THE HERO AWAKENS
Hinata was faced with an irresistible temptation as she found herself about to be sucked into a bottomless abyss. Memories of times near and far crossed her mind—her life was flashing before her eyes.
Yes… Now I remember. Even my own dad played with me sometimes, huh?
She had been so focused on the “now” that she forgot all about it, but long ago, she belonged to a normal family. Normal, that is, until her father’s company went bankrupt, and everything fell apart. If her father could’ve kept it together, maybe her mother wouldn’t have gone insane, either. Hinata had too many of her own problems to think about just how much his father suffered. So he kept on hating him, resenting him, trying to pretend her current unhappy reality didn’t exist. She refused to forgive his crimes, judging him in her mind in order to justify her own actions.
Everyone has weakness in their heart. Her father did as well. And perhaps, if they all supported one another as a family, things might have turned out differently…
It’s comical for me of all people to talk about justice. Maybe that’s why I kept looking for traces of my father in him…
Hinata always felt saved by his sense of ideal justice, and by his bottomless softheartedness, although he’d probably deny it. Whenever her heart felt stretched, ready to burst, he always provided her the gospel of extra breathing room. That was him…but it was all in Hinata’s own mind. If she told him, it’d probably just annoy him. But sometimes she was tempted to anyway, on the off chance that maybe, just maybe, he’d accept her.
This is exactly what Granville said. I’ve never been able to forgive myself.
Now Hinata realized that it had all come too fast. She always lived under the idea that she’d never be forgiven. Her mother would never be sad for her; even if she somehow got back to her own world, nobody would celebrate. Only her faith in the idea of rescuing as many people as she could gave her motivation.
But now I’m just exhausted. I just want to gently float into this gloomy darkness…
Softly, Hinata’s consciousness drifted deeper into the swallowing dark. Her five senses were already gone, all resentment untangling itself from her heart, and there were already no regrets left—
“Don’t fall asleep!!”
Hinata’s consciousness awoke to the piercing scream.
Was that Chloe…?
The thought called Hinata back to reality. But this wasn’t reality—it was a very strange place to be. She could see outside through a window floating in space, but she wasn’t seeing with her eyes—rather, it was a sight she felt in her heart.
“That’s ’cause you’re inside me, Miss Hinata.”
Before she could ask Chloe’s voice what she meant, Hinata recalled the situation she was in.
Oh… Right. Granville stabbed me…but I’m not dead?
Remembering it all greatly confused her. Running her Measurer skill at full blast, she still couldn’t come up with a convincing answer. The fact that she could tap into her skills at all was incredibly odd.
“I’ll explain everything, so do your best to stay conscious for now. I also want you to sync up with me.”
“Sync up?”
“Yes. Can you see the light?”
Guided by Chloe’s voice, Hinata focused her consciousness. In another moment, she came across a small point of light.
“Right! That’s it!”
She—or her consciousness, although it felt like she was moving her body—headed for the light. And then, the moment she touched it, her consciousness was greeted with a dazzling rainbow of colors.
After a few moments:
“Are you awake?”
“Where am I…?”
“Good, you’re stable. So um, Miss Hinata—”
“Just Hinata is fine.”
“…Oh, okay! So anyway, Hinata, you were inside me—or my ‘soul.’ This is probably the first time for you, so it must be confusing, but that’s definitely what happened. If I didn’t get you out of there, you would’ve been swallowed up in an Unlimited Imprisonment!”
Then Hinata realized where she was. No wonder she didn’t have a body—her soul was inside Chloe, as she now understood. The Unlimited Imprisonment she mentioned was, no doubt, at the bottom of that gloomy darkness.
“Oh… Well, thanks for reaching out to me.”
She felt obliged to thank her.
After that, Chloe explained assorted things to Hinata. According to her, when Hinata was stabbed, her soul moved into Chloe. Normally, when you die, your soul separates from your body, dissipating into the air and ceasing to exist. This time, however, Chloe’s soul intervened with it, creating a highly unusual situation. It wasn’t enough to fully convince Hinata, but even before that, she had other concerns.
“So is Rimuru all right?” she frantically asked. “What happened to Lady Luminus? And to Granville?”
“Well,” Chloe coolly said, “I want you to stay calm when you hear this, but right now…we’ve gone back to a long, long time ago.”
“Huh?”
“You see that mountain over there?”
“Yes… Wait! Isn’t that the sacred peak of the Riola Mountains? So—so where are we? Based on my positional data… Are we in the Lubelius sanctuary?”
Hinata couldn’t be blamed for her panic. There, hazy in the distance, was likely the lofty Riola Mountains. They were visible because there was nothing between them and Hinata—just flat grassland. There should have been a city there, but there wasn’t. For a moment, she feared the worst—the city blown away by a war between superpowers—but then there’d be a barren waste here, not a healthy prairie.
Which meant…
“I know this is hard to believe, but I swear I’m not lying at all.”
Chloe had to be right. This would eventually become a sanctuary, but now they were in a time far before the founding of Lubelius. Hinata had heard that Luminus moved to this land over two thousand years ago…
“Are you kidding me…?”
She understood it was the truth, but she still had to say it. It was just so crazy—but then a question arose in her mind.
“Chloe, why are you sure this is the past?”
That felt important to ask. Assuming she was willing to accept that this was time travel at work, why did she know they were in the past? Maybe this was far in the future, long after their nation fell. There wasn’t a single other person in sight nor any buildings or ruins, so perhaps the past was more likely—but maybe the ruins were buried deep underground by now. It was impossible to say for sure.
But Chloe was confident as she smiled at Hinata.
“It’s simple! This isn’t the first time I’ve been here. My power keeps going out of control, you see, so I get sent back a lot—back here, too. So I remember it.”
Hinata had no idea what to say. Slowly, she mulled over Chloe’s words, gradually accepting them.
“Mind explaining what’s going on in more detail?” she asked in a somewhat threatening tone.
Chloe’s story was truly surprising.
It turned out her skill involves time travel of a sort—“of a sort” because Chloe herself didn’t understand it too well, either. Apparently, she couldn’t trigger it at will; the best she could do was recall events that happened in her past. But you couldn’t underestimate it, because past here meant the past that Chloe herself experienced—and since she was a regular time traveler, this past included events from the future.
Unfortunately, these memories weren’t perfect recollections. There’s always an element of vagueness in people’s memories. For many, it’s hard to remember exactly what happened when—and if you’re talking about memories from over two thousand years ago, of course it’ll be a tad garbled.
“So how did you discover this ability?” Hinata asked.
Chloe hesitated a bit before replying. “Um, when Mr. Tempest rescued me. He took Alice and me and everyone else to the Dwelling of the Spirits to stabilize us. Then I had a spirit planted inside me, but…”
Apparently, Chloe didn’t receive a spirit but an embodiment of her own powers from the future. Even more unbelievably, this embodiment was sentient.
“…I think I must’ve died at some point in the future, so I guess I just repeat this process of planting that version of me in myself.”
“So the Dwelling is where you learn of this process? Like, every time in the cycle?”
“Not exactly. I don’t remember anything about it at the beginning, but then once I start going back in time, I do.”
“You mean you’ve been doing this same thing over and over?”
“I think so. I can only really recall things from the last time around, but sometimes memories from elsewhere get mixed in…”
“Oh,” Hinata said, a bit relieved. If she was repeating the exact same life every time, that’d be a sort of living hell. No one is strong enough to continue waging a battle if you knew the end result.
So Hinata silently listened as Chloe continued. Apparently, her time travel always took place in the same era, in the same axis of time—those were likely the limitations of her skill. Exactly where she was taken depended on the timing of her out-of-control episodes.
In the previous cycle, Hinata apparently died in the Forest of Jura.
“Mr. Tempest had died, and Veldora got revived—”
“Huh? Rimuru died? Who did it and how? He’s practically unkillable.”
“Um, well, with this cycle, my memories between when I received myself in the Dwelling and when I get taken to the past are working out pretty differently. In fact, this is actually the first time Rimuru was still alive when it happened to me.”
Hinata found the sudden shift from Mr. Tempest to Rimuru pretty funny, but she didn’t point it out. Instead, she lent an ear to Chloe as she recapped her memories up to her last visit to the Dwelling.
………
……
…
During the last cycle, after rescuing the children, Rimuru used Spatial Motion to return to Tempest. He didn’t run into Hinata, missing her by only a few seconds at most. By this point, he had beaten up a lot of the otherworlders who came to Tempest, showing the nations bordering the Forest of Jura that he was no one to mess with.
When the danger Rimuru posed became common knowledge, the other nations of the world all but froze in place. The Kingdom of Farmus was still around, waiting for their opportunity to strike. Some sort of incident took place among the Ten Great Demon Lords as well, but all Chloe knew were rumors that something might’ve happened.
As Rimuru cemented his friendship with Grand Master Yuuki of the Guild, he began to exercise his influence on other nations—but apparently it was rough going, thanks in no small part to Farmus’s interference. But Rimuru didn’t give up, trying out all sorts of strategies. The children’s school was one of them, a place in Tempest where Chloe and the others could get an education alongside monster kids.
Suddenly, though, everything changed. At the behest of the Council of the West, Hinata led a suppression force to attack Tempest.
“I did that?”
“Yeah. It was pretty scary, Hinata.”
“Oh. Sorry, I guess.”
“No, it’s okay. You guys kinda made up after that, so…”
According to Chloe, Hinata and Rimuru staged a duel that ended in a draw—and when the children (Chloe in particular) intervened to plead Rimuru’s case, Hinata put her blade away.
“So you said ‘I’ll keep an eye on you’ and made nice with Rimuru.”
Sensing something strange with Tempest, Hinata apparently kept up her own investigations of the country. As she did, she exposed the assorted nefarious things Farmus was up to, and that made her begin to trust in Rimuru.
Five years passed. Rimuru remained leader of the Forest of Jura, never becoming a demon lord, and his days were as busy as ever. Thanks to making peace with Hinata, he was on good terms with Lubelius—Luminus took a liking to him for some reason, which helped preserve the peace. Chloe also grew, becoming stronger and befriending the demon lord Milim as she paid regular visits to Tempest.
But that peace came to a sudden end on the fateful day when the Empire invaded.
“You know, I already liked Rimuru a lot by then. I didn’t want him to go off to battle, so I begged and pleaded with him. The Empire’s so big and strong; they had all these scary weapons, and I didn’t think we could win. But Rimuru just smiled at me and said ‘Don’t worry! I’ll take care of everything!’ I’m sure he was just as scared as me, but he tried to play it off…and he gave me this mask.”
“You mean Shizu’s…?”
“That’s right. I gave it to her.”
This was an event that happened in the future, but paradoxically in the past as well. It was a precedent that had a knack for occurring repeatedly, as Chloe put it.
So Rimuru set off for battle. He never came back, and soon the nation of Tempest fell. That was thanks to the suddenly revived Veldora, who flew into a murderous rage. The Empire was destroyed as well, and then Luminus, Hinata, and Chloe and the rest teamed up to take on Veldora—if they didn’t, all of humankind was in danger.
In the end, though, before they could settle that score…someone killed Hinata. A glinting flash pierced through Hinata’s chest, and then Chloe “woke up” and got sent into the past. She never did find out what happened next.
………
……
…
Chloe’s time loops tended to all work out in somewhat similar fashion, although there would often be disparities here and there. Apparently, the death of Hinata was always the key event, and the same was true this time as well.
This time as well…? I die every single go-round, don’t I?
This made Hinata feel a tad awkward. She didn’t know whether to feel sad or pathetic about it. But Chloe pressed on.
“But you know, this time is special. Every time I got sent to the past before, Rimuru would always leave the picture before I did. And he never got to see me off. Not even once!”
Up to now, every time loop involved Rimuru leaving everyone’s life for one reason or another. This time, however, he was still intact when the jump happened. Hinata knew that, and therefore, she expected this to conclude in some new, different way. There were a lot of differences from before, and—as Hinata decided—maybe they’d be able to put an end to Chloe’s looping for good.
“…You know him. You can’t help but hold out hope, no matter how illogical, that he’ll figure something out.”
“Right? So if we can get back to that time period, Rimuru will still be there. This time, I’m sure we can all survive—and we need to figure out who keeps killing him and you!”
They could hold out hope for the future. Hinata thought so, too.
“It sounds like a lot changed with this loop. I wonder what caused that…?”
“Hee-hee! Well, to tell the truth, I actually remembered a couple things from my future self at the Dwelling of the Spirits. That’s why, over at Englesia, I pleaded with him and kept him there for a little bit. And then I got this.”
Chloe took out the mask, seemingly from nowhere.
“So you got it again, this time around? Then maybe there’s a way for you to reach that future.”
Hinata’s attention was also on the mask. Since her death apparently happened under different circumstances, there may not have been any time for Chloe to receive the mask. If so, there may not be any mask for Shizue to receive this go-round—but if Chloe already had it, that wasn’t a concern.
Very shrewd of her, she thought as they worked out their next move. Trusting in Chloe’s words, she decided to place her hopes on the future.
“Also,” whispered Chloe, “lemme just say this one thing. I really love you, Hinata, but I won’t let you take Rimuru from me!”
“Huh?”
“Some battles a woman will never give up on, you know. Alice said so!”
Hinata smiled at her. She really is still a kid, huh? I mean, Rimuru and me? There’s no way that could ever possibly happen…
She chuckled, even as the thought of it “possibly” happening haunted her.
“N-no! Not at all! But we need to get moving!”
Confronted by Chloe, Hinata decided to change the subject.
…Thinking about it, this girl’s retained over two thousand years of memories and experienced them again and again, right? I was tricked by her looks, but maybe I was wrong to treat her as an innocent child…
Hinata had finally reached the truth…and so began their strange journey.
The first thing they did was travel to find Luminus, one of the few acquaintances of theirs who’d be alive in this era. Chloe immediately started walking.
“You know where she is?”
“Yeah. This really huge war—like, crazy huge—had just started, so I went to watch it.”
“Veldora, right?”
“Right. Rimuru introduced him as his friend in this cycle, but he was definitely an enemy the last time. It looked like he was fighting someone, so I wanted to lend a hand.”
“Oh. That was Luminus he was fighting, huh?”
“Yeah. So this time, I want to come a little early and help everyone escape before Veldora starts going nuts. I want to win Luminus’s trust and get her to work with us.”
Chloe sounded remarkably determined. She also had a great sense of direction, unlike Rimuru, so she headed for her destination without any help from Hinata. Before long, they arrived at the demon lord Luminus’s castle.
“So this is Nightrose Castle… No wonder Lady Luminus was so proud of it.”
It was beautiful, an entirely artificial structure that also boasted the splendor of a natural fortress. Thornlike protrusions were visible across its edifice, serving as standby posts for the castle lookouts. They quickly spotted Chloe, a small herd of vampires bustling over to greet her.
“I’m here to see Luminus,” she said to the soldiers surrounding her. “Please take me to her.”
Hinata was shocked.
“Wh-whoa! You think you can just walk up and demand to see a demon lord?”
Chloe paid the frenzied advice no mind.
“It’s okay. Luminus is my friend!”
“But that’s not until after you save her from Veldora, right? She doesn’t even know you at this point!”
Only then did Chloe realize she was mixing up her memories a little.
“Oh… You’re right. I’ve repeated this so many times, I guess I thought that part was done. And come to think of it, I always do start with you getting angry at me every time, Hinata…”
I knew it, Hinata thought as she feared for their future. Yes, Chloe was certainly used to this. Perhaps, since Hinata was experiencing this for the first time, she’d handle this with a little bit more carefulness. So she suggested that she could serve as leader.
“Listen, Chloe. I’m going to give you advice, but don’t reply to it right away, okay? Don’t talk until I’m done telling you what to do.”
“Um, all right. That’s probably a good idea. If I say something weird, I might wind up changing history.”
Hinata was relieved to see Chloe readily accept the offer. At the same time, the portent behind what she said made her blood run cold.
Wait a second! She’s right, isn’t she? If we do something wrong, it’d mess with history itself, right? We’re connected to a pretty hopeful future here, but one mistake, and we could screw up the whole thing!
Now she was extremely grateful for intervening before Chloe did anything rash. They had already messed this up big-time, but at least they wouldn’t be stacking up more disasters on top of that. They were still okay, she thought.
Soon, they were brought to Luminus. It wasn’t easy, of course, but Chloe quickly talked the guards down, never taking no for an answer.
“Um, do you remember what I just told you?” Hinata asked, quivering as she kept her anger at bay.
“It’s fine,” Chloe breezily replied. “I’ve been through this once before, where I pushed my way in to warn them about Veldora’s attack!”
No shyness here, for certain. If this had worked before, Hinata wasn’t going to ask any more questions.
We’re still good. We should be all right. But I think we’ll need to make sure we’re on the same page…
Hinata internally sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead.
“So you say that evil dragon will come here soon?”
“Yes. I know you’re really strong, Luminus, but you can’t beat Veldora. He’s going to destroy this whole castle, so I want you to evacuate as quickly as you can.”
Hinata was nervous. Was this really all right? After gauging Luminus’s personality, her Measurer skill indicated that a straight approach was the correct one—but not on everything, of course, or on the really important parts.
“Hmm. I don’t know you well enough to believe you. Do you have any sort of evidence?”
Luminus sounded a bit friendlier now…but they couldn’t rest easy yet. This was a performance, one meant to cast off any fools wasting Luminus’s time. Hinata knew that quite well, so she quickly gave more advice to Chloe, asking her to confirm what era this was and pooling their knowledge together to calculate exactly when Veldora would attack.
“Well, it looks like Veldora will be coming here no sooner than two weeks from now. Once fall arrives, for sure. So be on the lookout, all right?”
Luminus was no idiot. She could analyze Chloe’s pulse and other factors, trying to determine whether she was lying. This could just be a concocted story, but someone like Chloe who could talk her way through the castle guard seemed unlikely to try anything that foolish.
In the end, Luminus saved her decision for later and offered Chloe lodging in the castle.
Then, in another little while, Veldora came. Luminus fought bravely, Chloe attempting to join in before Hinata stopped her.
“Listen. Last time, you said you didn’t fight Veldora in this era, right?”
“Right, but…”
“Forget all your other memories. Right now, what we need to do is follow our footsteps from last time. In order to win Luminus’s trust, we need to talk to her about the future—but don’t talk about the future results from this time around. If we just retrace the route we took last time, we’re bound to reach the future from the current cycle.”
It was important enough of a point that Hinata said it twice. Chloe, taken in by her force of will, nodded her approval. She understood it well. If they told Luminus about their memories from the current loop—how Granville betrayed them, for example—Luminus would no doubt kill Granville right that minute, and Chloe and Hinata would lose their link to the future they came from. Both of them knew they had to avoid this at all costs.
Thus, while Veldora destroyed the castle, Chloe’s timely warning kept human casualties quite low. This was the same as the history Hinata was taught.
Given Chloe’s apparent clairvoyance, Luminus enthusiastically trusted her. The two of them became friends, and right now, they were seated facing each other behind closed doors.
“So you’re telling me, Chloe, that you’ve traveled through multiple loops in time?”
“That’s right. My memory extends approximately two thousand years into the future. Would you like to hear more?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
With Luminus’s permission, Chloe gave her story, internally discussing it with Hinata as she did. For the next two millennia, she will be a Hero—and at the end of those two thousand years, a slime by the name of Rimuru will make his appearance. This Rimuru will perish in battle, and then Veldora will be unleashed. Before that point, Luminus will befriend a woman named Hinata—but she, too, will be murdered. Neither Chloe nor Hinata knew who was behind these deaths; Chloe couldn’t give all the details, but she described their deaths as much as she could.
“I see, I see. And you want to change that future for you both?”
“Not change, exactly. I want to retrace my previous steps through time, as much as I can. If I do anything too big that changes a lot of things, I think I’d wind up in a completely different future.”
“Yes, I can imagine. Certainly, I have no qualms with the future you describe—I doubt I’d take the death of this Hinata too well, but otherwise, it sounds fine to me. After all, how much can I ask for from a friend I haven’t met?”
Luminus smiled.
Luminus… Thank you. I’m truly happy you said that.
Given her unfriendly appearance, it may have been a little hard to believe, but Luminus was actually a very gentle woman. Hinata knew that well.
“Then I promise I will cooperate with you. Roy can be a handful, but you will have nothing to worry about from the others. I will inform them all that you are my friend, Chloe. Now, what are you going to do next?”
Luminus’s sharpened eyes descended on Chloe.
“Well, the same thing I always do. I’m a Hero, and I have to help people in need!”
That right-minded answer made Luminus flash a beaming smile.
“Will you, now? Well, how nice. I’m curious to see how your fate will affect others. But what will you call yourself?”
Chloe—and Hinata—froze for a few moments.
“You probably shouldn’t go by the name Chloe.”
“Yeah. My friend Leon’s bound to suspect something.”
Even discounting that, Chloe wasn’t known as a Hero yet. She gave her real name to Luminus, but it’d likely be safer to keep it hidden from the general public.
“What should I do?” Chloe asked Hinata.
“What do you usually do here?”
“Um, I don’t have any real script. Usually, I guess I just kinda leave at this point without giving a name.”
Hinata was just about to say “Well, just do that, then” before she stopped herself. For some odd reason, she remembered something Rimuru once told her—specifically, his anecdotes about running into trouble after naming certain monsters. So she just suggested the first name that came to mind.
“Well, in that case, given your Time Travel skill, why don’t we combine Chloe with Chronos, the overseer of time, and have you go by Chronoa?”
“And not, um, Chronoe or something?”
“That’s too close to your own name. You might blow your cover, depending on how people pronounce it.”
“Oh! Good point. Okay, Chronoa it is!”
Hinata had held an emergency conference in her mind, accelerated by her Measurer skill, and together they had come up with a suitable alias.
“…I will go by Chronoa. It looks like it’d be better if I didn’t throw my real name around in public. So from this day on, I’ll call myself the Hero Chronoa!”
This would mark the first time the name Chronoa was recorded in history.
Abandoning the ruins of their castle, Luminus and her followers sought out a new land. Chloe, naturally, accompanied them.
“So why did my Usurper skill disappear anyway?”
“I don’t know. Every time, though, your powers wind up integrating with mine, so…”
Chloe fell silent, seemingly finding it awkward to say. It gave Hinata a vague but decent idea of how her end would come.
“Well, all right. I guess it turns out the same regardless; it’s just a matter of timing. But if naming you took away one of my own powers, I guess Chronoa has some kind of monster aspect to her, doesn’t she?”
“Hey! That’s kinda mean, don’t you think?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I meant nothing by it.”
“You can be real nasty sometimes, y’know? No matter how pretty you are, you’re never gonna attract anyone with that attitude.”
“Ah, knock it off. I’m dead anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
They kept bickering as their journey continued.
Once she left Luminus’s side, Chloe began making a name for herself as a Hero, just as she promised. Time passed…and then they reached a point three hundred years before the last leap backward, just before the moment Veldora was sealed away.
As per usual in her long voyage through time, Chloe had picked up skills like Absolute Severance and Unlimited Imprisonment. Hinata, meanwhile, supported her inside her body, using her Measurer skill to help out. So it was with a less-than-enthusiastic tone of voice that Chloe met with Luminus again and said:
“Okay, I’m gonna go seal Veldora away.”
“Ah yes, you did mention that long ago, didn’t you? But are you sure you can do that?”
Luminus looked worried. Unlike before, she and Chloe were now fast friends.
“I’ll be fine. I have Hinata with me.”
She had told Luminus, and Luminus alone, about Hinata. The demon lord readily accepted her.
“Very well, then. But don’t push yourself.”
“She’ll be fine. I’ll be the one taking on Veldora.”
“What?”
This was news to a surprised Chloe, even though the unconcerned Hinata made it sound like settled business.
“I’ve already fought Veldora once. And when I did…”
Hinata recalled how it went:
“Kwaaah-ha-ha-ha! How weak! You call yourself the defender of humanity? Do not make me laugh!! Ahhh-ha-ha-ha, can you no longer stand? It serves you right, for I will never taste defeat! Now to put an end to this—for I am a busy dragon!”
It was a pretty humiliating memory.
“…A lot of stuff happened between us, so I really want to kick his ass, or I’ll never be happy.”
She meant it. Chloe could tell by the tone of her voice, as could Luminus.
“I understand all too well what you mean. I was hoping to bring that lizard to tears myself.”
“Back in our fight, I managed to get him to reveal the scope of his powers. I’d like a chance to take advantage of that.”
Both Hinata and Luminus were enthusiastic about delivering Veldora his just deserts. Chloe, who recalled enjoying Veldora’s company, couldn’t hate him that much—but given how much destruction he was responsible for in the past, she couldn’t defend him that ardently.
“Well, I don’t know everything about you, but don’t hurt him too bad, okay? Because Veldora really is a good person.”
So Chloe decided to let Hinata do what she wanted.
And at the site of the final battle, Hinata proved to be powerful, indeed. With Chloe’s support, they managed to completely shut Veldora out.
“Gwaaahhh!!”
Hearing that pained scream, the beauty underneath the mask blushed, basking in her satisfaction. Then she turned control of Chloe’s body back to her.
Now Chloe’s time was ending. The moment had arrived.
“I didn’t tell you this until now, but I think I’m gonna disappear soon.”
“What are you talking about, Chloe?” Luminus asked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well…”
Chloe began to reveal what she’d kept hidden this whole time. It was, in effect, what Hinata had secretly been surmising. Before much longer, Leon—the Leon that Hinata knew of—would appear. It seemed, apparently, that Leon and Chloe came to this world at the same time, and therefore you’d have the rather odd situation of two Chloes existing simultaneously.
If advanced theories about multiverses were true, and there are parallel universes for every plane of existence, then maybe two Chloes at once would be all right—but what if there weren’t? Chloe’s Time Travel skill was an aberration. Maybe there’s no such thing as being too weird and outrageous to be allowed to exist, but the idea of multiple worlds being born was a little too far-out there for Hinata.
Instead, the idea of the world being remade was more tangible. Otherwise, you’d have multiple versions of yourself across multiple worlds, and everything Hinata and her friends were doing was inherently pointless. The idea that she’d find salvation in some worlds and doom in others wasn’t something Hinata was willing to accept. That’s why she wanted to end Chloe’s looping and save the world for good this time—even if meant sacrificing herself along the way.
There was a problem, though, one that Chloe was expressing right this minute.
But I guess my reasoning was sound after all…
It seemed, once everything was said and done, that the “one single world” theory was correct—and the world thus would never allow contradictions.
…Well, not quite. It’s not that contradictions are verboten—it’s that anything that causes the world to unravel is. But if you have enough power to force the issue, you can shove in any paradox you like. I mean, there’s no other possible way to explain that mask.
Hinata was relieved that her guess was correct, but at the same time, the future began to look much gloomier to her. From here on out, she realized, it’d all come down to luck and the efforts of other people.
“…And the thing is, I have zero memories from beyond the moment that happens. If I had to guess, Hinata, you probably take over later and help out Ms. Izawa for me, but…”
“And I suppose, from that moment you describe, I can’t do anything until the other ‘me’ who doesn’t know anything shows up, right? So what do you think happens after that?”
In the future, Luminus was carefully storing something she cherished. Looking back, was it Chloe herself in there, sealed away?
“All I can vaguely remember is that I was struggling against something. I’m thinking that whoever’s in there is probably a different personality than me.”
Then Hinata remembered that she had come up with the Chronoa name—and when she did, someone took a skill away from her. Maybe, she finally realized, that really was some monsterlike individual.
“Well, Chloe, are you going to lose consciousness soon, then? That’s probably the result of the same person existing in multiples along the same time line. I think your theory is correct, Hinata.”
“Yes. And the new Chloe, the one about to be born, is the one that’ll eventually get thrown all the way back to the past.”
“I imagine you’re right,” said Luminus.
“Yeah. So, Hinata, I know this is asking a lot—”
“It’s all right. Once I save Shizue, I’ll rely on Lady Luminus after that.”
“Leave everything to me. I can use my spiritual force to create a compartment—an ark, if you will—to isolate you from the present age, Chloe. Both of your souls will likely be thrown into the future, and I promise you… I will find them and undo that seal when everything is complete again.”
Chloe, Hinata, and Luminus’s hearts were one in that moment. And with that, they left Luminus to handle all their futures.
With Chloe’s consciousness now gone, Hinata was by herself.
Now that her theory was proven correct, Hinata was racked by intense anxiety and pressure. The anxiety was over being left alone. The pressure came from this intense something within her, attempting to take over her body from the inside.
Once Chloe—the main Chloe—disappears, I’m sure Chronoa is going to wreak havoc. But I didn’t expect this much havoc…
Despite her astonishment, Hinata’s iron will beat all that anxiety and pressure down. She rescued Shizue from Leon’s castle, safely turning the mask over to her—and once this mask of unknown origin was out of her hands, that marked a great mountain Hinata had overcome.
It almost felt nostalgic to her, traveling with Shizue, although Hinata never revealed it. But that era, too, ended. The day of their separation was here. She wanted to spend more time with Shizue, but it was an impossible dream. With Chloe’s main personality gone, Hinata could no longer control Chronoa herself. At this rate, the whole plan was in danger of falling apart, ruining all their hard work. Thus, Hinata followed history, left Shizue, and relied on Luminus.
They never did find out who Chronoa was, in the end. Hinata was now in the ark, and once she was settled in, another Hinata—one who knew nothing about any of this—would soon appear in the world. Once she did, what would happen to the Hinata sleeping inside her coffin? If she was lucky, nothing. If not, it’d be Chronoa waking up next, not her. But even if it came to that…
Even it comes to that, I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I believe in you, Rimuru!
Recalling that slime from deep within nostalgic memory, she smiled a little before closing her eyes.
Veldora approached Chronoa. The whining commenced immediately afterward.
“Gaarrrgghhh! She—she cut me! R-Rimuru, she cut me!”
Yeah, I’m sure she did. If you try stopping a sword with bare hands, that’s gonna happen.
That ain’t no normal sword, you know. It’s God class. Way fancy. And even if you didn’t have anything else available—your bare hands? Seriously? This dude really is weaker in human form.
Given all his confidence, this was a real downer for me. Honestly, I kind of hoped Veldora could take care of Chronoa in my stead, but I suppose things were never gonna go that easily.
“How unsafe can you get?! Couldn’t you see the danger?!”
Seeing Veldora in such embarrassing shape made me want to burst into tears. It was just too much to take.
“B-but, Rimuru, it is quite a bit sharper than the last time we fought…”
“Heroes get to fight with the Absolute Severance skill, okay? Didn’t you say she slashed you with that?”
Of course, I was no longer sure how credible the Absolute part of that was. All I know was, I sure didn’t want to test her Absolute Severance against my Absolute Defense.
“Y-yes, but I am impervious to that anyway…”
Veldora kept muttering as he started desperately dodging Chronoa’s attacks. She got a stab in now and then, but he seemed on top of things still, which was good.
In fact, I could get Veldora’s point. What he was saying, basically, is whenever he got cut in their last battle, it didn’t cause this much damage. But if you thought about it for a moment, it made perfect sense. It was just a matter of size. A sword could only slash across a given range, and even if you used a skill to expand it, I couldn’t picture ever being able to cleave Veldora’s gigantic body in two. But now he was in human form and trying to defend against a bladed weapon with his arms, for God’s sake, so of course he was gonna get a scratch or two. I guess he was healing them as soon as he sustained them, but I’m sure that was consuming a lot more magicules than his dragon form.
Maybe he got better fuel performance as a human, but against Chronoa, he no longer had an edge to speak of. His much-ballyhooed Veldora-Style Death Stance wasn’t exactly saving him against a foe with a sword, either. But I wasn’t panicking. This would be a good lesson for Veldora, so I decided to have him continue distracting Chronoa for me.
I turned toward Leon. Under the protection of Charys, he was currently performing a summoning. Not that much time had passed, I imagined, but it felt like forever as he summoned a single rapier.
“Sorry to keep you. I can’t do anything without a weapon. I want to have my Flame Pillar, my preferred weapon from my Hero days.”
Another God-class blade? That’s an ex-Hero and current demon lord for you. He also had a shield, a so-called Gold Circle, equipped on his left hand, and that was Legend class as well. Impressive, definitely, but I didn’t think it would stop Chronoa’s blade. “Better than nothing,” I’m sure he was thinking. Regardless, Leon had his equipment.
Now we could step up and counterattack—but the moment I had that thought, Luminus was blown straight in my direction. For a moment, I feared she lost her fight, but she appeared unhurt—I guess that was just a performance, then. She looked at me for a moment, then slammed a Thought Communication into my mind.
(I have to tell you something—Chronoa is Chloe’s alternate self! Hinata’s soul might be sleeping in there, too, so whatever you do, do not kill her!)
…What?!
The fact that she was sending a Thought Communication at all was weird, but what she said truly surprised me. Like, don’t drop that bomb in the middle of this huge battle!
I watched anxiously as Leon headed off to confront Chronoa. Luminus, meanwhile, trekked back toward Granville, all but leaving things in my hands.
How was I going to deal with this? Chronoa was Chloe—and now that I looked, I could kinda see it on her face. I didn’t know what that “Hinata’s soul” stuff was about, though… But if it was true, what did that mean?
Report. Chronoa and Chloe can be considered the same person.
Meaning…?
In other words, the subject Chloe Aubert traveled through time and emerged in the past. It can be inferred that this Chronoa is the matured version of herself.
Um… Hang on. Was that even possible?
I was sure Luminus could clear this up, but she was fighting for her life against Granville, and I doubted she could give a full answer. That Thought Communication was about the best she could provide right now. But traveling through time, like some sci-fi story? Or more like a one-way journey, if she didn’t have control over it?
Ugh… Why am I believing in all this?
But Chloe really did disappear before my eyes. That was a fact.
Understood. If that disappearance marks her jumping through time, it would explain why the phenomenon was unexplainable earlier. One cannot observe temporal intervention without the ability to intervene oneself.
Sure. Maybe you understood the concept of time, but that didn’t mean you could observe time itself. Or really, maybe you don’t have to understand it at all. If you just treated it as “there,” the whole thing started seeming a little more coherent.
Maybe, when I tried to rescue young Chloe, I summoned something from the future? If something happened to Chloe in the future, and the spiritual body known as Chronoa wrecking things right now had taken a trip to the past…
Affirmative. It is agreed that the chances of that are high.
Ah. That explained why Ramiris had been in such a tizzy back then. I could sense an evil aura coming from Chronoa here, and if she felt it, too, no wonder she tried to stop it.
But there was no point worrying over it. So if Chloe had jumped through time, what was her current status? what was going on right now?
Report. It is impossible for multiples of the same soul to exist at the same point in space and time. It is believed that the resulting rejection sent one of the souls into the past. However, the ark—the spiritually powered barrier created by the subject Luminus Valentine—was created for the purpose of locking a soul inside. As a result…
So chances are good that both Chloe’s and Hinata’s souls are sleeping inside Chronoa? If the power of the ark could outclass Chloe’s time-travel force… Well, I had no choice but to believe in that right now.
What next, then…?
“Leon, don’t think about attacking Chronoa. Just focus on defending yourself.”
“Do you have an idea?”
“Yeah. I know it’s asking a lot to just trust in me, but—”
“—No, I will. You trusted me before.”
How surprising. I didn’t expect it to be that easy. He wasn’t acting all highborn with me any longer. I was starting to like this friendlier, more casual Leon. It came at the perfect time, and I appreciated it.
I turned to Veldora to give an order.
“Veldora!”
“On it.”
I didn’t say anything yet, man. But whatever. No time to lecture him.
“On my signal, I want you to pin Chronoa down. This is going to be really dangerous, as I’m sure you can tell—”
“I told you, Rimuru, I am on it. I believe in you, so go ahead and carry out your plan.”
…Well, that made me kinda happy.
In a way, not wanting to hurt Chronoa, or Chloe, was really just me being selfish. I was acting entirely on supposition, guesswork that could’ve been wrong for all I knew. Besides, having such a sunny view of things in front of this overwhelming opponent was practically suicidal. Still, if there was any kind of chance, I wanted to bet on it.
“Sorry. Follow my lead.”
“Kwaaaah-ha-ha-ha! Not to worry! It’s hardly the first time.”
“I have some concerns of my own, and I wish to confirm them. That is why I am working with you. Nothing more.”
Hmm. So maybe Leon noticed, too—not just Veldora—that Chronoa was Chloe. It’d be nice if I could sit down and explain everything, but now was not the time for that. Leon was currently sword fighting with Chronoa, a composed look on his face, but his forehead was covered in sweat. It must’ve taken a Herculean effort just to speak to me.
So! Next order of business: how to dive into Chronoa’s soul…
(Sir Rimuru, not stating your mission objectives out loud was a brilliant decision. I believe it is likely that the demon lord Guy is still monitoring the cathedral.)
That was a Thought Communication from Diablo. Luminus did the same earlier; I guess they were pretty concerned about what was happening around us. Me, though, I resorted to this only because it was a selfish request, and I didn’t want Chronoa to eavesdrop on us. If it worked out, though, then great.
(Okay. So what do you need from me?)
Diablo must’ve sent me a message for a reason. As talented as he was, I’m sure he had a grasp of the situation. Maybe he’d have some useful feedback.
(Sir Rimuru, I believe it’s possible for you to intervene with people’s souls and send messages directly to them. However, I can think of an even surer way.)
(What’s that?)
(When your material bodies make contact with each other, you can use your spiritual body to go inside. Then, when your astral bodies make contact, it is likely possible to directly interact with your partner’s soul.)
Whether that was possible or not, it sounded incredibly dangerous, didn’t it? Like, to the point where I might never come back. I was planning to stick with Thought Communication, but was that a bad idea?
Understood. The subject Diablo’s suggestion has a higher chance of success. However, the amount of danger is incomparably higher.
And that was why Raphael didn’t bring it up before now, I guess.
(Diablo, thank you. But let me just say one thing.)
(You are giving me far too much credit.)
(Keh-heh-heh-heh… No need to be modest, my lord!)
I’m not, dude.
If I wanted to help Chloe and Hinata, I needed the option that gave me the best chances. “Safety first” was my motto, but only depending on the situation. I really needed to teach Diablo more about how I’m not all that great, in the end. I guess he met Guy, judging by that offhand comment he made, and I hoped he didn’t say anything weird to him. If he started bragging about me like he usually did, that was bound to draw Guy’s attention. Better warn Diablo against that, too.
(If it is possible, I think it would be good to do, ah, something to stabilize the opponent’s mind. Good fighting to you, Sir Rimuru!)
Diablo’s trust weighed upon me. Right now, though, I’d have to thank him for giving me a decent strategy.
“But how will I calm her down…?”
If I could do that, we wouldn’t have to deal with all this. Was there some helpful item that’d do the trick…?
“How about that mask, then, Sir Rimuru?”
The suggestion came from Charys, currently devoted to supporting Leon. I guess he saw what I was about to try, too. Really smart guy. Too much so, even.
“The mask?”
“Yes. It was powerful enough to keep me at bay, so perhaps it would calm her as well?”
“I see…”
He was smart, but apparently he didn’t notice how I was trying to keep us from being heard. But that was my fault for replying to him.
The mask, though, huh? I gave that to Chloe, if I recall. So where was it now? Um, hang on a second… That was an old memento from Shizu, and I repaired it at one point. If I gave that repaired mask to Chloe, then maybe it had somehow made its way back to Shizu? Uh… So wait. Where did that mask come from, then?!
…No. I can’t think about that right now. The big question is: Can I replicate that mask?
Understood. Create a copy of the Mask of Magic Resistance?
Yes
No
That was a yes. And I had to hand it to Raphael—it made that copy without any problem, looking and functioning exactly like the real thing. Maybe this would help Chronoa chill out.
I took out the mask, showing it to Charys with a grin as I thanked him. Then I focused my mind on Chronoa. I had the basic outline of my plan set. Now I just had to psyche myself up enough to execute it.
Leon and Chronoa were still dueling, Chronoa pushing him around and Leon sticking to defense—and getting himself more and more wounded. Even someone with his strength had a hard time against that woman. He was bound to lose sooner or later, but that was only true if I did nothing.
“Now, Veldora!”
The moment I shouted it, I made a beeline for Chronoa, mask in hand. And then, just as I pushed it on her face, my consciousness was consumed by darkness.
An explosive blast from Razul, taken point-blank, just blew Shion and Ranga through the wall and outside.
Razul calmly walked in their direction. Their opponents, waging a pitched battle up to this point, were bruised from head to toe. But Shion was still calm, her emotions unwavering as she faced up to Razul like nothing was amiss. She looked dignified, not at all on the verge of collapse—perhaps an expression of her own personality.
Behind her, Ranga was groggily coming to his feet, steeling himself anew. He didn’t have Shion’s Ultraspeed Regeneration, so the damage he took slowly accumulated over time. To his credit, though, he boasted a host of resistances, enough defense to cancel out your garden-variety physical or spiritual attack. With Ultra-Instinct, part of the King of Magewolves package Rimuru gifted him, he also had evasion skills that bordered on predicting the future.