Those Pygmies Are Scary

With the flames creeping toward her, Momo shouts for Aira to undo her hair, and Okarun arrives just in time, slicing the burning strand away with a knife. Worried that gas in the room could trigger an explosion, Momo passes Aira a blade to free her tangled hair and turns her own attention to smothering the fire. Once the girls swat aside another wave of thrown knives, Momo warns Okarun that a million pygmies fill the space, several already scaling his legs. He tells her to stand clear and strips off his shirt to shake the clinging creatures loose.

The pygmies promptly sew his shirt and trousers, plus Aira's blazer, flat against the floor, pinning the pair and exposing them to a hail of knives and toothpicks. Battling the unending swarm, Momo deduces that her hidden hunter is steering the creatures from the shadows, so the real target is that person. After Okarun and Aira shed their tops to stop the stitching, Momo has them dart around the room so every pygmy locks onto them alone. Doubting the scheme even as he moves, Okarun weaves through a rush of blades that Momo calls out, stunning both her and Aira. She compliments his sharpened reflexes, but he admits he cannot keep slipping past the cuts forever, then realizes the pygmies have sewn his left hand to the floor. With Aira fastened down too, both lie open to attack, until Momo announces she has located the culprit, tipped off by the pygmies' sudden reluctance, and flings a desk at Koki, exposing her beneath a camouflage cloak.

The fight between Momo, Okarun, and Aira against Koki and the pygmies continues. Okarun severs Aira's burning hair to halt the blaze, and the group flails their clothes around hoping to snag the unseen pygmies. His athletic dodging of the flying knives leaves Aira and Momo amazed. Though the three are boxed in, the pygmies oddly hold back from striking. Momo catches Koki's aura where she hides at their backs and slams a cooking counter into her, knocking her out cold.

Published on October 29, 2024 as part of Volume 20 in the Ultimate Yokai Saga, the chapter wraps up the pygmy assault by unmasking Koki Yukishiro as the one directing them from concealment. It also highlights Okarun's growing combat instincts, even without Turbo Granny's strength.