Chapter 54: Thank Goodness I’m a Gang-Upper
“Boom————!!”
The shockwave from the collision sent tremors through the Otherside.
Ripples of energy expanded outwards from the point of impact between the Old God and Kōsei, the star-hooking bird.
Natsuba Hanae’s silver hair danced in the wind, her brow slightly furrowed.
She sensed that with Kōsei’s current power, it was likely no match for the Old God’s enhanced left arm.
And sure enough, in the next moment…
The intense clash of power…
Sent Kōsei flying upwards, while the Old God only took a single step back.
Kōsei had undoubtedly lost the contest of strength.
However, that single step back…
Caused the Old God’s tentacles to loosen their grip on Natsuba Rinrei. Natsuba Hanae leaped forward, caught her in a princess carry, and landed on the ground.
She gently set her down.
For some reason, this simple act of rescue made Natsuba Rinrei’s cheeks flush.
But Natsuba Hanae didn’t think much of it.
She assumed it was just the afterglow of the battle, the blood still rushing through Rinrei’s veins.
Right now, she had to focus on dealing with the Old God.
An intelligent supernatural being was a whole different level of trouble compared to a mindless one.
The intelligent Old God could effectively react to various emergencies and devise countermeasures, like concentrating its power in its left fist just now.
And it had thrown a punch far more powerful than usual.
That force was almost comparable to that of a power-type Old God.
The black chains from Kōsei that had bound the Old God were now useless. Under Natsuba Hanae’s conscious control…
The chains shattered into countless black feathers, which flew towards Kōsei.
And Kōsei’s form began to change dramatically.
Its wings retracted into its body and disappeared. Its lower body rapidly grew and expanded, Sanctuary Flame weaving and constructing four limbs, until it became a muscular, burly, bird-headed humanoid.
It was only slightly smaller than the Old God, but that didn’t matter. The two behemoths quickly engaged in battle.
However, due to the size difference, and the Old God’s countless eyes occasionally staring at Kōsei, pausing its movements…
These two disadvantages caused Kōsei to be pushed back repeatedly.
Even the annihilating power of the Sanctuary Flame, which burned the Old God, was quickly regenerated by its super regeneration.
And every time the Old God hit Kōsei, black sparks would fly, and Kōsei’s size would shrink by an almost imperceptible amount.
At this rate, in ten to fifteen days, Kōsei would be less than half its current size and would eventually be crushed.
A mocking, triumphant look appeared in the Old God’s countless eyes.
Even a creature of its own size couldn’t defeat it. Next up was the human girl who had summoned this creature.
She was clearly a summoner-type supernatural user.
Once it had dealt with this creature, it would easily kill the girl.
Devouring her A-rank flesh and blood, and then merging with another Nightmare-level Otherside, its future would be limitless.
Becoming the fourth Hell-level Otherside was not impossible.
However, when one of its eyes subconsciously glanced at the girl in the distance…
It saw her lips part slightly, and she once again uttered two words.
Due to its control over this Otherside, the Old God clearly heard those two words.
“Hidden Flight.”
In the next moment, a single white feather drifted past the Old God’s many eyes.
It quickly gathered behind it.
The Old God’s countless pupils constricted, and it quickly tried to look back, but its arms were held fast by Kōsei.
Then…
“Squelch—!”
The sound of flesh being pierced.
The Old God’s chest was suddenly impaled by a sharp, white-feathered claw.
A large amount of dark blood sprayed out, raining down on the ground.
And behind the Old God, a white bird-man, identical in form to Kōsei but completely white, had appeared, centered around the white claw.
The wound on its chest quickly regenerated under the Old God’s will, but the loss of power was unavoidable.
It angrily swung its arm back to attack.
And so, the three giants began a two-on-one battle.
Natsuba Hanae’s thought on the matter was, “Ganging up is so shameless. Thank goodness I’m the one ganging up.”
However, the power-type Old God was also being restrained by the black and white chains, diverting some of the intelligent Old God’s power.
So, even with Kōsei and Inpi, the hidden-flight bird, working together, they only had a slight advantage against the Old God.
And most importantly, the Old God still hadn’t used its Rule.
The Rules of a Nightmare-level being were terrifying, especially those of an intelligent Old God, which were likely highly specific.
Either they covered a wide area, or they had a high fatality rate.
This was what Natsuba Hanae was wary of.
Of course, if she were facing the intelligent Old God alone, she could have easily defeated it.
So, until now…
Natsuba Hanae hadn’t pushed the Old God too hard, but was trying to stall for time.
Waiting for the Summer Harvest Mountain Otherside to fully merge, and for the power of the Heavenly Emperor Girl to return.
Then, she would unleash the combined power of the Heavenly Emperor Girl and the Night-Wandering Woman, hopefully killing the Old God before it could even activate its Rule.
That would be the best outcome.
After devouring the two Old Gods, her progress towards becoming the Heavenly Emperor Girl would be nearly complete.
And she would reach the pinnacle of A-rank power.
And gain a wisp of divinity from the Heavenly Emperor Girl.
[Next Level Role: Nine-Headed Bird (S)]
[Advancement Condition 1: Become the mother of one hundred girls (4/100)]
[Advancement Condition 2: Possess a wisp of divinity]
When Natsuba Hanae had completed half of her progress towards becoming the Heavenly Emperor Girl, the second condition had appeared, likely a prerequisite for playing the role of the Nine-Headed Bird.
The Nine-Headed Bird, after all, was a mythical being, worshipped by all, a deity. Possessing divinity was a must.
In Natsuba Hanae’s mind…
If she simply adopted one hundred girls, the role-playing would probably only give her the shell of the Nine-Headed Bird, not its full power.
So, she tried to adopt girls who were as strong and talented as possible, to gain a portion of their abilities through Summer Harvest. That way, when she truly ascended to the Nine-Headed Bird…
She would be a true Nine-Headed Bird, ruling over all.
As time passed, the edges of the Old God’s Children’s Hospital Otherside began to ripple.
A crimson light began to shine at the edges.
Natsuba Hanae looked up, her red, glass-like eyes shining brilliantly, a calm and confident smile appearing on her lips.
She saw…
A single red feather drifting down from the sky.
Summer Harvest Mountain had finally arrived.
The fusion officially began.
“——————————————!!”
Suddenly, the entrance to the gray mist Otherside was instantly devoured by a crimson light.
