I Was a Small Fish When I Reincarnated, but It Seems That I Can Become a Dragon, so I Will Do My Best - Extra Chapter 74
3-24. Stalemate
Tatareba, who had closed in by kicking the ground strongly, brought down her weapon, which she had equipped on her arm, in a diagonal slash.
With this completely serious strike, she abandoned the surveillance role that Uchikage had instructed her to uphold.
But she had thought the girl was such a dangerous existence.
Letting her escape here… Yuuzen would be in danger.
Furthermore, she realized from facing her that the girl was a considerable adept.
She wasn’t someone to hold back against.
That’s why Tatareba stepped forward with the intention of striking her down in one blow.
Thunk!!
Miss.
The blade cuts through the air.
It seems Kyuuri used her large wings to quickly create distance.
Realizing the surprisingly high maneuverability when using wings, Tatareba transformed the weapon she held in her hand.
“Shadow Medium – Metamorphosis.”
The sword, which had melted once, turned into a kusarigama, and it seemed to be manipulated in Tatareba’s hand as if it had a will of its own.
It was instantaneous, leaving no openings.
Throwing the momentum of the kusarigama, it tangled around Kyuuri’s legs.
Dealing with a black weapon in the dark sky at night was somewhat troublesome.
Moreover, this time it was a long chain.
Despite being a chain, it flew without making the usual rattling sound, causing a delayed reaction.
But that was it.
“Take this!”
The chain wrapped around her legs was cut with a single hand chop, producing a sharp sound echoing in the surroundings.
“!”
Tatareba, judging that restraining her was difficult, immediately pulled back the chain and changed tactics to focus on slamming her.
While it might increase the possibility of being avoided due to the sound of the wind being cut, one wouldn’t know until they tried.
She quickly swung the chain and slammed it towards Kyuuri.
The sound of wind cutting approached Kyuuri, but she didn’t dodge.
Tatareba frowned, but at that moment, the chain slammed into her.
Clang!
The chain that hit Kyuuri broke apart.
!?
“Oh, that’s magic using shadows, huh. In that case, it might not work on me.”
Saying that, Kyuuri directed her hand towards Tatareba.
Thinking something was coming, Tatareba immediately tried to move, but the speed of magic activation was faster than she had imagined.
A mass of soil about the size of a human head appeared in her hand.
After condensing into a square shape, it was ejected.
Thud!
Almost instantaneous projection and ejection.
Tatareba realized she couldn’t avoid it and decided to smash it.
Being an oni herself, she was confident that her strength was stronger than any other species’.
She put her determination into her fist and focused her strength.
She caught the approaching mass of soil with a backfist.
It was easily destroyed and scattered around.
But… the scattered fragments of soil destroyed the surrounding houses, gouged the ground, broke thick wood upon impact with houses, pierced through fences, and blew away stone.
The large number of fragments became like an extremely powerful shotgun, destroying everything nearby.
As a result, it seems there were also injuries, as screams of oni came from inside the houses.
“What!? What the…!?”
Tatareba couldn’t hide her agitation.
The mass of soil she just intercepted wasn’t a particularly powerful attack, and she could easily handle it.
She destroyed it with a backfist, but even if she had deflected it, it shouldn’t have had enough power to destroy houses.
But if this was a “skill”…
“Oops, my bad~”
“…?”
“Here we go again~”
Around Kyuuri, dozens of masses of soil were generated.
Moreover, inconveniently, they were not only directed towards Tatareba but also scattered in various directions.
She managed to defend against attacks flying towards her with her umbrella-like “Shadow Medium,” but the attacks that couldn’t be stopped mercilessly destroyed houses.
What kind of skill was that?
If she didn’t understand it, she couldn’t deal with it.
But there was a quicker solution than that.
Tatareba entered the shadows created by the moonlight.
Holding her breath, she moved through the ground and emerged from the shadow.
There… was Kyuuri’s shadow created by the moonlight.
Taking complete advantage of her position, Tatareba leaped immediately and sliced through Kyuuri’s wings with the transformed sword.
“Take this!”
“Whoa!”
If she’s using an unmanageable skill, she just needs to set it off before it’s used.
It’s a simple thing to say but difficult to execute.
However, overcoming such difficulties is Tatareba’s strength.
Having specialized in magical ambushes during battles, she’s extremely skilled at catching opponents off guard and has dealt with many enemies in this way, to the extent that Uchikage praises her judgment on the battlefield.
Utilizing her strengths, she finally managed to sever one of Kyuuri’s wings.
As she leaped, her sword was poised in an upper stance.
She immediately brought it down, severing the second wing.
But… there was no resistance.
“Huh?”
“Too bad, those were just illusions.”
At that moment, white wings sprouted from Kyuuri.
Rotating with just one wing, she delivered a powerful spinning kick directly into Tatareba’s abdomen.
” ?Whirlwind Kick? !”
“Uuugh!”
Sent flying in a bent shape, Tatareba crashed onto the roof of a house.
It was a makeshift roof made of wood, so it couldn’t withstand the impact and make a hole.
She fell into the house and slammed heavily onto the earthen floor.
Intense pain shot through her abdomen and back, and she couldn’t get up easily.
Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up, pounding the floor with her fist.
Wiping the blood from her mouth.
“Ar-are you okay!?”
A female oni from the neighboring house approached, looking worried.
If asked if she was okay, she could confidently assert that she was far from okay.
But now was not the time to say such things.
“…Get out of here.”
“B-but…!”
“…Inform the oni castle about this… quickly.”
“O-okay!”
Relieved that she finally moved, Tatareba glared again before smashing through the door of the house.
As she stepped outside, Kyuuri was still watching from above.
However, her appearance had changed significantly.
“…I recall hearing about it before. A mysterious, angelic presence.”
“Oh, that’s flattering.”
While her appearance remained youthful, the large white wings sprouting from her back and the halo above her head made her look like an angel.
“…Will you hold out until reinforcements arrive?”
It was the first time Tatareba had faced an opponent, and the first time she felt weak.