jump out by force."

Yae Kasumi shook her head, grabbed the long blade at her waist, and sliced through the windshield and her own seatbelt in one stroke.

"Hey, hey, wait! I haven't even undone my seatbelt yet!"