Faced with Kurumi's teasing, Souta felt an urge to push her down, flip her over, and spank her hard.
It was supposed to be a serious matter, but the way she talked made it sound so indecent that even he was starting to hesitate.
Souta took a deep breath, hoping it would calm his mind.
Instead, the scent of Kurumi's hair entered his nose, making it even harder to stay composed.
Souta decided to stop worrying about his mental state. After all, making a divine wish had nothing to do with mindset—it wouldn't affect the outcome.
The golden glow at his fingertips instantly intensified.
Kurumi instinctively closed her eyes.
The next moment, she felt a warm power enter her body and surge into her most private place—her sephira crystal.
A sensation of being filled overwhelmed her.
Kurumi's entire body began to tingle, as if an electric current were running through her. She instinctively closed her legs, curled her toes, and her face flushed with a faint blush.
"...Are you uncomfortable?"
Souta ignored Chelsea's cold gaze and asked Kurumi.
He really was just doing an upgrade, right?
He didn't do anything else... right?
"I... I'm fine..." Kurumi breathed softly.
"Then I'll continue."
Souta simply closed his eyes and slowly embedded the modified spell into Kurumi's sephira crystal.
Without any distractions, the process finished quickly.
Embedding the spell nearly drained all his divine power again.
According to his destructive power calculations, the divine power consumed could have erased Tokyo about twenty times.
But Souta didn't mind, because the results were remarkable—Kurumi now had the potential to continually grow stronger.
As long as she traveled back in time and absorbed spiritual vein power, her sephira crystal would continuously evolve.
It wasn't clear how far it could go, but at the very least, she would reach Mio Takamiya's level.
Given that the current Mio had been weakened, if Kurumi reached her former level, she should have no trouble defeating her.
Moreover, as her sephira crystal evolved, her angel "Zafkiel" would also evolve, gaining stronger abilities.
Even her shadow manipulation ability might evolve, potentially allowing her to break free from the confines of shadows and directly control spatial power.
"So, Kurumi, how do you feel?" Souta withdrew his finger and looked at her with concern.
Kurumi had opened her eyes. She raised her hand, clenched her fist slightly, and said uncertainly:
"I feel like I can plunder something... but I can't use it yet."
"It's probably reiryoku," Souta thought and replied. "There's no reiryoku in this world, so you can't see the effect. You'll need to return to the Date A Live world to test it."
"Go back, huh... I guess I should make a trip."
Kurumi glanced out the window. She was starting to miss her world.
Of course, the main reason was the anticipation of becoming stronger.
Once she truly became powerful, she would confront Mio Takamiya.
At that time, she'd make that arrogant woman pay!
"By the way." Kurumi suddenly looked at Souta. "You used a lot of divine power this time, right? How many points do you need? I'll transfer them to you."
"Kurumi, now's not the time to talk about that," Souta said helplessly. "It makes it feel like a mere transaction."
"Alright, I was being a little impatient."
Kurumi smiled and leaned in to adjust Souta's collar affectionately.
She whispered, "If you ever need points, just ask me. What's mine... is yours."
"That's it?" Chelsea approached, scrutinizing Kurumi and frowning. "She doesn't feel that much stronger?"
A person's aura might be vague, but as a veteran assassin, Chelsea had developed sharp intuition.
"It's normal. Her strength hasn't increased—only her growth potential."
Souta explained, "It's like breaking her growth limit. Spirits have fixed reiryoku. After inversion, it can increase a bit, but still just slightly. That just unlocks the sephira crystal's power. What I gave Kurumi is the ability for her sephira crystal to absorb reiryoku and evolve continuously. You can't see the effects now, but once she returns to the Date A Live world, they'll become evident."
"We need reiryoku to see the effect..." Chelsea suggested, "Then how about converting divine power into reiryoku for a test?"
Before Souta could respond, Kurumi shook her head and said:
"It's not worth wasting divine power on something I'll gain soon anyway. Besides..."
Kurumi smiled at Chelsea. "Chelsea, you should worry about yourself."
"Me? What about me?" Chelsea blinked in confusion.
Kurumi pointed out the window. "After I leave, can you really handle such a huge religious group on your own?"
She then made a playful neck-slicing gesture.
"Wait!" Chelsea turned to Souta. "You're staying, right? These are your followers. You're not expecting me to manage them, are you?"
Honestly, she didn't mind managing—it was a life she actually enjoyed.
But... she didn't have the strength!
It was fine during peaceful times, but if she faced an assassination attempt, she might not last a night.
"Souta is probably heading to the newcomer's world to investigate," Kurumi teased. "So, Chelsea, you'll be staying here alone."
Chelsea panicked: "You guys... you're not really going to leave me , right?"
"Don't worry," Kurumi dropped the teasing and spoke seriously. "Since Souta came here, he's definitely thought about this. He must have a plan."
Souta started to panic.
If he admitted he hadn't thought of anything, would Chelsea choke him?
Kurumi knew him well—she must know he didn't have a plan.
Was she... teasing him again?
Souta gave Kurumi a look... did she enjoy bullying the people she liked?
Would she be furious if he pulled out an iPhone now and played her blackmail material?
"Souta, what's with that expression?" Chelsea eyed him suspiciously. "Don't tell me... you haven't thought about it?"
"Of course... I have," Souta said confidently. "You're managing the church for me—how could I mistreat you?"
"So what's your plan?" Chelsea asked curiously.
"We're not at war with the empire yet—we're still in a peaceful development phase. So instead of increasing strength, you should focus on survival skills."
Souta said bluntly: "I plan to give you immortality."
PS: Only 14,000 characters over two days—pretty weak start to the month (ಥ﹏ಥ) Let's add more today.
By the way, Hedgehog Cat's update ranking is terrifying. Last month I wrote 280,000 characters and barely squeezed into the top 20. Even writing 10,000 a day isn't enough for top 10. Strong!
Uploaded a Kurumi illustration.