“Im-Impossible...! Impossible...!!!!!” Deus continued to writhe in disbelief! But there was nothing he could do from 800 meters up in the air!! “I can’t die! Not... like this...!!!!!”
Wataru gripped his right fist, and powerfully thrust it towards the heavens!!!
“See ya!!!!!”
“Rrrrraaaggggggghhhhhh!!!”
Kablam!!!
Kabbbbllllllaaammmm!!!!!
Kkkkkkkkaabbbbbbbllllllaaaaaammmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!
Deus to the Demon Lord exploded! His ashes cleanly dissipated into the sky!! There was not a smidgen of Deus the Demon Lord left!!!
Allow me to explain what just happened, Dear Readers! That was the one-hit-kill super-secret ultimate-attack of Exploding Blood, Exploding Uppercut!!
(*Exploding Uppercut — One of the ultimate moves of Exploding Blood, the most powerful martial art passed down only to the firstborn of the Ito clan. When the user connects with an uppercut to his opponent’s abdomen, the Exploding Blood master pours an overwhelming amount of hot-blooded energy through his fist. The enemy’s body, unacclimated to hot-blooded energy, will reject it and finally be reduced to ash from the sheer heat of the hot-blooded energy. Exploding Blood contains a number of secret attacks, but Exploding Uppercut is revered as the most terrifying attack of them all from its dangerous and inhumane effect. That being said, only an extremely limited portion of Exploding Blood has been under the scrutiny of research. It is very possible that there are much more terrifying moves hidden within the secretive teachings of the martial art. [13])
“Deus the Demon Lord... I didn’t expect him to come from the same world I did...! He was a formidable foe...!” Wataru relished the post-battle relief as he gazed up at the divinely beautiful morning sky!
Deus had mentioned some curious keywords, like “goddess” and “reincarnation!” Was he foreshadowing some important plot points to come!? I don’t know yet!!!
Meanwhile, the battle of Résistance and Garland vs. the monsters was nearing its end! Most of the monsters had lost their wills to fight upon witnessing the defeat of their Demon Lord!
“This battle is over! Surrender!” Résistance commanded with a swing of her sword!
“It-It can’t be...!”
“There’s no way...”
“Our Demon Lord was... defeated by a human...!?”
The monsters had lost all hope along with their leader! One by one, they dropped their weapons and began walking out into the wasteland!
“...We’re not going after them?” Garland asked Résistance!
She slowly shook her head! “There’s no need. Most monsters have no order by themselves. Now that they’ve lost their leader, Deus, they won’t try to fight us anymore.”
“I see...”
After all of the monsters had left the scene, a crowd of people came rushing out of the castle! These were the people the Demon Lord had abducted from around the world!
“Mom! Dad!” Aria spotted her parents in the crowd! She ran to them!
“Oh, Aria!”
“Aria! It’s been so long!”
Aria and her parents lovingly embraced! At the same time, Garland was reunited with his wife and daughter!
“Daddy!”
“You’re both alive! Are you hurt?”
“No, we’re all right, honey!”
“Good... Thank goodness...!”
Both Aria and Garland enjoyed reuniting with their families!
Wataru had taken off his hachimaki and dropped his Exploding Bloodrush aura, and was now sobbing profusely at the sight of Aria and Garland’s heartwarming reunions with their loved ones! Anyone would have struggled to hold back tears upon witnessing such a moving event, and Wataru was a kind-hearted teen with a samurai spirit! It was only natural that manly tears were now rolling down his cheeks!
He noticed Résistance standing nearby off to the side, and called out to her. “Résistance...”
“You really are an amazing man, Wataru. You really defeated the Demon Lord... I’m amazed, to be honest.”
Wataru wiped his tears! “I’m always headed for the top, that’s all!”
Résistance cracked a smile. “That’s Wataru, all right...”
“You said it! So, Résistance, what are you going to do now???”
“Let’s see... Maybe I’ll travel the world. You made me want to strive for the top, too.” Résistance turned her smile to Wataru! It was cute!!
“Okay!! If you want to challenge me, I’ll accept it anytime!!!” Wataru returned a smile, pointing a thumb at himself!
“I know you will. Will you hold onto this until we meet again?” Résistance produced a silver necklace from her pocket! It was the silver, snake-wrapped cross necklace that she had bought during their shopping trip a few days prior!
“Are you sure!?” Wataru asked.
“Yes. I want you to hold onto it.”
“Okay, I will!” Wataru took the necklace!
“Farewell, Wataru!”
“See you!!!!!”
What an absolutely, whole-heartedly, perfectly wrapped-up happy ending!!! Wataru defeated the Demon Lord, Aria and Garland were reunited with their families, and Résistance embarked on a solo journey to become a stronger warrior than before!!!
The day after the deadly battle between Wataru and Deus, Wataru, Aria, and her parents had returned to the Sky Kingdom!
“We’re here, Wataru! It’s our home!”
“So we are!!!”
Of course, Wataru was included in Aria’s “our”! Since Wataru had come here from another world, the Sky Kingdom had unmistakably become another home to him!!
“You should continue living in our hospital, Wataru.” Aria’s father spoke up. “You saved us all. Please make yourself at home there.” He was a well-built man with kindly eyes!
“All right, thank you!”
“Please, Wataru. You and Aria defeated the Demon Lord. We can’t thank you enough,” Aria’s mother added. She was a slightly curvy and calm-mannered woman!
By the way, Aria couldn’t be bothered to explain Wataru’s true origin to her parents!! For all they knew, he was just a fighter traveling around this world!!
“Aria’s dad... Aria’s mom... You’re too kind!!! Thank you!!!!!” Wataru threw himself on his knees in gratitude! The impact of his groveling smashed a part of the paved road to pieces, but let’s not worry about that!
That’s when a young man approached them! He was clad in the red uniform of a royal guard, and carried a lance in his hand!
“...You’re the Wataru, aren’t you?”
“Wtf!!” Wataru said in surprise. “What do you want!?!?” he jumped up, immediately on guard!
“Woah, take it easy. I’m a royal guard of the Sky Kingdom. Our king wishes to have an audience with you. Will you accompany me?”
“What!?”
So, Wataru and Aria were brought to the royal palace by the guard!
“This is incredible, Wataru! I never dreamed of stepping foot in the royal palace!”
“Right, this is surprising! ...Why were we brought here, anyway!?”
They walked down a long hallway after the guard!!
A few minutes later, they arrived at the throne room! They walked in through a giant door to find an old man seated on the throne!
“You’ve come...” He uttered.
He had a full, solemn beard and glaring eyes! His clothes were not too flashy, but definitely exquisite! He was none other than the ruler of the Sky Kingdom!!!
“You’re... Wataru, right? The one who defeated the Demon Lord.”
“Yes, sir!!!” Wataru energetically responded!
“I see. I can tell from your eyes that you are the upstanding man I expected you to be. That Demon Lord had caused us quite a lot of trouble. It is amazing that you defeated him all on your own... I thank you, on behalf of myself and my kingdom.”
“No need for thanks, sir! I just wanted to face powerful foes! Sir!” Wataru declared!
“Hm, I see... In that case, there is a favor I wanted to ask you.” The king’s eyes gleamed with a particular light!!
“What is it, sir???”
“A few days ago, I received word that a dragon had appeared in a village not too far from here. If we leave it alone, it might attack our kingdom, too. I want to ask you, a man powerful enough to defeat the Demon Lord, to hunt down this dragon.”
A dragon!!! Dragons are usually reserved as the most powerful beings of a fantasy world!!! Naturally, this would be an extremely dangerous adversary!!!
Flustered, Aria turned to Wataru! “Wh-What will you do, Wataru!? A dragon is much more powerful than any run-of-the-mill monster! You have to think this through!” She sounded more concerned than ever!
“Hm. She’s right.” The king solemnly chimed in. “Rumor has it that the Demon Lord had once approached the dragon in an attempt to coerce the beast to join his ranks. Evidently, the dragon was too powerful even for the Demon Lord to tame, and he was forced to retreat. Think on this carefully before you give me an answer.”
What a shocking revelation! Even the Demon Lord Deus was unable to best a dragon! What will Wataru do!? ...Of course, he had already made up his mind!!!
“No problem! I’ll do it!” Wataru accepted with the expression of a Nio!
Why? Easy! It was Wataru’s destiny as a hot-blooded fighting teen to seek out those stronger than him, no matter the situation!!
“Hm. I was hoping you would say as much. Thank you.” The king’s stoic expression shifted to one of relief! Age-appropriate tiredness appeared on his face!
“Let’s go, Aria! Let’s go find the dragon, right now!” Wataru turned right around, ready to sprint out of the throne room!
Résistance’s silver necklace shimmered around his neck!
“W-Wait for me, Wataru!” Aria hurried after him!
“Try to keep up! The dragon’s not going to wait around for us!!!”
Wataru wondered what the dragon looked like, and what attacks it would use against him!! His heart was already pounding with excitement!!!
And so, Wataru Ito carried on through this dangerous world full of magic and monsters with nothing but his own fists!!!
This has been WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!!
THE!!!!! END!!!!!
FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!!!
*Sources:
[12] The Secrets of Exploding Blood ~ How Japan Survives Without Nukes — Isekai Tensei Publishing
[13] The Very Short List of Known Exploding Blood Attacks — Isekai Tensei Publishing