The instant Tohka saw Zafei's dagger swing toward Toma's neck, her mind went completely blank.
It felt as though something had exploded inside her head.
There was only one thought left.
"DIEEEEEE!!!!"
Tohka swung Sandalphon horizontally.
The slash tore across everything in its path.
Derken, despite having erupted with Battle Aura, was caught in it.
The attack continued onward—
All the way toward Zafei.
For that single instant, Tohka's entire presence changed.
The normally adorable, somewhat airheaded girl vanished.
In her place stood a cold, proud, terrifying woman.
But that transformation lasted only for an instant.
So briefly that it almost seemed like an illusion.
Something unreal.
Something that had never happened at all.
...
...
After Tohka's furious slash—
Everything disappeared.
Derken, despite his Battle Aura...
Zafei, who had been standing directly in front of Toma...
Even the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which had still been fighting the remaining Fourth-Rank Warriors...
Everything vanished beneath Tohka's furious attack.
Toma seemed to sense something.
He instinctively turned around.
And the next thing he knew—
Tohka rushed straight into his arms.
"T-Tohka..."
The impact knocked Toma onto the ground.
His mind, already struggling to process everything that had just happened, completely stopped working.
He opened his mouth to speak.
But before he could...
He heard Tohka crying beside his ear.
"Thank... goodness... Toma-kun... Toma-kun is okay..."
It took Tohka nearly five full seconds to finish those few words through her tears.
Her trembling voice and quiet sobbing gradually calmed Toma's chaotic mind.
He wrapped his arms around her.
Toma didn't say anything.
He simply held Tohka and gently patted her back.
...
'What did I ever do to deserve someone like you worrying this much about me, Tohka...?'
'I...'
'I haven't done anything for you.'
'And yet you...'
'I...'
'I...'
...
Toma held Tohka for a long time.
Eventually, he quietly whispered,
"I'm sorry..."
...
Those words came from the bottom of his heart.
At that moment, Toma finally understood something clearly.
The girl in his arms...
This girl named Tohka...
Just how deeply did she care about him?
After he summoned her, he hadn't done anything particularly special for her.
He hadn't even managed to give her a comfortable life.
Instead, Tohka had constantly worked hard for him, hunting Magic Crystals so he could exchange them for Exchange Points.
And despite all of that...
Tohka still cared about him this deeply.
For the first time, Tohka's feelings allowed Toma to understand both the happiness of being loved...
And the heavy responsibility that came with receiving that love.
'I'm sorry.'
Those were the only words Toma could give her right now.
He couldn't think of anything else to say.
...
He truly could only apologize.
'I'm sorry, Tohka...'
'I'm sorry to myself...'
'And I'm sorry to the mysterious person who gave me the System...'
...
At that moment, Toma's mind became strangely clear.
There was only one thought remaining.
'Become stronger!!!!!!'
He didn't need enough strength to destroy heaven and earth with a single attack.
He didn't need to become some invincible existence.
He only wanted enough strength so that the girl in his arms would never have to cry because of him again.
...
Today, for the first time, Toma truly felt the depth of Tohka's feelings for him.
Those feelings showed him the happiness of being loved.
They also showed him the heavy responsibility that came with being loved.
And when he looked at Tohka's tear-stained face...
For the first time, Toma experienced the pain of having his heart break.
That pain felt incredibly real.
It stabbed deeply into him.
It pushed him toward one desire.
'I need to become stronger.'
...
'Tohka...'
'You should be smiling without a care in the world.'
'You shouldn't be crying because of me.'
'What I want to see is your smile.'
'Not your tears.'
'Tohka...'
'Even if it's only for your sake, I'll become stronger!!!!!!'
'I'll protect your smile myself!'
'I swear...'
'I'll become strong enough that you'll never have to cry for me again.'
'Absolutely!'
…
Luna stared at everything before her in shock, her mind still unable to process what had happened during those brief moments...
First, Toma had summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and displayed its overwhelming power.
Then Tohka had suppressed Derken, only for Derken to suddenly reveal the strength of a Fifth-Rank Warrior.
After that came Zafei's surprise attack right beside her.
Those things alone had been enough to astonish Luna...
But before she could even recover, she witnessed Tohka's earth-shattering attack.
That was what truly terrified her.
'Just who the hell are these two?'
The girl looked like she was only in her teens. She even seemed completely ignorant about the ways of the world.
So how could she possess such terrifying strength?
'Judging from the power of that attack... she must be at least at the peak of the Sixth Rank, right?'
Luna had never personally witnessed a Sixth-Rank battle before, but that didn't stop her from making an educated guess.
Once Luna finally recovered from her shock, another thought immediately appeared in her mind.
'Maybe...'
'Maybe I can ask them to help me rescue the Princess?'
Once the idea appeared, she couldn't suppress it anymore.
However, when Luna looked at Toma and Tohka embracing each other on the ground, even an idiot could tell that now wasn't the time to interrupt.
So Luna quietly stood off to the side and waited.
Since she was the one who needed their help, she did her best to make herself practically invisible so she wouldn't disturb them.
Toma continued holding Tohka.
Gradually, Tohka's crying became quieter.
Just as Toma was about to speak, however, a strange sound interrupted him.
"Grrrrrrr~~~~"
Eh?
Toma froze.
'What the hell?'
"Toma-kun... I'm hungry."
Tohka had already stopped crying.
Her little face turned red as she whispered those incredibly mood-destroying words beside Toma's ear.
Toma stared at the tear-stained girl in his arms.
Tohka looked back at him with three parts embarrassment and seven parts expectation.
Toma couldn't help laughing.
"Ah~! All right! Then let's eat."
Such a simple request from Tohka didn't exactly leave Toma with many possible answers.
Of course he would agree.
Watching Toma suddenly produce a paper-wrapped package from thin air and hand it to Tohka, Luna was shocked once again.
'Spatial equipment?!'