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)…… Meikyou Shisui(Clear Mirror Still Water)】……”
He’s not moving? Or rather, he’s not even tracking me with his eyes?
He just stood there, still as a water surface without a single ripple.
If he isn’t tracking me with his eyes, feints are useless.
I mean, I’m sure Koujiro also did something 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 seemed 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.
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 time to be surprised. Right after he dodged my punch, Granpa Mikado thrust out the thumb of his right hand toward me.
An eye poke? The face? No. The throat!?
“【Great Demon Sway】!”
I evaded the attack aimed 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 moment, 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 mean 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 unharmed, 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 mesmerized 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.
Me. 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 me……
“Turns out I’m not half bad, huh?”
“Silence them……”
“That’s why……”
Even in the heat of battle, I felt something akin to a sense of accomplishment.
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…… somehow, this cuts the joy in half.”
If Granpa Mikado were conscious now, how would he react?
It’s a shame he can’t, and it makes me 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 mean, you even defeated Gouda of the Six Supremacy by yourself… Doesn’t that mean Onii-san is already in that realm? Seriously……”
“【Mega Thunderbolt】. 【Mega Fire】. 【Mega Wind Cutter】.”
“Whoa there! I’ll at least provide solid support to make sure they don’t get buffed…… I mean, come 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 me and Aka to… he’s become a monstrous man, hasn’t he?”
Even though everyone else was in the thick of a fight they couldn’t pull away from, some 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 time 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 comes 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 women and children! If we let them run wild, it’ll bring shame ta the proud name 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 meant 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 comes……”
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’…… something far more nostalgic has emerged…… if Hakuki is the epitome of demons in the Demon Realm…… then this is the prime 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 meaning “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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