"What are you intending to do, Hina?" Yuuna asked, her voice sharp with urgency, eyes narrowing in worry.
Her expression was calm but resolute, as if she had already accepted the weight of what needed to be done.
"We need to perform the Love Link... to generate a massive surge of mana... enough to resurrect him," she said, her tone unwavering, her gaze locked on the broken form of Kouhei.
Perform the Love Link.
The words echoed like a whisper etched in their souls.
Love Link—a technique that was both sacred and intimate.
It wasn't just about power.
It was a fusion, a convergence of bodies, souls, and orgasmic release, where pleasure and mana intertwined into something transcendental.
A ritual so intense that it not only replenished mana but magnified it—amplified it—while restoring the participants' vitality with terrifying efficiency.
But there was one catch.
The ritual only worked through Kouhei.
The connection had to be with him, and the climax had to be shared.
They had to orgasm together to trigger the effect.
Yet the cruel irony was that Kouhei was no longer breathing.
There was no heartbeat. No warmth. Just the stillness of death on him.
And yet, paradoxically, the only way to bring him back… was by performing the very act that now seemed impossible.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Yuuna asked again, her voice catching slightly, the question heavier now that the reality was sinking in.
Hina didn't respond immediately.
Her eyes drifted, slow and deliberate, toward Yui.
Yui stood at the edge of the ritual circle, still wearing that same smile.
That damn serene, eerie, unsettling smile that never seemed to leave her lips.
"Himeno Yui managed to Love Link with Kouhei," Hina said.
"Huh?" Yuuna's brows knit tightly. "W-Wait, how was that even possible?"
It didn't make sense.
Yui shouldn't have been able to initiate a Love Link—not when Kouhei was already dead.
There was no vessel. No physical bond. No heartbeat to sync with.
But Yui, ever so composed, tilted her head and spoke with a smug, almost mocking tone.
"Okumura-senpai really does seem to enjoy basking his penis around my feet," she said, her lips curling up with teasing delight. "Well, even though it only happened in the subconscious realm, I'm still tethered to this world. So, Love Linking—or whatever you want to call it—is possible through that connection."
Yuuna's mouth opened slightly, but the words didn't come.
"When did that even happen...? Did you know this all along, Hina?"
Hina's voice was calm but held a certain underlying intensity. "Her mana spiked suddenly. That kind of boost—filling yourself with that much mana instantly—it's impossible under normal conditions. But she did it. Just like that," she said, her eyes narrowing. "The only explanation I could think of... is that she and Kouhei performed a Love Link—wherever his soul currently resides."
Yuuna stared at them both, her thoughts swirling.
The logic defied reason, but something deep inside told her not to fight it. Not now.
She didn't have the mental strength to untangle this web. Not when Kouhei's life was hanging in the balance.
"Then... can you do it again, Himeno-san?" she asked Yui, her tone softer, tinged with reluctant hope.
Even as she spoke, an unease twisted in her gut.
Yui, once their enemy—a fallen angel—was now the only one who could perform such a deeply intimate act with Kouhei.
Love Link wasn't just some magical handshake.
It demanded a sexual connection.
It required them to open their bodies and hearts, to synchronize their pleasure and surrender together.
It wasn't something Yuuna could easily accept.
But right now, they didn't have the luxury of pride or hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Yuuna," Hina interjected, her eyes cast downward at the ancient platform etched with glowing symbols. "Himeno Yui alone couldn't possibly do it. Her mana just isn't enough."
She gestured toward the ritual floor.
"We have to fill each of these sigils with mana… and one of them alone needs the equivalent of eight people's mana to activate."
Nine symbols. Seventy-two people's worth of mana.
It was overwhelming. Impossible, even.
"We don't have that many people," Hina said. "But we can still make it happen—using Love Link."
Yuuna looked at her again. "But how are we going to do that?"
It was the question that sat heavy in the air like a storm cloud.
His soul adrift, unreachable—except by one person.
The one person who could still feel his essence.
"You don't have to worry about that," Hina said. Her voice steadied, the tone one of quiet command. "I can connect our senses using Sensory Sharing."
That name sent a chill through Yuuna. She remembered it well.
Sensory Sharing—an ability that blurred the boundaries of pleasure and pain, of mind and body.
A power that let Hina link the physical sensations of one person and pass it on to others.
It wasn't just an illusion—it was real.
She had used it before.
Once—during a night where Hina, Nagisa, and Kouhei had sex together. All at once.
Every orgasm, every pulse of pleasure that raced through one of them, was felt by the others as if it was their own.
Even Kouhei's orgasm reverberated through them in waves.
That was what Hina planned now.
She would connect all of them to Yui—every flicker of heat, every moan as well as every climax—while Yui Love Linked with Kouhei in the other realm.
Even if Yui was the only one touching him, the rest would feel it. Experience it. As if it were their own bodies receiving his touch.
But there was one limitation.
Hina could only connect herself to one person at a time.
A strain that risked shattering her limits.
Still… she would try.
"All of you," Hina said, lifting her head and facing the others with fierce determination. "Come here. Gather around me."
Her voice didn't shake.
Her hand extended, trembling only slightly from the pressure of what they were about to do.
"We'll use all our strength… and aim for a connective Love Link. With the mana we generate together—we'll pour it all into the platform and bring Kouhei back."