258. VS Vanguard – Divine Spear Beld (Part 1)

Inside one of the divided barriers—

Ivar, the otherworlder who had introduced himself to Kazuto and the others as Aiba, was facing off against a member of the Vanguard.

His name was Beld Raven.

A spear user holding the epithet “Divine Spear,” and also the biological younger brother of Ivar.

“It has been a while, Beld. I haven’t seen you in a bit, and you’ve grown quite sturdy—”

“Die.”

Before Ivar could say anything more, Beld’s spear flew.

Ivar dodged the thrown spear, launched at speeds exceeding the speed of sound, by a hair’s breadth.

“Whoa, that’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

“Tch.”

The thrown spear returned to Beld’s hand in an instant.

“No, wait… Beld! Talk to me for a second—”

“Shut up, you traitor!”

Beld threw the spear repeatedly in succession, but Ivar dodged them all by paper-thin margins. Beld’s irritation mounted as his attacks failed to land.

(…Something is wrong. Why won’t it hit? According to the information, his power should be weakened by Libera-sama’s ‘Divine Majesty,’ affecting not just his skills but all his abilities. Yet, why is he able to dodge my attacks like this?)

He knew the sequence of events from Ivar’s arrival in this world until the destruction of the monitoring formula by Libera. According to that, Ivar should have been in a state where he pseudo-resurrected local residents with “Recreation,” had them run wild due to Randall, and was barely suppressing his power after being restrained by Libera’s “Divine Majesty.”

In short, he shouldn’t have been in a state to fight.

Standing before Beld like this was supposed to be impossible.

(The reason… I see, so that’s it.)

Guessing the reason, Beld reached a conclusion.

And a fearless smile appeared on his face.

“What, so in the end, you threw them away again, didn’t you?”

“……?”

“That physical ability is impossible for someone weakened by Libera-sama’s ‘Divine Majesty.’ Then there is only one answer. You reset all the people you ‘Recreated’ and restored your skills to their original state. As long as you don’t use ‘Recreation’ again, there’s no fear of going berserk.”

“……”

Beld swung his spear.

A speed far exceeding the speed of sound.

This time, it slightly grazed Ivar’s shoulder.

“You erased the very people you wanted to protect so much that you betrayed us for them, didn’t you?”

“……”

“Ha! How comical! You betray us, you betray the people of this world, and in the end, you gain nothing! Truly a meaningless life!”

Beld increased the speed of his spear.

This time, intending to pierce the heart for sure, he drove in a strike with all his might.

“Unfortunately, you’re wrong.”

However, Ivar caught that strike with one hand.

Instead of dodging, he firmly grabbed the spear with his hand.

“Wha…!?”

Beld wore an expression of disbelief.

No matter how much he had regained his power, Ivar’s original strength was far below Beld’s.

Even setting aside the previous half-hearted attacks, stopping that last strike should have been utterly impossible.

“You bastard, what did you do…?”

“……I haven’t done anything.”

Ivar put strength into his legs.

In an instant, he kicked off the ground, closed in on Beld, and drove a fist into his solar plexus.

“Gaha…!”

“This is all—the power given to me by the people of this world.”

Ivar drove in several more punches.

Each strike possessed power rivaling Sora’s breath.

Beld became increasingly confused.

This power was completely different from the Ivar Beld knew.

It far surpassed it.

(What is the meaning of this… no, more importantly, more damage is bad. I must take distance!)

Beld let go of the spear and leaped backward. The spear grabbed by Ivar vanished instantly and returned to Beld’s hand. The spear Beld held was telescopic and had the property of returning to his hand in an instant regardless of distance. It was a special weapon called a “Magic Spear.”

“Haa… haa… tch.”

Beld took a bottle containing liquid from his Item Box and downed the contents in one go.

Then, the wounds from Ivar’s punches regenerated in an instant. It was a prized item from Beld’s hoard called “Extra Potion,” a high-tier recovery medicine that heals any wound.

It was an ultra-rare item; only Beld and Orion among the Vanguard possessed it. It was an item he kept secret even from his comrades. If he declared he had it, Randall would surely have confiscated it.

But he never thought he’d end up using an item he’d saved for an emergency in a place like this.

Beld’s irritation grew even greater at this unplanned turn of events.

“You… what is that power?”

“I told you. It is the power given to me by the people of this world.”

In an instant, Ivar’s form vanished.

He circled around behind Beld in a flash and punched him in the back with all his might, sending him flying.

“Gaha…!”

“Race, occupation, level, skill, stats… The laws newly born in this world use our world as a base, but they strongly reflect the characteristics and traits of this world. For example, even with the same skill, if the race, occupation, and level are different, the precision will naturally differ. If the skill matches the occupation or the skill’s traits, its effect is heightened even more. Naturally, the reverse is also true.”

Ivar moved ahead of the flying Beld and struck him again.

Again, and again, and again, and again.

The contradiction of Beld—supposedly the strongest hero of the other world in the Vanguard—continuing to be unilaterally beaten by the far weaker Ivar.

“I must give my thanks to Mayor Uesugi and Goshogawara-san. Thanks to them, I can fight like this. I can stop you.”

Ivar drove in a strike with all his might.

He took considerable damage, but it seemed it wasn’t enough to finish Beld off. Beld immediately recovered his posture and counterattacked.

“What are the humans of this world to me…! They’re just a bunch who got power only a few months ago! How could the power of such trash work against us—”

“Beld.”

Cutting off Beld’s words, Ivar spoke with a voice heavy with anger.

“—The people of this world are not as weak as you think.”

Faced with such overwhelming intensity, Beld instinctively leaped back. Ivar’s spirit just then was that horrific.

“Above all, you are mistaken. Just as you know my power, I understand your power better than anyone. So why did you think that I—I, who am weaker than you—would challenge you to a fight all alone?”

“……?”

Ivar slowly raised his hand.

“—Goshogawara-san, now!”

The next moment, the surroundings went dark.

“Ha—?”

What on earth happened?

Confused, Beld looked up at the sky.

And he was stunned.

—A massive log, large enough to cover the sky, was falling.

…Along with a slightly chubby middle-aged man.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FINISHING MOVE: LOG DROP-OOOOOOOOOOO!”

With a tremendous roar, the giant log crushed Beld.

『Divine Tree Log』

Equipment exclusive to Goshogawara, made from Peony’s branches.

A log whose size and length can be freely manipulated.

Naturally, the mass changes according to the size.

At maximum size, it can perform something like a colony drop.

Only Goshogawara can carry it without feeling its weight.

End of 258