Chapter 35: The King Who Walks with the Sun
To be honest, of the ten avatars of the undefeated war god Verethragna, the only ones Hachiman Hikigaya could identify as related to him based on their powers were three — the boar, the strong wind, and the camel.
As for the remaining avatars, including the warrior, Hikigaya couldn't recognize any of them from mythology — especially that white horse.
Dragging the sun over with Mithra's chariot just to show off — what the hell is that about? Is the chauffeur forcing his boss to go on a business trip?
Hikigaya stood among the scattered rocks, with the wind stirred up by the boar howling through, messing up his short, flat-top hair.
Those large crimson eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
Clearly, even though it was merely an avatar of a god, it sensed it — Hachiman Hikigaya was its destined enemy: the King of the Earth who slays the gods of heaven!
The two girls who were still chanting also seemed to realize something. They stopped their incantation and turned to look at Hikigaya behind them with varied expressions.
Liliana's face showed discouragement and shame, while Erica's was filled with suspicion and surprise.
"Who… are you?" Amidst the boar's roar, she couldn't help but ask.
"It doesn't really matter, does it? Ah… You really won't move aside? It's coming."
Hikigaya gave her a friendly reminder, as the enormous snout of the boar was already right in front of Erica Blandelli — while Liliana had already flown up using her flying spell.
Seeing that Erica was still standing there, Liliana was momentarily stunned. She clearly hadn't expected this woman to zone out at such a critical moment.
This girl really likes to court danger…
Hikigaya clicked his tongue and ignored the ominous curse of words gathering around Erica, pulling her behind him.
As he did that, he struck.
Agaard Jum Sai — the dark-skinned man known as one of the "Nine Fists" of Yomi Hand-to-Hand Group, with the ridiculously chūni nickname of "Demon Emperor" — was a master of ancient Muay Thai.
Though he had a rough appearance and the aura of a beast, he was surprisingly polite and fond of wine. His martial arts style involved silently approaching like a snake and striking fiercely like a tiger — it suited Hikigaya's taste very well. After Hikigaya became a god-slayer, Agard was one of the first Yomi martial arts masters to share his techniques with him.
Hikigaya's kick followed the form of ancient Muay Thai.
He leapt lightly and delivered an upward kick, landing it squarely on the boar's snout.
BOOM—!!!
With a deafening sound, the boar's charge was completely thrown off by that kick and crashed headfirst into the ruins of a fortress behind.
Hikigaya had never forgotten that he was a martial artist.
Authority was certainly a powerful force, but it consumed magical energy proportional to its destructive capacity, and depending on the nature of the god and one's control over it, its effectiveness could vary.
In contrast, martial arts had no such limitations. No matter what kind of god it was, taking a direct, unrelenting physical assault from a god-slayer meant taking real damage. It was a straightforward and uncompromising method of defeating one's enemy, ignoring all spells and techniques.
For a novice like Hikigaya, who was only just beginning to explore the use of Authorities, martial arts were still an indispensable combat method — especially in a situation like this.
"Stop interfering, go be a quiet, beautiful girl on the sidelines." Hikigaya said to Erica, whose eyes were wide open. He grabbed her by the waist and… threw her.
The girl reacted quickly, flipping mid-air and landing gracefully — only to find herself beside a calmly composed Liliana.
She looked back toward the battlefield and saw only Hikigaya's back — he was already charging at the boar that was still trying to pull itself out like a radish.
She gave a bitter smile, then turned to the silent Liliana and asked, word by word, "You knew all along, didn't you? That he's Campione!"
If she still couldn't guess Hikigaya's identity at this point, her intelligence really would be in question — especially since she'd always felt that her high IQ was more of a burden than a gift.
Back when she encountered the King of Swords years ago, she hadn't realized he was a god-slayer until he used his Authority — a blunder she'd always considered a sign of her immaturity and had sworn never to repeat.
But it was all in vain — she'd done it again…
The most humiliating part was once again facing the overwhelming disparity between humans and gods. The so-called divine-slaying weapon she thought might make a difference turned out to be utterly useless if she had been the one wielding it…
As she thought that, Erica heard the boar's pained cries from ahead.
She looked over and was met with a horrifying sight.
The divine beast was melting.
The seemingly small boy stood atop the boar, radiating sunlight. A dazzling halo of light had imprisoned the beast, placing it within the fire of the sun.
Particles like points of light scattered from the giant beast's body, falling like weightless feathers in unnatural trajectories.
"The King of the Sun… the King of Ten Suns…"
Erica softly spoke that name.
The power and titles of kings were always bestowed by humans — either derived from their behavior or the abilities they most frequently wielded.
As a modern human, Hachiman Hikigaya's data had seemingly vanished from Japan's public records shortly after becoming a king — no text, no images, nothing remained, as if someone had deliberately hidden all information about him.
The only thing known for certain was his repeated use of solar powers.
Because of that, magic practitioners around the world referred to him as the King who walked with the sun.
Especially with the latest intelligence — this King had recently slain an Eastern God King in the northwest region of China, where witnesses claimed to have seen ten suns appear in the sky.
Thanks to modern communication technology, the name "King of Ten Suns" had spread rapidly.
Now, in Erica Blandelli's eyes, the overwhelmingly powerful "boar" was beginning to disintegrate under the sun's might.
As the particles of light dispersed, its body turned into grains of sand, scattering with a sizzling sound, each fragment glinting faintly with a black radiance.
The divine beast that had rendered her and Liliana powerless was reduced to ashes, just like that.
"Phew…"
Erica let out a deep sigh. She had fully realized just how arrogant her earlier words in front of her uncle had been.
This was a more visceral demonstration of power than when Lord Salvatore had once cleaved a castle in two before her — an absolute force that crushed all will to resist. Demon Kings earned their title by defeating such power as mere mortals and rising to kingship.
There was no such thing as trying again if one failed to become a god-slayer. You either could, or you couldn't — and after the battle just now, Erica clearly understood that she could never become someone like that.
Given that, she knew she ought to show respect.
Magicians feared the Demon Kings — but they also deeply revered them. For they were the ones who achieved such monumental feats, and generation after generation, these Kings represented the boundless potential of humanity. They were the last and only dignity humanity held before the gods.