After blasting Vetto away—
Yuuki did not pause for even a moment. With Mana Skin reinforcing his body, he stepped onto the sea itself. Arcs of lightning spread across his feet, and in the next instant, a condensed surge of thunder erupted beneath him!
"Lightning Magic: Lightning Spike!"
Crack—!
The sea surface exploded as a violent bolt of lightning raced across the water, roaring straight toward Vetto!
From the members of the Assassination Squad, Yuuki had already completed his collection of basic elemental magic.
Boom!
The instant the lightning spell was released, the thunder surging from Yuuki's feet detonated against the sea. The explosive recoil launched him forward like a flash of lightning skimming across the water, hurtling straight toward Vetto.
"Let me see what the Zero Domain is really capable of!"
"In this hunt—who is the prey, and who is the hunter?!"
Yuuki sprinted across the waves, his eyes burning with excitement.
With multiple magic attributes at his disposal, combined with Mana Skin and ki, Yuuki's combat power could no longer be measured by mana quantity alone like that of an ordinary mage.
To him, this battle with Vetto was a mutual hunt between beast and hunter.
Victory would be decided by one thing alone—
whether the beast's claws were sharper, or the hunter's skill more refined.
Surging mana gathered in his hands.
Flames ignited in his left, shaping themselves into a longbow, while wind condensed in his right to form an arrow.
And that wasn't all—
The black giant wolf born of Food Magic had never vanished. It ran across the sea alongside Yuuki, limbs pounding the water as it charged toward Vetto.
"Roooaaar!"
A feral howl thundered from the wolf's jaws.
Vetto, who had been blasted backward, now stood suspended above the sea. Under the influence of his raging Beast Mana, he hovered effortlessly on the surface. The explosive damage from before had left only a faint black scorch mark on his chest—nothing more.
"Multiple types of magic…?"
Having tanked the attack head-on, the madness in Vetto's eyes receded slightly, replaced by a sliver of clarity.
At first, he hadn't paid much attention—but after that relentless chain of attacks, he finally realized it.
The human before him was wielding multiple elemental attributes.
It reminded him of Rhya.
Filthy humans—how could they possibly wield magic similar to that of his kin?!
Fury surged once more within Vetto. He wanted this human to feel true despair—to tear him apart piece by piece.
Thieves of their power.
Worthless insects!
Lightning charged with terrifying force shot across the sea, so fast that only a fleeting flash of light could be seen skimming the water's surface.
Vetto's ferocious eyes widened. A vast wave of dark-red mana burst forth, forming an invisible wall that stopped the lightning dead in its tracks!
The near-straight bolt twisted violently, as if slamming into a barrier of pure mana, before being forcibly dispersed into faint sparks that vanished into nothingness.
"Hehahaha! Even if insects steal power, they're still insects!"
Vetto laughed wildly.
Now fully lucid, he had begun to piece things together.
Those words the human had spoken in the Undersea Temple—he'd clearly known something. Deliberately provoking him, luring him out onto the sea's surface.
As for the reason?
Vetto didn't care.
Didn't need to.
All that mattered was that the magic stone was in the human's hands—and that every last human would die screaming in despair!
"Wind–Fire Combination Magic—Explosive Gale Arrow!"
Seeing his lightning spell effortlessly dispelled, Yuuki showed no surprise. The magic in his hands had already been released.
BOOM!
The instant it was fired, the arrow formed from fused fire and wind swelled to the thickness of two arms. It pierced the air ahead, unleashing a deafening sonic boom.
"Let me savor the struggle of an insect on the brink of death!"
Vetto sensed the power contained within the spell. The corners of his mouth curled upward, revealing beastlike fangs.
"Rhino Armor!"
Dark-red mana enveloped his body, forming a magic armor shaped like a rhinoceros.
RUMBLE—!
The Explosive Gale Arrow struck the Rhino Armor head-on, detonating with a thunderous roar. Fire's explosive force, amplified by wind magic, drove the spell's destructive power to a terrifying level!
Towering waves erupted across the sea, as if a gale-force storm had been born out of thin air.
Whoosh!
From within the raging waves, Vetto burst out—his arrival accompanied by unrestrained laughter.
"Struggle, insect!"
"Despair, insect!"
Yuuki planted his left foot on the sea and kicked off hard, sliding sharply to the right to avoid Vetto's direct charge. His eyes narrowed slightly.
So even that combined spell had been completely blocked…
The boost and defense granted by Beast Magic were truly monstrous.
The thought flashed through his mind—but his hands never stopped moving. Surging mana instantly transformed into flames, rapidly compressing into fingertip-sized crimson points.
"Fire Magic: Little Sun's Radiance!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Thumb-sized red points erupted into beams of condensed flame—laser-like streaks of fire fired at blistering speed. The air they passed through carried the acrid scent of scorching heat!
This was Fugeoleon's technique—
a spell that represented the ultimate refinement and compression of fire magic, boasting both extreme speed and destructive power.
Vetto sprinted across the sea. A glance at the thin, charred wound on his shoulder only deepened the ferocity on his face.
His dark-red figure left afterimages across the water as he closed the distance, dodging the crimson beams one after another.
"I thought you wouldn't dodge!"
Yuuki raised both hands and thrust them forward.
The single beam instantly multiplied into ten. Slender crimson rays dyed the sea blood-red as the temperature in the area skyrocketed under the heat of compressed flames!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The beams Vetto evaded detonated on the distant sea surface, triggering massive explosions.
"Rhino Armor!"
"Bald Crow!"
Vetto roared as his speed increased once more. The sea exploded beneath each step he took.
Dodging a single beam would have been trivial—but ten at once made approaching Yuuki troublesome.
Troublesome—
but nothing more.
Dark-red mana first condensed into Rhino Armor, reinforcing Vetto's defense against the Little Sun's Radiance.
Then, a crow-shaped mana phantom appeared behind him. His speed surged dramatically, and from the crow phantom's body, feather-shaped projectiles of red mana shot forth, colliding head-on with the incoming laser beams!
In the blink of an eye—
Vetto broke through the barrage and appeared right in front of Yuuki. His twisted expression fixed on Yuuki like a predator locking onto prey.
"Despair, insect! Hurry—despair already!"
Bloodlust surged forward.
Laughing madly, Vetto swung his arm. A fist swollen with dark-red mana slammed straight toward Yuuki's face.
"I already told you—
the one who'll truly despair is you."
Yuuki halted his fire magic. He swiftly raised his arms, crossing them in front of his face as mana surged. Shields of mineral rock formed over his forearms.
BOOM!
A dull sonic blast exploded against the mineral shields.
The sheer force sent Yuuki skidding rapidly backward across the sea.
"You can't escape! I'll make you experience ultimate despair!"
Vetto roared, eyes blazing crimson as he charged again.
A massive claw formed entirely of dark-red mana slashed toward Yuuki!
"Spare me the bravado!"
Yuuki sneered openly. Ice-element mana coated his feet, freezing the sea beneath him. His sliding speed spiked as he narrowly avoided the attack.
"Eat him!"
At Yuuki's command, the black giant wolf that had been circling behind him pounced at once.
Its gaping, crimson maw plunged downward like a living shadow, as if it would swallow Vetto whole in the next instant.
"Bear Paw!"
Vetto swung his arm forward. A shockwave of dark-red mana obliterated the wolf's head in an instant!
However—
Just as Vetto ignored the headless wolf and continued charging toward Yuuki, a new wolf's head burst forth from the creature's chest—
And in a single bite, it swallowed the unguarded Vetto whole!
Yuuki's eyes flashed. He halted his retreat. His silver grimoire floated before him as one hand pressed against its cover, his gaze locked firmly on Vetto inside the wolf's body.
Thump—thump—
The instant Vetto was devoured, the wolf's belly began to swell violently, like an overinflated balloon. Its entire body expanded along with it!
At the same time, Yuuki felt a powerful surge of mana flood into him—energy fed back through the Devouring Wolf as it absorbed Vetto's magic.
But the process lasted only two breaths.
With a thunderous BOOM, Vetto's overwhelming dark-red mana burst forth, forcibly blowing the black giant wolf apart. Gore-like fragments scattered through the air!
"Interesting magic—but not enough!"
Vetto hovered midair, arms spread wide as he stared down at Yuuki. With a roar, he dove straight toward him.
But in the next instant—
Those flesh-like fragments, scattered across the sky, transformed into countless black wolves of varying sizes—miniature forms of the Devouring Wolf!
At the same moment, Yuuki's voice rang out across the sea.
"Composite Magic—Gluttony Wolf!"
Yuuki's low shout echoed over the waves.
(End of Chapter)
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