Story 6: Chapter 2: An Unexpected Turn (Patreon)

Story 6: Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: An Unexpected Turn

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– Salvatore –

The Freedom Academy was as I had expected. Just like the cliché school for adventurers in an isekai manga.

I reached this place two weeks after I had separated from Shizue.

There was even a Guild attached to the place. The guild was run by Yuuki Kagurazaka, from what I remembered, one of the villains of the series.

My memories of his abilities are a bit hazy. It has been over two decades.

The guy looked like a typical lanky japanese youth but there was something in his well mannered amiable words that put me at edge against him.

I don’t know but I was feeling danger from the guy, so I tried to stay away from him as much as possible. I did however try and spar against him.

It was a simple spar and despite what I might have felt about the guy, he was a skilled fighter. 

I lost a few matches but gained far more than him in those matches.

I gained a few Skills and finally understood how this guy could become one of the strongest villains in a world full of broken people like Rimuru Tempest and Guy Crimson.

Unique Skill: Creator.

It had three basic functions.

Skill Creation: It can use the user’s soul energy to make Skills they desire. The desire has to border on desperation though.

This alone was a Skill which made people shout hax.

Although there were severe restrictions for the Skill.

The stronger the Skill created, the more the energy required. It couldn’t create anything the user wanted without limit. Creating Unique Skills was nigh impossible. 

Soul Energy cannot be restored easily and the energy is lost permanently every time the Skill is used. It was quite similar to naming monsters. So the user couldn’t go on spamming the Skill. This was even more so for humans who didn't have enough magicules.

The User has to know how the Skill works.

This part however was partially taken care of by the second sub-Skill, Analysis.

This Skill allows the user to Analyse anything the touch and any Skill that they see directly.

This reduces the first sub-skill’s restrictions by a lot.

The real danger was the third sub-skill.

Anti-Skill. It is basically a body composition that invalidates all forces, skills, abilities or magic the user touches. It however cannot counteract two or more properties when it comes to magic and arts fusion.

And this was the only reason I was even alive.

My Negation Zone came not only from my own Skill but also from my Sacred Gear. This prevents him from analysing my Skills and protects me.

He tried to figure it out but wasn’t able to because I never let him use his skill on me and pretended like the Skill just came naturally to me so I didn’t know how it worked.

After a week of futile effort he did give up but not before doing something.

He started showing a kind facade in front of me. Like a helpful senior helping a junior. It took me a few days to realise that he had planted a parasite in me.

I could remove the parasite immediately but that would get his attention so all I did was used some of my energy and isolated the parasite, making it harmless while still keeping his contact so that he doesn’t figure out that I removed it.

That said, he is without a doubt, a genius.

A once in a century kind of genius.

I couldn’t defeat the current him even if we were on the same level of power.

And this was a big wake up call for me.

I went ahead and stayed in the Academy, teaching the children about normal things, arts and magic.

All the time, waiting for Rimuru so that I can leave with him for Ramiris’ place.

I did hear about the rumours of a monster nation.

I didn’t sit still either.

I did gain Yuuki’s abilities though. Thought Acceleration was a massive boon. There was another Skill called Thought Direction. It basically worked as a Forced Focus.

I didn't test them in this place where I didn't know who was watching me.

These little gremlins were not ready to accept any teachers at all and only accepted me when they learned that I was also a student of Shizue.

And I have to say that they have grown on me.

Kenya is a hothead who idolised Shizue and wanted to use Fire Style swordsmanship.

Ryota is usually timid and follows him in whatever he does.

Gale is quite calm and quiet most of the time.

Alice is a tsundere princess.

And Chloe O’ Bell is the most calm and collected of all as well as a prodigy.

It took me some time but I got them all to trust me and now they consider me as their teacher.

The experience of dealing with children in the church’s orphanage came in handy.

“Teacher. I learned how to do Magic Coating on swords.” I looked at the source of the voice and found a cute girl with black hair and black, ten years old looking at me eagerly for praise. A smile found its way to my lips as I remembered the figure of my cute brother overlapping with the girl’s. He used to be excited as well and showed me when he learned anything new or did his chores, trying to fish for praise.

I patted the cute girl’s head. “Congratulations. I knew you could do it. You even completed it before everyone else.  So, what do you want for the reward, Chloe?”

“Candied fruits.” The girl replied while enjoying me caressing her head.

"Okay. I will make some for you."

Isaiah was always a quiet child and among all my students here, Chloe is the quietest one.

I got up and went into the kitchen. These children were basically kidnaped from their homes. And were now thrust into a near death situation with no visible ends.

In my time here, I have also researched the way to find Ramiris' place. I needed to prepare for the case where Rimuru didn't appear.

I had already joined the Free Guild as an adventurer previously when travelling with Shizue and even went on some missions with her. It was basically her teaching me.

Now however, I was soloing it so as to not expose my Skills to anyone.

The job of an adventurer helped me get some information and do some work which wouldn’t have been possible normally sitting as a teacher.

From the map given to me by Shizue, I was able to locate the approximate location of the cave. But the problem was that that particular location was already closed. There were apparently several locations for reaching the Dwelling of Spirits but many of them have been destroyed over the years.

I didn’t let that stop me and got some clues to another entrance.

The labyrinth where the Spirits lived was created by Ramiris’ Intrinsic Skill, The Small World and its opening lies in the Ulg National Park in the northern part of a frontier region called Ulgrasia.

We ate our breakfast and left for our class together.

I was really enjoying these peaceful days.

But unfortunately all good things end after sometime.

…

…

I. was awakened from my sleep by the shouts of Kenya who was banging on my door.

“Sensei, Sensei, come out fast! There is trouble!”

I quickly got out of bed and ran out to see what was going on.

Outside, Kenya looked shaken and was sweating. This was probably not a prank. “Sensei, Chloe… Chloe she…”

“What happened to Chloe?” I asked him as I picked him up and raced to the student dorms.

“She’s in pain. Shouting. Power everywhere.”

What!

“Explain.”

“Don’t know. Alice said Chloe was making painful noises in her sleep as if having a bad dream but started to flail around and shout in pain as if she was being attacked and now there is power everywhere.”

I didn’t need him to tell me about it.Her power was radiating outside and I would be a complete amateur not to see or feel the surge.

I quickly reached the place and there were some teachers already present there.

“Salvatore. It’s…”

“What’s happening?”

One of the teachers shook his head. “She is at her end. Her magicules have grown beyond her young body’s control these last few months.It’s tearing her apart. I saw this phenomenon once before in another child summoned before. As hard as it might be to think, I think you should end her life or the explosion could ruin half the city.”

…

End her life?

I stared incredulously at the man.

He was asking me to kill her.

“Why? Her magicules were not that strong. How did it suddenly increase so much?” I asked, completely ignoring the previous statement. Snapping at anyone will not change anything.

“Elisha has checked and it seems that something draconic has caused her and the rest of the children’s powers to rise. Dragons are the strongest of monsters and the magicules released by them can cause different effects in different people. Stronger ones even make strong and dense miasma around them which give birth to monsters. I don’t know how they could get something like that.” He shook his head.

My heart was sinking with each of his words.

Draconic.

The only Draconic thing around the students these past few months… was me.

I pushed past the teachers and reached the bed where Chloe’s powers were running out of control and some of the teachers were maintaining a barrier around her.

“Sensei… will she be… will Chlo-chi be alright?” Alice caught my sleeve and asked me in fear.

Seeing something like this must be hard for her. Especially when something extremely similar can happen to her at a later date.

“She… will be alright. I won’t let anything happen to her… or any one of you. I promise.” I clenched my fingers and patted her head.

The rampaging energy might have been too much for the teachers who were still normal humans but for an Enlightened like me, it was quite easy.

I walked forward.

“Salvatore… be careful, she’s dangerous.” Someone tried to stop me but I released my magical power and he stepped back.

No one in the school knew about me being an Enlightened except Yuuki. I had asked for it to be that way so as to not be bothered by the Guild for random tasks.

The other teachers moved back in shock.

I even heard the exclamations of Enlightened and Sage around me but paid them no heed.

“Negation Zone.”

A small field spread around me and tore through the barriers and covered Chloe. Her rampaging Magicules were calmed in an instant.

Negation Zone was far stronger than the Delete Field and could dispel the magicules in an area to stop any kind of magic or Skills.

This was a temporary cure however.

“Carter.” I called the first teacher who talked to me and he soon recovered from his shock and came to me.

“Yes.”

“I will be taking her to get her cured. I will return for the other students when I am done with Chloe. See to it that my students remain safe till then. Can I trust you with them?”

“I… I will do that.”

“Sensei…” Alice and the rest of the students looked at me and it looked like they thought I was abandoning them.

Memories of Shizue must be flashing through their minds now.

“I need to go alone with Chloe to reach a place fast enough. If we all go together, we might delay the treatment. I promise that I will come back after curing her. Do you trust me?” I asked.

They nodded.

“Okay.”

I picked Chloe up and carried her with me.

Carter followed me with the rest of the teachers and a few of them stayed and took care of the children.

“Salvatore, you are a Sage! Why didn’t you tell us?”

“We can talk about that later, Carter. First I need your help.” I brought out a bag of gold coins and handed it over to him. “Get me enough supplies for a month-long journey including water. Be as fast as you can. We are racing against time.”

“What can you even do, Sal? I have never heard of anyone surviving this.”

“You haven’t but I have.” I quickly replied. “Shizue Izawa was summoned at the age of five and still lived. She was out to find how it happened. I think I might know and I want to try.”

He stopped and then nodded after a few moments.

I started preparing for my equipment too.

The guild was close to the school and things were prepared in a few hours.

I picked up Chloe and tied her on my back with a belt.

She needed to be within the range of my Negation Zone to keep her magic from rampaging but I couldn’t keep my Negation Zone active at full power for a month or so long, not to mention if I encountered dangers on the way. The main reason why I was waiting for Rimuru’s arrival.

Before leaving, I gave a piece of paper to the students with the location of the Dwelling of Spirits with instructions to give it to a teacher with Shizue’s mask if I am not back after 2 months.

And thus started one more journey.

- Kagali -

She looked at the young man leaving the Freedom Academy with a child strapped on his back. The commotion was large enough for her to notice.

Yuuki was not present in the country, he was out due to some work.

Sensing the appearance of one of her Harlequins, she looked back to find Tear.

“Charybdis was slain by Demon Lord Milim Nava. The core was retrieved.” She handed over the core of the monster to her.

She however handed back the Core to her. “Take this and follow that man. Take some of Clayman’s people with you and stop him. If he surrenders, take him in and make him a Majin. If he doesn’t surrender, let the people of Clayman put him in a near death state and save him afterwards. He is extremely talented and can probably rival Laplace once he becomes a Majin. So make sure you get him. Use the core if you have to. Don’t interfere directly.”

“Yes my Lady.”

The failure of the Orc Lord was already a setback. This was not something she would let go.

A Skill which even Yuuki cannot bypass was just too good to let go.

- Salvatore -

I spread the map in front of me.

The area I was going to have to pass through was a dangerous one.

Ulgrasia was a kingdom bordering the Jura Forest. The entry to the cave was on the southern end of the country, near the country’s coast.

The normal path would have required me taking a roundabout route through several other countries and finally reaching the place by following the coast.

Now though, I couldn’t do that. I needed to cut through the country directly which included the parts of a Demon Lord’s territory.

Demon Lord Clayman.

This was however the shortest path I could find, taking around a week to reach there.

I had no idea how strong a Demon Lord Seed like him could be so I needed to be stealthy.

Technically an Enlightened can be as strong as a Demon Lord Seed but the power levels of even Demon Lord Seeds are highly varied. From someone weak to someone strong, the difference can be more than ten times in just the Magicules capacity. Beyond that, there is also the Arts, Skills, Magic, and equipment.

I could fight them if I was by myself or at least have a chance to escape but with my Negation Zone continuously being used to keep Chloe in check, my moves were severely restricted.

Even with my Dragon’s core providing me with another Magicule source, I would still be pushing it if I were to engage in such a fight.

Chloe had regained consciousness for a while and I told her everything. She went back to sleep to calm her mind while I carried her. We did it to prevent any intense emotions in her.

It was on the fourth day of my journey that I encountered someone.

- ??? -

He walked around aimlessly feeling desolated after the death of his entire Clan.

The once prosperous tribe of ogres was now nothing more than a heap of dirt.

All that remained now was the graves in their destroyed village.

He was left with their memories and the guilt of not being able to assist his family in their last time.

The armies of Demon Lord Clayman would be searching for him for his betrayal in leaving his post to go out to assist his family. Last time he had barely escaped death but now…

Maybe it was for the best.

Somehow, just maybe, if he died, he might reunite with his companions.

As he was thinking of this, he heard a sound and felt someone racing towards him at a very high speed. He put a hand on his sword and got up to defend himself only to be taken aback at the scene in front of him.

A human boy was carrying a child on his back. In these parts of the forests…

He seemed equally stunned at the presence of another living being…

– Salvatore –

I put a hand on my sword's handle as I looked at the Ogre in front of me.

Red hair and a katana like sword.

Was he Benimaru?

"Who are you, human? What are you doing in these forests?" He asked, his hands still on his sword's handle, muscles tensed for an attack.

"I just need to pass. I do not intend to fight. My student needs help as soon as possible. Please let me pass quietly."

He looked at me and then at Chloe, his eyes widening slightly at the girl's condition. "She's…"

"Just let me pass here without fighting, please."

He looked at me once more before letting down his guard and backing away.

Still keeping him in my sight, I moved towards the side, to leave the area but was faced by an energy wave and out of the way.

The wave however came from a different place and not from the Ogre.

“Well well, would you look at that? A traitor and a rat have entered the territory. Now, what should I do with you?”

A man with half black and half white hair and a black claw-like armour appeared.from behind the forest covers. He carried a sword on his back which was giving off a chilling atmosphere.

“Yamza.” The Ogre called as he drew out his sword.

I didn’t want to get involved in the fight so I tried to negotiate. “I don’t wish to fight. I only want to pass through here. I will not interfere in your fights… just let me go.”

All that got me in return was a slash of sword from the new guy which I jumped to the side to dodge.

“Heh. Do you think a little bug like you has the power to negotiate with me? I am Yamza, one of the Five Fingers… Eh?”

His words didn’t continue as his sword arm flew in the air. The barriers around him and his armour did nothing as my sword simply sliced through the man from shoulder to the torso, barely missing his neck.

He fell to the ground the next instant with a shocked look still on his face.

I looked back at the Ogre who was stunned in place. “I will repeat again. I DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT. But if you push me, I will not hold back either.”

He raised his hand and backed down as I raced out of the area.

The journey however became troublesome.

Entire branches of Clayman’s army were stationed in the area and had noticed the death of one of them.

I for once brought out my Lævateinn as holy flames lit my sword ablaze and charged straight into them.

“Shadow Prison.” I used my Skill on a large area as tendrils of shadows appeared from below and dragged the monsters to a shadow dimension. They resisted but I didn’t intend to capture them. Each of their heads flew instantly as they were entangled by the Shadow Prison.

I cut a way straight through the horde.

- Mjurran -

She felt a severe chill in her spine as she looked at the sight. She had been tricked into Clayman’s service for centuries now and this was probably the first time she had encountered something like this. Looking at the man fighting in front of her, it was hard to say who the real monster was.

Monsters were dying as if being thrown in fire.

Shadow Tendrils rose and grabbed any monster on the ground and the very next instant, they would lose their heads. Even if by some chance, they managed to save their heads, they would be burned by the intense holy flames of the sword. It must be at least a Legend Ranked one but somehow Mjurran doubted even that.

She hid and then slowly went to the place where Yamza’s body lay.

The Ogre had taken away the Unique Sword of Yamza but she didn’t have enough time or even power to worry about it.

She had to use the emergency measure in this case. She brought out the half destroyed core of Charybdis and used her magic to fuse Yamza’s body with the core. The Spirit hadn’t passed away completely and the magicules from the surrounding demons dying was collected under the action of the spells.

The Dragon Core pulsed as the energy gathered.

Mjurran raced away from the place knowing what was going to happen and just as she had predicted, as soon as she reached out of the range, a loud roar echoed around the area.

Charybdis was back.

- Salvatore -

I felt a massive chill in my spine as I heard the roar of what sounded like a dragon.

In the last one and half years, I have slayed a few dragons. None of them were strong per say.

That said, I did observe that my Sacred Gear seemed to devour the core of the dragons. It strengthened my magicules by a certain amount. Nothing like an evolution but still a decent amount. Although, now that I think about it, it might have been the reason for the Dragon’s Aura increasing and affecting my students.

A Dragon’s call was almost like a challenge to me. Maybe because of my Sacred Gear which contained a soul of a Dragon perhaps, or at least a part of the soul.

I had tried several times to communicate with the soul but returned empty handed because the soul seemed incomplete somehow.

It didn’t stop it from being competitive towards other dragons however. This time though, just the roar of the being in the area sent chills down my spine.

This was not any ordinary dragon. It was beyond anything I had faced and I did face a fucking Sky Dagon alone.

I turned back and saw the figure rising from behind the trees.

It was huge. Beyond anything I had seen yet.

The monsters in the area looked at it with just the same amount of terror and started fleeing.

I clutched onto the belts holding Chloe on my back and kicked the ground, racing outside the area.

Suddenly, I dodged to the side as an arrow passed by the place I was going to be in.

…

These bastards were still going to attack me.

The huge dragon seemed to have taken notice and roared into the air once more. Its scales rose and shot towards me as if a rain of deadly bullets.

I clutched my Lævateinn and channelled my magicules into it but before I could attack, a wave of flames covered the scales, knocking them out of the way.

I looked at the origin of the attack and saw the same Ogre looking towards me.

He looked a bit hesitant but nodded towards me and I returned the nod barely hesitating for a few moments. I think the other guy called him a traitor and by that line, we were both on the same boat. Moreover, he just used the Ogre Flame, a very rare art only the best among ogres could use.

I was again reminded about my rare scattered memories of this world and the name Benimaru came up.

Was he really…?

“Why?” I asked.

“You saved my life. I was going to die either way. This way I would die by helping you save someone. Maybe, my fallen family will forgive me when I reach them.”

…

Was he talking about the ogres?

My thoughts were interrupted again.

He spoke first, “Charybdis. The dragon of the Jura forest. I have heard hundreds of legends about the beast of Calamity. It was born from the magicules of the Storm Dragon Veldora and is extremely strong. This looks as if it was created with sorcery and is not natural. ” He said quickly as he took down the monsters in the surrounding areas.

Charybdis!

I knew of this name.

It was a story that Shizue told me about.

This thing was comparable to a stronger Demon Lord Seed in terms of sheer magicules. Althout, it was not exactly smart and that reduced its level. The said level was still at a mind-numbing Special A Rank.

I used my Magic Sense but due to the insane amount of Magicules in the atmosphere, I couldn’t sense anything.

Thousands of random thoughts raced through my head as I thought about the current situation.

If this was created by sorcery, we were being targeted.

Running and thinking it would leave us alone was a fool’s dream.

The only way to leave seemed to be through killing it myself.

If my time alone in the wild had taught me something, it was decisiveness.

Shizue had hammered the lesson into my head.

Even strong beings got killed if they hesitated in battle.

I looked towards the Ogre who had defended us with another round of Ogre Flames and stepped back.

“If you wish to repay me, just do me one favour.”

He spared me another glance before replying, “Speak.”

“If I die today, take her to the ‘Dwelling of Spirits’ and ask Ramiris to get her a contract with a Spirit. That’s the only way to save her life.”

He looked at me a bit stunned but then the look in his eyes hardened. “I give you my oath.”

We quickly took cover to hide for a while.

I slowly lowered Chloe who was still sleeping under the effect of my spell and he approached me.

“I will not be able to fight at full power with others around me. Hide and protect her.” I gave him the map.

He nodded. “On the honour of the Ogres, I vow to protect her with my life.”

I placed a kiss on Chloe’s forehead and caressed her head again, not knowing what would happen next.

I was going to try my Balance Breaker to stop this dragon and give them a chance to run. In all this time, I couldn’t think of any other way.

This dragon was just too strong for me to hold back.

At this point, even trusting a complete stranger seemed a more appropriate choice than trying to flee alone.

“She is suffering from excess magicules and won’t be able to survive away from me. Be careful.”

He nodded and then ran.

I looked back at the gigantic figure in front of me.

“Balance Breaker.”

- Milim Nava -

She was flying above the forests to meet Ramiris so that she could brag to her about her new bestie.

She was going to show off her new dragon gloves and her sailor costume and even tell her about the honey…

BOOMMMMMMMMM!

The blast attracted her attention and she looked in the distance to find a very astonishing scene.

Wasn’t that Charybdis which she had blasted a few days ago? Rimuru even devoured it.

So how is it here?

On looking closer, she found that it was not the same as the original and had used the magicules of the other monsters to take form.

The real surprise however was the one fighting against it.

She almost doubted her eye when she saw it for the first time so she used her special skill Milim Eye to look closer.

A Dragon-Human Hybrid.

Even their souls looked similar to her own. A mix between a dragon and a human.

Was there another dragonoid in the world?

He waved his hand and countless tendrils or shadows wrapped around Charybdis. In retaliation, it let out a shower of his own scales.

The boy rushed forward, stepping on the scales itself and racing towards Charybdis. Flames on his sword raged even more as he jumped and slashed down with a shout.

A giant wave of holy flames attacked Charybdis, blasting off half of its right wing. It shrieked in agony.

Milim found herself taking out her popcorn basket and watching the show.

Charybdis started healing itself from the magicules of the monsters which were being transferred to it.

On looking closer, Milim found that there was a Majin who was hiding and controlling it. She flashed there instantly, picking up the Majin by her scruff.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to kill the boy? Don’t do it. He is interesting.”

The Majin looked scared beyond anything.

Eh, she’s weak.

Thinking this, Milim dropped her to the ground as Charybdis stopped healing.

“Tell me, did you send Charybdis to attack Rimuru?”

“I… I…”

Milim used her awesome Milim eye again and saw that she had a seal on her heart.

Ah, one of Clayman’s puppets.

“No need to answer.”

“Wha…”

Then she punched the Majin unconscious. 

Now she can enjoy her show. The fighting became even more intense and she noticed that the boy's form looked a bit similar to her own Assault Mode.

He was expending too much energy to keep it up.

Charybdis started to charge an attack but the boy raised an arm and the attack was shattered.

Milim observed a thin dome around them. A Skill?

The boy was keeping up with Charybdis, negating all its Skills while severely weakening the ones he couldn’t negate.

His sword was leaving deep scars on the beast with each slash.

A few hours later, Milim noticed that the boy was going out of control, going into an outrage-like state.

His power got stronger but he was fighting on instinct.

He stabbed his blade into Charybdis’ eyes and slashed through its whole body, finally tearing it into two. He then grabbed the core and shadows covered the two while the boy’s aura started getting stronger at an alarming rate.

Ah, he went out of control.

“Oops. It looks like the fun has ended. Now… letting someone this interesting die, would be such a waste…”

A massive burst of magicules resounded in the area as the forest was torn apart.

“Hmm… What should I do? Okay, it’s decided. I will take you in.” Getting a bestie and a minion in one trip. Even Guy would be jealous hahahaha.

She raced to the boy who noticed her presence and shot towards her, leaving a sonic boom which destroyed a major part of the forest. This was stronger than Rimuru.

And, he was getting stronger.

He appeared in front of her face in a moment, trying to punch her.

“Umm umm too naive.”

Milim slapped the boy after she dodged his attack and he crashed into the ground, making a massive crater in the ground, becoming unconscious.

The aura however was not quelled.

Milim observed closely.

“Hoh. He’s evolving. What a surprise? Did he devour all of Charybdis’ magicules and was now evolving?”

She decided to wait and watch what happens next.

- ?? -

The sounds in the distance had ceased. He couldn’t sense Charybdis anywhere.

But his saviour’s magicules seemed to be getting higher and higher. It was almost out of control but not moving from one place which indicated that he couldn’t move from the place somehow, maybe.

He noticed that Charybdis was healing itself again and again and in his time in Clayman’s army, he had known that this type of ability was possessed by only one of the five fingers.

Mjurran of the Ring Finger.

If she found him in an incapacitated state, she would kill him without a doubt.

Not to mention, the sleep spell on the child was broken and he was forced to explain the situation to her immediately.

“Take me to Sensei.” She complained once more and he was starting to feel pressure from the child whose magic was rampaging despite her weakened state.

If he insisted on moving towards the Dwelling of the Spirits like this, she would without a doubt fight him and he wouldn’t be able to fight back.

Finally, giving up, he nodded and headed towards the place where he could sense the Magiclues of his saviour.

Upon reaching there, he found a strange scene in front of his eyes.

His saviour was still laying on the ground, his magicules rampaging. There was also Mjurran of the Ring Finger… knocked unconscious. Finally, an aura which he had missed because of his saviour’s aura covering her.

Her power… it almost made him kneel just taking a feel of it.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him who she was.

A Demon Lord.

“Hoh hoh. Are you also Clayman’s lackeys?” She asked, looking both of them down.

The girl however didn’t care and jumped from his back rushing towards the unconscious man. “Sensei.”

He quickly kneeled in front of her and begged. “Great Demon Lord, please… spare the child and the man. I beg you.”

“Eh? I am not killing him, you know? He is so interesting. I am going to make him my minion. But the girl… she doesn’t look like she has much time left.”

The girl in question turned towards her and stared straight into her eyes. “What is your name?”

He felt his spine tingle with fear as he looked at the Demon Lord to see if she became angry.

“Me? I am the best, the cutest and strongest of the Demon Lords, Milim Nava.” The Demon Lord put a hand on her waist and declared proudly, puffing her chest.

His dread intensified.

It was her…

They stood no chance whatsoever.

The girl however was not privy of this fact. She quickly turned towards her. “Save us. I will make a trade with you.”

“Eh? Me?” Milim pointed towards herself and the girl nodded.

The girl quickly took out the pouch on her waist and brought out a brown coloured fruit with a sweet smell and offered it to the Demon Lord. “The best thing we get as a reward from Sensei.”

Milim looked at the fruit from different angles.

“Apples? It’s brown. Smells different.”

“Candied apples. It’s very sweet. Try licking it.”

“Heh, I bet it doesn’t taste anything like honey.”

“Even better.” The girl insisted.

“I don’t believe it.”Milim retorted with certainty.

Milim still looked at the brown looking fruit and went stiff.

She then licked it a few more times and then got into it until it was all gone.

“Wow! Where did you find this? I want more. Heh, where do you keep those?”

The girl was at this point trembling from her own magicules but still stood up and answered. “Sensei made this. Help us and I will ask him to make more.”

“Really? He can make more?”

“Umm.”

“Okay. But he doesn’t need my help, you know. He is already evolving. He just needs time. You need more help.”

The girl nodded. “Take us to the Dwelling of Spirits. Sensei said that I can make a contract with spirits to help me. He also wanted to get a blessing from the Spirits.”

“Ramiris’ place? Oh, sure. I was going there anyway. Let’s go. Also, you could just name the red haired guy to reduce your Magicules temporarily. Naming a monster consumes Magicules. It could be used to reduce the stress on yourself.” Milim suggested.

He was taken aback at the sudden change of topic.

The girl looked towards him and nodded. “You. Serve my sensei. I name you… umm, Shanks. Yes, Sensei would like it.”

At this point, he was doubting his life.

Before he fainted to start the process of evolution, he only had one thought in mind, what was going on here?

But he was not able to think more as everyone there was picked up and levitated behind the demon lord who tore through the skies into the distance.

Thankfully, he fainted.

- Salvatore -

I was in a black space with no other being in the vicinity.

Sounds kept echoing through my head.

Requirements have been met. Initiating the evolution process.

The Host has completed a trial of great ardour.

Surpassed his limits and defeated a foe beyond their power.

Host’s requirements of Magicules met.

The Evolver has begun the evolution of the Host from Enlightened to Saint.

The Evolver Skill has begun the process of Evolution.

The Fool was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Unique Skill: Milim Eye.

Process Successful.

The Fool was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Unique Skill: Milim Ear.

Process Successful.

The Fool was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Extra Skill: Spatial Movement.

Process Successful.

The Fool was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Ultimate Skill: Wrathful King Sataneel.

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitializing the Process.

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitia…

…

…

Process Unsuccessful.

The Unique Skill: Evolver is trying to evolve to assist its host in the most efficient manner.

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitializing Process.

Process Unsuccessful.

The Unique Skill: Evolver sacrifices the Unique Skill: Creator and the Unique Skill: Degenerate.

Attempting Evolution.

…Process Successful.

The Unique Skill: Evolver has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Astarte, Lord of Creation.

The Ultimate Skill: Astarte is using Shadow Prison as a base and sacrificed the Unique Skill: Negation Field.

Evolution Successful.

The Unique Skill: Shadow Prison has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Uriel, Lord of Vows.

The soul attached to the host has received the part of the Blessing and is recovering.

The Host has gained the Unique Skill: Absorption Line.

The Host has gained the Unique Skill: Black Blaze Flare.

The Host has absorbed the incomplete Dragon Core of Charybdis.

The Intrinsic Skill: Gravity Manipulation was gained.

The Extra Skill: Ultraspeed Regeneration was gained.

The Extra Skill: Storm Manipulation was gained.

The Extra Skill: Incomplete Dragon’s Core has evolved into the Unique Skill: Dragon’s Core.

The Unique Skill: Dragon’s Core was used as a base for the Soul inside the Host.

Awakening in process…

The Soul inside the Host was awakened.

The Ultimate Skill: Prison Dragon King: Vritra was gained.

The Ultimate Skill: Astarte has used the Unique Skill: The Fool as a base and sacrificed the Unique Skill: Absorption Line.

The Unique Skill: The Fool has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Leviathan, Lord of Envy.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Ultimate Skill: Wrathful King Sataneel.

…Process Successful.

The Host’s current body cannot bear the full power of a 5th Ultimate skill. The Ultimate Skill: Wrathful King Sataneel was tuned to twenty percent of its full strength as a result.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Intrinsic Skill: Magicule Breeder Reactor.

…

…

Process Successful.

Skill: Magic Sense was evolved into Universal Detect.

Skill: Poison Resistance, Fire Resistance and Miasma Resistance were merged together to form Skill: All Element Resistance.

Skill: Greater Mental Resistance was evolved into Mental Immunity.

Evolution Successful.

Race of the host successfully changed from Human Enlightened to Spiritual Life form, Half-Human Half-Dragon Saint.

The voice kept ringing inside my head one after the other until I lost consciousness.

- ??? -

It was floating inside a dark space.

At first it didn’t know anything.

Its name.

Its origin.

Nothing.

Then with a flash of light, memories came in.

Several memories.

The memories of a Dragon. Proud and fearless. Doing what it pleased, destroying the world, fighting Dragons and even Gods.

The world feared it.

Its Black Flames burned everything in its path.

But the memories were vague,  hazy even. Too disconnected to make any kind of association.

But it did get one thing from there.

Its name.

Vritra.

Then there were another set of memories different from the first one.

The memories of a boy living lives.

Two lives.

His memories were clearer.

It watched everything in the memories, felt what he felt, every single bit. It lived the boy’s entire life.

The life of its host.

It was like it had been with him since the moment it first took breath.

And then at the end of it all, it heard the voice.

The individual Salvatore’s ascension to Saint has been completed.

Beings associated with him are being gifted.

Unique Skill: Dragon’s Core was merged with Intrinsic Skill: Magicule Breeder Reactor to form Intrinsic Skill: True Dragon’s Core.

Race Change to True Dragon in progress…

It also found the mention of Vritra in its host’s memories.

It willed to be transformed into the shape in its host’s memories when it was awakened.

Sensing it would be ready to awaken soon, it let the voice do its work and went back to sleep again.

Maybe… next time it awakened, it would be in the presence of its host.

- Milim Nava -

She blasted through the labyrinth, with three people floating behind her, directly to the resting place of Ramiris and her spirits.

“Ramiris. Come out quickly. I need your help.” She shouted.

All the Spirits in the area scrambled in all directions, running away scared.

Milim laughed at the situation.

“Milim! What are you doing here?” Ramiris came in quickly.

“Talk later. First help them. Fast, my candied fruits are on the line.”

“Eh?”

The little girl however was smarter as she bowed down. “My name is Chloe O’ Bell, Lady Ramiris. Please, I beg you. Help us make contracts with spirits. My sensei and I need your help.” She asked.

Ramiris might act like a child but Milim knew that among all the current Demon Lords, she was probably the kindest one. The most awesome one was obviously Milim herself.

And as expected her eyes landed on the girl and got serious. “You, why do you want to make a contract with a spirit… well, apart from not wanting to go Kaboom?”

The girl was however not shaken in the least. “I want to help my Sensei.” She answered resolutely.

Ramiris took a look at her future minion and her eyes widened.

“Hehe surprised, aren’t you, Ramiris? This is my future minion. Cool, right? He is also a dragonoid like me. See, see! And I even got an amazing bestie. Now you are the only loner among the Demon Lords. I, Demon Lord Milim Nava, now have friends hahahaha!”

Ramiris took a closer look and then turned to her in shock. “Where did you find him?”

“Oh. I found him while coming here to brag… ah, I mean to inform you about my own awesomeness. He was fighting Charybdis. You know, that little dragon formed from Veldora’s Magicules? One of Clayman’s lackeys was healing it continuously and he still won and then he started evolving. Can a Dragonoid become a Saint, Ramiris?” She suddenly asked a question which was bugging her.

Ramiris looked to be in thought. “Maybe. Dwarves and Elves can become Saints. I don’t see why Dragonoids can’t become one. As far as I know, as long as they don’t have Demonic Powers, they can be eligible for both Sainthood and receiving Hero’s Egg. You could have qualified for it too, had you not become a Demon Lord. But this boy…” She again took a closer look.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm. There are two souls inside him. One of them is a half human, half dragon soul while the other is the soul of a…True Dragon. It is sealed, although barely, inside the boy.”

“Wha…” Milim jumped up from her seat in surprise and quickly used her Milim Eye to watch the boy’s soul and sure enough, bound around the boy’s soul was a True Dragon.

They looked at each other because now, at this point, both of them only had one thought in their heads.

…

…

They didn’t know this Dragon.

Ramiris quickly got back into a calmer state. “Do you think Clayman knew about it?”

“I… don’t know. That Clayman has been very shady lately, trying to make other Demon Lords and all. I was going to prank him after this but…”

Ramiris then looked at the girl who was standing there quietly and the Ogre or rather Kijin.

“Sensei, he is an otherworlder, summoned by a human kingdom a few years ago.” She answered.

Was Clayman trying to make him into a Demon Lord too?

Another Dragonoid becoming a Demon Lord?

For just a moment only but Milim remembered her own transformation into a Demon Lord and after a very long time, she felt really angry at that creepy puppet idiot.

First he tried to plot against her bestie and now this…

“Milim! Calm down.”

Milim broke from her thoughts hearing Ramiris’ voice. “Ah, sorry. I just remembered something and now I want to break Clayman’s teeth.”

“Okay, let’s discuss these things after the mystery boy wakes up. For now, let’s summon the spirits and see if they can get contracts.”

Milim nodded and Ramiris led them to the place where the spirits were summoned.

The girl went ahead first and Ramiris assisted her in summoning the spirit.

The Spirit which appeared was unlike anything Milim had seen before. It went above her minion and… k-k-kissed him.

“O-oi what are you doing, perverted spirit?” Milim shouted but it just looked in her direction and winked before rushing and entering the girl’s body. “Oye Ramiris, what kind of perverted spirits do you keep in your place?”

“I… I haven’t seen her before this?” Even Ramiris was stunned.

“But how is that possible?” Just what the hell was going on in this world?

“Anyway, it’s time for the boy. Are you sure you want him to be contracted to a spirit?”

“Well, that’s what he was going to do when he came here.” Milim shrugged.

She had taken some time to talk with the two awake members when she was travelling with them.

Ramiris nodded and summoned a spirit.

This time the lights in the entire field dulled and a spirit appeared in the middle of the field. Black hair, purple eyes and skin as white as snow. Back nails and black and purple clothes flowed as it went near him and then slowly placed a kiss on his forehead.

What’s up with these spirits and kissing? Since when did these spirits turn into such perverts?

Milim was for some reason feeling very annoyed with them.

“Is this done already?” She asked Ramiris so that she could go ahead and kick Clayman’s teeth in.

“An Elemental Lord of Darkness blessed him. It means that the little Dragonoid is qualified to carry a Hero’s Egg. All he needs is my Blessing.” Ramiris waved a hand on his head and again… kissed his forehead. “There, all done.”

Done… DONE?

Today Milim understood the fact that all Spirits were perverts.

But aside from that, everything was for the best.

She got a bestie, got to meet another Dragonoid, found out about another True Dragon and now her minion would become a Hero.

No… maybe as a Hero, he could be her Rival, kinda like how Rudra and Guy were? And when he lost, Milim would ask him to make her all the candied fruits she wanted hahahaha.

“Umu umu all according to plan.” She nodded to herself.

- Interlude -

- Kagali -

“Aghh Milim! Once again, it was Milim Nava. Why doesn’t she just mind her own business?!” She threw a vase at the wall, breaking it into pieces.

“My Lady… but he, the boy, had defeated Charybdis by himself before Milim even intervened. She only stopped him from rampaging. He was hiding a lot of his power. We just couldn’t sense it. He also had some kind of Skill which increased his power drastically and a possibly Legend Ranked Sword. There was another Skill which could immobilise hundreds of monsters in an instant. I don’t think I could fight him head on in a straight fight. Only you or perhaps Laplace could.” Tear replied, making her think again.

The boy was smarter than anyone had given him any credit for. Everyone had taken him for another teenager who was summoned and lucked out by meeting Shizue Izawa. It seems that this one didn’t just Luck Out but had rather planned or worked on everything from the very start.

Was he another one like Yuuki?

First that slime and now this otherworlder.

No.

This will not work.

She will have to remove the dangers to her plan slowly.

Thankfully, Yuuki’s plan was going quite well.

Clayman would frame and get that Slime killed while ascending to the position of an Awakened Demon Lord and she would finally have someone rivalling those old monsters in her arsenal.

Till then she will have to bide her time and wait.

What she didn’t know was that one of her targets had just gone beyond her reach while the other was currently approaching towards the place she was at to fulfil Shizue Izawa’s last wish.

- Omake (Salvatore’s Guide to handle Demon Lords) -

Ramiris now went to the girl and started to question her about many things.

“So how did you know how to talk to Milim and what she would want?”

The girl was now sitting beside the boy and answered. “Sensei taught us about all the Demon Lords and what we should do if we encountered any one of them. He said that Guy Crimson wouldn’t bother with us. Milim Nava and Dagrule wouldn’t attack people without any reason. Ramiris is actually someone who likes humans a lot and won’t hurt anyone without any reason either. Leon Cromwell and Demon Lord Valentine won’t ever hurt me, not that they would hurt anyone like us without any extreme provocation either and Dino would probably try to sleep than try to kill us. The only one who would hurt us is Demon Lord Clayman.”

Ramiris nodded. “Correct.”

“He then taught us how to negotiate with some of them. For Miss Milim and you, he asked us to offer sweets.” She replied.

Milim nodded to herself. “Yup. My future minion is smart.”

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Author’s Note:

I got stuck with some work so this chapter was delayed a bit.

A lot of things happened.

The incident with Chloe was actually something which has happened in the DxD world with Dragons affecting those around them.

And with how Veldora affected Ifrit and all, it was not at all outside the range of expectations.

Due to a sudden turn of events, Sal is now a Saint.

Kagali would have never expected that sending Charybdis’ Dragon core to Sal would have been the biggest mistake of her life and Milim would never have expected that backhanding someone into the ground would lead to the birth of an Overpowered Saint as well as a new True Dragon. (To be honest, Milim would have done it even if she knew what was going to happen.)

What can we say, Life’s unpredictable. We just roll with it.

Sal’s evolution was a mix of several factors. First of all, DxD Dragons are spiritual beings too. Made up of Energy. So in a way, Balance Breaker is like Sal temporarily merging with Vritra. Not exactly but quite similar.

This, along with him absorbing Dragon Cores and Evolver pushed things faster than he had expected.

He was an Enlightened for about one and a half years already. It was about time now.

Did he become too OP?

Not really.

There are genuine monsters in the Tensura world. He still has ways to go to reach that high level.

How will all these things change?

I mean Chloe’s already taking Sal as her new idol.

Will this be the only extent to the butterflies?

What else will change in the future? To know this, keep watching the next episode of Dragonball… ughh. Read the next chapter of ‘To Be a Hero’.

PS. The Ogre was a character from the Tensura movie, Scarlet Bonds. He was not Benimaru.

P.P.S. Any guesses what form Vritra is going to take?

Next up is another Snippet.

Probably another chapter of this or the Farmer one.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.