The female monster shrieked when she saw Raikou Douji.
"What... What is that?! This is a world where human magic is sealed! There's no way you should be able to use magic!"
"I'm not using magic. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't," I replied calmly.
It was still true that I couldn't use magic. I tried extending Silveit threads and transforming them into fire with Elemental Transformation: Flame, but nothing happened. There was no change.
So, it was clear that this was indeed a world where "magic couldn't be used."
That's right, I wasn't using magic. I was simply calling forth a fairy.
"May I begin now, young one?" Raikou Douji asked.
"Yeah, please. Raikou Douji," I nodded.
As soon as I gave him the signal, Raikou Douji took a single step forward.
In that instant, a storm of lightning rained down from the sky.
The monster that had been playing on the jungle gym was struck by lightning and exploded. The monster made of hands was obliterated in a flash. One of the monsters playing soccer kicked the "ball," which was actually another monster, toward Raikou Douji. However, before it could reach him, it burst apart in midair.
"You've overestimated yourself, tattooed woman! You are unripe, far from ready! Still a greenhorn!"
Raikou Douji unleashed a net of lightning that wrapped around the remaining monsters, frying them into charred corpses.
He's strong... incredibly strong.
While I marveled at Raikou Douji's power, the female monster who had dodged his attack screamed in fury.
"Aren't you one of us?! Whose side are you on?!"
"Hahaha! I've already died once. Since I was revived from the depths of the underworld, my loyalty lies with the one who brought me back!"
"Are you kidding me?! Don't you have any sense of aesthetics?!"
"Only the weak talk about aesthetics. True strength is beauty."
Raikou Douji laughed, and the number of monsters in the schoolyard rapidly dwindled.
But instead of focusing on Raikou Douji's rampage, the female monster ignored him and charged straight at me.
"I'll make sure to avenge my sisters you killed!"
Just as she was about to close in, Raikou Douji pounced on her from above, pinning her down.
"In my opinion, your sisters were simply not ripe."
"Shut up! What does 'ripe' even mean? Is Kisaragi Itsuki ripe or something?!"
Raikou Douji pressed the monster's head into the ground, causing her to slide across the schoolyard like a sled. It was the first time I realized that if you push someone hard enough while they're running, they'll skid like that.
With a grinding sound, Raikou Douji laughed as he dragged the monster's head across the ground.
"Of course! He's blossoming quite well!"
"...Maybe you should become a farmer," the monster muttered sarcastically.
Suddenly, Silveit threads shot out from the female monster, wrapping around Raikou Douji's arms like handcuffs. She then kicked Raikou Douji off her, sending him flying.
"Hah! You let your guard down! I win!"
As Raikou Douji's arms began to transform, I blinked, and in the next instant, his arms had turned into cubes.
Raikou Douji stood there, still crackling with lightning, in a follow-through stance from the kick.
Wait, are you kidding me? Is that what Body Strengthening can do at its peak?!
I held my breath as I witnessed the pinnacle of Body Strengthening. A split second later, the shockwave from the giant's launch hit me, making the windows of the school tremble from the force.
"Hmm. Lighter than I expected," Raikou Douji commented.
With those words, he stretched his arm toward the giant, now high in the sky.
"You've been practicing lightning magic with my artifact, haven't you?" Raikou Douji asked.
"Uh, yeah... Sort of," I replied.
Though, truthfully, the only things I had really mastered were Body Strengthening and Landmine.
"Then allow me to show you something interesting!"
Raikou Douji's arm became entwined with Silveit threads, crackling with purple electricity. The lightning surged, gathering and concentrating into his right arm.
The lightning, now focused into a single point, shone brilliantly like a white-hot burner.
"Remember, I once told you that lightning naturally gives rise to fire. This is how it happens!"
As Raikou Douji said this, the giant fell from the sky, and Raikou Douji's arm touched its body.
In that moment, time seemed to slow down for me.
"If I had to name this, following your example, it would be..."
In the slowed-down world, I watched as Raikou Douji exorcised the giant.
"Raikotsu."
Raikou Douji's arm made contact with the giant's chest, and in an instant, the giant's torso melted. Its back exploded, its organs bursting out as if impaled by an invisible spear. A gaping hole appeared in the giant's chest as it turned into black mist.
Finally, Raikou Douji emerged from the giant's chest, completely unharmed.
"Hmph. Was that your trump card? Child's play," Raikou Douji scoffed as he extended Silveit threads toward the female monster.
"Without you, I could've killed Kisaragi Itsuki!" she screamed.
"How pitiful," Raikou Douji replied.
A bolt of lightning struck.
When it vanished, all that remained was a cloud of black mist.
The moment the monster was exorcised, the world around us wavered.
Then, the sky began to crack open, revealing sunlight streaming through.
It was strange to see both the moon and the sun in the sky at the same time, but as I looked at this odd sight, I instinctively knew.
We were finally being released from this strange dimension.
"Well, my master. Are you satisfied?" Raikou Douji asked.
"Yeah. You're incredible, Raikou Douji."
"Call on me anytime. For now, you are truly my master," he said.
I dispelled Raikou Douji's form, and his artifact gently returned to my hand.
And with that, we were finally back in the real world.