In the pitch-black night sky, a colossal blade of light suddenly appeared.
In three directions, the spectators stared, entranced by that dazzling brilliance—so bright it threatened to steal their very minds.
Only in one direction did people sprint sideways in blind panic, cursing the fact they hadn't been born with two extra legs.
If they'd known this was coming, they would never have stood directly in front of Chardo.
The sword hadn't even fallen yet, but everyone understood what was next:
Something earth-shattering.
"Heroic Slashlight, huh…"
Cid didn't dodge immediately. He simply watched that radiant glare.
The next instant—
The gigantic light-blade crashed down!
There was no boom. For a moment, nothing could be heard at all.
After that brief deafness, the roar arrived—late and violent.
A brutal shockwave erased an entire section of the city. What the eye could see wasn't even "ruins" anymore.
Houses? Streets? The adventurers who had been watching?
All that remained was ash.
This was an attack that could shatter a fortress-city.
An attack that could butcher dragonkind.
An attack that carried the wish of heroes within it.
As a Level 4 adventurer—and the captain of the Ganesha Familia—Shakti felt her own insignificance with crushing clarity.
She hadn't felt this way since the two great Familias had left Orario.
Staring at that wasteland, Shakti forced herself to focus on what mattered.
"Where's that adventurer? Is he still alive?"
She searched frantically—then finally saw the black figure still standing tall, and only then exhaled.
He had dodged it—at a speed she couldn't even perceive.
Just learning the enemy had such a trump card made tonight's "harvest" of intel invaluable.
If she could choose, Shakti wished that mysterious adventurer would retreat immediately and join them to plan how to face the two Overlords.
They already had enough information—enough that was decisive.
But she also knew it was unlikely.
The strong had their pride. Who would flee in the middle of a battle like this?
Standing at the center of every gaze, Cid didn't counterattack right away.
He had a question first.
"You slowed that down so much… Were you trying to teach me?"
That Slashlight should never have been released so slowly.
Even the spectators had time to run.
Cid had seen this "black big guy" being cold and merciless. He didn't believe Chardo was that gentle.
"Teach you? I'm not that kind of person. But if you're saying that… did you learn it?"
Chardo wasn't gentle.
He wasn't the sort to break a move down step-by-step, explain it like a lesson, then correct each mistake.
He had only slowed it down a little.
Could that even count as teaching?
Still—
Chardo truly hoped Cid would learn it.
If someone was a real genius, seeing it once should be enough to grasp the outline.
So… did Cid learn it?
Cid didn't answer.
Instead, he gathered the slime defense covering his body and concentrated it onto the sword.
In less than a second, his fast-thrusting rapier transformed into a greatsword—almost the same type as his opponent's.
Under Chardo's fascinated gaze, a second light-blade appeared in the night sky—
Smaller by two sizes, but unmistakably the same phenomenon.
"Good! Very good!"
Chardo laughed with pure delight.
The last time he'd seen a monster of talent like this, it had been Alfia standing behind him.
To find a second one in Orario—this trip was absolutely worth it.
Not everyone had the mood to appreciate the view.
The adventurers watching directly in front of Cid went pale at the sight of that light-blade.
Meanwhile, the adventurers who'd been in front of Chardo earlier—who'd barely survived—saw it and laughed with zero mercy.
Yes, yes, that's right. If I couldn't escape, you won't either!
Even those watching from the sides began to retreat—backward this time.
Their current distance was still far too dangerous.
Shakti was retreating as well, but her expression was worse than the others.
Because she had to consider not only the outcome of the battle—
But its consequences.
By now she'd realized the mysterious adventurer wasn't truly at a disadvantage.
Unless both Overlords ganged up on him, his survival wasn't the concern.
And with their pride, the two Overlords would never stoop to a two-on-one.
Shakti's reason for wanting the fight to stop was simpler:
Their destructive power was absurd.
She wasn't an ordinary adventurer—she was the captain of Ganesha Familia, responsible for maintaining order in Orario.
Those two might be enjoying themselves—
But Orario's losses would be impossible to measure.
Repair costs alone would be astronomical.
And yet her strength was insufficient. She had no way to stop them.
A weak ant—she wasn't some "effort king Marine"—had no right to step between monsters.
As the light-blade prepared to fall again, ready to erase another massive region, Shakti's emotions twisted into something complicated.
Had she just hallucinated the Guild Master's wail of despair?
"Come!"
Facing the descending light, Chardo didn't dodge.
He raised his sword and struck back head-on.
After a brief clash, the light-blade on Cid's side shattered first.
Centered on where the two Slashlights collided, a ring of ruin formed—nearly a hundred meters across.
"So you're a bit stronger than me… in raw power?"
Cid already understood the result.
When the ash drifted away, the figure remained unharmed.
"Black big guy—do you have any other tricks? I don't mind learning a couple more. But you look like you're about done."
Cid sized him up, then withdrew the slime sword.
That was when the cursed woman stepped forward into Cid's path.
Was the next exchange going to be a battle of magic?
"…Don't be in such a hurry."
Chardo spoke, and introduced himself.
"My name is Chardo. My title is 'Gluttony.' And from now on, stop calling me 'black big guy.'"
As his chest and organs churned, Chardo regretted something.
"If I'd known I'd meet an opponent like you tonight… I should've eaten my fill first."
He possessed a skill that let him grow stronger by devouring.
It was his strongest skill.
He had eaten meals, vegetables, maggots, Behemoth's poisonous flesh…
Back then, it was eating Behemoth that made his strength surge, letting him kill the Land King in a single blow.
Strength through eating wasn't something only "gourmet cells" could do.
"Cough—cough!"
Chardo suddenly hacked twice, then spat out a mouthful of thick, pitch-black, unidentified fluid.
Cid understood: Chardo's body had reached a temporary limit—but it wasn't damage from Cid.
The most grotesque part was that the black fluid corroded the broken stones on the ground.
Cid couldn't help thinking:
Does this stuff flow through his veins and organs?
Are his internal organs somehow sturdier than rock?
"…Are you okay?"
Even Alfia stopped squaring off with Cid.
Chardo hadn't pushed this man into a corner yet. Their mission wasn't finished.
Collapsing now would be laziness beyond forgiveness.
"…I'm fine. Just hungry."
Chardo waved it off and barely steadied himself.
Right now, he felt like he could eat a whole cow raw.
Cid thought for a moment—then tossed him a bottle of medicine.
"Take this."
....
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