"Huh?" Asuna stared, stunned, as Kotoko dodged the black figure's attack with such agile movements. "Necro... don't you have no combat ability? How could you..."
"I'm just not good at fighting, but that doesn't mean my physical fitness is poor." Kotoko smiled, shaking the prosthetic limb in her hand at Asuna.
"Look, although I possess much stronger physical fitness than ordinary people, the prosthetic limb I've installed is already the best model in the world. But if I exercise as vigorously as just now, to protect the user's body, the connection will break like this."
Then, Kotoko turned to Asagiri, speaking with a cute, reproachful tone. "Leader, to test my trump card, you even wasted one of my prosthetic limbs. I don't care, you have to compensate me. I don't accept monetary compensation, only compensation in the form of a date."
"Okay," Asagiri replied without hesitation. "Then I'll go on a date with Violet. Consider that your compensation."
Kotoko's face flushed with anxiety, and she hopped on one leg. "Since it's compensating me, it must be you going on a date with me!"
"Keep it down, let's do the important stuff first."
Asagiri raised his head, finally getting a clear look at the strange, heavily panting creature at the top of the stairs, the so-called 'Yokai.' Its head resembled the legendary Kudan, said to predict disasters; a bull's head with a human face devoid of pupils, and eyeballs a deathly pale white. Its body was human-like but covered in beastly fur, its limbs ending in hooves instead of hands and feet.
"Hoh..." Asuna thought the creature looked truly terrifying, a stark contrast to the Floating Corpse Evil Yokai, which at least remained within human semblance. The bizarre aura of this Yokai was genuinely unsettling, making Asagiri's reaction understandable... or so she thought.
"Could it be, this is the legendary Minotaur?" Asuna said somewhat speechlessly, seeing Asagiri's excited, eager-to-try expression, like a child at a zoo seeing a rare animal.
"Minotaur, your head! You don't want to take this thing back and raise it, do you?"
"How could that be? You can't raise something like a Minotaur, it's too unlucky."
As they spoke, Asagiri, Asuna, and Kotoko strategically retreated. Only after the Minotaur-faced Yokai descended the stairs and entered the spacious first-floor lobby did they prepare for battle.
"Violet, get ready." Asuna nodded, her gaze fixed on the Minotaur-faced Yokai. She clenched her right hand, and the Exorcist Longsword automatically materialized.
Asagiri had no intention of summoning his Persona. This mission was primarily to test his newly acquired power, and he also needed to give Asuna the opportunity to gain a speed boost through her exclusive talent, 'Flash,' by engaging the 'bull's head.' Instantly killing the Yokai would render this entire operation meaningless.
"Clang..." Accompanied by the sound of metal friction, a coiled chain appeared in Asagiri's hand. At its dangling end was a sharp, dagger-like blade.
"Here we go." Asagiri suddenly raised his hand. An afterimage flashed through the air as the sharp Rope Dart stabbed directly toward the center of the Minotaur-faced Yokai's forehead.
Roar!!!
The Minotaur Yokai let out a sharp, ear-piercing roar and raised its thick, fur-covered arm to block. The Rope Dart pierced directly through its flesh, sinking deeply into its arm. The accompanying force sent its nearly two-meter-tall body stumbling backward.
Before it could react, a cold glint attacked from its side. Accompanied by the sound of a sword cutting through the air, Asuna struck the Minotaur Yokai's other arm with her sword. However, the blade only penetrated about one centimeter deep, failing to sever the limb.
"Tch... strength is indeed my weakness..." The next second, Asuna didn't hesitate. She immediately pulled out her longsword and performed a sideways roll, narrowly dodging the Minotaur Yokai's stomping attack with its raised hoof.
Bang!
Under the Minotaur Yokai's powerful stomp, several cracks appeared in the building's hard floor tiles, and even gravel splattered out.
"This guy's strength is very high," Asuna thought, making a quick assessment and realizing her own vulnerability. While she was a combat class, her defense and raw strength weren't outstanding. Her advantages lay in speed and reaction time. The most efficient way to convert her speed into power in swordsmanship wasn't cleaving, but...
Just then, the Minotaur Yokai's human face contorted with pain. It had been wounded by the Exorcist Longsword, which dealt extra damage against yokai, and Asagiri's Curse Gaze Rope Dart. Its pair of deathly pale pupils fixed on Asagiri, who stood several meters away. Panting heavily through its nose and mouth, it opened its maw and directly bit down on the metal chain connected to the Rope Dart. Its four limbs dropped to the ground, shifting from an upright walking state to a beast-like posture. Like a true fierce beast, it aimed its huge, sharp horns at Asagiri and charged forward.
"Hoh, you can even switch forms? That's interesting." Asagiri stood still, with no intention of dodging. He simply let the Minotaur Yokai charge towards him. Then, he suddenly closed his hand, gripping the chain connected to the Rope Dart tightly. The next second, he took a sideways step and swung hard with one hand, using the force of the Minotaur Yokai's own charge to swing it, like the head of a flail, directly into the nearby wall.
Boom!
Under this sudden impact, the entire first floor's ground trembled slightly.
"Heh heh." Asagiri retracted the Rope Dart, looking at the Minotaur Yokai embedded in the wall's crater. "Daring to eat anything will only harm you."
Asuna and Kotoko looked at Asagiri, standing amidst a cloud of dust. They exchanged glances, both too shocked to speak. No, that nearly two-meter-tall, massive Minotaur Yokai... you just grabbed the chain with one hand and swung it directly into the wall, even creating such a deep crater? Are you even human?
---------------------------------------------------------
Please support my work and gain access to 15 advanced chapters at [email protected]/Dannycifer.