MHGA Chapter 265 — Riding Kirin
As Kairo Retsu poured all his strength into twisting Kirin's azure horn, the powerful force of the Hunter caused it to warp slightly.
But… even under the brunt of Kairo Retsu's brute force, the azure horn didn't break so easily.
Kairo Retsu knew full well that Kirin's horn wasn't something that could be snapped off with raw power alone. So after locking his legs tightly around Kirin's body, he grabbed the horn with one hand and pulled out his Carving Knife with the other, beginning to attack the base of the horn as much as possible.
[Fun Fact: Kirin can be mounted. Although very few have managed to do it, there is indeed a mounting module.]
Kirin could clearly sense the presence of an intruder on its back—and the fact that the interloper was hacking at it with a small blade drove the Elder Dragon into a furious frenzy. It began thrashing with all its might, trying to fling Kairo Retsu off.
The ringing effects of the Sonic Bombs still lingered in Kirin's ears. Those two bombs had practically been shoved into its ears and detonated—causing a horrifying noise that temporarily robbed it of its vision. The intense sound had bypassed auditory reception and directly triggered severe neural overload, violently surging into Kirin's brain.
The resulting vertigo made it impossible for Kirin to see its surroundings clearly. The only thing it could smell was the foul air of Night City. Its hearing was all but stripped away by the blasts… and the clearest sensation left in all its senses was the presence of the bipedal Ape-Wyvern mounted atop its back!!!
Kirin, almost on instinct, unleashed the full might of its lightning—its accumulated energy discharging all at once in a terrifying blast that surged directly through Kairo Retsu's body.
Yet even as the lightning ravaged him, Kairo Retsu clung tightly to Kirin's back with pure willpower, continuing to carve at the base of the horn with his knife.
As the struggle intensified, Kairo Retsu endured the searing agony of the lightning searing through his body and downed a Max Potion to recover. Then he pressed on—continuing the intense mounted grappling battle with Kirin.
The pale lightning nearly charred all of Kairo Retsu's body hair to ash. His armor scraped against Kirin's scales, sending up a cascade of sparks.
Right now, Kairo Retsu looked like he was undergoing some deranged form of electrical execution atop Kirin's back—the current constantly ripping through his flesh and wreaking havoc on his insides.
At one point, Kairo Retsu even felt as though his heart had stopped—then been jump-started back into rhythm by the sheer voltage pouring through him.
The heat and scorched sensations of electrocution made Kairo Retsu feel like he was about to be roasted alive on Kirin's back.
"YOU BASTARD! AAAAARGH!" Kairo Retsu screamed, furious from the pain of the lightning. "If you've got what it takes, turn me into a lump of charcoal! Even if I die right here, I'll NEVER let go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Just before he could be thrown off, Kairo Retsu released his grip on Kirin's horn and the carving knife—and instead desperately grabbed hold of Kirin's mane.
Atop Arasaka Tower, Kirin began wildly bucking, trying to hurl him off. But Kairo Retsu, who had dedicated every ounce of strength to clinging on, stuck to its back like a stubborn leech, impossible to shake off.
The fierce mount-struggle between Kirin and Kairo Retsu left both Tanjiro and Laios momentarily helpless to intervene. All they could do was toss Life Powder in Kairo Retsu's direction before he turned into a pile of burnt meat—buying him a few more precious seconds of endurance.
And while Kairo Retsu and Kirin were locked in a one-on-one cowboy showdown, Joseph had already fought his way solo to the lowest level of Arasaka Tower. The path behind him was littered with the wreckage of guards and mech units he had taken down.
His entire body was splattered with machine oil and blood. But Joseph could still clearly hear the sound of Naofumi Iwatani dismantling Arasaka Tower's interior structure from overhead.
If not for his Stand, Hermit Purple, which gave him an overwhelming advantage over machines and cybernetics, he would never have made it to Mikoshi so quickly.
Now standing before the Mikoshi terminal, Joseph took a deep breath, tore into a chunk of meat to replenish his stamina, and released the full power of his Stand.
A mass of invisible thorns burst from Joseph's body and began flooding into the interface port in front of him, wildly expanding through the Mikoshi system.
"My Stand… is NOT the most useless one!" The veins on Joseph's forehead bulged as he strained to control Hermit Purple with full force. "Even if my Stand only has a single vine—I'll push that vine beyond its original limit!"
"If I can't do this—then how can I possibly change the Joestar family's fate?!"
Joseph roared. Hermit Purple suddenly expanded, reflecting the surge in Joseph's mental fortitude. "I am… Joseph Joestar!! Grandson of Jonathan Joestar and Erina Joestar!!! I will NOT yield to this rotten destiny that reeks like a sewer!!!!"
"Imprint!!!"
As Joseph's psychic power erupted, he forcibly initiated Hermit Purple's Spirit Imprinting—treating the entire Mikoshi system as an extension of his Stand.
In the realm of cyberspace, the Blackwall severed communication between the modern net and the old net. Countless roaming AIs ran rampant within the old net—even building a city of their own…
Alt Cunningham, the most brilliant netrunner in Night City. The strongest network entity inside and outside the Blackwall. The only one capable of making Johnny Silverhand behave. The creator of the Soulkiller. Forced into cyberspace by Arasaka. Eventually, she built an AI city beyond the Blackwall. Johnny Silverhand's ex-girlfriend—Alt Cunningham.
Alt, who had been calmly observing the chaotic farce unfolding in Night City, had been waiting for an opportunity to intervene. But in that very moment—she felt a terrifying power, one that transcended reality itself, pierce through both sides of the Blackwall.
In an instant, that force seized her information construct and dragged her across the Blackwall… to meet a tall man standing before Mikoshi.
"Alt Cunningham."
Joseph opened his mouth directly.
"Join me in destroying Mikoshi."
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