kscans

Chapter 743 - Nonomi-na (Ri-na) Radio

"—Aaalright, hello everyone! It's your Mi-na-chan, burned to a crisp and back again!"

"........."

"Come on, come on, I know you're super tired, but do your best and say hi! And a one, and a two!"

"...Ri-na, here."

"She did it, Nono-chan! On three!"

""RI-NA-CHAN IS SO CUUUUTE! YAY!""

"...You're loud. How do you have so much energy after that?"

"Well, you see, I'm taking all this frustration from having the match snatched away from me while I had no idea what was going on, and I'm channeling it into showing off my cuteness to the camera! That's how!"

"I don't get it."

"I mean, I finally got a chance to interact with Mi-chan and Ri-chan, which didn't happen last time, and this big sis is getting a little excited, you know? Heheheheh."

"You're creepy."

"Oh, you say that, but..."

"This big sis and I love that you still respond so diligently, Ri-chan!"

".........I won't anymore. You two talk by yourselves."

""Anyway, let's get this show on the road! We'll be pampering the tired Ri-na-chan while the still-energetic Nonomi-na Radio keeps on chugging!""

"...........................Haaah..."

"Okay, first, let's get to the question on everyone's mind in the audience. We'll set aside the giant monster war from earlier for now. About that last part... you just said you had no idea what was going on, right?"

"I did. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was big bro who did something, but... all of a sudden Hina-chan's flames got stronger, our wind got disrupted, and before I could even think 'huh?' we were blasted through and sizzle. Two beautiful girls, not just roasted, but vaporized."

"I see... well then, we'll ask them about that later... Ah, what about your choice of ultimate move? Why did you go with 'wind'?"

"Hmm? That was just process of elimination."

"Process of elimination?"

"Hina-chan challenged us to a showdown and waited for our chant. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just to set up a clash of ultimate moves that boys love so much."

"Meaning?"

"If she had fired before we agreed to the showdown, she almost certainly would have lost. We still had one layer of defense left, and if we combined that with our best heat-resistant defense, I think we could have barely survived. And then, Hina-chan would have been out of commission. What would be left is..."

"Mi-chan and her friends, still able to move even without their defense, and Haru-san & Repra-chan... I see. If that had happened, even I could see how the match would have ended."

"Ah, but us taking her up on it wasn't us being cocky or anything. I mean, come on, who would have thought he'd charge straight into our ultimate trump card, designed specifically to counter the [Acrobat], without any hesitation? WITH A HUGE SMILE ON HIS FACE."

"I don't think he even realized he was doing it."

"That's what's so scary! I was desperately trying to maintain my smug poker face!"

"'Smug poker face,' huh."

"So yeah. We were also in a pretty tight spot, so we went with the safe option... or so we thought. We got done in. Grrr."

"Oh? Are you calling a shootout with your big sis a 'safe option'?"

"I am. I was confident we hadn't been surpassed yet, and we were totally pushing her back until big bro pulled something, weren't we? And well, choosing Emerald was a process of elimination because we had to take them both down in one shot."

"Right, right."

"First, we had to get them both in the area of effect, which narrowed it down to Diamond, Aquamarine, or Emerald. The ground-sweeping type (Diamond) was out because I could see them flying away at top speed to escape. Aquamarine isn't designed for pure firepower, so it wouldn't win in a shootout with Hina-chan. That automatically left Emerald, which would also let us keep big bro in check with the aftershock from the moment we fired it."

"I see, I see."

"And it actually worked pretty well against big bro, didn't it? That guy's VIT is so low he's super weak to shockwaves and stuff, so he got slammed against the wall."

"He did, didn't he."

"The fact that he managed to land a blow from that situation made me look over and think, 'Is he an idiot?'"

"I thought so too. I'm pretty sure everyone in the audience was thinking the same thing."

"So yeah... if it weren't for that something at the end, we totally would have won."

"Mi-chan, you're so cute when you're confident."

"I have the track record to back it up!"

"Anyway—"

"Why are you setting that aside? Praise me more!"

"Anyway! A little while ago, you mentioned something about a 'trump card specifically for the [Acrobat]'?"

"I did say that. Well, as always, the Princess is in a league of her own, so we figured the one with the highest chance of beating us was the [Acrobat]."

"Ooh, so you were super wary of your junior, huh?"

"Of course we were. With that 'Sakura' of his and everything, he's got nothing but elements that are our natural enemy."

"........................I couldn't predict what he would do, and he was the scariest."

"Just as Ri-na-chan says. So, well, so as not to embarrass ourselves as his great seniors, we worked really hard together to make that—we call it 'Solo Dance.'"

"Solo Dance?"

"Yep. Well, I say we made it together, but it's a technique that mostly relied on Ri-na-chan."

"Umm... can I ask how it works?"

"Sure. It was a one-time toy from the start, and it only works on big bro. Now that we've shown it, it won't work on him a second time. Right?!"

"............"

"And with that, Ri-na-chan, please explain! No, no, don't make such a pained face!"

"...In simple terms, that was a magic of misdirection. It's not something that can freely summon a terrifying enemy like [Black Stain That Slays All (Rep=La Nobody)]."

"Umm...?"

"In other words, we weren't the ones who summoned it. Big bro did."

"Hmm?"

"What I drew was the very first [Chosen Stone Doll]... and then the [Dusty Worm, Great Serpent of Dust] and [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King]. After I created the flow, everything after that was something big bro drew."

"Eeeehhh, umm...??? Uh, wait, so, umm..."

"That's a magic that makes the opponent imagine things. I made the activation conditions and functional sequence so ridiculously difficult that it normally wouldn't even activate properly, and forcibly jacked up its theoretical specs."

"...Are you saying something crazy right now?"

"I am. It's like, 'unless you can instantly and vividly picture a powerful enemy, like someone with a 'Memory' gift, it won't even activate.' And on top of that, to make him imagine it properly, I had to sequentially draw past powerful enemies to guide his thoughts."

"I'm glad it worked out. As expected of big bro. I couldn't draw something like that."

"By the way, the activation condition is that they have to have received a power transfer from Ri-na-chan's [Anhelmia] at least once to have a path established. We had a little opportunity for that before the Four Pillar War."

"Eh—ah—uhm... to summarize, it's a magic that only works on a super-powered friend?"

"Haha, that's hilarious, Nono-chan, I'm using that. How'd you like that, big bro?! Our Ri-na-chan is amazing, isn't she! Are you impressed?! Hahahaha!"

"...We're the ones who lost (were impressed), though."

"Wait, hold on, you drew the first three, right, Ri-chan? That's amazing! Maybe you can use Quick Change just like Haru-san?"

"I've never tried, so I don't know."

"Ehh... wow, you two are amazing. My juniors have become so ridiculously accomplished, this big sis is genuinely moved—whoa, whoa, whoa! Crap, the time, the time!"

"Whoa, you scared me! Wh-what, the time, eh, what?!"

"Oh, oh, oh, sorry, sorry, I was so engrossed I was totally ignoring the staff's messages! Uhm, um, well then, as scheduled, we will now move on to the next program!"

"The moment you're over time, it's not 'as scheduled' any—"

"Ri-na-chan, shh...! Don't crush Nono-chan's professionalism...!"

"I can hear you! I'm so, so sorry, next up, please!"

---

It only works on the protagonist, and it's a one-shot trick that can't create a threat unless you control his imagination. In other words, Ri-na-chan is cute and amazing.