Turning the clock back to the moment Maia left her car to fend off the Shuuki that had tried to attack the cyclist, she continued flying while riding atop the giant hand she had created using her Peach Ability for the past hour.
Turning her stare toward the flying pirate ship, she sighed and shook her head. Before she could ascend any higher, she slowly began to descend.
Her plan to raid the ship and get a grasp of what was happening had been at the forefront of her mind since earlier. Yet, after considering the possible outcomes, she stopped herself from proceeding. The last thing she wanted was to make the situation worse by attacking the vessel alone while remaining completely ignorant of the possible consequences.
Things could go from bad to worse, and she hoped they would never reach the worst-case scenario.
"I just want to fucking enjoy my goddamn day off!"
In a rare outburst that stood in stark contrast to her usual stoic demeanor, Maia's anger toward the enemies and her frustration with the situation reached their peak. Besides giving her a headache, they had already ruined her day, and the happiness she had felt during her Doujin Drift shopping spree was never going to return, no matter how much she tried to force it.
Jumping off her ride after descending near the ground, she saw a group of Shuuki wandering about, with no civilians in sight for her to worry about.
Cracking her middle finger, her glasses glinted ominously as all of them took notice of her.
"You thought you could just have your fun without facing the consequences of ruining my day?"
She flashed a demonic smile, her teeth fully bared.
"Usually, I'm indifferent to killing you useless fuckers, but you really lucked out by actually making me mad."
A giant hand formed behind her as the ground trembled, and the surrounding debris from the attack gathered together, making it larger and larger.
Controlling the giant hand she had created, Maia raised her arm upward and slammed it down. Mirroring her movements, the massive hand crashed down and flattened the Shuuki before they could even make a sound, crushing them like pancakes.
Not just once, Maia slammed it down repeatedly.
—Thud
Again.
—Thud
And again.
—Thud
The newly arrived Shuuki suffered the same fate as those that had come before them.
As a matter of fact, they received even worse treatment. Maia caught them in the giant hand's grasp and subjected them to a slow, gruesome death, crushing them like insects.
Acting like a child who had her toys taken away, she flew from one place to another and did the same thing repeatedly, making the Special Force members and police officers who witnessed her actions flinch at the sheer brutality she inflicted on anything that was remotely non-human in appearance.
"Heheheheheh."
Maia laughed emptily as she raised her arms and made a choking motion at nothing.
Following that action, a Shuuki suddenly felt its neck being seized by an unseen force, as though an invisible hand had taken it into its grasp with merciless intent.
A woman from the Special Force felt chills run down her spine upon seeing Maia's empty smile and her cold, demonic eyes.
'She is on our side, right?'
She asked herself wryly before shaking her head.
Letting the Vice Chief of the Mato Defense Force do her thing against the enemies swarming them, they simply kept quiet and allowed Maia to take the lead in the battle.
********
Gradually regaining her ability to think as her body emerged from its autopilot state, Maia's ears picked up the sound of drums being struck. More specifically, the sound was coming from the sky.
"Do any of you have any answers?"
Not wanting to remain in the dark, Maia asked a nearby policewoman. The poor woman nearly dropped her radio when she was startled by Maia's voice, only sighing in relief after managing to catch her communication device.
Stuttering slightly, the woman coughed once before replying.
"The other areas that have those pirate ships in sight reported that those drums are coming from them!"
Continuing her report, she also mentioned that the JSDF had already arrived some time earlier.
As they continued their operations of fending off the Shuuki since the first drumbeat, it was when the second wave of drums echoed across the battlefield that communications were cut off for a short while.
Worried about what might have happened, they waited anxiously until a voice finally broke through—
[M...as...ked... enem...ies...]
"What do you mean? Please elaborate!"
The policewoman raised her voice in concern. Despite the choppy transmission, the sounds of a fierce battle could be heard in the background.
[Thun...der... Gods... They... Shit... KILL... THAT... PIGEON!]
That was when the transmission finally died, leaving behind nothing but static.
Hearing a familiar term from the fragmented message alone, Maia felt her migraine slowly worsening.
'What are these masked people now?'
Annoyed that she could not obtain any useful information beyond the mention of their most sought-after enemies in Mato and these mysterious masked individuals from the ships, Maia knew that staying here would not provide any answers to that vague call.
"Where is that?"
Now speaking calmly after having cooled down, Maia directed her question toward the policewoman.
Receiving assistance from the Special Force as well, they handed her a GPS containing the exact coordinates from where the radio transmission had originated.
If even the presence of the JSDF was not helping much, she had a bad feeling about these masked individuals.
"I hope my mother and everybody else is coming here."
Adjusting her glasses, Maia's expression turned serious as she tightened her grip on the GPS in her hand.
********
Back in the present—
Maia found herself locked in a tense staredown with Hawk.
'This is creeping me out.'
She honestly admitted the thought to herself.
Recognizing the face of the furious woman staring down at her from the sky, Maia immediately identified her as one of the most wanted criminals who had managed to evade capture time and time again.
"That face... you're with the former Supreme Commander and her daughter."
Likewise, Hawk recognized Maia at a glance.
Not wanting to waste even a single word on someone she considered a disgusting human being after remembering the atrocities Hawk had committed and how the Defense Force had buried those crimes for the greater good, Maia simply looked back at her with an indifferent expression.
Frowning, Hawk gritted her face
"That pretty face, I really wanna tear that apart"
Not minding the threat thrown at her, Maia simply smirked confidentally seeing her form, a bird and human mix
"Try me, you half cooked half brained Pigeon"
Hawk opened her wings, not retorting back and letting their body do the talking
Descending like flashing streak, she flied towards Maia with the full intent to slice her
Summoning two giant hands from the metal and concrete surrounding her, Maia used them as a protective barrier to block Hawk's attacks. Unable to break through the defense, Hawk repeatedly flew around and launched attack after attack. Whenever one of the hands became damaged, Maia simply created more to replace it.
The clash quickly became a stalemate between pure offense and pure defense, something that only served to further irritate Hawk.
"For all the shit you said, you sure are acting like a cowardly turtle."
She mocked Maia.
Hearing the insult, Maia simply let it pass through one ear and out the other.
When the right opportunity presented itself, her eyes sharpened. Opening a gap in the barrier of hands, she attempted to use her invisible grasp.
Coming to an abrupt stop in midair, Hawk felt her body become restrained. Even her neck was suddenly seized by an unseen force.
"Wh...at... the... did... you..."
She barely managed to force the words out.
Unexpectedly, Hawk began fighting back. Her arms slowly started breaking through the invisible restraints. Although she remained restricted, the pressure Maia exerted on her neck failed to leave her gasping for air. Thanks to the new body she had received after being blessed by the Thunder God, her physical capabilities had been enhanced across the board.
Maia felt her concentration falter as a sharp pain throbbed through her head from the strain of keeping Hawk restrained.
'This is bad.'
She was far stronger than Maia had initially expected.
Maia could not even summon another hand at the moment, as she was using all of her mental prowess just to keep Hawk bound.
'Probably stronger than a normal Vice Chief, but still likely falls short of a Chief.'
Assessing Hawk's strength while maintaining her hold, Maia did not have to wait long before Hawk finally broke free from the force restraining her.
"FINALLY GOT YOU!!!"
Hawk roared.
Widening her eyes, Maia barely managed to protect her head. Even so, a sharp slash grazed her cheek and drew blood.
'Crap.'
She grimaced as she was too late to summon a hand to protect her back, sending her flying straight into a destroyed car.
Mitigating the force of her crash, Maia quickly summoned another hand and barely managed to block Hawk's follow-up attack.
Out of sheer luck, Maia managed to retaliate with a backhand strike, sending Hawk flying instead, though only for a short distance.
Falling to one knee, Hawk simply dusted herself off and stood back up, smiling.
"I was quite expecting more from you, Four Eyes."
She said as she spread her wings.
"But you've only disappointed me."
Maia stepped out from the wrecked car and wiped away the blood trickling from the wound on her cheek.
Seriously asking, she fixed her gaze on Hawk.
"You weren't this strong based on your profile."
As part of her duties as her mother's right hand and de facto secretary, Maia had once reviewed the records of both current and former members out of personal curiosity. In doing so, she had come across the files of the former Vice Chief who had served under her grandmother, a former classmate of her mother's, and lastly the psychotic member who had gone into hiding after murdering that couple.
Harpy
A Peach Ability that allowed its user to transform into a human with bird-like features while granting exceptional mobility in the air.
Thinking back on the records, Maia recalled that Harpy had been reliable when it came to scouting missions. Although its user was fast and capable of eliminating Shuuki, she was not particularly strong in direct combat and consistently lagged behind her peers during sparring sessions. Aside from granting avian traits, the Harpy Ability did little to enhance the user's physical capabilities.
Her current strength simply did not make sense.
"Might as well let you know. I'll kill you anyway."
Hawk shrugged and grinned.
"To explain it simply, I've already surpassed humanity."
Spreading her arms wide, she continued.
"Thanks to our all-powerful Gods, and specifically Shikoku-sama, I became stronger after receiving their blessing."
Like Maia had said, Hawk was never particularly powerful even during her time in the Defense Force. Even she herself knew that fact. Her obsession with the idea that birds soaring through the sky represented the ultimate freedom had become the foundation of her Peach Ability when she consumed the Peach, something she had never expected. She had anticipated receiving a far more violent power, one that reflected her true love for inflicting suffering.
On the other hand, despite Hawk's newfound strength, her combat prowess still fell short when compared to Viper and Fang.
That said, those two had already been considerably powerful even before their bodies were enhanced. As such, it was only natural that the blessing's boost would elevate them to a level far beyond Hawk's own.
Hearing the mention of the Thunder Gods, Maia pondered silently.
'Those guys are becoming a far greater threat than we originally thought if they're capable of strengthening people to this extent.'
She cracked her neck.
Setting that fact aside, her present situation takes priority over everything else.
'I'm on my own, so whether I die or she dies, it's simply a race to see which of us comes out on top.'
The Great One
That was the name of Maia's ability.
Maia's Peach Blessing allowed her to wield an invisible force in the form of a hand. Not only that, but she could also shape those "hands" using the materials around her, as demonstrated earlier when she used the debris from destroyed buildings to create gigantic hands.
Her primary use of the ability had always been defense. However, after spending most of her time fighting Shuuki in Mato, she had wanted to discover more applications for her power. To do so, she secretly used those bastards as training dummies, keeping her experiments hidden from her mother and even the rest of her family.
As an Azuma, becoming stronger was not merely an expectation placed upon her by the family head—her grandmother, Tovera—but also something she personally desired.
"I was planning to reveal this at the upcoming Azuma Banquet, but beggars can't be choosers."
She took a deep breath, and suddenly, her eyes started to glow.
Although Fubuki already knew about some of her hobbies, such as gaming, she had no idea that her eldest daughter had already evolved the way she used her Peach Blessing.
"Already bored here, so let's get this resum—"
She was unable to finish her sentence before a giant hand slammed into her with tremendous force.
Crashing through a building, Hawk was completely caught off guard by the sudden attack.
'When did she—'
Her eyes locked onto Maia.
'No, what the fuck happened to her?'
Standing atop a floating hand, Maia gazed at her opponent.
A golden-brown aura radiated from her body.
And behind her—
Towering over the battlefield was a massive faceless statue.
More than three pairs of arms extended from its colossal frame, looming behind Maia like a silent deity watching over the world below.
*******
Author's Note
Motherfucker, the amount of gay porn ads I see on pornhwa websites is way too fucking many!
I just forgot to use Brave as my browser for a moment, and when my adblock wasn't on, I suddenly got pop-up ads of dudes sucking each other's dicks. Like, come on, where is that uncensored JAVs they usually show me, or that Stripchat mid-as-fuck white or Asian chicks live? At least that was decent.
Hell, I prefer those "you won't last 5 minutes" game ads or medicine that makes my dick get bigger than planet Earth-size ads, because at least that was funny.