Her eyes turned hazy.
It felt... really nice.
Almost like those painful memories were fading away into the background.
Then, looking up at Lynn with a small, subtle smile"Dad."
Lynn: "?"
His tone was complicated, "You're awake now, right?"
Hitagi pulled back from the hug, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling playfully.
"Why? You didn't like it?"
Lynn squinted. "I mean, not liking it is definitely not the problem here."
As someone used to being called "Master," hearing "Dad" like that was... something else entirely.
Once a kept man, now a keeperso he had become the sugar daddy.
Hitagi smiled again, stepping back with her hands behind her back, cheeks a little flushed.
She hadn't expected herself to act so boldly.
But still...That feeling just now
It was really nice.
The painful memories in her heart felt like they'd faded just a little more.
She gently touched her chest.
Her heart was beating faster than usual...
Was it becauseShe'd found something new to hold onto?
Now that the Crab of Weight's curse was gone, she felt so much lighter inside.
Off to the side, Asuna's face twitched.
Yeah she definitely shouldn't have stuck around for this.
Lynn, on the other hand, rubbed his chin, quietly savoring the unique feeling Hitagi had just left him with.
Then his eyes narrowed.
He'd already locked onto the real Crab of Weight's locationtraced it from the aura left behind by its projection.
Buzz
A black magic circle rose beneath his feet.
The sudden change made both Yuuki Asuna and Senjougahara Hitagi snap back to their senses.
Hitagi steadied herself and asked, "What is that?"
"Teleportation magic," Lynn replied casually.
"Magic? Teleportation?"The two girls blinked, eyes widening in surprise.
Even Hitagi, who had experienced her fair share of supernatural weirdness, had never seen something as fantastical as actual magic before.
"So, we're going after that crab?" Hitagi asked, a flicker of understanding flashing through her eyes. Then she followed up, "Can I come too?"
After all, that monster was the one who'd taken her weight. She definitely had a bone to pick.
Lynn nodded. "Sure."
Hearing that, Hitagi calmly walked to Lynn's side and naturally latched onto his arm like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Asuna's eye twitched at the sight and she muttered, "You're adapting way too fast"
Hitagi blinked innocently. "Can't help it. I'm already part of the devil's gang now. And besides"
She tilted her head and smirked. "You're an accomplice too."
"Accomplice?!"
Asuna's expression froze.
Hitagi continued smoothly, "If you hadn't brought this devil guy over in the first place, I'd still be suffering all alone, wouldn't I?"
"So..."
She gave a soft, genuine smile. "Thanks for that."
Asuna opened her mouth, but all that came out was a helpless sigh. "That doesn't feel like a thank-you I want to hear."
As the student council president, not only had she personally witnessed Lynn gathering his harem, now she was apparently one of the reasons it happened too?
Her conscience was not okay with this.
"Well then, see you next time" Hitagi gave her a casual wave.
But just then, Asuna suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Lynn's other arm.
With a grin, she said, "Mind taking me along too?"
Hitagi: "???"
Lynn just shrugged. "Taking one or two doesn't make a difference."
In the next instantThe black magic circle lit up brightly!
And with a flash, the three of them vanished without a trace.
...
Somewhere far away from Shuchiin
In a damp and shadowy underground cave, a black magic circle lit up out of nowhere.
A moment later, Lynn and the girls appeared in a flash of light.
Asuna and Hitagi blinked in slight disorientation.
"We're in a different place?" They looked around the dark cavern with a mix of awe and disbelief.
Just a blink ago, they'd been in the city. Now they were here. So it really was teleportation magic!
Their hearts were still racing from the surreal experience.
"ROAR."
Suddenly!
A guttural roar echoed from deep within the cave.
The sound reverberated like a shockwave, and the entire cave began to tremble violently. Bits of rock tumbled from the walls.
"What the hell was that?!" Asuna yelped in surprise.
Hitagi was slightly calmer, frowning as she analyzed, "It must've noticed us."
"This is its lair, after all."
As she spoke, a deep rumbling sound grew loudersomething huge was moving closer, scraping across the rocky floor.
And then ()
Twin orbs emerged from the voidperfect circles, vast and silent, floating like dead moons.
Gulp.
Asuna swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "Those those aren't its eyes, are they?"
Lynn answered flatly, "You can go ahead and drop the 'aren't' part."
As soon as he finished, Lynn snapped his fingers.
In that moment, a wave of light burst instantly illuminating the entire cave like it was midday.
The moss on the surrounding walls glowed faintly green under the sudden brightness.
"Whoa it's huge!"
Asuna's eyes went wide. The cave was so massive it was almost hard to believebut the real focus was the thing in front of them.
An enormous crab nearly big enough to fill the whole cave loomed before them.
Its shell gave off a faint glow, rough and uneven like ancient stone battered by time.
The edges of its carapace were jagged like saw blades, each serration sharp enough to slice through steel.
The thick crab legs were like stone pillars, covered in a thick outer layer and growing backwards-facing spikes, each the width of a human arm.
Just looking at it made Asuna and Hitagi feel a deep, primal fear.
"That's the real body of the Weight Crab?" Asuna's breath caught in her throat. Her mouth went dry, and her heart was pounding like crazy.
Suddenly, the Weight Crab let out another roar and charged at them, all eight of its legs thundering across the floor.
Lynn stepped forward, unfazed. "You two stay here. Don't move."
"Eh?!"
Asuna panicked. "Wait, you're seriously gonna fight that thing?!"
"Shouldn't we I mean, maybe we should just teleport back or something?!"
It looked way too powerful! Like, no way in hell they could win this kind of boss fight!
But before she could finish that thoughtLynn's aura exploded.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
And the next momenthe reappeared right above the Weight Crab's head!
"!!!"
The monster's eyes widened in something eerily humanshock?
Then
Buzz
An immense gravity field burst forth, trying to crush Lynn on the spot.
But he just grinned. "So generous. Giving me a buff before the fight?"
And with thatLynn shot down like a meteor!
Whoosh
A spark of starlight flared around his foot as he came crashing downhardright on top of the Crab's head.
BOOM!!
.
.
.
Changes in Zodiac Pilgrimage
BOOM!
With a thunderous crack, the crab's rock-hard shell split apartfractures spreading like a web of shattered glass.
Juicy, tender crab meat peeked through the cracks, the impact breaking through its massive mountain-like body without even slowing down.
The force behind the blow didn't stopit shot straight through the giant crab and slammed into the rocky floor beneath it.
CRASH!
The ground exploded into fragments, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction as a massive crater formed beneath its crushed body.
"YAAAAAAAH!"
The Crab of Weight let out a piercing shriek, shrill and agonizing, like a blade stabbing straight into the eardrums.
The sound tore through the cave, forcing both Yuuki Asuna and Senjougahara Hitagi to flinch from the sheer pain.
Right after
The starlight flames wrapping around Lynn's foot spread like wildfire, rapidly crawling across the crab's entire massive body.
"ROOOOOAR!!"
The giant beast screamed and writhed violently in agony, shaking the entire underground cave like it was going to collapse at any second!
Seeing this, Lynn calmly upped the power.
WHOOSH!!
Flames surged higher with a roar, and a pillar of starlit fire shot upward like a rocket.
The stalactites on the cave ceiling began to melt under the intense heatuntil finally, a huge opening burst open above.
Sunlightfaint and goldenstreamed down through the new skylight.
A few seconds later...The roaring stopped.
The massive creature's body finally went still.
Seeing that, Lynn spoke up. "Luna."
"Coming, coming~!" Luna, the Cancer Zodiac (Crab), replied.
With that, a small translucent figure with long jellyfish-like blue hair drifted down and landed gently on Lynn's shoulder.
She gave a little push with her hands and floated over to the crab's massive head, lifting her arms up gracefully.
Like some kind of ancient celestial symphony, a massive star chart slowly unfolded in her handsbright, radiant, and brimming with cosmic energy.
The star map shimmered with tiny glowing constellations, each one pulsing with mysterious power.
And then!
The center of the map twisted unnaturally, like space itself had been torn open and a pitch-black void began forming.
A black hole.
Its pull was strongso strong, in fact, that the giant crab's enormous corpse began to get sucked into it, bit by bit.
"Urgh"
As the body was fully absorbed, Luna let out a soft groan. She could feel itsomething within her had shifted. Something subtle, but deeply profound.
At the same time
A familiar ding echoed in Lynn's mind.
[Ding! Your Zodiac Pilgrimage has undergone a subtle change!]
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
He opened up the [Zodiac Pilgrimage] skill and scanned it quicklyhis gaze locking onto the Cancer sign.
[Cancer Cocoon]
Summons a stardust cocoon that heals anyone inside.
Power of the Crab of Weight (grants the concept of "Weight").
—
Lynn narrowed his eyes.
"So it did inherit the Crab of Weight's abilities"
"Don't tell me"
"Can the Zodiac Pilgrimage evolve by absorbing creatures that match its sign?"
As his thoughts drifted, his gaze rose to the faint red star lingering abovehis mind running wild with speculation.
"Wait are we gonna end up collecting the four fundamental forces of the universe too?"
This change in Cancer really caught his attention.
Lynn's consciousness then sank into the space of the [Devil's Pieces].
And the moment he did, he felt ithis whole body became heavy.
"Huh?" Lynn frowned. "The Devil Piece's space has weight now?"
So this was what gaining the "Weight" concept did?
"Just like the 'Sun' concept."
He started to piece things together.
"A new universe?"
Just the thought gave him chills.
What exactly are you planning, [Devil's Piece]?
Ever since this space was born, Lynn had sensed something unusual about this ability.
Creating pieces to summon followersthat part was fine.
But now it's throwing in Zodiac signs, cosmic elements, the freaking sun, and now gravity?
Is this really something a "Devil's Piece" skill should be doing?
While Lynn was caught up in his thoughts, Luna floated back into the Devil Piece's space.
"Master!"
Snapping out of it, Lynn turned to her. "How are you feeling?"
With a bright grin, Luna raised her arms and beamed. "Amazing! Never felt this good before!"
"Ohand I think I can control gravity now too!"
She waved her hand toward her constellation's direction with a smug little smile
But nothing happened.
"..."
Luna puffed up her cheeks. "Hmph"
Lynn chuckled and gave her a head pat. "It's probably because this space is kind of special."
After comforting her a bit, Lynn lingered a little longer in the Devil Piece space before returning to the real world.
And what greeted himwas the completely wrecked cave they'd just fought in.
"Is it dead?"
Asuna stared at Lynn in a daze, still unable to process everything that had just happened.
It had all ended so fast, it almost felt like the whole thing had been a dream.
But noThat crushing aura that terrifying crab that could shake the earth with a single step
It had been real.
Just standing near it had made her body go limp from fear.
And yetLynn had taken it down with one kick.
GULP.
Asuna swallowed hard, her gaze shifting toward Lynn, eyes filled with awe.
Like she was looking at a god.
That was the only way she could describe it.
And at the same time she felt a little embarrassed.
Thinking back on how she wanted to escape using teleportation magic just moments ago felt kinda stupid now.
"So this is what a devil really is"
Hitagi whispered, eyes still locked on Lynn's figure.
His overwhelming presence had left an unforgettable impression on her.
It also made her realize
She'd completely underestimated what "devils" were capable of.
Unlike Asuna, Hitagi had actually encountered the Crab of Weight before. She had some history with it.
And over the past couple of years, she'd been chasing down legends and rumors related to itAnd from what she learnedIn some myths, the Crab of Weight was considered divine.
But nowonly Lynn had become that very god-like figure.
Even as just a bystander, Hitagi couldn't stop her hands from trembling in excitement.
Supernatural Research Club?
Nothis was Lynn's Familia. His Harem.
She took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling with pure adrenaline.
Very soon, she'd become part of that harem too.
She'd get to experience what it felt like to personally take down something like the Crab of Weight.
What kind of rush would that be?
Hitagi couldn't wait to find out.
Her dull, predictable lifewas about to take a wild turn.
Meanwhile, Lynn's figure flashed as he moved deeper into the underground cave.
He rubbed his chin, staring at the massive rock wall that had once housed the Crab of Weight.
"So this must've been where it lived"
Lynn glanced around but didn't find anything special.
Then something caught his eye in a dark corner.
"Eggs?"
He walked closer and found a cluster of perfectly round, bubble-like transparent orbs stacked together.
A second laterLuna's tiny spirit form popped into view again.
"Master, master! Those are Memory Eggs!"
Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the glowing orbs.
Lynn raised an eyebrow. "Useful to you?"
"Mhm, super useful!" Luna nodded furiously. "If I absorb these 'Memory Eggs,' I can enhance the 'Weight' concept inside me!"
