Mochi raised her fists, adjusting her grip on her red brass knuckles. Despite knowing full well that the anomaly in front of them was A-rank, she didn't feel a single shred of fear; in fact, a strange sense of serenity washed over her. Even if she found it hard to admit out loud, she knew very well what was behind that calmness: the girl standing beside her.
From the very first moment she met her, people hadn't stopped repeating to her how prodigious Kotone was and how her power was equivalent to that of a second-rank agent. "If she's as strong as Haruka, she'll have no problem finishing off this anomaly," Mochi thought confidently, her cat ears twitching slightly with anticipation.
As if responding to Mochi's high expectations, Kotone took a step forward with an upright posture. She brandished her giant brush in a swift, elegant horizontal movement. From the bristles, five large drops of black ink shot out, each the size of a fist. Upon striking the ground, they didn't spill messily; instead, they formed dark, dense puddles from which five fearsome ink wolves emerged. The beasts bared their sharp fangs, letting out a guttural growl directed at their prey.
With her chin raised and a dominant expression, Kotone pointed at the anomaly and commanded in a firm voice:
"Attack!"
The five wolves obeyed instantly, fanning out and rushing in from different angles to corner the creature by surprise. However, the anomaly simply raised a hand toward the beast leading the charge. It slowly closed its palm, as if crushing an invisible object in the air. Immediately, the targeted wolf exploded violently, destroyed by an overwhelming force before it could react.
The four remaining wolves leaped almost simultaneously at the small figure, but the result was exactly the same. The creature extended both arms to its sides and then brought its palms together in a sharp, deafening clap. An invisible force swept through the space, dragging the beasts into each other and crushing them in midair until they were reduced to a giant blob of thick ink that hit the ground with a splash.
Kotone frowned in irritation upon seeing how easily the creature had destroyed her creations. Still, the sacrifice of her summons had served its purpose: it allowed her to better gauge the extent of the enemy's power.
"Be careful. Zashiki-warashi-type anomalies usually possess abilities that grant them a certain degree of control over the space they inhabit," Kotone warned Mochi, maintaining her usual air of superiority as she readjusted her grip on her brush. "Normally, that control is limited to insignificant things, like slightly altering the temperature or moving small objects. Of course... an A-rank Zashiki-warashi has never been recorded before. Stay alert to its hands and, above all, don't get in my way."
Without wasting a second, Kotone resumed the offensive. With a graceful, swift motion of her brush, she released a new volley of ink drops into the air. This time she didn't mold creatures; the drops took on sharp, elongated shapes that shot forward at full speed, transformed into a relentless rain of black arrows.
The anomaly reacted without making a single sound. It simply crossed its small arms over its chest in a defensive gesture. The rain of projectiles struck directly against an invisible barrier just inches from the creature, shattering into harmless splashes of ink that splattered across the floor.
Before the ink finished falling, the creature stretched one of its hands forward and delivered an open-palm strike directly toward Kotone.
Sensing the imminent danger, both Mochi and Kotone reacted on instinct and leaped in opposite directions. An instant later, the concrete wall right behind them cracked with a deafening crash. As Mochi turned her head, her blood ran cold: sunken several inches into the structure, the perfect imprint of a gigantic hand was left behind. Had they not dodged in time, both of them would have ended up smashed to a pulp against the wall.
Kotone gave the enemy no margin to land a second strike. Using the momentum from her leap, she pushed off the side wall and sprinted along it in an improbable manner, defying gravity with total ease. Brandishing her giant brush at a frantic speed, she began tracing figures in the air one after another.
She summoned several ink servants in the blink of an eye: wolves, eagles, and tigers came to life simultaneously, lunging in a fierce, coordinated attack against the small silhouette in the black kimono.
Mochi froze in place, a deep grimace of frustration darkening her face. Watching the fierce battle unfolding before her eyes, she couldn't help but be painfully aware of the abysmal difference between Kotone's power and her own. She felt like a complete hindrance; no matter how much she strained her eyes looking for an opening to step in, she couldn't find the right moment to join the fight without ending up interfering. Her cat ears drooped helplessly, and she angrily clenched her fists over her red brass knuckles.
Kotone and the anomaly moved at a frantic speed throughout the venue, exchanging attacks without giving each other a single second's respite. The girl ran, leaped, and even moved effortlessly along the walls and ceiling, defying gravity as she coordinated her ink servants' movements with flawless precision. With swift twirls of her giant brush, she launched volleys of arrows and sharp dark slashes, endlessly seeking a crack in the creature's defense. The anomaly was forced to divide its attention between Kotone and the horde of summons; however, every time it managed to destroy one of the beasts, Kotone immediately replaced it with another without giving it any room to breathe.
As the confrontation dragged on, Kotone's composure began to crack. A light cold sweat began to break out on her forehead, and her brows furrowed with growing nervousness. It was the first time in her life an enemy had held out for so long against her relentless technique. And what was worse: the Zashiki-warashi was not only enduring, but it also seemed to be decoding and gradually adapting to her fighting style, finding increasingly frequent openings to launch dangerous counterattacks.
Noticing Kotone's tension, Mochi racked her brain, desperately searching for a way to help. It was then that a flash of clarity crossed her mind. "The heart!" she thought, her blue eyes widening.
This was her chance to be truly useful in battle. She had to take advantage of the fact that the anomaly was completely focused on keeping Kotone's rain of attacks at bay to charge directly at the core. Although she didn't know for sure what would happen once she destroyed it, she was certain it would weaken the enemy or end the fight, which would be extremely beneficial to both of them.
She waited with calculated patience, closely observing every move the creature made. The anomaly moved with sharp twists to dodge the claw strikes and ink projectiles. At a decisive moment, it positioned itself where one of the massive concrete pillars supporting the ceiling stood right in its line of sight.
"This is my chance!" Mochi told herself.
Taking advantage of the cover and relying on her agile reflexes, she moved cautiously and stealthily, keeping herself hidden in the shadows cast by the columns to avoid being detected by the anomaly.
Finally, she managed to place herself in front of the gigantic heart. Standing just a few meters away from it, a chill ran down her spine upon encountering the imposing size of the core once more.
"I can't hesitate now," she repeated to herself firmly.
She spread her legs slightly to anchor her stance and began channeling a massive amount of ether directly into her right fist. The energy began to pulse densely around her brass knuckles. Since she was unaware of how resilient the heart's structure might be or whether it had any protective barrier, she was determined to pour all her strength into pulverizing it with a single, devastating blow.