Yuriko hummed in pleasure as her arms absorbed the impact of Mazoga’s blows. She was stronger than Yuriko expected, even more than she could expect from the woman’s size. She also couldn’t detect the woman’s Anima strength, though her instincts, and the reality of the situation, told her that they were weaker than she was, or even her Squires. 

But, as proven by the woman’s punch, she was stronger than expected, and Yuriko smirked. A chore had just turned into an amusing diversion. 

Mindful of the limited space and the relative fragility of the hull, Yuriko’s Anima boost was configured to stabilise her environment as much as it strengthened her physique. The woman in front of her didn’t have any such limitation and it felt as if her control of her own strength was paramount. 

Mazoga pulled back her fists and Yuriko let her, waiting passively while the grey-skinned woman took some distance. With a roar that galvanised her efforts more than an attempt to intimidate, Mazoga spun around and added momentum to her punch. The quickly turned back presented an opening that Yuriko couldn’t forgive, but almost as soon as she approached, a small shockwave slowed her enough so that the Sylvanite managed to finish her spin and strike.

Yuriko ducked the haymaker, but as soon as her fist passed over her head, the wind displaced by the blow collapsed and pulled at her. It wasn’t strong enough to do more than ruffle her hair, however, so Yuriko slammed her fist into the woman’s exposed side. 

Blam! Thud.

Almost as soon as her knuckles touched the bodysuit, the muscles underneath tightened. It felt like she punched a wall of cement instead of flesh and blood. Ripples of force travelled up and down from the impact zone, and dust puffed away from where Mazoga’s feet were planted. Yuriko’s fist bounced away, and the Sylvanite stomped away, shedding the kinetic force that lingered within her body. She retaliated with a jab that Yuriko caught and deflected. 

Mazoga slammed her fists together and grunted, “Good! You fight without tricks and with honour.” 

Yuriko just smiled back, then launched herself towards the tall and bulky woman. This time, Mazoga danced away, showcasing incredible agility. Yuriko let the woman showcase her ability, viewing the bout more as a preview of what the Sylvanites were capable of than a serious battle. Not that she held back more than what was necessary. 

A flurry of punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee attacks, coupled with shoulder and back checks followed. Yuriko neutralised each blow by applying the exact amount of force directly counter to each attack rather than deflecting them. She had a better measure of the woman’s strength; physically, she outclassed Heron, and they were probably at the same level. 

If Mazoga, who was the captain of the ship, a command post rather than a direct combat one, was this strong, then what about Guja? Yuriko looked forward to the next bout, though she was determined to enjoy this before finishing it. 

She slipped through Mazoga’s strikes, closed in, then slipped around to the woman’s back. She grabbed the Sylvanite around the waist, then tossed her up. She whistled in appreciation when the woman twisted around in a somersault before landing lightly on her toes with barely an audible thump. 

“You toy with me,” Mazoga growled. 

Yuriko shrugged. “I wish to see all of your capabilities.”

“I demand you fight me seriously!” 

Yuriko tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “I cannot without destroying the ship.” 

Mazoga, as well as the watching crowd, froze. Then the captain shook her head. “Then show me!” she roared. 

Yuriko chuckled, then pushed more of her Anima into boosting her physique. The world around her slowed to a crawl, and while moving felt as if she was encased in mud, she only had to apply a bit more force to break through the restriction. She devoted the rest of her Anima plus her Ennoia and Colligia’s resonance with the fabric of reality, to toughen the space around them. 

Yuriko didn’t punch or kick Mazoga, worried she might blow a hole through the woman’s body. Instead, she grabbed the woman’s arms, knocked her off her feet, then casually pinned her to the floor. 

The Sylvanite tried to struggle free, her bountiful muscles flexed hard, but no matter what she tried, Yuriko read the movements and applied pressure at the points that neutralised the transmission of power. The only thing Mazoga could do was growl, wiggle enticingly, and fidget. Yuriko transitioned into a choke hold, though she didn’t apply pressure directly to the windpipe, but to the arteries that lead up to the woman’s brain. Thirty seconds later, Mazoga slumped down, unconscious. 

Yuriko let the Sylvanite go after a couple more seconds, humming in pleasure. She looked at Gujo, who still looked as enthused as before, and nodded towards Mazoga, who was slowly regaining consciousness. 

“Let’s have that bout as soon as Mazoga’s feeling better.”

“I’m fine, conqueror,” Mazoga said, her tone strangely placid. “I am ready to officiate.” She stood up, shook her limbs then moved to the side of the impromptu ring. “Warmaster, at your leisure.” 

Gujo grunted in acknowledgement and took his position across Yuriko. For the first time, he spoke, “Do not take us to be fragile. Strike me down rather than force me to submit.” 

“As you wish,” Yuriko hummed. 

“Begin!” 

Yuriko’s fist slammed into Gujo’s jaw before he could even blink. His eyes widened in awe before he toppled over, unconscious, Mazoga’s words hanging in the air. 

“Ah, oop?” Yuriko chuckled awkwardly. 

Mazoga, followed by the rest of the Sylvanites, fell on one knee, heads bowed. “We are yours, master.” 

Yuriko blinked, then chuckled. Just like that, huh? 

Well, there was a ritual of submission, performed after Gujo woke up. For the crew of the other ship, the Cyclops, the same chance had not been given. Yuriko wasn’t that vindictive, but anyone who’d rather blow their chances of escape at the drop of a hat would be hard to turn loyal to her. Perhaps if they offered an honour duel. 

“Unlikely, master,” Mazoga answered Yuriko’s question. “Captain Durga of Ulag is a stubborn mule. She is also fiercely independent. I would ask that you ransom them back to the greater Hallowed once you have the chance. And keep them contained otherwise.” 

Yuriko nodded, noting that the Sylvanite woman was suddenly more loquacious. Mazoga was also eyeing her up like meat she wanted to eat, lust and desire on full display. The same with Gujo, for that matter, but he only displayed it for a moment, before he controlled himself, surprisingly more disciplined than the huge woman. 

She commanded the ships be brought closer to the Darlington Cross, and on their return to the bridge, she hailed Captain Finley. 

The brown-haired woman looked at Yuriko in confusion, until Yuriko transmitted her ID. “Is your team leader unavailable?” she asked mildly. 

“He’s on the other ship,” Yuriko answered flippantly. “Besides, Heron is only the outward face.” 

“I see.” Natalie Finley visibly swallowed. “You’ve taken over.” It was a statement and her eyes tracked the subservient-looking Captain Mazoga. 

“I have.” Yuriko quoted a couple of articles within the mercenary contract. “Accordingly, the Voidship Rascal is now the property of Stormdriven.” 

“That is a matter for your sponsors to negotiate over,” the captain said, brushing aside Yuriko’s point, “The other Voidship, it is disabled?” 

“Hmm, yes, but pacified,” Yuriko answered. 

“We have a couple of hours to rig a repair or a tow,” Captain Finley said. “And we must continue on to Outpost Omega. Privateers deep in Dragon Fall territory is a problem.” 

“I see. Then please coordinate with our dear leader for that,” Yuriko said. 

The captain nodded and cut the transmission. She could feel Mazoga’s curiosity, but since the Sylvanite didn’t ask, Yuriko didn’t provide any answers. 

The next couple of hours dragged on for quite a while since Heron and Ilvara had to haggle over the prize. Admittedly, the Cyclops was much less valuable considering the powercore had been melted. It was the same yellowish crystal that Yuriko found in the middle of the mega buildings back in Dragon Fall City, actually. Captain Mazoga was more than happy to show off the Rascal’s power source. Replacing the Cyclops’s core was about half the price of the ship, but since Yuriko didn’t want to let go of the Rascal, Heron worked out a deal for their continued service. Not that Yuriko intended to cut the contract early anyway, but it meant they wouldn’t be able to leave until much later. Continued employment by Milstate was not in their long-term plans after all. 

In the end, the Cyclops was tethered to both the Rascal and the Cross. The links could be cut with a simple button push by either ship. The majority of the ship’s crew was held in the Cyclops, but the captain and the warmaster had been transported to the Cross and under heavy restraints. Yuriko and the Stormdriven migrated to the Rascal and were berthed in the admiral’s quarters, hastily renamed from the captain’s berth. The journey would take a couple days longer to conclude due to the need to move twenty percent slower in order to maintain safety, and thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, nothing much happened. 

Yuriko spent the time training and reviewing her incarnations actions as well as the complex weave of events and troubles that plagued her other self. 

The week after final exams were held, and consequently, the first week of Low Fire Cycle, and the Season of Fire, Yuriko was anything but free. Her commercial had aired early and it garnered quite a bit more fame than she expected. It came to a point when she actually gathered enough Quintessence by the end of the week to produce a single drop of Ambrosia. Since she still didn’t have a container to hold the thing, it was her true body who took it. They were up to two drops now, and ninety-eight to go before she could initiate her handmaidens to become Ancients. Though only Ryoko would be eligible to become a handmaiden since Saki would need to be a Squire for the awakening to work. Both of them were hesitant, however, considering how Yuriko’s Radiance interacted with Saki’s Shadow. But it was a matter to consider when they actually had the means to do something. 

The Moonsday after the exams found Yuriko hanging out in Pixel Fairy’s HQ in Winderfield that morning. She had informed Nessa’s owner that she would no longer be able to commit to running her dog in the mornings since it was likely that she’d have to move her residence. Her name was easily found on Mira-hi’s website, and from there, it was actually one search button away, using Reacher or FindIt, two search engines that were competing in the Network, to find out that Lilibeth Lawson was enrolled in Trinity University. 

It also linked her photos in Xixiao, an online photo bulletin board populated by thirsty men and women, to her name, even with the slight differences in her stature at those points. Actually, perhaps it was those photos of her in modelling art class that tipped people off to where she studied and lived. Who knew, huh? 

Anyway, she was in Pixel Fairy since the brass asked for her presence, but in typical corporate behaviour, the meeting got pushed back a couple of hours due to some delay or other. So she was in the lounge area with a few of the other talents, watching a rerun of a weird dating reality show called Love Blooms in Strange Places, or Luvbloom, as Marina Burke, the model she met in her first commercial shoot, called it. The blue-eyed, black-haired woman had grabbed Yuriko’s arm and hadn’t let go the entire time they watched the show. 

It was interesting enough, but Yuriko only paid attention when there was something funny going on, and spent the rest of the time meditating. 

Finally, after a couple of episodes, the receptionist called for Yuriko, and said, “The conference room is open for you now.” 

“Who am I meeting?” Yuriko asked. 

“Your handler, the Pixel’s CEO, and a rep from Mira-hi,” came the easy response. 

“Oh.” Yuriko hummed as she wondered what they wanted from her. She also had another appointment in the afternoon, but since it was also in Winderfield, she didn’t mind coming over to the HQ while technically in her off week. 

When she entered the conference room, she was greeted with wide grins, and avaricious gazes that made her skin crawl. 

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep