Chapter 51: Werewolf and Flame
This is an era of chaos. For example, terrorists might go around saving people and spreading positive energy, while some chuunibyou individual could be over 300 years old—older than your entire family combined.
But as the saying goes, "Earth Online—if you like playing, play; if not, just find a way to delete your account."
And as one of the top players in this game, Hikigaya could only say—it's really annoying that he's not the only top player.
At that moment, the elderly man in front of him—who at first glance could be mistaken for a scholarly intellectual—was gone, replaced by a giant werewolf tens of meters tall, with dazzlingly brilliant silver fur.
Unlike what's shown in anime, Hikigaya felt an overwhelming visual impact.
Even though the massive wolf body was covered in dense and radiant silver fur, the solid muscles beneath it were clearly visible. There wasn't a trace of excess fat—just looking at it was enough to sense the terrifying physical strength it contained.
The fangs and claws unique to the wolf form gleamed with a luster that should only belong to metal, exuding a chilling aura. From them, Hikigaya felt a sharpness akin to Doni's sword.
This wasn't a body of flesh—it was clearly a war machine.
With such a terrifying physical form and a variety of magical abilities, it was no wonder Voban never bothered to study martial combat techniques. Instead, he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to mastering his authorities.
He had walked this path for three hundred years. By now, his mastery over his authorities had likely reached an almost divine level.
However, Hikigaya did not believe his own path was inferior to Voban's. Time was merely a factor, and the nature of God Slayers meant their potential couldn't be measured by common standards.
ROAR—ROAR—ROAR!!!
The werewolf Voban raised his head and let out a howl. Not only was it loud, it was accompanied by wind—like a shockwave sweeping in all directions.
The violent wind swept away everything in its path like dry leaves—uprooting dirt, trees, rocks, and all else in the way. These were then caught up and became part of the wind itself, continuing the wave of destruction.
In the middle of all this, only Hikigaya remained motionless—not even the corner of his clothes stirred.
As the storm reached him, it either vanished or was sliced apart by something, passing by his sides harmlessly.
This was only natural.
To be honest, there weren't many deities who could rival Set in mastery of wind. Although Hikigaya hadn't yet grasped Set's full storm powers, that didn't mean he didn't know how to deal with wind—especially when such attacks felt like mere tickles to a God Slayer.
Soon, the wind subsided. Voban stopped howling. He looked down at Hikigaya, and the enormous wolf face formed an expression humans would easily interpret as a smile.
Now, all the annoying obstacles around them were gone.
"It's been a long time since I had the chance to really go all out in a fight. I should thank you first."
His voice, now in werewolf form, had grown deeper and carried an immense sense of power.
"I once thought I had pushed this form to its limits. But you've shown me another way to use authorities, so I've made some recent progress. Let's begin our exchange—perhaps it'll be of value to you as well."
"Oh?" Hikigaya's eyes lit up.
More than fighting this old man, this comment intrigued him even more.
"Senior, you can do that too?" he couldn't help but ask.
If that were true, it would be fascinating.
Once obtained, authorities were generally fixed. From the anime, Voban's authorities seemed mostly like skill-based abilities. But if he could, like Hikigaya, use the essence of the deity to expand the use of his authorities, then Hikigaya would have to revise his understanding of how they worked.
"You'll understand after a good fight," Voban chuckled.
But before that chuckle faded, a fist had already magnified in his wolf-like pupils.
Hikigaya had made his move—seemingly without warning, and at lightning speed. From leaping forward to landing a straight punch aimed directly at Voban's wolf head, it all happened in a flash.
Yet he hit nothing.
The massive wolf body moved with surprising agility. Before the punch landed, Voban had already taken a small step back. But with such a huge body, even a small step covered much greater distance than a human's.
However, what enabled Voban to do this wasn't just his size. The truth was, he and Hikigaya had moved at the same moment. This wolf form granted him animalistic instincts and reflexes. That was how, even without training in combat techniques, Voban could use his werewolf body to engage in intense fights with the world's top martial artists.
Clearly, Hikigaya did not know about this ability of Voban's werewolf form. If he had, he wouldn't have assumed that having martial arts training gave him an absolute advantage in close combat.
Because this ability had appeared in another person in the anime.
That person was Kusanagi Godou. His camel avatar had the same ability. Thanks to it, even without knowing any fighting techniques, Kusanagi could fight fiercely against steel-clad heroic gods like Perseus.
But this wasn't Hikigaya's fault. The mysteries of authorities could only be fully understood by their wielders. Others—including other God Slayers—could only see the surface.
If this was considered a mistake, then Voban was about to make the same one.
Because he hadn't expected that Hikigaya's attack didn't end with that punch.
Set's power—burns everything.
Having missed his blow, Hikigaya didn't hesitate—he spread his fingers and unleashed the power of combustion.
Anything visible or invisible—so long as it existed in nature—would be consumed under this power, violently manifesting in various forms.
The most common was fire.
Scorching flames exploded directly from Voban's body. Because of their high concentration, it became a true explosion. And the resulting blast wave, under the influence of the burning power, formed new flames.
This level of destruction far surpassed Voban's earlier howls.
The massive wolf form couldn't withstand this impact. Carried by the surge of fire, he was blown far away.
But Hikigaya didn't stop. The flames were still erupting from his body—or at least, it looked that way.
Combustion was even more direct than a storm—it destroyed matter more completely.
But even such an attack couldn't defeat Voban. For in a short time, the werewolf figure rose again from the sea of fire Hikigaya had created. Clearly, such an attack could no longer shake Voban.
This wolf body, it seemed, wasn't just powerful—it was nearly indestructible.