Both Wendy and the King felt a sense of dread from that wing, which made the King recalculate before advancing. "A third wing!! I need to be a little cautious at this stage. Until I at least discover the type of ability he has acquired."
The moment he moved forward, something hurled the King into the sky, flying. And without realizing what was happening to him, Hiro touched the ground with his hand, and the earth began to transform into a collection of swords and blades made of stone. Hiro launched them towards the King suspended in the sky. The swords rained down like arrows towards the King, but he completely reversed them.
Wendy was protecting Stella with a transparent shield emanating from her hand, surrounding them to prevent the flying weapons from hitting her.
"Was he hiding his third wing from the beginning? Or did his body evolve rapidly? This is very bad. I was confident of the War King's victory due to the power difference between them, but if his body is evolving rapidly, we have a big problem. But it depends on the type of his ability. Does he produce these weapons from somewhere? Or are they just many teleportation gates? He could have approached the King and delivered close-range blows, but his hand doesn't leave the ground. Is it some kind of contract, or is his ability activated by touching the ground? But this is strange; he continues to attack for minutes even though his swords don't reach that old man."
Wendy raised her head to see the King, whose body was covered in wounds. "Impossible! His attacks are hitting him. The King reverses the wound and regains his health. But how did he manage to penetrate his ability?"
A gentle breeze blew near Wendy. She then realized what Hiro was doing.
"Wind... Right, wind, that's his ability then."
Wendy signaled the King to approach. He decided to abandon his defensive stance, raised his spear, and swung it towards Hiro. His attack destroyed the flying stone weapons and reached Hiro's head. He tried to evade the attack, but it cut off his hand, stopping Hiro's swords. He retreated slightly for his hand to heal. Then the King returned to Wendy's side and said, "That rogue was using these weapons for distraction while attacking with invisible weapons from different places. It wasn't like a type of attack; the wounds appeared without me realizing what was happening. So, did you notice something?"
"Yes. His ability is very simple. But his ability to shape and control at such speed is terrifying. Is he really one of the monsters?! Anyway, his ability is simply to transform anything he touches into his own weapon, and it seems there are no exceptions to this ability. He touched the ground to direct your attention to the weapons coming from below, while he touches the air with his other hand and makes it his main weapon."
"Anything he touches? Does this apply to living beings as well, or only inanimate objects?"
"I'm not sure yet. But for now, don't let him touch your weapon. We don't know what might happen."
When Ryo began to advance, Hiro's body stopped healing for a moment. Black color began to cover his body as he looked up at the sky. A strange silence fell over the place, and as the two watched, concern visible on their faces, and a light breeze blew through the area. Amidst that silence, a sound emerged, piercing the clouds with its echo, startling even the sleepers in their graves. This sound was accompanied by black fire that burned everything around it, gradually shrinking to settle under Hiro's left wing.
"What just happened?!" As Ryo uttered those words, he looked at Wendy's face, which was pale and showed signs of fear and terror.
"What's wrong with you? What happened to you? Do you know what's going on here? Are you listening to me? I'm talking to you."
"You told me a moment ago that you would end this battle in three minutes. I still believe your words. This monster here is not comparable to your strength yet. But this applies only for this period. Currently, you are the strongest here. But in a few minutes, it will be difficult to differentiate. Let's say you failed to end the fight after three minutes. Well, you have to realize that you have only one chance. If there is a chance for failure, know that it won't end with our deaths here only. Perhaps it might be the end of this Dream Forest."
Ryo was panicked by what Wendy was saying. Despite his short acquaintance with her, he knew she wouldn't say anything that would affect the outcome of this battle without thinking.
"What are you trying to say then?"
Hiro raised his left hand, and a ball of fire appeared above it. The fire ball began to slowly expand while its heat increased.
"A moment ago, I thought he was adapting to his new body, but I was wrong. The monster has already taken over his body. What's happening to him now is nothing more than natural evolution. This fire coming out of his side, it's the fourth wing. And it seems it won't stop here."
"A fourth wing, then. A few seconds ago, his third wing came out. And now a fourth wing. So what you're trying to say is that in a few seconds, we'll see a Jinn with five wings. It's not funny, even if it's just a joke."
The fireball grew to an enormous size. Its color turned white, adorned with black flames on the outside.
As Wendy watched what he was doing, she noticed something strange.
"These flames, they are Hiro's original ability. And the monster is strengthening it with its power, but there's something strange. No matter how powerful the attack he launches directly at the King, it will return to him with double the force. And he knows that. But now he's directing his attack directly at Ryo."
Hiro unleashed a massive fireball, glowing crimson mixed with white sparks, launching it towards Ryo at an unbelievable speed. The fire roared like a raging beast, tearing the air around it, and in moments it was about to collide with its target.
On the other side, Ryo stood firm, his features as rigid as stone, an absolute look of confidence on his face. His eyes gleamed with unwavering determination, as if confident that nothing could harm him.
Then, suddenly... the fireball collided with an invisible barrier – the Reflection Barrier, a defensive technique beyond comprehension, separating life and death by a thin thread.
But what happened was not what anyone expected.
Instead of the fireball bouncing back towards Hiro as it usually would under the influence of the Reflection ability, it began to vibrate before instantly exploding with terrifying force... but towards Ryo himself!
The explosion roared like a scream from the heart of hell.
White flames erupted with immense breadth, emitting bone-chilling heat.
The air burned, trees evaporated, and the earth's surface peeled away, turning into ash. At that moment, the forest looked as if a miniature sun had exploded within it, devouring everything around it indiscriminately.
The fiery storm lasted for seconds that felt like eons before suddenly subsiding, leaving behind a terrifying silence.
What remained was a horrifying sight: blackened, charred earth, devoid of life, a vast deep crater as if a meteor had fallen from the sky, splitting the forest in half.
And at its center... Ryo's body, or what was left of it, lay motionless.
No blood, no screams, no moans.
Only his head and chest remained, covered in hot ash. His eyes were barely open, between life and death, breathing with an inaudible struggle.