Chapter 170

CHAPTER 10 The Perfection of Conversion We walk through the scorched plains of a village once known as Edona before a meteor reduced it to ash. Smoke continues to rise as a nearby building, which barely avoided the meteor’s direct impact, slowly burns to the ground. “Whew… What a mess.” “Ahhh! What is this?! This isn’t something a human should be capable of!” I know exactly how Cerceus feels. It is shocking, and it reminds me of when Seiya used Meteor Strike from the sky and destroyed an entire army of ten thousand undead soldiers. He made excellent use of earth magic while in Ixphoria as well, but he seems to have an easier time exercising the talents he was gifted with in Gaeabrande. Feeling so much more confident now, I look back at Seiya and notice he’s holding his hands toward the sky for some reason. “Meteor Strike.” ““…What?”” Cerceus and I are incredulous, and we timidly look up at the sky, only to realize that there are even more colossal meters falling to the surface. ““Ahhhhhhhhh?!”” Right as Cerceus and I lower our heads and squat, my eardrums nearly rupture because of the powerful roar, and the ground is shaking so much that I can’t stand up! Without anything to grab for support, I reluctantly latch onto Cerceus and he does the same to me… When I look up at Seiya a few moments later, he seems serene, as if he were having tea at a café. “I scorched the surrounding suburbs just in case. Safety first.” “What part of that was safe?! What if there were still people living there?!” “I already deployed Automatic Phoenixes to make sure there weren’t any people within a one-kilometer radius inside and outside of town.” Well, if Seiya says there wasn’t anyone else here, then that’s that. Even if innocents did get caught in the blast, this is a warped world. Once we fix the distortion, everything will go back to normal, apparently. I still can’t help but think that second Meteor Strike was overkill, though. Cerceus, seemingly feeling the same way, whispers to me: “H-hey, is he always like this?” “Yep. For him, there’s no such thing as ‘too careful.’” “I know I said I was glad he’s on our side, but…I’m starting to get worried.” Cerceus tightly grabs me by the arm. “Rista…!” “What the…?! Could you not touch my divine skin with your filthy hands?!” “Look…! Over there…!” When I look in the direction he’s pointing, I can’t believe my eyes. A dragonewt is slowly walking this way even though his entire body is engulfed in flames. “A dragonewt?! A-and he’s on fire?! Meteor Strike really did a number on him, though!” “Y-yeah, he’s really beat up! We should be okay, right?!” “This is Seiya we’re talking about. I’m sure he left one alive on purpose so he could interrogate him.” “Oh, that makes sense!” Cerceus seems to be relieved when I tell him that, but Seiya stands in front of me and unsheathes his sword. His hair and eyes are red. It looks like he turned into a berserker while we were talking. “Huh?! Seiya…?” “During the very beginning of a journey, safety should always be prioritized over gathering information. That’s why I dropped one meteor in the center of the city and four in the suburbs. I used Meteor Strike with the intent of eradicating every last enemy, and yet, that one survived.” “What…?!” When I look hard at the dragonewt, I notice that while he may be on fire, his gait is steady and firm. It’s as if he doesn’t even care that crimson flames are lapping at his skin as he marches straight for us. Seiya grinds his teeth. “I can’t believe it.” Y-yeah! What’s going on?! I can’t believe there’s a dragonewt that can survive that many Meteor Strikes! But Seiya doesn’t seem to be thinking the same thing as me. “I used far too few Meteor Strikes. I should have gone with at least a hundred…” “…?! Forget the town! You would have destroyed the entire planet with that many! Don’t even think about it!” But as we chat, the dragonewt approaches until he’s only a few meters away from us. Seiya flicks his wrist a few times in a “back up” gesture, so Cerceus and I stand far behind him to make sure we don’t get in the way. The dragonewt opens his mouth to speak, exposing his small fangs. “My comrades informed me of the man and woman who assumed the titles of Hero and Goddess. They said you were impostors, but…your tremendous power is proof that you are the real thing.” He speaks in a very eloquent manner, but his complete lack of emotion makes it seem like we’re being addressed by a machine. That’s when I notice that the fire covering his scales is growing in intensity! Th-that isn’t fire from Meteor Strike, is it? Is he…? My intuition was right. The burning flames become wings on the dragonewt’s back. As he flaps them, he slowly rises off the ground. “And since you are the real thing, I fear I must kill you, for these are the teachings of the Seraph.” “Wh-what the hell are the teachings of the Seraph?!” “They are profound and peaceful teachings, founded by Lord Dragonight, used to worship the Seraph who descended to Gaeabrande.” The dragonewt then mimes a cross over his chest. “May the Seraph bless us all.” Cerceus shouts with a trembling voice: “I-is it just me or does he look really powerful?! I thought the first monsters you face in parallel worlds were supposed to be slimes and goblins!” He’s right. Things like this would never happen in any ordinary parallel world, but this is nothing surprising to Seiya and me. “Don’t worry! Seiya predicted something like this might happen, which is why he trained so long in the underworld!” It’s as if I’m trying to convince myself of the truth in those words as I shout, and I immediately use Scan to check the dragonewt’s stats. His skills are nothing to write home about compared to Seiya in his berserker form, but those special abilities! Not only can he absorb fire magic, but he is immune to almost every other type of magic as well! Plus, weapons aren’t going to work on him, and he has extremely high defense! Ice magic is probably the only thing that’ll be effective… Wait. I feel as if I’ve seen stats like these somewhere before… Seiya must have seen the enemy’s status screen as well and mutters: “His stats are similar to that fire monster’s that I fought in the un-warped Gaeabrande.” Fire monster…? O-oh yeah! They’re similar to the monster Dark Firus that Deathmagla created! It was basically immune to everything but ice magic, too! If I remember correctly, I think Seiya used Oscillatory Wave and an ice bangle to break through its defense… Before I even realize it, Hydral is holding a thick book. It’s the same “scripture” that the other dragonewt had. “Seiya, watch out! A sword with Chain Destruction is going to come out of that book!” Hydral thereupon bears his fangs with a snicker. “This is no sword but a custom weapon made specially for me.” He suddenly opens his massive mouth and swallows the scripture whole! Immediately, the fire consuming his body turns jet-black along with the flaming wings on his back. Hydral then spits out black fire in a taunting gesture! “These are no longer ordinary flames but hellfire that can even burn your souls away.” Fire infused with Chain Destruction?! If that hits us, we’re toast! Literally! I brace myself for a dark-flame attack, but Hydral suddenly vanishes! And by the time I realize it, he’s already rapidly approaching Seiya. “S-Seiya!” “Heh-heh-heh…! Dark Catastrophe!” The dark flames emanating from his body curl like snakes as they streak toward Seiya. However… “Maximum Inferno.” While I was taken by surprise, the berserker Hero had already reacted. Numerous streams of fire shoot out of Seiya’s hands before clashing with the black flames. I’m relieved that he was able to block Chain Destruction, but the black flames unbelievably start overpowering Seiya’s, pushing them back! “Why?! How can Seiya’s Maximum Inferno be losing?!” Seiya’s stats are way higher, though! Hydral sticks out his long, forked tongue. “None can withstand the black all-consuming flames of Dark Catastrophe, granted to me by the Seraph.” “O-oh, right! He can absorb fire magic! He must be absorbing Seiya’s!” Not only can he nullify magic and physical attacks, but he can also absorb Seiya’s specialty—fire magic! Th-this is not good! He’s probably the worst possible matchup for Seiya! I am slowly crushed with anxiety as I watch the enemy absorb Seiya’s flames in the air. The Hero’s expression, however, remains unchanged.