Episode 192: A Hypothesis
The underground station of the Toei Subway, where the citizens of Tokyo were taking refuge.
Many people huddled together, sitting on the ground. Everyone was tormented by anxiety and fear, unsure of what would happen next.
Since information from the outside couldn’t be accessed via smartphones, the station staff had prepared a large television and connected it to the internet.
What they were watching was the live Web broadcast from Taiyo Tosho.
It relentlessly showed the movements of the Dragon. At first, they were simply devastated by the images of the Dragon burning down the city, but the situation suddenly changed.
A giant suddenly appeared and began fighting the large Dragon. The people were captivated by the spectacle, which resembled a special effects movie.
They were just confused and didn’t know what was going on. In the midst of all this—
“Look, Mama! It’s the Black Monster-san who saved me.”
“Eh?”
The mother was perplexed by what the little girl said. Looking at the monitor, the giant certainly resembled the monster that had attacked her daughter.
She was confused at the time, but her daughter had repeatedly said, “That person wasn’t a bad monster-san.” Could this giant really be…?
The people around them also began to feel a sense of unease about the giant’s appearance.
“Hey, isn’t that giant… the Black Armor?”
“Huh? Now that you mention it… the shape is similar.”
“I don’t care! If it’ll defeat the Dragon destroying the city! I don’t care if it’s a giant or whatever, just kill the Dragon!!”
“That’s right! Please, defeat the monster!!”
The dispirited people stood up, raised their arms, and shouted.
The cheers echoing underground swelled with an unusual fervor.
The mother was confused and didn’t know what to do, but the girl pointed a small finger at the giant in the video and smiled cheerfully.
◇◇◇
Yuma’s fierce attack continued. The giant’s fists and Longsword gouged into the Red King’s flesh, mercilessly tearing it apart.
The Dragon was on the defensive, collapsing to the ground.
Its wings were torn off, its tail was crushed, and half of its face was gone.
If he continued to inflict damage like this, it would eventually become unable to regenerate, just like the Red Ogre had.
Yuma didn’t let up, thinking so—
“Eh?”
The blue lines running through his body rapidly disappeared. Had his Water Magical Power run out?
Yuma took a step back, then another. The Dragon’s battered body glowed red like boiling magma.
Its wings regenerated, and the wounds on its body healed along with the flames.
The Red King slowly stood up. He glared at the giant and let out an ear-splitting roar.
A tornado-like flame raged. Yuma desperately defended with the shield on his shoulder, but since he wasn’t channeling Water Magic, he couldn’t completely suppress the heat.
Yuma grimaced.
–At this rate, my body will be burned!
Aisha and Kanzaki, who were watching the scene on the TV screen in the electronics store, immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.
“So, the Water Magic ran out…”
“Hey, what do we do!? Can he win against that guy without magic?”
Aisha frowned and glared at the screen.
She didn’t think he could win against the Red King without Water Magic.
“No, wait! Won’t the Red King also run out of Magical Power? He’s firing off these incredible flame attacks, he’ll run out eventually, right!?”
Aisha made a face.
“Probably… the Red King has the same ability as Yuma-kun, to convert the surrounding Mana into Magical Power.”
“What!?”
“The Black King had the ability to ‘convert Mana into mass.’ If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be strange if the Red King had the ability to ‘convert Mana into Fire Magical Power.'”
“So, he can use Fire Magic infinitely?”
“Practically, yes.”
Kanzaki looked grim, saying, “Seriously!?” Aisha also thought while looking at the screen.
Was the Red King regenerating with Fire Magical Power? If he was regenerating with Fire Magical Power, he would regenerate infinitely.
And what was even more problematic was—
The Dragon on the screen was emitting flames from its body.
The overflowing flames gradually turned black, covering his entire body. The Black Flames swirled around the Red King, taking the shape of a Dragon.
“What is that!?”
Kanzaki screamed. Aisha’s face became stern.
“So he could use it after all… that’s probably the Fourth Tier Fire Magic, the ultimate magic that humans can never handle.”
Kanzaki stared intently at the screen. The Black Flame, which had taken the shape of a Dragon, undulated like a wave and attacked the giant.
◇◇◇
“Ugh!”
Yuma backed away. The Black Flames that had poured out of the Red King were coming towards him.
He tried to defend with his shield, but he couldn’t stop the flames that moved erratically like snakes.
The Black Flames that had circled around wrapped around his body.
“Uwaaaaaaa!”
The terrifyingly hot fire ignited his body. It easily broke through his Heat Resistance.
Yuma knelt down from the intense pain and heat. He collapsed to the ground and endured the Black Flame that wouldn’t disappear. Now that his Water Magic was exhausted, there was nothing he could do.
Yuma resigned himself to death.
But the Black Flames gradually weakened and disappeared from his body.
He raised his head, not knowing what had happened. There was the Red King, his flames extinguished, lying on the ground.
“What!?”
Yuma was confused, but he somehow stood up and looked down at the Dragon.
The Dragon was also puffing smoke from its body, glaring at him while staggering. Yuma had also taken damage from the Black Flames, but more than that, something was wrong with his own body.
–What’s going on? What happened to me and the Red King!?
The anomaly was also conveyed to Aisha and the others through the screen.
“Hey, Aisha! The Black Flames disappeared, and both the Dragon and the giant stopped moving!?”
Ignoring the commotion from Kanzaki, Aisha pondered.
She put her hand on her chin and stared at the TV screen. The Dragon no longer emitted flames, and the giant seemed to have run out of strength.
–Why suddenly…?
“Could it be!”
“What is it? Did you figure something out?”
Aisha arrived at a hypothesis.
“They devoured each other’s Mana!”
“What?”
Kanzaki frowned, not understanding.
“Both Kings absorb the surrounding Mana and convert it into power. Because they did it at the same time, the Spatial Mana temporarily decreased!”
“So, so the Red King can’t produce flames!?”
“Yes, probably not until the Mana returns to the surrounding space.”
“That’s great! Now Yuma can fight to his heart’s content!!”
Aisha sighed in exasperation.
“Are you an idiot? The surrounding Mana decreasing also means that Yuma-kun can’t maintain his Giantification.”
“Ehhh!?”
“He probably realizes that too.”
The Black Giant in the video was swaying his shoulders up and down, standing with difficulty.
◇◇◇
The power was draining from his body.
He didn’t know why. However, this giant’s power wouldn’t last long.
The Red King in front of him also seemed to be in pain. If he could defeat him, it would be now.
Yuma braced his legs, which were about to give way, and activated the Bloodstained Ore one more time.
Red lines ran through his entire body, and power surged.
He could only fight for a few more minutes at most.
The effects of the poison were severe. He also had burns from the flames. On top of that, his power was draining. If he couldn’t defeat him with this attack, defeat was inevitable.
Yuma gritted his teeth.
He stepped forward and dashed forward in one go. The ground was gouged out as if it had exploded, and earth and sand danced in the air.
–I’ll give it my all and settle this!