Gracefully dusting off the hem of her clothes, Kotoko introduced herself.
"Hello, you two. I'm Takumi-senpai's current girlfriend, Kotoko. Nice to meet you."
"Eh!!!"
Hearing Kotoko's self-introduction, both Touko and Saki looked stunned.
Touko instinctively blurted out, "But you're still such a little girl..."
"I'm a first-year high schooler already. A first-year!!!"
Kotoko emphasized it again, making it clear that she was old enough.
"A first-year? So the same age as my daughter?"
Touko instinctively looked toward Takumi. She remembered him mentioning Miko earlier.
Which meant Takumi knew her daughter.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but at that moment Takumi suddenly condensed another mimicked holy sword and tossed it from afar to Karin.
"Catch. This is the Mimic Holy Sword. I've already passed the usage method to you."
"Got it!"
The instant Karin caught the Mimic Holy Sword, the aura around her surged sharply.
The moment she touched the holy sword, she immediately understood how to use it.
"I actually trained in gymnastics for a while to improve my acting, you know!"
Raising the Mimic Holy Sword in her hand, Karin watched as the blade, originally shaped like a katana, instantly lengthened and softened, turning into a golden ribbon.
At that very moment, Steel Lady Nanase had already raised her steel beam and smashed it straight at Karin's face.
Whoosh!!!
The heavy steel beam blasted through the air, dragging fierce gusts with it as it came crashing down.
Seeing that, Saki turned pale in terror and almost shouted for Karin to dodge.
But Karin, standing where she was, didn't retreat at all. Calmly, she flicked out the ribbon-like blade.
Swish swish swish!
The Mimic Holy Sword traced circles through the air, instantly wrapping around the steel beam.
Even more shocking was what happened the moment the sword-ribbon touched the beam—thick black smoke burst up at once.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
A sound like boiling steam suddenly rang out.
Everyone saw it clearly—the Mimic Holy Sword was evaporating the steel beam.
"A steel beam created out of cursed energy is still being suppressed by the holy sword."
The moment Takumi saw that scene, he immediately understood what was happening.
He had to admit, the holy sword's suppressive effect against evil-aligned things was broader than expected.
Karin already had impressive strength after fusing with the Divine Envoy Piece, and now, with the Mimic Holy Sword on top of that, dealing with Steel Lady Nanase—a purely imaginary cursed spirit—had become absurdly easy.
Just as Takumi was wondering how soon this whole thing would wrap up, he noticed the mature woman in his arms was squirming.
"Hm?"
He looked down in confusion and met Touko's face, now red from top to bottom.
Her flushed cheeks were burning hot, and her golden eyes had gone misty and unfocused.
"N-no... don't..."
Noticing Takumi looking at her, Touko let out a tiny, almost inaudible whimper.
When Takumi had thrown out that Mimic Holy Sword just now, everyone's attention had naturally shifted to Karin.
Touko had been the same.
But the moment she snapped back to herself, she suddenly realized something.
Takumi had thrown that glowing sword with his hand... so what, exactly, was supporting her right now?
That realization instantly made Touko's breathing grow heavier.
Even more embarrassed now, she felt as though Takumi's image had completely filled her mind.
"Ahem... Mrs. Yotsuya, you can get down now."
Takumi quickly realized the nature of this serious problem too. He slowly loosened his hold and, while no one was paying attention, set Touko back down.
But even after he did, her legs were still trembling.
Like a delicate, sickly beauty, she weakly leaned against Takumi's body.
Breathing in the scent clinging to him, Touko found herself even more unable to move.
Her mind was blank, with only a sweet, overflowing feeling swelling up in her chest, as though it might spill over at any second.
Without thinking, she lightly bit down on Takumi's shoulder and wrapped both hands tightly around his arm.
"..."
Seeing Touko in such an awkward state, Takumi silently chose to pretend he hadn't noticed.
Still, he thoughtfully used his magic power to evaporate the excess moisture.
Unfortunately, that "thoughtful" little gesture seemed to trigger an even stronger reaction from Touko instead.
But if he wanted to keep her dry, Takumi had no choice but to cast the spell again.
At this point, all of Kotoko, Saki, and the others had their full attention on Karin and Steel Lady Nanase.
The one human and one imaginary cursed spirit battling in the middle of the road were effortlessly smashing apart the asphalt and concrete beneath them.
Given a little more time, the entire highway would probably be split apart and destroyed.
But Karin, wielding the Mimic Holy Sword, had dominated the fight from beginning to end.
Several minutes later, just as Steel Lady Nanase once again gathered cursed energy to create another steel beam, her movement suddenly froze.
Threads of black mist began leaking out of her body and dispersing into the air.
"It worked. Karin's rumor-debunking video has now spread across every forum and all over the internet. The netizens and random bystanders are all cursing out the reporters who fabricated the fake story. The 'imagination' that was giving Steel Lady Nanase her power has completely disappeared!"
Excitedly checking her laptop, Kotoko quickly explained the current situation.
Steel Lady Nanase's aura dropped at a visible rate, weakening by at least half compared to before.
Although she still remained at the Upper-Class Devil level, she no longer had the overwhelming strength she'd possessed earlier.
This was Steel Lady Nanase's true power—the same level of power Karin herself possessed.
Before this, she'd only been able to hold out for several minutes against Karin because of the extra strength stacked on top from her identity as an imaginary cursed spirit.
"This ends now!!"
Karin snapped the Mimic Holy Sword, and in an instant it split into thousands of bands of light, binding Steel Lady Nanase tightly in place.
The cursed spirit domain that had covered the highway also began flickering and cracking apart.
As Karin poured magic power into it, the light-band blade immediately erupted with holy radiance capable of purifying everything.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!!
Steel Lady Nanase's entire body began to collapse, until at last she dissolved into a mass of black mist hanging in place.
Karin could clearly sense the connection between herself and Steel Lady Nanase.
"Come back—my imaginary body!"
With that low murmur, the dense black mist flowed back into Karin's body.
Cursed energy and magic power intertwined, merged, and then gradually spread back out from within her.
But this time, the black mist that emerged again consciously condensed into a human shape.
The faceless cursed spirit wielding a steel beam—Steel Lady Nanase—reappeared behind Karin once more.
"T-the ghost revived again!?"
Saki, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately cried out in warning.
Steel Lady Nanase was right behind Karin now. That position was far too dangerous.
But Karin merely turned around with a relaxed expression.
"It's fine. I've got her under control now."
She flashed a brilliant smile, feeling the "imaginary body" she had split off.
Steel Lady Nanase was now just like an externalized double of herself. Through Steel Lady Nanase, Karin could see the outside world.
Her vision felt incredibly strange now—as if she were observing the world from two sets of eyes at once.
At the same time, she could also wield Steel Lady Nanase's power herself.
There was no longer any danger of it rampaging out of control like before.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.