episode_0026

What I saw as I fell to the ground was a succubus in the middle of the lake. It was the kunoichi I had seen at Kuzunoha’s house back then.

I don’t know what she’s doing, but the sword rang out as if it was telling me to attack. If I don’t strike first, I have no chance of winning. It might be different with other succubi. I already know that succubus is strong.

I kicked the floor together and fell vertically, aiming for the kunoichi’s neck.

Kaaang-!

The two lumps of iron collided so hard that sparks flew.

After one clash, we pulled our swords apart and retreated through the current. Then a quick Aisatsu.

“Do-mo! Kunoichi=Sang, I’m Kim Hyun-ho. What are you doing here?”

“Do-mo! Kim Hyun-ho = Sir, you’re a kunoichi. You, I see… You were human.”

Bend your waist 90 degrees, but never take your eyes off the other person’s movements.

Of course, I am not a ninja, so I do not need to show this courtesy. However, I still greet you out of respect for the origins of the technique I am using, and to apologize for the surprise attack.

“Oh, you came at a bad time.”

It was as he said. The kunoichi lost her left arm somewhere. The sword that had just blocked my sword was also a katana that had been swung by its tail.

‘No, it’s not that I don’t have arms…’

It was sunken into the floor. The left arm and wing, which seemed to have melted away. And the left prosthetic hand and right wing, which seemed to be replacement parts, were sunken into the floor.

That’s Kuzunoha’s work. An old conversation comes back to life.

‘Are you talking about the items that the kunoichi took?’

‘Umm… I received a request to make something to replace arms or wings.’

These are prosthetic arms and wings for combat made by Kunoichi. Looking closely, the right arm attached to it was also a prosthetic arm. It must have been replaced with a body.

“Who told you where I was? Was it Elaine, the deputy director?”

“No. How did you find it? I’m asking just in case, do you have any intention of being subdued?”

Instinct told me to draw my sword, but it was still awkward to attack an opponent with only one arm.

As if she took my consideration as an insult, the kunoichi grimaced, grabbed her sword with her right hand, and jumped onto the surface of the water. Surely, it would be funny to attack first and then do this.

“That’s a good thing. It was just that I was running low on the regular time needed for replacement.”

Chaak-…

What the kunoichi showed was another amazing technique. The kunoichi jumped out of the water and stood on the rippling surface of the water.

Clearly, it’s one of the techniques written in the book Kunoichi gave her. It’s a technique that allows you to stick to the surface of the water, as if you were sticking to a wall or ceiling.

I’ve never done it before, but I’ve done it enough times to get sick of it by now.

I too kicked off the ground and carefully climbed onto the surface.

“As expected… you have talent.”

“Don’t mention it. You seemed fine before, how did you get hurt like that?”

“I went to check out the support request, and there was some crazy slime queen running wild. Well, it was about time for a change anyway.”

Slime Queen… The person in charge of the facility that went out to provide support was this succubus.

If things were normal, the odds of winning would have been slim, but things are different now. It’s a bit disappointing that the surprise attack was aborted.

“You seem more like a machine than a succubus. What’s wrong with your body?”

“Enough with the small talk, let’s go this way.”

“…!”

Some succubi are said to have wings, and so is the current kunoichi.

Wherever it was hidden, a pair of large wings spread from its back. The right one was made of steel, while the left one had a purple-black coating.

The kunoichi, who was running across the water with her wings flapping and accelerating, took out a dagger from her bosom.

Yip-! Chaeng! Yip-! Chaeng! Yip-! Bang!

“Keep going…!”

The kunoichi clung to me as best as she could and swung her dagger with her right hand. Although she was fast, she had no trouble blocking the blow with her sword. The problem was her tail.

Chaak.

He prefers extreme close combat. There was a reason he abandoned defense and focused solely on attack.

The kunoichi blocked my view with her body and arms, and her tail pulled out a katana and swung it. It didn’t penetrate the clothes Kuzunoha had created, but the impact was transmitted and left me with a chill.

Boom!

I elbowed the kunoichi in the jaw and pulled my body back. Close combat… was out of the question. Even without an arm, the difference in skill was clear. Only my body was covered in sword wounds.

On the other hand, all I’ve done is just that one blow. If this continues, I’ll end up losing.

Percussion, tak

The kunoichi I pushed away moved so far away that my sword couldn’t reach her, and then pierced the barrel next to her with her tail. Before I could fall, a succubus named Ella dropped a barrel of semen down.

A brief moment of respite. The succubus turned her tail upside down, piercing the barrel, and poured the white liquid all over her body. The white liquid poured over her body was absorbed into her body, emitting steam.

The reason I didn’t interfere was because I was recovering as well. If they give me a little time to recharge my energy, I can recover all my wounds.

Taang-! The succubus spread her wings again, throwing away the empty steel can with her tail. The only thing different from before was her horn. This time, she seemed to be using everything, as if energy was gathering in the succubus’ horn.

Roughly speaking, I understand the attack method. By accelerating using the wings and legs, they jump straight from long range to close range without going through the medium range. After that, they execute close range combat utilizing their unique speed.

The wings began to flutter and move.

In that case, all I can do is to receive it at the moment of the clash. I gripped the sword tightly with both hands, ready to die if necessary.

The first thing that changed in her movements was the kunoichi’s horn. The horn glowed and then she created black daggers and shot them out. At the same time, she ran across the water at a much faster speed than before. The speed was catching up to the daggers that had been shot out first.

‘That’s right.’

If I were to strike the dark spirits with my sword here, I would just get cut by the kunoichi that clung to me again. However, I couldn’t ignore the daggers flying towards my eyes. I just threw the sword I was holding.

Kaga River – He knocked away some of the dark weapons flying towards him with his black eyes thrown into the air and flew backwards. He took direct hit on any dark weapons flying towards other than his vital points and prepared for the subsequent attacks.

As expected, the kunoichi’s arm flying from behind swung in a large arc.

Phew- I raised my left arm to protect my neck and grabbed her right arm. It wasn’t enough to stop her, as the blade dug into my armpit.

“kaa-hak-”

It was hard to breathe, as if it had penetrated my lungs. But I expected it to hurt to some extent.

Because of the height difference, I can’t reach the other person’s face even when I stretch my arm. But that’s why I held this prosthetic hand with my left hand.

Bingle- He kicks the water off and avoids the tail that is aiming for his abdomen. With his left hand, he spreads his long toshi and covers the entire prosthetic arm, fixing it, and presses down with his other hand. Then, with his knee kicking off the ground, he crushes the elbow that is caught between his right hand and knee.

Ugh-

There was a definite sound of crushing. But this was an act of giving up bone for flesh. With one arm broken, I was nearly incapacitated.

Without any pain, she swung the arm I was holding with an indifferent expression and threw it away. With her arm shattered, was it because there was no need to avoid close combat any longer?

I checked the tail that had pierced my stomach and pulled hard on the thread that my right hand was holding tightly.

The thread that was pulled with a “paeng” caught the sword I had thrown earlier and pulled it towards me.

Even a kunoichi could sense the presence. She raised her arm, which was only as far as her elbow, and tried to ward off the flying sword.

However, my arm sleeve, which was inserted like a string between the joints, limited the range of motion, making it impossible to move.

Phew-

“Keheek…”

What kind of ninja vitality is this? She didn’t give up even though her neck was pierced and her arm was shattered. She pulled her tail out of her stomach and wrapped it around the handle of my sword.

‘If I don’t finish here, I’ll die.’

I ran towards him, raised both hands, and grabbed the blade.

One hand was held tightly behind his neck, the other was held tightly in front of his neck. As he held the sword, which was gradually being pulled out, the blade dug into the bones of his palm.

Squeak… – Sseukkung!

The struggle was short-lived, and the succubus with the blade stuck in her neck used all her strength. As her balance was disturbed, the blade I was turning spun around.

Her face, flying into the air, had a somewhat relieved expression.

Bingle- Sayonara!

With her final greeting, the prosthetic arm and wings turned red and overheated, then exploded and disintegrated.

Kwaaang!

A huge roar and a spray of water rose up, and I was carried away by the current.

“Wow, wow…”

The explosion was so powerful that even though I fell down immediately after seeing the warning signs of the explosion, my ears started ringing and my face and arms felt hot.

Since I had no strength in my body, I just went with the flow.

Perhaps her abilities were not up to this level. Even though she had lost an arm and had the handicap of using an unsuitable prosthetic hand, it was still a bit dangerous. It was truly a stroke of luck that she was able to fight in this situation.

‘No, shit, but go easy on yourself. Why the self-destruction…’

And then, as I thought about why he had added a self-destruct function, anger rose up inside me towards Kuzunoha.

Being able to control my anger was a harvest I gained through this battle.

The moment I cut off her neck, an amount of energy I had never experienced before flowed in. The sword sucked energy faster than when cutting down a demon, like a succubus. The amount of energy overflowing in her body seemed to show how strong she was originally. And more valuable than this energy was the experience of transcending life and death. This time, I fully experienced the real-life experience that Mayhen always talks about.

‘But why does it seem like it’s getting faster?’

It wasn’t because of my mood, it was really getting faster. I couldn’t move because I was treating my stabbed and crushed internal organs and removing the poison that had built up in my body.

In that situation, I heard the sound of a waterfall in my ear.

“This is fucked up.”

Ouch-! Ugh!

As my body floated along with the rapidly accelerating current, a rock hit my head.

Even with that small shock, my body vomited blood.

‘Fuck…Fuck…’

When I looked closely, it wasn’t blood, but water. Water had entered the stab wound, and my lungs were sloshing with water. It was hard to breathe.

Kwaaaa-

And finally, we reached the end of the waterfall.

As my body fell into the water, only one thought came to mind.

‘Please, water, not rocks. Not just rocks.’

with a plop-

The body sank under the water and soon surfaced.

“Cluck, cluck.”

My whole body hurts, but I’m lucky. If there had been a rock or the floor had been low, I would have broken my neck and died.

As long as you are alive, you can be treated at any time. The moment I was about to resume treatment while floating in the water, I heard a voice in my ear.

“Unnies! Come here!”

The owner of the voice, who I confirmed by rolling my eyes, was still a young girl. But now, she had the blue skin characteristic of the Demon Race.

‘This is really fucked up.’