What I Have Polished

“AAAAAAAAHHH!!”

No sooner had Emi closed in on Lairine in a single breath than she began attacking her, deftly using her 【Black Arms】 on top of both hands and both feet!

Just as Lairine brushed aside a right fist, one of her 【Black Arms】 came swinging down from directly above like a hammer.

“Hey!”

Lairine caught it by raising her left palm above her head.

Naturally, this created an opening.

Emi saw Lairine's left flank as defenseless.

Immediately, she hammered in a series of punches—right, left, right.

Lairine moved her right hand frantically, blocking every single one.

“Hold on, wait!”

Lairine slammed the arm of 【Black Arms】 she had caught in her left palm into the ground, burying it there.

Using that momentum, she caught and blocked a roundhouse kick from Emi aimed at her left flank with her left hand.

Normally, having a roundhouse kick blocked creates an opening due to the structure of the human body.

But Emi had her 【Black Arms】!

Emi, who had been bracing herself by stabbing her other arm of 【Black Arms】, not the one she'd attacked with, into the ground behind her, turned her body sideways and, still floating in midair, let loose a string of stomps at Lairine!

Right, left, right, left, right, left, right!!

Sideways stomps at a terrifying speed rained down on Lairine!

“Wh, whoa, whoa!?”

Of course, unfortunately, it was a speed Lairine could easily handle.

She used both hands to deftly block them all.

But mentally, Lairine was gradually losing her composure.

The first reason was that Emi's movements, with her 【Black Arms】 mixed in, were trickier than anything seen in fights between people.

The second reason was that she still didn't understand the reason for the anger Emi had shown earlier, and her confusion persisted.

Blocking 【Black Arms】 that flew at her from her blind spots without even looking, and fending off Emi's fierce onslaught as she steadied herself and went back to pounding with both fists, Lairine shouted.

“E, Emi-chan! What's the meaning of this!?”

Right fist, left fist, right fist, and at the same time the left arm of 【Black Arms】 from above, right leg, the right arm of 【Black Arms】 from the front, right fist, left fist, right fist, left fist!

She blocked them all!

“Wh, what you ‘have inherited’ is the ‘Grim Reaper's’ ‘technique’! Isn't it!? Is it really all right, using those black arms in this trial!?”

“These 【Black Arms】 too!”

Never easing up on her attacks, Emi shouted back!

“Are my precious, memories!”

Right fist!

“Treasure!”

Left fist!

“Life!”

Right fist, left fist, right fist!

“They're, ‘what I have inherited’!”

A full-power left fist, after a moment's wind-up!

Lairine blocked all of these, too.

Pa, pa, pa, pa, pa, PAAN!!

Emi's fist and Lairine's palm collided, and the tremendous impact sent a thunderous roar echoing through the surroundings.

“That's...... I never heard anything like that......”

“That's right, you, never heard.”

Lairine murmured, dazed.

Emi took some distance and came to a halt, her fists raised.

“You never even tried to hear it. How I've lived, all this time.”

The wind, blows.

“And with that, you're a mother?...... Don't make me, laugh.”

Hair, streams.

Lairine's face turned pale, and she staggered slightly.

She was shocked by Emi's words.

Through Emi's words, she finally realized her own shortcomings and stood there in a daze.

She had little experience with her inner self being shaken so violently.

It would be fair to say her current mental condition was the absolute worst.

But, still.

Emi's fierce onslaught began again, and though dazed, Lairine still managed to block every single hit.

The strength she had cultivated over a long period of 300 years.

A wall that was far too high.

Even when shaken at heart, this wall, as expected, did not budge.

Moreover, on the day she first fought Emi, Lairine had already experienced a fight with 【Black Arms】 once.

Though she was a bit flustered, she would not be outdone by a tactic she had seen before.

No matter how mentally shaken she was, her body moved on its own according to her experiential knowledge.

Hence, to break down Lairine's still-sturdy defense, Emi had to make a new move.

A new move.

An Emi that Lairine didn't know.

Did such a thing exist?

......It did.

It did!

For this past month, Emi had!

Deliberately let Lairine see nothing but her honing of Master's ‘technique’!

Of course, she hadn't been slacking on that either!

But that wasn't all!

As for what Emi had “polished”!

Emi was certain.

The trump card she had continued to train, hiding it from Lairine's eyes.

......Now was the time to play it!!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

While continuing to slam both fists into Lairine, Emi screamed.

She was psyching herself up.

Then, in the next instant.

A change occurred in Emi's 【Black Arms】.

The 【Black Arms】 were shaped like human arms.

At their tips were 5 pointed fingers.

10 fingers in all, left and right together.

The bases of those fingers, along with Emi's scream.

Split.

Split, split, split, split.

The splits finally ran all the way to where 【Black Arms】 joined Emi.

In other words, 【Black Arms】 had cast off their shape as arms entirely.

And what was there.

......Stretching from a beautiful girl's shoulders, sharply pointed at their tips...... were 10, tentacles!!

“Eh!? Huh!?...... Haaaaaaaaaah!?”

Even Lairine, who had managed the neat trick of being dazed while fighting, let out a cry of astonishment at the sight of Emi suddenly turned into something inhuman!

“Wh, wh-wh-what is that!? What is thaaaaaaat!!?”

“【Black Tentacles】!!!”

Emi stated the tentacles' all-too-simple name in a word...... and then loosed them all at Lairine at once!

Rugged and hard-looking as ever, 【Black Tentacles】 came at Lairine from every direction!

They lunged forward with the momentum of sharp spears!

“Ah, ah, awaaaaah!!!”

【Black Tentacles】 No. 1, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 2, right fist, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 3, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 4, left fist, right fist, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 5 and 6, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 7, left leg, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 8 and 9, right fist, left fist, 【Black Tentacles】 No. 10!

Lairine continued to parry Emi's attacks, though she was greatly flustered!

So many strikes!

Emi's strikes were far too many!

The density of the attacks was too high to believe they were coming from a single person!

Lairine, who until now had fought Emi without moving a single step from her spot, finally began to fall back, little by little.

【Black Tentacles】 closed in on Lairine from every direction, almost at the same moment.

By moving, she was shifting that timing a little at a time.

Of course, Lairine was strong.

So, even if these 【Black Tentacles】 hit her body, she probably wouldn't suffer a single scratch.

If it were a fight to the death, Lairine would win.

......But this fight had rules.

If she took even a single hit, Lairine would lose at that moment.

If she couldn't parry them all, she would be defeated.

Which meant.

Emi would leave this island.

“N, no......! Nooooooo!!”

Realizing this, Lairine forcibly blew away the inner turmoil that had gripped her until then and psyched herself up.

For the first time today, fighting spirit lit up in her eyes!

No matter how much Emi hated her!

She wanted to be with Emi for a good while longer!

Parting here? Absolutely not!

“HAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Lairine stopped retreating.

Instead, she.

Began pinning 【Black Tentacles】 between her fingers as they came at her one after another, binding them fast!

“Mu!?”

Grow tentacles, multiply her strikes.

A bizarre strategy almost no one but Emi could pull off.

A breakthrough that others probably wouldn't understand just by hearing about it.

And it was about to be broken.

Cold sweat flowed from Emi's forehead, and turmoil ran through her mind.

Her control over 【Black Tentacles】 grew less precise.

......And so even more of her 【Black Tentacles】 got pinned!

A vicious cycle!!

Pashi, pashin!!!

And finally.

Emi's movements stopped.

Every one of her 【Black Tentacles】 was caught between Lairine's fingers, frozen in place.

Not only that.

The impact just now had been the sound of both of Emi's fists being caught.

Lairine had all 10 【Black Tentacles】 pinned between her fingers, and on top of that, she was gripping both of Emi's fists firmly, holding her fast.

She was forcing it through with overwhelming brute strength.

And Emi was a girl, while Lairine was a grown woman.

Their arms and legs were different lengths.

Even if Emi tried to kick from this position, it wouldn't reach Lairine.

“Haah, haah, haah......”

Emi had her mouth wide open, breathing heavily.

She must have been exhausted.

Her forehead was beaded with sweat, and her face was bright red.

“............Fuuuuuuuu......”

Lairine, on the other hand, let out a deep, deep...... sigh of relief.

This time, it really had been close.

A single streak of cold sweat ran down her smiling cheek.

But still, this was the end.

Emi was firmly pinned down and could no longer move.

The journey would have to wait.

“......That was too bad, wasn't iiit, Emi-chan”

Certain of victory, Lairine began to declare it.

“This match, I've”

Won, she was going to say.

But.

Her mouth had gotten that far when something suddenly felt off.

She stared intently at Emi's face.

Then, in Emi's eyes.

Still...... a fire was burning.

Her fighting spirit was burning, plain as day!

Emi had not given up yet!

But how!?

At this point, what could she possibly do!?

Lairine was confused.

To put it simply, Lairine had become complacent and let her guard down.

If she had wanted to win for certain.

The moment she had forcibly pinned Emi down, she should have dealt damage by slamming her into the ground or kicking her away to knock her unconscious.

Lairine could have done that.

And yet, by trying to declare her victory, she had given Emi time.

She had given it to her......!

(Something......!)

She had a bad feeling about this!

Sensing it by instinct, Lairine moved to knock Emi out...... but that thought came a few instants too late!

At that moment, Emi had her mouth wide open.

Why?

Was she dumbfounded?

Was she surprised?

A yawn?

It was none of those.

It was the sign of an attack.

Her real ace in the hole, which she had kept hidden from Lairine all this past month.

The fruit of her efforts, newly polished!

“What are”

You trying to do.

Foolishly, Lairine had almost asked that without thinking, but the question was cut off partway.

Because in the middle of it.

From the back of Emi's mouth.

Something thick and rope-like, murky black and rugged, its tip pointed like a spear...... in other words, 【Black Tentacles】!

......Had suddenly shot out!!

“!?”

【Black Tentacles】, stretching out like a frog's tongue!

Right now, Lairine was pinning Emi down at point-blank range.

And looking closely, the tips of 【Black Tentacles】 caught between her fingers had, at some point, wound themselves around Lairine's arms, binding her in return.

In other words, she couldn't move!

She couldn't...... avoid it!!

Stretching straight out, 【Black Tentacles】 flew true...... and struck Lairine square in the forehead.

Such was the impact that Lairine was knocked flying, bent backward, and landed flat on her back on the grassland.

Overwhelm Lairine with the sheer number of strikes from 【Black Tentacles】 and land one hit.

That had been Emi's primary goal in this battle.

Unfortunately, she hadn't achieved that, but she had also prepared a breakthrough for that scenario.

That was the surprise attack with 【Black Tentacles】 from inside her mouth.

【Black Tentacles】 and 【Black Arms】 sprouted from Emi's two shoulders.

That's how it had always been.

But that was only because she had been dragged along by the image of 【Invisible Hand】, the special ability 【Black Arms】 grew out of; in theory, they could be made to sprout from anywhere on her body.

This was a fact Omake-sama had actually seen through quite early on.

Emi made use of this.

Make 【Black Arms】...... 【Black Tentacles】 sprout inside her mouth.

And then, strike by surprise at point-blank range.

It had come off beautifully.

Naturally, generating 【Black Tentacles】 in places other than the shoulders required training, but hiding that training from Lairine was easy.

After all, there was little conversation between Emi and Lairine.

As long as she kept her mouth shut, she could practice without being found out, so Emi had been able to train at sprouting and firing 【Black Tentacles】 from inside her mouth to her heart's content.

Pulling 【Black Tentacles】, which had shot out of her mouth, back in with a shuru, shuru, shuru, Emi said flatly.

“I, win.”

Just like that.

Staring blankly up at the blue sky that filled her whole field of vision.

Lairine had no choice but to admit it.

“......I lost.”

Just like that.

The white clouds floating in the blue sky beyond her gaze were carried away by the wind, flying off somewhere.

Watching that sight, Lairine let her entire body go limp.

After letting out a deep, deep breath.

Once more.

Once more, as if chewing on the words, she said it.

“I.................. lost.”

Question

“My adoptive mother is too strong, and I can't land a single hit. What should I do?”

Answer 1

“Grow some tentacles and multiply your strikes.”

Answer 2

“Launch a surprise attack by firing a tentacle from your mouth.”

It looks like the long Arc 14 will finally be heading into its epilogue soon.