Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

It was a huge, spherical object, with armor, broken swords, and shields attached to it—no, it was made of twisted metal. The entire metal sphere looked like a pumpkin growing out of the ruins of a battlefield. The pumpkin seemed to have been hollowed out, and the twisted hollow looked like a ferocious smiling face, with raging flames emanating from the center, resembling lamplight.

Jack-o'-lantern.

For some reason, Xiangzi subconsciously thought of these kinds of things that people often take out to play with during Halloween.

It roams the ruins of the battlefield, pulling usable weapons or armor from corpses and stuffing them into its own body.

"I want to live... I can still fight..."

The jack-o'-lantern made such a sound as it crouched down and rummaged through the pile of corpses closest to it.

"Fight...survive..."

It sounded as if countless voices were speaking at the same time, rising intermittently.

"What is that? A familiar?" Xiangzi cautiously stopped walking. "Are there monsters that look like that in the game?"

"I haven't seen them before, little master. The monsters in the game aren't that ugly." Ai Yin frowned. "Fairy Tale Town isn't a world of constant fighting and killing. The players' battles are just minor skirmishes in the game's overall setting... There shouldn't be scenes with so many corpses..."

It seemed that their conversation had caught the attention of the jack-o'-lantern, which suddenly raised its head from the pile of corpses, its hollowed-out smiling face burning with raging flames.

"I want to live! I want to fight!"

It found a new target, suddenly stood up, and the twisted iron pieces on its body clattered and fell off with its movements.

"Survive! Fight! Fight! Survive!"

The jack-o'-lantern's voice grew louder and louder. It picked up the metal pieces that had fallen to the ground, as well as the discarded weapons it had just captured, twisted them into a ball, and threw them into its mouth.

The laughing jack-o'-lantern swallowed the lump of metal, and the flames inside the lantern instantly melted the iron, causing the pumpkin to visibly grow larger.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

It's about to go up.

"Little Master!" Aine drew her katana from her back and stood in front of Xiangzi. "Leave it to me!"

"Go ahead, good luck." Xiangzi smiled slightly and obediently shrank behind Aiyin. "Don't push yourself, I'll be watching you."

To be honest, if she didn't forcibly break through the restrictions imposed on her by the witch's barrier, her current combat power would be even inferior to Aine's.

That familiar feeling of helplessness... this time it's much better.

It wasn't because Xiangzi had gotten used to that powerlessness—she couldn't possibly get used to that feeling, that sense of helplessness that she couldn't do anything—but because this time she had a backup plan.

She can summon her own magic at any time, ensuring the basic safety of both Aine and herself.

Things are different now. She won't risk her life, much less let anyone she knows or is supposed to protect risk their life.

"fighting!"

The jack-o'-lantern charged toward Aine, waving its short, twisted arms and legs made of steel.

The clanging sounds came from the katana in Aine's hand and the hands and feet of the pumpkin lantern, as the blades sparked as they scraped against the broken metal body.

"Hey!"

Ai-yin nimbly dodged the jack-o'-lantern's all-out claw strike, flipped herself up and slashed at the blade, then followed up with a 270° spinning slash.

【Air Blade Spin】

Buzz—Umbrella? (?. Four) Order to rise" Two like peel like y/*ue-already—

The katana glowed with a pale white light.

After the spinning slash, Aine smoothly pulled the scabbard to her waist, sheathed the Ōdachi, and assumed a ready stance.

Enraged by its failed attack, the Pumpkin Lantern turned around and rammed into Aine.

It's now.

Ding!

【Iaijutsu】

The pink magical girl stepped forward, her blade flashing from its sheath. Just as the pumpkin lantern was about to collide with her, she ducked and slid past it from the lower left.

At the same time, the drawn blade, aided by inertia and the opponent's own speed, became incredibly powerful. A mournful cry was heard from the metal structure, and one of the pumpkin lantern's hands flew into the sky, the white mist clinging to the katana turning yellow.

Pfft——!

Black blood gushed from between the severed arms of the jack-o'-lantern, and the inside of the metal-encased limbs was filled with flowing black pus.

The familiar texture and color instantly reminded Aine of what she had seen on the String Horn, and her stomach clenched.

We cannot back down here.

Aine told herself this.

She turned to look in the direction of the jack-o'-lantern—the jack-o'-lantern had lost a hand, lost its balance, and its round body fell to the ground, spun around a few times, and finally landed upside down.

The battle had already inflicted enough damage on it, and the jack-o'-lantern was now growing weaker and weaker.

Don't let stomach pain cause you to miss this opportunity.

Ai Yin turned and ran towards the direction of the pumpkin lantern, wielding her sword in a dance-like manner as she ran.

one two Three......

She counted the numbers in her mind, calculating the exact distance between herself and the pumpkin lantern.

Four!

The final strike of the sword dance was also a familiar circular slash, the air blade swirling and sweeping across the face of the pumpkin lantern, leaving a hideous gash on its face.

hum-

The yellow air blades turned into a dazzling scarlet.

at the same time.

boom!

The jack-o'-lantern, struggling on the ground, suddenly burst into flames, and the scorching heat blew Aine away quite a distance.

"Uh!"

Ai Yin rolled around on the ground a few times.

Rumble, rumble—!

After confirming that there were no enemies around, the jack-o'-lantern suddenly curled up its arms and legs, forming a large iron ball, and began to roll rapidly on the spot. As the rolling speed increased, the flames inside the lantern were flung out, and the scorching heat enveloped the entire iron ball, baking it to a dark red color that was even closer to the color of a pumpkin.

Ai Yin got up from the ground, patted off the bloodstains and foul-smelling dirt that weren't hers, and looked at the pumpkin lantern in the distance.

"Come on, come on... let me see what you're capable of."

She licked her lips, assumed a fighting stance, and stared at the rapidly spinning iron ball.

Is it going to create it directly, or...?

Before Ai-yin could carefully consider what to do next, the iron ball began to act.

"fighting!"

Boom-!

The iron ball soared into the air and crashed to the ground, causing a widespread ground tremor. Xiangzi could feel the tremors even from a distance.

It leaped toward Aiyin, each landing causing an even stronger tremor.

Boom-!

Boom————!

Ai Yin gritted her teeth, staring intently at where the guy was going to land.

The landing point of the bounce was completely unpredictable, making it even more difficult to judge than she had imagined.

Thump!

The pumpkin lantern smashed a large crater about five meters away from Ai Yin. The iron ball, several meters tall, smashed large craters into the ground. The bodies of the fallen soldiers, unfortunately caught in the blast, were smashed into clumps of black, splattered blood under the weight of the pumpkin lantern.

Ai-yin saw it all clearly.

If I were to get hit like that, I'd probably end up looking just like that blob of dark blood.

However, as long as I don't get hit, it's fine.

Aine raised her head and looked up at the huge shadow in the sky that completely blocked out the sun, a smile appearing on her lips.

Boom——!

The iron ball slammed into the spot where Ai-yin was standing, but the jack-o'-lantern didn't feel the expected sensation of smashing a human body into mincemeat. Puzzled, it continued to jump, trying to locate the enemy.

But...no.

From the perspective of the jack-o'-lantern, the pink figure is completely invisible, even as it begins to fall.

"Here you are, you big idiot!"

Ai-yin's voice came from above the jack-o'-lantern.

She deliberately left a flaw, letting the pumpkin lantern fall next to her.

and then.

She jumped up, and in the instant the jack-o'-lantern landed and she jumped up again, she landed on the jack-o'-lantern's rapidly spinning and extremely hot body.

Suddenly, they were sent to a place even higher than a pumpkin lantern.

By this time, her knife was already red-hot.

A smile, more obvious than ever, appeared in Aine's eyes as she raised her katana, which was radiating red energy, high in the air. It was as if three powerful characters were engraved on the blade.

【登】

【Dragon】

【sword】

Aine shouted the name of the move and landed downwards.

锔——!

"Victory is certain! Dragon Ascension Sword!"

The Lost Story: The Lost Child: Chapter 316 You've also seen Dragon Warrior?

"Victory is certain! Dragon Ascension Sword!"

锔——!

The katana sliced ​​through the pumpkin lantern's body from top to bottom, along its center line. The compressed red blade of energy burst forth upon contact with the enemy's body, transforming into hundreds of flashing blades that scattered throughout the pumpkin lantern's interior.

The pumpkin lantern roared in despair and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Aine sheathed her knife and put it behind her back.

"Yeah~"

She turned around, gave Xiangzi a V sign, and smiled brightly.

"Little master, I did a pretty good job, didn't I?"

"It's good."

Xiangzi stepped over the corpses and weapons on the ground, walked to Aiyin's side, looked at the mangled body of the pumpkin lantern with a scrutinizing gaze, and then looked at Aiyin's face.

"but......"

The prolonged trailing tone sounded particularly frightening, and Aine's heart immediately jumped into her throat.

"but?"

But wait, there must be something she hasn't done well enough, right?

"Hmm..." Xiangzi lowered his head and began to recall.

Aine was even more frightened now, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, just like a student who had been inexplicably called to the podium by the homeroom teacher during self-study.

Xiangzi seemed to recall something, and his eyes finally lit up.

"When you were doing that last move, the line you shouted wasn't... Mashin Hero Wataru (Dragon Warrior), was it?" she said. "I watched it when I was little, and I quite liked it."

She had felt that the lines sounded familiar for a long time, but she couldn't remember where she had heard them before. Now she finally remembered.