His fight with Zero was on another level.
For starters, it even sounded different. Despite it being sword against fist, the sounds ringing out were metallic. And they just didn’t stop. The endless clash of katana and fist made him wonder how they were finding time to breathe.
Zero especially caught his eye.
His punches were carving out pieces of the wall. With smooth movements like shaving off soft clay, he was leaving ruts in it.
“Whoa, whoa…I heard the fists of a first-rate monk were like iron, but his are harder than that. Mythril…no, orichalcum?” The thief standing next to him saw the same thing he did and grumbled in astonishment.
After a minute of fighting, during which Climb would have been easily killed, neither of them had so much as a scratch. It was for precisely that reason that Zero’s expression registered respect.
“Unglaus…you’re fairly impressive. You might be the first man to withstand this many of my attacks.”
Respect appeared on Brain’s face as well.
“You, too. You’re only the second monk I’ve ever seen who is this powerful.”
“Oh?” Zero’s face twisted up in curiosity. “That’s the first I’ve heard of a monk on my level. Tell me their name—I can’t ask after I kill you.”
“He should be on his way here right about now—after killing the other Six Arms you had stationed here.”
Zero furrowed his brow, then broke into a smile.
“Hah! You mean that old man? It’s too bad, but four of my closest comrades are out there welcoming him. They may not be as strong as me, but they’re still tough, unlike Succuronte there on the floor. I don’t think he could possibly be coming here.”
“I wonder. I can just picture him strolling around that corner.”
“Oh, I’m sooo scared. Guess I better take this a little more seriously.”
That remark made Climb’s eyes widen—because he realized what Zero’s “serious” must be if he still had energy to spare after that exchange. He was also surprised that Brain seemed to have expected this. Does that mean neither of them is going all out? This really is a fight at the pinnacle of human strength, definitely worthy of an adamantite rank!
“That’s probably a good idea. Those two already finished their fight. I don’t have to buy time anymore. Just lose here and end it, Zero!”
Brain lowered his hips as he sheathed his katana. Climb had seen this stance before—it was the same one he’d used to defeat Succuronte the previous day. Faster than Climb could wonder if he would also beat Zero in one hit, the leader of the Six Arms leaped backward. He gained considerable distance with a movement so light it surpassed the limits of human capability.
“Edström can create a sword zone, but so can you, huh? Of a different sort. If I carelessly charged at you, I’d be cut in half, right?” It wasn’t as if he’d seen through Brain’s original martial art, but still, he had excellent warrior senses if he had figured out what type of move it was. “But it seems like you can’t do that without standing by and bracing yourself…”
Zero unleashed a knuckle punch. It seemed like a pointless move, but the powerful blow created shock waves that shook Brain’s body.
“I can win just by attacking you from back here. Or do you have a way to cut an enemy at a distance?”
“No, I don’t,” Brain answered honestly. “If you’re going to fight like that, I just have to get out of this stance.”
With a deeply emotional expression that didn’t fit his character, placid like the surface of a lake, Zero quietly asked, “Brain Unglaus, is that your ace move?”
“That’s right. It is my ace move, and it’s only been broken once from the front.”
“That’s lame. It’s already been broken? So this’ll just be the second time.” Zero prepared himself, slowly pulling his fist back. “I’m going to break straight through. I’ll obliterate that move you’re so proud of and, on top of that, I’ll win. I’ll defeat Brain Unglaus, and at some point, I’ll get Gazef Stronoff on the floor at my feet. Then I’ll be the strongest in the kingdom.”
“You’re a bit too ambitious if you’re going to lose your footing on your first step. Must have a lot of time on your hands.”
“You really are all talk… Nah, you’ve made it this far, so you’re not all talk. Still, when you get to the next world, realize that I was above you and lament. Lament that you were stupid enough to challenge Zero. Here I come!”
Zero had tattoos of various beasts all over his upper body, and they began glowing faintly. In response, Brain did nothing. He just waited there like a statue, but Climb could sense him anticipating the moment that vast power would be unleashed— Now? Now?
No one could intervene in such a clash of cruel and violent power.
Then came an unreserved voice.
“So this is where you were.”
Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer, including Zero and Brain, who should have each been too busy facing their dangerous opponent to look away.
It was a single old man—Sebas. To Zero, this shouldn’t have been possible.
“Huh? What’s going on? The other Six Arms are supposed to be fighting you… Did you sneak in like these guys?”
Sebas shook his head slightly. “No, I defeated all your colleagues on my way here.”
“N-nonsense! Don’t lie. They may not be as strong as me, but they’re still members of the Six Arms. There’s no way you could fight them and show up here unscathed!”
“The truth can be surprising.”
“Sir Sebas! The Tsuare here was a fake! Succuronte just transformed into her using an illusion! We have to hurry and go save her!”
“Yes, thank you for your concern, but it’s all right, Climb. I already rescued her. She was being held at a different location in this facility.” Sebas looked over his shoulder. Following his line of sight, Climb could see a woman wrapped in a blanket standing beside the entrance to the room.
“Ah!” Flustered, Climb looked down at Succuronte. The maid uniform was all bloody and shredded. He couldn’t take that off and give it to her, and she probably wouldn’t have wanted it anyway.
“Never mind that, Climb. The maid uniform was only cloth. It’s not a big loss.” Sebas grinned awkwardly.
Climb was relieved to hear that.
“Hey, hey, hey! You sure are an easygoing bunch, standing around and ignoring me for your chat!” Zero couldn’t make any rash moves while he was in front of Brain, but he’d finally changed position, facing Sebas with a hateful look. “Old man! I’m gonna ask you one more time. What happened to my crew?”
“I killed them all.” His tone was so relaxed he might as well have been talking about snapping the stems of some wildflowers he’d come across, but his words were callousness incarnate.
“D-don’t be ridiculous! I’m not about to believe that!”
Sebas smiled in response to Zero’s shouting—an expression devoid of hostility, suggesting that he’d been telling the truth.
“…Brain Unglaus, I’m putting off our duel for now. I’m going to show this old man the power of the Six Arms!”
“Okay, got it. Try not to get killed instantly. I guess my work here is done.”
“Keep talking! …Old man, you’ll pay with your life for lying to me!”
A slight smirk appeared on Sebas’s face—a smirk that was unbearable for the man who’d bragged he’d be the strongest in the kingdom.
Zero’s tattoos emitted a faint glow.
Chief of the security division, leader of the Six Arms, Fighting Ogre, Zero.
He was a man who could kill Gazef Stronoff or Brain Unglaus instantly if they came at him unarmed, and even if they had weapons, the outcome would be uncertain.
One of the classes he’d acquired had a skill called Shamanic Adept. With it, he could allow animal spirits to possess his flesh and borrow their superior physical abilities. Its uses per day were limited, but if he activated it, his faculties could rival a
beast’s despite his being human.
A creature with such physical prowess using the techniques of a human—it wasn’t hard to see what was so terrifying about that.
Zero activated his skills.
Usually, he activated only one to save some for later, but Zero had realized that Sebas was formidable.
Still, he wasn’t convinced the man had annihilated four Six Arms. If he hadn’t snuck in, if he broke in through the front, then it made sense to think someone else was out there.
The Blue Roses were a possibility.
For now, since I don’t have more detailed information, I’ll pulverize Sebas. Brain Unglaus I’ll have to leave for another day. I’ll show the spectators my overwhelming power as a threat and withdraw.
He saw that was his best option and began prepping his strongest move.
The panther on his leg, the falcon on his back, the rhinoceros on his arm, the buffalo on his chest, the lion on his head—he called upon them all.
An explosion of power filled his body, to the point where he briefly worried he might swell up and burst.
“Khaaaaaaaaa!” He exhaled the heat burning up in his body—and charged.
Zero, the strongest of the Six Arms, attacked with a single, straight punch. No feints, no gimmicks, just a pure direct strike, but the power it contained was unfathomable. Its destructive potential was boosted by not only Shamanic Adept but a variety of monk skills plus multiple magic items, and his fist flew at an overwhelming speed.
The attack was so fast even Zero had a hard time controlling it. He was somehow able to make a move out of it only because he’d specialized in charging head-on and punching with all his might. He didn’t hesitate to show the best card in his hand. This move was simple but unrivaled. He was absolutely confident that it couldn’t be beaten by cheap tricks.
Zero had the feeling he’d left everything behind. His senses slowed, and he felt like he was trailing behind himself as he took one step forward, then another.
“Ah!” someone screamed.
It was too late for that.
He arrived in front of Sebas in the blink of an eye and, with a perfect transfer of energy, unleashed his punch, jam-packed with power.
Zero smiled when he saw Sebas, who was standing stock-still, perhaps shocked by his speed. Yes, regret that you were foolish enough to fight me, the strongest of the Six Arms!
“—Buh!”
The fist pierced Sebas’s defenseless abdomen. A perfect deciding move.
His power erupted like an explosive blast, and Sebas was launched backward as if he were strangely lightweight, like a plushie with no stuffing. He was thrown against the floor and tumbled across it, unable to control his momentum.
He didn’t so much as twitch. Instant death.
But that was only natural. His internal organs had all burst into a sloppy liquid mess. The only part of him still shaped like something human was his exterior.
This was Zero’s strongest move—a magic art that made a one-hit kill reality.
—Or that was how it was supposed to go.
But Sebas didn’t budge an inch.
He’d stopped the full force of Zero’s punch with just his abdomen, using nothing but his muscles.
No one would have been able to believe their eyes. It was a scene from beyond the boundaries of common sense.
The gap in the pair’s physical powers was clear—but the outcome defied all expectations.
Of course, the most astonished one was Zero. He’d used his ultimate attack. It should have been impossible for any living thing to take it unfazed. And no one had, up until this point. Despite that, he was faced with the reality of the current situation, so even when something black streaked before his eyes, he couldn’t react.
Sebas’s leg stretched toward the heavens. Rising like a swallow in flight, it grazed Zero’s nose.
Once the foot had reached its apex, it came swiftly down.
An ax kick.
That was the name of the move. But its speed and power made it no ordinary strike.
“…What are you?” Zero muttered, and the edges of Sebas’s lips curled up slightly.
A horrifying sound rang out—something like the crunch of gravel or the snapping of a stick. Zero’s head was crushed, as if under hundreds of pounds of weight; his neck and spine gave way easily; and he collapsed to the floor.
The room fell silent.
The move could be simply described as awe. Dodging the blood flowing from part of Zero’s smashed head, Sebas brushed off the area where he’d been punched.
“Phew, that was a close one. If the warning had come any later, I’d have died.”
That’s a complete lie! There was no warning! No one said it, but all three of the men, and maybe even Tsuare, screamed it in their heads.
“You saved me, Climb.”
“Wh…uh…um, yeah…” Climb opened his mouth in an attempt to say, What? but timidly accepted Sebas’s gratitude. He was so shocked, he didn’t know what to say.
“It seems I was just a bit stronger than him.” Sebas made a tiny space between two fingers. He must have been indicating the gap between himself and Zero, but no one could possibly agree with that assessment.
“A bit”? No. Again, everyone present thought the same thing.
“Anyhow, we saved Tsuare, so we should probably withdraw.”
“Oh, but…the other Six Arms… Did you really…?”
“Yes, I killed them all. There were several, and they were all quite powerful, so I regret that I wasn’t able to hold back a little.”
“I—I see. Well, that can’t be helped, so please don’t feel bad.”
Three of them looked at Zero’s corpse on the floor. There was no way they could say Sebas was lying.
“F-for now, let’s call some soldiers and search the building.”
That was what they’d come here for in the first place. It was incredibly good luck that Sebas’s assistance had allowed them to make a clean sweep of the enemy stronghold. If what he said was true—though of course it was—they’d utterly destroyed the strongest force within the Eight Fingers, a great military achievement.
They’d probably gotten the best results of any squad. The death of Zero, who would have had detailed knowledge about the organization, was a downside, but there was no way they could have taken him alive, so the loss was merely theoretical. Only a fool would quibble about that.
With expressions that said there was nothing else left to do, Brain and the thief nodded at what Climb, in his slightly agitated state, had proposed. Only one of the group wore a dark expression.
“What is it, Sir Sebas?”
“Oh, sorry, something was just bothering me… But first, the air in here is rather bad. Shall we go outside?”
“Yeah, good idea.”
Glancing between Tsuare and Zero’s corpse, everyone agreed.
Sebas went to where Tsuare was, near the entrance to the room, and picked her up. Her bony white legs, nearly devoid of flesh, kicked into the air with the movement. Climb noticed her delicate hands tightly gripping Sebas’s jacket.
They were a butler and a maid. But the atmosphere made their relationship seem like more than that.
Ugh, I’m the worst for taking such an interest in their relationship. Who cares what it is?
“Okay, let’s go,” Climb declared and walked off ahead of the others without waiting for an answer.
The other three followed. They could investigate after parting with Sebas and Tsuare. Climb was bracing himself to fight for Sebas, who had his arms full, if they happened to be attacked on their way (not that there was much chance of that), but it turned out his worries were for nothing.
They had sensed others in the building when they were sneaking in, but it seemed like there was no longer anyone there.
If you think about it, by the time Sebas took out the Six Arms, no one would be tough enough to stick around and want to fight him. There’s a very good chance they all ran away. If so
, I hope the squad members we left outside captured them, Climb thought, exiting the building.
The sense of freedom made his shoulders feel lighter.
Then someone tapped him. When he turned to look, it was the thief. He was focused on something in another direction completely. His wide-eyed profile looked the same as it had when Sebas had slaughtered Zero with one hit.
Climb followed his line of sight, and his eyes grew wide, too.
“A wall of fire?”
Climb nodded in response to Brain’s whisper.
If a building had been on fire, there would have been a pillar of flames. A fire like that wouldn’t have surprised Climb so much. But it wasn’t; this was a wall of flame over a hundred feet high surrounding a section of the capital. It was probably a quarter mile long or longer.
“What could that be?”
At the sound of Sebas’s puzzled but not particularly tense voice, the three others returned to themselves.
“What should we do, Climb? I think that’s the storehouse district. Who was assigned to it?”
“The leader of the Blue Roses, Lady Alvein… We’ll treat this as an emergency, scrap all current plans, and retreat to the castle as instructed. Then we’ll see what our superiors say.”
“That’s for the best… Oh, Sir Sebas…”
“I’m going to take Tsuare to a safe place so nothing like this can ever happen again.”
“Understood. Thank you, Sir Sebas, for today and last night.”
“Don’t mention it. I simply worked with you because our objectives happened to match. I owe you for the attempted rescue. Anyhow, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going.”
Chapter 9 | Jaldabaoth
1
4 Late Fire Moon (September) 9:10 PM
The woman woke up thirsty.
She stirred in her king-size bed and reached for the pitcher of water on the nightstand, but her hand whooshed through the air.
Then she remembered she hadn’t put the pitcher there today and sucked her teeth.
“Fwahhh,” she yawned. She both slept and woke up early, like an old lady, but she had gone to bed only an hour ago. It went without saying that she hadn’t slept enough yet.
The Men of the Kingdom Part II Page 12
