Not long after, the small jet passenger plane flew toward Sun Island at an altitude so low it was almost skimming the water's surface.
Aiden's piloting skills were excellent. Even before he had the system, he could already handle all sorts of small, medium, and large vehicles with ease. Jeanne was also a competent co-pilot, so flying at this height was nothing to worry about at all.
Of course, accidents aren't always caused by oneself, more often they come from outside factors.
Just as the people on the plane were beginning to see the buildings on Sun Island, several bright flashes suddenly appeared before them.
"What's that?" Luka, sitting in the back of the cabin, shouted out.
"The island's defense system has been activated, those are missiles." Jeanne spoke in an almost calm tone. "Dear, you keep control of the plane. I'll go outside and find a way to block them."
"I'm coming too." Bayonetta rose from her seat and shot Jeanne a glare, that "dear" she just used was really not to her liking.
But Aiden shook his head. "No need. Just sit tight, I can handle it."
"You've gotta be kidding me, those are missiles! They might even have hot and cold infrared tracking, and civilian passenger planes don't have flares or chaff. Let the witches handle this!" Luka screamed again in panic.
But Bayonetta and Jeanne trusted Aiden completely, and both witches sat back down immediately.
Still, Jeanne asked, "How exactly do you plan to deal with those missiles?"
Aiden didn't reply. He simply switched silently into his Mechanic class, then snapped his fingers.
Snap!
With that crisp sound, a huge shadow appeared above the small passenger plane, covering it completely.
"There's something above us, it's huge!" Luka shouted again, all flustered.
A moment later, a large combat robot appeared in everyone's line of sight.
Seeing the robot quickly fly in front of the passenger plane, Jeanne asked in surprise, "Dear, you made this?"
If Aiden had summoned a demon, she wouldn't have been surprised at all. But this sci-fi-looking robot went well beyond what she'd imagined.
"Of course."
Aiden nodded, then gave Gale the order to attack.
From the missile racks on Gale's back, jets of scorching flame erupted, and several missiles shot out. After making a sharp course correction, they flew toward the incoming missiles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The intercepted missiles exploded midair, and the violent shockwave made the small passenger plane shudder.
"Miss Cat, hold Cereza tight!" Aiden fought to keep the plane stable as he called to Bayonetta.
"I already am." Bayonetta hugged Cereza, her hair transforming under magic into a sheet of black cloth that wrapped around her entirely.
Cereza was her, absolutely nothing could be allowed to harm her.
By now, the small passenger plane had passed through the smoke from the explosions and quickly escaped the shockwave's reach. But the very next second, more anti-air missiles flew toward the plane.
In terms of firepower, though, one Gale robot was the equivalent of an entire battalion's anti-air unit. As more firelight flared from the missile racks on Gale's back, dozens of missiles streaked into the sky.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Another string of explosions rang out.
This time, however, after intercepting those anti-air missiles, Gale's remaining missiles flew straight toward Sun Island. They were multi-purpose missiles, capable of hitting both air and ground targets.
Soon, a string of firebursts lit up the shoreline of Sun Island.
And with its anti-air defenses instantly destroyed, the island no longer launched any missiles.
By this point, the small passenger plane was only a few minutes away from Sun Island.
———
[Inside the Passenger Plane]
Jeanne let go of the co-pilot controls. "He's inside that tallest building."
Her voice was loud enough for everyone in the cabin to hear. Bayonetta immediately responded, "He… you mean my father?"
Jeanne nodded. Now that they'd reached this point, she no longer hid it. "This is all your father's doing, the last Lumen Sage in the world… Haven't you remembered anything yet?"
"A bit more than before, but not much. Most of it's about my mother." Bayonetta shrugged.
She didn't mention one thing, that her mind also held some memories of Aiden. But strangely, they weren't from meeting him as a child in the modern day… they were from 500 years ago.
"Could it be… he's been back 500 years?" Bayonetta frowned, her gaze toward Aiden now tinged with curiosity.
What made her even more curious was that the memories in her mind were things she didn't seem to have experienced as a child, but memories don't just appear out of nowhere.
She puzzled over it, "So, what's really going on here?"
While she was lost in thought, the small passenger plane suddenly jolted violently, then quickly went still again.
Looking up, she saw that the strange robot was holding the plane in its hands, and its engines had shut down…
Aiden had commanded Gale to carry the plane and land it atop the tallest building on Sun Island. Once Gale set it down gently on the rooftop, Aiden recalled the robot, switched to his Tempter class, and jumped out of the plane first.
Behind him, Jeanne and Bayonetta, still holding Cereza, followed one after another. Luka was the last to come down, grumbling, "Couldn't you at least put down a boarding ladder?"
No one answered him. Because the moment their feet touched the rooftop, a golden-glowing teleportation array replaced the building's elevator entrance.
At the same time, a voice, dripping with seductive allure, sounded in everyone's ears.
"You've finally arrived. Two unexpected guests as well, but that's fine. It's been a long time since things were this lively here."
"That's my father's voice."
Unlike Bayonetta and Jeanne, whose faces turned grave at hearing it, Cereza's expression lit up with excitement. She wriggled out of Bayonetta's arms and ran toward the teleportation array.
"Don't go! Come back!"
Snapping out of her daze, Bayonetta reached out to grab her. But Aiden was faster, or rather, the two large pitch-black hands guarding him were faster, and snatched her back just before she stepped into the teleportation array. Bayonetta breathed a sigh of relief.
Aiden took Cereza from the dark hands, lifted her by the collar, and brought her face-to-face with him. "Don't run off. What if something happens to you?"
"That's my dad, he won't hurt me." Cereza pouted, folding her arms, tucking up her little legs, and turning her head away in a "hmph, I'm mad" pose.
"That's not a given." Aiden eyed the teleportation array, recalling the plot of the second game.
At this point, the last Lumen Sage in the world had already been taken over by the malicious will of the Chaos God, so nothing he might do would be surprising. After all, this world was just a bit different from the original story.
But Cereza just huffed, "Anyway, my dad would never hurt me."
Aiden shook his head, flicked a finger against her smooth forehead, and made her yelp in pain, clutching her head with teary eyes.
"Meanie! When I grow up and meet you, I'm gonna bully you back!"
"I'll be waiting." Aiden tugged her round cheeks with a grin.
Bayonetta glanced at the Cereza bickering with her future husband and pursed her lips. She wasn't about to get jealous of her past self. She looked at the teleportation array ahead, then at Jeanne beside her.
"Do you know your way inside?"
"I've been in a few times." Jeanne nodded. "I'll take point."
"Be careful." Bayonetta gave a rare word of caution.
Even though she still didn't have many memories of Jeanne, the fragments she did have, along with the time they'd spent together, made her understand that Jeanne was trying to guide her to remember the past, not harm her.
'Still… if only you weren't competing with me for a man.'
That thought had barely crossed her mind before she saw Jeanne step into the teleportation array. She quickly grabbed Aiden's arm and went in with him.
"I really am just extra baggage."
Watching the four of them go in, Luka sighed. Honestly, he was sick of being bombarded with their lovey-dovey displays, but… he still wanted to find out the truth about his father's death.
"Please let it not be you, Bayonetta… sigh…"
With another heavy sigh, Luka followed them into the teleportation array.
The moment he stepped in, it vanished.
———
The exit on the other side was a trapezoidal conference room. As they stepped out in turn, each of them scanned the surroundings warily.
Then, all eyes fixed at once on the high-backed chair on the stage at the far end of the room.
The chair was turned away from them, but they could all see two arms clad in ornate sleeves resting on its armrests.
This was, the last Lumen Sage in the world.
"Daddy…"
Seeing the person in the chair, Cereza, still in Aiden's arms, shouted. But she couldn't break free of his hold, so she just glared at him in frustration.
"When I grow up, I'm going to stop your daughter from running into your arms just like this."
Hearing that, Aiden rolled his eyes. Somehow, that childish threat… was actually kind of intimidating.
Bayonetta, however, just scoffed, "I wouldn't dream of keeping his child away from her father."
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