Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 22 Epilogue After the Nightmare Ends (2)

Today is the first day of summer vacation after graduation exams. In the early morning, the bright sun rose from the east, casting its warm rays upon the earth and adding vibrant colors to the city.

The streets and alleys were bustling with people and traffic, and the noise was intertwined. At this moment, inside the post office, Ming skillfully sorted the letters and then put them into the corresponding mailboxes or bags.

"Please send it to Tokyo for me, thank you."

Ming looked down, watched the clerk at the counter give him the address and hand the letter to the machine behind him, and then left.

After leaving the post office, Ming randomly found a convenience store, went in and bought a few rice balls for breakfast before coming out.

Afterwards, Ming found a rooftop in a building in the city that had been abandoned due to construction being halted. He sat down against the wall, opened the rice ball packaging, and ate while gazing at the bustling cityscape in the distance.

"Sigh... So this world's myriad lights are... so beautiful. How come I never noticed before..."

After finishing the last rice ball in one bite, Ming stood up and made a seemingly unrelated remark. He then walked a few steps to the edge of the abandoned building's rooftop, looked down, and after confirming that no one was around, a slight smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.

"Just like always, I'm going to take control of the spirit's power today." With that, Ming took another step forward, lost his footing, and fell off the rooftop.

With a thud, Ming's body crashed into the ground, creating a circular crater.

Then, black flames rose from the pit, and Ming slowly crawled out of the pit, his face slightly bloody, but in the blink of an eye he was enveloped by black flames and disappeared.

"As expected, it didn't work..." Ming said calmly as he climbed out, as if he was used to it. But just before landing, there was a look of relief in his eyes, as if only this could give him a moment of peace.

"Forget it, I never intended it to be that simple. Let's find another place to test our abilities."

At this point, Ming had a thought, and the medical eye patch covering his left eye began to burn. After it burned out, the crimson goat's eye was revealed, and finally, a black military uniform covered his body, and goat horns grew out on his left cheek.

Looking at the [Spirit Armor] that appeared with just a little thought, Ming nodded and muttered to himself:

"It seems that way. As long as you have the thought of summoning the [Spirit Gear], your body can automatically manifest it. It's not like in the Date A Live anime where you have to shout it out."

Slowly, Ming stood up from the pit. He raised his hand slightly, and a black fireball the size of a basketball ignited. Ming examined it carefully for a while, listened to the quiet surroundings, and nodded again.

"It seems that as long as the intensity of spiritual energy release is controlled, the normal spatial alarm cannot detect it."

Ming put away the fireball, his left goat pupil flickered, and black flames ignited on the monocle on his right eye, revealing a familiar flaming goat mask.

The body floated slowly, leaped up at a speed that was difficult to observe, paused in mid-air, and took a few graceful steps forward, as if walking in the void.

"So this is the principle behind how elves can walk in the air, just like in the main drama. It's like they use spiritual power to support their feet while walking."

"Alright, we've tested everything that could be tested in this city. Now only the [Demon King] hasn't been tested yet, but it probably can't be tested here. Otherwise, even if I deliberately concealed it, the AST wouldn't have missed detecting this movement. So, for the sake of testing, let's go..."

Ming hovered in mid-air, his hand lightly resting on his chin. Then, his left eye, with its sheep-like pupil, narrowed slightly as he looked towards an abandoned mountain outside the city. After a moment of stunned silence, he leaped into the air and flew in that direction.

Fifteen minutes later, Ming landed on the abandoned back mountain and found a flat, open area mainly composed of pebbles.

As soon as he landed, Ming casually looked around to make sure there was no one nearby. Then he stretched out his right hand, and a special black flame ignited beside his shoulders.

"Burn everything! [Black Flame Demon - Spell]!"

Two balls of black flame converged in Ming's palm, transforming into a light cane with a ram's head at the top.

Ming brandished his cane, and a huge magic circle appeared behind him. A massive black flame emerged, changing shape like a nimble snake as he moved.

He sometimes condenses black flames into a shield to defend against attacks from imaginary enemies; at other times, he shapes them into arrows to shoot at distant targets.

The immense power of the black flames caused the ground behind the abandoned mountain to tremble slightly. Seeing this, Ming shook his head, feeling that the effect was vastly different from what he had displayed yesterday.

"Strange? The flames I casually unleashed yesterday were far more powerful than this. It feels like something's missing..."

As he pondered, Ming suddenly had a flash of inspiration and decided to try a more dangerous method. He concentrated his mind, poured all his spiritual power into the [Black Flame Demon] in his hand, and then, without hesitation, plunged his cane into his own chest.

The flames of regeneration erupted instantly, engulfing his body. Pain surged through him, but Ming gritted his teeth and pulled his cane from his chest once more.

Ming gripped his cane tightly, feeling the surging power within him. He opened his eyes, and they were instantly overwhelmed by a flood of negative information; his right eye, hidden beneath the mask, turned crimson.

"Help me! Help me! Help me!!!" A cacophony of voices echoed in Ming's mind.

He took a deep breath, and then his left side was already stained with black flames, like a standing black [Flame Beast]. The cane in his hand was also wrapped in a large amount of black flames, as if it was about to explode.

"Ahhh... Ah, roar roar—" With a deafening roar from Ming, cracks began to appear on the cane in his hand, which gradually shattered, stretched, and grew as if it were alive.

The ram's head on the cane slowly grew larger, spitting out charred blades from its mouth, completely transforming into a razor about 1.7 meters long and the same size as itself.

Seeing this, Ming did not stop. He transformed his charred right hand, which had not yet turned into a monster, into a hand and quickly stabbed it into his chest, intensifying the fire once again.

Ming then swung the razor with some difficulty and pain. The tip of the razor, engulfed in black flames, roared and charged into the distance like a ferocious beast, burning everything in its path to ashes.

Ahead, the vast, flat mining ground had been cleaved by intense heat, creating a massive, deep, and terrifying crack.

"It's like the final sword strike when Tianxiang first appeared, but because it's not in its fully unleashed state, the range is smaller, and the area of ​​effect isn't as spectacular as Tianxiang's."

Seeing the magnificent power before him, Ming's body trembled with excitement. His eyes became crazed and distorted, as if he had lost his mind.

"Hahahaha, so strong! So strong! If I had this power back then... no, I could have become even stronger! Again! Again!"

Mingben wanted to continue, so he stabbed himself with his hand.

"Stop! This can't go on any longer, Ming!"

At the critical moment, a clear female voice rang in Ming's mind.

Ming shuddered, his movements abruptly halting. Immediately, chains extended from the [Divine Might Spirit Armor - Fifth Edition - Subsidiary] behind him and the cross around his neck, binding him tightly. The flames and the immense spiritual power that erupted within him due to the energy burst were absorbed, and the [Demon King] in his hand gradually dissipated.

With the [spiritual attire] fading away, Ming stood there somewhat dazed, his crazed eyes gradually regaining their clarity as he gasped for breath.

"Huff...huff...my head hurts so much, it felt like a ton of thoughts were being poured into my brain...it's so uncomfortable, huff huff huff..."

Before Ming could even recover, the familiar spatial shock alarm sounded from mid-air.

"Waaaaah, waaaaah waaaah waaaah waaaah—"

"Spacequake alarm? Damn it... why now of all times!" Upon hearing the alarm, Ming immediately channeled all his spiritual power to construct a goat mask, then quickly fled backward.

As Ming ran away, he recalled his experience and suddenly realized the answer to his earlier assumption.

'That powerful force just now... if my guess is correct, its source might be the "Flame of Regeneration." It might also be accumulating internal pressure, and then... when my emotions are aroused, my spiritual power will begin to surge wildly, and my consciousness will gradually be corrupted and driven to madness by the power of [Cruelty].'

Ming realized that while this power was formidable, it also came with danger.

As Ming ran, he came to a narrow alleyway that was bathed in the morning sunlight but was dark because of the roof beams above.

Ming leaned against the wall, rested for a moment, then lowered his head and walked out of the dark alley.

Because of the sudden outburst of spiritual energy, Ming's head was still very dizzy. He staggered down the street and could not see the road clearly. Just as he was turning a corner, a green figure suddenly rushed over and crashed head-on into Ming.

"Damn it, I can't let this guinea pig get away this time! If I miss today, I'll be back in England eating instant noodles tomorrow! Wait for me! You have to wait for my guinea pig, you'll be on my operating table soon... Huh? Ah!"

This was the muttering Ming could barely hear before she crashed into him.

Ming listened to these strange words and tried to lift his head to see the person in front of him clearly.

I saw a woman with messy, long, unkempt green hair, wearing a white coat, who looked to be between 20 and 30 years old, complaining incessantly.

"Are you alright?" Ming stood up, reached out his hand, and asked with a blank expression.