[Takemikazuchi Drum]: a divine drum used by Takemikazuchi, the God of Thunder, to summon lightning and drive away evil spirits. It possesses the power to summon raging thunder, can envelop the user in countless lightning bolts to increase speed, and causes thirty minutes of weakness after use.]
[Can summon [Heretic God Takemikazuchi] when combined with the divine tool [Futsunomitama]]
Looking at the system description for the Takemikazuchi Drum, Yu slightly raised an eyebrow. This thing was actually Takemikazuchi's divine tool? Was he really that lucky today? He just went out and picked up a divine tool.
Unfortunately, this divine tool was not of much use to him. His speed was not bad, but compared to gods known for speed, he was quite inferior. Moreover, Yu would not choose to use the Takemikazuchi Drum, because the thirty minutes of weakness was a serious drawback.
If he could not defeat that Heretic God during its use, he would be left with no ability to resist.
"I'll keep it for now. When I gather Futsunomitama later, I can even summon Takemikazuchi."
After placing the Takemikazuchi Drum into his system storage, Yu muttered to himself.
Looking at the huge hole below, which looked like it led straight to the core of the earth, Yu did not expect that shadow to be connected to the Neon God of Thunder, the God of War and the God of Swords and martial arts, Takemikazuchi.
However, none of that mattered now. If he went home now, he would still make it in time for lunch.
Thinking of this, Yu rushed toward central Tokyo.
The disturbance caused by Yu also attracted widespread attention from Neon media. Soon, interview vans filled with equipment and reporters arrived at the foot of what was once the Three Fox Valley mountain.
However, the mountain range that once stood there had long disappeared, replaced by an enormous, bottomless pit.
Just as these reporters excitedly thought they would get an exclusive and reach the peak of their careers, a series of police cars arrived, and in the blink of an eye, the area was completely sealed off.
Of course, that had nothing to do with Yu, because what followed was entirely the police's job.
Soon, Yu returned home. As soon as he stepped through the door, the smell of meat reached his nose.
Sensing the familiar smell, Yu looked a bit surprised.
This smell was obviously fried meat, but the only ones who cooked in the family were him and Nino, and Nino only knew Japanese dishes.
Could it be that Nino was trying to fry something?
Thinking of this, Yu changed his shoes at the entrance and entered the living room, only to see Nino sitting on the sofa watching a variety show.
"Nino? Why are you here?"
Seeing Nino, Yu asked with a confused expression.
To his surprise, Nino was even more confused than him. She turned her head, chewing a biscuit, and replied with a question:
"Why wouldn't I be here?"
"If you're here, Nino… then who is in the kitchen?"
Filled with confusion and curiosity, Yu turned toward the kitchen, and coincidentally, a familiar figure came out.
"Yu-chan! You're back!"
Seeing Yu, Marika, who was taking off her apron, forgot everything else and greeted the young man, throwing herself into his arms.
"Marika? Why are you here?"
Looking at Marika rubbing against him in his embrace, Yu asked.
Shouldn't Marika be at her own home? Because of her health, Tachibana Gen almost never allowed her to move freely.
"Father sent me here."
Letting go of Yu, Marika replied with a smile.
"Uncle Tachibana? He changed his mind?"
Marika's answer only confused Yu even more. With Tachibana Gen's daughter-obsessed personality, how could he send his daughter to his house? He must have eaten something spoiled.
"Mhm, father suddenly said he had something to do and wouldn't be home tonight. He wasn't comfortable leaving me alone at home, so he told me to stay at Yu-chan's place tonight."
Marika nodded, then, putting aside her apron, slipped her arm through the young man's, her eyes full of barely hidden anticipation:
"Yu-chan, hurry and wash your hands, it's time to eat. I specially studied Chinese cuisine for a long time for Yu-chan. Yu-chan, come and try it. If it's delicious… Yu-chan, give me a love kiss!"
"Marika even knows Chinese food? You didn't burn your hands, did you?"
Not answering the girl's question, Yu first looked at Marika's hands. People who often cook know that when frying, oil sometimes splashes, and although it doesn't hurt much, it leaves burns. Boys might not care, but Marika was a girl.
Yu certainly would not believe that such things didn't matter to her.
"It's fine. Yu-chan, hurry and wash your hands!"
Marika finished and pushed Yu toward the bathroom.
Watching the two leave, Ichika pouted and muttered:
"They're really close, aren't they? But… does Marika also have an engagement with Yu-chan? I've never heard of that."
"Hm, me neither. Mom never mentioned it. Maybe… she forgot."
Nino nodded in agreement. She was stunned when she found out that Yu and Tachibana Marika had an engagement.
Just got engaged to Katsura Kotonoha, and then it turned out he had an engagement with his childhood friend. Yu-chan's luck with women made Nino shake her head helplessly.
"Probably."
Ichika finished and stopped thinking about Yu and Marika, returning to watching TV.
Yu-chan and Marika were childhood friends, and naturally they knew Marika, as a childhood companion, so they were very close. When they found out about the engagement, they were only surprised and didn't have too many emotions.
After all, when they were little, their father Maruo often mumbled about engagements, so now that it actually happened, it didn't feel like anything special.
"Marika, do you have to look at me like that?"
Standing in front of the sink, Yu looked at the girl leaning close to him, carefully watching him wash his hands, and asked.
"Of course! Because if I don't look now, I won't have the chance later!"
Facing the question, Marika answered as if it were the most natural thing, straightening up and placing her hands on her hips.
But as soon as she finished, Yu pinched her cheek with his fingers and said:
"There will be many more chances to look. As long as I'm here, Marika won't be like that."
After saying that, Yu released his hand. Right now, Marika firmly believed she only had three years left to live, and every one of her actions made Yu feel as if the girl was saying goodbye to him.
Yu had already experienced this once with Nakano Reina. This time, he absolutely would not allow the tragedy to repeat with Marika!
Thinking of this, Yu's eyes became sharp. Now he had to sacrifice ten thousand souls on the Greek peninsula, plus three divine tools, to summon the God of Disobedience Asclepius. However, the sign of the lucky snake had disappeared, and the ten thousand souls that Greece had promised to prepare were also delayed.
Because of that, Yu had no choice but to go take them himself, whether it was the sign of the lucky snake or those ten thousand souls.
Thinking of this, Yu released his hand, rubbed Marika's cheek and said softly:
"Marika will be fine soon, believe me."
Looking at the young man's confident purple eyes, Marika nodded without hesitation. She had absolute trust in the young man in front of her, who was worthy of her lifelong devotion.
Her body, her life, belonged to this young man from the moment they met.
Therefore, no matter what, Marika stood by Yu unconditionally and without reason, without exception!
"Alright, hurry and eat."
Turning and quickly approaching the young man, Marika slipped her arm through his, stood on her toes and lightly kissed his cheek, speaking with flushed cheeks.
"Let's go."
After dinner, Yu spent some time watching TV with the Five Sisters and Marika in the living room. As it got late, he took a bath and returned to his room.
Since Marika suddenly moved in, no room had been prepared for her. Fortunately, the guest room that had previously been cleaned for Tsurara had not been used since Tsurara left, so Marika could sleep there.
After returning to his room, Yu opened the system.
After his last ten-pull that gave [Torn Silver Hand], Yu occasionally felt the urge to draw once or twice, but the drop rate for single pulls was discouraging; not only did he not get anything good, he didn't even get system miscellaneous items.
Fortunately, today he had once again accumulated one ten-pull.
But Yu did not plan to draw at the moment.
After all, the most urgent task was to obtain the sign of the lucky snake.
And, the sign of the lucky snake!
Although Yu was not sure what the exact ability of this divine tool was, he guessed it most likely enhanced the user's luck.
Although this luck might not necessarily apply to system draws, what if it did?
If it could be applied, wouldn't his chances of getting good items from a ten-pull be significantly increased?
It wouldn't hurt to wait a bit longer anyway.
Speaking of which, where did Glimpse of Fate say the sign of the lucky snake was located?
After thinking briefly, Yu finally remembered that among the three divine tools related to Asclepius, two were in Greece. Those two were Asclepius's staff and Asclepius's bowl, which the Moon God Envoy had already brought.
The sign of the lucky snake was also located in Greece, but unlike the vague answer for the previous two divine tools, Glimpse of Fate had clearly told him that the sign of the lucky snake was located in Athens.
At present, there was still no news from the Moon God Envoy tasked with collecting the sign of the lucky snake. If he were not sure that those incompetents had not been attacked, Yu would have suspected that they had been wiped out by some powerful force.
"Knock, knock."
Just as Yu was about to activate Moon Authority to transfer above Athens, a knock suddenly sounded on his room door, followed by Tachibana Marika's voice from outside:
"Yu-chan, you're not asleep yet, right?"
Hearing this, Yu stood up and walked to the door. After opening it, he saw Marika standing at the door in cartoon pajamas holding a pillow.
"Marika? What are you…"
Seeing Marika like this, Yu raised an eyebrow and asked.
"That bed isn't comfortable, hm, not as comfortable as Yu-chan, so I came to sleep with Yu-chan. Yu-chan, move over."
Marika spoke to herself, squeezing through the door into the young man's room.
She threw the pillow onto the bed and immediately lay down.
"Yu-chan, hurry and come. Don't worry, I won't do anything to Yu-chan."
Lying on her side, Marika patted the empty space beside her and said with a smile.
"You little troublemaker, sleep. I have to go out for a bit."
Seeing Marika like this, Yu smiled softly, walked over and said.
"I want to go too!"
But as soon as Yu finished speaking, Marika suddenly sat up and said.
"Aren't you going to ask where I'm going?"
Seeing Marika like this, Yu was not in a hurry to agree.
His trip to Athens this time was not only for the sign of the lucky snake; he also had to use the night to bring those ten thousand souls to the Greek peninsula to summon the God of Disobedience Asclepius.
It was already midnight in Neon, and it should just be getting dark in Greece, so he had enough time to handle these matters.
"Wherever Yu-chan goes! I go there too!"
Marika's answer was firm. She got out of bed, hugged the young man and said.
Looking at Marika like this, Yu said nothing, but directly activated Moon Authority.
With a flash of moonlight, the figures of the young man and the girl instantly disappeared.
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