i6p01taL

1CHAPTER 5
2
3CHARYBDIS
4
5
6The fight was about to begin.
7
8We were at the end of the gravel road leading toward the Dwarven Kingdom, near the midway point between the capitals of Dwargon and Tempest. We rendezvoused with Geld and his construction team there, waiting for the moment to come.
9
10It was about time for Charybdis to appear.
11
12Vester had contacted King Gazel to explain the situation. We didn’t even have to mention our pact; Gazel immediately deployed his knights for us.
13
14As he put it: “Hmph. What kind of swordsman would I be if I didn’t help my younger fellow student in a pinch?”
15
16He really loved playing the role of the dojo big bro with me. It made me fear for the Dwarven Kingdom’s future—but if he was helping us, it was all good.
17
18The team of one hundred knights he quickly put together had already gone on ahead. The plan was for them to strike at Charybdis from behind as we advanced from the front, in a classic pincer attack. We’d be relying on them quite a bit this time.
19
20An additional four hundred knights were also preparing to step in, just in case this first attack ended in failure. It’d be nice if this plan of ours worked, but we needed to consider what would happen if it didn’t. Gazel was no fool; I was sure he’d be using this attack to gather intel on the creature for himself. I didn’t mind, since I was planning to defeat it right here and therefore didn’t need to worry about things after that. That’d make life easier for us.
21
22Beyond that, all we had to do was wait for the plan to unfold.
23
24
25We used the time to have Treyni (who had joined us on-site) tell us more about Charybdis.
26
27I knew it was this super-powerful monster already, but listening to her story, she made it sound even more hazardous than that. It was no exaggeration to say that it was as strong as a demon lord. Being called a calamity monster, one would expect it to be a calamity-level threat, but not necessarily here. Fuze was apparently telling the truth—this is more of a disaster-class menace.
28
29Why not just call it that, then? Well, there was a good reason for that. The term disaster was normally reserved for demon lords, which Charybdis wasn’t. So why wasn’t it classified as a demon lord? Simple: It was just a monster that wreaked havoc wherever it went. It took no intelligent action, neither working in groups nor deliberately seeking to destroy the human race, and some wondered if it had any true intelligence at all. A real terror of a monster, but on that point, it was also quite different from a demon lord.
30
31She called Charybdis a spiritual life-form, whatever that was. That term meant it could resurrect itself if defeated in one body by moving over to a new one. That sounded a little familiar to me—in fact, it sounded a lot like how Veldora worked.
32
33“This Charybdis was born a very, very long time ago, running through cycles of death and rebirth. It is the cruel, brutal ruler of the skies. One could even call it the heaven-sent child of Veldora the Storm Dragon, ruler and guardian of the forest.”
34
35Huh? Did Treyni say something important there? Because it sounded kind of important. The child of Veldora? Was my guess correct, after all?
36
37“Wait a sec,” I hurriedly interrupted. “What do you mean, ‘the heaven-sent child of Veldora’?”
38
39Treyni explained. “Charybdis is a monster created by the accumulated piles of magicules that leaked out from Veldora.”
40
41Which meant it was the same as I was. We were sort of like what the human race would call siblings. That, in turn, suggested one possible reason why Charybdis was so doggedly honing in on my position. I was related, in a way, to Veldora, so it was gunning for me first.
42
43Perhaps it’s already noticed that Veldora “exists,” in a way, inside me. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I suppose I’d better stay on my guard.
44
45
46After our discussion with Treyni, we went over the details of our strategy one more time.
47
48The thing we had to watch out for the most with Charybdis was its unique Magic Interference ability. Using this made any magicules within a thousand-foot radius of the monster go haywire—it could use its own powerful magic to interfere with the very way magicules worked.
49
50“Even the high-level wind magic at my command had no effect on Charybdis,” Treyni recounted. “Under Magic Interference, we believe the effects of all magic are greatly reduced. What’s more, the biggest difficulty lies in how it annuls any sort of flight-based magic. Try to make contact with it, and you’ll lose your magic and crash to the ground. Losing the advantage of height makes it a very difficult enemy to fight.”
51
52This was exactly why we needed an aerial offense that wasn’t dependent on magic. Even if you had wings, though, could those be canceled like magic, too?
53
54
55Understood. The principles of flight differ for creatures like winged horses and dragonewts. Their wings contain the power to control gravity, lightening their overall bodily weight and letting them adjust the flow of power to propel themselves forward. This method of flight is unrelated to the presence, or lack thereof, of magicules.
56
57Judging by the Sage’s answer, my wings shouldn’t be affected, either. I did find it a bit strange that having these wings alone let me fly. Turns out it had nothing to do with physical strength. I didn’t have to flap my wings a bunch to stay aloft, not that it mattered at the moment.
58
59This brought up another question, though.
60
61“I see… So flight magic works by taking advantage of magicule resistance around you. But does that mean Benimaru’s Airflight wouldn’t work, either?”
62
63Airflight was one of the ogre mages’ Battlewill arts, powered by the user’s magical aura. It provided basically the same benefits as regular flight magic, but given that fundamental similarity and what I had just secretly learned from the Sage, I figured Magic Interference must affect it.
64
65“Indeed, I believe it is just as you say. A very keen insight, Sir Rimuru.”
66
67I appreciated the compliment, but it wasn’t the answer I hoped for.
68
69“Geh. Seriously? This guy’s no slouch. So I guess flame broiling it with ranged attacks will be pretty tough.”
70
71“It seems likely, my brother. If magicule-driven attacks won’t work on it, that puts rather large restrictions on our offense.”
72
73Benimaru and his friends, meanwhile, were already debating how they were going to fight.
74
75“Heh-heh-heh… Aren’t you guys forgetting something important? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten who I am! Some big ol’ fish isn’t gonna make me break a sweat. I’ll give ’im one heck of a beating!”
76
77It was Milim, who had changed into battle gear while I wasn’t paying attention. She stuck her small chest forward, trying to look as defiant as possible.
78
79Can we go with that?! I was all ready to welcome her to the force.
80
81But Shion had to go and turn her down. “I’m afraid we can’t allow that. It’ll put you in a bind, Sir Rimuru, and this is an issue for our town to handle.”
82
83Why would it put me in a bind?
84
85Just as I was thinking that, Shuna butted in. “She’s right. It’d be a mistake to rely on her for everything, just because she’s our friend. But if Sir Rimuru is in serious trouble, we will gladly ask for her support then.”
86
87Um, I’m kind of in serious trouble right now, guys. Not that I could say that out loud to them. The others were all nodding; they were keen to defend their home by themselves as well. I wouldn’t get away with relying on Milim from the start.
88
89“Ha…ha-ha. You heard them, Milim. Just trust in me, okay?”
90
91I hated to turn her down, but I did. Way to go, man. You barely trust in yourself. I kept the thought a secret.
92
93“Wh-what?! And here I thought my time had finally come to shine, too…”
94
95Milim hung her head in disappointment. She was ready for action, changing her clothes for it and everything, so the shock of being refused must have been intense. She stole a few glances at me, looking ready to cry, but I couldn’t do anything for her. It was a disappointment for me, too.
96
97So that’s what was on our plate, then. It was us against Charybdis.
98
99*
100
101Our discussions continued. Another major problem was that the megalodons that served Charybdis most likely had Magic Interference at their disposal, too. Our long-range attacks were already heavily restricted, and trying to get closer would fail once our flight skills were blocked. Practically speaking, we had very few means of defeating Charybdis or its megalodons.
102
103Ultimately, we decided to just try fighting it and see what happened. There was little point debating any further at this juncture, so instead we would try out whatever attacks we thought could work.
104
105Eventually, my Magic Sense picked up a group of fourteen monsters approaching us. It wasn’t long before we could see them.
106
107Even from afar, the eerie sight was astounding. Giant sharks, over sixty feet in length, were gracefully swimming across the sky. Their bodies were protected by solid, stiff dragon scales that would assuredly deflect most garden-variety attacks. It was shaped like a shark, but at the core, it was a completely different monster.
108
109With them was another, even more bizarre sight—the gigantic dragon accompanying the thirteen sharks.
110
111Its size was enormous, making the megalodons look tiny by comparison. Maybe three or so times their size? Its total length had to be over 150 feet or so. There was a single large eyeball on the bottom of its wedged, sharklike head; on the top was a pair of solid-looking horns that appeared as if they could gouge their way through solid stone, or anything else for that matter.
112
113By comparison, its limbs looked like mere decoration, tacked on to its shark-shaped torso—but the two pairs of wings on its back, one larger than the other, looked almost exactly like Veldora’s.
114
115Charybdis exuded a weird, ominous sort of beauty.
116
117
118And with that, hostilities began.
119
120The Pegasus Knights were currently traveling here as fast as they could. Doreth, one of Treyni’s other sisters, used the elemental magic Wind Protect and the legion magic Army Move to boost their speed. A Thought Communication message confirmed that they would arrive earlier than planned.
121
122In the meantime, we decided to engage the foe. Once the Pegasus Knights showed up and it became a free-for-all, we wouldn’t be able to use any large-scale magic. When we made contact with Charybdis, we wanted to strike.
123
124“Eat this! Hellflare!!”
125
126Benimaru kicked things off by choosing his biggest, strongest wide-range flame attack. Always something classic about using your most powerful move the moment you meet your enemy…
127
128Maybe I was overthinking it, but the black dome this move produced, over three hundred feet in radius, was still only big enough to encase Charybdis and one megalodon. I mean, these dudes were way too huge. At 150 or so feet in length, they looked like they were pretty close to us, but they were actually still far away. A six-hundred-foot diameter was pretty big, but to these giants, it must’ve felt cramped, if anything.
129
130And the results?
131
132“You’re kidding me! I put everything I had into that…”
133
134Benimaru’s frustrated muttering was understandable. Charybdis continued to leisurely soar through the air. Its megalodon companion had fallen to earth, mostly burned up by the attack, but Charybdis itself was the same as before. Some of the scales that burned off were replaced by new ones, but that was all. Between its naturally high defense and the effects of Magic Interference, it had successfully resisted Hellflare. It hadn’t even fully incinerated the megalodons, indicating exactly how effective Magic Interference was.
135
136I wasn’t too shocked by this—I was expecting this—but it made me realize again that this foe was going to be a huge pain in the ass. But we all kept our cool. Our plan was to expect this, so we moved on.
137
138“All right. Let’s follow the plan: Break them up and take each one out.”
139
140Our priority now was to buy some time for the Pegasus Knights and wipe up those meddlesome megalodons. Heeding my order, we all spread out to our positions.
141
142I had transformed into a human, too, so I could handle whatever came my way. There were twelve megalodons left. Paring their numbers down looked like it’d be a tough row to hoe.
143
144Each one was an A-ranked monster, but despite their speed, they didn’t have all that much power. They weren’t exactly technical fighters, either—like Charybdis, they lacked intelligence and thus didn’t seem like they required that much caution.
145
146If a megalodon fought that knight spider Gobta dispatched, for example, the spider wouldn’t last a moment—it’d get crushed by those jaws. If it fought Gobta, though, he’d be able to dodge and run all over the place.
147
148To sum up, those sharks were offensive and defensive powerhouses, but their speed in battle wasn’t that much of a threat. Based on its speed—an integral element of any battle—the megalodon wasn’t that astonishing of a monster.
149
150Of course, a single strike from one could still easily be lethal. You didn’t want to approach one with a halfhearted effort, and my forces knew that well.
151
152*
153
154Geld and his team were the next to launch an attack after Benimaru. I had my command post set up on a slightly elevated hill, so I could see the action unfold below me.
155
156This force under Geld’s command was an elite one, all high orcs ranked B or higher. Anyone ranked below that would potentially get in the way here, so we had them handle the town evacuation instead. They numbered less than a hundred but still took a leading role in our strategy.
157
158Using the trees as cover, the force began trying to entice the megalodons to come closer so they could strike. This, sadly, did not work well. We were anticipating that the sharks wouldn’t be able to move very much surrounded by trees…but with their powerful bodies, they could simply raze any trunks that stood in the way like so much dried kindling.
159
160Following that, the megalodons unleashed a blitzkrieg attack. This involved bashing into the enemy, using scales sharpened like blades to slice into them—you could call it Blade Charge or something similar, if you were inclined to give it a name.
161
162The elites under Geld’s command took evasive maneuvers, but the sharks were just too big. Even though its speed should’ve made it avoidable, a gigantic shark capable of swimming freely through the air made evasion difficult. Now the orcs were the ones caught in a forest prison with the trees getting in their way.
163
164Thanks to everyone being geared for defense like Geld was, there were no apparent deaths. Several dozen of them, however, were seriously hurt, unable to continue in battle. The remaining fighters lying low in the forest were clearly shocked by this—and when faced with the megalodons’ punishing strikes, I couldn’t blame them.
165
166I could hear a scream of rage.
167
168“You’ll pay for hurting my friends!”
169
170It was Geld.
171
172As he shouted, he faced a megalodon in front of him, halting its charge. His entire body was covered in armor, which protected him from the sharp, bladelike scales. Using his ponderous strength, he stopped the shark in its tracks.
173
174“Now! Get ’im!”
175
176The moment the order was made, a horde of high orc fighters took action. They moved slowly, but the damage from their battle axes was heavy. Little by little, cuts and slashes appeared on the megalodon’s body.
177
178But sadly, none were lethal. The sheer size of it meant this barrage of attacks was too little, too late.
179
180The megalodon shook its frame. That was all it took to send several dozen fighters flying. Geld’s face grew stern, harnessing his hatred to apply pressure to the shark’s head. It thrashed around more in response.
181
182It was Geld’s otherworldly strength against the megalodon’s violent rage, and it proved to be an even match. Then fortune smiled upon Geld.
183
184“I will assist you!”
185
186I heard another scream, and a flash of light descended from the sky to land squarely on the megalodon. The creature died right there, never aware of what happened to it.
187
188Gabil had appeared.
189
190His force was functioning as a hit-and-run unit here, and when he saw Geld was in danger, he immediately stepped in to bail him out. Realizing Geld had the megalodon pinned down, he fired off an attack fueled by all his strength—and with his rank of A, that was nothing to sniff at. Even a sixty-foot-long shark couldn’t withstand that kind of force.
191
192And Geld’s good fortune didn’t end there. The dragonewts under Gabil’s command were using the Full Potions they had manufactured to quickly heal the wounded. The potion flowed freely on the battlefield, restoring even the serious cases to perfect health.
193
194“Gwa-ha-ha-ha! Thanks to you restraining that monster, Sir Geld, dealing the final blow could hardly have been easier!”
195
196“Thanks, Sir Gabil. Would you like to keep fighting together with us?”
197
198“Ooh! That sounds like fun. If we can help you out, I would gladly take the opportunity!”
199
200Now Geld and Gabil were a tag team. Their respective forces worked together as well, allowing them to keep up the vicious onslaught against the megalodons without worrying too much about injury. This battle would deepen the bonds between them, no doubt.
201
202Before long, they had succeeded in slaying two more of them.
203
204*
205
206Lethal combat was breaking out elsewhere as Geld commenced his attack.
207
208Gobta, following Hakuro’s orders, was using his Case Cannon to strike at megalodons. It packed a powerful punch, but there was no way that a bullet an inch wide could strike a lethal blow on these guys. It had opened a gash in the megalodon’s stomach, about half a yard in width, but all that did was add fuel to its anger.
209
210“Hey, uh, I dunno if this is gonna work!”
211
212“Hoh-hoh-hoh! Of course it won’t. I lured it over here so I could have all of you defeat it.”
213
214“Gahh! You’re just bullying me, old man!”
215
216Nobody bothered trying to stop Gobta from yelling bloody murder at him.
217
218What transpired next was a game of tag in the forest. Just as Hakuro declared, he intended to have the goblin riders defeat this megalodon for him. The riders were now surrounding it, ready to stake their lives on this game. Each, in turn, would take a stab with their spears, then edge away. When the shark targeted one, another would attack in their place.
219
220They were all frantic. They weren’t quite as speedy as the shark, but their opponent was enormous. Being able to maneuver more nimbly in the forest gave Gobta’s team a slight advantage.
221
222In a battle under those conditions, even a tiny error could be life-threatening. But they continued with the near-suicidal attack, using High Potions to clear up any wounds.
223
224“If worse comes to worst, we have Full Potions. As long as you aren’t instantly killed, you’ll be fine!” Hakuro’s voice might have been friendly, grandfatherly in a way, but his instructions belied his demon-instructor persona.
225
226“Whoa! Are you serious, old man?”
227
228Only Gobta had the presence of mind to lodge a complaint. The others were too busy attacking and dodging.
229
230“Come on! The bait needs to fully grab its attention! Attackers, don’t think about anything else—just put all your power into pummeling your foe! But don’t forget to fall back after your attack. If you do forget, well, it’ll be a painless death, at least. Hoh-hoh-hoh!”
231
232The very definition of a demon, Hakuro offered Gobta’s riders no mercy in their training.
233
234They numbered only twenty, each taking turns baiting and attacking the shark, and they had divided into five teams that engaged it in a set order. Each one of them toyed with the megalodon, one after the other, although they had to watch out since it wouldn’t always change its target for them. The basic procedure: attack, dodge, move, heal, and prepare for the next strike.
235
236Having no defense on hand, the bait had to devote themselves fully to grabbing the shark’s attention, then dodging. It was the most dangerous of the jobs, and if the megalodon didn’t focus on a new target, it’d have to keep on baiting. The time between the goblins’ attack and the megalodon adjusting its target provided the most dangerous moments of the entire battle.
237
238But Gobta’s goblin riders worked in perfect order, carrying out their shifting roles with no confusion.
239
240“Impressive,” I said.
241
242“Yes. Sir Hakuro taught them well,” Shuna replied.
243
244“He certainly has,” Benimaru agreed. “Growing younger has only added further polish to his demon-instructor ways.”
245
246“Wow! I wish I could play with ’em, too!”
247
248Milim, meanwhile, apparently had the wrong idea about this whole battle. Better not think about it. If I play her game, I lose by default.
249
250“Hey, c’mon, do you think I could—”
251
252“No.”
253
254She was tugging at my clothing, begging for a chance. I had to play bad cop with her.
255
256I wish she wouldn’t look at me like that. I’m about ready to cry myself, here.
257
258*
259
260Up in the sky, things were getting pretty explosive.
261
262Soei was there, and like Benimaru, he was only capable of using Airflight—and he wasn’t particularly great at it, either. Despite that—and I don’t know how he managed it—he was grappling with a megalodon in midair.
263
264The secret behind it was actually simple. Soka and her four dragonewt guards were positioned above the shark, casting their shadows over its body. Soei could then use Shadow Motion to make a beeline for them. Magic Interference only interfered with magicules in midair, so Shadow Motion didn’t seem to be affected.
265
266I gotta hand it to Soei—the moment he spotted that loophole, he immediately made use of it. But he was just getting started.
267
268Now Soka’s team of five was hovering over a single megalodon. This was indicated by the way both the “real” Soei and four of his Replication-conjured clones were each latched on to a different shark.
269
270“Monster Puppet String!!”
271
272Soei’s four clones each launched the skill at once. It was a secret move, letting the caster fully control monsters that lacked intelligence. Special bewitching string was used to tap into the neural network that carried messages from the brain, replacing them with fabricated orders instead. This immediately placed four megalodons under Soei’s control—using the dead bodies of other animals just came back to bite these guys.
273
274Controlling each of his replicated bodies, Soei had the megalodons attack one another. They split into two pairs, feasting upon each other’s flesh.
275
276“Take those four out when the time is right,” he shouted to the dragonewts above, using the fifth megalodon he was personally riding to head for Charybdis. It was such a brilliant, dazzling display that you almost forgot those sharks were supposed to be A rank.
277
278It looked like Soei was on a whole new level now, much like Benimaru. I’m sure he was putting his all into this fight, but he made it seem incredibly effortless. He couldn’t have been much different in strength from Geld—where did that clear difference come from? Despite the chaos all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder.
279
280
281As for Soka’s team:
282
283“Understood, Sir Soei. Leave the rest to us.”
284
285Soka gave him a quick salute, steeling her gaze at the megalodons.
286
287“Don’t let up! I refuse to let you do anything to disappoint Sir Soei!”
288
289Her voice was cold as she addressed her team. Toka, Saika, Nanso, and Hokuso looked just as grim and resolute.
290
291I knew Hakuro was a demon instructor. But what about Soei? In a relatively short time, this group of five had grown astonishingly coolheaded. What kind of education did it take to instill that in them?
292
293After a little bit, when the megalodon-on-megalodon fighting grew more intense, the four dragonewts under Soka began their attack. Soka stayed high above, giving out orders for the others to follow.
294
295It worked. Despite the difference in rank, they were bringing the sharks down.
296
297Soei wasn’t the only one pulling off impressive feats today.
298
299And thus, Soka’s team bagged four confirmed shark kills for themselves.
300
301*
302
303Even more impressive were Shion and Ranga. They must’ve formed a team when I wasn’t paying attention.
304
305“This time, no matter what, I’ve just got to stand out!”
306
307“Mm. Yes. I am in agreement with that opinion.”
308
309So Shion jumped on the back of Ranga, now at his default huge size. He was expecting this, and once she was on, he started running—and jumped right off my command post on the hill, sprinting straight into the air.
310
311Wait. Into the air?
312
313Looking closely, Ranga was running in midair, making a few powerful leaps as he did, as if there were invisible footholds to stand on. And there were, in a way. He was using the extra skill Control Wind to create them. Pretty skillful feat, there. Maybe you could call it Windwalker or something. But anyway, it meant that Ranga could run even faster in midair than he could on the ground.
314
315This art used magicules, however, which meant that Magic Interference could affect it. No matter how sturdy Ranga’s footholds were, a megalodon’s interference might be enough to shatter them…or so I thought.
316
317As I watched, trying to figure out what he was doing, Ranga showed off some truly amazing moves. In a moment, he was in the air above a megalodon and jumping off, gaining speed as he practically dive-bombed the enemy directly below him.
318
319At his full size, Ranga was a good fifteen feet or so in length. Not much compared to a megalodon, but still, that’s a lot of mass. And now Ranga was approaching the shark, combining his own leaping skills with the pull of gravity to gain more speed than running alone could accomplish. But this wasn’t simply a ramming attack. Shion was still riding him, and her large sword was out.
320
321Despite being parallel with the ground below, Shion couldn’t have looked more serene. And the moment that Ranga and the megalodon crossed paths, she brought her sword down, the light-purple glow it emitted arcing across the air. She had used her aura to expand and strengthen the sword, extending it to over three times its normal size. Like a guillotine blade thundering down from above, the demon sword descended…and neatly removed the megalodon’s head.
322
323“Behold! Decapitating Demon Blade!”
324
325Decapitating Demon Blade was the name of the skill. Instead of unleashing pure aura like Ogresword Cannon, it simply formed it into a set shape for use. But thanks to working with Ranga to gain as much speed as she possibly could for the strike, the tip of the extended sword flickered faster than the speed of sound, cleaving right through the megalodon’s head.
326
327It was a simple, yet absolutely heroic move, I thought, and in that way it befitted Shion well. After that, now that the shark’s Magic Interference was gone, Ranga shot some lightning down to burn the body, and that was that.
328
329
330Shion and Ranga used the same tactics to take out two more of the sharks.
331
332“Fighting these huge, tactless brutes is no fun at all. I grow tired of it. I’d like to target their leader, but what do you think, Ranga?”
333
334*
335
336“Shion, that opinion speaks to my own heart as well. Let us go and see what this foe’s strength truly is.”
337
338“That’s the spirit, Ranga. Let’s do it!”
339
340Their excuses made, the two of them sprinted toward Charybdis.
341
342*
343
344There were, at first, thirteen megalodons, each an A-ranked monster. Of the two remaining survivors, one was already dead, slashed to ribbons by Hakuro’s barrage of strikes. We had lost nobody on our side to death or injury. Things were going well, and I breathed an internal sigh of relief over it.
345
346“Ah, how disappointing. Your mobility and ability to avoid danger have improved, but your offense is still woefully lacking. You couldn’t even defeat a single one of them… Once this battle is over, I will need to toughen up your training.”
347
348“Whoa! Come on, gramps! If you toughen it up any further, I’m gonna die! Like, really, really die!”
349
350“Did you just call me gramps?”
351
352“Aghh?!”
353
354I heard a pained scream from Gobta, and then all was quiet. I wasn’t sure what had happened. Maybe some passing megalodon bit him or something, huh? So I guess we now have one casualty. I’m sure he’s not dead, though, so I’ll just believe that he’s still all right.
355
356—And as I was thinking all this nonsense, new developments began to unfold. Soei was controlling the final megalodon like a well-trained mount, making it sink its teeth mercilessly into Charybdis. It was latched on to the great dragon now, looking like a work of surrealist art.
357
358The megalodon was still alive, but it was no longer any sort of threat. That just left Charybdis to tackle.
359
360
361Paying no further mind to the megalodon, Soei flew over to Charybdis.
362
363“Whoa, you think Soei’s gonna be all right?”
364
365“Sir Rimuru, there is nothing to worry about. Soei is second only to me in terms of real strength. This is the perfect chance to test out Charybdis’s powers.”
366
367Benimaru heard me muttering to myself and cheerfully replied. He didn’t sound worried at all, implying just how much he believed in Soei.
368
369“Besides, we have that pair in the battle, too.” He pointed to Shion and Ranga.
370
371They were both on the dragon’s back. Presumably they had climbed up to a pretty high altitude to avoid Magic Interference, then dive-bombed down on it. Looking at Charybdis, though… The sheer size of it was mind-blowing. Being over 150 feet long was a threat in and of itself. Simply dropping a mass that size on a city from above would result in unimaginable damage.
372
373
374Understood. Based on an estimate of its size, from a height of—
375
376That’s fine, Great Sage. Thanks, but I don’t need to crunch the numbers. It’d just depress me to hear it anyway. If you’re gonna be that way, how about giving me some easy way to beat this guy?
377
378
379
380Radio silence, huh? The Sage had this incredibly bad habit of going mum exactly when I needed it the most. Or maybe it was just pouting at me.
381
382Anyway.
383
384
385Before my eyes, Soei, Shion, and Ranga had commenced their attack on Charybdis.
386
387Things have been going well so far. Maybe…
388
389But despite my wishes, it wasn’t that easy. The sheer size was a true menace, and now that was clearer than ever. All three launched attacks, but none worked at all. They were up against a 150-foot-long frame; anything they could throw at it was little more than peeling a layer off an onion. And more importantly, none of it could reach its magic-controlling neural network.
390
391Charybdis, technically speaking, was not a living thing. It was a monster with a pretty twisted ecology, and thus it had no internal organs or anything. Picture it as using the flesh of lesser dragons to construct an armor of meat surrounding it.
392
393This was to be expected, and it was also a given that no half-baked attack would be enough to stab through it.
394
395“So it’s come to this. My magic had virtually no effect from outside of a thousand feet…but if a close-range approach like that fails as well, there is nothing we can do. Magic doesn’t work, and now we know that physical attacks are just as meaningless,” an anxious Treyni said.
396
397“See, this is why I told you to leave it to me…”
398
399Even at a time like this, Milim was still wheedling incessantly. I had no time for her at the moment.
400
401According to Treyni, even Aerial Blade—the strongest elemental magic spell she had at her disposal—was reduced to only about a tenth of its natural power. Far from the deciding blow it was meant to be. It did deal some damage, but as she put it, the wounds immediately healed themselves.
402
403Plus, after the attack had continued for a while, it suddenly flew into a violent rage—the pain receptors must’ve taken their time transmitting their message to its brain.
404
405“It suddenly sped up and attempted to ram me. Each of the scales on its body slashed at us, like small individual swords. The light rays from its eye scattered the nearby magicules. To beings like ourselves, which create their corporeal forms through magicules, it was a very difficult attack to deal with.”
406
407She recounted the situation for us.
408
409I had this explained to me at the meeting hall, but seeing it in person made the sheer ferocity easy to understand. Run-of-the-mill attacks were meaningless against this monster.
410
411“…Oh no!” Treyni suddenly shouted.
412
413“Its single eye flashed red for a moment. That might be a sign that Charybdis is preparing to attack,” Benimaru explained.
414
415Uh, I saw it, too, guys, okay? I was just, you know, taking a more laid-back approach to assessing it. Besides, Shion had just summoned her full aura to bust out an Ogresword Cannon, so I was kind of distracted by that. Maybe that’s what pissed Charybdis off, but regardless of the reason, it looked dangerous. I decided to send a Thought Communication their way.
416
417Did you hear that? It might be hatching something, so keep your guard up!
418
419Yes, Sir Rimuru!
420
421Understood.
422
423I hear you, my master!
424
425I nodded at the replies. I’m sure they didn’t need that “keep your guard up” reminder, but hey, just in case.
426
427But my message turned out to be an incredibly good idea. Just a moment later, Soei and the others were exposed to a truly massive attack. A deafening sound akin to fingernails on glass filled the air, itself enough to make it feel like your very soul was being contaminated. It was the sound of the scales that covered Charybdis’s body grating against one another. And then…
428
429“My heavens! I had no idea it possessed an attack like that…”
430
431“This…is bad. It can’t be evaded.”
432
433The tension was clear in Treyni’s and Benimaru’s voices. From every inch of its own body, Charybdis was unleashing a calamity, one that would spread death and destruction wherever it went.
434
435And in the midst of it…
436
437“Hohh! So this is Tempest Scale, the attack that made Charybdis feared as a tyrant! Never seen that before!”
438
439That was Milim. Having nothing else to do, she was offering color commentary to me now. The name of it doesn’t matter. And if you knew about that, I really wish you could’ve told us…
440
441I almost asked her what she knew, but I stopped myself. Now was no time for a long-winded explanation, and the attack was pretty self-evident anyway.
442
443Right now, I was more worried for Shion and our other allies. It had happened right after I warned them to stay on guard, so Soei, Shion, and Ranga were just barely able to take evasive action. But they were being threatened by Charybdis’s overwhelming supply of scales—hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands—being shot out in all directions like high-caliber bullets. They varied in size, but even the tiniest were several inches in diameter. Take one unguarded, and it’d no doubt be even more disastrous for you than a sword slash.
444
445There were tens of thousands of them raining down at incredible speed. There was no place to run. The so-called Tempest Scale worked at a far broader range than even Hellflare, which was capable of mowing down entire landscapes.
446
447“Ngh, I can’t dodge them all. Ranga and I have Shadow Motion, but…”
448
449“Dodge them? What a childish thing to suggest. This won’t be enough to kill me!” Shion snickered at Soei’s assessment.
450
451Her eyes were bloodshot, and I was pretty sure she had lost all sense of reason. She was brandishing her sword at Charybdis, not even bothering to protect herself against the storm of scales. She was obviously in danger.
452
453Soei and Ranga met in the air once more.
454
455“…Soei, you should flee. I will serve as a shield for Shion.”
456
457Fully stretching out his legs, Ranga leaped away from their foe’s Magic Interference radius, then used the extra skill Control Wind to turn back toward Charybdis. The first wave of scales had already reached him, cutting through skin. Just as he promised, he intended to shield Shion with his own body.
458
459“Are you crazy, Ranga? You need to go!” Shion shouted, regaining her senses.
460
461“Heh-heh-heh… I imagine that Sir Rimuru, too, would select the option that gave him the greatest chance of survival. But with a body this size, I cannot find shadows suitable enough for me to use Shadow Motion with. You go alone, Soei.”
462
463Shadow Motion often seemed like an all-powerful skill, but even it had its limitations. In the air, with only stable and temporary footholds available, it simply wasn’t available to Ranga. Hearing this made even Soei hesitate for a bit.
464
465“…The greatest chance of survival, eh? Then I’m staying here. But don’t worry. I’ll make the real me retreat before I die.”
466
467“Ha! How Soei-like of you. In that case, may we all live to see another day!” Shion laughed, voice loud and clear.
468
469Faced with the terrifying Tempest Scale, not one dared to give up on themselves. It could be called reckless, but to me, I couldn’t have asked for anything else.
470
471
472They were all ready for this.
473
474“You people really are a bunch of idiots, you know that? You could at least count on me now, of all times.”
475
476I decided now was the time to speak.
477
478“““?!”””
479
480All three froze in surprise. I flew in front of them, raising my left arm against the advancing scales.
481
482“““Sir Rimuru!!”””
483
484I could hear them shouting my name, a mixture of shock and joy in their voices. I didn’t respond, head faced forward to handle what must be done.
485
486Which was…
487
488“Consume them all, Glutton!!”
489
490With my call, the insatiable Glutton within me stirred. The results unfolded in a single moment. I imagine not too many knew what had happened. The wall of innumerable scales that loomed over them just a moment ago had now neatly disappeared.
491
492“A…astounding. Well done, Sir Rimuru…”
493
494It was Soei who found his voice first. And really, I was just as surprised as he was.
495
496I flew up there since, hey, if it’s a long-range attack, I could just eat it all up.
497
498…Okay, that’s a lie. The Great Sage actually tipped me off. All I did was take it at its word and step up to protect my friends. Using Shadow Motion to appear in front of them, I just barely made it in time to follow the Sage’s advice and unleash Glutton.
499
500*
501
502The effect was awe-inspiring. All the scales that hurtled through the air between us and Charybdis were fully consumed. This skill was even more off the charts than I had thought—and well done on the Sage’s part, too, for making the timely suggestion.
503
504Not that I needed to tell it that.
505
506Instead, now seemed like a good time to look a little cool around everyone else. “Leave the rest to me. You three go back down and rest,” I declared, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
507
508“B-but… We can still help you…”
509
510I stopped Soei before he could continue. “Look! It’s already regenerating its scales. That wasn’t a single-use skill—it’s something it can launch again and again. I don’t know if I can protect you all from a second round of that. We should be glad that we made Charybdis attack us at all, really—if we didn’t know about those scales and left the Pegasus Knights to handle it, the casualty list would’ve been huge. You can be proud of yourselves today, people!”
511
512Soei retreated back, apparently convinced.
513
514“I wish you good luck!”
515
516“Be careful, Sir Rimuru.”
517
518“You may summon me at any time, master.”
519
520Ranga carried them off after they all said their farewells. Now, then. I just gave them that big-hero act, but being faced with this huge freak, I wasn’t exactly feeling serene. No point whining about it now, though. I’ll just have to do what I can.
521
522It was time to face off against Charybdis.
523
524*
525
526I wasn’t kidding, though; we were really lucky we got to see Charybdis’s Tempest Scale before the Pegasus Knights showed up. The scales that didn’t quite fall in range of Glutton were causing serious damage in virtually all directions. If we took the brunt of that shot, defense just wouldn’t be possible. We’d all be mincemeat.
527
528None of our forces took a direct hit from the scales, thankfully, but the nearby forest had been heavily damaged—or really, violently reshaped. The amount of power behind it was just ridiculous.
529
530Well, better do my job, then. The first question to tackle was how many seconds I had until another Tempest Scale barrage came along. I could already see the Pegasus Knight reinforcements off in the distance. They were stopped, apparently just as awed by that last attack as we were. Presumably someone would explain what’s up while I was engaged with Charybdis.
531
532It was my job to keep that dragon engaged with me and reveal as many of its attacks as possible. After that, we could keep ourselves at a safe margin and gradually chip away at the guy together. It’d be a marathon, but we’ll just have to slog through it.
533
534Now I was starting to regret turning down Milim’s offer. Really, I wouldn’t mind if we swapped positions right now. But that’d look so lame. I should give this the ol’ college try, at least—if we just can’t do it, I’ll think about it then.
535
536
537So our mission to conquer Charybdis was now fully under way. To kick things off, I fired a bolt of magic fire, one of my new moves. The moment it struck Charybdis, a searing Dark Flame burned and wrinkled its skin. Just as I thought—it worked.
538
539A regular old spout of fire would’ve been snuffed out by its magic resistance. Dark Flame would’ve been no different, its magical energy dissipating the moment it made contact. To get around that, I’d either have to make physical contact with it and attack, or—as I did now—cover my magic with something else until it made contact.
540
541That’s why I tried loading a magical bolt with Dark Flame and shooting it. The result was a success, making Charybdis writhe in pain from the intense heat… Or at least, act a little irritated, maybe? It’s so big that I wasn’t sure that bolt did much damage at all. Can’t give up now, though. Enough of them, and the damage is bound to pile up over time.
542
543So I kept attacking, spurring myself forward. I tried a few different moves, gauging the dragon’s response. It seemed like Dark Flame and Dark Thunder both worked well against it. Fire-based attacks worked across a broader range of its body, and the lightning seemed to affect its magical neural network a little.
544
545Along with that useful info, however, I learned a few things I wish I didn’t have to.
546
547“Uh…hang on. This guy has Ultraspeed Regeneration, doesn’t it?”
548
549I whispered it out loud, even though I knew nobody would respond.
550
551
552Understood. Judging from the recovery speed of its physical structure, it is not incorrect to assume the individual “Charybdis” possesses the extra skill Ultraspeed Regeneration.
553
554Oh, wait, someone did respond. Or I should say, I learned something at that moment that I fervently wished wasn’t true.
555
556Basically, Ultraspeed Regeneration was what made Charybdis’s scales grow back at such high speed. Once that process wrapped up, I was sure there’d be another Tempest Scale blast—even quicker than before, if it didn’t bother aiming at the storm this time. Perhaps as soon as three minutes—but if I could damage parts of it enough, maybe it wouldn’t be able to release scales from those sections of its body.
557
558Confirming this, I used Thought Communication to let everyone else know. Then, with a now-ample amount of info in hand, I figured out how I would get the Pegasus Knights involved.
559
560*
561
562The battle continued…for over ten hours after that.
563
564Milim had grown so bored with sitting on the sidelines that she fell asleep, but I was fighting for my life. We had to damage Charybdis quicker than it could heal itself, or else we’d never get anywhere. All of us plunged ourselves into this desperate struggle, drinking mighty swigs of healing potion with abandon as we fought.
565
566I’d say we were about 30 percent of the way, maybe? We were all in on the effort. Anyone who could fly was up there, along with Ranga and Soei via Shadow Motion, while Benimaru and the dryad sisters lobbed magical attacks from afar and Shuna and the rest provided support healing and protection. Beams of searing light and sharply honed scales zipped to and fro across the battlefield, magic and skills flying past the other. It was an incredible, yet terrifying spectacle to see.
567
568All of us were working together and giving it our all, and we were not quite a third of the way there. We were all keeping a safe distance, so none of us had dropped out yet. I think there might have been one dropout, actually, but maybe I was just imagining it. But even the most well trained among us were gonna have trouble keeping this pace up forever. We weren’t going to be afforded a single mistake—lose focus, and not only you, but our entire strategy would go up in smoke.
569
570It seemed hopeless. But nobody in our army dared to give up. And just as I was racking my brain, figuring out what I should do:
571
572“Gnh. Grnhhh…aahhh… Y-you… Mi…”
573
574Hmm? Did I just hear something?
575
576“Curse youuu…uuu, Mi—Mili… Milim!!”
577
578Huh?! Milim? Did it say Milim just now? I immediately had the Great Sage perform an analysis.
579
580
581Understood. A small, slight presence of life is confirmed to be within the body that Charybdis is occupying. It is believed that the damage it has taken has led to biological distortion, perhaps because it did not fully assimilate with the body’s magical core. In addition—
582
583I listened to the details.
584
585According to the Sage, Charybdis used the bodies of other magic-born in order to create its own physical form. These bodies would normally disappear and be assimilated, but if the magic-born involved held strong enough feelings or anger or disgust, the assimilation might not fully complete itself.
586
587And now its rage was aimed at Milim, not me. Hmm? Wait a minute. So did this monster head straight for our town because some magic-born out there had a bone to pick with Milim?
588
589Oh, great.
590
591This didn’t have anything to do with us! And here I thought it was picking up some kind of magic waves from Veldora inside me. Talk about overthinking.
592
593And…hang on. So it’s no problem at all if I shove this on Milim’s shoulders, then?
594
595The shocking truth hit me.
596
597
598The moment I woke her up, I sent Milim a Thought Communication.
599
600Hey, uh, Milim, I think this guy’s got a score to settle with ya, after all…
601
602Ooh, I heard it. Looks like Charybdis is using Phobio, the Black Leopard Fang, as its core body. You know, the guy who was here before?
603
604Despite being a long distance away, Milim had still picked up on Charybdis’s thought waves, using her Dragon’s Eye to accurately discover its identity. Its analytical abilities were ahead of even the Great Sage’s, but I should have expected nothing less from her, I guess.
605
606I suppose you’re right. And here I was keeping you idle because I thought this was our guest to handle.
607
608Ooh, does that mean I can tackle it, maybe?! she excitedly asked, not bothering to wait for my full explanation.
609
610Just as I expected, she pounced on the offer. Nice. I knew she was champing at the bit for this from the start, but still. Gotta hand it to her; I’m impressed she had the patience to wait for so long.
611
612Okay. You take my place. Sorry I got between you and your friend here, I guess.
613
614I made sure to emphasize that. This was Milim’s guest, not mine. Now I could take Charybdis, this unfathomably hideous calamity of a monster, and palm it off on Milim.
615
616Oh, and one more thing:
617
618Also, uh, Phobio was working for Carillon, wasn’t he? You think you could maybe spit him out of that thing while you take the monster out? I’d like to rescue him alive, if possible…
619
620This was important. I knew it was a pretty crazy thing to ask, faced with a monster like Charybdis and all, but I had a feeling Milim was up to the task. Plus, if she killed a servant of the demon lord Carillon, that’d just create new problems for us. I had another motivation, too, but that one was so pie in the sky—I could save it for later. For now, I just wanted Phobio safe.
621
622Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You got it! That’ll be a cinch for me. I’ve learned how to hold back my power a little lately, too. Lemme show you how good I’ve gotten at it!
623
624Milim gladly accepted, relishing the chance to boast about herself. She’d learned how to hold back, though…? Like she had any idea what that meant. For some reason, that made me a bit concerned. I opted not to voice that concern, though, as I let her take care of the rest.
625
626
627And now that that was squared away, the rest would happen pretty quickly.
628
629“Okay, guys! Retreat from the area immediately!”
630
631“What are you talking about, Sir Rimuru? We have hardly given up yet.”
632
633“Please, just do what I say! Believe in me! You all have to get out of here!”
634
635My shouting was enough to make Dolph, captain of the Pegasus Knights, call out the order to retreat, albeit grudgingly. We were in a state of total exhaustion, it was true. Things would gradually get worse for us like this. Perhaps he figured my strategy was to wait for the remaining knight corps to show up before reengaging.
636
637“It’s all yours now! Good luck!” And with that, Dolph sent his cavalry back. My own friends didn’t voice any such objections, of course; they had picked up on enough of my Thought Communication to get the picture.
638
639And so, once I was sure everyone except me was gone, I sent the signal.
640
641Okay, Milim! All set here!
642
643“You got it!”
644
645She had already flown into the air, not bothering to wait for the signal. Her dragon wings were stretched high behind her, a self-contented smile on her face. In another moment, she was next to me.
646
647“Gnh. Grrrhhhhh! Mili— Milimmmmm!!”
648
649Noticing her presence, Charybdis arched its body and glared straight at us. It was already too late.
650
651“Well, here we go! Here’s what ‘holding back’ looks like for me! Drago Buster!!”
652
653A fantastic stream of bluish-white light rushed from Milim’s outstretched arms.
654
655It was a light of destruction that made everything disappear.
656
657
658…?! Cannot analyze. Collecting data… Failed.
659
660The Great Sage within me sounded a bit surprised. Maybe I was just imagining it, but still. It failed to identify the exact nature of Milim’s attack, but the results were pretty obvious.
661
662The sight before me was forcing me to rethink the meaning of the term holding back. Several streams of the white light had pooled together, crashing right through Charybdis’s body. It began to eat away at it, giving the dragon no time for Ultraspeed Regeneration to work. The 150-foot-long frame was no match for it, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared.
663
664All I can say is, thank heavens this was an airborne target. If it was on land, it would’ve reshaped the entire geography of this forest. That was the sheer enormity of the attack. We had spent the past X number of hours gradually whittling away at it, taking out 30 percent of its energy, and now it was destroyed beyond repair in the space of several seconds.
665
666Truly, Milim’s strength could only be described as beyond imagination.
667
668Charybdis was gone, and a little piece of its body fell to the ground. Or not a piece, actually—this was Phobio, that magic-born it was built around. Milim kept her promise. She called it holding back; I would call it a masterpiece of work.
669
670I flew over to the magic-born, grabbing him before he smashed against the ground. He was alive, if barely, which meant I got what I wanted. I decided to get to work immediately, preferring if nobody else had to see this.
671
672Analyzing Phobio’s status, I found that he and Charybdis were 90 percent fused with each other. Without quick action, the beast would just resurrect itself again. That’s why I needed to do this.
673
674*
675
676“What are you doing with him?”
677
678“Just watch,” I said, dodging the question as I began. “We can’t let Phobio go free, right? I figured we better take care of him right now. Fully.”
679
680The task at hand involved fully separating Phobio from Charybdis. My Deviant unique skill allowed me to synthesize and separate things, and it’d be the latter that I’d use for this job. However, just doing that alone would cause Charybdis, a spiritual life-form, to float away out of my hands. That’s where my other unique skill, Glutton, would come in.
681
682Even with my Sage and all, I wasn’t able to fully combine unique skills together. Under its control, however, I could run them in parallel to one another. It would be a delicate sequence, a bit like performing surgery, but I was capable of it. If I screwed it up, I’d have to take Phobio’s life as well, so this could have repercussions on my relationship with Carillon. I really wanted this to work, if I could help it.
683
684I focused on the job, devoting all my strength to it. First, I separated a little; then I consumed the bit I took off. The Sage took care of controlling the two disparate skills for me, so I had to do the actual job all by myself.
685
686The battle against Charybdis was starting to seem like someone else’s problem by now—and I knew the reason why. It was Milim. She had dozens of times more magical energy than I did; a demon lord with untold amounts of power. Having her around meant I wasn’t nervous at all about facing Charybdis. I knew in my mind that we were all in mortal danger, but in one corner of my brain, I was spoiled by the fact that I could always call on Milim for help. There was no real sense of danger to me.
687
688This, on the other hand, was different. I couldn’t leave this job to anyone else. Mess it up, and it could be the spark that touched off a whole other crisis. That was why I didn’t want anyone else watching—I wanted to take full responsibility for whatever happened.
689
690Of course, I had Milim right next to me, curiously taking in the proceedings, but…
691
692
693Report. The magical core of the individual Charybdis has successfully been separated from the individual Phobio. Consuming the magical core of the individual Charybdis… Successful. Analyzing core… Partially failed. Isolating and continuing to analyze. The following skills have been obtained—
694
695Success. It felt like that took forever, but I had completed it before everyone who evacuated out for Milim’s attack had come back.
696
697A torrent of information streamed into my head. I didn’t like the “partially failed” bit of the Sage’s report, but now that everyone was back, I filed that concern away for later. Given that it was isolated or whatever, I was pretty sure there was nothing dangerous about it.
698
699All I had left to do was give some healing potion to the weakened Phobio before I forgot. I gave him a swig of my very own, handmade Full Potion, quickly stabilizing his physical condition.
700
701Now to wait for him to awaken.
702
703Thus Charybdis, the threat that landed on our doorstep, was fully slain.
704
705*
706
707“Would you be able to explain to us what happened?”
708
709That was the first thing knight captain Dolph said when he saw me.
710
711Hmm. Yeah. I guess you’d want an explanation, wouldn’t you?
712
713“Well, um… You know. This girl here, she’s actually the demon lord Milim, so…”
714
715“Ha-ha-ha, you certainly enjoy your jokes, Sir Rimuru.”
716
717His eyes weren’t laughing.
718
719“But if you had a magical weapon capable of outputting so much force, I wish you could have informed us of that in advance! We’ll be expecting a more official explanation later on.”
720
721He was clearly miffed at me, and I could understand why. I didn’t have much excuse, really.
722
723“Still, whatever you did managed to eliminate Charybdis, a being that could have been a true disaster to all living races. It is a stroke of good luck, indeed. If you will excuse me, then, I need to report to His Majesty.”
724
725He relaxed his scowl a bit and bowed.
726
727“Thanks for all your help. I will provide my own explanation to King Gazel shortly.” I returned the gesture.
728
729I meant that. This was a demon lord–class monster, and the dwarves didn’t hesitate to step up against it. Without their support, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed that Phobio was the magic-born driving its rage. Chances are that I would’ve asked Milim to kill it anyway, but then she wouldn’t have “held back”—she would’ve atomized it all the way, and I wouldn’t have lifted a finger to stop her, no doubt.
730
731It was that small sliver of extra time that helped us notice the ever-so-slight discrepancy between Phobio and Charybdis.
732
733“Provide your thanks to His Majesty, not to me. Also, if I may speak only for myself…” Dolph came a bit closer, lowering his voice. “If you are going to report to the king, could I ask you to travel to Dwargon to make the report personally? His Majesty is still rather distressed about how your last visit turned out. The exile and refusal of board he sentenced you to has already been lifted, so…”
734
735This was probably less Dolph’s personal invitation and more his interpretation of Gazel’s feelings, I imagined.
736
737“All right. In that case, tell King Gazel that I would love to be extended an official invitation. I look forward to visiting again and giving my report.”
738
739“Excellent! I am sure His Majesty will be overjoyed. Kaijin, Garm, and the rest are also welcome to return at any time. They could join you, if they chose to.”
740
741Dolph was already excited about the idea. I’m sure Kaijin and the gang would like to visit home sometime. Taking them along could be nice, and I’m sure that’s the whole reason Dolph brought this up with me. He might have that gruff military veneer, but I guess he really looked out for others, too.
742
743After that and a few other small pleasantries, the Pegasus Knights were busily hurrying their way back home. I felt truly grateful, from the bottom of my heart, that none were hurt.
744
745*
746
747With the danger past, I went back into slime form. But just as we were about to head home…
748
749“Ngh… Where—where am I? What happened to me…?”
750
751I heard confused muttering.
752
753Phobio had awoken. It put Benimaru and Shion on their guard, but Phobio wouldn’t have had any energy to fight right now. His wounds were fully healed, but his magic power was exhausted. Plus, with Charybdis fully extracted and eliminated from him, he was back to “merely” being a high-level magic-born—nobody we couldn’t take, if it came to that.
754
755“Hey there. You up? Do you remember what you did?”
756
757I spoke slowly to the bleary-eyed Phobio, who was gradually regaining consciousness at the sound of my words. Then he jumped up and, incredibly suddenly, prostrated himself before me and Milim. Guess he remembered.
758
759“I—I am sorry! I mean, I deeply apologize to you! I’ve done something horrible to you, Lady Milim…and I’ve put so much trouble upon all of you a second time!”
760
761The pallid magic-born before me was a lot more impulsive with his emotions than I had thought. It seemed unnatural, in a way, someone like that causing so much chaos.
762
763I was just about to ask what drove him to do all this when Treyni asked an even more pointed question.
764
765“How…did you know where Charybdis was sealed away? Because I highly doubt you merely stumbled upon it.”
766
767That was a good point. This was a proud magic-born; if revenge against Milim was what he wanted, I bet he figured he could do that by his own hand. But pursuing revenge to the point that he instilled Charybdis into his own body? That seemed quite unusual, and I had been wondering about that for a while.
768
769“Well…”
770
771To his credit, he didn’t hide any of it and fully explained what happened to him—the request he made to the two masked agents of the Moderate Jesters.
772
773“A pair of strange-looking masked clowns? But that location is secret—only we knew where it was, and it was the hero herself who told us. A formidable foe, indeed, if they were able to track it down… And masked, you say?”
774
775This seemed to trouble Treyni in particular. She seemed to know them.
776
777“Was one of the masks asymmetrical, perhaps? Drawn to look like they were making fun of you?”
778
779“N-no. There was a girl whose mask made it look like she was crying, and then a fat man with an angry mask. They called themselves Teare and Footman.”
780
781Not the guy Treyni knew, then. But…wow, mysterious masked magic-born, huh?
782
783…Wait a sec.
784
785“Hey, I think Benimaru said there was one there during the attack on their homeland…”
786
787“Yes. I just thought of that myself. A rotund magic-born wearing a mask of anger. That was one of the people controlling the orcs!”
788
789So that was it. The figure who pitted me against Benimaru and the other ogres in the first place.
790
791“Indeed. One of the orc generals working away from my command was accompanied by a high-level magic-born bodyguard, hired by Gelmud. That man’s name was Footman,” Geld added.
792
793Then—
794
795“And come to think of it, when Sir Laplace rescued me, he said he was in Gelmud’s employ as well… He said he was the vice president of the Moderate Jesters, which he described as a jacks-of-all-trades group. And the mask he had on… It was just as Treyni described. Asymmetrical—and with an arrogant expression on it!”
796
797Gabil dropped the bombshell.
798
799Events from across the land were suddenly being connected together.
800
801“…I see. The man was called Laplace, you say?”
802
803“And…Footman? I will be certain to remember that.”
804
805Treyni’s eyes were filled with a dangerous light, and Benimaru wore a defiant smile.
806
807I was surprised to hear that Treyni had made contact with these guys as well. Given her penchant for popping in and out of existence all over the place, they must have crossed paths somewhere. And while Footman had not personally interacted with the ogres back there, he was certainly a major factor behind the destruction of their homeland. They were not fully our enemies, perhaps, but they certainly had something against us all.
808
809The Moderate Jesters. A mysterious band of jacks-of-all-trades. They sounded like trouble, so I decided to ask Milim if she knew anything.
810
811“Mmm? I’ve never heard of that group before, no. Nobody said anything about using guys like those to cause strife among races or anything. How interesting! I wish I could’ve gotten to meet them.”
812
813Milim, at least, had heard nothing from her demon lord cohorts. She didn’t know many details about the whole orc lord operation, I suppose. Gelmud was the main man behind all that, apparently—Milim just got the outlines of it, not the little details like hiring a bunch of jokers to help push things along.
814
815“Maybe it was Clayman scheming behind the scenes with this, not Gelmud. He had the connections for that,” she indifferently continued.
816
817“Clayman? Who’s that?”
818
819“Mm? One of the demon lords. He just loves dirty little schemes like that.”
820
821Geez. She was exposing him like it was no big deal, but what the heck? The guy was still just a suspect; we didn’t know if he was the real criminal here yet—but as Milim put it, Clayman was the kind of guy who’d arrange something like that. Not because Gelmud wasn’t up to the task, but because Clayman was always trying to set it up so he’d have an advantage over the other demon lords.
822
823The orc lord operation was devised by three of those lords, who assigned the job to Gelmud in order to keep things balanced among themselves. If any of them was gonna try to game the system, as Milim described it, it was definitely Clayman. I didn’t have much to comment about on that point, so I filed the fact away in the back of my mind.
824
825I had thought this whole affair was over, but there were still plainly some issues left to tackle.
826
827“Something does bother me. This Laplace… He said he was not among the monster tribes.” After Milim was done speaking, Treyni offered another observation.
828
829In this world, a monster tribe could still be defined as pretty much anyone who was hostile against the human races. Saying you weren’t a monster was another way of saying you were allied with humans and so on. Assuming you weren’t lying. But if they had no quarrel with the human race, that seemed feasible enough to me—there were bound to be other magic-born who took my approach.
830
831Or… Hang on.
832
833“He said he wasn’t magic?” I asked Treyni.
834
835“Yes, Sir Rimuru. He might have supporters in human society.”
836
837Aha. Yeah, this was rough. A major issue, in fact. But I had no way of confirming it. Without any evidence, debating over it was useless. So I resolved to keep an eye out for this weird group and wrapped up my interrogation of Phobio.
838
839*
840
841We now had a fairly ample amount of info to work with. Putting it all together, one truth became clear about this incident: These Moderate Jester guys liked approaching their targets with claims of offering help. It allowed the Jesters to achieve their goals without dirtying their own hands.
842
843With the orc lord, they attempted to set off a war among monster races. This time, they wanted to have Charybdis fight us—or Milim, at least. It sounded to me like Phobio had simply been taken advantage of. The real mastermind was someone else.
844
845“Sounds like they used and abused you, huh? Try to be a bit more careful about taking fishy offers like this in the future, all right?”
846
847Phobio wasn’t exactly free of fault here, but given that the real culprit was elsewhere, it didn’t seem right to punish him. I didn’t want to stir up added trouble, besides. If he swore he wouldn’t bother us anymore, I was glad to let him go free.
848
849“…Huh?”
850
851He was still prostrate before us.
852
853“I, er, I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I accepted this offer at my own discretion. It had nothing to do with Lord Carillon, so please, allow me to pay for this with my life…”
854
855It was weird, seeing him act so bold and brave while bent over in front of us.
856
857“N-no, really, I have no reason to kill you. Right, Milim?”
858
859“Mm-hmm! Of course! I wanted to give you a wallop, sure, but I’m all grown-up now. I’m not angry at all, so consider yourself forgiven!”
860
861A wallop, huh…? Doesn’t sound all that grown-up to me. But oh well.
862
863“See? And if she forgives you, I wouldn’t worry about any of us.”
864
865“…But I let my anger take control of me…”
866
867“Mm-hmm. And probably… That guy with the angry mask? He was probably using those emotions of yours.”
868
869Phobio looked up at my observation. “Come to think of it…that bastard said he was attracted to me by my feelings of anger and disgust…”
870
871His face was astonished as it dawned on him. I was just giving him a bit of a lecture, but maybe I was more on target than I thought.
872
873“Yeah. See? So don’t worry about it.”
874
875“He’s right. And you’re fine with that, too, aren’t you, Carillon?”
876
877Huh? Carillon?
878
879As if to answer my question, a man appeared from the underbrush. He had an attractively rough, unpolished look, sporting a well-tailored but well-worn outfit. His short blond hair stood on end, his sharp eyes only adding to the intense atmosphere he presented.
880
881“Heh. You noticed, huh, Milim?”
882
883“Of course.”
884
885“Yeah, of course,” he replied.
886
887Between the name Carillon and the obvious friendliness they shared, I could guess the identity of this wild-looking man projecting his inner strength in the quiet. He was nowhere near as large as Charybdis, but he presented exactly that sort of overpowering aura—if not more of one, like he’d blow you away with a thought.
888
889So this is Carillon the demon lord, huh?
890
891“Hey. The name’s Carillon. Thanks for helpin’ this guy out without killing him.”
892
893Thus the demon lord Carillon greeted me, looking me straight in the eye.
894
895
896The air grew suddenly tense.
897
898I had no words to overcome the daunting aura of strength that overwhelmed me. Once again, I recalled how the term demon lord wasn’t just for show. But as the leader of this land, I couldn’t let myself be cowed like this.
899
900“I wasn’t expecting the man himself to show up. My name is Rimuru Tempest, the leader of Tempest, our nation of monsters here in the forest,” I declared, summoning all the courage I could.
901
902“Pfft! A single magic-born person, establishing a new nation? Perhaps I woulda believed it in the past, but in this world, you’d have to be suicidal. I was told the orc lord killed our mystery magic-born, but I guess that report wasn’t too true, huh? You’re the masked magic-born that killed Gelmud, aren’t you?”
903
904You look at this slime, and that’s the conclusion you reach? That was the only thing I could think. But Milim was here, and maybe he got to witness the battle against Charybdis as well.
905
906“Yep. You’re right.” I transformed into a human. “So are you here to get back at me for that, or…?”
907
908I doubted it, but I asked anyway. Carillon grinned at the question.
909
910“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Funny. No wonder Milim likes you.”
911
912The laughter instantly dispelled all the tension. But once he was done guffawing to himself, Carillon’s face stiffened. Then, he did something none of us was expecting. He admitted he was wrong.
913
914“Well, sorry one of my men went berserk on you. Guess I neglected to supervise him well enough, and I hope you’ll forgive me for that.”
915
916He didn’t bow his head or anything, but he did apologize in the only way he could. Plus:
917
918“You could say I owe you one now, I s’pose. Lemme know if you have anything I can help ya with.”
919
920Really, he couldn’t have been more sincere with us. Carillon, this demon lord who was far more powerful than myself, was acting in good faith with someone like me. I suppose it just proves how incredibly, deeply broad-minded he was. He owes me one, huh? If that’s how he sees it, I can think of something…
921
922“In that case, it’d be nice if you could sign a nonaggression treaty with us.”
923
924“…Is that all you need? All right. By my name as demon lord—or should I say, as the Beast Master Carillon of the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania—I swear I’ll never turn our blades on any of you. That assumes, of course, you promise the same to us.”
925
926He accepted it easily—another sign of his incredible capabilities. I found it quite admirable.
927
928Since we were already flustered enough, we agreed to send envoys later on to work out the details.
929
930I didn’t know how much I could trust in this pact; given how impulsive Phobio turned out to be, could his master Carillon be much the same way? It should mean that he wouldn’t butt in on our affairs for a while, at least.
931
932If I could learn more about Eurazania, maybe we could open diplomatic relations with them, too. That’d be the best thing.
933
934And that pretty much wrapped up the day. Carillon let his fists do the talking with Phobio, putting him near the brink of death once more, but we all have our funny traits like that, I suppose. He lent his limp subordinate a shoulder as the two of them shuffled away and teleported themselves back home.
935
936
937It was time for us to return home, too. The day had its ups and downs, but things were finally starting to settle down a bit.
938
939
940
941
942EPILOGUE
943
944A NEW ARTIFICE
945
946
947Several days had passed since Charybdis’s defeat. The land of Tempest was calm once more. A lot had happened, certainly, but our nation was finally starting to get recognized, and I couldn’t have been happier.
948
949We were now on friendly relations with the Armed Nation of Dwargon and the kingdom of Blumund. The road between us and Dwargon would be opening up soon, and my official invitation had already arrived. I needed to make my report, but they were planning more to receive me as an official state guest.
950
951Over in Blumund, Fuze was doing a lot for me by going around royal and noble circles and convincing them that given how this latest crisis had turned out, it’d be much more to their advantage to work with us, not against us. Blumund wasn’t a large nation, so “noble circles” didn’t encompass that many people, as he said. None were putting up a lot of roadblocks against him, so I doubted I had much to worry about.
952
953“Oh, trust me, I’ve got so much dirt on the nobles that the carrot-and-stick approach’ll work just fine with them,” he had told me as he left. And given the sneer on his face, I felt safe in leaving all that to him.
954
955Kabal and his cohorts seemed pretty intent on staying here, but they still had a job to carry out—escorting Fuze back home.
956
957“Can we visit again?”
958
959“Yeahhh, I’m not sure I can live without Shuna’s cooking any longer.”
960
961“You can say no all you want; we’ll be back soon!”
962
963They very reluctantly left, taking Fuze along with them. I wasn’t going to turn them away; they were more than welcome to return, and I set up bed space for them and everything.
964
965And there’s another nation I shouldn’t be forgetting—the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania. If our talks went well there, that’d be one more nation to build formal ties with. We got put through the wringer, but we sure earned a lot from it. There was no telling how our discussions would turn out yet, but building a formal friendship with one of the bigger demon lords was a major coup. I wanted to see it succeed.
966
967So we gained a lot, and if anything I, personally, gained just as much. The Charybdis-specific skills Magic Interference and Gravity Flight, for one. That, and Resist Magic, the ultimate ace in the hole against any magic thrown at me. I was having the Great Sage analyze all these to the hilt, so I was sure it’d be connecting them to other skills before too long.
968
969That was one other reason why I asked Milim to keep Phobio alive. I mean, I did want to wrest Charybdis away from him, but it’d also be nice, I figured, if I earned a few new skills as a side effect. With all the trouble he put me through, I felt I deserved to reward myself a little.
970
971
972So what were we doing now?
973
974Thus! Swishh! Thwam! Bash!
975
976I think the ambient noise speaks well enough for itself.
977
978Benimaru, Soei, Shion, and I were being pummeled.
979
980“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Save your breath!!”
981
982The woman laughing shrilly at us was, of course, the demon lord Milim. She was training us, which I thought appropriate given how unfairly strong she was. It was four of us against the one of her, but it was hopeless. The Dragon’s Eye from her saw completely through every trick and attack we attempted.
983
984That’s Milim for you. She’s incredible, I thought, more intensely than ever before.
985
986
987Milim was wearing a Dragon Knuckle around her fist—the weapon present I had promised her long ago. Such knuckles were originally meant for punching with your bare hands without hurting yourself, boosting the force of your strikes in the process. Not this one—this was the exact opposite. Put this on, and it restricted your punching power by around 90 percent. The magisteel at its core applied the Reduce Speed and Power Drain inscription magics to the wearer.
988
989When I gave it to her, she peered at it with intense curiosity, then gladly accepted it. She’d been wearing it every moment since—including during meals, which I had to warn her about, much to her whining chagrin. I was glad she liked it, but she had to learn the right time and place.
990
991This Dragon Knuckle did a whole lot to save us all. We’d been engaging in mock battles every morning with Milim since that day; it had become a regular part of the routine. Her power was just ridiculous, her agility practically cheating, her stamina inexhaustible. Thank heavens she was on our side.
992
993Only Hakuro could put up any real fight against her, which taught me all over again how important actual technique was, instead of relying on physical strength and skills. Of course, even with Hakuro’s technique, a Milim who took the fight seriously would offer him no chance.
994
995Technique was important, but it wasn’t enough. What I lacked most of all, however, was battle experience. These morning combat sessions were my attempt at playing catch-up.
996
997Why was I going through this? Easy. Compared to my past life—my past world, really—there were far too many issues that were solved here by duking it out. The orc lord. Charybdis. I was on good terms with Carillon, but the other demon lords could be a different matter. Plus, I had that vendetta against Leon.
998
999After meeting two demon lords in person—Milim, then Carillon—I realized there was no way I could take on one of them right now. So I was working hard, taking the steps I needed to improve on that.
1000
1001I stayed busy otherwise, too. Training with Milim occupied my mornings; after lunch, I did my rounds in each section of the town. It was an orderly, scheduled life, and I stuck to it for many weeks.
1002
1003Having a nice, nutritious meal after a training round was always pleasant, too. Fried chicken, steak, hamburger, croquettes. Fried shrimp, too—or at least, an animal that looked kind of like shrimp. It was called ebiira, as well, which was frighteningly close to ebi, the Japanese for shrimp. Funny coincidence.
1004
1005We never had to worry about food getting contaminated, either. Shuna’s hygiene and disinfection habits were perfect, and besides, I could Analyze and Assess anything presented to me, so I knew my stuff was safe. I still wasn’t exactly sure if monsters got food poisoning, but…
1006
1007All this variety to the menu was lifting Milim to ever-higher heights of ecstasy. “Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! How can cooking the same meat produce such amazing food?!” That was her reaction to her very first steak.
1008
1009Every day brought her new joy.
1010
1011With the fried shrimp, she gobbled it all up instantly, not exchanging a word at the table. I suppose trying to recreate foods popular with kids paid off well, and Shuna was polishing her skills more than ever.
1012
1013Glad Milim’s such a fan. She’s repaying me with her training, so I’ll want her to stay in high spirits if I can.
1014
1015
1016So the days passed by, all of us growing even stronger than before.
1017
1018Hakuro’s skill set was already complete, so he didn’t grow as quickly, but everyone else? You could hardly recognize them. If Treyni decided to pop in right now, Benimaru or Soei could give her a serious run for her money.
1019
1020I was growing, too.
1021
1022“You’ve certainly improved, Rimuru! If you declared yourself a demon lord now, I sure wouldn’t complain!”
1023
1024If Milim was putting it that way, I must’ve been improving by leaps and bounds. I kept telling her I wasn’t interested in the role, though. Plus, she whipped the four of us again today. Trying to join the Demon Lord Club right now would result in nothing but trouble for me.
1025
1026“By the way, why did you become a demon lord, Milim?” I asked to change the subject.
1027
1028“Ooooooooooh… Hmm. I’m not sure? Something really bad happened, and it got me so angry that I became one?”
1029
1030“Why are you asking me…?”
1031
1032“Well…I don’t remember. It was a super-long time ago, so I forgot!”
1033
1034Despite her cheerful reply, I wondered if maybe something bad had happened after all. It’d be rude to prod her any further about it.
1035
1036“All right. If you forgot, you don’t have to try to remember it or anything.”
1037
1038I ended the conversation there.
1039
1040Milim looked and acted like a child, but inside, she was a full-fledged demon lord. One of the oldest, in fact. She’d probably lived far longer than I could even comprehend. Maybe she didn’t have any friends, thanks to her expansive life span separating her from her companions over time.
1041
1042I decided to ask about something else I had wondered about.
1043
1044“Hey, so… Do you have any, um, family, or people you’re looking after? You’ve been here this whole time, but are you sure you don’t need to get in contact with anyone?”
1045
1046“Mm. I have people who take care of me, but I’m not worried about them. I’m the strongest one out there, so it’d be too intimidating for people if I showed them some care, even, you know? That’s why you’re my only friend.”
1047
1048The sudden declaration made me pause a little. Maybe BFF, the way she defined it, meant a lot more to her emotionally than I had thought. I’d better take that seriously and try to live up to it.
1049
1050“Yeah. Well, let’s hope we keep it that way for a while, Milim.”
1051
1052I gave her a pat on the head. She just looked so childish, I couldn’t help but feel like she was some family relative.
1053
1054She gave me a happy smile.
1055
1056“You bet!”
1057
1058*
1059
1060Several days later…
1061
1062“Okay, I’m off to work!”
1063
1064Milim made a sudden declaration.
1065
1066“Huh? That’s kind of sudden, Milim. Right now?”
1067
1068“Mm? Well… This isn’t, like, the last time I’ll see you or anything, so yeah, I’m headin’ out!”
1069
1070With that, she changed back into the bikini-ish outfit she’d first arrived in. She used Change Dress for the job, a bit of magic that was so helpful that I had her teach it to me. It’s recommended to anyone with a lot of clothing, although you need to learn spatial magic first (for clothes storage), which actually makes it tough to learn.
1071
1072In her original outfit, Milim turned to me and smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell the other demon lords not to lay a finger on this place, okay? You’ve got nothing to worry about, Rimuru!”
1073
1074“Oh? Great. So you’re off to meet them?”
1075
1076“Mm-hmm! That’s my job!”
1077
1078She puffed out her chest proudly.
1079
1080There was apparently some kind of conference among her, Carillon, and the assorted other demon lords out there. The concept kind of scared me—a secret tryst where the demon lords of the world wove their sinister conspiracies in private. The whole orc lord thing resulted from one of those meetings, so I felt I had a personal stake.
1081
1082But—hey, if it means the other demon lords leave me alone, then great. Perfect.
1083
1084The group Milim was affiliated with, by the way, reportedly didn’t include Leon in its ranks. Leon was one of the newer demon lords, so Milim didn’t know too much about him, either. Carillon didn’t seem like such a bad guy, though—what were the rest of them like? I was a tad worried, but it wasn’t like Milim couldn’t handle them. She was cunning, and she was on a whole different level from the demon lord pack.
1085
1086I did warn her, at least, to watch out for other people trying to deceive her. “Oh, you worry too much. I’m really smart, Rimuru, so nobody’s gonna trick me!” she replied with a smile.
1087
1088Yeah, it’s that confidence of yours that I’m worried about…
1089
1090“Well, I’ll be back soon!”
1091
1092And she was off—into the air. So sudden, just like when she came. And in another moment, she was silently breaking the sound barrier (no shock wave, oddly) and falling out of sight. She said the site was pretty far-off, but at that speed, she didn’t have long to travel.
1093
1094“Hmm? Did Lady Milim go somewhere?”
1095
1096Shion looked concerned. They had become rather good friends.
1097
1098“Yep. She said she had work.”
1099
1100“Work?”
1101
1102“She had promised to meet up with a few other demon lords.”
1103
1104“Other demon lords…? I hope they don’t trick her…”
1105
1106See? That’s what you’d totally think. Shion had the exact same worry I did.
1107
1108“Well, she said she’d be back once her work was done, so there’s no point worrying much about her.”
1109
1110“Quite true. Rather rude of us, I’d say, worrying about someone so much stronger than any of us.”
1111
1112“True…”
1113
1114“I’m going to grow stronger—and when she comes back, I’m sure going to surprise her!”
1115
1116“Better train harder than ever, then.”
1117
1118It didn’t seem right, feeling all sad about someone like Milim, but losing her so suddenly like this did make one feel lonely. Thinking about it, she had really become a big part of this town. The way she could take over your mind like that… She was one mysterious demon lord.
1119
1120For now, though, let’s focus on what the ogre mages want to be stronger. And let’s see if we can’t shock Milim when she’s back.
1121
1122So before long, I resumed my training under Hakuro, my mind refocused on my mission.
1123
1124*
1125
1126It was a broad, expansive, and decadently decorated room. The demon lord Clayman was taking a moment to drink some wine and take in the elegance. Across from him, Frey the Sky Queen was seated, looking out the window and acting depressed.
1127
1128“How did things turn out, then?”
1129
1130“Apparently quite well, Frey. We took advantage of a servant of Carillon who was disgruntled about Milim to set Charybdis on her.”
1131
1132Clayman smiled broadly.
1133
1134“Milim defeated the beast, according to our observers. You have nothing to worry about now, yes?”
1135
1136Yes, everything went exactly as Clayman wished—including the results of the battle. Milim was clearly going to win; there was no doubt about that between the two demon lords.
1137
1138“But none of this angered Carillon himself at all?”
1139
1140“Why would it? There’s no evidence linking any of this to me. If Carillon’s angry at anyone, it’s either Milim or that mystery pack of monsters. Or perhaps he’ll point it toward those jacks-of-all-trades that tricked that Phobio gentleman, but as long as he doesn’t learn that I hired them, that’s not a problem.”
1141
1142Another light chuckle.
1143
1144The Moderate Jesters, his true friends, were a group shrouded in mystery. There was no way Clayman’s involvement with them could ever come out. Carillon had no way of contacting them, no way to figure out where they were—he couldn’t touch them.
1145
1146Still, though…
1147
1148Clayman recalled the final set of images Mjurran gave him.
1149
1150Milim, pulverizing the all-powerful Charybdis in a single instant. Her—and someone else.
1151
1152“This magic-born, though. The one who defeated Gelmud. It attempted to take on Charybdis solo. Very powerful, indeed; I can see why Milim is so preoccupied with it. If we aren’t careful, it may grow to become as strong as us demon lords.”
1153
1154“Heh-heh! That’s a pretty funny thing for you to say, Clayman.”
1155
1156Frey didn’t sound terribly interested. Instead, she changed the subject to the main issue at hand.
1157
1158“So about your compensation, then. What am I supposed to pay you?”
1159
1160She turned her eyes to Clayman. This was why the two of them were here today.
1161
1162“You don’t have to be so wary of me, Frey. This time, if you could just listen to a request of mine, that is more than enough. I helped you out, and in exchange, you can do the equivalent.”
1163
1164“All right… I’ll do that, if I’m capable.”
1165
1166“Thank you very much. I was sure you would say that.” He gave a satisfied smile at the deal.
1167
1168Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee. This should help make things go my way at the next demon lord summit. It’ll also let me approach my other goal—hmm? Wait a moment. If this goes well enough, I could even take control of Milim. Yes, with that certain item I was provided…
1169
1170Clayman almost found himself shaking at the thought. With Frey now on his side of the chessboard, the idea he had just come up with no longer seemed so impossible.
1171
1172“However,” he said, stopping Frey as she tried to leave the room. “this now means that the only thorn in your side at the moment is Milim alone. Having superiority in the air means nothing against her, doesn’t it, Frey? I would be happy to discuss matters with you, so if it’s something I can help with, don’t hesitate to mention it. You can contact me at any time.”
1173
1174Behind the friendly face, a new artifice was beginning to formulate itself. Frey didn’t notice, or pretended not to if she did. “I’ll be glad to when the time comes,” she said as she offered her good-byes and left Clayman’s castle.
1175
1176
1177Alone in his room, Clayman was deep in thought.
1178
1179If I could obtain Milim’s power, there would be no need at all to incite the other demon lords. I will need to take the time to seriously consider this. And I hope you’re looking forward to it, Milim…
1180
1181He removed a mask from his pocket and placed it against his face. He could feel his heart relaxing itself. To Clayman, he only felt like his true self with this mask on.
1182
1183But still… This mystery magic-born cannot be ignored, no. We’d best be careful with it, just like Laplace and Teare warned. I could assign Mjurran to infiltrate their base of operations—it’d be a fine chance for her to restore her good name.
1184
1185Mjurran’s intel helped a lot more than he expected. He had thus decided to use her as much as possible, until there was nothing left.
1186
1187Besides, this infiltration job was right up Mjurran’s alley. If it went well and she curried their favor, great. If not, and Mjurran was rubbed out, Clayman had the perfect excuse to get personally involved. It would provide the best pawn to replace Mjurran with.
1188
1189That mystery magic-born needed to be watched, but compared to bigger things on the horizon, it was still a small presence. He just had to wait, gather information, and use it when the time was right, just in case the monster interfered with the plan he was hatching.
1190
1191He was not giving it his full attention, perhaps, but regardless, the demon lord Clayman was not watching Rimuru and his city.
1192
1193
1194An ashen sort of joy erupted across his heart, a smile running across Clayman’s face as he worked out his new artifice…