Izumi merely laughed at Nyarlathotep's words.
"If the opportunity comes up, I'll let you all try fighting one."
Honestly, that guy really was weak.
If Nyarlathotep and the others teamed up, there was actually a decent chance they could beat him.
Thinking that, Izumi couldn't help but grin.
Why does that guy somehow feel pitiful now…?
Once everyone confirmed Izumi was unharmed, they finally relaxed.
After all, Izumi was their pillar of support.
If anything ever happened to him, they would probably lose their minds from worry.
At the same time, they finally learned from Izumi what the so-called "Single Digits" of the Dimensional World were truly like.
Which meant today's incident had been nothing more than an accident.
Under normal circumstances, something like this would likely never happen again.
Once they understood that, the heavy weight in everyone's hearts finally disappeared.
As long as the other Single Digits didn't interfere, everything was fine.
Which also meant—
Izumi was practically invincible now.
Well, that was assuming the other Single Digits stayed out of things.
If they did intervene, a massive war would be unavoidable.
One capable of affecting the entire Dimensional World itself.
Battles on that scale were incredibly rare.
So everyone genuinely relaxed at last.
In other words…
Could they now officially do whatever they wanted without consequences?
…Somehow, that felt strangely dangerous.
With the matter settled, everyone returned to doing their own things.
Meanwhile, Izumi headed off to the Dimensional City to kill some time.
The earlier incident was quickly tossed to the back of his mind.
During Izumi's battle, his world had gone into complete lockdown.
Now that it had reopened, the residents once again flooded into the Dimensional City.
Although many were confused about what had happened earlier, everyone wisely chose not to ask questions.
Even if they did ask, nobody would answer anyway.
The moment Izumi arrived in the city, he ran into Asuna Yuuki.
The moment she spotted him, she immediately walked over.
"Izumi-sama."
"It's been a while."
Looking at the now far more mature Asuna, surprise flickered across Izumi's eyes.
Come to think of it, he really hadn't seen her in a long time.
Her strength had already reached S-Class?
Not bad at all.
And as she'd grown older, Asuna had only become even more beautiful and refined.
Thinking that, Izumi smiled.
"Want to walk around with me for a bit?"
As a shameless lover of beautiful girls, Izumi had to admit—
The current Asuna was extremely appealing.
Hearing the invitation, Asuna blinked in surprise before smiling softly.
"It would be my pleasure."
And so, the two began strolling through the Dimensional City together.
As they walked down the lively streets, Izumi suddenly asked curiously:
"By the way, Asuna."
"You should've earned a huge amount of points over the years, right?"
"So why haven't you locked your appearance in place yet?"
Normally, someone like Asuna would've frozen her age long ago.
Hearing that question, Asuna immediately looked embarrassed.
There was absolutely no way she could tell Izumi the real reason.
What was she supposed to say?
That she felt she still wasn't mature enough yet?
Her face flushed red at the thought.
"I just… didn't want to stay that age forever."
"I'll probably buy it eventually."
"But for now… I'd rather wait."
Hearing that, Izumi looked at her strangely.
Then, with the slightest activation of his ability, he instantly understood exactly what she was thinking.
The moment he figured it out, his expression became wonderfully amused.
Meanwhile, Asuna suddenly felt as though every secret in her heart had been completely exposed.
Her instincts screamed at her.
And Asuna trusted her instincts completely.
After all, she had purchased the Intuition skill.
She hurriedly stepped back, arms crossed protectively over her chest as she glared at him.
"Y-You… what are you doing?!"
She was panicking a little.
She was absolutely certain—
Izumi had just seen straight through her thoughts.
Izumi's grin widened.
"Not bad."
"So that's what you were thinking, huh?"
"Tsk tsk."
"And wow, Asuna… I didn't expect you to have a beauty mark there."
The moment he said that, he looked thoroughly entertained.
Asuna instantly exploded.
"Pervert!!"
She knew exactly what he meant.
At that moment, she wished she could bury herself underground forever.
She never expected Izumi to be this kind of person.
Izumi chuckled and casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry."
"I think it's great."
"So there's absolutely no problem."
"And besides…"
"I'm the only one who knows."
"I'll take responsibility for you."
Held in his arms like that, Asuna rolled her eyes.
Even though she wanted to push him away…
She didn't.
Instead, she simply allowed him to hold her.
Then Izumi repeated himself with complete seriousness.
"So, I'll take responsibility."
Asuna stared at him blankly.
"…You're serious?"
"Izumi-sama, are you sure you're not just taking advantage of me?"
There wasn't even a shred of trust in her eyes.
After all, ever since arriving here, she had heard countless warnings from Asagi Aiba.
Izumi was a complete womanizer.
A hopeless playboy with far too many girls around him already.
Asagi had repeatedly warned her to stay far away from him.
Otherwise, she'd definitely end up getting "eaten."
And now…
Was Izumi finally making his move on her too?
At this point, he might as well have written predator across his forehead.
Asuna felt exhausted.
Izumi merely smiled.
"Don't tell me you don't want me to take responsibility?"
"Asuna, being tsundere isn't healthy, you know."
"Tsunderes ruin their own happiness~"
Asuna immediately fell silent.
Talking with Izumi was genuinely exhausting.
Every thought she had could be seen through instantly.
It was unfair.
Finally, she sighed.
"…If I said no, would you listen?"
Izumi answered immediately.
"Nope."
"So please surrender peacefully, Asuna-san."
As he said that, he casually led her forward.
Then—
Right before the shocked eyes of the pedestrians nearby—
Asuna's appearance began to change.
Her features gradually became younger.
More delicate.
More radiant.
In only moments, she had completely returned to the appearance of her seventeen-year-old self.
Realizing what had happened, Asuna froze in shock.
"T-This…?"
Izumi smiled warmly.
"I like this version of you better."
"And don't worry."
"I preserved the things you wanted to keep, too."