DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN NOW READ THREE TO SIX CHAPTERS AHEAD. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE LINK.
----
Already, the Ｈ̷̿͝Ｙ̶̎͂Ｄ̸̈́̐Ｒ̵̈́͝Ａ̷͗̒ was regrowing its third head, despite Rimuru having just devoured the previous one entirely.
"It really is just a construct." Rimuru couldn't help but state the obvious, his eyes narrowing as he watched the grotesque head slowly reform. "And it was so strong. I can't help but wonder just how strong that Kaede is…"
"For the last time, that's not me." Kaede added, although her gaze never left the figure resembling her, still standing far beyond the atmosphere and watching them from above.
"Cease your mindless drivel." Luminous flew between the two of them, her expression remaining composed despite the monstrous sight looming over Tempest. "Both of you. Or have you yet to notice that she has done nothing but observe us this entire time?"
"Well, that's hard not to notice, honestly." Rimuru agreed, his expression becoming more serious as he looked toward the distant figure. It was something that had been bothering him for a while now as well.
'Her magicule count is just as high as Milim's… perhaps even higher. Not to mention that she's supposedly some kind of eldritch being capable of making people combust and explode simply from looking at her. Someone like that is definitely stronger than the three of us combined. The moment she decides to involve herself directly in the fight, we'd be in serious trouble.
And yet, she hasn't done anything other than sic her dragon on us.
What's her angle?'
Rimuru's eyes remained fixed on the distant figure, his expression becoming increasingly wary as another possibility crossed his mind.
It might only be a test.
<
<
<
<
<
<
Rimuru's eyes widened slightly. "Glad to know I won't die instantly. Who would have thought that was a thing?"
"Anyone who's ever experienced any form of fictional media." Kaede deadpanned.
"That was a rhetorical question." Rimuru sighed. Still, he was partly relieved at the resistance to supposed instant death.
He could only assume that was what had happened to Shion, or at least something similar.
'If I didn't already have the ability to revive the dead, who knows what I would be thinking right now.'
Rimuru's expression hardened as he drew his katana, the blade immediately becoming enveloped in the black flames and violent lightning of his Ultimate Skill, [Lord Of Storms, Veldora]. The air around the weapon distorted under the sheer concentration of power being poured into it, black lightning crawling along the length of the blade like living veins while the flames twisted around its edge.
'Even this doesn't seem like it might be enough.' His eyes remained fixed on the not-Kaede standing beyond the atmosphere. 'Let's go further, Raphael. Wrap [Beelzebub] around it too.'
<
The moment Raphael responded, the power surrounding the blade changed.
The black flames compressed inward, while the lightning became denser and more violent, folding around the katana before being swallowed into its edge.
The sword heated to ridiculous levels almost instantly, the metal beginning to glow as its surface shifted through colours that shouldn't have existed. It wasn't simply becoming hotter; the very properties of the weapon were being altered by the combination of [Beelzebub] and [Lord Of Storms, Veldora], creating something that seemed less like a sword and more like a phenomenon given a physical form.
Rimuru raised the blade, then he swung.
A slash of black energy erupted from the katana, tearing across the sky with such overwhelming force that it seemed to consume the space around it. Yet calling it energy was almost inaccurate. The attack possessed none of the ordinary qualities of energy, as though the force itself had been stripped of the very concept that allowed it to exist.
The three heads of the Ｈ̷̿͝Ｙ̶̎͂Ｄ̸̈́̐Ｒ̵̈́͝Ａ̷͗̈́Ａ̷͗̈́̒̒ roared defiantly as they collided head-on with the incoming slash.
It didn't matter.
The black slash passed through all three heads as though they weren't there, slicing through their enormous bodies in a single motion. The impossible force contained within the attack didn't merely cut them apart, either, the devouring power of [Beelzebub] seized everything it touched, dragging the Hydra's massive forms into the slash itself and consuming them as the attack continued onward.
And directly ahead of it stood the not-Kaede.
The slash approached her with enough power to tear through the Hydra as though it were nothing, carrying the combined force of [Beelzebub] and [Lord Of Storms, Veldora] directly toward her.
The sky lit up with darkness.
That was the only explanation Rimuru could give for what happened.
The darkness that bloomed across the heavens was darker than the emptiness of space itself, spreading outward in a vast, silent wave that swallowed the surrounding light. For a moment, it looked as though the sky had been ripped open like a tear in a cloth, revealing an impossible void behind reality.
The immense slash, fuelled by the combined devouring force of [Beelzebub] and [Lord Of Storms, Veldora], suddenly vanished as though it had been consumed by something even greater.
A small black crystal had formed on the surface of an even blacker shield.
Rimuru's eyes widened.
The shield resembled the one Kaede carried in her hands. But only in appearance. This was something else entirely.
It was larger, darker, and far more imposing, its surface seeming to absorb the surrounding light rather than reflect it. Even from an impossible distance, its presence pressed down upon the world with such overwhelming weight that Rimuru could feel the difference immediately.
It wasn't merely a better version of Kaede's shield. It was as though someone had taken the very concept of that shield and perfected it beyond recognition.
Its presence alone felt greater than the combined existence of the three weapons wielded by the three Demon Lords.
And the small black crystal embedded within its surface continued to glow faintly.
As though it had just finished eating.
"What the hell is the meaning of this!?" Kaede roared. "Just who are you!?"
All of the sutures in the sky closed at once, hiding the smiling faces that had been peering through them.
Even without the images of dozens of her own faces staring down at her from the heavens, Kaede still couldn't shake the unease building within her chest. The situation was starting to look more and more like the worst possible scenario, especially when she noticed that even the shield surrounding the mysterious figure was exactly the same as the one she had possessed back when she was still in the game.
By now, she was already receiving messages from her actual daughters in Maple Tree. Many of them wanted to come and help, but Kaede could feel a deep sense of dread at the very thought of them becoming involved with whatever this was.
No matter how she looked at it, no matter how much the evidence seemed to suggest otherwise, the person looking down upon the world was not Kaede.
It wasn't her.
"Here she comes." Rimuru's voice suddenly alerted her.
Not-Kaede finally moved.
She leaned forward into her shield before suddenly lunging downward, accelerating toward them with enough force to distort the space around her.
Of course, Kaede immediately moved to intercept her, raising her own shield to meet the incoming attack.
The next instant was made entirely of pain.
The forest of Jura lost nearly a quarter of itself as Kaede was violently driven into the earth.
Her appearance was pathetic.
Her shield had disintegrated upon impact, while her armour had been reduced to little more than strips of twisted metal and sludge, much of it burning against what remained of her inner garments.
As for her body itself, she was a bloody mess.
Her limbs were splayed across the ground at unnatural angles, several of them pierced straight through by the force of the impact. Even her eyeballs had melted away, leaving two bloody holes in her skull from which thick black sludge oozed.
All of that, however, lasted for only a brief moment.
In the very next instant, Kaede's body quite literally snapped back into perfect condition.
Still, she remained lying there motionless, her appearance still painfully indecent and nearly naked. Her eyes slowly blinked as the light within them trembled ever so slightly.
"What just happened, Artificia?"
She had activated nearly every defensive skill and ability available to her at the moment of impact. Multilayer Barriers, [Devour], [Ravenous Ward], [Absolute Guard], and countless other defensive abilities she had acquired throughout her years of devouring monsters in Jura had all been active.
And none of them had meant anything.
That Not-Kaede possessed [Devour]. The true [Devour]. And she had simply consumed everything in her path.
Including Kaede herself.
Yes.
Kaede should have died back there. In fact, she had died.
The proof was the activation of the subskill [Stout Guardian], an ability from the game that allowed her to survive a fatal attack with 1 HP remaining. The skill had activated precisely because Kaede's HP had reached zero.
Which meant that, for that brief moment, Kaede had actually died.
Above her, sparks and enormous waves of energy continued to bloom across the sky as Rimuru and Luminous battled Not-Kaede.