The Raven Dark Hero 68.2

Chapter 68.2 : Jiren VS Senzaki

TL:SummerPeanut

――Jiren vs Senzaki

The battle between the Molten Flame Jiren and Lieutenant General Senzaki continue, with Senzaki barely able to overcome Jiren's attacks, which boasted overwhelming firepower at both short and medium distances.

“What’s the matter!? Just running away isn't going to get us anywhere!”

Jiren's gift is ‘Burning Fire’. His gift rank is A+. If Nature Red's Elemental Fire, which is also a fire-based ability, is mainly used for medium to long-range, Jiren’s is for short to medium range. Furthermore, if with higher proficiency, he could transform the flames into magma.

If Senzaki took distance, flames would be released at him and he closed the distance, attacks wrapped in flame would fly to him. If he took even the slightest hit, the area around the point of hit would suffer a burn.

But even in this one-sided situation, Senzaki's eyes were calmly observing Jiren's attack.

“POWER…WAVE!!”

A wave of magma crawling on the ground assaulted Senzaki. At this point, Senzaki finally activated his gift. Just before it reached him, Senzaki slashed the magma wave with his sword! The magma wave lost its momentum and disappeared.

This is Senzaki's gift ability ‘World Delete’. It's a powerful ability with a gift rank of S-, but it's also a difficult ability to master.

One of the conditions is that the ability holder must have some understanding of the pattern of the target's gift in order to be effective. That's why he had been on the receiving side and observing Jiren for a while.

“Jiren… I have inputted your gift inside my calculation. Now, I can't lose to you.”

“Hoh… As expected from a lieutenant general. I knew I drew the jackpot!”

Jiren too was classified as a race of battle fanatics(battle junkies).

The stronger the enemy, the hotter it gets him. The more adversity he faces, the more he burns. The elation that Jiren was feeling right now was second only to the elation he felt when he confronted Kiryu before joining Kuroyume.

“MAGMA FIST!!”

With his arms covered in magma, he punched Senzaki.

“World・Delete”

When he swung his sword at the oncoming Jiren, the magma covering the fist was erased and it became just a normal punch, which Senzaki easily avoided…

“Hmph!”

A flash of a horizontal cleave. Jiren somehow avoided it but was still slightly slashed in the side.

“Guh… The ability to erase other people's abilities... This is also a hell of a lot of fun.”

“If you wanted to defeat me, you should have done it quickly. You couldn't have done that if you take pleasure from combat though.”

Due to the nature of the World Delete, it is inevitably incapable of dealing with surprise attacks, ambushes, or fast attacks. However, Senzaki had made up for this by improving his own skills. In other words, he is one of the best swordsmen in Japan even without using his abilities. Even if Jiren had not enjoyed the battle and had intended to kill Senzaki from the beginning, the result would have been the same.

(This is crazy…. This guy’s gift... no, there's only a few people he's compatible with. It's just that he's stronger.)

Jiren regained his composure. He is the number two of Kuroyume. He is second only to Shinichiro Kiryu.

He sometimes enjoyed fighting, but he never underestimated his foes. Senzaki was strong. He acknowledged this honestly and thought again about what was usable within his power.

(If I can figure out how far he can erase my gift, I might be able to make a breakthrough but it's not practical to find out.)

“You're not coming? Then I'm coming for you!”

A sharp thrust struck Jiren.

Senzaki's gift was completely defensive, but he had his swordsmanship that more than made up for it.

“Guh… You’re strong. I really don’t know why I haven’t heard more from you if you're this strong.”

“I've been doing a lot of internal work... ever since I got on the promotion route, my boss(Gonda) has been pushing me to do all kinds of miscellaneous work, so I haven't been on the battlefield much lately.”

’I see…’, thought Jiren. It's because there are powerful people in the underworld who chose not to appear on the surface too.

(Even so, there aren't many people who can defeat this guy. I don't know how far he can erase other people's gift, but if the conditions are right, he might even be able to defeat boss... yeah, nah, that person is an exception.)

Jiren smiled. Compared to Kiryu, the boss of Kuroyume, any opponent would be inferior. And he himself had trained under such Kiryu for many years.

Jiren decides that it will be difficult to defeat Senzaki in a straightforward manner, so he made up his mind.

“I can't analyze your gift yet. Then there's only one thing to do!!”

It's coming...! Feeling this, Senzaki took an iai stance.

“A few hits will do it!!!”

It was a barrage of fists, all clad in magma. But Senzaki had released his iai stance and quickly dealt with this with a sword covered in World Delete!

“UOOOOOOOH!!”

Ten seconds...twenty seconds...thirty seconds...Jiren's rush never stopped. That thirty-second time seemed to have doubled in Senzaki's experience.

(Guh… Who's going to run out of energy first? ...Interesting...I'll take you up on that!)

Forty seconds...fifty seconds...sixty seconds... Jiren continued to throw countless punches without a break.

Senzaki, on the other hand, was too busy handling the attacks to launch a counterattack.

(Kuh… There's no way he can keep up this rush! Soon... soon it will stop! And when it does... it will be your end! Jiren!!)

“UOOOAAAHー!”

Senzaki's physical strength was nearing its limit. However, Senzaki was on the defensive. It must be even harder for Jiren, who was the one attacking…

Senzaki could have chosen a different strategy instead of going along with this rush, but he did not do so. His competitive spirit became the reason for his defeat.

“Wha-!?”

The next thing he knew, vines were wrapped around Senzaki's legs and waist, restraining his movements.

Jiren instantly jumped to the back of Senzaki while Senzaki was unable to turn back.

“Actually, I have two gifts too. The name is ‘Plant Extend’. It’s only ranked at C, but it's more useful than you think.”

Jiren is one of the world's foremost flame-based gift users as he admitted himself. That same person used Plant Extend, a weak gift, at the most inopportune moment. There is only one person who has ever broken this deceptive strategy of his.

“You…”

Even though the lower half of his body was temporarily restrained, it was still just a vine in the end. With a little effort, they could be torn apart. However, Senzaki's reaction to the sudden restraint was delayed for a moment, and for Jiren it was enough to be a momentary gap.

“GOOD・LUCK!”

“GUHAAH!?”

Jiren's fist struck Senzaki in the back. His whole body was covered with flames. The fact that his body was not pierced was probably the result of Senzaki's diligent training.

“GUOOOOOOOOOH!!”

However, Senzaki did not fall. He then activated the World Delete and extinguished the flames.

His legs were already wobbly, he couldn't feel anything, and he was getting numb from the burns all over my body. However, he refused to fall, saying that if he were to be defeated, he would not be able to face his friends waiting for him in the afterlife.

“Guh… For God's sake... why are you still moving!?”

And Jiren, too, had already reached the limit of his physical strength due to the excessive use of gift. It was a rough method but this was the best strategy for Jiren to defeat Senzaki with certain.

The next blow would be Senzaki's final blow with all his strength. It was the same for Jiren...

“Hey, you... what do you think of filths?”

Jiren's sudden question was incomprehensible to Senzaki.

(Are you trying to get me to drop my guard? ...No, none of us is in a state capable of that much leeway.)

“What do you think? Do you still think filths are just a bunch of criminals?”

Senzaki...from his position, he knew about the country's policies and what the NDF had been doing.

When it comes to gift recognition, if an unknown gift is discovered, the holder will be used as an experiment subject, and if an outstanding gift holder refuses to join the NDF, he will be taken care of in the dark.

From the perspective of an earnest, honest, and kind-hearted man like Senzaki, this was an unacceptable act. However, he also knew that there are certain aspects of the country's peace that are maintained thanks to these actions.

“...I'm a soldier. I've given my life for my country. My personal idea of peace is…”

“Man, you're forcing yourself a lot~. If the country is wrong, someone has to make it right, right? You scold your children when they do wrong, don't you?”

“...you guys, are you guys trying to change the country?”

“I don't know... I'll leave it to your imagination, but I'm thinking that an honest man like you might be necessary for the future of NDF.”

It had been more than once that Senzaki finds himself dissatisfied with the way the government treats specialists. It was only natural since he was a specialist himself.

“Well, a guy like you wouldn't understand even if I told you. I'll break that stiff sense of justice one time for you...”

Jiren lunged at him. Senzaki, whose thoughts were on other things, was a little slow to react.

(World・Delete…… Ah?)

He activated his World Delete and waited...but Jiren had not activated his ability. And Jiren's step was definitely faster than before.

When Jiren attacked with fire, he was less agile than he should have been. He took advantage of this and let Senzaki's eyes become accustomed to his slower movements.

For Senzaki, everything was unexpected. For Jiren, on the other hand, everything went according to plan. Jiren, who is more agile when he is not activating his abilities, slipped past Senzaki's sword and slammed his fist as hard as he could into the other’s face.

“Guuuh… to think... I'd be beaten... by a bare hand.”

Senzaki muttered in frustration. But the next moment, his expression relaxed. Then, Senzaki fell to the ground with his limbs stretched out like the word ‘大’.

From start to finish, it was all going according to Jiren's plan. Of course, it was a paper-thin strategy that was accomplished at the expense of his own body.

“……GA-HAGH!?”

Then Jiren also vomited blood and fell to his knees.

“Using gift to the point until you exceed the limit by about three times, of course, you'll end up like this...”

With that, he collapsed into unconsciousness too.

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