Story 6: Chapter 10: Closures (Patreon)

To Be A Hero

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 10: Closures

______________________________________________________________________

- Salvatore -

We looked at the clown, groaning in pain as the magic did its work.

Normally dragging the soul of Jahil wouldn’t have been so hard. The reason for the difficulty was the fact that Footman himself was made of tens of thousands of souls all mashed up together in ritualistic mix.

This made not only hiding inside the gaps of the soul easier for someone with Jahil’s magical expertise, especially considering that he had the help of Feldway, but also made it hard to separate the guy away.

It would have been impossible for normal people to do this but for Rimuru and I, it wasn’t that big of a problem. The combined power of Raphael and Solomon made the work a breeze.

Suddenly, a shadow-like figure burst out of Footman’s soul and rushed out at a quick speed, trying to leave the room and escape, only to be met face first by the Barriers cast using Uriel and modified to contain souls by Rimuru.

Got him!

Within moments, Solomon manipulated the barriers to shrink around him, trapping him inside the small cubic barrier.

The form of the monster slowly became visible mostly as a ghostly shadow as he didn’t possess a body anymore but still clear to show everyone his identity.

“Jahil!” I heard the Elven Ancestor growl, something which seemed quite contrary to her character. Even the other people in the room were pissed.

I, however, couldn't be bothered by them as I had to concentrate on Footman.

Jahil bursting out of him had injured his soul which Solomon was currently patching up.

“Rimuru, heal Footman.”

“Alright.” She directly used some of the potion on him to restore him back to full health although it would still take some time for him to regain consciousness.

I looked at Kagali and nodded. “You can take him. He is free now.”

She had a complicated look on her face as she nodded. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” I answered and again looked towards Jahil who was now struggling desperately to break through the barriers and escape but to no avail.

Throwing several more seals on it, I turned towards the rest. “So….who wants a go at him?”

My question immediately got an answer with Milim directly walking to the barrier.

Sylvia gritted her teeth but didn’t go forward so I guess they had decided something among themselves.

“Alright Milim. I will create a barrier around you both and then remove the barrier around him. Be careful though, the guy can be tricky. Make sure he doesn’t catch you off guard.” I said, patting her head. She nodded inattentively, her eyes still locked on to the ghostly form in the barrier.

“Good then. Here I go. Oh, and please don’t destroy the dungeon. I don’t think I would be able to hold back if you decide to go all out. On second thought, lend me a hand, Rimuru, Vritra.” I called out.

Vritra appeared right next to me leaning on my side. “Need my help, do you? Alright, I will help you out today. I have been in a very good mood since I had a great sleep last night.” She smirked and threw me a wink. Rimuru smirked.

“Not the time.”

“Kihihihi so precious. Alright then, let’s get to work.” She lifted her hand and barriers formed around Milim and Jahil.

These barriers were completely different from Uriel.

While Uriel focused on Space Manipulation to ‘Bind’ something, these barriers focused on ‘Isolating’ things.

It went along with Vritra’s Ultimate Skill’s theme, the Prison Dragon Vritra.

FInally when the barriers were completed, I released the barrier around Jahil and an explosion happened.

Milim transformed directly into her assault mode.

“That’s not holding back, ya know.” I gritted my teeth and tried to maintain the barrier while Milim was bashing the fool until nothing was left.

“Oh my, she is angry alright.” Vritra commented casually but I could see that she was actually focusing consciously to keep the Barrier up.

The barrier created by a True Hero, a True Demon Lord and a True Dragon was facing difficulties. It went on to show just how absurdly broken Milim’s powers were.

After what seemed like hours, the attacks stopped and I scanned for any signs of Jahil and found nothing.

The Ancestor of the High Human race, one of the first creations of Twilight Valentine, Jahil….permanently gone.

The barriers were dropped and Rimuru went ahead and hugged Milim while I turned towards the rest of the crowd. “Could you please give us some time. Milim is a bit emotional right now and I am sure many of you are in the same condition too. We can convene our meeting in a few hours.” I requested.

They nodded.

Sylvia took one last look towards the place where Jahil was and finally her anger turned into helplessness as she let out a sigh and bowed towards me. “Thank you.”

I nodded at her and she left with Kagali and the rest.

Vritra wasn’t good with these kinds of things and so she went back inside my body to rest, leaving only Rimuru, Milim and me in the room.

__________________________________x___________________________________

I looked at the sleeping Milim and then at Rimuru who was caressing her hair.

The scene looked quite fulfilling somehow. Both of them liked it.

Rimuru liked mothering her and Milim enjoyed being pampered.

It was understandable.

She never experienced the love of parents due to Veldanava and his wife passing away after her birth.

The whole situation saddened me too. It kinda made me associate her with myself.

In my case, after our parents passed away, Isiah and I were left alone similar to her and her dragon. And then I was dragged away here just as her dragon was dragged away from her due to the foolishness of Jahil. It made me understand what she was going through to some extent too.

That’s why I wanted her to be happy.

Sigh, I wonder how Isiah is doing right now?

How much time has passed in that world?

How much longer would it take for me to gather all of Veldanava’s memories so that I can find a way back home? The extra skills I gained yesterday have been putting stress on my soul too.

I guess this was the reason why Raphael always kept on making new Skills by merging the old ones, to reduce the stress on Rimuru’s soul by decreasing the number of Ultimate Skills.

Despite my stronger than normal soul due to being a reincarnator, twice over and having a Dragonoid body and soul, there was still a limit to how much I could contain before it starts to put a strain on my soul too.

Right now, I only had room for one or two more but even that would be pushing it.

I might have to find a way to make my body stronger to contain more skills. The next step would obviously be to gain Divinity and become something like a Divine Human or something similar.

But that was easier said than done.

Any ideas Sol?

“Host has two ways to become stronger. First is the path of a Divine Human in which you have to gain divinity through your Human Side. This has to be done by experience and is not easy to achieve and will not allow you to use the full extent of Star King Dragon, Veldanava’s powers. Second would be to gain Divinity through your Dragon side. This method can even help the Host take one extra step and become a True Dragon himself, gaining full access to the magic and powers of Veldanava.”

….

Becoming a True Dragon?

How would that work?

I mean, sure Rimuru could become one too but….

“Host is different from Rimuru Tempest as Slimes have a different physiology, allowing them to embody the structure of other creatures with relative ease. You on the other hand will have to increase the power of your Dragon side more and slowly bring about the chance.”

“And how would I do that?” I asked.

“It is suggested to obtain the Dragon Factors of True Dragons and absorb it using the Ultimate Skill, Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony analyse and assimilate it within your body. The process will increase the power of both your body and soul, thus allowing you to house more Skills. According to the information provided from the Host’s memories, the Star King Dragon, Veldanava had more than fourteen Ultimate Skills at his full power.”

….

Become as strong as Veldanava….

That guy was the creator of this whole Multiverse dammit.

But if that’s what it will take, then so be it.

“How do I obtain the Dragon factors?” I asked in my mind.

“Body parts like nails or hair of beings containing the Dragon Factor should be enough.” Sol answered.

That should be easy.

I currently had access to two True Dragons and they would happily give me a strand of their hair.

“Milim Nava’s hair also qualifies. It is suggested that the Host obtains it too.”

….

Yeah.

She could use the Star King Dragon Magic too.

Sol had already told me about this before but I was hesitating till now but it looks like I have to do this.

“How long will it take to assimilate the factors and will I be able to work while doing so?”

“The power will depend on the Dragon it was from and the compatibility with the Host. You will be unconscious for a period of time while assimilating.”

“I see. Then let’s do it after the mess with Mariabell is taken care of.” This matter was the most urgent one.

I still got a strand of Milim’s hair though, making Rimuru raise an eyebrow so I explained to her the situation over our link. She agreed and asked Veldora for a strand of his hair too while Vritra was ready from the beginning.

Great.

I could finally see a path to return back.

__________________________________x___________________________________

I entered the room with Rimuru and saw everyone had gathered there already.

Sylvia, Elmensia, and their family, Kagali and her subordinates, Gazel, Leon, Luminous, Hinata and the rest gathered there too.

On our side were Dino and his subordinates, Masaomi, Shiro, Shion, Diablo and Irisviel and finally in the corner of the room were Vritra and Veldora, chilling with Ramiris.

Milim was sleeping so we didn’t disturb her.

I took the seat and as the host, convened the meeting.

“I apologise for the delay. Let’s start the meeting.”

“It’s fine. You are already doing a lot.” Sylvia said and Gazel nodded.

Leon and Luminous didn’t speak anything and just sat there without any words.

“I would like to start with the announcement that Yuuki Kagurazaka’s threat has been taken care of. We have however encountered some other problems.”

“What problems?” Gazel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Mariabell Rosso is planning to free Yuuki Kagurazaka.”

“Huh?”

“Well, she tried to control me through her Skill. It failed but she doesn’t know that yet.” I finished and sensed several auras fluctuating at that moment from our subordinate’s side while Sylvia had the look of incredulity on her face.

“Children nowadays are really dumb.”

Sylvia spoke finally.

“Oh, she’s a reincarnator. She is the reincarnation of Granbell’s wife, her own grandmother.” Rimuru added, rolling her eyes. “So a hag in a kid’s body. You shouldn’t feel bad for her.”

“His Wife?” Gazel was surprised at this too.

I nodded.

“I, of course, didn’t have enough evidence to keep her under custody so I had to let her go. Keeping Yuuki on hold was already making many people suspicious of us. I could hardly afford doing the same for Mariabell, especially with her family controlling the majority of the Council of the West, especially with Granbell Rosso backing them up. It would have been….quite troublesome. So I let her go in the end.”

Gazel nodded. “Indeed. If something had happened to her, your Kingdom would have been blacklisted from the Council of the West, not to mention a war could have started.”

Here Rimuru continued. “Yeah, that’s why I ordered my people to let her enter her Kingdom, pass through a town or two and then finish her off.”

I saw Gazel’s eyes twitch at the statement but he wisely kept his mouth shut and didn’t comment on this.

“And I am glad that I did. I was able to find something interesting which made me drop….or rather postpone the idea of finishing off that woman. She is planning to launch a sneak attack to try and rescue Yuuki Kagurazaka. If he dies, she will just blame everything on Sal. If he flees, even then Sal gets blamed. Either way she wins. And in the worst case that their plan fails, she can still control him using her Skill, Greed.”

“We want to catch her red handed and oust them. That's why we don’t wish to release the news about Yuuki Kagurazaka’s death. Our final plan is to release the news that Yuuki Kagurazaka had died some time ago and his position had been taken by one of Demon Lord’s subordinates who was posing as Yuuki. This way, we can prevent the Free Guild from facing any backlash. There is also the relation between Yuuki and the Eastern Empire. Did you guys get any information on that side?” I asked.

Sylvia nodded and looked towards Kagali who spoke for the first time in the meeting. “Yuuki was working with the Cerberus Organisation to spy and plant his people in different kingdoms as well as weaken the foundation of the kingdoms so that when the Eastern Empire attacked, they would be assisted by his people. They controlled the Underworld and the Black Market, making them a decent power behind the scenes.”

“Can you give us the names of the members and the location of the organisation’s headquarters?” Gazel asked and the girl in question nodded.

“In that case, a swift response will be needed to wipe out the entire organisation as soon as we can so that they don’t get any time to reorganise and retaliate.” Erald added as well.

“What do you know about the relationship between Yuuki and Mariabell? Actually, what do you know about Mariabell Rosso, the Rosso Family and the Council of the West?” I asked. “While I do know bits and pieces about them, I don’t have the details and in our case, we need every detail we can get about them.”

She nodded. “While she is the princess of the Kingdom of Siltrosso, a small constituent nation of the western alliance north of the Kingdom of Fal….Camelot, the truth is anything but that simple.” She looked at others who were now paying attention to her and continued.

“The Royal family of Siltrosso is called the Rosso family and it built its strong roots in the Western Nations and owns all authority. The members of their family have a hand in every powerful nation, including the likes of Falmuth and Englassia. It was also their family's contributions that led to the creation of the Western States Council. To the outside world, it appears that the Council elects its members from every nation. But they are, in fact, mostly members of the Rosso family.”

“I got some similar information from my spies too although never enough to verify things concretely.” Gazel nodded.

And their increased presence grants them enough prestige to surpass powerful nations. Yuuki Kagurazaka's funds to found the Freedom Association also came from the Rossos. If anything, these elders can be considered the rulers of the Western Nations and their leader is Granbell.”

“What is their goal?” Sylvia asked.

“Dominating the human world through the economy, that is the ultimate goal of the Rosso family.”

“What?!”

“Tch….I should have killed Rosso the first time we fought.” Luminous clicked her tongue.

“Wouldn’t have been good. That guy….well he’s complicated.” I spoke, remembering some things about him.

“Hmm?”

“First of all, he is the apprentice of Rudra Nam Ul Nasca, the Emperor of the Eastern Empire.” I said, eliciting surprise from all the participants. “He was sent here for the same task which the Cerberus is doing, weaken the surrounding nations and make them prime for the invasion of the Empire.”

“So, he’s an enemy?” Gazel asked.

“No. As I said, it’s complicated. Granbell actually betrayed Rudra later down the line but still might have connections with him.”

“Hah!”

“Granbell trained under Emperor Rudra Nam Ul Nasca, and was for a time hailed as the Light Chosen hero. To manifest his, and his master's, lofty goal of protecting humanity from the numerous threats that plagued the world, he left Rudra's side and departed for the West, going on to face many powerful adversaries, the biggest among them being Luminous Valentine.” I looked towards the girl who just huffed.

“Told you she was a tsundere.” Rimuru’s voice sounded in my ears.

….

“Meeting with you made him have a mutual understanding and he really worked towards the peace of the Western Nations for years to come. Even the Council of the West was originally formed for this very reason, to increase the cooperation between the nations. All these efforts bore fruits as well, establishing a thousand year period of peace in these nations. He also kept the advance of Demons from Guy Crimson under control with the help of an Insectar friend and subordinate of his.”

“Then what changed? I can’t see how such a person became someone who wants to dominate the world.” The Empress asked, curiously.

“Grief. His fall came due to Grief. He changed when his wife was killed by an opposing human faction. The man fell into depression and madness, even going so far as to preserve her corpse and use the ‘Raise Dead’ spell on her to turn her into a ‘Servant’. He kept her stored in the ‘Love Energy’ supplied to him by.” I looked at Luminous who was gawking at me right now and smiled.

“Just how….how do you even know all this?” She asked, and for the first time I sensed curiosity and not her usual frustration or snark in the question.

“Well what can I say? Sometimes it seems as if the world speaks to me. I just know things even if I don’t know how.” I shrugged nonchalantly, making her fume.

I mean how in the hell was I going to tell her about the whole isekai and this world being a story in my world.

To my surprise, some of them even nodded as if what I said was understandable.

….One day, I would like to know what goes on in their heads.

Seeing that

“Over time, his goals shifted from protecting the Western Nations to ruling over the Western Nations using the Rosso family. He became active for many years behind the scenes as the ruler of the Western economy, using the Kingdom of Siltrosso as his primary base while having a sole monopoly on the region's organised crime. Mariabell Rosso is his greatest hope of achieving this goal and thus he is very protective of her.”

“Just that and not because she is the reincarnation of his wife?” Sylvia asked.

“Yeah…..about that. Mariabell remembers the memories of her previous life. The life in which she was the wife of Granbell was the one before that. In her previous life, she was someone from Rimuru or my world or one of the parallel worlds. I can’t really say. My memories of several worlds are quite similar, at least in terms of their history. It all mixed up. It’s not that important anyways. The thing which is important is that she has a Sin Series Unique Skill, Greed which allows her to control people. She tried to use it on me and she was probably using it on Yuuki too, although that guy was immune due to his Anti-Skill Skill.” I looked at Kagali for confirmation and she nodded.

“So if you kill Mariabell, you have to go to war with Granbell.” Gazel concluded.

“Correction. If we kill Mariabell and Granbell finds out….are we going to have to go to war with Granbell.” Rimuru interrupted making everyone look at her. “What? That bitch tried to control my Sal. Do you know how long I waited for Sal and how difficult it was for us to meet? And now I finally have my dream life, good friends and a family and suddenly an uppity bitch comes out of nowhere and thinks she can mind control my boyfriend. Well, she’s got another thing coming.”

….

Okay….I knew she was angry but….wow.

I was not the only one stunned. Even Gazel, Erald and Leon looked surprised at her statement. It was the reaction of Sylvia, Dino and their subordinates which surprised me. They seemed to think it was quite a normal and obvious reaction.

Well, it kinda was but I couldn’t help but feel there was something else going on.

“Okay Rimuru, calm down. No need to get too angry.” I patted her back, trying to calm her down.”

“I am calm, Sal.” She suddenly turned towards Sylvia. “Tell me Lady Sylvia. As a married woman, do you think I am overreacting to the assault on my partner?”

“I am quite surprised you let her go back to Siltrosso in the first place. I would have skinned the woman alive if she had done something like that to me.”

….stop throwing oil to the fire, Sylvia-san. My lips twitched at her comment.

“Alright, alright. Let’s concentrate on the matter at hand. Any idea when they are attacking?” Gazel asked.

“Two days later.” Rimuru answered.

“I see. In that case, let’s deal with them then. If she disappears somewhere, not even Rosso will be able to attack us directly without any proof. Or at least he wouldn’t be able to move the entire nation. If he is alone, that won’t be a problem, right? After all, you are a Hero too.”

“I could probably take him on.” I nodded.

“Don’t worry, my King. We can stop him if he ever decides to attack.” Dino said from behind me, making me look at him in surprise. Was the Slothful King talking about doing work? Man….some people have different personalities in this world. I think I should keep relying on my meta that much from now on.But still, a smile formed on my face.

“Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment but that would reveal you to the public and they could use your identity as a Demon Lord as a propaganda against Camelot. You are already doing a lot in helping me train the people of the Kingdom. Let me take care of a few things too.”

“I will not fail you.” He nodded, and I could help but feel that the guy was pleased and so were his subordinates. Were they like this?

I looked at Kagali who continued. “They have a group called the ‘Blood Shadows’, which comprises of many A and S Ranked fighters, even many Otherworlders who were summoned by the countries under the Rosso family. There are even members of the Western Church under their control. All of them are bound with spells to follow the Rosso Family’s orders.”

A frown appeared on my face at the mention of the Otherworlders being summoned and bound. Memories of my own past flashing in front of my eyes.

Luminous looked pissed off too.

She was extremely possessive of what she considers hers and so learning that her own people were involved and they were even puppets of the Rosso would be incredibly enraging for her.

“Then you don’t need to worry either. We have an alliance. If they attack you, they will be attacking a member of our alliance and they will suffer. Moreover, without the Free Guild, they will not be able to attack you either.” Luminous looked at Kagali. “Do you have any names?”

“I only know the names of the commanders of the group. While the entire group is under the Five Elders, the field commanders of the group are Glenda Attley and Rama.”

“Glenda and Rama! That’s not….” Hinata started to speak but paused in thought.

“I am not trying to say that they are responsible but perhaps you should check upon your Seven Clerics.” I told Luminous who frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, water which stays still for too long breeds diseases. While it is not my place to say this, have you ever thought why in even a thousand years, none of the people you have recruited have ever surpassed those seven?”

Her frown deepened so I continued. “One of the five fingers of Clayman was called Adalmann. He was one of your people, one of your devout believers. He was just one step from becoming a Saint but your Seven Stooges feared his power and sent him to his death along with his trusted friend and followers so that they don’t get replaced and lose their supply of power to maintain their life. The guy’s friend Gadra, used the Reincarnation spell on him but his soul was corrupted by the Miasma and became a wight.”

I looked at Kagali who blanched at what was coming. “He was then bound by Demon Lord Kazelim to serve and protect her land for hundreds of years until he was defeated recently and joined Rimuru. You would be delighted to know that their next target was Hinata herself.”

Luminous didn’t say anything but her aura was easy for everyone to feel.

I decided to give one last push to the woman.

“I know it might not seem much but sometimes these small changes can snowball into a mighty avalanche. For example, did you know that Gadra, due to the death of his closest friend, swore revenge on the Seven Luminaries. He went and joined the Eastern Empire. There due to his proddings, the Emperor focused more on the Otherworlders and trained them. The research on their skills and technology has led to the Eastern Empire becoming the most advanced of any other Kingdom in this world. This….is the change even a single person can bring so you should never underestimate anyone.”

“Oh, on the side note, Gadra was also the teacher of Razen, the guy who summoned Sal to this world and bound him using the Lock Curse.” Rimuru added, throwing one last hit of her own.

I just hope that she cleans house after getting back.

“By the way, I have been meaning to ask this but who is that woman?” Gazel asked, pointing at Vritra who was chilling with Ramiris and Veldora.

“Eh….well, I guess I forgot to introduce her to you all.” I remembered that the Demon Lords knew Vritra from the Walpurgis but they had no idea about her. “She is the Draught Dragon Vritra, the newest True Dragon and my partner.”

“What!”

Gazel looked like he had his world shaken all of a sudden but others were not that surprised. I mean even Erald didn’t look that surprised so maybe Leon told them.

Kagali was looking at her with her mouth hanging open.

After that we discussed some other things and Gazel decided to leave for his Kingdom. He had been away for over two weeks and needed to go back.

Luminous and Leon decided to stay till the attack of Mariabell.

Both of them were worried about Chloe, I guess.

The Elves had stayed back however as I still had one more thing to do.

Laplace stood in front of me, unbothered by what he was going to do.

“The process is dangerous. It might lead to your death too.” I reminded him once more.

“In case you didn’t notice, I am already dead.” He laughed.

….

“That’s not what I meant….sigh….very well. I will continue.”

Both Rimuru and I separated his core from his body and saw as his body collapsed. She absorbed the core into her body and we began to work on it.

Over the next twelve hours, Solomon and Raphael worked trying to recreate every memory of the guy. In doing so, both of us even got copies of his Skills too.

Although just unique skills, they were incredibly useful.

Falsifier could create incredibly realistic illusions and Seer allowed prediction into the Future making it a deadly combo in battle.

While this was going on, every single one of the Elves, even Kagali and her subordinates, the recently recovered Footman, looked at the scene with anticipation.

Finally, when the process was completed we looked at Erald. “Bring the Homunculus.”

He nodded and quickly brought a body and placed it in front of us.

This body was similar to what was given to Kagali only this one was shaped in the form of Sarion Grimwald, the Hero of the Elves and the father of the current Empress.

We carefully placed the core into the body and then I used Luminous’ Lust Skill to heal the body, making it adapt to the power quickly.

I didn’t use this on Footman earlier because Luminous was there and I didn’t want to open that can of worms.

If anyone doubted me, collecting the rest of the Skills would have been nigh impossible.

Minutes later, the guy opened his eyes.

Now was the hardest part.

Would he remember?

I moved back with Rimuru and let the elves surround him.

He looked around and his eyes saw the Elven Ancestor first. “Sylvia?”

….

“Sarion.” She whispered back.

“Where am I?” He shook his head, trying to get up slowly. “My head hurts a lot. I remember fighting the Chaos Dragon and the memories after that are….all messed up. There are….What is happening to me?” He asked, looking confused but was only met with a crushing hug from his wife.

“I will leave you guys alone for now.” I said and looked at Kagali. “He might remember bits and pieces of his time as Laplace but it was very difficult to save those memories without affecting him negatively. I am sorry for that.”

“No….you have already done more than I could ask for. Thank you.” She whispered the last part.

“Good. Take care then.” With that said, I left the room with Rimuru, giving them some space to clear things out.

“Everything is wrapped up, right?” Rimuru said. “Now we just have to wait for the fool to attack.” She clenched her fist.

“Do you know how and when they will attack?”

“Oh yes. I used the same parasite which Yuuki was using on her. Moreover, Souei is keeping an eye on her too. We will know when she comes here.”

“I see. I will go and see what Leon is doing. I haven’t met them all day today.”

“Alright, take care.” She quickly jumped and kissed me on my cheek before teleporting away back to Jura Tempest.

- Rimuru -

Two days had passed since the whole event with Jahil and Sarion.

Milim finally got some closure and her Dragon seemed like it would be reborn soon so things were looking good for him too.

Sal managed to snag the Ultimate Skill Metatron from Leon by inviting him to a game with Chloe. Overall, things had calmed down for a bit but for her, this was just the calm before a storm.

A sound outside the room alerted her.

“Yes.”

“It’s me, Rimuru-sama. I have a message from Souei-sama.”

“Ah Souka-chan. Yes, come in.”

The door opened and the Dragonewt girl peeked in while still kneeled.

“Souei-sama has sent a message that the attackers have come for Camelot.” She started making Rimuru narrow her eyes.

“Who else is attacking?”

“They sent messengers to Ingrassia as well as Western Church. We couldn’t follow inside the territory of the Western Church but we did get the identities of the ones in Ingrassia. A group of eighty people are coming from our estimates.”

“Eighty? They are not holding back. Then again, Yuuki was just that important to them. I see. Do you have the routes they will be taking?”

“Yes Rimuru-sama.” She placed the scrolls with the details of the routes the enemies were planning to take.

“I see.” She absorbed the scrolls and made several copies of the scrolls. “Give these to Diablo and ask him to move the Black Numbers to capture them. We will decide what to do after that.”

“By your orders.” She bowed and vanished while she took the last copy and teleported back to Camelot.

The hunt had begun.

- Cleria -

She flew above the clouds, keeping an eye on the route mentioned in the scrolls for the invading enemies.

While doing so, she wondered how her life had changed over the last few years?

From meeting the love of her life, Masaomi to discovering the plot behind the Rating Games and being framed to prevent it from being discovered.

If she could go back to her world, she would lynch that bastard, Zekram and his gang of cronies from the balconies of the Lucifer Castle.

She jaws clenched at the reminder of that incident.

Masaomi might have forgiven his comrades but she was not one to forgive and forget so easily.

They had thought that they would be dead for sure but neither of them had expected to be summoned into a different world and bound against their wills by a madman who called himself a Demon Lord.

Perhaps the only silver lining in all this was the fact that she was together with Masaomi all this time.

She did meet some good friends in the year and half she had served under Clayman.

Both Rin and Aletia were like younger sisters to her while Shiro-san, he was an elder brother to both Masaomi and her.

She could have never imagined there would be a man like Shiro-san, the strongest Paladin of the Church, perhaps one of the most devout worshipers of the Father of Angels and yet someone with such kindness that he would raise the Sons of literal Satan as his own children.

Both Masaomi and her had often talked about how their relationship was odd, not that either of them regretted it one bit but they still thought that they would never meet someone who would share the thoughts like theirs.

Meeting Shiro-san was an eyeopener for the two of them.

He not only never questioned their relationship but also saw it as the sign of all people being able to coexist peacefully.

The exact words were, if everyone could look beyond races like you two, the world would be a truly beautiful place to live. It was heartwarming to hear such words after everything they had faced.

Friendship between their group helped them live under the control of Clayman and still maintain hope and their hopes were rewarded in the form of Salvatore.

The Saviour.

His parents had indeed chosen the perfect name for him. Salvatore had come in like a storm, blowing away all their problems and then offering them shelter and a new life.

On the battlefield they thought would be their last, he had broken through their bindings and gave them freedom again.

She still remembered his fight with the Chaos Dragon on that day….

While Cleria didn’t know how strong Heavenly Dragons were, she had seen a former Dragon King like Tannin fight and….even Tannin’s strength seemed insignificant in front of that monstrous dragon.

And Sal had not only fought it but contained and purified it, stopping it from causing any harm to others.

She had heard rumours in the Underworld that Sirzechs Lucifer was ten times stronger than the previous Lucifer but she didn’t think he would last five minutes against King Salvatore in a fight, especially considering that Salvatore used Holy Magic infused Swordsmanship as his primary means.

The best part was the fact that they were from the same world and despite being brought up in a Church Orphanage with his brother for more than half his life, he was not at all biassed towards devils, even having supported her relationship. He understood their situation the best, being involved with Rimuru-sama in a relationship.

Her life had changed completely in the last month once more after coming under his rule. She was named, a ritual which increased her power to levels at which she was confident of facing her cousin in a straight fight. Even Masaomi became stronger, becoming a sage.

But perhaps the best part was the fact that she got married to the love of her life.

Cleria loved her current life.

Working for King Salvatore with her husband, teaching the kids and watching over the workings of the Kingdom and spending time  with her new friends….it was a perfect life.

That was not to say they didn’t have any worries.

King Salvatore’s memories of different worlds had been a smack on the face for both Masaomi and her.

Their world….couldn’t be that messed up right?

Could it be that Salvatore was too drunk on the day and forgot or misremembered the memories for once?

The future of their entire world lies in the hands of a….dumb teenager who retains nothing but breasts in his mind….

Was it perhaps a blessing that they were summoned to this world? A reward for remaining faithful to their love?

Because just thinking about it made her shiver with disgust.

Salvatore felt the same too, being a resident of their world too.

Talk about surprises, the wielder of Dragon King Vritra’s Sacred Gear had somehow revived the Dragon and even transformed her into a True Dragon….a True Dragon. That title was only given to one being in their world.

While Masaomi was happy to know that he was related to the church and his brother might be trained as an exorcist, the whole probable future of the world still weighed heavily on their minds too.

No wonder Salvatore was trying so hard to get back to their world.

Still, she had sworn an oath to serve him with Masaomi, loyally and she would follow through with her oaths. She didn’t want anyone to ruin her perfect life either.

That’s why when she spotted the invaders in the line of sight, she didn’t hold back.

“Five Intruders detected.”  the voice of Lord Solomon echoed in her head as the information about the intruders flooded her mind.

Her Clan Trait Worthless had evolved into an Intrinsic Skill when she was summoned to this world. It had the same function as her magic but was far more efficient in the use of it.

Apart from this, she got another Skill, a Unique Skill, Disrupter.

It had a similar function to her Worthless Skill, only in this case it could disrupt any physical attack completely.

When combined with her Worthless Ability, it gave her great defensive potential.

And finally the Extra Skill: Sage given to her after she was named.

This was the final piece of the puzzle. It gave her higher comprehension and thought acceleration thus allowing her to understand the Skills of her opponent far more easier than before.

It only took her a moment to understand all the information and lock onto the position of the intruders and with her next move, a barrier formed over the area.

This barrier was reinforced with both her Skills, Worthless and Disrupter, making it a perfect barrier for trapping anyone.

Since the mice were in the cage, let the hunt begin.

- Unnamed Blood Shadow -

He rushed through the forests of Falmuth, or was it Camelot now?

What did it matter for him?

The only thing that mattered was completing the mission. 

His life rested on it.

Sigh….

Just how did he get stuck in this mess?

One moment he was submitting a thesis for his Doctorate degree and the next moment he was in this damned world, stamped with a slave brand, forever bound to serve the ones who summoned him or die.

Those five bastards treated all the summoned otherworlders lower than dirt. Even disposable pawns would be treated better than them.

Evans was sure they must have killed at least hundred or so of them to have such kind indifference.

He hated the feeling of being treated like dirt….but there was nothing he could do.

They had the switch to his life under their thumbs and would dispose of him at the slightest inconvenience.

He had witnessed enough deaths of his fellow friends to know this.

That's why he worked hard. In the last four years, he fought tooth and nail to survive, just for a chance at survival, just in the hopes that one day things would change.

Perhaps he could become strong enough to break through these shackles.

His hard work paid off as he rose through the ranks at a high speed and even became an Enlightened, something very rare few became in this world.

It was however still not enough to free him from these chains.

As for becoming a Saint….Evans never hoped for it, realising the rarity of those in this world, the less said about a Hero, the better. That one had a lot to do with a matter of chance rather than skill of an individual. Existences such as them was far beyond his level. The likes of Hinata Sakaguchi and Salvatore, the king of the nation they were infiltrating were like stars in the sky. He could see them but never hoped to reach them.

Especially Salvatore. That was the person Evans both admired and envied.

A person in exactly the same position  as him and yet he rose beyond the crowd and became someone who could take over his captors and rule.

Even when infiltrating his Kingdom, he couldn’t help but think of the man and how he might be face to face with the same guy in this mission.

He doubted his chances of survival. Unfortunately for him, at least this way he still had some chances.

The other side was certain death.

All his thoughts were suddenly broken when he sensed the shift in mana of the area.

Looking around, he saw a semi-transparent barrier all around the place.

Shit.

“Separate and run!” He commanded in a loud voice.

His squad members in his command suddenly became aware of the situation and tried to run in different directions but were unsuccessful.

“I am afraid that’s not an option anymore.” He heard a voice in front of him as a figure entered the barrier from outside.

The man had black hair and black eyes and was holding a sword in his hand.

“I suggest that you don’t put up any resistance. If you do that, we could free you from your bindings and take you under the protection of Camelot. Trust us, we do not have any intention of fighting if you don’t.” Another voice came from behind them. On looking in that direction, he saw a man white haired man in glasses walking slowly towards them from there.

His heart stopped for a moment at those words but he quickly shook off the feeling.

There is no way that’s true. They were probably baiting him to drop guard.

He unsheathed his blade and dashed forward, intending to create a diversion with his attack. While doing this, he activated his Skill, Gemini, creating a clone of himself and joining him to flank the black haired guy.

Meanwhile, his teammates took on the while haired one.

The man defended himself with his sword, pushing him back.

What strength! However that would not be enough.

His clone was already in position to take down the neck of the guy but the next instant, something unbelievable happened.

The clone, whose sword was just on the verge of touching the black haired guy….just vanished suddenly in thin air.

“What?!” The sudden change broke his concentration and one of his steps fell in the wrong place, destabilising his balance and the black haired guy didn’t miss this opportunity and was on his face in the next instant, the next attack flinging his sword from his hand, leaving him without any weapon.

Was this the end?

Evans closed his eyes, accepting his death but the finishing blow never came.

Instead, he felt his magic being suppressed and his body being bound, leaving him unable to move.

Ah….they were probably going to be tortured for information.

Too bad for them, they were just not capable of giving out any information.

While he couldn’t move, he could hear the voices of his squadmates and see flames of a blue colour which felt….demonic.

In a matter of minutes, the whole fight was over.

His entire squad of four A Rankers and one Special A Rank was taken down in minutes without any way of resisting.

“Can you remove the binding spells on them, Cleria?” The words shook him awake from the darkness.

The next moment, he felt a hand on his forehead and a foreign power invaded his body and after four years of hell….he felt the binding on his soul….dissolve.

He opened his eyes to look at the figure in front of his eyes and saw a white haired woman sitting beside him.

She looked at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. You are free now.”

He felt a lump in his throat those words and even the years of training didn’t prevent his eyes from getting wet.

“You will be checked and if found clean, will be given a room and offered the protection of Camelot. I am sure you understand the procedures. We cannot afford spies among us.”

A tense look appeared on his face at the words. Was he just switching hands from one cruel master to another one?

“Don’t worry. You will just be asked a few questions. Nothing complicated. I suggest that you do not lie as our King can easily catch lies. Trust me, if you were forced to do this, you will not be punished. After all, we were in the same situation as you until a while ago. King Salvatore is not the kind of person who would force you into such a situation. He has even worked and banned summoning of otherworlders since becoming a King and has been working towards it since then.” The woman reassured him and he nodded.

“Alright, we are on the clock. Could you guys give us the details of your plans? That would help out a lot.”

He nodded and slowly spoke the details of the plans….or at least the part which he knew about.

Each group only knew their own route of invasion and were never told about the other groups and only the place where they would parley to act on the plan.

They were then left to the custody of a group of soldiers while the three left for their own work.

While being led to Camelot, there was only one thought in Evans’ mind. Was this his chance at a new life?

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘To be a Hero’.

We finally took care of the smaller things.

Many people got long deserved closures in this chapter.

The Elves saw Jahil die and their loved one being revived.

Milim got her revenge and is going to be reunited with her pet dragon again.

Chloe and Leon finally spend some time together.

And the summoned otherworlders from Blood Shadows getting their freedom too.

On a side note, the misunderstandings of the rest of the group is increasing due to Sal and Rimuru’s unconscious actions.

Just where is this bubble going to burst?….If it ever does?….

Anyways, the attacks have begun and things will get interesting in the coming chapters.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.