"Wow, this is a lot brighter and emptier than I thought," Shizu remarked as she and Rimuru stepped into the Spooky Palace and witnessed an endless plane stretched before them, with nothing as far as the eye could see, while the door behind them stood out like a sore thumb against the pristine white environment.
"What? Were you expecting some kind of disgusting, swamp-like place with all kinds of universal horrors stuffed inside?" Rimuru asked with a teasing smile.
"Honestly, I did." Shizu nodded without hesitation. "And, to be fair, that's exactly what you'd expect when entering a place called the Spooky Palace, especially when you consider that it was created by the Creator of the world himself," she added with a small scoff.
"Well, fortunately for us, it's just an endless realm with absolutely nothing inside. Unfortunately, that nothing happens to contain one of the worst horrors in this entire universe," Rimuru replied casually. However, before Shizu could respond, Rimuru suddenly stopped as he sensed a presence approaching them. "Speaking of which..." he muttered, turning toward the source of the presence, prompting Shizu to follow his gaze.
There, they saw a young girl walking toward them with an unsettling appearance. She had short, fuzzy hair, unnaturally wide eyes that stared at them without blinking, and a nightmare-inducing, manic-like smile that looked completely wrong on a child's face.
Shizu felt an inexplicable wave of fear course through her entire body the moment she laid eyes on the girl. As if some deep, primal part of her screamed at her to turn around and run as far away as she could. Yet, despite that overwhelming sense of dread, her maternal instincts proved stronger than her natural survival instinct. She couldn't bring herself to simply stand there and watch a seemingly helpless child wander toward them alone. Before she could take another step, however, Rimuru reached out, grabbed her hand, and stopped her.
"Don't," Rimuru said seriously, with none of his usual jest in his voice. "I know she might look like a helpless little girl to you, but trust me, she is far from it."
"I know. I can feel it," Shizu admitted, pressing her lips into a thin line as she continued staring at the approaching girl. Despite every fiber of her being warning her that something was terribly wrong with that girl, the sight of that small figure still tugged painfully at her heart. "But still, she looks so pitiful..." she murmured to herself as her thoughts briefly drifted back to the five young students she had once cared for.
"You really are a kind and lovely woman, you know," Rimuru said with a gentle smile, reaching over to pat her on the head. "And honestly, calling her pitiful isn't entirely wrong. Don't worry, though, we will help her, but before we can do that, we need to calm her down first."
And with that, the pair walked forward and finally came face to face with Ivaragé, the incarnation of Destruction itself.
"Hello, Ivaragé. It's nice to see you," Rimuru said, offering her a friendly smile, but received no response in return. Instead, Ivaragé simply continued staring at the two of them, slowly tilting her head from one side to the other as her unnaturally wide eyes remained fixed on Rimuru, studying him with an almost childlike curiosity.
Eventually, whatever curiosity had occupied her seemed to be satisfied, and Ivaragé looked up at him, tilting her head slightly to the side, and finally spoke. "You are not him..." she said in a deep, chilling voice.
"Yes, I am not," Rimuru replied while looking at her. "The truth is, your other half is dead, Ivaragé. He is never coming back."
The moment those words left Rimuru's mouth, Ivaragé's entire body began to tremble violently, and a dark, suffocating aura suddenly erupted from her small frame, spreading outward with an overwhelming intensity. "Liar!" she screeched, audibly grinding her teeth as her smile twisted into something far more sinister. "Liar! Liar! Liar!"
"I am not lying," Rimuru replied calmly. "Besides, you're the one lying to yourself. You must have felt it, didn't you? The moment he died..." he continued, deliberately provoking her in an attempt to force her to confront the truth she had been desperately refusing to accept. At the same time, he silently cast a protective spell over Shizu, shielding her from the overwhelming aura radiating from Ivaragé. Technically, she probably wouldn't have been affected by it thanks to her status as an artificial Hero, but he added another layer of protection regardless, if only for his own peace of mind.
Meanwhile, Ivaragé grabbed fistfuls of her own hair and violently shook her head from side to side, desperately trying to drown out Rimuru's words. "Liar... liar... liar..." she repeated over and over again, each repetition becoming louder and more frantic than the last. Until finally, she stopped and whispered, "You must die..." before looking up at Rimuru with a murderous expression in her eyes. "...a liar must die..."
The moment those words left her lips, her body began to distort and expand as an overwhelming torrent of magicules erupted from her form. In less than a moment, the small girl was gone, replaced by a colossal dragon that towered over them, glaring down at Rimuru and Shizu with pure murderous intent.
"Hmm... Rimuru, was this also part of your plan?" Shizu asked with a wry smile as she stared up at the colossal dragon looming over them. However, despite the sheer size of the creature before them and the overwhelming aura of destruction radiating from its body, there was surprisingly little fear in her expression. If anything, she looked more amused than afraid.
"Actually, yes," Rimuru replied with a calm smile, completely unfazed by the fact that they were standing directly in front of a genuine World-Destroying Dragon. "After all, you don't exactly get the opportunity to fight an opponent of this caliber every day. Besides, once we adopt her, she won't be this vengeful avatar of destruction anymore. She'll be family, and I'm pretty sure neither of us will be particularly interested in beating the shit out of our own daughter." He paused for a moment before adding with a shrug, "So if we're going to fight her seriously, this is probably our last chance."
With that, Rimuru casually slipped an arm around Shizu's waist and vanished from the spot just as Ivaragé's enormous hand came sweeping through the space where they had been standing only a moment earlier. A moment later, two reappeared high above her, hovering effortlessly in the air.
"Seriously, Rimuru?" Shizu glanced at her husband with a deadpan expression as Ivaragé opened her massive jaws beneath them, and a terrifying concentration of energy began to gather inside her mouth. Yet, after watching the growing sphere of destructive energy for a moment, Shizu's expression slowly changed into one of understanding. "But then again, I can understand. I won't be able to fight her seriously once we adopt her either," she said as a mischievous smile gradually spread across her face as she turned toward Rimuru. "...So, Rimuru, I want to fight her," she added, clasping her hands together and giving him an almost pleading look. "Pretty please?"
"Shizu... Ivaragé is not an opponent you can take on," Rimuru told her honestly, making no attempt to sugarcoat his words. "The last time she fought someone, she was up against a group of the strongest beings in the world, and even then, it took the Creator of the world himself descending from the heavens to finally subdue her."
"That may be true, but you know what?..." Shizu paused before turning toward Rimuru, deliberately keeping her back to the rapidly approaching attack. "...Those strongest beings in the world didn't have something I do, and that's the best husband in the world, who always has my back," she declared with a confident smile.
The moment she finished speaking, Ivaragé unleashed the attack she had been charging, and a colossal beam of purple flames erupted from her mouth and raced toward them. Yet despite sensing the approaching attack, Shizu didn't even bother moving or turning around. She simply stood there, placing her complete trust in the man standing before her. And true to that trust, the instant the purple flames reached her, they split apart around her body, flowing harmlessly past her on either side as though an invisible wall had risen between her and the attack, leaving Shizu completely unharmed. "Case in point," she said with a triumphant grin, spreading her hands as she stood in the middle of the raging flames.
"Fine, go ahead. Have your fun," Rimuru finally relented with an exasperated smile as the purple flames surrounding them gradually died down. Below them, Ivaragé looked momentarily confused, almost as though she couldn't understand why the two creatures standing before her were completely unharmed after being struck by her attack.
"However, your normal blade won't even scratch her. In fact, anything below Genesis-grade would be virtually useless against Ivaragé. So, if you're really going to fight her, you'll need something capable of actually hurting her," he continued before reaching out and producing a beautiful red scabbard in his hand. "...Which is why I have a little gift for you," he said, holding it out toward her.
Shizu accepted the scabbard before wrapping her fingers around its ornate turquoise guard and slowly drawing the long white blade from within. "This is so beautiful," she murmured while running her thumb carefully along the dull side of the blade.
"This is Lambent Light, a Genesis-class sword," Rimuru explained, watching her reaction with a satisfied smile. "With that, you might actually be able to make her take you a little seriously." He paused, then added with a teasing grin, "I suppose."
"Thanks for the confidence." Shizu rolled her eyes before giving him a light smack on the shoulder. A moment later, however, her irritation vanished, and a warm smile returned to her face. "Thank you, love," she said sweetly, blowing him a playful flying kiss before canceling the flight spell that was keeping her suspended in the air and allowing herself to fall backward. 'Agni, let's do this...' she commanded mentally as she plummeted headfirst toward the ground.
"Spirit Dive: Phoenix Feathers Robe!"
"Spirit Dive: Phoenix Feathers Robe!" The two feminine voices overlapped as Shizu's entire body suddenly erupted in brilliant golden flames. The flames rapidly engulfed her from head to toe before vanishing just as quickly, revealing her transformed figure, and her descent abruptly halted as a pair of magnificent, fiery phoenix wings spread from her back, carrying her effortlessly through the air, while four blazing tails of flame unfurled from her lower back.
Then she steadied herself in midair and turned her attention toward the colossal dragon below. "Let's see what you've got... Miss Evil God!" Shizu exclaimed with a wide grin before launching herself downward like a golden meteor, leaving a brilliant trail of golden flames in her wake. Below her, Ivaragé also noticed her approach and let out a thunderous roar before raising one enormous arm and swinging it toward her.
Shizu's eyes narrowed as the massive hand came sweeping toward her. But rather than slowing down, she continued her descent until the very last moment, when she suddenly twisted her body sideways and slipped past the incoming attack by a hair's breadth as the enormous hand passed directly beside her.
Using the momentum of Ivaragé's own attack to her advantage, Shizu immediately changed direction and swept Lambent Light across the dragon's arm. The Genesis-class blade flashed through the air with blinding speed, leaving behind a brilliant golden trail as it sliced through Ivaragé's impossibly tough hide. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then a thin line appeared across the dragon's arm before slowly splitting open into a genuine wound, and dark blood began to seep from the cut.
"Cool, this sword really cuts like butter..." Shizu muttered to herself, sounding genuinely impressed as she glanced at the wound she had carved into the absurdly durable hide of the World-Destroying Dragon.
However, Shizu barely had time to appreciate her new weapon before Ivaragé's enormous head snapped toward her. The dragon's eyes locked onto her with terrifying speed, and Shizu immediately spread her phoenix wings and accelerated away, narrowly avoiding another sweeping attack as the dragon's claws tore through the space she had occupied only a moment earlier.
Then, with a powerful beat of her wings, Shizu accelerated toward Ivaragé once more, becoming little more than a streak of golden light as she weaved between the dragon's enormous limbs before suddenly disappearing from Ivaragé's immediate field of vision. A moment later, she reappeared directly in front of the dragon's massive chest.
Then she held the rapier directly in front of her body, pointing its tip straight toward Ivaragé's chest as brilliant golden flames rapidly gathered around the blade. "Divine Flame Sword Art..." With a subtle twist of her body followed by a sudden burst of acceleration, Shizu drove the sword forward with a deceptively simple thrust, "...Linear!"
The blade struck Ivaragé's chest with tremendous force, and a violent explosion of golden flames erupted from the point of impact as the Genesis-class blade finally pierced through Ivaragé's incredibly tough exterior, and a noticeable wound was carved into the dragon's chest.
However, contrary to Shizu's expectations, Ivaragé didn't even flinch from the attack. The colossal dragon simply stood there as though the blade piercing her chest was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "...That's it?" Shizu muttered to herself, staring at the wound with a hint of disbelief. Before she could give the matter much thought, however, she noticed Ivaragé lowering her enormous head with her jaws wide open.
"Oh, shit," Shizu cursed as Ivaragé suddenly lunged downward without warning, with her enormous jaws snapping toward her with terrifying speed. Seeing this, Shizu immediately pulled Lambent Light back and twisted her body sideways, but the dragon's attack was already upon her. So with nowhere else to go, she waited until the very last possible moment before folding her phoenix wings tightly against her back and slipping straight through the rapidly narrowing gap between Ivaragé's enormous teeth.
A moment later, the dragon's jaws slammed shut behind her with a deafening boom, sending a violent shockwave through the surrounding space. Fortunately, Shizu emerged from between Ivaragé's teeth just before they closed completely, tumbling through the air before rapidly spreading her wings and beating them hard enough to regain control of her descent.
"That was close..." Shizu muttered to herself as the colossal dragon turned toward her. "Though, she's getting pissed now..." she added, noticing the growing irritation of the World-Destroying Dragon reflected in those unnaturally massive eyes. Shizu could understand why. After all, no matter how many times Ivaragé attacked, a tiny creature like Shizu kept slipping away like an annoying insect, while that strange white blade continued leaving shallow but unmistakable wounds across her body.
So, driven into a fit of rage, Ivaragé opened her enormous jaws once more, and Shizu immediately recognized the familiar concentration of energy gathering deep within the dragon's mouth as a faint purple glow began illuminating Ivaragé's massive maw.
"So we're doing that again, huh?" Shizu said with narrowed eyes before calmly sheathing her sword. "Fine then, let's see who has the stronger flames after all," she added, settling into a ready stance as brilliant golden flames began gathering around her sword.
Meanwhile, the energy inside Ivaragé's mouth reached its limit, and the next moment, she unleashed her attack as a colossal torrent of purple Primordial Flames erupted from her jaws, tearing through the empty realm with terrifying speed as it raced toward Shizu.
Shizu, on the other hand, simply exhaled and calmly declared, "Divine Flame Sword Art: Burning Wave!" before drawing the sword from its sheath in a powerful crosswise arc, putting her entire body behind the movement. The instant the blade completed its swing, the flames surrounding it surged forward, transforming into a gigantic crescent-shaped wave of golden fire that tore through the air and raced directly toward the incoming torrent of purple flames.
The two attacks collided head-on in the middle of the endless white realm, with purple and golden flames violently churning against one another before suddenly both attacks began to collapse, and a moment later, the two opposing flames erupted into a massive explosion, sending a tremendous shockwave outward from the point of impact in every direction and kicking up an enormous cloud of smoke that swallowed the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Rimuru, who had been observing the battle from a safe distance, couldn't help but whistle when he saw the collision between the two attacks. "Damn, I knew I was creating something amazing when I gave her those Divine Flames," he said with a satisfied grin, recalling how he had mixed [Stardust], [Black Flames], and [Holy Magic] into a single form of flame, creating what he considered a genuine masterpiece, which could now even rival the Primordial Flames of the World-Destroying Dragon itself.
'Huh? What are you talking about, Ciel?' Rimuru asked, feigning complete ignorance at his Manas's accusation. 'I really don't recall doing anything like that,' he added innocently, scratching the back of his head. 'Maybe my dementia is kicking in after all,' he said, nodding thoughtfully along with his own words.
Going back to the battle, the enormous cloud of smoke continued spreading across the battlefield, completely obscuring Shizu from Ivaragé 's sight.
Meanwhile, Shizu hovered within the aftermath of the collision, taking several slow, measured breaths as she tried to steady herself. "Okay... this is starting to get tiring," she muttered, glancing down at the flames surrounding her body and noticing how the flames of her Spirit Dive form were gradually weakening as the strain accumulated throughout her body. "Maintaining this state while fighting an opponent of Ivaragé's caliber is consuming far more energy than I anticipated. If I keep this up, I'll run out of steam before she even starts taking me seriously," she muttered to herself, tightening her grip around her sword.
"So, I guess there's only one thing left to do..." Shizu said as she slowly lowered her stance and focused everything she had into the sword, causing the flames around its blade to grow brighter and denser until they almost appeared like a beacon within the dense smoke, "...is to finish this with one big move."
Meanwhile, noticing the bright glow shining through the dense smoke, Ivaragé immediately lunged toward Shizu once again, opening her enormous jaws in an attempt to bite her. However, this time, Shizu burst from the smoke at incredible speed, sliding beneath Ivaragé's massive jaws before abruptly changing direction and appearing directly in front of the dragon's wounded chest once more.
"Divine Flame Sword Art..."
Shizu muttered as she thrust Lambent Light forward from the upper right with explosive speed. The Genesis-class blade slammed into Ivaragé's enormous body before Shizu immediately retracted it and followed with another thrust. She repeated the motion without giving the dragon a chance to react, delivering five consecutive strikes in a straight diagonal line, each thrust following the previous one from the top right toward the bottom left. Every impact erupted with brilliant golden flames, leaving a series of burning wounds across Ivaragé's otherwise incredibly durable hide.
Then, without giving herself even a moment to pause, she immediately followed by drawing the sword back and shifting her stance, changing the angle of her body before launching another series of thrusts. The sixth strike came from the opposite direction, followed by four more consecutive stabs traveling diagonally from the top left toward the bottom right as the two sets of attacks crossed over one another, their overlapping third strikes meeting at the center and forming the shape of an enormous flaming X across the dragon's chest.
As soon as the tenth strike landed, Shizu's phoenix wings flared violently behind her as she pulled Lambent Light back one final time, gripping the sword with both hands while the golden flames surrounding her blade suddenly erupted with blinding intensity, growing hotter and denser as they condensed around its tip until the entire weapon resembled a miniature sun as she poured every remaining ounce of strength she possessed into that final attack, knowing this would be her last strike before her Spirit Dive gave out.
And the eleventh thrust struck directly at the intersection of the flaming X.
"...Mother's Rosario!"
BOOM!
An enormous explosion of golden flames erupted from the point of impact as Lambent Light drove into Ivaragé's chest with tremendous force. The entire X-shaped pattern ignited simultaneously, with the ten previous wounds connecting to the final strike as a massive burst of Divine Flames engulfed the World-Destroying Dragon's torso, sending her sliding backward.
"...That should've hurt... I hope..." Shizu said between heavy breaths as she finally descended to the ground, and the flames surrounding her body dissipated as she was finally forced out of her Spirit Dive form.
However, much to her surprise and horror, the very next moment, a colossal figure of Ivaragé emerged from the smoke. She was still wounded around the middle, but she didn't look even slightly pained or inconvenienced by the bleeding X-shaped wound across her chest. If anything, she looked even more pissed than before, her eyes screaming murder as she opened her jaws once again, and another terrifying concentration of energy began forming deep within the dragon's mouth.
"So much for my strongest attack," Shizu muttered bitterly, seeing how Ivaragé didn't even stay down for a moment after being struck by her. "Anyway, it's time to bring out my trump card." She took a deep breath before shouting, "Honey! I need a little help with this big lizard here!"
"Here! Here!" Rimuru called out cheerfully as he teleported directly beside her with a bright smile on his face. "Ah, this lizard does seem quite large. But don't worry. Your strong and handsome husband will take care of that!"
"Of course, I knew I could always rely on you," Shizu replied with an exaggerated, lovestruck expression before laughing at her own words.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Rimuru said, unable to hide his fond smile as he admired her melodious laughter. He then turned toward Ivaragé and casually began walking forward with both hands tucked into his pockets until finally, he stopped right in front of the attack-charging dragon and joked, "You know, you seem pretty cranky lately. Have you tried drinking some water, perhaps? I hear it helps."
Of course, the joke went completely over the Evil Dragon's head as she immediately unleashed another beam of Primordial Flames, this time targeting Rimuru, who was standing directly before her. However, unlike Shizu, who had needed an entire named technique to counter the destructive flames, Rimuru simply waited for the attack to reach him before casually raising one hand and swatting the entire beam away with a single swing of his arm.
"Now then, with that out of the way, let's end this farce, shall we?" Rimuru said casually as a brilliant golden aura began radiating from his body, spreading outward with an overwhelming presence that immediately caused Ivaragé to freeze in place as her enormous body became completely still
"You came..." Ivaragé said in a low, gruff voice before transforming back into her human form, the little girl she had been before. She then ran toward Rimuru and hugged his leg, looking up at him with eyes full of hope and vulnerability. "You finally came..."
"Indeed, I am here now, and everything will be all right," Rimuru assured her with a calm, gentle smile as he reached down and placed a hand on top of her head. However, before Ivaragé could say anything else, Rimuru's vision shifted as his consciousness entered the depths of her Inner World.
"But before that..." he said as Ciel materialized beside him within the Inner World, "...let's deal with the real you, shall we?"
To be continued...
******
Illustration:
Lambent Light