Rintaro quickly regretted giving permission for the mock battle between Mayuzumi Kirika and Samecchi.

「Dark Destructive Ray!」

「Fukahirehaaa!!」

「Wait, I am still- Gyaaaah!!!」

Rintaro’s body was blown away like a leaf by the shock wave from the collision of the black beams. The power of the two was far beyond Rintaro’s imagination.

No, what he didn’t expect was the power of Samecchi, who showed incredible progress. Rintaro fell to the ground with a thud and was shocked to see two colliding energies.

「Samecchi…… When exactly did you get that kind of power……?」

Rintaro honestly believed that this match would be a one-sided game for Kirika.

Kirika had always been a strangely competitive junior who was always eager to challenge Rintaro to a hand-to-hand combat. Rintaro himself had dodged every offer of a match with cowardly and sneaky methods, and had sometimes completely defeated Kirika in ways that are too embarrassing to say out loud. That’s because Kirika has an outstanding talent that makes him think that he wouldn’t be able to win if they were to cross blade, and even now that she’s awakened as a mysterious being, that perception hasn’t changed.

However, how about Samecchi?

Even without the fact that she was still young, the only thing threatening that could threaten him were her fangs.

Even the “Sure-kill Move Megalodon Kick” is nothing more than a child’s play to the well-trained heroes. As a shark mysterious being, it goes without saying that her specialty is underwater combat, and this is only possible because she has been transformed into as the shark mysterious being Samegalo.

The fact that this Samecchi had not transformed into a mysterious being and was competing with Drakirika, the strongest darkness mysterious being in the Ark Dominion, was in itself an incredible sight for Rintaro.

Of course, this was with the help of “Hino-chan,” but her opponent Kirika, Rintaro, and the rest of the audience had no way of knowing this.

「……Not bad. I’d say it’s about equal in term of power?」

「Muaaaaaa it can’t be pushed back, ssu! Hino-chan, increase the output even more, ssu!」

『If ya don’t mind the onlookers dyin’, then I can go ahead and take it seriously.』

「That’s no good, ssu!」

Samecchi’s attention to Kirika was distracted for just one tenth of a second from that slight agitation. However, Kirika isn’t someone who would overlook the momentary carelessness of her opponent.

「Mugetsu Itto-Ryu, Musk」

Suddenly, Kirika’s body vanished like a haze. But she did not actually disappear; she slipped through a gap in Samechi’s consciousness.

With nothing to compete with, the “Fukahireha” pierced the air, and Samecchi completely lost sight of Kirika.

「Ha- Hare? Kirika is missing, ssu!?」

「“An opponent who come at you head-on is vulnerable if their concentration is taken advantage of.”」

Like snow falling silently, a cold voice chilling to the core could be heard from beneath Samecchi’s feet.

This is the kind of thing that sends shivers of fear down your spine. Samecchi never expected that she would be sneak attacked by the person she had previously been in a head-on collision with.

「Fu- Fukahire……」

「”Don’t give your opponent a chance to use their trump card”」

Samecchi rushed to unleash her special move, but in the next instant, her small body floated up, heaven and earth switched places. Grabbed by the ankles by Kirika, Samecchi was hung upside down before she had time to resist.

「Fugyaa, Let go, ssu! Even though Samecchi is the strongest, this is weird, ssu!!」

「”Those who are proud of their talent, will find that their talent itself is their greatest weakness.”……Samecchi, if you can call yourself the strongest with just this little bit of power, then you don’t need to work hard.」

Kirika smiled coldly at the girl hanging in the air, and just like that, she ripped off Samecchi’s ill-fitting sunglasses and golden gown and tossed them carelessly. The people in the gallery who were looking at it laughed dryly as expected.

「Uwah…Kirika is so merciless even against Samecchi…」

「That’s fine, but I think Mayuzumi should get rid of her habit of being arrogant.」

In no time at all, Samecchi was stripped down to just a T-shirt and pants. Pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, once thoroughly exposed and stripped away, would leave nothing behind, rendering one utterly shapeless.

「Hiyaaaaah, ssu! Kirika is an animal, ssu!!」

「Even this is me being lenient, you know? I was once stripped completely naked by senpai.」

Another of Rintaro’s devilish deeds against Kirika came to light. Minato, dressed in a bikini and hiding her ample bosom, looked at Rintaro as if she was looking at a strange insect.

「Rintaro…… Towards a girl, you…… As expected, that’s……」

「No, Minato, that’s not it. While it’s true that I’ve taught her “It’s useless to worry about clothes if you end up losing”, but I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that I forced her to take them off..」

Incidentally, this lesson had taken root and was reflected in Kirika’s tactics, such as the use of the suit as a decoy. In fact, Colonel Usanyi-Chan was once defeated by this tactic. However, Rintaro bit his lip, holding back tears, as he was unable to explain the details of his hero school days.

「Humiliating Samecchi, What are you planning to do, ssuka!」

「I am going to do this.」

Ignoring Rintaro’s needless heartbreak, Kirika put Samecchi’s legs between her arms and began spinning around on the spot. It was a giant swing, so to speak, and Samecchi, whose ankles were held, was swung around and pulled by the centrifugal force into doing a “banzai”.

「Awawawawawa, ssu! Hino-chan, help, ssuuuuu!!」

『Maan, in a situation like this, there’s nothin’ I could do. I give up, I give up.』

「No way, ssuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!」

Kirika, who is one of the most physically strong mysterious beings in the world, has a rotation speed unmatched by professional wrestlers. She was spinning so fast that the ground was gouged out, and a cloud of dust and smoke was billowing around the area. The audience could barely keep their eyes on the swirling sharks.

「Oi, Mayuzumi! Make sure to throw her to a safe place!」

「Understood, Senpai! Here goes, fly awaaaay!!!」

「Aaaaaaaaareeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, ssuuuuu!!!」

Samecchi, thrown as if by a toss of a hammer, soared in an arc and flew to the edge of the ground. Beyond that was a massive pool designed for water training.

Even as her eyes rolled, Samecchi saw a chance of victory in front of the large amount of water that was poured onto her.

「……G- Got it, ssu! Samecchi who have found water is invincible, ssu! From here, it’s a home run with the bases loaded, ssu!!」

『……Ah, that’s bad…… Don’t don’t don’t don’t dooooon’t!!!』

「Hoee, ssu? Hi- Hino-chan……?」

A water column rose up with a boom, and Samecchi’s body successfully made a hole-in-one into the pool. Not only Kirika but also Rintaro and the rest of the audience rushed to the poolside.

「That was an amazing sound… Hey Samecchi, are you okay? Well, it seems more like you’re getting better though.」

Samecchi is an aquatic mysterious being, and water was their home ground. However, there was no answer to Rintaro’s call.

When the cold water surface calmed down, they could see small bubbles bubbling on the surface near the center of the pool.

「Sa- Samecchiiiiiiiiiii!!!」

「…………Bukubukubukubuku, ssu…………」

Rintaro jumped in without hesitation and pulled Samecchi out of the pool, whereupon Samecchi fainted, spewing water from her mouth like in a cartoon.

…………

「Such a thing happened……」

「I see… So Samecchi had turned into a kanazuchi in exchange for power-up……」

That night, Rintaro visited the chairman’s office on the top floor of Tagaden Tower, the private quarters of the Machinery General Tagaraak. The reason was to report and discuss the recent abnormality of Samecchi.

「It seems like things have been going well lately, and she’s been crushing the hero team.」

「Hmm, that’s a strange story too. As far as I know, with Samecchi’s ability, he will be defeated is the most she can do, jazo.」

「She insists that she’s in her ‘growth period,’ but I just can’t make sense of it.」

The rapid growth of Samecchi, with her ability to manipulate black flames, was clearly different from the characteristics of Samecchi in the past. The drowning seemed to have shocked Samecchi so much that she was now staying quietly in Rintaro’s room.

「But, Black flames…… Uumu, it can’t be……」

「By the looks of it, you know something?」

「No, it’s impossible, ja. Rintaro yo, forget what I just said.」

Rintaro did not come to Tagaraak for advice out of the blue. He was hoping that Tagaraak, a veteran of the Ark Dominion, might be able to shed some light on the cause of the problem. Tagaraak, however, seemed to be reluctant to answer.

「Rintaro, I’m sorry, but I have something I need to look into right now. Can you come back tomorrow afternoon?」

「Does it have something to do with Samecchi?」

「Yes, it may be so. But it’s not a story that should be leaked to the public……」

It seems that it was not possible to extract any more information from Tagalak for today. Under pressure from Tagaraak, who seemed unusually serious, Rintaro got up from his seat as he was told.　

Left in the spacious chairman’s office, Tagaraak sat in the chairman’s chair, which was too big for her body, and chewed her nails.

「I hope it’s just my unfounded fear, but black flames of all things…… Could it be “Hinosmera”……? No…… Impossible……」

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<136: Maiden Hearts Are Glittering
138: Fetal Movements>