Ch.97Will You Marry Me or Would You Rather Die? (2)

A roar that mixed blood and killing intent, as if the city would collapse.

Debris flew, the ground split, and even the sky was dyed with deep anxiety.

At the center, a silhouette leaped up from the ground like a solid heel.

The texture of the air changed with just the afterimage of her dash. This was not simply the power of an ability user.

Okami Hoshino.

S-Class Rank 13 of the Hero Association.

One who had proven her strength through numerous achievements and weighty silence.

But now, she was casting off the modifier “hero” that preceded her name.

Her eyes blazed, her breath was rough.

Her black kimono slipped down her shoulders, and the endlessly surging emotions spread like ripples from her feet.

The wildness flickering throughout her body was no longer the midpoint between human and monster, but the state of a beast-person’s blood awakening to instinct beyond tradition and reason.

It was like a real wolf.

No, she was an apex predator that even wolves would fear.

Right now, she was a being who had awakened her fox instincts following the scent of a man.

A female in heat desiring a male, a ruler whose territory had been invaded, the crystallization of an obsession that refused to have her love taken away.

No one could speak of emotions before her. No one could stop Okami now.

Deep Sea Monster, Special-class Monster, Zero, Marna… no one.

This city was now crumbling at the hands of a beast whose emotions had erupted.

Her name was Hoshino.

And before her eyes!

“Janghoon.”

Her male stood there.

“Uryaaaaaaah!! Die, all of you!! Dieeeee!!!”

“Flow down, waterfall!”

“Don’t you dare flow, bitch!”

KWANG!!

A pillar of water burst from Deep Sea’s fingertips.

Like a dam breaking, the waterfall struck down with enough force to sweep away an entire city.

It was a confident strike, as always.

No one had ever blocked this head-on. If anyone could, they would already be a special-class monster or a true harbinger of disaster.

But.

CHWAAAAK!

“…Huh?”

Deep Sea swallowed her breath.

The water barrier she had confidently wielded was split down the middle like tofu.

The fox before her… no, Okami Hoshino now had simply swung a sword hilt filled with a single emotion, without care.

Not momentum, not technique, but a slash of emotion.

Simply, ‘I cut because I was annoyed.’

That one phrase explained everything.

“…She’s really gone mad…”

Meanwhile, Janghoon was taking a step back.

The pressure that hit him was enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Is this… Hoshino?

No, the Hoshino I knew wasn’t like this.

She was a bit scary, but still reasonable.

That distinctive indifferent gaze, cool judgment, and… the lady who always smiled brightly like an angel when she was by my side.

But what is this look in her eyes now?

Killing intent.

And not just any killing intent.

The eyes of an instinctual predator carrying the will of a “lion’s fang” that would truly kill if Janghoon were taken from her.

Deep Sea instantly realized:

“…This isn’t just an S-Class hero anymore?”

More precisely, this Okami was currently awakening to something.

Truly a “wolf gone mad with love.”

KWANG!

“Aqua Tornado!!”

Deep Sea unleashed her ultimate technique.

A water vortex that rose to the height of a building. A disaster-level attack that seemed capable of engulfing the entire city.

Numerous trash cans, signs, and glass windows were caught up in the air.

“You can’t dodge this!”

But Hoshino didn’t dodge.

Instead, she charged directly into the tornado.

Inside was a vortex of “natural disaster” where vision, breathing, and senses collapsed. Yet she burrowed into the center and emerged from the opposite side.

Twirl.

“……?!”

Deep Sea’s pupils trembled.

It was like a warrior entering to slay a dragon in a classic RPG, without a hint of hesitation.

The Hoshino who emerged was the queen of swords who had pierced through the waterfall.

“Shut up and die.”

CHWAK!!

Deep Sea’s water barrier split like thin paper, like tofu.

Without any resistance.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute! We’re allies! Someone help me! Especially you! Former S-Class! You must know her, right?!”

“Me, you mean?”

“Yes! My head’s about to fly off, and you’re just going to watch?!”

As Deep Sea let out a cry close to a scream.

Hoshino’s blade had already turned toward the next target.

“But in matters of love, I’d rather not—”

“You too… female.”

“…What?”

Zero reflexively took a stance.

The automatic response system designed as a human weapon, dozens of prediction routes, instantaneous power control, and more.

All systems operated simultaneously to place a sword in her hand.

However.

TUNG!!!

In an instant, a massive roar shook the ground, and the next scene unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Zero’s body flew. Rather than flying, it was blasted away.

More precisely, she was thrown dozens of meters away, smashing through the outer wall of a building.

The cement wall cracked, the steel frame groaned and collapsed, and Zero’s body slammed down with a KWANG amid the dust and stone fragments that exploded outward.

“…Zero?!”

Janghoon, who had been watching quietly, was simply dumbfounded.

“That person… with one hit?”

Marna covered her mouth.

It wasn’t a simple attack. Just now, that sword strike clearly stated:

From now on, this testing ground is my hunting ground alone.

“I-I’ll join in too!”

Marna’s voice was small, but filled with firm resolve.

The small girl slit her wrist vertically.

Red blood spurted sharply, spreading like great wings and forming the shape of a phoenix in midair.

In that moment, those red blood wings cut through the sky of the artificial city and blazed.

“Go…!”

Suddenly, the red flames rushed toward Hoshino like an explosion.

However.

“…Hmph.”

Tuk.

One word, one hand movement.

With just a flick of her finger, Hoshino casually grabbed the phoenix’s neck that Marna had carefully created, and pulled it as if holding a chicken leg.

KWANG.

Blood feathers scattered in all directions.

The phoenix that had been flying with such momentum shattered into pieces on the spot.

“Hee, heek…!”

Marna stepped back. Her eyes trembled, and her lips quivered.

Hoshino stared at her intently.

She didn’t even draw her sword. She simply took a step.

Swoosh.

The air collapsed with a single footstep.

And before her, Marna froze, unable to breathe properly.

“You are…”

A cold voice.

Hoshino’s shadow, standing barefoot on the blood-slicked ground, swallowed Marna.

“…a child.”

Kwak.

Her hand lightly brushed Marna’s hair.

“I’ll let you go this time.”

“…Huh?”

A hesitant sound. Marna didn’t understand.

But she instinctively felt it.

This wasn’t mercy but a “warning” that if she grew up “bang” here, she wouldn’t be spared.

“He-hehe… Marna. When she says she’ll let you go, let’s just get out of here.”

“…Wait.”

Hoshino withdrew her sharp gaze from Marna and slowly turned her head toward Siljongi.

Janghoon’s contract monster girl who was trying to sneak away with them.

“You come here.”

“Eh!? W-wait a minute! Despite appearances, I’m as small as Marna! Shouldn’t I be spared too?!”

“Monsters don’t have such human rights.”

SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP!!

“KYUAAAAAAAAAANG?!”

Hoshino pulled Siljongi to her side and began mercilessly spanking her defenseless, panty-less bottom without hesitation.

“Haak, haaak!! P-please spare me! I’m just a pitiful monster!! I haven’t even done anything weird with Master Janghoon yet!”

“You think such excuses will work, you shameless monster girl?”

“Uwaaang! My butt’s burning! This is practically cooking level, you know?!”

Hoshino slapped Siljongi’s bottom once more with a “SMACK” before saying expressionlessly:

“You… I’ll be watching you.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

After tossing the half-dead monster aside, she approached the last remaining person.

“……”

“Kang Janghoon, come here. Before I kill you.”

“M-miss…. Calm down! I didn’t want this either, and it was really just something that happened accidentally, so…”

KWAJIK!

When the sword came down, he barely blocked it with both hands.

But the shockwave between his hands and the sword cracked his toes and dug into the floor.

“Nnnggh… What monstrous strength…!”

“I’m your owner now. No erections without my permission.”

“No! That’s too…”

KWANG!

The next blow split his mask.

This is bad.

At this rate, he could really die.

Physically, bodily, and emotionally too.

No matter if she has a special-class monster fragment, this lady is clearly not “normal.”

Jealousy + heat + beast awakening + rampage = every man’s worst fear.

I bit my lip tightly.

And made a decision.

In this situation, there’s only one option left!

“Uryaaah!!”

“Hm?”

JJAK!

In that moment, I deflected her sword with both hands and thrust my face forward.

And a surprise kiss.

The sound of lips meeting echoed in the middle of the battlefield.

“……?!”

Everything stopped.

As if someone had pressed pause on the world, Miss Hoshino’s pupils spread like WiFi signals and trembled.

Her sword fell to the ground with a “tuk” sound.

“Mmph?!”

Whether from surprise, embarrassment, or suppressed emotion, her body stiffened completely before slowly relaxing.

Only after our lips parted did I finally exhale.

“Haa, haa… h-haa…”

“That felt… not bad…”

“!!”

Yes!

I won!!

Fanfare played in my brain.

I hallucinated Siljongi ringing a bell behind me, Marna sobbing “Congratulations, Janghoon oppa~!”, and Zero clapping expressionlessly.

However.

“But.”

“Yes?”

“Since you made the first move… you have to take responsibility, right?”

“…What?”

“Remember what you said back then? That ‘mating only has meaning when done with love’?”

I never said anything like that though?

“So now, take responsibility with love.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

This is… a good thing, right?