by Fuse
There was only one answer left. To break out a move she normally never showed in public and to grasp victory with it.
She kept her distance, aiming for a fresh start to work with.
It looked like things were largely settled around them. Everyone was stopped, as if time was frozen for them; they were all focused on Hinata and Rimuru’s battle. The two of them couldn’t even attack each other any longer—they could both read so far ahead in time, they could predict the results before they took action.
Time passed.
“…Rimuru, I have a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s settle this with the next strike. I have a finishing move, and I intend to put all my power into it. If you can withstand it, you win. If not…”
“I lose?”
Hinata nodded. “But let me warn you in advance—this move is dangerous. Are you willing to accept this?”
She thought he would. And now that Hinata had kindly provided this warning, Rimuru was no longer in danger of dying from the strike. It meant Hinata could use it without any regrets. If she did kill him, the high-level magic-born under him would turn into berserk menaces, striking at all humankind without prejudice. Hinata, her strength exhausted, would be killed at once, followed by all her weakened paladin fighters. To avoid that, Rimuru needed to be kept alive.
This move was called Meltslash, part of the Overblade family, and normally, she’d prepare it on the sly, not letting anyone notice it in advance. It was a combination of magic and swordplay, and its force was massive. There was no way to temper it in a feeble attempt to reduce its lethality. That’s why she could only rarely use it.
Besides, if I showed this to you, you’d just copy it like it was the easiest thing in the world, wouldn’t you?
She had reserved Meltslash only for foes she intended to kill. Revealing it to Rimuru, who could learn anything after a single repetition, frustrated her. But so be it. Nothing else was holding her back.
…I need to settle this here!
The only way to make Rimuru admit defeat was to show him just how overwhelmingly outclassed he was.
“But let me warn you in advance—this move is dangerous. Are you willing to accept this?”
She must’ve been pretty darn confident about this finisher of hers. But it didn’t make sense to me. Why would she give me advance warning?
Understood. No desire can be detected on Hinata Sakaguchi’s part to kill you. If she is cautioning you, it indicates just how dangerous a move it is.
I see. She doesn’t want to kill me.
Wait, what? Didn’t she come to do just that? I mean, yeah, something about this did seem kinda weird to me. Too late to stew over it now, though. There’d be a lot more time later—all the time in the world, in fact, once I win this.
“Sure. I accept your challenge.”
Hinata smiled at me. “Heh-heh… I thought you would.”
There was something really pure to that smile. It made her look younger than her years—in fact, she could almost pass for being in her teens. It felt much more natural than the usual, battle-hardened Hinata I was familiar with. This wasn’t some grin of cruelty, no derisive snickering. Maybe this was the real Hinata.
“But no hard feelings after this, okay?” I warned her. “If you lose, promise me you won’t mess around with this nation any longer.”
Hinata gave me a quizzical look, then nodded, shaking off her indecision. “…All right. I promise. I agreed to this duel because you requested it; I want to discuss the future with you as well.”
She seemed up to the thought, at least, but hang on. Something she said didn’t seem quite right.
“You accepted it because I wanted it…?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I received your message.”
My message had started with a few polite greetings, then moved on to the topic of Shizue and the children stranded on this planet, in an attempt to ease our misunderstandings. In addition, I offered her a forum where we could discuss our issues calmly with each other. In the end, I capped it off with this:
“So I hope you will agree to come to the bargaining table, but if I’ve failed to convince you, I’ll take you on. It can be you and me, in a one-on-one duel, so nobody else will have to be involved. If possible, though, I’d like to end this with verbal discussion, not physical destruction. So give it all the thought you need, and I’ll be waiting for what’ll hopefully be a positive response. For now, see you later.”
…Or something close to that anyway; I forgot the exact words. I definitely wasn’t gunning for a duel; it’s just that Hinata’s so stubborn that I figured I should throw that in or else she’d tune the whole thing out.
“Here I go.”
“Whoaaaa!!”
Oops. As I was pondering all this, Hinata had readied herself for the strike. We definitely still had some misunderstandings between us, but with things how they were, I could say nothing to stop her now. It was crazy, how focused she looked; no words would ever reach her brain.
Ah well. If I hold out, I win. Simple.
It appeared that Benimaru and the rest had secured victory while I was busy. Some of them were lying on the ground, some seated, and few had the energy to do much else. Only Benimaru and Soei looked like they had any gas left in the tank. Even the Three Lycanthropeers were as spent as the paladins; I guess they never got around to Animalizing for this fight.
Soei, though… What was he doing? The female knight he was engaged with seemed to be unhurt, but for some reason, she was looking at Soei and visibly blushing. I could see her fidgeting nervously on her feet, even, which only added to the mystery. It was like she had a crush on the guy or something. What’s up with that? Aren’t we kind of all locked in combat right now? I’ll need to inquire about that later.
Then we had Shion. She must’ve totally stormed through her battle, and she even had paladins meekly following behind her. Prisoners? Some of them looked wounded, but none fatally. A little recovery potion, and we’d be all good. I’d need to dole out some praise for that performance.
That just left Hinata and me. And we were just one attack away from wrapping up.
“Benimaru.”
“Yes?”
“If, by some chance, this fells me, you’re taking my post.”
“Ha. Surely you jest. Nobody here would ever doubt your victory, Sir Rimuru.”
I shrugged at his cheerful evaluation. Yep. I had people here that really loved me. Unlike my stash of “special” videos I kept in a hidden directory on my computer back home, this was one treasure I couldn’t afford to leave behind. I wasn’t that irresponsible.
“All right. In that case, wait for my victory right there!”
“Yes sir! Be brave!”
I nodded and turned my gaze to Hinata.
Looking around, it seemed to Hinata like the stage was set. She could see her exhausted squadmates nearby, but they appeared to be receiving better treatment than she’d expected. Prisoner abuse must have been strictly prohibited.
As it would be, I imagine. Judging by your disposition, I suppose I should have believed you from the start.
The thought certainly took some time to occur to Hinata, but it was a sincere one. And it still wasn’t too late. She could just win this fight, and they could build a new relationship.
She corralled her rising excitement, turning it into a prayer as she began to chant a spell in her clear voice. That wasn’t strictly necessary, but she wanted to show it off to Rimuru. If he was going to steal it anyway, she wanted to be sure his copy was a perfect one. This was a Disintegration spell, and now its force was gathered around Hinata’s left hand, letting out a blinding light. Glowing particles fluttered around it, creating an otherworldly sight, and then she imbued her Moonlight sword with this mystical force, as if gently caressing the blade with one hand.
Now everything was ready. Her sword contained the strongest magic possible now, and there was nothing it couldn’t slash th
rough.
“Are you ready for this?”
“Bring it!”
“Here we go… Meltslash!!”
Hinata, a glowing orb of light, lunged for Rimuru.
A bright light. Not the glint of a sword, but her entire body, with shiny particles shooting out of it, as she advanced at a superhuman speed that went way beyond what I expected.
The sword she wielded had the power to dispel and evaporate all types of evil.
Report. Unable to defend. Unable to evade…!
I had never heard Raphael sound legitimately panicked before. Even with my senses enhanced a millionfold, the light looked like it was going at regular speed—a sign of just how fast she was going.
Between the distance, the angle, and the timing, Hinata was aiming below my stomach. She must have figured I wouldn’t die if my head stayed intact, but even if she didn’t intend to kill me, this move was way too dangerous. I couldn’t evade it, Multilayer Barrier was meaningless, and that light was spiritual in nature, evil-dispelling, capable of tearing down anything it touched. The moment we made contact, it would sear through my body.
Report. It is suggested to sacrifice your ultimate skill Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony, to cancel out this attack.
I knew I could rely on old Professor Raphael at a time like this.
As much as I hated to let go of Belzebuth, I didn’t have much choice here. Out of all the suggestions it had, this was the most likely one to work, so there wasn’t much point wavering on a decision. At this speed, besides, aiming practically didn’t matter. It’s not like I could adjust my trajectory midway.
Raphael used Predict Future Attack to calculate the point Hinata aimed at, activating Belzebuth at that exact spot. The moment her sword hit me, Belzebuth would swallow it all up—or so the plan went.
Pretty simple. No reason to waver. And in another few scant moments, Hinata’s skill crossed paths with Belzebuth.
………
……
…
The result? Well, I survived. I thought I wasn’t gonna for a second, but I did.
“Heh-heh-heh… Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
I could hear Hinata’s laughter ringing in my ears as I was lying there on the ground. All the magicules in the area had been purified; Universal Detect wasn’t working for me, making this the first time in a while that I “heard” using my actual eardrums. It was more unnerving an experience than a nostalgic one.
My body couldn’t move. Canceling out Hinata’s strike consumed a vast amount of magicules—in terms of damage, it probably wiped out over 70 percent of my store. Which, hey, it’s fine as long as I’m alive…but what a scary attack she had up her sleeve. If she busted that out without warning me… Well, just thinking about it made a chill run down my spine.
“I’m impressed. In the midst of that, you took the attack full-on? On purpose?”
Huh? What’s Hinata talking about? What kind of idiot would intentionally take an attack like that?
…
Um, hold on…
Perplexed at Raphael’s suddenly odd behavior, I decided to ask it a question. But the prof was silent. Hiding something, likely.
“Well, if you took it and lived, I lose. It’s not like I can fight beyond this.”
The protective light around Hinata disappeared…or fizzled out, really. She was spent. Even that amazing sword of hers was gone, gobbled up by Belzebuth. She could no longer offer any more resistance to anyone. Only her dignity was intact, her head held high, as she waited for my reply.
“Yeah. We’ll call it a win for me…”
The battle was over. But the problem hadn’t been solved.
As I attempted to declare victory over Hinata, I spotted something out the corner of my eye. Hinata noticed it, too, and turned toward it.
Up ahead, coming our way, was a large sword.
Report. Thought interference and magicule instability detected on target. It will explode soon.
The target was the great sword itself. If someone was interfering with it… Was it an attack aimed at us?!
“No! Are these the depths you’ll sink to, Seven Days?!”
Hinata screamed out as she stood in front of me. I was still immobile. And then, the promised explosion. And then I could see Hinata’s body slowly crumple.
CHAPTER 6
GODS AND DEMON LORDS
In the land of eternal night, within a burial chamber unknown to the world, encased in a casket of ice, there was a beautiful, dark-haired, naked girl. A figure was in front of her, also nude, as she embraced the casket with an eerie smile on her spellbound face. Her skin, as pale as the white-hot sun, burned a shade of red as she let out a satisfied sigh.
Ah… So beautiful… Ah…
Beholding this girl in the coffin, and showering her with love, was the secret delight of this charming silver-haired figure, her red-and-blue eyes flickering as they let out their ominous glow. They brought out her traditional beauty, enhancing it to another level. But what struck any observer of her the most were the two prominent white canines jutting out from both sides of her lips. Whenever she opened those lips, her bloodred tongue and milky-white fangs would bare themselves.
This was the demon lord Luminus Valentine, Queen of Nightmares and ruler of the night.
Whenever she touched this casket, it left a burn-like mark on her beautiful skin. It was an ark, a pure block of holy force, and thus damaging to Luminus. As a vampiric demon lord, this whole casket was like poison to her. But she didn’t let it bother her. Even the bruising was bliss itself.
Even a demon lord with Luminus’s powers was incapable of breaking the casket. So instead she lovingly caressed it, hoping for the day when she’d finally be able to release the girl sleeping inside…
One of her trusted associates made contact with her.
“I apologize for interrupting your fun, but there is something I wish to inform you of.”
It was Louis, the one she had enlisted to be Holy Emperor of Lubelius. The sound of his voice annoyed her, but she put up with it. It was rare for him to speak up like this, and she could easily imagine it being an emergency.
“Oh. Louis? Did something happen?”
“Hinata has moved to defeat Rimuru, the root of all this evil. I tacitly allowed her to do so, but things have apparently grown complicated.”
“…How do you mean?”
Louis gave her the truth, as revealed by his own investigations.
“Ah… No time to relax, then.”
With a weary sigh, Luminus removed herself from the casket, left the burial chamber, and called for a servant.
“Gunther!”
“Yes, my lady?”
Gunther was an elderly vampire in Luminus’s service, a butler who had joined her at Walpurgis. Now he emerged from the darkness, one of the Three Servants under her control and almost on her level of power. Louis was her point man on the emperor’s throne, Gunther within the city of Nightgarden, and the late Roy her stand-in demon lord as a deterrent against outside propaganda. All three were also Luminus’s bodyguards; Luminus was currently in a burial chamber situated deep inside Nightgarden, and Gunther was keeping watch over her nearby.
With a measured hand, Gunther assisted Luminus with her clothing. The fact that she preferred the ceremony of manually putting on her outfit over some instant magical transformation was a telling indicator of her form-over-function tastes.
“Honestly,” Gunther griped at Louis as he helped her change, “bothering her with such trivial nonsense…”
“My apologies,” Louis replied. “But if we leave things be for much longer, we run the risk of losing your beloved Hinata as well, I fear.”
“Such silly concerns! Although, if it is the demon lord Rimuru she crosses swords with, prudence would certainly be in order…”
“I come to you both now because I don’t want them to cross swords. If Hinata is killed, what would Luminus…?”
“Louis,” Luminus grudgingly interrupted,
“that’s enough from you. You too, Gunther. A single appearance from me is all this needs, no? Then we can eliminate the source.”
The Three Servants hated it when one of them horned in on the territory of another, which was a source of frustration for Luminus. Louis knew that, which was why he deferred to Gunther this time.
“Yes, my lady.”
“I apologize…”
The two of them bowed their heads meekly. Luminus gave them a snort.
“With Roy gone, I’ll need to rejuggle your assignments. Right now, though, I don’t have the time for it. Both of you, follow me.”
She began to walk, in all her solemn majesty. The two magic-born were ready to follow her.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Allow me, my lady.”
Then Luminus stopped for a moment, turning back toward the casket her beloved slept within.
Wait for me, all right…?
She then whispered the name of the precious girl inside, before grimly caressing the chamber’s door and closing it behind her.
Soundlessly, shut away by Luminus’s massive magic barrier, the chamber slipped down into true darkness.
Damrada the Gold, one of the leaders of the Cerberus secret society, had finally made it back to Farmus from his clandestine meeting with the Five Elders. He was now in Migam, out in the countryside, and given how well he knew the money-hungry Earl Nidol of Migam, he hadn’t forgotten to placate him with enough presents to earn his trust.
This time, as well, a little bribe was all he needed to allow a protégé of his to reside within Migam. Edmaris, too, was there now in an undisclosed location, and Damrada knew this domain would become the eye of the storm before long. Edward, the new king, had dragged a force of twenty thousand toward this domain’s borders—Damrada knew that, too.