Chapter 118: Round Deer
The two returned to the training field once more.
After taking a brief rest, Megumi formed a hand seal and began summoning the next shikigami.
"Round Deer!"
A gigantic elk emerged from the shadows.
It stood nearly two and a half meters tall and possessed four eyes. The moment it materialized on the field, it kicked off with all four hooves, lowered its head, and charged straight at Megumi with its enormous antlers.
Megumi flipped backward to evade.
At the same time, Divine Dog: Totality, which had already been positioned nearby in preparation, pounced forward.
With a thunderous roar, the giant wolf swung its snow-white claws—sharp enough to rival a Special Grade Cursed Tool—directly at the deer's head.
Slash!
The claws cut through flesh effortlessly.
There was no resistance whatsoever.
Nearly half of Round Deer's head was sliced away in an instant.
The giant deer threw back its head and released a pained cry.
A look of delight appeared on Megumi's face.
As expected, Divine Dog: Totality, formed from the fusion of two shikigami, possessed extraordinary strength. It had severely injured a shikigami ranked far above it with a single strike.
But just as he was celebrating, the situation suddenly changed.
As Round Deer cried out, the horrific wound on its head began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
By the time its cry ended, the injury had vanished completely.
From the sidelines, Ren's pupils contracted.
A Reverse Cursed Technique?
And judging by the speed of recovery, its healing efficiency was exceptionally high.
Divine Dog: Totality twisted its body and slashed again.
Yet the moment its paws landed, the massive wound it had just carved into the deer's back had already disappeared.
Round Deer ignored the wolf entirely.
Even as fresh wounds opened across its body, it continued charging forward.
With a flick of its head, it knocked Divine Dog aside and barreled directly toward Megumi.
"Toad!"
A giant frog appeared beside Megumi.
Its dark-purple tongue shot out like an arrow, wrapping around Round Deer's foreleg in an attempt to restrain it.
But compared to the massive deer's physical strength, the restraint was insignificant.
Round Deer simply lifted its leg.
Snap!
The tongue broke instantly.
"Nue!"
Megumi hurriedly dismissed Toad and summoned Nue instead.
The giant bird seized him and carried him into the air.
Round Deer lacked the ability to fly.
All it could do was raise its head and bellow helplessly toward the sky.
At the very least, Megumi himself was now safe.
From above, he directed Nue and Divine Dog: Totality to continue attacking.
Yet no matter how fiercely they assaulted Round Deer, every wound healed almost immediately.
Moreover, the deer appeared completely energetic.
There wasn't even the slightest hint of fatigue.
In contrast, Megumi was beginning to pant.
Maintaining multiple shikigami over an extended period while constantly expending cursed energy was taking its toll.
Although he remained unharmed for the moment, he understood the reality of the situation.
If things continued like this, the first one to lose would undoubtedly be him.
Once his cursed energy ran dry, he would no longer be able to sustain his shikigami.
Realizing he couldn't keep fighting this way, Megumi changed tactics.
Taking the risk of being caught and trampled by Round Deer, he simultaneously dismissed Divine Dog: Totality and Nue.
Then he summoned Max Elephant.
His plan was simple.
He would use Max Elephant's enormous mass to crush Round Deer outright.
Carefully choosing his timing, he summoned Max Elephant directly above the deer's head.
The gigantic pink elephant plummeted from the sky.
The instant it landed, Round Deer let out a miserable cry.
BOOM!
There was no suspense whatsoever.
Its enormous body was smashed directly into the ground.
Its limbs snapped, and its spine emitted a sickening series of cracks that made one's skin crawl.
However—
Only a moment later, its twisted and broken body returned to normal.
The shattered bones reformed.
The mangled flesh healed.
Round Deer heaved its body upward, crawled out from beneath Max Elephant, and resumed its relentless pursuit of Megumi as though nothing had happened.
Megumi hurriedly dismissed Max Elephant and formed another hand seal.
"Rabbit Escape!"
A white tide erupted once more, surging toward Round Deer.
The rabbits multiplied endlessly.
Their numbers exploded in a matter of moments, swelling into a sea far larger than Round Deer's massive frame.
Yet as he watched the figure charging through the swarm, Megumi quickly realized something he had overlooked.
Rabbit Escape's numbers were impressive.
Its speed was not.
Round Deer, built for running, vastly outpaced the rabbits.
Soon, a bizarre scene unfolded across the training field.
Round Deer chased Megumi.
An ocean of rabbits chased Round Deer.
And as Round Deer pulled farther and farther ahead of the rabbit swarm, the distance between Megumi and the thunderous beast rapidly shrank.
At this rate, he would soon end up beneath those hooves.
Some rabbits had managed to cling to Round Deer's body as it plowed through the sea of white.
Their eyes bloodshot, they gnawed frantically at its flesh.
But it was completely useless.
The speed at which they devoured flesh couldn't even keep up with the rate at which Round Deer regenerated.
Before long, the rabbits' stomachs bulged grotesquely.
Unable to eat another bite, they were forced to stop chewing altogether.
Floating high above the battlefield atop Nue, Megumi stared at the unbelievable sight and sucked in a sharp breath.
No.
This wasn't going to work either.
Subjugating Rabbit Escape had required large-scale destructive power.
This time, what he needed wasn't range—
It was power.
A single overwhelming attack capable of inflicting catastrophic damage on Round Deer before it could heal.
Unfortunately...
He didn't possess such a technique.
Divine Dog: Totality's claws were already the strongest offensive tool at his disposal.
Their damage output was sufficient.
The problem was efficiency.
The wounds simply weren't severe enough to outpace Round Deer's regeneration.
Is this where it ends?
A bitter expression crossed Megumi's face.
For his current level, this shikigami was simply too powerful.
He glanced toward Ren, who stood calmly on the ground nearby.
For a moment, he wondered whether he should ask him to intervene and terminate the ritual.
Then—
A blur shot through the air beside him.
The resulting shockwave struck his body like a whip.
The suction generated by its passage was so intense that he nearly slipped from Nue's talons and was dragged along after it.
BOOM!
Another earth-shaking explosion erupted.
The charging Round Deer stopped dead in its tracks.
A massive shockwave burst outward from behind it, carving a gigantic fan-shaped trench across the ground.
Then, in the next instant—
Round Deer's enormous body shattered.
It dissolved into countless streams of black ink and vanished into the air.
Standing before the dispersing ink was a figure that seemed both human and something else entirely.
Its entire body was covered in armor resembling a fusion of metal and insect chitin.
Several translucent wings fluttered behind it with a faint buzzing sound.
The figure stood over eight feet tall, imposing and majestic.
Yet the contours of its chest and waist revealed unmistakably feminine curves.
Its wings hummed softly.
The towering figure turned around.
The insect-like helmet split apart and retracted.
A cascade of smooth black hair spilled free.
Framed by those dark locks was a graceful, elegant face that Ren knew all too well.
"Ah, Megumi."
She looked up at the still-airborne boy.
Then her gaze shifted toward Ren on the ground.
"Senior Ren."
The woman smiled and greeted them calmly.
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