BXBX NOVEL Chapter 24: NO. 24 - Sukuna vs. Mirko
Chapter 24: NO. 24 - Sukuna vs. Mirko
"Hoh! Not bad! You must be pretty strong to be able to take on one of my kicks!" Mirko yelled as she glared at me.
"Hah! If this is all you got, this will be a disappointing fight!" I roared back.
[+20 SP]
Mirko\'s left eye twitched at my provocation, causing me to grin.
In the original series, Mirko, or Usagiyama Rumi, was one of Japan\'s strongest heroes. The woman was an unstoppable force of nature. During her fight with the High-Ends, Mirko continued fighting despite losing her limbs and getting extremely injured.
In other words, she wouldn\'t stop coming after me unless I knocked her out or killed her.
Killing her wasn\'t an option; she had an important role to perform in the future, and I didn\'t want to be labeled as a hero killer either.
That and I didn\'t want to deprive this world of her thunder thighs.
Damn, these teenage hormones...
Using Nue or the insect-like wings from my Construction technique to escape would be easy. Mirko had no way of chasing a flying opponent. Sure, she could try pursuing me on foot, but she couldn\'t keep up for long.
But I didn\'t want to run.
No, I wanted to test myself against her.
Right here and now.
I wanted to see how my refined martial arts prowess did against an actual pro!
Let\'s see... I currently have the Ten Shadows, Cloning, Bird Manipulation, and Ratio equipped. My eyes looked over at the nearby body of water. Hmm, Disaster Tides would have made this a breeze. Oh, well.
"Let\'s see how pure skill and CE enforcement alone can do first," I whispered, my staff held at the ready.
Seeing her move again, I countered by thrusting my staff forward, aiming for Mirko\'s midsection. She ducked low, the golden tip of the staff grazing the top of her head as she rolled to the side.
"I was hoping I would run into you eventually! Who would have thought tonight was my lucky night!" Mirko said with an excited grin. "I\'ll do the police and those weak heroes a favor by taking you down!"
Quickly regaining her footing, Mirko launched a flurry of kicks—one after another, each kick more powerful than the last. I danced backward, my staff twirling defensively before me, deftly deflecting her powerful strikes. The rhythmic thuds of her feet against the warehouse rooftops reverberated below us as we exchanged blows.
"Is that so? Try your best then, little Rabbit!" I said with an air of arrogance, playing into the role of my namesake.
[+30 SP]
I had to act it up. Win or lose, after tonight, Japan\'s pro heroes would gain a huge insight into the once-mysterious Sukuna from Mirko.
With a sudden burst of speed, Mirko leaped into the air, performing a spinning kick.
"Lunar Ring!"
My eyes grew wide seeing her rapid spinning kicks. I instinctively reinforced my entire body with CE and raised my staff above my head just in time to absorb the impact. The sheer force of her attack jolted my arms fiercely, staggering me back.
Shit! She\'s strong!
I quickly repositioned myself, using my momentum to swing my staff down in a sweeping arc.
"Not bad, little Rabbit! Not bad at all!"
Mirko rolled to avoid the strike, but I had anticipated that. As she sprang up, I dashed in and thrust my staff forward, aiming for her legs. She expertly jumped over the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the tips of her boots barely missing contact. As she landed, Mirko delivered a low kick that swept the ground beneath me in an attempt to knock me off balance.
"You\'re pretty good! But it\'s time to get your ass kicked!"
"Big talk from such a little package," I muttered as I dashed back and twisted my staff to keep Mirko at bay.
Mirko\'s smile grew wide at my comment. "Cocky bastard."
[+45 SP]
With a flourish, I thrust my staff out towards her, but the end of my staff met nothing but air due to the large space gap between us. Mirko laughed at my seemingly pathetic attack.
"Hah! You blind or something!"
"Go forth," I muttered and commanded my staff to extend. "Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
The rabbit-themed hero\'s eyes grew wide as my staff exploded towards her at incredible speeds. Due to the unexpectedness of the attack, the golden end of my Ruyi Jingu Bang collided right into her stomach, launching her back to the roof\'s edge.
"Gah! You B-Bastard!"
The Ruyi Jingu Bang staff, the legendary weapon held by the Great Sage, Heaven\'s Equal, Sun Wukong, was one of the many weapons I created with my construction technique over the past two years after gaining Tsukumo Yuki\'s CE reserves.
While it was a perfect recreation of Sun Wukong\'s staff, it didn\'t mean it would hold all of its original properties. To fix that, I focused 40% of my daily CE within it and infused my Construction technique into the staff from its inception to quickly transform it into a cursed tool over the course of a year.
Similar to how Nanami infused his blunt sword with his seven to three cursed technique, I imbued my Construction technique into my staff to grant it the ability to expand, extend, shrink, and retract itself on command using CE. The exact same way as Sun Wukong did with his original staff.
It was nowhere near as powerful as his, but my staff was powerful in its own right.
While it may not yet be a special grade-level tool just yet, it still packed a mean punch.
Mirko looked over at me as I placed my staff over my shoulders with an angry expression. I then beckoned her on with a come-on motion. Undeterred, she propelled herself forward again.
"Cheap tricks, you Bastard! Take this, Lunar Rush!"
I prepared myself as Mirko unleashed an advanced series of kicks. Her legs blurred as they connected with my staff in rapid succession. I weaved in and out to avoid the worst of her strikes, using my staff both as a shield and a weapon. Each clash of my staff\'s solid CE-enhanced tungsten steel against flesh resonated like thunder in the still night.
Our grand fight switched from the rooftop of the warehouse down to the fishing dock. Wooden planks, crates, poles, and even some of the boats all exploded or cracked from being caught up in our battle.
She\'s slowing down.
I risked a quick glance at Mirko\'s legs and saw dark splotches of blood spreading through her purple thigh-high boots. The dozens upon dozens of impacts against what was quite possibly the strongest piece of steel on the planet was having an effect on her.
"Come on, little Rabbit. Don\'t stop trying! I\'ll play with you all night!" I said with an excited grin as her red eyes met my black ones.
[+50 SP]
"Don\'t worry about me. Now that I\'m warmed up, the fun can finally begin!" Mirko said with a large, battle-hungry smile as she flexed her sexy-I mean powerful legs.
"Nah, you\'re done. Your legs are shaking. I\'ll do you a favor and end this now," I said and made a hand sign resembling a snake. "Great Serpent."
"Huh? What the hell-"
From below Mirko, a large white snake shot up from the shadows with its jaws wide open. Out of sheer, pure instinct, Mirko looked down just as my Shinigami was about to bite down into her. She tried to jump away from the danger she sensed, but at the last second, her legs involuntarily froze on her for a single second.
A second she didn\'t have the luxury to have wasted.
"What?!" Mirko yelled as she, from her perspective, somehow flew into the air, her limbs somehow restricted. Great Serpent had her tightly in its jaws but, on my command, avoided piercing her with its sharp teeth. "What is this!?"
"Let\'s fight again someday, Mirko."
Mirko helplessly watched as I shot up toward her with my right arm pulled back; my staff was now safely back inside Zaiko. I scanned Mirko\'s body and found the seven-to-three ratio point. Coating my fist in CE, I swung forward and struck her at her diaphragm.
Ratio!
[+100 SP]
Mirko\'s eyes grew white as she gasped loudly in pain as my fist sank into her body. While in midair, I dismissed Great Serpent and caught the now unconscious hero in my arms. Landing on the ground, I looked around the vicinity and found a hidden area. Making my way there, I placed Mirko down and adjusted her so she would be in a comfortable position.
"Great fight," I said to the unconscious woman and stood up.
Reaching into Zaiko, I pulled out a burner phone to call the police. But just as I was about to dial the number, I heard several loud sirens heading in my direction.
(Oi, Boss.) Crow Maki said as she landed on my shoulder. (Some of those costumed losers are heading in this direction.)
"We better get out of here then."
With nothing more to do, I walked over to the warehouse from earlier and sank into the shadows.
x x x
Himiko and I were comfortably sprawled on the living room couch, a cozy blanket draped over us. The familiar blocky landscape of Minecraft filled the television display in front of us. With each click of our controllers, we navigated our blocky avatars through lush forests and rolling hills, our movements mirroring each other\'s.
"Hey," Himiko said, playfully placing her foot on my chest as she used a pickaxe to mine several blocks of iron. "Aren\'t you supposed to be at school?"
"Yeah... I guess I should be," I drawled, placing several wood blocks down for our ambitious mansion. "But who cares, right?"
"Well, shouldn\'t you be there?" Himiko slowly said as a skeleton walked into her cave, launching arrows at her. "Not that I\'m complaining."
"Man, fuck school. My limbs are too sore for me to bother in going." I said as I crafted a wooden door. "Besides, I sent a clone in my place. I love that technique."
"Did I ever tell you your quirk, er, your ability, is broken? Like completely." Himiko continued exploring her cave and came upon some diamonds beside a stream of lava. "Oooh, diamonds!"
"Heh, it is a bit broken. Ain\'t it?"
After her first week of living with me, Himiko finally mustered the courage to ask about my quirk. Seeing no problem in explaining how my abilities worked to her, I described the concept of curse energy. At first, she was skeptical, but when I had her try on one of my pairs of Maki\'s specialized glasses, I was able to show her Zaiko and my Shikigami.
From there, I told her what I was currently capable of. Safe to say, Himiko was both amazed and in disbelief at my laundry list of abilities.
I was a little worried about revealing the truth to her at first, but after a couple of weeks together. Himiko had proven herself to be an extremely loyal person.
A very touchy person but still loyal.
After that, telling her what I did at night was easy. That is, without all the gruesome and darker things I encountered or did. All she knew was that I was some sort of Vigilante. This was an easy sell to her, considering the way we first met.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"What do you say about finally meeting some of my friends? What do you think?" I looked away from the game and stared at Himiko with a genuine smile.
[+20 SP]
Himiko looked taken aback and quickly became excited. She placed her controller down and crawled over to lay on my chest, her arms around my neck.
"Really?!" Himiko yelled, seemingly oblivious or uncaring of our current situation. "I can finally meet Mei-chan, Keiko-chan, and Izuku-kun! You mean it?!"
"Yeah, I think so. Now that you have a better handle on your impulses, thanks to the daily doses of blood I give you, I think it should be fine." I brushed back her loose blond hair with a smile. "I trust ya."
[+40 SP]
Himiko smiled widely with a rosy red blush and shoved her face into my chest, causing me to wince.
"Ah, sorry!"
"I-It\'s fine."
Himiko hummed and rubbed my chest gently to try and soothe my pain.
"Want some waffles?"
"...yes."
-
AN:
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed today\'s Chapter!
Now, after seeing the sheer number of power stones I received last week, I\'ve come up with some new PS goals for the bonus Chapters, which should let me breathe between uploads so I can write. Hopefully, these are fair, and I hope you all continue to read, comment, and leave funny comments. That is what motivates me to write this.
Sunday - Free Chapter
400 PS - Bonus Chapter # 1
800 PS - Bonus Chapter # 2
1200 PS - Bonus Chapter # 3
1600 PS - Bonus Chapter # 4
2000 PS - Bonus Chapter # 5
2500 PS - Bonus Chapter # 6