Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 92, Yoshino's Chapter: "The Reversal of Mercy"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"

Just as Shido's figure was being engulfed by the blue light, a golden throne appeared in front of him, blocking the attack from the [Ice Puppet].

"【The Slaughtering Lord】? Tohka!"

As the icy mist dissipated, Shido looked at the throne that stood empty in the same spot, but... there was no one around.

"Huh? Tohka...what!"

Before Shido could even look for Tohka, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from downstairs!

Below the building, an enormous shockwave suddenly erupted, and a ferocious beast opened its blood-red maw and charged towards the land.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely cold frost tornado roared up, spinning at an astonishing speed. Wherever it went, the vegetation was frozen, and the earth seemed to be torn apart.

And all of this was just the beginning. As time went on, a generalized barrier slowly and completely unfolded, enveloping the entire area.

Meanwhile, the AST forces, which had been waiting in the distance, realized the situation was dire and immediately launched a fierce attack.

Various high-tech weapons emitted dazzling light and powerful energy waves, but surprisingly, once these seemingly powerful attacks touched the storm and the barrier, they disappeared without a trace, as if sinking into the sea, and could not cause any substantial damage.

"How could this be... This is the most powerful equipment that AST can currently obtain," Ryoko exclaimed.

Faced with such a difficult situation, the members of AST felt helpless. Despite their attempts to adjust their tactics and increase their firepower, the result remained unchanged; they were still unable to break through the seemingly bottomless defensive line.

"Things have become tricky. The problem is that the blizzard can sense this and increase its defense as the magic power of the random domain is output!" Liaozi made a rational assessment.

“But… if we deactivate the random zone and go back in, our entire body will be attacked by ice bullets. Given the continuity of the display device we're wearing, there's simply no way to defend against them.” One of the team members also expressed his opinion.

Meanwhile, those on the balcony, gazing at the unfathomable depths of the "broad realm," were also at a loss, unsure of what to do.

"What should I do..."

"If you want to save Yoshino, then use [Slaughtering Master]. It's your only option right now, and of course, I can grant your wish."

While Shido hesitated, the dark figure had already sat on the throne of the "King of Slaughter" and extended an invitation to him.

"what?!"

"[Flame Beast] It's you! Where's Tohka?"

"Who knows? They're probably lost. So, do you need my help, Itsuka Shido?"

Shido looked at Ming in front of him, his heart filled with doubt and worry, but the urgent situation did not allow him to think too much.

"Can you really help me save Yoshino?" Shido asked.

“You are her hero, while I am nothing but a villain. I am only responsible for assisting, while you are to enter that huge ice cave.”

"Then what should I do? I don't have the same power as you!"

"That depends on you, Itsuka Shido. Think about it carefully. You were able to stand up like nothing happened after being hit by that huge magical sniper rifle."

Shido listened to Ming's words and lowered his head in deep thought. He recalled his previous experiences and those moments of escaping from desperate situations, and it seemed that he did indeed possess some unknown power within him.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try,” Shido said, clenching his fist.

Ming jumped down, and countless pages flew out behind him, transforming into a large number of girls swirling in the air.

The girls all had the same face and wore the same nun's habit, but their expressions were not as sacred as those of real nuns (not Nia); they all had a mocking look on their faces.

"Hold them back, don't kill anyone."

"Yes, Father!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Nibekor rushed towards the ASTs. Then Ming looked up at the flash of silver light outside several buildings.

Origami's eyes narrowed as she saw the Nibekors rushing towards AST. She knew the situation was complex, but she had only one goal—to be the first to reach Ming.

"[Flame Beast] I'll finish you off right now and avenge my father and mother!"

Origami skillfully weaved through the gaps in the battle, using her agility to dodge attacks from all sides. As she advanced, she kept an eye on Ming's movements.

Ming didn't seem to notice Origami's approach and continued to stare in the direction of Shido, who was still going downstairs.

Origami seized the opportunity and slashed at her neck with her sword, but the next moment, her body was bound by countless black flame-like chains.

"I don't have time to play house with you, and I'm too lazy to explain. Be quiet." Ming casually glanced at Origami, a surge of murderous intent emanating from him, causing Origami to tremble all over.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Shido stealthily approached the vast realm, tightly gripping Yoshina in his hand, gazing at the cold storm, and muttering to himself:

"Yoshino, are you crying?"

Despite being filled with fear, his body involuntarily rushed into the broad barrier first.

Ryoko Kusakabe wanted to grab the boy's hand, but Shido ran so fast that even Ryoko, who had received military training, could not dodge him.

Shido stepped into the cold, expansive barrier, as if he were in a frozen world. The biting wind cut into the boy's body like sharp blades, but the boy was only focused on finding the girl and completely disregarded his own condition.

Shido trudged through the cold wind, his body nearly frozen, but he would soon be reborn, though his senses were gradually fading and his consciousness was slowly becoming blurred.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Shido saw Yoshino hanging from the giant rabbit. The girl was curled up on the ice puppet, sobbing softly.

"Yoshino...Nai, Yoshinai...Yoshino."

The girl kept repeating Yoshina's name, and at that moment, a voice came from the darkness:

"it's here!"

In the endless darkness, a faint, almost imperceptible sound suddenly rang out. Upon closer listening, it turned out to be Shido's incredibly weak voice.

The sound was like a candle flickering in the wind, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

Finally, the girl saw the figure slowly emerging from the darkness—it was Shido!

He was also clutching a cute doll in his hand, which was Yoshina.

The moment the girl spotted Shido, she immediately stopped crying and, without hesitation, started running towards him.

Shido also struggled to lift his head, his vision blurred as he looked at Yoshino running towards him. Although his consciousness was beginning to fade, he still used his last bit of strength to reach out to the girl.

"I made it just in time. It only took the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. I brought Yoshina as promised."

However, just as the woman extended her hand, an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion washed over her like a tide, causing Yoshino to lose all support and fall heavily to the ground uncontrollably.

Shido's already battered body was now even more gruesome, completely destroyed by the Broad Barrier. Shido immediately sat up again, only to slowly regenerate the next moment.

"Shido...brother..."

"Wait, is there something wrong with me?"

"No...no, I'm just so happy...thank you...thank you for saving Yoshino."

Upon hearing this, Shido slowly took the girl's hand, his eyes hardening once more.

"Yoshino, it's my turn to save you now."

"Ugh?"

At this point, Shido's expression showed a slight hint of shyness and embarrassment.

"Uh... Yoshino, for that reason, I have to do something... do you remember kissing?"

Yoshino lowered her head, looking a little shy. Shido, thinking she didn't want to, prepared to explain.

But Yoshino kissed him directly, "Was I wrong...? I believe you... what Shido-nii said...."

A moment later, the spirit armor began to disintegrate and dissipate. Outside, as the spiritual power belonging to Yoshino within the broad barrier began to disappear, Ming transformed into countless butterflies and scattered in all directions. After all, the real beginning was yet to come.

And AST, as a duty, also went after those fleeing butterflies.

The snowstorm gradually subsided. Just as this seemingly peaceful moment arrived, a piercing gunshot suddenly shattered the tranquility, and a silver bullet, like lightning, hurtled from the rooftop, heading straight for Yoshino.

The woman firing from several buildings was Jessica Bailey, the captain of DEM's third combat squad. Her face was flushed with excitement as she murmured in a low voice:

"Excellent! I have finally completed the task assigned to me by Director Isaac. I'm sure Director Allen will look at me in a new light now!"

However, all of this happened like a sudden nightmare, catching everyone off guard!

At that critical moment, Shido, almost driven by instinct and subconsciousness, manipulated his body without hesitation, moving at lightning speed to Yoshino's side and building an unbreakable defense with his own flesh and blood.

With a muffled "thud," a bullet mercilessly pierced Shido's heart. In an instant, crimson blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering onto the surrounding ground and forming a gruesome pool of blood.

Shido's body slumped backward like a puppet that had lost its support, and he fell heavily to the ground.

At this moment, Yoshino, now without the protection of her spirit armor, stared wide-eyed in terror as she looked incredulously at Shido, who was slowly collapsing before her.

It all happened so suddenly that her mind went completely blank.

To make matters worse, just now, her own spiritual power was sealed by Shido, leaving her in a state of utter helplessness.

Kotori, watching from behind a screen, was also furious.

"Damn it, who was it! I'll find you, the one who fired the shot, after I'm reborn..."

After Kotori finished speaking, Shido did not begin to regenerate for a long time. In a fit of anger, she bit the precious pearl in her mouth and crushed it.

"What exactly happened?!"

"It's bad, Commander! [The Hermit]...she seems to be turning things around...what do we do?!"

"what!"

On the other side, inside a building, Ming used the fact that Qinli's spiritual power was the same as his own to temporarily take over the release of spiritual power, slowing down the regeneration.

Yoshino blinked her big eyes, watching in disbelief as Shido collapsed in front of her with a thud. The girl looked around in a daze, a strong sense of disillusionment washing over her, which really shocked her.

"Shido...Shido-nii! No...please stop!" the girl wailed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face like rain.

"No...no...Shido-nii...please don't leave me! Waa ...

Yoshino clutched her head in pain, and a cloud of black spiritual energy material suddenly appeared around her.

Good heavens, the wind was blowing so fiercely that it turned the girl's light blue hair white and even dyed her pupils a scarlet red.

Then look at the raincoat, which was originally green, it turned black in an instant, and the goggles completely covered the right eye.

When Yoshino slowly opened her beautiful and deep eyes again, a strange and wicked smile quietly appeared on her delicate face.

She gazed silently at the world before her, a world that appeared peaceful yet harbored hidden dangers.

Immediately afterwards, she raised her hand slightly, her movements like those of a cold and ruthless monarch.

However, at that very moment, a terrifyingly powerful force suddenly erupted! A jet-black ice tornado, coiling and roaring like a giant dragon, appeared out of thin air and swept in with a destructive force.

At the same time, pitch-black freezing rain began to fall in torrents. These raindrops were not ordinary rain, but rather icy weapons imbued with endless chill and the aura of death.

The moment before their words fell, they froze everything around them into a frozen hell with astonishing speed and power.

In this snow-covered land, time seemed to stand still. All sounds vanished, and the whole world became silent, save for the howling wind.

In this deathly silence, only Shido, lying on the ground, still retained his original vibrant colors.

At this moment, Shido's body trembled slightly, his face filled with astonishment and despair.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down the girl's beautiful eyes, one after another, like pearls falling from a broken string.

Every tear was filled with the deepest pain and sorrow in her heart.

However, the man who was once regarded as a "hero" now kept his eyes closed and remained unmoved by all of this.

Perhaps it was out of fear, or perhaps it was because he was no longer able to face such a cruel reality...

"I want to see... who's bullying our Yoshino and her friends!"

The girl spoke again, but this time her voice was no longer gentle; it was icy and angry.

Frost covered the earth, and nearly half of the city seemed to be frozen into a still painting. Only Yoshino, after being turned upside down, quietly gazed at the boy with his eyes closed at her feet.

The girl slowly bent down and gently kissed the boy's forehead. Then, a chilling aura enveloped Shido's body like a thin veil, and in an instant, an ice coffin appeared beside the boy.

"You... are Yoshino's... friend, right? Even though you hurt... Yoshino, I will still avenge you for Yoshino!" The girl slowly ascended into the air.

"Let the biting cold blanket the world, [Extreme Cold Ice Puppet]!"