<<<NUARAAAAAH—!!!>>>

Enraged by Emi’s single remark, Forest Spirit King Cocoririon let out a beastlike roar, leveled the staff in his hand, and charged at Emi like the wind!

The flame of murderous intent burning in his eyes was so fierce that Emi’s own killing intent smothered the tiny shred of “reconciliation” she’d left inside her, and she took a stance to intercept!

<<<AAH!!>>>

“Raa!”

And what Cocoririon threw was a sweeping sideways strike aimed at Emi’s flank!

Emi ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) matched it with an upward blow from below.

With a crisp pakin sound, the Spirit King’s staff split in two again, and its upper half went flying off somewhere.

<<<AAAH!!>>>

“Raa!”

Then Cocoririon used the momentum of that sweeping strike to spin once more, and he launched another sweeping sideways blow!

The trajectory and the force were exactly the same as before!

So, just like before, Emi hammered the staff up from below and snapped it cleanly in half.

“!!!”

And then—!

Sensing a presence, Emi raised her arm to protect her head...

Immediately after, she felt a heavy impact slam into her arm.

The one that struck her was... a staff.

The upper half that Emi had snapped and sent flying on the first strike had repaired itself, lifted into the air on its own, and swung in to punch Emi!

Which meant...

There was no reason to doubt the upper half of the staff she’d snapped the second time could act on its own, too!

Certain of that, Emi flicked her eyes around...

And sure enough, another one was coming at her, spinning vertically at high speed as it flew!

“Raaah!!”

Emi violently swung her arm to fling away the first staff she’d already caught on her forearm, then tracked the second staff’s high-speed vertical rotation with freakish dynamic vision and snatched it at the perfect timing!

And then—mishimishi bakibaki—branches and roots stretched out of the staff, trying to coil around Emi!

The purpose was to bind Emi’s body... or absorb magical power?

Either way, it was probably not good for her!

“RAAAAH!!!”

Before it could wrap around her, Emi hurled the staff at Cocoririon with everything she had!

<<<HAH!!>>>

Right before that staff could hit him dead-on, Cocoririon stabbed the lower halves of the staffs he held into the ground with both hands, then transformed into countless fallen leaves and vanished from the spot.

And in the next instant...

He appeared behind Emi!

Spreading both arms wide to restrain her body, he lunged in to hug her—

“RAAAAAAAH!!!”

...Or he tried to.

But he failed!

Emi spun around in an instant and drove a punch through his solar plexus, and Cocoririon went flying with a scream.

“Raa...”

Emi took a step forward to chase him down...

But the Spirit King’s staff, autonomously flying while spinning vertically at high speed, blocked her!

“Raa!!”

First, one—Emi knocked away the staff that flew straight at her from the front.

“Raaah!!”

Next, the second—she knocked away the one that came at her from behind, the same way.

Now there were no more annoying staffs!

At last, Emi moved to take her next step in pursuit...

But that judgment was naive.

“Raa!?”

A third staff came down at Emi’s crown!

Which meant...

The lower half of the staff Emi had snapped cleanly in two just a moment ago!

Barely reacting in time to this ambush, Emi knocked it away, but—

“Raaah!!”

Now a fourth staff drove in straight for Emi’s heart!

Ta, tata—Emi hopped lightly backward to slip out of its line...

But the staff chased her.

A staff with a tracking function!

“RAAAAH!!!”

At the last moment, Emi kicked it up and blasted it far away!

Using the kicking motion as-is, Emi flipped into a single vertical spin—

And then the first staff she’d flung away at the start attacked again!

“AAAAAAAH!!!”

Emi, irritated, roared.

This Spirit King’s staff was a massive pain in the ass!

With disgusting, perfect time delays, it kept launching attacks to stitch Emi’s feet to the spot!

On top of that, it had a strange fragility, so she had to be careful when counterattacking!

If she messed up and snapped it again, the staff would probably multiply, and Emi would be subjected to even fiercer attacks!

There was no doubt about it: the Spirit King’s staff was a tough enemy!

Probably stronger than the Spirit King himself!

“DON’T LOOK DOWN ON MEEEEEE—!!!”

But it wasn’t like there was no way to deal with it! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Emi casually punched away the Spirit King himself when he charged in recklessly, and—judging that any negotiation that might exist and hand-to-hand combat were being obstructed—she deployed the 【Black Tentacle】 she’d kept stored away until now, all at once!

From the entire body of a girl with peerless beauty, pitch-black, grotesque tentacles burst out and writhed!

“I’LL DEVOUR IT ALL!!!”

And in response to those words...

The tips of the 【Black Tentacle】 split open in unison.

What appeared was...

An external predation organ, refined by Emi’s talent!

With hard fangs clacking together—

The 【Black Extending Jaw】!

“RAAAH—!!”

Then Emi’s 【Black Extending Jaw】 sliced through the air like sharks swimming freely through water, and one after another, they latched onto the Spirit King’s staff!

BAKIN!!

BAKIBAKI!!

With harsh chewing sounds, the Spirit King’s staff was instantly torn apart and gobbled down, transformed into magical power that poured into Emi’s soul.

<<<Y-YOU BASTAAAAARD—!!!>>>

Seeing that, Cocoririon turned pale and ran toward the giant tree that served as his dwelling!

Then he pressed his hand to the trunk...

And with bakibaki cracking sounds, he began making new staffs!

Branches extended, leaves sprouted, and staffs of convenient thickness formed within seconds...!

The number was—one, two...

Too many to count!?

“LIKE I’LL LET YOU!!”

Of course Emi had zero intention of letting that annoying staff get mass-produced!

As Emi sprinted at the giant tree, she wrapped the 【Black Tentacle】 stretching in all directions around her own right arm.

And what formed was a gigantic arm—

An arrangement of the 【Black Arm】!

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!”

Even as she ran, Emi twisted her upper body hard...

She loaded her sprinting momentum onto her raw strength, and then—like a final shove—she even added a jet blast of magical power from the nozzles deployed behind the giant arm!

She punched Forest Spirit King Cocoririon...

With strength beyond full force...

At a speed too fast for him to escape by teleportation!

<<<UGYOBŌŌŌŌ—!?>>>

After taking Emi’s full-power blow...

Amazingly, the giant tree that was the Spirit King’s dwelling did not break.

It only shook violently and scattered a huge storm of shining leaves.

But that toughness became Forest Spirit King Cocoririon’s undoing.

Pinned between the giant tree and Emi’s fist, Cocoririon had to receive the entire impact of Emi’s strike with his own body.

More specifically: Emi’s massive fist struck him from the abdomen down through the lower body...

And that entire region was blown completely away by the shock of the hit!

<<<G-GI, GI... YOU... YOU...!!>>>

With only his chest and above remaining, Cocoririon first crashed to the ground with a wet thud...

But he still didn’t vanish.

Spilling a voice of hatred, he floated up again in that state, swaying.