The story we started

[Although she was worried about the two people who left, Yukinoshita knew that she could not help them in the battle with the unconfirmed life form. The only thing she could do was to continue translating these inscriptions in the hope of finding some clues about the truth of Zaimokuza's physical changes.]

[But as she continued to translate these inscriptions, her expression inexplicably became somewhat gloomy, and this gloomy feeling became heavier as time passed, and her pair of beautiful eyebrows were tightly wrinkled. ]

[After the last sound of the Enter key being pressed, Yukinoshita's hands slowly left the keyboard. ]

[“…What’s going on with this inscription?”]

[The translation results on the screen were reflected through her radiation-proof plain glasses, and Yukinoshita Yukino said in a daze. ]

[Just by looking at this translation, an inexplicable chill began to spread from her fingertips to her entire body, making her feel uncomfortable.]

[This feeling was something that the inscriptions she had translated before had never given her. Yukinoshita looked at the translation results and recited them word by word.]

[“When the sacred spring dries up, a dreadful warrior appears like lightning…”]

[“The sun… was buried by darkness.”]

【“!”】

[She shuddered unconsciously, and a sense of uneasiness surged from her heart, and Zaimokuza's smiling face also appeared in her mind at this time. ]

【“Zaimokuza-san…”】

[Yukinoshita's palms clenched into fists, and her whispers echoed in the empty laboratory. ]

……

[When the wind died down, the sky, which had been dark, slowly turned back to its original clear state, and the sun shone on the ground again, shining on the bodies of Zaimokuza and Kousaka Kyousuke.]

[But this weak temperature was completely unable to dispel the coldness in their hearts. ]

[A huge shadow was projected on them, and a pair of sharp forelimbs flashed a cold reflection like a blade as they stretched out, just like the pair of strange purple compound eyes that made the two of them feel terrified.]

[“…Tsk, is he the same type as No. 25?”]

[Kousaka Kyousuke looked up at the huge figure in front of him that was as tall as two stories. Although his tone remained calm, his hands had already tightly grasped the hilt of the Demon Slayer's sword.]

[“No, it’s different from number 25. I can feel it—”]

[Zaimokuza spoke in a dreamy voice, full of disbelief.]

[However, compared to the two who had similar experiences and were able to remain calm, the light music club members who were blocked behind them all looked dumbfounded after they popped their heads out from the store counter that they had just used to avoid the whirlwind, staring blankly at the terrifying figure in front of them.]

[“Hahaha, this is too exaggerated. What are these guys doing…”]

[Taizhong Ritsu gave a few dry forced laughs, and her tomboyish voice could not hide the fear she felt from witnessing something beyond her imagination.]

[No one around responded to her. Everyone's mind was distracted by what they saw.]

[It has long disappeared from the place where Garima was originally, and has been replaced by——]

[It is a giant blue mantis. ]

[The mantis was covered in green scaly armor. A pair of transparent insect wings fluttered slightly behind it, making a faint buzzing sound. Its purple forelimbs rubbed against each other, occasionally emitting sparks that were only produced when steel collided.]

[The appearance of this mantis is similar to the mantises that can be seen in the fields. Tianzhong Ritsu remembers that when she was a child, she also liked to take an insect net to the woods to catch these insects and bring them home to raise. Among them, her favorite insects were mantises and rhinoceros beetles. At that time, she thought these two insects were particularly handsome. ]

【But now, she no longer has such thoughts. 】

[Because humans subconsciously know that no matter how fierce insects are, their insignificant size compared to humans means that they are destined to have no threat to human safety from the beginning. Just like cats and lions, many people know that they belong to the same species, but petite cats are domesticated as pets by humans because they are not dangerous to humans. ]

[Lions that are large enough to threaten humans are kept in cages.]

[Therefore, when insects, which were originally less than one percent of human size, were magnified to a size beyond their imagination, they no longer caused curiosity, but fear.]

[“There’s nothing wrong with that. This feeling is…”]

[Feeling the familiar power of the giant mantis in front of him, Zaimokuza's voice gradually became louder, as if he had witnessed something beyond his cognition being born before his eyes.]

[“…Two different elemental powers, fused???”]

【“——”】

[In response to him, Garima's scream completely turned into a real praying mantis-like scream. The piercing cry turned into visible sound waves that swept up everything around it and suppressed the screams of the people.]

[Go-Garima-Ba·Original Form·Element Fusion (Wind, Earth).]

[Its scream was like a steel knife scraping against a blackboard, causing intense stimulation to the eardrums. The two closest to it, Kousaka Kyousuke and Zaimokuza, could no longer hold onto their weapons, and painfully covered their ears with their hands.]

【“What’s that sound!”】

[Kousaka Kyosuke covered his helmet with one hand, and said with gritted teeth while looking at Garima who was screaming. The helmet's built-in system immediately activated the emergency response device, identifying the scream as noise and began to filter it, quickly reducing the impact on him.]

[But Zaimokuza didn't have such good luck. He could only take the most primitive method, which was to block his ears with his hands to isolate the noise and minimize the damage to his eardrums. ]

[“Ugh!!!”]

[A severe headache suddenly came from the brain, and Zaimokuza couldn't help but let out a low groan while covering his head. ]

[A scene that seemed both real and illusory suddenly appeared in his mind.]

……

[The earth is vast and the sky is high and far. This is a world that has never been transformed by technology. ]

[The scenery of the primitive era is so beautiful, but at a certain moment, an unprecedented change visited this world. ]

[Above the blue sky, a dark ripple suddenly bloomed, and the clouds were stirred into a spiral. The end of the spiral was the center where the ripple originally spread.]

[Incompatible with the azure sky, a pitch-black meteorite broke through the clouds, streaked a scarlet tail across the sky, and fell toward the land under the sky.]

[Finally, the meteorite fell into a vast forest. The moment it landed, the earth-shaking shock wave swept everything at the landing site flat. Sand, rocks, trees and river water were swept up into the sky and fell on the land below like rain. The ominous red light spread in all directions with the landing site as the center.]

[The light swept across all things and life in sight, passing by the lone wolf fleeing in panic during the natural disaster, the two stag beetles wrestling with each other on the tree, the rhinoceros beetles and eagles flying in the woods and sky, the white flowers swaying under the cliff, the fish swimming in the ocean and rivers, the bison on the grassland...everything was included in the ominous light, and no one escaped.]

[The light swept across the surface of this world, covering everything, eroding everything, recording everything, and when it spread to the extreme, it suddenly rolled back against the trend in violation of the laws of physics, and all the light returned to the place where the fallen meteorite was.]

[In the center of the huge meteorite crater, a huge meteorite with red and black light was pulsating as if it had life. Many figures gathered at the edge of the original crater. They were wearing clothes made of animal skins, carrying spears or crossbows, pointing at the meteorite and communicating with each other in a mysterious language that had not been recorded in history.]

[Finally, a man wearing animal skins stepped out from among the primitive people watching, and walked step by step to the huge meteorite.]

[The man standing in front of the meteorite seemed a little hesitant, but after thinking, he stretched out his hand towards the meteorite and pressed on the surface of the meteorite.]

[At the moment when the rough palm touched the surface of the meteorite, a pitch-black light suddenly bloomed from the hand that touched the meteorite, completely submerging his figure.]

[Every space illuminated by the light was shaking like a wail, and a sound that could not be described in words resounded in all directions.]

[That sound was like the foundation of the world was cracked.]

……

[“Hmm…!”]

[Zaimokuza, who had escaped from the illusion, fell to his knees, gasping for breath, his heart filled with shock.]

[What exactly did I see just now? ]

[At this time, the sound of the wind and the hissing had both stopped. The mantis stopped hissing and lowered its head. Its compound eyes, filled with the inorganic emotions unique to insects, stared at the two people who had not yet recovered, and slowly raised its sharp forelimbs.]

【“!?”】

[The moment his eyes met those of the other, an incomparable sense of danger made Kousaka Kyosuke's hair stand on end. He immediately stood up and pulled out the Demon Slayer that was stuck in the ground, then turned around and spoke hastily to Zaimokuza who was kneeling on the ground.]

[Just now, Kousaka Kyosuke didn't notice Zaimokuza's abnormality at all, thinking that he was just suffering from the same sonic attack as himself, and that was why he had this reaction. It was just that Zaimokuza's ability to withstand the attack without the assistance of the smart armor was not as good as his.]

[“Get ready! Zaimokuza, this guy looks different from No. 25. I’m afraid it has—”]

【"careful!!!"】

[The girls screamed from behind, and Kousaka Kyosuke and Zaimokuza, who had not yet stood up, stiffened instantly, staring with wide eyes at the giant mantis in front of them, which turned into a blue phantom and dissipated in the wind.]

[The bone-deep murderous intent came from behind, and feeling the oppression, the hearts of the two were filled with horror. ]

[——Impossible, how could it be so fast!? ]

[A familiar black shadow covered their shadows projected on the ground. Every cell in their body seemed to tremble at this moment. Kousaka Kyousuke and Zaimokuza turned around suddenly, but they were still a step too late.]

[The two blades, glowing with cold purple light, left afterimages in the air and the sound of the air being split open. Before the two men could react, they slashed at their bodies, sparks and blood spurted out.]

【"ah!"】

[“Hmm!?”]

[Amid Zaimokuza's screams and Kousaka Kyosuke's muffled groans, the pair of blade-like forelimbs crossed and closed after the chopping, each clamping their waists and lifting both of them up.]

[Garima, hanging from the wall of the building with its pair of barbed hind legs, looked at Kousaka Kyousuke and Zaimokuza, who were held by its waist, and its mouth moved slightly, making hoarse and strange sounds.]

【“Let’s go play somewhere else.”】

【boom--】

[Its transparent wings began to vibrate rapidly behind it. In the whirlwind that was created, Garima spread its wings and took the two of them into the sky, and quickly disappeared in the dazed sight of all the citizens.]

[“Zaimokuza-senpai! Officer Kousaka!”]

[A group of girls from the light music club ran out of the store quickly after seeing this. Akiyama Mio, who ran out of the door first, looked up at the three figures disappearing into the sky quickly, and called out their names anxiously.]

[“Ugh—Damn it!”]

【Zaimokuza and Kousaka Kyosuke, who were brought to the sky, grabbed the forelimbs that were stuck around their waists and continued to struggle.】

[Plop——]

【"Well……"】

[His heart beat faster suddenly, and Zaimokuza clutched his chest in pain. He felt like he couldn't breathe at this moment.]

[Because his vision was blocked by his forelimbs, he did not notice that the golden light had gradually replaced the original purple color of the spiritual stone on his waist. As this strange phenomenon occurred, the pearls and jade inlaid on his limbs also began to gradually turn golden.]

[A new symbol that is different from the four elements now appears in the spirit stone with a vague light and shadow.]

……

[On a distant high building, someone witnessed all of this and laughed heartily, his laughter was full of madness and joy, and he opened his arms to the sky and cheered silently. ]

[And somewhere in the darkness, a pair of hands were clasped tightly together, and its owner whispered a prayer that was destined to be heard by no one.]

[The stone bracelet on the wrist sways, making a pleasant sound similar to that of a wind chime.]

[“Please, please control yourself... don’t let this tragedy happen again.”]

[“Don’t become… a ‘grim warrior’.”]

Author's message:

PS: A book friend sent me a private message asking when the Kong Wo chapter will end. After thinking about it, I think it’s time to answer this question.

In fact, we have completely entered the final stage. The subsequent battles with the Ge Group will be rapidly compressed by me. Except for those well-known key battles, the rest will be skipped directly.

In just one or two more chapters at most, Zaimokuza's story will be over.

I try my best to finish it around September… probably.

Chapter position: 188 / Chapter price: 22 / Word count: 4702 / Update time: 2023-07-21 22:44:26

8. Like an old friend (4K)

Chiba Prefecture, Chiba Benbun High School, health room.

"Hey, hey, hey, what the hell is going on..."

Kyosuke Kousaka looked at the unconfirmed life form No. 26 showing a new appearance on the light screen, and the line of white text below that introduced the form, and he really felt that he was too tired to complain.

"How many of these guys have hidden cards like this? It's really despairing to be enemies with such monsters."

"Is this the power possessed by the GO Group's Gurongi? Different from the abilities possessed by those unconfirmed life forms before, the original form... the original form? What does this mean? Could this be their original appearance?"

"and……"

"The Terrible Warrior".

Kyosuke Kousaka chewed on these words, his eyes gradually became solemn, and his palms unconsciously clenched the cup beside him.

I don't know why, but just hearing this name, an indescribable feeling of heaviness and oppression surged from every limb, and my heart felt heavy as if a huge rock was hanging on it.

At the same time, a strange sense of familiarity also came to my mind. If I must describe it...