#1236 Momoko’s S-Rank Adventurer Visit Hopping: The Finale 

“Nuooooohhh! Hero’s Secret Technique, Ginko Strip Slash!” 
“Whoop.” 
“Hero’s Hundred Rending Strikes!” 
“Hyop.” 
“Hero’s Meteor Blade! Hero’s Tornado Cyclone Slash! Hero’s Megaton-Baribari-Vulcan Sword!” 
“Hahaha, come on now, is that all you’ve got?” 

Momoko’s relentless flurry of attacks doesn’t even graze Golden Bat. 

It’s like he’s predicting her every move in advance—smooth, minimal motions, dodging with total control over the fight. 

“One of his many nicknames… is The Untouchable Adventurer.” 

Silver Wolf explains with a low gaze. 

“From his early F-rank days, that guy’s whole style has been evading every danger that comes his way: monster attacks, dungeon traps, all of it. Just by that alone, he climbed all the way to S-rank. The man’s built different.” 

So Golden Bat’s evasion skills are just that good. 
Being a bat therian, it makes sense. 

Bats are the only mammals with true flight, but more importantly, they’ve got insane hearing: echolocation.  
They send out high-frequency sounds, listen for the echoes, and from that, detect exactly what’s around them. 
They can even register a sudden cloud of tiny pebbles in front of them and weave through without touching a single one from what I’ve heard. 

A guy like Golden Bat, with bat instincts and all those natural abilities… 
It’s easy to imagine he’d have crazy-high evasion skills, but still… 

“B-But if all he can do is dodge, isn’t that basically the same gimmick as Kato? How can he call himself the number one adventurer with just that?!” 

Momoko throws a slightly desperate jab. 

“Hmph. To compare my evasion skills to that failed hero? How insulting.” 

There it is again, the arrogance. 

“I’ll admit, Kato’s tactile sense, stretching it to detect movements before an enemy even touches him, does have some overlap with my own technique.” 

Kato uses touch, Golden Bat uses hearing.  
Different senses, but both can read an enemy’s movement through the air before it reaches them.  
It’s like adventurers who push themselves far enough end up arriving at the same truth. 

“But Kato’s skill is just that. A skill handed down from the gods. My abilities come from my therian nature. I can control my posture in midair and adapt to any situation.” 

Well, yeah. Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly.  
Flying squirrels? Momongas? They all just glide through the air. 

“Wait, momongas can totally fly!” 

You’re referring to Monga, dummy. 
Sigh. A few precious seconds are wasted on dumb banter. 

“Speed, precision, total adaptation to every situation...once you’ve mastered all of that, my perfect evasion is complete. No attack can hit me, which means nobody can defeat me!” 

Other adventurers, dungeon bosses, even a Lifeless King or a dragon can’t land a blow on him. 

And if they can’t hit him, he takes no damage. No damage means no death. 

That’s Golden Bat’s ‘invincibility.’ 

“…Yeah, no. Not even Golden Bat can dodge every single attack from a dragon or a Lifeless King,” Silver Wolf adds. “If Golden Bat’s evasion rate is 5,000%, theirs is 70,000! Even he avoids dungeons with guardians just to make sure he never encounters them.” 
“Silver Wolf! Don’t rain on my hype speech!” 
“Accuracy first. And for the record, you talked down Kato earlier, but he’s every bit S-rank-worthy himself.” 

Silver Wolf, the fact-checker strikes again. 

“Yes, Golden Bat’s hearing outclasses Kato’s tactile sense when it comes to detecting air vibrations. Ears are literally made for that. But Kato makes up for it with S-rank-level martial arts and survival skills.” 
“Grgh…!” 
“Didn’t he make you puke with that penetrating strike when you sparred? You just forget the embarrassing parts, huh?” 
“Shut up, I remember! Stop dragging it out! This is my turn to terrify the rookie!” 

For someone who brags about “perfect evasion,” Golden Bat sure takes the occasional hit. 
Then again… that’s basically how it is in martial arts, too. 

What’s really impressive, though, is that even while running his mouth non-stop, he’s still flawlessly dodging every single one of Momoko’s frenzied attacks. 
She’s panting hard, breath ragged from her all-out offensive… while Golden Bat hasn’t even broken a sweat. 

“What’s so invincible about you?! Just dodging means you can’t defeat your opponent! And if you can’t beat them, you can’t win!” 
“That proves you don’t understand what being an adventurer means. You think not defeating someone means you can’t win? In the adventurer world, that’s nonsense!” 
“It is not nonsense!!!” 

Honestly, I don’t think it’s nonsense either. 
But the whole “what counts as winning” thing is how you end up in philosophy class, no? 

“Adventurers aren’t knights or mercenaries. For us, victory is reaching the end of the dungeon. Discovering something no one else has ever found. Defeating enemies is not a win condition! If you make it to the deepest chamber, you can run from every monster on the way there and still win!” 

What an extreme take. 
It’s the kind of victory condition that would make any game developer flip a table. 
And yet, Golden Bat pushed that logic to its limit and climbed his way to the very top of the adventurer world. In a way, he’s reached his own kind of ultimate form. 

“I mean, there are quests where you’re supposed to kill dangerous monsters, so maybe fight sometimes?”  
“Stop undercutting me, dammit!!!” 

Silver Wolf again, calmly poking holes in the hype. 

“You get it now? Just because you’re top-tier as a knight or warrior doesn’t mean you can waltz into the top of the adventurer world. Keep that misunderstanding, and I’ll never acknowledge you as S-rank!” 
“Grgh… cocky little bat…!” 

Momoko, running on fumes from her failed blitz, hauls herself up with the last of her strength... 

“Say what you want, but I’ve got my pride! I’m not leaving until I beat you into the dirt! Take this! My ultimate move!!!” 

Momoko! Why are you busting out your ultimate again so casually?! 

“Holy Sword Rampage! Zero-Gap Saturation Slash!” 

Uooooohhhh! 
Momoko unleashes her holy sword at maximum output, with light bursting not just forward, but in every direction, filling the space so there’s no room to dodge! 

I see. If there’s no space to evade, his perfect evasion means nothing.  
Total saturation firepower is her answer to perfect dodge. 

Uh-oh. At this rate, even we in the spectator zone are toast.  
Silver Wolf, get behind me! 

“Wicked-Holy Sword Dreischwarz, Defense Flash!!!” 

My sword’s the same type as Momoko’s.  
With my Hand of Supremacy gift, I can crank its power beyond normal limits. Turning an offensive flash into a defensive shield is easy. 

If you can’t dodge, you just block.  
That’s the answer! 

“…Lord Saint, you really are impressive…!”  

Silver Wolf murmurs behind me. 

When the blinding light fades, Momoko’s lying on the ground all crispy. 

“She… hit herself with it?!” 

With an attack that fills all space, you can’t exactly leave a safe pocket for yourself.  
It’s basically a self-destruct. 

That was her final answer to Golden Bat. 

On the other hand, Golden Bat…  

Is still standing?! 

No way!  
With a saturation attack, there’s no dodging. But there he is upright, staring down at Momoko. 

“A self-destruct? Pathetic. Thinking you could crush me with sheer volume of attacks is such a rookie move.” 
“Wh… how…?” 
“Let’s just say that’s the depth of an S-rank. Still… no one’s ever been that relentless with me before. I’ll give you that much.” 

For some reason, even that desperate all-out attack didn’t bring him down. 

…Until he collapses like a puppet with its strings cut. Yep. He did take the hit. A massive, probably fatal hit. He just tanked it long enough to stay standing out of pure stubborn will. 

The deciding factor was sheer grit. 

“Medic team! Two criticals! Check vitals!”  

Silver Wolf rushes to handle the aftermath. 
 

“A razor-thin victory. If she’d realized you were bluffing, she could’ve forced a draw…” 
“A win’s a win. The girl’s still lacking the situational awareness for S-rank.” 

Even on his last breath, Golden Bat grins smugly. 

“You don’t make S-rank with just one trick. What really got me here was this insane, unbreakable will to win.” 
“…Plus therian instincts and ridiculous talent.” 
“Exactly.” 

And so, Momoko falls to his absurd S-rank stubbornness. 
What happens to her S-rank promotion now?! 

==========

monga is a character from the wrestling manga series the momotaroh