Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 19 Chapter 3

Chapter 3
The Royal Capital in Flames

The Congress proceeded smoothly.

This was all thanks to the advance preparations.

The necessary number of votes to pass the resolution had already been secured, so there was no chance of an upset here.

In the first place, there was no way that anyone would be stupid enough to oppose the resolution when a settlement with the Empire was about to be secured.

That’s why Masayuki, as the Emperor, stood up to sign the settlement document.

The room filled with cheers and applause, and everyone watched as Masayuki ascended to the podium.

Exactly as planned.

Testarossa and others, who had worked so hard to make this day happen, were all smiling with satisfaction. I’m sure she was the one behind all this, so I’d make sure to give her a pat on the back later.

Now, go ahead and sign it.

Then after that, the fun buffet party will be waiting.

I’m sure that Hinata will change and show us her lovely dress this time as well.

I made all the preparations in advance, and I properly asked Luminas as well.

This time, I had asked Luminas to tailor a very aggressive design for me.

It was perfect.

The bribe was expensive, but we were like-minded people.

Luminas was understanding and agreed to a very reasonable price.

‘I don’t care about autographs anymore, so let’s just move on to the party venue’—Perhaps it was my fault for being so occupied with evil thoughts, but a loud explosion sounded from the direction of the party venue.

A moment later, the hall also shook.

“Masayuki, are you okay?!”

“Eh, what’s going on?”

Quit acting so lovey-dovey in front of me.

Masayuki has Velgrynd-san by his side, who is also the perfect bodyguard, but that doesn’t mean he can just flirt with her whenever he feels like it.

There was no need to for me worry about him, but as the one who was supposed to be entertaining him, I decided to say something.

“Masayuki, are you okay?”

“Ah, I’m fine. I’m glad that everyone seems to be safe, and above all—”

While saying this, Masayuki was looking around the assembly hall.

When I looked with him, I saw that everyone was calm as one would expect of representatives elected from various countries.

“Of course. You can’t work with me if you get flustered by something of this level.”

Before I knew it, Testarossa had taken charge of everyone as if nothing had happened. With her precise instructions, the knights guarding the council were also moving around in an orderly fashion.

“I’ve ordered the Holy Knight Order to be vigilant as well. I’ve sent them to investigate what happened at the party site as well as around the council chamber.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Hinata came up to me and told me, reminding me of an important matter.

That’s right, was the party venue safe?

Even if the delicacies I’d prepared for the party were safe, if the venue itself was badly damaged, it would affect the party tonight.

No way, to just cancel it…

It can’t be?!

If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to see Hinata in her dress.

Such fears flashed through my mind, and I tried to run in a panic.

But then.

‘Rimuru-sama! I just received a call from Frey-dono. The army of “Insect Lord” Zelanus has invaded, and the war will soon begin!!’

Benimaru sent me an inexplicably cruel report that shattered any remaining hopes I had.

No, it’s okay, if I fly over there now and take care of Zelanus, I can still make it back by nightfall—

‘Hey Rimuru, there’s trouble!! I’ve been communicating with the demon lords as per protocol, but I haven’t heard back from Damargania. Isn’t this bad?’

It was bad.

Of all the possible situations, having no contact was the most dangerous.

‘This is why I prepared a manual for just such a situation’—while complaining in my heart, I told them through ‘Telepathy Net’ to continue collecting information.

Ramiris seemed to have remembered the existence of the manual after I pointed it out to her. “I’m not panicking at all”—she said as she went back to talking with the other operators.

In any case, without information, there was no way to make a decision.

That being the case, perhaps we should give up on the buffet party tonight…

At a time like this, I was reminded of an incident in my previous life.

Yes, it was when I was still in my twenties and working as a general contractor.

That day was the scheduled day of a major update to an MMORPG, which had become a daily routine for me, and I was excitedly waiting for my work to finish.

Just as I was about to finish my work, the machine broke down…

‘No way,’ I had thought.

We hadn’t even finished cleaning up the site when the machine stopped working. Until the machine was repaired, all other work would be stopped…and that was the moment I knew I would have to work overtime.

After giving instructions to arrange for night lighting, I contacted the relevant authorities such as the municipal office and the police, explained the situation, and completed the work that I could do by myself. I didn’t have time to mourn as I went around explaining the situation to the local residents as necessary.

I had so much to do that I found myself working long past regular working hours.

What I am feeling now was just like what I had been feeling back then.

In other words, I had to give up seeing Hinata’s dress.

If we had to invade two places at the same time, we would have to be prepared for a long battle. It would be impossible to finish the job by nightfall.

There was a high possibility that one of the battlefields was a decoy, and there was no way to deal with it in a euphoric mood.

However, I decided to never forget the resentment that was welling up in my heart.

I had to teach those fools that taking away my fun time came at a steep price…

With that in mind, I changed my mindset and began thinking of countermeasures.

Hinata noticed the change in me.

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

I nodded and explained briefly.

“Ah, the enemy is on the move. It looks like something’s going on over here too—”

“Yeah, we’ll take care of it.”

That’s Hinata for you.

I didn’t even have to ask her, she just agreed.

“Testarossa, I need you to cooperate with Hinata and take care of the situation.”

“I understand.”

This is fine.

For the time being, I decided to get a situation report from Benimaru.

‘Benimaru, how’s the follow-up going?’

‘I’m checking, but it looks like the situation is pretty bad.’

He responded without panic, but the situation seemed to be quite tense. I waited for the rest of the report, hoping that the damage was not worse than expected.

‘I’ve received word. Surprisingly, both forces are evenly matched. It seems that Carrera’s supreme magic was the beacon that started the war, but there was someone on the enemy side who could throw it back, and it turned into a head-on collision—’

Throwing back Carrera’s magic?!

I was wondering how a spell with such crazy power could be thrown back, but was it possible with the ‘Spatial Domination’ ability?

«It depends on one’s computing power, but it is possible. It also depends on the scale and power of the spell being thrown, but if it’s a directional destructive spell, it is possible to channel the power by distorting space. If a mistake is made, your own allies will be harmed, so it is not recommended.»

I see.

If you take too much time to predict the point of impact, your teammates may get caught.

And if the prediction fails, needless to say, you will be hit hard. I suppose Ciel-san can do it, but unless there was no other way, it would be rejected.

If you think of it that way, it’s a strategy built on the sacrifice of your allies, and the risk of failure is too great, making the enemy seems like a very daring gambler.

So, because of that, it became a head-on collision, and the enemy had eight Insect Generals.

The official name of the group was the “Twelve Insect Generals,” but now there are only eight Insect Generals left, not twelve, so the group was all together.

In addition to this, there was the presence of the “Insect Lord” Zelanus, and Milim could not move. Therefore, the ‘Milim Four Heavenly Kings’ and even Carrera and the others all joined in to fight the Insect Generals.

What’s with the ‘Milim Four Heavenly Kings’?—putting aside the question, I was amazed that even the number was the same.

‘So, do you think we can win?’

‘I’m not sure, but I’m sure there will be some tough opponents.’

‘All right. In any case, let’s send reinforcements.’

‘I’ve already sent out 300 Kurenai in anticipation of that.’

Oh, I knew Benimaru was great.

He didn’t waste any time and acted quickly and decisively.

The “magic transfer circle” could only transfer about fifty people at a time, but if we replenished the magicule ourselves, we could operate continuously. In addition, since there were plenty of magicules in our labyrinth, the time required to reuse them would be short.

With Veldora’s help this time, we were able to send 300 people out safely.

Gobua, the commander, was also very motivated.

‘It seems that she has been dating Phobio for some time and was burning up about her lover’s crisis. Well, I don’t think she will fall behind so easily.’

‘That’s fine, but I’m worried if they’ll have enough forces.’

When you hear that the number of enemies exceeds one million, it’s natural to worry with only three hundred additional people. The quality of the individual people was very good, as they were all of Over A rank. However, if they made a series of mistakes due to fatigue, it would not be surprising for them to collapse at once.

‘Do you want me to send Gobta?’

Hmm, a hundred Goblin Riders.

Our country was guarded by the labyrinth, and Gobta and the others had no business there. Or rather, I didn’t want them to.

The Goblin Riders were more suited to a wide battlefield. If we let them fight in the labyrinth, it meant that we were in a very tight situation.

In that case, it’s probably not a good idea to leave anything out here.

‘Okay, let’s do that. Ranga, you go with Gobta and protect him!’

‘Understood!!’

Ranga’s presence disappeared from my shadow.

Just as I was feeling relieved, I heard Benimaru laughing.

‘Fufu, Rimuru-sama still has a soft spot for Gobta as usual.’

‘Eh, is that so?’

‘Yeah. He’s a great leader too, so there’s no need to worry so much about him.’

‘But you know, he’s a little off sometimes, right?’

‘Hahaha, he usually is, but on the battlefield, he’s serious. But well, perhaps it’s better to be overprotective this time…’

Benimaru’s happy mood had changed.

It seems that he sensed something disturbing about the enemy’s behavior.

‘Which means, even in your estimation, the enemy is strong, right?’

‘It’s unsettling. I’m “seeing” them through Geld’s eyes, but the insects have no fear. They are tireless and continue to attack over the dead bodies of their own comrades.’

‘Wow, that’s a nasty enemy…’

‘Geld says it reminds him of the time when they were under the control of his father (their lord).’

‘Ah, the Unique Skill ‘Starved’…’

That was more of a bad memory than a nostalgic one.

But the image came through clear enough.

‘Anyway, I pray for everyone’s safety. You keep watching, and if the worst happens, don’t hesitate to go for backup.’

‘I understand.’

With that, I ended the conversation with Benimaru.

Ramiris was the next person I contacted.

‘Well, did you get any response?’

‘Hold on a second. I’m in the middle of something important right now—wait, no Rimuru! Listen, it’s not that bad!!’

You’re noisy.

It seems that she thought I was someone else, but there’s no way the ‘Telepathy Net’ could get mixed up in this situation. Now then, this guy, she skipped her training, didn’t she?!

That’s right. I trusted Treyni-san and Beretta’s handling of the situation, but I had a feeling that it was wrong to put Ramiris in command…

‘Can you put Beretta on for me?’

‘Oh, wait a minute. You have to trust me—’

‘Never mind that.’

‘Yes.’

She switched speakers without saying a word.

It’s not that I was dragging the Hinata situation behind me, and it’s not that I was taking it out on her, but this was an emergency situation. It was not a game.

So, I would hear from Beretta.

‘I just received a call from Zonda-dono. They have escaped to the callable area under Ultima-sama’s orders.’

That’s Ultima for you. Unlike a certain slack-jawed fairy, she acted according to the manual.

‘So, what about the enemy?’

‘They’re terrifyingly powerful, we’re asking for urgent support’—that’s what they said. What should we do? Would it be better to request the other demon lords to return our forces?’

Hmm, that was a good suggestion, but I was concerned about the fact that they were so powerful. If we were to move our troops, there was a high possibility that we would fall into the enemy’s trap, and if possible, I wanted to keep our forces at a minimum.

Before that, Ingracia was the dominion of Luminas. We could not borrow from Luminas.

Leon had fallen into the hands of the enemy and Guy did not want to move from his guard of El Dorado. Regardless of whether Velzard attacked, I felt that it was a good idea to leave him there.

If that was the case, I was the only one left who could put up a fight…

I wondered what to do.

Should I send out the labyrinth team, or should I go myself?

I was worried about here as well, but I didn’t feel any big presences. Testarossa was also here, and Hinata and the Holy Knight Order were also in motion.

They could expect reinforcements from Luminas if necessary, and above all, Velgrynd-san was here.

In that case—

‘Ah, Rimuru-sama! I have more information on the enemy’s forces. They have confirmed the appearance of Dino-dono and Leon-dono!’

When I heard that, my mind was made up.

If Leon was there, I had to be the one to go.

Now there was no more hesitation. I should follow the manual and have Leon returned to our side.

Well, I still had lingering doubts, but I decided to turn them into anger and take them out on the enemy.

‘All right, I’ll head out. I’ll leave the command there to Benimaru, so tell Ramiris to take her training seriously.’

‘—Understood.’

Beretta seemed to express an almost sad feeling, but I got the point. I’m not saying that she (Ramiris) shouldn’t play commander, but she would have to learn the manual properly.

Well, I couldn’t help but think that it might have been a mistake to make the “Control Room” more luxurious.

I recreated it from my memory and made it as gorgeous as one from any anime or manga. I wasted so much money on it that everyone wanted to sit in the commander’s chair, which was annoying.

I had even prepared a special seat for Ramiris, so she was already in the mood…

It would be fine if we were just playing around, but this was a serious battle. I gave her a firm warning to fulfill her duty.

A gentleman stood before Dagruel.

It was Fenn.

The reason why he looked so gentlemanly was because it was in comparison to Dagruel. Fenn was slender yet tall like a giant, and his supple muscles were toned.

His skin was white. It was morbidly white, having been depigmented by isolation in a sunless room for an uncanny number of years.

His green hair was long and shaggy, and his eyes shone like jade.

He wore a long, loose robe with an open bust. Accentuating his appearance were the chains wrapped around his waist and shoulders.

The Gleipnir that had bound him for years was now Fenn’s favorite.

With an elusive movement, Fenn walked towards Dagruel, his body swaying back and forth.

At first glance, he seemed defenseless, but that was not the case.

He was moving like a martial arts master, ready to respond to any attack.

Fenn smirked.

“I’ve missed you, Brother.”

Fenn called out to him, and Dagruel let out a big sigh.

“It’s true that I missed you, but I never wanted to see you again.”

“Oh, come on, don’t say such lonely things. It’s only us three brothers.”

“That’s right. That’s why I’m so sorry that we went down the wrong path.”

“Huh! You’ve changed, Brother. You used to be such a cool guy.”

Fenn responded with a disgruntled look.

To Fenn, Dagruel was his idol.

But now, he felt that Dagruel has lost his fangs and was no longer interesting to him.

“We once stood up against Veldanava-sama. And now we know the reality.”

“That’s your excuse, isn’t it Brother? I don’t accept that.”

“Nonsense! We’re only alive because of his kindness!!”

“That’s the thing, I don’t like my brother being such a coward! And what about Veldanava? If Feldway resurrects Veldanava, then I’ll see who’s better, black and white.”

“You idiot!! You don’t know who he is—”

“Enough of this argument. It’s all pointless anyway. Now then, let’s fight. I’ll beat you and wake you up, Brother.”

“Fenn, you…”

Both Fenn’s and Dagruel’s bodies were engulfed in a swirling fighting spirit. Under the tremendous pressure, the Heaven’s Tower, which should be indestructible, shook violently.

The next moment, Dagruel’s fist plunged into Fenn’s face with an impact that seemed to pierce the earth and sky.

However, Fenn held his ground.

Then, in return, he squatted down deeply and delivered a heavy, sharp uppercut into Dagruel’s stomach.

Dagruel’s body flew helplessly in the air, but Fenn seized the moment and threw a kick to his legs.

The impact of Dagruel’s massive body hitting the wall made the Heaven’s Tower creak as if it were about to collapse.

But Dagruel got up as if nothing had happened.

“Tch, I see that your skills haven’t dulled.”

“It’s the same with brother. Any normal person would’ve been done by now, you know?”

“Don’t underestimate me. The name “Octagram” is something to live up to.”

“You seem to like it.”

“Quite a bit, yeah!”

As soon as he replied, Dagruel unleashed the full power of fighting spirit.

Dagruel had an existence value of over 40 million. Although Fenn’s existence value was greater, his pressure was also comparable to that of the True Dragons—The battle was left to each side’s abilities.

Leon quietly stepped onto the battlefield.

Standing in front of him was Dagruel’s younger brother and Fenn’s older brother, Glassord.

He was about two meters tall, large by other races’ standards but small by Giants’ standards. His skin color was yellow, somewhere between that of his older and younger brothers.

His eyes were purple and had an intellectual glow to them. He had the tendency to believe that he must remain open-minded because of the hardships he had suffered as a result of being sandwiched between his unrestrained older brother and free-spirited younger brother.

He was aware of this, but he could not help his innate temperament.

It is for this reason that Glassord used a two-handed sword (Greatsword), a weapon that emphasized technique, which was unusual for Giants who exceled in bare-handed or clubbed weapons.

He did not carry a shield and his fighting style was completely offensive, but that was a sign of his confidence.

Although Glassord’s existence value was just under 2 million, and although he seemed fragile compared to his brothers, he was undoubtedly a million-class competitor.

And his skill-level was the highest among the three brothers.

“You are Demon Lord Leon-dono, I presume. My name is Glassord. I am the second-in-command of the Titan Corps. I would have preferred to test my skills against you when you were not being deprived of your free will, but that will have to wait for another time—I will give up the win for today.”

With that, Glassord stepped in front of Leon.

The gentlemanly Veyron stood in front of the languid Dino.

Veyron was a duke-class demon peer, second in rank only to Grand Duke Moss. However, he had to admit that his odds were not just a little, but very bad against a pillar of the ‘originals’, which was comparable to the primordials.

Still, this was better than his master who was dealing with two such ‘originals’ at the same time, and he intended to fulfill his role to the fullest.

That was, to buy time.

“Dino won’t take things seriously anyway, so I think you can be a match for him. If I come out, Dino might get serious. That’s why I’ll leave this to you, Veyron.”

When asked so adorably, Veyron had no way to refuse. In order to live up to his master’s expectations, he was determined to give it his all.

“Well, I guess I have to fight too…”

“If you’d be willing to stall for time, I’d be more than happy to do so.”

“I can’t do that. Unfortunately, I’m not even allowed to slack off right now.”

That’s what Dino said, but he was still trying to figure out how much was acceptable. It was frustrating that he couldn’t say that, but he was relieved that he could say the following line.

“Well, Ultima is one thing, but I’ll take you on with swordplay alone.”

In other words, he was declaring that he wouldn’t use his skills.

He knew from Leon’s battle that he didn’t need to fight with all his might. If Leon had been serious, the battle would have been much more intense.

Dino had once witnessed Leon’s true fighting style. The flash of his sword was like light and had the power to slice through even the spirit. As far as he remembered, he did not believe that the current Leon was serious at all.

That’s why Dino also imitated him.

‘This is not slacking off, rather it is a way of not betraying my friends’—that is what Dino told himself.

Observing Dino’s behavior, Veyron also understood. He was a demon who was very sensitive to the subtleties of people and their emotions.

Hmm. As Ultima-sama predicted, Dino-sama does not seem enthusiastic about this battle. If that’s the case, I’m sure I can be a worthy enough opponent.

Once he understood that, the decision was easy.

Pretending to be challenged by Dino and fight back.

“I’ve been taken for a fool. Then, allow me to break your arrogant nose.”

Saying this, Veyron performed a change with his Ultimate Gift ‘Artist.’

The figure he imitated was, of course, the youthful form of Byakuya Araki, Agera’s former life.

In his hand was a sword forged by Kurobee. It was a legendary-grade work of art, made to resemble a walking stick.

In fact, Kurobee had improved his skills since he arrived here.

As shown by the sword he had given to Esprit, he had become an incredibly skilled swordsmith, with seven or eight of his ten swords being legendary-grade.

In fact, it would not be long before he would reach the level of a “divine craftsman.”

Kurobee’s sword fit well in Veyron’s hand. Veyron was beginning to understand the appeal of swords, though only when using the Ultimate Gift ‘Artist.’

“Interesting. I’ll take it a little seriously.”

That was a lie.

Dino’s eyes were flickering with anxiety.

You’re okay, right? You understand what I’m trying to say, don’t you?

He was desperately asking that question.

Veyron nodded broadly as if to reassure him.

“I’ll take your word for it. Take it easy on me!”

And with that, he made Dino smile.

In front of Pico and Gracia, Ultima stood alone.

“Hey, hey, Violet Primordial. No, it’s Ultima now. I’m sure you understand the situation, but are you sure you want to take on the both of us by yourself?”

Gracia asked.

Ultima responded with a smile.

“Well, it’s not an issue. As for me, as far as I’m concerned, you guys are just the right amount to get used to.”

“Hm, hmm…we’ve been taken as fools…”

“I’m pissed off too. I won’t forgive you even if you cry!”

Unlike with Dino and Veyron, the conflict here was quite serious.

Rather, Ultima was even enjoying the situation.

She had assessed Pico and Gracia’s fighting ability and concluded that they were weaker than her.

She was right.

Pico and Gracia were not weak, and were of course million-class, but their existence values were around 2 million, a step below Ultima.

On top of that, Ultima had the rare experience of having fought to the death against a competitor of equal ability (Damrada). This fact confirmed Ultima’s confidence, and she thought that these two would be the perfect test for her to hone her skills.

“If I hit you, maybe you’ll get your free will back, so I’ll cooperate with you.”

“That’s the kind of thing that never works.”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s none of your business!”

While exchanging such casual remarks, the head-on collision began.

The battle between Dagruel and Fenn was, to the casual observer, extremely intense.

But in reality, neither of them was serious. If they had been, everyone in the area would have been put under the pressure of their fighting spirit, and some of them might not have been able to even stand.

At the very least, it would have been less of a battle.

But the time for observation would soon be over.

The other groups did not want to fight in the small building and moved to their own battlefields.

As a result, Dagruel and Fenn were the only ones left in the multi-storied Heaven’s Tower.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been this heated. Brother, I’m about to get serious.”

“Hmph! That’s what I want.”

Fenn’s fighting spirit swelled.

His power, rivaling that of the True Dragon, exerted a visible pressure on Dagruel.

However, Dagruel was not to be defeated either.

“Nnngh!”

And, by letting his own fighting aura permeate his body, he transformed his muscles into something specialized for combat.

This was the start of a full-scale battle between the two brothers, and each of their goals was non-negotiable.

Fenn wanted the Dagruel of his rampaging days back.

Dagruel, on the other hand, was seeking stability and order. He was willing to go to war if necessary, but he was not willing to go to war in vain.

They had incompatible goals. However, the winner of this fight would be able to make his opponent follow their wishes.

Because—

The battle would intensify.

And so, little by little, Fenn gradually began to gain the upper hand in what had been a tight competition.

The difference in strength was apparent.

In addition to that, the decisive factor was the Gleipnir, a chain that Fenn could control at will.

Veldanava had created it with his own hands, and it was an indestructible chain that boasted strength and flexibility above even the mythical-grade. Fenn had been bound by it for so many years that he had come to be able to control Gleipnir as if it were a part of his own body.

“Kuh, you’re so cocky…you’ve gained even more strength than before to have pushed me so far like this—Eh?!”

Dagruel was caught off guard and had his hands and feet twisted together by Gleipnir.

He had an expression of anguish on his face.

Fenn smirked.

“Brother—you’d better accept the memories of the pain I deeply experienced!!”

And with that, he delivered a powerful headbutt.

A moment later, Dagruel and Fenn’s souls touched, and their memories and emotions crossed.

What resulted from this was the sharing of memories.

As a result—

Dagruel remembered.

“Do you remember now, Brother?”

“Hmph, I feel like I’m awake.”

“I see, well that’s good.”

Fenn’s smile deepened.

He then offered his hand to his brother Dagruel in a gesture of affection.

That hand was clasped tightly—

“Now then, it’s time to fight. Let’s show the world the might of our Titan Army!”

“Of course! As expected of Brother, that’s what I’m talking about!”

Dagruel shouted, and Fenn smiled happily.

The member of the Octagram, and the giant demon lord who guarded the Heaven’s Tower, was no more.

The ancient evil deity had returned.

Under Dagruel’s command, the Giant warriors had all been summoned.

The Titan Army was renamed the “Binding Chain Titans.” And they began their march into the barren desert to recreate the tyranny of ancient times.

It was not an orderly movement at all.

Each of them took their own weapons as they saw fit and acted in accordance with the orders of the king, Dagruel. Thus, without any preparation time, the collective action was completed with a speed that could make a mockery of the military organization.

Even Glassord, who had been in league with Leon, was no exception.

“Hmm, it seems that the reason for hostility has disappeared. From now on, I will be your comrade in battle.”

As soon as he said this to Leon, Glassord left the scene.

Leon dealt with this unperturbed. It had been the expected conclusion if Fenn won.

Seeing this, Ultima felt like crying.

“Hold on, are you kidding me? No matter how much stronger I’ve gotten, this is just too much…”

She was tempted to complain.

After all, the number of allies had decreased, and the number of enemies had increased.

This was exactly the strategy that Rimuru had been aiming for, and now the enemy was trying to pull it off.

Fortunately, Dagruel, who was now the enemy, ignored Ultima and the others and started to advance.

No, she shouldn’t take that as a blessing, but she couldn’t help but think that they were lucky, because if they had been targeted right now, they would have been defeated.

In any case, the situation was terrible.

Even Veyron, who had fought evenly against Dino, could not hide his impatience.

“Ultima-sama, what should we do? We’re running out of time, and I wonder if it’s best to start all over again.”

Not fearing Ultima’s displeasure, he even suggested so.

Without complaining about this, Ultima fell silent.

She was thinking.

“Hey, you’ve definitely gotten stronger. I’ll give you that. But with Dagruel joining us, you won’t be able to win anymore, right?”

“That’s right. You should just admit defeat and leave to the demon world. Then we won’t have to chase you, and we’ll call it a draw!”

Gracia and Pico, who had been completely outclassed, were now in high spirits.

Like Ultima, Pico and Gracia were fighting without using their skills. As a result, they had been humiliated even when outnumbering the opponent two to one. But now that the tables had turned, they felt happy, regardless of their position.

“Shut up… I know that, too. But if I back out now, I won’t be able to show my face to Rimuru-sama…”

Ultima was getting more and more grumpy.

When this happened, she became more in the mood to go on a rampage, rather than win.

She had been told by Rimuru that Dino and the other two were only under Michael’s control. Therefore, she had been trying to neutralize them without really trying.

But the question was, if she really tried, would she be able to defeat all the enemies in this place?

If it was a matter of life and death, the odds would be better.

But even so, Ultima knew that she could not be sure.

Leon, Dino, Pico, and Gracia.

Of the four, Dino would be the most troublesome.

And perhaps, if Leon and Ultima were serious, it would not be surprising if either of them won.

In other words, there was no chance of victory.

Veyron was right, and that is why Ultima did not throw a tantrum and remained silent.

She wondered what she should do, but the situation did not allow for it.

And so, Ultima made up her mind.

“I believe in Rimuru-sama! He should be here soon, so we’ll hold them off until then. Any objections, Veyron?”

“By your will!”

And so, the plan was set.

“Kufufufu, you made the right choice. I commend you, Ultima.”

The long-awaited reinforcements had arrived just in time.

I took Diablo and Souei to the “Holy Void” Damargania.

We met up with Zonda via ‘Spatial Transportation’ and rushed to Ultima’s side.

The scene we saw on the way was horrific.

The giants were gathering in a chaotic manner, and before I knew it, they were forming into a disciplined army.

At the head of the group was Dagruel, but he seemed to be a different person from the one I knew.

Our eyes met for a moment, and he grinned at me.

To be honest, it felt dangerous.

I wondered what I should do, but there was only one answer.

Now was not the time to be dealing with Dagruel. I contacted the relevant parties via ‘Telepathy Net’ and left the scene as quickly as I could.

And so now, I had just met up with Ultima and the others.

I brought Diablo and Souei with me. Add to that Ultima, Veyron, and Zonda, and we now had a force of six.

The opponents were Leon, Dino, Pico, and Gracia. If we could bring Leon back to his senses as planned, our victory would be secured.

“What, Rimuru’s here too?!”

“That’s right, Dino-kun. However, I’ll deal with you later!”

I replied, focusing my attention on Leon.

Leon seemed to be aware of my intentions. The fact that he wasn’t showing any signs of opposition was proof that Michael’s control was not at the brainwashing level.

Although, I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to force a person with a will strong enough to acquire an Ultimate Skill swear their allegiance wholeheartedly just by their own power. Even if there was such a thing, it would be fake, and the current situation suggested to me that it would only restrict the actions against Michael’s will.

So, I decided to do something about the situation.

As I had declared, I would start with Leon, leaving Dino for later.

“Leon, prepare yourself! Now devour all ‘Imaginary Space (Beelzebuth)!!’”

And so, a huge move was launched right from the start.

With the ‘Imaginary Space (Beelzebuth)’ under the control of the Ultimate Skill ‘Void God (Azathoth),’ Leon was guided to the invisible world. And then, immediately, Ciel-sensei performed a forced ‘Skill Alteration’ on him.

That was how Leon—

“Sigh—even if it were part of the plan, I never want to do that again.”

—Well, he was successfully recovered.

Thus, Leon had returned as one of us.

The next target was the languid Dino.

His resistance would probably be small, since he showed no motivation to begin with.

‘I had put it off, thinking it would be easy to bring him back to his senses, but let’s just finish it all at once’—That’s what I thought, but it seems that it was a naive idea.

I felt a strong presence.

It was an oppressing feeling, as if a True Dragon was getting serious.

At the same time, there was a report from Souei, who had been in constant communication with the Control Room.

“Rimuru-sama, here—the area around the “Holy Void” Damargania has been isolated by an impenetrable ‘Barrier.’”

It was confirmed.

The enemy boss had arrived.

“Kufufufu, we’ve been taken for granted for you to be coming alone.”

Laughing, Diablo looked at the figure standing calmly.

It was Michael, the man who had taken over Rudra, with a face very similar to Masayuki’s.

“Leon has been returned to us.”

“I don’t care about that. Leon’s Skill, the ‘Purity King (Metatron),’ is already in my hands, and he himself was merely the bait.”

“Bait…?”

«As I thought, it’s a “double check.” It seems that he was thinking of the same move as us, to the point of being brilliant.»

Uhh, dou-ble-che-ck…a double check?!

Then, in this case—

«Leon is the bait, and the likely target is—»

It’s Masayuki!

«…That’s correct.»

I’ve been beaten.

He dangled Leon in front of me as the bait and let me weigh it against Masayuki as the king. And then, I was caught brilliantly.

In other words, Michael’s plan had already been accomplished once he lured me to this place.

I understood that Masayuki was important to the enemy, but I hadn’t expected him to be so obsessed. Still, if I couldn’t be contained here, Michael’s plan would have failed…

“Isn’t it too early to feel like you’ve won?”

“Is it? I don’t think you guys will have a chance as soon as I get there.”

How confident.

Even though Dino and the others were still with the enemy, I could free them from his control. I was surprised he was so confident while knowing that.

Or perhaps, did he have some other plan to win?

“Hmph, your expression is saying that you think I’m up to something. Rest assured. You are nothing to me. I went along with Feldway because he was a worrier, but I should have done this from the start.”

The moment I finished listening to Michael’s words, Diablo suddenly collapsed.

I had been on guard with ‘Magic Perception’ as a matter of course, so I was certain that it wasn’t a surprise attack or something like that.

To begin with, I had never seen Diablo fall before.

I didn’t think he was dead, but the fact that he wasn’t moving at all worried me.

“Hey—”

The moment Souei was about to run over to him, Souei himself collapsed on the spot.

Wah?

I don’t understand.

Faced with a completely abnormal situation, Leon readied his sword—and collapsed.

Are you kidding me?

I have no idea what’s going on.

I wasn’t the only one who was surprised, Dino and the others were as well. That meant that the only one who knew what was going on here was Michael, the one who was supposed to be attacking us.

What the hell is going on—

«No way…»

‘No way,’ huh?

In other words, even Ciel-san didn’t understand.

That’s not good.

I didn’t know what was going on, and it seemed impossible to escape.

However, the possibility of abandoning Diablo and Souei and running away was not an option from the beginning. Leon as well.

“Ultima, take those lying over there and get away from here.”

“B-But—?!”

“It’s okay. I’ve got an idea!”

I didn’t have one.

“K-Kufufufu. Please wait, Rimuru-sama. I can still fight.”

Oh, so Diablo is okay after all.

“Hmm, I had the feeling he wasn’t dead, but I guess I should’ve taken care of him.”

Seeing Diablo on his feet did not dampen Michael’s spirits. He appeared to be absolutely confident that he could beat him as many times as he wanted.

I thought to myself,

‘This is a serious problem.’

“Okay, Diablo. Retreat. Take Leon with you and get going.”

“But!”

“That’s an order. There’s no way to win, so the best thing to do is escape.”

As I said that, I drew my sword and readied it.

I knew that Michael wouldn’t let me go since he was after me. So, the best thing to do was to use myself as bait and let the others escape.

Diablo, of course, understood this. Even so, he seemed quite conflicted, but the word “order” appeared to have worked. He teamed up with Ultima and retrieved Souei and Leon. Then they retreated.

“Hmm, I thought you were going to interfere.”

“I have no interest in small fry.”

Wow, it’s a good thing Diablo wasn’t listening.

That’s a line that would put him straight on the must-kill list, right?

He’s vindictive, so he would definitely achieve it one day. That’s what made him such a dangerous guy.

Even so, on my own, it was one against four.

Michael alone would have been hopeless, but now I was good as dead.

Well, worst-case scenario, Veldora was still here, so I think I could be revived, but the thought of actually testing it still felt bad.

Would the resurrected me really be the same as the current me? That was the question that came to mind. That’s why I didn’t like the idea of Veldora dying either…

As I was thinking about this, Michael made a move.

“Dino, leave this place to me, you guys should return as well.”

Oh, thankfully, he seems to want a one-on-one duel. Well, he might have found out that I was planning to free Dino and the others when I had the chance, but I knew the odds of that succeeding were slim, so it was definitely not a bad deal for me.

“Eh, is that okay?”

“It doesn’t matter. If I have complete control over his mind, I won’t be able to move as flexibly, and in his current state, he’ll cut corners, won’t he? I can’t use a pawn like that.”

Oh, I see. He knew that Dino and Leon weren’t really following him.

So then, does that mean that Michael has completely beaten us to the punch this time?

«……»

No, it’s okay.

Even Ciel-san makes mistakes, too.

«No. This is also part of the plan.»

Once again, you should be generous about your defeats.

Ciel-san’s hating to lose was also a problem.

Well, I guess I’ll stop talking so casually and do my best to not make things worse.

Now that I knew I was going to lose, I felt much better.

I didn’t want to be seen in a bad light, but now that Diablo and the others were gone, it was fine.

The only thing left to do was to give it my best.

I prepared myself and began observing Michael. I could sense that his presence was much stronger than when I had met him before.

Is it several times greater than mine?

«We aren’t in the labyrinth, so it can’t be measured exactly, but I’m pretty sure the value is over 100 million.»

We can’t win like that!

Even if the difference was more than double, it would be unreasonable, but a difference of more than 10 times was just too much.

«No, it’s okay. It is the power output that matters, so the outcome cannot be decided by the amount of energy alone.»

So, it’s all about fighting spirit. Is it will-power?

Ciel-san was bad at giving up, but it had a point.

If you give up before the fight ends, your chances of winning become zero, but if you at least try, you might be able to unexpectedly get by.

The problem, however, was Michael’s mysterious attack that had even defeated Diablo.

I had no idea what he did, but somehow, I felt a vague sense of déjà vu.

That’s right, that was—

«Yes, it was a familiar phenomenon. That sensation…I am almost ready to understand it—»

Oh, Ciel-san is very dependable after all. So, then it was expected that Michael would launch that attack?

«No. Regarding that matter, it was a complete miscalculation.»

I-I see.

Well, it can’t be helped.

It’s impossible to perfectly predict an enemy’s moves, and we can also use this opportunity to uncover the mystery that would lead to the next victory.

In that sense, this defeat is also—well, I haven’t lost yet.

I’m worried whether I’ll actually be able to be revived, so let’s give it our best shot.

While I was thinking about this, Dino and his friends had left.

Only Michael and I remained here.

Here, in the hall of Heaven’s Tower, the battle between Michael and I was about to begin.

After seeing Rimuru off, Hinata tried to grasp the current situation.

The Capitol building where the world conference was being held also had conference rooms and guest rooms on other floors. She rented one of these rooms as a temporary command center and began to compile reports from her subordinates.

Once she grasped the situation, she let out a sigh as her head began to hurt.

“What the hell is going on…”

She couldn’t help muttering to herself.

The Capitol was fully guarded to protect the safety of the dignitaries from various countries. Not only the Holy Knight Order, but also knights and temporarily recruited adventurers from various countries were on guard duty.

If the Capitol were to fall, the chain of command would be disrupted, and so the refugees would be received elsewhere.

The main hall of the Holy Church in the Kingdom of Ingracia was also opened to receive refugees, and there were plenty of refugee centers throughout the capital.

This was because the city had always been prepared for the Tenma Great War, which was said to occur every 500 years or so.

This was the case in not only the Kingdom of Ingracia, but in the Western Nations as well. People were provided with shelters in underground bunkers and caves in the nearby mountainsides. This was also the reason why they could sufficiently cope with the thorough evacuation, which was also on the agenda this time.

Regarding the current terrorist acts in the capital, they made sure to mitigate the human damage by evacuating the residents to such facilities. The purpose of this was to prevent major confusion from occurring and to prepare an environment in which they could concentrate on dealing with the enemy.

As of now, the results of the daily training had been demonstrated and the people were successfully led away. The evacuation was complete, and the people who escaped were now calm.

However, this was not a solution to the problem.

This time, it was not a natural disaster, but rather the people who caused the disturbance.

According to reports, explosions were happening all over the capital, and they were turning into fires. The cause of the fires was said to be majins of Special A rank and above.

The Holy Knight Order had been mobilized for this event, as it was a gathering of dignitaries from various countries. Fortunately, the “Holy Knights” who were on guard duty were able to handle the situation, but the situation was not good.

Hinata was disgusted, but due to her position, she was not allowed to show even a hint of her true emotions on her face. It would only increase the anxiety of her subordinates and create unnecessary work for her.

Moreover, Hinata deeply understood that she should not become emotional in front of the evacuees.

It would be a problem to further upset people who were already worried.

So Hinata did not waver.

All Hinata could do now was reduce the anxiety of the evacuees and prevent further chaos, even if only a little.

Fortunately, the facilities were comfortable and there was a stockpile of food.

At any rate, the right thing to do for now was to deal with the enemy without worrying the evacuees.

“I’ll leave this to you. Have at least one Holy Knight stay at each shelter. Have the Templar Knights help as well.”

“““Yes!””””

The enemy wasn’t just on the outside.

The evacuees could also turn into a mob at any moment.

Things were still calm now, but there was no telling what would happen if it took too long to eliminate the enemy.

Those confused by fear, and those who screamed and rioted from anxiety—It was expected that the number of such people would increase as time went on.

It all depended on the future situation, but in the worst case, it might be necessary to devote troops to suppress the riots.

With that in mind, Hinata swallowed a melancholy sigh.

A short time had passed since the explosion had occurred.

Now, at last, the full extent of the enemy could be seen.

“A riot of the death penalty prisoners?”

“Yes. Moreover, the enemy has freed Prince Elric, who was under house arrest in the north tower of the castle and has made him their flagbearer!”

“Prince Elric—I see, that man hasn’t shown any remorse at all.”

Elric was in the process of being re-educated due to his blunder at the council. He was on the verge of being deprived of his right to the throne, but Rimuru and King Aegil of Ingracia, who didn’t want to make things worse, agreed that he would be reduced to the first degree of guilt as he was only being used at the time.

Still, it was a disgrace to the royal family, and for the past year he had been under house arrest in the north tower of the castle…but it seems that he had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

To make matters worse, he seemed to be voluntarily cooperating with them.

Not only that, but Elric and the others were accusing Hinata by name.

“My dear people! I have been deceived by a witch! She has framed me and ruined my standing in the council. And now she wants to murder my father and bring chaos and misery to this land. Do not be fooled! She is trying to take away your freedom on the pretext of evacuating you! I trust that my dear and wise people will understand whose words are correct!”

—Said Prince Elric, who was apparently making a speech in the city’s main square.

“Is that true?”

“I heard it with my own ears.”

“Can you corroborate?”

“I can’t get into the royal castle at the moment. I am checking it via Luminism’s followers, but they seem to be quite confused…”

“Then there’s a good chance that King Aegil has been killed. What a terrible thing…”

It was a headache of a problem.

Although she had expected a mob to be incited, she hadn’t expected someone to make the worst choice at the worst time.

To make matters worse, it was the royal family of the Kingdom of Ingracia who were the cause of Hinata’s troubles.

Prince Elric had caused problems, but the details of those problems had not been made public. That was an issue, and it only complicated the situation.

He was using his position as a member of the royal family to the fullest to mobilize the power of the state.

Even Hinata had not expected to see such a disruption in cooperation with the parties during an emergency situation.

“Now then, what should we do?”

A white-haired beauty garbed in a military uniform appeared in front of Hinata as she pondered this.

Leaning back on the sofa as gracefully, as if she were the owner of the room, the beautiful woman, Testarossa, opened her mouth.

“I’ve gotten proof. Moss has confirmed with his own eyes that Aegil was murdered.”

“—In other words, the upper management of this country is unreliable. All hell is breaking loose, isn’t it?”

Testarossa nodded with a laugh, saying that the castle was in a state of chaos.

“Yes. Going back and forth, the chain of command is in chaos.”

‘That’s right,’ Hinata nodded in agreement.

“Well, Gadra has been ordered to protect the council chamber, so the safety of the dignitaries is guaranteed.”

Testarossa assured her that he could at least buy them some time. This was a pretty high evaluation, and Gadra was surprisingly well acknowledged.

“Well, that does offer a bit of relief.”

Testarossa and Hinata nodded at each other.

However, now things had become tricky.

Not only was there an unknown enemy, but there was also someone who wanted to harm Hinata.

They seemed to be accusing Hinata by name for being a witch who misled people, but this was difficult to deny.

It would not have been a problem if the enemy was just an ordinary person. If they were a nobleman, Luminism’s public power could have crushed him.

But this was the royal family of this country.

The biggest problem of all was that Prince Elric was very popular among the people.

Prince Elric was a handsome man with delicate manners, and he was popular among women. Regardless of his abilities, he was popular with the people because of his good-natured exterior.

His blunder in the council was not known to the people and was irrelevant.

Hinata, though well known, was shunned for her cold-heartedness. In terms of popularity, she was far behind Prince Elric.

Incidentally, Hinata herself was not aware of the fact that she had a huge following among some people with certain tastes. The group was quite gentlemanly, as they had the common sense to know that it would end once they were known.

All that aside, the problem now as about Prince Elric.

The subordinates were looking at Hinata anxiously.

That was only natural.

Because the prince of this country was loudly denouncing Hinata to fuel the people’s anxieties.

He was calling her a king-slayer, a witch enchanted by the demon lord, and someone who would lead the people to ruin.

But even so, I can’t believe…I didn’t expect him to be such a fool…

Inwardly, Hinata cursed herself for being so careless.

She hadn’t seen Prince Elric for the fool he was.

Hinata had never expected that he would go to such horrible lengths to kill his father and usurp the throne.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and a knight entered the room.

It was Arnaud Bauman, one of the captains of the Holy Knight Order, Hinata’s trusted subordinate.

“Hinata-sama, we have also confirmed the presence of Reiner, the former Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Ingracia. In addition, we have confirmed the presence of dozens of knights who were supposed to have been captured as his accomplices.”

Arnaud reported as soon as he entered the room.

“Then it was Reiner who murdered the king, wasn’t it?”

“I’m sure of it.”

“He’s been framed as the culprit, but I doubt he’ll have the chance to explain himself in court.”

Hinata let out a big sigh in thought.

“Reiner, that fucking bastard. How dare he hold a grudge against Hinata-sama just because he was beat up at the council meeting!”

Fritz, one of the captains waiting in the room, complained indignantly.

According to Arnaud’s explanation, Reiner, who had been intimidated by Hinata at the council meeting and had made the mistake of being incarcerated, was eager to clear his name.

For this reason, he was planning to defeat Hinata in public to clear his name.

It was a ridiculous story; a crime being committed out of personal resentment.

However, the root of the problem was deep.

Reiner took forceful measures to make up for his mistake. This was the common understanding of everyone, but there was no way to prove it.

The whole thing was a setup, and the evidence seemed to have been destroyed.

There was a way to get other countries’ representatives to testify, but that was only possible during peacetimes. In such a case of emergency, they could not endanger the senators, and the people would not believe anything Hinata and the others had to say now anyway.

Unfortunately, Prince Elric was very popular in this country.

It was as clear as day who the people would believe.

“Hinata-sama has never had a good reputation…”

Fritz quipped, and Arnaud gave a small nod of agreement.

Glaring at the two, Hinata changed the subject with a comment of her own.

“I guess we’re on the back burner.”

“But even so, I didn’t think he would kill his own father, the king. He seems to be trying to pin the blame on Hinata-sama, but that’s just absurd.”

Hinata’s mutter was echoed by Arnaud.

The purpose of Prince Elric and Reiner was obvious. They wanted to take advantage of the chaos and pretend that all their own blunders and sins had never happened.

Rather than taking revenge on Hinata, they may be using this as a check against other nations.

They may be thinking that by defeating Hinata, the strongest of the Western Nations, they would be able to shut down protests from other nations.

“But I don’t understand. I don’t think this Reiner guy was good enough to assassinate the king.”

From Hinata’s point of view, Reiner was not weak, but he was not strong either. He was the equivalent of an Over A rank adventurer.

A country as large as Ingracia should have several other knights who could rival Reiner. Moreover, the magical inquisitors who were present at the council meeting at that time should have been able to overpower Reiner.

How this tragedy had succeeded was more of a mystery to her.

The answer came from Cardinal Nicolaus, who visited Hinata.

“Apparently, the magical inquisitors have all been killed. We had information that they were conducting a suspicious experiment in the underground of this place, but it seems that the experimental entities have gone out of control.”

“Nicolaus, huh?”

“I have come with a message from Luminas-sama, but I decided to look into this while I was here.”

Nicolaus replied, competent as ever.

He was like a loyal dog who would do anything to be praised by Hinata.

He was merciless to everyone other than Hinata, but he was also very good at keeping up appearances. He maintained an expression of warmth and was well-liked by his followers.

However, for those who knew his true nature, he was not someone they wanted to have anything to do with. In fact, Arnaud and Fritz kept a low profile, avoiding eye contact with Nicolaus.

Ignoring these outsiders, Nicolaus began to brew a pot of tea. He was a very diligent man who also earned points in this way.

He prepared a cup of tea for Testarossa as well, and she looked satisfied when she took a sip of it. This was indicative of a very high score and proved that Nicolaus was no ordinary person.

Hinata also sipped her tea and collected her thoughts.

“What if, rather than taking advantage of the chaos, this whole mess is just what Elric and the others want?”

“Eh? But those are monsters running rampant in the city, aren’t they?”

“That’s the first thing that’s strange. How could a monster break into the royal capital that’s protected by the ‘city barriers’? To begin with, the strength of the monsters is also rubbish, isn’t it?”

The monsters reported were not in one, but rather several at the same time.

They were said to be rampaging all over the capital, but their purpose was unknown. They were said to be going around destroying anything and everything they could find.

Moreover, it seems that they had ‘Ultraspeed Regeneration,’ which allowed them to repair their wounds immediately.

The fighting ability was more than that of a Holy Knight. Fortunately, they seemed to be of low intelligence, and the knights were currently preparing decoys to minimize the damage.

Judging that it would be dangerous to deal with them individually, the soldiers were ordered to stay behind for now. After considering how to deal with them, Hinata was scheduled to go into battle in the worst-case scenario, but now a problem had arisen that they had to worry about.

Testarossa joined the conversation.

“On that note, it seems that some of my subordinates have been defeated. They were under strict orders to retreat before they died, so I didn’t get much information—”

She didn’t get much but would still disclose the information she had.

Testarossa’s subordinates were the devil chevaliers. All of them are Special A rank, with existence values of over 100,000.

It was no surprise that the magical inquisitors were no match for such a group of devil chevaliers, who had chosen to retreat.

“Apparently, the experimental subjects were incarnated by angels.”

“What is that?”

“The ones that failed to incarnate are the monsters that are running rampant right now. And the ones who still have their egos intact—”

The enemy who had defeated the devil chevaliers—Testarossa was convinced that it was one of Michael’s men.

After hearing Testarossa’s explanation, Hinata tapped her fingers on the desk.

The two remaining Holy Knight captains in the room were Arnaud and Fritz.

Leonard, the second-in-command, was in charge on the scene with Bacchus and Ritase in tow.

Thanks to the training in the labyrinth, even the common Holy Knights who were not captains had grown into powerful warriors. In fact, the captains had become so strong that they were capable of defeating Clayman-like opponents on their own.

However, against an experiment of magical inquisitors fused with the power of angels, it would be dangerous to take them on head-on.

And with Michael’s shadow flickering in the background as Rimuru’s adversary, she decided that they shouldn’t get involved carelessly.

“Nicolaus, you have a message from Luminas, right?”

“That’s right. She says it’s not an urgent matter, but she can’t send reinforcements.”

“That means there are other enemies.”

Luminas would never abandon Hinata.

Therefore, the fact that she could not send reinforcements meant that there was a high possibility of other threats lurking about.

If that was the case, they would have to protect the security of the Royal Capital with only the forces currently at hand—

“This is tough.”

That was the conclusion that Hinata came to.

No matter how much the Holy Knights’ abilities had improved, it was still a heavy burden to have them take on an enemy that was clearly superior to them. What’s more, the monster has taken in the power of the angels and had become a light attribute. The Holy Purification Barrier, which was effective against normal monsters, would not be effective at all.

“Well then, what should we do? Our usual winning tactics won’t work.”

“That’s true. It would be one thing if it was just the monsters, but there are also Reiner and the others.”

“That Reiner fellow, he is probably a success.”

Testarossa said, but only Hinata and Nicolaus understood what she meant.

“Uh, what do you mean by that?”

Arnaud asked fearfully.

“I’d tell you to think for yourself a little, but we don’t have much time. If Reiner was also on death row, it wouldn’t be strange if he was used as an experiment, right?”

“Ah!”

“I see, so it’s possible that he’s taken in the power of an angel…”

Arnaud and Fritz understood, and their faces paled at the same time.

“It’s not a possibility. Consider it a certainty.” Testarossa told them ruthlessly.

Now, that being the case, it was impossible for the Holy Knight Order to deal with this matter alone. Inevitably, it would be important to cooperate with Testarossa’s forces.

“So, what are you going to do?”

Testarossa asked, and Hinata answered without hesitation.

“I’m sure it’s what the enemy wants, but I suppose we’ll have to go to them for an explanation.”

Prince Elric claimed that Hinata was a king-slayer. There was no reason for Hinata to do such a thing, and she had a perfect alibi of being at the World Conference, so it was impossible for her claim to be accepted.

However, that would only be true in normal peacetimes.

The current situation in the royal capital was chaotic.

The people of Ingracia, accustomed to a world of peace, were in the midst of a catastrophe that had come out of the blue.

If Hinata were to be killed here, all the claims about the real culprit would be accepted.

In that case, running away was one option.

“Why don’t we just escape to Lubelius instead of foolishly going out there? Fortunately, the Holy Church in the capital has a transport team, and there is also a transfer spell if you pass through the suburbs. As long as Hinata-sama is safe, there can be many possible explanations later on, right?”

Cardinal Nicolaus remarked, and Hinata agreed that it made sense.

But she couldn’t simply nod in agreement.

“It’s impossible. We may be able to escape on our own, but we won’t be able to take out the conference attendees, right? Once they’re taken hostage, we won’t have many other options.”

Everyone agreed with that.

“Exactly. Besides, let’s not forget that the true enemy is not here. What would happen if the army of angels were to attack, and the nation’s key figures were killed?”

Upon hearing this, Nicolaus frowned.

“I see, you are right. If that were to happen, the cooperation between the nations would be torn apart. At the very least, no country would trust the Kingdom of Ingracia.”

“I see, if that happened, we wouldn’t be able to fight against the angels.”

Fritz muttered with a bitter expression on his face, as if he had been convinced.

In conclusion, there was no choice but to do as Hinata said.

Based on her beliefs, Hinata set out to do what she could for now.

She did not want to save everyone, but if there was someone in front of her who could still be saved, she would reach out to them, because that was how Hinata lived.

Hinata knew very well that this would in turn lead to trust in them.

“Well, I guess that’s settled. Now, let’s decide the division of roles.”

Hinata said as such and declared that she would be Reiner’s opponent.

Testarossa nodded in agreement.

“I will go with you. Now, as for the monsters—”

Without waiting for Testarossa’s words to finish, Arnaud and Fritz, who had become stiff and immobile, shouted.

“We do not need Testarossa-dono’s help. Please leave it to us!”

“If it’s a monster without an ego and no intelligence, we can fight them. The light attribute is a bit of a problem, but we’ve been trained in the labyrinth, so we’ll show you what we can do!”

Hinata looked at the two of them with a frown.

Why are they so conscious of Testarossa-dono?

She was taken aback, thinking that they were trying to look good in front of a beautiful woman.

But the truth was something different.

These two were truly scared of Testarossa.

If they didn’t perform well here, they would be branded as useless. If that happened, it would be unclear what would happen regarding their special labyrinth training in the future.

Besides, Testarossa had many sympathizers, not just in the labyrinth. She also had followers among the members of the parliament, so there was a danger that they might lose their power to speak out in the future if they were not careful.

This was how much Testarossa’s influence had increased, but Hinata did not know that this was the case, having lost interest in politics.

For Testarossa, this was a very important time. Despite Rimuru’s orders to make the World Conference a success, she had allowed the enemy to invade.

On top of that, she was responsible for being unable to stop the destruction in the capital.

Giving priority to human life was no excuse for that.

Behind her smile, Testarossa was burning with rage.

That was why she approved of Arnaud and the others’ suggestions.

“In that case, please do. I will lend you some of my subordinates and you can incorporate them into your unit.”

She told him as such and went on to help Arnaud and the others.

This was all in preparation for her own move.

She left the command to Arnaud and the others and gave them the task of restoring security to the capital. On top of that, she intended to strike the mastermind herself.

Thus, the division of roles was decided.

“Well then, let’s go now. We have to bring down the death penalty on those who have acted foolishly in this time of emergency.”

Hinata said coldly.

She was going to get rid of Reiner here to clear her own name.

And she would capture Elric and make him confess to his crimes.

Or rather—

“Well, the evidence is irrelevant. Once all the criminals have been taken out, the right story will be in the hands of the victor.”

—is what Testarossa said.

This was a declaration that she would do exactly what the enemy was trying to do.

Testarossa was a demon who did not care about ethics, and she believed that as long as she was the winner, she could do whatever she wanted. It was a very Testarossa-like argument.

And so, well aware that it was a trap, Hinata and the others headed to the stage where the enemy was waiting for them.

Once they were outside of the Capitol, they found things in a terrible state.

Part of the royal castle in the center of the city had partially collapsed, spoiling its beautiful appearance.

The aristocratic district, where the Capitol and the branch of the Holy Church were located, was relatively better, but the downtown area facing the main street of the city was on fire.

“It can’t be helped that we prioritized evacuation, but this is going to be hard to clean up.”

“Full-scale battles are still to come, and there will be more damage. With the loss of the king and his successor, it will take time for Ingracia to recover.”

Nicolaus calmly responded to Hinata’s murmur.

It was a cold reaction, unbecoming of a priest. But that was Nicolaus’ normal behavior.

For Nicolaus, Hinata was the only priority, and he did not care about anything else. It was because he wanted to be of service to Hinata that he rose to the position of Cardinal, the highest rank next to the Pope.

It is because he was such a man that he was still accompanying Hinata without regard for danger.

Incidentally, there were five of them now.

Hinata, Testarossa, and Cardinal Nicolaus, who had followed Hinata out of concern for her. These three were joined by Moss and Cien who had been summoned.

As they headed for their destination, they planned their strategy.

“Moss, you don’t have to fight, just go into ‘search mode’ and prepare for a surprise attack.”

“Understood!”

Moss was a yes man.

He obeyed Testarossa without saying anything else.

Even so, he would sometimes say unnecessary things and get into trouble, but as he had been Testarossa’s second-in-command for a long time, he knew how to take care of himself.

This, Moss’s ‘Search Mode,’ was a kind of ‘Barrier’ of sorts. He dispersed his own fragmented ‘Clone’ into a hemisphere of one kilometer in diameter. This allowed him to react immediately to a surprise attack from 500 meters away.

At first glance, this may not seem to be any different from ‘Universal Perception,’ but that was not the case. That was because the speed of information transmission was much faster, and Moss’s own analytical ability was also added to deal with enemy attacks.

Moreover, five hundred meters was a perfect distance for Testarossa, whose ‘perceptual speed’ could be increased by a million times with her skill. Even if it was an attack at the speed of light, under the influence of Moss’s ‘Search Mode,’ there would be more than a second before the attack would hit the target and it would be possible to deal with it.

Of course, it was not possible to move at the speed of light, and this was merely extending the time being perceived, but Testarossa would still be able to manage.

Moss’s ‘Search Mode’ seemed to be perfect, but it had only one drawback.

That was—

Moss was in the most danger because he was the one who would take the first hit.

Even if I’m damaged by that surprise attack, I doubt she’ll care…

Although obedient, Moss still complained inwardly.

Taking a glance at Moss’s ability, Hinata saw through its nature.

“You are still wary of surprise attacks. So then, you’re saying that the one making all the noise is a decoy?”

Testarossa smiled when she pointed this out.

“That’s right. In the first place, we could narrow down the enemy’s objective when they targeted this conference.”

“To divide the West, or to aim directly at Rimuru. The biggest opportunity for them is Hero Masayuki who has become the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, correct?”

Testarossa’s grin deepened as Hinata replied without a second thought.

“As expected of you, Hinata-dono. Rimuru-sama did approve of you.”

“The flattery is nice. I’m sure it would be obvious to anyone who saw it.”

“Not really, but that’s fine.”

Testarossa chuckled as she thought of the faces of the people she had conversed with recently. She had been under a great deal of stress because many of them were not very perceptive.

Those who did not listen to others were the worst. They would express their opinions only for their own benefit, and there were many times when they could not reach a consensus.

Some of them would announce their agreements on their own after the meeting, and she had a good taste of the troublesome nature of political negotiations.

There were even fools that the contract-oriented demon could not understand.

Testarossa made sure that such people knew their place, but she had always wished that they would not create unnecessary trouble for her.

In this respect, her conversation with Hinata was quick and pleasant.

“That’s exactly what Rimuru-sama’s objective must be.”

“I suppose so. There was an incident elsewhere at the same time as this ruckus, and Rimuru was headed there. They must have prepared a pretty big bait, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Testarossa nodded.

It had been agreed in advance that if Leon showed up, Rimuru would go. Testarossa had been told this, but Hinata had guessed it without knowing about it.

Testarossa explained the situation to a certain extent since she had already guessed so much.

Upon hearing this, Hinata also pointed out some problems.

It was a very pleasant conversation.

I had heard that she was sharp, but I’d like to have her as my subordinate. Although, I’m sure Rimuru-sama would not approve.

With Rimuru, just the fact that he allowed himself to be called by his own name suggested that Hinata was a special person. Moreover, when he was with Hinata, he seemed to return to his true self and appeared to enjoy himself very much.

Just by knowing Rimuru like that, it was the reason Testarossa couldn’t help but give Hinata a glance.

It truly is enviable. However, I suppose I am honestly pleased that the woman Rimuru-sama recognizes is not a fool.

Since ancient times, there had been numerous cases where a country had been turned upside down by a woman had has gained the favor of the king.

In this respect, Hinata was not someone she had to worry about it.

In the first place, Rimuru and Hinata were not lovers, so Testarossa may have been thinking too much, but surprisingly, there were many people who thought like that.

The only ones who didn’t know were the two people themselves.

At any rate, right now they needed to know about the enemy’s objective.

Restoring Demon Lord Leon to his senses and bringing him back to their side. That was their basic strategy.

But of course, it was expected that the enemy would be aware of that goal.

“Feldway was smart enough to know that Rimuru-sama was the one who brought Velgrynd-sama to her senses. If so—”

From Testarossa’s perspective, there was no doubt that Feldway was capable. Despite his many shortcomings, she was certain that he had a plan to deal with Rimuru.

“We should also assume that he has a winning strategy in mind when he used Demon Lord Leon as bait to lure Rimuru out.”

‘That’s right.’ Testarossa nodded in agreement.

Of course, there was no way Rimuru could not see that.

He must have been able to plan far ahead, seeing through the depths so that even Feldway’s plan would be swallowed.

“Rimuru-sama was aware of this and went to rescue Demon Lord Leon.”

Testarossa assured her with absolute confidence.

Hearing this, Hinata tilted her head in concern.

“But perhaps the enemy only called him over because they believed they could win. They say that Michael has taken in the power of the True Dragons, but can Rimuru really win against such a monster?”

Hinata’s concern was understandable.

From Testarossa’s perspective, it seemed impossible that Rimuru would be defeated. But that was not a question that could be answered at this stage when they had not even seen the real enemy.

What if Feldway or Michael were waiting for Rimuru at the destination?

Well, I’m sure they’ll take care of it, though.

Diablo and Souei were also there as escorts.

She had no choice but to believe that Rimuru would be fine.

If the enemy’s goal was Rimuru, there was nothing for Hinata and the others to worry about.

They could trust him, but the problem would be if the enemy had another objective.

“Although targeting the senators seems like a good idea, it’s unlikely.”

“I agree. There is no great advantage to splitting up the Western Nations right now. If they were capable of defeating Rimuru, they wouldn’t even bother with a united coalition of nations.”

The two agreed.

After considering various other possibilities, they settled on the most likely conclusion: “The enemy’s target is Masayuki.”

“So, where did the His Majesty the Emperor disappear to?”

Hinata asked.

At some point after the outbreak, Masayuki had disappeared from the Capitol.

There were probably Imperial guards outside the Capitol, and the “Scorch Dragon” Velgrynd was at Masayuki’s side. Rather, it seemed to her that Masayuki was the safest one here.

That’s why she had left him alone, but it was a different story if the enemy’s target was Masayuki.

“Perhaps Velgrynd-sama realized what the enemy was after and evacuated the area.”

No, no matter what the enemy’s intentions were, Masayuki’s safety was the priority. Testarossa knew that Velgrynd would have thought the same.

“Then I guess it’s safe to assume.”

It was at least better than defending themselves, Hinata agreed.

If that was the case, the next thing to think about was their victory conditions.

“If the enemy’s target is Masayuki, we’re being used as bait, right? Do you think Masayuki will come to our rescue when we are about to be killed?”

Hinata had also known Masayuki before, so she knew that the boy was soft-hearted. However, since he had become an emperor, he should put his own life first, and she believed that he would be cool-headed about it.

Testarossa agreed with her.

“That’s the main question. It is an unlikely assumption, but even if we were about to die, I don’t think Masayuki-dono would come to our rescue.”

In this case, the problem was not just Masayuki’s. Since Velgrynd was attached to him, there was no doubt that Masayuki should be given priority.

Hinata and Testarossa agreed on this view as well.

Therefore, the conclusion was also the same.

“Well, even if the people we’re dealing with now only see us as bait, we have no reason to go along with them.”

“You’re right. Let’s take out all of them and lure out those who are hiding.”

In the end, winning would solve all their problems.

With a shared awareness of the possibility of surprise attacks, Hinata and the others arrived at their destination.

Moss has disappeared, and only four people remained.

“Nicolaus, you stay here. If we are victorious, secure Prince Elric immediately.”

Hinata did not say it, but it also meant to run away if they were defeated.

Nicolaus was not a weak man, but he was not strong enough to stand on this battlefield. That’s why she gave the order.

“Understood. I wish you luck!”

Nicolaus did not want to be a liability.

He was prepared to use his own life as a shield in the event of Hinata’s danger, but at that moment he obeyed quietly.

Thus, Hinata and the others entered the square with only the three of them.

When the group arrived at the square in the capital, they were met by a group of fully armed knights.

Not including Elric and Reiner, there were nearly twenty of them.

“You’ve finally arrived, I was tired of waiting!”

It was Reiner, whom Hinata knew well, who smirked and shouted.

From a cursory observation, she could see that he had been strengthened tremendously.

From the presence that she could feel, Hinata guessed that the amount of energy was greater than her own.

I was right to leave Nicolaus out of this. In a real fight, I definitely wouldn’t have time to worry about him.

If that happened, Nicolaus would have been involved.

As a mere human being, Nicolaus would have had no way to survive, so Hinata was a little relieved.

In any case, she ignored Reiner’s words and analyzed the enemy’s strength.

Elric has no dominating energy, so it seems that he’s still a normal human. But the others—

Elric seemed to have been just playing the role of a portable shrine and he looked the same as before. He was a little shabby, but that was probably because he had been under house arrest.

The others, however, were a problem.

There’s an unusual air about them. I see, they’re even more powerful than the Holy Knight captains. Perhaps they’re even as powerful as me…

Although it was impossible to say for certain just by looking at them, Hinata possessed the unique skill, ‘Mathematician.’ She analyzed the enemy and found them to be at least Calamity-class. Some of them, such as Louis and Roy, appeared to be comparable to Disaster-class, and with nearly twenty of them, it was going to be a tough fight even for the “Saint” Hinata.

But that was not the biggest problem.

Reiner is insane. He probably even outperforms me.

Although not as powerful as Testarossa standing next to her, she could sense a great deal of power from him. This was dangerous, Hinata thought, and she became even more vigilant.

If she could leave it to Testarossa, that would be the safest choice.

But that was not possible.

Because there was another man in this place who was just as dangerous.

“Gyahyahyahya! Reiner, we’re in luck! With two such beauties here, we won’t have to fight with each other!”

“No doubt. Brother Vega, I’ll take Hinata as promised, is that okay?”

“Of course. Eating such a weak woman won’t make me any stronger. Well, you can still enjoy her in other ways, but I’m afraid I’m on a mission right now.”

That was Vega, the man laughing with a vulgar voice.

He was sitting on the edge of the fountain with his legs spread wide, radiating a terrifying aura without even trying to hide it. Vega’s attribute was evil itself, even though he had taken in the light-attribute spiritual life form of an angel.

It looks like I can’t do anything about him. I might be able to stick it out, depending on my strength, but my chances of winning are probably close to zero.

Hinata saw through this.

In fact, Vega’s existence value was over 10 million, more than ten times greater than Hinata’s. Even though Hinata also had a hidden trick up her sleeve, the probability of her winning seemed unlikely even if she were to use it.

In that case, there could be no other opponent for Vega than Testarossa. Inevitably, Hinata’s opponent would be Reiner.

“You are vulgar. I hate fools who don’t know their place.”

Testarossa smiled bewitchingly and looked down on Vega as she said this.

Hinata found her confidence to be reassuring.

“Cocky bitch. Fine then, I, the great leader of the Seven Angels of Death, will show you what I’m made of!!”

Very easily, Vega was provoked.

As a result, the battle between Testarossa and Vega was decided.

There was no way to escape this momentum.

Hinata asked with a relaxed manner.

“So, who’s going to be my opponent? I couldn’t move under all of those glares, perhaps you are all planning to challenge me?”

With that, she was trying to incite them into a one-on-one battle with Reiner.

If they all came at her, Hinata would have little chance to win. Even if she and Cien fought together, they would only be able to kill about ten people at most.

However, if she could get rid of Reiner first, she would be able to discourage the remaining enemies. If that happened, they would not be able to show their full strength, and her chances of winning would be greatly increased.

Incidentally, Hinata thought that Reiner would have no choice but to accept the challenge. The reason was that there were magical devices in various parts of the capital that were connected to the underground shelters so that people could see what was going on above ground.

The stone statue in the fountain of the main square was one of them, and the conversation between Hinata and Reiner was known to the people of the capital.

Elric also knew this, which is why he was making a big speech here, and of course Reiner knew it too.

If he runs away from the battle here, he will never be able to clear our name— Reiner would think so, Hinata thought.

Her expectation was correct.

“Kukuku, I’ve been taken as a fool. I was a bit out of sorts at that time. I will prove it by beating you here.”

Thus, Reiner and Hinata were also thrown into battle with each other.

Hinata drew her sword.

It was a gem given to her by Rimuru.

It was not a unique-grade rapier. Since then, improvements had been made, and Kurobee’s skills had improved, so the quality had risen to the legendary grade.

The weapon’s name was ‘Phantom Pain.’

Even though it was of the same legendary-grade level, its quality was lower than that of the Moonlight Sabre’s. However, this Phantom Pain could perfectly reproduce the “Dead End Rainbow.”

The sword she used when fighting Rimuru was capable of completely destroying the spiritual body on the seventh attack. This sword, however, was capable of destroying even the astral body.

Needless to say, it was more powerful and stronger than the Moonlight Sabre in terms of usability.

“Are you ready?”

“You idiot, that’s my line!!”

And so, the battle began.

Hinata, as usual, analyzed the enemy’s strength and searched for their weaknesses.

At first glance, Reiner appeared to be a human, but his true nature seemed to have been transformed into a different creature. As evidence of this, his body movements were strange. Apart from walking, Reiner smoothly moves sideways. He even kicked the ground and jumped into the air in the same position.

The secret seemed to be hidden in the soles of his shoes, but what was more striking were his shoulders. It was obvious that he was hiding something.

“Die!!”

Reiner swung his sword wide and swung at Hinata. Instead of deflecting it, Hinata quickly twisted her body to avoid it.

It was the correct response because she had sensed a premonition of danger.

That sword feels more powerful than just legendary-grade. I see, it’s mythical-grade…

She didn’t know how or where he got it, but it was the moment when she got a glimpse of Reiner’s power.

At this point, the difference in weapon performance was also disadvantageous. There was a risk that Hinata’s Phantom Pain would be shattered if they were to slash each other properly.

In reality, there was a huge gap between the two players’ existence values.

Although Hinata was a Saint, she carried the Hero’s Egg, but it never hatched and was left to Chloe. Her power as Saint remained unchanged, but it was a little over a million in terms of existence value.

It was strong enough for a human. In fact, it was equal to King Gazel, but it was not as strong as Reiner, who was equivalent to 2 million.

However, this was only in terms of physical strength.

Hinata had the memory and experience of traveling with Chloe.

This was still alive and well in Hinata’s pure skill level.

There was a huge difference from when she had faced Reiner before, and when looking at things in overall strength, even if you put the difference in weapon performance into perspective, Hinata was much stronger.

It was as if Hinata’s victory was guaranteed as soon as she could get into a one-on-one fight.

But that was only if Reiner had been a knight of fair character.

Hinata had misjudged him.

Hinata had thought that Reiner was quite a lowly character, but Reiner was a coward beyond her imagination.

Hinata was also quite cautious and never let her guard down, but there were unimaginably stupid people in this world who were even lower than the lowest of the low.

Reiner was exactly such a person.

She didn’t know and didn’t care if this was due to his innate nature or if he had been distorted by the experimentation. What was important here was that Reiner did not intend to simply fight her from the beginning.

Hinata continued to dodge Reiner’s sword, going back and forth several times. Then, at the right moment, she flicked Reiner’s sword away from his side.

This made her sure of victory and she gave Reiner a chance.

“Huh, you’re not as good as you say you are. If you surrender—”

She would arrest Reiner as a traitor and put him on trial—showing him unnecessary mercy.

This proved to be fatal.

Reiner had fallen into a position where his men were standing behind Hinata. They all attacked her from behind, as if they had planned to do so.

Of course, Hinata had prepared for the surprise attack with ‘Magic Perception,’ and was also connected to the ‘Telepathy Net’ with Moss, so she was warned.

However, it was Reiner that she needed to be wary of, and she could not afford to devote her attention to a bunch of random people.

That was why she knew that she had no chance to win if they were outnumbered—she had to accept a certain amount of attacks.

It was an instantaneous event.

“Hinata-dono!!”

Faster than Cien’s shout, numerous light bullets exploded into Hinata. And then, as Reiner laughed loudly, he struck again.

There was no sword in his hand, but his body was also covered by a mythical-grade full-body armor. His shoulders were wide open, and two pairs of thin, hard hands covered with mythical-grade armor sprouted out.

They turned into four spears and pierced Hinata’s limbs.

Losing her support, Hinata fell to the ground.

The sword fell from her hand.

She lost her grip and could barely stand.

“Hahaha!! You’ve been acting all high and mighty, but you’re no better than your mouth! You’re too cocky, you’re better off lying on the ground like that!!”

Reiner laughed in an annoying high-pitched voice.

“Bastard! Wasn’t this supposed to be a fair fight?!”

Reiner snickered at Cien’s sullen shout.

“Criminals don’t have any human rights. But hey, we’re merciful. If you cry and beg for forgiveness, we’ll at least consider postponing the time of your execution for a little while.”

With that said, Reiner gave her a smirk. Without waiting for Hinata’s reply, he continued with his selfish argument.

“However, you’ll have to show some gratitude.”

The smile on Reiner’s face was unpleasant, as if he was thinking vulgar thoughts.

Reiner’s subordinates did the same.

“Hahaha! The strongest of the West is looking good!”

“I guess the undefeated witch will have to be put down now.”

“No, no, we’re just getting too strong. It only looked like a good match because Reiner-sama was playing with her.”

And so on, they continued their self-serving comments.

It was unclear if they had always been like that or not. However, it was a fact that they were inexplicably foolish.

Hinata’s appearance had become too cruel.

The torn back of her “Holy Spirit Armor” revealed her bare, burned skin.

The tendons of her limbs had been severed so that she could not even move them.

In spite of such misery, her bare face, wet with sweat, was beautiful. Her eyes never lost their brightness, and Hinata’s dignified expression showed that she had not given up yet.

“Come on then, cry and beg for forgiveness. Or shall I kill you right now?”

Reiner shouted, his eyes bloodshot with madness.

The sight of Hinata crawling on the ground had given him a rush of lecherous pleasure.

By now, Reiner’s rational mind had practically jumped away.

Hinata was normally beyond his reach, a flower of the highest order, and to be able to violate such a high being surpassed all the pleasures Reiner had ever felt.

No matter how much of a fool Reiner was, he was aware of his inferiority compared to Hinata.

No, he had realized it the moment he faced her.

No matter how much he outclassed her in strength, he could not overturn the “difference in quality.” Even in terms of sword skills alone, Hinata’s ability was light years ahead of Reiner’s.

Reiner had practically been mad with jealousy when he was confronted with this fact. That was why he had no hesitation in executing the trap that he had prepared for just in case.

It was not as he had originally planned, but the result was all right.

I’m also lucky that her face wasn’t damaged. I will enjoy watching her beautiful face contort and cry out in pain!

Reiner felt his blood boil and his strength pervade his body. Just imagining Hinata in such a state made him feel a black joy well up from the pit of his stomach.

Now that this was the case, Reiner believed that his victory was unassailable. That was why he would beat Hinata into submission.

And after that, there would be another kind of fun waiting for him…he thought it would be a shame to kill her now.

“Hey! If you don’t hurry up, I’ll really kill you!”

Reiner declared in a chilling voice.

It was a serious threat.

Part of him wanted to feel the pleasure of tormenting Hinata, but Hinata’s strength was real.

If her heart had not been broken at this point, he should have at least cut off her hands and feet.

Reiner was a coward.

That’s why he was cautious and thought about what he was doing.

Even if Hinata were to call the others now, it would take them a long time to arrive. In the first place, it was unlikely that they could gather enough forces to fight against them.

Besides, if he sensed any sort of a sign, he could give the order to attack as soon as possible.

He had the absolute advantage.

There was nothing to lose.

Hinata did not reply, but kept staring at Reiner.

Her eyes told him that she hadn’t lost yet.

Tsk, you really are a cocky bitch. In that case, I’ll drop a leg off you!!

Reiner raised his sword in annoyance and swung it down towards Hinata—

Hinata was in mortal danger, but Testarossa couldn’t afford to help her.

She has her hands full with Vega.

Besides, she could tell from the look in her eyes that Hinata had not given up. In that case, she had to believe.

She was one of the few people who managed to beat Rimuru-sama to a draw. I don’t think she’ll just leave so quickly in such a place.

If that’s what happened, then that’s what would happen.

Although it was very likely that Rimuru would be furious, Testarossa had not been ordered to protect Hinata.

There were times for her to act in discernment, but for Hinata it felt like it was not her business. In fact, it seemed to be more likely to hurt Hinata’s pride and displease Rimuru if she did something without permission.

Testarossa decided that it would not be too late to come to the aid of Hinata after her defeat had been confirmed.

So, without hesitation, she concentrated on Vega for now.

Vega was a nuisance.

Vega’s magicule count was several times larger than Testarossa’s, but she thought it would be easy to kill him. However, it seems that she was wrong.

This guy, he’s got roots all the way underground. If so, can he absorb the corpses to make his damage go away?

It was exactly as Testarossa was thinking.

Vega had spread his power all over the capital of Ingracia, capturing and absorbing the corpses of the monsters that were still being defeated.

It did not increase his strength, but it was the perfect way to replenish his missing parts and replenish his energy. This made Vega practically immortal.

What an annoyingly troublesome opponent…

That was Testarossa’s true opinion.

It might be possible to destroy him by burning down a large area with nuclear magic. But in order to do so, she needed to understand Vega in his entirety.

That alone would have been a hassle, but even before that, she couldn’t afford to do so. As long as they were fighting here in the royal capital of Ingracia, any action that would lead to the destruction of the city was basically forbidden.

They were allowed to escape, but they were not allowed to do anything to win.

In that case, it would be almost impossible to kill Vega.

Moreover, it was not a good idea to hunt Vega down. If she did so, there was a high possibility that he would use the people of the Royal Capital who had fled underground as bait and try to regenerate himself.

For now, he still had Reiner’s subordinates who had turned into monsters, and absorbing them would be enough. However, if she cornered him further, Vega would probably to resort to any means necessary.

From Testarossa’s perspective, she was being forced to fight a battle where she could not see a way to win.

What made this situation even more frustrating for her was—

“Hey, hey, what’s the matter?! For someone with all that bravado earlier, you’re not doing much at all!!”

It was the attitude of Vega, who was getting carried away.

It’s not easy to make me want to kill someone from the bottom of my heart. You should be proud of that.

Testarossa inwardly snapped.

However, it was true that she could not afford to do so.

She flicked her flaming whip and toyed with Vega, but her mind was able to see two or three moves ahead. As long as she was unable to get into a checkmate situation, she had no choice but to maintain the stalemate. In order to break that stalemate, some external factor would be necessary.

There was a hidden force on the enemy side. There was no doubt about that, so Testarossa and her team were at a disadvantage from a broader perspective.

If there was one factor that tipped the scales in Testarossa’s favor, it was the presence of Velgrynd. However, she was unlikely to leave Masayuki’s escort.

It’s likely that Feldway’s target is also Masayuki-dono. Velgrynd-sama is not so naive as to dare to play into the hands of the enemy.

Naturally, Velgrynd must be aware of Feldway’s intentions. In that case, Testarossa believed that Velgrynd would not come to their aid.

And at the same time…

Testarossa understood that they were being treated as bait to lure Masayuki out.

This stalemate was a good situation for Feldway and his group.

It’s really frustrating. I know what I’m doing, but I’m just going to have to live with it. Apparently, Carrera and Ultima have their hands full, and there is no one else in their ranks who can move. If only Zegion and the others could come—no, Rimuru-sama wouldn’t approve of that.

She knew that her colleagues were also struggling, as evidenced by the emergency call through the Control Room. The Control Room had now declared a state of emergency and had shifted into combat mode.

They were preparing for an enemy invasion, and there was no way that Zegion, the key defender, could leave.

Zegion was the only one who could be relied upon to move freely. The others were not weak, but they were not strong enough to overcome any situation.

No, there was also the superpower force of Veldora—but he couldn’t make the foolish move of leaving the labyrinth when Michael was after him.

In other words, no reinforcements were coming.

Testarossa had no choice but to conclude that she would have to fend for herself.

But then, something unexpected happened—

Reiner swung his sword down on Hinata.

At that moment—

Kwiing! A clear tone rang out as it was caught by someone’s sword.

No, it was not a sword.

What the beautiful woman was holding in her hand was a feather fan that did not look like a weapon at all.

The name of the beautiful woman, whose shining blue hair was fluttering in the air—it was the “Scorch Dragon” Velgrynd.

“Hinata, was it? Didn’t my foolish brother say that he proved that the skills you’ve developed and perfected could reach us True Dragons? Wasn’t that the case, Testarossa?”

‘If that’s true, I will not allow you to be defeated in a place like this’—that’s what Velgrynd was saying.

She ignored Reiner and turned her gaze to Testarossa.

“That’s right, Velgrynd-sama. That said, I wasn’t expecting you to come.”

“Ufufu, you’re right. I didn’t plan on intervening, but Masayuki did.”

Velgrynd turned to Masayuki, her eyes full of compassion.

What she saw before her was—

“Are you okay, Hinata-san?!”

“Ah—”

It was Masayuki squeezing Hinata’s breasts.

The man in question, Masayuki, appeared to be in a dignified state, but on the inside, he was in a state of panic.

Wh-What the hell is going on?

Due to the sudden event, Masayuki instantly lost all sense of reality.

Or rather, this feeling on my right hand is…

There was a soft and fluffy feeling coming from the palm of his right hand. This was the moment when Masayuki’s brain finally began processing what it was.

It was, in other words, the result of Masayuki’s distraction from Hinata.

When Masayuki tried to help Hinata up, he stumbled over a pebble that had fallen at his feet.

As a result, Masayuki fell and carefully pushed Hinata down as well. Then his right hand touched Hinata’s chest regardless of Masayuki’s intention.

It was a lucky deviance, to say the least.

And what’s more.

Thanks to the close proximity of their lips, Hinata’s true face could also be seen clearly.

Her widened eyes sparkled like blackish purple amethysts. Her nose was straight, and her lips were full and fresh. Her fine skin was translucent without any makeup.

She’s a really beautiful woman. It’s no wonder Rimuru-san can’t resist her.

This was Masayuki’s way of escaping from reality.

It was understandable.

Hinata’s breath tickled his nostrils, and the sweet smell of her breath made his brain swoon.

If it hadn’t been for Velgrynd’s repeated hugs and experiences, he might have fainted from sheer joy.

It seemed like a long time, but it all lasted less than a second.

Masayuki’s brain rebooted and he realized that he could not keep staring at her forever.

Hinata’s eyes widened in surprise, and Masayuki thought, “Of course she did.”

It was only natural that people would think, “What is this guy doing?”

He was afraid that Hinata would come to her senses. Masayuki feared that something terrible was waiting for him.

“I-It’s not what it looks like!”

It’s not, it’s not true, Masayuki was screaming in his heart.

Masayuki turned more and more pale as he tried to stand up and make an excuse—

Huh? Just now, something just…

Masayuki felt a jolt on his back and realized that something had just passed over him.

Then he felt a creeping sense of dread.

“—Masayuki?!”

What followed next was Velgrynd’s scream.

It was not a voice of anger towards Masayuki, but rather a voice of sincere concern.

What had just happened?

In fact, right at the very moment of Masayuki’s fall, someone had attacked.

Velgrynd was the only one who saw it coming.

It was an attack that even Testarossa could not detect. At any rate, she was in a hurry to check the link with Moss.

But before she even had the chance to call out to Moss, Masayuki managed to avoid the attack by accidentally falling. If he had not stumbled, his life would have been cut short.

A lucky boy, indeed.

The lucky guy showed a remarkable performance this time as well.

Whoa! Was I really being targeted?!

Masayuki, who found out late, was paling away in a different way, but he was still lucky that it was over.

And then, Hinata moved.

It would have been extremely dangerous and foolish to stay still in a place that was being targeted. Therefore, Hinata rolled over and took Masayuki in her arms.

Masayuki was moved. The happy feeling of being embraced, the silky and comfortable feeling of Hinata’s hair on his cheek. It tickled and smelled so good, he wanted to escape from reality. However, that was not allowed…

Or rather, this was not the time.

“Tsk, no way…I never thought you’d be able to avoid my assassination attempt…”

A man in a black costume with pure white wings on his back let out a cry of astonishment—It was Arios.

The unique skill ‘Murderer,’ whose base was the Ultimate Enchantment ‘Punishment King Sandalphon,’ had the power of ‘Presence Concealment.’ It was a Skill that made those under its influence unrecognizable until some action was taken.

With this skill, he and Feldway had been hiding and watching the situation this whole time.

And then, just as Masayuki appeared on the scene, he launched a desperate assassination attempt which failed miserably.

Arios was ready to try again, but two men stood in front of him.

“Masayuki’s enemies are my enemies.”

“Well, that’s how it is. I won’t let you lay a hand on His Majesty.”

And with that, Venom and Minits had entered the fray.

A little later, Bernie and Jiwu also showed up.

“I was charged with protecting His Majesty’s person, yet I overlooked the assassin. For this sin, I will—”

“No, it’s fine!”

Bernie and Jiwu had been hiding and guarding Masayuki, but they hadn’t realized that Arios was lurking within the perimeter.

This was not either of their faults, but it was definitely a big blunder.

However, Masayuki was in a panic to deny it.

If he didn’t, the two of them might have taken the blame and committed suicide or something annoying like that.

At any rate, he decided to tell them to focus on the enemy for now, and let this matter go unanswered. As a result, the four of them took up arms against Arios to protect Masayuki.

The battlefield had been rearranged.

Testarossa and Moss were on high alert.

Cien was fighting alone against the knights, trying to keep them restrained.

Hinata was struggling to stand up, and Masayuki was in a quandary as he was lending a shoulder.

Venom and the Empire’s top executives had come to protect Masayuki.

Nicolaus, who had called for Velgrynd and Masayuki, or rather had joined them on the way, was furious at the sight of Hinata’s miserable state.

And Velgrynd was smiling bewitchingly.

On the other side—

Reiner, unable to finish off the cornered Hinata, looked disgruntled.

Vega was smirking and enjoying the situation.

Arios was unsuccessful in his attack.

Feldway was displeased with the failure of his plan just after it seemed like it had succeeded completely.

And then there were Reiner’s subordinates who were still alive and well.

With Masayuki and Velgrynd now on the battlefield, the situation had become even more chaotic.

The residents of the Royal Capital listened to the broadcast with anxiety.

Those who could see the images had their eyes glued to the screen.

Although Reiner’s words were uncomfortable, there was no doubt that Prince Elric was on his side.

However, as the battle intensified, people were turned off by Reiner’s cruelty.

He fought in a vile manner, unbecoming of a knight.

Besides, it was not the knights led by Reiner who were still desperately defending the capital, but the Holy Knight Order and Templar Knights under Hinata’s leadership.

Regardless of who’s words were true, it was Hinata’s knights that they wanted to trust.

There were some who supported Elric, but the ratio of those who supported Elric became smaller and smaller.

And when Hinata was in trouble, everyone prayed for her safety in front of the screen.

This wish was fulfilled by the appearance of a certain person.

Small whispers began to escape from the mouths of those who saw the shining figure.

“It’s the hero-sama…”

“H-Hero-sama?”

“It’s the hero-sama!”

“I-It’s Masayuki-sama! Hero Masayuki-sama has returned!”

“Masayuki-sama has returned as the emperor!!”

And it didn’t take long for them to become a huge chorus.

“Ma-sa-yu-ki, Ma-sa-yu-ki!!”

Everywhere all over the underground evacuation shelters, the grounds were trembling from the cheers.

This phenomenon was not limited to the people.

It was the same for the surviving royalty and influential aristocrats as well.

No one would be so foolish as to be unable to discern whether Elric’s justification was true or false.

Hinata, who had protected humanity as the guardian of law and order, had no reason whatsoever to kill the king.

On top of that, this was the middle of a world conference, and the Kingdom of Ingracia, the venue of the conference, was fully guarded.

Even if she really had been targeting the king, she would not have acted on it now. If there was anyone who would do such a thing, it would be none other a force that wished to bring chaos to human society.

Even the ruler of the underworld, the “Three Drunk Sages (Riega),” had unofficially offered their cooperation to ensure the success of this world conference.

Without the development of human society, there would be no future for the underworld. It was a very plausible argument, and the upper echelons of the kingdom had also chosen to work together.

Therefore, the only people who would cause dissonance here were those who did not understand the situation. In other words, it was the opinion of those in power that Prince Elric himself was the ringleader.

“The people were confused, but thanks to Masayuki-dono, they have regained their composure.”

“That’s all well and good, but it puts us in an awkward position.”

“Indeed. If we had missed true mastermind and left everything to the hands of others from another country, we would have been criticized later no doubt.”

“The palace knights have been destroyed, but there are still other forces left, aren’t there?”

“Deploy the four armies on all sides of the Royal Capital. All of our troops.”

“““Understood!!”””

And with that, the plan to bring the situation under control started at once.

Masayuki may be a champion, but he was now the Emperor of the Eastern Empire.

Since they couldn’t lift him up, they at least had to sweat it out themselves.

The “Three Drunk Sages (Riega)” also made a move.

“The three leaders do not want chaos in this land. It would be foolish to lose our forces unnecessarily, so it will be just me and the “Musketeers Corps” who will go.”

Glenda Adley said as such.’

A number of prototype weapons had been secretly developed at Tempest and were never expected to see the light of day. The “Musketeer Corps,” led by Glenda, was the supplier of these weapons.

They were her prided subordinates, who had been secretly modified in the Empire. Their individual combat abilities were at least A rank, and they were skilled in the use of various weapons.

They had a variety of vicious weapons, such as small anti-tank guns (rocket launchers) and hand-held gatling guns. The ammunition used in these weapons was not ordinary but was a hazardous material that had been designated for use only by those with specialized knowledge. Its power could only be guessed at.

“Now then, let’s go!”

“““Yes!!”””

“Best of luck to you.”

“Even if we die, our souls will surely be reborn as majins in the eyes of god!”

‘I’m not asking for that kind of thing’—Glenda thought, but she laughed at her colleague’s thoughtfulness.

Then, with less than a hundred subordinates in tow, she leapt onto the battlefield.

Masayuki was bewildered by the rapidly changing situation.

He was completely left out of the situation.

However, one comment from Hinata made Masayuki feel more trapped than ever.

“So, how long do you intend to keep squeezing my breasts?”

Pfffft?! Masayuki couldn’t help but choke.

I’m not squeezing them! It was just a touch of my hand—He tried to make an excuse, but unconsciously turned to face Hinata at close range, and Masayuki tensed up at the sight of her beauty.

There were many beautiful women in Tempest, but they were of the nature of extraordinary beauty. The same was true of Velgrynd, who’s beauty was similarly outside the realm of humanity.

In contrast, Hinata’s beauty was that of a familiar Japanese face. Although her beauty had been enhanced by becoming a ‘Saint,’ she still possessed a unique charm that made one feel at ease.

But one shouldn’t be fooled by appearances.

Masayuki had heard a lot about her from Rimuru.

Hinata was the only one who must never be offended.

Even Veldora agreed.

‘She’s a persistent woman. No matter what you do, she will surely be avenged’—he had warned him with a straight face.

It would be unfortunate if he were to do something inappropriate with someone who had made a demon lord and a True Dragon fear her. Fully aware of this, Masayuki hurriedly jumped to his feet and apologized to Hinata.

Incidentally, although she pretended to be calm at that time, Hinata was also very upset. She had never had her breasts squeezed by another person before and was wondering how she should react.

If it had been intentional, Hinata would have taken appropriate measures to deal with it, but in Masayuki’s case, it was completely unavoidable. This made Hinata’s judgment waver, and ultimately saved Masayuki’s life.

“I-I’m sorry. I-It was by no means on purpose…”

He was unable to come up with a good excuse, but Masayuki’s words were interrupted by Hinata.

“Just kidding. I know it was a force majeure.”

Despite the smile on her face, Masayuki couldn’t stop the cold sweat running down his spine. In fact, he had no idea what was going on.

His understanding couldn’t catch up.

He wanted to tell her frankly, but he felt like he would be doomed if he did, so he could only keep silent.

“You can’t be seriously offended by a mere breast rub, can you? Hey, Masayuki, I’ll let you squeeze mine as much as you want.”

Velgrynd dropped a bomb with a laugh.

‘No thank you’ couldn’t be said. Masayuki was still a young man after all.

However, he sincerely hoped that such a meeting would be held in a quiet and unobtrusive place.

Hinata looked at them with a furtive glance, but when she tried to get up, she groaned in pain.

“Hi-Hinata-sama!”

While screaming, Cardinal Nicolaus rushed over and held Hinata up. Her arms and legs were still pierced, and she could not even stand up.

“I will treat you immediately!”

Nicolaus, in a panic, performed an impressive high-ranking holy magic (high heal) with great skill. Hinata immediately recovered and returned to the battlefield.

Thus, the rearranged battle resumed.

“Hi-Hinata-sama…is this okay? Why don’t you leave this to Masayuki-dono?”

Nicolaus asked, but Hinata turned a deaf ear to his suggestion.

Masayuki, who was horrified by Nicolaus’ words, was greatly relieved to learn that Hinata had no intention of doing so. There was nothing else to do but to ask Hinata to do her best.

Knowing this, Hinata gave a small smile.

It was a truly cruel smile, a true expression of Hinata’s beauty, a beautiful woman wearing men’s clothing.

To tell the truth, Hinata had lost her temper with Reiner.

And more than that, she could not forgive herself for her mistake of being careless.

“No, there’s no problem. I’m done waiting around.”

It was a declaration of victory.

There was no room for pity for the person who had tortured her so much.

Hinata had completely read the path to victory.

Hinata looked at Reiner with a benevolent smile on her face.

Her eyes, however, remained cold.

“Well, now then. I’ll take you seriously, so be prepared.”

“D-Damn you! You’re the one who killed the king, you big sinner…and now, I’m done playing with you! I’ll kill you. You will never be able to win against me no matter what, you coward!!”

“Funny you should say that. You’re the one who’s a coward.”

There was nothing more annoying than having the truth pointed out to you, Reiner gritted his teeth.

“Tsk, I guess you misunderstood. I took it easy on you because you’re a woman, you know? I was trying to be gentle with you so I wouldn’t accidentally kill you. Even so, I can’t forgive your attitude.”

Reiner’s eyes were bloodshot with excitement, and his mind was on the verge of going insane.

In anticipation of this, Hinata continued to instigate him.

“Hmm, is that so? Well then, you’d better get yourself together and prove it to me.”

Hinata was no longer careless.

She knew that Reiner was not a chivalrous man, and she had no intention of showing mercy to a such a vulgar being.

Perhaps Reiner understood this, and he howled with his face turning red.

“I won’t forgive you even if you cry. Fine then, I’ll grant you your wish! Over and over again, I’ll slash and slash and slash!!”

Reiner’s sole purpose was to show off his strength to his subordinates and the public by overwhelmingly overpowering Hinata. Normal judgment was no longer something he could hope for.

Perhaps sensing this, Hinata looked at Reiner coldly. There was not a trace of kindness in her eyes, and they were filled with contempt.

Reiner rushed towards Hinata.

Unperturbed, Hinata readied her Phantom Pain.

And then, their swords clashed.

“Hyaaaaaahaahaahaaa!! Die, die, die, dieeeeeee!!”

Reiner shouted with an expression full of madness.

The sword he swung down with all his might had the power to kill, but it was no match for Hinata.

It could shatter even the Phantom Pain if taken seriously, but there was no need to meet it head on.

There was no need to hesitate anymore.

Even though Reiner’s physical ability was better than Hinata’s, it did not matter to her. She dodged Reiner’s sword lightly and aimed at the gap in his armor to stab him.

“Gyaaaaah?!”

Reiner screamed.

The intense pain rushed through his body, and he regained his composure for a moment.

What, what is this pain?! Didn’t I—didn’t I gain power and become immune to such half-hearted attacks?!

He became Vega’s servant and had gained the power of a ‘staff officer’ grade phantom. In addition, now that he had been given mythical-grade armor, there was no way he could be defeated by Hinata. Moreover, the fact that he could feel pain was unusual.

He could not hide his confusion at the fact that his ‘pain blocker’ was ineffective. The damage itself was not serious, but the pain did not seem to subside.

Reiner gritted his teeth. Earlier, he had thought that he was just in bad shape, but now he was beginning to show serious impatience.

“Ufufufufu. Did I hurt you? Cry harder and entertain me!”

Hinata had an ecstatic expression on her face and lasciviously moistened her lips with her tongue.

This gesture suited Hinata very well.

It was reminiscent of a superior predating on the inferior.

While Nicolaus was staring at Hinata with a passionate gaze, Masayuki was horrified. It was a gesture that might create a rabid fan base among some of the sexually inclined, but for Masayuki, it was a pity.

This person is scary!! I’ll make sure to never offend Hinata-san…

He was truly convinced that Rimuru was right.

Hinata pursued Reiner without caring about the reactions of the people around her,

Fearing the incomprehensible pain of the stab, Reiner desperately tried to defend himself. However, the attack was not so sweet that it could be escaped from.

“Now die! ‘Dead End Rainbow!!’”

With a fluid movement, Hinata accurately pierced Reiner.

Each blow was painful and tormented Reiner.

Th-This much! If I can endure this pain—Gugyaaaaaoooooo?!

Because his mind had been destroyed, there was no way he could endure it. To begin with, Reiner’s physical body had been strengthened tremendously, but his mental body was still immature. Even if he had absorbed the phantom, which was a spiritual life form, his mental defense had not been strengthened.

“H-Help me, Vega-san! Th-The pain won’t go away!!”

Reiner tried to heal the damage he had suffered, but he could not heal his mind. It was not surprising that Reiner, who was in a state of panic due to the intense fear and suffering, lost his normal judgement and was unable to do anything.

Moreover, because his spiritual body had grown too large, the time he spent in pain was much longer.

It was so bad that he thought he would rather be dead—

At the beginning of the battle, Venom had been the main opponent of Arios.

The remaining three players served as supporters, keeping Arios in check.

Masayuki was standing with his arms crossed, watching Venom’s battle.

To be honest, it would be more accurate to say that he was just standing there, rather than watching the battle.

The occasional glow was his proof that the battle was still going on. It was an impossible task for Masayuki to understand the battle with his eyes.

The speed was too fast to follow with his eyes, and it was impossible to understand what was going on. He was just pretending to be able to see.

—I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Not wanting to get in the way, he left the fighting to the others.

Masayuki now understood exactly what he was capable of. It was on the level of enlightenment, so his sense of fear was diminishing.

Even so, fear was still fear.

To distract himself from his fear, Masayuki recalled a happy memory.

That is, the feeling that lingered in his right hand—the softness and warmth of Hinata’s breast.

Of course, Gryn-san would let me squeeze them without asking, but that’s not the point. I’m afraid of what might happen later, so I think it’s a little different.

In this respect, Hinata was wonderful.

She was quite scary, but he was forgiven for something unavoidable.

With this, there was no need to worry anymore.

He could enjoy his happiness without worrying about the future.

Without even realizing it, Masayuki’s happy mood had a tremendous impact on the scene.

In response to Masayuki’s wish, a ‘Lucky Field’ was set up, granting an immense blessing for all those who stood by Masayuki.

The truth of the world had been reached—the Ultimate Skill ‘King of Heroes’ was in full effect.

As such, Venom and the others had a relative advantage in the battle.

Venom attacked without hesitation, as if he were strolling along on a walk.

“‘Doom Enemy’!!”

The claws on Venom’s hands turned jet-black and grew long. The surface of his claws vibrated finely with a technique that generated waves that could split all matter.

Clicking his tongue, Arios evaded. But it didn’t stop there.

“How naive.”

Leaving the mutter behind, Minits took aim at Arios, who had lost his stance. He tilted his body unnaturally, ignoring gravity and inertia, and rushed forward like a cannonball.

With his Unique Skill ‘Oppressor,’ he adjusted his trajectory to Arios, forming an obstacle-free path. He then compressed and exploded the air under his feet to gain thrust.

Minits reached his maximum speed in an instant and unleashed a barrage of blows that left Arios no time to react.

“You small fry, you’re getting carried away!”

Arios, who had been head-butted in the jaw and knee-kicked in the stomach, glared at Minits in fury.

But Arios could not afford to do so.

“Assassination is my specialty.”

A black flash of light ripped through Arios. Jiwu, who had been hiding in perfect cover, had aimed for the moment when Arios’s mind was turned to Minits.

As Arios tried to retreat, a spear of lightning pierced him. It was Bernie’s special strike, a condensed version of ‘Thunder Rain’ fused with spearmanship.

“Don’t forget about me, either.”

Even though he had lost his Ultimate Enchantment ‘Alternative,’ it was a skill he had once acquired. Bernie had tried his best to be useful to Emperor Masayuki and was able to recreate his former abilities to some extent.

The same was true for Jiwu.

Incidentally, Minits had become stronger than before, but he seemed to have been empowered by experience, just as he said he loved fighting.

Perhaps the strength of will had something to do with the fact that people with abnormal personalities became stronger. That’s what Bernie thought, but he wasn’t stupid enough to say that. Right now, he honestly felt that strong friends were reassuring.

And so, the four of them put up a good fight against Arios, who was incomparably stronger in terms of existence value.

Moreover, this did not change even when Arios became serious.

“Hmph, I don’t have time to play around here. I’m going to give it my all, so be prepared.”

Arios politely declared as he held two daggers in his hands. The mythical-grade two-sword style was Arios’ original style of melee combat.

Damn them…they’re only halfway competent, and yet they’re still getting in my way…

Arios was indignant.

Arios was convinced that this would be the best way to deal with the small fry without much trouble.

It turned out that he was careless in the next attack.

A slash of divine speed struck Venom, slicing off the black claws that had barely caught him. Even the vibrations that cut through all matter seemed powerless before the mythical-grade weaponry—or so it seemed.

As if it was a natural result, Arios kept his expression unchanged and looked at Venom with a smile.

It was as if he was looking at an insect.

‘This is the difference in strength between you and me,’ he seemed to say with an air of pride on his face. But then it was distorted by an impossible situation. Pain shot through both of Arios’ arms.

“Haha, look at you! I’m lucky, I didn’t think you’d get two stabs.”

Arios’s expression twitched when heard Venom’s laughter.

As Venom pointed out, Arios had one black claw in each of his arms.

Arios was so proud of his superiority that he had looked down on Venom and the others as inferior. And yet, he had been wounded.

He hadn’t really been serious a while ago, but this time that wasn’t the case. Arios was getting impatient because he could tell that he had not been careless.

“Bastard, you were aiming for this?!”

“Well, yeah. I was hoping it would be a little more difficult, but I’ve been lucky again today.”

‘I thought I’d be lucky to get one,’ Venom said, making no secret of his true feelings.

That’s right. When one was with Masayuki, they were lucky enough to be loved every day.

It wasn’t the kind of luck that made you win over women or gambling, so he didn’t always feel it, but he felt that everything he did would go better than expected.

“Damn bastard—I won’t take it easy on you anymore.”

“Idiot! You just said you were going to give it your all!”

Venom cheerfully incited Arios, who was filled with anger.

Venom was now using himself as bait.

The larger the gap between Arios and his friends, the easier it would be for them to move.

Although Venom mocked Arios with his words, in reality, he was not letting his guard down. He quickly regenerated his severed black claws and focused his attention on Arios’ movements.

And rightly so.

Venom was not overconfident in his power.

It hadn’t been long since he had been reincarnated as a demon, and thanks to the overwhelming presence of Diablo, he had learned to see himself from a thoroughly objective point of view.

He’s a tough one. Aside from this good luck, we’re completely outclassed in terms of strength. It’s time for me to switch places with Bernie and focus on being an attacker instead of a decoy—

This time, Venom had been assigned as a decoy because he was judged to be the most difficult to kill. Normally, Bernie played the main role of shield, so this time it was an irregular division of roles.

The so-called evasive shield was the role that Venom was expected to play.

It would be the end if Arios’ attack hit. That’s why it was decided that Venom was the best choice, because he was hard to hit and would not be killed instantly.

—Although, it might take several hundred years to revive if I die. I seriously hope that doesn’t happen.

Venom’s nerves sharpened as he thought about this.

Bernie and his friends also understood that Venom was really desperate. That’s why they were in no hurry to join up with him.

The role of the Minits was to distract Arios with a series of big moves. It didn’t matter if it worked or not, the goal was to keep the attack going.

‘Attack is the best defense,’ as the saying went, and Venom was able to get around well because of Minits.

Bernie used ‘cognitive inhibition’ to contain Arios’ power and keep the influence of ‘Punishment King Sandalphon’ small, though not completely.

This also made Minits’ attacks more effective. Of course, Jiwu also acted as a second shield, attacking at key points, and making sure that Minits could move freely.

Jiwu had become a true trump card.

Unlike Arios, Jiwu’s concealment was of a nature that only Jiwu herself could hide from. But that was enough.

Needless to say, it would come in handy in battle.

The diminutive Jiwu activated her Skill the moment she was out of Arios’ sight. Then, when Arios was caught completely off guard, she unleashed a fatal blow.

Unfortunately, Arios was not weak enough to be defeated by such a blow, but even so, the damage was steadily accumulating.

Each player’s role had its own meaning, and Masayuki’s ‘Lucky Field’ was the perfect combo to make this happen.

Arios, who had underestimated his opponent’s superiority, found himself unknowingly in a tight spot.

It can’t be, I’m being pressured?!

While he was feeling disgusted, the situation was worsening in earnest.

He was at their mercy, unaware of this as time continued passing by.

If he continued like this, he would incur the wrath of Feldway. Aware of this, Arios lost his cool and became increasingly impatient…

Reiner was rolling on the ground, screaming.

But no one wanted to help Reiner.

Currently, Hinata had defeated Reiner, but Feldway was still alive. Velgrynd was dealing with him, but as long as the ‘Castle Guard’ was in place, her attacks wouldn’t work.

As for Reiner’s subordinates, Moss and Cien were already holding them off. It was a surprisingly comfortable fight.

Moss was restraining them, Cien was bringing them into a one-on-one situation, and Nicolaus was supporting them. He helped Cien by using magic to stop the enemy’s movements, giving them an advantage in the battle.

Arios had no time to spare either.

That’s why none of the Feldway forces had time to worry about Reiner. Rather, it would be more correct to say that they would not care even if they did.

As proof of this, Vega, the one who had been asked for help, was smirking as he dealt with Testarossa.

“Is it okay if you don’t help your friend?”

“Hah! He’s a minion, not a friend. But you so have a point. Perhaps it’s about time.”

Testarossa had a bad feeling when she heard Vega’s comment.

This person, he’s up to something…

Testarossa had noticed that Vega had been using the corpses to recover from the damage so far. But she had a feeling that he was hiding more than that.

That feeling was correct.

“You’re the one who’s misunderstanding. I still haven’t taking things seriously. It seems that you’re trying to figure out how to kill me, but you won’t need to worry about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hah! You’re even dumber than I thought. I’m telling you that you’re no match for me!”

Upon hearing this, Testarossa was about to become furious.

However, she stopped and observed Vega with a cold gaze.

This person, he appears to be gaining strength little by little even during the current battle. I wonder if this arrogant attitude is not just a bluff?

She saw through this and refrained from acting out in anger.

Vega then declared to Testarossa.

“Hehe, Feldway-san should be getting impatient by now. All right then, I’ll show you my best shot, so you can die in despair!”

Vega said as such and laughed loudly.

And then—

He unleashed the power he had just learned to use.

It was the beginning of the nightmare.

“Awaken, ‘Evil Dragon Spawn’—”

Vega ignored Testarossa and put his hands on the ground.

It was a production.

There was really no need for him to do so, but he dared to act in a flawed manner to show that Testarossa was match for him.

Testarossa would not be fooled.

She was prepared to calmly analyze what was about to happen.

From the palm of Vega’s hand, a wave of evil gushed forth. It traveled through the earth, engulfing Reiner’s subordinates as they fell to the ground.

Those who were already dead and those who were still alive were equally affected. However, he just managed to avoid Elric.

“Moss. Gather everyone.”

Moss moved in response to Testarossa’s voice.

He called Bernie and the others back to Masayuki’s location to protect them from Vega’s wave.

Venom and Cien were no exception, and they all gathered in one place.

They watched with bated breath as the situation unfolded.

Before their eyes, the living and the dead began twisting together.

Then they transformed into an evil life form that emitted a foul odor.

Reiner was no exception.

“H-Hey! Brother…Brother Vega!! Help me, I am, I too am, in this sludge?!”

Reiner was in pain but was still desperately calling out to Vega for help.

But Vega only grinned at Reiner.

Reiner had been a pawn from the beginning. Therefore, he could experiment with his new power without any hesitation.

“Oh, brother. Rest assured. If you’re useful to me, I will help you as often as I can.”

“R-Really?!”

Vega’s grin deepened to a wide smile, as if to reassure Reiner.

Reiner, who was relieved to see this, was then attacked by the sludge made from the melted corpses.

Seeing this, Arios’ face turned pale.

“Hey, Vega! Y-You’re not going to use me as your test subject, are you?!”

Vega sneered.

“I’m gonna do this!”

“B-Bastard! I will never forgive you. Just because you’re the leader of the Seven Angels doesn’t mean that you can get away with such tyranny!!”

Arios was furious, but his lower half had already been swallowed up by the sludge.

“F-Feldway-sama! Please help! Vega is out of control. At this rate, I will—”

Alas, Arios’ desperate pleas were silently ignored by Feldway.

It wasn’t because he was having trouble dealing with Velgrynd, but rather because he simply wasn’t interested.

Besides, he didn’t see the need to stop a useless person from being strengthened.

“Damn it!!”

Arios also sank into the sludge, leaving behind a scream.

And now it was ready.

The corpses melted and twisted together, and the sludge formed into several humanoid forms.

In this moment, a fearsome creature was born into the world.

It was a reappearance of the ‘Demon Death (Birthday)’ that produced undead elves with Vega’s power.

Of course, the effect was not the same.

That was the true value of the ‘Organic Domination’ and ‘Mass Reproduction’ from Vega’s Ultimate Skill ‘Evil Dragon King Azi Dahaka,’

In Vega’s words, it was ‘Evil Dragon Spawn Production’—it was the power to create evil lifeforms to be his loyal subjects.

There were four Evil Dragon Spawns born in total. Although they resembled human beings, their appearance was nothing short of hideous.

The Evil Dragon Spawns’ entire body was covered with black scales that were transformed from mythical-grade material. On their bellies were a large rift, reminiscent of a mouth with teeth.

On their backs, there were two pairs of the blackened wings of a bird of prey. They appeared to be the remnants of an angel.

The head of the creatures were distinctive, with a smooth mass from the neck up. There were two hollow-like holes in them, and red eyes glittered in the blackness.

They were no longer people.

They were writhing beings with the presence of evil.

They had no heads to begin with, so there was no light of intelligence in their eyes. Nevertheless, they seemed to have the power of judgment, and were glaring hatefully at Hinata and Venom, perhaps influenced by the hatred they had felt before their deaths.

“Gwahahahahaha!! What do you think of my lovely pets?! It seems that you small fry have been working hard, but that’s all over now. These ‘Evil Dragon Spawns’ are far too powerful for little peons like you, so enjoy them to your hearts’ content!!”

Vega said, laughing loudly.

And then, while crossing his arms, he ordered, “Go play with them.”

Although Evil Dragon Spawns were a distorted life form, they were still very capable of fighting.

They had no eyes, but that was no problem since they had ‘Magic Perception’ to begin with. They could accurately grasp the situation around them and act according to orders.

The individual existence values reached 2.4 million. This was more than the average Insect General, so one could understand how much of a threat these Evil Dragon Spawns were.

Of course, that was obvious to those who were facing them, without needing to be explained.

“Whoa, whoa, seriously…”

Venom muttered.

He felt that they were in serious trouble.

It had been tough even against Arios, but these four additions were out of the question. It was only thanks to Masayuki that the battle had been manageable, but these Evil Dragon Spawn seemed unlikely to be able to use any kind of battle tactics.

Emotion had both good and bad aspects. The prideful Arios was too impatient to show his true strength. Masayuki’s ‘Lucky Field’ had been one of the factors that contributed to bringing out the worst in him.

This time, however, such factors had been eliminated.

The creatures’ lack of intelligence may work to their advantage, but for the Evil Dragon Spawns, who’s only remaining assets were their offensive instincts and unparalleled fighting sense, there seemed to be no inconveniences just by being a fighting machine.

Venom sensed this intuitively.

“This will be very dangerous if we don’t take things seriously.”

Hinata spoke, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The Evil Dragon Spawns were dangerous, that’s what Hinata’s survival instincts were telling her.

Even Hinata’s Phantom Pain could not penetrate the black scales that covered their outer skin.

The only possible openings were the eyes and the mouth on the belly, but Hinata judged that there was little hope for that either.

That was why she told the Holy Knights who had gathered one after another.

“Attention all Holy Knights below the rank of captain. Keep a large distance from the target and get in formation! Do not let that evil being escape from this place, and do not let that Vega accumulate any more power than he already has. Isolate this area with a ‘Barrier.’”

At this order, the Holy Knights that had arrived reacted immediately.

For some reason, the monsters that had been rampaging all over the place suddenly melted into the ground. In order to find out the cause, they had come to the center of the disaster, where the unimaginable situation had occurred.

Seeing the Evil Dragon Spawn, which was clearly beyond their control, the Holy Knights’ morale was about to drop. However, Hinata’s shout gave them a purpose and revived their fighting spirit.

“That’s right. Let us do what we can do for now.”

Cardinal Nicolaus nodded broadly.

“Understood, Hinata-sama.”

Fritz nodded.

“Well…this is just going to cost us more lives.”

Ritase did not disagree. She was scared, but she couldn’t just escape either.

“Leave it to me! We’ll show you the results of our training here.”

Bacchus laughed. Everyone knew that he was in a state of false cheerfulness, but the sound of his laughter seemed to give them energy.

“Well then, let’s go!”

Arnaud shouted at the end, bringing everyone together.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

They would not give up just because the enemy was out of control. If they ran away now, their futures would remain bleak.

Cardinal Nicolaus and the four captains of the Holy Knight Order were leading. Following them, the members of the Holy Knight Order began to act in accordance with several training patterns.

They scattered in five directions around the square, forming a five-pointed star. Then, they constructed an ‘Isolation Barrier’ with the everyone’s combined power.

This time, although the enemy was evil, they did not use magicules as their energy source. Rather, although magicules were also energy, the enemy had taken in other powers, so the effect of the Holy Purification Barrier was expected to be limited. In fact, considering the presence of the monsters in this barrier, it was judged that they may be a hindrance to it.

Therefore, Hinata’s choice was to use “Material Area,” which aimed to completely isolate this place from the rest of the world.

Hinata’s choice was supported by Testarossa.

“That’s great. Cien, Venom, you guys should help as well. If we don’t reinforce the barriers even a little, they’ll seek out bait beneath the ground.”

That bait was the evacuated residents of Royal Capital.

Testarossa had hypothesized about Vega’s abilities with some accuracy from his previous attacks.

As long as it was within the influence of Vega’s power, any organic matter could be used as food for Vega. So far, it had only been overlooked because it was ineffective, but there was no telling when the slaughter would start in order to recover the damage.

That possibility was the reason why Testarossa was holding back her attack.

“You guys should help as well.”

Velgrynd ordered Minits and the others.

“But we have His Majesty—”

“With me here, there’s no way anyone will be laying a finger on Masayuki. If you understand that, then get out of here.”

“““Understood.”””

Minits, Bernie, and Jiwu were also dispatched to help maintain the ‘Material Area.’ Thus, only the strongest remained in the area.

Confronting Feldway, was Velgrynd.

Still facing Vega, was Testarossa.

In the form of a boy, was Moss.

Having been revived, was Hinata, and just standing there with his arms crossed, was Masayuki.

As mentioned, these were the five members of the group.

Why am I even still here?

There was one person who still had questions, but no one offered a helping hand or even a suggestion.

And finally, the situation had changed.

“Go play with them.”

With a single order from Vega, the four Evil Dragon Spawns began to move in unison at a furious pace.

Obeying orders, they kicked off the ground, flew through the air, and pounced on the prey they had set their sights on—

—

Notes:

Gleipnir: The special chains that were sealing him are called Gleipnir.

All pointless: Specifically, he says that “It’s all parallel lines anyway” meaning that it’s all pointless/won’t go anywhere because their opinions won’t ever agree/meet, as is the case with parallel lines.

Open-minded: Rairaku (磊落) 🡪 open-minded/open-hearted, free and easy, to not be bothered by unimportant things.

Originals: ‘Shigen’ as in the primordial/firstborn/original angels. It’s a different ‘primordial’ from the ‘primordial’ demons. I am just calling them ‘originals’ so that they don’t get mixed up when used together with the primordial demons.

Primordials: The Primordial Demons.

Divine craftsman: “神 (しん) 匠 (しょう)” 🡪 “神 (read as shin)” means divine/god and “匠(read as shou)” means master/artisan/craftsman. Together = Divine Craftsman.

Invisible world: “幽世” or “Kakuriyo (かくりよ)” can also mean ‘hidden world’ or ‘mysterious world.’ It can also refer to the afterlife, or the realm of the dead. I used ‘invisible world’ because it was referring to the imaginary space from Rimuru’s skill.

Double check: In chess, a ‘double check’ is when two pieces are simultaneously putting the king in checkmate. Ciel is basically saying that there were two ‘checkmate’ attacks being placed.

Your defeats: Basically, you can’t be a sore loser.

Plan far ahead: Actually, the term “Shinboōenryo (深謀遠慮)” was used here. It is a Chinese idiom that translates to ‘far sight and deep design’ or ‘deep plans and distant thoughts.’ Basically, it is an idiom that means to ‘plan far ahead’ and refers to a careful plan with long-term consideration. Ironic, because it wasn’t really Rimuru’s style this time.

Saint: The word in parentheses was “Seijin [聖 (せい) 人 (じん)]” or ‘holy human,’ meaning Saint.

Cocky bitch: Vega says the words ‘cocky woman,’ but the context and way he says it in Japanese is more insulting, like calling her a ‘cocky bitch.’

Difference in quality: Can also translate to difference in rank/status/capacity/character.

Lucky deviance: The word they used was “rakkīsukebe (ラッキースケベ)” which is literally “lucky sukebe.” ‘Sukebe’ basically means lewd or perv or deviant. You could also translate this to mean “it was a lucky fondle” or “lucky lewdness” or something similar.

Hero-sama: The word used for hero for Masayuki can also be translated to ‘Brave one’ or ‘man of valor.’

Musketeers Corps: “Jushitai (銃士隊)” 🡪 means “the musketeer corps/squad” but ‘musketeer’ also refers to a group of gunners or rifle shooters.

Best of luck to you: The term used here is “gobuunwo (御武運を)” which basically means ‘good luck’ but more formally when in a battle or war. It’s like saying ‘good luck’ and ‘I hope you will survive in the war/battle.’

Gryn-san: Masayuki’s nickname for Velgrynd.

Demon Death (Birthday): This was the forbidden spell that Kagali used back in previous volumes when she was making the undead elves. “妖死冥産 (バースディ)” 🡪 Demon Death (Birthday). Another translation might be “monster death/rebirth (Birthday). I’ll probably just call it ‘Birthday’ from now on (the part emphasized in parentheses) because that’s how we’ve usually been translating the different spells.