"Phew~~~"
Exhaling a warm breath slowly, Naoki released Tomoe from his embrace.
"That should do it. For a jumping flea like this one, freezing her is the best approach. You're not hurt, are you, Tomoe?"
Tomoe nodded: "Yes, thanks to you, Tomoe is completely unharmed. I'm truly ashamed—I've troubled you to protect me again."
What a failure of a bodyguard she was.
Naoki gently patted her shoulder: "It's fine. The enemy is fundamentally a Divine Spirit Servant. Even though Heian-era Japanese warriors faced plenty of monsters, a Divine Spirit is on another level. You don't need to worry—this part is indeed my responsibility."
God-tier enemies like Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Jaguar Man, Quetzalcoatl, Gorgon, Enkidu… or Kingu—Naoki planned to handle them all himself. Among the Servants, only Nobunaga could assist him.
The other Servants just needed to focus on fighting the Demon Beast hordes.
Of course, this situation would collapse once Tiamat was awakened. At that point, god-tier Lahmu would roam everywhere, each with power surpassing a Demon God Pillar, their numbers covering the sky and earth.
In such a scenario, even Nobunaga and Naoki would be somewhat overwhelmed.
But that was still far in the future and not worth thinking about now. The more pressing matter was—
*SMACK!*
Snapping his fingers to free Jaguar Man's head from the ice, Naoki gave her face a hard slap: "Hey~~~ wake up, comedy character. You're still alive, right? A Divine Spirit wouldn't just freeze to death, would it? Get up and answer some of my questions."
"If you don't wake up, don't blame me for using Hypnosis Magecraft to brainwash you into a mindless creature that only answers questions—an emotionless alien responder!"
"That's super scary, hey—!!"
Jaguar Man, who had been pretending to be unconscious, jolted awake at Naoki's threat!
"Demon! Are you a demon?! You're a demon! How dare you try to use Hypnosis Magecraft on me!"
"No, you know that wouldn't work on a Divine Spirit. Its mystery is too low, and I'm not a specialist like Merry or Merlin. I was just tricking you."
"Miiiaww!!"
Realizing she'd been fooled, Jaguar Man wailed and turned ashen white.
Waving his hand, Naoki asked: "Alright, let's talk seriously. About the Goddess in this dense forest… Specifically, one of the Three Goddess Alliance, the South American Sun God, Quetzalcoatl. Do you know where she is now?"
"!"
"Ohho~~~"
Unlike Tomoe's shock, Jaguar Man's expression lit up upon hearing Naoki's words: "Umm umm, from your tone, it sounds like you have business with Kukulkan."
"Yeah, I plan to challenge her to a life-or-death duel, knock her out with a cool K.O., and then recruit her to fight the Magical Beast Goddess."
Naoki smiled, uttering words that would shock anyone in the know.
Jaguar Man turned completely colorless again.
"Y-y-y-y-you you you want to wrestle with Kukulkan!?"
"Yeah, what's the problem? You're a local here—can you show me the way?"
"Please, please wait a moment, Natsukawa-sama!"
Just as Jaguar Man was about to say something else, Tomoe suddenly interrupted: "This is too sudden, Natsukawa-sama. Challenging one of the Three Goddess Alliance directly and saying you want to turn her to our side… Are you really serious? That's almost impossible, isn't it?"
"No, it's possible." Naoki smiled. "I believe in the good nature of the South American God—if that doesn't work, I'll make a contract with her, have her swear to obey all my orders for life if she loses, then beat her half to death with full force to ensure the contract is formed."
Was this man saying fundamentally evil things with a face as bright as the sun?
"But the enemy is a major South American God… Master, isn't it too reckless to challenge a god-tier enemy alone? It'd be better to return to Uruk first, discuss strategies, and gather more combat strength."
This was also for safety's sake.
Surprisingly, Jaguar Man agreed: "Exactly! With that fearless face of yours, Kukulkan will crush you into minced meat with a ruthless expression and eat you while laughing!"
"Well, how do we know who's stronger without trying? I'm pretty confident in my strength. After all, I've faced world-ending crises a few times. At the very least, I don't think a South American major God can compare to a world-ending crisis in terms of power."
"World-ending crises… You sure talk big!" Jaguar Man sneered.
"But I like it! Alright! It's decided! I'll take you to meet Kukulkan now!"
"Eh? Is that okay!?"
Tomoe was a bit confused. Wasn't Jaguar Man supposed to be an enemy? Yet this enemy was offering to take them to her friend… Was she that confident in Quetzalcoatl's strength?
"Don't overthink it, Tomoe." Naoki whispered. "Though Jaguar Man is Quetzalcoatl's ally, she's basically just aimless right now, so she sticks with someone she knows. The concept of enemies and allies isn't absolute for her."
"So…"
"She's just agreeing because she thinks it's interesting."
Shrugging, Naoki released Jaguar Man from the ice: "Then let's not waste time. Lead the way—if you act weird, I'll freeze you again, then corrupt and defile your soul to reshape you into my form, turning you into a puppet that obeys all my commands."
"That's super scary, Aaaaaaa!!"
Jaguar Man didn't think Naoki was joking at all—his expression was deadly serious.
(Since it's come to this… I can't leave Natsukawa-sama alone here. I can only follow him.)
Letting out a relieved yet exhausted sigh, Tomoe followed Naoki and Jaguar Man, heading deeper into the dense forest.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Meanwhile…
On a grassland near Uruk.
"Umm umm~~~ A duel with a South American Goddess! Things are developing so well! Letting the King go alone was absolutely the right call!"
Peeking at Naoki's situation through Clairvoyance, Merry shouted in satisfaction while drinking sheep's milk.
"But it's a pity I can't watch the duel itself. If I peeked at the Goddess, when she becomes an ally later, she'd definitely beat me to a pulp… Sigh, such a shame."
"By the way, even if you can't hear me, go for it, my dearest King! I'll quietly cheer for you with moral support from here."