The Oni and I exchanged blows. It was a direct confrontation which produced shockwaves that blew away even boulders.
Gakiiiiin!!
The Oni’s arm hadn’t gotten any softer as it made a loud, metallic sound.
「Eleanor!」
（Umu!）
I put more strength into my attack,
The multiplier of 777 was applied to my physical strength, then it was transferred to Eleanor.
The combined force of our strength collided with the Oni’s arm.
Zupuri!!—The blade sunk into its arm.
「Haah!」
I put even more force into my arms and swung Eleanor. For a second, the Oni’s arm stopped mid-air.
That arm was cut and flung away, drawing a parabola.
The Oni raised a scream and attacked me with its other arm.
「Hikari!」
（I’ll do my best!）
I went on the offense using Hikari. We exchanged more blows as I cut the Oni to my heart’s content.
「GYAAAAAA！」
With another scream, the Oni staggered back.
In pursuit, I hacked the monster to pieces using both Cursed Swords.
Red magic essence and blood flew; its flesh was cut down little by little.
At last, the Oni turned back into a human.
「Gufu……gahaah!!」
The King crumbled to the ground, his naked body covered in blood.
His right arm was cut from the elbow.
The arm that was sliced off was lying on the ground near him; that arm had also returned to a human arm, and it was still gripping Kushifos.
「Not yet……I’m not done yet……gahaah!」
I ignored the King and approached Kushifos.
I just needed to destroy this bastard, and that'd be the end of this incident.
Standing before Kushifos, I raised Eleanor.
「Stop it……STOOOOP!!」
The King jumped at me.
I wondered how he still had that much strength left, when he threw his left fist toward me.
It’s like that one saying about a candle or something.
I used the back of the hand that I was holding Hikari with to knock him away.
「Just give it up already」
「Stop it, please stop」
「ーーhaah!」
I ignored the King and swung down Eleanor.
Kushifos, lying on the ground, was cleanly cut in half with a deafening metallic sound.
「Ah, ahhh……」
The King of Mercury groaned in despair.
「This is the end」
（Seems like it）
（What do you intend to do with him?）
「Once Kushifos is gone, he’s harmless. I’ll reattach his arm, then send him back to the Kingdom」
Saying so, I took a White Magical Orb out from my dimensional storage.
（You’re even going to treat his wounds, huh. What a softy）
「Iris wouldn’t want me to kill him. I crushed Kushifos; we’ve achieved our goal……Any objections?」
（There’s none）
It appeared that Eleanor was in a good mood.
It had been like that since the moment I broke Kushifos.
Must be because she was able to prove that, as a Cursed Sword, she was superior.
I didn’t have any complaints regarding that, but……for the time being, I left her alone.
There was something else I needed to think about, so I used Hikari to thoroughly smash Kushifos into pieces before bringing the King’s severed arm back to him and healing him.
His arm was reattached, and his wounds were healed.
However, the King remained still, hanging his head.
He was murmuring something to himself.
It was easy to understand that, seeing Kushifos being broken, he was in shock.
I ignored him again. I don’t have time to spare, thinking about the mental health of a dude.
「Kakeru!」
I turned around, toward Iris.
She rushed over with her sword.
The dead bodies of four Mini Oni’s could be seen nearby.
「You okay?」
「I’m okay. My father isーー」
「I healed his body. I’ll leave the rest to you」
「Got it」
Iris took a cylindrical object from her bag and shot it toward the sky. [TN: It’s a Signal Dildo]
Half-way along its trajectory, the item melted away and emitted light. When it flew higher, it burst into fireworks.
A signal flare, huh.
After a short while, a number of footsteps could be heard.
The people that showed up were Mercury’s soldiers, about one-hundred of them.
Iris must’ve summoned them using that flare just now.
The soldiers lined up before her and saluted in unison.
Iris said something to the soldiers. They went to where the King was, carefully raised his body, and carried him away.
That’s one thing done, I guess.
Next order of business was Iris.
When I looked at her, our eyes met, and she turned away with a bright red face.
I wondered where her gallant figure from earlier went. She became a girl with overwhelming cuteness.
She was so cute; her gap-moe was deadly.
I approached and stared at her from a close distance.
「It’s over」
「……un」
Though she still looked a bit shy, Iris gazed at me with a face filled with determination.
「Won’t you make me yours?」
「Is there anything you want? I’ll grant your wish」
「I want you to do as you please」
「Un?」
She stared at me with even more vigor than before.
Iris firmly nodded.
「I want Kakeru to……do as he pleases」
That’s what she meant, huh.
She’s willingly saying that she’d accept anything, huh.
This is just like her, and she’s becoming increasingly cute.
「I’ll do as I please」
「Un……」
She blushed and cast her eyes down.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and brought my face closer.
Iris closed her eyes.
Our lips drew closer and closer to one another.
That moment…
『GUUOOHHH!!』
The ground began shaking, and Iris lost her balance, since she was making a kissing-face.
It was a shockwave that seemed to stab into your skin.
Iris opened her eyes as I turned around in a hurry.
ThereーーI saw the Oni.
It was similar to the Oni from earlier, with a red glow pulsing throughout its body.
The soldiers were surroundingーーno, submitting to the Oni.
They were unconscious with empty eyes, and they were directing their bloodlust this way.
Furthermore, they were also clad in the exact same red glow. It was the Oni’s red aura.
When I looked down, the broken Kushifos was there.
「That’s Kushifos’ power……but how?」
「Oi, Eleanor!」
（Seems like this is its hidden technique. It had probably been hiding inside the King）
Based on her tone, she was taking a guess. It appeared that even Eleanor didn’t know about this.
（They were originally split into two pieces, so it seems like it can detach and transfer. It probably learned a new trick like that）
「Is that so?」
（Papa, what should we do?）
I looked at Iris. She was pleading with a troubled look on her face.
I kissed her.
She was surprised.
「Leave it to me」
「……Un! I'll believe in you」 [TN: Raw says Onegai]
I left Iris behind and approached the Oni and the soldiers.
（What’s the plan? Simply defeating it wouldn’t return him to normal）
I see, it’s that type, huh.
If I’m against something like this, I’ll change my fighting style.
「By the way, I’m using your specialty」
（My what? What are you talking about?）
「I’ll need Hikari’s help as well」
（Un! What should Hikari do?）
I didn’t answer them, but put the plan right into action.
I left Eleanor and Hikari in their sheaths and closed my eyes.
I perceived everything around me clearly.
I gathered strengthーーthe Cursed Swords’ strength.
「His aura……」
Hearing Iris’ murmur, I opened my eyes.
I clad myself in an aura that I’d never used before.
Some of the aura adhered to me like a robe, while the rest of the aura extended around me.
It was right out of a battle manga. [ED: bankai!]
I casually approached the Oni and the soldiers.
I extended the aura.
The Oni and the soldiers were engulfed in my black aura.
The red glow was resisting, but I ignored it and kept pressuring it.
I pushed through it and tore the King and the soldiers away from Kushifos.
It was a tug of war.
The red glow and the black aura were pulling the soldiers around.
The next moment, my surroundings changed.
It was no longer the forest above the underground cave; it felt like I was blown away.
It was a space filled with light.
「This is……」
「Papa, you’re naked」
I could hear the voice of the mother and daughter pair.
When I turned around, the two of them were right behind me.
Both of them were naked andーーso was I.
「Is this a spiritual realm?」
「Seems so……did you aim for this?」
「You guessed it?」
「Just now」
Eleanor grinned.
I also had the same fearless smile.
「Then you know what to do」
「Umu. You can count on me」
「Hikari will try her best!」
I returned a nod before facing forward.
A red globe was just ahead of us.
I took the two with me, approaching the globe.
Our goal isーーcompletely smashing it into dust.
Note: I put up a Ko-Fi button on the sidebar for donations. Naturally, it’s your decision whether or not to help a brotha out. I’m not going to put up some crazy Patreon terms until I completely get into a regular schedule. For now, pennies are money, too.
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