252. VS Vanguard – Flame Emperor Glen (Part 1)

Sorry for the delay.

—The time goes back a little.

It was around the same time that the Ninja God Shuri headed toward Kazuto.

The otherworlder “Flame Emperor” Glen was facing off against Touka, Sayaka, and Schwarz.

Almost at the same moment he appeared on the scene, he thrust his blade into Touka’s chest.

“First one.”

“Ah…”

“Touka-oneesama!”

The sword was pulled out, and fresh blood danced from Touka’s chest.

『Tch.』

In an instant, Schwarz’s darkness lunged at Glen.

Glen immediately withdrew his sword from Touka and leaped backward.

Darkness devoured the spot where he had been standing.

(The current ‘Wolf King’ is a darkness-user too, huh… This is going to be quite a handful.)

Glen had fought successive generations of “Wolf Kings” three times in the past.

Among them, the most troublesome were the Wolf Kings with darkness-type skills.

Their destructive power was one thing, but what made them difficult was their high versatility and adaptability.

An all-rounder type that could transform into any shape to become the ultimate spear or shield.

To make matters worse, it was now night. The power of darkness was heightened.

(But why the hell is the Wolf King siding with humans…?)

As far as he knew, no previous Wolf King had ever sided with humans.

They spent their lives entirely alone, and upon the end of their lifespan, they passed the title of “Wolf King” to another individual.

(Not only that… he’s even created a ‘pack’…)

Behind the Wolf King were countless monsters of various species.

The pressure he felt from them wasn’t much, but he could feel the Wolf King’s power in all of them.

Without a doubt, they were the Wolf King’s kin.

(Well, this is another world. It’s probably wrong to apply the common sense of our world here.)

In any case, what needs to be done remains the same.

Annihilate the enemy as Randall commands.

That is all.

(For now, before getting serious with the Wolf King, I’ll take out the other human—Ts!?)

The next moment, as he thought that, the Wolf King was right in front of Glen.

“Ts—!? Hey, hey, no way. You’re too fast.”

『Die!』

Overflowing darkness.

It tried to swallow Glen like a massive tsunami.

“Hmph!”

He gripped his sword tightly.

Then, a massive flame erupted from the blade.

True to his epithet “Flame Emperor,” his skill was fire.

He was an incarnation of destruction who freely manipulated flames to annihilate the enemies before him.

Darkness and fire collided.

The impact was, in a word, tremendous.

The surrounding trees were reduced to ashes as they were blown away, and the earth was gouged and burned red.

Both possessed skills that could be called the pinnacle of destruction.

『GARUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!』

“ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Every time a blow collided, the terrain changed.

Claws, blades, and fangs of darkness clashed with slashes of fire.

It was a collision between disasters possessed of will.

At the center of it, Schwarz was laughing.

『—I see, you ARE strong…』

It seemed the title of “Otherworld Top Tier” was not just for show.

The flames Glen produced could burn even through Schwarz’s darkness.

If his guard of darkness was breached, even Schwarz would be burned to a crisp in an instant.

『Kuku… Kuhahahahaha!』

Schwarz laughed.

He was having fun from the bottom of his heart.

Thinking back, when was the last time he had fought with all his might?

Perhaps it was that time he first fought that human—Kazuto.

Because it was shortly after he had evolved, Schwarz gave his all then.

But since then, the opportunity to fully wield his exponentially increasing power had never arrived.

When he fell into the scheme of the intelligent zombie—Arrogance—and was forced into a re-contract with Sayaka and made to fight Libera, his power had been extremely restricted.

—But now, those restrictions were gone.

He was going all out.

He could unleash the full power of his current self, having grown and increased in strength.

For Schwarz, this was an unexpected joy.

『Magnificent! This is what battle is! Joy! It is joyful, otherworlder!』

“I’m not having any fun at all!”

For Glen, on the other hand, a fight like this was the last thing he wanted.

It would be one thing if the opponents were just humans, but for a Six King-class monster other than the Dragon King to be his opponent was completely unexpected.

(I’d accounted for Libera, the Sea King, and the Dragon King, but adding the Wolf King to that is impossible…)

Once Libera betrayed them, he had expected the Sea King and Dragon King, who were close to her, to also become hostile.

To begin with, the one he was scheduled to fight was the “Dragon King.”

Glen calculated that he could win against the Dragon King alone, as they were a good matchup.

—The only human with the power to defeat the Dragon King single-handedly.

That was Glen, and it was the primary reason he was chosen for the Vanguard.

But now, he was facing the Wolf King, whom he had judged to be the least likely opponent.

(This is bad… Facing the Dragon King on top of this situation is going to be a real pain…)

Glen had the confidence to fight one of the Six Kings alone.

But two was impossible.

In that case, he wouldn’t be able to win unless at least two other Vanguard members were with him.

(Wait, what is this sense of wrongness I’ve been feeling for a while now…?)

Despite fighting an out-of-spec opponent like the Wolf King, Glen couldn’t fully concentrate.

The reason was that girl he had finished off first.

That girl was stuck in his mind, refusing to leave.

(Not just that… why isn’t the pack moving?)

The monsters in Schwarz’s pack made no move to act at all, merely watching the battle from a distance.

(Even if there’s a power gap with me, they’re at a level where they could be used effectively as decoys or distractions… But there isn’t even a sign of that. What’s going on?)

His instincts rang an alarm.

That he was overlooking something.

He was right.

A chill suddenly ran down his spine.

Reflexively, Glen turned around.

Pitch-black darkness was spreading.

From the center of that darkness, a “hand” appeared, draped in a muddy darkness.

“I caught you.”

An existence grabbing his arm.

A girl with a smile split like a crescent moon was looking at him.

It was the human he should have killed—Touka.

End of 252