Tsunayoshi sat quietly to the side, watching the match in front of him.
Gareth and Bete faced off, the rings on their hands flaring to life.
Crimson flames bloomed beneath Bete's feet, hurling him to top speed from a dead stop. His already out-of-spec quickness became downright terrifying under the boost of the Dying Will Flames.
An afterimage flickered behind Gareth.
Beastlike claws wreathed in red fire scythed down at Gareth's back.
Clang!
Those razor talons failed to punch through the plain shirt on Gareth's back.
Sizzle—
Green lightning crackled over the fabric, pushing back against the crimson fire's corrosion—and even faintly suppressing it.
"Heh…"
Bete's expression shifted; he sprang back at once—only for a green bolt to chase him the instant he moved.
"Tch!"
Seeing the hearty grin on Gareth's face, Bete couldn't help the flash of annoyance. This damn old man!
The Dying Will Flames ramped mobility so hard that even the slow became fast with proper control. Gareth was the textbook case: massive frame, monstrous strength and endurance—but explosive starts and agile direction changes had always been his pain points. With that much mass, his zero-to-max was sluggish, and fine control was hard.
But once he mastered the Dying Will Flames, those old problems stopped being problems. His fighting style only grew bolder and more sweeping.
"Ha!!!"
Gareth slammed a fist sheathed in green lightning into the ground.
For a heartbeat the earth held—then detonated under the staggering force. The flat floor blew outward as if a buried charge went off, geysering gravel and dust in all directions.
Threads of green lightning hid among the flying debris, all of them streaking toward the still-airborne Bete.
Bete drew a breath; the flames on his feet surged, and the red fire along his fingers and nails sharpened to a keener edge.
He met the storm head-on.
His clawed hands whipped, shredding the onrushing shards; most stones burst the instant they touched him.
There were exceptions.
Clang!
When his talons struck a pebble flashing with lightning, it felt like hitting a thick metal plate. The savage cutting power was blunted—and Bete's body hitched for a fatal instant.
In that instant, a fist drove for his abdomen.
It was faster than his brain could process.
Boom!
A heavy, ruthless blow smashed into his gut, blasting him away like a cannonball. He slammed into a rocky wall and sank deep into the stone, limbs limp as consciousness fled.
"Ho—if you want to beat the old man, you need more practice," Gareth said, planting a foot amid the shattered ground, a victor's smile on his face.
"He's been practicing more than enough lately."
Finn, dressed light, appeared at Gareth's side.
"These days, to sharpen his control of the Dying Will Flames, Bete hasn't just gone into the Challenge Space alone to fight the black Goliath—he's also trained under double gravity in the Training Space while maintaining flame control."
"For that alone, he's done well."
Finn had seen Bete's effort with his own eyes. To seize this power, Bete had worked even harder than Ais. In Finn's judgment, Bete's control over the Dying Will Flames now far outstripped hers.
"Paired with the mobility boost, Bete's speed already exceeds Lv.5 adventurers who specialize in quickness. Even without a top-tier weapon, just his claws wreathed in Dying Will Flames can pose a lethal threat to a Lv.5."
"Unless the armor specifically counters the Dying Will Flames, even a first-class adventurer might end up with a fatal gash," Finn finished.
"That's the level of someone just stepping into Lv.5," Gareth cut through the florid assessment. In short: beyond Lv.4, not yet at the heart of Lv.5. "Still, he's touched the threshold to challenge a floor boss. The training's borne some fruit."
"Mm." Finn agreed, then looked over at Tsunayoshi, who was seated to the side. "What do you think, Tsunayoshi?"
"I think… he's one weapon short," Tsunayoshi said. "If Bete-san had a weapon that can ignite the Dying Will Flames, he'd have the bite to challenge a true Lv.5."
"A weapon… yes, he's a blade short," Gareth admitted.
With a weapon designed to carry the Dying Will Flames, the odds against a Lv.5 would jump. Barehanded, he was at a native disadvantage against fully armed opponents.
Finn and Gareth both glanced at Bete's empty hands. The lack of a weapon really was a problem.
"An 'Unbreakable' weapon can temporarily hold the Dying Will Flames," Finn said, rubbing his head in frustration. "But even an Unbreakable-series piece forged from Unbreakable Metal can't endure the burn for long."
Such weapons weren't merely expensive—they were scalp-numbingly so. The cheapest started at fifty million valis.
"And how long can one survive under the flames?" Finn grimaced. "Fifteen minutes before it's scrap."
Even the richest families couldn't afford to melt a fifty-million-valis weapon every fifteen minutes.
"For now, everyone will have to grit their teeth," Tsunayoshi said. "If luck's on our side, once this expedition ends, Loki, Hephaestus, and I should be able to tackle the weapon problem."
(End of Chapter)
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