Ch.228Riding with Taiga (6)

“Food God download!! 10 percent!!”

Saeko shouted loudly.

The actual download speed was crawling like an ant. By the way, do Food Gods need to be downloaded like programs? Wasn’t it supposed to be some cool summoning?

“With it being so slow… will summoning it actually help?”

Taiga glared at Saeko as he spoke.

“Of course!! Its combat power might be weak, but its performance is guaranteed!!”

Saeko nodded as she replied.

“It can perfectly exorcise any ghost!!”

Saeko said.

If that’s the case… our job was obvious. We just had to hang on like hell.

“Fenrir!! Bite it!!”

Taiga immediately sent Fenrir charging.

“Woof!!”

Fenrir rushed straight toward the Eight-Foot Ghost. It was definitely an intimidating charge.

However, the difference in reach during the fight was too apparent.

Whoooosh-!!

The Eight-Foot Ghost immediately grabbed Fenrir’s body with its long arms.

“Woof?!”

Fenrir seemed bewildered.

“Hopopopopopo!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost immediately threw Fenrir away.

“Woof!!!”

CRASH-!!!

Fenrir slammed into a nearby tree and collapsed.

Due to the severe damage, Fenrir was immediately unsummoned.

“S-strong…!”

Taiga seemed flustered.

“Yeah… definitely strong.”

I acknowledged that.

It had gotten stronger than before.

“Hopopo….. thanks to you… hopopopopopo.”

The Eight-Foot Ghost opened its mouth and spoke.

I thought it could only say “hopopo”… did it get a Japanese language patch?!! I see!! Team Waldo must have translated it!! I knew I could count on them!!! They helped me a lot with Fallout and Elder Scrolls series!!

“That mountain keeper tried to control me somehow. Because of that, my power was limited… but now it’s different!! I’ve completely revived… hopopo!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost said with a laugh.

Damn it… did we knock out the mountain keeper for nothing?

“Hopopopo…. filthy…. hopopopopopo….. exorcists…. hopopopopoit….. hopopoyoit…. deal with them all… popopot…. seal popot…. liberation…. hopopopopot….”

The Eight-Foot Ghost continued its outcry afterward.

“Enough with the hopopo!!”

Why mix it into every word!!! It seemed like it was saying something incredibly important about the setting, but nothing was being conveyed!!!

“Shota….. it’ll take time to summon Fenrir again. Unfortunately…. I….”

Taiga seemed to feel guilty about not being able to help.

“Ah. It’s fine. Leave it to me.”

I raised my Pinocchio Sword.

“Hopopopopot…. strong yang energy…. popopot…. a decent man…. hopopopopopo….”

The Eight-Foot Ghost laughed.

“With you…. I’ll make you my minion…… popopopyoit….”

The Eight-Foot Ghost said, swinging its large limbs.

“I’ll pass!!!”

I immediately charged forward with my Pinocchio Sword.

“Taiga!! Protect that thing!!”

I ordered Taiga.

“Yeah!!!”

Taiga nodded.

“Popopopo!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost swung its arm like a whip toward me.

“I see it!!”

But I could see its trajectory.

Whoooosh-!!

I immediately ducked to avoid the arm’s strike.

“Pot….?!”

A look of surprise flashed in the Eight-Foot Ghost’s hollow eyes. It seemed it didn’t expect me to dodge that with just physical ability.

Whoooosh-! Whoosh-!!

The Eight-Foot Ghost tried to attack me by swinging its arms and legs, but I could avoid the attacks.

At the point where the distance had already been closed, it had lost one round to me.

Creatures with long reach are weak in close-quarters combat.

“Blazing Slash!!!”

I rubbed the Pinocchio Sword hard against a nearby rock.

FWOOOOSH-!!!!!

The Pinocchio Sword burst into fierce flames from the friction heat.

“Hnngh….!!”

At the same time, I charged up a flash strike.

“As expected…..”

I could clearly see its weak point line. However, it was blurry.

It was the type where the line would move when cut, preventing effective hits. It would be difficult to defeat it with pure physical attacks.

However, I had learned how to deal with this type of enemy when facing Giovanni before.

This was also a game at its core. Physical and magical attributes were separate.

The heat of the Blazing Slash… counted as magic damage.

“Hyaaaah!!!”

I swung the burning Pinocchio Sword.

“Unfilial Son Strike!!!!”

SLASH-!!

The Pinocchio Sword cut deeply through the Eight-Foot Ghost’s body.

“GYAAAAH?!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost screamed, forgetting even to say “hopopo.”

FWOOOOSH-!!

The Eight-Foot Ghost’s body burst into flames with tremendous force.

“Hot!! It’s hot!!!! Ugaaaah!!! Agagak!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost writhed on the ground, moaning.

“Food God download!!! 19 percent!!!!”

Saeko shouted.

Good. We were steadily buying time.

“Hopopopopopo!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost stood up again and closed the distance toward me.

Whoooosh-!!

As its arm flew toward me, I jumped onto the Eight-Foot Ghost’s arm.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!!

I immediately ran up along the arm and climbed onto the Eight-Foot Ghost’s body.

“Hopopopopot!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost’s face twisted severely.

Hmm….. it appears quite moe in doujinshi… but fiction is fiction. It was just a rotten ghost.

Just like the dungeon witch from before, my weeb fantasies were once again led astray.

WHOOSH-!!!

I used the Eight-Foot Ghost’s shoulder as a springboard and jumped high.

FWOOSH-!

The Blazing Slash’s effect was still active. I could land one more sword strike.

“You seemed to be having fun earlier!!! Enjoy some more!!!”

I shouted as I dove vertically toward the Eight-Foot Ghost’s neck.

“Hopopopopot!!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost tried to intercept me with its arm.

SLASH-!!

Tearing through the Eight-Foot Ghost’s arm, I got behind its neck.

“KIYOOOOT!!!!! Neck Slice!!!!!!”

I slammed the burning sword right into the Eight-Foot Ghost’s neck.

SLASH-!!

FWOOOOSH!!!!

As the sword strike blazed, the Eight-Foot Ghost’s entire body began to burn.

“Hopopopopopopot!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost’s screams echoed all around.

Normally, this would have been the end.

However, the Eight-Foot Ghost’s body quickly transformed into mist and regenerated.

“I see. So it is a ghost after all….”

Since it was already dead once, the concept of dying again didn’t apply.

To get rid of it, we had no choice but to exorcise it.

Yes, we had to rely on that damn doll thing.

“Download….. 95 percent!!!”

Saeko shouted loudly.

Still, we had stalled for a lot of time. Just a little more endurance was needed.

“Hehehe. I like strong men. You’re to my liking. To think you’d push me this far…. but you’ve met the wrong opponent. I won’t die. Not unless I’m exorcised!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost exclaimed in a fluent tone.

“Hey!! Why aren’t you saying hopopo!!”

I shouted at the Eight-Foot Ghost.

“That’s…. just a concept.”

The Eight-Foot Ghost said something that shattered the romance of occult enthusiasts. I suspected it… but it was just a concept.

“I can’t forgive you!!!! You’ve destroyed two of my fantasies!!!”

When I was young, I saw an onee-shota-like Eight-Foot Ghost… and developed a taste for older women!!! This bastard blew that away in an instant. How much I wanted to hear it say “hopopo” while giving me a lap pillow handjob!!!!

“Die!!!”

I immediately closed the distance toward the Eight-Foot Ghost.

“Uwahahaha!! No matter how many times you cut me, I won’t die!! It’s a meaningless fight!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost’s arms extended further.

CLANG-!

I parried the Eight-Foot Ghost’s whip-like attack with my Pinocchio Sword.

“Hurry up and summon that Food God or whatever!!!”

I shouted loudly.

“99 percent!!!!”

Saeko shouted.

At that moment, an electronic sound was heard.

Beeeep…. beep-beep-beep…. beep…. ding-ding-ding……..!

It was the sound coming from Saeko’s console. A strangely deflating mechanical sound.

“Hey!! What era is that modem from!!”

Even though I’ve never experienced that generation, that’s something you connect to a phone line, right?!! How anachronistic!!

“Food God download… loading…..”

As the sound came from the console, light emanated from it.

“Ooooooh!!”

Something wearing what looked like a spandex suit from a tokusatsu show jumped out.

“It’s here!!! Shikimaru!! Seal that thing!!”

Saeko shouted.

“Okay!!! Its health seems to have dropped enough!! You there, boy!!! Thanks for hanging in there!! Leave the rest to Shikimaru!!!”

The Food God called Shikimaru immediately crossed his arms.

“N-no!!! I can’t be sealed again!!!!!!! No!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost seemed to have detected the Food God’s presence. It immediately tried to evade.

“I won’t let you escape!!!”

I immediately blocked the Eight-Foot Ghost’s escape route.

“Hyaaah!!!”

After that, I struck the Eight-Foot Ghost’s long shin with all my might, like chopping firewood.

“Guherk!!!!”

That made the Eight-Foot Ghost stagger.

“Now!!! Do something, quick!!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Shikimaruuuuu….. Beam!!!!!!”

A beam shot out from Shikimaru’s arms.

PING-!!!!!

The beam struck the Eight-Foot Ghost directly.

“N-nooo….!! No….!!!!!”

The Eight-Foot Ghost was immediately engulfed by the beam.

PIIIING-!!!!!

The Eight-Foot Ghost’s body, hit by the beam, began to evaporate rapidly.

“N-nooo…. I’m, I’m being exorcised….!!”

As the Eight-Foot Ghost’s voice faded, its presence completely disappeared. Yes, the Eight-Foot Ghost had been exorcised.

“Your trial period has ended!!!! If you subscribe to the Silver Membership, your monthly usage limit increases to three times! With Gold Membership, unlimited usage is available!! Would you like to subscribe?”

Shikimaru suddenly started promoting to Saeko.

“No…. too expensive.”

Saeko shook her head.

“Then farewell!!!”

Shikimaru coolly disappeared.

So Food Gods also… require a subscription payment system. Has the spiritual world also fallen to capitalism now….. how bitter.

Anyway, that’s how the ghost-related commotion ended. It was quite productive in that I learned how to use the Pinocchio Sword.

Now… I should continue my date with Taiga.