Chapter 223 - Yuujirou vs. Jiro
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---Two days later---
White Forest,
For the next two days, Lev continued practicing his newly created Breathing Style in the Devil Athletics, and in just two days' time, he finally adjusted and got used to it. He was very surprised at how amazing it was after trying it on some beast in the area and was looking forward to using it more in the future.
At this moment, however, Lev together with Mamako, Chichi, White Fang, and Luna could be found surrounding a small, chubby bird with a small hair-like protrusion on its head. It has a large beak, large puffy cheeks, and small eyes. Its belly is covered in light feathers while the rest of its body is covered in darker feathers, and it has two large feet supported by large talons with sharp claws.
"Master, is this the Billion Bird? Don't you think it's a little ugly?" Mamako looked at the bird in front of them as she really thought that it would have such an appearance. Thinking that it was the Full Course of one of the strongest people in this world, she thought it would be like a Pheonix or something like that, and yet the bird that hatch from the egg they observed was a frigging ugly bird.
"We could not do anything about its appearance. That is just how it is. Well, let's give this bird something to eat." Lev replied before he took out the remaining ingredients from Ichiryu's full course and immediately fed Mitarashi's Kelp to the Billion Bird.
"It's gotten big!" Mamako exclaimed while looking at the spurt of growth of the Billion Bird just by eating the food Lev gave to it but her attention then turned to Lev once again seeing him taking out the last two ingredients.
Lev put down the Nihil Bug and gave the Dry Meloron and saw it eat the latter. After that, the bug suddenly grows and gets out of its cocoon but before it flies up, the Billion Bird moves on its own and eats the grown Nihil Bug which it suddenly stiffened.
"Is that it, Master?" Mamako asked while looking at shaking Billion Bird as she felt like the process was too dull if that's how it ended. She then just looked at Lev wanting to see what he would do after that only to feel betrayed seeing him not doing anything.
"So, this is the Billion Bird. Well, looks like it would become a good friend to Yun." Lev muttered while looking at the ugly and dumb-looking bird in front of him. He knew that it still wasn't its true form since it was a special preparation ingredient, but he didn't know what kind of approach he would take so he planned on taking it with them first.
"Look like our time here was finally over." Lev then declared while looking at Mamako as they had pretty much completed their purpose of coming to the area and so it was now time to head back and face the world again.
Following that, Lev and the others stayed in the White Forest for a while before leaving as they were now heading back to Nox Kingdom together with the Bronze Hermit, Chichi, and the camping monster, Octomelon.
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---Noon---
Nox Palace,
After traveling such a great distance, Lev and his group arrived in the Nox Kingdom at noon and they could now be found in the palace eating together as Sia, Minamoto, Yasaka, Erza, Mirajane, Sakie, and Melk the Second around the dining table as they eat with laughs and smiles on their faces.
On the other hand, Amir, Ara, Aquila, Ruffrunner, Pounce, Dart, and Yun were also around eating together while curiously looking at Billion Bird in front of them. As the friendliest among them, Yun took the first move and greeted the Billion Bird which was followed by the others while the Billion Bird just looked at them dumbly.
Just like Lev promised, the Jewel Meat that they had acquired back in the Regal Plains could now be found at the center of the table while emitting a shining light even though it was still noon. After being cooked by Lev, the meat has become more unbearable to the stomach as they really want to eat it very much.
"We all gave thanks to the world's bounty. Itadakimasu!!" Lev and the others then started paying respect before their hands took a slice of the meat and put it on their plate. They looked at it hungrily with their eyes sparkling which they could no longer wait as they brought it in their mouth and took a bite.
"S-So goooddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!" Almost everyone around the table exclaimed after tasting the Jewel Meat. They have tasted different kinds of meat throughout their stay in this world, but it was their first time eating such a high-level meat ingredient and they immediately regretted seeing that they could only taste a slice of it.
To satiate their hunger, they then eat the other dishes around as they are pretty much also delicious in their own ways as Lev was the one who cooked them and so they start eating merrily while talking to each other.
Following that, Lev then let them have their own time while also joining their conversation from time to time since as they had been away for more than a week, he also wanted to know about what they were up to all this time and if they were doing what he had ordered them to do.
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---Night---
Heavy Drinker Archipelago,
After having dinner, Lev immediately headed straight through Nakime's Infinity Castle and transported him to Heavy Drinker Archipelago, specifically in Drunken Frenzy Island from which he left Yuujirou, Megatron, and Bambina as the former together with the latter said that he wanted to stay the place thinking that the whole island was a paradise to him with the exception of Megatron as Lev ordered him to stay with them to monitor their actions.
Upon heading out of the rest house he had built on the island, Lev immediately felt tremors occurring not that far from them which he found suspicious thinking that a fight of such scale was very impossible in the area. Curious about what was happening, he immediately flies and heads towards the source of the commotion.
Flying for several minutes, Lev didn't land on the ground as just stayed still in the sky while looking at the fight currently happening below him. After that, a smile of excitement could be seen on his face as the people below were none other than Yuujirou together with a person he didn't expect to see, 'Knocking Master' Jiro.
On the other hand, Megatron and Bambina could be found standing not that far from them as they observed their fight with interest. They didn't even notice that Lev had arrived as they were completely focused on what was happening in front of them.
On the ground, Yuujirou was like a beast as he continued attacking wildly while utilizing the skills he had accumulated until now. He was very exhilarated at this moment upon encountering a human with a monster-like power for the first time. He lost many times to Bambina, one of the Kings of the Gourmet, and yet he was sure that the person he was fighting right now was in a different league from him and Bambina.
"How strange. Do you know a person named Lev?" Jiro asked while looking at the person in front of him with great interest. He was actually peacefully drinking in the area but was disturbed by their sudden appearance. He did not even understand why this unknown person started a fight against him from the beginning until now.
"Ohhh. So, you know my Master. This is interesting. Hahahaha. You're strong." Yuujirou replied with excitement upon hearing Jiro, and he then started getting serious about the fight. With his breathing suddenly turned silent, a sudden heavy aura came out from him while he looked at his opponent.
"Hmmmm." Jiro's eyes flicked upon hearing Yuujirou however, it then immediately slipped into his mind as he looked at the sudden change in him. His senses immediately told him that the person in front of him had become a completely different person from before. However, He actually wasn't worried about him as he was more concerned about the other two individuals watching them from the distance as he was too familiar with one of them which prompted him to think that there was something amiss happening right now.
"Oy. Don't take your eyes off me." Yuujirou, who was already in front of Jiro, felt mocked by his inattentiveness which he then left up his leg and struck out a powerful kick directly to his head.
Jiro, who felt surprised by Yuujirou's speed, lifted up his arms on time and blocked his attack but even with that, he didn't expect how powerful it was as it threw him several meters away from the place he originally was. His brown knitted since he had also felt the same attack before but before he could think about his move, Yuujirou's leg once again appeared in his eyes.
...Boom....
Jiro once again lifted up his hands in time as he blocked Yuujirou's kick and turned to serious thinking that the situation was getting out of hand. He has fought Lev before but the power behind his attack was completely not comparable to the power of the man in front of him. Thinking that this man was Lev's disciple makes him think how much stronger Lev has become as he could even train someone to this extent.
"Look like I need to let off some steam tonight." Jiro muttered before using his Intimidation Knocking as a deathly apparition of himself appeared above him. He looked at Yuujirou seriously as he kind of felt like he wanted to gauge the ability of the man in front of him.
Meanwhile, Yuujirou felt a sudden chill as he looked at Jiro, but it didn't scare him off as he let out more of his aura which made his face look like the devil. After fighting against Bambina every single day, he pretty much already used to fight several stronger than him making Jiro's intimidation no longer affect him.
"Hehehe. I think that is enough." As Yuujirou and Jiro were about to dash against each other, a voice suddenly calmed them down. After that, they immediately looked up and there they saw Lev flying in the sky while smiling at them.
"Master, you're back." Megatron, with great speed, appeared just below Lev and kneeled down to greet him while contemplating the fact that he hadn't even felt his presence until now. Bambina, on the other hand, also appeared with excitement while looking at Lev as he thought he could once again play with him.
On the other hand, Jiro's eyes widened as he looked at Lev because just like Megatron, he also didn't feel his presence until now that he said something. Looking at him closely, he felt like the Lev right now was filled with nothing but confidence and he immediately thought that if they fought again right now, the result would be unpredictable.
"Yuujirou. I can see the improvements in your just a while back. Looks like training against Bambina helped you a lot but there really is zero chance of you winning against Jiro as what you are now." Lev said as he landed down on the ground and threw something at him before shifting his attention to Jiro since this would be his second time seeing him after that fight in the Labyrinthine Tunnel.
"Care for a drink?" Lev offered since he already lost interest in fighting against him as he had pretty much learned most of his skills and so wanted to take this time to talk to each other wanting to know how he was fairing after that event as Ichiryu told him a while back that he was still unstable.
On the other hand, Jiro looked at Lev with surprise before accepting his offer which peace then occupied in the area after Lev started talking to Yuujirou and the others. Following that, they headed to the place having delicious alcohol and spent the night getting drunk with the exception of Lev himself.