The choice to involve Vali and his team was largely due to Arthur Pendragon's specialized ability—or rather, the unique property of the Holy King Sword, Collbrande. If Arthur were willing to simply lend the sword, Ethan could have handled this solo. The reason for the joint operation was the concern that Vali's team alone might not be strong enough to resolve the issue without causing further dimensional instability.
After all, Vali's primary goal had always been to defeat Great Red. Defeating the current Red Dragon Emperor—Ethan—was a secondary objective that only arose after his crushing defeat at Ethan's hands. Unfortunately for Vali, as time passed, that goal seemed increasingly unattainable. At first, Ethan had to give his all to win; now, Vali rarely even got to see Ethan's full power.
"Two hours a day..."
Ethan realized the trap. If the mission wasn't resolved during spring break, he'd be forced to spend two hours every single day in this featureless, psychedelic void. Sirzechs and the others were essentially trying to occupy all of his private time. No wonder they had been so polite and persistent. If this dragged on, he wouldn't even have time to collect the "reward" Serafall had promised.
Seeing Ethan's mood sour, Arthur quickly added, "Two hours is the limit of Collbrande. Even in different hands, the limit remains..."
"Is that so? I don't believe you!" Ethan interrupted. "Unless you let me try it. Don't worry, if it's true, I'll return it. After all, a sword with such a pathetic limit isn't very useful."
Arthur's face twitched. He looked at Vali for help. He was lying, of course. Collbrande was a tool of space and dimension; its limits depended entirely on the wielder's capacity. But as a Pendragon heirloom, it usually required their bloodline to function. However, Ethan possessed the Holy Sword Specialist talent he'd taken from Xenovia. No holy sword could refuse him.
Vali remained silent. He knew better than to help Arthur maintain such a transparent lie. Ethan wasn't stupid. People who treated Ethan like a fool were usually already six feet under.
Ethan didn't push for the sword, though. He was just being a prick to annoy the "intellectual" Arthur. If Ethan truly wanted to snatch it, the four of them couldn't stop him even if Vali used Juggernaut Drive.
"Alright, let's focus on the target," Bikou said, leaning on his staff. "The sooner we find Loki's residue, the sooner we go home."
Ethan ignored him. He was in a bad mood and had no interest in talking to men. His only comfort was the presence of the black-haired, large-breasted, sexy cat-eared beauty—Kuroka.
As Ethan approached her, Kuroka jumped back, her tail fur standing on end. Ethan frowned. Ever since he had captured her during the war, she had acted strangely every time they met.
"Kuroka, I haven't done anything to you, have I?" Ethan leaned in. "I captured you, sure, but I wasn't indecent."
Kuroka kept backing up until she hit the edge of the barrier. Her face began to flush a deep crimson, and the pale skin visible beneath her black kimono turned pink.
"Nyaa..." she whimpered, her eyes squeezed shut. "Don't come any closer, nya! If you do... I'll... I'll..."
Ethan braced for an attack, but what she said next stunned everyone—even Arthur.
"If you come any closer... I'll... I'll go into heat, nya!!!"
Kuroka opened her beautiful, teary eyes. The normally seductive big-sister figure looked utterly pathetic and desperate.
"Heat?" Ethan blinked.
It turned out that by fully awakening her Nekomata bloodline, Kuroka had become more animalistic than her sister, Koneko. She stayed in her half-beast form to maximize her power, but it came with the instincts of a cat. However, this wasn't a normal cycle; it was a specific reaction to Ethan.
Vali and the others immediately lost interest. To them, women were just a distraction from getting stronger. But Ethan was intrigued. He didn't pull away; instead, he pulled her into a firm embrace.
Kuroka struggled for a second before melting into his arms, sniffing his scent. Her twin tails reflexively wrapped around Ethan's arm.
"What's going on? Koneko never mentioned a heat cycle," Ethan asked, stroking her soft hair.
"Shirone is still young, nya," Kuroka purred, rubbing her face against his palm. "And she suppresses her power. But since she's with you now, she'll never have to worry about this."
Kuroka explained that after being defeated by Ethan, her "fear and awe" toward his overwhelming strength had triggered a side effect of a spell she had placed on herself. She had wanted to bear a child of a "Dragon" to solve her periodic heat cycles, but Vali had refused her. So, she used a seal that suppressed the heat—except when she encountered a male who caused her intense emotional fluctuations. Ethan was that male.
Ethan felt complicated. It wasn't exactly "love" yet, but Kuroka's obsession with his strength was a perfect foundation. He decided then and there that he wanted her—not just for her body or power, but to reunite her with Koneko in his "family."
"You're a selfish man," Kuroka giggled, leaning against his chest. "You have so many girls, yet you can't stand me being near other men."
"Exactly. I'm selfish," Ethan said bluntly. "And I'm taking you with me. You're leaving Vali's team."
Vali and the others looked annoyed, but Kuroka clarified that while she would live with Ethan, she still owed Vali for helping her when she was a fugitive. They reached a compromise: she would stay at Ethan's house and only leave when Vali truly needed her for a mission.