Amagi's Urgency

"Besides this Carl, you also mentioned someone named Morgana, who revered extreme depravity and freedom."

Akashi spoke up, drawing Angel Yan and Zhixin's attention. The two of them, who had been worrying just moments ago, turned their gazes toward Akashi.

"This Morgana... is she as dangerous as this Carl?"

Seeing that she had their attention, Akashi asked.

"Morgana... she spreads ideas of depravity throughout the Known Universe and leads her demon legion in committing crimes across the Known Universe."

Angel Yan explained, then seemed to recall something and changed the subject.

"We discovered your arrival so quickly because we detected demons descending here. At first, I only came to eliminate the demons, but when we arrived, we found that you had already wiped out every demon that descended here!"

Akashi nodded thoughtfully.

"So... those ugly monsters I killed with anti-aircraft fire were the demons you spoke of?"

"That's right! After the last war between the Angel Legion and the demon legion, the demon legion suffered a crushing defeat. They are still consolidating their forces and hiding away, so the demon squads sent out are not actually very strong. They were easy for you to deal with, but that might not be the case for ordinary people!"

As she spoke, Angel Yan sighed and looked toward Azi, who was outside the door, hugging a Manjuu and staring blankly into space.

"They really weren't strong, meow..."

Akashi nodded in agreement. She was about to say something when she suddenly frowned.

"Are you sure all the demons that came to this planet before were wiped out by us?"

Angel Yan nodded. When she had arrived on this planet with her squad, she had already checked with the Eye of Insight. The demon squad that had descended on this planet had consisted of eight members, and every one of them was gone!

"If you're so certain... then what was that signal I just detected?"

Akashi frowned. Ever since arriving here, to ensure Su Luo's safety and guard against any accidents, she had never turned off her anti-aircraft radar.

Just now, at the edge of her anti-aircraft radar's detection range, a signal similar to those ugly demon creatures from before had appeared. But it had only lasted an instant. It seemed to have merely passed by the edge of Akashi's radar range...

"Did you discover something unusual?"

Zhixin noticed Akashi's abnormal expression and asked.

Akashi nodded.

Angel Yan frowned. She was certain she had not seen wrong earlier. If something unusual had truly appeared now...

Angel Yan looked at Zhixin.

"Zhixin, stay here. Remain vigilant and protect Su Luo and the others! I'll go take a look!"

With that, Angel Yan rose and headed outside.

After signaling Azi to return indoors for the time being, Angel Yan spread her wings and flew beyond the atmosphere.

Inside the small house, Zhixin stood with a solemn expression. She pulled Azi inside, then stood by the door, watching outside while awaiting Angel Yan's messages.

Inside, Azi seemed to sense something and looked frightened. Standing beside Su Luo, she put down the Manjuu she had stubbornly refused to let go of earlier, then wrapped her arms around Su Luo's arm instead.

While the Manjuu felt relieved at being put down, its face seemed to carry a trace of grievance.

Feeling Azi's trembling body, Su Luo's gaze softened. He pulled his arm out of Azi's embrace, then drew Azi back into his arms.

"Don't be afraid. As long as we're here, no one can hurt you!"

Under Su Luo's comfort, Azi's body, trembling from inexplicable fear, gradually calmed down. Yet she still curled up in Su Luo's arms, as if his embrace were the safest place in the world.

Su Luo indulged her and simply held Azi in his arms. Akashi was not jealous; she sat nearby and tried to cheer Azi up.

The people in the house quietly waited for news from Angel Yan.

Angel Yan moved quickly, and the Eye of Insight was indeed convenient. In only a short while, she had figured out exactly what was happening.

Zhixin, who was vigilantly watching the surroundings at the door, received a communication from Angel Yan.

"Yan!"

"Zhixin, the demon squad has returned! They probably thought that since we had already cleared this planet, we would not come back again anytime soon. So they took advantage of this gap to send another group of demons over!"

"Yan, do you need me to help?"

"No need. Stay there and protect the handsome guy and the others. Leave these demons to me! Also, report this situation to the Queen. I suspect new demon squads have descended on the other planets we previously cleared as well!"

"Understood, Yan!"

Zhixin replied, then ended the communication.

After reporting to the Queen, Zhixin turned to look at Akashi and Su Luo, who were waiting for news inside.

"Miss Akashi, you weren't wrong! New demons have descended! Yan has already gone to deal with them!"

"It wasn't a sensation, meow... it was anti-aircraft radar..."

Akashi looked at Zhixin and grumbled.

When Zhixin mentioned the word demons, Azi's body began trembling again. Su Luo sighed and once more tried to comfort her.

"Is the psychological trauma that deep, meow?"

Akashi sighed from the side.

Hearing that, Zhixin walked over, activated the Eye of Insight, and looked at Azi.

A moment later, she sighed.

"Linna... no, it should be Azi! Azi survived because that previous group of demons deliberately allowed it."

Linna had been Azi's original name, but when Zhixin mentioned the name Linna, Azi's entire body trembled even more violently. So Zhixin simply stopped calling her that.

"What do you mean, meow?"

Akashi blinked and asked.

"Mm... Morgana advocates depravity and freedom. The freedom she speaks of is extreme freedom..."

Zhixin blinked and phrased it differently.

"In other words, there is no need to suppress the desires in one's heart. No matter what one wants to do, as long as one is capable of doing it, then it does not matter what it is!"

"This is Morgana's ideology, and it is also the order observed—no, the order practiced—by the demon legion."

"You mean... those demons deliberately didn't kill Azi simply because they didn't want to, meow?"

Zhixin nodded, then shook her head.

"No. More accurately, they wanted to torment this child, Azi. By making Azi personally witness the deaths of her family and other relatives and friends, then deeply imprinting those memories and their figures—especially the figure of the demon who came up with the idea—into Azi's mind, they intended to make her live the rest of her life in fear. That was their original plan!"

"Azi must have had a nightmare last night! Although the Eye of Insight could not see what you dreamed about, the information it showed indicated that after Azi fell asleep last night, a clearly frightened expression appeared on her face."

Listening to Zhixin's explanation, Akashi nodded at Su Luo.

"Last night, I felt that Azi was having a nightmare. I comforted her for quite a while too, meow!"

Su Luo nodded to show that he understood. He held Azi a little tighter, looked at Zhixin, and asked.

"Can Azi's condition be resolved?"

"Yes. I can directly block the effects of those memories, so Azi will no longer feel so frightened inside!"

"Or I can directly erase those memories... but... if I do that, Azi will forget that her parents and relatives have already been killed. If she learns about it again... it may cause her harm a second time."

"Of course, I can also..."

Zhixin looked at Su Luo and continued.

"Directly alter Azi's memories."

"There's no need to alter her memories!"

Seeing Azi pitifully shake her head in his arms, Su Luo understood her choice. If it were him, he would also hate having someone alter his memories.

With a sigh, Su Luo continued speaking to Zhixin.

"Help Azi block out those harmful effects."

Zhixin nodded. After silently remembering that the handsome guy seemed to dislike others tampering with people's memories, she stood up, walked over, and stopped beside Su Luo, facing Azi.

The Eye of Insight activated. The instant Azi met Zhixin's eyes, all the harmful effects caused by the demons' interference were blocked.

The effect was excellent. Azi's body was clearly no longer trembling as badly as before!

Yet Su Luo could still feel the sorrow in Azi's heart.

After finishing, Zhixin stood up and walked over to sit in a nearby chair. Angel Yan had left, so she could sit here now.

"Yan has gone to deal with those demons and will be back soon. I'm responsible for staying here in case anything happens."

Su Luo had no objection to Angel Yan and Zhixin's arrangements, so he nodded and lowered his head to cheer Azi up. Akashi, however, became interested.

"Then... can we see what's happening on Angel Yan's side, meow?"

Akashi wanted to see how angels fought.

Zhixin nodded.

"Sure!"

As she spoke, Zhixin sent communication requests to the genetic systems of Akashi and Su Luo. Once the two accepted, she shared Angel Yan's field of vision with them.

Outside the Heavy Sakura-style dormitory, two "big foxes" walked one behind the other toward a certain room.

"Amagi, no matter what it is, remember not to rush!"

Shinano, the one walking behind, spoke to Amagi, who was pulling her arm in an attempt to make her move faster.

Amagi sighed and slowed her pace.

"My apologies, Lady Shinano. I am responsible for looking after Taiho and Akagi, and Taiho's condition seems to have worsened. I am worried."

Seeing the deep concern on Amagi's face, Shinano sighed.

"Sigh, very well. Take me to see her first."

(Regarding memory manipulation: in the main storyline, the Commander's exact words to Arbiter Magisa, who had temporarily forgotten the memories of the Beta Test Site and remembered only the memories of Alpha World, were: I can accept you manipulating the information you obtained from me, but do not manipulate my memories!)