BOOOOM!
A loud explosion sounded as dust floated everywhere, blocking the view.
A voluptuous girl with pink hair ran, both arms flailing upwards, and tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ahh! Nior-sama, SAVE ME!"
Roar!
At this time, a giant figure made of soil emerged from the dust.
His height easily reached ten metres. Surprisingly, his speed was extremely fast, even with a giant body. If looked closely, a strange blue glow was seen in his eyes.
In just a second, he appeared behind the girl and lifted his leg to crush her underfoot.
Just before the foot was about to reach her, a black blur appeared in the middle and blocked it.
Nior, standing between the giant and Mitsuri, in a black haori, blocked the giant with a single finger. The ground beneath him depressed a few centimetres, and cracks spread outwards, but Nior didn't move an inch.
"Looks like this one was too tough for you," he turned back to Mitsuri, who had fallen on the ground on her back, and said with a smile.
"That's too terrifying," Mitsuri said with an embarrassed laugh. Taking in a deep breath, she relaxed a little, eyes fixed on Nior's broad back. Her cheeks had a light, shy blush. Being saved by him every now and then wasn't so bad, she thought.
Meanwhile, Nior applied a little force from his stretched finger and sent the earth giant flying back easily.
"Yeah, you are right. We will focus on Breathing Techniques mainly for now. But now that we have an experimental subject..." Nior said, and the smile on his face turned wider, showing his sharp fangs.
"...Might as well show you something interesting. Look closely," said Nior, raising his head upwards, looking at the distant giant now standing. Taking half a step forward, he pulled his right hand.
Blue coloured runes flickered across his arms, their bright light seeping through his haori. Strong winds rushed around him, flapping his clothes and hair.
Like a pulse, the light of the runes concentrated at the back and slowly moved towards his fists.
"Wh-What is this?" Mitsuri had a speechless expression on her face. In her vision, instead of Nior, she saw a terrifyingly large hand falling from the sky towards the giant soil construct.
Her breathing quickened, and her face paled as fierce winds hit her face, making it difficult for her to even open her eyes.
Battle Arts: Tyrant Fist
Nior threw his punch casually, and an immense force from his punch launched forward with visible shockwaves and a dome-shaped azure energy beam.
BOOOM
Breaking the sound barrier, the shockwave tore through everything in its path. Mitsuri's body flung backwards from the wind pressure as the world turned silent for an entire minute.
As the dust settled, an astonishing scene unfolded. From Nior's feet to the horizon, a five-metre deep trench was carved into the earth. Smoke and heat still came out of the path of his punch. Some parts of the soil still glowed with blue light.
Mitsuri was on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the ridiculous scene in front of her that was caused by a simple punch by Nior.
'S-So Cool! Nior-sama is so strong.'
Inside her head, she was squirming from the excitement.
Nior walked to her and lifted her up, saying, "That's enough for today. Take a break today. After that, we will go over what you learned from this. You must be hungry. Let's head back to town and grab something first. Tomorrow, we will start learning the strongest Breathing Style, the Sun Breathing."
He spoke to her gently, not showing even a trace of ferocity from earlier. Waving his hand, a golden light spread and dusted off all the dirt from Mitsuri's clothes.
After that, they picked up their things and ran towards the nearest town.
Nior and Mitsuri were currently deep inside the mountains, so there were no casualties except maybe a few animals.
While leaving, Nior exhaled and looked back at the scorched trench, blue sparks still flickering in some places. Magic is too much for this world. Invoking techniques in outer space is completely different to testing them on a planet. What technique could normally destroy a small warship, on the ground, needs to be controlled precisely so there is no collateral damage.
---
Infinity Castle
After entering through the tear in space, Sebas looked around at the layout of infinite Japanese traditional architectural structures.
"What a surprise! Even in Asgard, most sorcerers cannot create a separate dimension."
Sebas had a surprised expression on his face, and his sharp eyes widened a little as he looked around the shifting structures. Such powerful abilities can only be possessed by powerful beings on the same standing as his Lord.
Technically, Sanctuary is also an external dimension, but it is a semi-material plane of existence. He never thought he would be able to see another fully complete dimension like it.
"Enough musings. I am not sure how this place works. First, I need to isolate this place."
After a few seconds of thought, he returned to his serious face and started spreading deep red energy from his body to the ends of the Infinity Castle.
Maximise Magic: Crimson Barrier
The red energy formed a solid translucent wall at the edges of the dimension, and dark-red lines of energy ran across it, sealing off the space. The red wall flickered for a few seconds and then vanished without a trace.
Setting up the barrier, Sebas looked around for the familiar presence of the man whom he had met recently.
Sebas' body broke into mist and appeared near Aoto, whom he had been tracking since earlier in the forest.
His state was miserable. His clothes were torn, blood spread across his body, and he was barely conscious.
The three demons from earlier sat near him and guarded the area. Looking at the scene, Sebas understood that this man was probably a livestock kept here alive as a meal for the higher-ranking demons.
'What a pathetic sight. And more than that, it really disgusts me that these inferior creatures are called demons.'
With a disgusted expression, he brought out his white long sword with elegant runes carved along the blade, glowing Vampiric Energy flowing through the runes. Bringing the sword downwards, he slashed it diagonally upwards.
Battle Arts: First Stroke
A long white slash cut with red tint through the demons and the man and travelled a long distance, cutting through any other creatures in the way.
Swoosh
Wherever the slash passed, violent Vampiric Energy turned every and anything in its path to dust and ash.
'Time to clear up these inferior creatures who dare to walk in the night alongside noble vampires.'
Vampire Magic: Crimson Flames
With glowing red eyes and an enraged Sebas stepped forward, cutting and blasting hundreds of demons with every single move.