As the battle between Wataru and Deus suddenly grew in intensity, the crowd that had gathered to watch the duel was at the brink of rioting!
“Hey! That human started glowing red all of a sudden!”
“I have no idea what’s happening, but that human’s bad!”
“Did it get a little hotter out here...?”
“I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s help Master Deus, right now!”
The monsters started drawing their assorted weapons! There were orcs with clubs, animated skeletons with spears, and even a goblin with a custom-modified Payblade made for battle, to name a few examples! The voltage of the scene was amping up!
Just when things were coming to a head, Résistance turned around to face the crowd! “Listen up! All of you!”
The horde of monsters all turned their attention to her! Aria, who had been standing by Résistance’s side until a moment ago, had already fled the scene to avoid being caught up in the riot! Aria was always opportunistic!
“Y-You’re Résistance... The ex-Master,” said one of the monsters, recognizing her!
“What are you doing here!?” shouted another!
“You think you can just come and go as you please!?” yelled another, outraged!
Résistance drew her sword and held it up for all to see! “Anyone who dares to interrupt their duel will have to go through me!” she valiantly declared!
Her presence intimidated the crowd for a little bit, but the monsters did not back down!
“Wh-Who do you think you are!?”
“Yeah! You’re the one who betrayed our Demon Lord!”
“Don’t think we’re gonna go easy on you if you don’t get outta our way!”
The horde of monsters, about eighty strong, glared menacingly at Résistance! But Résistance’s eyes only gleamed with fighting spirit as she held her sword tighter and held her ground in this critically dangerous standoff!
“Bring it on...!” she growled!
As the mandated neutral arbiter in the duel between Wataru and Deus, Résistance couldn’t allow anyone or anything to interrupt the battle!! She had no intention of helping either side, but she also had an unyielding will to prevent anybody else from disturbing that neutrality!
One of the orcs waved his club in the air! “You don’t scare us! Come on guys, let’s get her!”
The rest of the monsters joined in, assaulting Résistance all at once! She was facing down eighty monsters! At first glance, her chances appeared to be hopeless! ...But lest you forget, Dear Readers, Résistance had been a member of the Four Masters until mere days before! Her strength far exceeded that of any horde of run-of-the-mill monsters!!
“Hragh!!!” Résistance shouted, and swung her sword in a horizontal arc!
Brrrraggghghhhh!!!!!
Her sharp longsword sliced through the air! An instant later, the monsters that formed the frontline of the horde went flying like bowling pins struck by a perfect strike from a professional bowler’s bowling ball!!
“Wh-What kind of attack was that!?”
“Dammit, she’s too strong!”
Now that the monsters had witnessed Résistance’s attack, they began to fall back, one by one!
Résistance pointed her sword at the horde! “What’s the matter!? Keep ’em coming!” she shouted aggressively.
Résistance’s battle against the horde of generic fantasy baddies had begun!
“Here goes!!!!!” Wataru shouted! His hair was spiked up to the sky and his body was enveloped in a crimson aura! “Pnch!!!!!” Wataru’s punch came screaming in at over 2000 km/h!
“Grr!” Deus just barely dodged Wataru’s fist, but even the shockwave caused by its passing left a cut on the Demon Lord’s cheek! “H-How dare you... You damaged my face!” Deus rushed at Wataru, fully utilizing both fists for a storm of punches!
The force generated by Deus’s fists cracked the ground below them, and sent vibrations through the earth rumbling out to the horizons! No one, absolutely no one could have survived being on the receiving end of such devastatingly powerful blows! Not anyone, ever!! ...Save for one!!!
“Nice try...!”
“Im-Impossible!!!” Deus could not believe his eyes!
Wataru was standing still exactly where he was before, his hachimaki still tied around his head! He stood motionless, despite having taken the full force of Deus’s fists!! His back and arms were kept straight, just like those of an army cadet being berated by a drill sergeant!!! Not only did Wataru remain unmoved through the Demon Lord’s punches, but he hadn’t suffered so much as a scratch!!!! His unimaginably powerful core had allowed him to remain unwavered!!!!!
“While you harden your fists with magic... I did you one better, by achieving the unachievable! I’m hardening my entire body with my hot-blooded energy... You don’t stand a chance now!!!” Wataru explained proudly, his pure confidence making up for any lack of logic in his tactics!
“...Huh?” Deus failed to conceal his confusion! “B-But I see that my attacks didn’t do any damage...” The Demon Lord stopped attempting to punch Wataru and teleported away! He put some distance between himself and Wataru! “By the way, Wataru... ‘Exploding Bloodrush,’ was it...? What in the world is that..?”
“Hmph.” Wataru scoffed. “Who the hell monologues about their tactics mid-battle?”
“Hm. You have a point.”
Have they no concern for their readers!? Let us pause the story for a moment, Dear Readers, and allow me to monologue about Wataru’s tactics! Exploding Bloodrush* was a hidden skill used by the Exploding Blood, a branch of martial arts passed down through the firstborns of the Ito clan since the beginning of time! That’s right. While Wataru had mastered various martial arts from around the globe, Exploding Bloodrush was his heritage and identity!
(*Exploding Bloodrush — The user releases every last bit of hot-blooded energy that lies dormant in their body to power up their corporal instruments to the absolute limit. Because of the exclusive nature of Exploding Blood, details of this move still remain a secret. The FBI, CIA, KGB, and other world powers’ intelligence agencies have tried and failed to uncover the secrets of Exploding Blood. Some researchers have suggested that Exploding Blood is the very reason why Japan has abstained from the development of nuclear weapons. Of course, the Japanese government has denied this theory, at least on official records. [12])
Wataru took a deep breath from within his red aura, and tightened his fists!
“Rrrrraaaggghhhhh!!!” He threw supersonic fists at Deus, one after another!
“Gragh!” Deus expertly maneuvered his magically-enhanced hands to deflect Wataru’s punches, but his defenses were unable to keep up for long!
“Brkthrgh!!!”
“Argh!”
One of Wataru’s punches had slipped through Deus’s guard and hit him square in the ribs! Deus jumped back in agony, but Wataru had no intention of giving Deus any room to breathe! He leapt to close their distance again, and used the momentum to deliver a jump kick!
“Enough!” With infernally sharp reflexes, Deus grabbed Wataru’s leg and twisted his core to toss Wataru into the air!
“Not bad!” Wataru said in the air, and landed on his feet! He was grinning with excitement!
“Grr...!” In contrast, Deus’s expression was twisted in pain!
Wataru’s Exploding Bloodrush had caused Wataru’s power to grow exponentially! Deus, using all his might, had barely managed to dodge the attack! Worse yet, Deus was afflicted with diabetes! His stamina was considerably lowered compared to when he had been healthier!
“No... This is far from over!” Deus shouted, and thrust his magically hardened fists before him, forming a stance akin to the Fighting Mantis of kung fu!
A layman would have been utterly intimidated by the Demon Lord’s stance! But now that Wataru had activated Exploding Bloodrush, Deus’s posturing came off as nothing more than cheap bravado!
“Hraaaaaaaaaaghhhhh....!!!” With a deep inhale, Wataru lowered his center of gravity, placed his left hand at his waist, and thrust his right hand forward! His stance was no other than the Exploding Blood signature stance, the Hot-Blooded Fighter!!
It was now five o’clock in the morning! The faint, pre-dawn light shone upon Wataru and Deus as their gazes locked, both of them maintaining their fighting stances!
Without deviating from his stance, Deus broke the silence! “Wataru Ito... You’re not of this world, are you?”
Wataru was completely shocked! “...How did you...!?”
Aria was supposed to be the only other keeper of his secret!
“Hm hm hm... Because we’re the same, you and I!”
“Wh-What do you mean!?” Wataru implored!
This ultimate battle was nearing its conclusion...!!
Meanwhile, Résistance’s fight against the eighty or so monsters had devolved into chaos!
“Rrrragghhh!” Résistance valiantly continued swinging her sword! With each powerful swing, a handful of monsters were knocked aside! She was nothing short of a beautiful, spectacular knight, tearing the faceless mooks to shreds with the overwhelming force of a musou heroine! Even so, after having fought for hours her stamina was at its very limits! Her blade was beginning to slow as her breathing grew heavy! Suddenly, a swing of a desperate orc’s club struck her in the back!
“Grr!” The shock of the strike knocked Résistance to one knee! Her face was distorted in pain and exhaustion! Seeing this opportunity, the monsters all swarmed Résistance!