Instant Death - Volume 5 - Chapter 12

Act 5 Episode 12 From now on, I, Dannoura Mokomoko, shall be the heroine!

Yogiri Takato and Mokomoko Dannoura came to the city of the fighting gods.

It is a city of considerable size and is surrounded by walls.

Even from the outside, we could see many large towers standing there. I guessed that these were the famous towers of this city.

“Ha-ha-ha! The heroine has been replaced! From now on, I, Mokomoko Dannoura, shall be the heroine!”

Mokomoko had a voice that everyone could hear.

She was not an invisible spirit as usual.

Standing next to Yomogiri was a girl that looked a little younger than Yomogiri , wearing a red dress and gloves.

Mokomoko used the body of an Enju type robot.

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s a machine, she’s a fighter, she’s a master of martial arts, she can create all sorts of useful items with a mysterious metal, and she looks so adorable! I think that’s enough to call yourself a heroine!“

„I see. So you’re aware that you’re not as lovely as you usually look.”

“No, no, no!　It’s supposed to be lovely, if you look at it!”

“Anyway, it got no breasts, so its out.”

“You’re being brutally honest, ……, but I’m sure you can squeeze her breasts all you want, can’t you?　She can’t just ignore a request like that.”

“I don’t think you should be pressing me in this situation.”

“I see. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“So, Moko-robo, is this possession?”

“MokoRobo is …… a little more than that. ……”

It was uncomfortable to call her Mokomoko when she was in a Keju form. So Yogiri changed her name.

“Mou. Well, you can call me whatever you like. It’s like being remote controlled”

She said that they had cracked the computing device and was manipulating it with radio waves.

“Well. We’re going into the city, but don’t forget not to kill anyone.”

„I know.“

Yogiri went to the city gate.

There were no checkpoints, so they were able to enter the city easily.

“Well, I’ve come here because I’ve heard that anyone can meet a Sage, so what do I do?”

“We’ll just have to ask around.”

Sages are fickle and not easily seen in public.

But Riser the Sage in this city is an exception. He is waiting for a challenger in this city.

“Oh. Then you should go to the reception.

A passer-by told him, so Yogiri went to the building called the reception.

“I’d like to see the wise man. I want to see the wise man.”

“Yes. Are you sure you want to challenge the tower?”

Inside, there was a counter and a receptionist.

The Receptionist didn’t seem to be busy, so it wasn’t as if there was a constant stream of challengers.

“If I can see him, what can I do to challenge him?

“Yes. The tower has a total of one hundred floors, and the challenger must start from the ground floor. You have to defeat the floor master on each floor to obtain a key, which will allow you to proceed to the next floor.”

“…that means you have to aim for the top floor, right?”

Yogiri was thinking that it was becoming tiresome. One hundred floors is a lot, no matter what.

But he guessed he had to try. Yogiri decided to challenge the tower.

　　＊＊＊＊＊

‘Congratulations. Riser will be with you in a moment.’

When they arrived at the top of the tower, they heard a voice from nowhere.

“So this is where we meet.”

The rooftop was a flat, bleak place. Yogiri thought that a more formal place would be prepared for an audience, but it seems that Riser didn’t care about formality.

“It might mean a quick fight.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

Rumor had it that he was a belligerent battle junkie, but that impression was overturned when he actually saw him in person.

It was true that his well-trained body looked as if it was only meant for battle, but he had a cold look in his eyes.

The expression on his face was one of resignation, and Riser was not as crude as I had thought he would be.

“……. It’s true that the rules say I have to fight whoever wins the tower. You’re not very strong, are you?”

Rizer was scanning Yogiri. He was hoping to see if there was anything he had missed, or if there were any unknown elements.

“That’s not what I meant”

“Maybe that girl defeated it?”

“I’m the one who cleared it. If you don’t want to fight, then it’s a no-win situation for me, okay?”

“Huh? You’re crazy. There’s no reward in this fight. The only goal of anyone who challenges me is to defeat me, right?”

“But I’ve come all this way because I want what you have.”

“Tell me. If you can entertain me, I’ll give you all the money you want.”

“One is the Philosopher’s Stone. You have it, right?”

“Yeah. And? Is there anything else?”

“I’ve heard that you’ve built this city and you’re in complete control of it. Am I right in assuming that you own the city?”

“Yes, I do. Everything in this city, down to the smallest stone, belongs to me, and everything exists to produce someone who can fight me.”

„Well, that, too.”

“As for the town, I thought it could be used as a base for half demons.”

“All right. I’ll give you everything. If you can beat me.”

He wasn’t not sure if that’s too much to ask, but Riser answered immediately.

„Now, let’s get started“.

Riser took his stance. It was a calm and dignified stance.

Even though Yogiri is a martial arts novice, he knew that it will take a great deal of skill to break this stance.

“The right foot, then.”

But Yogiri’s uncommon ability had succeeded in breaking Riser down easily.

　　＊＊＊＊＊

Riser was disappointed.

When he arrived at Tower A, he found that it was just an ordinary boy who had conquered it.

He was so vulnerable that one breath from Riser could kill him, and he is too careful to talk to him.

He carefully observed him to see if he had any hidden powers, but Riser could tell that he seemed to have little more than a little practice in martial arts.

It’s Risers observation that has kept him seeking out the strong. There is almost no doubt about it.

However, that would make things a little strange. There was no way he could clear the tower with this level of ability.

Compared to this boy, the girl next to him was probably much stronger. She may look like a machine, but she has the demeanor of an expert.

However, when he asked her about it, she told him that the boy was the one who cleared the tower.

When he was wondering, he started to ask him to give him a reward if he won.

Riser was interested in this boy. The boy was determined to win. He would be disappointing to see him launch a suicide attack with the intention of losing, so in that respect, he seemed to favor him.

–Well, okay. I don’t care what it is, just surprise me.

Riser has been betrayed many times in the past.

So I don’t have any more expectations of him. But still, as long as he continues to seek out the strong, he only hopes to find something new.

Riser took a self-styled stance. It was a tokenistic stance that did not mean much.

„Right foot, then.“

The boy said.

Immediately, Risers stance collapsed.

He lost strength in his right leg and could no longer stand.

Riser was taken aback.

He had no idea what was going on.

He had no idea what had been done to him or what had happened to her.

“What the hell did you do to ……?”

“It’s like a super-speed attack, it’s faster than you can perceive.”

少年はじつにめんどくさそうに言った。

The boy said in a very annoyed tone.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I can catch you at light speed! You! You weren’t even doing anything!”

The boy only mumbled a few words. He didn’t do anything else.

Then Riser realized that he was fuming.

It was the first time in a long time that Riser had felt this way, as he had assumed he would never feel anything again.

“The speed of light is …… very fishy.”

“The kid’s powers are a lot fishier”.

The boy turns to face the girl.

“But it was a good thing you didn’t bring the others. His voice alone would have killed a mere mortal.”

The girl’s words made Riser realize that he had been shouting without any consideration.

There were cracks in the floor here and there. The tower was designed to be a stage for battle, but it must have been unable to withstand Riser’s loud voice.

“What do you say? If you give up and give me my reward, I’ll stop here.”

“No way! I’m just getting started!”

„Left arm.“

As the boy mumbled again, Risers left arm lost its strength and slumped down.

„It’s fun!“

Riser swung his right arm down and slammed it into the floor.

The blow shattered the tower in an instant.

Naturally, those on the roof had no choice but to fall.

Riser was left to fall. He could kick the earth and move instantly, but he did not have the ability to float in the air.

As he fell, Riser looked at the boy.

“I’ve heard that you can control your own fall.”

„It’s easier this way.“

The boy was holding the girl’s leg as if it were an umbrella, and she was catching the air with the black wings on her back.

„Hey!“

Riser brought out his right fist. It wasn’t at a distance that he would normally hit, but that didn’t matter to Riser. The shockwave generated from his mere thrust was enough to tear and destroy a person.

But.

The boy was unharmed.

The shockwave dissipated without ever reaching the boy.

“We’re going to be buried under a lot of rubble.”

„Let’s get moving.“

The girl flapped her wings and headed for a nearby square.

Riser followed them. He didn’t have the ability to levitate, but he could fly by recoiling if he shot a shockwave backwards.

„Left foot.“

With both legs not working, Riser failed to land.

He lost his stance and crashed into the fountain in the middle of the square.

Of course, there was no damage from this, and if there was, he would recover quickly. However, his left arm and both legs showed no signs of recovery.

“This time it’s a bit sketchy. In the past, you killed ankles, fingers and other things.”

“It’s quite a hassle. I don’t need to listen to you this time, so I thought I’d just block your movements for now.”

The girl used her wings to control the fall. The two challengers had landed softly in the square.

“Are you still going to do it? I’m sure you can get it back now.”

“If you can’t move your right arm, I’m afraid your life is going to be very difficult.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell did you do?”

At Risers shout, the surrounding debris was blown away.

The debris flew at the boy, but did not hit him. He was moving in a way to avoid them. His movements were messy, but he seemed to know in advance that the debris would fly at him.

„Why are you angry? You wanted to know defeat, didn’t you? Isn’t this what you wanted?“

Riser lamented that he was too strong and professed that he wanted to know defeat.

However, he had a lot of doubts that this is the defeat he wanted.

He was beaten by a one-sided attack, and he didn’t even know what the attack was. He guessed it was possible when the gap in strength was too wide.

But he didn’t know anything about it, and couldn’t accept that he should feel defeated by this.

Riser had hoped for a clash of strength and power.

He would have been satisfied if he had been defeated by force. But this was different.

Risers footsteps split the earth, and his punches sent the great river flowing backwards. His eyes caught the speed of light, and the aura he wore nullified even conceptual attacks.

And yet, none of this worked. He wasn’t even able to do anything.

This wasn’t even a battle, as the limbs were simply killed off one by one.

“This is bullshit! This is not acceptable!”

“I thought you’d be more of a warrior. Right arm.“

Risers right arm lost its strength.

All four limbs were now immobilized, and he could not even move.

“Well. If you won’t admit defeat, I’ll have to use force to take the Philosopher’s Stone. Maybe it’s in the chest.”

“Well. It seems that Lain, the source of Lily, was left outside.”

“I’ve heard that if you have the stone in your body, you lose your powers when you die, but you can still talk, so you should be able to handle it.”

The girl came closer to Riser.

Riser let out a roar. It was not just a shout, but a full-bodied exhalation with the intention of attacking.

The explosive shout erased the surrounding buildings.

“Whoa! I can’t get close enough for this. It’s quite a feat to be able to do this just by moving your mouth.“

The girl jumped back as quickly as she could and hid behind the boy.

“I don’t know what to do. If I want to seal off his breathing, should I use his diaphragm?　But as expected, it’s impossible to kill his muscles in detail, so I’ll just use the area around the lungs.”

As the boy said this, Risers breathing stopped.

His breathing muscles stopped moving and his lungs stopped taking in oxygen.

“Wouldn’t that kill him?”

“If he’s a Sage, he won’t die for a while? Why don’t you take a look while he’s still alive? If it’s out there, we can look for it later.”

“You’ve been acting like a cat in front of Tomochika. ……”

“I’ll try to control myself. I don’t want her to hate me unnecessarily.”

“That’s fine. You don’t need to be shy with this guy. We all know he’s a bad guy.”

The girl approaches again.

„Even a blink of an eye can cause a shockwave. …… This guy is a real monster.”

Riser was mobilizing all of his moveable limbs.

His eyes and mouth still worked. That alone would have killed a mere human. But there was no stopping this girl who was a machine.

The girl kicked Riser and turned her face down.

It was only after this that Riser began to feel fear.

He realized that he was finished, that he had already lost his way.

He couldn’t even beg for his life anymore.

Riser had never been more aware of the bitterness of defeat.