CHAPTER 262.1 - YOKOMICHI SUBJUGATION BATTLE 1

I watch as Kyuko, riding on Grimgore, leads the way, while the emergency Roirops carrying Hayama-kun run off.

「Man, Alfa is truly reliable in this kind of situation.」

「Kua~」

Alfa, the offshoot created by Rem through core consumption, lets out a cry. Though the saddle and stirrups were hastily made, they pose no inconvenience for riding.

Currently, the only one left was me, riding on Alfa.

The reason was, of course, to lure Yokomichi, who would likely come up from the lake at any moment.

His target was clearly me. His motive for trying to eliminate my comrades was simply that they got in the way of eating, so if he didn’t see them, he wouldn’t go out of his way to hunt them down and kill them.

That’s why I’d boldly step out alone in front of him as bait.

「———— Here he comes」

Before long, bubbles started to rise on the surface of the lake, and a moment later, a huge fish-like silhouette burst out of the water along with a huge splash.

Why did I say a fish silhouette? Well, with a shape that had such a large tail fin, it was only natural to perceive it that way.

「Bufu, fuhihi… Were you waaaaiting for meee~, Kotaro-kyun?」

Yokomichi, who landed onto the snow-covered ground, was twitching and saying something creepy.

His lower half was that of a creature with a large fin like a shark’s, while his upper half remained humanoid. At a glance, it resembled a mermaid, but upon closer inspection, he still had fully formed human legs. Those legs were equipped with large webbed feet, resembling something that might belong to a kappa—if such creatures did exist, that is.

So rather than a mermaid, he looked more like a tadpole in the process of turning into a frog, but with a large tail fin. It seems this was Yokomichi's underwater form.

The twin sharks might have come up to the snow plains because Yokomichi devoured their comrades in the lake.

「Yeah, I've been waiting for you.」

「Fuhehehehe… Even if you're not the real one, I'm still happy, Kotaro-kyun.」

As expected, he really had a keen nose. Yokomichi had already sensed that I was an offshoot.

I mean, it was only natural that I would use my 『Twin Shadow』 to face someone like him.

The chance of him taking the bait and chasing after this offshoot was about 50/50, but since he had been paying attention and not ignoring me, it seems like it worked out well.

「I'm the real one though.」

「You cannot deceive me, you know? I can tell, I can totally tell. It looks and smells just like the real thing, but the magical power is faint. Like Calpis diluted with water.」 𝘙ἁℕő₿Ě𝙨

So that was the reason why Yokomichi could tell that I was an offshoot made with magic.

Duh, to think that Yokomichi of all people was the first one to correctly guess it.

It was troublesome that, despite having quit being human, he still retained the intelligence to accurately analyze his opponent with his superior senses.

「Hey, Yokomichi, if you can speak properly, how about making a deal with me?」

「A deal?」

Yokomichi wriggled his tail as he spoke, squirming along the ground as his form changed even further.

His tail shrank in no time, and the webbing on his toes also peeled off.

Then, he returned to his original human form, standing before me on two legs. Completely naked. Well, he looked kinda dirty and slimy, but at least his underwear—a pair of briefs—was still intact.

This kind of appearance would instantly get him arrested if this were modern Japan.

Retort aside, Yokomichi then turned toward me.

「I'll let you drink my blood, so how about teaming up with me?」

「Teaming up… Teaming up, is it? Hehehehe, now that I think about it, when we first met in the dungeon, you tried to recruit me too, didn't you, Kotaro-kyun?」

「You still remember that, huh.」

「I do, of course. Now, it's one of the precious pages of my memories with you, Kotaro-kyun. Heh, back then I was young, and I hadn’t noticed your charm at all.」

To be honest, I think the him from back then was much better than the current him.

He was a hopeless scumbag, but he was better than an uncontrollable monster.

「What do you think? Want to cooperate with me?」

「I'm so happy that Kotaro-kyun wants my assistance, but… it's not enough.」

He licked his lips with his unnaturally long tongue.

「My body won't be satisfied anymore unless I eat you whole, Kotaro-kyun. I doubt I'll be satisfied even after I eat you. Given a choice, I don't want to eat you… But this 『Cannibalizer』 of mine can't endure it anymore.」

Well, just as I had expected.

Naturally, I had no intention of making Yokomichi part of the team from the very beginning. While his strength was attractive for the upcoming confrontation against Takanashi, it would be putting the cart before the horse if I couldn’t even control him. Not to mention that I don’t think I could endure the creepiness of this guy.

The being before me was like the embodiment of a filthy pig of a man—a madman, on top of that.

The reason I made that offer was to buy some time, and I had already bought more than enough. On top of that, hearing directly from Yokomichi that he couldn’t suppress his cannibalistic urges and had no intention of holding back was the final confirmation I needed.

In short, Yokomichi, the cannibalistic monster, must die.

「Buhihihihi, even now, my stomach is screaming… It keeps asking me to eat you. The scream of my hungry stomach almost drives me mad… Kotaro-kyun.」

Yokomichi's cheeks split again, displaying rows of sharp canines.

It seems there was no need to buy time anymore.

「ALFA, RUN AT FULL SPEED!」

「KYOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

I pulled the reins of Alfa and made a sharp turn. Alfa didn’t waste a single moment and dashed at full speed.

「EAT… EAT… I CAN'T ENDURE IT ANYMOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」

Yokomichi had also started to run after me. The sight of his ugly, fat, and filthy body shaking as he ran at full speed made me feel both a sense of life-threatening danger and a strong, visceral disgust.

However, the true danger was what lay ahead.

Even though Yokomichi was almost naked, he who had acquired cold resistance must be able survive in this snowfield and freezing sky without issue. Furthermore, the fact that he could move freely in that liquid nitrogen-like lake clearly suggests that he had already consumed the monsters living in this Ice Zone.

In other words, if he had been feeding on monsters that was adapted to this environment, there was extremely high possibility that he also has legs capable of moving quickly through the snow.

「Wait for me, Kotaro-kyu~n!」

Yokomichi was sprinting naked, plowing through the snow, but in the midst of it, his body started to transform change again, making cracking sounds as he transformed.

His swelling lower body covered in a pale, murky, jelly-like skin, from which numerous legs extended to crawl along the ground

「Geh, he turned into an even more disgusting form…」

His form resembled that of catterpilar.

You know the monster called a lamia? A monster with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a busty woman? Would it make sense if I said he was like a caterpillar version of that?

Its white, maggot-like body looked to be easily over five meters long. It might be even bigger than the shark-like lower half meant for underwater use.

Numerous legs were growing from that massive caterpillar body. Though short, the legs were covered in a glossy black carapace, and they were scraped against the snowy ground, producing a speed that far exceeded what one would expect from such a bulky, barrel-shaped form.

Wriggling its caterpillar body as it rapidly scuttled its legs, Yokomichi's movement speed probably rivaled that of a Snow Ash Wolf.

「Faster than I expected, but Alfa is much faster.」

At this rate, I wouldn't be caught and eaten right away. If he could reach a speed that matches Alfa's swift legs, it’d really be impossible to deal with this thing.

Well then, this should be enough to distract Yokomichi, but the real problem was what lies ahead. How much can I handle wild monsters from here on out?

「Here they come, right on time.」

As I ran toward the town, buildings started to appear sporadically. Few humanoid figures rose up from the direction I'm heading to.

They were Ice High Elemental with bodies made of ice. Surrounding them were Ice Elementals with snowman-like bodies, appearing as their underlings.

「RAN STRAIGHT AHEAD, ALFAAAA!」

「KUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Alfa raised a roar as they accelerated even further. Charging right into the middle of the enemies ahead.

Though they were in a group, Alfa skillfully weaved through the gaps in the High Elementals' formation as they charging ahead. Any Elementals that jumped out in our path were kicked aside and shattered to pieces.

If Alfa was by themseld, breaking through the front of their group from the front would be piece of cake. What I need right now is not the attack power to defeat the enemies, but mobility and manouverability.

Once we break through the formation, those slow-moving Elementals wouldn't be able to catch up with us.

In exchange, Yokomichi would take care them.

「Haaaahhh, these tasteless shaved ice bastards are getting in my way! Don't mess with me, damn it!」

Yokomichi roared, sending the Ice High Elementals flying in one go, as if he was a runaway express train.

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