DxD: I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger, Now They Want My Number Chapter 190: [190] : Natsuki Minamiya

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It was over in an instant, without any suspense.

Honestly, it would've been stranger if Bokue Keikain hadn't ended the fight swiftly, given his overwhelming power.

In the silence that reclaid the basent of the Keystone Gate, Bokue cast a final glance down at the collapsed apostle—Rudolf. Lying flat on the ground, Rudolf seed to have finally achieved a peaceful, infant-like sleep, a stark contrast to the violence monts ago.

Shifting his attention, Bokue eyed the blue-haired girl sprawled unconscious behind him. Unlike Rudolf, who at least took one solid punch, the girl—Astarte—had no visible injuries at all.

A re shrug from Bokue had shattered the apostle's massive battle axe and simultaneously disrupted the monstrous familiar sustained by Astarte's life force.

It was like abruptly yanking the power cord from a computer mid-operation—the sudden shutdown had thrown her entire system into chaos, leaving her comatose.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Bokue muttered under his breath:

"Alright, now what to do with you…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold it right there! What do you an 'what to do with her'?"

Before he could finish, Asagi's sharp voice interrupted him.

She and Nagisa had only arrived at the last mont of the fight, cautiously waiting at the upper stairway entrance so as not to interfere. Seeing it was safe now, they carefully made their way down.

Hearing Bokue's ominous murmuring, Asagi quickly rushed forward and scooped the unconscious Astarte into her arms, shielding her protectively like a mother hen.

"Wait a second, Bokue—you weren't actually considering giving this little girl a punch too, were you?"

"Huh?"

Bokue stared, dumbfounded. Where exactly had this sudden surge of protective instinct co from?

To his astonishnt, even Nagisa chid in, joining the plea:

"Yeah, yeah! Big Brother, didn't you say yourself that Astarte is an artificially created being controlled by bad people? Since you've already defeated the bad guy controlling her, she shouldn't be treated as an enemy anymore, right? Right? Right?"

Ah, so that's what's going on.

Plainly put, the girls' compassion was kicking in, their hearts going out to a peer who'd been cruelly manipulated into becoming a weapon.

Shrugging slightly, Bokue addressed them:

"I get your feelings, but I'm afraid it's already too late—"

He paused, spreading his hands helplessly.

"She's already dying."

"…Huh?"

"Dying? But…why?"

"Because she's an artificial life form modeled closely after human physiology," Bokue patiently explained. "If we ignore the familiar she hosts, she's essentially just a normal human girl—perhaps even weaker due to emotional suppression."

He let the grim implication hang for a mont.

"Yet she casually controls an imnsely powerful familiar, as effortlessly as piloting a Gundam. Guess how she does it."

"You an…"

"Her…life force?"

"Exactly."

The cruelty of that revelation made both girls visibly pale, their eyes widening in horror.

Bokue pressed on, gentle but firm:

"Without a proper external energy source, she resorts to burning her own life force to keep that monstrous familiar active. Judging by her current state, even if we leave her be, she has about a week left at most."

"Oh no…!"

Nagisa gasped, hands clamped over her mouth in shock.

"B-but, wait! Didn't my familiar also go berserk at one point? I was fine, wasn't I? It's already been a whole year, and the worst that ever happened to was fainting occasionally—I never heard anything about losing lifespan!"

"Nagisa, your case is different."

Bokue patiently clarified:

"You inherited not just a familiar from the Fourth Primogenitor but also her imnse magic reserves. That latent power is already stored within you. Even though you can't consciously tap into it, your familiar feeds off it directly. Those fainting spells you experienced weren't from life force drain—they were caused by temporary magical instability as your familiar 'fed.'"

He sighed and illustrated further:

"Think of it like owning a dog. Nagisa, yours might have misbehaved occasionally but always had ample dog food, causing at worst minor inconveniences. But Astarte is soone who can't afford to feed her pet but insists on keeping it anyway. The result is exactly as you see—she's now literally being devoured from the inside out."

"Isn't there anything you can do then?"

Asagi was obviously troubled.

How could she not feel compassion? Astarte looked barely ten or eleven—just a child. Even artificial beings deserved a life of their own. Yet hers was about to end before it truly began.

"Hmm, well…technically, there is one way—"

Bokue admitted hesitantly, raising a finger that began glowing softly with golden spiritual energy.

It was similar to how Vali's Juggernaut Drive worked—supplying external spiritual energy to compensate for the life force depletion.

But that thod ca with complications of its own. He couldn't exactly hand out his power indiscriminately. The consequences were… significant, as seen with Kuroka, Shirone, Irina, Rias, Asagi, Nagisa, Mio, and Maria.

"Wait…are you sure about this…?"

Asagi instantly flushed, recognizing exactly what this 'Solution' entailed.

Yes, it was an effective solution—perhaps even the only one available—but Astarte was so young…could this really be okay?

"Excuse …Bokue-senpai, what exactly are you talking about?"

Hearing this strange exchange, Yukina finally spoke up, sensing sothing clearly off.

Was he seriously considering sparing an enemy?

"But Yukina-chan, don't you think Astarte-chan is incredibly pitiful?"

Nagisa gently tugged Yukina's sleeve, her voice pleading:

"She was created as an artificial life form, exploited as a killing machine by fanatics, and now she's dying due to her familiar. I just want Big Brother to save her—don't you agree?"

"I…"

Yukina hesitated.

From an emotional standpoint, of course she'd want to help.

After all, Astarte herself hadn't willingly committed evil. But rationally speaking, even if she approved, the Anti-Demon Bureau wouldn't just let this slide.

As Yukina hesitated, the quiet air suddenly rippled with an unmistakable distortion of spatial magic.

Chains glowing with violet magic suddenly materialized, swiftly arranging themselves into a teleportation magic circle midair. In the next mont, a petite figure descended gracefully—dressed impeccably in a gothic purple-black dress, a lace parasol perched elegantly on her shoulder.

Her voice, authoritative yet delicate, rang out clearly:

"Nobody move. Unauthorized entry here is a serious cri."

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