The instant Saki's punch cut through empty air, she realized just how disastrous a move it had been to charge in so recklessly.
Whoosh!!!
Steel Lady Nanase took the opportunity to swing the steel beam, the weapon screaming through the air with terrifying force.
If that blow landed, her head would absolutely explode.
But...
She couldn't dodge it!!
A bitter smile spread across Saki's face.
That last punch had used every bit of strength she had.
Her old force was spent, and her new force hadn't yet risen.
On top of that, because the punch had missed, her footing was completely off-balance. She had no time at all to evade.
With death rushing toward her, the person who flashed through Saki's mind was Takumi, the man she'd met before.
If I'm really about to die... I wish I could've fallen in love at least once. Dying single... that really sucks... Wait, why can I still think?
Saki muttered to herself, only to realize the pitch-black steel beam had frozen in place right beside her head.
The slightly trembling beam made it obvious that Steel Lady Nanase was still trying to force it down.
But the bizarre thing was that no matter how hard it pushed, the weapon simply couldn't get any closer to her.
"W-what... what exactly is going on!?"
As she stood there lost and stunned, Takumi's voice drifted up from below the broken guardrail at the corner.
"We meet again, Miss Yumihara. Looks like your luck really is awful."
As his voice reached her, Takumi slowly rose up from below the roadside, carrying a beautiful older woman in both arms.
"It's you!?"
Saki cried out in surprise, delight flashing across her face.
Takumi's arrival made her breathe a deep, instinctive sigh of relief.
Even if she worked in the traffic division, at the end of the day she was still a woman.
After something this terrifying, of course she wanted someone she could rely on.
And right now, the person standing in front of her was exactly that.
But Takumi didn't rush to deal with Steel Lady Nanase first. Instead, he lowered his head to the mature beauty in his arms, whose eyes were still shut.
"Restore!"
The moment he healed her, Touko Yots uya slowly opened her eyes from unconsciousness.
Her golden eyes instantly met Takumi's gaze.
A jolt like electricity ran through her heart.
"Y-you... just now..."
Touko's pale, creamy face flushed red at once, immediately realizing she was being carried in the arms of a handsome young man.
Embarrassed, she instinctively looked around—and in the next second spotted Saki being attacked by Steel Lady Nanase.
"Ahhh! It's that ghost!"
Touko jumped in fright and immediately burrowed back into Takumi's arms.
Duang~ Duang~
Her ripe, mature body pressed against him, carrying a faint, elegant fragrance that made Takumi's heart tremble.
He took a deep breath and patted Touko's smooth back.
"It's alright, Mrs. Yotsuya. You're safe now."
That gentle voice and soft, reassuring touch instantly filled Touko's eyes with tears.
She didn't even have time to wonder why this beautiful stranger of a boy knew who she was.
"W-waaah... I was just on a business trip... why did something like this have to happen to me? Thank you for saving me. Otherwise I..."
Tears streaming down her face, Touko spoke in a trembling voice, then fearfully glanced at the car that had plunged off the road and become a heap of scrap metal.
If Takumi hadn't pulled her out of the vehicle just now, she would already be a corpse.
"Please save me! I'm begging you!!"
Seeing that Takumi still wasn't paying any attention to her, Saki finally panicked and shouted.
Her voice only further agitated Steel Lady Nanase, who kept swinging that steel beam down again and again.
Unfortunately for her, in front of Takumi's Stopping Force, Steel Lady Nanase looked like she was doing nothing but fake swings. Not a single blow actually landed.
Even so, the constant smashing strikes still scared the hell out of Saki.
Her nerves were already strong enough. If Touko had been in her place, she probably would've already...
Drip. Drip.
Feeling wetness against his hand, Takumi looked down blankly at the flushed, humiliated Touko in his arms.
"Wuu~~ d-don't look... I-I'm sorry, I just..."
Letting out a miserable whimper, Touko was mortified beyond belief.
The sight in front of her had been so primitive and horrifying that she'd accidentally peed herself in fear.
Takumi sighed, his face twisted with helpless disbelief, and muttered, "Just like Miko... except she feels ten-something years older, way more mature, and a whole lot sexier."
"Huh? Miko? You know my daughter? And what do you mean by the rest of that? I-I..."
Hearing Takumi call her mature and sexy, Touko grew even more embarrassed.
She frantically tried to cover her overflowing breasts, but pressed this tightly against Takumi, there was no stopping that lush cleavage from rubbing all over him.
And even though she wanted to climb down from his arms, she'd just gone through a life-and-death scare and didn't have a shred of strength left.
More importantly, that giant vengeful spirit was still right there.
At this point, Touko only felt safe in Takumi's embrace.
Thinking that, she actually curled up tighter and pressed herself even more firmly against him.
Even with her skirt mashed right up against Takumi's palm, she couldn't spare the mental energy to care.
One hand still under that plump, rounded ass, Takumi circulated his magic and evaporated the moisture.
"Uuu~~~"
Touko instantly let out a sweet, trembling moan that nearly made Takumi lose it.
But he realized that even if he freed up one hand, he could still hold Touko steady with ease.
Taking another deep breath, Takumi decided to try exactly that.
As soon as he pulled his left hand free, Touko remained securely supported just as expected.
His now-free left hand instantly manifested the Boosted Gear, which in the blink of an eye stretched and lengthened into a mimicked holy sword.
...
With a light swing, the blade extended out like a beam of light, transforming into a soft ribbon of radiance that wrapped around Saki's waist.
"Come here!"
Then, with a gentle tug, Saki felt a clever force lift her off the ground and send her flying over.
The next moment, she landed safely beside Takumi.
Before she could even get a word of thanks out, Takumi spoke.
"Karin, the rumor-debunking video's done by now, right? This is your imaginary body. It's your turn."
"Ah, yeah, it's already done. But why do you keep calling me by my stage name? Can't you just use my real name?"
"Nope. Haruko sounds way too plain. Karin sounds better."
"This is the first time I've hated my idol identity this much!"
As Karin's voice rang out, her figure appeared a moment later.
With the same height as Steel Lady Nanase, and the same crazy curvy, eye-poppingly voluptuous body, Karin instantly stunned both Saki and Touko.
"Ehhhh!!!"
"They look exactly the same except for the face!"
Still clinging tightly to Takumi, Touko let out a cry of shock.
Meanwhile, Saki murmured, "That's not 'similar'—that's literally the same person. What the hell is going on here!?"
"To put it simply, Steel Lady Nanase is a monster created out of human imagination, while this one here is the original."
Kotoko's cute, playful voice sounded out as well.
Holding both her cane and a notebook, she looked at everyone with a bright smile.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.