Chapter 40: The Thunder Emperor

Reluctantly, I heal Dominic’s wounds and assess the battlefield.

Kazuya is in his awakened state, facing off against his opponent—most likely the Thunder Emperor. It’s a lightning-on-lightning clash. Right now, they appear evenly matched, but who knows how long that will last.

Behind me, three women from Dominic’s party are gathered. They’ve recovered to some degree, but it’s unlikely they’ll be of any help in the fight.

In front of me stands Dominic, staring blankly at the fight between Kazuya and the Thunder Emperor, completely mesmerized. It's painful to watch. In this world, healing magic can mend wounds, but it can’t regenerate lost limbs—arms, legs, once gone, they’re gone. It’s pitiful, but that’s just how it is.

Besides, having Dominic standing here like this will only get in Kazuya’s way. I need to get him to fall back.

“Dominic, you’re in the way here. Step back.”

I end up sounding curt and irritable. Damn it. That came off like I was just looking for an excuse to pick a fight.

But Dominic’s response is not what I expected.

“Mm… Ah, yeah. Sorry. I’ll just watch from back there…”

He obediently returns to the women’s side without any resistance. Is that really like him? I can’t help but wonder. Come to think of it, even his earlier “Damn it all” lacked his usual light sarcasm—it felt like a mix of more complicated emotions.

Looking back to Kazuya and the Thunder Emperor, it seems the flurry of clashing swords has paused.

They face each other, cautiously observing.

Kazuya has released his awakened state and is catching his breath.

“Are you crazy!? Why did you deactivate your awakened state!?”

Dominic yells from behind. What the hell is he talking about?

The awakened state burns through stamina fast. And if you’re fighting the Thunder Emperor, you need to sustain high output—of course you’d turn it off while out of direct combat.

Besides, Kazuya can re-enter his awakened state instantly. There’s no problem in deactivating it now.

He once said it was thanks to hearing tips from Joseph, a former hero and Roy’s party member, and undergoing intense training.

Probably Roy can also switch his awakened state on and off just as quickly.

…Could it be that Dominic can’t do that? Well, his reaction makes that seem likely.

So he got this far without polishing his technique—that explains a lot.

“My name is Blitz. The Demon Lord refers to me as the Thunder Emperor. Hero, tell me your name.”

The Thunder Emperor, Blitz, introduces himself and asks Kazuya for his name.

As expected from a demon entrusted with the Demon Lord’s castle defense, he seems both intelligent and powerful.

And being lightning-element? No doubt he’s strong. Lightning always seems overpowered.

“My name’s Kazuya. And the woman behind me is my partner, Miki.”

Blitz reacts with clear joy.

“So you’re Kazuya! Looks like I finally hit the jackpot! I welcome you, Kazuya!”

What’s this about? A Demon Lord’s officer wanting to meet Kazuya? Since when do heroes get individually scouted?

“Kazuya, they say you defeated the Giant King, the Flame Wolf King, and the Snowstorm Queen. Is that true?”

“Yeah. It’s true.”

“What!? You serious!? No way!”

The peanut gallery—Dominic—is too loud. Stop reacting to everything.

I shoot him a glare and he quickly clamps his mouth shut.

Still… so Kazuya’s taken down three Demon Lord officers. Roy’s beaten the Dragon King. Dominic defeated the King of the Deep. That’s five in total—only two remain.

Blitz is here, and the last one is the Spider Queen. Roy may have already dealt with her, though that’s just speculation.

In other words, each hero faced different major enemies, and the number and intensity of those fights varied. That difference in experience has become a serious gap. Kazuya has long since surpassed Dominic.

Their attitudes from the start were different, too.

Kazuya never got arrogant, kept training relentlessly. In contrast, Dominic probably hasn’t even fully mastered his own awakened state. That difference in mindset is showing now.

“Good, you really are the real deal—no doubt about it. To keep up with my movements like that! I’m thrilled, Kazuya!”

“Hah, well… if you’re happy, I guess I’m happy too. If you could just go down easily now, I’d be even happier.”

“That’s one thing I can’t do. I am the strongest of the Demon Lord’s officers, after all. From here on, I’ll fight seriously. Kazuya, don’t disappoint me—make this fun.”

Another battle junkie. Figures.

But you probably have to be like that if you want to reach the top among the Demon Lord’s forces.

Kazuya gives a wide grin and shoots back,

“Yeah. I’ll be going all out from now on too!”

I immediately reapply support magic—dual incantations for body enhancement and more. The real fight is about to begin.

Kazuya entered his golden awakening form and closed the distance between him and Blitz.

Kazuya’s Takemikazuchi clashed with Blitz’s radiant blade, which looked like lightning incarnate.

There wasn’t much I could do to support him. Regular magic attacks might end up hitting Kazuya as well. And with how fast those two were moving, even trying to time something precisely was nearly impossible.

So all I could do was watch.

“Kazuya! Is that all you’ve got!? Give me everything you’ve got!!”

“Sorry to disappoint! I’ve been going all out from the start! Blitz, are you telling me you’re still holding back!?”

“Truth is—I’ve been going all out too! I haven’t felt this electric in a long time! This is the best!”

They both claimed they were serious, but to me, it still looked like they were holding something back—like they were still feeling each other out.

They once again put some distance between them.

“Kazuya! This is going nowhere! How about this—let’s finish it by unleashing our ultimate techniques on each other!”

“Finally ready to go all in, huh? Fine by me!! Let’s do this!”

Kazuya took his stance and looked at me. I picked up on his intention and gave a firm nod.

“We’re both going to fire off our ultimate moves at the same time. Agreed?”

“Yeah!!”

Kazuya answered and began charging up for his ultimate. In sync with him, I cast my Thunderclap spell directly onto his Takemikazuchi.

This was Kazuya’s final enhancement—his ultimate form.

“Let’s do this!!”

They dashed forward simultaneously, lightning bursting across the battlefield.

“Kyokko Inabikari — Aurora Lightning Flash!!”
“Shouhoukouko — Thunder Hammer Apex!!”

A brilliant flash lit the sky. A deafening roar like a massive thunderclap rattled my ears.

By the time my eyes had adjusted, the two had once again taken distance, standing apart.

No way—Kazuya’s attack didn’t work!? Even after absorbing my lightning into his Takemikazuchi, in his most powerful state, he couldn’t bring Blitz down!?

And yet, Blitz’s Thunder Hammer Apex caught me off guard. That move slams a mass of lightning like a hammer—not a slashing technique, but a blunt-force thunder attack. I was sure he’d use Lightning Flash Sever. Wasn’t that supposed to be his strongest technique? Was there a reason for this choice?

“Kazuya! This is so much fun! I’m glad I met a hero like you! I’m having the time of my life! And you know why? Because I’m going to win in the end! Want to know why? That strongest technique of yours—it was great. A brilliant thunder strike. But unfortunately for you… lightning doesn’t work on me! As long as you keep using lightning, you can’t beat me!!”

He’s right—lightning doesn’t work. But come on, he’s the Thunder Emperor. Shouldn’t we have expected this!? This is bad!

Hearing that, Kazuya rested Takemikazuchi on his shoulder and grinned.

“I thought maybe the ultimate lightning move could surpass lightning immunity, but yeah… figured as much. No surprise.”

“Fuhaha! Exactly! Your techniques are useless! This time, I’ll end it! Taste my ultimate move, Kazuya!”

And once again, lightning burst across the field in a flash.

“Gokurai Kyokko — Divine Thunder!!”
“Tenken Zettou — Lightning Flash Sever!!”

Another blinding flash, another roar of thunder.

At the moment of their clash, I could no longer follow them with my eyes. They were so fast, it felt like they’d reached the speed of light itself.

All I could do was pray—for Kazuya’s safety, and his victory.

After they passed each other, the one who took a stance again—was Kazuya.

“Wh-What…? Lightning… shouldn’t work on me…”

“That’s true, Blitz. Lightning doesn’t affect you—but that doesn’t mean you can’t be cut. Lightning Flash Sever isn’t about lightning damage. It uses lightning to accelerate the blade, adding momentum to the strike. The lightning element itself doesn’t matter. At its core, it’s just a light-speed slash. So it cuts, no matter the opponent’s attribute.”

“Th-That’s… impossible…”

“This is it. Thunder Emperor Blitz—I had fun too. Now… judgment!!”

With his usual finishing line, Kazuya swung Takemikazuchi, and Blitz burst into a spray of blood and collapsed—dead.

Kazuya planted his sword, sheathed it, and said,

“You were the strongest opponent so far. But even so, you were no match for the two of us.”

He turned toward me and smiled.

Kazuya had defeated the fourth Demon Lord officer—the Thunder Emperor, Blitz.

Even though the enemy was supposedly the strongest among the officers, Kazuya handled it with what looked like composure. Honestly, it made me feel like even the Demon Lord himself might not be such a big deal.

“Kazuya!!”

I ran to him and leapt into his arms. Kazuya spread his arms wide and caught me, lifting me up.

“You jerk! You had me worried sick! Why didn’t you just use Lightning Flash Sever from the start!?”

I couldn’t help but complain. If he’d just gone all out from the beginning, it would’ve been over quicker, and I wouldn’t have been biting my nails the whole time!

“Well, you know… I just had this feeling. That kind of guy probably had a hidden trump card. Like, he seemed like the type who only shows his full hand when his opponent’s at their peak. You saw how his last move sounded way more dramatic than the first one, right? And come on—there’s something romantic about a lightning move that works even on lightning-immune enemies. …But yeah, you’re right, Miki. Sorry I made you worry.”

He really was a tough opponent. I knew Kazuya had a bit of a battle-junkie side, but… yeah, I guess I can’t really blame him for thinking that way.

Besides, when Kazuya apologizes sincerely, I can never stay mad at him.

“Fine. I forgive you! But be more careful, okay!? Don’t pull stuff like that against the Demon Lord!”

I made sure to warn him—though I doubted it would change much.