Chapter 8: Wataru’s BADDER!

As the battle between Wataru and Deus suddenly grew in intensity, the crowd that had gathered to watch the duel was at the brink of rioting!

“Hey! That human started glowing red all of a sudden!”

“I have no idea what’s happening, but that human’s bad!”

“Did it get a little hotter out here...?”

“I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s help Master Deus, right now!”

The monsters started drawing their assorted weapons! There were orcs with clubs, animated skeletons with spears, and even a goblin with a custom-modified Payblade made for battle, to name a few examples! The voltage of the scene was amping up!

Just when things were coming to a head, Résistance turned around to face the crowd! “Listen up! All of you!”

The horde of monsters all turned their attention to her! Aria, who had been standing by Résistance’s side until a moment ago, had already fled the scene to avoid being caught up in the riot! Aria was always opportunistic!

“Y-You’re Résistance... The ex-Master,” said one of the monsters, recognizing her!

“What are you doing here!?” shouted another!

“You think you can just come and go as you please!?” yelled another, outraged!

Résistance drew her sword and held it up for all to see! “Anyone who dares to interrupt their duel will have to go through me!” she valiantly declared!

Her presence intimidated the crowd for a little bit, but the monsters did not back down!

“Wh-Who do you think you are!?”

“Yeah! You’re the one who betrayed our Demon Lord!”

“Don’t think we’re gonna go easy on you if you don’t get outta our way!”

The horde of monsters, about eighty strong, glared menacingly at Résistance! But Résistance’s eyes only gleamed with fighting spirit as she held her sword tighter and held her ground in this critically dangerous standoff!

“Bring it on...!” she growled!

As the mandated neutral arbiter in the duel between Wataru and Deus, Résistance couldn’t allow anyone or anything to interrupt the battle!! She had no intention of helping either side, but she also had an unyielding will to prevent anybody else from disturbing that neutrality!

One of the orcs waved his club in the air! “You don’t scare us! Come on guys, let’s get her!”

The rest of the monsters joined in, assaulting Résistance all at once! She was facing down eighty monsters! At first glance, her chances appeared to be hopeless! ...But lest you forget, Dear Readers, Résistance had been a member of the Four Masters until mere days before! Her strength far exceeded that of any horde of run-of-the-mill monsters!!

“Hragh!!!” Résistance shouted, and swung her sword in a horizontal arc!

Brrrraggghghhhh!!!!!

Her sharp longsword sliced through the air! An instant later, the monsters that formed the frontline of the horde went flying like bowling pins struck by a perfect strike from a professional bowler’s bowling ball!!

“Wh-What kind of attack was that!?”

“Dammit, she’s too strong!”

Now that the monsters had witnessed Résistance’s attack, they began to fall back, one by one!

Résistance pointed her sword at the horde! “What’s the matter!? Keep ’em coming!” she shouted aggressively.

Résistance’s battle against the horde of generic fantasy baddies had begun!

“Here goes!!!!!” Wataru shouted! His hair was spiked up to the sky and his body was enveloped in a crimson aura! “Pnch!!!!!” Wataru’s punch came screaming in at over 2000 km/h!

“Grr!” Deus just barely dodged Wataru’s fist, but even the shockwave caused by its passing left a cut on the Demon Lord’s cheek! “H-How dare you... You damaged my face!” Deus rushed at Wataru, fully utilizing both fists for a storm of punches!

The force generated by Deus’s fists cracked the ground below them, and sent vibrations through the earth rumbling out to the horizons! No one, absolutely no one could have survived being on the receiving end of such devastatingly powerful blows! Not anyone, ever!! ...Save for one!!!

“Nice try...!”

“Im-Impossible!!!” Deus could not believe his eyes!

Wataru was standing still exactly where he was before, his hachimaki still tied around his head! He stood motionless, despite having taken the full force of Deus’s fists!! His back and arms were kept straight, just like those of an army cadet being berated by a drill sergeant!!! Not only did Wataru remain unmoved through the Demon Lord’s punches, but he hadn’t suffered so much as a scratch!!!! His unimaginably powerful core had allowed him to remain unwavered!!!!!

“While you harden your fists with magic... I did you one better, by achieving the unachievable! I’m hardening my entire body with my hot-blooded energy... You don’t stand a chance now!!!” Wataru explained proudly, his pure confidence making up for any lack of logic in his tactics!

“...Huh?” Deus failed to conceal his confusion! “B-But I see that my attacks didn’t do any damage...” The Demon Lord stopped attempting to punch Wataru and teleported away! He put some distance between himself and Wataru! “By the way, Wataru... ‘Exploding Bloodrush,’ was it...? What in the world is that..?”

“Hmph.” Wataru scoffed. “Who the hell monologues about their tactics mid-battle?”

“Hm. You have a point.”

Have they no concern for their readers!? Let us pause the story for a moment, Dear Readers, and allow me to monologue about Wataru’s tactics! Exploding Bloodrush* was a hidden skill used by the Exploding Blood, a branch of martial arts passed down through the firstborns of the Ito clan since the beginning of time! That’s right. While Wataru had mastered various martial arts from around the globe, Exploding Bloodrush was his heritage and identity!

(*Exploding Bloodrush — The user releases every last bit of hot-blooded energy that lies dormant in their body to power up their corporal instruments to the absolute limit. Because of the exclusive nature of Exploding Blood, details of this move still remain a secret. The FBI, CIA, KGB, and other world powers’ intelligence agencies have tried and failed to uncover the secrets of Exploding Blood. Some researchers have suggested that Exploding Blood is the very reason why Japan has abstained from the development of nuclear weapons. Of course, the Japanese government has denied this theory, at least on official records. [12])

Wataru took a deep breath from within his red aura, and tightened his fists!

“Rrrrraaaggghhhhh!!!” He threw supersonic fists at Deus, one after another!

“Gragh!” Deus expertly maneuvered his magically-enhanced hands to deflect Wataru’s punches, but his defenses were unable to keep up for long!

“Brkthrgh!!!”

“Argh!”

One of Wataru’s punches had slipped through Deus’s guard and hit him square in the ribs! Deus jumped back in agony, but Wataru had no intention of giving Deus any room to breathe! He leapt to close their distance again, and used the momentum to deliver a jump kick!

“Enough!” With infernally sharp reflexes, Deus grabbed Wataru’s leg and twisted his core to toss Wataru into the air!

“Not bad!” Wataru said in the air, and landed on his feet! He was grinning with excitement!

“Grr...!” In contrast, Deus’s expression was twisted in pain!

Wataru’s Exploding Bloodrush had caused Wataru’s power to grow exponentially! Deus, using all his might, had barely managed to dodge the attack! Worse yet, Deus was afflicted with diabetes! His stamina was considerably lowered compared to when he had been healthier!

“No... This is far from over!” Deus shouted, and thrust his magically hardened fists before him, forming a stance akin to the Fighting Mantis of kung fu!

A layman would have been utterly intimidated by the Demon Lord’s stance! But now that Wataru had activated Exploding Bloodrush, Deus’s posturing came off as nothing more than cheap bravado!

“Hraaaaaaaaaaghhhhh....!!!” With a deep inhale, Wataru lowered his center of gravity, placed his left hand at his waist, and thrust his right hand forward! His stance was no other than the Exploding Blood signature stance, the Hot-Blooded Fighter!!

It was now five o’clock in the morning! The faint, pre-dawn light shone upon Wataru and Deus as their gazes locked, both of them maintaining their fighting stances!

Without deviating from his stance, Deus broke the silence! “Wataru Ito... You’re not of this world, are you?”

Wataru was completely shocked! “...How did you...!?”

Aria was supposed to be the only other keeper of his secret!

“Hm hm hm... Because we’re the same, you and I!”

“Wh-What do you mean!?” Wataru implored!

This ultimate battle was nearing its conclusion...!!

Meanwhile, Résistance’s fight against the eighty or so monsters had devolved into chaos!

“Rrrragghhh!” Résistance valiantly continued swinging her sword! With each powerful swing, a handful of monsters were knocked aside! She was nothing short of a beautiful, spectacular knight, tearing the faceless mooks to shreds with the overwhelming force of a musou heroine! Even so, after having fought for hours her stamina was at its very limits! Her blade was beginning to slow as her breathing grew heavy! Suddenly, a swing of a desperate orc’s club struck her in the back!

“Grr!” The shock of the strike knocked Résistance to one knee! Her face was distorted in pain and exhaustion! Seeing this opportunity, the monsters all swarmed Résistance!

(Wataru... I’m sorry...!) As she foresaw her end, she closed her eyes and drooped her head in resignation!

At that very instant...! The morning sun rose above the distant horizon!! The divinely warm light of the morn enveloped the entire wasteland!!!

“GDLSUMHLTMSRAAM attack!!!!!” A booming voice echoed through the area!!

Fllllllaassssshhhhhh!!!!!

A powerful flash redirected the sunlight, assaulting the corneas of the monsters!! The monsters began to panic, blinded by the sudden burst of light!

“Aaagghhh! I can’t see!”

“My eyes! My eyes!!”

“Wh-What the hell was that flash!?”

“Wh-What just happened!?” Résistance turned around, having luckily avoided the light by looking down at the ground!

“Rrrrraagghhhhh!!!!!” A bald man built like a mountain was energetically striking a bodybuilding pose! Double Biceps, to be more exact, with both arms raised to the heavens to accentuate his upper-arm muscles!!!!!

“Wh-Who are you...?” Résistance asked, dumbfounded!

“Nice to meet you! My name is Garland! Garland the fighter! I came to save you, at Aria’s request!” Garland explained with a glimmering smile!

“A-Aria...?” Résistance repeated! Aria peeked her head around Garland’s mountainous body! “Aria!”

“Are you okay, Résistance!?” Aria ran over to the former knight, and began healing her with magic!

“I thought you ran away...”

“I would never! I went to call a friend who could help you in combat!”

“That’s me!” Garland chimed in!

“But how did you get him here in just a few hours...?” Résistance asked. “Can you teleport with magic, too?”

Aria shook her head! “Nope, I hit him up on Bookface Messenger!”

“Oh, right!” Résistance admitted! “I didn’t think about that!”

That’s right! Using the popular social media app Bookface, people of this world could communicate with people far away! Now, many of our Dear Readers might protest this turn of events! “Wait a minute, there’s no way that a fantasy world has social media!” Calm yourselves! That’s just your internal bias against Isekai cultures talking, Dear Readers! Of course any fantasy world can have social media!

Having received Aria’s SOS message, Garland had sprinted through the desolate wasteland in a mere three hours, where it would have taken any normal man at least ten!

“Okay, Résistance! You can finish them off!” Aria encouraged Résistance after healing her wounds!

“Right!” Résistance stood, and took up her sword!

Surviving the very serious, life-or-death situations up to this point had mended their relationship! Now, Aria and Résistance were unmistakably bonded by friendship!

“Garland, was it!? Thanks for the hand!”

“No need to thank me! My family’s trapped in that castle, too... I’m going to defeat these monsters and save them, once and for all!” Garland lowered his stance, and flexed his entire body!!! “Hrmph!!!!!”

Brrrrrripppppp!!!

His thin white shirt tore to absolute shreds!! Garland’s chiseled-like-a-Greek-statue body was fully revealed!!

“You monsters...! I’m going to save my wife. My daughter. The people of my town...! Let’s go, Résistance!!”

“You got it, Garland!!”

Résistance and Garland charged at the still-blinded monsters!

“Rrraaggghhh!”

Résistance’s elegant flicks of the sword! Garland’s dynamic clothesline! Each and every move they made were one-and-done attacks!! The powerful duo began taking down the horde of monsters for good!

Meanwhile, Wataru was utterly confused by Deus’s revelation!

“We’re the same...!? What the hell do you mean!?”

“Just as it sounds! Like you, I came from the other world... From Japan!”

Wataru kept up his guard, but his brain was flooded with questions!

“Hmph! Confused...? I was surprised when my messenger told me that someone named Wataru Ito had defeated Résistance. It’s a Japanese name if I’ve ever heard one...”

“Keep talking...!” Wataru urged with the expression of a Nio!

Deus continued, maintaining his Fighting Mantis stance! “Until a century ago, I was living in Japan. I suffered diabetes from my unbalanced diet and lack of exercise. As a result, I died young...”

“O-Okay...!” Wataru couldn’t decide if the backstory deserved the serious tone Deus was using!

Deus kept talking, as stoic as ever! “After my death, I met a beautiful goddess in the darkness... I made some deals with her, and I was reborn as a Demon Lord with a body strong enough to withstand diabetes...! That being said, I was never actually cured of diabetes, so I needed to watch my diet.”

“Wh-What the hell are you talking about...!?!?” Wataru was losing him! “I was living in Japan until recently, too! But I didn’t meet any goddess! My body’s the same as it was when I left!”

The Demon Lord frowned! “Hm... Perhaps you were merely ‘transported’ instead of being ‘reincarnated’...”

*Note to Editor. #1: Replace all instances of ‘reincarnation’ with ‘transportation.’ - Simotti

*Note to Editor, #2: NVM. I don’t really care. - Simotti

“What say you, Wataru? Will you join me? I think we’d get along, given our common background...” Deus proposed with a grin!

Wataru slowly shook his head! “No!!!”

“No? Why not, Wataru? If we join forces, we could conquer this world.”

“Drop it!! I’ll never join you!!”

“I see. How unfortunate... Hrmph!” Deus leapt out of his Fighting Mantis stance! He jumped high into the air, coming down with a powerful punch!!

Wataru awaited Deus’s attack in his Hot-Blooded Stance!

“Htbld!!!”

DDdddrrrrraagggggggmmmmmm!!!

They collided with incredible force! Wataru leaned into the impact and caught Deus’s punch with his outstretched right hand!

“Rrrrragghhhh!!!” Wataru immediately attacked with his left hand!

The instant he touched Deus, the Demon Lord’s body dissipated into nothing!!

“An illusion!?”

“Hm hm hm... Magic has more uses than you know...!” The real Deus had in fact snuck behind Wataru while his illusion jumped up! The Demon Lord immediately kicked at Wataru’s back!! But Wataru would not go down so easily!!

“Bck!!!” With the reflexes of a man with eyes in the back of his head, Wataru crouched to avoid Deus’s kick! The Demon Lord’s foot only grazed Wataru’s hachimaki!! Immediately, Deus used his teleportation spell to create plenty of distance between Wataru and himself!

“Didn’t think you had enough stamina in you! I’m surprised!!” Wataru said as he slowly rose to his feet!

“I’ll give you a momentary peek behind the curtain before I kill you,” Deus countered. “My stance has a special effect of accelerating my internal generation of magic...!”

That’s right! While maintaining the Fighting Mantis stance, Deus had revealed that he was reincarnated from Japan to confuse Wataru, while buying himself enough time for his magic reserves to regenerate!

“I see...! Hey, Demon Lord! I got a question for you!!!” Wataru asked with a solemn expression!

“...What is it?”

“Demon Lord... What is your goal in the end for all this???”

Deus the Demon Lord gave an ominous grin! “Exterminating the weaker species. That is all. The strong survive while the weak perish. Humans are weak, so I’m going to exterminate them.”

“...You used to be a human, too!!”

“That is precisely why I know how weak humans are, now that I’ve become a Demon!”

“I get it...! It just means you’re going to be taken down by a weak little human!!” Wataru taunted!

“Hm hm hm... You really believe you can best me?”

“You heard me!!”

“You puny human!” Deus was suddenly enraged, stretching his hands up to the heavens! He flexed his fists, and the auras of darkness around them doubled in size! His fists were hardened more than ever! “Take this!” Deus sank into the Fighting Mantis stance once more, then charged Wataru!

Zdrrrrrrsshhhhhh!!!

“...Don’t point your empty fist at me!” Wataru spat out.

Deus’s fist had stopped a mere fraction of an inch before Wataru’s face! Wataru’s counter uppercut had struck Deus clean in the gut!

“Wh-What the...!?” The Demon Lord groaned!

What is art? This is a question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time. Most of us live our entire lives without finding the answer. But we, Dear Readers, are met with the great fortune of witnessing the very answer to that eternal question! Wataru, his right arm twisted into his enemy’s abdomen with the force of every molecule in his body, his hachimaki fluttering in the wind... and his Nio expression. This tableau was the ultimate form of art, ascended from the flawless mastery of martial arts!! If Michelangelo, the famous Italian Renaissance painter, had been there to witness it, he would have undoubtedly painted our ultimate fighting teen as a masterpiece that would inspire any human that beheld it until the end of time!!

“All right, Deus... I’ll take you on a relaxing flight, 800 meters into the air...!!!”

Deus was knocked directly up into the air! He struggled mid-air in an attempt to stop his rising, but his body refused to obey his brain’s commands! “Wh-What’s happening!? I’m burning up!”

“Just now, I poured my hot-blooded energy through my fist and into you!! An ordinary body won’t be able to contain the overwhelming hot-bloodedness!!!” The ground rapidly continued to fall away from Deus, and before long he reached the height of 800 meters!!! “So...”

“Wh-What the...!? Urgah!” Deus began writhing in agony!

“All you’re going to become... is a cloud of ash!!!”

“Im-Impossible...! Impossible...!!!!!” Deus continued to writhe in disbelief! But there was nothing he could do from 800 meters up in the air!! “I can’t die! Not... like this...!!!!!”

Wataru gripped his right fist, and powerfully thrust it towards the heavens!!!

“See ya!!!!!”

“Rrrrraaaggggggghhhhhh!!!”

Kablam!!!

Kabbbbllllllaaammmm!!!!!

Kkkkkkkkaabbbbbbbllllllaaaaaammmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!

Deus to the Demon Lord exploded! His ashes cleanly dissipated into the sky!! There was not a smidgen of Deus the Demon Lord left!!!

Allow me to explain what just happened, Dear Readers! That was the one-hit-kill super-secret ultimate-attack of Exploding Blood, Exploding Uppercut!!

(*Exploding Uppercut — One of the ultimate moves of Exploding Blood, the most powerful martial art passed down only to the firstborn of the Ito clan. When the user connects with an uppercut to his opponent’s abdomen, the Exploding Blood master pours an overwhelming amount of hot-blooded energy through his fist. The enemy’s body, unacclimated to hot-blooded energy, will reject it and finally be reduced to ash from the sheer heat of the hot-blooded energy. Exploding Blood contains a number of secret attacks, but Exploding Uppercut is revered as the most terrifying attack of them all from its dangerous and inhumane effect. That being said, only an extremely limited portion of Exploding Blood has been under the scrutiny of research. It is very possible that there are much more terrifying moves hidden within the secretive teachings of the martial art. [13])

“Deus the Demon Lord... I didn’t expect him to come from the same world I did...! He was a formidable foe...!” Wataru relished the post-battle relief as he gazed up at the divinely beautiful morning sky!

Deus had mentioned some curious keywords, like “goddess” and “reincarnation!” Was he foreshadowing some important plot points to come!? I don’t know yet!!!

Meanwhile, the battle of Résistance and Garland vs. the monsters was nearing its end! Most of the monsters had lost their wills to fight upon witnessing the defeat of their Demon Lord!

“This battle is over! Surrender!” Résistance commanded with a swing of her sword!

“It-It can’t be...!”

“There’s no way...”

“Our Demon Lord was... defeated by a human...!?”

The monsters had lost all hope along with their leader! One by one, they dropped their weapons and began walking out into the wasteland!

“...We’re not going after them?” Garland asked Résistance!

She slowly shook her head! “There’s no need. Most monsters have no order by themselves. Now that they’ve lost their leader, Deus, they won’t try to fight us anymore.”

“I see...”

After all of the monsters had left the scene, a crowd of people came rushing out of the castle! These were the people the Demon Lord had abducted from around the world!

“Mom! Dad!” Aria spotted her parents in the crowd! She ran to them!

“Oh, Aria!”

“Aria! It’s been so long!”

Aria and her parents lovingly embraced! At the same time, Garland was reunited with his wife and daughter!

“Daddy!”

“You’re both alive! Are you hurt?”

“No, we’re all right, honey!”

“Good... Thank goodness...!”

Both Aria and Garland enjoyed reuniting with their families!

Wataru had taken off his hachimaki and dropped his Exploding Bloodrush aura, and was now sobbing profusely at the sight of Aria and Garland’s heartwarming reunions with their loved ones! Anyone would have struggled to hold back tears upon witnessing such a moving event, and Wataru was a kind-hearted teen with a samurai spirit! It was only natural that manly tears were now rolling down his cheeks!

He noticed Résistance standing nearby off to the side, and called out to her. “Résistance...”

“You really are an amazing man, Wataru. You really defeated the Demon Lord... I’m amazed, to be honest.”

Wataru wiped his tears! “I’m always headed for the top, that’s all!”

Résistance cracked a smile. “That’s Wataru, all right...”

“You said it! So, Résistance, what are you going to do now???”

“Let’s see... Maybe I’ll travel the world. You made me want to strive for the top, too.” Résistance turned her smile to Wataru! It was cute!!

“Okay!! If you want to challenge me, I’ll accept it anytime!!!” Wataru returned a smile, pointing a thumb at himself!

“I know you will. Will you hold onto this until we meet again?” Résistance produced a silver necklace from her pocket! It was the silver, snake-wrapped cross necklace that she had bought during their shopping trip a few days prior!

“Are you sure!?” Wataru asked.

“Yes. I want you to hold onto it.”

“Okay, I will!” Wataru took the necklace!

“Farewell, Wataru!”

“See you!!!!!”

What an absolutely, whole-heartedly, perfectly wrapped-up happy ending!!! Wataru defeated the Demon Lord, Aria and Garland were reunited with their families, and Résistance embarked on a solo journey to become a stronger warrior than before!!!

The day after the deadly battle between Wataru and Deus, Wataru, Aria, and her parents had returned to the Sky Kingdom!

“We’re here, Wataru! It’s our home!”

“So we are!!!”

Of course, Wataru was included in Aria’s “our”! Since Wataru had come here from another world, the Sky Kingdom had unmistakably become another home to him!!

“You should continue living in our hospital, Wataru.” Aria’s father spoke up. “You saved us all. Please make yourself at home there.” He was a well-built man with kindly eyes!

“All right, thank you!”

“Please, Wataru. You and Aria defeated the Demon Lord. We can’t thank you enough,” Aria’s mother added. She was a slightly curvy and calm-mannered woman!

By the way, Aria couldn’t be bothered to explain Wataru’s true origin to her parents!! For all they knew, he was just a fighter traveling around this world!!

“Aria’s dad... Aria’s mom... You’re too kind!!! Thank you!!!!!” Wataru threw himself on his knees in gratitude! The impact of his groveling smashed a part of the paved road to pieces, but let’s not worry about that!

That’s when a young man approached them! He was clad in the red uniform of a royal guard, and carried a lance in his hand!

“...You’re the Wataru, aren’t you?”

“Wtf!!” Wataru said in surprise. “What do you want!?!?” he jumped up, immediately on guard!

“Woah, take it easy. I’m a royal guard of the Sky Kingdom. Our king wishes to have an audience with you. Will you accompany me?”

“What!?”

So, Wataru and Aria were brought to the royal palace by the guard!

“This is incredible, Wataru! I never dreamed of stepping foot in the royal palace!”

“Right, this is surprising! ...Why were we brought here, anyway!?”

They walked down a long hallway after the guard!!

A few minutes later, they arrived at the throne room! They walked in through a giant door to find an old man seated on the throne!

“You’ve come...” He uttered.

He had a full, solemn beard and glaring eyes! His clothes were not too flashy, but definitely exquisite! He was none other than the ruler of the Sky Kingdom!!!

“You’re... Wataru, right? The one who defeated the Demon Lord.”

“Yes, sir!!!” Wataru energetically responded!

“I see. I can tell from your eyes that you are the upstanding man I expected you to be. That Demon Lord had caused us quite a lot of trouble. It is amazing that you defeated him all on your own... I thank you, on behalf of myself and my kingdom.”

“No need for thanks, sir! I just wanted to face powerful foes! Sir!” Wataru declared!

“Hm, I see... In that case, there is a favor I wanted to ask you.” The king’s eyes gleamed with a particular light!!

“What is it, sir???”

“A few days ago, I received word that a dragon had appeared in a village not too far from here. If we leave it alone, it might attack our kingdom, too. I want to ask you, a man powerful enough to defeat the Demon Lord, to hunt down this dragon.”

A dragon!!! Dragons are usually reserved as the most powerful beings of a fantasy world!!! Naturally, this would be an extremely dangerous adversary!!!

Flustered, Aria turned to Wataru! “Wh-What will you do, Wataru!? A dragon is much more powerful than any run-of-the-mill monster! You have to think this through!” She sounded more concerned than ever!

“Hm. She’s right.” The king solemnly chimed in. “Rumor has it that the Demon Lord had once approached the dragon in an attempt to coerce the beast to join his ranks. Evidently, the dragon was too powerful even for the Demon Lord to tame, and he was forced to retreat. Think on this carefully before you give me an answer.”

What a shocking revelation! Even the Demon Lord Deus was unable to best a dragon! What will Wataru do!? ...Of course, he had already made up his mind!!!

“No problem! I’ll do it!” Wataru accepted with the expression of a Nio!

Why? Easy! It was Wataru’s destiny as a hot-blooded fighting teen to seek out those stronger than him, no matter the situation!!

“Hm. I was hoping you would say as much. Thank you.” The king’s stoic expression shifted to one of relief! Age-appropriate tiredness appeared on his face!

“Let’s go, Aria! Let’s go find the dragon, right now!” Wataru turned right around, ready to sprint out of the throne room!

Résistance’s silver necklace shimmered around his neck!

“W-Wait for me, Wataru!” Aria hurried after him!

“Try to keep up! The dragon’s not going to wait around for us!!!”

Wataru wondered what the dragon looked like, and what attacks it would use against him!! His heart was already pounding with excitement!!!

And so, Wataru Ito carried on through this dangerous world full of magic and monsters with nothing but his own fists!!!

This has been WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!!

THE!!!!! END!!!!!

FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!!!

*Sources:

[12] The Secrets of Exploding Blood ~ How Japan Survives Without Nukes — Isekai Tensei Publishing

[13] The Very Short List of Known Exploding Blood Attacks — Isekai Tensei Publishing