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Chapter 42 -- Y2: Two Percent of Life Should be Super-Fights
Okay, okay… put that there… there… ah! You’re here already! Shoo, shoo, I’m not done yet!
~~~
Done! Okay, okay, come in!
Like it?! I worked really hard on it -- what? No! This isn’t for sex – Oh for the love of --
Look, there’s a time for sex, and there’s a time for badass super-fights. The split is roughly ninety five percent sex, two percent logistics, two percent super-fights, and one percent for ‘other’. You need to have some contrast in order to properly appreciate life! If you just do one thing all day every day, you’ll forget how great it is!
You need palate cleansers occasionally.
So. So so so~ This is the setup for the fight with the Parasite Nucleus. I’ll explain it later, but, essentially, after I left the festival I was out of commission. I’ll explain why later. I frankly don’t remember much -- just a vague haze of pleasure and a pleasant certainty of purpose. My entire brain was being utilized for something else; every thought I had was subverted and rewritten, to the point where my memories don’t make any sense. I remember being male again and playing a strategy-based video game, I remember doing alchemy for years to get just the right mixture, and I remember being in a massive orgy for around a minute before picking up a gun and going to get army training.
Yeah. Going through my memories of that period will not be helpful. They don’t make sense. They did at the time, but trying to make it coherent after the fact makes it clear that it was all just a weird haze, as my parasites picked and chose parts of my thoughts to be used to their advantage. I was not myself; I was a puppet, and I was happy with being so.
…Which, yes.
Is, uh. Kinda creepy.
And looking back, it makes me shiver a bit if I think too hard about it? Shiver in a bad way, I mean. It was hot, yes, but that was -- too much.
But thankfully, I had friends and allies who could help!
And they told me what happened after the fact, so I can tell you!
I can assure you it will be absolutely, perfectly, one hundred percent accurate, with any exaggerations made only to make it sound cooler.
And now time for my super epic action THEATER!
Okay so this one represents Shimizu, this one is puppet-me, that’s Yuki, that’s the nucleus, these are the trees, that one is…
~~~
It was two weeks after the end of the holiday. Sevens, despite being, in theory, ‘all knowing’ was of no help. Takeo, the vile villain, was still missing. The only person of any help for our hero, Shimizu’s, was the corrupted seer Yuki.
And even that was only because she was held back by Shimizu’s blessed cock!
But! Despite that! Our grand heroine had succeeded in her mission! She had found out where her slutty cumdump’s -- um, her beloved lady -- was currently located!
Her blessed cock was recently corrupted by vile parasites, twin extra balls that whispered sweet seductions into her mind! She could have removed them by now, but she --
-- well.
Even heroines have weaknesses.
But! Regardless!
She had finally managed to locate the Parasite Nucleus!
It took time, and effort, but despite their missing leader, she had managed to claim the correct location!
She had claimed it just the other day, and upon the next morn, when sunlight was streaming through her window and lighting up her current lover's back, she heard a frantic knocking on her door!
It was fortunate that it was a man on the other side. Were it a woman, our grand heroine would have been too distracted with attempts at seduction to read the vital letter that was delivered. Indeed, Shimizu had recently realized some of the true benefits that the female form can have on others, as she felt her loins stir at the thought of --
~~~
What?! What’s with that look?! Yes, this is obviously essential!
Because she’s super hot, that’s why! Do you know how hot her super-cock is?!
Ugh! Fine. I’ll move on.
Spoil sport.
~~~
Shimizu did need some time to drain her cock to --
~~~
For the love of -- yes that’s essential! Look, I’m skipping over describing her cock for a full hour at your insistence, but this is still my story! Do you want to hear what happened or not?!
…Thank you. Apology accepted.
I’m, uh, sorry too.
…It’s been a while since I’ve seen her and -- I got a bit snippy. Sorry.
…Thanks. I’ll try to keep myself under control.
Okay! Okay. Back to -- yeah! Great.
~~~
After learning our grand heroine Shimizu learned that her most recently claimed area had undergone a freak shift in its nature, she knew what had happened.
The nucleus had revealed itself, and it was time to defeat it.
Normally, she would have had more allies with her on this grand quest!
Her lady, the glorious Elizabeth Ambrosia, with her recently empowered fire magics would have made a grand partner.
She had dueled the time-traveling technically not vile villain Takeo several times, and if he could have been roused from his state of lethargy, his help would have been invaluable!
Alas, even one of her more recent lovers, one Ichika Omori, was recently enthralled with her latest obsession of ‘being a maid’. She would have been a grand help with her nature magic.
But all she had was herself, Yuki, and Sumiko.
Of those three, only she, herself, was a strong, front-line fighter.
But she would have to make do. She was Shimizu, the Swordsmistress!
Preparations were needed for the fight, and preparations were made.
She drained her balls of cum. …Multiple times. Until she actually felt like she was under control.
She prepared bombs and potions. Plenty of potions.
And she even snuck into my secret stash of emergency supplies to grab my health potions!
Argh! Yes, it was the right move, and I approve, but those were my best works; I was saving them for the Evil God! If the situation wasn’t as serious as it was, I would have moved beyond ‘frustrated’ and into ‘actually angry’.
Regardless, her preparations took a full day's worth of time slots; not to mention the counter-measures she had Sumiko prepare for the nucleus. But then -- then they were ready.
The three of them prepared to journey to the corrupted land, like so -- with Shimizu in front as the heroine, Sumiko in middle as the support, and Yuki as rearguard with her seer's visions.
Their initial battles were trivial. Tentacles, worms, slugs, and one odd squirrel, all were easily dealt with. Shimizu had her katana and enchanted accessories, the best that could be bought and made during year two. Sumiko had her terrifying grab bag of mad science gizmos for reshaping the battlefield, usually by blowing everything up. And Yuki had the Atlantean rifle, plus her roper tentacles if anything got too close.
However, the battle was long! And treacherous!
Sumiko couldn’t keep her balance with her four massive tits, and fell into a pile of parasites disguised as innocent flowers! She had to use half of her stockpile just to get out!
Yuki’s roper had instincts of its own, and occasionally she would enter a daze -- seeking certain parasites out to grow in power. She would always snap out of it before long, but every time, she would end in a disadvantageous position.
And Shimizu, the vanguard, the heroine! She had the toughest job of all. She had to slice down every foe in their path, every superior enemy channeled towards her might!
But they stood strong! Taking breaks for sex when they needed it! And they continued to fight towards the Nucleus Parasite -- where they found their fiercest foe yet. The one that nearly stopped them from achieving their goal.
They found me. Mwahahahahahahaha!
~~~
Wha - It’s - it’s just for drama! I obviously don’t like being the bad guy!
…Oh stop with that look, I’ve seen some of the video games you play! They’re not all peaceful farming simulators! You don’t get to judge me!
~~~
They had reached the Parasite Nucleus. A massive, pulsating red sphere, approximately one third of the way into the ground. What remained was the height of a two story building. What could be seen was riddled with thick veins that throbbed in time to an invisible and irregular heartbeat.
As far as they could tell, there were no more barriers. They simply needed to defeat the nucleus, and use a premade solution on the ground where it rose from. That should defeat it for good.
Shimizu approached it slowly, and cautiously… which was quickly revealed to be a the correct choice, as she barely managed to block an attack from a blurred form that darted up from an unseen ditch in the ground! She and her foe quickly slashed at each other, fighting more by instinct than any higher form of thought, and it only ended when Shimizu felt the now-familiar sensation of her blade slicing through a tentacle.
There was an alien screech from her foe, and she kicked it back, forcing a pause in the sudden battle. They could finally see their opponent.
In front of the three of them stood a woman of shorter than average height, or, more accurately, some kind of amalgamation in the rough shape of one. Its skin and form was almost patchwork; like puzzle pieces slotted together, sometimes over and under one another. Where its hands should be were strange tentacles, that wriggled and hardened on command. Its face was covered by an unusual blue mask, seemingly crafted to represent a feral beast. Along its back, and across its arms and legs, was something that appeared similar to the odd dog-suit parasite they had fought repeatedly that day… only somehow larger, bulkier. Tougher.
It -- I, for it was me underneath all of those parasites -- tilted its head, and, with a small explosion of dirt, accelerated with a single jump towards Sumiko.
One hand reached back and was coming forward, turning its tentacle into a form of a hardened whip. Using its length to build extra momentum, for extra damage. Sumiko didn’t have the capacity to both recognize the danger and dodge it with any degree of safety.
Fortunately, she was not alone.
Shimizu jumped in the way of the attack! Using her blade to block the hardened tentacle, she quickly turned what remained of her momentum into a kick right into the beast's gut.
It felt like she had kicked a brick wall, and besides its momentum being halted, it barely seemed to feel the attack.
It was around then that the beast's second tentacled arm whipped around, looser this time, attempting to wrap itself around our heroine! Thankfully, there were some tentacles on the heroes' side, as well; Yuki wrapped around that appendage with a solid six of her own, to hold it back!
It almost wasn’t enough.
But by digging her heels into the dirt, she managed to hold.
The fight so far hadn’t even been a minute. It hadn’t even been thirty seconds. The beast was just now placing its feet back on the ground, snarling a strange language in her ears, as it reeled in both tentacles while aiming for a good counter-kick.
This, at least, was easier for Shimizu to deal with… but as she quickly lept back to dodge the strike, she glanced at her two comrades.
They all knew this would not be an easy foe!
A few scant moments passed as the tool of the parasites stood across from the hero and her two haremettes, before it charged forward once more. Shimizu rapidly blocked one hardened tentacle, letting her allies distract the other, as battle resumed.
The hardest part of the fight was not the raw capabilities of the foe in front of her. No, she had faced tougher. She had faced faster, and she had faced stronger. She had battled those more unpredictable and with even stranger methods of battle.
The hardest part was that the beast was intelligent.
Not in terms of battle instincts, but in terms of strategy. Unlike most wild monsters in the field, it would target her allies even when doing so would leave it open to a critical counter from Shimizu… because it knew she would abort her action to defend her friends. Neither Sumiko nor Yuki could handle the beast's full attention, so she was forced to bounce between defending them and attacking the monster.
The massive, pulsating sphere that was their actual target seemed to laugh at them as Shimizu heard Sumiko yelp.
They had been lulled into a false assumption; they assumed that the beast in front of them was their last foe, the last opponent. And while in a certain way that was true… it was certainly the last, the strongest obstacle… that was not the same thing as being the last distraction.
And in a battle this close, distractions could be deadly.
Especially because she started to have a suspicion about just who laid under the tarp of parasites that was her primary opponent…
The battle took a turn for the worse, then. Shimizu had shifted from attacking when she could to focusing fully on defense; neither Yuki nor Sumiko were capable enough in terms of raw combat to be an asset now that the battle had gained complexity. They could take care of the distractions, or assist with the primary beast -- not both. And if they weren’t assisting with the parasitical amalgamation, they were detriments, instead.
Shimizu could tell that this battle was not going their way. She had options, yes… plenty of bombs, and other one-off methods of turning the tide of battle… but she had already used what they had allotted for this campaign on the initial fights. She thought that ensuring she reached this battle at full strength was more important than having a few bombs for an emergency -- and she was right -- but that still left her bereft of good options.
She could use the items that they could not easily replicate, she could retreat, or she could wait and hope the tide of battle would turn.
The later two of those three were non-viable in her eyes. Retreating would merely give the nucleus a chance to replenish its forces, and ‘hoping for things to change’ was a move taken when one couldn’t force a change. And she could.
She just didn’t like the thought of telling Princess Ambrosia about how she used the Yin-Yang: Creation-Destruction XL Divinity Piercing Bomb that Sumiko stumbled into making some months back.
With a burst of effort, and at the cost of another bruised rib, she managed to separate herself from her primary foe. Her hand darted into her bag to reach for the weapon -- only to realize that her opponent would not give her the time she needed. It didn’t even pause once separated from the swordsmistress; it merely shifted targets, and charged towards Yuki.
Shimizu would have been able to block that just fine. Even with her distraction, she could manage it.
She could not, however, block the massive river of fire that the beast seemed to throw at the oracle.
Shimizu swore under her breath, trying to think of what to do… only to swear much louder when she saw another blur interpose itself between Yuki, and the flame.
As the fire petered out, she recognized Takeo. Takeo, who had been missing for almost a month, had shown up -- blocking the stream of fire with a spotless tower shield that gleamed with the crest of the Royal Family. Gems that were clearly enchanted sparkled on its corners and select spots on the crest. He had in his hand a matching sword -- though the shields craftsmanship was in another league entirely.
He was also wearing a dark azure set of footie pajamas with cartoon bamboo spelling out his name, repeatedly, in different ways and different directions, on every single part of the outfit.
With the fire exhausted for now, the beast stopped and hesitated for a moment.. seemingly needing to recalculate its strategies, to account for this new pajama-wearing factor.
Takeo, the jerk-face, then had the gall to glance at Shimizu and blame her for this battle's difficulty! “Fifty seven times,” He said, eyes narrowed. “Fifty seven times this precise battle has happened, and this is the first time you’ve started it two days early!”
*
**
***
A/N:
Sooo... this was originally going to be another few pages of length, but, to be frank, I kinda suck at fight scenes. Or at least, they don't flow as easily as the rest of this story. After around here, it was either give it the ending it deserved next time, or end it with a sex joke.
Now mind.
I would have loved to end it with a sex joke.
But I have a friend/beta-reader who is much better with combat than I, and I'm going to give it a shot to get it the ending it deserves. I'll aim for an extra-long chapter after it to make up for the delay!
~~~
Done! Okay, okay, come in!
Like it?! I worked really hard on it -- what? No! This isn’t for sex – Oh for the love of --
Look, there’s a time for sex, and there’s a time for badass super-fights. The split is roughly ninety five percent sex, two percent logistics, two percent super-fights, and one percent for ‘other’. You need to have some contrast in order to properly appreciate life! If you just do one thing all day every day, you’ll forget how great it is!
You need palate cleansers occasionally.
So. So so so~ This is the setup for the fight with the Parasite Nucleus. I’ll explain it later, but, essentially, after I left the festival I was out of commission. I’ll explain why later. I frankly don’t remember much -- just a vague haze of pleasure and a pleasant certainty of purpose. My entire brain was being utilized for something else; every thought I had was subverted and rewritten, to the point where my memories don’t make any sense. I remember being male again and playing a strategy-based video game, I remember doing alchemy for years to get just the right mixture, and I remember being in a massive orgy for around a minute before picking up a gun and going to get army training.
Yeah. Going through my memories of that period will not be helpful. They don’t make sense. They did at the time, but trying to make it coherent after the fact makes it clear that it was all just a weird haze, as my parasites picked and chose parts of my thoughts to be used to their advantage. I was not myself; I was a puppet, and I was happy with being so.
…Which, yes.
Is, uh. Kinda creepy.
And looking back, it makes me shiver a bit if I think too hard about it? Shiver in a bad way, I mean. It was hot, yes, but that was -- too much.
But thankfully, I had friends and allies who could help!
And they told me what happened after the fact, so I can tell you!
I can assure you it will be absolutely, perfectly, one hundred percent accurate, with any exaggerations made only to make it sound cooler.
And now time for my super epic action THEATER!
Okay so this one represents Shimizu, this one is puppet-me, that’s Yuki, that’s the nucleus, these are the trees, that one is…
~~~
It was two weeks after the end of the holiday. Sevens, despite being, in theory, ‘all knowing’ was of no help. Takeo, the vile villain, was still missing. The only person of any help for our hero, Shimizu’s, was the corrupted seer Yuki.
And even that was only because she was held back by Shimizu’s blessed cock!
But! Despite that! Our grand heroine had succeeded in her mission! She had found out where her slutty cumdump’s -- um, her beloved lady -- was currently located!
Her blessed cock was recently corrupted by vile parasites, twin extra balls that whispered sweet seductions into her mind! She could have removed them by now, but she --
-- well.
Even heroines have weaknesses.
But! Regardless!
She had finally managed to locate the Parasite Nucleus!
It took time, and effort, but despite their missing leader, she had managed to claim the correct location!
She had claimed it just the other day, and upon the next morn, when sunlight was streaming through her window and lighting up her current lover's back, she heard a frantic knocking on her door!
It was fortunate that it was a man on the other side. Were it a woman, our grand heroine would have been too distracted with attempts at seduction to read the vital letter that was delivered. Indeed, Shimizu had recently realized some of the true benefits that the female form can have on others, as she felt her loins stir at the thought of --
~~~
What?! What’s with that look?! Yes, this is obviously essential!
Because she’s super hot, that’s why! Do you know how hot her super-cock is?!
Ugh! Fine. I’ll move on.
Spoil sport.
~~~
Shimizu did need some time to drain her cock to --
~~~
For the love of -- yes that’s essential! Look, I’m skipping over describing her cock for a full hour at your insistence, but this is still my story! Do you want to hear what happened or not?!
…Thank you. Apology accepted.
I’m, uh, sorry too.
…It’s been a while since I’ve seen her and -- I got a bit snippy. Sorry.
…Thanks. I’ll try to keep myself under control.
Okay! Okay. Back to -- yeah! Great.
~~~
After learning our grand heroine Shimizu learned that her most recently claimed area had undergone a freak shift in its nature, she knew what had happened.
The nucleus had revealed itself, and it was time to defeat it.
Normally, she would have had more allies with her on this grand quest!
Her lady, the glorious Elizabeth Ambrosia, with her recently empowered fire magics would have made a grand partner.
She had dueled the time-traveling technically not vile villain Takeo several times, and if he could have been roused from his state of lethargy, his help would have been invaluable!
Alas, even one of her more recent lovers, one Ichika Omori, was recently enthralled with her latest obsession of ‘being a maid’. She would have been a grand help with her nature magic.
But all she had was herself, Yuki, and Sumiko.
Of those three, only she, herself, was a strong, front-line fighter.
But she would have to make do. She was Shimizu, the Swordsmistress!
Preparations were needed for the fight, and preparations were made.
She drained her balls of cum. …Multiple times. Until she actually felt like she was under control.
She prepared bombs and potions. Plenty of potions.
And she even snuck into my secret stash of emergency supplies to grab my health potions!
Argh! Yes, it was the right move, and I approve, but those were my best works; I was saving them for the Evil God! If the situation wasn’t as serious as it was, I would have moved beyond ‘frustrated’ and into ‘actually angry’.
Regardless, her preparations took a full day's worth of time slots; not to mention the counter-measures she had Sumiko prepare for the nucleus. But then -- then they were ready.
The three of them prepared to journey to the corrupted land, like so -- with Shimizu in front as the heroine, Sumiko in middle as the support, and Yuki as rearguard with her seer's visions.
Their initial battles were trivial. Tentacles, worms, slugs, and one odd squirrel, all were easily dealt with. Shimizu had her katana and enchanted accessories, the best that could be bought and made during year two. Sumiko had her terrifying grab bag of mad science gizmos for reshaping the battlefield, usually by blowing everything up. And Yuki had the Atlantean rifle, plus her roper tentacles if anything got too close.
However, the battle was long! And treacherous!
Sumiko couldn’t keep her balance with her four massive tits, and fell into a pile of parasites disguised as innocent flowers! She had to use half of her stockpile just to get out!
Yuki’s roper had instincts of its own, and occasionally she would enter a daze -- seeking certain parasites out to grow in power. She would always snap out of it before long, but every time, she would end in a disadvantageous position.
And Shimizu, the vanguard, the heroine! She had the toughest job of all. She had to slice down every foe in their path, every superior enemy channeled towards her might!
But they stood strong! Taking breaks for sex when they needed it! And they continued to fight towards the Nucleus Parasite -- where they found their fiercest foe yet. The one that nearly stopped them from achieving their goal.
They found me. Mwahahahahahahaha!
~~~
Wha - It’s - it’s just for drama! I obviously don’t like being the bad guy!
…Oh stop with that look, I’ve seen some of the video games you play! They’re not all peaceful farming simulators! You don’t get to judge me!
~~~
They had reached the Parasite Nucleus. A massive, pulsating red sphere, approximately one third of the way into the ground. What remained was the height of a two story building. What could be seen was riddled with thick veins that throbbed in time to an invisible and irregular heartbeat.
As far as they could tell, there were no more barriers. They simply needed to defeat the nucleus, and use a premade solution on the ground where it rose from. That should defeat it for good.
Shimizu approached it slowly, and cautiously… which was quickly revealed to be a the correct choice, as she barely managed to block an attack from a blurred form that darted up from an unseen ditch in the ground! She and her foe quickly slashed at each other, fighting more by instinct than any higher form of thought, and it only ended when Shimizu felt the now-familiar sensation of her blade slicing through a tentacle.
There was an alien screech from her foe, and she kicked it back, forcing a pause in the sudden battle. They could finally see their opponent.
In front of the three of them stood a woman of shorter than average height, or, more accurately, some kind of amalgamation in the rough shape of one. Its skin and form was almost patchwork; like puzzle pieces slotted together, sometimes over and under one another. Where its hands should be were strange tentacles, that wriggled and hardened on command. Its face was covered by an unusual blue mask, seemingly crafted to represent a feral beast. Along its back, and across its arms and legs, was something that appeared similar to the odd dog-suit parasite they had fought repeatedly that day… only somehow larger, bulkier. Tougher.
It -- I, for it was me underneath all of those parasites -- tilted its head, and, with a small explosion of dirt, accelerated with a single jump towards Sumiko.
One hand reached back and was coming forward, turning its tentacle into a form of a hardened whip. Using its length to build extra momentum, for extra damage. Sumiko didn’t have the capacity to both recognize the danger and dodge it with any degree of safety.
Fortunately, she was not alone.
Shimizu jumped in the way of the attack! Using her blade to block the hardened tentacle, she quickly turned what remained of her momentum into a kick right into the beast's gut.
It felt like she had kicked a brick wall, and besides its momentum being halted, it barely seemed to feel the attack.
It was around then that the beast's second tentacled arm whipped around, looser this time, attempting to wrap itself around our heroine! Thankfully, there were some tentacles on the heroes' side, as well; Yuki wrapped around that appendage with a solid six of her own, to hold it back!
It almost wasn’t enough.
But by digging her heels into the dirt, she managed to hold.
The fight so far hadn’t even been a minute. It hadn’t even been thirty seconds. The beast was just now placing its feet back on the ground, snarling a strange language in her ears, as it reeled in both tentacles while aiming for a good counter-kick.
This, at least, was easier for Shimizu to deal with… but as she quickly lept back to dodge the strike, she glanced at her two comrades.
They all knew this would not be an easy foe!
A few scant moments passed as the tool of the parasites stood across from the hero and her two haremettes, before it charged forward once more. Shimizu rapidly blocked one hardened tentacle, letting her allies distract the other, as battle resumed.
The hardest part of the fight was not the raw capabilities of the foe in front of her. No, she had faced tougher. She had faced faster, and she had faced stronger. She had battled those more unpredictable and with even stranger methods of battle.
The hardest part was that the beast was intelligent.
Not in terms of battle instincts, but in terms of strategy. Unlike most wild monsters in the field, it would target her allies even when doing so would leave it open to a critical counter from Shimizu… because it knew she would abort her action to defend her friends. Neither Sumiko nor Yuki could handle the beast's full attention, so she was forced to bounce between defending them and attacking the monster.
The massive, pulsating sphere that was their actual target seemed to laugh at them as Shimizu heard Sumiko yelp.
They had been lulled into a false assumption; they assumed that the beast in front of them was their last foe, the last opponent. And while in a certain way that was true… it was certainly the last, the strongest obstacle… that was not the same thing as being the last distraction.
And in a battle this close, distractions could be deadly.
Especially because she started to have a suspicion about just who laid under the tarp of parasites that was her primary opponent…
The battle took a turn for the worse, then. Shimizu had shifted from attacking when she could to focusing fully on defense; neither Yuki nor Sumiko were capable enough in terms of raw combat to be an asset now that the battle had gained complexity. They could take care of the distractions, or assist with the primary beast -- not both. And if they weren’t assisting with the parasitical amalgamation, they were detriments, instead.
Shimizu could tell that this battle was not going their way. She had options, yes… plenty of bombs, and other one-off methods of turning the tide of battle… but she had already used what they had allotted for this campaign on the initial fights. She thought that ensuring she reached this battle at full strength was more important than having a few bombs for an emergency -- and she was right -- but that still left her bereft of good options.
She could use the items that they could not easily replicate, she could retreat, or she could wait and hope the tide of battle would turn.
The later two of those three were non-viable in her eyes. Retreating would merely give the nucleus a chance to replenish its forces, and ‘hoping for things to change’ was a move taken when one couldn’t force a change. And she could.
She just didn’t like the thought of telling Princess Ambrosia about how she used the Yin-Yang: Creation-Destruction XL Divinity Piercing Bomb that Sumiko stumbled into making some months back.
With a burst of effort, and at the cost of another bruised rib, she managed to separate herself from her primary foe. Her hand darted into her bag to reach for the weapon -- only to realize that her opponent would not give her the time she needed. It didn’t even pause once separated from the swordsmistress; it merely shifted targets, and charged towards Yuki.
Shimizu would have been able to block that just fine. Even with her distraction, she could manage it.
She could not, however, block the massive river of fire that the beast seemed to throw at the oracle.
Shimizu swore under her breath, trying to think of what to do… only to swear much louder when she saw another blur interpose itself between Yuki, and the flame.
As the fire petered out, she recognized Takeo. Takeo, who had been missing for almost a month, had shown up -- blocking the stream of fire with a spotless tower shield that gleamed with the crest of the Royal Family. Gems that were clearly enchanted sparkled on its corners and select spots on the crest. He had in his hand a matching sword -- though the shields craftsmanship was in another league entirely.
He was also wearing a dark azure set of footie pajamas with cartoon bamboo spelling out his name, repeatedly, in different ways and different directions, on every single part of the outfit.
With the fire exhausted for now, the beast stopped and hesitated for a moment.. seemingly needing to recalculate its strategies, to account for this new pajama-wearing factor.
Takeo, the jerk-face, then had the gall to glance at Shimizu and blame her for this battle's difficulty! “Fifty seven times,” He said, eyes narrowed. “Fifty seven times this precise battle has happened, and this is the first time you’ve started it two days early!”
*
**
***
A/N:
Sooo... this was originally going to be another few pages of length, but, to be frank, I kinda suck at fight scenes. Or at least, they don't flow as easily as the rest of this story. After around here, it was either give it the ending it deserved next time, or end it with a sex joke.
Now mind.
I would have loved to end it with a sex joke.
But I have a friend/beta-reader who is much better with combat than I, and I'm going to give it a shot to get it the ending it deserves. I'll aim for an extra-long chapter after it to make up for the delay!
