Chapte 72: Yokai Jutsu

　Kuzuha twitched her ears and searched for surrounding monsters.

“There are monsters over there.”

It seems that she likes her human form, because even though I told her, “You can go back to your Kyuubi form here,” she continues to stay in human form.

Kuzuha stopped walking and pointed to a giant tree on the right.

I use ‘Scan’ and ‘Ping.’

The giant tree that Kuzuha pointed to was an Elder Treant.

“I want to see how you fight Kuzuha. Can you defeat it alone?”

“It’s an opponent that Kuzuha can defeat easily, so it’s fine.”

She’s boasting even before the battle.

　Kuzuha is an S-rank monster, so it should be easy.

“Then, we’ll be watching from here.  Go defeat it. If there’s even the slightest danger, we’ll come to your aid.”

　Kuzuha nodded and slowly walked towards the treant monster.

Then she extended her right hand towards the Elder Treant and started muttering something. It’s heartwarming, like watching a children’s play.

“Hollow Void!”

With a crisp sound, a huge hole appears in the center of the Elder Treant’s trunk.

After a creaking sound, the Elder Treant could not withstand its weight and snapped in half.

“O- One hit! Wait, what was that just now?”

“Ku-chan is amazing!”, Mia said.

As we expressed our surprise, Kuzuha turned around, grinning at us.

She’s unbelievably strong and cute.

Hmm? Wait, the treant hasn’t turned into black smoke yet.

“Kuzuha, not yet!”

As soon as I shouted, roots suddenly dhot out from the ground and struck Kuzuha, sending her flying sideways.

　Mia ran towards Kuzuha who was blown away.

　I ran to the base of Elder Treant, which was broken in half, because the red haze of ‘ping’ appeared at the root.

　I consumed 10 SP and extended the lightsaber’s blade, stabbing it into the base of the tree.

Just then, multiple roots broke through the ground and attacked me like whips, but I defended myself with the ‘Heart Wall’ barrier.

After a while, the tree and roots turned into black mist, and magic stones fell.

I hurriedly ran to Mia and Kuzuha.

“Is Kuzuha okay? How is her injury?”

“She’s unconscious. There are no external injuries, but it seems like she has a broken rib. What should we do?”

“Uh, my stomach hurts. I let my guard down. ‘Healing Water.'”

Kuzuha placed her hand on the broken rib and chanted a yokai jutsu.

A slime-like spherical water appeared and covered the broken area.

After a while, the water disappeared, and Kuzuha stood up as if nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. I’m already fine. Let’s go defeat the next monster.”

“K-Ku-chan, did you just completely heal your broken bone?”

“Yes. I healed it with my yokai jutsu.”

It’s simply unbelievable! Can it even heal internal organs that have been completely crushed?

But Mari the Nine-tailed Fox, had the Demon Lord pour potions over each of her internal organs to heal them.

“Mari-san didn’t seem like she could use yokai jutsu when she was injured just now, is it a unique skill of Kuzuha’s?”

“I somehow became able to use yokai jutsu without realizing it. I think it’s thanks to Mia.”

“I haven’t done anything. Ku-chan is amazing!”

No, it’s definitely because of Mia.

Kuzuha clings to Mia’s waist, and Mia pats her head.

This is strange. Wasn’t this supposed to be a battlefield?

My heart is being healed.

But still, yokai jutsu is overpowered but vulnerable.

Since her clothes are made using yokai jutsu too, I can’t increase their defense with the skill ‘Tampering.’

I should buy some clothes when we return to Zoph.

For now, let’s avoid close combat.

“By the way, the power of yokai jutsu is amazing. How many more times can you use it?”

“I can use it about two more times.”

Huh? Just that much?

It seems like yokai jutsu has pretty poor fuel efficiency.

“Eat the A-rank magic stone we just defeated and tell me how much magic power it can recover.”

I hand the Elder Treant’s magic stone to Kuzuha.    

Kuzuha eats the magic stone with a crunchy sound.

“With the magic power contained in this magic stone, I can recover about two uses.”

“I see… In that case, from now on, I’ll give all the defeated magic stones to Kuzuha. Not only for magic power recovery, but also because she can grow as a monster. Oh, and Mia, what’s your level now?”

“Um, ehh! My level is 56. When did it go up so much?”

“When we defeated Fenrir, the last attack was from you. My level also increased by the same amount. Now, regarding our battle strategy, neither I nor Mia need to defeat the opponent. Priority will be given to striking all the monsters in the area with at least a single blow each. In the end, we’ll annihilate them with Kuzuha’s wide-range firepower yokai jutsu. That seems to be an efficient way to level up.”

When I asked Kuzuha for a suitable hunting ground, she suggested the area where the giants are.

　◇

　——With Kuzuha’s guidance, we arrived at an area infested with giants.

　Immediately, a Cyclops spotted us and approached us.

　Its skin was a pale blue, and it had a single eye. True to its name, it stood about 5 meters tall.

However, the dragon we were riding on was even larger, so it didn’t feel very imposing.

To be honest, I’m confident that I can fight normally and win, but I want to shorten the time from here.

As planned, Mia and I lightly damaged it, and Kuzuha would finish it off with her firepower.

The Cyclops tried to grab me with its large hand, but I easily dodged it with the ‘Heart Wall’ barrier. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mia and I attacked its legs with our lightsabers.

The Cyclops screamed in pain. And…

“Don’t die just yet. ‘Thunderclap.'”

Lightning ran towards the Cyclops from Kuzuha’s palm.

We felt the sound of the air rupturing and the impact reached us, and the Cyclops turned into black smoke and disappeared.

Kuzuha picked up a magic stone and immediately bit into it to replenish her magic power.

“Kuzuha, that was great! It really helped. But maybe the timing was a bit early. Let’s use yokai jutsu when we’re a little further away from each other.”

“Yay! I was praised! Takumi praised me!”

　……Did she hear the last part?

　Since there’s a risk of friendly fire death if we let our guard down, it’s essential for us to use the ‘Heart Wall’ barrier when Kuzuha uses yokai jutsu. I should also tell Mia.

But this will significantly save time.

“Ku-chan, who’s next?”

While Kuzuha was biting into a magic stone, she pulled Mia’s hand and guided us towards the next monster.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter