The moment the gunshot boomed, Fudou Hayabusa's mind was filled with surprise and doubt.
"How dare she shoot at me?"
The orange-haired young man's sapphire-like pupils constricted slightly.
This was illogical; every life touched by Japari Park spontaneously developed an affinity for him, just as young beasts instinctively followed the alpha wolf. The beast-transformed American soldiers were clear proof, fanatically shouting "Japari Forever."
But this cat girl in front of him, whose beast transformation was already deep, with purple fur covering her body, had pure killing intent burning in her vertical pupils, and her finger pulled the trigger without a hint of hesitation.
"Could it be that an individual who hasn't completed "Friendization" has such stubborn hostility?"
"Or… is she the "variable" prophesied to hinder me?"
Thoughts flashed through his mind, but Fudou Hayabusa's body reacted before his thoughts could. His superb dynamic vision, like that of a raptor, locked onto the tiny deviation of the gun muzzle, and his cheetah-like nerve reflexes instantly tensed his muscles, moving him sideways.
Whoosh!
The scorching bullet grazed his flying orange hair, carving out a few sparks on the iron door of the repair shop behind him.
"She cannot be left alive!"
For the ultimate happiness he believed in, he betrayed that terrifying organization of madmen and stole a treasure capable of shaking the "Established Future."
To reverse the prophesied defeat, to reach the most beautiful and happy "paradise" in his heart, he would never tolerate any obstacle!
The aerospace mechanic who caused his failure in the prophecy must die, and this deeply hostile cat girl in front of him must be personally eliminated!
"Japari Park!"
Fudou Hayabusa roared, his left hand flashing out a glass coin as thin as a cicada's wing—inside, it sealed the hair and bone marrow information of a brown bear. This was a specially made tool for him to conveniently use his abilities.
Orange ripples instantly spread from the coin, and a pair of illusory orange cat ear shadows swept over his left arm.
Pfft!
His entire right arm instantly transformed in the orange light, his skin tearing open, covered with dense, coarse brownish-red fur. His five fingers transformed into terrifying bear paws covered with keratinized claws, his knuckles thick, and his muscles like gnarled old roots, immense power surging and roaring in his veins.
The air shrieked as it was torn apart.
The bear paw, carrying a colossal force far beyond human limits, descended with the power to split mountains and rocks, aiming at the girl's small body.
The wind from the palm pressed her purple short hair tightly against her scalp, and the scent of death assailed her.
Nyamu's vertical pupils constricted, but a warrior's instinct overcame fear and the sharp pain in her palm.
The blood-stained pistol she had just held tightly slipped from her grasp and fell. Almost simultaneously, her nimble purple cat tail, like a third hand, flashed out and coiled around the weapon that had just fallen at her feet, flinging it into the air.
Splat!
The moment the pistol landed on the fuselage, the girl's blood-stained claws had already tightly gripped the thrown metal flathead screwdriver. The cold metallic sensation transmitted, and the handle was quickly stained red with the blood from her palm.
She bent her knees slightly, lowering her center of gravity, pouring all her strength and will into her arms, holding the half-meter-long, sturdy flathead screwdriver like a knight's lance, its tip pointing upwards, firmly pressed against her chest.
The target was the palm of the descending bear paw.
The huge bear paw, with its irresistible force, slammed heavily onto the sharp tip of the screwdriver!
Pfft—!
The sound of the sharp blade piercing through flesh, fascia, and tearing tough palm bones was horrifyingly clear, and hot blood gushed out from the wound.
"Ugh ah—!" Fudou Hayabusa's handsome face instantly distorted from the intense pain, letting out a pained roar that was not human. The immense force of his strike was interrupted by the piercing pain, and its momentum stalled.
"Now is the time!"
A sharp glint flashed in Nyamu's eyes. Instead of resisting the terrifying force, she leveraged the momentum of the bear paw's descent. Her entire body, like a nimble cat, suddenly arched backward, and her hands, still tightly gripping the screwdriver handle, pulled down fiercely.
Screech—!
The screwdriver, like a plow, tore open a terrifying, bone-deep gash on the huge bear paw, and blood gushed uncontrollably from the wound.
The immense pain caused Fudou Hayabusa's body to lose balance and lean forward.
And Nyamu, sliding backward, had used the force of that pull to ghost-like slide beneath his unguarded chest and abdomen.
She let go, and the blood-stained screwdriver fell.
The girl's blood-stained cat claws splayed open, their sharp nails glinting coldly in the pale light. With all her accumulated anger, fear, and the resolute determination to protect, she fiercely swung them at the chest so close to her!
"Ugh la—!"
Claws dug into flesh, and five deep blood marks instantly erupted on Fudou Hayabusa's chest.
Skin and flesh peeled back, and blood instantly soaked his orange shirt!
"Ugh, damn it!" The intense pain and the humiliation of being toyed with made Fudou Hayabusa's face contort. He staggered backward, clutching his blood-soaked chest, his gaze at Nyamu becoming even more cautious.
"Cheetah!" Another glass coin was flung out, and orange ripples swept over his legs.
His leg muscles instantly tensed and lengthened, covered with short yellow and black fur, and his feet transformed into cheetah paws, ideal for pushing off and gripping the ground.
Fudou Hayabusa's figure became a blurred orange afterimage, accompanied by a shriek that tore through the air, pouncing towards Nyamu, who had just landed, at a speed far beyond human visual capture.
"Too fast!"
The shadow of death loomed again, but this time, the warrior's heart was burning fiercely.
For her cherished friends, for her companions whose fates were unknown, for all the people she had seen devoured by this madness along the way.
"Freely Tomorrow!"
Her will was like a blade, and the data stream in the girl's vision surged like never before, a violent torrent merging into her body.
[Purchased: "Intermediate Combat Techniques"!]
[Purchased: "Short-term Mental Power Boost"!]
[Purchased: "Reaction Speed Enhancement"!]
[Purchased: "Pain Shielding II"!]
[…]
A continuous series of system prompts rang out in her mind like a dense drumbeat, and a massive flow of information instantly surged into her limbs and bones.
Countless combat images, force application techniques, and the instinct for life-and-death struggle were etched into her muscle memory. The sharp pain in her palm was like a gate being pulled down, instantly blurring, and even the flow of time seemed to slow down by half a beat.
[Current total debt: 5.08 million yen.] A line of blood-red numbers mercilessly flickered in the corner of her vision, and the number was still continuously skyrocketing!
[Mission objective: Defeat the mastermind behind the beast transformation incident, "Fudou Hayabusa".]
[Mission hint: Fight!]
Fight!
"Hmph!" Nyamu let out a short, clear cry, advancing instead of retreating.
Her nimble body, at the instant the opponent attacked again, twisted and slid sideways at an incredibly small angle. Claws grazed her neck, tearing a shallow blood mark.
At the same time, her blood-stained right claw, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, shot out like lightning, fiercely digging into Fudou Hayabusa's soft flesh under his ribs, exposed by his pounce.
Fudou Hayabusa grunted, forcibly twisting his waist with the cheetah's flexibility to avoid a vital spot, but his ribs were still torn open by the sharp cat claws, leaving several bloody gashes.
His eyes showed even greater shock and anger; the cat girl's speed and reactions had instantly escalated to an unbelievable degree.
The two engaged in the most primal struggle on the long, cold fuselage of the Nightingale.
Fudou Hayabusa was like an amalgamation of kings of beasts, his characteristics constantly switching and layering.
The furious strikes of a bear paw, the swift pounces and bites of a cheetah, the flexible grappling of an ape, and even the occasional whip-like tail of some ancient creature... his attack methods were endless, each move lethal.
Nyamu, on the other hand, transformed into the most resilient fighter. She perfectly integrated the feline's flexibility and agility with the combat techniques instilled by the system. Her body was like willow catkins in the wind, dodging and weaving through the storm-like attacks.
Each dangerous dodge was accompanied by a fierce counterattack. Her cat claws were her sharpest weapons—tearing, scratching, digging, raking—each swing bringing forth a spray of blood.
Her blood-stained tail seemed to have a mind of its own, at times coiling around metal parts scattered from the toolbox to hurl at her opponent, at other times wrapping around hard metal objects to lash out like a venomous snake at the opponent's joints and eyes.
Blood splattered freely on the silver-gray wing: some Fudou Hayabusa's, some Nyamu's.
Claw marks, teeth marks, and bruises quickly covered both their bodies. Gasps, roars, and the dull thud of flesh colliding echoed intensely in the empty workshop.
Fudou Hayabusa grew increasingly alarmed as they fought. This girl was like a red-hot piece of iron, rapidly tempered and shaped in battle. Her gaze remained firm, devoid of fear, only burning fighting spirit!
"You're making me dislike cats a little!"
Fudou Hayabusa's eyes blazed with ferocity. He forced Nyamu back again, his left hand quickly reaching for another specially made glass coin at his waist—inside, it sealed samples of a deep-sea octopus's tough suction cup tissue.
"Japari Park!" He violently flung the coin onto the wing at Nyamu's feet.
Orange ripples suddenly spread out.
The surface of the metal wing instantly became slippery and sticky, and countless orange-yellow tentacle phantoms, bowl-sized and covered with suction cups, suddenly "grew" out of the metal, like a living swamp, tightly coiling around her feet.
A powerful suction instantly came, intending to firmly fix her in place.
This fighter jet had long been modified by him; many parts had buried within them the necessary substances suitable for "life birth," all for the ultimate purpose of biologizing this plane, creating an "ark" that combined technology and life force, to be his greatest reliance in completing his plan.
Unfortunately, his previous haphazard tinkering had made it impossible for the plane to take off normally, so he had no choice but to find those aerospace mechanics whose fates clashed with his.
And now, his previously laid groundwork could be revealed ahead of time.
"It's over!" Fudou Hayabusa sneered, his bear paw once again gathering strength, bringing with it a destructive wind pressure, and fiercely slammed down towards Nyamu's head, which was temporarily restrained!
This blow was enough to smash her head like a watermelon.
In the nick of time, Nyamu, entangled by the slimy tentacles, had a look of almost insane calm flash in her eyes.
"Partial Burst."
Boom!
A violent force instantly exploded in her legs, her muscle fibers groaning under the strain.
She ignored the terrifying pulling force of the suction cups, actually pulling her feet free from the slimy restraint. The cost was torn skin on her ankles, bleeding profusely.
The data stream of Freely Tomorrow was almost completely integrated into her body, allowing her to purchase some rather excessive services. Among them, this self-mutilating "skill" was surprisingly cheap, but it was also tagged with "restricted use."
Using this self-destructive burst of power, her entire body, like a spring compressed to its limit, suddenly shot up and backward. The huge bear paw, carrying the wind of death, slammed down with a roar, grazing the sole of her shoe.
Boom!
A clear dent was made in the sturdy wing skin.
And Nyamu, who had leaped into mid-air, curled her body into a ball, then suddenly stretched out at the peak of her ascent! Like a hunting falcon, head down, feet up, her cat claws tearing through the air, carrying the terrifying kinetic energy of her entire body's descent, she fiercely clawed at Fudou Hayabusa's unguarded back neck, which was wide open from his full-power strike!
A fresh piece of flesh was instantly torn off.
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