"Pink," Ayaka Saionji said, her voice dripping with S-Rank disdain. "You want to paint the west wing... neon pink?""It’s not pink," Hoshino Lumi corrected, snapping her fingers at a mover carrying a life-sized statue of herself. "It’s 'Electric Sakura'. And it helps my creative process."We were standing in the driveway of the Saionji Villa. Or rather, what used to be the driveway.Now, it was a parking lot for eighteen moving trucks."This is a fortress," Runa growled, poking a fluffy pink beanbag chair with her dagger. "Not a dollhouse. This... furniture... lacks honor. It offers no tactical advantage.""It offers comfort, you muscle-brain," Lumi shot back, adjusting her oversized sunglasses. "Something you wouldn't understand.""Muscle-brain?!" Runa’s aura flared violet. "I will sever your twin-tails!""Try it!" Lumi’s throat glowed silver. "I'll sing your eardrums into dust!""Silence!" Ayaka’s golden mana spiked. "This is my house! If you want to live here, you follow my aesthet

The military briefing room smelled of stale coffee and panic.General Tanaka, a man with more medals than hair, slammed his fist onto the holographic map of Tokyo Bay."Nuclear option," he declared. "It is the only way. The Leviathan's hide is impervious to conventional mana rounds. We drop a localized tactical nuke, vaporize the bay, and pray the wind blows south."The other officers nodded grimly. Sae, standing in the corner in her police uniform, looked horrified."A nuke?" she whispered. "In the harbor? Millions will be irradiated.""Collateral damage," Tanaka spat. "Better radiation than digestion."He looked at me. I was sitting at the head of the table, spinning my new platinum S-Rank badge like a fidget spinner."Sovereign Amagiri," Tanaka said, his voice dripping with condescension. "Since you are the only S-Rank available, you will deliver the payload. Your... unique shielding should protect you."(My unique shielding is a lie. I will glow in the dark for eternity.)I stoppe

"Brace for impact!"I dove for the deck plates.CRASH.The Leviathan’s tail slammed into the ocean just meters from the starboard hull. The JS Kaga was a 27,000-ton destroyer, but it was tossed like a bath toy.Metal screamed. Water sprayed over the deck like shrapnel.I slid across the wet steel, slamming into the base of the radar tower."Gah!" I gasped, tasting salt and blood."Master!" Runa was there instantly, grabbing my collar to keep me from sliding overboard. "The beast is frenzied! Your negotiation failed!""I didn't fail," I snarled, wiping water from my eyes. "I was sabotaged."I looked toward the shore. Smoke trailed from a mobile missile battery parked on the dock. It wasn't part of the main formation. It was isolated."Sae!" I shouted into my comms. "Who fired that shot?!""It wasn't the General!" Sae’s voice came back, thick with panic. "The firing code was overridden locally. It's a rogue unit! The Syndicate has infiltrators in the blockade!"(Of course they do. Why f

"Smile," Ayaka whispered, nudging my ribs with her elbow. "You look like you're attending a funeral.""I am," I muttered, forcing the corners of my mouth up into a plastic grin. "The funeral of my inventory."I was standing in the back of an open-top parade vehicle (a militarized jeep painted gold, courtesy of the Saionji Group). Confetti rained down from the skyscrapers of Tokyo like snow."RENJI! RENJI! RENJI!"The chant was deafening. Millions of people lined the streets. They weren't just cheering; they were worshipping.They saw the man who slapped a beam cannon. They saw the Saint who tamed the Leviathan.They didn't see the man who was currently holding his chest because the Mana Void was throbbing like a fresh bruise.(It hurts. It hurts so much. The adrenaline is gone, and now there is just... emptiness.)I waved."Thank you," I mouthed to a group of crying high school girls holding a sign that read [STEP ON ME, SOVEREIGN].(I don't want to step on you. I want to step into a

"We're going on a field trip," I had said.Looking at the scene in the driveway of the Saionji Villa, it looked less like a field trip and more like a military invasion disguised as a fashion show.Ayaka stood by a massive, armored transport truck (painted gold, naturally). She was checking a manifest on her tablet."I’ve arranged a private train from Tokyo Station," she announced. "The 'Imperial Line'. It’s bulletproof, bombproof, and has a spa car.""A spa car?" Runa scowled, tightening the straps on her duffel bag. "We march to war, Heiress. Not to a vacation.""War requires morale," Ayaka countered. "And my morale requires hot stones and cucumber water."Lumi dragged a suitcase the size of a refrigerator toward the truck."I packed my stage outfits!" she chirped. "The mountains are so drab. They need a splash of neon pink.""You are going to attract snipers," Sae sighed, loading a crate of police-issue ammunition."I am the sniper magnet," Lumi winked. "That's my job, right? Distr