Chapter 119: Thanks to Tsumiki Fushiguro for the Super Rocket
"Tsumiki?!"
Both of them spoke at the same time, their faces displaying varying degrees of shock.
Megumi immediately ordered Nue to lower him back to the ground.
He looked at the empty space behind Tsumiki where Round Deer had been standing moments ago, then at the enormous scar gouged into the earth by the aftermath of the attack.
Disbelief filled his face.
"How did you do that?"
"What kind of attack was that?"
Tsumiki had moved so quickly that he hadn't even seen her attack.
Based solely on the fleeting afterimage and the state of the battlefield, he could only infer that she was the one responsible.
"What kind of attack?"
Inside the armor, Tsumiki tilted her head slightly in confusion.
She raised a fist covered in metallic, chitin-like plating.
"It was just... a normal punch."
"A normal punch?!"
Megumi's eyes widened.
A normal punch?
Something like that could be accomplished with a normal punch?
He looked again at the massive fan-shaped trench left behind by the shockwave, then lowered his gaze to his own fist.
A profound sense of defeat welled up inside him.
Tsumiki nodded.
"Yeah."
"Actually, speaking of that, I should thank Senior Ren."
"Me?"
Ren had already walked over from the sidelines.
Unlike Megumi, who looked completely lost—judging from his expression, he probably hadn't even managed to perceive Tsumiki's attack—Ren had at least caught a glimpse of what happened.
Still, he was shocked.
The speed at which Tsumiki had appeared.
The power behind that "ordinary punch."
Both were terrifying.
Even for him, with the advantages granted by his special body, the result of a fully charged punch might not have exceeded what she had just displayed.
How had she grown this strong in such a short time?
Tsumiki nodded again and smiled sweetly.
"Senior, you remember those books on biomimetics and materials science you recommended to me?"
"This nano-insect armor is my latest Construction Technique creation, developed by combining concepts from both fields."
"Insects are far more efficient than humans when it comes to utilizing energy."
"They can lift hundreds of times their own body weight."
"Scaled up proportionally, that translates into strength and speed beyond imagination."
"And nanomaterials are hundreds of times stronger than ordinary materials."
"My nano-insect armor combines those two concepts into a biomimetic exoskeleton."
"In terms of raw physical performance, it has virtually no equal."
She lightly clenched her fist.
"So even a simple punch carries a fair amount of power."
The corner of Ren's mouth twitched.
Insects could lift hundreds of times their body weight, while humans could generally manage only a few times their own.
If those ratios were applied to a human body...
And then multiplied again by the properties of nanomaterials...
Wouldn't Tsumiki's current physical strength be tens of thousands of times greater than that of an ordinary person?
He glanced once more at the vast fan-shaped area that had been plowed apart by the shockwave.
His eyelid twitched.
His earlier judgment had been correct.
In this age of rapidly advancing technology, the Construction Technique truly possessed limitless potential.
Still, the degree and speed of that potential had exceeded even his expectations.
"But enough about that."
Tsumiki fanned her slightly flushed cheeks, apparently trying to dispel the heat trapped inside the armor.
"My sensors picked up the vibrations from way over there."
"Then, as soon as I took off, I saw a giant deer chasing Megumi all over the place."
She looked between the two of them.
"What exactly were you guys doing?"
After Megumi stumbled through an explanation, Tsumiki finally understood the situation.
"So what you're saying is that you currently lack a sufficiently powerful finishing attack, right?"
Megumi nodded.
"Trying to subdue Round Deer is still a bit too much for me right now. But thanks to Senior Ren's help, being able to tame Rabbit Escape was already a worthwhile gain."
"I think that's enough for today. Once I've trained a bit more and developed some stronger offensive techniques, I'll challenge the next shikigami."
Unexpectedly, Tsumiki simply smiled and shook her head after hearing his conclusion.
"Megumi, asking Senior Ren for help was definitely a wise decision."
"But in this particular matter, the person who can help you the most isn't Senior Ren."
Megumi blinked in confusion.
"Then who is it? Gojo... Sensei?"
Gojo had supervised his previous taming rituals to prevent accidents. However, Megumi didn't think there was much difference between him and Ren.
Senior Ren was more than strong enough to keep him safe.
As for the taming ritual itself, success ultimately depended on his own abilities. Whether it was Gojo-sensei, Senior Ren, or anyone else, no matter how powerful they were, they couldn't actually help him complete it.
"No."
Tsumiki smiled again.
"You've said it yourselves before. A taming ritual only counts if you defeat the shikigami on your own, right?"
"Neither Gojo-sensei nor Senior Ren can help you very much."
"That's true, but then—"
"Then—" Tsumiki picked up the thread.
Tilting her head slightly, she smiled.
"If you're lacking firepower, how about trying this?"
She raised her hand.
Above her metallic gauntlet, a massive rocket suddenly materialized.
Its silver-white casing gleamed with cold metallic luster beneath the sunlight.
"What is that?"
"A cursed tool."
Megumi stared blankly.
"A cursed tool?"
"That's right."
Tsumiki paused, her smile widening.
"While a taming ritual can't rely on someone else's direct assistance, using cursed tools shouldn't count as cheating, right?"
"Which means that, in this regard, your big sister is actually the one who can help you the most."
"C-Cursed tool?"
Megumi looked up at the enormous rocket resting above her palm.
"This... this is allowed?"
"Well, there's no harm in trying."
"The objects created by the Construction Technique are real. Once created, they continue to exist independently and don't require my cursed energy to maintain them."
"To avoid any complications, I'll remove every trace of my cursed energy from the rocket. Then you can infuse it with your own."
"If we do that, the ritual should recognize the rocket as your possession."
Megumi hesitated before finally nodding.
"Then... let's give it a try."
He reached out instinctively.
"That won't do."
Tsumiki laughed and shook her head.
"This isn't something you can casually catch with your hands."
With a flip of her wrist, she released it.
BOOM!
The gigantic rocket launcher crashed onto the ground like a falling boulder, kicking up a cloud of dust and sending vibrations through the earth.
Megumi reflexively stumbled backward several steps.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Seeing Tsumiki holding it so effortlessly moments earlier, he'd subconsciously assumed it wasn't particularly heavy.
Now, however, as he examined the nearly two-meter-long body of cold steel lying on the ground, reality finally sank in.
This thing...
This was absolutely not something a normal person could lift.
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