"Great job out there."
Haruto welcomed Hoshino Ai backstage.
Glowing with radiance, Hoshino Ai leaped straight into his arms. Even now, the dazzling stage and the countless spectators still lingered in her mind.
The deafening cheers and the lingering applause echoed in her ears.
These were things Hoshino Ai had never even dared to dream of before.
She was a child who craved love more than anything and yet, until now, she had never been able to obtain it, believing she was unworthy of love.
But now—
The love from countless fans rained down on her like a sky full of candy—sweet and surreal.
But more importantly...
The love from the boy before her.
Something she once couldn't even touch in her dreams was now right in front of her, and she felt as if her heart might just melt.
"Haruto! Let's have a baby!"
Hoshino Ai suddenly blurted out.
Her words left not only the four girls who had just come off stage but also Miyako, who had rushed over to congratulate her, completely stunned.
Haruto, too, was caught off guard, coughing in shock.
Miyako hurriedly rushed over and grabbed Hoshino Ai.
"Ai! The things you say on stage are one thing, but can you at least look at the situation around you?! If anyone hears this, your idol career is over! Uh... you all ... just pretend you didn't hear that. Ai's just too excited. Um, can I get you to sign a non-disclosure agreement? Someone, check the surroundings! Make sure there are no paparazzi! If there are, bring them in immediately—no matter the cost, retrieve any footage!"
Miyako was in full crisis management mode.
The four girls were soon ushered away by Miyako, who was all smiles as she led them off to sign confidentiality agreements.
Meanwhile, Hoshino Ai playfully stuck out her tongue under her manager's deadly glare. Seeing this, Haruto couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let's talk about this again when we're adults."
That was the answer Haruto gave.
Even though he hadn't agreed, Hoshino Ai still cheered excitedly.
Miyako could only clutch her head in frustration.
Wasn't their president spoiling Hoshino Ai a little too much?
As expected, that night, Hoshino Ai topped several trending topics.
Aside from the usual buzz surrounding the performance, the two most prominent headlines were:
"Gokuraku Jodo! A Musical Wave Sweeping the World!"
"Shocking! Who Is the 'Someone' Hoshino Ai Spoke Of?!"
Haruto could only feel helpless about it.
After leaving the Tokyo Dome, he didn't immediately return to Chiba. Instead, he decided to wander around Tokyo for a bit, following a sudden feeling.
Previously, the final destination of Suzume no Tojimari had been in Tokyo.
Following his memory, Haruto once again arrived at the largest gate to the Netherworld.
It was a massive gate buried deep within the mountains, resembling the red torii gates used in Shinto shrine rituals.
Placing his fingers gently against the gate, Haruto could sense a faint response from within.
The Netherworld was still at peace.
The keystone he had placed there was far superior to the original, which had required a human soul as its core.
Three years had passed, and there was almost no sign of wear or degradation.
His previous estimation of "several thousand years of stability" had been too conservative.
At this rate, the energy within the Netherworld wouldn't be able to break through Haruto's keystone for at least ten thousand years.
Satisfied, he withdrew his hand and was about to leave—
But at that moment—
A streak of blazing light shot down from the sky, plummeting straight toward him.
Haruto frowned.
With a single wave of his hand, black wings suddenly unfurled from his back. He soared into the sky, intercepting the incoming fireball.
Using his wings to cushion the impact, he ensured that the object landed without causing any destruction.
And when he got a good look at what had fallen—
"A dragon?"
Haruto was genuinely surprised at the sight of a creature that should only exist in fantasy.
It was a massive green dragon covered in armored scales, with enormous fleshy wings on its back, four powerful limbs, and prominent horns.
Retracting his black wings, Haruto quickly approached the fallen dragon.
At that moment, the dragon seemed to have already lost consciousness. A golden longsword was embedded in its back, inflicting a deep, gruesome wound.
It was clear that this dragon had fallen due to the severe injury caused by the sword.
Haruto could feel a distinct energy emanating from the blade, carrying a unique conceptual force.
After examining it for a moment, he concluded that this weapon likely belonged to some kind of mythology.
It had a holy attribute and seemed to suppress regeneration.
Despite the dragon's body healing all other wounds from the fall, the penetration wound caused by the sword remained unchanged.
Just as Haruto reached out, intending to pull the sword out for further analysis—
"Human!"
Sensing Haruto's presence, the dragon suddenly woke up.
Its golden, slit-pupiled eyes locked onto him.
Given the sheer size of the dragon, comparable to a small mountain, those massive eyes alone were nearly half the size of Haruto himself.
Most people would have been terrified.
But for Haruto—
"Oh? You can talk? That's great! That means we can communicate. So, would you mind agreeing to containment?"
Haruto smiled.
The dragon clearly didn't understand what "containment" meant. She stared him down, a faint, multi-colored flame spilling from her mouth.
"Human, stay away from me! Otherwise, I will devour you!"
The dragon warned.
In response, Haruto, seemingly unbothered, took two steps closer. And as he approached, he suddenly noticed something unusual.
A strange connection seemed to be forming between him and the dragon.
Thinking back to his earlier premonition, Haruto contemplated for a moment and came to a conclusion.
The bond of fate?
That had to be it.
With that thought in mind, Haruto reached out and patted the dragon's scales.
"Well, I was hoping for a little chef, but I got a dragon instead. Not a bad trade-off."
A dragon, after all, had immense research value. And if he could tame it, he'd become a dragon rider.
A dragon rider!
How cool was that?!
Meanwhile, the dragon, clearly offended by his actions, let out even more dazzling flames from her mouth.
Yet, in the end, she didn't attack him.
Instead, she simply lowered her head in resignation.
"I never expected that, at the end of my life, the last being I would encounter before death... would be a human."
Haruto raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You're not going to attack?"
Without opening her eyes, the dragon responded in a deep voice,
"If you were the last being I would meet before death, and you haven't slaughtered my kind, then I see no reason to kill you."
Haruto found that answer quite satisfactory.
If this had been a dragon that was unable to communicate or was hostile toward humans, he would have contained it without hesitation, handing it over to the Foundation as a research specimen.
But if it had a rational mind and bore no malice toward humanity—
"Then we can have a proper conversation."
With that thought, Haruto patted the dragon again.
"As long as I remove that sword, you probably won't die, right?"
The dragon finally opened her eyes again, staring at Haruto as she spoke in a deep voice,
"Stop talking nonsense. Do you even know what that sword is? The moment you touch it, you'll probably turn to dust."
However, Haruto acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. With a single leap, he landed on the dragon's back.
From this vantage point, the piercing wound looked even more terrifying.
"Get down! Don't touch that thing!"
She began to shake her body violently.
But at that moment, Haruto reached out and grabbed the sword.
A dazzling golden light erupted from the blade, and a golden pillar of energy seemed ready to pierce the heavens.
"Stop causing such a big commotion! Covering it up later and erasing memories is a huge hassle!"
Haruto frowned and scolded.
The next moment, with a casual wave of his hand—
The golden pillar that had been surging toward the sky instantly vanished, as if it had never existed.
Feeling the sudden disappearance of the light, the dragon's eyes widened in shock.
Meanwhile, Haruto, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, simply pulled out the massive golden sword, larger than himself—from her body.
As soon as the sword left her body, it began to shrink.
By the time it landed in Haruto's hand, it had already adjusted to a size proportionate to him.
At the same time, the dragon's back wound began to heal rapidly, soon restoring itself completely.
As Haruto descended, the dragon stared at him in utter disbelief.