Chapter 42: The Black Prince and the Last King
The episode in the Netherworld did not affect the battle on the surface. At this moment, the mountains, because of the combat between several gods and god-slayers, had already become a purgatory.
The idea of one-on-one duels sounded good, but in the end, it was unrealistic. With the arrival of the fifth group of uninvited intruders, both gods and kings of the earth no longer confined themselves to one-on-one fights. Instead, they plunged into a chaotic free-for-all.
Colossal plants replaced the original vegetation. The sky was either so dark it blotted out the sun or blazed with scorching sunlight. The ground was roasted, struck by thunder, and cut apart by storms. From time to time, a sword light that split the heavens would streak across the sky, or entire towering mountain ranges would be swallowed in an instant by fissures opening in the earth. Even an apocalypse could be no more terrifying than this.
It was easy to imagine: if no one with great power came to repair this place, then after these "out-of-spec" beings had had their fun and left, the local tourism industry would be indefinitely postponed.
On the other hand, this was the first time both sides of the conflict actually seemed to have something like "allies."
Hachiman felt this very strongly.
He had just ducked to dodge a flash of blade light when a staff swept in from the side. Before he could evade, a jade-like palm struck the staff aside, which was then met head-on by Doni's sword that happened to lunge out from the flank.
Returning the favor, Hachiman blinked into motion to intercept the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who was suddenly springing out from behind Luo Hao. Then, using the Authority of Poisedon, he unleashed a technique from Ren Yue Fist—"Jumping Rascal Overturning the Sky Rampage"—sweeping out in a storm of blows.
Of the "One Shadow, Nine Fists" styles, Ren Yue's martial arts were among Hachiman's favorites, mainly because this guy's techniques were brutally simple, full of killing intent, and carried a heavy "Ora Ora Ora" vibe when unleashed.
Hachiman struck with a barrage of punches, and under the effect of his Authority, "Jumping Rascal Overturning the Sky Rampage" in his hands turned into an unmatched, terrifying bulldozer. Everything within the area that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had manifested with his transformations was smashed apart, forcing the monkey to retreat with the Ruyi Jingu Bang raised in defense.
To be honest, at this stage, Hachiman no longer cared about how to obtain Authorities. What he felt, every moment, was that he was becoming stronger—by a margin far greater than any previous time. That felt even better than gaining a new Authority.
The moment his storm of rampaging punches ended, the Great Sage was already gone, replaced with a white-cloaked sun god.
Opponents were constantly shifting—gods and god-slayers alike.
The man before him was clearly Perseus from the original works. By now, Hachiman could recognize him.
But this Perseus was nothing like the dashing figure from TV.
His once-dramatic cloak was torn to half its length. His face bore a big handprint from a slap—Hachiman guessed it was Luo Hao, given the very obvious mark of a woman's hand.
Even funnier, his pants had been ripped halfway down to his thighs, exposing his hairy legs, which bore two rows of tooth marks!
That had to be Voban's doing. Today, Hachiman truly broadened his horizons—he discovered that the old man actually bites during fights.
At least half of Hachiman's "Jumping Rascal Overturning the Sky Rampage" had landed on Perseus, leaving the supposedly "handsome guy" wearing a twisted, ugly expression. Now, upon seeing any god-slayer, his eyes went blood-red and he slashed wildly.
Hachiman understood. If it had been him facing such shameless opponents, he too would have gone berserk.
If Voban had bitten just a little higher, Perseus wouldn't be a male god anymore—he'd be a eunuch god.
Surely, he wouldn't have the face to revive that part of himself in front of everyone.
The sun god's divine sword unleashed slashes at divine speed, filling every inch of Hachiman's vision. The dense storm of blade lights fell upon all his vital points like a collapsing galaxy.
Normally, Hachiman might have given a thumbs-up for such special effects. But right now—even if those were real stars—he'd smash them in half.
The destructive power that could incinerate all things gathered instantly into his palms. At the same time, he invoked his Authority of swallowing light and devouring fire to its fullest extent. He inhaled deeply, and the falling galaxy dimmed. At that very instant, he drove his palm-strike through it, punching a gaping hole in the "galaxy." In the blink of an eye, his flames of destruction consumed all of the sword-light.
Then, leaping through the sea of fire, he lunged forward to pursue—only to find the figure before him had shifted once more into a very familiar bird-man.
This was one of the intruders, the very culprit responsible for this chaotic mess, and also his old nemesis from the time he'd been dragged back for a trip to ancient Egypt: Horus!
Hachiman had not expected this guy to appear here. He had been hiding sneakily in the shadows, waiting to ambush. If not for another uninvited guest on the god-slayer side doing the same, Horus might have succeeded.
"You again, you damn bird!" Hachiman cursed, but didn't slow down. He stomped straight toward the god's head.
"Heh, such arrogance, little god-slayer! Back then, it was only by relying on my power that you defeated Set!" Horus twisted his bird-head to dodge the stomp, then pecked down with his beak.
This guy was just as cheap as the others—Voban bites, and he pecks!
But Hachiman had already noticed a strange bolt of lightning lurking unnaturally among the storm of thunder behind Horus. He immediately pulled back. Sure enough, the odd lightning suddenly made a sharp turn and blasted Horus on the head, scattering feathers everywhere.
The next moment, the lightning condensed into a young man in a suit. His face was expressionless as he looked at Horus, but his eyes clearly carried annoyance and displeasure.
As one of the intruding god-slayers, Hachiman already knew this man's name: Alexander—same as that gentleman from history famous for brawling in armies. Doni called him the Black Prince. Hachiman remembered he was a god-slayer from Britain. He hadn't expected their first meeting to be like this.
In fact, if not for this guy apparently using an Authority to slightly restrain the powers of the five gods and five god-slayers, the Nikko mountains would already have been completely destroyed.
But that was only a temporary reprieve. The Black Prince's Authority seemed to derive from an earth-aligned deity. Every time Hachiman used the Authority of Poseidon, it interfered with the other's power. At this rate, even if the mountains weren't shattered by battle, they'd eventually collapse by accident under Hachiman's strikes.
And the Black Prince seemed to realize this as well.
After blasting Horus with lightning, he did not pursue. Instead, he turned to Hachiman.
"King of Japan, meeting like this is regrettable. But I don't care about formalities. Forget about seizing Authorities for now—let us focus our power to drive out one god. Otherwise, many people will die."
"Fine. Who do you think we should start with?" Hachiman agreed immediately without hesitation.
The situation had already gone completely beyond his expectations. All of his previous plans had collapsed. With five gods and five god-slayers now on the field, even he could feel how dire things had become.
If this continued, all of eastern Japan would be affected.
"Let us begin with the one least invested in this battle." The Black Prince's gaze swept across the battlefield, then fixed upon a monkey god—different from the Great Sage—who was clashing furiously with Luo Hao. "That one. For the sake of the Last King, he will not fight to the death."
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