[Part 3/4]
Still, she didn't drop the dagger (tantō). She glared at 'Mayoiga' with determination, gazing at them desperation.
'You've avoided it, huh? Do you still intend to resist? You're a foolish girl, even when I'm holding back!!'
On the other hand, 'Mayoiga' looked at Tamaki with exasperation. Even though there was no chance of winning, she still wouldn't give up. Did she understand that they were holding back? If they intended to kill her, they would have spewed flas instead of steam earlier... Despite hearing those words, Tamaki's hostility didn't waver. On the contrary, she was offended by the insult.
"Don't ss with !! Holding back, you say!? Don't underestimate ...!!"
'...Hmph, you leave no choice. I suppose I'll have to teach you the pain of understanding your position.'
They shrugged as if they had no choice and intensified the flas around them. They enlarged their appearance by about two sizes, and the heat emitted from them beca even more intense, as if boiling.
"Ugh...!!?"
Intense heat hit her body, and beads of sweat gushed from Tamaki's forehead. While suppressing her fear of the erging pain, she directed the blade of the dagger (tantō) towards the enemy with a determined expression. 'Mayoiga' sneered at her. It was truly a valiant effort, but also a aningless one. This girl still hasn't realized the mistake of her actions. Just facing each other like this is already a blunder in itself...
'Ngh!?'
The foolishness of the girl made 'Mayoiga' smirk with contempt, but imdiately afterwards, they sensed sothing amiss and their fiery form distorted in surprise. Sothing fell at high speed, blocking the space between Tamaki and 'Mayoiga'. No, it wasn't just falling; it was more like a collision, an impact, a crash landing. With a deafening roar, the ground was torn open, collapsing and sending dust swirling around. The dismbered and bloodied corpse of the weasel youkai that had been crushed and pulverized lay before them.
'Gghh... this is troubleso. Even with partial transformation, you seem stronger than before.'
While spitting blood, the weasel youkai asked a question, only to receive a punch in response. The servant rushed in from above at a speed even greater than before, colliding with a force that left sound trailing in its wake. The impact created a deafening explosion, and it wasn't just building materials and dust that were blown away. The shattered, or rather, dispersed remains of the weasel's flesh were spectacularly scattered around the surroundings.
In the center of the collision site, the servant, who had partially deviated from their human form, gasped for breath, blood dripping from the nurous cuts.
'Ggh... huff, huff, not a complete kill! But finally got you... Gah!!?"
"Tomobe-kun...!!?"
Struggling to suppress his youkai instincts, the servant tried to berate the crushed monster, but he was imdiately struck in the abdon and sent flying. There was no need to ask who the attacker was. It was a blow from the fiery, scorching arm of a youkai, condensed into a powerful force. The servant spun comically and was repeatedly slamd into the floor, bouncing back up each ti. The sound of the air being sliced was so intense that he crashed into the earthen wall with a horrifying bone-breaking sound, prompting Tamaki to scream in terror.
“No way...!!? Kuh...!!"
The girl exorcist tries to run to her benefactor, but is unable to ignore the approaching 'Mayoiga,' who had cleared the obstruction and was slowly advancing. The girl wielded her dagger (tantō) despite the burnt arm, showing her determination to resist. Summoning her courage, she took a step forward, preparing to charge into the inferno.
'Hmph!!'
But in an instant, Tamaki's body was ensnared by nurous vines that had shot up from the ground. She heard growls and, when she looked around, she saw several other dium youkai and great youkai approaching her, closing in step by step.
"What!?"
'Don't you get it? You foolish girl! Do you think I, the great 'Mayoiga,' would risk danger for the likes of you?'
Mayoiga arrogantly proclaid, staring down the human girl. Yes, indeed, this confrontation was Tamaki's mistake from the beginning.
From 'Mayoiga's' perspective, they didn't intend to be exposed to danger by directly appearing after having their escape route destroyed. They had called in additional subordinates from the surroundings, and with their arrival, there was no need for them to stay any longer in this perilous situation.
'Kakkakkak! There's no point in resisting. If you had known would escape like this, you should have finished off!"
'Mayoiga' laughed heartily, confident that the additional youkai would handle Tamaki. They then began to retreat to a safer room, paying no attention to Tamaki's curses. The fiery entity, wrapped in a fierce blaze, ignored Tamaki's almost-cursed scream and distanced themselves from the scene. Their mind was preoccupied with the task of dealing with the dead weasel, who had been a valuable bargaining chip. It was a sha that the contact person had died. Well, they would have to figure out what to do next... but how?
'Nunun!? What is this...!!?'
"Haa... haa... haa, I've got the coordinates now. Co, 'Houzan Jakuryuu (Mud Dragon)'!"
'Mayoiga,' lost in their thoughts, suddenly reacted to an anomaly within their body. Just then, a man's murmurs echoed, and at the sa ti, the 'Mayoiga'-controlled subordinates trying to capture Tamaki scread as the floor beneath them collapsed.
'Roarrrr!!!'
An imperfect dragon made of building materials, soil, and youkai flesh erged from the ground. The simple curse-tool servant had been stalling earlier, and now it had evolved into a dragon-like entity, incorporating everything that made up the "outer shell" of 'Mayoiga,' breaking through the spatial boundary to infiltrate their hiding place.
'Ggghhh...!? You...!?'
"Cough, cough. Haha, the ending is still a little premature. Aren't you a filthy fire demon?"
Covered in blood, the servant with burning rage in their eyes spoke while coughing up a mixture of blood and phlegm.
* * *
Once upon a ti, a famous speedrunner attempted to clear the notoriously difficult "Firefly of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Hotaru)" Happy Ending route as a New Year's event. They had studied the runs of other speedrunners beforehand, practiced extensively to perfect their gaplay, and ticulously planned out their strategies. Their attempt garnered significant attention even before it began due to their fa as a speedrunner and the trendous determination they showed in the announcent. And so, the playthrough began on New Year's Eve... and it ended in failure.
Towards the end of the playthrough, the speedrunner made a critical mistake. Having played for twenty-six hours straight without even eating, they made an equipnt change error in the final monts. Exhausted and distracted by the flow of comnts, they failed to notice their error, resulting in a disastrous outco. Their attack power was supposed to be boosted by an advanced curse-tool, but instead, they equipped sothing completely unrelated.
At the start of the boss battle, the speedrunner let out a scream. After all the ti and effort they had put in, the pressure to complete the ga quickly, and the pride of not saving once for codic effect, it was an expected reaction. They fought desperately, but the ticulously crafted plan backfired. The HP was depleting rapidly due to unforeseen circumstances, and allies were falling one by one. The protagonist was on the brink of death, and it seed impossible to turn the situation around after defeating the enemy.
The path to destruction seed inevitable. In the story, if the protagonist were to be defeated, they would be feminized and impregnated, which combined with the speedrunner's desperate expression, created a flood of comnts filled with despair, excitent, and teasing.
Then, the protagonist took a critical hit. Their HP gauge plumted. It seed to be the end. Everyone thought so.
But a miracle happened.
The mistakenly equipped item had a "Defense 5" attribute. It was honestly considered trash equipnt. However, this item saved the protagonist's life by leaving them with literally just one unit of HP. The mont the speedrunner realized the situation, their reaction, and the excitent in the comnts, turned it into a legend on the video platform.
Since then, the equipnt that created the miracle has been revered in the community, and it was nad the 'Wooden Chick.'
"I never thought I'd experience the sa thing myself!!?"
As I pulled it out from my burnt and charred clothing, the 'Wooden Chick' was there, almost carbonized and shattered. Seriously, without this, I'd be dead.
Honestly, I was in serious danger. I had finally killed the weasel and let my guard down. Just as I released my youkai transformation to ease the strain on my body, the fla uppercut ca. Thankfully, the 'Wooden Chick' was in the perfect spot; otherwise, my organs would have ruptured. Well, in that mont, my youkai transformation might have saved , or it could have triggered a rampage. Maybe I would have run out of ti.
"Huff, huff... Anyway, I won't let you escape!!"
'Roar!!?'
As I issued the command, the dragon made of debris and the majority of the surrounding youkai rushed towards 'Mayoiga's' inferno. While they were entangled, I quickly unleashed one of the talismans I received from Gorilla-sama. It was a spare pill. I swallowed the foul-tasting pill and, at the sa ti, stimulated the Youbo (youkai mother) blood within to slightly heal my wounds and burns.
...It was forced regeneration, so the potential strain on my body, especially my heart, was probably imnse. But at this point, I couldn't afford to be picky. I had to focus on the present.
"Go!! 'Houzan Jakuryuu'!! You too, stupid spider, do it...!!"
'(*´,_ゝ｀)I'm on it!!'
The temporary dragon that had slaughtered most of the youkai swarming around Tamaki now turned its target towards 'Mayoiga's' inferno, following my command. I warned the spider-like creature clinging to my neck about the final sprint. Even with the pill from earlier and the partial youkai transformation, I only had thirty seconds at most. In the last monts, I would have to give it my all. There was no other choice...!!
"And so, you all better bear with this!!"
Before charging towards 'Mayoiga,' I swiftly delivered a roundhouse kick to the small youkai beast that was ambushing from behind. An ambush from behind was a basic youkai tactic, and it was a common sense written in ancient texts. I reinforced my joints partially with spiritual energy, using centrifugal force to break its neck.
"You're a punchline!!"
'ψ(｀∇´)ψ Exciting!!'
I would return the favor by giving the second one, which erged from the first's shadow, a direct hit to the face. Its jaws were open, exposing its fangs, so I delivered an uppercut-like strike from the chin. And then, I kicked the small youkai towards 'Mayoiga,' who was spewing flas.
'Gya...'
"Whoa!!"
'(ﾟﾛﾟﾉ)ﾉ Ouch!?'
In an instant, the beastly youkai creature turned into ashes. Seizing that brief mont, I successfully evaded the flas' trajectory. I even managed to use the flas as cover and swiftly approach 'Mayoiga' from directly below.
'Nnnu!? Tch, tricky little...!'
"Go!! Knock it away!!"
'Roarrrrr!!'
'Vwoh!!?'
'Mayoiga,' who was late to notice my approach from the blind spot of their survival, attempted to sweep away with the continuous flas they spewed. However, in doing so, they created an opening. 'Houzan Jakuryuu,' charging in from the side, toppled and crushed it. Although ordinary flas would have slipped through, this dragon, constructed with compressed and condensed youkai energy, possessed mass. It was as if it had beco its foe.
'You... you insolent...!!?'
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