Seiko Ayase, Payase and Kashimoto vs. Jiangshi and Minotaur is a battle that took place inside of the Nikujiru Gyoza. Right after suffering a one-sided loss against the Minotaur, Seiko Ayase is saved by Payase and Kashimoto, who were previously knocked out by the Jiangshi, they proceed to work together to take down the Yokai and help Seiko retrieve her bag where the talismans are stored.
Prologue[]
Payase and Kashimoto defending Seiko.
When the Jiangshi first entered the restaurant, they knocked out Kashimoto and Payase with a kick to take on Seiko. She stood her own until an iron minotaur arrived and defeated her, demanding her to admit defeat so they could steal her powers. Just then, Payase and Kashimoto stood up and threw a combined hook powered with their spiritual energy to blast the creatures back, protecting the woman. Payase was enraged by their recklessness which could have damaged the cursed trunk Seiko gave to him, so he transforms in his darkness form and is eager to teach them all about curses, while Kashimoto calls his guardian spirit Ice Flame to aid him.
Battle[]
Kashimoto's Aphoom-Zhah attack with his guardian spirit's aid.
Seiko recovers and stands up, warning them that the bull is made of iron and only gets stronger if you attack him, shocking Payase. The minotaur is excited to fight three powerful humans at once and starts screaming about how his groin is getting hotter as the horde of jiangshi charges forward. Seiko informs the two that she's going to reach for her bag and asks them to take care of the bull. They understand and Kashimoto prepares his guardian spirit, which starts spinning while he shouts "Aphoom-Zhah". The incoming jiangshi get incinerated by the explosive punch and thrown back into the crowd, dealing significant damage. In the meantime, Seiko zooms forward and calls for Payase to take care of the jiangshi assaulting her who she kicks around to pass through. Payase slithers on the floor in his darkness form, forming a sharp spike that pierces a creature from its groin and sticks out from its head, killing it. Soon after, more jiangshi are taken down one after the other by Payase, who warns them to be careful of their shadows as he can use them to his advantage. The bull is amazed by his ability and wishes to use it, however Payase mocks him for having such a stupid thought as he compares his power to Kodoku curse poison, meaning that the minotaur is not fit to wield it. While he says this, he expands his body and reaches under the bull to attempt to skewer him, though his attack stopped by his hard iron body, surprised by its durability. The bull grabs the tendril and flings it upwards, forcing Payase into the air so he can strike him with his elbow.
Payase skewering the Jiangshi to protect Seiko.
Payase is launched back in pain and the darkness rushes back to him to merge again, but in the meantime Kashimoto and Seiko charge in. The man screams at her to get back as he dives onto the bull screaming Aphoom-Zhah, throwing such a powerful hook that the minotaur's head is tilted back. Kashimoto keeps the barrage of punches up and Payase believes that his attacks are working, however Seiko screams too late to keep his guard up just as the adversary blows Kashimoto into the wall, demanding to be hit more. Payase and Seiko are currently taking care of the jiangshi, but seeing the minotaur standing up despite that series of strikes, Seiko orders her ally to help her reach her purse so they can defeat the minotaur. Seiko spots the purse through the crowd and runs after it while Payase wriggles in front of her to skewer the jiangshi before they have the chance to assault her. She jumps at the last moment to dodge the creatures and Payase uses his own body as a shield, however just as she reaches for it, the minotaur attacks her. He comments that she saw her suspicious movements towards it and assumes she's hiding a powerful weapon in there, but before he can approach her, Kashimoto leaps onto him from behind. Because he shrieks "Aphoom-Zhah", the minotaur gets used to his fighting pattern and blows him back with a jab before he can even land the attack, remarking that he has now entered a state of ultimate hotness. He then kicks the floor with his hoof to launch the purse upwards when Payase slithers in and steals it. The minotaur tries to grab it in vain so he resorts to punching the floor and pounding Payase, who manages to launch it in Seiko's direction before he does.
Seiko finishing off the minotaur.
Seiko tries to catch it in the air but the bull doesn't let her and hugs her from behind, flexing his iron body to crush her and cause internal damage to her organs. She shockingly orders Kashimoto to attack and he accepts, unleashing a series of punches augmented by his guardian spirit onto the opponent's back. Despite this, the bull doesn't falter and screams to give up as his attacks are only making him stronger and stronger without feeling any pain. Even though Seiko starts bleeding from the nose, she screams to keep going until Payase shockingly bursts thorugh the bull's arms, disconnecting them from his body. The creature is flabbergasted since he's supposed to have reached maximum durability, so Kashimoto informs him that humans feel pain as a survival mechanism. He explains that if they don't know when to stop doing something their bodies will eventually collapse, just like the bull's did. The loser barely understands and repeats that his attacks only make him get hotter and stronger, intriguing Kashimoto who points out that his guardian spirit's flames can go down to absolute zero. As a result of this, the temperature of his iron crumbled and allowed hydrogen to slip in through the cracks and turn it brittle. Lastly. Seiko grabs the talisman from her purse and places it on the bull's head, admitting that it's been a while since she has been beat up like that. The minotaur desperately tells her that it's not he who's after her but she ignores him and kicks him in the face to send him on fire, shouting to take on a god if he wants to fight someone strong.
Aftermath[]
The Kettetsu power user.
The minotaur's body dissolves and reveals a man, who immediately starts begging for his life much to the trio's frustration. He reveals that he has been hired by an orchestrator for the attack, prompting Seiko to rush to the window and see a hooded person leaving the building. She and Payase conclude that they must be the power user controlling the jiangshi so they demand him to call them back. He explains that they only have a contact with the orchestrator and messages are sent to everyone, meaning there are overlaps between the targets. Kashimoto doesn't understand and threatens him, so the agent pulls out two black kozuka knives and a white one, shocking Payase and Seiko who identify them as the knives of the Asura, a cursed sword which forced the wielder to kill until their life ran out and could make use of the power of the yokai. She states that it was sealed for being too dangerous but five years prior someone stole it and those kozuka knives must come from the perpetrator of the crime. The man continues by saying that whoever gathers the most yokai will receive a wish, enraging Payase who starts insulting for this childish reward. The agent admits that after struggling to find a girlfriend after fourty years, he eventually found a wife who sadly developed a lethal illness so he participated in this crime to hopefully save her despite it sounding ridiculous. Seiko understands so she asks him how he came into contact with this orchestrator, who reveals that he was put under his service by a work colleague of his who knew about his situation. Shockingly, the agent tried to retrace the colleague but it appears as they had never existed and he couldn't even remember his face despite presumably knowing him for a very long time.
The police arrives on the scene of the crime, detaining the man. Vega interrogates the citizens and gains information to connect them to the trio, who is talking in a nearby ally about what just happened and how Kashimoto and Payase will alert their guild. Vega reaches over to ask a few question but Payase rapidly brings them away in his darkness form to escape him unnoticed.
In the meantime, the controller of the jiangshi Mika Adachi returns to school, who contacts the orchestrator and notifies them of the mission's failure.