Now it’s my turn!
“Let’s go, I’ll play with you, old man!”
Using the Breakthrough, I moved at full speed with my footwork. Cut. Step. Switchbacks.
“【Great Demon Crossover Step】”
This footwork that caused an Ankle Break to my father and mother, Granpa Mikado will experience……
“【 Mutou(No Sword)…… ikyou Shisui(Clear Mirror Still Water)】……”
He’s not moving? Or rather, he’s not even tracking with his eyes?
He just stood there, still as a water surface without a single ripple.
If he isn’t tracking with his eyes, feints are useless.
I an, I’m sure Koujiro also did sothing like this in the past……
“Big brother, just like Koujiro, Uncle Mikado can sense his opponent’s presence! He won’t fall for reckless feints!”
Even when I tried to move around outside of Granpa Mikado’s range to confuse him, he didn’t flinch.
As Espie just said, it seed that Granpa Mikado could also take on this defensive stance.
Then……
“Then I’ll strike so fast he can’t react! 【Great Demon Goosestep】!”
With a sudden acceleration, I stepped right inside Granpa Mikado’s gap.
From here, I unleashed the shortest left—
“【 Mutou-ryu(No Sword Style), Ni Yubi Ankoku Tsuki(Two-Finger Dark Thrust)】”
“Huh!?”
Granpa Mikado, who hadn’t moved a muscle, suddenly launched a left eye-gouging attack.
This was a kind of finger jab.
No, more than that, I couldn’t discern the initial movent from his shoulder, elbow, or muscle shifts.
“That was close!”
If I hadn’t instinctively pulled back half a step, it would’ve been a direct hit. At the last mont, I managed a sudden stop, grazing the corner of my eye while evading.
Without pausing, I stepped in again, timing the withdrawal of Granpa Mikado’s jab, and unleashed a right straight.
A counter targeting the opponent’s retreating fist.
――【Great Demon Phantom Punch】!
An invisible punch launched from a blind spot in the opponent’s thoughts and vision.
There was no way to avoid this. Granpa Mikado’s face.
“【 Mutou-ryu(No Sword Style), Noren(Curtain)】”
“Huh!?”
My punch hit Granpa Mikado right in the face…… but I felt no impact, no sensation whatsoever.
Granpa Mikado’s body felt light and limp, as if I had hit a feather. He dodged my counter with a twist of his neck, just like my Slip Away technique.
An invisible punch. He couldn’t have predicted it coming, yet the instant it connected, he parried it.
“【 Mutou-ryu(No Sword Style), Isshi Bukkotsu(Single Finger Buddha Bone)】”
But this was no ti to be surprised. Right after he dodged my punch, Granpa Mikado thrust out the thumb of his right hand toward .
An eye poke? The face? No. The throat!?
“【Great Demon Sway】!”
I evaded the attack aid right at my Adam’s apple by arching my upper body.
Furthermore, with his arms outstretched, Granpa Mikado’s face was defenseless.
Even though I was in a slightly awkward position with my upper body arched backwards, I twisted my body and forced out an uppercut, striking upward from below.
“【Great Demon Smash】!!”
“【 Mutou Kai(No Sword Mass)】”
The next mont, Granpa Mikado tensed his entire body, transforming into a steel-like physique.
It was the defense that had withstood all of Slayer’s earlier blade attacks from underground without a scratch――――that was……
“SO WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MATTERRRRRRR!!!!”
With all my might, I smashed a punch right into his face.
I felt a hardness that could crush a fist… but that doesn’t an my fist is so weak that it would break from it.
Who the hell do you think I’ve been fighting up until now?
“GOT HIIIIIIM!! …Guh…~…… what incredible hardness for an old geezer…… But compared to Mr. Machoi or Gouda’s toughness, this is nothing!”
With the impact, Granpa Mikado’s body was sent flying into the air.
I smashed the old man’s face with everything I had, but I couldn’t afford to care about that now.
Granpa Mikado was sent flying with a loud punch, but he still spun gracefully mid-air before landing on the ground.
“…Silence them…”
He was completely unhard, didn’t seem particularly bothered.
Even though I hit him that hard, he only had a small bruise on his cheek.
But still……
“Big brother! O, oooohh… puhah… I was so srized that I missed my chance to jump in!”
“Whoa…… such a breathtaking exchange. To think you landed the first hit against that Mikado…… As expected of you, Brother!”
Yes, in the close combat exchange of fists and hand chops, I was the one who landed the first blow.
. I landed the first blow against that legendary Mikado.
Moreover, in this exchange, there was no support from Espie or Slayer, and above all, no instructions from Tre’ainar.
Yes, it was all ……
“Turns out I’m not half bad, huh?”
“Silence them……”
“That’s why……”
Even in the heat of battle, I felt sothing akin to a sense of accomplishnt.
That’s precisely why I couldn’t help myself.
“That’s why…… when you’re in your right mind…… I want you to be more surprised…… sohow, this cuts the joy in half.”
If Granpa Mikado were conscious now, how would he react?
It’s a sha he can’t, and it makes feel frustrated.
“…… No, no, aren’t you being greedy, Onii-san? You broke through Mikado Ji-san’s ‘Clear Mirror, Still Water’ stance, and even sent his hardened body flying…… No, wait, isn’t that just insane? Honestly, you’re on the level of one of the Seven Heroes…… I an, you even defeated Gouda of the Six Supremacy by yourself… Doesn’t that an Onii-san is already in that realm? Seriously……”
“【ga Thunderbolt】. 【ga Fire】. 【ga Wind Cutter】.”
“Whoa there! I’ll at least provide solid support to make sure they don’t get buffed…… I an, co on! You’re watching the son of your comrade perform such incredible feats… You should be more impressed!”
But even so, there were others besides the one fighting who were reacting for him.
“He’s trading blows with Mikado-sama himself! So, Kesu-senpai and Ashisotu-senpai, what do you think? My honey!”
“Fufu… Are you watching, Aonii? The human child you entrusted and Aka to… he’s beco a monstrous man, hasn’t he?”
Even though everyone else was in the thick of a fight they couldn’t pull away from, so were watching.
So, for now, I have to be satisfied with this.
“Hehehe, you’re amazing, Big brother…… I’d actually love to see more of Big brother’s cool side from a special seat… but it’s not the right ti to be so carefree……”
“Yeah. The three of us… let’s finish this in one go.”
For now, as Espie and Slayer said, dealing with this situation cos first.
“Big brother, from here on…… it’s going to get even more intense. Uncle Mikado…… if he fights without holding back, he’s way beyond this level.”
“From here on, we’ll have to step it up a notch…”
It’s true that Granpa Mikado is strong, so this might not be all he’s got.
But with the three of us together, we’ll definitely――――
“Hey, that brat, taking on the legendary Mikado all by himself…”
“D, don’t be scared! We have an overwhelming numbers advantage!”
“Yeah. Most of them are won and children! If we let them run wild, it’ll bring sha ta the proud na of the Ogres!”
“Yeah! They’re completely ignoring us! We’ll crush them with our own power!”
But then it happened.
“That’s right, Mikado! Ya too, fight with all ya might!!”
“――――Your will―――― “
It might have just been a shout ant to pump themselves up, but that ogre’s words were the trigger, and Granpa Mikado’s body began to boil, smoking and hot as smoke rose from his entire body……
“Ah… here it cos……”
Espie chuckled a little.
And……
“…… Huh?”
The wrinkles on Granpa Mikado’s frail body began to vanish… his body, limbs, which were as thin as dead branches, were gradually……
『Fuh…… tis beyond ‘whether a demon or a snake appears’…… sothing far more nostalgic has erged…… if Hakuki is the epito of demons in the Demon Realm…… then this is the pri of the Oni-human—a being feared more than Ogres despite being human』.” 1[SM1]
Only Tre’ainar narrowed his eyes, wearing an expression tinged with nostalgia.
[SM1]Here Tre’ainar says 鬼が出るか蛇が出る (oni ga deru ka hebi ga deru): A Japanese proverb aning “who knows what will happen” (lit. “will a demon or a snake appear?”).
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Forbidden Master – Part 7/Chapter 31115th Nov 2023In "Forbidden Master"
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