The Sekirei’s Covenant

Southern Italy, Sardinia.

Boom! Boom boom!! Boom boom boom!!!

The entire sky was gloomy, with a fine drizzle falling. Thunderous roars erupted intermittently, shaking the whole island.

If anyone else were here, they would be terrified by the scene!

A towering giant tens of meters tall, with a burly figure, and a warrior floating in the air wielding a golden sword were fiercely battling on this small island!

The giant held a huge bat-like weapon. Each swing caused powerful shockwaves that uprooted even thick old trees and sent them flying. The sheer force was terrifying to imagine!

Yet, despite this, the golden sword-wielding warrior fought the giant on equal footing, neither gaining the upper hand! Every clash of sword and bat echoed like thunder, shaking the earth!

Moreover, the warrior and giant summoned hurricanes and lightning respectively, with wind blades flying and lightning flashing wildly. The scene was extremely exaggerated, clearly not a fight between mortals.

Yes, they were not mortals — they were gods, rebellious deities who descended upon the earth beyond "myth"!

Boom!!!

With another collision, the golden sword warrior was shattered into pieces by the giant. One piece turned into a golden phoenix flying into the clouds, another into a giant goat trailing storms and lightning as it ran into the distance, another into a massive wild boar charging on the ground, and another piece…

The giant's bat also shattered in the clash. The giant crouched heavily, gasping for breath, looking gravely injured, and finally vanished into the sky as a streak of lightning.

The battle between the warrior and giant was over, but the land was still far from peaceful…

…

After resting at home for a couple of days, the new semester finally began. Sora officially entered the first year of high school at Jounan Academy.

"Ha… it's you again, huh!"

In the morning, as usual, Sora came to school with Shizuka and Asuka. Entering his classroom, he looked at a muscular guy sitting behind him and covered his forehead in disbelief.

"Kusanagi Sora, didn't expect me, huh? Hahaha… I won't disappear before defeating you!"

"Ha, for the next three years, keep accepting my challenge. This time I'll trample you underfoot, and all the little sisters will come back to me! Ahahaha…"

Well, this musclehead laughing wildly was none other than Takagi.

Bang!!!

Not wanting to waste time with this troublesome guy, Sora punched him directly. If it were someone else, he might hesitate, but with this guy, he had no psychological pressure at all.

"Uh, I've gotten a lot stronger recently. Did I hit too hard just now?"

Looking at Takagi foaming at the mouth and seeing stars on the ground, Sora twitched his mouth in disbelief.

"Well, he won't die anyway, whatever!"

Dropping a cold-blooded, heartless, and carefree remark, Sora calmly sat down at his desk, unfazed by the stunned expressions of the other guys, and began his grand mission of sleeping for the day…

It wasn't long before the class bell rang. Although he had a new batch of teachers after entering the high school division, Sora was already a super celebrity at school. The teachers didn't scold him; instead, they told the students to learn well from Sora.

One by one, the guys looked at the one who was sleeping soundly, seemingly dreaming sweet dreams, with great resentment. They all felt a little hurt in their hearts…

…

"By the way, Sora, I want to ask you to deliver something an old friend left with me many years ago to her."

"Hmm, she lives on Sardinia, at the southern tip of Italy. If you think it's too far or troublesome, I'll go myself."

Drinking his little wine, Ichirou suddenly seemed to remember something and patted his forehead as he said to Sora.

"Hmph, Grandpa, seriously, Oniichan still has school. If it's that far, you go yourself! Besides, mail is so convenient now, why not just send it directly?"

Before Sora could say anything, Shizuka-chan beside him was already unhappy. Oniichan didn't accompany her during summer vacation, and if he suddenly left now, she wouldn't see him for many days again. No way!

"Well, I don't really mind. School is boring all day anyway, just sleeping and sleeping."

"What exactly is it? Like Shizuka said, why not just mail it directly?"

Shrugging, Sora answered indifferently. But he was still a bit curious about what Ichirou mentioned.

"Oh, that thing is a bit special. It's best to deliver it personally to be sure."

"Hmm, where did I put it… Oh, found it, right here!"

Standing up, Kusanagi Ichirou rummaged through a cabinet nearby. Finally, he pulled out a slab of stone about the size of B5 paper and handed it to Sora.

It was a rectangular stone slab about B5 size, with very childish drawings on it. It seemed to depict a man locked up with his hands and feet bound. Around the edges were patterns of birds with spread wings, the sun, the moon, and stars.

The whole slab was heavily worn, with black scorch marks as if it had been burned.

"Hey, old man, is this how you keep your friend's stuff?"

"Huh? There's actually a magical aura. It seems something is sealed inside."

Taking the very worn stone slab, Sora showed a speechless expression. But the moment his hand touched the slab, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed:

"Can you feel it? Well, whatever, there should be something sealed inside."

Seeing Sora realize something was sealed inside, Ichirou's eyes flickered with a strange light, and he nodded.

Shizuka-chan pouted silently beside them. Although she didn't understand the magic seal her grandpa and Oniichan talked about, she had already seen too many incredible things from her older brother and was used to it, feeling only mild interest.

"Hehe… sounds pretty interesting. How about I cut it open with my sword and take a look?"

With a sly smile, Sora weighed the stone slab in his hand and muttered.

"No!!!"

Ichirou was startled by Sora's words and quickly said:

"Kid, that's someone else's property. If you break it, I won't be able to explain. You decide whether to go or not."

Ichirou knew very well that Sora's sword could cut through anything like slicing mud. If he accidentally cut open the slab and released whatever was inside, they would be in big trouble!

"Tch, just saying. You look so nervous."

"Alright, alright, school is boring anyway. A trip to Italy sounds nice."

Throwing the slab onto a cabinet, Sora ate his food while answering.

Seeing Sora agree, Ichirou nodded and said no more, continuing to drink his wine.

At this moment, Sora didn't know that from the moment he agreed to escort that stone slab, his fate had already begun…