Chapter 435: The Adorable Kurumi Nonaka

Hearing the Village’s orders, Yuki Nonaka drew in a sharp breath and clenched her fists.

Why did the Village have to go this far?!

Yuki didn’t understand, but she still wanted to protect Takumi.

“No. I won’t allow the Village to do this!”

“Onee-chan… you’ve changed.”

Looking at Yuki, who had rejected the Village’s orders without the slightest hesitation, Kurumi Nonaka’s expression became complicated.

The Yuki Nonaka of the past would never have hesitated when carrying out an extermination order.

“This is different, Kurumi… Can you really bring yourself to do it?”

“…”

Faced with Yuki’s question, Kurumi fell silent.

She didn’t want this either, but things weren’t going to change just because she wished they would.

“I’m not even the main force in this operation. I’m not even part of the diversion… The Village probably sent me because they want to use the bond between Takumi-nii and me.”

Kurumi lowered her eyes, a watery sheen gathering in them.

She had liked Takumi ever since childhood, just like her older sister did, but right now, she had no ability to stop any of this, even if she wanted to.

“How come the way you two are talking makes it sound like I’m already a fish on the chopping block?”

Seeing the Nonaka sisters on the verge of tears, Takumi walked over carrying two bags of clothes, black lines practically covering his face.

The way they were talking made it sound as though his death was already guaranteed.

Doesn’t anyone think I might actually win?

Considering that he had rarely demonstrated his strength in front of them and had yet to let either of them fuse with a Divine Envoy piece, Takumi quickly let it go.

The moment Kurumi saw Takumi approaching, she jumped in surprise.

“T-Takumi-nii?!”

The old form of address slipped out before she could stop herself.

Back then, Kurumi had always admired Takumi as though he were her own older brother, but she quickly came back to her senses and immediately put on a cold expression, trying to hide the emotions inside her.

“Hmph~ So you really did notice us following you. But that won’t help!”

“If I were you, I’d take this chance to leave and find somewhere to hide.”

Hearing that, Takumi walked straight up and pinched her cheeks.

“Well, well~ Someone’s gotten awfully cheeky. I haven’t seen you in a few years, and now you dare talk to me like that?”

“Uuuh~ Stop it~~”

Kurumi struggled weakly a couple of times and let out a sweet plea, her icy demeanor disappearing in an instant.

Seeing how adorable she looked, Takumi finally let go.

Rubbing her reddened cheeks, Kurumi met Takumi’s gaze.

Seeing his face from so close, she suddenly realized just how much he had changed.

Five years ago, he had still looked youthful and immature.

Now he had become so handsome that merely looking at him made her heart race.

As Kurumi continued staring at Takumi, her expression gradually became dazed.

“Hey, hey~ Wake up. Want me to buy you a couple outfits too?”

“Eh?! N-No way! We’re enemies right now!!”

Kurumi instinctively covered her modest curves with one arm, wearing an adorably tsundere expression.

Takumi merely commented, “Whether we’re enemies or not is another matter. I have to admit, that formal warrior outfit does make you look pretty heroic.”

“But it’s also kind of embarrassing.”

“And you even have a cape.”

Kurumi had a naturally sweet face, but when she wasn’t smiling, the combat outfit made her look surprisingly serious and valiant.

Still, this was a department store filled with people coming and going.

Dressed like that, she looked exactly like someone doing cosplay.

If Takumi’s cognition barrier hadn’t been protecting her from attention, she probably would have drawn every passerby’s gaze by now.

After hearing Takumi say that, Kurumi suddenly felt that the outfit she had worn for years didn’t seem quite as good anymore.

Her thoughts became a mess before she finally forced herself back to the matter at hand.

“Stop trying to change the subject. The Village has already issued its orders.”

“Even if I don’t want this either, Takumi, from this moment on, you’re my enemy!”

Kurumi widened her eyes, put on a righteous expression, and pointed at Takumi.

Seeing that she was still hung up on this, Takumi handed the bags in his hands to Yuki.

“Enemy? You’re not qualified for that yet, Kurumi.”

“I originally had no intention of becoming enemies with the Village, but they’ve genuinely disgusted me.”

“I suppose because I normally don’t bother displaying my authority and strength, they started thinking I was someone they could reach… even someone they could kill.”

“Fools with no self-awareness. That’s the only evaluation I can give them.”

Takumi spoke in an easygoing tone, then made a pulling motion through the air.

“[Authority of Space—Amenotejikara]!”

In the next instant, several elderly higher-ups from the Hero Village, despite being far away, were instantly transported in front of Takumi.

“What’s going on?!”

“You’re… Takumi?!”

“Why are we here?!”

The three elderly men, all around sixty years old, looked utterly panicked.

They instinctively stirred their magic power and attacked Takumi, but before their spells could even be released, an invisible force erased them completely.

Seeing the three elders who led the Hero Village standing right in front of them, Yuki and Kurumi were stunned.

They had never imagined Takumi could drag them here so effortlessly.

Before Kurumi could even process what was happening, Takumi closed one hand through the air.

“Aaaaaagh!!!”

In an instant, the three old men twisted like rags being wrung dry, their entire bodies contorting into grotesque spirals as blood and flesh sprayed outward.

Yet the space around them seemed to have been separated into a tiny cube.

Not a single drop of blood escaped.

Instead, the entire little compartment gradually filled and turned crimson.

Even after suffering torture comparable to being sliced apart piece by piece, the three men still hadn’t died.

As they struggled, Takumi casually tossed them into [Pseudo-Hell].

They could spend eternity enjoying the endless cycle of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

After finishing all of that, Takumi clapped his hands as though nothing had happened and beckoned toward Kurumi.

“Time to go meet the two [Heroes] who came to deal with me. Let’s go.”

With that, Takumi walked forward.

He had already gone more than ten meters before Yuki and Kurumi finally snapped out of their shock.

“W-What… What just happened, Yuki-nee?!”

“I don’t know either.”

Everything had happened so directly and so quickly that neither of them had been able to react.

Who simply reached out, dragged the masterminds behind everything straight to them, and crushed them on the spot?!

And those elders had supposedly been hiding inside the Hero Village the entire time!

Putting aside how far away that was, there were layers upon layers of barriers protecting the place.

How had Takumi done it?!

Yuki and Kurumi had no idea, but both of them now clearly understood one thing:

Takumi was no sheep.

He was an outright god of slaughter!

Still dazed, the two women followed him out of the department store.

Takumi turned toward the two figures standing in a corner and snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, the entire group appeared in an empty mountainous area.

The enormous crater created when Vali had slammed into the mountains earlier now lay directly behind the two waiting figures…