Kabal and his friends were back by the time I had finished harassing Rimuru.
We had a little debate, and I won by a landslide.
The debate? Oh?
About that…
Rimuru: 「I still can't believe you think One Piece is better than Dragon Ball…」
Well, yeah, I'll not like to talk about that.
Milim came running up to me, a big smile on her face.
Milim: 「Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Fubuki! Another bumper crop today! You're gonna love it!」
Fubuki: 「Really? That's cool. Help me drop it right over in the kitchen. I'll make you guys the tastiest food ever.」
Milim: 「Wooohooooo!!」
Behind her, Kabal and Gido were both carrying a huge number of monsters on their backs.
Elen: 「Boy, that Milim sure is something else! She can spot out monsters in the blink of an eye! She made things so much easier for us.」
The empty-handed Elen beamed as she trailed behind the demon lord.
There wasn't a speck of dirt on Milim at all; I guess she had the men in the party handle all the heavy lifting.
She was wearing a new dress from Shuna, and I suppose she didn't want to splash any blood on it.
Not exactly hunting gear, I
don't think…
Kabal: 「Phewww! Finally, back!」
Gido: 「That was a hard day of work, eh? Let's hit the hot spring and grab a mugful of something.」
Kabal:「Ooh yeah! The fruit wine here is awesome!」
Kabal and Gido didn't seem to mind being used and abused, at least, although that probably wasn't the way they thought about it.
They were true men, no matter how you looked at it.
Spoiling Milim, after all, wasn't gonna do them jackshit, but they still showed the world how gentlemanly we men can be.
Besides, it wouldn't be the smartest trick in the book to bitch up and about that and stir up conflict, so if they had no problem, neither did I.
It did, however, remind me all the more about how, no matter which world you lived in, some men were doomed to have women use them. I, at the very least, could show them a little kindness.
Fubuki: 「Hardwork well done, guys... Whew! Go take a bath, woman! You stink as hell. Stay away, uhh, no hard feelings and stuff…? Okay, just a personal grudge.」
Elen: 「Hey! That's rude! I'll let you know—we worked hard!」
Fubuki: 「That's beside the point. Spouting nonsense won't mask the odor. Go do the deed already. Geez.」
Elen: 「Hmph!」
Rimuru: 「That was…」
Fubuki: 「Harsh? Nah, you should've seen what they did to me months ago. The audacity she had to call me beautiful…」
Rimuru: 「Oh…」
Fuze: 「I–」
He started to comment, but then–
Fubuki: 「Oh?」
Suddenly, Milim ran next to Rimuru, eyes pointed forward.
Milim: 「Who's there?!」
Shion handed Rimuru to Milim as she addressed some presence in front of her.
Benimaru and Soei took a position behind Milim.
Hakuro, standing nearby among the trees. I didn't spot him arriving—he must have been training just now, but his clothing was still in perfect order.
Impressive.
And with Ranga bursting out from Rimuru's shadow, we now had the town's main force gathered together.
Geld was out working on the road project, so he wasn't here.
Besides, the person facing us was familiar to me.
"It has been quite a long time, my lord."
It was Traya, a dryad, and Treyni's younger sister.
I still remember when they were cute little girls back in the days.
Now, they've each grown to the level of putting me on the cliff edge.
How sad…
Fubuki: 「Yeah, about that… But why are you looking like that? Did I do something to tick y'all off?」 I said as she kneeled before me.
"…! N-Never! I'll never let up such a disgraceful state upon my lord."
She immediately toned down the intense killing intent.
The seething rage was something you could detect even from far away, sharp enough to make both Milim and Shion react to it.
Her semitranslucent body was
a bit hazy in places; perhaps she had taken some damage.
It was clear that something had happened to her.
But… sheesh, if you're toning that down, how 'bout you do same for the reverent gaze.
It makes me feel weird.
"…Well, I am afraid it is an emergency. Charybdis, a calamity-class monster, has revived itself.
The power wielded by this great spirit is akin to a demon
lord's. My sisters are keeping it immobile for now, but we are hopelessly outclassed.
Plus…it appears the great spirit is seeking out this land. Charybdis is a tyrant of the skies; ground-based forces can do little against it.
I came here to advise you that you must solidify your defenses and prepare some aerial war
power."
Charybdis—the hell is that…?
"I apologize for our incompetence."
Fubuki: 「Yeah, sure. Don't worry about it. But…」
Fuze: 「Charybdis?! Oh, man, if it's really revived, that's a bigger threat than any demon lord.
Unlike those guys, you can't even reason with this thing. It's classified as a calamity, but I'd say it's safe to assume it's a full-on disaster, if anything…」
As he put it, its strength was demon lord–caliber, but instead of leading an army, it just went around by itself wreaking havoc. A sort of unintelligent monster, to put it another way.
However, thanks to its unique Summon Monster skill, it could call out schools of megalodons, a large, shark-type monster, anytime it wanted.
The otherworldly creatures dissipated after a period of time, once the magicules giving its body physical form were exhausted, but even so, they were an A-minus force that couldn't be ignored.
What's more, Charybdis could summon ten or so at once, making even its servant beasts a formidable presence.
If Fuze was right, then I honestly had to agree with him. This was worse than a demon lord.
Benimaru: 「I don't know why we would be targeted, but if we are, this is great for us.
We must choose the best fighters we have and prepare to counter this force.」
Benimaru was certainly excited, but we needed people who could fly…
Oh! Wait! I forgot!
Fubuki: 「Gabiru, huh. Soei, get him here.」
He nodded and got to it.
"Things couldn't be much worse," Traya began. "For some reason, the summoned megalodons have incarnated themselves in the corpses of some lesser dragons.
They've manifested to creatures over sixty feet in length, like
nothing we have ever seen before, and there are thirteen of them.
My sisters estimate that each one is in A-ranked territory."
"""…"""
Everyone in the room lost their voice at this. A creature as strong as a demon lord, plus thirteen other A-ranked monsters?
I wanted to ask if this was some
kind of a joke.
If I was hell-bent on hiding some stupid identity, then this was certainly not the type of shit I needed to deal with.
Unless I decided, "Scratch identity concealment, I'mma let the world see my glory!"
Benimaru: 「What do we do, my lords.」
Ugh, that's what I want to ask…but I'm the leader of this alliance, and it's my job to make the decisions.
Plus, no matter how much I hemmed and hawed about it, there was only one answer to give.
Rimuru: 「Of course, we'll aim to kill.」
The moment he said it, everyone in the room took action.
Benimaru: 「Heh. I didn't need to ask. In that case, I will begin to prepare.」
Hakuro: 「Indeed, what else could we do?」
Shion: 「Exactly! This will be no sweat for our lords.」
When it came to this sort of thing, they knew exactly what to do.
Nobody voiced any disagreement with me; instead, they sought out their roles and sprang into action. The sight made Fuze lose his head a little.
Fuze: 「Whoa! Is that all? Don't you understand? This is a demon lord–class enemy…」
Rimuru: 「But even if we stalled for time, we can't expect much support from Blumund, can we, Fuzie?」
Fuze: 「Well, no, but…」
Rimuru: 「I'm not fighting to lose this, of course, but if it comes to it, I hope you'll consider taking in some of our residents.」
Fuze: 「Not fighting to lose…? But even the dryads can't handle this monster! Now's no time for this kind of easygoing nonsense. It's a huge problem! One that requires an international response!」
Fubuki: 「Sheesh, you complain a lot. My ears hurt. Besides, Milim's here. What's the worst that could happen?」
Milim: 「I knew you'd understand me! I'm ready to lend a hand or two!」
Good. That's the way.
Rimuru: 「....」
In the end, we ignored Fuze altogether.
◇◇◇
The fight was about to begin.
Rimuru had a little meeting with Fuze and the idiot trio for a while.
I, on the other hand, made sure that everything was intact as they were supposed to be.
Benimaru did it all, really, but I also had a role in cooking up a battle strategy.
Looking at the given information, it was clear that ground attacks were borderline useless.
Geld and his squad wouldn't do much, so he was reserved for defense and taking out the fallen.
He would work with Gabiru, who was given the job of knocking down the minions of the fish spirit.
This seemed to be a sound strategy, so I went along with it.
I did give him a bit of freeway to do what he felt was necessary.
Vester had contacted King Gazel to explain the situation. We didn't even have to mention our pact; Gazel immediately deployed his knights for us.
As he put it: "Hmph. What kind of swordsman would I be if I didn't help my younger fellow student in a pinch?"
He really loved playing the role of the dojo big bro with Rimuru.
The team of one hundred knights he quickly put together had already gone on ahead.
The plan was for them to strike at Charybdis from behind as we
advanced from the front, in a classic pincer attack.
We'd be relying on them quite a bit this time.
An additional four hundred knights were also preparing to step in, just in case this first attack ended in failure.
It'd be nice if this plan of ours worked, but we needed to consider what would happen if it didn't.
Gazel was no fool; I was sure
he'd be using this attack to gather intel on the creature for himself.
I didn't mind since I was planning to defeat it right here and therefore didn't need to
worry about things after that.
That'd make life easier for us.
Beyond that, all we had to do was wait for the plan to unfold.
We used the time to have Treyni (who had joined us on-site) tell us more about Charybdis.
I would give Benimaru and his friends a chance to shine, and if they weren't up to the task, I'll simply end the life of that fish.
Treyni: 「This Charybdis was born a very, very long time ago, running through cycles of death and rebirth.
It is the cruel, brutal ruler of the skies.
One could even call it the heaven-sent child of Veldora the Storm Dragon, ruler and guardian of the forest.」
Huh? Did Treyni say something important there? Because it sounded kind of important.
Rimuru: 「Wait a flipping moment. Heaven-sent…uhh, whatever of Veldora? Did I hear right? 'Cause it sounded pretty important to me!」
Well…
Treyni: 「Charybdis is a monster created by the accumulated piles of magicules that leaked out from Veldora.」
Hah, look at that. You got yourself a sibling.
Well, it all depends on them, I guess.
I don't see Rimuru ready to deal with stuff like that.
War over the throne and forest? Dude, that's a real pain.
Treyni: 「Even the high-level wind magic at my command had no effect on Charybdis.
Under Magic Interference, we believe the effects of all magic are greatly reduced.
What's more, the biggest difficulty lies in how it annuls any sort of flight-based magic.
Try to make contact with it, and you'll lose your magic and crash to the ground.
Losing the advantage of height makes it a very difficult enemy to fight.」
Fubuki: 「What? Don't look at me like that. What does that have to do with me?」
Rimuru: 「I see… So flight magic works by taking advantage of magicule resistance around you. But does that mean Benimaru's Airflight wouldn't work, either?
Fubuki: 「Yeah. That's definitely gonna cause some trouble.」
Benimaru: 「Geh. Seriously? This guy's no slouch. So, I guess flame broiling it with ranged attacks will be pretty tough.」
Shuna: 「It seems likely, my brother. If magicule-driven attacks won't work on it, that puts rather large restrictions on our offense.」
Benimaru and his friends, meanwhile, were already debating how they were going to fight.
Milim: 「Heh-heh-heh… Aren't you guys forgetting something important?
Don't tell me you've forgotten who I am! Some big ol' fish isn't gonna make me break a sweat. I'll give 'im one heck of a beating!」
Rimuru: 「Really?!」
Shion: 「I'm afraid we can't allow that. It'll put you in a bind, Sir Rimuru, and this is an issue for our town to handle.」
Shuna: 「She's right. It'd be a mistake to rely on her for everything, just because she's our friend.
But if Sir Rimuru is in serious trouble, we will gladly ask for her support then.」
Rimuru: 「...」
Meh, not like anything would change.
I'm still here, so tough luck, Milim. Sucks to be you.
Milim hung her head in disappointment.
She was ready for action, changing her clothes for it and everything, so the shock of being refused must have been intense.
She stole a few glances at me, looking ready to cry, but I couldn't do anything for her.
It was a disappointment for me, too.
So that's what was on our plate, then. It was us against Charybdis.
◇◇◇
My Universal Perception picked up on some abnormalities.
Even from afar, the eerie sight was astounding. Giant sharks, over sixty feet in length, were gracefully swimming across the sky.
Their bodies were protected by solid, stiff dragon scales that would assuredly deflect most garden-variety attacks.
It was shaped like a shark, but at the core, it was a completely different monster.
With them was another, even more bizarre sight—the gigantic dragon
accompanying the thirteen sharks.
Its size was enormous, making the megalodons look tiny by comparison.
Maybe three or so times their size? Its total length had to be over 150 feet or so.
Damn, that isn't even an overgrown shark anymore.
There was a single large eyeball on the bottom of its wedged, sharklike head; on the top was a pair of solid-looking horns that appeared as if they could gouge their way through solid stone, or anything else for that matter.
I wouldn't bitch up and about if this was the creature I met destroying the forest a few millennia ago.
In fact, I might've taken it under me or something, but…
But with that ugly universal reject being called a beautiful work of art—Twilight was a fool.
That beast was nothing near the word beautiful.
I'd rather eat shit with a smile than to touch a part of that horror.
Well, yeah, that's not what we're dealing with here, so there's no use remembering those moments.
By comparison, its limbs looked like mere decoration, tacked on to its sharkshaped torso—but the two pairs of wings on its back, one larger than the other, looked almost exactly like Veldora's.
Charybdis exuded a weird, ominous sort of beauty.
And with that, hostilities began.
Benimaru: 「Eat this, 『Hellflare』!」
Benimaru kicked things off by choosing his biggest, strongest wide-range flame attack.
Always something classic about using your most powerful move
the moment you meet your enemy…
I might be overthinking things, but didn't stuff like that never work?
I mean, using your killer move at the beginning of the fight?
And the results?
Benimaru: 「You're kidding me! I put everything I had into that…」
Called it.
Benimaru's frustrated muttering was understandable. Charybdis continued to leisurely soar through the air.
Its megalodon companion had fallen to earth, mostly burned up by the attack, but Charybdis itself was the same as before.
Some of the scales that burned off were replaced by new ones, but that was all.
Fubuki: 「All right. Let's follow the plan: Break them up and take each one out.」
Geld and his team were the next to launch an attack after Benimaru.
I had my command post set up on a slightly elevated hill, so I could see the action unfold
below me.
This force under Geld's command was an elite one, all high orcs ranked B or higher.
Anyone ranked below that would potentially get in the way here, so we had them handle the town evacuation instead.
They numbered less than a hundred but still took a leading role in our strategy.
Using the trees as cover, the force began trying to entice the megalodons to come closer so they could strike.
This, sadly, did not work well.
We were anticipating that the sharks wouldn't be able to move very much surrounded by trees…but with their powerful bodies, they could simply raze any trunks that stood in the way like so much dried kindling.
Following that, the megalodons unleashed a blitzkrieg attack. This involved bashing into the enemy, using scales sharpened like blades to slice into them—
you could call it Blade Charge or something similar, if you were inclined to give it a name.
The elites under Geld's command took evasive maneuvers, but the sharks were just too big.
Now, the orcs were the ones caught in a forest prison, with the trees getting in their way.
Thanks to everyone being geared for defense like Geld was, there were no apparent deaths.
But there were definitely some serious injuries.
Geld was enraged.
With a battle roar, he faced a megalodon in front of him, halting its charge.
His entire body was covered in armor, which protected him from the sharp, bladelike scales.
Using his ponderous strength, he stopped the shark in its tracks.
Geld: 「Now! Get 'im!」
The moment the order was made, a horde of high orc fighters took action.
They moved slowly, but the damage from their battle axes was heavy.
Little by little, cuts and slashes appeared on the megalodon's body.
But sadly, none were lethal.
Then…
Gabiru: 「『Vortex Crash』!」
The main force for the battle arrived, a flashy entrance.
I heard another scream, and a flash of light descended from the sky to land squarely on the megalodon.
The creature died right there, and it was never aware of what happened to it.
Geld's luck didn't end there.
Gabiru: 「As ordered, here's a bunch of healing potion.」
Geld: 「Thanks, Sir Gabiru. Let's show these fishes how it is done.」
Gabiru: 「Ooh! That sounds like fun. If we can help you out, I would gladly take the
opportunity!」
This particular battle plan was meant to deepen the bonds
between them, no doubt.
With the conflict from before, I thought it cool to set them up, a little ploy on my part to keep things friendly, deepening their bond and raising their battle level in the teamwork department.
Now, they were tag teaming up against the little fishes.
Before long, they had succeeded in slaying two more of them.
◇◇◇
Lethal combat was breaking out elsewhere as Geld commenced his attack.
Gobta, following Hakuro's orders, was using his Case Cannon to strike at megalodons.
It packed a powerful punch, but there was no way that a bullet about an inch wide could strike a lethal blow on these guys.
It had opened a gash in the megalodon's stomach, about half a yard in width, but all that did was add fuel to its anger.
Gobta: 「Uhh, is this even gonna work? Because I'm pretty sure it isn't!」
Hakuro: 「Hoh-hoh-hoh! Of course it won't. I lured it over here so I could have all of you defeat it.」
Gobta: 「Gahh! You're just bullying me, old man!」
A great fool…
Just as Hakuro declared, he intended to have the goblin riders defeat this megalodon for him.
The riders were now surrounding it, ready to stake their lives on this game.
Each, in turn, would take a stab with their spears, then edge away.
When the shark targeted one, another would attack in their place.
They were all frantic. They weren't quite as speedy as the shark, but their opponent was enormous.
Being able to maneuver more nimbly in the forest gave Gobta's team a slight advantage.
Hakuro: 「If worse comes to worst, we have full potions. As long as you aren't instantly killed, you'll be fine!」
Gobta: 「Whoa! Are you serious, old man?」
Only Gobta had the presence of mind to lodge a complaint.
Hakuro: 「Come on! The bait needs to fully grab its attention! Attackers, don't think about anything else—just put all your power into pummeling your foe! But don't forget to fall back after your attack. If you do forget, well, it'll be a painless death, at least. Hoh-hoh-hoh!」
He was doing a great job.
Up in the sky, things were getting pretty explosive.
Soei was there, and like Benimaru, he was only capable of using Airflight—and he wasn't particularly great at it, either.
Now Soka's team of five was hovering over a single megalodon.
I gotta hand it to Soei—the moment he spotted that loophole, he immediately made use of it. But he was just getting started.
This was indicated by the way both the "real" Soei and four of his Replication-conjured clones were each latched on to a different shark.
Soei: 「『Monster Puppet String』!」
Soei's four clones each launched the skill at once. It was a secret move, letting the caster fully control monsters that lacked intelligence.
Special bewitching string was used to tap into the neural network that carried messages from the brain, replacing them with fabricated orders instead.
This immediately placed four megalodons under Soei's control—using the dead bodies of other animals just came back to bite these guys.
Controlling each of his replicated bodies, Soei had the megalodons attack one another.
They split into two pairs, feasting upon each other's flesh.
Soei: 「Take those four out when the time is right.」
He shouted to the dragonewts above, using the fifth megalodon he was personally riding to head for Charybdis.
It was such a brilliant, dazzling display that you almost forgot those sharks were supposed to be A-rank.
Soka: 「Understood, Sir Soei. Leave the rest to us.」
Soka gave him a quick salute, steeling her gaze at the megalodons.
A bunch of other nonsense were going on, but I didn't really mind.
Even more impressive were Shion and Ranga. They must've formed a team when I wasn't paying attention.
They were given the order to attack, but exactly how that was done wasn't explained.
But just there, they were showing off their excellence.
Shion jumped on the back of Ranga, now at his default huge size.
He started running—and jumped right off my command post on the hill, sprinting straight into the air.
Wait. Into the air???
Ranga was running in midair, making a few powerful leaps as he did, as if there were invisible footholds to stand on.
He was using the extra skill Wind Manipulation to create them.
Pretty skillful feat there.
I've never actually thought of it.
Maybe you could call it Windwalker or something.
But anyway, it meant that Ranga could run even faster in midair than he could on the ground.
This art used magicules, however, which meant that Magic Interference could affect it…or so I thought.
As I watched, trying to figure out what he was doing, Ranga showed off some truly amazing moves.
In a moment, he was in the air above a megalodon and jumping off, gaining speed as he practically dive-bombed the enemy directly below him.
The moment that Ranga and the megalodon crossed paths,
she brought her sword down, the light-purple glow it emitted arcing across the air.
She had used her aura to expand and strengthen the sword, extending it to over three times its normal size.
The sword descended…and neatly removed the megalodon's
head.
Shion: 「Behold! 『Decapitating Demon Blade』!」
Fubuki: 「Hey!!」
Shion: 「But…」
Fubuki: 「What!?!」
Shion: 「N-Nothing…」
I sue you to life imprisonment for your violation of copyright!
Yeah, she thought it would be the best idea in the world to use the name of my art for her own benefit.
You should know that I thought hard and long for that one, miss!
Decapitating Demon Blade was the name of the skill.
Instead of unleashing pure aura like Ogresword Cannon, it simply formed it into a set shape for use.
But thanks to working with Ranga to gain as much speed as she possibly could for the strike, the tip of the extended sword flickered faster than the speed of sound, cleaving right through the megalodon's head.
It was a simple, yet absolutely heroic move, I thought, and in that way it befitted Shion well.
If she kept it up, I might just let the crime go unpunished.
Yes, the keyword is 'might'.
Now that the shark's Magic Interference was gone, Ranga shot some lightning down to burn the body, and that was that.
Shion and Ranga used the same tactics to take out two more of the sharks.
Shion: 「Mindless, tactless beasts aren't gonna do. What about targeting the leader, Ranga?」
Ranga: 「Shion, that opinion speaks to my own heart as well. Let us go and see what
this foe's strength truly is.」
Shion: 「That's the spirit, Ranga. Let's do it!」
Their excuses made, and the two of them sprinted toward Charybdis.
Uhh, did I give them any such orders, 'cause I'm pretty sure I didn't.
Well, a little bit of experience would do, actually.
◇◇◇
Rimuru: 「Sheesh, what's it with the smiles, guys?」
Benimaru: 「Worry not, Sir Rimuru. Soei is second only to me in terms of real strength. This is the perfect chance to test out Charybdis's powers.」
Fubuki: 「Yeah, that's the point of the whole thing, you see.」
Benimaru: 「Yes, I figured as much…uhh, Sir Rimuru?」
Rimuru: 「Right…」
Hakuro: 「Ah, how disappointing. Your mobility and ability to avoid danger have improved, but your offense is still woefully lacking. You couldn't even defeat a single one of them… Once this battle is over, I will need to toughen up your training.」
Gobta: 「Whoa! Come on, gramps! If you toughen it up any further, I'm gonna die! Like, really, really die!」
Hakuro: 「Did you just call me gramps?」
Gobta: 「…Well shit.」
Following that—
Gobta: 「Aghh?!」
I heard a pained scream from Gobta, and then all was quiet. I wasn't sure what had happened.
Maybe some passing megalodon bit him or something, huh? So I guess we now have one casualty. I'm sure he's not dead, though.
I'll just believe that he's still all right.
Yeah, that'll probably do the trick.
Things have been going well so far. I don't see the plan going south.
Even at a time like this, Milim was still wheedling incessantly.
I had no time for her at the moment.
According to Treyni, even Aerial Blade—the strongest elemental magic spell she had at her disposal—was reduced to only about a tenth of its natural
power.
Far from the deciding blow it was meant to be. It did deal some damage, but as she put it, the wounds immediately healed themselves.
Plus, after the attack had continued for a while, it suddenly flew into a violent
rage—the pain receptors must've taken their time transmitting their message to its brain.
She complained a lot about it, so I had to pacify her by lending off a bit of energy.
Some little words of praise and head patts also did the deed.
Treyni: 「It suddenly sped up and attempted to ram me.
Each of the scales on its body slashed at us, like small individual swords. The light rays from its eye scattered
the nearby magicules.
To beings like ourselves, which created their corporeal forms through magicules, it was a very difficult attack to deal with.」
She recounted the situation for us.
Benimaru: 「Its single eye flashed red for a moment. That might be a sign that Charybdis
is preparing to attack.」
Fubuki: 「Uh, guys, I saw it, too, okay? I was just, you know, taking a more laid-back approach to assessing it. As for them…」
Rimuru: 「I just alerted Shion and Ranga through Thought Communication, but I don't know if that'll do.」
Fubuki: 「Hopefully…」
Scratch that, they were soon caught up in a death situation.
Soei and the others were exposed to a truly massive attack.
Treyni: 「My heavens! I had no idea it possessed an attack like that…」
Benimaru: 「This…is bad. It can't be evaded.」
The tension was clear in Treyni's and Benimaru's voices. From every inch of its own body, Charybdis was unleashing a calamity, one that would spread death and destruction wherever it went.
Milim, having nothing else to do, was offering color commentary to me now.
Shion, Ranga and Soei were now exposed to danger.
Soei: 「Ngh, I can't dodge them all. Ranga and I have Shadow Motion, but…」
Shion: 「Dodge them? What a childish thing to suggest. This won't be enough to kill me!」
Her eyes were bloodshot, and I was pretty sure she had lost all sense of reason.
From this alone, I can tell she's gonna be a walking disaster after some good ol' booze.
Gotta keep an eye out.
Ranga leaped away from their foe's Magic Interference radius, then used the extra skill Wind Manipulation to turn back toward
Charybdis.
The first wave of scales had already reached him, cutting through skin.
Just as he promised, he intended to shield Shion with his own body.
Shion: 「Are you crazy, Ranga? You need to go!」
Shion shouted, regaining her senses.
Ranga: 「Heh-heh-heh… I imagine that our lords, too, would select the option that gave them the greatest chance of survival.
But with a body this size, I can not find shadows suitable enough for me to use Shadow Motion with. You go alone, Soei.」
Soei: 「…The greatest chance of survival, eh? Then I'm staying here. But don't worry. I'll make the real me retreat before I die.」
Shion: 「Ha! How Soei-like of you. In that case, may we all live to see another day!」
Shion laughed, voice loud and clear.
I guess it's time to act.
But before I could, a figure dashed past my command post, making it just in time to steal the spotlight.
I knew who it was.
Rimuru: 「You people really are a bunch of idiots, you know that? You could at least count on me now, of all times.」
The results unfolded in a single moment. I imagine not too many knew what had happened.
The wall of innumerable scales that loomed over them just a moment ago had now neatly disappeared.
Soei: 「A…astounding. Well done, Sir Rimuru…」
It was Soei who found his voice first. And really, I was just as surprised as he was.
That was definitely 『Gluttony』 in action.
I figured I'd meet it sometime later, but not this soon.
And to Rimuru of all people.
Small world, I guess.
But really, it suited him best.
With his race, I'm pretty sure its potential was best fully realized when used by him.
Rimuru: 「Leave the rest to me. You three go back down and rest.」
Shion: 「B-But—」
Ranga: 「We can still be of help.」
Fubuki: 「Now's not the time, guys.」
I decided to finally leave my post and join them in air.
If I kept on watching in amusement, the forest damage count would only continuously increase.
From the looks of it, Treyni was definitely going to complain, so I figured my choice was good.
Soei retreated back, apparently convinced.
Soei: 「I wish you good luck!」
Shion: 「Be careful, Sir Rimuru, Sir Fubuki.」
Ranga: 「You may summon me at any time.」
Ranga carried them off after they all said their farewells.
Great, so, what to do.
Well, better do my job, then.
If I was going to keep my power level hidden, then—
Fubuki: 「You do the attacking, I'll be watching out for you and reducing the damages done to the land.
Perhaps a few counterattacks here and there for the bonuses.」
Rimuru: 「Really? I'll attack, and you defend? I'm up for it! Come to think of it, we've never really fought together before, no?」
Hmm, that's true. I mostly do it solo, so I may be lacking in the teamwork department.
Well, that's what life's all about.
Learning new things and trying stuff out.
That was how it has always been.
Fubuki: 「Yeah? Well, let's show them how much of menaces we are when teaming up.」
Rimuru: 「Heh.」
So, our mission to conquer Charybdis was now fully under way.
—————————————————————————————————
「Note: Well, what's up, my dudes?! Life's goin' easy on ya? I can't really say it's been particularly easygoing, but hell, I've seen others going through shit, so I can at least say it's been plain sailing.
Here's another piece of this fanfic introduced to you by yours truly. If there's anything cool you'd like to say (emphasis on the 'cool'), then you know where to go to.
I kinda feel like some lost authors (random writers declared missing) are suddenly popping up and around without a care in the world.
I certainly do not mind, so my simple wish is that they manage to stay longer before jumping back into the lost volcano.
I hope you weren't too bored reading my previous chapters ('cause I kinda felt it was somewhat bland).
Once again, it's me being a dirty scam to increase the word count, but since you've probably read up to this point, no use telling you to skip it all.
I hope you remain alive to continue reading this fanfic. You are not permitted to die until you see this particular work to completion.
After that, well, whatever you choose to do with your life is of no concern to me. For all I care, go jump into a volcano or something, the power's truly in your hand, my dude.
So, with all the nonsense in my mind literally lain out in clear details, I reluctantly wave you lads goodbye. The keyword was most definitely 'reluctantly.'」
Word Count: 「5795」.