kingnovel Chapter 500 - 500: To Their Hearts’ Content
Chapter 500 - 500: To Their Hearts’ Content
In the Demon World metropolis of Gandara, Yomi, master of one of the three great powers, stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, and the expression reflected in the glass was anything but pleasant.Though blind, Yomi sensed the distant upheaval even more directly.
When Raizen's demonic aura speared into the sky, he knew all his previous plans had turned to smoke.
The Demon World's current stability owed to a tripod balance among three great demons, but everyone knew that equilibrium would soon collapse.
Because Raizen was about to starve to death, and without Raizen, his country could never stop the expansion of the other two.
Now it was different. The surge of aura Raizen released was so intense that even from thousands of miles away, Yomi felt it distinctly.
He wasn't naive enough to mistake it for a last flare of life. Whether Raizen had broken his fast or something else had happened, Raizen had regained his strength.
The youngest of the three, Yomi had risen after Raizen began his fast and withdrew from the stage.
He had long believed himself to have reached Raizen's height, but now he realized how foolish that was.
He even doubted whether he had the courage to stand before that legendary Battle God.
Then he sensed the magic of Charles, who was fighting Raizen, and had to admit how deep the waters of the Demon World ran, with someone so terrifying hidden within it.
Likewise, Mukuro, leader of another great power, sensed everything.
Staring at the sky warped into a vast vortex by demonic aura and flames, the eye she kept exposed filled with a complex emotion.
Mukuro lacked Yomi's ambition; Raizen's recovery was good news to someone who wished to preserve the current stability.
But as for Charles, who had suddenly appeared to match Raizen, she couldn't help but be wary.
Unlike the overthinking Mukuro and Yomi, other great demons felt something far simpler by comparison.
A petite, green-haired woman dropped the sake gourd from her hand and shouted, excited, "Hey, Enki, did you see that?"
A burly, dark-red-skinned man tilted his head back. "Yeah, it's Raizen. His power is back!"
After a deep swig from her gourd, the green-haired woman complained, "That big oaf Raizen went off and decided to hole up on his own, and now that he's finally back on his feet, he's fighting someone. Has he forgotten his old friends?"
Enki smiled. "Still, Raizen's back. You're happy too, aren't you, Kokou?"
The great demon called Kokou said, "Enough chatter. I can't hold back—I'm going to find Raizen and fight him, and this time I'm going to win. You coming, Enki?"
Enki nodded. "Of course. I bet the other old friends will show up too. It's been a long time—let's have a proper reunion."
Just as Enki said, great demons hidden across the Demon World all sensed Raizen's revival and his battle with Charles.
Still locked in combat, Charles and Raizen, focused wholly on the fight before them, didn't realize they had become the center of the Demon World's attention.
Even if they had, they wouldn't have cared. For them, nothing mattered more than enjoying the fight at hand.
Riding the force of Raizen's fist, Charles flung himself backward; the flames in both his hands fused and lanced straight at Raizen.
Compared to the shot he'd fired upon arriving in the Demon World, this Fire Dragon's Radiant Flame was smaller, but it carried the greatest firepower Charles could muster in his normal state.
Air warped in the fireball's wake.
Though the fireball blocked his sight, Charles could still feel the surge of mighty demonic power ahead.
A moment later, a beam of demonic energy so red it was nearly black lanced through the fireball at Charles. The fireball detonated, spreading into a sea of flames.
Charles twisted aside to evade the beam and, the instant he burst into the firestorm, saw a fresh volley of beams raining down.
His silhouette traced a curve as he slipped past the first shots, but the rest still chased him, pounding the ground.
Planting one foot, he stopped and swung his arm.
The sea of fire went out in an instant, and the beams shattered into motes of light.
By then Raizen had already closed, fingers pressed together, razor nails thrusting like spearheads for Charles.
Charles sprang straight up; the ground beneath his feet shattered, and an instant later Raizen's brute force raked it into a spiderweb of fissures.
In midair, Charles flipped and brought down an axe kick.
Raizen crossed his arms to brace against Charles's shin, though his knees still buckled under the pressure.
Feeling the tremendous force through his forearms, Raizen grinned wildly. He grabbed Charles's ankle to smash him into the ground.
But Charles planted a palm on the earth first and, with powerful core strength, slung Raizen up into the air instead.
Dropping his hips into a solid stance, Charles tilted his head back and opened his mouth toward Raizen.
Fire Dragon's Roar!
Seeing the charging pillar of fire, Raizen actually reached out with both hands to catch it.
But he had underestimated Charles's flames.
He could tear apart even the black flames of the Demon World with his bare hands, but Charles's fire far outstripped those.
Cracks opened in Raizen's palms, and the skin began to carbonize.
Gritting through the searing pain, Raizen loosed a deafening roar—and actually ripped the fire column in two with brute force.
Even Charles was stunned. He hadn't expected anyone to counter his roar like that.
The price was severe burns to Raizen's hands, scorched bone showing black at the wounds.
Raizen glanced at his ruined palms. Demonic aura erupted from him, and under its wash the wounds began to knit at speed.
"That's one dangerous power. One slip and I'd have lost."
"You're no different," Charles replied. "There aren't many who can meet my flames head-on with their bodies."
"Looks like I can enjoy this a little longer," Raizen said with a smile.
Charles clenched a fist at him; the meaning was obvious.
Raizen threw back his head and laughed, then dipped and slammed a fist into the ground, collapsing the earth.
Charles only rocked slightly—and Raizen seized the chance, flickering up close and booting him into the chasm torn in the earth.
The assault didn't stop. Raizen formed a pistol with his hand, and a massive sphere of demonic power gathered at the tip of his finger.
The Spirit Gun isn't a particularly technical move, so of course Raizen could use it. Only his black Spirit Gun packed power far beyond Yusuke Urameshi's.
When he possessed Yusuke, a single Spirit Gun shattered Shinobu Sensui's ki-steel battle suit. Now, with his own demonic power behind it, the move was even more terrifying.
With enough power amassed, Raizen fired the black Spirit Gun at the spot where Charles fell.
Several seconds later, the explosion's force finally began to spread.
A world-upending scene unfolded before Raizen—rock and soil beneath the surface were crushed to grit by the rampaging demonic power before they could even be blasted free.
When it ended, a crater more than ten kilometers wide gaped in the earth, and water began to seep up from the bottom.
Raizen's shot had pierced an underground aquifer; within a day, a new lake would form here.
He didn't believe Charles would be taken down so easily.
Sure enough, the upwelling water flashed into steam beneath a pillar of fire—and Raizen saw Charles, scales tracing across his face.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
Prepared to strike, Charles swept his arms, and the flames circled him obediently.
Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!
Searing fire coiled into a spiral and surged for Raizen.
Raizen's pupils tightened. This was nothing like the earlier roar; he could see the difference at a glance.
If it had been this move before, he would never have dared to catch it bare-handed.
But now, facing Charles's Dragon Slayer Secret Art, he had no room to dodge.
"Then let's try it!"
Bringing his hands together, Raizen gathered a dreadful mass of demonic power in his palms.
This time the black wasn't the nature of the energy; it was so dense it swallowed the light.
In a blink, the black sphere of demonic power Raizen thrust forward met the flaming dragon spiral in midair.
Hokushin and the others, just arriving, were swept away by the shockwave.
Planting his feet deep in the ground, Hokushin shielded his face from sand and gale, straining to see who had won.
Only after all fell still did he see Charles and Raizen sitting on the ground, looking at each other and laughing.
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