Chapter 25

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"Toy and Melt attacked Seiichi Yukinaga!?"

"H-Hai..."

Upon hearing the report from her subordinate, Chie held her head.

"I never thought they would make such a foolish choice..."

Sefek, Toy, and Melt, who had been left on the rooftop of the JR Tower, had already been released thanks to the organization's efforts. However, only Sefek had returned to the branch. Toy and Melt, who had not returned, had a history of acting on their own. Therefore, Chie had not taken their absence seriously, thinking they were just taking a detour as usual.

"I should have kept a closer eye on their movements..."

Chie regretted it quietly while holding her head.

"A few agents were used to block part of Seiichi Yukinaga's route home. It seems they have already engaged in combat."

"Acting on their own... What a reckless thing to do..."

Chie immediately activated her 'Perception.'

The distance from the temporary branch to Seiichi Yukinaga's house was not more than a few dozen kilometers. If he was on his way home, he would be within the range of Chie's ability.

"I found him. The battle has just begun. Send reinforcements immediately! It's fine to send agents of Rank C or lower. Make sure to strengthen the cover-up to avoid detection by nearby residents. Also, if Toy and Melt are not killed in the battle, retrieve them."

"Understood!"

The subordinate left the room in a hurry.

"Given this situation, there's no choice. I'll use this opportunity to assess Seiichi Yukinaga's true strength."

Muttering these words, Chie focused on her ability.

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A certain alley, made slightly wider to facilitate snow removal, was empty. The sound of construction vehicle engines and the loud clanging of metal echoed repeatedly.

"There was a sense of impact. No matter what ability you have, you shouldn't be unscathed."

The man in a tailcoat and silk hat muttered this while watching the mechanical doll repeatedly strike with its iron fist. However, his prediction was far off.

"What!?"

Immediately after, the limbs of the doll that had been striking with its iron fist were cut off, and it collapsed on the spot. The young man who emerged from the wreckage, though his school uniform was tattered, was completely unharmed.

"How can you be unscathed after taking such attacks!?"

"Shut up! It's a trade secret!"

After shouting, the young man readied the utility knife he was holding.

"I don't understand how you're unscathed, but the ability you used to destroy my doll must be the one involving the utility knife, right?"

"Huh? Ability?"

"It's no use pretending! We need you to sacrifice yourself so we can reach Rank A!"

Ignoring the young man's puzzled words, Toy activated his ability with full force.

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When the iron fist crushed him, he really thought he was going to die. No, if two cards had been sacrificed, it means he should have died twice.

"I made them as prototypes, but I'm glad they activated."

While stroking the 'Substitute Cards' stuck to his thighs and waist, he muttered.

"Still, I feel like I took a number of iron fists that could have killed me ten times... but it was only two."

Well, it's fine. I'll think about it later.

In front of him, the robots transformed from construction vehicles filled the road. He needed to deal with them now. There were about nine of them.

"Alright, taste the greatness of my ability 'Toy'!"

What is he talking about with 'ability, ability'? Besides, he tried to kill me out of the blue and destroyed my uniform, bag, and textbooks. I won't forgive this!

"Take this!"

"That's my line!"

A humanoid dump truck charged at him, but its movements were slow and repetitive. It was just big.

"Flying slash!"

He released a spiritual energy-imbued slash from his utility knife. The dump truck was dismantled!

"I see, so it's an ability to launch slashes. But I still have more dolls!"

At the call of the silk hat, the robots transformed from cranes, excavators, and road rollers attacked one after another.

"Huh? Wait a minute?"

At first, he thought they were the pinnacle of robotics, but could this be the 'ability' the silk hat was talking about?

He observed the approaching robots while dismantling them. Then—

"I've learned it!"

I see, so this is an ability. It works differently from Yin-Yang techniques, but I can master it without any problems.

Hmm, the ability 'Toy' allows you to create obedient dolls using surrounding materials. Unlike spirit summoning techniques, you don't need talismans or mediums, which is convenient.

"But I can't use it now."

This ability, which has properties similar to spirit summoning techniques, cannot be used. I don't want to end up with a family of giant robots.

"Go! Go!"

Two more robots charged at him, but it didn't matter. He dismantled them one by one. By the way, to avoid harming the people inside the robot's torso, he only cut off the limbs.

"Damn, still not done!"

There were three left. But—

"Too big..."

One of the robots had the silk hat on its palm, acting as the command unit. It was a normal size and could be easily dismantled. However, the two guarding it were huge, about twice the size of the previous robots.

"Whoa!"

Their movements were still slow, but their fists were about twice as big. It was hard to dodge. I can't get close... No choice.

"A bit scary, but can I fly?"

He took off his shoes and socks and released 'Scatter Flame Bullets' from the soles of his feet.

"What! You can fly!?"

That's right, I can fly! To prepare for such unexpected situations, I draw the 'Scatter Flame Bullet' spell on my feet on days without physical education.

By the way, I don't draw it on my arms. If someone saw it when I rolled up my sleeves, they'd think I had a delusional disorder.

"Flying slash!"

He scattered slashes from the air and dismantled the two large robots. Then, he approached the remaining command unit—

"Whoa!"

—before he could, he was hit by a fist from behind and fell to the road.

"Damn, 'Scatter Flame Bullet'!"

He rubbed his painful left arm and used the 'Scatter Flame Bullet' for an emergency evasion. Immediately after, the robot's iron fist exploded at the spot where he had been knocked down.

"Close call."

Even if I get hit, I won't die, but I can still feel the pain. My left arm, which was hit, is unharmed but a bit sore. The initial iron fist barrage was incredibly painful.

"Still, why from behind... Oh, I see."

The large robot was the result of two robots combining. The limbs I cut off were the arms of the upper body robot and the legs of the lower body robot.

The lower body robot was extending its long arms and swinging them wildly.

"Flying slash."

He quickly dismantled it. While at it, he also dismantled the other robots he had failed to take down earlier.

"Launching slashes, flying, and unharmed from any attack... What kind of ability do you have!?"

"Trade secret!"

The silk hat was shouting in a near-hysterical state, but I have no intention of telling a rude person who attacked me out of the blue.

From his tone, it seems he doesn't know about Yin-Yang techniques, so I'll keep him confused.

"Scatter Flame Bullet!"

He approached the silk hat using the propulsion from the scatter flame bullets.

"Don't let him get close!"

The command unit raised its arms, but it was too slow. He quickly cut off its limbs. The silk hat, who had been riding on the falling arm, fell on his butt from the impact.

"Why did you attack me? I want an explanation."

He threatened the silk hat with his utility knife and asked the question.

"Ah! Just kidding, so to speak."

"Huh?"

Just as he felt annoyed by the silk hat's "just kidding," the command unit's torso melted, and someone hugged him.

"Gotcha!"

It turned out to be a purple-haired girl in a tank top. Who is she? What kind of outfit is that? Isn't she cold?

"Melt away!"

As the girl said, the clothes touching her skin began to melt.

Not good! Is this her ability?

"You're too slow! ...Wait, what? It's not melting."

Phew, I panicked. The clothes were melted, but his body was completely unharmed. It seems the 'Substitute Cards' protected him from this attack as well.

"What? Why isn't it melting!?"

"...Let me help you up."

He gently pulled the panicking girl away and looked at her face. If it weren't for the 'Substitute Cards,' he might have died. He had no intention of showing mercy.

"...If you move, I might lose control. It's better not to move."

"Huh?"

"Equal Punch!"

'Equal Punch' is a technique I created, inspired by a certain divine work, to safely knock out an opponent. I learned all types of uppercuts, integrated them, and adjusted them for my use. This technique can knock out an opponent without causing significant external injuries.

"Good, it worked."

After running his fist along the girl's chin, she drifted into a dream world.

"Alright..."

When he turned back to the silk hat, he was trembling in fear. The girl, who was supposed to be his trump card, had been easily defeated, and he seemed to be in a state of shock.

I have no intention of showing mercy. I almost died, and his fear doesn't matter.

"Hey! Silk Hat!"

"Ah, ah...!"

"Huh?"

I just shouted a bit more strongly... but the silk hat also drifted into a dream world. How scared is he?

"No choice. I'll go home for now."

I'm curious about why I was attacked, but I can discuss it with Kuro later.

I quickly collected my belongings that had been crushed by the iron fists and the shoes I had taken off. The tattered upper part of my school uniform had returned to a liquid state but was in pieces and couldn't be worn.

"...God, I'm sorry."

It's unavoidable. This shouldn't count as theft.

While thinking this, I apologized to God and took the tailcoat from the silk hat. The tailcoat is noticeable, but it's better than being topless.

"Huh? Email?"

After putting on the tailcoat, I heard the sound of an incoming email on my smartphone. It seems the phone survived! Checking it, I found that the screen had a few cracks but was still usable. It must have hit a good spot, a pleasant surprise.

"Ah, email, email."

Looking at the inbox, I saw one email.

'Hi! I'm Yui. I have a small favor to ask. Is that okay?'

It had a suspicious vibe even before opening it. Yeah, it's clearly spam.

"Delete."

After deleting the spam, I hurried home.

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The total evaluation exceeded 40,000! Thank you very much!

I think I can increase the update frequency after getting through this month, so please bear with me regarding the update frequency.