『Monitor room, respond! Monitor room! Ugh!』

『Please Wait, I don’t know anything! I just did what I was told!!!』

The hellish scenes unfolding in each section of the “village” were transmitted to the monitor room via radio.

However, there was no response from the monitoring room. There was no one to pick up the radio.

Even if they had been able to grasp the situation, it was not a situation in which they could send in reserve forces. After all, right now, heroes and mysterious beings were facing off in the monitor room, the heart of the village.

The Ark Dominion’s assault plan, which involved spreading out and seizing key points, was working extremely well.

Except for just one obstacle.

That is Samejima Asaka, the cold-hearted female warrior who stood on the side of justice (heroes). She is the Chief of Staff of Hero Headquarters and a former ace named Silver Zero, who had many nicknames.

Facing her was Kuriyama Rintaro, the condensed form of evil that had appeared like a comet. He was one of the four executives of Ark Dominion, and currently Japan’s most powerful heinous mysterious being, Death Green.

As for Death Green, he was holding a knife to a young girl’s neck.

「Gehyahya! If you value this girl’s life, then disarm and kneel!」

「So- Someone, help, ssuuuuu!!」

What a beast, what a disgusting thing to do, what a despicable person! Taking an innocent child hostage is the act of a villain who is not even worthy of being treated like a mysterious being.

All of this was a last-ditch effort by Death Green, who had succumbed to Samejima Asaka’s overwhelming fighting power.

Invisible slashes come flying from all directions. And his attacks could never hit her.

Faced with two walls standing in his way, the heinous mysterious Death Green, realizing he had no chance of winning in battle, resorted to a desperate measure.

「Aniki, Samecchi stuttered, can we do it one more time, ssuka?」

「……I guess there are no other choice……Uhyahyahyahya! If you value this girl’s life, then disarm and kneel! Ihihihihahahaa!!」

「Swomeone Heeeelp, ssuuaaaaaaaaaa!!」

「Samecchi, that was worse than take 1.」

It was a blatant monkey show, the kind of thing you don’t see these days even in low-budget films. Of course, Samecchi, the young girl who was being held hostage, was also part of Death green’s group.

「Hyiihaaa! I’m really going to beat her up!」

「Samecchi had been completely beaten up, ssu! Help, stranger onee-chan!」

「……………………」

Asaka, on the other hand, didn’t change her expression at all and just gave them a cold look.

「A- aniki, it’s been ignored, ssu.」

「Don’t panic, Samecchi. Follow the plan exactly.」

「Awa, ssu! Right, ssu!　Hyaeelpppp, ssuuuuuuu!」

「Gyahahaha!! Hey, what’s wrong, onee-chan? Put your weapon down quickly!」

Ridiculous.

Thinking such, Asaka slowly got into her stance.

Asaka had faced many mysterious beings up until now, but that was the first time she had come up against one so shabby. It would be one thing if he was begging for his life, but this kind of desperate struggle was beyond ugly, it was just appalling.

Are they really calling this kind of cheap, playful play a strategy? After being completely torn to shreds and cornered, do they really still think that such a tactic would work?

Above all, Asaka hated Kuriyama Rintaro.

Her envisioned utopia for the mysterious beings. This man flatly denied it, and even went so far as to come and try to sabotage it.

She couldn’t help but feel angry about everything, both at Kuriyama Rintaro and at Saya, who was being taken advantage of by him.

「Continuing Attack.」

But no matter how angry she was, she would never show it. Asaka was well aware that she was a passionate person.

Mechanical words and actions are a means of suppressing her rising emotions.

In battle, it is important to discipline yourself and not let a victory that is clearly in your sights be thrown away. There is no need to go out of your way to put up with your opponent’s farce.

「……………………」

「Aaaaaaaaaaaniki! onee-chan is glaring so much, ssuu!」

「Calm- Calm- Calm down Samecchi, there’s nothing she can do! We’ve got a hostage here, are you fine with it?! I’m really going to do it!!」

Asaka’s slashes were so powerful that they reverberate through even his death green suit. Perhaps because he’d been beaten down so many times, Rintaro desperately tried to use Samecchi as a shield.

It was an absolutely pitiful sight.

「Launching attack.」

The moment Asaka swung her right hand.

Shupaa!!!

With a sound of the air being torn apart, a shock ran down Rintaro’s back.

「Ugyaaaaaaaaah!!!!」

「Anikiiiiiiiii!!!」

A powerful blow from behind, completely his blind spot, caused Rintaro’s face to contort dramatically inside his mask.

That’s right, Asaka’s attacks didn’t care about the distance between them, their positions, or whether or not there was a hostage. There was no way that Rintaro, who was having such a hard time against the invisible slashes that came from all directions, front, back, left and right, didn’t understand this.

Asaka readied her hand once more, aiming at Death Green, who had instinctively let go of Same-chan, and aimed for his defenselessly exposed neck.

This man is evil, and he must be put down here and now. This will also be the first step towards the realization of a utopia where humans and mysterious beings can coexist.

「Ouuch……! H- Heelp……!」

「Continuing attack.」

At that moment, Asaka put strength into both arms to settle the matter.

「…………!?」

As if Asaka’s arm had “gotten caught” on something, it stopped moving. The unyielding response made the poker-faced Asaka frown slightly.

「Hihih- Hihihahaha……」

The nasty laughter coming from under the green mask got on Asaka’s nerves.

「I’ve finally caught you, onee-chan.」

It was hard to believe that he was the same man who had been pathetically crying out for help. Rintaro uttered sticky words that seemed to stick to the depths of her heart.

In his hand he held an extremely thin, yet strong “thread” made of a special material.

「That’s an interesting magic trick. I’ll try it next time.」

Rintaro pulled closer to the invisible slashes that were attacking him from all directions.

It was stretched taut like a fishing line, passing through Asaka’s right hand and connecting to the tip of her left hand, which was held at her waist.

It was a wire made from a special alloy that was even stronger than the fibers used in hero suits. Asaka manipulated the wire with both hands, bending it flexibly like a whip to unleash her attacks.

The true intention of Rintaro’s hostage strategy was to “narrow down the direction” of the attacks that were coming at him in all directions. By placing Samecchi in front, he made the enemy hesitate to attack from the front, at the same time, he left his back open, luring her to attack.

Of course, there was a possibility that he would be cut down in one fell swoop along with Samecchi, but Rintaro was confident that this would not happen.

After all, while Asaka and Rintaro were fighting, Samecchi was running around confusedly the whole time. If Asaka had any intention of killing Samecchi, she would have done it a long time ago.

「Aniki is so cool, ssu!」

「Fuhahaha, listen Samecchi. This time it’s not me who’s cool, it’s onee-chan who’s uncool. Go ahead and say it.」

「Onee-chan is so uncool, ssu!」

「Dahahahaha! That’s what she said!」

Rintaro and Samecchi pointed and laugh. Asaka, on the other hand, had veins running down her temples.

「Continuing the fight.」

「Ha, how long are you going to keep doing Terminator stuff? If you’re into cosplay, do it at home.」

Saying this, Rintaro pulled the wire in his hand with all his might.

No matter how mysterious the attack methods they possess, there is no comparison between the power output of a living human and that of a Death Green Suit.

The moment Asaka’s stance shifted even slightly, Rintaro closed the distance in one go. In his hand was the family heirloom, a “black sword” with a dark blade and shining green lines.

「If you can avoid this, then go ahead and try!!」

No matter how capable Asaka was of absolute evasion, if her footing was lost, her efforts to dodge would be ineffective. It looked like the black sword had finally caught hold of Asaka’s body.

However.

「Don’t get carried away, you lowlife.」

Behind her glasses, Asaka’s eyes shone blue.

---

<223: The Truth About Paradise
225: A Demon That Hunts Demons>