Michael—or the former emperor Ludora, I guess—and Feldway the mystic lord were gone. The fight hadn't been settled, but I suppose both sides were too injured to continue.
That led to some unaddressed concerns for me, but for now, I wanted to celebrate the fact that we were all okay. I could worry about sweeping things up and working out plans later. Unfortunately, Carillon, Frey, and the others were still stuck in evolutionary sleep, so I arranged for them to be left with Testarossa and politely sent on their way.
"I'm sorry," I told her. "I know you're tired and all…"
"No, please, don't worry about us. Take your time to recover from your fatigue. You need to regain your strength."
It was painful for me to receive that advice, but I might as well follow it. I could think about other stuff once things settled down a bit. First, it was time to rev myself up with a little party.
I was hoping to invite Laplace, but when I sent Diablo to pick him up, he reported the guy was already gone. I guess even Diablo knew how to worry about his friends, at least a little. So, along those lines, I opted not to try tracking down Laplace just for the sake of this party. Our promise to fight together was still ongoing; if he ever needed any help, I was planning to give it. For now, though, I thought it better to leave him alone.
So I returned to our capital city of Rimuru, where I received some rather unexpected news.
One section of the town's outer border had been burned to the ground. Geld and his forces had kept the area defended at all times, so fortunately,
the damage wasn't as bad as it looked. They had demolished some of the surrounding buildings in order to create firebreaks, so the number of casualties was kept to a minimum as well.
The lack of fatalities was a great silver lining, but it still wasn't very pleasant news to be greeted with. Regardless, it was all in the past; no point freaking out about it now. So I decided to be patient and wait for Geld to provide me with his report.
Geld, however, wasn't the only one waiting in line to brief me.
We were all in the town's large banquet hall. My top staff, who had outdone themselves once again in this battle, were seated, a small army of attendants— including Shuna, Haruna, and Gobichi's servants—busily scurrying around and preparing meals for everyone. I wasn't a great fan of conducting our briefings in this festive atmosphere, but given the urgency, I didn't have much choice.
Veldora was by my right side. He stubbornly refused to vacate that seat, and it wasn't like I could ever convince him otherwise. That selfish streak of his was nothing new to me, so I was used to dealing with it. Best not to let it bother me —it was a lot easier to ignore him than try to change his mind about anything.
So he was on my right, and I had Benimaru seated on my left. Shion and Diablo were standing behind me, ready to listen to whatever I had to say. I knew Diablo wouldn't care, but I really wished Shion would at least dine with me—but no, she insisted on eating later. I guess it'd violate one of her self imposed rules or whatever, but that was fine.
As for the people giving me reports tonight…
I had Geld in front of me right now. Adalmann was opposite Benimaru, looking uncomfortable. I suppose his evolution had completed successfully, and he seemed a little different to me. I intended to have him lay it out for me later. Ramiris was right in front of Veldora, and Treyni and Beretta were standing behind her, waiting on her hand and foot. Charys, meanwhile, was pouring Veldora's drinks for her, and Ramiris was too busy stuffing herself to care much about reporting back to me.
"Awww, I always knew you'd be all right, Master! When that reckless, no good sister of yours blew apart the top levels of my labyrinth, I gotta admit, I
wasn't exactly feeling good about our chances—but I still believed we'd be fine if you were around. I wasn't worried a single bit from the very start!"
Ramiris said all of this with a straight face as she enjoyed a flagon of juice. It was truth intermingled with bald-faced lies, but nobody bothered to point it out.
"Kwaaah-ha-ha-ha! But of course! Even against my sister, I wasn't the slightest bit intimidated. I simply let my guard down a bit is all—and thanks to that cowardly intruder's attempt to strike me while I was down, my fight against her was completely spoiled!"
Uh-huh.
I definitely thought he was intimidated, and honestly, the evolved Velgrynd really was a menace. I gave Veldora no better than even odds to defeat her, besides. Why couldn't he hold off on the big talk for a change?
That was my opinion anyway. But Veldora was greeted by massive applause nonetheless.
"You never fail to amaze me, Sir Veldora. There is much I could learn from you…," Charys said, solemnly nodding to himself.
"Truly a tremendous battle. I thought my evolution strengthened me, but now I know just how far I still need to go."
Benimaru was chiming in, too. And his praise actually seemed genuine, which made Veldora give him a smug smile. But the good times stopped when Ramiris opened her mouth.
"Awww, you're so careless sometimes, Master. Still, that's probably gonna be all right!"
"Probably? What do you mean, Ramiris?"
You see? I thought. Better to let sleeping dogs lie. Being too loose with your speech has a way of painting you into a corner sometimes.
"Well, you know, with all that he's doing—but, ah, you're here now, Master, so I've got no worries at all!"
He?
Ramiris's words were quite disturbing to me.
"What?! W-well, I…I am invincible, of course, but even I might not be fully on my game every single day…"
Veldora seemed to pick up on what this meant. Now he suddenly began making excuses, perhaps realizing he had dug his own grave. It was too late for him, though, and this kind of thing always happened to him anyway, so I didn't bother fretting over it.
Personally, I was more concerned about Vester sitting in the far corner of the hall. I left Veldora and his pals to their own nonsense and asked the rest of my staff what was up.
Immediately after Rimuru left for the Empire, everyone who remained behind promptly went into emergency mode. The post-celebration excitement that prevailed across the city was gone in a flash, and that was true for Ramiris and her cohorts as well, as they returned to the innermost chambers of the labyrinth.
The Dragon Lords under their control had completed their evolutions, which cheered Ramiris up considerably—but given Rimuru's emergency deployment, she was still anxious. Ramiris's aim in life was to make every day as fun as possible, and with the labyrinth, she felt that she had a glorious paradise that'd make her wish easy to fulfill. After spending so long all alone, fending off the solitude with her elemental spirit friends, this realm had become something precious to her, something she never wanted to lose again. In fact, she was afraid of losing it. She thought things would work out like they usually did as long as Rimuru was around, although she still couldn't shake off a certain premonition.
But that hunch was right. Veldora's sister Velgrynd wound up attacking and destroying much of the labyrinth Ramiris saw as her pride and joy. The structure was physically indestructible, but when faced with a True Dragon—a personification of unfair, irrational force—very little was impossible.
When Ramiris first caught sight of Velgrynd, she recalled an old memory that
she usually made sure to forget. It was a long time ago, not long after she was born, and back then she recalled witnessing Veldora on a rampage, looking very much like the great Veldanava himself. Veldora the Storm Dragon's key attribute was wind, but he also had control over space and water. He held sway over a tremendous number of magicules, second only to Veldanava's, and it was fair to call him a living, raging storm.
He was the strongest on the planet, a natural disaster in himself, but his two sisters were just as unimaginable. Velgrynd, with her heat-driven powers, bore the attribute of flame, making her the worst match possible for Veldora in a fight, and any difference between their magicule counts paled in comparison to the sheer overwhelming presence she projected.
If anything, though, she was still on the easy side. The real threat was Velzard, the leader of the trio. Her attribute was ice, although its essence was driven not by water but by something else. If anything, Velzard was using the abilities she governed to only pretend she was all about ice, then hoodwink the entire population at large.
Ramiris was aware of this truth, something she had heard from Veldanava himself. Or she knew it at one point. But sadly, after reincarnating herself over the years, the memory had completely escaped her mind—not entirely, but regardless, it'd still take a while for Ramiris to dredge it up.
That's why she was more than happy to be dealing with Velgrynd right now. If this had been Velzard, Veldora never would've stood a chance. The way Ramiris remembered it, a single blow from Velzard's hand was enough to annihilate the Storm Dragon—that, and she recalled those icy-cold eyes of hers, that cool, self serving confidence that no other outcome could ever be possible.
Thus, Ramiris's primary concern at the moment was for Veldora. She was flying in circles around the chamber, unable to calm down.
"Will you be all right, Master?"
Her voice was just as strained as her mind. But she posed the question as a sort of "out" for Veldora, a sign that she wouldn't berate him for fleeing. But Veldora ignored it.
"Calm yourself! Just sit back and watch me act like the hero I am!"
Somehow, Veldora seemed to have lost all hints of anxiety. It was with supreme self-assurance that he strode out of the labyrinth. The sight was nothing short of dazzling to Ramiris. She knew well how he used to act, and seeing him grow up like this was truly endearing to her.
After Veldora set off to face Velgrynd, Ramiris looked around, scanning the faces of those remaining in the Control Center. Charys was there, explicitly told by Veldora that he couldn't join this fight. That much was a sad fact—Charys had nothing against a heat-oriented fighter like Velgrynd.
Beretta was calm and collected as usual. He acted like nothing was amiss at all, which helped Ramiris chill a little as well. He was also in command of the Dryas Doll Dryads, the creatures that had been reborn by Rimuru's hands; there were twenty-four of them now, curating the labyrinth under Beretta's supervision, and Rimuru had kept evolving them whenever he had a spare moment to stop by, so they had all become excellent managers.
Treyni was also there, as well as her sisters, Traya and Doreth. They were all caring for Ramiris, their faces as calm and unaffected as normal.
Beyond that, there were Vester, Deeno, and some recent additions to the research staff: Shinji Tanimura, Marc Lauren, and Zhen Liuxing, along with their two apprentice assistants, Lucius and Raymond. This quintet answered to Gadora once the labyrinth was in a state of war, but since Gadora wasn't on the premises, they were assisting Ramiris in the Control Center instead.
All of them were now looking back at Ramiris, none hiding their apprehension. So she tried to sound as cheerful as possible.
"C'mon, guys! I'm not worried one bit. I'm sure my master will win, in fact— and even if he doesn't, Rimuru will figure something out. It's a no-brainer. And besides, as long as he doesn't let his guard down, my master is invincible!"
This was Ramiris's way of calming her own nerves. She was certain that Veldora and Rimuru would bring the serenity back to her life in short order.
Then, just when everyone in the room had collected themselves a little, things began happening.
"Warning! Intruder!"
Alpha, the chief dryad curator, shouted across the chamber. Everyone who heard it immediately shifted gears and went into battle mode.
"Display on the monitor."
Beretta's order was followed by a split-screen display of the scene. Sighting the figure standing there, Ramiris involuntarily shouted out first.
"Oh, that's an angel! He's been both physically incarnated and transformed, but I have a feeling he's gonna be trouble."
It was a strange sight to see—an outfit of pure white and a God-class weapon that let out a dark, lustrous sheen. The long jet-black hair seemed to shine like a source of light, further accentuating the figure's beauty. Behind its back were three pairs of wings, which only made the figure more conspicuous.
"Estimated energy figures obtained! This…"
Alpha paused.
"What? Tell us."
Treyni's urging snapped him out of it.
"This is just an estimate, but the figure on the forefront has more than three million existence points. The five behind him were all measured at between four and seven hundred thousand."
Alpha's statement froze the entire Control Center.
One less-advertised role of the labyrinth was to quantify information on the life-forms that lived within it, in order to build a database. The idea was to monitor the battles waged within its walls and use the gathered data for future crisis-management purposes.
That's what Alpha was referring to by "existence points," or EP. It was a numerical statistic derived from a life-form's magicule count and physical ability, plus the energy contained within whatever armor was equipped, although it didn't attempt to evaluate a target's actual combat ability. It was impossible to measure a person's honed skills and techniques, so one's EP was considered a reference value and little more—but it was still useful for
statistical purposes. Used correctly, they expected it to help strengthen the labyrinth's defenses; it allowed them to estimate the approximate threat level of an enemy by hitting them with an opponent of roughly the same EP value.
This was all still in the trial stage, however, and the program didn't yet have all the data they needed. Statistical anomalies still ran rampant across the system. For example, there were seasoned fighters like Hakuro, whose existence points were at around 60,000 but could still storm over foes with an EP several times that. An even more notable exception was Gobta, whose EP was just under 20,000—the weakest among those ranked an A in skill—but on the field he was stronger than Bovix and Equix, each given an EP of 130,000 or so. Given those cases, most everyone working in the labyrinth assumed that one's EP ought to be taken as a guide, not the final verdict on someone's strength.
...…
...
…
It should be noted that within the land of Tempest, one's EP rating was also tied to their rank at the local Free Guild, to wit:
EP Guild Rank
Under 1,000 E
1,000–2,999 D
3,000–5,999 C
6,000–7,999 B
8,000–8,999 B+
9,000–9,999 A
Ten thousand was an enormous wall for people to pass, but overcoming it brought you into the first class of strength. That earned you a Guild rank of A and a threat level of Hazard. Making it up to 100,000, though—that earned you a Special A rank and the threat level of Calamity. Demon lords had an EP of at
least 200,000; based on Rimuru's hunches, Frey and Clayman (before his pseudo-awakening) would've had an EP of around 400,000. That figure was the yardstick for assigning someone the Guild rank of S, along with the threat level of Disaster.
However, an S rank didn't mean a demon lord by Tempest standards, given how a lot of the nation's top executives were as powerful as old-style demon lords. The Tempest government wanted to keep things simpler, so they built their own standards beyond this point. That's where things like the Catastrophe threat level came in, currently applied only to True Dragons and Guy Crimson.
Other "awakened" superpowers were assigned the class of Special S. The pseudo-awakened Clayman never stabilized his magicule count before reaching his end, but as Rimuru commented, "I'd say his EP woulda been around seven or eight hundred thousand?" Thus, "Special S" was defined as an EP of 800,000 or higher, and those lucky few with an EP over a million were collectively referred to as the Million Class.
For the sake of reference, an Arch Demon's EP was always fixed at 140,000, no matter who summoned them. That number was uniformly the same for all of them, as if they had all reached some kind of cosmic upper limit. Even Testarossa and her friends were recorded as having a 140,000 EP when they first came on to the scene, and while there was no way to verify it at this point, Ramiris and her team were certain there was no mistake about it.
...…
...
…
"A Million Class member," said Ramiris, struggling to find the words. "And if so, the first thing that comes to mind is that these are seraphim, aren't they?"
"A high-level angel," a nodding Beretta added, "who has transformed into one? Very troubling indeed. And even those following it are S-class. With our floor bosses asleep at the moment, engaging them could pose quite a challenge."
"B-but we have to do something, don't we?" Ramiris replied, panicking a bit.
Treyni offered her a smile, trying to assuage her. "Yes, we do, Lady Ramiris. Allow me to set off."
Traya and Doreth stood up, following her lead.
"As will I, of course."
"Allow me to join you, my sister!"
But this did little to calm Ramiris's nerves. In fact, she panicked even more.
"W-wait a minute! I know you've all gotten stronger, sure, but there's no way you beat him in the stats!"
"Hee-hee… That will not be a problem. One's EP is nothing more than a guide…and now, we will prove just how strong your followers truly are."
Traya and Doreth nodded their eager agreement. Ramiris really wanted to stop them, but nobody had any better ideas. They didn't, but she truly loved Treyni and her kin, and as their master, pushing them directly into harm's way like this didn't seem like an acceptable option at all.
"No, I can't allow this! Like Rimuru and my master always tell me, we only fight battles we know we can win!"
They would have to put the labyrinth in full operation and buy as much time as they could. In the meantime, Ramiris thought, they'd just have to hope things somehow got better. She knew that was escaping reality, but nothing else came to mind.
But it was Charys who admonished her.
"Lady Ramiris, I'm afraid a stalling approach will be too difficult to pull off. We cannot approach the level of the sleeping floor bosses in a fight, and if we leave things as they stand, we risk seeing the labyrinth's most vital facilities destroyed. I think the only choice is to intercept them on the surface. I will join them in this endeavor, so if you could grant me your permission…"
With Veldora absent, the strongest person in the Control Center was currently Charys. That must've been why he was so determined to do something here.
"Lord Beretta, I entrust Lady Ramiris's protection to you."
"Very well. Protected she will remain."
Beretta didn't need to be reminded. If the dryads were setting out to battle, he was by default the only one who could keep Ramiris guarded.
Shinji and the others, not wanting to be left behind, also spoke up. "We'll do our best, too!"
"Ah, yes indeed. As long as we're being taken care of here, we need to return the favor."
"…Yes. We have our Resurrection Bracelets; we can keep fighting through death itself."
"Yeah… Well, being an imperial soldier, I have no reason to complain if I'm killed. I'd like to prove to everyone here that I'm more useful alive, at least."
"Right. Otherwise, Lord Gadora's likely to be enraged."
So the atmosphere in the Control Center was relaxed, everyone pleasantly chatting as this mind-boggling foe loomed before them. Ramiris took a deep breath, then erupted into a big ol' smile.
"Well, if that's what you all're saying, then have at it! Gimme everything you got! As long as I'm around, you can die all you want, so don't go easy, y'hear? And I'll send my Dragon Lords over when they're ready, so you better be sure you win for me!"
Everyone nodded their agreement—and then, taking up the roles they were given, they swiftly moved into action.
The intruder whose presence Ramiris had picked up on was Zarario, the leader of the forces under the mystic lord Feldway's direct command. He was a former seraphim, but with his two companions, he ruled as one of the Three Mystic Leaders, the trio that controlled the mystics.
Each of them served as an army commander leading a vast force of their own, and normally they'd be nowhere near the front lines. This time, however, Feldway had given him explicit orders. He was to take advantage of Velgrynd's laying waste to the labyrinth and take out his assigned target at once. Feldway
had told him what happened to the imperial troops who had attacked the labyrinth before, and Zarario, reasoning that such a weak force would be nothing but a nuisance, decided that he ought to come to this labyrinth himself.
Five of his generals accompanied him. All of them were high-level angels, classified as cherubim or throni depending on rank, and by becoming mystics, they had gained magicule counts comparable to a demon lord's. Their physical bodies were much more fragile, but in the labyrinth's environment, that wasn't much of a problem—since the natural diffusion of magic force was suppressed down there, they'd all be able to fully leverage their abilities.
So Zarario was casually strolling toward the labyrinth—but, of course, he was interrupted. As soon as he found the stairs and descended underground, he felt the physical space around him shift. He and his entourage paused a moment, not panicking but calmly looking around to see what was going on.
What appeared before their eyes was a closed, empty space, around eight figures in the center.
"Heh-heh-heh… Looks like we're being welcomed. Best be courteous to them —we don't want to be disrespectful."
At Zarario's words, the generals under his command nodded silently. The two sides approached each other, stopping only when they were almost face-to face.
Treyni was the first to step forward.
"It is nice to meet all of you. My name is Treyni, and on behalf of Lady Ramiris, the master of this labyrinth, I will work with you, along with Charys and my other associates. Now, with that in mind, I don't remember inviting anyone here, but may I ask who you are and what you want?"
She was smiling with her lips, but not at all with her eyes. She was ready to react to anything that might happen, keeping a constant lookout for her opponent's moves. Before coming here, she had powered herself up as much as possible; she could summon a wind elemental lord housed within within her and make full use of its powers. Considering she had summoned only the high level elemental Sylphide for her prolonged battle against Laplace earlier, Treyni was clearly pulling out all the stops from the first move.
The EP of an elemental lord, based on its magicule count, was around a million. For Treyni, whose own EP didn't exceed 600,000, it was almost too much a weight to bear—but she was within the labyrinth and therefore able to be resurrected. So she was using up her full force for the upcoming fight, not worrying about any long-term effects on her body.
Charys, one step behind her, was just as revved up to fight; even if his opponent had twice as many magicules, that wasn't going to faze him for a moment. He'd had the almighty Veldora in all his overwhelming glory as a training partner this whole time. He had friends here, people he could trust— even people like Gobta who could beat opponents several times more powerful than themselves. Thus, Charys didn't doubt their victory for a moment.
The same was true for the Dragon Lords. Rimuru had given them names as a reward, and they had now evolved into loyal servants of Ramiris. Their power gave them EP scores of around 70,000, and further experience could bring them into the Special S level. Fear didn't register in their minds—they were just itching to test out their powers.
Traya and Doreth had also completed their spiritual Unification with Sylphide. Traya was assigned to work with the Dragon Lords against their enemy's entourage, while Doreth was providing support for Treyni and Charys. Berretta's EP was about 400,000, but his skills far surpassed that—he was a valuable asset in battle, but as Ramiris's bodyguard, he couldn't leave her side. Thus, at the present moment, this was the best lineup the labyrinth team could assemble.
If this powerhouse team should be defeated, however… Well, in that case, they'd have to stage a last stand with everyone else on hand, Rigurd and Gobta chief among them. They were busy gathering their forces on the next-highest labyrinth floor for just that purpose, and that's why they needed as much time as they could earn.
Of course, nobody here was going up intending to lose.
"This is quite a surprise. I had heard that we wouldn't find much resistance left in the labyrinth, so I certainly wasn't expecting to see this gauntlet of worthy challengers. How fascinating. I'm quite excited, in fact… Ah, but allow
me to introduce myself. My name is Zarario, one of the Three Mystic Leaders entrusted with an army by the mystic lord Feldway. It is a pleasure."
Zarario bowed gracefully, his movements refined, as if he were a famed stage actor. But there was no emotion at all behind his speech. He was clearly condescending to Treyni and the others; they barely even registered in his mind. It annoyed Treyni to no end, but she wasn't foolish enough to lose her temper at this point. Bravely trying to keep her composure, she continued with the conversation.
"I see… Zarario of the Three Mystic Leaders? With all due respect, I'm not sure I've heard that name before."
Zarario returned the muted provocation with a smile. "No, I'm sure you haven't. We are rather well known over in other worlds, but we've been…away from this one for a long while. I suppose we must seem like quite an alien presence here."
"Alien…?"
"Indeed. Not that we intend to let that stop us."
"…"
"Ah, right, but you asked what we wanted, yes? I'll gladly inform you, of course. In fact, if you could cooperate with us, I think it would save us all a lot of trouble."
"That will depend on what you have in mind."
"Very well, then. Our objection is to eliminate a boy by the name of Masayuki Honjo. If you will offer him to me instead of keeping him hidden, I will withdraw at once."
What Zarario offered, his gentle good looks framing his soft, almost feminine voice, was a declaration that he'd kill Masayuki. Nobody was offering their agreement. Masayuki was Rimuru's friend, as well as an irreplaceable companion for Treyni and the rest.
"Ridiculous. I fear there is no room for negotiation."
"I see. That's a pity."
Zarario smiled, not bothering to hide that he didn't find it a pity at all. Then, at the next moment, the fight began.
Treyni set off first, propelling herself into the air. From above, she sent a swarm of countless unseen blades flying toward Zarario. This was Invisible Blade, a lethal move that couldn't be dodged—this was not just a bladelike rupture in the air caused by compression but it was also granted the air elemental attribute, making it capable of shearing through dimensions. It was impossible to perceive and could be unleashed with no preliminary casting or other movement, showing just how menacing a force a riled Treyni could be.
But she was just mismatched this time. Far too mismatched. Zarario didn't take a single step—not because he failed to notice the blades but because he didn't even need to evade them. Just as the invisible blades seemed ready to slice through him, they disappeared. A distortion in space had manifested, neatly covering the surface of Zarario's body. There was a skill close to this one recorded in the labyrinth's database; it was in the family of spatial defensive zones that Zegion was an expert at devising. Nothing could be more absolute in terms of defense; it could nullify all element-driven attacks and even handle ruptures in space.
"Wha…?!"
"The same skill as Lord Zegion's, huh? Nasty."
"Hoh? From the way you're talking, this skill isn't a novelty to you, then? And you spoke of a Zegion just now? I was told all of this nation's top leaders had been taken out of the picture, but it seems our intelligence was faulty…"
Despite Zarario's tone, his face was as cool as ever. He clearly wasn't taking any of them seriously yet; in fact, he appeared to savor this. That's why Treyni looked so stern. Exchanging glances with Charys, she immediately changed her approach—instead of trying to defeat Zarario by force, she concentrated on stalling for time.
This seemed like a wise move. After all, the five generals Zarario had brought with him were having a noticeably difficult time against the labyrinthine forces. The Dragon Lords had been constantly training for battle, and now they were
leaving nothing off the table skill-wise. Besides that, they were fighting on their home turf, which made all the Tempest forces as good as immortal. That let them fight well beyond their physical limits, and in an evenly matched battle, that allowed them to notch some scarily one-sided victories.
This could work, Treyni thought. Zarario was a grave threat, but the other enemies would be dispatched soon enough. If they kept up their current momentum and worked as a team, a little space-distorting defense could be broken through in time. Worst-case scenario, they could just wait for Zarario to wear himself out.
That's right. As long as we can keep driving them back, we'll achieve our objectives for victory here. No need to push ourselves too hard…but why is he acting so unconcerned about all of this…?
Treyni thought she should have a distinct advantage. But she couldn't shake off her uneasiness—all thanks to Zarario, whose attitude was unflappable as ever. Anyone with a decent amount of common sense wouldn't fail to read the war situation here, and Zarario had to have more than that—he said he was the general of an army. It'd normally be impossible for someone who had demon lord–level behemoths serving him to make such a rudimentary error in judgment.
His mission is to eliminate Masayuki the Hero…? No!
Thinking about it, if Masayuki was the only target, assassinating him would be easy. Zarario's sky-high EP had completely distracted them all from that possibility.
(Lady Ramiris! Do you know where Sir Masayuki is located?)
(Huh? Why that out of nowhere? Of course I do.)
Ramiris quickly answered the Thought Communication. She wasn't just leisurely watching this battle. These intruders were a big problem, yes—but more important was evacuating the city residents. Now that Veldora had gone to battle, the urban area they had forcibly transported within the labyrinth was no longer fully safe. If Veldora should be defeated, the city would automatically revert to its original position. Ramiris alone didn't have enough magic power to keep it in place; there was nothing she could do if it happened.
It was thus necessary to evacuate at least the residents, just in case. Fortunately, there was enough open space on Floor 95 (functioning as Floor 100 at the moment) to deploy a decent-sized army. They couldn't allow regular citizens into the labyrinth's research facilities, but the floor overall was more than big enough for all the city's residents. Once Beretta pointed out that fact to Ramiris, she'd hurriedly sprung into action, and now the evacuation was underway.
(I need you to ensure he is safe immediately!)
(I think you're worrying too much. Those are the only intruders so far, you know…)
Ramiris, despite her internal griping about how busy she was, answered Treyni's request. Just as she thought, Masayuki was safe and sound.
(Hmm, yep, he looks all right. He's in the city now, helping guide the evacuees out of there.)
Just as Ramiris said, Masayuki was playing a major role in the effort, helping to keep the citizens calm. If he wasn't there, there might've been enough mass panic to lethally delay the evacuation. It was times like these that Masayuki's innate skills really came into their own.
So the situation down there was peaceful, with no signs of battle. If there were any signs, Ramiris (as the chief controller of the labyrinth) would know about it at once. Treyni, hearing all that, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
(All right. That's a relief, then…)
Nonetheless, she seemed unconvinced.
(Are you worried?) Ramiris asked her.
(Well, if the enemy tried taking Masayuki's life, I'm afraid the evacuees could get caught in the crossfire.)
Even Treyni felt this was overthinking matters. Nevertheless, something in the back of her mind was alerting her to consider every possibility just in case.
(Well, all right! If you're that insistent on it, Treyni, I'll have Masayuki's gang go up to Floor 70!)
That, finally, satisfied Treyni. Floor 70 was currently home to the surviving remnants of the imperial forces. Even if some assassins showed up, those soldiers would boast enough resistance to buy them some time.
(That would certainly put my mind at ease.)
(Right? Yeah!)
So Masayuki was dispatched to Floor 70.
Masayuki sighed to himself.
People around here treat me with no respect at all…
From Rimuru on down, all the big shots just loved acting on the slightest whim that popped into their heads. These weren't ground-level minions—they really needed to consider their position and act with more caution. Not that all of them were like that, but…
"Don't you think, like, they should be more worried about my take on things, like how Shuna is?"
Those were Masayuki's true feelings coming out. If an elegant, beautiful woman like Shuna asked him to do something, Masayuki would have no complaints. That's why he was so delighted to help with this evacuation…but now Ramiris was interrupting him. "Hey, so I want you up on Floor 70 ASAP!" she forcefully ordered without a moment's hesitation.
Masayuki was less than excited about this. But despite appearances, Ramiris had a lot of power to work with. She had Veldora's backing, and she was also one of the people who knew Masayuki's secret. No matter what she said, there was no way he could defy her.
"Ah, give it up. Lady Ramiris doesn't mean anything bad by it—they're just stretched thin is all. Sir Veldora himself went out to fight, too. It's an emergency no matter how you slice it."
The young man speaking to Masayuki, walking along with him, wore a snake shaped earring, a rugged-looking wristwatch, and a skull ring on his finger. His shirt was a sickly looking shade of purple, covered by a spiked leather jacket;
this was matched with long, shiny black leather pants, accompanied by a skirtlike piece of fabric around the waist. It was punk fashion through and through; clearly this guy wasn't an honor student.
This wasn't the type Masayuki usually got along with, but strangely enough, they had hit it off pretty well. That was probably because, much like Masayuki, this man had gone through a lot in life. He called himself Venom, and according to him, he was always being forced by his bosses to deliver the impossible in his work. Masayuki felt a kind of kinship with him, because he saw a lot of himself in the guy—as Venom had rather succinctly put it, "I have no human rights."
Now Masayuki had Venom as his bodyguard, because that's what Venom's bosses had ordered him to do. He hadn't seen Jiwu or Bernie since all that stuff went down—it'd just be too awkward—and he and Jinrai had split up as well. That was at Masayuki's suggestion; he knew his entire life was one big bluff, so there was no way he could ensure his pal's safety. Fortunately, Jinrai was open to the idea: "If you need me," he'd told Masayuki, "just say the word! Until then, I'll keep my skills sharp working for this nation's Guild." So now he was employed by Tempest's Guild, providing behind-the-scenes support for Masayuki's exploits. It made the Hero feel a tad lonely, but it still came as a relief. Now that he didn't have to lie to his own friends, a heavy guilt was lifted from his shoulders.
So Masayuki had been by himself—and then Venom showed up. Venom knew just how weak Masayuki was; he was there to protect him, and despite appearances, he actually lent an ear to what he had to say. Venom had been told to cooperate with Masayuki so his reputation didn't get tarnished, which was in line with what Rimuru wanted as well, and Masayuki wasn't shy about taking advantage. Thanks to that, they had quickly built a friendship based on trust.
"Yeah, so I know this is an emergency and all, but why would someone portraying a Hero figure like me try to actively run away from everyone in town, is what I'm asking."
"But you're a wimp, man. If the enemy really attacks, you can't do squat, can you?"
"No, but… Yes, I know that! But that doesn't make this right, does it? All those anxious gazes upon me… They bite into me, you know?"
They didn't have to say anything. Masayuki could hear them pleading with him, Don't go, don't go, anyway. That's why he was so dissatisfied with Ramiris's order.
In Venom's eyes, though, the issue lay elsewhere. Floor 70 was clearly going to be safer than Floor 100. That's because even if you didn't count the imperial forces among their war power, the research facilities on Floor 70 had the overcomer vampires waiting in the wings. They were currently taking care of the children, so the way Venom saw it, Masayuki could come under their protection once he got there. To Venom, the mission Diablo gave him was the most important matter at hand—he needed to literally risk his life to ensure Masayuki survived.
"Yeah, well, I know how your just being there helps people feel better. But the evacuations are pretty close to complete now, and Floor 100's well protected, so…"
Practically speaking, if an enemy was powerful enough to make it this far, nothing short of the floor bosses would stop them. Floor 60 was largely undefended—Gadora was absent, and Shinji's team had pulled out. Floor 70 was thus serving as their first line of defense.
"So you mean I'd be in more danger up there?!"
Venom nodded. "I suppose so. But don't worry, man. I'm here. And it's my job to protect you."
"Mmmm, well, that's what I'm hoping for, but…"
Masayuki understood the situation he was in. If he was being transferred to the front lines in this situation, it meant some enemy was likely targeting him and him alone. Otherwise there'd be no reason for Ramiris to expose someone as helpless as he was to even more danger. Masayuki had a Resurrection Bracelet, so he'd be quickly resurrected after any death in the labyrinth. It seemed clear Ramiris wanted to use him as bait for the enemy.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Plus, I'm sure she didn't want to get other
civilians caught in the fight. They might realize how much of a wimp you are, besides. Following this order is just the right thing to do, y'know?"
"I know that, yeah, but I got my say in this, too…"
Jiwu and Bernie were on Floor 70. The awkwardness of running into them was a problem for Masayuki as well.
"I dunno what they're up to, but if they were just following orders, try not to hate on 'em too much, okay? Even if they tried to kill you, it's not like they really wanted to, deep down. Humans are all complicated like that; it's not like monsters. That's what makes them such great toys for demons."
Masayuki glared at the grinning Venom. I can't move on that easily, he thought—but as Venom said, it was hard to read someone's true feelings, and not even he could find it in himself to fully hate Jiwu and Bernie. Dwelling on it would only hurt him.
So Masayuki finally resigned himself to his fate once they reached Floor 70 and he witnessed the construction site the imperial forces were stationed around. "Well, stop using me as a toy, too," he shot at his newfound friend, shaking his head to drive away his emotions. Venom smiled, knowing he wasn't actually angry. Protecting Masayuki was his duty, but Venom took a personal liking to him as well.
They were both nervous pessimists by nature. And Venom couldn't help but respect the guy. He might seem like a twig in a river, letting the currents take him where they would, but he still kept a fierce sense of self-will. Venom saw himself as a natural-born rebel as well, but something told him he couldn't hold a candle to Masayuki.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Well, that depends on you— Mm?!"
Just as he was about to jab at him in return, he stepped up to defend Masayuki against the presence that suddenly appeared before them.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Tch! A meddler, huh? And I thought my timing was perfect. I'm not used to this body enough to react quickly, then?"
The figure ignored Venom, giving Masayuki an annoyed look instead. There was something clearly unearthly about him, something Masayuki couldn't hide his agitation about.
There had been no sign of him at all before that moment, but now the aura he emitted was nothing short of overwhelming. On his back were three pairs of folded wings, only serving to further emphasize his virile, masculine physique. The well-defined muscles were virtually chiseled into his pale skin, exposed for the world to see. But what struck observers the most was his gaze. It housed a sinister, ghastly light, like a vicious carnivore—and a wounded one at that, something no one could ever approach.
"Don't ignore me!" Venom shouted as he unleashed a high roundhouse kick. It was a beautiful, textbook move, and it traveled toward the target's temple like a magnet.
But…
Masayuki was shocked. Amazingly, the figure took Venom's kick without defending—not because he couldn't react in time, either. Almost as if he didn't see the need to at all.
"Pfft. Garbage like you doesn't deserve to live. You damn demon races have been meddling with us since time immemorial. I am Cornu, one of the Three Mystic Leaders, and you have just deeply offended me! You will know your place soon…in the grave!"
The man called Cornu casually swung an arm toward Venom. The next moment, a wave of compressed magic force was unleashed, gouging into Venom at an unavoidable speed. Masayuki was wondering why Cornu had bothered with the high-handed self-introduction, but only for a moment, as he hurriedly went over to Venom's side.
"A-are you okay?"
Venom was alive. He had reacted just in time to deflect the magic bolt with his left arm. But the damage was staggering. His entire left arm was now gone, and there was a large hole in his left side as well.
"…Not really, no. I hardly believe it, much less want to admit it, but it looks like that bastard's way stronger than I am. But don't worry. I promise I'm gonna protect you."
With that, Venom casually stood up. He was nowhere near unhurt, but he was far from out of the battle, either.
"Oh, great. We've got an obstinate little bug here, don't we? This is why I hate garbage so much. They waste everyone's time with their pointless resistance."
Watching Cornu moan about this made Masayuki want to tell him off. He didn't know why it was so important that he be killed, and he felt entirely responsible for Venom getting hurt as well.
"Venom…"
"I guess that guy's going after you, huh?"
"You knew from the start?"
"I had a hunch once Lady Ramiris contacted me. But it's okay. I may not beat him, but I'll buy us some time."
"But…"
"He probably hasn't killed you yet because of your bracelet. If he does, you'll just get resurrected somewhere else. He's afraid of that, so he's trying to bring you out of the labyrinth alive. I don't think he'll throw us any attacks that might fall within range of you!"
Venom smiled defiantly. And he was right. Masayuki's resurrection point was set to the Control Center; that way, no one would see where he went. Knowing that emboldened him.
Cornu, meanwhile, was annoyed that his motives had been exposed. He had good reason not to make any more mistakes, a reason that went back several decades. During an attempted invasion of another planet besides this one, he'd screwed everything up just one step before completion. Exactly what had happened was unclear, but a field of blazing fire had reduced the army he led to cinders. Thanks to that, Cornu—despite retaining his Mystic Leader title—no longer had any subordinates assigned to him. And while his wounds had healed, his mind still bore the sadness and despair he could never fully wipe away.
Thus, despite the overwhelming advantage he had in this matchup, Cornu still felt like he was dancing on a cliff. Unfortunately for him, it didn't escape his adversary's notice.
"I'll admit it. If this wasn't Ramiris's world, I never would've had to be here. It would be child's play to bury both of you, but while I'm at it, I think I'll let you taste genuine despair. Behold my true powers…and prepare to set off for the afterlife!"
Cornu wasn't the type of fool to let his guard down. He realized Venom would be no pushover, and now he broke out his full force so he could handle whatever may or may not come.
Over his body, a suit of armor formed itself, emitting beams of black and golden light. This was the ultimate in God-class gear, the same type Zarario boasted, and it was available only to the Three Mystic Leaders. Venom, now facing a fully armed Cornu, had no moves left to make. No attack would even
scratch him, and all that remained was for Venom to be tormented to death. "Tsh… Dammit…!"
Venom winced at the impossible difference in power. Running, he assumed, would be pointless—and once he was gone, Masayuki would doubtlessly be taken away and executed. Venom himself would be resurrected within this labyrinth as well, but if he failed to protect Masayuki, it'd be Diablo's violent purge waiting for him next.
I'm screwed, aren't I…?
Venom thought hard, almost ready to cry. There was only one option left—kill Masayuki himself so he'd be sent to a safe spot.
"So be it—"
But just when Venom was about to commit to it:
"Hey, do we have some trouble over here? Mind if we lend a hand?" Two men stepped forward, shielding Masayuki.
"Are you Sir Minitz?! And Sir Caligulio, too?!"
The timid Masayuki recognized them, having met them both a couple of times before. He recalled how nervous he had been, given how high in Empire society they both were.
"Sir Masayuki, you may feel free to simply call me Minitz. Having His Majesty the Emperor's spitting image call me 'sir' makes me feel so self-conscious."
"B-but…"
"Hee-hee-hee! He's right, I think. Seeing you here, Sir Masayuki, makes me feel like my heart is soaring, as if His Majesty himself is witnessing my exploits. I feel more powerful than ever now!"
The foppish Minitz—along with Caligulio, his stern countenance obscured by a patch over his left eye—smiled at Masayuki, trying to calm him.
"Venom, right? Allow us to back you up."
Minitz turned toward Cornu. An invisible force field deployed itself, slowing Cornu's movements. It was the effect of Oppressor, the unique skill Minitz had
supposedly lost earlier.
"Didn't you lose your powers, Minitz?"
"Yes, I did," came the blunt reply. "But once you get something the first time, the second time onward is far easier, isn't it?"
Caligulio gave that a half smile. "I'm envious. I lost my omnipotence, so… But at least I can still easily store magicules in my empty body."
As if to prove it, Caligulio's body was clearly teeming with power. He was well beyond the point of losing control, and blood was seeping out from his pores. His life would be in danger before long, but that mattered little in the labyrinth —he was equipped with an unlimited-use Resurrection Bracelet he had procured from parts unknown, so he didn't care about the effect on his body.
"You sure get carried away, don't you?"
"I couldn't face up to my dead soldiers if I didn't do this much."
Venom saw his last hope in the two of them. And they weren't alone. Several other men had joined them, volunteering to assist the demon. He recognized who they were immediately, and without a moment's hesitation, he agreed to the offer.
"Thanks, guys. Don't worry about killing this one or anything—just stop him!" "Understood!"
"This ought to be fun."
"As long as I'm on the scene, there's nothing left to fear!"
These were three overcomers—rehabilitated vampires—who had joined in out of curiosity.
"I'll give the orders. All of you, get moving!"
It was Caligulio declaring his authority, and no one objected. Now five people were supporting Venom, going on the attack against Cornu.
"Stupid garbage! Don't act like you can beat me!"
Cornu was enraged, but he still hadn't lost his cool. He set out to eliminate each of them one by one, while taking pains not to let Masayuki escape. But,
surprisingly enough, this hastily assembled team worked amazingly well together. Between the overcomers' immortality and Cornu being unable to deploy wide-range destructive attacks, Caligulio had a plan in mind to win this battle with minimal damage. Using quick-wittedness and bravery to overcome the impossible difference in power, Venom and the others backed one another up to successfully stall for time.
And as they did:
"Masayuki! Over here!"
"Hurry up and get out of there. If you reach the lab, you can travel to other floors from there, right?"
Bernie and Jiwu had called out to him.
"Y-you guys!"
"Sorry. I wanted to more formally apologize, but now's not the time for that. Just follow me."
"Huh?! Wait a second. What're you doing, Jiwu?"
Bernie seemed ready to serve as Masayuki's bodyguard. Jiwu, however, stood frozen on the spot, apparently casting a magic spell.
"Ah, don't worry about me. I'll just pretend to be you to confuse him."
By the time Jiwu turned toward Masayuki to respond, she looked exactly like him.
"Come on! I guess he's holding back his attack on you, and Jiwu can defend herself well enough. We gotta get out while we have a chance!"
That was apparently the plan they had come up with on the way here. The rest of the team endeavored to keep Jiwu out of Cornu's sight as she transformed. Masayuki hesitated…but only for a moment.
"Okay. I'm just gonna be a drag on everyone here anyway."
So he reluctantly agreed to the plan.
The Control Center was in a state of uncontrolled chaos. The enemy who had appeared in the labyrinth out of nowhere was far trickier to deal with than anyone had assumed.
"Do we have the EP for the guy targeting Masayuki yet?"
"Here it is! It's estimated to be around 1.8 million—or it was, but after equipping God-class gear, it's risen to 2.8 million!"
"What? That's just cheating!"
Ramiris deeply resented Alpha's report. But there wasn't much point whining about it. She needed to get serious and come up with a plan, fast.
"God-class equipment only lends its force to whoever it deems its master. In Sir Alberto's case, the result more than doubled his existence points…and even then, he was likely not extracting his God-class gear's full power."
Ramiris agreed with Beretta's analysis. With his God-class armor, Alberto had become something equivalent to a spiritual life-form. According to the data taken earlier, his EP went from a starting point of around 180,000 to 400,000 and beyond. That seemed impressive by itself, but apparently there was still untapped power left in his God-class gear. Alberto himself had gone into his evolutionary sleep not long afterward, and no one could wait to see what he'd exhibit once he woke up. (This evoked the question of just how crazy Kurobe was, given his ability to craft God-class stuff, but no one had any time to debate that right then.)
Regardless, God-class gear was as rare as it was astounding…except in the hands of the enemy, it was nothing but a mortal threat.
"So now what're we gonna do, huh?! Even Treyni and Charys together are getting pushed around by that Zarario guy! If we gotta deal with this Cornu character along with that, Venom and his friends don't stand a chance…"
Ramiris had reason for concern. Having become a Demon Peer, Venom's EP had shot up to 400,000. However, the leader of the overcomer trio was 300,000 at best, and his two partners were 200,000. Minitz and Caligulio, both stragglers from the imperial army, had lost most of their powers; they could manage an EP of just over 10,000. Expecting them to put up a fight was foolish—in fact, one
had to commend their bravery for attempting to join in at all.
Still, the pair was brimming with enthusiasm. Minitz, oddly enough, was using his unique skill, Oppressor, something everyone assumed he had lost. The fashionable suit he sported was another concern (he sure didn't look like a prisoner of war), but Ramiris's mind was more on Oppressor at the moment. Caligulio's own EP had also been rapidly rising as of late, topping 400,000 just a moment ago. The rate of acceleration was finally tapering off, but the number was still increasing.
It was totally incomprehensible and tremendously fascinating to watch. But unfortunately, there was no time to explore it further. Suppressing her bewilderment at all these concerns happening at once, Ramiris barked out her orders.
"Dahhh! If they did, my power will just resurrect them anyway! They can act as my throwaway pawns all they want! The real problem is Masayuki!"
"…How do you mean?"
"I mean, he'll be transported back here if he dies, but if he's taken away, it's over for him! Right? So I think we need the surest method possible to ferry him back to safety."
"I see."
"Actually, it looks like Bernie and Jiwu are trying to extricate him from the scene."
"Oh!"
Ramiris was impressed. They had acted before she could direct them, apparently reaching the same conclusion she had. It did a lot to rehabilitate their image in her mind. Masayuki, she knew, was way too much of a chicken to try something like take his own life in the labyrinth. No matter how bad things got, he'd never even think about using that most deadly approach to escape. With Bernie there, however, Ramiris's mind was much more at ease.
"Get in contact with Bernie! Tell him to flee back to this room for me. Also, I think he knows this, but if push comes to shove, he needs to off the guy himself!"
"Roger that."
Alpha promptly sent a Thought Communication, perfectly encrypted and reaching Bernie with zero delay. Confirming that, Ramiris finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"All right. Now we've done what we can, at least."
The large surveillance screen was divided into sections, showing off the state of battle across the labyrinth. The fight was tough in every video feed; things weren't looking too sunny for them.
"Ugh, I am so useless when Rimuru isn't around."
"It was the worst possible timing. If our floor guardians were awake, we wouldn't be nearly as outmanned as we are."
"Well, I know that, but…"
Beretta was certainly right. If their entire lineup was deployable right now, they wouldn't be so far behind in this fight. But even so, Ramiris felt a sense of responsibility as she watched things unfold. That was how irreplaceable the labyrinth had become in her life.
Just then, Beta, who had been monitoring magicule amounts, shouted out in a strained voice.
"Emergency!"
"Oh, now what?!"
"This was anticipated, but the magicule supply from Sir Veldora has been cut off. Unless it's restored, we have less than an hour until the city is deposited back on the surface!"
"Gehhhh!! Does that mean my master lost?!"
It was a hard reality for Ramiris to swallow. But if Velgrynd was their adversary, it was a reality she had to admit was possible. They had proceeded with the evacuation with that possibility in mind.
For now, Ramiris opted to believe that Rimuru would figure something out for Veldora. Getting impressed wouldn't improve matters for anyone, so all she
could do was think positively and proceed as best she could.
"How's the evacuation going?"
"No problems there. Masayuki successfully persuaded the stragglers before he headed out."
In any crowd of people, there's always one group that's good at griping about anything and everything, and the Tempest capital of Rimuru was no exception. Around 10 percent of the population had refused to evacuate, including residents and visiting merchants trying to profit off the situation. But even they were swayed by the voice of Masayuki. "Well," they said, "if that's what he wants"—and then they finally got off their asses and left. The effect, close to brainwashing, startled even Ramiris.
Gamma, tasked with overseeing evacuation-related matters, avowed that there was nobody left in the city. Her mind assured, Ramiris prepared to separate the city from the labyrinth.
"But if nobody's there, none of our defenses will function. Sadly, we will have to expect untold damage to the town and its buildings."
"Wh-whoa, Beretta! You're gonna make me second-guess things if you say stuff like that!"
But it was the unavoidable truth. Ramiris's own magicule count wouldn't comparatively amount to much—although the labyrinth had been expanded, she didn't have the wherewithal to accommodate any extra structures inside it by herself. That was the harmful side effect of relying purely on Veldora for their energy needs, and Ramiris sure didn't have a quick fix for it right now.
"I am fully aware of that, my lady. But then, I am sure Sir Rimuru would say something to the effect of, 'We can always build it again.'"
"Right? I suppose that's what we'll have to commit to…"
Seething over her own lack of power, Ramiris ejected the city to the surface. Now they'd just have to pray some stray bolt of magic didn't level the thing. But:
"Urgent report! A new enemy has appeared on the surface, two in number.
Precision measurements outside the labyrinth are not possible, but their EP is estimated to be at least one million!"
The report came from Delta, who was monitoring the surface. The small window on the main screen was enlarged, revealing two angels—or fallen angels, to be exact—bearing black wings. One was a large, muscular woman while the other was a smaller, handsome young man. Each of them sported three pairs of wings.
"Oh, no way! If they have the same number of wings, are they seraphim, too…?"
Ramiris flew around the room, fidgeting. All hope seemed to be truly lost now. But, remembering something that was on her mind, she turned to Delta, a glimmer of hope on her face.
"Delta! How can we be so sure they're enemies? Maybe—"
Maybe they're not, she thought. Maybe they're allies, even. But Delta offered no solace.
"Because they are keeping us from covering the hole opened up by Lady Velgrynd. Victory is ours if we can close off the labyrinth…but sadly, it is not to be."
The answer was obvious, beyond reproach.
"R…right. Thank you."
Ramiris stopped flitting around in the air and slumped onto Beretta's shoulder. There was something obscene about the enemy deciding to put four of the Million Class into the field; she wanted to spend all night cursing to high heaven about it. But then a reliable ally woke back up.
"Allow me to handle things on the surface. I will not let them destroy the city crowned by Sir Rimuru's name without a fight."
Geld, the Barrier Lord, had completed his evolution.
"Gelllllllld!!"
Ramiris was crying.
"Geld's EP is over 2.37 million!" said Alpha. "All his gear is included in that, but even so, it's doubtful he'll lose to these invaders now!"
Geld's Legend-class equipment had itself ascended to God-class with the evolution, driven to greater heights by Geld's aura. Rimuru hadn't factored that into his calculations, but everyone witnessing this assumed he'd expected this to happen.
"That's Rimuru for ya! Even with my own two eyes, I could never have seen this one coming."
Ramiris was bodily confident about how imperceptive she was. Beretta couldn't have agreed more.
"Indeed. Such deep forethought."
And that wasn't the only one awakening.
"I am here as well. Let me handle the other one."
This was Kumara, the Chimera Lord.
"Lady Kumara's EP is measured at approximately 1.9 million. Reaching this figure with no auxiliary equipment is simply unbelievable!"
Cheers erupted in the Control Center at Alpha's report. Then, as if to prove his statement true, an intense battle broke out on the surface. Even more amazingly, Geld's underlings fanned out across key areas, forming an all powerful barrier to protect the city from any of the battle's fallout.
"We can win this!"
"For now, I'd say we have a chance."
Ramiris was already declaring victory. Beretta was similarly relieved. But it was too early to rest easy yet. Feldway, the Mystic Lord, had yet to fully execute his strategy. In fact, everything up to now had been a feint. His true aim was elsewhere.
The nervous tension spread across the Control Center had subsided a little. Ramiris, declaring victory atop Beretta's shoulder, was quieter now, like she
needed a nap. Beretta, used to his role, kept his calm demeanor as he tended to his ever-frantic master.
Shinji, watching this from a distance, had been taking in all the previous chaos like he was a spectator at a sports meet. The battle unfolding was so completely beyond his understanding that it seemed to transcend the limits of reality itself. Paradoxically, it helped him stay calm. He understood why Ramiris was freaking out, but—really—she should collect herself a bit more, he thought.
I wish she'd learn a little from Beretta…
That's what he truly felt, but he'd never say it out loud. If he did, it'd lead to needless strife and likely a pay cut.
Yes, Ramiris's labyrinth was truly a mind-boggling invention, but she herself was weaker than Shinji—weak beyond compare, even. No matter how much she panicked and carried on in here, she couldn't actually do very much.
Besides…
Shinji recalled the victory celebration held the other day. All those magic-born titans, boasting untold stores of power—and they each pledged their loyalty to one man, the demon lord Rimuru. Shinji was an otherworlder, a capable one, rated Special A by the Free Guild. He had something called his "existence points" measured, and right now it was more than 120,000. He even possessed the unique skill Restorer. In the imperial army, he was treated as an ace commando, and he admittedly allowed his superiority to get to his head a little. Here, though, he was nothing special. Even the beautiful sisters manning the operator controls had EPs of more than 150,000. It quickly, and understandably, made Shinji stop dwelling on his own strength so much.
Furthermore, Marc's EP was pegged at 130,000, while Zhen scored 120,000. They seemed pretty equal overall, and none of them would even register in the minds of the monsters being shown on-screen here.
But despite that, even with Tempest's main force unavailable, they were still making a competitive fight out of this. That alone, Shinji thought, was amazing. Looking back, the force that laid waste to the Empire's proud Armored Division was not even 30 percent of the Tempest force's full power. That, too, was before the victory party where the demon lord Rimuru rewarded his top magic-
born officers and they fell into evolutionary sleep. Now they were seeing guys graduate into the Million Class.
Shinji's mind could barely keep up with this. Monster evolutions, including Geld's just now, made no sense to him.
I am so glad that I left the Empire for Tempest!
He gave a sincere mental thank-you to Lord Gadora.
Then his eyes moved to the monitor, where his former commanding officer, Minitz, was leading a group fighting off Cornu, one of the Three Mystic Leaders. It looked like something from a movie.
I mean, what can they even do against these kinds of monsters? I can't believe freaks like that are up there in the first place.
In Shinji's mind, Minitz and Caligulio must be insane if they were charging into battle despite losing all their power. He wondered if they were scared—but seeing this movie-like plot of two fallen warriors charging back up against their foes made him think that not everyone in the Empire's officer corps was a waste of space.
It just felt so unrealistic. So much so, he wondered if these two thought they were the heroes of their own little movie plots or something. And that was perhaps why his mind wandered away from the danger at hand—to escape reality. Now his attention was focused on Shuna, who was busy providing refreshments to everyone.
…But, man, Shuna's just as sweet as always, huh?
There was no point dwelling on his employer—she didn't matter to him. This vulgar fighting didn't occupy his mind; instead, it was all about the incredibly fetching Shuna. Just recalling her as she politely bowed and left the room made Shinji feel happier. She was so dignified, so flawless. She looked like such a fleeting figure, who would fade into the wind if you touched her, but she was notorious for being a scary woman when riled. Shinji was hardly the only one who looked up to her—Marc and Zhen were fellow members of Shuna's fan club, alongside the new recruits Lucius and Raymond.
On the other hand, there was Ramiris, his employer. He sighed.
"Uh, Shinji?" she said. "If you wanted to say something, I'll hear ya out, but…?"
She was so keenly sharp only when it came to stuff like this.
"No, it's nothing."
Shinji hurriedly denied it, wondering if it was showing on his face.
Lord Gadora, his master, told him all the time that "if you want to be a wizard, you must always keep your presence of mind. You've got much to learn there, my boy!" Now he could see the wisdom in that. Yes, Shinji could get emotional by comparison, and he was poor at the type of self-control that all wizards needed. Zhen always kept it cool, never revealing how he felt, but he wasn't suited to magic. "Too bad it wasn't the other way around," Gadora always told him—and now Shinji had to admit to his shortcomings.
Well, if Lady Ramiris is unoccupied enough to yell at me again, maybe she'll forgive me for it this time…
He knew he was dreaming. Besides, comparing Shuna with Ramiris was ridiculous from the start. It was like comparing a grown woman to a child—or not even that. Shuna still exhibited traits of innocent youth, but the way she held herself was as a truly refined woman. Ramiris had been alive for millennia, but her mental age was still as low as her physical body's. She was a kid, in looks and in mind, and she couldn't even compete in the same arena as Shuna. The juxtaposition was so stark, Shinji even felt a little bad for Ramiris.
Shinji's mind was far away from pressing matters. And that's why he could notice: One man among them, usually too lazy to lift a finger, had stood up from his seat—and Vester, his dedicated boss, was sprawled over his desk, fast asleep.
"Oh? Deeno, what are you doing—?"
It was sheer coincidence that Shinji posed the question…but it turned out to be the MVP performance of the day. Shinji, the least dedicated to this war of anyone in the room, wound up contributing more to it than anyone else.
Deeno stood up and attempted to carry out the duty handed to him. It was with a great deal of reluctance, given how much he hated working, but an old acquaintance of his had asked for it, and he couldn't turn him down. Besides, he had been taken by the compulsive idea that he had to do it.
But something unexpected got in the way.
"Oh? Deeno, what are you doing—?"
The moment he heard Shinji's voice, Deeno realized his mission had failed. He had intended to get everything over with before anyone could notice, but the exact right kind of interference showed up at the exact right time. It was a colossal blunder. No one could have ever predicted this act from Deeno, either…
The hand that had reached out to grab Ramiris was now caught in Beretta's iron grip. It all happened in a single moment. If Shinji hadn't spoken up, nothing would have stopped him.
"What are you trying to do, Sir Deeno?"
"That's a surprise. I didn't expect anyone to get in the way. Eesh… I was waiting for everyone to relax and stop being so tense because you were around, too…"
"…"
"Seriously, Shinji, you really got a lot of potential, y'know? You could be big."
Deeno was griping, but he half meant it as well. He knew only a handful of people in the world could spot his moves. That was why he'd had so much confidence this would work—confidence that was fully shot now.
Rolling his eyes, Deeno sighed and stole a glance at Shinji. Then he shook his head and looked back, sneering at Beretta. By now, people around Shinji were seeing the weight of the situation—but there wasn't much they could do.
Alpha and the other dryads stepped up to surround Deeno, ferrying Ramiris away from Beretta's shoulder and into their protection.
"…Huh? Huhhhh?!"
Ramiris, left behind by these transpiring events, looked at Beretta, then
Deeno, trying bravely to understand her predicament. Shinji stepped away from Deeno to attend to Vester—but Marc and his other friends were just crouched over in their seats, not moving. They were asleep as well, despite everything going on, and now everyone could tell something was wrong.
"Hey! Deeno!" Shinji shouted. "You did something, didn't you?!"
"Yeah, kinda," came the listless reply. "But, like, if you got resistance to my power, you must have a pretty excellent skill there. You caught me off guard, Shinji."
"I'm not exactly happy about the compliment."
He actually was a little happy, but Shinji didn't say that.
Deeno merely shrugged. He'd offered Shinji praise, but otherwise he didn't seem to care about him much, because he didn't even offer him another look. Instead, his eyes were on Ramiris, behind Beretta's shoulder.
"Ramiris, sorry about this, but you think you could maybe work with my team? I don't wanna get rough…and if you agree to help us, I promise I'll treat you well. Neither of us wants to shed needless blood, right? So, you know, you mind coming with me?"
It was about as serious a statement as Deeno had ever delivered. Ramiris's reaction to it was predictable.
"Huhhh? Have you gone loony or what? Rimuru's gonna beat your ass silly once he gets back, y'know."
Ramiris was always keen to rely on someone else's reputation to defend herself. But she wasn't wrong, either. Deeno had to chuckle.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I figured you'd say that. But, you know, I'm not just gonna sit here and accept that. I'm reluctant to do this, like, a lot, but I'm a Monitor and all, so…"
"A Monitor…? You mean one of the Seven Primordial Angels, the closest servants of Sir Veldanava?"
"Well said. And yes, I used to be one of those Primordials. Ever since Feldway and the other leaders left for that alternate world, I've been taking care of
monitoring activity in their place."
"Oh, no way!"
"No, I mean it."
This was a sheer bolt out of the blue for Ramiris. Deeno, a demon lord who even he himself admitted was mostly baggage, actually turned out to be someone important—in fact, someone named by Veldanava himself, the Creator. Ramiris never saw it coming. (Veldanava had also named Ramiris, but after reincarnating herself too many times, she had wholly forgotten that fact. It would pop back into her memory once she attained her complete form, but when that would be was anybody's guess.)
"I mean, I thought the Primordials all went over to the other world!"
"Of course not, man. Once the surface world was repressed and everything was peaceful again, Sir Veldanava wanted that other world to become stable for him. You know that."
"Oh? Well, yes, but…"
Ramiris was acting a little strange, but Deeno brushed it off. Pursuing it would just cause more strife for him, and trying to explain it all was even more of a pain. So he continued, assuming Ramiris knew the whole story.
"So Feldway and three other Primordial Angels were assigned to do that. Which left the other three, me included, to handle things here. We're serving as Sir Veldanava's boots on the ground."
"You included?"
"Yeah, I get it if you don't believe me, but I used to treat the job really seriously at one point. But then some stuff happened, and I went from a seraphim to a fallen angel, that sort of thing. My partners are kind of the same way, too, so there's no 'pure' Primordial Angel left any longer, actually."
"Whoa, hey, you're forgetting the most important part! I wanna find out what kind of stuff happened! That's more important than anything!"
Ramiris's patience was clearly wearing thin. Deeno just sullenly sighed. "Look, stop, all right? It's too much of a pain to explain it. That stuff doesn't
matter to me anyway. Just use your imagination to fill in the blanks, okay? For now, I want to bargain with you."
Don't make us fill in the blanks, thought everybody in the room at once. But Deeno's indolence was world-renowned by now. There was no point, everyone knew, in asking him to explain himself, so they just gave up and listened to Deeno's demands.
"So what do you want, huh?" Ramiris asked, speaking for the group.
"Like, what I just said. If Ramiris will work with us, I swear we won't lay a finger on anyone in this labyrinth. If you refuse, well, my hands are tied. I'll have to take you away, and I'll kill everyone in my way if I have to."
"You think I'm gonna say yes to that after what you did?"
"Nah, I guess not. But really, that's not a problem at all. Ideally, you'll wanna work with us, but if it comes to it, I've been told they'll let this go if you shut down the labyrinth."
"That's what you want, huh? Who gave you those orders?"
"Mm, I dunno if I can tell you…"
"I mean, it'd take someone like Guy, essentially, if you'll actually listen to someone's orders."
"Yeah, well, I dunno about that, y'know? Guy and I are appointed to the same post, kind of. Why would I need to listen to his—?"
"That doesn't matter!"
"It does to me…"
Ramiris, ignoring Deeno's rantings, thought for a moment.
"If it's not Guy… I know! It's Feldway, the Primordial Angel leader, isn't it?! He came back from that other world and caught up with you while you were bumbling around, I bet. And you couldn't say no to him, right?"
Like a broken wall clock, Ramiris's deduction skills were right only sometimes. She would make all these incorrect assumptions and observations, then somehow use them to reach the right answer in the end—and this was one of
those times.
"Wow… You're right."
Feldway had deployed numerous people for this plan, waiting for just the right moment to step forward. He had two goals in mind: one, assassinate Masayuki, and two, destroy the labyrinth.
Trying to conquer the labyrinth by force would be a gargantuan endeavor, one likely to falter and damage the plan in unpredictable ways. To prevent that, Feldway thought that capturing Ramiris first was vital. It was Feldway's aim to eliminate all potential random elements, and that's what led to this strategy. Deeno was just helping execute it.
"Hmm… And you're a real punk, I know, so you've had a falling-out with Feldway, right? He's a smart man, so I'm sure you guys never got along to start with."
"H-hey! I'm not a punk! I just procrastinate a lot sometimes, is all. But yeah, I hate it when he orders me around like he's my mom or something, so having him off the planet's been a huge weight off my chest…"
As Deeno explained, they had fallen out of contact for a long time, but they still maintained an acquaintance.
"Uh-huh. So the attackers this time are the Primordial Angels?! That's, like, terrible news for us! C'mon, Deeno! Stab Feldway in the back for me and join our side again!"
It was a pretty outlandish offer from Ramiris, an act even Deeno found all too charming. But he couldn't agree to it.
"Well, it's a sad thing, I know, but I got my stuff to deal with."
Deeno found it impossible to defy Feldway's will, for reasons he had some difficulty articulating. That was why he didn't hesitate to turn her down.
"Boy… I guess you're serious about this, huh? You sure got guts! All right, then —I'll take you on. I'm part of the Octagram, I'll remind ya! And I'm ready to protect this place until Rimuru comes back!"
Her mind was made up.
"Yeah? I really don't wanna have to work for this, you know. Ideally I'd like to live in a world where I could get three hot meals a day doing nothing, but ah well. I sadly can't go easy on you with this, but—hey—I won't kill you or anything. So go ahead. Try to chase me outta here."
Deeno went back to his usual languid, carefree expression, waving a hand as he replied. Plainly negotiations weren't working. The conversation was over, and the battle began…
"Take care of this for me, Beretta!" Ramiris shouted, perhaps channeling another demon lord she knew.
It was taken for granted that Ramiris herself wouldn't be fighting. Deeno knew that, so instead of playing dumb, he turned toward Beretta, waiting to see what he'd break out.
The Control Center was now a battlefield, and although it was a pretty big space, it was full of desks, chairs, and other obstacles. It wasn't too suited for battle at all, and Ramiris honestly wouldn't have minded settling this elsewhere. But Deeno wasn't going to allow that. There was every chance Ramiris would try to get away as they changed locations. Thus, Alpha and the other dryads briskly put away all the more important components of the room as the two combatants looked on. When they were done, battle began between Deeno and Beretta, neither of whom really cared where they duked it out.
Deeno was now carrying a broadsword about his height, produced from parts unknown. Its name was Fangsmasher, a thick, single-bladed weapon that could cave in a foe's skull with sheer blunt force.
It was a ponderous weapon, one that poorly matched with Deeno's normal outfit of a robe and chest plate, but it somehow seemed to match him anyway.
"What's that sword capable of?"
"In terms of EP, its value is…one million!"
Alpha was at a loss for words in her report.
"What, a God-class blade?! From Deeno?! That's so cheating!"
Ramiris's complaints made little sense. Deeno let them pass, holding Fangsmasher up high ahead of him. Beretta, right in front of him, was unarmed —but his body was composed of the magisteel frame Rimuru had created for him. It was now well infused with Beretta's own magic force, transforming it into adamantite. It looked exactly as Rimuru had made it, but it was now far tougher and sturdier than before—and it even had Beretta's aura surrounding it, ensuring no run-of-the-mill weapon could touch him. He was a walking weapon at the Legend class or higher, the toughest thing in the whole labyrinth.
But even so…
Deeno casually brought his sword down in an arc. Beretta immediately crouched forward to dodge it. Being unnamed wasn't a disadvantage per se, but in this battle, it perhaps wasn't the best bet for him. His EP was a bit over 400,000, which would have made him even with Deeno at one point, but if his opponent had a God-class weapon, he was hopelessly outclassed.
So the empty-handed Beretta focused on dodging, avoiding Deeno's frontal sword attacks. If he took the brunt of that blade, he would instantly be destroyed. And if worse came to worst…
"Sir Deeno's existence points have ballooned from four hundred thousand to two million! The combined total is three million… It's overwhelming…!"
Alpha sounded like all hope was lost. But Beretta wasn't shaken. Neither was Ramiris, who acted like this much was obvious.
"I don't know how you did it, but you're tricking the EP measuring device, huh? Guess there's still some work left to be done on it. Regardless, Alpha, you don't have to go calling Deeno 'sir,' treating him like royalty or anything."
"What? Hey! I am a demon lord, aren't I?"
"Oh, shut it! Beretta, no need to hold anything back—give 'im a dose of your full powers and grant him the divine punishment he so desperately yearns for!"
"I don't have the power to give divine justice, but if those are your orders, I will fulfill them as best I can."
Long-suffering couldn't even begin to describe Beretta by this point. One's existence point count was just a yardstick, but facing down someone whose EP was seven times yours wasn't exactly reassuring. He thought to himself how ridiculous this was as he sized up Deeno, figuring out a way he could satisfy his master.
"You got it tough, too, huh?"
"I don't enjoy hearing that from my enemy, but I will not deny it, no."
As he spoke, Beretta danced around Deeno, evading any advance. His lack of defense wouldn't matter if Deeno couldn't hit him. It all came to how you
thought about it, and Beretta was a living weapon, head to toe. Fighting barehanded wasn't a hindrance—in fact, it opened a variety of attack approaches to him. Deeno, meanwhile, was just lightly equipped, and only his large sword required any major attention. It'd pack a wallop if it hit him, but the same was true for anything Beretta unleashed. Thus, he had every opportunity to win—such were his thoughts as he awaited his chance.
As a chaos golem, transforming the elements he attacked with was child's play to Beretta. He used the unique skill Reverser to constantly switch them around as he searched for a weak point on Deeno, calculating every move he made in order to secure an advantage. But Deeno wasn't about to take this barrage sitting down.
"Tsh… Right, right, you come from the 'dirty' school of battle, don't you? I heard no one was a tougher fighter once you got on your opponent's nerves, and I gotta say, they're right."
"I appreciate the compliment."
"I wasn't complimenting you!"
Beretta was even using conversation as a weapon as he attempted to turn the tables on his disadvantage. He had no time to waste. He may not have been panicking, but as things stood, it took everything he had to just barely maintain this détente.