Part 3

"Hah! Hah! Hah!

While Yuuya and the others were returning home, the Fist Saint, whose wounds had been healed by Akatsuki by accident, was desperately running through the Great Devil's Nest.

"Damn it… damn it… damn it… damn it!

What's currently on the mind of the Fist Saint was the figure of Yuuya, who messed up the Fist Saint with overwhelming power.

The Fist Saint had never known defeat, and he was a talented genius capable of absorbing all kinds of techniques. That's why he took this title from the previous Fist Saint within a year of becoming his apprentice. From then on, he became even more greedy for power.

And his strength led to arrogance, and before long, he found himself not only seeking power but also looking for an opponent to put his acquired skills to use.

However, for the overwhelmingly powerful Fist Saint, not many people could receive his techniques. Most were easily broken if the Fist Saint showed a fraction of his true colors.

That's why, for the Fist Saint, other existences were insignificant.

──And now, that Fist Saint had been defeated without being able to put up any resistance.

Even when he made full use of all the techniques he had acquired with his talent, and along with the power of Evil, he still could not reach Yuuya.

On the contrary, just as the former Fist Saint stole others' techniques and used them in a more perfected form to break their hearts, Yuuya did the same thing to him.

It's also as if this result was natural.

For the Fist Saint, the people around him were just toys for him to use to test his skills. However, for Yuuya, the Fist Saint was just… an object of observation.

There are no emotions at all, just indifference. With his gaze, the pride of the Fist Saint was already in tatters.

When he retreated to a place where he could no longer be caught by Yuuya and the others, he took a deep breath to fix his ragged breathing.

"I will never forgive them… for making a fool out of me like this… I will give them all a hell that they have never tasted…!"

The Fist Saint, who vowed to take revenge on Yuuya and Usagi and everyone else, tried to leave the scene with staggering steps.

"Next… The next one is…!"

"───Next one? Don't say anything crazy."

"What, who is it?"

Suddenly, the response to his words put the Fist Saint in a fighting posture hurriedly.

In the past, the Fist Saint would have been astonished by the fact if there were people who could move without his awareness, but now the Fist Saints had no time to mind about that.

The owner of the voice appeared in response to the exhausted Fist Saint.

"What did you say before…"

The one who appeared before the Fist Saint was Ouma, who was thought to have gone home to sleep. In front of Ouma, an unfamiliar anxiety struck him, and he asked in an impatient tone.

"What did you say before, you bastard!"

Ouma didn't seem to care as he approached the Fist Saint with his small body and grinned at him.

"You were saying something strange earlier."

"What? What do you mean by strange?"

"Ah yeah. It's about the next one──."

"Huh! What's so strange about it? Next, next time! This time I didn't lose! I'm just retreating! Next time, I'll win for sure. The next time, I'm definitely going to win, and I'm going to give them all hell!"

"I see, I see…"

Ouma laughed in amusement at the words of the Fist Saint──.

"That's a very clever mindset you've got there. Do you think you'll be able to get home safely after fighting with my friends?"

"What? Your friends? I'm not sure what you're talking about when you're just a little dragon…"

The next moment, Ouma's body returned to its original size.

"Eh, ah, what?"

In front of the huge dragon that suddenly appeared, the Fist Saint sat down on the ground, losing his composure.

"Just a little dragon, huh? I'm a dragon that has lived since the beginning of time, you know?"

"N-no way! Since the beginning of time, you say? Are you saying that you are the legendary dragon? That should be just a fairytale!"

Ouma opened his mouth wide as he brought his face closer to the Fist Saint, who looked up at him dumbly.

"There is no next time for you. This is where it ends."

"Oh, Aaah───."

His words did not last. Ouma chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth.

Then he frowned.

"It's not good. After eating Yuuya's food, my palate has become much more discerning. I have become a so-called connoisseur."

While muttering that, Ouma returned to his petite size and started to head back to Yuuya and the others as if nothing had happened.

"Well, I've worked hard today, and I'm going to ask Yuuya to make something delicious for me. I think… hamburgers sound like a good idea."

As Ouma left, an air of peace was once again felt in the "Great Devil's Nest."

＊＊＊

"──What?"

At the World Disposal Ground, one of the three "Evil" who had gathered there muttered in dismay.

"No way… How come, the presence of the Fist Saint… the presence of the Evil that I gave to the Fist Saint… is gone?"

The one who let out a voice of impatience there was the Evil who gave power to the Fist Saint.

"It's also strange for me. The power that I gave to the disciples of the Bow Saint has been cut off too."

In response to the impatient Evil, another Evil with a calm voice replied curiously.

"It's strange… It's not surprising if the disciple of the Bow Saint had died somewhere, but it's strange if the signs of the Evil power disappear altogether. Above all, it is impossible for the presence of the Fist Saint, one of the few people who fit the criteria, to just disappear."

"That is true. The shadow alone is no longer enough to deal with the Fist Saint. For this reason, I was thinking of going there to drop a hand on it myself…"

In response to the Evil's calm analysis, the first Evil who opened his mouth answered so.

"But then, it's okay, isn't it? It means that there are no more troubles, right?"

"Well, from a simple perspective, yes. But my opinion is not as positive."

"Eeh, why?"

"Because it means that there are people who can compete with our power. It's too dangerous to let it go unchecked."

"Isn't that the Holy?"

"It's unlikely. Most of the Holy have either fallen to us or have been killed by the hands of the Fist Saint. There are very few Holy left who can resist us. In addition to that, the only Holy that can compete in terms of power and compatibility with the Fist Saint is probably the Sword Saint, who is the strongest of all the Holy. Still, it is unlikely that the Sword Saint will be able to come out unscathed."

The Evil that said that continues to be abhorrent.

"That's why I can't let the person who killed the Fist Saint go free. Even if it's the Sword Saint, he is still a threat to us."

"What would you do? Are you going to kill him?"

"Of course, we need to do that. But…"

"Ah, I see."

In contrast to the polite tone of the Evil, the dignified Evil nodded once.

"Let's start a war against the rest of the Holy."

"Eh, really? It's not a lie, is it? Yeaayyy!"

The Evil who laughs innocently couldn't control his enjoyment and asked excitedly.

"When? When are we going to kill them!? How many of them will we kill? Is it all of them?"

"Calm down. Of course, we will kill as many as we can, but not all. If you want to come with us, you will need to accept that."

"Eeh? Why?"

"Of course, it's to enslave them."

"Slave?"

"Yes. Our goal is to take control of the world, as we are the negative side of the world… In order to do that, we need to control the threats that can exist."

"Hmm… Something like that?"

"That's how it works."

The innocent Evil seemed to be somewhat depressed, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Well then, when will we begin the attack? Can I be the first?"

"Yeah, okay. Those who are not here will not complain."

"Yay!"

"…If we're going to wage war against the Holy, we can't just let the entity that killed the Fist Saint go free, can we?"

"I think so. Well… there are many Holy that have fallen to us as well. The number has already exceeded the Holy that remains hostile to us. I don't think we can lose."

While saying that, the Evil stared at the sky, imagining the yet unknown one that defeated the Fist Saint.

"I don't know who you are, but… you will not be able to stop us."

And then the three of them disappeared from the place.