Seeing that people had even started placing bets on his duel with Rex, Yecheng originally wanted to take advantage of the moment and make a quick buck. Unfortunately, he was flat broke, so he had to let the opportunity slip away.
"Ahhhh——!!"
"Take this! Martial Art – Lightning Slash!"
Rex knew full well—based on their previous "spar"—that his chances of winning in a one-on-one against Yecheng were nearly nonexistent.
If he waited for Yecheng to make the first move, he might not even get the chance to counter before the fight ended.
So Rex's strategy was crystal clear: even if he lost, he had to lose with style—at the very least, not get totally humiliated in front of everyone.
"No way! Is Rex seriously going all out? He's using that kind of martial art against a rookie? Is he trying to kill him?!"
Just as Yecheng had already learned, in the world of "Gran Bahamar," nearly everyone could use magic. Skilled adventurers could even merge their martial techniques with magic, creating incredibly powerful combat arts.
Rex's move was one such fusion technique.
Golden light surged as magic energy flooded into his longsword. Golden arcs of lightning danced along the blade, crackling with raw power.
Thanks to this martial art, Rex's speed increased dramatically. In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Yecheng, sword raised for a deadly strike.
While the surrounding crowd gasped in shock, Yecheng wasn't alarmed. He was more curious than anything.
After all, this was his first time witnessing magic in this world.
Earlier, when he'd trashed Rex and his two teammates, they hadn't used any magic—not because they didn't want to, but because Yecheng had moved so quickly and caught them off guard, they hadn't had a chance.
As the lightning-infused slash came at him like a thunderbolt, Yecheng calmly gripped his crude bone blade and raised it to block the strike.
BOOM——!!
Rex, gripping his sword with both hands, slammed it down—but as it clashed with Yecheng's horizontally held blade, a violent shockwave exploded outward. Arcs of electricity surged everywhere, and a blinding flash momentarily robbed everyone of their sight.
"Rex, are you insane?! Yecheng is just a rookie! You actually—!"
The savage lightning tore up the ground and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. As the haze obscured both fighters, Soya furiously shouted at Rex.
She had believed that a spar with Rex would help Yecheng recognize his own limits. Maybe he'd get a bit hurt, but that was better than charging blindly into the wilderness and getting killed by monsters.
What she didn't expect was that Rex would go so hard in what was supposed to be a friendly duel. That last strike was basically a kill move!
But before she could finish her rant, what happened next left her—and everyone else—completely speechless.
It wasn't just her. Every single adventurer watching had a dumbfounded, stunned look on their faces. Some were so shocked they forgot to even sip their beer.
Everyone had seen Rex charge in and unleash his Lightning Slash at Yecheng, who had barely even moved to defend himself.
The dust cloud had obscured the aftermath, but most assumed the fight was already over. The only question was how badly Yecheng was hurt.
But then—whoosh—a figure went flying out of the dust cloud.
At first, people thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
But when a second figure calmly emerged from the dust, holding a cracked bone blade in one hand and nothing more, they realized—with a collective gasp—that the person who got launched… was Rex.
"So this is magic fused with martial arts?" Yecheng muttered thoughtfully. "Impressive… feels a bit like Kidō, but it's definitely a different system."
He was suddenly struck by a thought.
"Wait—can I still use Kidō in this world? Now's a good time to test it out, right?"
Rex's so-called Lightning Slash reminded Yecheng a little of a spiritual pressure blast, though it was much weaker. Still, the way the energy was used piqued his interest.
He decided to try his own attack—something from the world he came from.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens—Hadō #31: Shakkahō! (Red Flame Cannon!)"
Yecheng calmly walked out of the dissipating dust cloud, cracked bone blade in one hand, the other extended forward as he rapidly recited the Kidō incantation.
Because his system had already converted his spiritual pressure into this world's equivalent—magical energy—a red magic circle formed in front of his palm as he chanted.
Magic flared up around him, stirring up a sudden gust of wind that swept the dust away.
In the next second, a massive crimson fireball—nearly three meters in diameter—materialized in front of his hand and launched forward at insane speed in the direction where Rex had been thrown.
Yecheng was shocked.
He had intentionally tried to limit his power output… but the size of the Shakkahō was absurd.And it seemed the conversion into magic meant he could no longer hold the Kidō in his hand—it was automatically released the moment he finished chanting.
As the scorching fireball—like a miniature sun—soared through the guild hall, it left a scorched trail across the floor.
Yecheng immediately leapt into action.
No joke—he didn't like how Rex had gone full force earlier, but he'd only planned on giving the guy a lesson, not killing him.
Based on their earlier scuffle, he had a solid grasp of Rex's actual strength. If Rex took that overpowered Shakkahō head-on, he'd probably die on the spot.
He had just registered as an adventurer that very day. He had plans to continue working under this identity for a while. Getting branded a murderer on Day One? No thanks.
With a few rapid steps, enhanced by shunpo (flash step), Yecheng vanished from everyone's sight.
By the time the stunned crowd recovered, they realized—Yecheng had already appeared in front of the fireball he had just launched!