Manowa - Chapter 429: Let's Fight With Tonfas

『Kukuku, I can’t contain myself.』

The Flame Griffon Knight Leader landed on the warship and urged his Flame Griffon to start running on the deck. With a body one size larger than the other Flame Griffon Knights, he seemed to have no fear as he charged and routed the skeletons; every blow from his Flame Lance pierced a Skeleton and instantly burned them away to nothing.

Mefirus, who had become that Flame Griffon Knight Leader, was excited.

The current Mefirus wasn’t in his usual juvenile Griffon form, but was transformed into a Flame Knight Captain, which was one of Tiara’s Flame Knights strengthened with heavy armaments. That became possible because, due to Tiara’s growth, her sympathetic bond ability had been strengthened.

And while controlling the Flame Knight body, which had performance that easily surpassed what he formerly possessed in his heyday, Mefirus was in an extremely good mood. Mounted on the Flame Griffon that moved according to his will, he sent countless Skeletons flying as he defeated enemies.

『Mintia-sama is ourrrrrrs!!!』

『What a joke! What abusive language toward the master you should serve!』

Then Mefirus pierced the Skeleton with his Flame Lance and put his strength into it to burn it away. The Flame Lance held by the Flame Griffon Knight Leader was made of swirling flames with the dragonbone spear formerly owned by Jinrai as the core.

It seemed the dragon that bone came from was a flame type, and since Mefirus was a mass of flame, it was tremendously suited to him. Moreover, although it only emitted a slight amount, the Dragon Spirit covering the spear gave it firepower close to Dragon Breath.

And as Mefirus continued to fight, he felt satisfied with himself for the first time in a long time. He had died once, but he felt the joy of living.

『Wonderful, Tiara. This is the first time I’ve felt so liberated since becoming a summoned being… no, since I stopped being an adventurer and became King.』

『That’s excellent, but please tidy up so that other enemies don’t approach Kazane, Grandfather.』

『Leave it to me!』

While discussing his heartfelt feelings with Tiara, Mefirus maneuvered the Flame Griffon to dash around. The other Flame Griffon Knights acted as Mefirus’ support as they continually fought according to Tiara’s will. Furthermore, cries of Nyaa Nyaa along with sounds of destruction could be heard from below the deck; Yuuko-nee had invaded inside and seemed to be doing a fine job.

(Kazane, please do your best)

And while making her summoned beings fight, Tiara was watching Kazane confront the enemy general at the center of the deck. And Kazane seemed to be having an unexpectedly hard fight.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

「Uryaa!!」

Kazane rapidly accelerated with Air Jump and increased her speed even further with the『Fire Boost』spell loaded in her Draghorn Tonfas to try and attack the Skeleton General.

『Naive!』

However, the Skeleton General spun his tonfas and warded off the attack.

(The attack didn’t hit!?)

As if she was battling a willow, Kazane’s attack was swept away. It resembled the tonfa handling of the tonfa user Angus she had once battled.

「Owaa!?」

Kazane’s guided momentum carried her behind her enemy. Due to『Nimble』and『Flexible』, she regained her posture as she distanced herself with a back step. In response, the Skeleton General leisurely walked toward Kazane.

「Ku, uryaa!!」

When the Skeleton General once again rushed toward Kazane, he changed his grip to holding the long ends of his tonfas and swung the grips down toward Kazane like he was wielding hammers. They collided with Kazane’s tonfas, and both of them were knocked back. It seemed they had equal strength, so their attacks had offset each other.

「Strong!」

『Even though you’re a child, what’s that formidable strength?!』

Kazane was also surprised, but after striking with momentum that should have unilaterally sent her flying, the Skeleton General was astonished. The Skeleton General didn’t know that the Skill『Monkey’s Strong Arm』greatly increased Kazane’s strength, so that was no wonder.

After that, the Skeleton General switched between handling his tonfas like they were clubs or swords as he dealt with her. He had phantasmagoric tonfa handling. He took advantage of the T-shape forms of the tonfas to change between weapon stances to match their constant dance between short and medium distance, which threw off Kazane’s ability to predict his actions as he cut through her defenses.

On the other hand, Kazane was just barely dodging with her『Intuition』Skill as she used things like Material Shield for defense.

However, since the opponent was confronting Kazane with a fundamentally defensive approach, Kazane’s lacking technique kept her from landing any decisive blows. Opponents who focused on defense could also easily handle attempts at disruption using Material Shield, so they had bad compatibility.

『Laughable!』

「Uwaa!?」

Then Kazane shouted. She was too worried about the relentless attacks toward her head from the Skeleton General, so she was negligent in defending her torso and was struck hard. Her small body was sent flying by that blow, and Kazane rolled across the deck afterwards. The Skeleton General laughed scornfully as he watched.

『Lukewarm, little girl. You look like you’re a tonfa user as well, but you’re a complete failure. If you can only use them as striking weapons, you are disqualified as a tonfa user.』

Kazane stood up while her wounds were being healed by『Regenerate』and ground her teeth after the Skeleton General’s words.

It was frustrating, but the Skeleton General’s words were accurate. So Kazane couldn’t say anything back. The Tonfa Primer Volume One Kazane received from the tonfa user Angus only contained kicking techniques.

The second volume was necessary to learn tonfa techniques, but Kazane hadn’t obtained it yet. Kazane could currently only use tonfas as an extension of her fists. It was natural for Kazane to lag behind if she fought the Skeleton General in front of her as a tonfa user.

(It isn’t that easy after all?)

Kazane reflected on that point. She scolded herself that she shouldn’t have thought about testing her abilities in actual combat.

『Now then, how about this?』

In front of Kazane, the Skeleton General spread out the arms holding tonfas as he approached.

(From the right? Or from the left?)

A ghostly atmosphere concentrated on the tonfas, and Kazane kept a watchful eye on them as she prepared for the next attack. However, Kazane’s prediction was off. It was unmistakably a tonfa user’s mystery skill. A phantasmagoric all purpose weapon’s technique.

「Guaa!?」

A shock suddenly ran through the pit of Kazane’s stomach. Then,

DOGooO

Together with that sound, she flew.

「Uwaa!?」

Kazane received a kick. Because she was too cautious of the tonfas on the left and right, she failed to notice the yakuza kick from the front. Kazane was completely deceived by the Skeleton General.

「Gu, HaAA」

Kazane couldn’t completely prepare her posture, so she crashed into the deck and rolled. However, Kazane immediately stood up. That blow was so powerful that it wouldn’t have been strange for the lower and upper halves of her body to be torn apart, but her armor’s defensive power was higher than that attack’s strength. And while her wounds were automatically healing with the『Regenerate』Skill, Kazane put herself on guard.

『Hoh, that tenacity makes it hard to believe you’re that lolicon fatty’s companion. But』

The tip of the Skeleton General’s tonfas started shining. They shone like the sun,

『Don’t think I have no means of attack just because you are far away. Tonfas』

then fired.

『Emit beams!』

「You think that’ll hit?!!」

Kazane’s『Intuition』sensed the firing of those beams. Therefore, Kazane instantly activated her Skill『Halo』to create a ring of light in front of her after a short delay. It was a halo that absorbed Light attacks. It was Kazane’s new power.

『What!?』

The Skeleton General shouted when he witnessed the halo absorbing the tonfa beams. But it didn’t end with just absorption.

「A return gift!!」

Kazane immediately fired the light that was stored in『Halo』. The light fired from the two tonfas converged into a single beam that pierced the Skeleton General.

When Halo absorbed a Light attack, it was normally attenuated when fired back. However, since two attacks were consolidated into one, the return blow looked to be more powerful than expected. Then, Kazane charged toward the damaged Skeleton General with the Skill『Boost』and fired『Killing Leg』.

『You think I’ll let you?!』

However, as expected, the Skeleton General was a fearsome warrior. Despite having just received damage, he parried Kazane’s『Killing Leg』with his tonfas. Furthermore, he swung at Kazane with his tonfas as a counter.

However, Kazane didn’t move away. Kazane was poised to withstand the incoming attack. She activated『Red Body Transformation』to strengthen herself and crossed her tonfas to catch the blow.

『Nuu, firm!?』

When she blocked the Skeleton General’s attack, the floor under her creaked, but Kazane didn’t collapse. She endured. Then, toward the Skeleton General who slightly faltered due to that situation, Kazane released the line of sight type『Devil King’s Intimidation』at full throttle.

『What!?』

The Skeleton General received that strong pressure and shouted.

As a matter of fact, as was the case with Jinrai, the effect of『Devil King’s Intimidation』was weak against strong opponents like this. However, if she struck at full throttle in the moment the opponent flinched, that effect would be maximized. It could create an opening.

That intimidation became physical pressure that pinned down the Skeleton General, and Kazane’s kick violently exploded.

『GUaAAA!?』

「I’m not done yet!」

After that, she continuously attacked with strikes and kicks. The Skeleton General was struck by tonfa attacks from right to left, and after that, he received an axe kick that pulverized his left shoulder. Naturally, the Skeleton General tried to counterattack, but Kazane’s attacks were much heavier than before. The Skeleton General couldn’t withstand the destructive power that rose with every attack, and the continually unleashed kicks smashed his right arm and the tonfa it was holding altogether.

『What a girl.』

With a broken right arm and left shoulder, the Skeleton General saw the girl’s legs shining bright red. The final 10th combo. It was a fearsome glow of gathered fighting spirit. Kazane unleashed it. And the body of the Skeleton General was smashed by the red blade of Kick Decapitation Wave.

『GUAaAAAAAA!』

That tremendous blow also destroyed part of the warship’s deck.

The Skeleton General’s entire body was pulverized, and Kazane saw the remaining head roll across the deck.

(Did I defeat him? But he’s not dead yet… I guess?)

Neither her experience points nor Skills had increased. Kazane perceived that the enemy wasn’t dead yet and started running to press the attack, but immediately after, an abnormal event occurred.

The Skeleton General head saw Kazane approaching and smirked.

The Skeleton General noticed that the situation was already getting close to their side’s defeat. The left and right warships were nearly under total control, and his own ship was already finished.

He thought it likely『the enemy would think that』.

However, that was mistaken. The powers of grudge and hatred accumulated over 600 years to destroy their sworn enemy were now unleashed.

「What?」

The situation made Kazane raise her voice.

The smashed deck was transforming into something organic. The Skeleton General’s head started falling into the broken deck. Then, the deck started moving sinuously, and the destroyed parts were being repaired. No, it would be more correct to say they were transforming into something.

Before that situation, Kazane no longer had the leeway to chase after the Skeleton General that had fallen into the deck. That transformation wasn’t only occurring to the warship Kazane’s group was on, but the other two ships as well.

「This is bad. All members, evacuate from the battleships!」

While giving instructions to her companions with her Skill『Information Link』, she jumped to escape from the battleship that was changing shape into something else. And while jumping in the air, Kazane turned around to look at it. She witnessed the battleship she was just on transforming into a giant mollusk.

The battleship was changing into something that looked like a huge squid.

Kazane learned now that their true forms were fearsome giant sea monsters.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Dragon and Beast Ruling Tenma Monarch (Apprentice)

Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King, Liberator, Guardian

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragon Eating Ogre Army Armor (True), Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, White Magic Accumulator (Revised) ×2, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring, Angel Bracelet

Level : 40

Health: 156+20

Magic Power: 378+520

Strength: 81+45

Agility: 83+39

Endurance: 45+20

Wisdom : 75

Dexterity : 53

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』『Rabbit Speed』『Flare Mirage』

Skill : 『Apprenticeship Cancellation』『Nil Principle』『Skill Hand (１)』『Halo』『Evolution Hand (１)』『Kick Devil』『Kick Decapitation Wave』『Warrior’s Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog’s Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv4』『Aegis Shield』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition: Lv2』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv3「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『Sturdier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King’s Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『Space Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur: Lv3』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey’s Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『Boobies Plus』『Living Armor』『Alarm』『Six-sword Style』『Mental Attack Complete Protection』『Spider Web』『Wire Cutter』『Flexible』『Magic Power Absorption』『Red Body Transformation』『Friendship Tag-team』

Kazane: 「Huge!」

Yumika: 「Uwaa, outrageous things have appeared.」

Kazane: 「Can those squid tentacles be eaten?」

Yumika: 「Wouldn’t tentacles that big be filled with ammonia and stink?」

Kazane: 「Is that so?」