Chapter 88: The Prerogative of the Strong
At the same time, while the King was being attacked in America, the aforementioned suspicious individual appeared before the Overlord, who was working in his office.
“Good grief, I’m right in the middle of work, you know…”
“What, don’t worry. This will be over quickly.”
“By the way… my subordinate should have been in front of the door, shouldn’t he?”
“Ah… If you mean him, I killed him.”
“Is that so… As a warrior, he would have been prepared for that. However, as his master, I must avenge my subordinate.”
The Overlord kicked his work desk with all his might, sending it flying towards the suspicious individual.
The suspicious individual caught the desk, which flew straight like a bullet, with one hand.
His face was completely hidden by his robe, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but he was undoubtedly smiling smugly.
However, the moment the shattered wooden fragments of the desk obscured his vision, the Overlord was closing in on him.
“Shatter!”
With a whoosh, the sound of air being cut, the Overlord’s fist swung, sending the suspicious individual crashing through the door and disappearing into the distance.
“…There was some resistance, though.”
Looking towards the broken door, the Overlord repeatedly opened and closed his hand, recalling the sensation from moments ago.
He had sent him flying with a punch, but it felt like hitting a thick rubber tire.
He probably went flying, but likely took no damage, the Overlord thought, his sharp gaze fixed in the direction the suspicious individual had flown.
“I did receive information from Japan, but it seems his strength exceeds expectations.”
He had been told by Japan, or rather Kazuma, that the culprit who attacked Souji might be quite powerful and to be careful, but he hadn’t imagined the assailant would be stronger than himself.
That said, immediately raising the white flag was out of the question.
“It’s been a while, shall I go all out…!”
Using his Body Enhancement and Multiplication Gifts, the Overlord raised his physical abilities to one hundred times their full power.
The Overlord, whose physical abilities alone were likely the best in the world, stomped with enough force to make a building sink and dashed off in the direction the suspicious individual had flown.
“Good grief, my best clothes are covered in dust…”
The suspicious individual, sent flying by the Overlord, crashed into a wall, pushed aside the crumbling rubble, and stood up.
Fragments of rubble clung to his pure white robe, dirtying it slightly.
As the suspicious individual was patting his robe to brush off the fragments and dust, the Overlord closed in on him.
“To come straight at me… should I call it bold, or reckless…”
Having courage is a fine thing, but if it’s not accompanied by skill, it’s merely reckless and meaningless.
“A weakling with a Combat Power of 2800 has no chance of defeating me… Ignorance truly is a sin.”
When they first met, he had already measured his Combat Power.
The Overlord’s Combat Power was 2800. In contrast, the suspicious individual’s Combat Power was 145,000.
With such an overwhelming difference in numbers, normally the option to fight wouldn’t even arise, but the Overlord possessed no means to measure his opponent’s Combat Power.
“This next one will hurt.”
“Well now, I wonder about that?”
The suspicious individual exchanged words with the Overlord, who had come right before him, and then they clashed.
The Overlord’s relentless blows drove the suspicious individual back to the wall.
Without any resistance, the suspicious individual took the Overlord’s attacks, and finally, the wall behind him crumbled, and he plummeted headfirst from the skyscraper to the ground below.
“…What absurd defensive power.”
The Overlord, looking down from the hole in the wall at the suspicious individual who had plummeted from the skyscraper, rubbed his own battered hands.
“Is he not counterattacking because he can afford to…? Heh, interesting. I’ll make him regret this.”
His chances of winning were slim, the situation desperate, but for the Overlord, a battle maniac, this was a perfect opportunity.
Just like when he fought Kazuma, his fighting spirit surged, his blood boiled, and the Overlord was terribly excited by the life-threatening danger he felt for the first time in a while.
He recalled the days when he used to crawl at the bottom of the underworld, constantly walking the line between life and death.
“Fighting the strong is what makes me stronger!”
Indeed, the Overlord had made a further leap in strength through his battle with the Crimson Knight.
This enemy, unfortunately, desired a pure battle to the death and was a clear foe.
Normally, the Overlord, given his position, should have stayed back, but it was clear to everyone that he was the target.
If that was the case, there was no retreat, only advance.
“Did I let him beat me up too one-sidedly? I might have carelessly given him some hope…”
The suspicious individual, who had fallen to the ground, looked up at the building, gazing at the Overlord who was looking down at him.
“Kukuku… I look forward to seeing what kind of face he’ll make when I shatter that fleeting hope~!”
The suspicious individual’s face, hidden deep within his robe, twisted hideously.
He couldn’t wait to see the expression on the Overlord’s face when the small hope that he might be able to win was crushed, when he realized he couldn’t win.
The suspicious individual was excited, wanting to quickly see a face contorted in despair.
From the hole in the building where the suspicious individual had fallen, the Overlord descended headfirst.
Shattering the asphalt ground, the Overlord landed gracefully, faced the suspicious individual, and slowly raised his fists.
“You seem quite composed, don’t you?”
“Fufu, I suppose so… Could it be you’re thinking you can win?”
“…No, I’m not that foolish. I already understood from our previous exchange. I know I cannot defeat you.”
“What, you already figured it out? How boring~. I thought you were bravely trying to fight because you believed you could win.”
“However, I don’t intend to lose for nothing.”
“Heh~… Even though you know you can’t win, you’re still willing to fight?”
“That’s right. Isn’t that a man’s nature?”
“I don’t really get it, but… as long as I can enjoy myself, anything goes.”
The next moment, the Overlord lunged forward, closing in on the suspicious individual.
The Overlord’s fists, which created a roaring sound and shockwaves, were absorbed by the suspicious individual.
The suspicious individual showed no sign of defending, let alone dodging, and the Overlord slammed his fists into him without any mercy.
“That was a blow with all my strength, though…”
“Was it a little itchy, perhaps? Well, anyway, thank you for your futile efforts.”
The suspicious individual, rubbing the area on his chest where the Overlord had struck him, showed no signs of damage.
The Overlord was shocked that his all-out blow hadn’t worked at all, but since he had anticipated it, he wasn’t too shaken.
Nevertheless, the fact that his full power had been completely ineffective made him want to let out at least one complaint.
“Well then, I guess it’s my turn now.”
“Kuh!”
The suspicious individual lightly raised his fist and threw a punch like a child’s squabble, with no power from his hips.
The Overlord instantly crossed his arms to block the suspicious individual’s fist, but he was pushed back by an extraordinary force and sent flying towards the building.
“Even after defending, this is the result…”
Crashing into the building’s wall, under the rubble that came clattering down, the Overlord lamented his own weakness.
Just one blow. And it wasn’t even a serious one, more like child’s play, yet the Overlord was battered and bruised. It was no wonder he wanted to lament his own powerlessness.
“Good. You’re not dead! I’m glad you’re moderately tenacious. This way, I can enjoy myself a little longer!”
“So tormenting others is your hobby… What a despicable bastard.”
“It’s your fault for being weak, you know?”
“Hmph… You’re right about that. I have nothing to say back.”
The self-deprecating Overlord turned his face towards the suspicious individual, who approached with seemingly joyful steps.
Perhaps because tormenting his prey was his hobby, his steps were light yet sluggish.
Because of that, the Overlord was granted a reprieve, enough time to use his insurance.
“It seems I cannot win. So, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Saying so, the Overlord tightly gripped the Kazuma-brand Talisman he had hidden in his breast pocket.
In that instant, light overflowed from the Talisman, and a faint glow enveloped the Overlord.
The suspicious individual noticed something was amiss, but having been completely off guard, he could only watch silently as the Overlord was enveloped in light.
“What in the world is…?!”
When the light subsided, a Jet Black Knight he didn’t recognize stood there.
For a moment, the suspicious individual thought the Overlord had transformed, but then he confirmed the figure of the Overlord, enveloped in a Protective Barrier, behind the Jet Black Knight, and understood that the person before him was someone else.
“Reinforcements, perhaps? Well, not that he’d be a match for me, though.”
The suspicious individual immediately measured the Jet Black Knight’s Combat Power.
And the number displayed was a trash-like figure: 5.
At this, the suspicious individual was so astonished he couldn’t stop laughing.
“Ahahahahahahaha! To think the help that arrived is trash with a Combat Power of only 5! There’s nothing more hilarious than this! Are you a genius at making me laugh?”
“Laugh all you want… If you underestimate that man, you’ll be the one to suffer.”
“Heh~. You trust him quite a bit, don’t you? Well then, I’ll shatter that hope for you!”
The suspicious individual gleefully attacked the Jet Black Knight.
If the Jet Black Knight who came to her aid were to be brutally killed before her eyes, the Overlord, too, would surely twist her face into a miserable expression.
When the assailant imagined that, the corners of his mouth naturally twisted.
However, in the next instant, an impact struck his face, and he bounced multiple times on the asphalt ground before collapsing pathetically.
“Huh…?”
Unable to comprehend what had just happened, the assailant stared blankly up at the sky.
Then, the one who appeared there was the Jet Black Knight.
The Jet Black Knight’s helmet filled the assailant’s entire field of vision, an astonishing sight unfolding before his eyes.
The assailant, his eyes widening at the jet black helmet that had suddenly filled his vision, tried to move his body, but realized he couldn’t move a single finger.
“Wh-why!?”
He struggled desperately to escape, but like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web, the assailant couldn’t move.
As this happened, the jet black helmet drew closer and closer, stoking his fear.
The assailant, terrified that he would be helpless and defeated if this continued, lost consciousness as a pitch-black gauntlet descended upon him.
“Did you kill him?”
The Overlord, who had been receiving healing from the Jet Black Knight, approached.
She spoke to the Jet Black Knight, glancing sideways at the assailant, whose head from the neck up was buried in the asphalt.
In response to the Overlord’s question, the Jet Black Knight shook his head, indicating that the assailant was still alive.
“I see. Regarding him, since I was defeated, I have no say in the matter. I’ll leave it to your judgment.”
Hearing the Overlord’s words, the Jet Black Knight gave a thumbs-up.