The fight has been going on for some time, a brutal, high-speed exchange of recall and summon. Me and Suguru are clearly dominating.
Every time the Maidens try to gain a foothold, we dismantle them with a precision that feels like clockwork.
Most of my troops are still intact; while a few Barbarians were lost to early mistakes, I've mastered the Recall loop.
I'm no longer just summoning slow fodders; Now they are as fast as I can react, pulling them back into the "Village" the millisecond before a attack lands, only to drop them back onto the enemy's blind spot.
But beneath the tactical high, there's a strange, new sensation. It's like a hum in my marrow, a whisper of Cursed Energy telling me that, Don't just keep using your technique. Step in. Attack her yourself. You will understand Curse Energy bett–.
Suddenly, my body jams as if the air itself has instantly solidified into lead. The Maiden has locked her technique onto me; I feel that cold, paralyzing weight sinking into my skin, freezing my joints and cutting off the flow of my Cursed Energy.
I can't move—my summons already have the Cursed Energy they need to function, but I can't summon anything new, and I can't recall my troops or fire my artillery.
But before she can exploit my paralysis, Shoko's hand clamps onto my collar like a vice and yanks me three feet backward.
The solidification shattered instantly. My hypothesis was correct: her technique requires a static target. If I move, the lock-on fails.
"Don't get cocky," Shoko mutters, her breath hitching as she resets her stance behind me. "Just because we are dominating the fight doesn't means they are weak. One moment of carelessness is all it takes for the whole balance of the fight to shatter."
"I know," I grit out.
Gaining my Cursed Energy back, I will the skeletonn in the Balloons to drop the bombs.
BOOM! BOOM!
She blocks the projectiles with a raised barrier. I summon a Barbarian to her side and another at her back. I turn my concentration to the maximum. She jumps and projects two blasts of Cursed Energy, destroying both Barbarians.
She seems slightly shocked that I didn't recall them this time, but while she is still in the air, my Cannons fire.
BOOM! BOOM!
The projectiles land a solid hit, hurling her backward toward the spot where I have already summoned a third Barbarian.
Expecting the trap, she fires a blast mid-air to obliterate him as she skids to a halt.
Two more Barbarians appear instantly—one in front, one behind. The one at her back has his sword raised, while the one in front is just scratching his chin with a foolish look.
She prioritizes the threat at her back and turns to blast him, but in mid-motion, the "foolish" Barbarian vanishes. In his place, I appear.
This is a new application of my technique I just learned—to Switch with my Summon. As the fight goes on, I feel myself getting better and better.
I hold my fist tight in Saitama style, my concentration reaching its peak. I swing. It is too late for her to react.
BLACK FLASH.
The impact is unlike anything I've ever felt. It isn't just a punch; it's a distortion of reality itself.
As my fist connects with the Maiden's solar plexus, the world seems to stutter. For a fraction of a millisecond, the colors of the park invert, and the air screams.
Then, the Black Flash—a lethal distortion of space born from Cursed Energy applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit—erupts in a spray of Red-black sparks.
The sheer power of the blow sends her spiraling through the air like a broken doll. Golden worms spray outward from the point of impact, spiraling into the air where my fist connected.
A jagged, hollow crater now exists in her torso, and though the worms are already frantically writhing to knit the wound back together, the healing is sluggish—stunted by the lingering aftershocks of the black flash.
My vision sharpens, the world slowing into a series of crystal-clear frames. The nagging whisper in my mind has transformed into a roar of absolute clarity.
This is what it means to be a sorcerer.
By landing that Black Flash, the spark of black lightning hasn't just damaged my enemy; it has short-circuited the barriers in my own brain.
My understanding of Cursed Energy deepens instantly, my output surging to a staggering 120%. It feels as though I've downed a Max Troops and a Resources Collection potion simultaneously; my technique has received a temporary, explosive upgrade.
My breathing, once ragged is now perfectly synchronized with the rhythmic pulse of the Curse Energy.
Every fiber of my being is attuned to the battlefield. I can feel the weight of my summons before they even materialize. I can use Recall and Summon with a fluidity that feels like blinking.
"Did he just...?" Shoko's voice is faint, drowned out by the ringing in my ears.
Even Suguru pauses his "discipline" of the other Maiden, his eyes widening as he sees the black sparks dissipating from my knuckles. A smirk tugs at his lips. "Well, look at that. Finally the commander decided to get his hands dirty."
But the high is short-lived. The Maiden I just struck doesn't hit the ground. Before she can, she is snatched out of the air by one of the dozen bony tentacles erupting from the Mountain God's new form.
The True Form from Meireko–chan anime is here.