Chapter 255: Emi vs. Lairine
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"Next is my turn."
Declaring that and standing in front of her, Emi tilted her head at the blonde beauty.
"Fight? You too, onee-san? Why?"
"My, my! You were misunderstanding after all? Emi-chan, you have to properly listen to what people say, okay?"
Lairine laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
"What was decided in the earlier discussion was, 'If you fight Emi-chan and win, you can become her guardian.' And that's not limited to just that man earlier."
"............"
Understanding the situation, Emi quietly took a fighting stance.
A cold wind carrying dust blew through between the two of them.
Emi first activated [Magic Perception].
She tried to gauge Lairine's overall combat ability by visualizing the amount of magic power leaking from her.
However...
"Tch."
Emi clicked her tongue and broke out in a cold sweat.
Then, she jumped back with a thump, putting distance between herself and Lairine.
Because from Lairine's body right now, she couldn't detect any magic power leakage at all.
It was an astonishing magic power control ability.
She was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
This woman was not just a kind onee-san who would give her Mekena Sandwiches endlessly.
Emi quickly understood that.
Her guard that had been lowered by being fed was restored, and she began to correctly recognize the facts.
In contrast to Emi, who was becoming increasingly wary, Lairine still hadn't even taken a combat stance.
To begin with, her attire itself didn't give any sense of an intention to fight, and that highlighted the difference in intensity between her and Emi, who had deployed her [Black Arms].
She was wearing a white coat with fluffy fur around the collar, and a skirt from the waist down.
On her legs, which peeked out as the wind blew, she was wearing black tights, and her shoes were high heels that looked unsuitable for fighting at a glance.
At first glance, she looked like a fashionable onee-san from town.
But Emi couldn't fully read her true abilities.
They were unfathomable.
In her mind, Extra-sama was making a fuss.
Telling her to run away.
If possible, even Emi wanted to run away.
However, she probably couldn't.
The intuition cultivated unconsciously through the accumulation of her experiences up to now was telling her that.
What should she do?
Make the first move?
Could she do such a thing?
It wasn't a matter of whether she could do it or not.
She had to do it.
Do it.
To Emi, who was on full alert and bracing herself, Lairine called out to her with a wry smile, still in a relaxed posture.
"Hey, do you dislike becoming family with me too?"
"I dislike it."
As soon as she said that, Emi suddenly punched at Lairine with all her might using the left fist of her [Black Arms]!
It was a bullet-like blow, the same as the one that had sent Arcus flying earlier.
An ambush in the middle of a conversation.
While it might be an act that couldn't escape the accusation of being cowardly depending on who saw it, Emi didn't have the leeway to worry about such things at this moment.
She also thought that Lairine wasn't an opponent she could afford to worry about such things against.
Emi had already recognized this woman named Lairine as that formidable of an opponent.
And that recognition was correct.
That was immediately proven by Lairine's actions.
She swiftly put out her right palm, and caught the [Black Arms] as casually as if she were playing catch!
"Ufufu, Emi-chan, you're so lively... Oh my."
Although Lairine was being attacked, she was still smiling and speaking to Emi leisurely as usual, but her words stopped midway.
By the time she noticed, Emi had closed in on her!
Moreover, without a sound!
What did Emi do at this time, you ask? She used her [Black Arms].
The [Black Arms] can be stretched and contracted relatively freely, albeit with a limit.
Taking advantage of the fact that Lairine had caught and stopped the fist of her [Black Arms] with her palm, Emi instantly pulled her own body towards Lairine by shortening the length of her [Black Arms], attempting another ambush.
With that momentum, Emi tried to strike Lairine's left cheek with her right fist with all her might.
However, Lairine stopped that fist, which should have easily crushed even rock, with a single index finger of her left hand.
Next, Emi aimed for Lairine's right shoulder with her left fist.
Lairine released the [Black Arms] she was holding and stopped it with the index finger of her right hand.
Emi struck down with all her might using the freed left fist of her [Black Arms].
It was blocked by Lairine's left hand raised overhead.
Almost simultaneously, Emi thrust her right fist of the [Black Arms], which she had kept in the back, straight forward.
It was caught by Lairine's right hand.
Lairine's left and right hands were occupied.
"Raaaaaahhhh!!!"
Not missing the opening that appeared, Emi struck Lairine's abdomen with her right fist with all her might!
In the exchange that lasted less than a few seconds, Emi painfully realized Lairine's strength.
This woman was unbelievably strong.
The expression she glimpsed was a smile.
The face of a woman showing affection and love.
Emi was struck with fear at that expression.
That's precisely why the blow she struck at her abdomen was with full force.
A blow that would make an ordinary person burst and scatter their body without any means to resist.
Lairine, who took that blow to her abdomen, was still blown back according to the laws of physics.
However, she spun around midway and landed on both feet on the ground.
Raising a cloud of dust, she slid back a little while remaining upright and then stopped.
"Having four arms is unfair, isn't it? I tried to block all of them, but..."
The expression on Lairine's face as she looked up while saying that.
As expected, a smile.
A gentle gaze.
No damage.
"Aaaaahhhh!!!"
Emi crushed the bedrock at her feet, grabbed the small stones she had raised into the air, and threw them.
It was [Infinite Pebbles].
However, Lairine brushed aside the countless stones flying at a speed too fast to see, as if they were snow or something, while still smiling and approaching Emi.
It wasn't working!
In addition to the attack with [Infinite Pebbles], Emi also started mixing in ambushes with [Magic Slash Thread] against Lairine, who had approached to a certain degree.
She released the sharp, invisible threads like whips, concealing them in the motion of throwing stones at Lairine.
However, Lairine brushed those off too with the casualness of swatting away spider webs.
It wasn't working!!
"Hey, Emi-chan."
In an instant, the distance was closed.
Close combat began again.
Emi desperately struck with her four fists.
Lairine completely blocked all of them.
Not only did she simply block them, but by skillfully parrying them, she no longer showed any openings like before.
"Do you dislike becoming family with me?"
In the high-speed battle that was difficult for ordinary people to even perceive, Lairine asked again leisurely.
"I don't... need parents!!"
Emi was desperate.
"Why?"
"......!!"
At this point, she didn't even have the leeway to say anything.
She just desperately continued to strike at Lairine with her fists.
To such an Emi.
Lairine gently smiled while parrying her fists.
And then.
At a speed too fast to see, she approached Emi.
And with both arms, she.
Hugged Emi.
...With all her might!
"Agh...!"
The sound of bones breaking, crack, snap, echoed.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
And because she was being hugged with such overwhelming strength, Emi couldn't even breathe.
Her concentration was broken by the pain and suffering.
Losing control of her magic power, the [Black Arms] dispersed and disappeared.
"Why do you reject it?"
Lairine gently spoke to Emi while hugging her small body in a kneeling position.
"I understand."
She nuzzled Emi's cheek.
"Because I'm the same as you."
Lairine, with a loving smile on her face.
"...You're afraid, right?"
Her cheeks flushed red.
"Humans are weak, aren't they?"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"They die quickly, don't they?"
Emi's consciousness was hazy.
"That's why you don't need parents, right?"
Finally, all strength left Emi's body.
"Emi-chan, you're kind."
Lairine patted Emi's head, who had become like that.
"But it's okay with me."
Lairine cradled Emi's unmoving body in her arms.
"Because I'm the same as you."
She gently kissed her forehead.
"From now on, we'll always be together."
And then, Lairine.
"Let's be happy."
Stood up while still holding Emi.
"With your mother."
...And started walking.
Emi's complete defeat.
She was no match for Lairine.
If Arcus had been serious, I think it would have been a good match.
Although Emi is overwhelmingly superior as a living being in terms of specs, there are many cases where that can be surpassed through effort, technique, and equipment.
The s will be the latter part of Arc 14.