Part 2

"Farewell, Usagiiiiiiiiii!"

The Fist Saint's kick was swung down with great force. Although he was not an expert at kicking, the Fist Saint's kick was still filled with terrifying power.

Not only Yuti, but Night and Akatsuki were also unable to move due to the killing intent and intimidation from the Fist Saint. Everyone expected this to be the end of Usagi's life just like that.

But…

"Ah?"

"….."

"Huh!? Yu-Yuuya!?"

"Ah…?"

Outside of everyone's expectations, Yuuya intervened by stepping in between Usagi and the Fist Saint, and stopped the kick with his bare hands. Moreover, the aura of Evil was overflowing from Yuuya's body much like the Fist Saint.

While Yuti and the others were surprised by this sudden turn of events, the Fist Saint became grumpy at once.

"Hey, you bastard… know your place, small fry. Who permitted you to touch me? Ooh!?"

And then he kicked out with his other foot, trying to knock away Yuuya who was holding onto his foot. However, Yuuya dodged the attack while releasing the leg of the Fist Saint.

"What?"

"….."

Yuuya turned his back on the Fist Saint and hugged Master Usagi, as though the Fist Saint did not exist.

"O-oy… you bastard… what are you doing…?"

"….."

"I said, what are you doing? I'm asking youuuuuuu…!"

Being ignored was something that hurt his pride, and the Fist Saint raised his fist while shouting. That fist instantly exceeded the speed of sound, and the shockwave surrounding it blew away the surrounding trees and ground as it approached Yuuya.

But…

"W-what?"

Yuuya stared emotionlessly at the attack and dodged it without difficulty.

"What… What's going on here? You bastard, did you hide your abilities until now? Ah!?"

"It's… amazing… I'm filled with power… I feel like I can destroy everything in this world."

Ignoring the existence of the Fist Saint, Yuuya was immersed in his own world. The Fist Saint could not hide his anger, but the anger quickly turned into a ferocious smile.

"Hahaha! It's good; it's excellent! I think I can have a lot more fun with you than with that rabbit!"

"….."

"…I don't know how long you can keep up with that attitude, but don't let me down!"

The Fist Saint made his hands mimic the claws of a beast and moved them up and down as if clamping them together with great force.

"Eat him up, [Jaw]!"

And then the air fangs attacked Yuuya as if they were going to devour him.

"Yuuya!"

Even in the face of such an attack, Yuuya didn't show any sign of evading, and Yuti shouted at him unconsciously.

"──Like this?"

"What?"

Yuuya recreated the exact same movement as the Fist Saint immediately. And then, from both of his hands, the air fangs were created, and they collided with the Fist Saint's attack.

However, Yuuya's fangs were overwhelmingly larger, and the attack of the Fist Saint was easily swallowed up. Then it directly attacked the Fist Saint.

"N-no way!?"

When he avoided the attack, the ground and the trees disappeared as if the space had been hollowed out in the area where he had been standing.

"D-don't kid around… then, how about this?"

The Fist Saint stopped retreating, and closed in to a distance that was his forte, and went on the offensive immediately.

"[Tearing Sky Pierce] Haaaaaaa!"

It was a skill that could be called the special move of the Fist Saint, as it boasted the greatest destructive power with the least amount of movement, aimed at Yuuya from a very close distance.

Moreover, normally, such a super-advanced skill should only be able to deliver a single attack, but the Fist Saint was different and could strike a series of these deadly blows.

If one were to receive this skill, the body would be destroyed, not only the outside but also the inside, and the surrounding area would be littered with the resulting fragments.

But…

"Like this?"

"Ah?"

Yuuya was unamused and easily replicated the secret technique of the Fist Saint, and released all of them following the fist of the Fist Saint.

And the result is…

"Gyaaaaaaaaaa!? M-my arm!"

The Fist Saint was easily defeated in a battle of fists that should have been the sole domain of the Fist Saint. And the arm of the Fist Saint was shattered without a trace remaining.

"M-my arm! My arm! Why, how?"

"Stop barking."

"Hyiie!?"

This was the first time the Fist Saint realized that he was going to die.

A black aura was oozing out of Yuuya's body as he shook it suspiciously for the first time, and his eyes were glowing red.

Yuuya stared blankly at the Fist Saint, who had lost both of his arms which were his pride and greatest weapons, and fell down in a miserable state.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to fight?"

"N-No…"

"No? That's not acceptable."

Yuuya immediately took out the [Complete Recovery Herb Juice] from the item box and sprinkled it carelessly on the Fist Saint. Then, the Fist Saint's arm, which should have been lost, miraculously grew back.

"What? Oh, my arm!"

"What are you doing?"

"Aah? Gyooee?"

With his arms healed, the Fist Saint started to regian his composure, but Yuuya kicked him in the face without mercy.

"G-ggaaahh… Y-you bastard…!"

"….."



"W-what's with those eyes? Those… eyes, do not look down on meeeeeee!"

The Fist Saint used a number of techniques on Yuuya. Still, all of them were instantly imitated by Yuuya and returned with more than twice the power.

And, at last, the Fist Saint realized. His arm being healed was just the beginning of this hell. No matter how much effort he put in, he was no match for Yuuya.

On the contrary, he was rolling around in a mess. Even when his arms were blown off, his legs were torn off, or he had a hole in his stomach, Yuuya continued to use items to heal him and forced him to fight.

Yuuya kept on inflicting pain on the "Fist Saint."

What the hell is this? What in the world is this…!? Said the Fist Saint in fear.

"I don't want it… Stop…!"

"You don't want it? Stop? You wanted this, didn't you? You wanted to fight with the strong, right?"

The Fist Saint indeed wanted to fight the strong, which was why he acquired the power of Evil and began the hunt for the Holy. However, what was happening to him here was not a fight with a strong person.

It was a one-sided beatdown.

As Yuuya was still trying to attack, Yuti, who had finally recovered from the Fist Saint's intimidation and the shock by seeing Yuuya's change, rushed over to stop him.

"You can't. Yuuya."

"Get out of my way."

"No, I can't. If you keep this up, you won't be able to come back."

"Can't come back, you said? That's a funny thing to say. I'm just giving him what he wants."

"Denial. Go back to your normal self, Yuuya. Akatsuki!"

"Buhi!"

Akatsuki was waiting for Yuti's call and immediately activated his [Sanctuary] skill. Then, Yuuya frowned for a moment.

"Ugh! This is…"

"Calm down. You're back to the gentle Yuuya."

"…Gentle?

With that one word, Yuuya's face became expressionless again.

"What's the use of being gentle? It does nothing. It can't save anything. There's no need for it."

"Denial. You're the one who is not needed. Give Yuuya back."

"This is me."

"No."

"…I see. If you're going to get in my way, I'll get rid of you too. If the need to protect something makes us weak, then it is better not to have it."

"Huh!?"

Yuti involuntarily shrunk away from Yuuya's hand, which was slowly extended to her…

"?"

"Ah…"

Suddenly, Yuya's movements stopped.

"What is it?"

The faint instinct that remained in Yuuya was preventing him from crossing the last line. He looked ruthlessly at himself and spat out.

"You said you wanted this to happen, but… you deny it?"

"──It's going to be a lot of trouble, I guess."

"O-Ouma-san!"

Then, in such a state, Ouma, who was supposed to be sleeping at home, slowly came flying in while yawning absentmindedly.

Yuti then rushed over to Ouma.

"Begging. Please, help me. Yuuya's not coming back."

"It can't be helped."

At Yuti's request, Ouma said in exasperation and turned his gaze to Yuuya.

"If that were the case, There's no need for me to go through all of this."

"Ouma…?"

"…Good grief. You are such a pain in the butt. You should be able to use the power of Evil as quickly as possible."

While saying that, Ouma could not suppress his bitter smile.

"Well… this is just like Yuuya. It's also annoying to be too kind. Hey, Akatsuki!"

"Buhi…?"

Ouma threw something to Akatsuki, who was depressed that his powers could not save Yuuya. When Akatsuki caught it in his mouth, he swallowed it without thinking.

"Bu-buhiii!?"

"Don't worry. It's the same pill I took."

"The same as Ouma?"

"What, don't you remember? It was the [Pill of Size Change], wasn't it?"

"W-why did you give him that?"

Ouma grinned in response to Yuti's reasonable question.

"It's definitely for getting bigger."

"Eh?"

"Here, Akatsuki! You have to turn bigger and use your skill!"

"Fu-fugo?"

Not knowing what to do, Akatsuki started to get bigger, as Ouma directed. Then, as Akatsuki's body swelled up more and more, the surrounding trees and the others were buried in Akatsuki's hair.

"This is…"

As for Yuuya, he was buried in the encroaching hair.

───Akatsuki became super huge, just like Ouma when they first met. At that moment, Akatsuki activated his [Sanctuary] skill.

"Fugoooooooo!"

Akatsuki's [Sanctuary] spread throughout the entire [Great Devil's Nest], and a gentle light enveloped the surroundings.

And then───.

"I-it's so fluffy."

──The black aura had disappeared, and the usual Yuuya was smiling happily while being wrapped in Akatsuki's fur.

Looking at the current Yuuya, the unapproachable atmosphere just a few moments ago disappeared. Even the [Sanctuary]'s skill was no longer effective on Yuuya back then. Yuti was surprised by the fact that Yuuya returned in an instant.

"Astonished. Why?"

"It's simple. As Akatsuki's body grew, so did the effectiveness of his skills."

Ouma laughed, clearing his throat, and called out to the enlarged Akatsuki.

"Hey, Akatsuki. That's enough. Go back."

"Fugo? Buhi!"

Akatsuki became smaller and smaller as his response was prolonged due to his larger size. Yuuya was gazing a little regretfully at the shrinking Akatsuki, but then he suddenly realized his surroundings and looked around.

"H-huh? What's wrong with me…? And how did Akatsuki get so big…?"

"Yuuya, thank goodness."

"Eh?"

Yuuya looked at Yuti with a dumb expression as Yuti approached him with a smile on her face. He then remembered something and looked around again in a panic.

"T-that's right, what about Master Usagi?"

(──I'm fine.)

"Master Usagi…!"

In response to Yuuya's call, Master Usagi who was supposed to be in shambles from the earlier fight, was standing and looked to be completely healed.

"Hey, Master Usagi. What happened to your wounds?"

"That's because being so close to such a big pig; it's only natural that I would also receive the benefits of his skills."

"I-I'm glad to hear that… No, I have no idea what's going on…"

(I'll explain it to you later. More importantly… what's that dragon…? He wasn't there before, was he?)

"Eh? Ouma-san? …Come to think of it, this is the first time for Master Usagi and Ouma-san to meet, isn't it?"

When he mentioned once again that Ouma-san had been tamed by Yuuya, Master Usagi held his head.

(What, you tamed a legendary dragon? Rather than that, is he really a being that can be tamed in the first place? He's literally the pinnacle of this world, living before we were created…)

"I-I don't know… even if you're telling me that…"

(…Hmph, You're a lot different than you were before.)

"Eh?"

(You've caused trouble for Yuti and Akatsuki. Make sure you apologize.)

"Y-yes…"

Yuuya, who has no memory of the time when the power of Evil swallowed him, can only reply for the moment without understanding.

(Now, More importantly… Where did the Fist Saint go?)

"Eh… ah, that's right! That guy…!"

Yuuya remembered the existence of the Fist Saint, who the source of this event, and hurriedly looked around, but the Fist Saint was no longer around.

(…It seems that Akatsuki's skills from earlier have also healed his wounds.)

"Buhi…"

According to Master Usagi's words, Akatsuki was unusually dejected when he realized that it was his own fault that the Fist Saint escaped.

The Fist Saint was such a vicious being that even the slow-paced Akatsuki felt that he should not be allowed to run wild.

Usagi put his hand on Akatsuki's head as if to comfort him.

(Don't be so depressed. There's nothing we can do about this. I'm not sure if I could have survived without your skill.)

"Buhi…"

Usagi's words were met with a small nod from Akatsuki. However, it was a fact that the Fist Saint had fled from the scene, and the atmosphere of Yuuya and the others darkened.

"…Hmm? Huh? Where's Ouma-san?"

"Eh?"

Yuuya suddenly noticed that he could not hear Ouma's voice and looked around, but before he knew it, Ouma's figure had disappeared.

"Prediction. He probably went home. I think he's sleeping."

"Yeah, he's sleeping…"

"Agreement. He's probably not interested."

(Not interested, huh… We are fighting like hell…)

"I'm sorry about Ouma-san…"

Yuuya was uncomfortable and apologized as they all headed home.