Ch.204Madoka Quest (5)

A properly torn-off tree branch. Honestly, it wasn’t particularly effective as a weapon.

However, my ability, Flash Strike, was a technique that didn’t rely heavily on the weapon. If I could read the weak points, I could cut through steel even with paper.

“Don’t… underestimate me!!!”

Shoji swung his fist widely.

“Huuuuuup…!!!”

Immediately after, I deeply charged the breath for my Flash Strike.

A crack appeared between those trees.

“Hyaaaah!!!”

I swung my sword with great force.

Swoooosh-!!!

As the sword wind swept through, the tree trunk was sliced into pieces.

“Guh!!!!”

Shoji looked at me with bewildered eyes.

One of his arms had been neutralized in an instant.

“Hahahahaha!!! Big but weak!!!”

Meanwhile, Kirtan approached the leg portion of the wooden giant.

“Hyaaah!!”

Kirtan swung his wooden sword with great force.

Unlike me, Kirtan didn’t have skills like Flash Strike, so he lacked the technique to cut down enemies smartly. However, Kirtan’s raw strength was formidable.

Craaack-!!!!

The wooden sword Kirtan swung shattered one of Shoji’s legs.

Stagger-!!!

Shoji’s body swayed greatly.

Thud-!!

The wooden giant’s body immediately collapsed.

“We did it!! Did we take him down?!!”

Kirtan shouted with a smile.

“No. Unfortunately not.”

I muttered.

Shoji’s ability was quite troublesome.

His Psychorobo was called Man in the Mirror. While its combat power was low, its utility was tremendous.

The ability was simple. He could occupy and control any object.

If he used his ability on a car, he could become the car, and if he used it on a tree, he could move with the tree as his body.

It was a fairly common parasitic ability in otaku media. Such parasitic abilities were divided into two categories:

Cases where damage to the host linked to damage to the main body, and cases where it didn’t.

The former was easy to deal with. You just beat up the host, and the user would die automatically.

But the unlinked cases were quite difficult to handle. Even if you beat the host, the main body wouldn’t take any damage at all.

Shoji was… the latter.

This was implemented in the boss fight in the original game too—no matter how hard you hit the object Shoji was parasitizing, his health wouldn’t decrease.

“Hahahahaha!!!! You chose the wrong opponent!!! I’ll acknowledge you fight well even without a Psychorobo!! But!!! Your attacks won’t reach me!!”

The wooden giant somehow managed to stand up again.

“It’s not working at all!!”

Kirtan clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Yeah. Unless we hit the main body, this will just be a war of attrition.”

I said.

“Hmph. So he does have the skills to commit acts of terrorism.”

Kirtan said with a smile.

“Then give me orders!! Vice-captain!!”

Kirtan shouted loudly, raising his wooden sword.

“Who made me vice-captain?”

I replied.

“If we smash his main body, he’ll look for a new host!! We need to hit him while he’s moving between hosts!!”

I shouted.

Of course, it wasn’t easy. But that was our only chance of winning.

“I see!! Got it!!! Then that’s what we’ll do!!! We just need to smash everything, right?!!”

Kirtan smiled, raising his sword.

Well, it was simple, but that was the direct approach.

“Here I go!!!!!”

Kirtan immediately rushed toward the wooden giant.

Crack-! Smash-!! Thud-!

Kirtan began to attack only the leg portion of the wooden giant with his magnificent swordsmanship.

“Yeah!! Struggle all you want!! What difference will it make!!!”

Shoji tried to stomp on Kirtan with all his might.

“Hah! Too slow!!!”

Kirtan skillfully avoided Shoji’s kick.

Stagger-!!!

The accumulated damage seemed quite significant. Not only was one leg shattered, but Kirtan was continuously targeting just one leg, gradually breaking down his stance.

“Now!! Shota!! Hit him hard!!!”

Kirtan shouted.

“You got it!!!! Here I come!!!”

I immediately made a great leap.

“Huuuuup!!!”

Maintaining the Blazing Stance in my legs, I jumped high with powerful leg strength. Then, shifting the Blazing Stance to my arms to enhance my sword strike had become smooth. I had become quite accustomed to the Blazing Stance. Since I could only use it for a total of 3 minutes, I was used to using it in short bursts.

“Die!!!!”

I swung my sword with great force.

From the center of the wooden giant’s crown, light suddenly burst forth.

It was as if fate itself was telling me to cut there.

Craaack-!!!

My wooden sword struck directly at the center of the wooden giant’s head.

Swoooosh-!!!!!!

The Flash Strike connected perfectly. The wooden sword split the wooden giant’s body in half.

Swoooosh-!!!

The vertical slash that cut through the center spread throughout the wooden giant’s entire body.

Swoooosh-!!!!!!

The wooden giant’s body shattered and scattered. It was now too damaged to be used for combat.

With the host incapacitated, Shoji had only one option. He needed to find a new host.

Wobble-!!

Beyond the remains of the wooden giant, Shoji’s body, integrated with the Psychorobo, emerged.

“Kirtan!!! Get ready!!”

I immediately called out to Kirtan.

“Oh!!! I’m already prepared!!”

Kirtan regained his focus.

In the game, Shoji moved to the next host in just one turn. Typically, players could only hit Shoji’s main body for one turn. That’s why the boss fight was prolonged.

In reality, this meant he could move to the next host in a very short time.

“You insects!!!!!”

Shoji launched himself toward his next target.

Another tree in the garden. His next host.

Normally, an enemy who could switch hosts within seconds would be difficult to deal with, but… I had become too strong.

A few seconds had become enough time for several sword exchanges.

“Think you’ve won?”

Whoosh-!!!

I immediately caught up behind him.

“What…..?!”

Shoji turned his head in surprise.

“Hyaaaah!!!!”

I swung my sword with a battle cry.

Of course, I wouldn’t kill him. Even if he was scum, murdering a human felt wrong. If he were a monster, that would be different.

“W-what are you?!!!!!”

Shoji spat out a final line that was too pathetic.

When people lose their composure, their character traits disappear… I realized that. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot, not narrowed at all.

To abandon your own character traits… how foolish!!!

But I was a good citizen who hadn’t abandoned a shred of compassion for my enemy.

“Arigiri Shotaaaaa!!!!!”

I kindly introduced myself as I swung my sword toward his head.

Thwack-!!!!

The sword lodged firmly between Shoji’s eyebrows.

“Guhk!!!!!”

Shoji let out a groan like a stepped-on frog and rolled across the ground.

Crash-!!

Shoji collapsed face-down on the ground.

His eyes were rolled back.

There was no need to check. Shoji was incapacitated.

“We won!!!”

Kirtan shouted jubilantly and rushed toward me.

“Yeah!!!! We won!! Great teamwork!!”

I embraced Kirtan as we continued our celebration.

“As expected of our vice-captain!!!”

“Oh!! All thanks to the captain!!!”

“Hahahahaha!! Listen to you!!!”

Kirtan and I shouted, caught up in the moment.

——-

Anyway, the situation was quickly resolved.

Mr. Kujo seemed to handle things well. Before calling the police, security guards from Kunami Corporation came and took Shoji into emergency custody.

Well, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if news spread about a wooden giant going on a rampage.

“Big brother!!!”

Madoka immediately rushed into my arms.

“Hmph. I won. The bad guy has been dealt with.”

I said with a smile.

“I believed in you!!”

Madoka nuzzled her head against my chest.

“Ahem.”

Just as I was savoring the joy of reunion with Madoka, Kujo cleared his throat.

“Arigiri Shota. It seems… I misjudged you.”

Mr. Kujo said, his face slightly flushed.

“I treated you like a novice. I’m sorry. I apologize for that.”

Mr. Kujo said.

“F-father-in-law…!!”

I looked at Shoji with moved eyes.

“Who’s your father-in-law!!!!!”

Mr. Kujo got angry, then dropped a casual remark.

“I admit my complete defeat. Marriage or whatever… do as you please.”

Mr. Kujo said.

Complete defeat? What? Had we been competing without my knowledge? I was a bit confused by Mr. Kujo’s choice of words.

“Dad…..!!”

Madoka’s eyes sparkled.

“But… if you abandon or make Madoka cry… you’ll taste something very bitter.”

Mr. Kujo said, looking straight at me.

Gulp-!

I unconsciously swallowed.

“You’ll find out what it means to make an enemy of Japan’s wealthiest family, whether you like it or not.”

After saying that, Mr. Kujo called for his wife.

“Well… I need to handle the aftermath. Don’t go anywhere dangerous… enjoy your time.”

With those words, Mr. Kujo withdrew with his wife.

Madoka and I stared at their retreating figures.

“Big brother. You won’t abandon me, right?”

Madoka said with a mischievous smile.

“Even if you said you hated me, I’d keep you in my embrace.”

I said, stroking Madoka’s head.

She… will definitely become a beauty when she grows up. I could tell. I absolutely won’t abandon her!!!!

“Kyaa!! I love a possessive big brother!!”

Madoka immediately nestled in my arms.

The Madoka issue was somehow resolved… and I checked on the status of my other girlfriends.

“By the way, is everyone okay?”

I checked everyone’s condition. If anyone had gotten hurt… the thought made my eyes spin.

“Yes. Everyone’s fine. No injuries. Mika was a bit shocked but she’s calmed down now.”

Eri said.

“Sigh…..”

Mika was downing green tea from a vending machine like it was alcohol, trying to calm herself. Well, I was glad she was safe.

My other girlfriends were used to such incidents every night, but Mika was different.

“Everyone… I’m sorry for ruining the date.”

I apologized to them.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

Mika shook her head.

“We can enjoy ourselves from now on!!! Come on!! Let’s do something!! A picnic or whatever!!!”

Umi shouted in an energetic tone. Never losing her energy in any situation was Umi’s strength.

“Yeah!! Shota!! You better satisfy us!”

Taiga also spoke boisterously, trying to lift the mood.

Well… since there was a nice lawn, we might as well enjoy a picnic. That’s what I thought.

And so, the major event related to Madoka came to an end.

The collapse of the organization called Apocalypse following Shoji’s arrest was a bonus. Surprisingly, things worked out smoothly.