254. VS Vanguard – Flame Emperor Glen (Part 3)

Schwarz lightly kicked off the ground.

In that instant, the atmosphere split. A speed exceeding the speed of sound.

In the blink of an eye, Schwarz closed the distance to Glen.

“Wha—!?”

Glen couldn’t react.

Even in a state where his entire body had turned to fire and he was at full strength, Schwarz’s current speed exceeded his imagination.

『GARUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!』

Darkness overflowed from beneath Schwarz’s feet.

No, not just his feet. A massive amount of repulsive darkness overflowed from his entire body, crawling like sludge.

That darkness shifted shape, transforming into claws, fangs, and various weapons to assault Glen.

An attack from all directions. Moreover, every single one possessed a power that could be called a finishing blow.

“Guo… oooooooooooooh!”

Glen met all of them with fire.

However, even for Glen, who had burned his entire body to become flame itself, Schwarz’s current attacks were horrific. He couldn’t neutralize everything, and fangs of darkness sank into his body.

“Tch.”

There was no bleeding, and the wounds closed immediately.

But Schwarz did not miss that slight anomaly.

『I SEE. IT SEEMS THE MORE YOU REPAIR YOUR BODY, THE WEAKER THE FLAMES BECOME!』

“Ts—”

Schwarz’s prediction was correct.

The current Glen was a mass of fire. Even if his head were crushed or his heart pierced, it wouldn’t result in a fatal wound.

In exchange, the more he regenerated, the weaker the power of his flames became.

Fire that possessed the properties of both destruction and regeneration.

That was the “Flame Emperor” Glen.

『LET US TEST WHICH IS SUPERIOR: THE COMBINED POWER OF MYSELF AND MY KIN, OR YOUR FLAMES!』

“Tch, what a pain!”

Darkness destroys, and fire burns away.

A collision of destruction against destruction.

The offense and defense between the man and the wolf who stood at the summit expanded to a scale comparable to a war between nations.

“Wait—Wolf King-sama… w-wait—”

Naturally, the impact rippled into the surroundings.

Even Touka, who was protected by Schwarz’s darkness in a form-fitting rubber suit, was barely able to scramble away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Support was utterly out of the question.

“Impossible, impossible, it’s impossible! Sayaka-san! Hurry and evacuate me into the darkness too—KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—…”

A particularly violent explosion occurred, and Touka was blown away like a scrap of paper.

Incidentally, all of Schwarz’s kin had already quickly evacuated into the darkness.

Or rather, since everyone had entered a state of exhaustion after transferring their power to Schwarz, Sayaka had swiftly collected them into the darkness.

Because she was somewhat useful as a combatant, Touka had missed her chance to withdraw.

Blown far into the distance, it was a small mercy that she likely didn’t have to worry about being caught in the battle anymore.

『GUOOOOOOOOOOOOO!』

“ORAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Paying no heed to the blown-away Touka, the battle between the man and the beast grew in intensity.

However, gradually but surely, the difference in superiority became clear.

Schwarz’s darkness was bit by bit eroding Glen’s flames.

—At this rate, I’ll lose.

Glen was certain of it.

“Tch… I wanted to save this, but I guess there’s no choice…”

Glen pressed his palms together.

“—’Flame Emperor Territory’.”

In that instant, the surrounding space was covered by a massive film of fire.

From a distance, it looked like a glowing, miniature sun.

『HOH… A TERRITORY SKILL, HUH.』

The ultimate skill that can only be acquired by those with special power, such as highest-tier occupations or the Six Kings.

Its effect is to create a battlefield advantageous to oneself, similar to Kazuto’s “Sunset Territory” or Libera’s “Holy Territory.”

“My territory’s effect is simple. Firepower increases. Attack power rises. It burns everything until it turns to ash. Whether it’s darkness or souls, it burns everything away.”

『INTERESTING. TRY IT!』

The moment Glen deployed the territory, darkness began to gradually vanish from Schwarz’s body.

True to Glen’s words, his flames were burning away even the darkness.

Despite that, Schwarz continued his assault without care.

Since even his darkness-based attacks were burned from the moment they were generated by Glen’s fire, he unleashed them stronger and with more power.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

Glen’s counterattacks were also single-mindedly simple.

Punch, kick, slash.

Simple attacks like those became lethal blows.

A flaming fist gouged Schwarz’s flank.

Fangs of darkness blew away Glen’s leg.

Schwarz’s front leg, fangs, tail, left eye.

Glen’s arm, stomach, heart, head.

They were erased in the clash of darkness and fire, only to regenerate, repeating the cycle over and over.

Glen’s “Flame Emperor Territory” versus Schwarz’s transcendent strengthening via his kin.

The powers of both sides were perfectly matched.

However—

“—I’m the one who’s going to win.”

『……』

Both Schwarz’s darkness and Glen’s fire were repeating destruction and regeneration, but Glen had a slight advantage regarding the regeneration.

If the attacks were equal, then regenerative power would have the final say.

Through the fight, Glen became certain that his regenerative power surpassed Schwarz’s.

『INDEED… IT IS UNFORTUNATE.』

“Huh…?”

Precisely because of that, Glen couldn’t understand Schwarz’s words.

Unfortunate? What was?

Was it unfortunate that he would lose even after combining the strength of his kin?

Or was it something else—?

In the next instant, a massive explosion echoed within the territory.

“This is…?”

It wasn’t an explosion from within the territory.

A roar from a much more distant location had reached all the way here.

And Glen knew of only one skill that could cause such an explosion.

“Art of Forced Double Suicide (Jibaku Shinju)…”

Yes, an explosion caused by his comrade—Ninja God Shuri’s Super Ninja Art.

Shuri’s self-destruction boasted an attack power that, though momentary, even surpassed Glen’s firepower.

He immediately understood the meaning behind its use.

“And this presence… I see, so that’s how it is.”

Glen let out a long sigh. He finally understood the reason why Schwarz had said it was unfortunate.

In the next instant—ZUDON!—a hole was blown through Glen’s stomach.

“Ga… ha…”

His pierced stomach did not regenerate.

The open hole was covered in a thick, reddish-black slime-like substance.

It was preventing regeneration via Glen’s fire. A feat impossible even for Schwarz’s darkness.

As far as he knew, there was only one person capable of this.

“Ah, I see… Libera-sama headed toward Shuri, so I thought it might happen, but I guess it really did…”

Turning around, a slime about the size of a basketball was there.

Even within the “Flame Emperor Territory,” it was a beautiful, transparent red slime.

“……It has been a while, Sea King Shuram-sama…”

『IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME, GLEN.』

Yes, this was the reason Schwarz had felt pity.

Intervention by the Sea King Shuram.

In a battle between equals, the addition of another Six King-class entity causes the situation to tilt instantly.

Almost at the same time Libera rushed to Kazuto’s side as reinforcements, Sea King Shuram had headed to Schwarz as reinforcements.

“It was a miscalculation… that you could still move even after deploying a barrier of that level.”

『WHAT YOU KNOW IS MY POWER FROM WHEN I WAS IN THAT WORLD. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE GROWN SINCE COMING TO THIS WORLD AS WELL. I DID NOT THINK I COULD WIELD THIS MUCH POWER EVEN WHILE DEVOTING STRENGTH TO RAISING MY SUCCESSOR.』

“Haha, you’re quite the serious one… With a personality like that, I have no idea why you’re so close to that Libera-sama.”

『HM, I AGREE WITH YOU THERE.』

“No, don’t give me a serious reply… gaha.”

The power of his flames was gradually weakening.

Apparently, the attack he took from Shuram not only hindered regeneration but also had the power to weaken Glen’s flames themselves.

As a result of concentrating too much on the battle with Schwarz, he had been successfully blindsided.

Glen glanced toward Schwarz.

“Sorry, Wolf King. Looks like this is the end.”

『…HMPH, WHAT A DULL CONCLUSION.』

“Don’t say that. It was a pain, but even I—… hm?”

Suddenly, Glen tilted his head.

He had noticed an abnormality in his own body.

—The fire was getting stronger.

He was supposed to be dying, yet he felt the fire within him growing hotter and hotter.

This was wrong. Impossible.

His body began to crack like an eggshell, and light began to overflow.

“W-what is this…?”

『NU…?』

『COULD IT BE—』

It seemed Shuram and Schwarz had noticed the anomaly as well.

Glen’s light grew stronger and stronger.

Schwarz and Shuram immediately understood what that meant.

『WOLF KING! COVER HIM IN DARKNESS RIGHT NOW!』

『TS—!』

『THAT IS DANGEROUS! IN MY CURRENT STATE WHERE I AM DEVOTING POWER TO THE BARRIER, I CANNOT FULLY BLOCK THAT! COVER HIS BODY IN YOUR DARKNESS! AND GET AS MUCH DISTANCE AS POSSIBLE!』

Schwarz immediately covered Glen in darkness and tried to retreat from the spot.

However, the film of Glen’s “Flame Emperor Territory” blocked the two of them as they tried to take distance.

『WHAT, WE CANNOT LEAVE…?』

『NUUU…』

It was an impossible situation.

Glen’s “Flame Emperor Territory” was, as he said, only meant to boost his power within the area. It wasn’t supposed to have a barrier-like effect that prevented others from leaving.

“……I see, so that’s how it is. You intended this from the start if I used a territory skill. Sending me and Shuri outside the barrier first was also aiming for this…”

Glen finally understood the anomaly occurring in his body.

Who had caused this abnormal situation. And its purpose.

His entire body cracked, and the overflowing light erased Schwarz’s darkness in an instant.

“A-ah… gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Along with a scream—a massive explosion enveloped the surroundings.

End of 254