Episode 134: Black Monster
The Central Management Center, built next to the dome, was in an uproar, its countermeasures headquarters resembling a disturbed beehive.
“What is that monster?! Where did it come from?”
Honda furrowed her brow, shouting loudly. Usually a mild-mannered woman, she was on edge today due to the continuous troubles.
“W-We don’t know. It just suddenly appeared…”
The female operator, staring at the monitor, replied with a bewildered expression. Honda touched the earpiece she was wearing, pressed a key on the computer, and connected the line to Tennoji.
“Can you hear me, Tennoji! Report the situation!”
Static crackled in the earpiece. The communication was worse than before.
“Tennoji!”
“…zzzt…bl…ck…mon…”
Only a faint voice echoed. Honda looked at the computer screen, but block noise was starting to appear there as well.
The image showed Tennoji, still on the ground, staring at the black monster.
◇◇◇
“Ishikawa-san! What is this thing?!”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a monster like this!”
Taizen and Ishikawa were dumbfounded by the black monster standing before them. It had suddenly appeared, engaged in combat, and then punched the “Red Ogre” away.
“Ugh…”
Tennoji, who had been knocked down behind them, was trying to stand up.
“Are you alright?”
Ishikawa rushed to Tennoji’s side and lent him a shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I managed to block the direct hit with a ‘Lightning Barrier’ at the moment of impact. More importantly, that monster!”
Tennoji grabbed Ishikawa’s shoulder, stood up, and glared at the monster.
He didn’t feel the same strong Mana from the black monster as he did from the Red Ogre. But Tennoji sensed something far more ominous.
“Has Honda-san said anything?”
Ishikawa asked. He knew that Tennoji and Honda were in direct communication.
“No… there was contact, but the communication was too poor to understand anything. Probably due to that monster’s influence.”
“I see…”
As Ishikawa muttered disappointedly, Taizen, who had slowly retreated, aimed his cannon at the enemy and opened his mouth.
“Did that black creature come up from the ‘Red Dungeon’? Without us noticing?!”
“I don’t know. But—”
Tennoji released Ishikawa’s shoulder, stood on his own, and looked forward.
“It doesn’t look like a monster from the ‘Red Dungeon’.”
◇◇◇
A crash resounded. Yuma stared ahead as the wall collapsed, the piled-up concrete shifting slightly.
The next moment—the rubble exploded outward.
A Red Oni appeared from within, glaring at Yuma. The wounds all over its body healed with a sizzling sound, and the released flames swirled, burning the surroundings.
The Oni took a step, then another, stepping over the rubble and emerging outside.
The flames overflowing from its body intensified, rising into the sky as a pillar of fire.
“Gaaaaaaaaah!”
The first roar Yuma had ever heard from a monster. As the voice, intimidating all, subsided, the fire gradually died down, and only a quiet murderous intent was directed at Yuma.
“Alright, round two it is.”
The Oni moved. It rushed straight at Yuma, throwing a right punch.
Yuma took a fighting stance, stepping forward with his right foot and responding with a left Seiken Zuki (Straight Punch).
Fists collided.
Yuma’s twisting left fist crushed the Oni’s fist, shattering the bones in its arm to pieces.
The Oni seemed shocked that its arm had been destroyed, but Yuma relentlessly pressed his attack.
He struck the Oni’s jaw with a right hook.
He intended to hit it lightly, but the Oni’s jaw cracked, and it staggered.
Yuma launched an all-out assault. A barrage of sharp jabs—chest, stomach, stomach, shoulder, arm, jaw, side—sank into the Oni’s body.
The Oni was forced to defend due to the sheer speed, and desperately retreated.
Opening its mouth to counterattack, the Oni spewed scorching flames at Yuma.
“Whoa… hot…”
The flames engulfed Yuma’s body, blazing up—
“…Oh, it’s not… not hot! It’s not hot at all!”
Yuma punched the Oni’s face, which was spewing flames, with all his might. Its face caved in, the flames dissipated, and the Oni staggered back, tilting its head.
“You surprised me! ‘Fire’ doesn’t work on me!!”
The Oni roared and charged, spreading its arms wide. Yuma calmly stepped aside and landed a short uppercut on the Oni’s jaw.
Its face snapped up, blood spurted out, and its movement stopped. Seeing this, Yuma took a step forward and slammed a low kick into the Oni’s leg.
The powerful kick sent the Oni’s legs flying, and it spun halfway around, slamming its head into the ground.
Its two legs were bent at unnatural angles, making it impossible to stand. Yuma mercilessly kicked the monster, groaning and collapsed on the ground.
The Oni spun as it flew away, crashing into the side wall of a building, creating a large hole and disappearing inside.
Seeing that, Yuma grimaced.
“I wonder if it’s okay to destroy this much… Will I get scolded later?”
Well, they probably won’t recognize me in this form, he thought. Yuma then headed towards the building where the Oni had flown.
◇◇◇
“What… is that strength…”
Honda, watching the video at the countermeasures headquarters, was speechless at the black monster’s abnormal strength.
The Duke of Red was a monster with a Mana Index exceeding 6000. Even Tennoji and Ishikawa struggled against the Abyssal Monsters. Yet that monster was being beaten without being able to put up a fight.
Could such a thing be possible? Moreover, that arm strength and high defense. Resistance to Magical Power that didn’t even allow flames to pass through.
Could that be—
“Chief! What should we do?!”
The female operator’s voice snapped Honda back to reality. No answer would come from mere speculation. She had to do what she could now.
Honda thought so and gave instructions to her subordinates.
“Get the Self-Defense Forces to send out a communication vehicle to restore communication! We can’t contact Tennoji and the others as things are now.”
“Understood.”
“And where is the Seeker with the prototype Mana Measurement Device?”
In response to Honda’s question, the female operator immediately checked the Seekers’ locations.
“They are still on standby near the dome.”
Honda nodded slightly and briefly said, “Send a messenger.” Currently, communication was impossible even over the short distance from this Central Center to the ground.
Honda thought that the only way to make contact was to send someone directly.
“So, what are the orders?”
The female operator asked. As the people around her watched with bated breath, Honda looked at the computer monitor and replied.
“Have them measure the black monster’s ‘Mana Index’!”