14. Let me know if you guys see any major typos or grammatical errors. It'll be a huge help.
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(3rd)
- Five Days Later -
"So, are you two nervous?" Cain asked Himari and Shushu, who were both on his opposite side.
The three of them were in the bathhouse, relaxing in the pool before the Mato Exhibition Games began.
"I am just not as much as I was a few days ago," Himari replied, smiling at Cain while blushing slightly. "Thanks to you..."
Ever since what happened between them, their relationship had changed from friends to friends with benefits.
"Yeah, same here! With you on our side, we'll win by a landslide," Shushu said enthusiastically, and Himari nodded in agreement.
Cain smiled at the two. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but remember, just because I'm with you guys doesn't mean you two can slack off, understand?" They both nodded.
"Don't worry, Cainny, we won't let you down!" Shushu playfully saluted and winked, making him chuckle. "I'm sure you won't." Cain then sensed an unfamiliar signature entering the bathhouse. "Seems like we have company."
Before they could ask what he was talking about, they heard footsteps and turned to see that it was a member of the 6th Unit.
The individual was a beautiful woman with a well-endowed figure, long orange hair, matching eyes, and fair skin.
"What are you doing here?" Himari questioned, with slightly narrowed eyes. "The exhibition games aren't supposed to start for another few hours."
"Your guess is as good as mine. You'd have to ask Izumo," the woman shrugged before yawning slightly. "I just came here to relax." She then noticed Cain, and her eyes lit up. "Hey, you're that handsome man everyone was talking about."
Faster than Himari and Shushu could blink, the woman was beside the only man in the bathhouse. "My name's Sahara Wakasa. It's a pleasure to meet ya!!"
"Name's Cain, and same here." He gave the woman a friendly smile. "I hope you don't mind, but—" she yawned, and her eyes became heavy. "--I'm going to take a nap on you."
Cain shrugged. "Go for it."
"Thanks," Sahara rested her head on his shoulder and fell fast asleep.
The older man had a look of amusement on his face. He then noticed the looks that Himari and Shushu were giving him.
"What? I was only being polite." Neither of the two believed him with the stupid grin he had on his face.
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- A few hours later -
Now, everyone from the 7th and 6th Units was outside facing each other, with a woman standing between Kyoka and Tenka, who would be the referee of the Mato Exhibition Games.
The referee was a short woman with a petite frame, short, wavy blonde hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. She wore the standard ADC uniform and two hairpins near her left eye.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Ginna Bizen, and I'll be your referee," she introduced herself before explaining her Peach Blessing: Ginna Club.
Ginna Club is an ability that allows her to deploy a barrier by drawing lines on the ground. The only way to enter the barrier is by writing their signature on a piece of paper, and any harm/destruction within the barrier will be restored to its previous state at the end of each battle.
By the end of her explanation, her gaze locked onto Cain, and she gave him a cold look, earning a raised eyebrow from the older man.
'She must be one of those,' Not wanting to take a form of disrespect, especially from a woman supremacist, Cain returned her look tenfold, causing the woman to shudder, making him smile smugly. 'Pussy.'
Cain's gaze then moved toward Nei, who was holding a sign with "Team Seven" written on it.
"You're not joining in the fun?" Cain questioned, and the little girl shook her head negatively.
"No, I'm not a combatant, so I'll be cheering for you guys with all I've got," she replied, smiling.
"Let's begin with no further delay! Onto the first match," Ginna announced.
"Wish me luck." He patted Nei's head before going to stand by Himari's side.
"Good luck!"
"We'll go!" Himari said and pointed at Cain. "He'll also be participating, as he's a part of my ability."
Cain went into his transformation, and everyone who hadn't seen it before was intimidated.
Yachiho, not wanting to appear afraid, shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Himari arrogantly. "I don't mind. Telling a dog owner they can't use their dog would be cruel. It won't make any difference. I'll win either way and have you return to the Azuma House, where I'll have you under strict reformation."
Himari narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist. "No, you're wrong, Yachiho. I'll be the one winning," Yachiho snorted and didn't bother retorting.
After Ginna explained the rules, Himari got on Cain's back, and both parties waited for the referee to start the match.
"AND BEGIN!"
As soon as Ginna began the match, Cain acted instantly and shot a massive torrent of crimson fire at Yachiho, whose eyes widened at the sheer size of the attack sent toward her. She quickly moved out of the way, nearly avoiding getting turned into a crisp. She then had to raise her arms in an X-shape, which projected a force field that protected her from getting directly hit by Cain. But she was still sent flying back due to the sheer power the only male ADC member put into his strike.
'How fast was he to close the distance between us that quickly?' Yachiho mentally screamed in her mind.
Yachiho, while arrogant, wasn't thick-headed enough to believe she would underestimate someone like Cain. She'd seen the footage of the only male member of the ADC and knew, physically and combatively, that she was no match for him, as much as she would rather not admit it. She also didn't doubt her little sister told Cain about the ins and outs of Golden Hour and had already found a way to counter it, or at least close the gap.
So, Yachiho vigorously trained her body and Peach Blessing for the next few days and took many precautions. It seems she made the correct decision, as a few days ago, she wouldn't have been able to react and defend herself from that attack, which would've resulted in a humiliating defeat.
Once she landed on the ground, she tried using Golden Hour, but Cain was already on her ass and sent a vicious kick toward her, which she dodged by only a few centimeters. Yachiho quickly took her handgun and then fired several shots at Cain's right leg, but he was quick enough to evade the projectiles and sent another kick toward the older Azuma.
Unable to move out of the way in time, Yachiho projected a spherical force field around herself. With a single kick, the force field surrounding her nearly shattered, so she reacted quickly and used Golden Hour. However, much to her disappointment, the transformed male leaped back twenty meters before the effects of Golden Hour could reach him.
"Too slow!" She heard Cain yell out, mocking, making her grit her teeth in unadulterated rage and hatred.
"That fucking monkey!" Yachiho hissed.
"That's racist!"
"Shut up!"
She shot at Cain a few more times before needing to reload, which her enemies took advantage of, with the transformed male closing the distance in seconds. Luckily for her, that force field she created repaired itself as Cain hit it with enough force that a second attack would destroy it. Just as the Latino was about to shatter Yachiho's force field again, the older Azuma jumped a few meters back.
Before landing on the ground, she pulled out what seemed like a machine gun from a seal placed on her hand and fired several missiles at the duo. Cain easily evaded the explosive projectiles, but that wasn't the end, as the missiles swerved around and rapidly came straight toward them. If that wasn't already troublesome enough, the missiles each split into miniature projects, and the speed at which they moved was five times greater than before. Seeing this, Himari fired at the projectiles. Cain did his best to evade them while trying to close the distance between him and Yachiho.
However, it became increasingly difficult as Yachiho never allowed him to close the distance between them, and she continued to spam heat-seeking missiles at them. The male monster slayer had to hand it to Yachiho; she was putting up more of a fight than he initially expected. He originally believed the older Azuma would be too arrogant to treat him as a threat. Instead, she swallowed her pride and played it smart by staying as far away from him as possible while attacking him at a distance with the LAIML249.
The LAIML249 is a powerful handheld automatic infrared missile launcher that fires missiles that can split into multiple projectiles and increase in speed the longer they're in the air. Just two or three hits from the weapons could utterly destroy SSS-Class Shuuki.
So imagine what one of those missiles would do to him and Himari if one of them made contact. There would be nothing of them left. All Cain could do was evade and wait for the older Azuma to run out of ammunition.
After two minutes of constant evasion and close calls, Yachiho finally ran out of ammunition, allowing him to close the distance and lunge at the older Azuma instantly. However, just before Cain's fist could make contact with Yachiho, she pulled out a missile launcher and fired at the last second. The Latino was unable to move out of the way in time. Thus, he took a direct hit in the face from the explosive projectile.
Luckily, it only stunned him for a few seconds and blew off an arm, as it was just a regular missile that hit him. However, he was disoriented long enough for Yachiho to use Golden Hour.
'Ha, gotcha!' Yachiho grinned madly with satisfaction. Unfortunately for her, though, the unbelievable happened.
Her ability didn't stop Cain completely. It only slowed him down, shocking not only Yachiho but everyone else watching the fight.
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- On unit seven's side -
"How's he doing that?!" Ginna screamed in disbelief. "That shouldn't be possible!"
Kyoka chuckled softly. "Why am I not surprised?"
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- On unit six's side -
"Ara ara! You keep getting more interesting, don't you, handsome?" Tenka said, looking at Cain with a dangerous look, licking her lips, and not noticing the creeped-out expression she was getting from Sahara.
'I'm just going to move over here,' Sahara thought, stepping a few feet away from the blonde.
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- Back to the fight -
"HOW ARE YOU STILL MOVING?!" Yachiho screamed.
"Sorry, trade secret," Cain retorted before completely breaking the time-stopping effect around him and knocking her out with a devastating haymaker that sent her flying and crashing to the ground with an audible thump.
"Um, I think you overdid it..." Himari commented, looking at her older sister with a worried expression.
"The bitch tried to kill us," Cain retorted. "I say she got off easy."
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- On unit seven's side -
"AND HIMARI AZUMA IS THE WINNER!" Ginna announced, and everyone in the 7th unit cheered for their friend's victory.
'Our first victory,' Kyoka smiled. 'Good job, you two.'
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- On unit six's side -
"Oh no, she lost..." Sahara commented.
"Let's take this defeat as a lesson." Tenka shrugged, not at all bothered that they lost the first.
They still had a chance to win the other matches. Well, that's if Cain doesn't get involved in those, too.
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- With Cain & Himari -
"Damn, you really fucked her up!" Ginna exclaimed as she healed Yachiho. "If it weren't for me, she would've been in a coma for God knows how long."
"Oops," Cain shrugged, not really caring. "It's a good thing you're here then, eh?"
Yachiho groaned, slowly sat up, and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the Latino. Instantly, she stood up and pointed her finger at Cain while glaring at him fiercely.
"You!"
Cain pointed at himself and playfully retorted. "Me!"
"How'd you do that?!"
"Do what?" His features contorted into mock confusion. "You're going to have to be a lot more specific," he replied, making Yachiho growl.
"How come Golden Hour didn't work on you?!" Everyone looked at Cain expectantly.
"Oh, that's because, depending on the person, I can weaken or completely negate any effect they place on me," Cain answered nonchalantly, earning looks of disbelief from everyone.
He could also weaken or negate the abilities of others, but he kept that information to himself. After all, he must keep some cards close to his chest.
"You're...you're such bullshit!" Yachiho screamed. Cain grinned. "Thanks, I get that a lot."
"That wasn't a compliment, you asshat!" Yachiho shrieked before calming down and looking at Himari, smiling. "You've done well... I'll...I'll try not to be such a bitch toward you," she said, surprising the latter.
"Really?" Himari asked.
"Yeah, really," Yachiho nodded. "So, will you come back to the Azuma estate?" She asked, looking at Himari hopefully.
"No," unfortunately for her, Himari immediately shattered her hopes. "My home is the 7th unit. So regardless of what you say, I'm not going back," she replied, then grabbed Cain's hand and dragged him to the dormitories with her while leaving behind a frozen-up Yachiho.
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- Elsewhere -
Four individuals watched the exhibition games from a far distance on the edge of a cliff.
The first individual was a tall man with a stocky frame and an almost gold, mask-like face. He wore battle-style clothing, with the left side black while the right was white, long-sleeve gauntlets, black chest armor with a series of white outlines, and a half-black, half-white hat.
The second individual was a tall woman with an athletic yet well-endowed figure, a pair of antler-like horns on her head, long white hair, elongated ears, silver eyes, and dark skin. She wore light white armor that covered her body from head to toe.
The third individual was a short young woman with long purple hair that consisted of snake tips, slitted silver eyes, sharp canines, and fair skin. She wore a traditional Japanese kimono with her hair tied in the back with a red ribbon.
The last individual was a tall woman with a slender yet athletic figure, short red horns on her head, long pink hair, sharp turquoise eyes with rings around the pupils, pinkish-red markings on the canthi, and fair skin. She wore a white cap, a matching overcoat, a red military-like uniform, black leggings, and white boots.
"So that's the ADC's first male member, huh? He's a lot more impressive than I thought he'd be," the pink-haired woman purred in a seductive tone.
When she heard about Cain, he immediately piqued her interest, as she had been looking for the perfect mate, and from the reports her group was receiving about him, he certainly fit her criteria. Not only was he powerful, but also dangerously sexy. Just thinking about getting her hands on him made the unknown pink-haired woman's core hot, and she tried her best not to rub her thighs together.
The only male of the four scoffed. "He's strong for an insect but no match for a god."
"I don't know. I can feel the man's power, and it certainly doesn't belong to an insect," the woman let out a dreamy sigh, earning raised eyebrows from her companions.
"Oh my, you wouldn't happen to fancy the man, would you?" The purple-haired woman asked in a teasing tone.
"And what if I do? I always wanted a mate/pet, and I believe I found the perfect one." The woman's turquoise eyes locked onto Cain, and she licked her lips. "You wouldn't mind if I had a little fun with them this time, would you, Shinoku-Chan?"
The purple-haired woman, now known as Shinoku, shrugged her shoulders. "I already had fun with the 3rd Unit, so go ahead, but take Rairen with you. He's been dying to get his hands dirty, isn't that right?"
The man, now known as Rairen, grinned maliciously and cracked his knuckles. "You could say that."
End.
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Bronze Tier [1.50]
1 Extra Chapter
Silver Tier [3.00]
2 Extra Chapters