Chapter 4: Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg!
"Heh heh, truly a pair of talents and beauties, a match made in heaven!"
A voice interrupted Rizel and Ryougi Shiki's conversation. They both turned to look.
Standing there was a middle-aged man with white hair and a beard.
The newcomer was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, also known as Hōseki Okina.
Ryougi Shiki smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Second Magic Master. Mr. Hōseki Okina."
Hōseki Okina was surprised as he looked at Ryougi Shiki. He possessed the Second Magic, which allowed him to explore and travel between parallel worlds. Therefore, he knew who Ryougi Shiki was.
However, he was surprised by this other persona of Ryougi Shiki. How did Origin Shiki suddenly appear? Logically, this persona, who had always been disinterested in the outside world, shouldn't be showing up now.
His gaze then shifted to Rizel, and he was impressed. The handsome young man had a charm that didn't fall short of Origin Shiki's allure.
No wonder Origin Shiki was drawn to him.
Hōseki Okina briefly wondered that if he were a woman, he too would likely be attracted to Rizel. This thought flashed in his mind, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin.
Damn, what's wrong with me—an old man thinking like this? He quickly shook off the thought. What an intimidating allure! It was more terrifying than any seductive power he had encountered before.
Rizel looked at Hōseki Okina and was somewhat confused. This old man with the gemstone-like head seemed a little dizzy.
If Rizel knew what Hōseki Okina was thinking, he would have been equally puzzled.
"Anyway, being admired by a man is quite unsettling to think about," Rizel thought, not wanting to engage in a sword fight.
"Ahem, young man, are you from this world?" Hōseki Okina cleared his throat and said. "Hmm, youth. Who are you? I've looked through all the parallel worlds and haven't found your image."
"In this situation, it can only mean you're from another world, a different world. Am I wrong?" A glimmer of sharpness flashed in Hōseki Okina's eyes.
Rizel wasn't surprised at being identified. After all, someone with the Second Magic like Hōseki Okina could indeed sense such things.
But Rizel didn't respond, casually saying, "So you came here to say all this? The world is vast, and there are other parallel worlds."
Rizel silently thought to himself that what likely drew Hōseki Okina's attention was the disturbance caused when he unlocked the Third Eternal Mechanism.
Hōseki Okina was slightly surprised. Another parallel world?
He quickly realized that Rizel probably didn't want to reveal his true identity. It seemed that force would be necessary to make him confess.
He then drew the Jewel Sword, "Since you don't want to speak, let's see how well you handle this."
Seeing Hōseki Okina draw the Jewel Sword, preparing for battle, Rizel recalled that he hadn't fully adapted to his newfound strength. But wasn't fighting the best way to adapt?
Since someone had come to his door, it seemed that his first opponent in this world would be this stone old man.
"Well, stone old man, since you want to fight, I'll accompany you. But just so you know, the loser will have to pay a price." Rizel looked at Hōseki Okina and said in a deep voice.
"Don't worry, your life won't be at risk," Rizel added.
Although Origin Shiki saw Rizel's overwhelming power, she still felt a bit worried. "Rizel-kun, are you sure this is okay?"
Seeing Origin Shiki's concern, Rizel felt very satisfied. He had nearly completed his conquest of Origin Shiki, not long after arriving.
Rizel smiled and reassured her, "It's fine, I'll just use this to practice a little."
Seeing Rizel's confidence, Origin Shiki didn't say anything more, simply smiling and saying, "Then be careful."
At that moment, Rizel thought to himself, if he couldn't even defeat the stone old man, he might as well give up on this whole dimension-hopping thing.
Looking at Hōseki Okina, he thought, Stone old man, just be my stepping stone for sharpening my skills.
Hōseki Okina drew the Jewel Sword, and Rizel admired the weapon, saying, "Quite the collection, so many precious-colored jewels. Truly luxurious."
He marveled at the Jewel Magic, which certainly cost a fortune.
Then he took his combat stance. His legs bent slightly, and he pushed off with his feet, ready to strike.
Bam——
In the next moment, Rizel vanished, leaving only a white streak behind.
Hōseki Okina was shocked!!
So fast!!
He immediately used the Second Magic to move through space, retreating to another position.
He had dodged.
Boom——
Rizel's strike hit nothing, but since he hadn't yet fully mastered his speed, the blow landed on the wall where Hōseki Okina had been standing just moments before.
The result was that the wall instantly exploded, and the entire building trembled, collapsing in on itself.
Hōseki Okina looked at the crumbling high-rise. He was shocked—if that strike had hit a person, he wasn't sure if they would have been obliterated.
At that moment, he looked at Rizel, feeling as though he were seeing a monster. A force like that—how could a person control it? Dead Apostles? No! Even Dead Apostles didn't have such terrifying physical strength.
Of course, he didn't know that Rizel had actually held back—he was still trying to control this overwhelming power through combat.
Origin Shiki, her eyes shining with different-colored pupils, continued to observe Rizel. She could tell that Rizel had pulled back his strength.
"The speed isn't fast enough." Rizel said as he retracted his hand and calmly looked at Hōseki Okina. "The power still isn't quite enough," he added, almost as an afterthought.
In Rizel's mind, the Doomsday power was enough to destroy an entire planet.
Destroying a building? That was nothing.
"Wait, wait, wait, that's still not fast enough? The power isn't terrifying enough?" Hōseki Okina thought to himself. Is that speed something a human can achieve?
If I hadn't prepared my magic techniques in advance...
If that punch had landed on me, even my Dead Apostle body wouldn't have been able to handle it!
Hōseki Okina muttered internally in disbelief.
"Here I come! This time, I'll match the speed of sound," Rizel said as he prepared for his next strike.
Bam——
Once again, in the blink of an eye, Rizel vanished!
!!!
Hōseki Okina was astonished!
Rizel's fist passed right by Hōseki Okina's face.
Hōseki Okina barely managed to avoid it, but it was a close call. He could still feel the intense pressure from the passing punch.
After narrowly dodging, Hōseki Okina immediately used spatial movement to appear behind Rizel, drawing the Jewel Sword and pouring magic power into it, preparing to strike Rizel's back.
Swish——
Rizel was slashed across the back, but at that moment, a sound echoed in his head:
[ Ding! Received the attack from the Jewel Sword, evolved eternal immunity to Jewel Sword attacks. ]
Rizel felt his defensive power significantly increase.
Origin Shiki, watching Rizel's back being slashed by Hōseki Okina's sword, felt a surge of anxiety. She was about to decide whether to intervene when she suddenly saw the wound on Rizel's back close up in an instant. Even the scar was gone.
She immediately felt relieved, but also curious—his recovery power was stronger than that of the True Ancestor.
She thought to herself, No wonder I chose well.
Hōseki Okina's eyes went wide! What the hell? Is this even a human? The wound closed instantly—Dead Apostles or True Ancestors couldn't recover like this.
"Wait, wait, wait, are you sure you're still human?" Hōseki Okina muttered in disbelief.
Rizel, hearing this, raised an eyebrow and responded.
"Old man, how nice it is to suddenly curse at someone. You're the one who's not human," Rizel said with a grin.
"Hmph, just wait, old man. You'll be begging for mercy soon enough."
Then, remembering something, Rizel continued, "Old man, I remember you have that unlimited ether cannon technique. Use it."
"Are you sure?" Hōseki Okina asked lightly, probing.
"Do whatever you want, but you'll lose soon enough."
Rizel was testing to see if his defenses could increase further by taking a hit from the infinite ether cannon. Although Hōseki Okina's strength had declined after fighting Akai Tsuki, he was still formidable. Rizel wanted to see if his defenses could withstand it and whether he could evolve further from it.
Bam——
Once again, in the blink of an eye, Rizel disappeared, and Hōseki Okina's mind went into high alert.
So fast! Even faster than last time!
Spatial movement! Magic missiles, firing!
Whoosh— The magic missiles struck Rizel's body.
A loud thud, and then… nothing. Even Rizel's defense wasn't breached.
Damn... monster.
Hōseki Okina groaned in his mind, feeling a chilling sense that he had just provoked something truly terrifying!