Eroge? Bad Ends? Betrayal? I’m Just Here to Suplex Monsters through Buildings.

Punching Through Walls Is Romantic (1.5)

…

Trespass, 574th Ave, at 12PM PST.

…

There were no problems with settling in.

I stayed clear of lolicon-bait Miss Vampire as much as possible, along with the other bad-end heroines Hiyo Prime was taking care of, while getting into the groove of a new routine. During the day, I trained. In the afternoon, I found some places to hit. At night, I worked with Asakura to scout out the enemy.

I spoke and interacted only with Asakura since she was my boss and no more than needed.

Hiyo Prime, I asked for instructions, targets, and a training regimen and didn’t interact with them after that.

They looked like serious and competent people, but this world always liked to pull the rug on them. The number of talented genius ninja who just ‘disappeared’ in missions was very high. The orphanage that I was in typically had a constant influx of our lineage with all sorts of exotic traits from all over.

The Hiyo Clan’s matriarch was one of the most powerful people I’ve met, and she obviously suffered from modifications of the sexual nature. Sure, she survived and now had a child, but how long before some fuckboy gets some blackmail on her and that whole thing collapses? I bet it happens right before Asakura learns how to lead, so she’ll end up relying on an ugly bastard advisor.

Basically, being more than just a faceless mercenary in any female lead’s story in this world was asking for disappointment at best. If I were unlucky, I might even be killed off-screen. Hell, if I wasn’t ready to just die if I was going to be captured, there may even be a chance I’d get transformed and suffer one of three female prisoners’ fates: sex toy, breeder, or food.

Yeah, I’ll stick to training hard, getting strong, and spending my time taking down outposts full of thugs.

Like the one that I am looking at now.

Thanks to my efforts, most gangs in the surrounding area upped their security and were on the lookout for ninja. They adapted and wore protection against senbon via shirts made from stab-resistant material. The same is used for gloves. They also went from carrying submachine guns built in someone’s basement to six-gauge pipe shotguns. One barrel filled with slugs and the other with buckshot. Some were even hiring local mercenaries with magical weapons.

Those who couldn’t afford it allied with other gangs they could tolerate. I was going to let those marinate and collapse on their own.

My focus was on the gangs with money who were nice enough to upgrade the loot table.

Three sets of patrols walked up and down the street. They kept an eye on one another and were ready to support each other. On the top of my target building, there was a nest of people with high-powered rifles and scopes. One man with a rifle to keep an eye on a squad and their surroundings while they were defending themselves.

That little group on top of the roof had two burly orcs garbed in actual steel armor. Cuirasses, helmets, and gorgets from head to waist. Their arms and legs were bare, but their vitals were protected.

Hitting the guys on the street will have three snipers on me along with multiple guys with shotguns. Going onto the roof will have me dealing with two guys who look like they can tackle a sedan and win.

Picking off one group after another before taking on the rest was no longer an option.

Since stealth is no longer an option, that gave me only one real opener.

Explosives.

If you’re not going to let me use stealth, of course I’m going to start off with my strongest attack.

I checked the delay on each kunai, checked for wind, readied four in each hand… and stepped out of the shadow directly across from the sniper nest.

One of them caught me in the corner of their eye, but their focus was on the street.

Not on the roof directly opposite of them.

To the credit of the two orc defenders, they roared and charged to leap across the street gap between buildings to me. The one who saw me tried to shoulder his rifle and aim at me, too.

But it was too late.

I let the kunai fly. One each for each orc, three for the sniper nest, and one explosive each for the patrols on the street.

The three for the sniper nest hit first and exploded into small fireballs. Hiyo Prime was happy to teach me how to craft the new explosive talismans as a reward for my job. Rather than explode with shrapnel, each explosive talisman created a ball of heat intense enough to vaporize wood in an instant. They were closer to plasma grenades than explosives, but the function was the same, if more violent and more powerful.

The sniper nest was there one moment, and the next it was gone along with a chunk of the rooftop.

The two orcs struck in mid-air and exploded into perfect miniature suns. For a moment their outlines were clear inside the blazing yellow orbs, then the orbs ceased to be, and instead of orcs there were amalgams of charred flesh down to the bone with metal fused to the torso. The uncovered limbs were practically gone, and their weapons and armor were molten as they dripped and fell onto the street.

As for the patrolling trios, I timed the activation correctly, and the spheres appeared right at head height.

Nine bodies dropped instantly, sans heads, with their weapons still held in their grasp.

They never even saw their demise coming.

But that wasn’t enough.

I leapt across into the opening I made in the roof.

There were at least five more armed guards inside, along with the leader of the group.

I had two more plasma sphere kunai ready, but using them in proximity wasn’t ideal.

Some shrapnel and shockwaves were easy for me to endure, but the new talismans were more than enough to kill me.

It would be a clean, instant death, so I planned to keep one ready at any time, but I wasn’t planning on dying just yet.

Landing in the middle’s top floor, I heard panic and alarm clearly in the building.

Someone on the other floors must’ve been keeping an eye on things.

Clearing a building with a potential elite enemy hidden somewhere was too risky. Doorways were plenty dangerous when people might be waiting with magical weapons or shotguns on the other side.

So, I didn’t go through the doors.

The walls were weak enough.

I heard footsteps coming up towards the door and stopping and couldn’t help but smile as one of my favorite opportunities came up.

Channeling power through my body, increasing my strength, I surged towards the wall and punched through it. The thin wall broke apart. Wood framing, plaster, and old wallpaper. I went through it like Styrofoam, and my fist connected with the gangster on the other side. He pulled the trigger on his gun, firing off shots wildly, and hit a friend of his on the other end of the hallway I hadn’t known about.

His skull and brain broke while his buddy came apart around the stomach with surprise clear across his face.

I put a senbon through his eye to put him out of his misery before turning my attention back to the floor.

Testing it, I found it hollow and thin and got an idea on how to avoid going down the stairs.

I kicked off the wall, caught onto the roof, brought myself into a crouch on it, and blasted off straight through the floor fist first.

The floor crumpled around me, and I landed on a thug waiting and watching the stairwell. He gave a scream as I fell on him, my fist catching him by the shoulder, and shrapnel embedding itself all over his body. I gripped his shoulder, spun myself around, wrapped my legs around his neck, and twisted my body around, throwing him onto the floor with his neck as my anchor point.

There was a crunch, the screaming stopped, and I bolted off the floor into the nearest room.

My blood was racing, and I could hear activity, but I calmed myself down and gave myself a check from top to bottom.

There had been a flash of pain from my arms down my back from that floor dive.

Three more regular goons and their boss.

I clenched my fists. Tingling. No sharp pain.

I didn’t hear the front door opening, so no one was making a break for it.

I raised my arms up, and then I stretched forward. No sharp pain. Just a dull ache. No blood wherever I ran my over. Going through the floor shook me up more than I expected, and it hurt.

Stupid move.

I should’ve used one of my last two kunai to make an opening instead.

I’m going to do exactly that to get the last four of my targets, then deal with them as quickly as possible.

Whenever stealth became optional, I needed to catch myself before getting killed due to excitement.

For the rest of this base, fun’s off limits.

…

Interlude: Asakura Hiyo, the Fiery Blade

…

Keita was undressed, wearing only a training outfit that clung to his body, when I entered the room.

He sat on the sofa, which he used as his bed, and on the floor before him was all his equipment.

It was a common enough outfit for girls and boys in training. Regular humanity likened it to a gymnast outfit, though we rid it of the sleeves and anything below halfway down the calf for increased mobility. Our fabrics were also of far better quality and were thinner.

Alecia froze at the sight of him, but he paid her no mind.

I just sighed.

The vampiric former princess probably saw the training outfit as lewd.

“Yo, boss. Doing some maintenance.” The beginnings of a childhood crush or a lifelong dislike. Alecia drifted from one or the other. Lady Hiyo told me that love and hate were two sides of the same coin. It may not have been his intention, but by attacking her when she bared her fangs and then remarking on her intellect? It diverted her attention from her mother’s demise; she imbibed her final gift and now trained her powers with the intention of never feeling powerless again. The cornerstone of all that? Keita. “Are you bringing her along tonight?”

Keita, whom she’s only ever seen completely covered up like a soldier from a modern military.

“I—I asked to come along to test my ability and feed.” "Ah," she stuttered. There was no redness to her features. She was not yet powerful enough to overcome being part of the unliving. However, with my trained eye, she appeared to be struggling with childish affection. “Your employer agreed. What say you have to our agreement?”

“None, as long as we’re not fighting together. Stay in your lane, and it’s not a problem.” Keita reacted in the worst manner. Brusque and disinterested, he played upon her pride without meaning to at all. She was intrigued by him, but he was not into her. That, more than anything, would only engrave him in her mind more. “Hey, boss, can you check this launcher I made? It’s for the new talismans.”

Launchers were seals typically placed on gauntlets. Applied with vital energy-infused energy with a small brush to the surface of equipment, it was activated via the vital energy of the user to release what was within as fast as subsonic ammunition.

He made no modifications like other children would, applying the doctrinal version from the textbook at his side, and managed to place five on the front rim of his bracers, which would fire nicely from his upper wrist.

“The seals and placement are perfect. Well done. However, be mindful of the fact experienced foes will expect it.” I returned his armor to him and gave him a nod as I explained why it was not commonly used past his age. Ninjas who have learned the basics specialize and develop individual weapons and skills that are not yet known to our enemies. Though the basics and clan techniques are always great to fall back upon. “You may get an initial salvo of thanks to your disguise, but do not use this against those with experience fighting ninja or those who hunt us. They will pluck the kunai out of the air and return it at greater speed.”

“The first two on each bracer will erupt at twenty meters. The next two at fifteen. The last one is at ten. It’ll be all Hiyo Kunai.”

Those were dangerous ranges, but…

“That will be a potent arsenal. Keep some on your person and use those first. Make them not expect that hidden last result. Keep the weight of those launchers in mind, and you should be fine.” Keita nodded at my suggestion, a spark of excitement in his eyes. Launchers did not remove the weight of the objects carried within. They increased it as a detriment. A curse to lessen the cost of the blessing. The designers had to compromise with the seal to make it so small and have so much utility. “You will be effectively fighting with five kilograms on each arm.”

“I can compensate for that. It’ll be twenty-five kilograms in total, actually.” He pointed at his equipment. I spotted them thanks only to knowing where to look for them. Ten of the fifteen other launchers were arrayed on the sides of the greaves he had on his calves. The last five… were on the bottom of his boots. He carried ten, typically. Thirty-five resplendent kunai launched at his beck and call. All exploding before they could be plucked from the air. With the way he fights, he could easily be at the epicenter of multiple salvos of stars or fire a staggering initial salvo. “Do you think it could kill a troll or a vampire if they decide to show up?”

He gave a boyish and charming grin, obviously engaged by the thought of felling a potent foe through guile, deception, and overwhelming firepower.

Typical of most ninja aspirants, though most did not have the patience nor the skill that Keita had to see it through.

“It is a potent, powerful strike. Twenty should be enough to fell a vampire. A troll? It would be best to focus down a leg, slow them, and then fire upon their chest to burn out their heart.” I informed him dutifully, and it was pleasing to see him take my advice to heart. Though I hadn’t thought about it since his betrayal, I had always wanted to teach before I became the clan head. Perhaps even while I was clan head. “I applaud your creativity, Keita. Well done.”

I praised him, and he accepted it with a nod.

Then, suddenly, I felt a small spot of anger from Alecia, and I sighed upon the realization that I may have looked like a rival to her.

I have grown too used to Keita’s maturity.