Chapter 55: I Have Arrived!
If his stamina were still at its peak, Dojima wouldn't have hesitated.
But right now, he was severely injured and swarmed by a literal tide of tumor-clones. He had no way to surgically remove the parasitic flesh-buds from the napes of the civilians' necks while under this much pressure.
Worse yet, the main body of the demon was watching him like a hawk. Dojima knew without even trying that even if he managed to pull a few buds out, the demon would just re-seed them instantly.
"Stop! Wake up!"
Dojima roared, his voice cracking, but it was useless. He was met with a jagged stone to the shoulder thrown by one of the possessed villagers.
"Run... you there... leave us..."
The Slayer who had been floored earlier wheezed out a desperate plea. "This demon... it isn't something we can handle. Just get out of here alive!"
"Shut up!"
Dojima's roar silenced the fallen man.
"I have no intention of being a coward who abandons his comrades! So what if it's a monster? So what if it's one of the Twelve Kizuki?!"
"I, Dojima Kazuma, will be the one to cut it down today!"
[Total Concentration!]
[Flame Breathing!]
Searing air mixed with the scent of blood as it billowed outward. Dojima exploded with a level of power he had never reached before.
If Natsuya were looking at him right now, he would see Dojima's Power Level of 83 skyrocketing. His [Body] and [Mind] stats were surging, fueled by the sheer burning of his willpower.
89... 94... 112...
A wave of blistering combat intent swept forward. Carried by this unprecedented surge, Dojima's blade whipped around, the force of the gale knocking back the swarming tumor-clones.
Dojima's eyes blazed with a terminal resolve. The heat radiating from his blade was more intense than anything he had produced in his entire career.
He wove through the crowd, avoiding the possessed civilians.
He ignored the screeches of the clones.
He drew his blade back for a final, decisive strike aimed directly at the demon's throat.
At the peak of his form, Dojima's Power Level hit an all-time high: 116.
"Flame Breathing, Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!"
But just as the flames were about to reach the demon, the mockery on its face vanished, replaced by a cold, clinical malice. It remained leaning lazily against the textile machine, its voice Hissing like a viper.
"Are you sure you want to ignore their lives?"
The surging fire faltered.
"Step one inch closer," the demon whispered, "and in the eastern warehouse... in the western tunnels..."
"My other bodies will instantly tear the throats out of everyone left inside. Gwahahaha!"
"Care to guess which is faster? Your lunge, or my thought?"
Dojima's momentum came to a grinding halt.
The flames on his Nichirin Sword flickered and died, mirroring the internal collapse of his resolve. There were still comrades fighting elsewhere. There were civilians on the ground, still breathing...
The demon savored the look of absolute despair on his face. It took its time, presenting the final, most cruel multiple-choice question.
"You mentioned the 'Twelve Kizuki'?"
"My dear swordsman, you really know how to spoil a good mood. How about this? You're a man of honor, right? You don't want to abandon your friends. I can be reasonable..."
"So, I have a great idea."
"Right here, right now... take that precious sword of yours and... use it on yourself."
The "kindness" on the demon's face morphed into pure ecstasy. This was the part of the game it loved most—watching the sweat drip down a hero's face as their convictions crumbled into dust. It was better than the meat itself.
"If you do it, maybe I'll be in a good mood. Maybe I'll just keep them as hosts instead of killing them. Your life for theirs. It's a bargain, isn't it?"
The words were like ice picks, pinning Dojima's blade to the floor. The swordsman was paralyzed by the choice. His breathing became labored; his sword felt like it weighed ten thousand pounds.
The demon didn't have to do anything else. It just leaned there, arms crossed, watching the Slayer slide toward the edge of a mental breakdown.
Whether the human committed suicide or tried a futile, doomed attack, it didn't matter to the demon. It was all entertainment.
Though, the demon thought, if he actually abandons his code and tries to kill me anyway, it might be a little boring.
"Damn it... you bastard... you're disgusting..."
Dojima ground his teeth so hard they felt like they would shatter.
At the peak of his despair—
BOOM!!!
The brick wall to the side exploded inward.
"What are you guys yapping about?"
Through the settling dust, Natsuya stepped through the new hole in the wall, waving a hand to clear the air.
"OI! Why aren't you done yet? If you don't hurry up, I'm going to start kill-stealing."
It's the Successor!
Dojima's heart, which had been in his throat, suddenly settled. If he was here... then there was a chance.
"Lord Tsuguko! Be careful! This demon can split its body and is immune to slashes—!"
Dojima was cut off by the demon's laughter.
"Another Slayer looking for an early grave? This just keeps getting better."
With a wave of its hand, three small clones detached from the circle around Dojima and lunged at Natsuya with high-pitched screeches.
SLAP!
It sounded like three rapid cracks, but they were so close together they blended into one sharp report. The palm-sized tumor-clones were swatted mid-air, sent flying across the room. They slammed into a nearby machine, exploding into a spray of gore. They weren't dead—their heads were still attached—but they were temporarily out of the fight.
Natsuya didn't give them a chance to recover. His Nichirin Sword cleared its scabbard in a blur, and in a heartbeat, he had pinned and pierced the necks of all three.
"Tsk. Still zero XP for the adds."
Watching the three "trash mobs" (Power Level: 5) dissolve, Natsuya turned his gaze to the main Tumor Demon.
[Tsuchi ???]
[Power Level: 139 (Body: 99, Tech: 15, Mind: 25)]
[Blood Demon Art: Multi-Consciousness] [Blood Demon Art: Flesh Fission]
Stats are that high? Natsuya noted. So this one is the actual Boss.
"Gwahahaha! My dear swordsman, don't think for a second that I and my little ba—"
The Boss, Tsuchi, had barely started its villain monologue when Natsuya vanished.
[Thunder Breathing]
[First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!]
His silhouette became a straight line of blinding, static-filled blue light. He tore through the workshop, a literal bolt of lightning that pierced straight through the demon's torso.
The feedback is off. Is it the Blood Demon Art?
Natsuya realized the hit hadn't been fatal. He didn't linger; he used the momentum to backflip, landing gracefully in front of Dojima.
"You still good to go, Dojima?" Natsuya asked, tilting his head slightly back toward him.
So fast...
Is this the true power of a Thunder-user at the Successor level? Dojima thought, his throat dry. Wait, doesn't the Storm Hashira use Storm Breathing? And we don't even have a Thunder or Sound Hashira right now...
Dojima snapped out of it. "Lord Kokonoe! Be careful! This demon splits its body the moment the blade touches it to avoid the cut! You can't slash it!"
I'm basically useless here, Dojima thought with a pang of shame. I can only give Intel.
Natsuya's gaze swept across the room. He saw the Boss, the remaining clones, and the hollow-eyed civilians who were once again stumbling toward them. His eyes were cold, clinical, and detached.
Controlled civilians? Hostage mechanics?
Natsuya's brain filtered through a thousand similar "Escort Mission" scenarios from other games.
How do we handle brainwashed friendly units again?
The next second, Natsuya moved.
He didn't charge the demon. Instead, he wove through the room with the fluid, evasive footwork of Wind Breathing, blurring past the rigid civilians.
CRACK! SNAP!
He didn't use his blade. Instead, a series of sharp, bone-deep reports filled the air.
A moment later, the two closest civilians were no longer under the demon's control. They collapsed onto the floor in a heap. The flesh-buds were still in their necks, but their bodies were no longer functional.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" the demon and Dojima shouted simultaneously.
"Non-lethal takedowns," Natsuya replied flatly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
He had played plenty of "No-Kill" challenge runs before.
"I just dislocated their major joints and applied precision blunt-force to their spinal nerve clusters. They aren't dead, they just can't move their limbs anymore. Simple."
The Demon: "..."
Dojima: "..."
(Wait... aren't those people going to be permanently crippled?!)
☆☆☆
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