Frieren: Himmel — Chapter 183 - Mahoraga: I’m Telling You Right Now, You’re Attacking Me!
"So, we each take one?"
Miguel and Hakari Kinji slid down the slope from the basin's edge, striking a pose straight out of a certain wildly popular manga adaptation as they carved a diagonal line toward Mahoraga, eyes locked on target.
"Yeah, a free-for-all would be ideal."
Hakari answered in kind.
He looked like a delinquent. He wasn't one to think things through. Except he was.
Higuruma had already established one fact: Mahoraga's adaptation was strongly tied to attack type.
Hakari was about to build on that with a new hypothesis.
[Mahoraga can probably only complete adaptation against one type of attack at a time.]
Because if Mahoraga could adapt to multiple attack types simultaneously, or run parallel adaptation tracks, it could just run [Adapt to Domain], [Adapt to Cursed Technique], and [Adapt to Higuruma himself] all at once.
The results clearly didn't bear that out.
One at a time. One type.
That intel was critical.
[In other words, even if a whole crowd gangs up on Mahoraga, its power growth won't skyrocket because of it.]
Which meant in a chaotic brawl, Hakari's job was to coordinate with Miguel, make the Mahoragas pound each other, keep them too busy to focus. Delay the enemy's adaptation as long as possible.
That thought landed simultaneously in both their heads, and they moved forward without a word.
They charged the nearest Mahoraga, leaped in unison, and swung iron fists.
BAM! BAM!
Mahoraga had appeared on the field but hadn't attacked yet, which meant it hadn't pulled either of them into the exorcism ritual. Its guard was down.
Both fists landed clean. Face and gut, Mahoraga No. 1.
BOOM!
War drums in the earth. Air pressure detonating outward.
Both men were pure physical fighters. Under a hit like that, Mahoraga had no choice but to fly.
Mahoraga No. 1 crashed straight into No. 2. Both tangled together and rolled across the ground.
Hakari and Miguel landed. They were already charging again before their feet settled.
(Best case, Mahoraga No. 2 reads that hit as No. 1 attacking it. That way the aggro doesn't land on us.)
(Then we can pincer No. 1 together with No. 2. Just make sure No. 1 primarily adapts to our abilities. Burn its [Adaptation] on us.)
That was Hakari's plan.
Worthy of someone Gojo Satoru had his eye on. He'd worked it out in an instant.
But...
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Mahoraga wasn't mute. It just spent most of its time baring its teeth in a stupid grin.
Getting ambushed like that, it exploded into a furious roar.
Except the one roaring wasn't only No. 1.
"What!?"
Hakari caught the shift a half-second too late. A black shape filled his vision.
Mahoraga No. 2 was already at his side, moving far faster than him, blade already swinging.
"Ugh!"
No room. No time. Hakari slammed his left hand against his right arm and flooded it with Cursed Energy.
BOOM!.
His right arm was gone in an instant. The force spun him out like a top.
"Hakari!"
Miguel moved to help, then couldn't. Mahoraga No. 1 flashed in front of him with the same speed, blade sweeping horizontal.
Better reflexes, better body control, Miguel slipped the strike, planted one hand on the ground, and launched a high kick off the pivot.
BAM!
The top of his foot caught Mahoraga square under the chin. Sent it up.
Retract the leg. Foot down. Spin — elbow.
Right hand braced behind the left fist, driving through. Elbow straight into Mahoraga's gut.
"!"
Mahoraga coughed up something that looked like saliva and went airborne.
Miguel didn't press it. He stepped back instead, putting distance between them, and read the field.
Something's wrong.
Nine parts out of ten, something is very wrong.
Because just now, Mahoraga No. 1 hadn't come for Miguel's back. The obvious target, the exposed opening. Instead it had gone after Hakari.
If Mahoraga were nothing but an unfeeling combat machine, it could never have made that call.
Which means...
[Mahoraga has real intelligence.]
[They decided that keeping the two strongest on the field locked against each other was less efficient. Better to eliminate the outsiders first.]
(At this point, it's one-on-one. No other play.)
Miguel looked up at the massive Shikigami and dug for something to steady himself with.
"A bit different from the plan, but —" He kept his voice easy. "You didn't actually think we'd be that simple to deal with, did you?"
"I'm the man who fought Gojo Satoru and walked away~" The cadence of his words shifted. A rhythm crept in, something almost musical underneath the syllables.
This was...
[Cursed Technique Release.]
[Prayer Song.]
Miguel grinned. He raised one finger.
"Don't get it twisted~"
"You're the challenger here."
.............
[The Other Battlefield]
BAM! BAM!
The massive white Shikigami and Hakari were moving fast, testing each other with nothing but fists and feet.
Mahoraga's leg muscles swelled. It closed the distance in a blink, torqued its arm, and cracked it down like a steel whip.
Hakari, fully focused this time, slipped the punch and swung back hard.
WHOOSH,!
Quick-fire, tight pullback. Muffled thuds scattered across Mahoraga's face.
Mahoraga turned its head into the hits. Took every one without flinching. Then straightened up like nothing had happened and started winding both arms in a slow circle.
Just a motion. Almost like a hug.
Every hair on Hakari's body stood up. He felt exactly like a mandarin orange someone had just placed on a hydraulic press.
"!"
He dropped low, fast. Barely cleared that enthusiastic bear hug.
Put distance between them immediately.
"Haahhh."
Deep breath. Get the rhythm back.
Hakari understood Mahoraga's edge now.
"Didn't think you'd actually be pretty sharp~"
Hiss,
Flesh and blood stitched back together. His right arm restored itself in moments.
He'd deployed his Domain before the fight started. Infinite Cursed Energy, already running.
Because he knew the risk. Try to open his Domain mid-fight against Mahoraga, and he'd get his guard broken. Get an arm taken off like just now, and he'd never finish the hand signs.
But now that it was already open, the situation was different.
Hakari created space. Mahoraga came after him without pause.
The gap in raw speed was obvious. But whenever Hakari couldn't get clear in time, he just let the limb go and regrew it, lizard dropping its tail to survive.
4 minutes and 11 seconds.
4 minutes and 11 seconds of invincibility. As long as Mahoraga couldn't take his head, he could hold.
Mahoraga had figured that out quickly. Every attack after that went for his skull.
But with the objective that transparent, Hakari could plan around it.
Seconds fell away. Hakari hadn't thrown a single offensive strike. Sure enough, Mahoraga's Dharma Wheel stopped turning.
And then,
[4 minutes and 11 seconds.]
"Here it comes!"
The most dangerous moment. He knew it.
He had to hit the jackpot.
During the animation sequence, Mahoraga was allowed to attack. At its strength, it would crush him. Flat out kill him.
Full defense.
Then gamble.
[Can he actually do this?]
"Haha! —"
(What a, insane bet!)
"Domain Expansion — Idle Death Gamble!"
The familiar hand signs. The Domain boundary rushed outward, wrapped around Mahoraga, swallowed it whole.
Innate Cursed Technique fully built. The train of pure love began to roar down the line.
1/239.
The jackpot probability was low on its own. But Hakari could cheat the system, push his win rate up until a hit was guaranteed within 30 draws.
Before that hit came, the animation would just keep looping.
The current animation wasn't the most familiar one, the [Train Waiting Scene]. It had stopped at the station entrance instead.
The [Corporate Scenario]. The lowest expected-value storyline in Hakari's rotation.
In this animation, whether the male lead passes through the ticket gate determines the jackpot.
(Then I hold the line through this whole animation. Don't let Mahoraga.)
"Hm?"
Except.
Once he was inside the Domain, Hakari noticed something.
[Mahoraga had stopped attacking.]
It stood in place. It was looking around.
(Is it planning something?)
Hakari's pupils tightened. His brain was already running.
In his read of the situation, [Idle Death Gamble] was non-offensive. It only ran its own technique effect. Hakari himself wouldn't get much of a stat boost inside.
He'd come in ready to fight to the death. But Mahoraga wasn't touching him.
Good. That's good.
His luck was genuinely incredible.
If Mahoraga wasn't attacking Hakari, Hakari wouldn't attack it either. Same result as the Higuruma fight, adaptation rate bottomed out.
And Hakari's Domain was more complex than anything Higuruma had thrown at it. The stall might last even longer.
Okay then,
The animation ran. Low-expectation green ball. No jackpot.
(I'll just keep refreshing the loop. Keep Mahoraga locked under my control.)
Both of them reset to the starting space. Waiting for the next draw.
But...
[Clunk.]
"Hah?"
The grin died on Hakari's face.
The Dharma Wheel on top of Mahoraga's head had moved.
Hakari went cold.
(Why.)
(I haven't thrown a single attack. And it's still adapting to my technique?)
(Wait.)
No.
It's not that there was no attack.
[Mahoraga's [Adaptation] is, at its core, complete comprehension of the opponent's technique, followed by full analysis and development of a targeted counter.]
[Its adaptation speed correlates with attack method, attack intensity, and attack frequency. The exact weight of each factor is hard to determine.]
[And just as Hakari and Higuruma theorized, avoid 'attacking' and simply stall for time, and Mahoraga's evolution rate drops to its absolute floor.]
[But........]
[Hakari had overlooked what made his own technique unusual.]
[Once the Domain deploys, there is a 'sure-hit' effect that not even Hakari can stop.]
[, It forcibly discloses all information about [Idle Death Gamble] to the opponent.]
[That was the original Binding Vow of this technique. An automated setting built into Idle Death Gamble to create 'fairness' between Hakari and whoever he faced.]
[No one had ever accounted for this.]
[For Mahoraga, the information Hakari automatically broadcast the moment his Domain went up.......]
[Was classified as, a high-density [Attack].]
And to make it worse.
[, Moments ago, Mahoraga had fought Higuruma Hiromi.]
[Through Adaptation, Mahoraga had absorbed all the 'common legal knowledge' of modern human society.]
[The real problem was this: having gained awareness of 'individual rights,' Mahoraga's technique trigger conditions had shifted along with its subjective cognition. To put it simply... it had become sensitive.]
For instance, Mahoraga had...
"!"
Under Hakari's horrified stare, Mahoraga reached up and loosened its necktie.
[Act on Regulation and Properization of Entertainment Businesses, Etc.]
[Pachinko falls under Type 7 entertainment business. The law explicitly prohibits establishments from forcibly soliciting customers. Penalties: imprisonment of up to 2 years, fines of up to 2 million yen; the establishment will be ordered to suspend operations and have its business license revoked.]
[Hakari's Domain was modeled on a pachinko parlor. To a meaningful extent, this statute applies.]
Therefore,
[In Mahoraga's view, this constituted a serious criminal violation and a direct infringement of its personal rights.]
[Of a vile nature!]
[Therefore,]
.....
[Clunk!]
[Clunk!]
The wheel.
Spinning fast.
"Are you serious!"
Hakari stared and felt the rage hit him like a wall.
"I didn't even make you play! You can't even look!?"
"You're f*ing shaking me down, aren't you!"
➤ Next: The King of the White Glove. Mahoraga