Izumi grabbed hold of the man and proceeded to beat him senseless.
Only after the blond youth's face had swollen beyond recognition did Izumi finally stop.
Looking at the thoroughly battered "pig-headed" figure in front of him, Izumi nearly burst out laughing.
He casually tossed the man aside and spoke with a cheerful smile.
"Alright then."
"Talk."
"Who are you?"
"And why did you come looking for me?"
He cracked his knuckles.
"If you don't answer…"
"I'll keep punching."
The blond man instantly trembled in horror.
He had genuinely developed psychological trauma from the beating.
This was just too miserable.
Who the hell could've imagined—
That a dignified One-Digit being like himself would get beaten this badly by a newly ascended One-Digit?
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go.
But reality had been merciless.
At this point, he no longer dared to act arrogant.
Instead, he shivered pitifully as he answered,
"My name is Light… one of the One-Digits."
"I came here to settle old scores with you."
"…I was wrong, Boss! Please don't hit me anymore!!"
This monster was absolutely impossible to provoke.
Back when Azathoth was still around, he'd been bullied constantly.
And now even Izumi—who inherited Azathoth's power—could bully him too.
At this rate, he really might be the weakest One-Digit in existence.
He swore right then and there—
He would never again willingly appear in front of Izumi.
This guy was way too brutal.
Hearing that explanation, Izumi's expression became strange.
"…What do your issues with Azathoth have to do with me?"
"Sure, I inherited that power."
"But it's clearly not the same anymore, alright?"
He spread his arms.
"Does my power look anything like hers now?"
Izumi was honestly speechless.
Yes, he had inherited Azathoth's power—
But it had already been split apart, reconstructed, and fused with countless Simulated Creation Star Maps.
At this point, his existence was fundamentally different.
Sure, traces of Azathoth's aura still remained.
Even Nyarlathotep and the others acknowledged him as the successor.
But that didn't mean Izumi was Azathoth.
And yet this idiot came charging in looking for revenge.
No wonder he got beaten up.
Meanwhile, the traumatized Light looked utterly miserable.
He desperately wanted to argue back—
But he didn't dare.
Because he was genuinely afraid of getting punched again.
Izumi was simply too savage.
Looking at the swollen-faced blond man, Izumi eventually lost interest.
"Whatever."
"Handle your own issues."
"But if you dare come bothering me again…"
His smile widened dangerously.
"Don't blame me for what happens next."
After saying that, Izumi turned and left.
After beating someone up so thoroughly, his mood had improved tremendously.
Combat really was refreshing sometimes.
At the same time, he finally gained a rough understanding of how strong One-Digit beings actually were.
To summarize it simply—
They were basically all like Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
They possessed absurdly overwhelming power…
But their actual combat skills were rusty as hell.
Izumi had already noticed it during the fight.
Light's reactions and battle instincts were sluggish.
It was probably one of the side effects of reaching the One-Digit realm.
After all, battles between One-Digits were catastrophic by nature.
A single clash could affect countless worlds.
If Izumi's world hadn't retreated fast enough earlier, it probably would've been damaged from the initial shockwave alone.
Who knew how many people would've died from the aftermath?
Entire universes could collapse from collateral damage.
Which meant—
Most One-Digits probably hadn't fought seriously in an unimaginably long time.
That was why Light had been beaten down so easily.
The others were likely similar.
After all, One-Digit battles weren't something they could casually engage in.
The fact that Light personally came looking for trouble with Izumi was already an extremely rare exception.
Thinking that far, Izumi finally relaxed.
The last bit of tension in his heart disappeared.
"Mm."
"So they're not unbeatable after all."
"No problem."
"I can handle them."
Maybe that was also why the other One-Digits were willing to help him.
The corner of Izumi's mouth lifted slightly.
Being invincible really was lonely.
After indulging in his self-satisfaction for a moment, Izumi vanished from the void and returned to his own world.
The moment he came back—
Alaya and Gaia both visibly relaxed.
During Izumi's battle outside, all the girls had already gathered together.
Megumi Katou, Vignette, and the others had arrived as well.
Even the Cthulhu girls were present.
"You alright?"
"Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Nyarlathotep immediately rushed over and started poking and touching him all over.
Izumi flicked her forehead.
Thunk.
"Ow!"
"A guy named Light came looking for trouble."
"So I beat him up."
"Nothing serious."
"He probably won't dare come back for a while."
The moment the Cthulhu girls heard the name "Light," their expressions instantly became strange.
Because they knew that name all too well.
Nyarlathotep rubbed her forehead while complaining,
"I knew it."
"So embarrassing."
"I could've beaten him too."
"He calls himself a One-Digit, yet he still got flattened by Izumi."
"That's seriously pathetic."
Apparently, none of them found Light getting beaten surprising at all.
The others nodded repeatedly.
"Completely normal."
"He couldn't beat Azathoth-sama before."
"And now he can't beat Izumi-sama either."
"He's definitely the weakest One-Digit."
"A fake One-Digit."
Even Kuuko joined in with the merciless mockery.
The others quickly began chatting noisily among themselves.
Meanwhile, after listening to all this, Megumi and the rest finally pieced together the general situation.
Rias summarized it with a complicated expression.
"So basically…"
"He got bullied badly by Azathoth in the past."
"So he's always held a grudge against her."
"Then because Izumi inherited Azathoth's power…"
"He came here looking for revenge."
"And then Izumi beat him up instead?"
"And despite both being One-Digits, he still lost to Izumi, who only recently ascended?"
She paused.
"…That's about right?"
Everyone immediately nodded.
"Exactly~~!"
"No need to worry about him anymore."
"Now that Izumi-sama beat him up once…"
"He probably won't dare show up again for a very long time."
Nyarlathotep grinned excitedly.
"And if he does come back next time—"
"We'll gang up on him ourselves!"
The thought of fighting a One-Digit clearly thrilled her.
Even if she couldn't beat one alone—
There were tons of Two-Digit beings here.
Against someone as weak as Light…
They could probably win together.
…Probably.
After all, even they didn't fully understand the true limits of One-Digit beings.
Because that realm—
Was something they could never reach.
The path upward had already been sealed.
After all—
The number of One-Digit seats in existence was limited.