Jujutsushi Wa Yuusha Ni Narenai-Chapter 264.2 - Yokomichi Subjugation Battle 3
BGM: Endless Path
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Well then, let's wait for his next move. What’s your next move, Yokomichi? You still have several abilities inside you that you haven’t unleashed yet, don’t you? …Please, just make sure they’re at a level we could handle.
「Heh, guess I’ve got no choice… Time to get serious for a bit!———— Hmph! NUWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!」
After raising a warcry, Yokomichi's body started to transform.
Something like a horn sprouted from his body, well, calling it spikes might be the correct expression for his current transformation, those spikes growing rapidly with a crackling sound. Those pale yellow, blade-like protrusions sprouted from Yokomichi's back, as well as from his caterpillar-like lower half.
「Bi, Bi, BiBi….」
As Yokomichi started to say some incomprehensible sfx-like sound, the row of yellow horns crackled with a sharp, high-pitched noise. There was no mistaking it, they were charged with electricity.
「IT'S BREATH ATTACK!」
Crap, Yokomichi could unleash a lightning breath. He used it before to take out that foolish govu who tried to kill me.
Back then, he just breathed it out directly, but with those spikes, the power he unleashed might be even greater than back then. He went all out this time.
「KYOUKO, RUN!」
The only one with an unobstructed line of fire was Kyouko, who was stationed on the 2nd floor of the church. She was also the one with the most dangerous firepower,r capable of dealing a fatal blow to Yokomichi.
「Eh, wait a second, I've got a ba————」
「————BZZZT, JYEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!」
A dazzling pillar of light pierced the sky.
I saw the same pillar of light a while ago.
You must be kidding me right? This lighting breath can rival Yamata no Orochi's breath.
「————Ah! KYOUKO! WHERE ARE YOU!?」
As the blinding flash faded, I slowly lifted my head.
The first thing that caught my eye was the church's roof, completely blown away. Everything above the second floor had been utterly obliterated.
N-No way… Could she really have been blown away without a trace…? Just as that worst-case scenario crossed my mind, a heavy thud reached my ears.
「KYOUKO!」
I rushed over in a panic, only to find Kyouko collapsed in the snow.
「Thank goodness you managed to dodge it in time…」
She must have managed to jump at the last moment. However, after jumping from the 2nd floor, it seemed she had rolled across the roof, unable to brace herself before crashing down.
「She's breathing… But completely out of commission.」
For now, I'm just relieved that Kyouko was safe and sound. However, it didn't seem like she'll be waking up anytime soon.
Meaning that Kyouko couldn't participate in battle any longer.
「Pffuuuuu, letting off a blast like that really helped me to vent a bit and clear my head.」
And then, Yokomichi was back in action again.
With an exaggerated action of exhaling a breath, he slowly lumbered up to the surface.
Yokomichi had already escaped from the pitfall.
「Hmm? What’s this, you’re that surprised? I could’ve gotten out of a hole like this anytime I wanted; it's not a big deal anyway. But, you know, cutting myself off like this… it took a bit of guts, if you ask me.」
Yokomichi crawled out of the hole, having returned to his original human form.
I could tell without even looking, his massive caterpillar lower body was still bound by my 『Redhair Twine』 remained entirely inside the pit.
Even though it was that big, it could still be purged if push came to shove, huh?
With his caterpillar-like body and the four arms growing from it left untouched, only Yokomichi's main body emerged from the hole. In terms of reducing his monster parts, we probably managed to cut away quite a bit, but… Damn it, we were supposed to finish him off here.
What do we do now? Can we go…? How much strength does Yokomichi still have left in him right now?
Our fighting strength dropped to less than half in an instant. Kyouko was out of commission, and to make matters worse, both of the giant grimgores were taken down, their size working against them. One got its right side, the other its left, caught in the breath attack, both had red-hot, seared wounds where large chunks had been gouged out of their body.
Even so, if Yokomichi's remaining strength had dropped to about the same level as when we fought before, we might still be able to manage this.
「Nevertheless, that's impressive, Kotaro-kyun. I thought I’d be fine in my half-body form, but I hadn’t expected to receive such ferocious trap, man, you got me good… You need to be the one on the receiving end, y’know, Kotaro-kyun?」
While staring straight at me, Yokomichi grins with a creepy, slimy smile.
With the Dark Knight Rem to his right, Kinako to his left, and Beniwo circling to the back, he was technically surrounded, and yet he still looked completely unfazed.
This guy… He still had an ace in the hole. Enough strength to swat away the remaining lineup like they're nothing.
「Mmm— What an adorable face you got there, Kotaro-kyu~n. Your blood is already melt-in-your-mouth level deliciousness on its own, but you know what really makes prey taste better? That raw vitality, that surge of survival instinct, when it’s overflowing like that, it just makes the flavor so much richer!」
I didn’t even know what kind of face I had right now, but yeah, that’s right, I’m not giving up yet.
That was only natural. I hadn’t struggled and fought to survive all this time just to meet a dead end where I get devoured by someone like Yokomichi.
「So, I’m going all out too~ I’m gonna eat you up, Kotaro-kyu~n! I’ll devour you completely, right here and now, and we’ll become oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!」
Opening his maws that were filled with fangs and pincers, Yokomichi’s roar echoed, not just his voice, but mixed with the cries of countless monsters.
「FIRE!」
There was no way I would just stand there without doing anything.
I invoked 『Poison』 with the 『Fool's Cane』, Rem fired her arrow, Kinako threw a spear, and Beniwo breathed fire.
Our attacks raining down from all directions, struck Yokomichi dead on——— At that moment, a burst of red steam shot up all at once.
What now? Our attacks shouldn’t produce such a flashy effect. That means this must be something Yokomichi himself unleashed…
「Fuuu… Bufuuu…」
A gigantic shadow flickered beyond the red, smoky steam.
Panting heavily, slowly appeared before me, was a monstrous pig.
Its swollen, rounded body was covered in dirty, milky, flabby skin, resembling the caterpillar-like body from before.
However, the legs growing from it were four thick, short limbs. At the ends of those sturdy legs, heavy with overlapping layers of fat, were distorted hooves adorned with claws and tusks, pounding down on the ground.
Rising up on all fours, his body was even larger than that of the Spike Mammoth.
The head of such a giant beast looked like that of a giant pig… But only because of its distinctively large snout. The actual shape of his face was more like gogma's, a blend between human and beast. His bloodshot white eyes contain yellow, murky pupils, and eight eerie, spider-like eyes twitched and darted around, giving him a grotesque appearance.
「Pff—BWAHAHAHA! This is my true power at full strength ————『Re: Monster(Complete Methamorphosis)』」
Yokomichi's face, shouting, was growing from the tip of the red-black, writhing tongue inside the massive, tusked mouth of the eight-eyed pig-faced beast.
『Re: Monster』—This form he declared as his own was undoubtedly the most grotesque one, and the most powerful, we've ever seen. The aura of magical power it exudes feels equal to, if not greater than, the pressure from one of Yamata-no-Orochi’s heads.
「Kuh…」
Damn it, our efforts wasted. He was way too strong. Yokomichi possessed a strength far beyond anything I had imagined.
We couldn't defeat Yokomichi, who had transformed into that grotesque beast, with our current lineup.
We had no choice but to run. Whether we could even escape was uncertain, but at this point, we had to abandon everything and focus solely on getting as far as possible from him.
「Roirops CHARGEEEE! Rem, use every core you've got to create as many clones as you can!」
「Gueheheheh… This time, I’m not letting you get away, my sweet honeeeeyyyyy!!」
The moment I gave the order, Yokomichi lunged forward.
Yes, the tongue, where his true body was probably housed, stretched out straight toward me. Watching the tip of that tongue, snapping its massive jaws, shoot toward me, the only thought I could have was a silly one, wondering if this was how people felt when the alien’s mouth pierced them.
In short, that attack speed had already surpassed my reaction speed————
「IN YOUR DREAM————ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
At that moment, a hot yet sharp gust of wind swept right past my eyes.
「NGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?」
When I came to my senses, Yokomichi’s tongue was writhing on the ground.
Fresh blood dripped from the massive tongue, and sparks of flame flickered intermittently.
Who did this? Without even having to think, there was only one person. Yet, that person was also supposed to be incapacitated right now.
To my surprise, standing on there was Hayama-kun, in his left hand was the sword 『Reppū Kamakirimaru』, made from the scythe of the Mantis Knight.
「What are you doing, Hayama-kun!? RUN!」
「Shut up, Momokawa… Even I can give some contribution…」
He should be struggling just to stand. Having lost his right arm and only receiving my crude first aid, he was severely injured.
Colour drained from Hayama-kun's face, his face was as pale as wall, it was clear at a glance that he wasn’t in any condition to fight.
However, he raised the sword in his hand again.
Swirling around the blade of the mantis scythe were pale green winds shining softly, along with faintly glowing red flames. The 『Ring of Fire and Wind』 worn on his left arm was active, likely granting it power beyond the specs I designed.
Even so, that firepower was far too fragile to stop Yokomichi, the monster.
「Huff, Huff, HAYAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
「Hurry up and get going, Momokawa! USE THIS CHANCE TO TAKE RANDOU AND RUN!」
「You damn half-assed, attention-seeking idiot with that stupid delinquent name… You're dead meat, damn it—right here, right now!」
Having his fun interrupted seemingly out of nowhere, the enraged Yokomichi finally moved his giant beast body and charged toward Hayama-kun.
There was no way a single strike from the mantis sword could stop him. Once Yokomichi started running, he was akin to an unstoppable 10-ton truck, an overwhelming mass and sheer weight barreling forward.
All I could do was watch helplessly as that hopeless collision unfolded before my eyes.————
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