What… what’s happening…
A scene of pure hell unfolded across the tavern.
“I-I’m freezing!?”
“N-no! Help m—!?”
My men’s whole bodies were dyeing white, freezing solid.
Before long, denied even the ability to speak, they became ice sculptures.
”——[Twin Magic: Frost Wind].”
“Ice!? I’ve never heard of an element like that!?”
“Non non. Combine wind and water magic, and you can use it this way too. See?”
“Two magics… a Dual Magic Caster…!?”
You’ve got to be kidding me… do you know how much it costs to hire help like that?
There’s no way those poor orphanage rats could afford that!
”…I never expected I’d have to be cautious of Mashiro too. The power output is much stronger than I’d imagined…”
“I’m glad I could be useful to you, Ouga!”
“Hahaha, you sure are.”
And then there’s this brat, laughing dryly while toying with me.
No matter how I swung, my opening momentum was killed and I was deflected with ease.
A downward strike — he put his hand to my arm and let it slide right through. An upward strike — he pushed it from the inside out and dumped the force.
While chatting. While looking somewhere else. He handled me like it was natural — this kid is dangerous.
If they can afford to hire mercenaries of this caliber, it isn’t the orphanage…!
“Did you set this up, Lagnica!? You’re a fallen one, same as us!?”
”…You’ve got the wrong person.”
“Hahh!? You’re Lagnica any way you look at it!”
“Hey, hey. You got the spare attention to be looking elsewhere?”
“Gah—!?”
The man’s kick slammed into my gut.
H-heavy…!
The crunching wrong-sound echoed from inside my body into my brain.
I-I’m airborne…!?
“GWAAAAAH!?”
I was kicked clear into the wall. My back howled.
H-how can that body hold this much power…?
“You done? I want to talk to you.”
“Like hell I’m done…!”
I tried desperately to control my breathing, but the pain from broken ribs wouldn’t let me.
My forehead was slick with cold sweat.
Damn it damn it DAMN IT!
I — me — losing to a kid… my life ends here…? IMPOSSIBLE!
I’ve been the best in raw power since I was young.
Even in the arena, the only reason I wasn’t matched against Lagnica was the booker. I had every confidence I would have won.
With these fists and this body, I won’t lose to anyone, anywhere in the world.
That’s why I’m building my own arena (kingdom) again.
To make the name Aliban echo across the world.
“Don’t think this ends here! I still have a trump card!”
”!”
“That’s…!?”
“This is a [Body-Strengthening Doping Extract] circulating on the black market… Hngh!”
I cracked the lid off the bottle and poured it down in one gulp.
In an instant, muscles began to surge.
“OOOOOOH…”
My body swelled until it threatened to burst.
I struck the wall — and a hole opened, cracks racing through the stone.
UWAHAHA… INCREDIBLE…! I am now filled with omnipotence!
”…………”
“Hehe, what’s wrong? Too scared to speak?”
”…No, the opposite.”
The kid put a hand to his collar and undid one button, then a second.
“Disappointment that you’re this lame.”
”…What did you say?”
“Let me teach you what real evil is. Come at me.”
“Don’t fucking look down on me…! You’ll regret this!”
Massive power destroys everything.
“No technique stands before overwhelming violence! BE GONE!”
Turn into mush!
I drove a right straight into his smug face.
“Kyaa—!?”
The wind from my punch alone toppled the mage behind him.
That’s the power.
A direct hit from the front would turn anything into meat paste. ……That’s what should have happened.
“Right. So I’ve decided — I’ll meet violence with violence.”
“…huh?”
My full-power punch had been stopped, no effort.
With one hand.
“——Listen. Evil — you have to deliver despair to your opponent.”
“Hii!?”
Huh? Eh? What?
…I just screamed?
Not only that. I’d stepped back, one step.
My survival instincts had reflexively detected it.
The threat to my own life.
“At every moment, you overwhelm. You crush anything that obstructs you. You’ve done that yourself plenty, haven’t you?”
No matter how much force I poured in, he didn’t move an inch.
“But what you’ve done is just a weakling tormenting weaklings.”
My fist was being pushed back.
Even putting my weight into it, he twisted it lightly, and my stance crumbled further and further.
“Relying on drugs. There’s no way that beats a gem polished by genuine training and conviction.”
In the end I was forced to my knees.
Crushed under overwhelming power.
Aaah… I understand now…
I was, in the end, only the king of a tiny, tiny kingdom… and then—
“You don’t even deserve to call yourself evil. You’re third-rate.”
This — this — was a man with the vessel to become a true king…!
The impact ran across my cheek.
The first knockout of my life was, strangely, a comfortable thing.
◇ Sorry for the late update! Summer fatigue got me… Take care of yourselves in this heat too, everyone. Especially this weekend — the weather is supposed to be rough and humid. ◇