Story 6: Chapter 5: The Walpurgis (Patreon)

Story 6: Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: The Walpurgis

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- Salvatore -

I could hear voices in my head but my consciousness was quickly slipping away.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Ultimate Skill: Beelezebuth, Lord of Gluttony.

The Host’s Soul is not strong enough to contain a sixth Ultimate Skill.

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitialising Process.

….

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitialising Process.

….

Process Unsuccessful.

….

….

I lost consciousness by then.

- Rimuru -

‘Raphael-san, what is happening?’

‘The Ultimate Skill of the individual Salvatore is attempting to copy the Host's Ultimate Skill. His soul cannot withstand the strain and is collapsing.’

‘What! Copying? But why is….?’

‘It was estimated that the Ultimate Skill Leviathan activated on its own due to the host winning the race. The individual Salvatore is not experienced enough to control his Ultimate Skill yet.’

….

‘That can happen?’

‘When the soul of an individual is not strong enough and they have multiple Ultimate Skills, their control over them can suffer. In the Host’s case, Raphael controls the Host’s Ultimate Skills so the Host is not facing such a situation.’

‘Oh. So that’s the case. Thank you Raphael-san. So what can we do to save Sal? He didn’t want to do that. I think that’s why he cussed before fainting.’

‘It is recommended that the individual Salvatore undergoes an evolution. Should it not be possible, a soul corridor needs to be established with the Host to ease the burden of the Skills and the Skills need to be temporarily sealed.’

‘Can you assist with it?’

‘Possibly.’

‘Then do it. Assist Salvatore.’

‘Affirmative.’

- Salvatore -

Ultimate Skill Astartes, Lord of Creation has detected the collapse of the soul.

Initiating evolution.

Detecting attempts of communication from Ultimate Skill Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.

Establishing a soul corridor between the Host and individual Rimuru Tempest to ease the stress on the Host’s Soul.

Soul Corridor established.

A connection was formed with Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Ultimate Skill: Beelezebuth, Lord of Gluttony.

Process Successful.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Ultimate Skill: Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.

Process Successful.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Intrinsic Skill: Infinite Regeneration.

Process Successful.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Intrinsic Skill: Universal Shapeshift.

Process Successful.

Leviathan was stimulated by the defeat and is trying to copy the Intrinsic Skill: Enhanced Replication.

Process Successful.

Leviathan has….

….

….

….

….

Process Successful.

Initiating Awakening.

Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, is making a connection with Prison Dragon King, Vritra. Magicules from Veldora, Lord of Storms were supplied to hasten the transformation.

A soul corridor was established with Vritra.

Skill: Physical Attack Nullification gained.

Skill: Abnormal Condition Nullification gained.

Skill: Black Flame was gained

Skill: Spiritual Attack Nullification was gained.

Skill: Holy Demonic Attack Resistance was gained.

Extra Skill: Hero’s Haki gained.

Skill: Black Flame was absorbed by Unique Skill: Black Blaze Flare.

Attempting Evolution.

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitialising Process.

….

Process Unsuccessful.

Reinitialising Process.

….

….

Process Unsuccessful.

Raphael is sealing the Skills at 1% of their output till the soul is able to bear the burden of the Ultimate Skills.

Magicules from Veldora, Lord of Storms were used to strengthen the Dragon’s Core.

Completing Process.

– Rimuru –

'A Soul Corridor was established with individual Salvatore.'

'Ultimate Skill: Uriel, Lord of Vows was analysed.'

Analysed what?

'One of the Ultimate Skills possessed by the individual Salvatore.'

….

Alright. She didn't think he would mind.

'Analysis of Infinite Prison was completed. The individual Storm Dragon Veldora can now be released from the barrier.' The next announcement did make her perk.

"Ohh, so I can free Veldora then."

'Affirmative.'

So, what is happening to Salvatore?

'The individual Salvatore will soon be awakening from sleep.'

Let him awaken, then we will go and free Veldora.

– Salvatore –

I woke up to see a familiar person looking at me.

"Good Morning." Rimuru said.

Suddenly realising where I was and what had happened before I fainted, I quickly got up and apologised.

But she already knew about everything.

She then went on to explain what happened and by the end of it, I was feeling ashamed to have burdened her so much on our first meeting.

"Don't worry. Shizue-san told me to take care of her most troublesome student. I am just doing this for her."

"... I see. Yes. It's just like her to think about others even at such times."

A period of silence settled over the room.

"How are you now?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Waking up to such a cute girl. I am more than okay."

She blushed a little but collected herself back soon. "Did you get a silver tongue Skill during evolution?"

"I think it has always been my Intrinsic Skill." I joked.

Both of us burst into laughs.

“And you have a Dragon’s Core? You are the genuine Arthur Pendragon, aren’t you? Blonde, green eyes, Holy Sword and now a Dragon’s Core.”

That was an odd comparison. But somehow I couldn’t refute it.

“All you need is your own kingdom now and we can manage it.”

….

“You were being serious about that?”

“Totes. The kingdom will be in chaos if there is no king. There could be a Civil War or foreign attack which can be prevented if you are the King. Someone who can kick the ass of Hero Hinata will be supported by everyone. And if someone greedy becomes a King then they can try something stupid again. Rather not take any risks. You said you wanted to gather resources to get back home. Getting more people would be good.”

It was reasonable and I was actually considering the possibility.

She left after checking up on me. She had to do something. Before leaving, she told me that her Skill had analysed Uriel. I just shrugged because it was originally supposed to be hers. If not for her, I would have likely been screwed today.

My Leviathan Skill was too dangerous if I let it be.

I need to learn to control it better.

'Affirmative.'

… what?

'The Ultimate Skill will be restricted according to the Host's will.'

I just stood there l, mouth open wide as the voice in my head sounded.

Just what the fuck happened while I was unconscious?

Over the next hour or so, my new Skill explained to me about how Leviathan had gone all out and copied everything from Rimuru. Meanwhile a Soul Corridor was opened between us to ease the burden on my soul.

That's… she was really too trusting to agree to something like a Soul Corridor. I didn't even know what to say.

Uriel was very important for Rimuru from what I could remember. It didn't matter if she copied this or any other of my Skills. After all, I got more than I could ask for.

While Raphael only worked at 1% of its full power, it was still an Ultimate Skill and it made the work of maintaining the rest of my Skills much more easier than before.

- Guy Crimson -

“This is rare. Since when did you come out of your little hole, you shut-in pixie?” He asked as Ramiris flew around the bunch of food. Really, in her pixie form, she behaved like an overexcited insect. There wasn’t even a hint of the Queen of the Spirits.

Velzard sat at one corner of the table watching her antics.

“Oh Guy, you are here.” Holding a grape the size of her head, she turned back to look at him. She flew right to his face. “What’s up with the sudden Walpurgis? And why exactly is Rimuru being targeted?”

“How would I know? It was called by Clayman and Frey and Milim signed it. You know this Rimuru guy?”

“Umm Rimuru is my friend. Also she is a girl. But why did Milim ask for the Walpurgis against Rimuru? She is also friends with Rimuru. Not to mention that Milim was about to beat up Clayma… Oops.”

“Hoh… what’s this about Milim about to beat up Clayman?”

….

“W-what are you talking about? I didn't say anything.” She looked the other way, trying to avoid his eyes. “These grapes are quite good.”

Guy, not in the mood to let it go, grabbed her by the wing and made her face him.

“Let me go! I will fight back, you know. Punch, kick, punch punch punch.”

“So what’s this about Milim and Clayman? I don’t recall Clayman trying to poke Milim. Not to mention, he wouldn’t be strong enough to do anything to her either. So, what did he do to piss Milim?” He asked with a little bit of his Haki leaking out.

“Clayman was planning against Rimuru and he also tried to plot against Sal to make him into a Demon Lord forcibly. Mililm was angry enough to kill him right then but she wanted to expose him first.” Ramiris uttered as fast as she could.

He let her down on the dining table in front of him as she stretched and caressed her wings before flying up again.

“That was rude, you know.”

“Rimuru, I understand but who is this Sal? And what would make Milim want to kill Clayman over him?”

Here Ramiris’ face took on an unexpectedly serious look. “Salvatore is a Dragonoid.”

….

“You can make jokes now. How nice.” He laughed.

….

Seeing her not moving even a bit he stopped suddenly. “Seriously?”

“Hmm.”

Velzard’s aura rose. “Does my dear sister want to die so badly? She could have asked me. Why does she need to do something like that? And Rudra, has he finally gone insane?” She spoke through gritted teeth before using her Universal Sense and pausing. “Velgrynd is alright. Is it… was that why we couldn’t sense him for a while?That stupid brat.”

Did Veldora go and have a child?

This was shocking even for Guy.

“Eh, eh? What? Who are you talking about?”

“Veldora. This Salvatore is Veldora’s child? Who is the mother?” He asked.

“Veldora? Where did Veldora come from? Sal is Sal, you know. Veldora has nothing to do with him.”

This made both of them pause and look weirdly.

“It’s like this…” Ramiris explained.

An hour or so later, there was silence in the whole room.

“You are sure that he was a Dragonoid.”

“Very sure. Milim checked too.”

“And that a True Dragon was being awakened within his soul.”

“Umu.”

“A completely new True Dragon.”

“Yup.”

“And Clayman somehow knew about him, tried to make him go into an outrage but Milim stopped it.”

“Yes yes. That liar even called my territory his own to attack Sal.” Ramiris stood up, looking outraged.

He exchanged a look with Velzard and then both turned back at Ramiris. “Tell us more about this boy.”

“Sal is a very good boy. I am even thinking of taking him as a minion hahahaha. The children he teaches are staying with me while he travels the world.”

Ramiris went on to explain whatever she knew about him.

An otherworlder, with the soul of a True Dragon attached to him. Veldanava had created thousands of worlds. It was not out of the realm of possibility for a True Dragon to be born in one of them.

But still, a new dragonoid…

And everything seemed to be tied together.

Ramiris left after a while but he still kept thinking.

“What do you think, Velzard?”

“If Clayman is really planning this, he will die.” She answered. Her voice, frostier than usual.

Already protective of her new sibling.

“That he will. He has angered many people. But Clayman is a small fish. He can’t do something like this. At least not by himself. So who… Rudra? No… he wouldn’t cross certain lines no matter what. So, was it just a coincidence and he discovered Salvatore by chance. How can there be such a coincidence?”

“Ramiris did mention some Shizue Izawa. From what I seem to remember, she was related to Leon.”

“Oh. That’s a clue. Leon was about to visit us too. I take it that you will be attending the Walpurgis with us?” She nodded.

Anyways, the Walpurgis this time around just became infinitely more interesting.

- Salvatore -

I sat at the corner of the room looking at the crowd that had gathered around us.

A meeting to discuss the future of Tempest.

“So this is Veldora Tempest?” The Dwarf, Gazel Dwargo asked, looking at the dragon who was reading manga behind me. We surprisingly got along well.

He was interested in the dragon within my soul. Apparently there were no new True Dragons born for thousands of years so it was a surprise that one was born.

Not to mention, even me being a Dragonoid was a surprise.

Somehow due to the magicules from Vritra and Veldora, my own Dragon Core was strengthened. It was still not enough to bear the burden of the Skills but at least things were easier now.

I needed to hatch the Hero’s Egg to support all my Skills.

“Yes.” Rimuru answered.

The people in the room looked with open mouths at the dragon which was known to wreck countries for a morning exercise, quietly reading manga on the couch.

“Rimuru-dono, can we have a moment of your private time, please?” Both the Dwarf and the Elf jumped urgently.

“Yes?”

The break didn’t take long and when they returned, they seemed very subdued.

Rimuru explained everything about herself, the reincarnation, the attack of Farmuth Kingdom, etc.

“You fought that Hinata Sakaguchi?” The Elf leader, Erald Grimwald exclaimed.

She nodded. “Yes. She was strong, almost like a cold blooded killer. If not for Sal, I might have lost the fight.”

The people looked confused. “Sal?”

“Oh, Sal means Salvatore, my friend. Here.”

The guildmaster from the Burmund Kingdom looked in thought then his eyes widened, “Salvatore. Are you perhaps that Salvatore, the student of Shizue Izawa? Salvatore of the White Blade?”

The what of the what?

“I am a student of Shizue Izawa but I don’t know the title you just spoke of.”

“Obviously. We only recently got the news about a newly ascended Saint who destroyed Slave Traders in the Kingdom of Ballachia and saved hundreds of people. Your name is being spread everywhere right now. You are quite famous as the youngest Saint in history. There has never been a Saint younger than you.”

That’s quite surprising.

“May I ask how you two know each other?”

“Rimuru was a friend of my Teacher. Not to mention, we are from the same world.”

“Oh, I see. This is indeed surprising.”

“But Rimuru-dono, from my information, Hinata Sakaguchi is quite different. She is known to help those in need and is never cruel to anyone. If I had to take a guess, I would say that it would be because of the policy of the Western Holy Church which doesn’t allow anyone to make deals with monsters. Especially with Veldora-dono.”

“It wasn’t anything of that sort. Hinata was given wrong information that Rimuru had killed our teacher. In fact, even I was given the same information by someone. I cleared the matter with her and there should be no problem. As for the Western Church, they will probably let go of Rimuru. As for Veldora, that’s a whole other can of worms.”

‘You know something?’ Rimuru asked me through our mental connection.

We shared a mental connection between us since the opening of the Soul Corridor. Veldora, Rimuru and I can talk with each other regardless of the distance between us.

‘A bit, yes. I might know their God only by identity.’

‘Their God? Who?’ Veldora perked up.

‘I am not one hundred percent sure. I will need to investigate a bit first.’

‘Alright.’

This was like having a chat group in my head.

“But if she is really that helpful, then why didn’t she stop the summoning of children from other worlds? Someone of her power and influence could surely do much.” Rimuru questioned.

“... actually, Summoning Otherworlders is banned in the Western Countries. It’s just that no one accepts it. We cannot do anything if they don’t.” Erland explained.

I raised my hand. “I was summoned by the Falmuth Nation at the age of fourteen and kept under a lock spell for two years. I was only able to escape through a massive stroke of luck. But that aside, tell me something, when have you seen a criminal accept the crimes first hand?”

A silver haired guy, Youm I think his name was, came to the front and bowed deeply. “I apologise for the actions of my countrymen. But please believe me, not everyone is like that.”

I waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I know who is responsible for it. They have already paid for that. I don’t intend to do anything to the country. I am not a psychopath, you know.”

“Yes yes, Sal is a Hero. A genuine Hero like Hinata Sakaguchi. How could he do those kinds of things?” Rimuru spoke.

“A Hero? My, that's news.” Erland spoke up. “I represent the Sorcerer's Dynasty of Sarion to congratulate you on becoming a Hero, Mr. Salvatore. I would like to invite you to be our guests sometime.”

The elves were quite respectful to Heroes as they were blessed by the Spirits and they were descended from the Spirits.

“I will be honoured.” I bowed.

At this time, Youm bowed again. “Sir Salvatore, please, save the Falmuth Kingdom.”

Rimuru smirked.

….

____________________________________x_________________________________

The plan was quite easy.

I was to pretend to fight Rimuru who comes to seek retribution and save Falmuth Kingdom. Then we’ll sign a treaty with each other.

Youm will use this to bring his supporters to back me up as the new King.

They wanted my title of a Hero to protect the kingdom from attackers.

It was understandable but still weird.

The real surprise was when Erland came to visit me later. He saw Olga and was frozen in shock. What came later surprised the fuck out of everyone, including me.

Olga Discordia, formerly known as Sara Grimwald was the former princess of the Sorcerer Nation Sarion and the younger sister of Sarion Grimwald, the former Elven Hero and the father of the current Emperor.

‘You named the aunt of the Emperor of Elves after an Eroge character.’ Rimuru’s voice sounded in my head.

‘I named her after a royal.’ I replied, unphased.

And Erland was a bigshot himself. The uncle of the Emperor which made him Olga’s brother. He asked her to return with them but she denied.

She was ashamed to have been the only one to survive in the battle.

‘Should have named her Shirou Emiya?’ Rimuru spoke.

‘Right?’ I couldn’t retort to the comment. It was quite apt.

The guy took the opportunity to contact the Emperor and they had a talk among themselves. Finally, due to her insistence, it was decided that she will stay with me and when I become the king, she will act as the Royal Ambassador of the Sorcerer Nation of Sarion to my new Kingdom.

Gazel Dwargo found out about this and sent his own people to support me as well.

‘Those two seemed quite close.’ Rimuru asked me.

‘They are actually descendants of a Wind Spirit and an Earth Spirit and go well back.’

‘Oh, how do you know all of this?’

‘I bribed Ramiris with candies and asked her to tell me some stories about the world. She was a very good source of knowledge. With how she usually behaves, it is easy to forget that she is one of the oldest beings in this world, older than even Veldora.’

‘Ramiris! Oh yes, she is older than me.’ Veldora joined on hearing his name called and then went back to read.

And speak of the Devil.

Ramiris arrived at Tempest at that very moment.

She told us about the Walpurgis.

What exactly was Milim thinking?

She never told us about the plan. But maybe she was planning to expose Clayman at the Walpurgis.

But destroying the Beast Nation Eurazania didn’t make sense.

Overnight plans were made. Rimuru will be going to the Walpurgis while I will go and face the army of Jistav who are planning on attacking Eurazania.

___________________________________x__________________________________

“Who are those people?” I asked Benimaru who was acting as the Vice Commander.

“They are the followers of Milim-sama. They are called the Dragon Faithfuls. Right now they are backing up Clayman’s army.” He answered with some hesitation.

“Don’t hurt them. They are just participating in this due to Milim’s whims. I don’t think they will try to kill us either.”

“As you command.”

It was at this time that I felt several presences appearing on the other end of the army.

Five people. All at the level of Sages or High level Majin.

Raphael revealed that they were under the Heart Seal and the Lock Spell.

It must be them. The Hidden Hand. The team of otherworlders.

“Benimaru, take command. I will take care of them. Do not interfere. They are under control.” I commanded as I jumped towards the army.

The five had started fighting.

The two men seemed to be priests. The brown haired girl was…using hand signs. Ninja? The other two were a demon and vampire?

I noticed that they were trying not to harm anyone when fighting but when they did, it seemed quite forced.

Yeah. They didn't want to fight either.

I reached the area and the first thing I did was create a barrier around us.

The older of the men looked at me and shouted for me to run away. Almost confirmed.

“Are you being forced to do this?” I asked as soon as the barrier was completed.

They were taken aback by the sudden question.

“I was in contact with one of his subordinates under the same circumstances. I can remove your bindings but you have to stop attacking us.”

“Wait. Rin-chan had her heart destroyed. If you remove the spell, she will die.” The white haired woman interrupted me.

“It will not hurt her.” I brought out a Full Restore Potion from my pocket. “I can get her organs back.”

They nodded and the very next moment, I used my Negation Zone to remove their bindings.

It was probably the most anti-climactic battle of all.

The enemy lost all their main fighters in one go and had them turned against them.

“We will assist the others.” The old man at the lead told me and I agreed.

“Keep to one area so there is no confusion.” I commanded as I headed towards a different direction to assist others.

- Footman -

“Dammit. It’s that cursed Skill of his again. The operation is going to fail like this. We need to use that plan.”

He rushed to the location of the seal and proceeded to break the seal while Tear kept the others occupied.

A heavy rush of magicules covered the area.

“Crap that’s strong. Well they will die at least. Annoying pests.” He ran away from the area as a loud roar resounded through the area. Tear followed him.

This was one of the reasons why they chose this area for the battle so that if everything went awry, they could just kill off every living being and collect all their souls.

Progenitor of all Dragons except the True Dragons, the Chaos Dragon.

- Salvatore -

I sat down and relaxed as the battle ended quickly since the enemy lost their strongest members very quickly.

The five members helped a lot too.

It’s just that I had a very weird feeling when I was watching them fight.

Especially that ninja girl.

The techniques she was using. They were ninjutsu and were extremely familiar. In fact she even used what seemed like Medical Ninjutsu.

Two purple marks on her cheeks, brown hair, a heart injury…

It couldn’t be right.

There was no way right.

Of all people in infinite worlds, another one of those…

So when everyone returned, I introduced myself.

“Your name sounds Italian.” The old man said.

“Yes. I am from Italy. Are you from Earth? You look like a Japanese. Even your accent. Are you a priest? No, an exorcist?”

“Hahahaha yes. My name is Shiro Fujimoto. I am both a priest and an exorcist, a Paladin to be exact. You’ve heard of them?” He laughed as she sat on the ground.

“I am sorry but I haven’t heard this exact term among the exorcists I know. As for knowing exorcists, I was raised in a Church funded Orphanage along with my brother.

Shiro Fujimoto.

The name sounded familiar somehow.

Raphael was quick to jump in with the memory.

….

That makes it three maybe.

I looked at others.

The black haired man bowed lightly, “Masaomi Yaegaki, Priest of the Vatican and this is Cleria Belial, my lover. She is a devil.” He paused a bit at the reveal.

I merely raised an eyebrow. “Are you worried about my opinion? This army belongs to my friend Demon Lord Rimuru Tempest. She is a reincarnator from Japan. Several of my subordinates are monsters and Daemons. I don’t mind.”

He relaxed visibly at my answer. “Thank you.”

I just waved it off.

The brown haired girl was next. “Rin Nohara.”

BULLSHIT.

"Umm, is there a problem?" She must have noticed the look on my face.

"The student of Minato Namikaze and the teammate of Kakashi and Obito?"

"You know them!"

….

"I…"

The sudden roar both helped me escape from an awkward situation and also made me cuss at the feeling of Deja Vu.

Just how many Dragons are these idiots keeping?

The feeling which came next however was nothing like Charybdis.

It was strong. Enough to make even the current me shiver.

I looked at the distance and saw a huge black coloured dragon rise up in the air.

"Back down. Everyone Retreat now. This is an order. Hurry, evacuate the area." I turned towards Benimaru. "Take everyone out of this place. I will hold it back. Do not come near us. This is not a fight they will be able to participate in." I commanded before rushing to face it.

– Middray –

He felt his knees go weak as he saw the form of the dragon rising up in the sky.

It was supposed to be his ancestor. The progenitor of all the dragons in the world except the True Dragons, sealed by Lady Milim.

Who released the seal on the Chaos Dragon?

Another roar echoed through the area as it created several blasts of corrosive energy.

The soldiers were already retreating but they will still get caught up in this.

He was about to go back to stop a few blasts to give others a chance to escape but was stopped by the Oni known as Benimaru.

"We are ordered to get back. You will only get in his way." He pointed towards Chaos Dragon's direction and he could see a figure running straight towards it at full speed.

A white sword appeared in his hands and he jumped and slashed towards it. A massive wall of flames intercepted the attack, stopping it in its way.

Still a big part of the attack was scattered towards the surroundings, destroying everything in its path.

“Who is he?” Middray asked Benimaru.

“He is a friend of Rimuru-sama and Lady Milim, Salvatore. Now please secure the retreat of the others.”

The evacuation was hastened while the fight heated up even more.

Suddenly another huge aura descended on the area. On looking close, Midday saw something which made his jaw drop to the ground.

“Middray-san, are you seeing what I am seeing?” Hermes asked from his side.

He just nodded dumbly.

A dragonoid.

- Salvatore -

This thing was like a fucking tank. All my spells were being dispersed. The only reason it was even in place was because of Uriel and Leviathan working together.

It had some kind of protection against magics and the miasma around it made it harder to fight it in melee.

I swung my sword once again to intercept another one of its attacks and tried to use Leviathan to weaken its defence before throwing in a few attacks.

Maintaining all my Skills while keeping it away from the army was hard. The stress on my body was only manageable due to using my dragonoid form.

Fighting it alone would have been much easier.

It swung its tail at me and I was able to pull up by sword to defend at the last moment but was still thrown away into a nearby mountain.

There was just too much difference in raw power.

I did have one Skill which could make up for it but I was not sure if I would be able to control myself once using that Skill so I needed to wait till the army was evacuated.

Almost an hour or so later, the place was evacuated and I let myself go.

‘Sataneel.’

My power increased quickly as magicules were being drained away just as fast but replenished very quickly. The stress on my body became higher than before. 

I won’t be able to maintain this form for much longer in such a fight so I need to finish this quickly.

Keeping this thought in mind, I flew towards it once more and struck.

- Olga -

She watched dumbstruck as her new Lord fought the monster which had ruined her life.

When the roar had sounded, she had frozen in her place. All those memories which she had forcibly suppressed came rushing back once more.

And then just like the last time, one figure rushed at it with a sword drawn.

The shockwaves of their clashes were destroying the area but she still stood there, waiting for the end of the battle. Along with her, there were other subordinates of her Master and Demon Lord Rimuru.

A while later a reddish aura surrounded him and the power she could feel from him also shot up outrageously.

The subordinates all made barriers to prevent being affected by the miasma. She could even control the miasma to some extent and diverted it in the other direction to secure this area.

It was however too late. The miasma had affected the dead bodies of the enemies laying on the ground and turned them into undead and they had to prepare for a fight.

“Everyone, brace in. Avoid their poison. Hold them back.” Benimaru took command.

The five people who were freed by her Master had also joined in to offer help.

The two men especially were quite adept in putting down the undead, using holy attacks and weaponry.

The brown haired girl was creating what looked like Corals to stop them in their tracks.

The vampire was using fire to purge them and wind to keep away the poison and miasma and finally the grey haired woman was somehow dispelling the effects on the undead altogether.

On the other side, the clashes between the Dragon and the Dragonoid got stronger.

Several times he was shot down but he again returned, even stronger than before, clashing with the Chaos Dragon without giving an inch..

The fight continued.

Finally, with a loud roar, he shot towards it and smashed it to the ground with his sword. The Dragon gave a cry of pain but he didn’t stop and kept slashing like a man possessed. The holy flames on the sword became brighter and brighter until the entire barrier was covered in a white holy light and the roars slowly but very surely died down.

The barrier dispersed.

Her heart throbbed at the scene. The dragon which had been the source of nightmares for her had finally been slayed.

The undead having lost the source of the miasma were severely weakened and fell soon. The battle was over.

As she looked in the distance, one man sitting in the crater, tears welled up in her eyes but the next moment she felt the world shake around her and a voice resounded in the area.

The individual Salvatore is undergoing an evolution. Beings associated with him will be given the Blessing of the Voice of the World.

- Salvatore -

I lay on the ground, drained as I heard the Voice of the World sound.

Fighting the Chaos Dragon while preventing it from dying was hard. So I did the only thing which came to my mind. Purified the miasma with the Holy Flames and then used Leviathan to absorb all its magicules so as to not harm its core.

And now I was laying on the ground, catching a breath.

The individual has completed a task of great ardour gaining the recognition of the world.

Initiating Evolution.

The Hero’s Egg has matured and hatched.

Astarte is attempting to evolve to assist the host in the most efficient manner.

Astarte has sacrificed Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.

Ultimate Skill: Astarte has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Solomon, King of Wisdom.

Solomon is attempting to evolve the Unique Skill: Blessed One.

Process Successful.

Unique Skill: Blessed One has evolved into Unique Skill: Divine One.

A large amount of Magicules was absorbed from Chaos Dragon.

Strengthening the Extra Skill: Dragon’s Core.

Extra Skill: Dragon’s Core has been strengthened.

The body and soul can now bear the strain of more Ultimate Skills.

Restraint on Ultimate Skills removed.

Sataneel, Lord of Wrath can now be used at 80% of its full power.

The evolution to a True Hero was successful.

The souls associated with the Host will get the Blessing of the Voice of the World.

My strength had risen again. This was the biggest increase yet.

Just in terms of magicules, there was almost a twelve times increase. And considering how big my initial reserves were, it’s enormous.

One more gain was my sword. It was now a genuine God Ranked sword. It was used to channel my Ultimate Skills and Dragonic Power for a long time now and had finally upgraded to the God Grade.

It was partially because the Dragonoid side was strengthened due to Magicules which I absorbed from the Chaos Dragon’s core. It was not at Milim’s level yet but still far stronger than before. My entire body seemed to be strengthened.

The Chaos Dragon was strong. If Charybdis was a drop of water than this was an entire fucking bucket.

In terms of sheer magicules, it was above me. Its physical strength was above mine. Its stamina was above mine.

The only reason I was able to win was because of my Ultimate Skills.

I remember that it was related to Milim, her best friend or something. Man….she is going to be pissed. In fact even I was pissed knowing the story behind it.

- ??? -

It could feel the changes going on within the body of its other half.

There was a seed of power which had grown into something larger.

The transformation to its being was hastened.

Soon, it could awaken and breathe in the world once more.

There were sounds echoing through its soul.

Solomon has used Unique Skill: Delete Field as a base, sacrificed Unique Skill: Black Blaze Flare, Unique Skill: Absorption Line, and Unique Skill: Shadow Prison.

….

Process Successful

Unique Skill: Delete Field has evolved into Ultimate Skill: Ahi, Lord of Droughts.

The Host will be awakened soon.

- Rimuru Tempest -

Looking at the scene at the Walpurgis, she felt tense. Several Demon Lords were looking at her with different kinds of gazes.

There were several people who were as strong as her. Some are even stronger.

For example that white haired woman and the giant. She didn’t know who had more magicules, Veldora or them. All of them felt endless.

On the other hand, the red haired guy was totally hiding his true power. Even Leon and that Silver Haired maid were the same. And what was with the look the maid was throwing at her.

She didn’t remember talking to her ever nor did she have any enemies among vampires. Then what’s up with that look?

It’s just that when Clayman entered, things changed.

The most surprising thing was that he hit her and she didn't even question it.

By now Rimuru was sure that he was somehow controlling Milim.

Raphael couldn't find anything wrong with her either.

While Clayman was babbling about whatever came to his mind, she heard something unexpected.

The individual Salvatore is undergoing an evolution. Beings associated with him will be given the Blessing of the Voice of the World.

… what?

She felt her power rising and Skills being transformed as she sat stunned at the sudden turn of events.

'Veldora, do you know what's going on?' She asked in her head but there was no reply.

Now that she thought of it, Veldora had gone stiff as soon as the Maids of the Demon Lord opened the Gate to this place. He then made excuses to run away quickly.

Just what the hell happened in the fight to awaken Sal.

She used the soul link to ask Benimaru and got the information.

Chaos Dragon?

Undead.

Sal’s Awakening was completed and she finally paid attention to the meeting again.

“And this, this lowly slime caused a war, sacrificing countless souls to complete her own ambitions. She came in to get the souls killed by the Evil Dragon, Veldora, for her own. She is not even a Demon Lord, just a fake.”

By this point she was completely fed up with the crap he was uttering so she decided to intervene.

“Say, all of this is good and all but… I don’t see why what I do is any of your problem? Why the hell are you getting so pissed? Jealous?”

“How dare!”

“Shut up. I have already wasted a lot of my time on your dumb story. Tell me why have you called me here already?” She put her Demon Lord’s Haki behind her voice.

“You!”

“She is not wrong though Clayman. Why exactly have you called this meeting? As far as I remember there were no rules against what she has done.” The red haired guy, Guy Crimson, spoke up.

Others eyed him similarly

“O-of course. I am holding this meeting to ask for judgement against her for attacking and killing my subordinate, Pirone.”

“Who?” She asked, surprised. In this case, she really didn’t know.

“Do not pretend, worthless curr. I know it is you who has killed my subordinate who had gone to check the Jura Forest to investigate the disturbance.”

‘Do you know anything about this, Raphael-san?’

‘Negative. It is advised to ask Salvatore as he too participated in the battle.’

She did just that. ‘Sal, do you know of someone called Pirone?’

‘Eh Pirone? Yes. I do. She was one of Clayman’s subordinates. I sensed her in Jura Forest and had Mjurran kill her off. Is he using that as an excuse?’

‘Yes. He has been annoying since the meeting started. He even has Milim under some kind of mind control. I just want to punch his face so bad.’

‘Okay listen to me. Bait him. Use my name. Tell everyone that it was Mjurran who was freed from Clayman’s control who did it. I will send you the proof of it. And then tell them Mjurran is currently under my service and I am looking to kill him and anyone related to him because of his attack. Tell him I just killed two clowns called Footman and Tear before the Walpurgis started. Trust me. If anything happens, summon me there. I have a lot to pay him back for.’

‘Alright. But if all these Demon Lords try to come after me, I will haunt you after I die.’ She replied before addressing the crowd in front of everyone. “I didn’t kill Pirone. She was killed by a majin called Mjurran.”

“Liar. Mjurran is one of my subordinates who is dead.” He shouted back.

“A subordinate whom you had under control through a spell. Unfortunately for you, she met Salvatore and he freed her from the spell. Salvatore himself had a bone to pick with you because of your attack on him. Currently the two of them are hunting for all your subordinates.” She looked as his face changed expressions. “I think they went to finish off someone called Footman and Tear, clowns, and from the information we got, they were killed right before the Walpurgis Banquet started.’

“How dare he! I will kill him. I will rip apart his soul and tear it into pieces!”

Oh boy.

“I don’t care what you want to do but first answer me, why have you called me here?”

“You,you are in cohort with that damned abomination!”

“Salvatore is my friend. A very close friend even. But he is responsible for his own actions. I am not his master. But even if it was so, I don’t see the need for the Walpurgis.” She faced the others. “I was not aware that the Walpurgis was for Demon Lords to clean up after each other’s messes. I was of the thinking that for Demon Lords, power mattered the most. So, why are we going through all this drama again? If he has a problem with me, we can fight it off. If he has a problem with Salvatore, I can call him and they can fight it off. The winner decides what is right. Instead, I am here, listening to his long rant on him being a racist dumbass. And if that was not enough, the idiot has been trying to control my mind all this time. It’s annoying.”

“Wha….” The idiot stumbled back at her last comment.

“The Walpurgis is not for us to clean up other Demon Lords’ mess. We indeed follow the way of the strong.” Guy stated. “And controlling the mind is indeed not allowed. This matter is between you two. Settle it between yourself.”

“B-but Guy….”

“Do you have a problem with what I say Clayman?” Guy smiled, causing the idiot to go stiff.

"Very well. I will show this upstart, her place." He rose up from his seat as the one at the head, Guy, rearranged the whole space.

Surprisingly, Milim followed him.

"Oi oi, why is Milim fighting for him? It's not fair, you know. It's two vs one. Not fair. Cheating. I say cheating." Ramiris protested.

"Sit down. She can summon anyone for help." Guy said and she understood.

‘Veldora, need a hand here.’ She didn’t think she could take on Milim by herself.

‘*Snore* *snore*’

What came in was only the sound of clearly fake snores from the other end.

….

‘Sal, I am summoning you now.’

‘Alright.’

‘Do it, Raphael-san.’

- Luminous Valentine -

A summoning circle lit up in the middle of the halls and when the light dissipated, there stood a man with blonde hair and green eyes.

Salvatore.

The man who taught Chronoa.

She tried to look through him but couldn’t see anything.

Even at her level, she couldn’t find a shred of energy from him.

But she knew that she would get an opportunity.

Whatever game Milim was playing will force him to reveal his power and she will get to see what’s so special about him for her to choose him.

- Guy Crimson -

How interesting.

The Walpurgis was turning out to be more interesting than anything in the last millena.

First was the slime, a slime who became a True Demon Lord and not just that but also gained an Ultimate Skill at that. A feat which even some of the older Demon Lords hadn’t been able to achieve.

This alone made things interesting.

Not to mention she carried the Blessing of Veldora which proved that she was actually on good terms with Veldora and the general story had a lot of faults.

It was when the guy appeared that he actually sat straighter in his seat.

A True Hero like Leon, and one with an Ultimate Skill at that.

The fact that he was a Dragonoid was also.

He could feel the shift in Velzard as soon as he appeared.

What he could have never expected was the feeling he was giving off.

That aura was slightly reminiscent of….him.

She must have sensed it too. It would be impossible for her of all people to not recognize this aura.

Ramiris might not recall due to not being fully back to her prime but Dino's reaction was telling.

The Sleeping Ruler was looking at the boy, wide awake, not even blinking an eye the entire time.

“Since everyone is here, let’s get this over with.” He clapped his hands and shifted the space to create an area for them to fight. A barrier was erected around it.

Clayman used a fox Majin and a puppet while the Slime was followed by her wolf and Oni subordinate.

The boy however stepped forward first and spoke calmly as his magicules started seeping out.

“Clayman… I am going to kill you today. Destroy you, astral body and all. There is no doubt of this fact.”

….

….

Guy found himself smirking at the boy’s arrogance.

“But I will give you a chance first. Answer one question of mine and I will spare the life of that elf Kagali. Deny and I will go there and I promise you that I will make her death extremely painful.”

Clayman snarled like an animal at this and attacked him with his marionette strings but they were just blown away by the ever increasing power the boy was giving off.

“This will be the one and only chance for you, Clayman. Answer me.” His tone was still even but his rage could be felt in his aura as it threatened to destroy the place.

It was well above an Awakened Demon Lord. Actually in terms of base power it was even reaching the levels compared to Milim herself. Not quite there yet but approaching.

“Milim, you idiotic wretch, attack him. Kill him. Tear him to pieces.”

Milim kept with her act and raced forward towards him but the boy did something which made Velzard grip his shoulder while he found his mouth open in surprise.

He raised a hand and Milim was trapped in a barrier. One extremely familiar barrier. Milim bashed on the barrier but Guy knew that she would have to seriously attack to get past that one.

“But that’s…” Ramiris exclaimed.

Uriel, Lord of Vows. The skill he carried….

“Tell me Clayman… did you order the release of the Chaos Dragon?”

….

….

Chaos Dragon?

The banging on the barrier stopped as Milim turned her head towards the deathman.

"Velzard, strengthen the barrier." He did the same, just in time for half the barrier to be covered by a white light.

When the light dispersed, Milim was sitting over Clayman's body, punching whatever remained of it.

"Guy, remove the barrier." Ramiris asked as she was already ready to go inside.

"The fight hasn't finished yet."

"What the hell do you mean 'fight isn't finished'? Clayman's dead."

"Milim isn't defeated or given up yet."

"Wha…"

– Salvatore –

She really flipped out at the name of Chaos Dragon.

"Sal, this…"

"Make a barrier and protect Shion and others. She just wants to vent. I will take care of this."

She nodded, still a bit confused.

I put up another barrier using Uriel just in case.

With all this done, I walked up to her. "Milim."

She didn't reply and kept on hitting.

I put a hand on her shoulder but she backhanded me and I was thrown a few steps back.

It didn't look like she'd be stopping anytime soon because Clayman was merely a pulp by now.

So I did the only thing which came to my mind.

"Black Blaze Flare." I targeted the corpse of Clayman and burned it.

And boy did that get her attention towards me.

She jumped, trying to punch me. I dodged, using Uriel to bind her once moreover but she just blasted through it.

I know she wasn't trying to kill me. It was more like she was letting out her anger.

Her form had changed into her Battle Mode so I did the same and defended against her attacks. Her blows were getting stronger due to Sataneel's effect being used.

The clashes between us became intense.

I could feel the strength that I possessed now. If I were to face Chaos Dragon now, I could easily subdue it with raw power alone. Milim's attacks were only making scratches at best.

After what seemed like a few hours, she calmed down and sat on the ground and I sat in front of her.

I brought out the core of the Chaos Dragon and put it down in front of her. "I made sure to not harm it and have even purified the core. Maybe in a few months you will have your friend back." I patted her head lightly.

Light returned to her eyes.

She took Chaos Dragon’s core and hugged it close to her chest and then faced me. “Do you know others who are with Clayman?"

"A few yes. The clowns that Rimuru said I killed are actually alive. We were just baiting him. Even the elf, now I know that they were truly working together. In fact many people here would know the elf. She's Curse Lord Kazeram. It’s a very long story." With Raphael or rather Solomon in my head, my memories regarding the world were much more complete.

There were obviously many differences like in the webnovel version, light novel version and any other versions. Not to mention the world itself was too big for everything to have been included in mere twenty or twenty five books. Still, It gave me a very good idea about how things were. I still verified things though.

“Tell me everything after this.”

“Alright.”

“Yes, I want to know about it too.” Rimuru came up from behind me and said, I nodded at her too.

The barrier around us fell and sounds of claps sounded in the room.

- Luminous Valentine -

She was clenching her hands after seeing the fight.

He was matching Milim Nava, although she was not serious, neither was he. But just from the amount of power they were throwing around, she could tell that he was even stronger than than. Far stronger.

A voice sounded as Guy got up from his seat and walked up to the centre of the room. “What an interesting show. I believe this matter is settled. Let's get on with the Walpurgis.”

The rest of the meeting was about Clayman's treachery. Frey and Milim provided the evidence. That man provided the rest. Not like anyone cared.

Everyone already knew that Milim was playing her games and that Clayman was doing some shady things.

Then came the matter of the new Demon Lord. That slime was accepted as a Demon Lord quite easily. Not a surprise as she was a True Demon Lord. Much better compared to the likes of Frey and Carrion. The latter two quitting was a surprise though.

Understandable but surprising.

"We are still short of two Demon Lords to be called the Ten Great Demon Lords. Salvatore, that's your name, right? Why don't you join us here?" Guy offered.

"I… thank you for the offer but I had promised Milim to be her rival when she had saved my life. I think being a Hero works well with that goal."

"Eh… shame. You would have made a good Demon Lord. Then what about the one hiding inside you?"

… what?

The man looked a bit serious but then his look changed to that of surprise. He raised a hand and magicules gathered, creating a body near him.

It transformed, taking the shape of a woman with blonde hair and slightly tanned skin. A dragon?

No.

She realised with stunned disbelief. It was a True Dragon.

The only True Dragons known to the world were the Star Dragon King Veldanava, White Ice Dragon and the partner of Guy Crimson, Velzard, Scorch Dragon and the guardian of the Eastern Empire, Velgrynd and that abominable lizard but this… this was not one she knew.

Although, looking at the face of Velzard, it didn't seem like even she knew of her. Actually, the man himself looked surprised.

"Would you introduce yourself?" Guy asked.

"I am the partner of Salvatore. My name is… Vritra, the Draught Dragon."

….

"Are you serious?" Dino whispered.

"She does feel like a True Dragon." Dagruel commented.

Ramiris flew all over her and verified it too.

"How were you even born? True Dragon's are generally born in the world." Ramiris questioned. "Why are you in Sal's soul?"

"I have always been with him. Since he was born. I was merely a fragment of myself with barely any consciousness. As he evolved, I gained consciousness. In a way I am myself but I am also a part of him.”

“Do you have any memories of your own, of this world?” Velzard asked.

“Memories? A few. Almost like a story. Memories from my partner’s previous lives. Stories of the past and stories of the future, of how this world was born and what happened after. Some memories are here while most are lost or hazy.” She spoke as she eyed everyone one by one, her eyes stopping at some people for a while.

“What is it that you want to do now?” Velzard questioned.

“Me? I will obviously stay with my partner. I enjoy watching him overcoming all the odds in his path. Time and time again, he fights against odds which would have crushed normal people and rises up stronger than before. It’s truly the best fun to watch.”

Wasn’t this what Hinata called a stalker?

“Then do as you wish. As a True Dragon, you are now the youngest amongst us. Just take care to not go on a destructive rampage or I will have to step in.”

“Kihihihi I am the partner of a Hero. Wouldn’t it shame him if I were to rampage around without any provocation? I will keep your words in mind, Sister.”

By this point she was already done with what she had come to do here so she went to him to say her piece.

- Salvatore -

My head was still trying to comprehend what was happening right now.

The dragon inside my Sacred Gear had awakened.

It had become a True Dragon out of nowhere. Like what the fuck dude?

And she was now looking like a fate grand order version of Vritra which was giving me very complicated feelings.

Even Rimuru had been throwing me weird looks.

Her only words when the thing about memories had come out were….explain.

I just asked Solomon to give her all the memories I had of this world and let her figure out for herself.

‘Sal.’

‘Yes.’

‘I can understand your point of view too. Telling someone you just met that you know them from an anime is beyond weird and most people would call you crazy because of it but from the next time, do talk to me about this.’

‘I was going to broach the subject later because you had just been through a lot. I didn’t want to throw you into an existential crisis. Not to mention I didn’t remember everything either.’

‘Do you see me throwing punches at you?’

‘....what?’

‘Do you see me trying to beat you into the ground right now?’

‘....no.’

‘It means I understand your thoughts. It’s just that, don’t do it next time.’

‘Okay.’

‘Despite the little time we have spent together, I see you as someone close. I don’t like it when you hide such important things from me. I understand it but I don’t like it.’

‘I see.’

While Vritra was throwing bombs on them, I was too busy with Rimuru to listen or even care about what she was saying. Today was extremely exhausting, mentally speaking. I needed some rest.

My attention was only broken when a silver haired woman came and stood in front of me.

“Yes. How may I help you?” I asked.

“I will not lose. I will take her from you and make her mine.”

….say what?

And then I recalled she was talking about Chloe or rather Chronoa.

“Say miss, haven’t you heard of the saying?”

“What saying?”

“NTR is a trash fetish.”

Her brows scrunched with Vritra and Rimuru cackled a little.

“What do you mean?” She questioned, glaring at the two girls.

“I mean, whatever she chooses, I will support her. There is nothing to take to begin with. I do not own her. She is my dear student. I just want her to be happy. Just don’t force her or I will be your enemy.”

“Hmph, who’s afraid to be your enemy?” She snorted.

‘Kihihihi such a brave little girl.” Vritra teased and I had the urge to facepalm as Luminous’ Demon Lord’s Haki flared as she looked at the Dragon enraged.

“My my, so easy to get angry. But don’t be so. I think you are quite interesting. A bit stubborn but I like that within people. Trying to resist obstacles and then overcoming them. A beautiful thing, isn’t it? But just some advice for the future.” She snapped her finger and I felt Negation Zone as Luminous’ Demon Lord’s Haki dissipated. “I don’t like people threatening me.”

This chick’s crazy.

I decided to intervene before things got any messier. “Okay, break it up you two.” I turned to Luminous. “I think you should go back soon. This Walpurgis was organised to send you out of the castle so that they could try a hand at getting her. Don’t underestimate them. They are quite resourceful. For example the one who had been posing as you will be destroyed within moments if they were to fight seriously. Only Hinata and you yourself can fight.”

She paused when she heard what I said, after which she just turned and sent her subordinate who had been posing as the Demon Lord back with some orders.

I did get a small thanks from her as a thought transmission.

‘She’s such a tsundere.’ Vritra’s voice sounded in my ears.

‘Stop provoking her. We might need their help.’

‘Eh? I was being serious, you know. I am really interested in her.’ She whined.

‘Well….she’s not half bad.’ Rimuru joined in.

Et tu Rimuru.

The rest of the Walpurgis was basically Guy asking for the name of the Council and Rimuru blatantly copying the names from the memories I had given her.

At the end of the day, we returned back to the Tempest.

Milim had to return back to take care of the damages in her kingdom first.

Despite her frivolous attitude, she was a good ruler when it came to protecting her citizens. She did say that she will return and then we will go out for a hunt.

Rimuru wanted to do the same.

“Sal.”

“Yes.”

“With these memories, we are going to meta the shit out of this world.”

….

“Sure.” I suddenly felt bad for the supposed villains of this world.

Just for a little bit.

___________________________________x_____________________________________________________________________x__________________________________

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Author’s Note:

We finally have a chapter of ‘To be a Hero.’

As you all can see, canon was thrown out of the window in the chapter.

Poor Yuuki is already dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Milim is personally out for blood.

Sal’s new aura has attracted some attention and he doesn’t even know that yet. Not to mention Vritra noticing something and pushing forward words which can easily be misinterpreted.

Coincidence? Maybe.

The girls around Sal are all crazy.

I was planning to add some parts of the Tensura Mobile game since this world is a bit of a mashup of all the sources. The Isekai Memories game has a very interesting plot too.

Anyways, the story will be very different from what everyone knows.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.