Yeah. I mean, I could use it, so… (Although, admittedly, that was just Raphael doing its usual Analyze and Assess job on it.)
Still, to completely leverage Meltslash, you needed full, intimate knowledge of how Disintegration worked. If there was a handful of people wielding that now, I guess the human race was a lot more capable than I thought. It did make sense, though—a human Hero once sealed Veldora away, so at least some of them had to be that strong. Even being a demon lord, I really couldn’t rest on my laurels.
But look at me. My mind was wandering, and I really couldn’t afford that.
“So what is this I see? High officers in the paladins, almost killed by something of this level? How worthlessly pathetic. You couldn’t even begin to compare with the sword masters of the past, to say nothing of myself.”
Granville seemed to believe his own claims. He honestly didn’t think Hinata would pose a challenge.
“That’s a funny thing to say. Care to test that out?”
Hinata flashed a cold smile. She was just as serious, it seemed, and I had no room to interfere…
Then a sudden thundering explosion by the cathedral told me how incorrect I was.
“Ah, Razul? I ordered him to destroy the cathedral, and it seems he’s doing a thorough job.”
“What did you…?”
The kids and the orchestra were still in there. Shion and Diablo were charged with protecting them, but if all-out war was erupting, they were bound to be caught in it. I was hoping to make short work of Granville, but at this point, maybe it was best to eliminate this uninvited guest first.
With that in mind, I attempted to teleport myself to the cathedral. But Granville stopped me.
“Demon lord Rimuru, I will let this group entertain you. Enjoy! You may even find some of your own kind among them!”
Several people stepped up at his order. Immediately, I understood what he meant. The group consisted of many races and many ages, no real theme to them, but they each had something in common—more magicules than any regular person would possess.
“Otherworlders? Ah. Yeah, maybe there’s one or two Japanese people in here.”
Now was not the time to act all casual about this. I had ten or so otherworlders attacking me at once. Like Glenda from the past, they seemed to be under the effects of a locking curse, robbed of their freedom of movement—and unlocking that curse wouldn’t stop them, by the looks of it.
Still…
“Heh-heh-heh. You intend to fight? You realize they’re only doing this because I’ve enthralled them, do you not?”
How treacherous of him. I’m sure he said that to make me hesitate…and I hate to admit it, but it worked.
“I heard how soft and weak-minded you were. Can you kill innocent human beings? Can you tell yourself this is war and step up to defend yourself? Not that I mind either way, of course.”
Granville only saw the summoned otherworlders as weapons, nothing more. To him, they only had value as throwaway pawns. And he was right—killing them shouldn’t make any difference to me. He really was a menace. Clearly, he had done his research. If Diablo or Shion were taking these guys on, they’d show absolutely no mercy, I’m sure. But did that make it okay, or not okay, for me…?
“Ah, dammit! What a pain in the ass!”
I had no time to agonize over this. The children were in danger if I didn’t do something fast, and now the damage was just gonna get worse. At this point, there was just one option to take. As annoying as it was, I’d have to unlock the curses of every one of these guys and knock them out nonlethally.
Thus, I was now an active participant in this battle.
My fellow humans were closing in on me. For all I knew, maybe they were from some other planet (or dimension) besides Earth—but now my mind was wandering again. Guess I was back in my element.
Otherworlders were blessed with extraordinary physical skills, as well as a variety of special skills that were impossible to predict. That made them dangerous, of course, but they weren’t a threat to me. Not even Glenda could hurt me, whether I put up a defense or not. That’s how all-powerful the combo of Absolute Defense and Infinite Regeneration was.
These foes were still a handful, but not much more than that. With enough time, I could safely neutralize all of them. I wasn’t about to go easy on them, but that was my honest assessment. Besides, I had Raphael, which meant that going easy wasn’t an option to start with.
So I used part of my vast computational skills to begin surveying the situation.
First, I looked at Hinata, fighting right next to me. Granville, who had mercifully shut up for me, was gracefully clashing swords with her, both of them equipped with nothing but their rapiers. They held them in their right hands, their left kept behind their backs for magic-casting purposes.
“Tch! So when you posed as Gren, you were hiding your full powers? I recall that you specialize in bare-handed close-range combat, but you’re rather handy with a sword as well.”
“Heh-heh! I have experience with all weapons. I just never needed to use it before now.”
“Oh, no? Then let me strip you of your mistaken confidence.”
Hinata was leaving nothing on the table. That much was clear from how she used Moonlight, her sword. What I wondered about was Granville’s blade. If he could use it to keep Hinata’s at bay, it couldn’t have been any normal weapon.
Understood. Unable to determine weapon class due to interference. It is believed to be classed at Legend or higher.
Hmm. A surprising appraisal. Raphael hadn’t made any mistakes as of late, but here you go. Perhaps I underestimated Granville quite a bit.
I doubted it, but was Hinata in, you know, big trouble here? I mean, I didn’t think she’d lose or anything…but I couldn’t dismiss the possibility, and that unnerved me. Not even Raphael had a bead on his skill level.
So Hinata and Granville’s duel piqued my interest, but I had even bigger fish to fry—namely, the intense battle I was sensing from the direction of the cathedral. I honed the accuracy of my Magic Sense, turning my eyes toward the fray.
There, I saw a man in a suit of dark armor. Amazingly, he was fighting against Shion and Diablo at once—and not giving an inch of ground. I suppose he wouldn’t. His magicule level was higher than both of them combined.
“Damn, you’re kidding me. You were hiding someone with power beyond a demon lord’s?”
“Of course. When facing the demon lords or other monsters who threaten humankind, you can never have too many aces up your sleeve.”
Granville must’ve picked up on my muttering if he replied to it. He was in the middle of fighting Hinata and still had the time to answer me. Wow. But hey, if he was open to chatting, we’d get some more info from him—and if it distracted him along the way, that was two birds with one stone.
“He has to outclass Roy, right? That demon lord stand-in? Maybe stronger than you?”
I worked a bit of a taunt into my question.
“His name is Razul. My friend for the past millennium.”
Glad he was nice enough to reply. Hinata was still silent; I suppose she understood my aims and chose not to interfere. So I continued.
“Your friend, huh? But Razul doesn’t seem human to me.”
“What of it?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I just wanted to find out what he really was. Now I knew he wasn’t human, at least, and that was a step forward, but…
“Well, nothing…”
I felt talked down to a bit, which was annoying.
“He comes from a long-lived race, you see. My partner during my glory years. Given how he’s got far more power than a paladin captain, I’m sure your underlings must feel overwhelmed right now.”
Granville was right. Shion and Diablo were having a hard time of it. I thought having Diablo around kept us safe, but maybe that was too optimistic?
…Hang on. Actually, here was something weird. It was like Diablo’s having trouble focusing or something.
Report. Unusual rifts in space detected. It is a sign of someone using Spatial Transport to appear.
The warning from Raphael came all too suddenly. It almost never gave me alerts like that unless things were really serious, so I had to treat it as an emergency. No need to go easy any longer. Diablo must’ve been picking up on this anomaly, and it was keeping him from concentrating.
(Ranga, you there?)
(Yes, my master!)
Ah, good! He was usually curled up in my shadow these days.
(Back up Shion, but keep yourself concealed!)
(Right away!)
At once, he used Shadow Motion to dive into Shion’s shadow. When I saw he was ready, I gave out my next order.
(Diablo, is something bothering you?)
(My pardons, Sir Rimuru. I know my difficulties in this battle are unforgivable, but the fact is that this adversary is more powerful than I anticipated. He is a highly evolved example of the uncommon insectoid race, and to demons, they are a kind of natural enemy.)
Diablo described insectoids as cross-dimensional magic beasts with elemental powers. They appeared now and then in this world, but it was extremely uncommon for them to evolve into humanoid creatures. I figured Diablo could still win against him, but he wasn’t. Something far worse was troubling him—and now that this something was incoming, I wanted Diablo to address it first.
(Shion, you heard him. If Diablo’s making excuses, it must be something really serious.)
The moment I said that, I could practically feel Diablo’s discomfort from over here. He’d never resort to excuses like this usually, so I immediately knew he was hiding something. And if I wanted him to retain full freedom in this battle, I needed Shion’s and Ranga’s help.
(Shion, I just planted Ranga in your shadow. Both of you work together to defeat Razul, that insectoid.)
(No need to order us!)
(I will live up to your expectations, Master!)
Looks like Shion picked up on Diablo’s difficulties as well. I’m sure she would’ve taken measures even without an order. But if she did, it would’ve been Shion alone against the mighty Razul, which would only be more dangerous. Not that I didn’t trust her, but I wanted our plans to remain as safe as possible. Maybe setting two allies against him was a cowardly move, but in an actual battle like this, guaranteed victory was always your final goal.
(Diablo, go take care of whatever’s bothering you. Also, try to trust and rely on your allies more.)
(…!! Keh-heh-heh-heh… Very well. I suppose I thought a little too much of myself today. Allow me to take care of this problem at once!)
Not just a “little,” I’d say. But at least he sounded a bit more like himself again.
(Right, everyone… Begin!)
(((Yes, my lord!)))
I wasn’t used to giving out orders like these, but all three gladly accepted them. Now I just had to hope for the best, as I brought my full focus back to neutralizing the otherworlders.
“Keh-heh-heh-heh… Sir Rimuru sees everything, I suppose. I would be a fool to think otherwise.”
“Of course he does, Vice Secretary. Just go and deal with your problem already!”
“You don’t have to remind me. As I think you’ve noticed, Razul is more powerful than you. Are you sure you’ll be fine, Secretary?”
“Hee-hee-hee! I never thought you’d worry for me, Vice Secretary…or Diablo, I should say. You’re strong, I’ll admit. Stronger than me, even. So go defeat that foe so Sir Rimuru has nothing to worry about! That’s your job, isn’t it?”
“…!! Keh…heh-heh-heh. You called me by name…”
“Just go! Leave this fight to me!”
“I believe in you, Lady Shion. Not because Sir Rimuru ordered me to—the feeling is genuine.”
“Just Shion is fine. It’s weird, you showing me proper respect. There’s no heart in it.”
“Keh-heh-heh-heh… Best of luck to you, Shion.”
“You too, Diablo.”
In that short conversation, conducted without any eye contact, Shion and Diablo finally accepted each other. They both had overinflated senses of pride, perhaps, but deep down, both of them knew the extent of each other’s power.
Diablo walked off, not looking back as he gave orders to his staff.
“Venom, protect those children like your life depends on it. Or sacrifice your life for it—either way, just do it.”
Rimuru had given no orders for Diablo’s own forces. He thus saw no need to consider their feelings. All that really mattered here, he coldly reasoned, were the children and the orchestra.
“Oh, um, all right.”
Wish he could’ve considered us a bit more, Venom thought—but he wasn’t foolish enough to say it. If he did, Diablo would’ve ended his life before any foe could.
Besides:
Well, looks like Lady Shion and Sir Ranga are handling the major threat. With all of us, protecting this area should be doable enough. It beats fighting Sir Diablo, at least…
That summed up Venom’s feelings on the subject.
“May victory be yours, Sir Diablo!”
“Silence. I have no interest in you worrying over me.”
Diablo wasted no time coldly brushing off Venom’s encouragement.
There’s the Diablo I know…
Venom’s memories of being forcibly pressed into service by him flashed through his mind. He banished them as quickly as he could. If Diablo ever saw him looking disgruntled, there was no telling how he’d react.
As he mentally refocused on his mission, Diablo left the scene to his friends and strode off the battlefield.
He teleported to his destination, reappearing in a spot removed from the cathedral, and outside of Lubelius itself—a corner of a vast, vegetation-free plain. Awaiting him was a beautiful blue-haired woman in a dark-red maid outfit. Several paladins were on the ground at her feet—even these guardians of humanity, each one boasting the power of a thousand, were helpless against her.
“How nice to see you again, Noir. I was growing impatient with your lateness.”
“Indeed, I could feel your murderous rage from miles away, but I had some business I couldn’t extract myself from. But I’d really prefer if you called me Diablo, Bleu…or I suppose you had a name, too, didn’t you, Raine?”
Raine, the blue-haired beauty, gave this response a satisfied smile. “That’s right. The name Raine was granted to me by Rouge, the Original Red, the great Sir Guy himself, strongest of the Primal Demons. It’s not at all like being named by some mutt of a demon lord like you were.”
“Huh? Are you looking to die? Or maybe you want to be detached from this world entirely. Keh-heh-heh-heh… I’ll be happy to oblige.”
Diablo’s smile remained, but his gold eyes were no longer friendly. The red pupils within them narrowed as he eyed his prey.
“Let us battle, Diablo! Ah, I cannot wait for this. Ever since I detected you fighting Blanc over to the east, I’ve always wanted a chance at you.”
“Ridiculous. If you think this will be any fight at all, you are sorely mistaken.”
“Well, why don’t we begin and find out?!”
With that signal, Raine made good her question and went on the move, dropping a chop with her hand that moved beyond the speed of sound. A casual wave of Diablo’s arm deflected it. It delighted Raine. The wish she kindled for many long years was finally happening.
Yes… Yes, this is it. I can’t have this end that quickly. We are both Primal, and yet you enjoy all of this freedom. No building your own factions, no undertaking someone else’s mission… All demons want nothing more than a physical body, and you laughed that off…
It was fair to say that Raine was jealous of Diablo. For someone like her, who followed the rules by the book, his behavior was inexcusable.
He fought Sir Guy to a draw, as loath as I am to admit it…and here he is now, blithely wandering around, no desire for more strength. As a demon, he needs to gain a body the right way! He needs to strive for what lies beyond his evolution!
All of Raine’s power was being thrown Diablo’s way. After stewing over these emotions for years, she was now acting on them.
Diablo—Noir, the Original Black—was a unique demon. Long, long ago, he and Rouge fought to be crowned the strongest of their kind. The match, while ending in a tie, wound up sealing both of their respective fates. Rouge manifested in the physical world, gaining untold powers, but Noir refused to change, turning down his chance at evolution.
The cases of Blanc, Jaune, and Violet could be understood—those three colors were all meddling with one another, preventing any evolution, creating a sort of balanced rivalry that remained to this day. But Noir, despite having no such restriction, simply remained his natural self and enjoyed life, as if he thought the other six shades were all fools. That is how things had been for tens of thousands of years.
And it was exactly why Raine could never forgive Diablo. He was so selfish, going wherever his whims took him, living in perfect freedom—and Guy, the strongest of all, recognized him as an equal.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re right. All this dodging can hardly count as a battle. You always were good at evading things, if nothing else.”
“Keh-heh-heh-heh… I told you: Don’t get the wrong idea. I simply have no need to tap my full force against the likes of you. Also, I should note that I have zero intention of avoiding you.”
“Making apologies already? I’m sure you’re still too new in your body to tap its full potential, but don’t expect me to accept your pathetic excuses.”
Raine fired a bolt of magic from her fist. Exposed to the laws of nature, it transformed into a Nuclear Cannon blast—one Raine called for with no casting time. But Diablo, naturally, had expected this, not demonstrating a moment of concern as he cast dispulsion magic to make the nuclear blast vanish. This is what battle between high-level demons is about: breaking through one another’s layers of magical barriers and counterattack spells to land a lethal blow on your enemy. Neither side had any need for time-consuming spellcasting as they threw supercharged blasts of magic at each other.
And as more and more time passed…
“I—I can’t believe it! You were drawing this while you were fighting?!”
“That’s right, Raine. To me, fighting you was merely busywork. One can hardly call it an engaging game if you can already see the ending.”
Raine was in shock. The outcome was already set in stone.
Surrounding Raine was a layered circle, alive and glowing with magical runes. It had appeared in the air just now at Diablo’s signal, and now that she was in it, Raine could no longer move. Whenever she tried to, even a little, Diablo could summon any magic she wanted against her.
It was called:
“A… A multilayered Disintegration…? The antithesis to all demons, a magic dangerous enough to crush us all… Why do you…?!”
Diablo looked coldly down upon her, a slight sense of pity in his otherwise-frozen mind, as if he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t know.
“Ridiculous. As long as my faith in my master is deep enough, I can even hold sway over spiritual particles. Common sense, don’t you see?”
“Are you insane?! How could that ever be common sense…?!”
“But let me extend you the courtesy of ending this. You have insulted my wondrous master Sir Rimuru, and soon you will burn with regret.”
Seven rays of light were released. Even one of these deadly arrows held the power of absolute destruction, and now they came crashing down upon Raine…
From the bottom of her heart, Luminus was irritated.
Right here, in the midst of the concert she invited the demon lord Rimuru to stage, she had allowed Granville to arrange an all-out rebellion. Such a dreadful error was unheard of in the history of her nation. She was taken by an urge to run to the cathedral and massacre everyone inside herself, but her sense of reason (and her instincts) restrained her. She realized that, as public of an attack as this was, it was undoubtedly a diversion.
Louis and Gunther, stationed by Luminus’s side, stayed silent, not willing to set her off. They said nothing—like Luminus, they were greatly disturbed but not stupid enough to prioritize the wrong thing here.
If Granville’s blitz was a diversion, what purpose was there to it?
I’m sure he knows about my cherished ark. That means there’s a nonzero chance he’s thinking about releasing the girl inside…
The ark was the greatest of Luminus’s secret treasures. But she had an even bigger reason to keep it absolutely safe—and she knew Granville was aware of that reason. This is why it was hard to imagine him gunning for the ark—but still, she trusted her instincts. And she was correct to do so.
Here she was, inside her innermost chamber—a burial room, one nobody was supposed to know about. It was currently playing host to an uninvited guest.
“Well now, guess our little home invasion got spotted, eh? Or were you just beefin’ up the security around here?”
“Hoh-hoh-hoh! A pity. But here’s a bit of prey we can have some fun with. Think it’s all right for us to raise a little hell?”
“Fine by me, but you better be careful. That li’l beauty over there’s a menace, through and through. You’re the demon lord Luminus, ain’t you?”
The two home invaders—Laplace and Footman—stepped in, acting less than polite to their host. Luminus watched them as she elegantly relaxed on a couch in front of the ark she absolutely had to protect.
To her, this pair didn’t even remotely seem like a challenge. But something about the atmosphere kept her on close guard.
Luminus took care to conceal her rage as she spoke.
“…I will ignore your attitudes for the moment. State your names.”
Laplace was the first to react. He was a bit surprised that someone expected their break-in, but Granville had mentioned the possibility. To address it, he had provided them with a guide, someone to help them traverse the multiple defense lines blocking access to the chamber.
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Laplace, the Wonder Jester and vice president of the Moderate Jesters—a kind of handyman outfit, know what I mean? And this here’s Footman.”
He deliberately took a less-than-serious approach to the greeting as he motioned toward Footman.
“Hoh-hoh-hoh! I am Footman, the Angry Jester. Glad to meet you…although I don’t think we’ll be staying long.”
Footman, to his credit, was standing strong against this demon lord. His mind worked on simple terms—if there’s an enemy, he’d crush it. Now he was just waiting for Laplace’s signal to begin.
“That—and we’ve got one more person here. C’mon in!”
Another figure emerged through the door, a blond-haired beauty.
“…”
“She’s not too talkative, mind you. I think her name was—”
“No. I remember her… Yes, yes. Maria Rozzo? The woman Granville loved?”
“Yeah! Maria! That’s the name! Wow, Lady Luminus, you two knew each other?”
Luminus winced. “I’m not your friend, you know. We are done greeting each other, and thus there’s nothing left to discuss. Going forward, we will discuss matters not with words but with fists.”
Her patience was reaching its limit. She had detected this person hiding and decided to put up with it, but with Maria now introduced, she could endure this no longer.
“Eesh, no need to be so hasty. And yeah, we all know one another now, but I got a message from Granville, too.”
“Oh?”
“Right, so listen to this: ‘I await you up above. Let us settle this, demon lord Luminus. Come soon, or else those you hold dear will die.’ So there ya go! And I think that monster oughtta be in combat with the paladin captain, Hinata, by now, so who knows how that’s gonna turn out—”
Laplace was interrupted by a strike from the lunging Louis. Luminus had lowered her hand—her signal to commence the attack.
“It’s you, isn’t it? The man who killed my brother?”
“Tchh… Can’t you at least let me finish?! Ah well. I’ll spot you an answer to that one: Yes! I killed yer body double, Roy, sure enough!”
“Hmm. I have no interest in petty revenge, but since you’re here, perhaps I can prove to you that I am far more talented than he was.”
With that, Louis began stalking his prey.
“So I’m fightin’ you, then? Better not bore me, man!”
“Hohhh-hoh-hoh-hoh! I’d ask the same of you!”
Gunther and Footman eyed each other—and in the next moment, they flew out of the burial chamber. They had their own battle to fight, and collateral damage wasn’t remotely a concern to them.
“Louis and Gunther can be so annoying. They’re normally so calm and composed, but when the time comes to battle, they simply cannot hold back their thirst for blood. But I suppose the same can be said of me. Granville, just you wait. Even with your stout ally, you’ll find it impossible to stop me!”
Luminus, too, had her eyes sharpened upon Maria, the fleeting, silent figure.
“A corpse? It couldn’t be,” she continued, almost whispering to herself. “I see Granville still hasn’t given up. Maria is dead. Even with Resurrection, the miracle of my god, nothing can be done for a soul already lost. And now look…”
The figure before her wasn’t Maria at all. It was something in the shape of her.
“But very well. Allow me to perform your last rites!”
Her aura blazing around her, Luminus stood up—and with that, she and Maria began fighting at a level beyond what a normal person could even observe. Would the winner be Luminus or this thing taking the shape of Maria?
And then…the ark was left behind in the chamber.
Everyone had left the room, not wanting to damage it. And as if waiting for that exact moment, a lone boy appeared in the darkness.
“Ha-ha-ha! I didn’t think it’d go this much to plan. Granville was absolutely right.”
It was Yuuki laughing.
Never accepting Granville’s information at face value, he had remained in the shadows as he followed the intruders in. He had successfully shrouded his presence to all, even deceiving Luminus. He usually kept himself at least a little bit detectable, so he’d be ready if things ever went south. A lot of people could detect his presence that way, and once those adversaries presumed they had the upper hand, that made it easy to put them off their guard. Yuuki was always pursuing that strategy. His accumulated experiences were paying off in vital situations, including this very one—and now they let him obtain what he wanted with practically no work at all.
“So this is the ark?”
He reached out, touching that beautiful coffin of ice.
“Whoa. So that’s what makes it a holy coffin? Matter made out of pure spiritual particles… I didn’t know you could do that.”
Now he was glad he came. He wasn’t sure anyone besides him could even lay a hand on this thing. Even a magic-burning coffin couldn’t affect Anti-Skill, and that made it perfectly possible for Yuuki to make off with this ark.
Then, without another moment of hesitation, he smashed it open. The hidden treasure Luminus worked so hard to protect shattered all too easily.
Slumbering inside it was a beautiful young woman—the Hero everyone was after, no doubt.
“Ooh, there’s a seal on this girl’s body as well? Not that it’ll work on me…but I can deactivate it later, I guess.”
Yuuki chuckled. They certainly tried to be careful. A barrier more powerful than the ark itself covered the girl’s skin from head to toe. He could take his time removing it once he was back to safety.
As he made this decision, Yuuki’s eyes turned toward the girl’s face.
“Who is this girl anyway? She seems vaguely familiar…but nah. It can’t be that.”
She looked to be around sixteen, and while her long dark-silver hair hid her privates, she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on her.
“Hmm… I guess this is technically assault or something like that, but not much I can do there…”
With that whisper, Yuuki hefted the girl’s body up.
“Well, I’ve got my Hero. Now to flee the scene.”
With one more sly grin, Yuuki quickly left the chamber.
…Why is there a Hero sleeping in an ark anyway? Is she really the ultimate weapon Granville called her? And what does Granville even want?
Yuuki was a skeptical young man by nature, but given his rash opinion of his almost excessive talents, he often figured things would work out in the end. That was what his pride did for him, and thus, despite his doubts, he signed on for Granville’s operation…but at this point in time, he had no idea what kind of situation his actions were about to cause.
The otherworlders lurched upon me like zombies. Carefully, I neutralized them one by one, making sure not to kill any. With my powers, not even a hundred of these at once would give me a challenge…but undoing the locking curses on them all was a pain.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder about these otherworlders. I focused my mind upon them for a bit, and yes, they definitely packed a lot of magicules. They had real physical skill, too; some of them could even manage an A rank. But for some reason, they didn’t seem particularly strong to me. I thought that was just the difference in talent at first, but something told me that wasn’t the whole story. I was sure Granville’s robbing their freedom was one other reason, but was there something else?
Understood. In this battle, no adversary has used any unique skill so far.
Aha! That was it! And it made sense to me. None of these guys were using any kind of special attack, and that made neutralizing them pretty straightforward work. But would a group of otherworlders this big really have no uniques at all? Or were they going easy on me? Either way, it was kind of creepy.
Of course, no matter what Granville was planning, I’d just beat him, and we’d be done with it. That was the plan I had in mind as I turned my attention toward the last one of them.
She still looked like a young girl to me, maybe a bit past ten—her power would’ve just barely stabilized by that age. Like the others, she was intensely powerful, but that was it. With a now-practiced hand, I undid the lock on her—no problems there. She was conscious again and looking thoroughly confused, but there was no time to explain matters. Putting her to sleep for the time being, I laid her down where I had placed the others.
There were a few kids like her in the group, which made things seriously difficult for me. Granville didn’t seem to care much about how he looked in the midst of this, but regardless, I managed to take care of them all. I’m assuming he was just looking to buy some time; if I wanted to, it would’ve been quicker and easier to just kill ’em all. Along those lines, I guess it’s mission accomplished for him.
Still, the otherworlders attacking me were now neutralized. I don’t know what he wanted to do with the time he earned, but once I ended this battle, it wouldn’t matter anyway. I glanced across the battlefield to see how things were going.
The children were safe, which was a relief. Meanwhile, despite it all, Baton and his orchestra were still starting to practice their music. They had nerves of steel, I guess—or something of steel. I suppose focusing on something is a good way to calm your anxieties, though, so maybe it wasn’t that crazy after all.
Hinata, meanwhile, was fighting on an even keel with Granville. I had to hand it to her. It was literally a supersonic contest, an advanced back-and-forth where no one could afford a single mistake. If I stepped in without a plan, I could destroy the balance and inadvertently turn the tide of the battle. Better save that for later.
Shion and Ranga were being pushed back by Razul, but it didn’t look like they were that badly outclassed. Shion was taking Razul’s attacks, but as she did, she was swiftly healing herself each time. Ultraspeed Regeneration really was like cheating—it was easily enough to make up a difference like this one. Ranga, meanwhile, was concentrating on offense, diving into Shion’s shadow and sniping away when he found a blind spot, throwing in magic like Death-Calling Wind and Dark Lightning. I was impressed with his nimble performance—the only problem was that none of it worked on Razul.
I mean, Razul’s just insane. I recalled that if he’s an insectoid, that put him in the same family as Apito and Zegion. Their segmented eyes meant they had no blind spots, making it easy for him to dodge Ranga’s surprise attacks—and besides, most regular attacks didn’t faze him at all. What I thought was black armor was actually an exoskeleton harder than steel. He could simply lift up his left arm and stop Shion’s large sword in its tracks. Unless you aimed for his joints, you likely had no chance of damaging him. Even worse, judging by the way Ranga’s magic bounced off him, his surface must’ve had a Magic Interference–style effect applied.
No wonder he gave Diablo trouble. Magic was Diablo’s main thing, so I could see why he wasn’t the greatest matchup for Razul, although I think he’d still manage a win.
Given his edge against both physical and magic attacks, Razul was a serious threat. And someone this amazing was just meekly serving Granville, with no ambitions of his own…?
Well, as much of a challenge as he posed to Shion and Ranga, I figured I could handle him.
So I was about to head over there…and then I steeled myself as I turned toward the cathedral. I wasn’t alone—Hinata, Shion, and the others did the same, looking nervous. I think we were all justified. After all, the demon lord Leon—a guy who should never have been here—was standing in front of it.
He wore a white robe, a nice-looking, knightly suit of golden armor underneath. Handsome as always, to be sure, but he looked very peeved at the moment. And he wasn’t alone—several knights were stationed behind him, and by the looks of it, they were handpicked from his top officials. What’s he doing here? Is he friend or foe? I found it hard to picture him as an ally, but I really hoped he wouldn’t decide to fight us.
“Ah, you’re here, demon lord Leon? And, Hinata, you must be finding this terribly boring if you’re turning away from our battle.”
Granville sounded more like the bored one. He seemed totally unfazed, standing composed and not trying to sneak an attack on Hinata right now—although, of course, if he tried something so underhanded, he could’ve been walking right into her trap anyway. With this high-level a battle, you’d never be crowned the victor unless you overpowered your foe with a frontal attack. Either way, though, Granville clearly knew Leon was coming—his casual tone proved it. They had to be in cahoots.
“Aren’t you being a little too friendly with me? Who are you?”
“Ah yes, we haven’t met in person before. You’ve been very good to the children I’ve collected. I’m sorry to make you take time out to come here.”
“…”
Wait, they’re not in cahoots? Because it sounded like this was Leon and Granville’s first meeting. It could be an act, but… Oh, and speaking of which, a lot of the otherworlders I just fought against looked no older than middle schoolers. Was that what Granville was talking about…?
“What do you mean by that? I have no business with you. I came here to—”
“Hmm? I’m the one who summoned the children with the spells you taught me, you realize. Are you going to claim ignorance? Aren’t you using unstable otherworlder children to bring yourself more elementalists? Warriors as powerful as Shizue Izawa herself?”
It was like someone punched me in the head. Hinata lowered her own sword, eyes darting between Granville and Leon.
Report. Danger. The subject Granville Rozzo is using wordplay in an attempt to pit you against the demon lord Leon.
I had a hunch. Clearly Granville’s plan, however misguided, was to antagonize Leon as much as possible. It’d be a terrible idea to lend much credence to anything he said. And yet:
“How many failures do you think we had to endure to call over all the people you wanted? That’s what those people are. The castoffs.”
And yet, I just couldn’t ignore that. Shizu was summoned by Leon, then cast aside by him. And she wasn’t alone—Leon had reportedly summoned many other children. That was an unforgivable crime.
“Is that true?”
“Very true, indeed, demon lord Rimuru! As merchants, it’s our job to provide whatever merchandise our customers demand!”
Granville’s manner of speech irritated me. I wasn’t even asking him.
The providers need to have ethics, too. Throwing all the blame on the consumer went against my creed. But even ahead of that, there was something else I wanted to confirm.
“So…you summoned other people, too? Not just Shizu?”
“Yes.”
“Even when you knew that children subjected to unstable summonings have drastically shortened life spans?”
“That was—”
Leon was about to say something, only to be interrupted by a roaring, echoing laugh. Granville was the source of it.
“Heh-heh-heh… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Don’t make me laugh, Leon. Aren’t you the one who explicitly asked me to provide ‘otherworlder children no older than ten years’? Instead of attempting to subjugate the stable summons, you found it easier to make the unstable ones feel they owed you their lives, didn’t you? And you used them as weapons!”
Through the taunts, Granville’s goals were clear. He knew I could be a softhearted pushover, and he was attempting to milk that as much as he could, fanning my do-gooder attitude and trying to make me despise Leon. The thing was…his words were convincing. If Leon’s aim was to implant elemental spirits into children, then Granville was right—they needed to be “unstable.” And maybe that was why I detected exactly those sorts of elementals within Leon’s underlings here.
“…Is that true?”
“Yes. But there’s a reason for—”
“Shut up! You’re the cause of all this!”
With that shout, I started running toward Leon. I just had to go and give him a wallop, or I wouldn’t be able to contain myself. I knew full well I was playing into Granville’s hands, but I just couldn’t contain my rage for Leon any longer. I can hear his reasons later. First things first—I had to vent my anger.
So with everything I had, I struck at Leon. He didn’t move. All he did was raise a hand to keep his troops at bay, staring directly at me. Was he that confident, or…?
Leaving my accelerating thoughts in the dust, my fist drew closer and closer to him. He didn’t move.
…Target shows no signs of countering you. It will be a direct strike.
There was no trap in the end. My punch thundered against Leon’s right cheek.
“…Happy now?”
My full power was in that, but apparently it didn’t damage Leon much. I must have cut his lip, because he felt obliged to take out a handkerchief to wipe up some blood, but his composure was fully retained. Pfft. I know I wasn’t using any skill there, but maybe I underestimated him a little.
Still, that punch taught me one thing. This guy, the demon lord Leon, was more good-natured than I thought. He had no obligation to take that punch, but he shed all his defenses and took it anyway—and that proved it.
He came across as cold and unfeeling, but maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy, actually. Shizu didn’t hate him, after all. She tried to, but as she put it, she just couldn’t—and it was her final desire in life to figure out what Leon’s motivations were. Of course, I didn’t need Raphael’s warning. I was calm from the beginning. I made a promise with Shizu—a promise that I’d take the feelings she left behind and shove them in Leon’s face. And I was fully ready to take advantage of today for that.
Leon had to have some reason for what he did. I could decide later whether to forgive him. As entangled as things were today, making a foe out of Leon as well would be suicidal. Getting emotional like this wasn’t the shrewdest plan. He was no ally of mine, but he was no enemy, either—and now that I knew that, I had to speak up.
“Not yet, no. That was my way of expressing Shizu’s feelings, but I still need to show you mine. Let’s talk about things in depth right now!”
So will he pick up on my intention here? I noticed an eyebrow twitch up. That’s a relief. He’s not such a fool after all. So…great. Let’s talk it out, then—our plans for how to deal with Granville.
With that in mind, I readied my sword in Leon’s direction.
He was a dead ringer for Shizu in her youth. There was no pigmentation; his skin was smooth, his hair shining like each individual strand had its own glow. He couldn’t be described as looking Asian now, but he still retained Shizu’s core features, making them all the more beautiful. Now his golden eyes were trained upon Leon, his pink lips speaking to him.
“Not yet, no. That was my way of expressing Shizu’s feelings, but I still need to show you mine. Let’s talk about things in depth right now!”
Such were the words of Rimuru, and Leon immediately understood.
I see… He wants to take advantage of this situation. We barely know each other, and he’s decided to trust me without a moment’s doubt? He’s more stout-hearted than I expected.
But, Leon thought, he liked that. Rimuru seemed to be driven by emotion right now, but apparently that was all part of his calculations—his way of determining, in this chaotic battlefield, exactly who was friend and who was foe.
I always knew I couldn’t let my guard down around him…but at times like these, I’m glad he’s around.
He took his own blade up from his hip, holding it forward.
As he took the dragon airship here, Leon was briefed about an emergency magical call from Cerberus. It seemed one of his agents had fallen out of contact, and there was a chance someone had blown their cover. Exactly who found this agent out, they didn’t know—maybe it was the demon lord Rimuru, maybe one of the Five Elders. Maybe even the Crusaders, for all he knew. With the agent captured, and no further information available, nearly everyone was a suspect.
Of course, Leon wasn’t gullible enough to fully trust Cerberus. There was a plausible chance they were hatching an elaborate scheme to deceive him. But one thing was certain: Being here right now, in this holy space, was akin to walking into a trap. And yet Leon couldn’t stay away.
Even if this is a trap, if I find Chloe here…
No matter how much danger it entailed, Leon would never care. And now, crossing swords with Rimuru, Leon was finally serene again.
He looked around, surveying the area. The scene was shockingly chaotic. It was difficult to determine who was on which side. The elite magic knights guarding him had been dragged into the fray while he wasn’t paying attention. They had been lured into opening hostilities with some of the local defense forces.
(Keep yourselves defended! Do not kill the enemy!)
(Yes, sir!)
Now seemed like an opportune time to give Arlos the Silver Knight some orders. He did so via an anonymous magical call, but there was every chance someone would eavesdrop on it. That’s why he kept the order to something that wouldn’t cause problems later.
Regardless, Leon was the intruder here. To the demon lord Luminus, he was an uninvited guest, and it wouldn’t surprise him if she decided to retaliate. If she did, he wanted to retain as much of an advantage as possible while keeping the dead to a minimum.
But where is Luminus…?
Leon and Rimuru were fighting near the cathedral entrance while the paladin captain, Hinata, and Granville were a short distance away. Farther afield, Shion and Ranga—both present at the last Walpurgis—were in pitched combat against the insectoid Razul. Luminus, the master of these sacred lands, would never allow open warfare here…and yet, she was missing. And if someone like Luminus were pinned down elsewhere, that was seriously bad news.
To Leon, this entire situation was nothing short of nonsensical—but as he looked over matters, he could see where the trap was. Someone—he didn’t know who—was trying to goad him into fighting the demon lord Rimuru. What this someone didn’t expect, and what Leon was lucky enough to see, is that Rimuru wasn’t so easily hoodwinked. Now Rimuru was attempting to take advantage of that to gain control of things.
I see… So he’s the one behind all this? Very well. Might as well try trusting you.
It was a rarity for someone as wary as him, but for once in his life, Leon decided to meekly trust in Rimuru.