Episode 167: Conclusion
The fiery slash was deflected, and even the Lightning Spear’s flash couldn’t penetrate the Black Armor. Rui and Akito leaped back to create some distance.
“Just what kind of physical ability does this guy have?!”
Panting heavily, Akito wiped the sweat from his cheek. He glared at the Black Armor, but couldn’t find a way to break through.
Ignoring Akito, Rui noticed something was off.
“Something’s not right… why isn’t it trying to kill us?”
“Huh?” Akito raised an eyebrow.
“If it can move like that, it should have been able to kill us a long time ago. But it seems like it’s been aiming for our weapons this whole time.”
Akito had also been wondering about that. There had been several moments where he thought they were done for, but the Black Armor hadn’t pressed the attack.
“Could it be different from ordinary Monsters… like it doesn’t want to fight humans?”
“What are you talking about!”
Akito flatly rejected Rui’s words.
“A Monster that doesn’t want to fight humans? Has that ever happened before?”
“Well…”
“Don’t be naive. The Duke that appeared in South America killed over 2,000 people, and this guy is an even stronger Lord. The estimated number of casualties could be tens or hundreds of thousands in urban areas. It’ll be too late once the damage is done!”
“Of course, I know that!”
Rui gritted his teeth.
“Our job as Seekers is to fight Monsters. Once we meet, we have no choice but to fight until one of us falls. Especially since the Black Armor’s strength is the real deal, we have to go all out.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
Rui gripped his Katana again. Akito poured as much Magical Power as he could into his spear.
–Defeat the Black Armor with everything we’ve got!
Carrying their shared resolve, flames and Lightning erupted fiercely, heading towards the black monster in a crisscrossing pattern.
◇◇◇
His breathing grew shallow. His vision blurred, and his footing became unsteady.
Standing before him were Rui and Akito. Both were terrifyingly strong. Ever since he had gained the ability to use Metallization, he hadn’t taken any damage.
Even when he fought the Chimera, his body had deflected every attack.
But it was different now. The exploding flames and the Black Lightning were definitely breaking through his “resistance.”
The only reason he was somehow enduring was probably because only the portion exceeding the upper limit of his resistance was registering as damage.
The resistance itself was still functioning.
Yuma clutched his chest. A wave of terror washed over him. An existence that could defeat him. And to make matters worse, it was his childhood friend Rui and his acquaintance Akito.
He could mitigate the flames with Water Magic, but his Magical Power was already running out. And he had no way to defend against the Lightning Magic.
Yuma looked at the Cage of Flames. It seemed like the flames were weakening.
–Such a massive spell can’t last long. It’ll definitely be dispelled soon. If I can just endure until then…
He readjusted his grip on the Longswords in his hands and looked at the two before him.
Rui and Akito had determined looks on their faces as they pushed off the ground.
A fiery Longsword drawing a fluid trajectory, and the tip of a spear heading towards him while releasing Black Lightning.
Yuma also activated Bloody Oar and prepared to meet them head-on.
–This is the final showdown!
◇◇◇
Sweat beaded on his forehead, and Albert wore an expression of anguish.
“Are you alright, Albert?”
Mia asked anxiously.
“It seems I’m nearing my limit.”
“How much longer can you hold it?”
“Three minutes at best.”
Hearing that, Mia immediately stood at the edge of the rooftop and looked down.
“The Cage of Flames will disappear in three minutes! Finish it before then!!”
The Seekers below were shocked. Three minutes. After that, the Black Armor would be free and would likely escape.
Everyone knew. They couldn’t stop a Monster with that much combat ability.
Tennoji and the others, who had been watching the battle, felt the same way.
“Hey, time’s running out. Rui’s struggling! What do we do, Tennoji?”
Taizen grew increasingly impatient. Tennoji also clicked his tongue in frustration.
“We can’t let it escape here. We have to, at all costs, here–“
Tennoji instructed his subordinates to bring a large duralumin case. They placed it on the ground and opened it, revealing gauntlets to be worn on both hands.
“H-hey, is that!?”
Taizen was astonished, his eyes wide. Misaki Bluewell, who had peeked in from behind, also frowned and looked at Tennoji.
“That’s an improved Magic Enchanted Armament! It’s still in the prototype stage, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. It’s a new War God Gauntlets using a Yellow Diamond Magic Gem. If we use this to ‘release’ it, we should be able to reach Second Tier Magic.”
“You idiot! It’s still an uncompleted product with no safety confirmation! Your arms could be blown off!!”
Taizen raised his voice. Misaki also tried to persuade him to stop, but Tennoji shook his head.
“We have no choice. It’s our responsibility that the Black Armor escaped. If we had defeated it back then in Seeker’s Town, this wouldn’t have become such a big deal.”
“That’s…”
Taizen was at a loss for words at Tennoji’s pained voice.
“I’ll take responsibility!”
He took the new War God Gauntlets out of the duralumin case, put them on his arms, stood up, and looked up.
“Albert! Let me in!!”
After a slight pause, the flames flickered. An entrance large enough for a person to pass through opened, and Tennoji stepped forward.
Inside, Rui and Akito were engaged in a fierce battle.
Tennoji crouched down and focused his mind. Lightning crackled around him, and his hair stood on end, turning golden.
“Magic Gem, Release!!”
The Lightning changed to a black color and enveloped Tennoji’s body. His entire body screamed in protest, but he clenched his fists nonetheless.
He took a step forward and pushed off the ground. In an instant, he had wedged himself between Rui and Akito.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Tennoji’s barrage exploded on the Black Armor. He struck the opponent with speed that was impossible to follow with the eye.
Each blow released Black Lightning, scattering around them. Using the power of Black Lightning, he maximized the electrical impulses within his body and used the Lightning gathered in his legs to achieve maximum speed.
That speed left Rui and Akito in the dust, and even the Black Armor was forced to defend.
–I can do it! I can defeat it like this!!
◇◇◇
Blows wrapped in Black Lightning struck his arms. His guard was broken, and he was stabbed in the stomach and punched in the face.
Yuma was shocked and speechless.
–It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! It’s no different from being punched normally!!
Being punched in the stomach made him want to vomit, and being struck in the jaw made him feel like he was going to lose consciousness.
Even when he tried to stop the Iron Fist, he was struck by Black Lightning and couldn’t move as he wanted. Above all, he was overwhelmed by the terrifyingly fast movements and the skill with which they accurately targeted his vital points.
This was the true power of Japan’s strongest Seeker, Tennoji Hayato.
Yuma couldn’t counterattack against the relentless onslaught, and the intense pain running through his body made it impossible for him to stand.
His knees buckled, and he put his hands on the ground. Just as he thought it was over, he looked ahead and saw Tennoji also kneeling and crouching.
He was at his limit. This man, too.
Even so, the light in Tennoji’s eyes hadn’t died. He slowly raised his head and glared at him.
“Now’s your chance, Rui!!”
He was startled. Rui was leaping from behind Tennoji.
The same setup as when he fought Rui in Ibaraki, but the situation was different. Being attacked now would be bad!
Yuma whipped his body and somehow managed to stand up. He stared ahead, swaying. Rui raised his Katana, turning all of his Magical Power into flames.
The Katana enveloped in explosive flames was swung down.
If he took this blow, it wouldn’t end well. He had no choice but to meet it head-on. Even if it meant defeating Rui.
Yuma clenched his left fist. Just as he was about to strike Rui–
“Eh!?”
He couldn’t move. His left arm was trembling. It was convulsing because of the Lightning Strike he had taken from Tennoji, and it wouldn’t listen to him.
Yuma looked ahead. The fiery slash that had been swung down from above struck his chest directly, causing an explosion like a raging fire.
Sparks danced, and the smell of burning filled the air. Rui stood still with his Longsword swung through. As if all time had stopped, those around them held their breath.
The black monster enveloped in smoke slowly fell forward.
Dust rose as the Monster collapsed.
Silence flowed around them.
And then–
“We did it!!”
Explosive cheers erupted, and the Seekers around the Birdcage roared.
The fiery lattice gradually weakened and eventually disappeared. Albert, who had been on the rooftop, exhaled and tried to walk, but unexpectedly staggered.
Mia, who was nearby, hurriedly supported him.
“Are you alright? You’re pushing yourself too hard.”
“Ah, thank you, Mia. I certainly am tired this time.”
Albert-san, supported by Mia-san, left the rooftop.
Even at the Ministry of Defense’s headquarters, cheers of joy erupted. Serizawa-san, who had been watching the monitor, stood up and looked at his neighbor.
“We did it! Takakura-san, this is the greatest success we could have hoped for!”
“…Indeed. And there are no reports of fatalities so far… the best possible outcome.”
Takakura-san breathed a sigh of relief. There had even been talk of requesting tactical nuclear weapons from the United States if the operation failed.
They no longer had to consider the worst-case scenario of using a Core in the middle of Tokyo.
“We owe these Seekers an enormous debt of gratitude.”
Foreign powers, including England and Germany, who were present at the scene, shared in the joy.
Akito-san, utterly exhausted, plopped down on his backside.
“Bro… you went way too far, but well, thanks to you, we were able to defeat the Black Armor.”
Tennoji-san, unable to move from his crouching position, heard his brother’s words and a faint smile touched his lips.
“I can’t let my little brother hog all the glory. It’s a matter of pride as an older brother.”
Akito-san snorted and the brothers laughed together. Rui, who had stood until the very end, looked up at the sky.
“…It’s over.”
He had no strength left. Looking back, he saw the charred Black Armor lying defeated.
The strongest enemy he had ever encountered, the fated opponent he had to defeat. He felt a sense of satisfaction at having vanquished it, but then he noticed something strange.
The monster he had defeated wasn’t turning into sand.
This had never happened before. Could it be that it wasn’t dead yet!? He was wary, but then the surface of the Black Armor began to peel off in flakes, floating into the sky.
It wasn’t turning into sand. Bewildered by this unprecedented change, he saw something emerge from within.
What appeared from under the armor was a battered human figure. His cheeks were covered in soot, and his clothes were scorched.
Rui, recognizing the face he had seen so many times, gasped.
“…Yuma…?”