Even though he knew in advance, seeing it in person made Naoki feel a bit of mental fatigue.
It wasn't because of what was happening now, but because it brought back memories from long ago.
Looking at the figure that suddenly descended from the sky and shattered the ground in front of him, memories from Naoki's high school days, about twenty years ago, suddenly resurfaced.
"Good grief, you can't possibly be a Servant who somehow ended up here too, like Rin…"
If that were true, Naoki wouldn't be able to handle it.
The Fuyuki Tiger should stick to causing chaos in Fuyuki City. If she went out into the world, it'd be bad in every way.
"Are you okay, Tomoe?"
"Eh… Yes…"
Snapping out of her initial shock, Tomoe nodded and immediately drew her naginata: "Is this an enemy attack? The Forest Goddess?"
"Forest Goddess? Yes! I am the Forest Goddess!"
The dust cleared abruptly, and with a loud voice, the attacker's figure finally appeared fully in Tomoe's view.
It was someone she didn't know how to describe. At least for the serious Tomoe, it was hard to put into words what kind of creature stood before her.
In short—
"A tiger?"
"Not a tiger! It's Jaguar Man!"
The Divine Spirit Servant, wearing a tiger mascot costume and with a face strikingly similar to Fuyuki's Tiger, proudly announced her True Name!
"If you must know! I am the embodiment of the Forest, the embodiment of a great warrior! Jaguar Man!"
*SMACK!*
Seeing Jaguar Man strike a pose like a Super Sentai team, Naoki, unable to bear watching, raised his hand in disgust and shot a Mana orb at her forehead.
(Ugh… Even though I know it's not the same person, I still did it instinctively.)
Naoki and Taiga could be considered bickering comrades-in-arms. During high school, he often suffered from her recklessness and energy. He'd nearly forgotten those times over the years, but seeing Jaguar Man instantly brought it all back.
This was the only time he truly wondered if Type-Moon couldn't stop reusing the same actors.
After taking Naoki's Mana orb straight to the face and lying on the ground for a few seconds, Jaguar Man sprang up with a backflip, continuing to shout with exaggerated Super Sentai poses: "Ahahaha! An attack like that can't hit the swift and agile Jaguar Man! I was just dodging too deeply earlier! It didn't hurt at all!"
"…"
Seeing the large bump on Jaguar Man's forehead, Tomoe couldn't help but say: "But you look like you're in quite a bit of pain. Your tears are even flowing."
"It's just eye drops! It's not as painful as Kukulkan's punches! Anyway—"
Suddenly pulling out a large toy staff from nowhere—specifically from her crotch—Jaguar Man twirled it acrobatically a few times before slamming it into the ground: "You've got some guts! How dare you barge straight into this dense forest! Don't you know you're supposed to bring an introductory gift when you come here?"
(Is that what she's focused on?)
"No, Natsukawa-sama, think about it carefully. We did force our way in here. In terms of etiquette, visiting someone else's home does require bringing a gift…" Tomoe said.
"Don't let her sway you."
Sighing helplessly, Naoki stared at Jaguar Man in front of him: "So, you suddenly showed up just to demand an introductory gift? You're pretty rude for a local."
"It's necessary etiquette! That's how the law of the jungle works!"
"The law of the jungle definitely doesn't have that rule!"
"Kukulkan set it! I proposed it!" Jaguar Man proudly thumped her chest. "Anyway—You two are rude barbarians, and for the peace of this dense forest! I, Jaguar Man, the envoy of justice, will drive out your darkness here!"
"The battle of light and darkness spanning thousands of years ends today, roaaar!"
Another Mana orb shot from Naoki's finger, but this time, Jaguar Man dodged it perfectly with a backbend angle worthy of a magazine cover, landing with a backflip—
*WHOOSH!*
With the sound of rushing wind, Jaguar Man, who was nearly ten meters away a split second ago, was now right in front of Tomoe! Her toy cat-claw staff swung down with a fierce swipe!
(So fast! I can't—)
Just before Tomoe could react, a tremendous force yanked her back by the collar. Naoki pulled her behind him and met Jaguar Man's heavy smash with a single punch!
*BAM!*
Retreating from the impact to Tomoe's side and swiftly helping her stand, Naoki asked: "Are you okay, Tomoe? It was an emergency, so I was a bit rough."
"No, Tomoe is fine. Please focus on the enemy, Natsukawa-sama—"
"You still have time to flirt in front of me! Jaguar Man hates young couples flaunting their affection in my face! The FFF Brigade's Heavenly Curse will punish you!!"
Jaguar Man's shout, inexplicably filled with rage and sorrow, echoed from above, followed immediately by a diving attack from the sky!
(Where did this ancient Super God get so much modern knowledge?!)
An ice sword appeared from nowhere in Naoki's hand, and he swung it toward the cat-claw toy staff slashing down!
But—
*WHOOSH!*
Jaguar Man's figure, which should have been hit, suddenly vanished. The next moment, she appeared without warning at point-blank range, even closer to Naoki.
"That was my residual shadow, meow~~~ Jaguar Man Punch!"
"Ugh!"
As Jaguar Man's Friendship Face-Smashing Punch came straight at his face, Naoki retreated dozens of meters while carrying Tomoe.
Planting her cat-claw staff into the ground, Jaguar Man looked at Naoki, her expression turning slightly more serious: "Ohhohoho~~~~~ You managed to block it with your palm at the super-critical last moment? Very strong!"
"You too. This is the first time I've met someone who can create a residual shadow from such close range…"
Shaking the hand he'd used to block the punch to his face, Naoki let out a soft sigh.
Though Jaguar Man was a comedic character, she was indeed worthy of being a True Goddess, an embodiment of one of South America's main deities. In Uruk right now, only Nobunaga could match her among the Servants. No matter how many others came, they wouldn't be enough for her.
Exaggeratedly speaking, she could take one of his Mana orbs, fight him like nothing happened, and even gain a slight advantage—that alone was already remarkably strong.
"I'm sorry, Natsukawa-sama."
In Naoki's protective embrace, Tomoe lowered her head with a hint of guilt: "You were put at a disadvantage because you were protecting me. Please don't worry about my safety—fight with your full strength."
"Huh? No, there's no need for that. And you don't need to blame yourself. This level is still very easy for me." Naoki smiled. "But it's not my style to look inferior in front of a lady. Let me show off a bit of my cool side…"
As he finished speaking, Tomoe clearly felt the surrounding temperature drop drastically in an instant!
The next moment—
Imaginary Manifestation: Ice Age
An extreme cold swept through, covering the entire area in front of Naoki in a single breath. The ice layer that had frozen the Ice Frontline outside Uruk's Northern Wall now reappeared in the middle of the dense forest.
Jaguar Man, too, turned into an ice statue along with the forest.
Even if her speed was fast enough to leave residual shadows, she had nowhere to hide against a large-scale, indiscriminate attack like this.