To make humans taste despair!
Vetto split his mouth into a savage grin. Compared to Asta and the others, who had already completely lost the ability to resist, this newly appeared human—clearly far stronger—was far more suitable for cultivating despair.
The next instant—
Vetto's figure vanished. At the same time, Yuuki's figure disappeared as well.
Whoosh!
The members of the Black Bulls only felt their vision blur. In the blink of an eye, the two who had vanished reappeared high in midair.
Vetto's face twisted with feral excitement. His fist, wrapped in surging magic power, erupted with terrifying force as he threw a punch—and what met it was an equally straightforward punch in return!
At the moment Yuuki's fist collided with Vetto's, he felt an overwhelmingly violent force surge toward him. Yet even against such crushing power, Yuuki's punch did not yield in the slightest.
Boom—!
A sound like muffled thunder exploded across the battlefield. Shockwaves rippled outward in all directions, and the surrounding rock walls trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
After that brief clash, Yuuki and Vetto simultaneously scattered apart from the air and landed back on the ground.
"Ahahahaha! Incredible! Another prey worthy of being hunted!"
Vetto raised his thick arms and burst into crazed laughter. From that single punch alone, he had already realized that this was an opponent he needed to take seriously.
Not only could this human keep up with his speed, even the force behind his punches was astonishing—simply magnificent!
At this moment, Vetto was like a ferocious beast that had discovered prey both worthy and delicious.
"Prey like you has even more value when it comes to despair."
"I originally thought that foreign swordsman would be my main course, but now it seems there's an even better one—one more suited to be turned into despair itself!"
Vetto laughed loudly, his beast-like pupils greedily locking onto Yuuki.
Yuuki listened to Vetto's laughter with a calm expression. He casually shook the arm he had used to block the punch, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.
So this is how Ki is used… it really is perfect for close combat.
In the past, Yuuki might have been able to track Vetto's movements, but his body wouldn't quite keep up. Against an opponent like this, he would have had no choice but to keep his distance and rely on ranged attacks—just like his earlier battle with Mereoleona.
But now—
Mana Skin had enhanced his entire body, functioning like a high-level reinforcement spell. And the application of Ki allowed Yuuki to sense Vetto's movements in advance, letting him respond instantly.
Neither technique increased his total mana, yet together they raised his actual combat power by a full tier.
The Black Bulls stared in shock as Yuuki emerged unscathed after directly clashing with Vetto.
"So strong!" Asta exclaimed, eyes wide.
"That plain-looking guy… he actually has this kind of strength?" Noelle recalled the ordinary-looking young man she had completely ignored on the beach the night before. Her pale red eyes filled with disbelief.
Vanessa, who had crossed paths with Yuuki in a very different state, unconsciously parted her soft lips in astonishment.
"Should we help?" Asta asked excitedly, propping himself up with the Demon-Slayer Sword.
"Wait. This isn't the time for us to interfere," Gauche said cautiously, placing a hand on Asta's shoulder.
At the center of the battlefield—
After hearing Vetto repeat the word despair again and again, Yuuki suddenly burst out laughing—loudly.
In the current atmosphere, that laughter was especially jarring. Everyone instinctively turned to look at Yuuki.
Vetto tilted his head. His grotesque face filled with killing intent as he stared at Yuuki. That laughter grated on him—and confused him as well.
"What are you laughing at?!"
His rough voice thundered out, instantly overpowering Yuuki's laughter.
Yuuki stopped laughing and looked at Vetto with a mocking tone.
"A long, long time ago, there was an evil race of demons in this world."
"They wanted to claim this world and its magic for themselves. Their strongest leader used forbidden magic to transform into a Demon God, intent on wiping out humanity."
"And the one who stood up and slew that Demon God was the man later known in the Clover Kingdom as the Wizard King."
Yuuki's storytelling voice was calm and unhurried, echoing clearly across the battlefield.
Even outside, Yami—trapped by spatial magic—subconsciously pricked up his ears. A thoughtful glint flashed through his eyes. This was a legend that circulated, to some extent, within the Clover Kingdom.
In the past, Yami would have dismissed it as nothing more than a story.
But now, looking at Vetto through the projection, his expression became strangely complicated.
At this very moment—
Vetto, who had looked feral and deranged, suddenly grew unnervingly calm. The beast-like savagery on his face faded into a blank expression.
Yet the dark crimson mana surging from his body burned like a torch, rising endlessly. A terrifying pressure crashed down like a tidal wave!
The Black Bulls hiding behind him felt their breathing grow labored, as if they might be crushed under that overwhelming mana at any second.
Only Asta—who possessed no mana and couldn't sense it—felt relatively unaffected. Even so, he could tell that Vetto was like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"You should all die…"
"You should all die…"
"You humans should all die!!!"
At first, Vetto's voice was low, like muttering to himself. But by the third line, his furious roar shook the entire battlefield.
Terrifying mana erupted from Vetto, forming a massive storm centered on him that swept across the area.
Facing Vetto, who had once again sunk into madness and murderous intent, Yuuki calmly took out a magic stone and stared at him.
"The one who's truly in despair… is you."
Boom!
The moment Vetto saw the magic stone in Yuuki's hand, he moved.
In his eyes, there was only Yuuki.
Only one thought remained.
Kill you.
Kill you.
"Kill you!"
Vetto's berserk figure transformed into a dark crimson streak, like a living cannonball, hurtling forward with boundless killing intent.
From Yuuki's words, Vetto sensed that this human knew something—but he no longer cared.
All that mattered now was killing Yuuki, reclaiming the magic stone, and slaughtering every last human.
Boom!
The ground beneath Yuuki exploded as he shot upward like an arrow, smashing through the rock ceiling above and bursting out of the underwater temple.
In just a few breaths, Yuuki reached the barrier overhead. Without slowing, he blasted through it and escaped outside.
The crushing pressure of the deep sea and the chaotic currents caused by the strong magic region slammed into him at once—but his self-generated water-element barrier held firm.
As he rapidly ascended toward the surface, Yuuki glanced back at Vetto, who had broken through the barrier and was pursuing him. His speed increased once more.
He needed to change the battlefield.
Spatial magic wouldn't hold Yami for long, and Yuuki had no intention of letting Yami observe a full-power fight against Vetto from the shadows.
After all, the captains of the Magic Knight squads were opponents he would eventually have to defeat as well.
If he wanted to hang a "Sword of Damocles" over the heads of the nobles and royals, the captains were obstacles he could not avoid.
As for Vetto—or the elves—
Some might find them pitiable. Whether due to a devil's scheme or not, the elven race had indeed been exterminated by humans. And yet, in the end, everything was inexplicably resolved?
This was the hatred of genocide.
But Yuuki didn't particularly care.
Because he was human.
What angered him was that the humans who died in the process—the sacrificed members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun—were simply ignored by the nobles and by the surviving elves like Licht.
Heh…
"Kill you!!!"
Vetto's furious roar echoed clearly even through the depths of the sea.
Under the effect of Beast Magic, terrifying dark crimson mana rapidly condensed into a massive whale formed entirely of magic, enveloping Vetto as he chased Yuuki from the ocean depths.
Inside the underwater temple, the Black Bulls watched the two figures disappear together and exchanged glances before collectively letting out a breath of relief.
"Damn it… the magic stone is with that guy," Asta said unwillingly, staring at the hole in the ceiling.
"They've already left the barrier and are fighting in the deep sea. Among us, only Noelle—who uses water magic—can even move down there," Finral said, glancing at Noelle, who was nearly collapsed, her mana completely exhausted.
Though he didn't say it outright, it was clear he had given up hope of retrieving the magic stone.
Unable to move freely underwater, and utterly drained of mana, there was nothing they could do.
On the calm surface of the sea—
A towering pillar of water erupted skyward. Yuuki rose to about seven or eight meters above the surface and abruptly stopped, then swung his arm downward.
"Ice Magic: Freeze!"
The rolling sea froze at a visible speed, thick layers of ice spreading rapidly downward.
Bang!
A colossal impact came from beneath the ice. In an instant, unimaginably violent mana shattered the frozen surface!
Vetto's roar, along with the cry of the magic whale, burst out of the sea as it leapt skyward.
The massive whale surged toward Yuuki with unstoppable momentum.
This time, Yuuki didn't dodge.
Instead, he turned and charged straight at Vetto. Now that they were above the open sea, there was no need to worry about interference.
"Food Magic: Glutton's Banquet!"
Yuuki shouted.
Behind him, an enormous wolf—nearly eight meters tall, its face filled with ferocity—materialized.
Boom—!
The giant wolf and the whale collided first. Thunderous explosions rang across the sea. The whale's tremendous impact force staggered the wolf, its form briefly blurring—but it did not break through.
Because the wolf's razor-sharp claws had already dug deep into both sides of the whale's body, anchoring it in place.
After withstanding the blow, the wolf opened its blood-soaked maw and bit down on the whale's head, tearing away a massive chunk of mana and swallowing it whole!
As the wolf fed, not only was Vetto's figure revealed, but the wolf's previously blurred form re-solidified, becoming even more tangible.
At that very moment, Yuuki reached Vetto.
"Kill you! Kill you! Despair for humanity!"
Vetto roared madly, his arms striking toward Yuuki like afterimages.
"Then kill me and see!" Yuuki shot back, meeting him head-on.
With Mana Skin and Ki working together, he counterattacked at full speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every collision rang out like thunder.
Vetto's mana grew increasingly violent and frenzied, while Yuuki's flowing, water-like Mana Skin circulated continuously.
This was a special application Yuuki had developed based on his own mana properties. By circulating Mana Skin, he could weaken both magical and physical damage.
As Yuuki and Vetto clashed like feral beasts, the wolf and whale mirrored their struggle, rolling and crashing across the sea.
However, the whale was ultimately just a construct meant for underwater travel. Under the wolf's relentless feeding, it was steadily devoured and shrank.
Though Vetto was enraged, he hadn't lost all reason. He quickly noticed this and condensed the whale back into pure dark crimson mana.
At the same time—
Vetto's arms swelled with mana, transforming into massive, beast-like claws. His attacks grew faster and even more violent.
Each strike tore through the air with explosive booms.
As Yuuki dodged, the sea behind him detonated repeatedly. With a single thought, the mana flowing over his arms rapidly mineralized.
His arms became solid and unyielding—and whenever their clashes caused damage, the shattered mineral fragments transformed into countless stone scimitars that slashed toward Vetto!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A savage glint filled Yuuki's eyes. He deliberately took one of Vetto's punches head-on, blood spraying from his mouth.
At the same time, he seized Vetto's arm and drove his knee viciously into Vetto's chest.
"Is that all? You're just tickling me!" Vetto roared, preparing to swing his other arm.
"Is that so?!" Yuuki bellowed.
BOOM—!
The knee pressed into Vetto's chest was instantly engulfed in compressed flames, glowing red-hot before detonating in a massive explosion.
Caught off guard by the close-range blast, Vetto's beast-like pupils shrank as he was blasted backward, skidding nearly a hundred meters across the sea's surface.
With Mana Skin and Ki, Yuuki's control over switching between his mana attributes had reached a level of complete freedom.
(End of Chapter)
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