Chapter 55: Did you bring clothes?
Amid the continuing raging wind, the two God Slayers born three centuries apart continued their battle in this contest of wind.
Voban's massive wolf form, combined with an agility that seemed utterly incongruent with his size, moved freely within the storm.
Winds strong enough to slice through steel flowed past both sides of his body. Throughout this, he did not pause for even a moment—something only possible with a combination of outstanding magical power and vast experience.
In contrast, Hikigaya was far rougher in his approach.
He formed a barrier of wind around himself and then charged straight into the storm conjured by Voban.
Lightning still fell intermittently from the sky, but every time it was about to strike him, Hikigaya would suddenly vanish from where he stood and reappear closer to Voban.
He was gradually getting used to his new powers and was beginning to use his previously mastered Authority powers even in this state.
"Quite a clever use—reminds me of someone else," Voban laughed heartily in the wind. He ran across the ground, his heavy footsteps resounding.
Then he unleashed lightning once more.
This time, it was a rapid series of high-frequency strikes.
Hikigaya couldn't dodge them properly, but he activated the power of light within his body to forcibly resist the lightning—at the cost of nearly half of the light within him being depleted.
Finally, he closed the distance to Voban.
Using the momentum of his movement, he struck with a palm technique from the Bone Style martial art.
But Voban dodged it with his absurdly wild intuition.
Only an opponent like Hikigaya could truly grasp how troublesome such an ability was.
No matter how swift or from what tricky angle the attack came—if it had the potential to cause significant damage to his body, Voban would avoid it.
Though his movements weren't graceful, they were extremely effective—he evaded all of Hikigaya's killing techniques.
Even Hikigaya's specialty, Pencak Silat, proved ineffective.
The only consolation was that Voban's sharp claws had likewise failed to find a chance to strike Hikigaya.
"Martial arts really are an annoying thing," Voban suddenly said after dodging yet another attack perfectly. "But I've fought people with even stronger martial arts, so I've gained some experience."
Before he finished speaking, a giant wolf leapt out of his shadow.
Then, not just from the shadow—he also fired out fur, which, like steel needles, whistled through the air and turned into giant wolves.
Only Voban himself likely knew how many wolves this Authority could summon.
In an instant, hundreds had already appeared around Hikigaya.
These giant wolves, each as large as a colt, lunged at him. The first summoned was already upon him, jaws wide open.
Hikigaya punched—his fist entering the wolf's mouth and exiting the back of its skull.
The wolf, pierced through the head, did not bleed but instead dissipated into mist.
Without pausing, Hikigaya dove into the pack, killing several more wolves in rapid succession, then waved his hand.
A tornado rose from the ground, sweeping up the wolves one by one and shredding them.
Afterward, he pushed off the ground with both hands like a cannonball and launched himself at Voban with a hammering strike.
This time, Voban did not dodge—not because his wild intuition had failed, but because Hikigaya had subtly used wind to disrupt his movement.
He finally landed a solid hit.
Though it was blocked.
Voban's wolf body was as tough as refined steel. Even with Hikigaya's full-force hammer strike, it only caused Voban's body to sink, his feet driven into the ground.
But Hikigaya immediately channeled magical power into his palms, circled behind Voban, and grabbed the joints of Voban's arms.
"Is this the move you used against that brat?" Voban roared.
As he roared, his body expanded again—this time nearly ten times larger than before, and his silver fur turned gray.
Faced with this change, Hikigaya couldn't hold his joints anymore—he was sent flying.
"Damn it! How big are you going to get!?"
Even Hikigaya, who had seen the most bizarre things in the world, was now dumbfounded.
Now, his hands couldn't even grasp Voban's overly broad arms. Grabbing on only caught a handful of fur!
Are you trying to become a giant doll or what!?
Can we even fight properly like this!?
"Hmph, running out of moves already? That's not very impressive," the now-enormous old wolf gave a savage laugh. "In that case, I'll turn this place into a death zone."
A mist-like substance rose from his body.
Everything touched by it reeked of death.
This was the power of death.
Facing this ominous force, Hikigaya quickly retreated—but it seemed too late.
The fog-like substance had already spread across a vast area, engulfing Hikigaya's form, and he immediately felt a strange force invading his body.
His throat felt dry, he wanted to cough, his limbs grew weak, his mind grew hazy, and his skin burned with fever.
He instantly realized what it was.
A plague!
Apollo was the god of plague and healing—this was a facet representing both death and life. His worship in ancient Rome was established following a devastating three-year plague. That plague led the Romans to abandon their ineffective native gods in favor of Apollo, whom they honored as a healer in his first Roman temple.
This ability was also related to his later identity as a sun god.
When the Romans introduced Apollo as a god of healing, they associated his healing power with the sun, believing that the sun's warmth was the root of all healing.
That's why Hikigaya immediately recognized this ability—because Voban had already demonstrated the solar aspect of this Authority in the anime. Thus, displaying the plague and healing side now was only natural.
He didn't know that Voban had developed this ability after being inspired by watching his battle with Doni.
Still, this was Voban's limit, after all—his Authority style was completely different from Hikigaya's.
But right now, it was Hikigaya who was truly struggling.
"What's wrong, kid? Can't take it anymore?" Voban stomped toward the now struggling Hikigaya. Honestly, he felt a little disappointed. He had expected Hikigaya to hold out longer.
He had wanted to see more of this boy's Authority powers.
Without a doubt, Hikigaya had chosen a difficult but powerful path. While Voban didn't think his own path was inferior, that didn't stop him from anticipating Hikigaya's performance.
At this point, Hikigaya was growing more dazed, and his limbs heavier.
He felt just like he had when he got drunk before crossing worlds—miserable.
The light of life he absorbed from the surroundings was nearly depleted. The remaining light and magical power weren't enough to resist Voban's plague.
"I still can't control this ability well. At this rate, I might destroy this land,"
Voban stood before Hikigaya and shook his massive wolf head—seemingly dissatisfied not only with Hikigaya but with himself as well.
Then, his form began to shrink, quickly returning to human shape.
But he didn't attack again—instead, a rich aura of life exuded from him.
Under its influence, Hikigaya was the first to feel a change: the plague within him vanished instantly, and all his discomfort was swept away.
"Is the fight over?" Hikigaya looked at the old man in surprise. For a battle maniac like him, actually keeping his word was unexpected.
Honestly, if the fight had gone on, he probably would've lost. Voban's skill with Authorities was just too high—totally different from that sword-wielding idiot.
Doni's edge over him was just in martial arts. In terms of Authority usage, they were on the same level.
"Yeah, if we kept going, you probably wouldn't have been able to hold back anymore, right?" Voban said. "Since I gave my word, of course I'll keep it."
But immediately after, the old man revealed a strange smile.
"Your path is not an easy one. When I was your age, I hadn't mastered this many abilities. You'll need to fight a lot more in the future. We'll have chances to play again."
After speaking, he seemed to remember something. He looked down at himself, then asked, "By the way, did you bring any clothes? Give me one."
Goddammit! You think I brought extra clothes!?