Chapter 78: The Three Musketeers.
While Yume, Luna, and Iris were planning the rescue operation for Noah, he woke up in another locked room.
The situation felt far too familiar, almost like déjà vu.
The room contained a bed, a table, and a single chair.
He checked the door and found it locked, so with little else he could do, Noah sat down.
"I can’t believe this happened again."
Suddenly, from the other side of the door, he heard the voices of several girls.
"I found him first."
Nozomi said, to which Aoi responded.
"But you needed our help."
"That doesn’t change the fact that he’s mine."
Rina let out a laugh.
"Relax, girls, we can divide the time."
Noah approached the door and asked them.
"Divide what time?"
The three fell silent when they heard him, and after a few seconds Aoi answered.
"The time each of us will spend with you."
"I didn’t agree to any of that!"
Nozomi gently knocked on the door.
"Relax, my love, you’ll get used to it with time."
"I said I don’t want to!"
"You could spend the nights with me."
Aoi intervened.
"That’s not fair, I want to spend the night with him too."
Rina spoke.
"We can set up shifts."
Noah stepped away from the door.
’I need to escape before those crazy girls finish that conversation.’
He searched for another exit from the room and saw there were no windows, so the only way out was the door. He tried to activate his barrier against the door, but the space was covered by an energy that weakened his abilities.
Meanwhile, outside, the discussion continued.
"Four days with me."
Nozomi said.
"Two for each of us would be best."
Aoi responded.
"I want weekends too."
Rina added.
Before they could reach an agreement, an explosion interrupted the conversation.
The building shook, so Noah lifted his head and heard another explosion followed by Yume’s voice.
"Give me back Noah!"
Luna spoke from a nearby point.
"Surrender now."
Nozomi let out a sound of frustration.
"They always show up to ruin my destiny with my love."
Iris spoke next.
"That happens because you leave an obvious trail every time you run."
Noah smiled.
’Good thing they came together.’
The battle began and Aoi attacked first with her blades, but Luna raised a barrier and deflected both strikes.
"Now."
Luna said, and Iris created two crystal walls that sealed the sides while Yume fired a sphere between the structures.
Aoi was forced to retreat, so Rina tried to place seals on the floor, but Iris raised small platforms beneath Yume and Luna.
"The floor is marked, so don’t touch it."
Yume jumped onto one of the platforms, as did Luna.
Rina looked up incredulously.
"You can’t stay in the air forever."
Iris moved her fingers and the platforms shifted positions.
"We can’t, but..."
Several crystal spikes destroyed the seals while Luna launched a barrier toward Rina and pinned her against a wall.
Yume attacked the door of the room, but Nozomi appeared in front of it.
"You won’t touch it. He’s mine."
Yume gathered more energy.
"You alone can’t stop the three of us."
Nozomi tried to teleport, but Iris had raised a net of crystals around the hallway, so every possible arrival point was blocked.
Nozomi appeared a few meters away and crashed into a wall, so Luna created a second barrier behind her.
"You’re out of routes."
Yume smiled.
"And out of allies."
Aoi tried to help her, but Iris raised a labyrinth of walls between them.
Rina broke the barrier holding her and activated several seals, but Luna protected the group.
Yume took the opportunity to launch a direct attack against the door and the structure shattered from the impact.
Noah covered his face from the fragments and, when he lowered his arms, he saw Yume in front of him.
"Noah!"
She ran and hugged him.
"Easy, I’m fine."
Luna entered afterward and quickly checked his body.
"He doesn’t seem injured."
Iris appeared behind them.
"We need to get out. The structures won’t hold much longer."
Nozomi broke one of the crystal walls with an expression far more agitated than before.
"Noah!"
He looked at her.
"I’m not staying with you."
"No matter what you say, I’ll come back for you."
Yume positioned herself in front of him.
"I won’t let you get near him."
Nozomi smiled.
"You can protect him today."
She looked at Luna.
"You can watch over him too."
Then she observed Iris.
"And you can block every path."
Her eyes returned to Noah.
"But I’ll find another opportunity."
Aoi opened a dark rift in space and Rina launched several explosive seals to cover their retreat.
Luna raised a barrier and, when the smoke cleared, the three villains had already fled.
Yume was still hugging Noah and Luna stayed very close while Iris observed the destroyed hallway.
Noah looked at her.
"You worked together."
Iris crossed her arms.
"It was the most efficient option."
"Does that mean you’ll join?"
Iris remained silent and Yume pulled back slightly from Noah.
"You helped us rescue him."
Luna spoke.
"And we followed a joint strategy."
Iris looked at both of them, then observed Noah and remembered how they had all let him get kidnapped due to their mistakes. But she thought that by working together, they had managed to control the three villains without repeating the same failures.
"I’ll join the group..."
Yume smiled.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Luna nodded.
"Good."
Iris raised a finger.
"But we’ll establish roles before every fight."
"Agreed."
Luna responded.
"And no one will ignore the signals."
Yume looked away.
"I’ll try."
"That’s not enough."
"I will."
Iris looked back at Noah.
"You also need to stop being left unprotected."
Noah sighed.
"Everyone tells me the same thing."
"Because they keep trying to kidnap you."
Noah couldn’t argue with that.
Suddenly his phone vibrated.
The Golden Clover app showed a new notification.
[IRIS VALENTINE RECRUITMENT MISSION.]
[SECOND STAGE COMPLETED.]
[TEAM INTEGRATION CONFIRMED.]
Noah put away his phone.
The third magical girl had officially joined and, for the first time, Yume, Luna, and Iris had fought as a true team.