Chapter 43: Meeting the Black Prince Again
Hikigaya was flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
Without using "Divine Speed," his pace was only equivalent to that of a supersonic fighter jet. The air was displaced before him, carving out a corridor through the sky.
The affairs in North America had been settled. Once this final task was completed, the whole ordeal would be behind him.
At this moment, his mind contained a vast array of martial arts from the Weapon Group, including those of the remaining seven members of the Eight Shimmering Blades of Judgment.
The Eight Shimmering—or rather, the Seven Shimmering—had been granted the dignity of warriors by Hikigaya, in accordance with their dying wishes. They did not die like common "small fry" by lightning strikes, incineration, or being frozen in ice; they died by martial arts.
However, even without using his Authorities, Hikigaya's strength was already too immense for them. Even his standard techniques were impossible to block.
It ended very quickly.
Yet, they could truly be said to have died honorably, without bringing shame to their status as warriors. Their bodies were buried in the frozen plains.
As for this last group in Britain, they would receive no such preferential treatment—not to mention they were all Mikhail's subordinates, scum who would lay hands on ordinary people just to satisfy their lust for slaughter.
Hikigaya had no interest in dealing with British politicians again, so he had called the Black Prince beforehand. As fellow mythology enthusiasts, it wasn't strange for them to have each other's phone numbers, right?
Before long, Hikigaya found his target—the silhouette of land had appeared on the surface of the sea.
He switched to his lightning form and instantly appeared in the sky above his destination.
From the moment Hikigaya descended upon this stronghold bristling with buildings until its total destruction, the speed was incredibly fast. Hikigaya easily razed the place to the ground with a sky full of fireballs.
Then, the images of many individuals appeared in his right eye.
In the next instant, these people, located in various different spots, were struck and charred by bolts of lightning that materialized abruptly beside them.
This pair of eyes did not grant Hikigaya any direct offensive capabilities, but because of them, his attacks bypassed the limitations of geography. As long as he knew of someone, he could
naturally find them with the "Eye of the Sun," mobilizing the natural forces around them to attack from a great distance.
It was incredibly convenient.
When the last person was killed, Hikigaya deactivated his lightning state and threw a punch from mid-air toward the burning earth below.
Wind usually fans a fire, but if the disparity in power is too great, the wind will simply extinguish it. Hikigaya's punch-wind compressed the ground several meters deep.
Hikigaya descended to the ground and checked his watch. He was a few minutes early.
He waited patiently for a moment. Before long, a flash of electricity appeared in his vision. His fellow British Campione, exuding a full British vibe, appeared before his eyes.
"Am I late?" The British kin asked first upon seeing that the scene had already been leveled.
"No, I arrived three minutes earlier than the scheduled time." Hikigaya reached out his hand. "Long time no see, Black Prince."
"Please call me Alexander. I welcome you on behalf of this country," Alexander said, shaking Hikigaya's hand.
"I suspect there aren't many people in this country who actually welcome me."
"Oh? Then they can come to us and lodge a complaint."
In the next moment, the two Campiones laughed heartily together.
Then Alexander suggested, "It's too inconvenient to host you here. Shall we go for a drink?"
"Sure. Where to?"
"You probably aren't familiar with this country, right? Let me lead the way."
Before the words had even finished trailing off, both men simultaneously turned into lightning and vanished from the spot, instantly appearing in an alleyway of a nearby town.
"Your mastery of Divine Speed is admirable." A glint of lightning flashed in Alexander's eyes. Hikigaya had kept up with his speed perfectly; his control over lightning-speed was even better than Alexander had imagined.
Alexander had spent a considerable amount of time fully mastering this speed, but Hikigaya's ability in this area was already very close to his own—aside from some minor technical refinements.
It seemed a warrior's ability to control their body truly surpassed that of a magician.
Alexander was a Campione who utilized magecraft and Authorities, but before becoming a Campione, he wasn't an outstanding magician—his magical cultivation was only half-baked.
As for Hikigaya, his martial arts cultivation before slaying a god was also half-baked. In some respects, these two were indeed very similar.
However, this "similarity" didn't reach the level of looking into a mirror at another self, so the two found each other quite agreeable.
"My apologies," Alexander frankly admitted his little competitive test.
"There's nothing to apologize for. When friends meet, they poke at each other a bit, don't they?"
"For that sentence, I'm going to have a proper drink with you." Alexander was so pleased he almost clapped his hands. He pointed to a nearby iron door with peeling paint and said, "This is the place. I'm quite familiar with the owner."
He stepped forward and knocked. A moment later, the iron door opened from the inside, and a bald head poked out.
"Alec, you haven't been here in a long time."
The man who opened the door wore a tank top, his muscles were bulging, and his face looked anything but kind. He even had a dragon tattooed on his bald scalp. From inside the door came the faint sound of wild, ghost-like howling.
"Hey! Kara, bring out your best liquor. I've brought a very good friend along," Alexander said to the bald, muscular man.
"I know, I know. You wouldn't bring him if he wasn't a friend." The bald man rubbed his smooth head and turned back inside with a depressed look.
"Alec?" Hikigaya, who had been watching for a while, asked curiously. "A pseudonym?"
"A name is just a label." Alexander pulled the door wide open with total indifference. "Hmm, if he asks you, you can say your name is Kid."
"Kid?"
"A magician thief that Kara likes very much. He treats anyone named Kid with his best stock."
"I think I'll stick with my real name."
"How boring, to use one name for a lifetime."
"How should I put this... the name 'Kid,' being a magician and a thief, reminds me of a very formidable elementary school student. So it's probably better not to use that name."
As Hikigaya spoke, he followed Alexander through the door.
After passing through a dark corridor, he and Alexander entered a large room. It was quite noisy.
The neon lights were adjusted to a very suggestive, hazy color. The room was large, but the decor wasn't luxurious; instead, it was quite crude.
Everywhere were people who looked like they were up to no good. A large man walking past Hikigaya even had a gun tucked into his waistband.
Waitresses wearing very little and possessing incredible figures wove through the crowd. The "cleavage" here served a purpose perfectly aligned with its name, as the men's tips were tucked directly into them.
However, dressing scantily didn't mean they were a vulnerable group. Hikigaya saw one girl, whose customer didn't tip and tried to grope her, twist her hips and pull out a dagger, pressing it against the man's face while slapping him loudly with her other hand.
And the people around them were all slamming the tables and laughing uproariously...
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