by Fuse
“Whoa—what’s…?! Goddammit!!”
It was Chaos Eater, a yellow aura that snaked its way around him. Now Geld was on the attack.
“Your physical strength is commendable. I can certainly tell that much from what I have seen in this short battle. But it seems rather weak against rot.”
“R-rot? Shit! Get—get this off me!”
The intense pain made Shogo writhe on the ground. Looking on from above, pity in his eyes, Geld prepared his Meat Cleaver blade.
“Let me end the pain.”
“Ahhh! W-wait! Wait a second!”
Geld’s slow approach made the orc look like a man-eating demon in Shogo’s eyes. He was strong of will when attacking, but now that it was his turn to take a shot, he was defenseless. It was always a sad sight to see, someone experiencing this helplessness for the first time, but that was Shogo now, edging away as best as he could. But that only added to the pain. Shogo had nothing to undo the Chaos Eater around him. The yellow aura drilled further into his body, making the flesh on his hands and legs rot into nothing—but still he tried to get away from his foe.
Geld didn’t care. He had other things on his mind—such as Hakuro, whom he could see casually walking up to him.
“You still aren’t done, Geld?”
“Ah, Sir Hakuro. You are finished? I was just about to strike the final blow.”
Now, even Shogo could see that the knights around them were strewn across the battlefield.
“You—you assholes! What the hell did you do to Kyoya?!”
“Him? He’s dead,” came the matter-of-fact reply as Hakuro tossed something at him. It was Kyoya’s head, rolling along the ground there, and it provided all the evidence necessary.
“Ah, aaahhhhhhhhhh!!”
Shogo attempted to flee at full speed, no longer caring about the pain in his limbs. Deep down, he knew he’d be meeting the same fate, and it terrorized him.
Goddamn it! God… Why did this happen to me?!
The pain was as intense as the terror and confusion.
Shit… If this keeps up, I’m dead…
His mind raced, trying to figure out a way to survive this. Then, out of nowhere, he had a brilliant idea. He recalled that there, in the tent in front of him, was another otherworlder. So he ran, placing all hopes upon this new plan.
Raising the tent flap, he found Kirara relaxing inside.
“Hey, you done? ’Cause you sure took your sweet time with—”
“Shut up! Kirara,” Shogo said as he ran up to her, “I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to die for me!”
“Huhhh? What’re you talking about, you dumbass? Why’re you picking a fight with me—?”
Kirara took it as a joke. It had the effect of greatly shortening her life span.
Clench—
“Nh… Wha…? You’re choking me…”
She had left herself wide open, and now Shogo’s hands were fully engaged with her. She struggled mightily, even as Shogo’s tremendous power shattered her neck—but in another moment, her resistance grew weaker.
Memories of her life in Japan flashed before her eyes. The boyfriend she liked. The friends she got along with. The parents who put up with her selfishness. All Kirara wanted to do was go home. Razen had told her himself: “Do what I say, and I’ll develop a spell to whisk you back someday.” To her, this world wasn’t reality, and that meant she could do whatever she wanted—otherwise, she’d have to seriously contemplate all the crimes she’d committed. All the murders. She just wasn’t mentally mature enough to deal with that. She had run from her crimes, from the killings she did after a moment of emotion—and now time was running out for her.
The world went white. The pain was already gone as a cavalcade of familiar faces greeted her…
“…Mom…!”
And this was the end of Kirara Mizutani, the otherworlder who turned her back on her weaknesses and blamed everyone else for them but herself.
Hakuro and Geld had given chase, only to find Shogo in the midst of killing his ally Kirara.
“…An abominable deed. You have fallen that far?”
“No need for pity now. You are no warrior.”
And then a transformation occurred.
Confirmed. Unique skill Survivor…successfully obtained.
Shogo’s desire to live was the trigger for a new power within him, snagged at the expense of Kirara’s soul. The yellow aura eating into Shogo’s body dissipated as he rapidly healed himself. This was Ultraspeed Regeneration in action, one of Survivor’s subskills.
“The World Language… So that’s what he was after?”
“Sir Rimuru described killing your allies as the greatest crime there is. Your deeds are the work of a soulless minion, lower than a monster himself.”
“Shut up, you worthless maggots! Winning’s what matters, isn’t it? It’s easy! I got the power for it!”
Shogo screamed as he unleashed both his unique skills—Berserker for the attack and Survivor for the defense. It fooled him into believing he was invincible. The sheer force—and the Ultraspeed Regeneration and the resistance to all types of elements. As long as a blow didn’t kill him instantly, he had invincible force and the ability to regenerate himself at any time.
Yes. Even if Hakuro used one of his sword strikes to lop his head off, he’d be right back to normal in an instant. Even if Geld used his superhuman strength to smash both his arms, they’d grow right back and be even stronger.
“How d’you like that, you piece-of-shit monsters?! This is it! This is my full power!!”
And he couldn’t be blamed for bragging to the skies about it. As a combination, his powers were like none seen before.
But there was one thing Shogo didn’t realize: No matter how lofty the heights you achieved in the world, there was always someone above you.
“Shall I lend a hand?”
“No need, Sir Hakuro. Please go and support Sir Rigur and the others.”
“Assuming such support is necessary,” Hakuro said as he stepped back and gave Geld the right of way. The orc strode forward and prepared to strike.
“Huhhh? You’re gonna take me on by yourself? ’Cause right now, I’d be more than happy to whip both your asses at once!”
“You seem to have confidence in your martial arts. So be it. I will fight you with my bare hands as well.”
“Oh, quit acting like you’re so much better than me. You’re just lookin’ for an excuse for when you lose!”
Such was the way Shogo’s mind worked. It made him go immediately on the offensive. His face was brimming with confidence, testing out his new powers—but that ease of mind didn’t last long. It was a bit harder for him to die now, and he was ever so slightly powered up, but that still didn’t make him a foe for Geld to concern himself with.
“Orgggh!”
Geld had more than ample strength to tear off one of Shogo’s arms and use his free hand to drive a fist into his stomach.
“Ah. Yes, you can heal yourself faster than I can. Now let’s see how much you can stand at once.”
As he said it, he wrapped twin curls of Chaos Eater around his fists and beat them into Shogo. Over and over again, before he could recover, Geld pummeled him into oblivion. Thanks to the Survivor skill, Shogo was enjoying Cancel Pain privileges, preventing him from feeling any of the anguish these injuries provided him. But Geld just kept on punching, doing away with all weapons.
By its very nature, Chaos Eater bit its way through everything—damaging not only Shogo’s material body but his spiritual one as well. The unique skill Survivor was capable of regenerating all bodily systems, but a life-form’s spiritual needs were beyond its feature set. Indeed, before Geld’s unrelenting attack, it was only a matter of time before Shogo’s frail spirit was against the ropes.
“S-stop, stop! Pleathe, thtop!”
It hadn’t even been ten minutes, but to Shogo, it felt like an hours-long torture session. Selfish words fell out of his mouth, seeking salv
ation for him and him alone. Geld and Hakuro were almost too disgusted to watch.
And that was the exact moment Shogo’s heart and soul broke.
“I suppose it is over.”
“It is. Now to finally ease his pain for—”
“N-no! Wait a thecond! I—I was jutht kidding! I didn’t really want to; I—I—I jutht got carried away… Help me…”
Shogo, faced with this cruel reality, fell into confused terror. In this world, simply being an otherworlder gave you overwhelmingly preferential treatment. That only fed his arrogance, twisting his personality beyond repair. And even more importantly, he and the others summoned into the Kingdom of Farmus all suffered from the same affliction: a terminal case of egotism.
And it had led to this.
“I came over to see what all this commotion was about…and Shogo is the last man standing, is he? My, my, look at that! Perhaps I misestimated the power of these monsters after all.” Now another older man stepped in front of Shogo.
He had on his robe, woven with magical fibers, a staff with untold stores of magical force in one hand. This was Razen, court sorcerer and the greatest magician in all of Farmus. With a hand in the air, he used his aspectual magic to cast a Magic Barrier in front of Geld, nullifying his attack. This spell was normally used to build a shield over the caster, but Razen could adapt it to block his enemies’ moves as well.
“Nh…! R-Ratthen, you came to thave me…?!”
Shogo clung to the sorcerer’s back. Razen replied with a nod before returning his eyes to Geld and Hakuro.
“Well, well, well. No wonder our otherworlders weren’t enough to secure victory. I find it hard to believe, but you are both A-ranked and a calamity-level threat. I do not like our prospects. Time to fall back for now.”
Then, with the Magic Barrier still in effect, he began to chant a high-level teleportation spell. Unlike Warp Portal, which required a magic circle to base itself on, this allowed the caster to define any point they liked to serve as the jump site. You had to be at least wizard-level to use this forbidden spell, and Razen’s ease in completing it indicated the full extent of his power and experience.
Geld attempted to give chase. Hakuro stopped him.
“No rash moves, Geld. This is no also-ran.”
“…What?!”
Geld faithfully followed Hakuro’s advice—and, before him, the very air tore itself open. Razen had installed a trap in the Magic Barrier, setting it to explode after a given time delay.
“Kah-ha-ha! Very shrewd of you to notice that. I should have paid you all much more caution than I did. Perhaps we should not be so optimistic about this battle after all…”
He had been wary of Geld’s magical energy, but now, he acted like he noticed the threat of Hakuro for the first time.
“You sly fox. You’ve been cautious of me from the very start…”
“Oh, not at all, my dear ogre mage. It is only natural, after all, to spot this orc lord first in terms of brute strength. But now it is time. I would love to speak with you further, but my spell seems to be completed, so I had best take my leave. We may meet again in battle, assuming you survive…”
“I rather doubt that,” Hakuro shot back, “because the battlefield you are headed for will be attended to by our master. You have all gone too far this time. You have enraged the one creature in this world you should never have riled. I pity you. Your death will not be an easy one.”
“Kah-ha-ha! Enough of your silly bluffing—but if you mean it as a warning, I will keep it in mind. Farewell!”
With that, Razen disappeared, carrying Shogo with him. Silence returned to the scene, although the sounds of battle could still be heard from outside the tent.
“Are you sure it was best,” Geld said, “to leave that sorcerer Razen be…?”
“I imagine not, but if we fought him, then either you, I, or at worst both of us might have died. He had another hidden magic queued up for us, one set to trigger in the event of his death.”
“He did…? And the magic was that much of a threat?”
“Likely nuclear in nature,” he muttered bitterly. “The ultimate in aspectual magic. Rigur and Gobta are here as well, and we cannot have them caught up in it. Now is not the time for ill-advised gambles.”
Heavengaze gave him a better sense of the magic around him, from the flow of magicules to the extent of its force, than even Magic Sense could allow. It told him that the area beneath Razen’s rib cage was packed with highly dense magic—enough to set off a dangerous, forbidden spell, by Hakuro’s estimation.
“I see…”
“It would not be an issue for Sir Rimuru, but we will still need to prepare for this. We must tell everyone about this dangerous figure before us.”
Geld nodded. “I understand. I will relay the news to my own forces.”
Then they both went outside to assist in the final mopping-up of the western troops.
With Shogo in tow, Razen safely made it back to Folgen’s side at their headquarters. Triggering several powerful magics consecutively in a short time filled him with a sense of fatigue like none he’d experienced in recent years, but now was no time to rest. He had work to do.
“Th-thanks, Razen. I’m sorry.”
“Forget about it, Shogo. You are one of my most valuable tools. One of our kingdom’s most precious pieces of war machinery.”
“Y-yeah… I lost this time, but not in the next round. I’ll show ’em!”
“Very good,” Razen gently replied—even as his eyes shone coldly, something Shogo failed to notice. “Your injuries seem to have taken care of themselves, but let me cast some magic to help you rest better. You need to recover your stamina first.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
He accepted Razen’s offer without question—and, without hesitation, Razen cast his spell. It was the illusory magic Mental Strike, a move that shattered the target’s spiritual and astral bodies. Shogo’s spiritual corpus was already heavily damaged by Geld’s attack; this was nothing he could withstand, and he trusted Razen too much to have any of his own resistances up.
So the otherworlder Shogo Taguchi saw his end—doomed to die either way, between his weakness and his egotism. But this death was not one of the body but one of the heart.
With the still Shogo in front of him, Razen prepared his final great magic of the day.
“Rather earlier than planned, isn’t it, Sir Razen?”
“My hands are tied, Folgen. The monsters unnerved him so much that he’d hardly be useful to us any longer. The time had come.”
“Heh-heh-heh… Still a pitiful sight, though. He really believed he was the strongest man in the world, didn’t he?”
“It appears that way. And look at Kyoya. He honestly believed he could defeat Hinata Sakaguchi, head of the paladins. With his strength.”
“Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Don’t make me laugh. Not even I could take her, and that little upstart expected victory?”
Folgen could at least put up a fight against her thanks to the fact that he himself was an otherworlder, summoned by a younger Razen decades ago. He had no locking curse restricting his soul; in terms of their relationship, he was both friends and cooperative partners with Razen. Even to someone like that, Hinata’s strength was in its own realm, enough to convince him without trying that he had no chance.
“It is a pity, though,” stated Razen. “Kyoya’s Severer skill slipped through our fingers before I could pass it on to you.”
“That’s fine. There’s always next time.”
Folgen’s own unique skill was called Spearhead. It gave him special insight into the strength of the forces he led, letting him select from and obtain the skills of any dead member of his force within eyeshot. He could earn only a limited number of skills this way, however, which annoyed him to no end.
“Indeed there is,” Razen agreed. “The stronger among our forces always seem to foster powerful skills within them, but look at how selfish they all are! The one fly in t
he ointment. Summoning at random is much easier, but it never results in anyone strong enough—not that their personalities matter then, since we can always sacrifice them and seize their powers.”
“No doubt. We’ve constantly spoiled them, treating them like the linchpins of our armies they are. I see no reason for them to complain about it.”
The two shared a laugh.
And this, right here, was the whole crux of Farmus’s problem. It wasn’t just the otherworlders—the summoners who called the kingdom home were just as egotistical, assuming by birthright they were the strongest out there.
Razen smiled as he continued his work. “But this may be a blessing in disguise,” he said. “At the very end, Shogo did help me out a great deal. I’m not sure what happened, exactly, but he seems to have obtained another unique skill. Now, then…”
The job was almost done. He was resetting Shogo’s brain, overwriting it with his own memory. Once he transported the soul over, he was good to go.
“You sure you’re all right? There’s no chance of it failing?”
“Don’t worry. This isn’t the first time. My teacher, Lord Gadora, reincarnated himself by literally birthing his soul all over again. No greater secret magic out there. Compared to that, casting Possession couldn’t be simpler.”
Razen had completely destroyed Shogo’s astral body in order to take over his physical one. He then destroyed his brain and rebuilt it again with Survivor. It was a total blank, with none of its soul’s memories restored, and now Razen’s own memories were burned into it. All he had to do now was implant his soul into Shogo’s body.
The Possession spell was a simplified version of Reincarnation, the mysterious, esoteric skill first woven by Razen’s master, the great sorcerer Gadora. It was an original skill of Razen’s, and now it was activated. This was how the head sorcerer of Farmus managed to serve his nation over all these many years, transferring himself from powerful body to powerful body. With Shogo’s, he was now reborn as the perfect combination of indomitable spirit and undefeatable muscle, the strongest magic-born in all of Farmus’s history.
