「Haaaahh!!」
There were no tricks involved.
I simply swung Eleanor sideways in a straight line.
The King defended with Kushifos.
Gakiiin!!!
The clash created a massive shockwave, gouging out the ground below us.
The King was blown upward.
（That was a pretty nice arc you drew）
「It was pretty skillful of me, don’t you think?」
I was praised by Eleanor. I knew nothing about baseball, but looking at the blown-away figure of the King made me feel good about that compliment.
His red aura created a perfect arc through the air, just as Eleanor had noted.
It remained still in the air.
The King forcefully stopped himself from flying and turned around, his eyes bloodshot.
「BASTAAAARD!!」
「So slow!」
「Kuu!! It’s not over! Not yet……This isn’t Kushifos’ maximum power yet!」 [ED: This isn't even my final form!]
「Hah!!」
「Guwaa!」
I overwhelmed the King’s Kushifos with Eleanor and Hikari.
Even though I overwhelmed him, surprisingly, it wasn’t the end.
Using Kushifos, he defended against many of my finisher-blows.
His reflexes were unexpectedly sharp.
I intended to crush the instrument he was using to repel me, but that didn’t go very well. Kushifos was hard beyond my expectations. Even though I wanted to slice it in half, all I could do was send the King flying.
Having blasted him away countless times, I raised Eleanor over my head and tried to deal a blow from above. The King defended and was driven into the ground below.
The aftershock of the impact created a crater. The King dragged himself out of the hole.
His clothes and mantle were tattered, and his whole body was covered in blood.
「Just give up and hand over Kushifos. The situation won’t change no matter what you do」
「Stop spewing bullshit!!」
He mustered every last bit of his strength and came straight at me.
His speed had decreasedーーbut he wasn’t swinging Kushifos at me with any less force than before. In fact, the red glow kept getting stronger and stronger.
The King’s body was approaching exhaustion, but the sword hadn’t weakened one bit.
I stopped the attack and kicked him away.
「Is the sword taking over his body?」
（It’s that sword’s fighting style）
「That’s just like you」
（Kukuku, that’s just the "flavour" of a Cursed Sword）
（Flavour? Is that how Hikari tastes, too?）
Hikari didn’t understand what we were referring to. It was cute.
「That’s a bad figure of speech, so don’t learn that word, Hikari」
（Umu. If you want to learn about Cursed Swords, then take me as a role model）
（Un, I’ll become like mommy）
「You’re the worst of the worst models to learn from, though」
The King came at me, thrusting his Kushifos again. I also dramatically thrust my sword at him.
I switched to a higher gear. I struck the King with a barrage of attacks using Eleanor and Hikari.
I wasn’t even trying to kill anymore, I just hit him. Because of that, small cracks began to appear on Kushifos’ blade.
It was definitely hard enough to be called a Cursed Sword, but, at last, it became clear that it was second rate.
（Seems like we’re the superior ones）
Eleanor’s voice sounded satisfied.
「I’m gonna break it in one strike!」
（Umu）
（Do your best!）
I flew toward the staggering King.
He was covered in blood, I didn’t know if he was even conscious.
Despite that, he kept moving and swinging his sword, though slowly. Sometimes, he let out weird groans.
It was as if he’d become a zombie swinging Kushifos around.
「Gahaa……uuooh……oohhh……」
Suddenly, the King’s movement changed.
He was trying to approach me, but then stopped midway and began groaning in anguish.
He grasped his right hand, which was holding Kushifos, and struggled.
The red glow exploded in strength.
（That’s……）
「Do you know what it’s trying to do?」
（You’ll understand soon enough; just watch）
Eleanor said, half surprised.
I was interested in the way she said that, so I stopped attacking and watched.
The King looked toward the sky and raised a scream.
He suddenly spat out blood and treated Kushifos as a hammer, smashing it on the ground.
After his sudden violent behaviors, something unusual occurred.
Kushifos’ red glow was transferred to the King’s body.
The glow’s thickness increased, and it materialized into a dense matter.
The glow became a layer of skin, wrapping around the King’s body. Furthermore, a second layer of red skin was piled on top of that.
It was like watching him put on 2 cartoonish costumes. His figure gradually lost the shape of human……and changed into that of a monster.
（He transformed……）
「Rather than him winning over the sword, it’s probably the other way around」
（It’s likely that he requested great power from it）
「”I don’t care what happens to me, just give me power!”–that kinda thing, huh」
Quite the common development, isn’t it?
（To make it worse, he probably wished for “power enough to kill the man before me”. Aren’t you happy? You’re well adored）
（Papa’s popular!） [TN: The raw said “otou-san”, but I think I can get away with switching the English equivalent to add cuteness to our favorite sword loli)
「But that’s a dude…」
I couldn’t be happy about that; if anything, I was depressed.
Meanwhile, the King gradually grew bigger. Before long, he surpassed 3 meters in height and became a bipedal monster.
The red glow around him was pulsing; it was as if he’d become an Oni.
He grew horns and fangs, just like a red Oni; he’d completely become a monster.
「GYASHAAAA！」
The beast suddenly charged at me. He swung his armーーwhich was bigger than my bodyーーat me.
I readied Eleanor to block the blowーー.
Gakiiiin!
My sword collided with an arm, yet the sound created by the impact was metallic.
That’s not all, the force of that attack made me step back a bit.
I took no damage. Fixing up my posture, I landed.
It pushed me back ten meters with a single hit.
My hands had gone numb. The numbness had even spread to my elbows and shoulders.
（Papa！？）
「No worries ……the bastard powered up beyond my expectation」
（That doesn’t seem to be all, though）
「Mu？」
The monster suddenly stopped and raised a war-cry toward the sky.
It was a roar that shook the earth. Then a small monster appeared.
From the big one’s body, a blob of something dropped to the ground and began to transform.
It slowly took shape.
It was a miniature version of the monster.
The original body was 3 meters tall, but the small one was only 1 meter tall.
Leaving aside the fact that the Mini was a bit more cute, they were mostly identical in appearance.
There were 5 Mini’s in total.
The monsterーーwho was being controlled by Kushifosーーcreated five clones.
One of the Mini’s charged at me, while the Orignal swung its arm.
I stopped it using Eleanor.
「Muu」
I was a bit surprised.
The Mini possessed strength on the same level as the King before transformation.
While admiring that strength, I drove the huge arm away and kicked the Mini.
Being kicked, the Mini Oni looked angry as it jumped at me again.
「That’s awesome, he can create something like this」
（It’s that sword’s fighting style）
「Say that sooner…」
（I was being careless）
Eleanor nonchalantly declared. Her tone indicated that she wasn’t feeling even a little bit bad.
「Next time we go to the Lottery place, you’re house-sitting」
（Wha! You bastard!）
It was a complete change of tone; she sounded like she was at her wits’ end.
That Lottery place is the only place Eleanor could take her human form and hang out with Hikari, her daughter.
It’s quite the punishment for such a doting parent as her.
Well, I’ll deal with that later.
The thing I was going to do right now wouldn’t change.
I was going to crush Kushifos no matter what.
That’s all.
Now then, let’s put in some actual effortーー.
「Wh-What the hell is this thing……」
「Irisーー」
There was a voice behind me. Immediately when I turned aroundーー
Something slipped past me from behind.
The five Mini Oni’s rushed madly ahead toward Iris, having taken advantage of the opening in my awareness.
Iris reacted.
She readied her sword, accepting the challenge.
ーーhowever.
「Kakeru!」
I warped and forced myself between Iris and the Mini Oni’s.
I bisected one of them using Eleanor and blew the other four away with Hikari.
That was unforgivable. VERY unforgivable.
Trying to lay hands on my woman in front of me is super unforgivable.
（You sent your women to the battlefield, though?）
There’s a difference between doing it myself and it just happening.
Eleanor was slightly surprised, and the feeling was transferred to me.
I ignored her.
I glared at the four Mini’s and the Original, which was the King of Mercury.
I’m DEFINITELY crushing these bastards.
「That red glow……is that my father?」
Iris spoke to me from behind with a serious tone.
「Yeah. Step back, Iris」
「Iris?」
「I’ll fight with you. Please let me fight」
I turned aroundーーthough my awareness didn’t leave the Mini Oni’s.
Our eyes met; there was a strong light in Iris’ eyes.
Those pupils expressed strong determination.
That isーーjust like her.
「Please, Kakeruーーhnngu!」
I hugged the pleading Iris and kissed her.
I love good women.
「Wh-What are you doing, Kakeru?!」
Iris blushed, but I ignored that and asked her.
「Back in the cave, you were able to raise the weight of a sword-swing. But now, can you raise the number of attacks instead?」
「Eh? Ah, un. I’ll try my best」
「Alright, I’ll leave the Mini Oni’s to you. Beat them with a barrage of attacks」
「Got it」
Iris readied her sword once again.
I also readied Eleanor and Hikari.
We approached the Oni’s.
The Mini’s immediately reacted and rushed forward. I gave each of them a blow and slipped past them, aiming for the Original.
With a sidelong glance, I confirmed the situation behind me. Iris was doing as I’d told her, intercepting the Mini’s with a number of attacks.
Every time iris cut them, a black aura was released from their bodies.
It was the aura of the Cursed Sword, the technique my slave soldiers used to overwhelm Nana.
Having confirmed that, I rushed toward the big Oni.
I clad myself in the black aura and readied my two Cursed Swords.
From this point on, it would be the usual beat-up.
— —