There’s No Enemy We Can’t Beat! – Part 04
“Ayumu. How much longer are you going to wear that gross outfit?”
Sera exhaled slowly, looking at me with pure disdain.
I gave her a simple answer. “If I dispel it now, I’ll be naked. That’d be even more gross, wouldn’t it?”
“Just fix it, duh,” Haruna said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
After she explained, I genuinely wanted to punch her for the first time.
Apparently, the same magic that repairs houses could also fix my torn clothes. That’s how Magiclad Girls usually revert back. First I’d heard of it. She could’ve told me during the fight with the crawfish. Better yet, when she taught me the transformation spell! This whole setup’s full of missing instructions. Well, she’s cute, so I let it go.
Anyway, the memory rewrite was done. Time to head home.
“Ayumu!”
Sera gripped her twin blades, transformed from leaves. Her deep crimson eyes shone like they were piercing straight through me. No need to look that scary.
“What’s wrong?”
Thud.
Something pierced straight through my chest. Attacked from behind? How dirty. But it wasn’t a sword. Not even a spear. What the hell was this?
I was shoved from behind and tumbled forward into Sera’s arms. I turned around and saw an anteater in a school uniform. Two Megalo in one day.
“That’s the heavyweight Megalo, Muhammad Ante!” Haruna said.
The anteater bounced lightly on its feet, looking straight at us. As usual, Megalo eyes were round and ridiculously cute.
Great. I had to transform again? I just went back to normal.
I grabbed my chainsaw and sighed, about to chant the spell, but Haruna caught on and said, “You can only become a Magiclad Girl once every twenty-four hours. If only I could transform.”
Seriously? Another thing she could’ve shared way earlier.
So, what now? We were stuck fighting this thing without transforming? How strong was a heavyweight, anyway? If it was anywhere near Craw’s level, we were in trouble.
Well, at least we had a dependable swordswoman now. She was stronger than me.
Sera’s green wings were gone. She wore only her black cloak and held two swords. No leaves floated in the air. Was that her last weapon?
“Sera.”
She was already gone. And the anteater was right there. The world spun in a blur.
I’d been punched. Hard. Sent flying in a flash.
Fuck that damn anteater and its springy little footwork. Were anteaters always this fast? Aren’t sloths part of the same family?
A purple mist rose from its fist. Haruna had explained that it’s what happens when a Megalo released magical energy.
Ah, I got it now. That meant it had entered battle mode.
Sera’s wooden sword clashed against the anteater’s tiny fist with a clang, like steel on steel. I could catch the point of impact, but not the movement. They were both too fast for zombie eyes like mine.
“Haruna, can you see any of that?” I asked.
“O-Of course I can!” she sputtered, red-faced. “That’s… totally nothing. E-Easy-peasy.”
“You really okay now?”
“What do you mean, okay?”
Her tone was bold and cocky like usual, but her fists trembled. It looked like she was still rattled by that purple mist. If I had to guess, she was just putting up a front so Sera wouldn’t notice she was scared.
In that case, I decided not to push it.
“Never mind.”
We watched the fight, moving our heads side to side like we were watching a tennis match. Think we could join in? Not a chance. We couldn’t even keep up.
The heavyweight champion’s movements were way faster than Craw’s. Wait, no one ever said he was actually a champion.
Watching Sera fight from the sidelines really let me see how elegant and refined her swordsmanship was. Dodging, parrying, striking, countering. Oh, that one was a Swallow Reversal.
Without Sera, we wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“Ayumu, please switch with me for a moment,” Sera said out of nowhere.
I reluctantly stepped forward. “Something wrong?”
“I’m running out of weapons. I don’t have enough blood,” she replied with her usual regal expression.
In the next instant, the swords in her hands turned back into ordinary leaves. That was a serious problem.
“Okay. I’ll take over.”
The anteater charged at me, and I braced myself to take the hit. Even when I blocked with my arms, it hit somewhere else. I was completely outmatched in speed. My bones cracked and snapped all over, but I was a zombie, so they healed quickly. Still, I heard my bones breaking over and over again.
Splosh, splosh, splosh, splosh.
That wasn’t the sound of water. It was the sound of punches.
A flurry of jabs slammed into my cheek. I fought back the best I could, doing everything to avoid being knocked away while swinging back at it. Not that I ever landed a hit.
“Haruna. I have one request,” Sera said.
“Wh-What? If it’s something weird, I’m kicking you.”
“I need your blood.”
Sera sounded just like a vampire. Haruna’s face froze. Without waiting for a reply, Sera leaned in. Meanwhile, I was still getting the living crap beaten out of me.
“Hm?! Nnngh… hnn…”
Sera, for reasons unknown, kissed Haruna. Haruna flailed, face flushed, but her body gradually slackened, going limp in Sera’s arms. I wish she’d do that to me later when we get home. Please.
Sera moved her face and bit into Haruna’s pale neck. Just like in one of those vampire movie scenes. Blood trickled down her neck, and Haruna, red-faced, had this dazed, dreamy look in her eyes.
“Ah… ngh… ah.”
Haruna let out a breathy moan, her face flushed in ecstasy. Honestly, just watching was starting to make me feel embarrassed.
Sera, please suck my blood next. I mean, if the blood of the dead works. Also, I’m still getting pummeled over here. Don’t forget me!
While getting clobbered, I kept swinging wildly, keeping the anteater from charging at the girls. My attacks never landed, but at least I held its attention.
Let me be honest. I couldn’t beat this thing. How do you defeat something you can’t even hit? If I could turn into a Magiclad Girl, it’d be a different story.
But more importantly, Haruna. I was seriously curious about what was happening. I only caught glimpses, and it was killing me.
Anteater dude, come on. You want to see it too, right? Just take a little break from hitting me.
Unfortunately, the anteater didn’t hear my silent plea. Its right hook smashed into my face. I flew backward and slammed into the railing, which reminded me we were on a hospital rooftop. As I struggled to get my balance, something pierced my chest, same way as that first strike.
It was the anteater’s long tongue. If it had been Sera’s or Haruna’s tongue, I’d have welcomed it. But the anteater’s? Hard pass.
I collapsed slowly onto the ground. Did that tongue of his drain my energy or something?
As I lay there, unable to move, a green leaf fluttered gently in front of my eyes.
“Thank you for waiting,” said a dignified voice.
As what sounded like metal clashed, I crawled my way over to Haruna.
She was sitting on the ground, still flushed red like an apple, clutching her neck.
“Don’t look,” she said quietly but firmly, so I turned my eyes back to Sera.
“Secret Art: Swallow Reversal!”
With the leaf sword in her right hand, she struck twice in quick succession, then followed up with a slash from her left. The kind of move you could only pull off with dual blades.
The anteater took a glancing hit, then launched a sharp, rapid combo of jabs. A single leaf blocked the blows.
That back-and-forth lit a fire in my chest. It felt like watching a sport.
“Secret Art: Swallow Reversal!”
When the brilliant arc of her blade flashed at a sharp angle, the anteater leapt back. Maybe it realized things weren’t going its way.
Then it formed some kind of hand sign, thrust both arms forward, and a glowing ball of energy appeared in its palms.
This was definitely going to be a big move. Would Sera be okay? If things went south, I’d shield her. But I really wished I knew whether it was going to be a beam or a blast.
I glanced over at her.
“The essence of my blade… lies not in secrecy.”
As she fixed her gaze on the anteater, the swords in her hands vanished. With a rustle, a large amount of leaves filled the area.
“It dances like leaves in the wind.”
Every single leaf transformed into a big sword.
“Flying Sword: Demon Horde’s Insidious Slaughter.”
All the swords shot toward the anteater at once.
“Whoa,” I breathed in awe.
Realizing just how dangerous this was, the anteater canceled its attack and tried to flee. But a sword pierced through its leg, then another through its arm, and then more stabbed through its body. It was like a high-speed game of pop-up pirate, except instead of the head flying off, it was blood spraying everywhere.
Impaled all over, the anteater collapsed. Sera turned her back to it and walked toward us. Looked like it was over.
“Idiot! Why are you acting like it’s over?!” Haruna shouted frantically.
Sera turned back toward the anteater, but it was gone. Then came a fierce uppercut straight from her blind spot.
I’d completely forgotten. When Megalo died, they turned into particles.
What the anteater’s uppercut launched into the air wasn’t Sera. It was her black cloak and a log. The most basic and ultimate ninja technique: Substitution.
The anteater immediately reversed direction and closed in for the kill. Had it kept track of Sera through the switch? Even with swords sticking out of it, it charged at full speed.
And Sera… turned her back on it.
The sudden motion made the anteater hesitate for a split-second. That had to be what Sera was aiming for.
“Secret Art: Dragon Tail Reversal.”
In a flash, the anteater was sliced clean in two. I didn’t even see the arc of the blade.
It was a high-speed slash mid-turn, and the anteater, caught off guard for just a moment, couldn’t have dodged it.
Its split body fell to the ground and dissolved into particles, scattering into the wind. Just like before, Sera didn’t wait for it to vanish. She simply strolled toward us.
I raised my hand beside my face, and Sera—without even cracking a smile—slapped my palm with hers.
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