Deep inside the cathedral, a fierce battle was taking place.
The chop unleashed by Louis had enough slashing force to cut through any obstacle, the accompanying shock wave continuing to pursue Laplace even after he retreated far away. Laplace still had no trouble dodging it, however, breezily smiling as he did.
"Well, huh. You're Roy's brother, then? You twins or something? I'd quit while I was ahead if I were you. Ya can't beat me, y'know."
Despite darting around, pretending to look for an escape, Laplace was still as talkative as ever. Louis, meanwhile, remained unaffected. Being evaded didn't concern him, as he continued swinging both arms at Laplace.
They had made their way outside the burial chamber, a kind of natural progression as Laplace continued dodging Louis's strikes.
"Yes, as you say, Roy was like my twin brother. We were equally as powerful, and we looked similar, too. If there's any difference, it's that he had a violent streak, and I was far less emotional. But I will inform you that I am superior to him in one way—my eyes are much keener."
"Yeah? So what?"
"I can take my time observing my opponent's skills, movements, and targets. It's been clear to me for quite some time that you're trying to strike me where I'm unguarded."
"…Huh. Better'n your brother, then, eh? But good eyes ain't gonna be enough to beat me."
"We'll see about that. Also, my name is Louis. I'm more than just someone's brother. Roy and I were never on the best terms, in fact."
"Hmm. Can't say I care much."
Laplace seemed carefree, in his element, as he traded blows with Louis—or really, dodged the one-sided rain of blows coming his way. His eyes showed in the most eloquent terms that he, not Louis, was doing the observing.
"You must be tired by now, no?" Louis shouted. "Time for you to go to sleep." He stepped up the intensity of his attack.
"I'm tellin' ya, you're wastin' your time."
"Am I? Let me go stronger, then."
Although the tone of his voice hadn't changed, Laplace suddenly began to feel uncertain. Whenever he had a foreboding like this, it usually wound up true. With a leap some would describe as exaggerated, he instantly jumped back from the fray. His intuition was correct—Louis's attack fanned out, pulverizing the space he stood on a moment ago.
"…?! What the hell's all that power…?"
It had clearly skyrocketed in that last swipe. If Laplace was still hopping around, making fun of Louis, he wouldn't have been able to defend in time. The damage would've been terrific.
"Phew… Now I'm getting used to this. If you evaded that, you're certainly not one to be trifled with."
"You wanted to put me off guard so you could do me in with one shot?"
"Mmm… I won't say that didn't come to mind, but I think I can win without resorting to such underhanded measures."
"Huh?"
Laplace had taken Roy down. Roy, at that time, had certainly underestimated him, but even discounting that, Laplace was a far better fighter. And Laplace took the fight seriously—Roy might've been a standin for the demon lord Luminus, but he was an even match for the demon lord Kazalim, a sort of father
figure to Laplace and his cohorts. He'd never go into a fight against someone like Roy unprepared.
"What you saw just now was an application of Bloodray. It hides its magical presence in order to reduce my opponent's wariness of me. Of course, it won't work again now that I've shown it to you, will it?"
It was sort of like revealing his hand, but he explained the skill to Laplace anyway. Hearing that gave him an even deeper sense of foreboding.
This ain't good. Is he buying time for himself? What's this guy after?
Laplace's intuition was already sounding the alarm. If this keeps up, he decided, one of these tricks was bound to snare him—so without hesitation, he tapped one of his innermost secrets.
"…That's why you must die here!"
With that declaration from Louis, the area around Laplace exploded. The shock wave focused itself around the center, offering Laplace no avenue for escape. The waves of blood particles were already locked onto him. The fight was over—anyone would conclude as much.
The flames burned high in the air as a human figure inside them collapsed.
"It's too bad. Roy and I used to be one and the same. We were separated by the power of Lady Luminus. And with Roy dead, I've regained my original powers."
Once, there existed a Bloody Lord too violent, too vicious for anyone to handle. Luminus managed to defeat him, adding him to her forces—but he was still so vicious that he caused constant trouble for the rest of Luminus's ranks. Thus, she split him into two separate men—naming one the Holy Emperor and her right-hand man, and the other her standin as demon lord.
In other words, Louis was complete once more, regaining the powers he previously enjoyed. From the start, no matter how much more powerful Laplace was, he was convinced he could win. And that was why…
"Whoa. That was really cuttin' it close."
Laplace dragged himself up, a sight that gave Louis pause—a moment's
hesitation that Laplace wasn't about to ignore.
"Let's go, Footman. If this keeps up, you're gonna die!"
"Hoh-hoh-hoh! I hate to say it, but it looks like you're right."
Footman had already been battered from head to toe by Gunther. He was the most powerful of the Three Servants under Luminus, and while he lost out to the fully restored Louis, Footman still had no chance. Laplace had kept careful tabs on their battle even as he fought his own, and his conclusion was dead-on accurate.
Even if I gave this all I had, I couldn't take down the whole lot of 'em, and they'll probably kill Footman first. Best to run while the runnin's good. I'd say our diversion worked well enough—no need to expose ourselves to danger over it!
So Laplace, shouting out loud to distract Louis, sprang into action. It worked. In another moment, Laplace and Footman were away from this deadly battleground.
All that remained in the burial chamber were Luminus and Maria Rozzo. Luminus, perhaps hesitating to attack Maria, had yet to really throw herself into battle. The fact that Maria could keep up with her high-speed fighting was proof enough that she was no fake. It was definitely Maria—the kind, affectionate Maria she knew.
Granville must've been preserving her corpse. So this is a death golem using her body…or maybe not? This unconscious shell is a servant generated by Raise Dead necromancy. So he's stooped low enough to tap into forbidden magic…?
Anyone who's lost a loved one has fostered hope of seeing them alive one more time. But it's a lost cause. Even Luminus could see why Granville would resort to necromancy—but it was all theoretical, something to imagine and not act upon. To someone as far removed from death as Luminus was, she had no way of understanding the true nature of sadness.
Maria was a Saint for the Hero Gren, acting as his servant and confidant. He comforted her as well, trying to relieve the heavy burden of her position. They enjoyed an intimate relationship, one that their then-foe Luminus envied.
What would it take for Granville to make her a zombie servant? And if she's this strong, that couldn't have been the only forbidden magic he cast. Maria was using a litany of special skills to hold her own against Luminus, including what seemed to be several uniques. Luminus wasn't sure how to handle this, and that made her worry.
She is astounding but still weak. I doubt that fool Gren thought she had a chance against me. So why, then…?
Suddenly, intense anxiety attacked her. Something told her she was overlooking something extremely important…
"Lady Luminus, the invaders gave us the slip. Louis is currently pursuing them, and I was about to join him…"
Just then, Gunther came back in to report. The moment his voice trailed off, Luminus saw what was wrong. Something was missing from the chamber. Something vitally important. Now even Luminus's heterochromatic eyes could see it as they followed Gunther's gaze.
The coffin of spirit-infused ice, the relic they took such great pains to store here, had disappeared.
Luminus fell to confusion, unable to speak or accept this reality. It was something that should never have happened. It threw her, exposing her to Maria's full attack.
"Lady Luminus!"
She could hear Gunther's concerned shouting, but she couldn't listen. The pain racking her body was the stimulus she needed to keep a cool head. She appreciated it.
The rational part of her brain began to consider her options anew. Calming her desires to scream against it all, she faced up to her reality. No matter how much her emotions refused to accept this, her cold analytical skills gave her the facts. The coffin of ice had been stolen, and that was that.
In another few moments, Luminus harnessed the anger bubbling up within her to stab right through Maria's chest.
"You would go this far, Granville? You… You have incurred my full wrath, Gren!!"
With a scream of fury, she unleashed her hidden magic force. In an instant, this unprecedented level of mad tyranny destroyed the burial chamber. A swirl of chaotic magical force pooled around her. She had created a dimension of death, one nobody would even dare approach.
"Guntherrrrrrr!!"
"Yes, my lady!"
"Find them. Find the invaders!"
"As you wish!"
There was no need to say more. Realizing Luminus's intentions, Gunther quickly sprang into action. As truly angry as she was, not even Gunther could be completely safe here.
If we fail, Lubelius itself could fall…
He ran away at full speed, compelled to act.
Luminus, left alone, struggled to control her rage. If she made a move right now, her analytical side told her, it would only make things worse. It was natural for her to keep her thoughts separate from her emotions. But even with that, this came as a massive shock.
This cannot stand. We must keep it safe until the time comes, or else it may spell doom for the entire world. And if even I cannot handle the fallout…
The ark was given to her by a trusted friend. Mishandling it could unleash disaster, so she had kept it sealed and under strict guard. Carefully, she analyzed her situation. Only she could undo the seal on that ark. It was a tremendously powerful barrier, one whose holy force could even burn the body of Luminus, the one who installed it. But now it had been carried off.
…Who could have done it? Anyone capable of taking it away must be at least as powerful as me…
Someone classified as a demon lord or better.
All the chaos Granville sowed in the cathedral must have been just a diversion. Who would he leave this true mission to? If Granville was willing to offer himself as bait, he must've been sure this person could steal the ark—a bet that certainly paid off.
…No. It's too soon to call this lost. Weakness is a sin. Right now…
Right now, what did Granville want with the coffin? First, she needed to find out. She knew she hadn't told him anything about the ark—it was supposed to be the most closely guarded of secrets. Not even Gunther and Louis knew any details about the girl sealed inside. And here was Granville, using every card at his disposal—he must've been absolutely resolved in this mission.
It was almost eerie to Luminus. His drive to succeed today was malicious. He wanted to get this done, no matter what the fallout was.
"All right. First, let's find out what your true motives are."
With that whisper, she turned her eyes toward the cathedral.
I had gotten my intentions across to Leon. He crossed swords with me, and to the outside observer, it must have looked like a serious sword fight. And it was! If I stopped for even a moment, he'd cut me down.
Wait. Did he really understand what I wanted from him?
As far as I could tell, Leon must've understood that Granville was behind all this. Now all we'd have to do is this bit of sword sparring for a while, until the time was right, and then we'd be fine. That's what I thought anyway, but Leon was really giving me no time to rest. He was crazy fast. Hinata's pace with a sword was amazing enough, but Leon sure wasn't any slouch. Like her, he was a traditionalist with the sword, showing off a beautiful stance. Since my education from Hakuro, I had begun to teach myself a thing or two—I fight with more than just a sword, so I can't really help it. With Raphael watching over me, I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything that'd hurt myself, at least.
But enough about that. We were talking about how sharp his attacks were. I thought he was really out to kill me, but his face had almost no expression on it. It was hard to tell whether he really meant to harm me. I began to grow a little
worried about trusting him.
Understood. There is no problem. Using Predict Future Attack to synchronize our plans.
That was a relief, then. I would just keep leaving this to Raphael's auto-battle mode.
But that wasn't my only concern. For a while now, I'd been detecting rumblings underground. I thought the bedrock might be moving; such was the enormity of the shaking. It's probably the work of Luminus, I thought, a figure who still wasn't present. We've had problems up here; she had problems down there… This sure wasn't your run-of-the-mill scandal, no. I was definitely an involved party at this point, and if it was anybody but me, it'd probably become a huge diplomatic fight—not that Luminus would care, but regardless.
Shion and Ranga were still struggling against the insectoid Razul. Hinata seemed to be keeping it even with Granville, but I had the impression that Granville hadn't tapped his full skills yet. If that fight dragged on, I had a feeling Hinata would be at a disadvantage soon. So no, things weren't really going swimmingly for us. I wasn't even sure what I should try to wrap up first.
But as I analyzed the battle, I suddenly detected a huge burst of magical power from down below. That was Luminus, for sure. The cathedral's flooring flew into the air, opening a circular hole six or so feet in diameter. The blast of heat that shot up from it broke straight through the ceiling, ascending to the heavens. Its power was ridiculous, but I'm sure it was kid stuff to Luminus.
"It seems you're serious about antagonizing me, Granville."
Luminus appeared from the hole, carrying a beautiful woman in her arms— and the moment she did, she clearly indicated that she wanted Granville dead. Now things are gonna move, I thought. Leon must've thought so, too, because his eyes were on Luminus.
"Heh-heh-heh… Well done, Lady Luminus. Not even my servant could halt you, could she? She was a masterpiece of mine, you know. I infused her with the power of only my best handpicked otherworlders."
"You fool. Pool together all the fake imitations you want; an unconscious doll
could never beat the real thing. You, of all people, should know that!" "Oh, I do, of course."
Granville, faced with an enraged Luminus, remained serene. The speed of Hinata's sword grew sharper against him, but Granville easily parried every strike, as composed as ever. She could steal her opponents' skills, but apparently that didn't work on him. Arts, unlike skills, couldn't be used immediately after taking them. It's the difference between reading about baseball and winning the World Series; only through continued training could you hone those arts. Granville's strength was the result of years of that kinda training—and now he was humming along, as stable as the unmoving earth.
"Strong, isn't he?" Leon whispered to me. "They don't call him a former Hero for nothing."
"No. He's a bit better than I thought."
"In that case," Luminus said, ignoring us, "what were you doing with this?"
She laid the woman in her arms down. It looked like she was sleeping, but she wasn't. She was most definitely dead, a corpse that had been used for servitude. With no soul inside, pumping her with energy was a pointless endeavor. I knew that well.
"…Why do you continue to denigrate Maria, even after her death?!"
I guess Luminus knew this woman. Maria, huh? Her face resembled Maribel's a little. Did that mean she was…?
"Because I needed her. Everything was for the sake of this exact moment."
Before the quizzical Luminus, Granville removed the glove on his left hand. The magical patterns on it were glowing, and now Maria's corpse was glowing with it.
"What are you…?!"
It was Luminus who said it, but everybody there was thinking the same thing. Leon stopped engaging with me, watching over the proceedings. There was no point keeping the act going. I almost forgot why we started in the first place.
Then, before our eyes, something unbelievable happened. Maria's body
turned into a ball of light, flowing straight into Granville's glowing hand. As it did, his body began pulsating with power—visually, not just in terms of magicule energy. This process was revitalizing his body's cells. His white hair turned a shining blond, his withered skin regaining its youthful luster. There, in front of us all, was Granville Rozzo from his younger days, the Hero of years past, his eyes dead sharp.
"You… You took all the Love Energy I gave you and injected it into Maria!"
Granville nodded at Luminus. Love Energy, if I recall correctly, is a type of energy meant to retain one's youth. So he mixed that with some other powers to rejuvenate himself, and the result is the Granville we're looking at now?
"Lady Luminus… Or how about I just call you Luminus? I still need to settle things with you—I realized some time ago that I can't die until I do. Now that Maribel is dead, my ambitions have been crushed—but still, above all else, this is what I desire!"
"You…!"
"Don't toy with me!!"
Luminus and Hinata both responded simultaneously.
The young Granville turned toward Hinata. "Ah yes. Hinata, I still need to provide you with my guidance. You are the most talented of all the apprentices I dealt with. You always strove to improve, never afraid to make an effort and polish yourself. I will gladly praise your excellence any day. But…"
With that, Granville casually swung his blade. The effects were beyond belief. "Meltslash…?! No! You can control spiritual particles with no casting delay?!"
Hinata dodged it, which amazed me. But Granville's ability to handle Overblade skills with such nonchalance was jaw-dropping, completely beyond anyone's imagination.
"Hinata, I always wondered why you never became a Hero. It takes more than talent and hard work. Unless you have the love of the elemental spirits, you will never qualify to be one. But you had that love, and yet…"
"Well, sorry. Whether they loved me or not, sometimes things are just beyond your research, I suppose."
"If you awakened your Hero side, it would have helped my ambitions
immensely. So here's a word of advice. You hold darkness within your heart,
don't you? Did you kill someone close to you in the past? Your parents, your
brother, a friend?"
"Shut up!!"
Hinata had retreated to avoid his Meltslash, but now she shot back into
position, lunging at Granville. Something about what he said must've touched a
raw nerve. Anger filled her eyes.
The high-pitched ring of sword against sword filled the air. Granville remained
steadfast…as Hinata was helplessly blown away.
"Ngh…!!"
There was just too much of a difference. Seeing Hinata treated like a child
made me doubt my eyes.
"You never accepted the elemental of light. You have to overcome this. The
darkness is just an illusion your heart creates for itself. You must forgive your
past self and take pride in the present—the way you live. Then you will accept
the light—"
"I told you, shut up!!"
Granville's cold eyes sized up the enraged Hinata.
"It's a pity, Hinata. If I had more time, I could have guided you. But if you can't
understand me, then it's best for you to face the truth. How will you ever save
the world if you can't even protect what you hold dear?"
My instincts told me this was bad. With this conversation, everyone's eyes
were now focused on Hinata. What if Granville wanted that? And what he
wanted…
Report. According to Predict Future Attack, his goal is—
His sword swung down in a slash. It was Disintegration, and there was no way
to stop it. It was more of a stabbing move than a slash—call it Meltstrike if you
want. It came down at close to light speed, and no doubt it'd gouge its way into
its target. So I ran as fast as I could toward them.
According to my calculations, not even me at full speed would reach them in
time. But if I could use Belzebuth to consume it—and the air around it… Even if I
couldn't capture these spiritual particles moving at light speed, I knew they
were targeted toward Chloe, so I could get ahead of them.
"Chloe!!"
By the time I finished shouting, everything was over.
Hinata was the first to move. Without a moment's hesitation, she stepped
between Chloe and Granville's line of fire. Sacrificing her own body, she took
the Meltstrike blow to her chest. It stabbed right through her, and she collapsed
to the ground coughing up blood—but all it did was lower the speed of that
beam of light a little, as it extended toward Chloe.
The next person to move after Hinata, surprisingly enough, was Venom. Just
like Hinata, he tried to sacrifice himself to protect Chloe—he must've been
awfully faithful to Diablo's orders, because he had kept himself focused on
protecting the kids over everything else. That's why he was in time for that
moment.
"Gah! …Oh man, owww!"
There was a large hole in his stomach, but he seemed pretty chill about it.
That's a demon for you. As long as your soul's safe, any damage to your body
was apparently just window dressing. If Granville was aiming for him, it might
be a different story, but for now, he could tend to himself.
Then, thanks to the minuscule amount of time Hinata and Venom brought for
me, I made it over. Consuming the air in front of Chloe, I all but instantly
teleported in time. Now I just needed to activate Uriel's Absolute Defense to
protect Chloe.
"Huh? Mr. Tempest? Miss Hinata…?"
No offense meant to Venom, of course, but Chloe was focused solely on
Hinata. That was understandable. I was worried for her, too.
Luminus ran up to Hinata, gauging her wound.
"Miss Hinata! Miss Hinata, don't die!!"
"Chloe! Hey!"
Before I could stop her, Chloe started running. The other kids were taking her
cue, so I hurriedly used Paralyzing Breath to knock them out. Giving Venom
some healing potion, I tasked him with protecting them.
"Ch… Chloe?! Is that really Chloe…?"
Leon was acting incredibly suspicious, but that'd have to wait. Chasing after
Chloe, I ran up to Hinata, keeping a careful eye on Granville as I sized her up.
…Whoa, look out.
"Hey, Luminus…"
"Silence! The spirit particles are eating into her fast! Too fast!"
Her physical wounds were now healed, but Hinata was growing weaker by the
moment. The Meltstrike particles were destroying her spiritual body, and in
time, they'd start whittling down her astral body as well. And at that point, not
even Hinata could—
Just then, Hinata barely opened her eyes.
"G-good! Good, Hinata. You gotta stay awake for me!"
"N-no, Lady Luminus, I… Hurk!"
Oh man. HInata was in serious trouble. But not even Luminus, much more
versed in holy magic than I was, could rescue Hinata from the brink of death.
That's how fearsome Granville's strike was.
"Ch-Chloe, I'm glad you're safe…"
Even with blood flowing from her mouth, Hinata tried her hardest to sit up.
Her will was like steel. I'm sure she couldn't see any longer, but her lips were
still taking the form of a smile. She turned toward Chloe and raised a shaky right
hand, the one holding her Moonlight sword and bearing the Holy Spirit Armor
bracelet.
"…Chloe, I want you to have this. I… I couldn't be much of an…instructor to
you, but I know…you can surpass me…"
Her voice was hoarse, but it was clearly coming through to the sobbing Chloe.
"Miss Hinata…"
Chloe's hand gingerly touched Hinata's—
—and the next moment, Hinata's body began to glow, the light seemingly
flowing into Chloe through her fingers. Was I seeing this right? Because not
even Luminus was reacting at all. It was like time was stopping…
"N-no!" Chloe screamed. "This can't be happening! It's too early! Why?!"
"Uh, Chloe?"
The moment I tried calling for Chloe…she vanished, almost like she was never
there at all.
…I snapped back to attention.
What was that?
"Chloe? Where's Chloe? Rimuru… What did you do to Chloe?"
"I—I have no idea what just happened…"
Leon had me by the shoulders now, demanding an explanation, but I was
clueless. Seriously, where did Chloe go? Did she really just disappear?
But at least Leon seemed to believe me. He looked around the area, panicked,
and even I couldn't hide my confusion. I had absolutely no clue what was going
on.
…Unknown. This is an abnormal situation. Failed to grasp the full extent of
what happened to the subject Chloe Aubert.
And surprisingly enough, Raphael—whom I could usually rely on for well-nigh
everything—didn't have any idea, either. But right now, I had no time to just
stand there and ponder this.
The disappearance of young Chloe was not a concern to Luminus. Her own
friend was more important to her right now. Her Resurrection spell had
deployed itself, but it feebly dissipated into the air, much to her shock.
"Why?! Barely any time has passed since her death! Why…?"
…But Luminus could "see" it. Even with Hinata's body back in perfect
condition, her insides—her soul, the most important thing of all—was lost.
"Hinata, forgive me. I was here for you, and still you had to endure this…"
A single tear fell from her eye. It was greeted by a boorish voice interrupting
her.
"I wish you wouldn't wail like that. This, too, is exactly as I aimed for. My final
plan is going quite smoothly, Luminus!"
Only Granville was smiling at this sequence of events. It greatly irritated
Luminus. Now she wasn't even allowed time to mourn Hinata's death.
"You will pay for this. You will. I will tear you apart!"
The scream was as loud as it was furious. Her face was reddened with intense
rage—the rage she felt by having Hinata, her favorite, taken before her eyes.
Her mind was filled with despair at how powerless she was, incapable of
doing anything. It stirred her demon-lord heart in ways that couldn't even
compare with when Veldora laid waste to her kingdom long ago. The emotions
stimulated her mind, like ripples on the surface of a cup filled to the brim with
water—and the trembling force on her previously suppressed emotions caused
a change inside her.
The World Language echoed, like a bell calling Luminus to the loftiest of
heights, like none that even her almost limitless abilities had taken her.
Confirmed. Conditions met. The unique skill Lust has evolved into the ultimate
skill Asmodeus, Ruler of Lust.
At that moment, the massive power within Luminus evolved into even more
intense, vicious heights—into the realms of the ruler of the skies.
Asmodeus, the evolved skill she just gained, held sway over life and death
itself. The powerlessness she felt at Hinata's death was exactly what awakened
Luminus to it. But she did not react. Now, her instincts told her, even this ability
would be meaningless.
"It doesn't matter any longer! It's too late… I was useless right when it
counted, and it doesn't matter to me anymore…!!"
All but ignoring the World Language, Luminus continued to seethe with rage.
"So you wanted to settle matters?"
"Yes, Luminus. You've evolved, haven't you? I hadn't anticipated that, but it's
a fine thing to see."
Her blue-and-red heterochromatic eyes blazed as they stared straight at
Granville, full of hated. Suddenly, the disappeared girl flashed into her mind—
but she banished any sentiment from it.
"This wasn't what I heard would happen…but that no longer matters. Prepare
to face the afterlife, Granville!!"
And so open battle began between Luminus and Granville—the culmination
of a rivalry that had lasted over a thousand years.
All I could do was watch as Luminus treated Hinata's mortal wounds. The
Resurrection spell was administered perfectly…but had no effect.
I couldn't believe it. As long as the soul was intact, Resurrection should also
work, restoring the spiritual and/or astral bodies as needed. So what went
wrong?
Understood. The soul of the subject Hinata Sakaguchi appears to have
vanished. It is impossible to restore lost data particles by any method.
Her soul's…gone?
No, I knew it. That was the second time Hinata fell, so I could tell the
difference all too well, and I was sure Luminus did, too. But a soul would
normally never fade out of existence this quickly. I supposed we were holding
out hope that we had just lost sight of her soul by some mistake, but that was a
fruitless dream.
I didn't think Luminus would be this thrown by it, though. She and Hinata
must've been closer than I knew. And this was my business, too. I started to
think about why this was happening, which made it hard to collect my thoughts.
Now wasn't the time for regrets.
"This wasn't what I heard would happen…but that no longer matters. Prepare
to face the afterlife, Granville!!"
With Luminus's scream, I realized just how out of it I was.
Spacing out in battle… What was wrong with me? That's just asking to be
killed. I had to save my sadness for later and do everything I could here.
Luminus's words seemed odd to me, but I could think about what she meant
later. I had calm down. Things hadn't been settled yet. If I lost my temper and
got defeated, then Hinata's death—and the efforts of everyone else—would
have been wasted.
It was a pretty forced effort, but I successfully managed to move on. If
Luminus's scream had come any later, things probably would've gotten even
worse—because the next instant, the whole cathedral was engulfed in a
massive explosion.
The light and shock wave from the blast burst out from the entrance to the
middle of the site. Its speed was intense but still yawn inducing compared with
the speed of light. Keeping my mind cool, I stepped up to protect the children
and musicians. I turned an eye toward Shion and the others out of concern, but
Diablo—who had returned at some point—had put up a protective barrier for
them.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh… Sorry I'm late."
"No, I'm just glad you made it!" I said, thanking Diablo. However, the real
surprise was Shion. Ranga had noticed both the explosion and Diablo, but Shion
still seemed to be entirely focused on the enemy in front of her. Her expression
was terrifying, her face flush, as if intoxicated by the blood around her. It was
oddly kind of alluring albeit definitely improper for a battlefield…but ah well.
Despite being on the defense before, it looked like she was holding her own,
which was good. I think I'll leave Razul to Shion and Ranga for now.
I examined the cause of the explosion. The first thing that struck me was a
gigantic aura—an evil presence, one that felt like your spine was freezing solid.
This was more than just a bad feeling. It was an intense pressure, like the sky
was falling down on you—although didn't it feel a bit like the high-level
elemental spirit that fused with Chloe? It resembled that but seemed a little
different as well. The sheer size of this presence reminded me of what I felt
with Chloe back then.
Report. The object is a material body. Unusual amount of existential energy
detected. Its maximum level is equivalent to that of the subject Veldora.
Great. We've got a monster here! At least Raphael could measure it this time,
although that didn't calm my nerves much. If this was operating on sheer
instinct like the Chaos Dragon, I could deal with that…but if it was sentient, I
was screwed. Especially if it actually had battle experience—just imagining that
scared me. I'd lose without a fight then. We're talking energy several times my
own…and either way, I had a feeling I'd have to deal with it.
Would this be enough to be considered dire straits by this point?
Then the smoke cleared, revealing an incredibly beautiful woman, naked as
the day she was born. She stood there, eyes closed, her lustrous dark hair
fluttering as she shone in a silvery light. It was like something out of a fantasy,
and I was immediately smitten.
But now wasn't the time to stop and stare.
"Are you the one who took my ark?! And you've even undone my spiritual
seal and awoken Chronoa…"
Luminus was now shouting at a much more familiar figure who just entered
the scene. It was Yuuki. So he's in on this, too? Part of me still wanted to believe
in him, but I guess Raphael was right after all—and given the choice, I was
always going to trust Raphael first.
I thus felt no surprise at all as I turned my icy gaze to Yuuki.
"So you're involved in this?"
"Oof, guess you know, huh? But that works, too, so…"
He spoke entirely off the cuff, not being shy at all. I was dealing with the real
Yuuki right now, no doubt, but he's a lot more shameless than I thought.
Behind him were two unfamiliar people wearing masks—an asymmetrical one
leering at me and the other one looking angry. I assumed those were Laplace
and Footman from the Moderate Jesters, and although I had a hunch about it
before, I guess they really were linked with Yuuki.
"So you're Luminus? My name's Yuuki Kagurazaka. It's an honor to meet you."
"Silence! How did you undo the seal?"
"Well, about that—I've got this really unique thing called Anti-Skill that lets
me cancel any type of magic or special skill."
"…I see. Rather daring of you to reveal that."
Luminus shot Yuuki a look full of loathing, although her senses were still firmly
attuned on Granville. They were in a dead heat, and neither of them could
afford any false moves. Granville himself was also eyeing the dark-haired girl,
even as he dealt with Luminus's attacks and fired back with his own. Duels
between two experts like this went far beyond the realm of mere "skill."
"Yeah, well, Rimuru already knows, so there's no point hiding it. But I want to
ask you something, too—well, not you, but Granville over there."
"Heh-heh-heh… I can guess what it is, but go ahead."
Yuuki sounded casual, but his eyes were surveying the area around him, never
resting. As long as Leon and I had freedom of movement, he knew he couldn't
escape too easily…assuming he planned to, that is, but I'm sure he did. I really
had no idea why he was even showing up at this point; something told me he
didn't anticipate this turn of events. With as many question marks as there
were, moving around would be dangerous. I'd have to figure out from Yuuki
and Granville's conversation just what kind of situation we had fallen into.
"So about the Hero I heard was sealed inside that ark… I mean, 'controlling'
her turned out to be super-easy. The seal just came right off! What's the deal
with that, Granville?"
Hero? That girl's a Hero?!
This was making even less sense now. Why would a demon lord keep a Hero
sealed away? And given how much Luminus seemed to care for her, this wasn't
any kind of normal sealing.
"You are right! Because this is both a Hero…and not a Hero. Right now, that
child is a personification of evil, by the name of Chronoa…"
It was Luminus who answered Yuuki, her voice filled with intense rage and a
surprising fretfulness. Calling this girl Chronoa a "personification of evil"
sounded pretty foreboding to me—she must've been something really
dangerous.
"Heh-heh-heh… You did very well, Yuuki. Not even I could dismantle the
elemental seal on that ark. That's why I took advantage of you. Now that she's
released, nobody could ever defeat her. Attention, demon lords! Attention,
servants of evil! All of you will die here today!"
Granville erupted into laughter as he shouted. Awfully kind of him. Revealing
everything without prompting like this sure helps me a lot…not that it makes
this situation any better.
"Wow. Guess I lost this game of wits, huh? You sure got me good…"
Yuuki sounded surly about it. Sooner or later, though, this stalemate had to
end. And now, with a relaxed motion, the dark-haired Chronoa started moving.
With a light shake of her head, her eyes opened—and that was the signal for
the free-for-all to begin.
I could ask Luminus what she knew later. For now, I had to survive.
"Diablo, handle this area for me."
"…Yes, my lord!"
It looked like he wanted to say something for a moment, but he meekly
agreed, perhaps sensing the atmosphere. He probably wanted to fight, I think,
but now wasn't the time for a back-and-forth conversation. I wasn't going to
change my mind, and I'm sure he knew that.
So that just left one question: What would I do now? Luminus and Granville
were at a stalemate. Shion and Ranga were fighting hard against Razul. Yuuki's
group was trying to escape, and while I didn't plan to let them, they were much
less dangerous than Chronoa. I couldn't just leave them be, though, which
posed a difficult issue. They might stab me in the back—and forget about us
fighting together here. Leon, meanwhile, had been acting like he was in his own
little world for the past while—I honestly couldn't put much trust in him.
Thus, I had few allies and lots of enemies. It was a disastrous situation, way
too difficult to handle.
Chronoa's eyes were open. She looked naked to me before, but now I realized
she had a single bracelet around one wrist. It was glowing, emitting black
particles that wrapped around her body—a system something like Hinata's Holy
Spirit Armor. Her armor, however, was pure black and much sturdier than what
Hinata wore.
Next, Chronoa summoned a single sword, a beautiful rapier not unlike
Hinata's Moonlight, albeit with a jet-black blade.
Report. Although its shape is identical, its latent statistics are incomparably
higher.
That sword and armor were both apparently way better than Legend class.
Her sword was as strong as mine, or maybe stronger, which meant it was God
class. I guess I could no longer be optimistic. It's wasn't just a matter of
knowledge—she may have even had me beaten in skill, and I had a feeling her
weapon could penetrate all my defenses. This was seriously becoming a do-or-
die situation.
Report. The hostile subject Chronoa is—
I know, okay?!
I didn't need Raphael's analysis to understand how scary this girl was.
Following my instincts, I deployed Absolute Defense and commenced evasive
maneuvers. Immediately after I began, a dark beam of light smashed through
where I was just standing. It continued in a straight line, demolishing all
obstacles it hit along the way. It was only stopped after breaking through a
cathedral wall.
That was beyond crazy. If I was one step slower, I would've taken that head-
on. Would I have withstood it? It all would've come down to luck.
Negative. Even with Absolute Defense from the ultimate skill Uriel, spiritual
particles can still make their way through. It is only through predicting their
movements and making the particles interfere with one another that they can
be canceled out. The hostile enemy's attack variation is greater than originally
pictured, and prediction is therefore difficult. To sum up—
…You can't defend it, right? Okay, then. "Absolute" Defense, my ass. But now
was no time for whining. I'd have to thank my own quick-wittedness for
dodging that.
And Chronoa was aiming her attacks at more than just me. Her next strike
headed straight for Yuuki. He couldn't quite dodge it, suffering a slight cut on
his cheek. It wouldn't be nice to cheer for that, but hopefully nobody minded if I
let out a bemused giggle.
Still, Chronoa's attacks were astounding. Even Yuuki's Anti-Skill was helpless
against attacks purely physical in nature. I suppose I had Cancel Melee Attack,
but Yuuki enjoyed nothing that convenient. He had powered up his whole body,
but he was still merely human. I had thought of Anti-Skill as a major threat, but
maybe there were a lot of holes to it after all.
I had the time to ponder this while other people were fighting. Better come
up with some kind of strategy before I'm aimed at again.
Suggestion. Deploy Summon Storm Dragon, part of the ultimate skill Veldora,
Lord of the Storm?
Yes
No
Hey, that sounds nice!
I hated to use one of my most secret moves in front of such a big crowd, but
it'd be even worse if I kept it hidden and fell into a hole I couldn't get out of. If I
lost someone like Hinata, it'd be too late after that. Luminus's relationship with
Veldora gave me some concern, but now was no time to hesitate.
So I leaped at Raphael's suggestion. I had been practicing in secret, so it felt
natural now. Opening a soul corridor to Veldora, I called for him.
(Mm? Rimuru? Well! I hope you are happy with yourself, going on a nice field
trip without me.)
Great. He was dolefully pouting at me. And this wasn't a field trip. I wish he
wouldn't lodge these accusations at me, but I didn't have the time to argue. At
times like these, you had to speak your mind.
(Veldora, please, I need your help. Lend me your powers!)
With a soul corridor, you could communicate your emotions more directly
than with Thought Communication. Normally, you wouldn't use a corridor for
conversation, since any lies could immediately be spotted out, but if you really
wanted to bare your soul, this was the best way. Thanks to that, I could tell
Veldora seemed surprised.
(Oh-ho? You need my power? Well then, you will find few companions as
trustworthy as I. I can certainly understand why you rely on me so!)
Crap, did I egg him on too much? No, I'd be okay. Veldora was bound to step
up for me.
(I'm short on time. Can I call for you?)
(Pfft. A silly question. If you ask me so nicely, I could only respond in kind!
Please go ahead. I will exercise the full extent of my force!)
Veldora turned out to be just as trustworthy as I hoped.
Consent acquired. Launching Summon Storm Dragon.
And in just a scant few moments, a gale-force wind blew over the cathedral…
Leon was struck dumb.
Was I too late…?
The girl called Chloe was without a doubt the childhood friend he had been
searching for, an effort he spent hundreds of years on. He had even dirtied his
hands with certain forbidden methods in the attempt…and now she was here.
She was here…but that little girl was gone.
At first, Leon thought that Rimuru had done something—but he quickly
dispelled the thought. As he saw it, the only conclusion to make was that
something truly unexpected and mysterious had happened.
No… I can't give up on this yet. Just now, I met her. There's going to be
another chance, I'm sure of it!
He decided to cling to that thought, persuading himself it was so. It helped
him regain control, but by that time, things had suddenly begun to unfold
quickly. A new enemy appeared, demonstrating unstoppable force. Her identity
was unknown, but he could tell she had Rimuru playing defense. And Leon was
no impartial observer; there was no guarantee he wouldn't be targeted next.
Next Yuuki was attacked, dodging the strike with everything he had. Seeing
that promptly made Leon realize that he was standing in a battlefield—but that
realization came a little too late.
People knocked out of battle were already strewn near the cathedral wall.
Leon had no way of knowing, but Rimuru had deposited them there so they
wouldn't get caught in combat. They were still alive but completely
unconscious, so Leon wasn't particularly wary of them. In normal times, he'd
never make an error like that, but the shock of seeing this girl he pursued for so
long suddenly disappear had made him lose his composure. Put it all together,
and he had let his guard down—and that's why, for that one moment, he
reacted too slowly.
A small blast of magic shot out from near the cathedral wall. It didn't look
very lethal as it made its way toward Chronoa, who was currently preparing
another attack on Yuuki. It certainly wouldn't damage her, but the blast did
exactly what its creator intended.
Chronoa turned around, her eyes settling on Leon.
"Tch… Trying to push her on me?!"
Despite his reluctance, Leon had to cast off all the niggling concerns in his
mind. If he took his eyes off Chronoa, he'd be dead the next instant. Unless he
seriously fought this out, even a demon lord like him would have a
disadvantage—and even with a full effort, there may be no way for him to win
this. That was how strong a threat Chronoa had become—and with the way
things were, Leon could no longer distract himself with other issues.
One side of the battle was cheering at this. It was Yuuki's group.
"Nice job, Teare!"
"What a great idea. I didn't think she'd help out like that, but now I'm glad I
took out that insurance."
This move on Teare's part was originally meant to antagonize Rimuru against
Leon, but the opportunity never arose, so Teare kept playing possum. Her
perseverance was rewarded at the perfect time.
"Hoh-hoh-hoh! Now we can get out of here once Teare makes it back."
Being targeted by Chronoa made Yuuki sweat bullets, but now he was his
usual composed self, kicking back as he observed the fight between her and
Leon. Thus, he could easily see Teare clambering her way from the cathedral
wall. He headed off to rescue her before Laplace finished up their preparations
to retreat—and by the time he was back with her, Laplace's spell was complete.
"All set, Boss. Let's blow this joint."
"I hear you," Yuuki replied with a nod. "I think Rimuru's up to something, so
it'll be dangerous to stay put. We better get out of here fast."
He raised his hand up high, knocking out the magical barrier that covered the
whole of Lubelius.
"Hoh-hoh-hoh! Nice one, Boss."
"Whenever I see it in action, your skill seems like such a cheat…"
"Hey, if it lets us scram in a hurry, I'm all for it."
As Laplace implied, escaping the center of this city with magical means would
normally be impossible. Thanks to Yuuki's power, though, they could modify
anything and everything to their liking. It was a cheat, as Teare put it, but if it
got them out of here alive, nobody was going to complain.
"I dunno who's going to survive this, but whoever it is, I'm sure we're gonna
be enemies next time we meet. Anyway—good luck, guys!"
With those final words, Yuuki and his team left the battlefield.
I could see Yuuki and his cohorts escape. I resented that. Making good on
their retreat, with all these threats left for me to deal with—but when I thought
about it, this actually worked well. Someone like them, who could be either
friend or foe—well, definitely foe right now—but teaming up with someone like
that, I had no idea when they'd decide to betray me. It might've even become
two on one against me, so having just one enemy to deal with now definitely
boosted my chances.
The Western Holy Church held a great deal of influence among the Western
Nations. If I made a public statement, and it received Luminus's agreement,
Yuuki would pretty much lose all standing in the West. Besides, the Free Guild
was backed by the Council, and the boss of the Council was currently in active
warfare against Luminus. If we won today, Yuuki was no longer a threat.
Convincing myself that his escape wasn't worth feeling down about, I sized up
the enemy in front of me.
"Rimuru, is that not…the Hero who sealed me away?" Veldora asked.
"Seems to be."
"Ah, I see. She is not masked, but the area around her lips is identical. I see
my eyes do not deceive me. Beautiful, is she not?"
Veldora's speech accelerated as he bragged about her. Now really wasn't the
time for this. I wondered if a True Dragon even knew how to assess human
beauty. It certainly lent more credence to the theory that Veldora lost after
falling for her good looks.
"I agree with you, but right now she's our enemy. Luminus sealed her away, I
guess, but she's out of anyone's control right now. I think she was meant to be
insurance against you, so do something about this!"
"How rude of you. Why are you ordering someone as irreproachable as me to
'do something?'"
Who do you think you're talking about here, man…? I almost had to applaud
his audacity. But I didn't have the time to put up with his nonsense.
"Enough jokes. Just take her on and buy me some time!"
"Kwaaaah-ha-ha-ha! Absolutely! We have a score to settle, besides. I was just
thinking about how I wanted a rematch. It is all right if I defeat her, I assume?"
Wow! My hero!
Although, whenever anyone says that in a show or video game, they're
basically doomed to lose afterward.
"Yes, of course! Have at it!"
"Leave it all to me. I was defeated last time because I was in my dragon form.
Now is a good chance to show you how I've grown."
I'm glad he's so confident, but hasn't he actually gotten weaker since then? I
don't really see the logic behind being stronger as a human instead of a
dragon…but I didn't want to rain on his parade when he was so enthusiastic, so
I sent him off with a smile.
Not like losing would kill him—that much I could be assured of.
"Are you all right, Leon?" I asked, turning toward him. Chronoa was still
looking right at us, so I kept an eye on her.
"Yes, somehow. Don't leave yourself open. She's stronger than you can
imagine."
I decided to heal Leon a little. His sword was already cut in half, and he was
thoroughly battered and bruised. I was impressed he held out this long. Thanks
to his efforts, I had enough time to successfully summon Veldora.
"I realized that the moment I saw her. You saw how wary Luminus was. I'm
not expecting this to be an easy win."
That was why I broke out Veldora, one of my last resorts.
"And so you called for Veldora? I won't ask how you did that, but having you
as an ally is certainly reassuring. But even a True Dragon will have his work cut
out for him."
That I knew as well. Chronoa, after all, was the very person who sealed him
away.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. I used an excessive amount of magic force to keep my sword
intact, but this is nothing fatal."
Of course, he couldn't save his sword in the end. And as unconcerned as he
looked, I was detecting a lot of fake stoicism. I didn't have the excess capacity to
protect Leon, so maybe this was the right thing to do after all? Good thing I kept
my summoning to Veldora only.
There was actually one other person among us.
"Are you all right, Sir Leon? It is good to see you again."
This was Charys. My summoning hadn't gone perfectly after all, because
Veldora insisted on bringing Charys along with him.
"Are you…Ifrit?" Leon asked.
"Yes. I have now received the name Charys and am in the service of Sir
Veldora."
"Ah. Well, glad to see you in good health."
"I…was unable to read your true intentions. Thus, I failed to reach an
understanding with Shizue Izawa. Receiving Sir Veldora's guidance has helped
me realize just how foolish I was."
"…Has it?"
Leon nodded, although I wasn't wholly sure he was paying attention. He
seemed to be brushing Charys off, but I didn't want to call him out on it. They
both had similarly serious personalities, to be sure.
"Rimuru," Leon said, "please buy me some time. I have a trump card of my
own to reveal."
I considered the chance he'd try to run, but even with what little time we had
spent together, he didn't strike me as that kind of guy. Let's trust in him, then.
"All right. I'll go support Veldora. Charys, defend this area until Leon's ready."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
We were all set to go. Leon promptly got to work on…something, with Charys
protecting him—the old master-and-servant team reunited. Me, I went back to
the battlefield. It was time to kick off the final fight.