Garden Of The Abyss

"...Ren Nakamura," Sirius said suddenly with a dead-serious look in his eyes, "Does that name ring any bells to you?"

"Mm?" Vainglory turned an eye to him, having been looking at his pocket watch.

"He doesn't like to talk about it much, but I know you guys have been targeting him. Ever since he returned from Purgatory, I can tell that kid is hurting on the inside–or, he's holding a lot of pain that's burned itself into him," He continued, "what the hell do you want with him?"

Vainglory closed the lid of his silver pocket watch, shoving it back into his coat as he looked at the man.

"...That's a question I can't answer, Sirius Federov," Vainglory told him with a calm smile.

It was that smile that sent him over the edge, knowing the pain that Belmon inflicted onto the ones he considered family.

As soon as he looked out of the window, seeing how distant the city had become–it was time.

"Vainglory, was it?" He said, looking out of the window.

"...?" The silver-haired man looked at him.

"You made a mistake," he told him with a smile as a deathly aura emanated from his form, "A pretty big one, I might add."

What's this magical pressure? His magic should be sealed? Vainglory thought before realizing, –his innate ability…?

It was then that a massive exertion of dark, magical energy exploded from his position, destroying the carriage and sending Vainglory flying back as the rubble flew out in each direction.

It's been a long time since I've used this in full, he thought.

Forming across his body, a dark-gray, living armor stretched across his limbs, scaling his torso, before finishing by armoring his head with the sentient, dark armor.

With a seamless movement, he shattered the chains that bound him as his suppressed, magenta lightning coiled around his body with an unstable mass, burning the grass around him as all he did was stand.

These chains only shackle magecraft, but innate abilities operate on a different realm than that…he thought.

It pulsated, releasing stratifications of darkness as it intertwined and combined into its armored form, giving him the appearance of a knight bound in living, scale-like armor that breathed out an overwhelming aura.

"..."Scales of The Hollow Tyrant"..." He told out like an augury of the destruction to come.

Vainglory landed on the ground, keeping his hands in his pocket, "I see. This wasn't part of our information."

–Just as Vainglory sat that, the silver-haired man barely dodged his body with widened eyes as a condensed stream of lightning shot past him at ludicrous speed, burning through the grass in a far distance.

As the swift beam of coalesced lightning missed Vainglory, it burned through the grass and soil in a far path, eliminating even the hills in its path.

What kind of power is this? With one bolt, he desecrated that large of an area, Vainglory thought.

Instead of fear, a wide, excited smile took place on the man's lips as he looked at the Outlander who was clad in lightning-coiled, scaled armor.

"I get it now," Vainglory said with a smile, removing his hands from his pockets as he cracked his knuckles without touching them, "If we use you as a vessel–there's no stopping Belmon."

"I'd like to see you try," His voice came out distorted from behind the malicious, living armor.

Vainglory sighed out, stretching his neck side-to-side as he removed his baggy coat, revealing a simple, black tank top beneath with a surprisingly muscular body.

"I hate unnecessary casualties. The driver was whatever, but those horses were diligent, you know? Good workers, did their job, didn't complain–a real shame," Vainglory cracked his neck.

He wasn't much for conversation with the Belmon cultist, instead warping behind him to go for a swift strike to the back of his head.

–However, his scale-armored fist was caught without Vainglory having turned around, only reaching his arm behind him and catching his fist.

"What?!" He let out in surprise.

"Don't get the wrong idea, kid," Vainglory told him, "I didn't bring you chained because I was scared of taking you on. I just didn't want to deal with the hassle of it."

It was just then that his instincts screamed at him to move as he warped into the sky, leaving a trail of electricity as he witnessed Vainglory thrust his fist at where he previously stood, unleashing a tremendous amount of air pressure that carved up the soil in its path.

What's up with this guy? He's insanely strong–I'd say he leaves Fai in the dust in terms of physicality, he thought.

Even in the midst of battle, Vainglory still seemed bored, simply bringing his gaze up to look at him with a small, indifferent smile.

"You've got good instincts, kid," Vainglory complemented.

"You're not half bad yourself," he responded, appearing at the man's side.

This time, it seemed he managed to catch the man off-guard, rearing his fist back and coiling it with lightning as he propelled it towards Vainglory's jaw.

It was blocked, but the impact still sent the silver-haired man sliding sideways across the field as steam exuded from the point of impact against his arm.

Vainglory whistled, wiggling his arm a bit as a bruise was left on his forearm while steam continued to trail off of it, "Not bad. I really felt that one."

"Scales of The Hollow Tyrant" amplifies my physical prowess and my magical abilities, and gives me an adaptive defense. I've never lost when using it–that's why I try to avoid it, as it's pretty boring. But, I'm done with that childish crap, he thought.

As he continued a flurry of attacks, Vainglory kept his eyes on each fist that came his way, blocking against them as each impact resulted in a deafening shock wave.

Vainglory attempted to counter with his own, colossal blows that carved through the field, but his own speed far surpassed the man's attacks.

This speed–not just that, his strength is also amplified greatly, Vainglory thought.