"..."
"( ˶°ㅁ°)!!"
"(°0°)"
The three could only stare upward in complete shock.
Meanwhile, Knox suddenly spread both of his arms dramatically.
"Hahaha! Behold! This fluffy fur, this pinky aura, the soft paws!" he declared proudly.
"Her name is Anon, ahem, I mean Bocchi, bah! I mean… her name is Ultraman Mem!"
"Miu!" Mem cried proudly while striking a fighting stance, both arms raised in a signature Ultraman-like posture.
The gigantic pink creature stood heroically beneath the sky, its soft fur fluttering slightly in the wind despite its absurdly massive size.
Meanwhile, the fake Bigkrum froze.
If it even possessed a brain, it probably felt like it had just been electrocuted.
The giant undead stared blankly at the pink creature standing before it.
Where did this pink thing even come from?
And more importantly—
…Did it seriously have to fight this giant pink furball?
The fake Bigkrum stared blankly at the gigantic pink creature standing before it.
For a brief moment, neither side moved.
Then—
"GROOOOAAARRR!!!"
The fake Bigkrum roared furiously and charged forward, its enormous body shaking the entire forest with every step.
Trees snapped apart.
The ground cracked beneath its feet.
Seeing the giant undead rushing toward her, Mem raised both of her paws.
"Miu!"
And then, she charged forward as well.
"Wha…?!" Simon's eyes widened in shock.
The two colossal figures collided head-on.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The impact erupted like an exploding volcano, blasting dirt, rocks, and shattered trees into the air.
The fake Bigkrum swung its massive fist downward.
Mem instantly crossed both paws in front of her body.
BAAANG!!!
A violent shockwave exploded outward.
Despite her fluffy appearance, Mem blocked the attack head-on without being pushed back even a single step.
"Miu!"
Suddenly, Mem grabbed the fake Bigkrum's arm.
The giant undead froze for a split second.
Then Mem spun.
WHOOOOOSH!
The fake Bigkrum's gigantic body was violently swung around before being slammed straight into the ground hard enough to create a massive crater.
BOOOOM!!!
"…What kind of fight is this…?" Lorain muttered blankly.
But the battle was far from over.
The fake Bigkrum roared again and lunged back up, smashing both fists downward like falling meteors.
Mem dodged to the side with shocking agility despite her enormous size.
Then she kicked upward.
BOOOOM!!!
The kick landed directly on Bigkrum's jaw, snapping its entire head upward as its colossal body staggered backward.
Knox watched the battle with sparkling eyes.
"Hahaha! That's it, Mem! Show him the power of fluffy violence!"
Meanwhile, Simon, Serene, and Lorain could only stare at the absurd scene unfolding before them.
No matter how they looked at it, this no longer resembled a battle between undead monsters.
It looked more like two kaiju fighting in the middle of a movie.
The fake Bigkrum roared furiously once more and charged again.
Mem lowered her body slightly.
Both of her paws pulled back into a familiar stance.
Knox's grin widened instantly.
"Oh?"
Mem's paws began moving faster and faster until dozens of afterimages overlapped around her arms.
"Miu miu miu miu miu—!!"
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa—!!!
An overwhelming barrage of rapid punches exploded forward.
The air screamed beneath the absurd speed of the strikes as countless giant afterimages of Mem's paws rained down upon the fake Bigkrum like a storm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Each impact detonated violently upon the fake Bigkrum's body, shaking its massive frame while the ground beneath it shattered apart.
Yet even then, the barrage still hadn't stopped.
The fake Bigkrum's massive body was finally blown away by the relentless barrage of punches.
Its gigantic frame flew backward before crashing straight into a small hill.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The impact shook the surrounding forest as rocks and dirt exploded everywhere, the hill partially collapsing under the sheer force.
Meanwhile, Mem lowered her stance slightly.
Both of her glowing paws were pulled back as pink light slowly gathered around them.
"Miiiiii….."
The surrounding air began trembling faintly, as if she were charging up for another devastating attack.
But suddenly—
"Stop it!"
Simon's voice rang out loudly across the battlefield.
The charging light around Mem's paws immediately stopped.
Lorain frowned.
Serene tilted her head slightly.
"Hm?"
Meanwhile, Knox smiled faintly.
Mem blinked before tilting her giant head to the side.
"Miu?"
"Simon? Why are you asking Mem to stop?" Knox asked casually, even though he already had a rough idea why.
Simon inhaled deeply before letting out a long breath.
"I'm sorry for stopping your fight. It's just… I have my own reason for wanting to end this giant monster myself."
Hearing that unclear explanation, Lorain immediately felt annoyed.
One of the things she hated the most was a riddler, someone who spoke in vague riddles instead of properly explaining things.
And the thing she hated even more than that was someone disturbing Knox.
At this moment, Simon was doing an excellent job at achieving both!
"Simon, because I know you, I won't make this complicated," Lorain said seriously. "But that kind of reason won't work on me."
Serene lightly covered her mouth as she chuckled.
"Hehe, perhaps… you want to defeat this monster yourself for the points?"
Simon immediately denied it.
"No! Of course not!" he shouted quickly. "I'm sorry, but please believe me! What I can tell you is… this giant monster is my responsibility."
[Boy….]
Pier's voice echoed quietly in Simon's mind.
A brief silence fell over the group.
Then Knox broke it.
"…Very well. I won't get involved anymore."
After saying that, he looked up at the giant pink Mem.
"Mem, playtime is over for now. Come back and rest."
"Mem…."
Mem sounded slightly disappointed.
However, the moment Knox whispered that he would make plenty of desserts for her later—
"Mem mem!"
Her mood instantly changed.
Then—
Poof!
Like colorful powder scattering into the wind, the gigantic pink furball dissolved into sparkling pink mist before disappearing completely.
Then, Knox looked at Simon and asked,
"Just in case… you do realize that giant monster has regenerative abilities far beyond normal, right? So, do you actually have a solution for that?"
Serene crossed her arms and added with a teasing smile,
"There's no way you were just talking big, right~?"
Meanwhile, Lorain looked completely confused.
"Wait a minute, Knox. Are you really just going to leave Simon alone like this?"
Looking at Knox, who remained calm as if he already knew the reason, then at Serene, who also looked oddly smug like she understood something as well, Lorain became even more confused.
"…Knox?"
Knox shook his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, Lorain. It's not because I don't trust you. It's just… Nefthis told me not to tell anybody, including you."
He paused briefly before continuing,
"So if you want the answer, I think you should ask her directly."
"!!"
Lorain's eyes widened slightly.
"…Mom really knows about this?"
Knox nodded calmly.
"Yes."
For a moment, Lorain fell silent.
Then she slowly exhaled.
"…Alright. I'll ask her later."
After that, Knox shifted his gaze back toward Simon.
More precisely—
Toward the skull badge attached to his uniform.
"So," Knox said casually, "do you actually have a solution?"
[Kuhuhuhuhu!]
Pier's laughter echoed inside Simon's mind, audible only to him.
Attached to Simon's uniform, the skull-shaped badge formed a meaningful grin.
[I do have a way.]
The biggest problem with the fake Bigkrum was its absurd regenerative ability.
According to Pier, however, his greatsword carried the power of destruction itself.
In simple terms, anything directly wounded by that sword would lose the ability to regenerate or heal.
A true severance. The literal embodiment of irreversible destruction.
"Then why didn't you say that sooner?!" Simon shouted in frustration.
Pier clicked his tongue.
[Because I can't come out right now. Look around. There are too many eyes watching.]
And he was right.
Because of the emergency, more than ten Observers were already circling around the fake Bigkrum from above.
Simon frowned.
"Then… is there any way I can borrow your sword?"
[This spirit sword was forged from part of my own body. No one except me can even lift it, let alone swing it.]
Simon fell silent for a moment.
Then suddenly—
His eyes lit up.
He snapped his fingers.
"Then what about this?"
[Hm? Let me hear it.]
After listening to Simon's explanation from start to finish, Pier burst into loud laughter.
[Kuhahaha! Boy, you're insane!]
"Hey, we've got nothing to lose anyway, right? Let's just try it."
[Very well!]
Simon immediately opened a subspace portal.
From within it, Pier lowered his massive greatsword onto the ground.
Just to be safe, Simon tried grabbing the handle himself—
But the sword didn't budge even slightly.
"…Seriously?"
"Alright, let's do this."
Simon opened another subspace portal.
This time, not in the air—
But directly beneath the greatsword itself.
Wuuuuung!
Using the ground as a base, Simon connected the subspace beneath the blade.
A moment later, a skeletal arm reached out from inside the portal and firmly grabbed the hilt.
Pier was holding the sword from the other side.
"Got it!" Simon shouted. "Just lift it straight upward!"
Using the protruding blade like a handle, Simon held onto the weapon while Pier controlled it from within the subspace.
Then Simon started running.
He dashed toward the collapsed fake Bigkrum, whose body still hadn't fully regenerated from Mem's overwhelming assault.
Step by step, Simon climbed higher along the giant creature's massive body until he finally reached its neck.
There, Simon tightened his grip and roared at the top of his lungs.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The gleaming white greatsword swung downward.
For a brief moment—
It felt as though the world itself had split apart.
A perfectly clean slash appeared across the fake Bigkrum's gigantic neck.
Then—
Its head separated completely from its body.