Since I transformed in my Ghoul form, I was ready for anything the mermaids might do.
In fact I wasn't even worrying much about the lower-rated Mermaids that were targeting me. Two were at D-tier, and the other four were at C-tier, leaving only Tamao as someone to contend against, and even that was a stretch.
The six mermaids of Tamao's inner circle moved as one unit and shaped their environment to be as close to the ocean as possible.
They'd clearly fought together before. Their coordination was instinctive and their attacks were layered under the cover of water. Jets of pressurized water shot at me from every angle. I jumped—one clean leap—and they all passed beneath me.
Returning to the water, it seems the circle had suffered changes and they shifted to another fighting tactic of theirs, but it didn't mean I was left idle. Two of them dove beneath the surface, aiming for my legs, while two more began circling wide, aiming another round of water jets at me, which forced a reaction out of me.
They were herding me, I caught on quickly and glanced toward Tamao—still stationary, still channeling her own Yoki to empower herself.
As if feeling my gaze on her, Tamao opened her golden eyes and returned my 'attention' with a vicious smile that revealed her predatory serrated teeth.
"Huhu~ You should focus on us, Tsukune-kun."
Mizuki's voice slithered through the water, as she positioned herself at the edge of my peripheral vision, close enough to be a threat but far enough to seem non-threatening.
"Tamao is preparing something special just for you. Wouldn't want to miss the surprise, would you?"
"Don't worry," Nami added, her voice softer than Mizuki's but somehow more unsettling for its calmness. She floated on my other side, her dark eyes tracking my every movement with the patience of someone who'd learned long ago that rushing led to mistakes. "You won't feel a thing. That's the kindness we show to all our guests."
It would be foolish to respond to their taunts and even get a rise out of it. The optimal choice of action was to have my fists do the talking for me.
Being ignored by me, the two C-tier Mermaids, Mizuki and Nami, shifted their momentum. Their yoki flared in unison, and the water around them responded instantly. Currents began to converge, swirling around their raised hands, condensing, compressing and taking the shape of medieval-style charging lances. All of this was thanks to their gift or curse of Water Manipulation.
Without any further waste of words on me, they gripped the lances and did something I did not expect. They charged at me, swimming at speeds that would make them the rulers of the Oceans, with their tails propelling them and the other offering no resistance whatsoever.
They moved like launched torpedoes.
I watched them come at me while I also started to reinforce my arms with my Yoki.
One of the benefits of surviving the Ghoul transformation was the ability to sense the flow of Yoki in my body and also manipulate it, reinforcing various parts of my body in such a way.
I met the spear charge head-on, my claws reinforced with Yoki, similar to what Kurumu did against me, covering her own claws with Yoki, I managed to deliver them an overwhelming blow to their egos.
First, who came charging was Mizuki, a mistake or maybe she was stronger than Nami, but from what I knew, if you were doing a charge as a unit, it was for the best that you hit the target at the same time. Otherwise, just call me ignorant, but because of this flawed mistake I perceived in my mind, I managed to catch her lance's shaft, and for a heartbeat, we were locked in place, with her trying to push me with all her strength while I was holding back with surprising ease.
Mizuki's eyes went wide when she realized her lance wasn't moving—couldn't move—because I had it locked in my grip like it was made of paper instead of compressed ocean.
"What the—let go!" she hissed, her tail thrashing as she tried to pull back, tried to wrench her weapon free. "Let go, you idiot!"
"I don't think I will."
To that, I just smiled. Wickedly I might add, before I squeezed hard around the shaft of condensed water, resulting in the weapon shattering. Compressed water exploded outward in a spray that drenched us both, and Mizuki was left holding nothing but empty hands and a face full of honor as she tasted her first partial defeat.
Nami's lance came a fraction of a second later, aimed at my exposed side. I pivoted, using Mizuki's shocked form as a momentary shield, call it scummy, but how couldn't I use her to buy myself time. Grabbing Mizuki effortlessly, Nami corrected at the last instant, her lance veering wide to avoid impaling her ally.
That instant was all I needed.
My other hand shot out, caught Nami's lance mid-shaft, and crushed it the same way. With one Mermaid in hand, and about to catch Nami too, I was stopped abruptly by the intervention of Kaiyo and Aiko who saw their allies exposed and wide open.
They quickly jumped to the frey, attacking me to cover for Mizuki and Nami who were in danger of being taken out.
Kaiyo reached me first, coming in low with her body trying to sweep for my legs and knock me off balance. With Mizuki in my hand, I abandoned the thought of grabbing Nami, and instead I jumped far enough to clear Kaiyo's attack.
Mizuki thrashed in my grip like a fish on a hook—appropriate, really—but it didn't matter how hard she struggled. My hand around her arm wasn't budging. She clawed at me with her free hand, her nails raking across my forearm, leaving thin red lines that closed before she could even try again.
"What ARE you?" The words came out high and cracked, nothing like the confident predator from before.
Mizuki's expression shifted. The fear didn't disappear, but something else surfaced underneath it—desperation, maybe. The last thrash of a trapped animal.
"If I'm going down," she breathed, "I'm taking something with me."
Before I could react, she lunged upward and sank her teeth into my shoulder.
The sensation was nothing like Moka's bites, in fact, I could sense a thread of my vitality being pulled out through my skin and going into Mizuki.
Just from experiencing such a strange sensation of losing your energy, I reacted by reflex, my body moved before my brain could catch up.
One moment she was attached to my shoulder, drinking. The next, my hand connected with her face—not a punch, just a reflex, a violent get off me that sent her flying across the pool. She hit the water like a skipping stone, bouncing once, twice, before sinking beneath the surface.
I touched my shoulder where she'd bitten. The wound was already closing, regeneration doing its work, but I could still feel that cold lingering in my veins.
"That," I muttered, "was unpleasant."
As I came down, landing in the pool, I noticed how the Mermaids were adjusting themselves, circling and getting in position for a combined attack. Kaiyo also had already repositioned herself, flowing into her next move.
Three of the mermaids started firing a jet of compressed water at me.
Blocking this attack of theirs, I was about to charge in the direction of the stunned Mizuki, but Aiko resurfaces and was first to hit me from amongst the mermaids. She came from my side, her claws raking across my ribs and leaving their marks on my body, and this is when I can say I felt real pain in this fight.
I wasn't worried about the open marks as my regeneration already closed the wound like spiders spinning their webs, tightening it shut around the wound.
However, the pain remained, and it reminded me that even in my Ghoul form I wasn't invincible.
Regaining my focus, I caught Aiko's wrist before she could escape into the depths of the pool.
"Not bad," I said, meeting her gaze. "Not bad at all."
The fear flashed through her eyes—bright and sharp and impossible to hide. She knew she was caught. Knew there was nothing she could do. And in that moment, I saw the realization that her life was in my hands, that one squeeze could end her.
"And sorry for what I'm about to do."
I then threw Aiko into Kaiyo with an uncanny precision, stopping her from attacking me with a long range water ability. They collide with a sharp cry, tangling in each other's tails and limbs, and I was on them before they could separate.
"Get off me!" Kaiyo's voice was sharp with panic as she tried to untangle herself from Aiko. "Aiko, move!"
"I'm trying!" Aiko shoved at Kaiyo's tail, but it was wrapped around her leg, and every movement seemed to make it worse. "I can't—he threw me—You think I wanted to collide with you?"
"Urgh, get off!" Kaiyo finally managed to untangle herself, shoving Aiko away. "That monster is coming for us!"
This moment was different, unlike the last time I fought in this form, which was mainly on instincts, this time I could apply some of the teachings of Inner Moka. The more I fought against the Mermaids in this Ghoul form, the more impressed I was with the lethality of the Shuzen-ryu, it was a style befitting a Vampire as it was centered on targeting weak spots that only a Vampire with their superior senses could accurately pinpoint.
Since I wasn't in a hurry per se, I wanted to also experience some clashes with the Mermaids and build up my combat experience, but with the looming threat of a Countdown from my transformation, and risking losing the battle for control over my body, I wouldn't grow complacent with this temporary power boost.
I pushed back Kaiyo and Aiko, then dodged Mizuki and Nami's sneak attack as they'd veiled themselves using Yoki and water manipulation, taking advantage of my distraction.
With my back against the wall, the two D-tier Mermaids, Suki and Airi surfaced from the depths of the pool and reached up to me. Their hands—clawed now, scaled, designed for tearing—grabbed my ankles. Or tried to since I found the window to take down two enemies in one swooping motion.
I met their eyes, and when making eye-contact I could feel the fear rising in their gaze. This raised a small smile out of me, hiding my disdain for their pathetic attempt at catching me off-guard.
Where they expected flesh, they instead grasped at the drifting air I had left in my escape, as I jumped behind them and, while looking down, found something else. Something that didn't yield.
'Ohh, you are in a world of pain!'
'Let's end this quickly before the impulses I receive from the Ghoul inside of me win over and I start killing them in cold blood.'
'I fear discovering the aftermath of such a possibility.'
Then I moved after landing silently on the surface of the water, sending a kick in their direction, not at them per se since I was curious to test the power I have at the pinnacle of B-tier.
My leg drove downward with enough force to create a shockwave in the water. The mermaid on my left took it full in the chest. I felt her ribs crack beneath the impact, felt the air explode from her lungs in a stream of bubbles, felt her grip dissolve as she rocketed toward the bottom of the pool.
The one on my right tried to retreat, yet she was too slow to escape my vicious movement. Far too slow.
My other leg caught her across the torso, sending her spinning through the water like a discarded doll. She crashed into the pool wall with a sound that echoed through the water like a gong.
Both were defeated in an instant, netting me some rewards, and amongst the stats increase, I also discovered that this time my Demonic Energy was also beginning to assimilate points from the essence the System was devouring from the defeated foes.
[You have defeated two D-tier Mermaids, gaining a small part of their essence.]
[Demonic Energy +2]
[Demonic Energy +2]
For two D-tier Mermaids, the amount wasn't much, but in the grand play, even these grains of salt could accumulate in the vastness of a desert.
The two coming straight at me—Mizuki and another mermaid, Nami, whom I hadn't with interacted previously in the pool, when things were still chill, hesitated. I saw it in their eyes. The moment when a predator realizes it's become prey.
I surged forward, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat. My hand closed around Nami's throat and I could feel the sensation of her scales against my palm of her gills fluttering frantically and above all else her pulse racing beneath my grip.
While doing that, I looked at Mizuki, the same girl that went overboard in hurting Moka by slashing and pouring water on her. Just remembering Moka crying and how she fled from the pool, chilled the blood in me, and out of nowhere the Yoki around me spiked to the point Mizuki was left trembling at the pressure she was shouldering.
I started toward Mizuki, and she saw death coming.
Her reaction was immediate—pure survival instinct overriding any thought of tactics or pride. Both hands shot forward, and the water between us erupted into a churning wall of pressurized death. It wasn't a single jet this time, but a continuous barrage, each impact hitting me like a cannonball.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The attacks slammed into my chest, my stomach, my face—relentless, desperate, fueled by every drop of yoki she had left. The water was so compressed it felt solid, like being punched by an invisible giant over and over again.
I kept walking.
Mizuki's eyes went impossibly wide. She poured more power into her assault, the jets intensifying, the pressure doubling. I felt it—felt the force trying to push me back, trying to break through my skin, trying to do anything to stop my advance.
It didn't work.
"You're not—" she gasped between attacks, her voice cracking, "you're not even slowing down—"
I wasn't. The water hit me, and I walked through it. My yoki flared around my body like a second skin, absorbing the impact, dispersing the force. Each step brought me closer. Each step made her panic spike higher.
"No, no, NO!" She threw everything into one final blast—a cannon of compressed water that would have punched through solid concrete.
I caught it.
My hand closed around the jet itself, and I squeezed.
The attack detonated on contact, exploding outward in a spray that drenched the entire pool deck. Mizuki's arms dropped to her sides, empty, exhausted, defeated.
I stood three feet from her, untouched.
"That's all you got?"
She couldn't even answer. Just stared at me with eyes that had finally accepted what she was facing.
Kaiyo and Aiko tried to help their friend, but it was useless, they got blasted far deeper into the pool by a shockwave created by my kick.
Left alone, excluding Tamao who was observing the fight while accumulating more Yoki, and probably waiting for my own energies to deplete, giving her an easy win at the expense of the other members of the Swimming Club.
Her face instantly paled when she saw my crimson eyes, and in desperation, she became aware of the need for fleeing from me. When I saw her flee, my first instinct was to chase and crush her spine—a fitting revenge for making my Moka cry—but then she paused after getting enough distance.
"W-Wait—" Her voice came out high, cracked, nothing like the confident predator who'd been tormenting Moka minutes ago. "Please—I didn't—I wasn't—"
She was backing away now, her tail propelling her toward the surface, toward escape.
The words tumbled out of her like water from a broken dam. "I'm sorry for hurting your friend! I wasn't thinking—I was just—"
Her eyes darted toward Tamao, seeking support, seeking rescue, seeking anything that might save her from the crimson-eyed monster in front of her.
"This wasn't part of the plan!" Mizuki's voice rose to a shriek. "Fighting an S-tier monster wasn't something I agreed to! You didn't tell us he was—you didn't—"
(Tamao's POV)
Tamao's expression shifted with her confidence flickering away, cracking and shattering like a broken glass, everything turned from worse to disastrous too quickly.
When she came to the rude realization that Tsukune wasn't a human, she speculated briefly in her mind that maybe he was a Dhampir but with that pressing Yoki release, I was highly unlikely.
She had made a great miscalculation. After all, how could there be any humans in this Yokai Academy , which was sealed off from the outside world , and where only people with the invitation of the Headmaster, Tenmei Mikogami, could enter?
However, she had no time to regrets, instead she prepared herself, channeling her own Yoki to form all sorts of water constructs at the bottom of the pool, out of Tsukune's notice, and could only hope that her 'soldiers' would be enough to weaken Tsukune to the point she could end him, giving her a window at consuming his rich vitality.
"Useless," she hissed, and could only snap at Mizuki with her own frustrations. "Absolutely useless. Get out of my sight."
Mizuki didn't need to be told twice.
(Done)
This was an unexpected development that I didn't account for, but it made sense in a way, if they now believed that the Yoki I was releasing had the potency of an S-tier Yokai, I could only thank them for the misunderstanding and coincidence.
As for Mizuki, she hauled herself out of the pool, transformation receding as she hit the deck. She grabbed a towel from a stunned bystander—snatched it, really—and disappeared into the crowd without looking back. I let her go.
For now it would be senseless and a waste of energy and time to go out to hunt her, not when every second cost me…
Defeating foes gave a smaller amount of stat points, while subjugating a yokai foe had a larger yield. And let's not talk about slaying a Yokai, just killing that Netorare Pig (Saizo) managed to take me from my measly F-tier stats straight to the upper echelons of E-tier.
With only three Mermaids except Tamao bothering me, I shifted my focus to the one who was left in confusion from seeing her partner ditch this fight altogether.
Taking advantage of this blunder of hers, my shadow loomed above her figure, and not allowing her the opportunity to escape into the depths of the pool, my right arm shot out in a flash, targeting her throat.
The mermaid in my hand, Nami, looking quite similar to a particular character with the same name, thrashed her tail—beautiful, iridescent, useless on land—whipping against my legs. I tightened my grip just enough to get her attention.
"Stay down," I said.
She went still. Nodded frantically.
I released her. She sank beneath the surface, clutching her throat, gasping for air she didn't technically need.
[Demonic Energy +4]
[You have successfully subjugated a C-tier Mermaid]
I ignored these particular notifications from the system, since they had became a repetitive annoyance and I even tuned out the sound of the notification popping whenever I defeated one of the Mermaids.
Nonetheless, there was something that interested me in the System's windows, that being the timer of my Ghoul Vampire transformation, which was shortening like the sand in an hourglass.
And to my surprise, I noticed that three minutes had already disappeared from that hourglass, and I had not even defeated the 'Elites' of this encounter.
[Time remaining: 5:21]
The two who'd tried to circle wide, Kaiyo and Aiko, had stopped when they saw what happened to Nami. They floated in the water like statues, their eyes wide, their transformed bodies trembling and dreading the thought of being strangled by me, and who could blame them?
I wouldn't want to be in their shoes and face myself. In fact, I would run away from such situations as if they were the plague.
One of them looked at the other, and only from communicating with their eyes, they debated if they should continue fighting me and winning time for Tamao.
Initially they turned to look at their president, but Tamao felt like a cold statue, not moving even an eyebrow at the defeat of the other members.
"Will you choose the path to pain, or obediently surrender. This isn't your fight to face, so leave while I feel generous."
"You have not wronged me in particular, so I would feel bad hurting you or even bruising your bodies."
They both looked at me and the terror in their expressions couldn't be hidden from their pretty faces.
I raised an eyebrow, and my eyebrow had a voice of itself, sending a clear message that I don't know if they received.
'Why are you still standing before me, weaklings? You're out of your league. Just let your president fight me already…'
'I even made up my mind to not kill any of you, just beat you into submission, but there's a night and day difference in that.'
'Also, I had my own plans over you Mermaids, so sending a strong message would only smooth things out between us, afterwards.'
'Besides, the addition of the Swimming Club would be just the beginning in building my own Yokai Faction.'
It didn't take long for Kaiyo and Aiko to make the safest choice for their safety, and they were also lucky that I was willing to give them one chance to surrender 'peacefully'. It seems , apart from being beautiful, these particular Mermaids at C-tier had some brains left intact.
[Time remaining: 4:54]
My overall performance wasn't that good, but not terrible either. It was evident, even to myself, that I was lacking in combat experience… And who could blame me? Not just long ago, and I mean only one month ago I was lazily enjoying my first life playing games and scrolling Reddit.
For now, let's worry about the combat experience. Just the fact that I was aware of my own lacking skills put me on the right path to success.
With that in mind, I allowed myself a small smile that only lasted a couple of seconds before Tamao's attack came crashing in my direction.
It began with a grandiose display of her water manipulation exploding in my face.
"Don't get too cocky, Tsukune-kun."
Tamao's voice cut through the silence of the gathered people who were watching our fight, not with a shout—since that would be beneath her, a proud Mermaid.
However, when her voice reached me, somehow I got this strange sensation, like a premonition that something was about to happen. She wouldn't be staying out of the fight for 3-4 minutes because she was too 'proud' to dirty her own hands.
There was something different in her voice now. All traces of the seductive club president were gone, as was that playful smile of hers. What remained instead had turned into a cold ocean abyss.
"It was not my intent to begin with. If it came across as such, I will apologize." I said in a way that could be felt as fake, my sarcasm was oozing, but deep down I was readying myself.
"Hmph, do I look like I need your apology? After making a mess out of my Swimming Club in front of so many people, the least I want is your pathetic apology."
"You think you're smart for playing as a human? You think beating my soldiers means something?" She rose from the water at the deep end, her transformed body silhouetted against the glowing pool lights. Her scales caught the crimson tinge of my yoki, making her look like she was carved from blood and shadow.
"You think I lasted two years as club president because I was pretty?"
"I guess not. If this is what you wanted to hear."
"You haven't faced someone like me."
The water behind Tamao rose.
At first I thought it was another wave, another construct like the tricks of the rest of the mermaids, but I knew that something felt wrong.
The water continued to rise and rise, until it surpassed the twenty-foot mark, passed the thirty, and exceeded forty feet.
By the time it stopped, the thing towering above her was the size of a small building taking the shape of a serpent, its body thick as a tree trunk, its head easily the size of a car. It had no eyes, but I felt it looking at me.
Then it began coiling above the pool, blocking out the overhead lights, casting the entire building in shadow.
This mermaid actually managed to summon a dragon, sure a water dragon, but it didn't diminish her achievement whatsoever. A water dragon, built from every drop of yoki Tamao had left.
She stood beneath it, one hand raised toward the sky, her golden eyes fixed on me with an intensity that bordered on worship. Her chest heaved. Her scales gleamed with sweat and spray. She'd put everything into this—every last ounce of power, every reserve she'd been hoarding while her soldiers softened me up.
"You might believe that I was useless for having the girls play with you, that even after beating them you could take me down. This was a fatal mistake from you, letting me use my strongest ability!"
"Forget about ever dreaming of getting out of my Domain. You're going to be mine, Aono Tsukune!" Her voice was hoarse, strained, but triumphant.
The dragon struck.
It came down like the ocean itself had decided to punish me. The sheer scale of it was impossible to process—one moment I was standing in the pool, the next I was looking up at enough water to fill a swimming pool , crashing toward my face.
If she was intent on ending this fight in a single move, then I couldn't continue like this. I had to respond with a stronger attack to match the Water Dragon.
I moved.
I planted my feet on the shattered pool bottom. Ignored the pain in my ribs, the burning in my lungs, the Ghoul's whispers telling me to give in, to let go, to become what I would always be, a monster.
I focused on that reservoir of crimson Yoki while my body started to get in position readying for the single striking ability that I could wield confidently.
I grounded my right foot, followed by tensing up my legs, along with my hips torquing, spine twisting and shoulders aligning into the perfect balance.
The dragon roared silently above me, its pressure intensifying, trying to crush me before I could hit it back in time.
[Crimson Fang Fist: RELEASE]
I struck with my fist as the fang, and the raging, spiraling energy around it as the beast's maw, wide open and hungry to devour.
A vortex of crimson energy spiraled around my arm, funneling everything toward my glowing fist. It looked less like a punch and more like I was thrusting a claw made of concentrated mana and blood.
The world exploded into crimson light.
My fist met the dragon's core, which was composed of all the Yoki Tamao had injected to create such a Water monster. For one heartbeat, nothing happened. Just me with my bloody fang fist locked in a struggle of power with the water dragon.
The pain I felt was real, everything in here was real.
Eventually, something had to give way, and I was resolute that I wouldn't be the one to step back. Then the dragon shattered, exploding into a detonation of pressurized water and released yoki that sent waves crashing against every wall, that flooded the deck, that turned the entire building into a war zone.
The force of it threw me backward, sent me tumbling end over end through churning foam.
When I finally stopped, when the water settled, when the spray cleared—
I was still standing.
Tamao stood alone in the shallows, her transformed body trembling, her chest heaving, her eyes fixed on the spot where her masterpiece had met its end. Steam rose from the water around her—leftover vapor from the clash of our attacks. Her scales were dull, her yoki flickered like a dying candle, and for the first time since I'd met her, she looked small.
The water had turned to mist and shadow, but through it, a figure emerged.
I walked toward her across the surface each step leaving ripples that spread across the now-calm pool. My skin was marked with a dozen wounds, some deep enough to show bone before regeneration closed them. I was in a numb state as blood trailed behind me in the water, painting a crimson path from the epicenter of the blast to where Tamao stood frozen.
I stopped a few feet away and looked down at her, not striking her down since I wasn't at the risk of losing control over my Ghoul transformation.
[Time remaining: 3:32]
Just standing like this, letting her see the wounds she poured everything into to deal, already closing, the gashes knitting themselves together at visible speed. Let her see the crimson eyes that held no anger—just cold, patient acknowledgment.
"You're really not weak, Tamao-senpai."
My voice was quiet. Almost gentle. The kind of tone you used when the fight was over and everyone knew it.
"That welcome gift of yours also managed to sober me up. So, I will not disrespect your pride as a Mermaid and defeat you at my best."