“We haven’t seen so much as a glimpse of the Demon Lord’s castle yet...” Aria muttered.
“Not a single glimpse!” Wataru agreed. After leaving the restaurant behind, the trio had been trudging through the wasteland for quite a while, but their destination was nowhere to be seen. “But we are getting closer to it! I can’t wait!” Wataru couldn’t contain his excitement as he imagined the formidable foe at the end of his journey. Unbothered by the glaring sun, he carried on, holding his head and shoulders high. Still, he couldn’t afford to feel complacent. There was one more Master blocking their way, after all. Worse yet, they didn’t know the Master’s true form or powers. This made their next foe extremely tricky and dangerous.
It was seven o’clock in the evening when Aria tiredly spoke up. “Wataru, why don’t we set up camp here? I don’t think I can walk any further.” She couldn’t shake the overwhelming exhaustion that resulted from walking through the wasteland in a straight line.
“All right, let’s set up camp around here!!” Wataru heartily agreed.
“Look,” Résistance said, and pointed to a large rock nearby. “That rock’s a good size. Why don’t we set up under it.”
The trio began to make camp by the rock.
“Leave the fire to me!!!” Wataru chucked a pile of branches they had collected throughout their walk onto the ground. He roared, “Flm!!!!!” With a sharp exhale, Wataru punched the air directly above the pile of branches. Soon, a small trail of smoke emerged from the bundle! The small ember spread and before long had morphed itself into a respectable campfire!! It was incredible!!! “Check it out! I used a super-fast punch to heat up the air and light the branches on fire! Behold the power of science!!!”
“That’s amazing, Wataru!” Aria jumped right in with the compliment, despite not understanding a smidgen of what Wataru had just said!
At the very same moment, Résistance noticed something! “Hm? What is that over there?”
Wataru and Aria followed her pointing finger to find a figure walking through the wasteland under the darkening sky. It was a very feeble-looking elder clothed in rags!
“Huh... Maybe he’s lost! Let’s help that old man!” Just as he was hot-blooded and hardcore, Wataru was a Japanese man with a kind heart! Therefore, he never forsook anyone in need!!!
“You’re right, let’s help him!” Aria loudly called for the elderly gentleman! “Hey, you! The broke-looking geezer wearing scraps!”
The elder heard the insulting salutation and wobbled over to the party!
“Mister, we thought you might be in a pickle. Why don’t you rest here with us tonight!?!?!?” Wataru proposed!
The elder gave Wataru a joyful smile! “Really? Thank you very much. I seem to have lost my way...”
“We’ve got to help each other out, out here!” Wataru said, energetically popping squats! It was such an admirable quality of Wataru that he never missed an opportunity to train!
Now, the party of four surrounded the campfire!!!!
“...So, what are you doing all the way out here?” Wataru asked the old man! It did seem strange that a man his age would come all the way out to a desolate wasteland!
“I’m a sculptor. I came to gather the high-quality clay around here... It’s embarrassing, but I’ve lost my way home. Growing old isn’t all fun and games, is it...?” The old man scratched his head, a little embarrassed!
“Age is but a number!” Wataru countered! “My master turns a hundred and twenty this year, but he’s still as energetic as ever! I have a feeling you’ll have a long and healthy life!” Wataru reminisced about his martial arts teacher back in the old world!
“H-Hundred and twenty... That’s quite impressive...” The elder was a little taken aback!
“...Résistance!” Aria called to Résistance, who had been blankly staring at the flames.
“What is it?”
“...How about a Payblade duel?”
“Ahaha, bring it on! Come to think of it, we never finished our last match!” Résistance immediately produced a hand-made Payblade arena from her pocket!
A few hours had passed! It was now ten o’clock at night!
“Grr! Not too shabby, Aria!”
“You’re not bad yourself, Résistance!”
Aria and Résistance were locked in a Payblade battle, with neither one managing to gain the upper hand!! Wataru watched them with sleepy eyes! “Oof... I’m getting tired... I’m going to bed...!!!” He flopped down to the ground, still wearing his school uniform, and immediately began sleeping peacefully! Since Wataru always kept a healthy sleep schedule of nine PM to three AM each day, Wataru couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore!
“Oh, okay, Wataru. Maybe we should go to bed, too!” Aria said!
“I think we should!” agreed Résistance. “Our battle is to be continued!”
Aria and Résistance packed up their Payblades and prepared for bed!
“Everybody going to bed, already? Then I suppose I should tuck myself in, too...” The old man produced a sleeping bag from his brown leather bag and began to make his bed!
“Yes, let’s put out the fire then.” Aria took a step towards the campfire!!!
“...Mwahahah, Wataru, you helpless fool...!” The old man’s tone suddenly changed!
“What...?” Aria couldn’t believe her ears at hearing such a drastic change!
“Aria, get away from him, now!” Résistance called out, quickly grasping the hilt of her sword!
“...Wh-Who are you...?” Aria timidly asked, slowly backing away from the old man!
The old man stood up and tossed his sleeping bag aside! He flexed all the muscles in his body! “...Me? Heh heh, I suppose there’s no need to hide it any longer!” A sinister grin crossed his face! “I am the final Master, Wolfman!” he shouted at ear-splitting volume! Brown fur began to cover his body as all of his muscles enlarged!
“Y-You’re a... werewolf!?” Aria was dumbfounded!
But who could have blamed her!? Who could have believed this feeble old man would transform into a monstrously-shredded werewolf!? He had grown close to ten feet tall, and his shirt was stretched near to the bursting point by his immense muscles! The transformation was so drastic that it had clearly violated several laws of physics!
“Gwahahahahaha! I disguised myself as an old man to get close to Wataru and ambush him while he was unaware! The absolute fool of a man fell for such a simple scheme!” Wolfman victoriously bellowed!
Meanwhile, Wataru was still fast asleep! There was no indication that he would wake up any time soon!!!
“Wake up, Wataru!” Aria yelled!
“Urm... Sleepity-sleepy-sounds...” Wataru remained dead asleep!!!!!