Mob Psycho 100
Mob stared in shock at the screen, where Cirrus had grown countless times larger, her endless ghostly flames blanketing almost the entire Fyxestroll Garden… Even through the distant screen, the ominous, chilling aura hit him full force.
He suddenly felt cold—not a superficial skin-deep chill, but the kind you get after gulping down a big glass of ice water and then falling into an ice cave. When he looked directly at Cirrus, Mob felt like he was freezing from the inside out.
He had exorcised so many spirits with Master Reigen, but none had ever carried this kind of terrifying pressure.
No… if he had to compare, this one probably didn't even reach one-tenth of that level…
"M-Master… this Cirrus…" Mob turned back to look at Reigen, only to find his master's legs shaking violently under the desk—like one of those old coin-operated ride-on toys outside the supermarket downstairs, every joint rattling like loose screws.
"Master, are you scared?" Mob asked curiously.
"Hah, Mob, what nonsense are you talking about?" Reigen wiped the sweat from his forehead, clasped his hands together, and desperately tried to put on a calm, composed expression. "I-I'm just a little cold… haha, the air conditioning in the office must be set too low."
Reigen frantically started searching for the remote, trying to cover up his fear with activity. When he finally shakily pulled the remote out of the drawer cabinet, he suddenly realized it was cool late autumn.
…The air conditioning wasn't even on in the room.
——
["Cirrus~ It's Cirrus~ You won~ You won…"]
["Don't abandon us… help us, take us with you… let us recreate Blazing Prairie's former glory~"]
[Countless Heliobi called out in unison. Cirrus, inside Stelle's body, let out a sinister, chilling laugh: "Many thanks to all you esteemed Judges for clearing the way and collecting the Heliobus fragments for me. I did say I would leave your body, Stelle."]
["Now, it's time for me to fulfill my promise."]
[A clump of ghostly fire suddenly drilled out from Stelle's body and floated in midair. The scattered Heliobi were swallowed one by one until they finally coalesced into an incomparably massive… googly-eyed dumpling.]
["I feel unprecedented—power!"]
[As Cirrus's aura spread, the fallen Nether Envoys on the ground all staggered back to their feet, raising their weapons straight toward Stelle.]
[To be honest, these Envoys controlled by Cirrus weren't particularly hard to deal with. But because of hesitation and reluctance to use lethal force, the knocked-out Envoys could get back up like doing sit-ups—endlessly. Over time, it turned into a war of attrition and a revolving-door battle.]
——
Fate
In the church basement, Gilgamesh stood with arms crossed, his scarlet eyes fixed on the battlefield on the screen. As the fight progressed, a mocking curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Hmph. Mere insects, yet surprisingly adept at manipulating minds."
Beside him, the black-clad priest Kirei Kotomine stood with hands behind his back, wearing that inscrutable smile.
"Oh? The King of Heroes seems to have some complaints about this 'Heliobus' behavior?"
"Complaints?" Gilgamesh scoffed. "This king simply finds it laughable—talking big about challenging a Xianzhou general, yet only hiding behind puppets and playing these low-class tricks."
On the screen, wave after wave of Cirrus-controlled Envoys surged toward Stelle like a tide. Watching Xueyi get injured, Kirei let out a low, muffled laugh: "But turning others into marionettes and watching enemies struggle in despair… such a sight is unexpectedly pleasurable."
"Heh, Kirei, you truly do revel in twisted pleasures." Gilgamesh shot him a sidelong glance.
"Thank you for the compliment." The black-clad priest gave an elegant bow. "However, looking at the bigger picture, Cirrus's journey from a negligible Heliobus to her current form has demonstrated considerable intelligence."
"Intelligence?" The Hero King suddenly burst into laughter. "Kirei, oh Kirei, you call this intelligence?"
The laughter stopped abruptly. The man's expression turned icy in an instant: "It's nothing more than the delusion of a worm crawling on the ground. Watch closely, Kirei—this kind of卑劣 conduct may succeed for a moment, but in the face of absolute power, all struggle is futile."
"Still, before the general personally swings that blade, let it enjoy its little moment of smugness. Watching it struggle pathetically in its ugly form makes for an occasionally decent pastime."
——
[The side that couldn't hold out first in the revolving-door battle was Stelle's.]
["As he himself said, when Heliobi fuse, they form a fragile balance." Facing the visibly worsening situation, Tail looked at Huohuo: "You know what to do, right? Huohuo?"]
["B-But…"]
[Just as Huohuo hesitated, a sudden burst of intense light erupted around Cirrus. The light seemed to solidify into substance, crashing like a tsunami and instantly destroying the device on Xueyi's ear, leaving her swaying like a puppet with cut strings.]
["Give up resistance and serve me!"]
[The Heliobi immediately invaded Xueyi and Stelle's bodies. Faint cyan flames began rising from them as their bodies involuntarily floated toward Cirrus. Seeing the dire situation, Xueyi hurriedly threw out her chains to yank Stelle back, anchoring the other end into the ground and straining to resist being pulled in by Cirrus.]
[Huohuo knelt on the ground, hands clutching her head in terror. Tail watched in burning anxiety: "Useless thing, you… get it together already!"]
["…But that guy just can't be killed."]
["But don't you still have… me?" Tail shook himself in front of Huohuo's eyes, then twisted and returned to her body.]
[Looking at the seal right in front of her on Tail's form, then up at Xueyi and Stelle barely holding out against Cirrus, Huohuo finally made up her mind. Gritting her teeth, she tore the seal off.]
[The tail behind her instantly transformed into a clump of ghostly fire and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Huohuo tried to hold him back, but the agile Tail dodged her grasp after a few spins.]
["See ya, Huohuo!"]
[After spinning a few times in the air, Tail charged straight toward Cirrus without hesitation.]
[With a massive boom, Stelle and Xueyi immediately regained control of their bodies. Cirrus could no longer spare any effort to manipulate them. Only her hysterical roar echoed through the skies above Fyxestroll Garden: "You… bastard! What the hell are you doing interfering! Get… out of me!"]
[Tail laughed smugly from inside her: "Cirrus, why don't you try absorbing this great one too?"]
["Have you lost your mind? Why are you helping humans?!"]
["Hahahaha! A reason? Do I need a reason? If you insist—it's because this great one looks down on a dumbass like you who only knows how to play cheap tricks!"]