Episode 243: Blazing Majin
“First one down!”
The time spent so far was about one minute. Yuma glared at the other trees and immediately took off running. With a time limit, he couldn’t afford to waste any time. He targeted the four “trees” towering around the Great Tree.
Yuma sprinted with all his might towards one of the trees, which must have been fifty meters tall. He leaped up with the momentum and kicked it with his right foot. The impact caused the tree to tilt precariously, and the explosive flames spread to the top of the tree.
Yuma regained his balance and, without missing a beat, slammed a left hook into the thick trunk. Another explosion erupted, inflicting significant damage on the tree.
“Raaah!”
Yuma gritted his teeth and unleashed a barrage of punches from both fists. Each time his fist struck the tree, fierce flames scattered, gouging out chunks of the trunk. In less than ten seconds, the tree creaked and groaned before toppling over.
It should have been a fatal blow for a tree, but disgusting vines and branches sprouted from the broken roots, attempting to regenerate.
Is the firepower still not enough!?
Yuma poured even more Fire Magical Power into his fist and punched the ground with all his might. A pillar of fire erupted, engulfing the fallen tree in scorching flames.
“Next!”
Yuma immediately started running again. More than two minutes had already passed. These “trees” couldn’t be defeated by simply breaking them. They needed to be completely incinerated with Fire Magic. With that thought, Yuma ignited even more flames around his body.
“Three minutes left!”
Yuma raced through the Dungeon. Thanks to his long strides, the distance didn’t feel that great. The ground shook and explosions erupted with each step, intensifying the surrounding flames.
He tried a body slam against the third tree. The impact of his shoulder created a tremendous roar, and the tree snapped in one hit. The fallen tree sank into the sea of flames.
There was no time to rest. If he stopped even for a moment, thick roots would entangle him from all directions, but Yuma detonated and incinerated each and every one of them. The Tree Roots filling the Dungeon groaned in agony.
Countless roots and vines burst from the surrounding earth, creating a dome-shaped Cage that enveloped Yuma. The trees were trying to stop the intruder, but—
“Get out of my wayyyyy!”
Yuma’s powerful fist shattered the Cage. A massive explosion occurred, and the surrounding roots were blasted into oblivion.
Yuma sprinted forward and unleashed a furious barrage of attacks on one of the Trees. The tree was helplessly pummeled, its trunk torn to shreds by the repeated explosions. With a sound like a scream, the tree collapsed onto the burning ground.
Yuma turned and glared at the Great Tree, which loomed over him from the center.
“You’re the only one left!”
◇◇◇
While Yuma was fighting at the bottom of the Dungeon, Kaira, Anik, and the others on the Cliff were speechless.
“Is that… really a human!?”
Anik nodded in response to Kaira’s words.
“Absolutely not. That size, that movement… and to think he wields such terrifying strength and unimaginable Fire Magic… Is he comparable to a 【King】, or even stronger!?”
Anik fell silent after saying that. The members of the Peacock King (Mahamayuri) and the Indian Seekers were simply stunned, unable to believe the scene unfolding before their eyes.
“Tennoji, what is that guy? Why does such a human exist?”
Akito, asked by Kaira, scratched the tip of his nose and sighed.
“It would take too long to explain from the beginning, so I won’t, but I can say one thing for sure.”
Akito looked at Kaira, who had a frightened expression.
“It was Yuma in that form who defeated the 【Red King】. That means he’s the only one who can defeat the 【Green Lord】!”
“Defeated the Red King? Not just repelled, but defeated!? That man did that?”
Kaira was confused, and Anik stroked his beard with a troubled expression. Akito turned his gaze back to the bottom of the Dungeon. There, Yuma, wreathed in explosive flames, was raising his fist towards the Great Tree.
◇◇◇
“Ooooooooooh!”
He slammed his fist, marked with red patterns, into the trunk of the tree. Fire erupted, and multiple explosions occurred. As Yuma was about to strike again, the ground beneath his feet swayed.
“What’s going on!?”
He managed to steady himself and looked around, only to see the Great Tree’s Roots writhing and moving. They were incredibly thick roots, trying to block his path.
“Damn it! I don’t have time to mess around!”
Yuma extended a Longsword from the back of his right hand. Should he channel Fire Magic into this sword and slash at them? But if he had to cut through dozens of roots one by one, he would run out of time.
What should he do?
Yuma hesitated for a moment, but quickly changed his mind and channeled Wind Magic into the sword instead of Fire Magic. The sword glowed green, and patterns appeared on the blade. Wind gathered at the tip, then disappeared with a puff, and a transparent sphere appeared. It was Vacuum Magic, from the Second Stratum of Wind.
The transparent sphere lost its shape as it touched the sword, melting into the surface of the blade. Yuma looked at the sword. The faintly green blade was covered in a transparent film. He intuitively understood that it was coated with Vacuum Magic.
Yuma readied the sword and slashed horizontally at the Roots writhing before him. He hadn’t intended to put much force into it, but with a single strike, more than twenty roots were severed and fell to the ground without regenerating. The obstacles blocking his path disappeared, opening the way to the Great Tree.
“O…oh.”
Yuma was taken aback by the sharpness. Was this the true way to use Vacuum Magic? He wanted to try various things, but there was no time for that now. He immediately started running towards the Great Tree.
He stomped on the Roots moving beneath his feet and detonated them. He would end this in one fell swoop! Reaching the Great Tree, Yuma swung the sword in his right hand horizontally. The trunk of the Great Tree was deeply slashed. This time, he raised the sword and slashed down with all his might. This also created a clean, deep wound in the Great Tree.
A large cross-shaped wound appeared before him. Yuma clenched his left fist and unleashed a Seiken Zuki into the center of the cross-shaped wound. The fist, spinning as it pierced, gouged out the trunk and exploded without delay.
The flames raced along the cross-shaped wound, spreading throughout the Great Tree. Yuma retracted the sword in his right hand and poured Fire Magical Power into both fists.
I’ll finish it here!
He charged towards the burning tree and slammed his powerful fists into it. A left hook, a right straight, a left liver blow, a right hook… The repeated storm of fists relentlessly assaulted the tree.
Each attack caused an explosion, and the trunk of the tree was gradually chipped away. The Great Tree tried to retaliate, using its roots and vines to stop the giant, but Yuma’s body was enveloped in scorching flames, burning the roots, the vines, and even the ground he stepped on.
Faster, stronger. He had to stop its breath!
Yuma, repeating his attacks with a desperate expression, had transformed into a Blazing Majin who would incinerate everything.