The dragon battling the ghouls on the mountainside—
Was none other than Tohru, a dragon from another world who could fly, breathe fire, and use magic.
Most importantly, her humanoid maid form was very nice.
Hayashi could hardly find a single flaw in her. Plus... she was a D-cup!
But right now, the heavily injured Tohru was barely holding her own against a horde of ghouls—and her condition was only worsening.
After watching for a bit, Hayashi decided he had to step in.
He couldn't just stand by and watch a dragon get eaten.
If Tohru's father found out, he might just obliterate this entire world.
"Wait, is that... a human?"
"I smell human! Why is he here?!"
"This is perfect—let's eat him!"
"If we can't eat the dragon, we can at least eat him!"
"Hey! I'm the senior here—I get first bite!"
As Hayashi was still thinking—
The surrounding ghouls finally noticed him, watching from the sidelines.
If he were a ghoul, that'd be fine.
But he was human.
And throwing a human into a crowd of starving ghouls...
Was like tossing a meat bun into a pack of stray dogs.
With hunger in their eyes—
Several ghouls lunged at Hayashi at once!
Hayashi turned and glanced at them.
A distant explosion lit up the forest, letting the ghouls clearly see the human standing before them.
Especially the blue energy glowing in his hand.
"Ice?"
The lead ghoul was still puzzled when—
A misty cold wave suddenly swept over them, engulfing their bodies.
All of them halted, quickly landing on the ground.
"Hey, what the hell—"
"Wait, this is...!"
Before they could react—
Ice spread across their bodies in all directions.
In less than two and a half seconds—
They were frozen into solid blocks of ice.
Inside each ice crystal were twisted, terrified faces, eyes wide in fear.
Hayashi, already walking away, looked back and snapped his fingers.
Snap~
Crack—BOOM—!
The ice crystals shattered, scattering into a flurry of snowflakes, leaving behind only faint glimmers of light.
The ghouls inside?
Gone—without a trace.
Not far away—
Tohru was still locked in battle with the remaining ghouls.
"Damn pests..." she growled through clenched teeth. "Father was right—these human-like creatures are all garbage!"
"CURSES! I'm mad now!"
She unleashed a fierce barrage, killing several more.
But her magic was running dry, and the effort to maintain her wounds was draining her even more.
"What should I do...?"
"Am I really going to die here, impaled by a divine sword, and devoured by these bastards?"
"I haven't even tasted proper food... I haven't even had fun yet..."
Just as Tohru was falling into despair—
A figure flew toward her from the distance.
She looked up, assuming it was another ghoul—but on closer inspection, it was a human.
"A human?!"
Why was a human here? He needed to run!
He'd get eaten too!
But under Tohru's gaze—
That human raised a hand and whispered:
"Mokapotoma."
In an instant—
The world seemed to stop.
Even Tohru's consciousness remained, but her body was frozen midair, completely immobile.
As for the ghouls? They didn't even realize what was happening.
In that frozen moment—
Only that flying human could still move.
In Tohru's wide eyes—
The human reached her... and grabbed her by the tail!!!
Then—
She felt a tremendous force yank her away!
Whoooosh—!
"Huh?!"
Hayashi, using Mokapotoma, dragged Tohru away at lightning speed.
The commotion had grown too big—soon not just ghouls, but devils and the CCG would be drawn to the scene.
He couldn't kill them all.
The only option—
Was a strategic retreat.
No need to act all cool. No one even knew who he was anyway. Time to run!
In the blink of an eye—
He had dragged Tohru far, far away.
Eventually, they reached a remote, secluded spot.
Thankfully, the 20th Ward wasn't downtown—otherwise, finding a place like this would've been impossible.
Once they were a safe distance away, Hayashi finally released Mokapotoma.
The next moment—
Tohru could move again.
The ghouls recovered as well, and the world resumed its normal flow.
Back at the original location—
The ghouls, now fully aware, stood around in confusion.
"Hey, what just happened?"
"Where's the dragon!?"
"She was just here—where did she go?!"
"How did she vanish in an instant?!"
"Hurry and search! That was a dragon!"
The crowd of ghouls erupted into chaos, rushing off in every direction to search.
And as more ghouls gathered, some of them started breaking the rules, turning their attention to the nearby city's human residents, hoping to stock up on some extra meat.
In no time, things among the ghouls had devolved into utter disorder.
Meanwhile, in a remote corner—
Hayashi and Tohru were now in a staring contest.
Well, sort of.
Hayashi looked at Tohru, then at the divine sword embedded in her back. That was clearly something valuable—even if he couldn't use its divine power, just wielding it would be overkill in any fight.
"Does that hurt?"
Tohru nodded her large dragon head. "Itai yo..." (It really hurts...)
"Want me to pull it out?"
"Can you?" Tohru's eyes lit up with hope.
"I can give it a shot." Hayashi nodded, then climbed onto her back, adding, "It might hurt a little. Bear with it."
"Mhm." Tohru lowered her head in preparation.
Hayashi stood beside the divine sword.
He examined the massive blade, delighted. It was basically like finding a treasure while out on a walk.
This thing was huge—at least several meters long, easily as tall as a two- or three-story building!
He reached out and touched it to confirm there was no danger.
Then, gripping both sides of the sword, he yanked hard!
Squelch—!
The divine sword was pulled free in one smooth motion.
Tohru's entire body jolted as she let out a pained cry, "Itaiii~!"
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