Chapter 185: The Degenerate Demon

Lily suddenly asked Touko so. If you piled up two yellow cards, you will get a red card that means you are out. Touko knows what that means, of course. She knows, but she doesn’t understand why Lily asked her about it.

「I know, of course. That’s common sense, you know?」

「Is that so? I didn’t know about this common sense until Haruna told me about it.」

「Ah, well… come to think of it, there are no sports such as soccer in this world…」

Even without her skills, Chinatsu can feel it from her many years of experience. ‘Ah, this is bad.’

「The first yellow card indicates a warning, and the second one tells you to leave. Is that correct?」

「Y-Yeah…」

*Gulp*. Touko unconsciously swallowed her saliva. Unpleasant sweat is flowing on her back and forehead, and her proud nose also alerts her to the highest level of vigilance. However, there’s nothing she can do. She can’t move her legs.

「Touko, I will tell you carefully so that your head can understand it. The first yellow card was at the academy. You tried to attack the students who were participating in the graduation festival so that you could participate, right?」

「……I did.」

「You did!?」

「Y-Yes, I did!」

Looking at Lily’s eyes that glanced a bit at her, Touko replied loudly. Both Haruna and Chinatsu doubted their ears when they heard Touko used honorific for the first time. Moreover, they can feel the bloodlust again. It’s very scary.

「Even if you could make the students fainted and pretend to be a participant, what were you going to do with the staff that would be your specialized weapon? Did you think you can get through with just momentum? Do you want to humiliate me?」

「………」

Touko looks down and holds her tongue.

「Still, I and Deris forgave you. It was still in the warning stage after all. But today’s case is the second yellow card. You broke the iron door, which Nell had warned not to open, out of curiosity. What came out of it was that Aralkar. If I hadn’t come here, you would have died along with Haruna and Chinatsu. Almost certainly, you would have been killed. …Am I wrong?」

「B-But, you know, we were able to fight well at the beginning, so we might be able to do that phase 2 too――」

「――Is that so? Then, let’s give it a try.」

Close to Touko’s ear, a terribly bewitching voice resonated.

「Ah.」

「Eh?」

Haruna and the others were watching Lily closely while listening to her story. But before they knew it, Lily stood behind Touko. Was what they had seen so far just an afterimage? They couldn’t even follow her with their eyes.

The tension is getting stronger. Being particularly exposed to Lily’s gaze and voice, Touko feels as if her heart is about to explode. And what Touko felt next was the cool feel of a hand. And then, Lily spread out her jet-black wings and revealed her horns and tail, which is her original appearance.

「Let’s have a taste of the world of phase 2 for a bit.」

「――!?」

Touko was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by Lily and then disappeared from the spot without being able to say anything. Even at this moment, Haruna and Chinatsu couldn’t perceive it.

「Haruna, Chinatsu! Look at the clone!」

「「Y-Yes!」」

The two unconsciously replied to Lily’s voice that came out of nowhere. Faster than their brains could think, their bodies naturally turned towards Aralkar.

「~~~!?」

「Now, I’ll teach you how to use your power against an opponent whom martial arts are not effective on!」

This is the world of light speed, a few steps above the world that Touko knows. Her perception has not caught up, and her sight is painted with various colors. Touko is forcibly being adjusted to Lily’s speed, and she’s now in the attack range of Aralkar. However, there’s no way she knows about that, and of course, she’s not prepared for it. Being baptized in phase 2 in such a state could only be said to be the beginning of a tragedy.

Immediately after its territory was invaded by Lily (and Touko), Aralkar’s huge body produced various ancient and modern weapons of various sizes. They are not just the simple spear-like things from phase 1. They ranged from heavy machineries such as giant drills and rotating cutters to fictitious weapons such as pile bunkers. The reason why it’s able to imitate such things is because of the influence of the current fifth rank, but let’s leave that aside for now.

For Touko, it’s as if the number of the concentrated attack that she saw in phase 1 has increased by dozens of times. The core is carefully protected, and despite the fact that it has this many tentacles with weapons, the volume of the main body doesn’t decrease at all, and on the contrary, it seems as if it’s still increasing.

「Don’t bite your tongue!」n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Touko was slammed into the air. It’s not that she was attacked by Aralkar. It’s just that Touko can’t keep up with Lily’s speed. While taking Touko along, Lily slips through Aralkar’s fierce attacks as if dancing, and she’s approaching while paying attention so that the attacks won’t hit Touko and herself. She’s paying attention, but because the trajectory is so abnormal and sometimes bends at a right angle, Touko is accumulating damage in a different sense.

Aralkar’s body is already close. However, the body of the slime that’s covering the core has already started to change, becoming as solid as a thick layer of armor. As if to match this, the claws on Lily’s free arm grow and become pointed, transforming into a sharp form.

「Don’t get in the way.」

Lily jumped out right above Aralkar and plummeted vertically from there. She made a sword hand with her monstrous hand and swung it against Aralkar’s armor while landing. There was a clear huge crack on Aralkar’s armor. In addition, when she landed, Lily shot a shockwave and gave an overwhelming pressure to open the crack at both ends.

The road to the core was exposed. Aralkar tried to create tentacles to intercept her, but it was all too late. The swelling bumps on the cross section were crushed by Lily, and it was also too late to cover the core. Then, Lily grabbed Aralkar’s core and completely pulled it out of the slime’s body.

As a side note, Lily used a little trick here. If you pull out the core before it moves to phase 3, the training will end at that point.

「If you can’t move at least this much, you won’t stand a chance against it. Do you understand?」

「………」

「Even if you die, the only person who would be troubled is me, the one who was entrusted by Deris to train you. But if you take Haruna and Chinatsu along, it won’t end as a joke. Those girls are their favorites. If things went wrong―― hey, are you listening?」

「………」

There’s no reply. It seems that she’s fainted.

「Lily-senpai! Touko-chan’s fainted!」

「Haa, just how weak are you…? Okay, I’ve decided.」

Throwing the core back to the body, Lily carried Touko, which she was holding on one hand, on her shoulder.

「You two, I will borrow this girl for a bit.」

「Eh, ah, sure…?」

「I don’t mind, but where?」

「She can’t stay like this, so I’ll retrain both of her mind and body in my territory. She won’t make it in time for the day of the hero selection, but it won’t be a problem if you girls are there, right? Tell Deris that too.」

「「S-Sure…」」

Even though Lilyvia said something about her territory, the two don’t know where and what kind of place it is. However, they couldn’t object and had no choice but to silently watch Touko being taken away by Lilyvia.

「You see, the country I govern is the world’s largest red-light district. I will train you to be a splendid warrior and a splendid woman. Ara, Touko, you have a fine chest there, don’t you? You sure have the qualities.」

They felt like she was saying something a little, no, quite disturbing.