Micchi Versus the New World - chapter 107

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Chapter 107

Ririko threw the first blow. With a flick of her wrist, we were standing in the middle of a blizzard and struggling to keep our feet on the ground. She came barreling through the storm, and I met her fist straight on. The impact cleared snow around us, but it quickly became cold and hard to see again.

For not really being a fighter, she sure as hell packed a punch. My arm went numb, and I had to dig my heels into the ground to not be moved any further back.

"I hope you didn't forget about me!" Anya jumped Ririko from behind, but a trail of ice raised spikes in her in way. She didn't care, running through it all like a raging bully.

The ice bitch suddenly disappeared into a mist, and I got nailed in the gut by Anya instead.

"Anya… What the fuck?" I wheezed on my hands and knees.

"Shit, my bad. Ririko was just here a second ago!"

We both looked up just as a massive block of ice dropped down on us. Together, fists clenched, our hit shattered the thing into pieces.

"Kawa! Go after the sultan and bring Loraine back!" I shouted.

The elemental wolf leapt through the blizzard, unaffected by the cold or terrain. Like Ririko, the fur coat thickened with ice and made her seem much larger than she normally was. As the wolf pounced in that direction, but the sultan's muscle-bound groupie was strong enough to wrestle her down.

"It's hopeless," Sultan Yusef's voice echoed. "Your lives, this city… all of it pales in comparison to her might! You witnessed first hand at Kazaar, did you not? The demon lord is no ordinary demon. She might as well be a god!"

Just then, roars bellowed across Cynderace. Anya and I saw flying monsters like dragons flying over the city, breathing fire on everything and laying waste to whatever their magic touched. One of them was heading in the direction of my house.

"Look, Micchi!" Ririko cackled, unreachable from the sky thanks to being able to fly. "We're giving your city a makeover! Ahahaha!"

Both of them shut right up as soon as I created a bat out of ice.

"Anya, how's that batting arm of yours?" I asked.

"It's gonna be as good as your pitching one." Anya flashed a grin.

When I gave her the ice-made weapon, she sprinted down the road and got into a batting stance. I couldn't remember the last time we played like this. Probably been ages.

"What are they doing? Stop them!" Sultan Yusef demanded.

"Whatever it is won't work. I'm way stronger than the both of you combined," Ririko taunted.

"That so? Ya got some fucking nerve coming into my turf and wrecking shit up, taking my woman, and hurting Kawa. I'm gonna teach you both some manners the only way I know how." I opened my fiery hands and created an elemental ball of magic, then pitched a curveball at Anya. She swung hard, but it careened right and exploded in the distance, knocking a swarm of demons out of the sky.

"Ahhh, man. That was just a warm-up. Give me straight this time!" Anya yelled.

"As if I'd let you!" Ririko intensified the blizzard in panic and conjured a gigantic spike of ice to throw at me.

I pitched a hard straight this time, and Anya hit the sweet spot on the bat, breaking the sound barrier. The ball shattered Ririko's spell on the way up and zipped past her face only inches away.

"I'm getting the hang of it!" Anya wound up the bat for another hit. "Third time's the charm. One more for a home run, Micchi!"

Ririko volley after volley of spells at us, but Kawa broke free from the sultan's bodyguard to cast her own, intercepting the shards that would have cut us to pieces.

"Good girl, Kawa!" I locked eyes with Anya, and we reached an unspoken understanding the instant I launched the ball. It left my fingertips spinning like crazy.

Anya struck the curveball, causing it to fly in a wide arc right for Ririko. In an effort to block it, she raised multiple barriers of ice, but the ball went through all of them.

"It's just a stupid ball! You guys won't hit me for shit!" Ririko laughed as she flew back to dodge it.

"Too bad that ain't any regular old baseball." I smirked.

"What—"

Using the momentum from Anya's powerball of a hit, I put my all into guiding the ball after Ririko. She tried to fly higher to avoid it. They were like two rockets rising straight into the sky, but I was gaining on her.

"Gotcha." I clenched to explode the ball that lit up the night, and the shockwave that followed blew flying demons out of the air, unsuspecting people off their feet, and tiles from rooftops.

Ririko was falling from the sky like a smoking mess in the distance. We knew she was down for the count because the blizzard she created vanished.

"Good shit, Micchi. Helluva an arm you still got." Anya clasped my hand.

"Those home runs of yours need some work if I gotta pick up your slack," I teased.

"Alright, you little brat. You're getting too cocky for your own good. We still need to finish this," she said, turning to Sultan Yusef and his bodyguard just as Kawa was tossed over to us.

The spire bells began to ring, and with each chime, a wave of energy rippled outwards from the city and healed our injuries. For the demons, however, people who could fight started pushing back. Whatever Yui did must have got them working again.

"You can beg and cry, but it ain't saving you from a beating." I growled at them.

"If you think you've won, you're sorely mistaken." Sultan Yusef scoffed, but the sweat beading on his face despite the chilly weather showed otherwise. "I have with me a man who can move mountains. The Ramaleiks' personal problem-solver. You two might be strong, but he—"

Anya charged in to pick the big dark elf up by his pants and arm, then chucked him at my feet. Dazed from the sudden attack, he stared up at me in surprise.

"You're with the Ramaleiks, huh? I got some questions for you later." I stomped on his face hard enough to crater the ground and put him unconscious.

Seeing his man taken out wiped the smug grin from his face that was quickly turning white.

"What's the matter, Sultan?" Anya asked. "Shit your pants so bad you became a lighter shade of elf?"

"Th-This isn't over! I have men all over the city! Enough to hold it hostage!" he cried.

"You heard 'em. That true?" I cast my eyes over to the edge of the street, where Oaks was dragging out a dark and beastling in each hand.

"We worked all night, and they didn't know what hit them. The city guards are taking over the rest as we speak, Boss!" Oaks said.

Releasing those good for nothings turned out to be a good idea. I just needed to round them back up later. The tides were turning. Now that the adventurers and city guards were regrouping, they mounted a strong enough offensive to fight back. All that was left—

Sultan Yusef started laughing to himself. Quietly at first, then it turned into a hearty, bellowing guffaw.

"Awfully happy for someone who's about to get his shit kicked back into him. Step away from Loraine and come down here, and I might be nice enough to only beat you half to death." I glared.

"Did you really think we only came here for my niece? No, I'm—"

I climbed onto the wagon to slug the sultan across the face, sending him flying out of the vehicle and crashing into the ground. Lying on the floor, bound and gagged, Loraine was still unconscious. At the very least, she didn't look hurt.

Kawa jumped in after me, causing the entire wagon to lurch from her weight. But she insisted on seeing Loraine and nuzzled into her.

"Get Loraine to the guild hall, Kawa." I lifted Loraine onto her back and silently apologized for letting this happen.

As they took off, I hopped down to confront the sultan. Anya was already on top of him with a foot over his chest. I came over to put a foot on him, too.

"Before we get your beatdown started, we got some questions that need answering. What the hell did you attack Cynderace for?" I asked.

"Why don't you… take a look at the precious spires," Sultan Yusef muttered.

The instant Anya and I looked up, all five spires exploded. Everything came crumbling down. Dust and debris were carried downwind. Screams could be heard from afar. Neither of us could believe it.

Was that the sultan's and Ririko's goal all along?

"Yui's in there! I have to go help!" Anya took off running towards the toppled spires.

Not only Yui, but there were a lot more people inside like Kain, Mildred, and Kaoru.

When I lifted Sultan Yusef up to face me, he began to melt away and slip from my fingers like goo.

"It is not so hard to outsmart a brute like you who knows only to speak with their fist. I'm sure we shall see each other again, but next time on opposite sides of a battlefield. Be seeing you." Sultan Yusef's grin was the last to melt away. The pool of goo turned into water and soaked into the dirt.

"Get back here, you fucker!" I punched a hole in the ground where he just was.

The counterattack that Cynderace had put up was now being pushed back by a more massive horde of demons. Mages and flying beastlings battled monsters from above. On the ground, people were being chased into their homes, and adventurers and soldiers alike were having a hard time holding demons back.

A large group of snarling demons charged right for me.

"You're all goddamn eyesores in my city, and I'm pissed the fuck off right now." I cracked each of my knuckles, terrifying the coming horde into stopping in their tracks. "I'm gonna show you who the real demon is."