82 – 82. Godslayer.
Swinging a sword underwater is truly an ephemeral event.
Especially beyond the realm of ordinary people.
By the time Sawamura Sento, on the outskirts, raised his guard with a frown, a boy with orange hair was floating in the sky.
The one-eyed dragon and the boy vanished in an instant, leaving only the two in the air.
A giant and a boy.
The sight of a mere dust-like tribe member swinging a sword alone towards a giant was reckless.
A clear vision of death appeared.
Even if the giant merely flicked a finger, it was enough to kill. With such massive power, how could one cut through its skin and joints?
“…I have to save him.”
Honestly, there wasn’t a deep bond of friendship worth risking his life for between Kitagawa Kenichi and him, but they were alumni.
They had fought monsters together, learned under the same ominous master, Ichimaru Shiki, despite studying different disciplines.
So, there was a sense of duty to lend a hand in their brief escape.
“We’ll use the existing spell.”
Regardless of the intention or type of the spell, what constituted its essence was dots and lines.
Deeper still, the light of the soul and magic.
And handling it required the skill of the spellcaster and a strong will to achieve it.
─ Disassembling the light and magic composing the defense spell, Iron Wall.
Drawing them back into the soul and reconstructing them into a new spell.
What was needed now wasn’t an attack.
“We’ll bind his feet.”
A deep purple light, darker than Sentou’s hair, spread through the air.
It twisted like a will-o’-the-wisp, moving according to the thoughts in his mind.
It formed the core of a new spell.
In an instant, the light wove together to create a massive form.
“──Seal, the binding spell.”
The shaman, Sawamura Sentou, with a sinister smile resembling someone else’s, chanted the incantation.
“Heavenly Net.”
The light instantly turned into a net.
A huge net, solidified with strong chains, enough to cover the white sky and the giant’s body.
With the spell completed, Kitagawa Kenichi found himself face to face with the giant’s fist.
Sentou, seeing the future vividly, furrowed his brows in determination.
“Move.”
Clack-Clack-Clack! The chains, all pulled back, swiftly closed in on the giant.
If only there was a bit more time, they could have grabbed the giant’s limbs and stopped it.
Even a momentary pause in its movement would have helped, but the situation was too urgent now.
Soon, the giant’s fist met the boy’s sword.
It was a scene where a fist bigger than a small shop crushed an ant.
Sentou hoped Kenichi wouldn’t die instantly. If he managed to stay alive somehow, she might be able to save him.
She harbored no expectation of the boy winning.
Some might view it as negative, but at least she thought her judgment was cold and rational.
It was inevitable that Kenichi was at a disadvantage, it was only natural.
Hence, what happened next was beyond her imagination.
Swoosh!
The blade pierced the skin, even slicing through bones. Three of the giant’s fingers floated in the air.
The giant’s eyes twitched in pain, and Sentou, witnessing the scene, widened her eyes.
On the other hand, Kenichi swung the sword once again, passing through the fragments of the giant finger much larger than his body.
Crack!
This time, it struck the palm of the hand.
It might have been a coincidence once, but from the second time on, it was inevitable.
The hero was able to vanquish the giant.
However, unlike the finger, due to the broad thickness and area of the hand, he couldn’t cut through it in one breath.
“……Uh.”
Yes, he didn’t cut through.
“Darn.”
Whooooooosh! Kenichi was pushed against the giant’s palm, on the verge of being crushed somewhere.
The boy struggled to break free from the hand with all his might, but tremendous pressure pinned him down.
At the same time, a building, painted white on the opposite side, came into view.
It seemed like he was about to become a fly squashed in a human hand.
Yes, that’s right, it was when Sawamura Sento furrowed his brow and moved the spell with a grim expression.
She immediately used the spell of Cheonraji-mang to bind the giant’s ankles, torso, and right shoulder.
She wanted to tie up the whole body, but the opponent’s size was too large for that.
Also, in such a tense situation, it was better to securely bind a part of the body.
Clank! The crimson chains twisted roughly, suppressing the giant’s movements.
It wasn’t perfectly fixed in place, but it was clear that the power put into the hand gestures had diminished.
Seizing this opportunity, Kenichi managed to escape from the water with great effort, and the giant’s hand, still advancing, shattered the high-rise building in front of it.
Kwaaah!! The building, with its top missing, began to collapse to the ground, spewing white rubble.
Not knowing how to fly, Kenichi desperately tried to step on the building debris scattered in the air to descend to the ground.
—Wooooo!!!
Seeing the futile efforts of the boy, the giant reached out with his left hand, which was not restricted.
It seemed like he was going to swat Kenichi, who was floating in the air, directly to the ground.
Kenichi widened his eyes and frantically stepped on the fragments, but the ground was too far.
aaah!
It was a giant hand big enough to block the entire upper view.
If the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara were to fall from the sky, it might look like this.
Sensing the danger, even as he fell to the ground, Kenichi tried to wield the magic sword with all his might.
This time, with the determination to definitely cut through.
“—Unfold.”
However, before he could swing the sword, a bomb exploded in the giant’s face.
The power of the stars gathered in the air.
It turned into a spell according to the wizard’s will.
Transcendental magic.
Falling Star.
A golden star soon appeared before the giant’s eyes.
To the distracted giant, a blind bomb arrived.
The golden bomb emitted a dazzling light.
“Overlap, ignition.”
Fire magic.
Mega Explosion.
After the eerie flash, what followed was indeed a grand explosion.
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Kwaaah────!!!
Swift unfolding of events.
The firepower was so immense that it could cover the entire face of a giant.
The giant staggered in unexpected shock, and Kenichi safely descended to the ground.
With a stunned expression, he witnessed the staggering giant.
At first, he thought it was Sento.
But due to a subtly different aura, the boy soon realized otherwise.
Because another comrade appeared in the sky.
Though not riding a broom, the woman fluttering her golden hair while flying through the sky was undoubtedly his comrade and a sorceress.
“…Really, calling me as you please.”
Stellar Sorceress, Eris Betelgeuse.
Unlike Kenichi, she had a sharp mind and seemed to have grasped the situation earlier, restlessly scanning her surroundings with an unsatisfied expression.
“Ichimaru Shiki, where is this guy.”
It was a story Kenichi himself wanted to know.
***
“…What kind of scheme is this now.”
Tougher than armor, black scales, six feet, eyes resembling rubies.
The Black Dragon was an extraordinary being just by appearance, and with a tension-filled aura, it glared at the man before it.
“Hmm, a scheme, you say. What a disappointing remark.”
Ichimaru Shiki shrugged his shoulders with a mischievous smile.
“Am I not a born pacifist?”
…
In a truly unsettling manner, the dragon writhed its long body, surveying its surroundings.
Just a moment ago, the entire city was painted white, but now everything was pitch black.
As if in the shadows or in emptiness, a space of blackness.
‘…The Dragon Cannon was instantly neutralized.’
The fact that a beam capable of reducing an entire city to rubble vanished in an instant was astounding.
It was not an attack that mere humans could withstand.
But even more alarming was the fact that the world had once again shifted drastically.
‘Now it’s a pitch-black world…’
Even just by easily crushing a prophet, it was already extraordinary, but this clearly surpassed the realm of humans.
It could be seen as a manifestation of barrier magic, but it was an ability that crossed the boundaries of creation.
That man had constructed another world within the virtual realm.
‘Come to think of it, his hair color changed again.’
Within the entirely black world, Ichimaru Shiki had somehow turned completely white.
The sword, too, was the same.
The man with silver eyes casually scratched his cheek and once again mused about design.
“Hmm, isn’t charisma everything in character design and technical execution? There’s no foolish act as ridiculous as nitpicking there…”
─Having overheard through the shadows, there was no need to repeat the story.
The demon inhabiting the body of the Black Dragon stared at the sinner before him with a cold gaze.
─For you and your heresy, know that it’s a direct intervention of the gods, take it as an honor.
“hahahaha, there was really no need for all this.”
Shiki Ichimaru, upon hearing the news of divine arrival, simply chuckled without a hint of surprise.
Seemingly displeased with his indifferent reaction, the demon writhed in discomfort.
─…Do you mock the gods? No, it’s closer to daring to challenge the realm of gods.
The pitch-black world surrounding them now attested to his determination and will.
No matter how hard one tried, it was a realm beyond the reach of ordinary humans.
This was a world created by those who clearly intended to challenge the gods.
“Oh, no, I have no intention of becoming a god, though?”
Shiki Ichimaru slowly shook his head, denying the dragon’s words.
Still wearing a wicked smile, he let the blade touch the ground.
The black blade, having scratched the dark earth, now gleamed with the shadow and white moonlight.
“I’ve simply decided to kill a god.”
The man with silver eyes chuckled and extended the monochrome sword to the dragon.
“For a very long time.”