Chapter 42: Attack on the Festival Part 3
Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 42: Attack on the Festival Part 3
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- Hinata Sakaguchi -
Hinata grunted as she deflected another one of the Clown's jabs, she was having some difficulty in dealing with the Clown's God Grade weapon. It seemed to have some ability to negate various supernatural abilities. Even her Battlewill was easily cut apart by the weapon.
Thankfully the weapon did seem to have some limits, it wasn't capable of completely ignoring the effects of the God Grade rapier Felix had given her.
Her God Grade rapier was capable of directly cutting the Spiritual Body of her opponents, and with enough mastery it was capable of directly killing one's soul. It was an incredibly fearsome weapon in the right hands.
Unfortunately all her Elementals except for the Elemental of Space, Aether, had proven to be useless against the Clown, even the Elemental of Space was only hanging on due to relying on the Blessing it received from Felix, amplifying its Spatial Abilities.
The God Grade weapon that the Clown had did have the unfortunate side effect of blocking off the effects of her Unique Skill: Mathematician. Both Analytical Appraisal and Predictive Calculation were incapable of being utilized on the Clown
Even Usurper was proving to be useless in this battle, the only people that Usurper had proven to be useless against was Felix, Rimuru after he Awakened, and Lady Luminous. She doubted this being was on their level, but he was still far above her, either that or his God Grade weapon's effects were vast enough to protect him from Usurper as well.
Felix has given her some information he was able to discover about her Usurper. He seemed to think it was most effective on Skills that were not bound to one's Soul. Some Unique Skills were bound to one's body while other more powerful ones were bound to the Soul.
She didn't ask how he had such a detailed analysis of one of her most precious secrets, Usurper was best used when its abilities were unknown, like when she first attacked Rimuru due to their… misunderstanding.
Hinata hated how two of her greatest weapons were practically useless against this foe, it was a weakness she would have to fix later on. She refused to be this helpless again.
She quickly appeared behind the Clown thanks to the Elemental of Space shifting her position in Space, and went for a quick cut on his hip, but the Clown had somehow predicted her action and was able to evade in time.
"Phew, that was a close one wasn't it!?"
She ignored the Clown's mocking words and quickly dashed up to him, each of her strikes were either blocked or dodged. The Clown's physical abilities were a notch above even Saare, one of her Ten Great Saints and an Incomplete Saint as well.
Looking back on everything she could only curse her arrogance for her previous mistake of not using the Elemental of Space to teleport all the children to safety. It would have likely drained the Elemental of all its power, leaving her in a far more dire situation in this fight, but then at least Chloe would be safe.
Thankfully Chloe had listened and was staying back towards the edge of the Barrier. Though unfortunately the Elemental of Space was incapable of breaching the Barrier the Clown had set up.
Hinata had thought she was more than strong enough to handle any threats that may appear.
The thought that Felix would be disappointed only made her angrier at herself. She would need to make up for her failure, and learn from it.
She did have a plan for how to beat the Clown, she just needed to set the perfect opportunity up to use her trump card.
She quickly blocked another one of the Clown's counterattacks, but before she could counter attack the Clown jumped back and sent multiple Aura Slashes her way. She had to deflect some due to them heading in Chloe's direction.
She had some difficulty blocking some of the slashes as they were reinforced by the Clown's God Grade weapon, but she managed.
The clown slowly walked towards her. "I didn't expect this battle to take so long. It seems I will have to reveal a few more of my cards, how unfortunate." Said the Clown.
She inwardly thanked Felix and Veldora, without her spars against those two this Clown likely would have dealt with her by now. She did not have much experience facing opponents that were superior to her before she began sparring with them.
The Clown immediately appeared in front of her at speeds she wasn't capable of following. Thankfully the Elemental of Space was able to shift her Spatial Coordinates teleporting her a distance away.
She was already aware of the Clown's incredible speed, he managed to take Roy off guard with it and almost immediately incapacitate him. Roy's arrogance killed him.
She could only guess that the Elemental was capable of perceiving the Clown by viewing the Clown's movements through Space. Felix had shown her how incredible the advanced levels of Spatial Manipulation could be.
Even Felix's Elemental Weakness, Earth proved fruitless when used against him.
"Hmm, that Elemental is growing to be annoying. To think a mere Greater Elemental would inconvenience me, I truly have grown lax." Commented the Clown.
She smirked hearing that. Of course, nothing directly Blessed by Felix would be simple. Even if Aether was no game changer as is, it had the potential to become one of her most useful assets. Especially if Felix took further interest in it.
He seemed to be the type that would enjoy experimenting with something brand new like a Blessed Elemental.
Perhaps she can bribe him to further strengthen Aether at another time.
"Now why don't we try this, one last time." Said the Clown as he tucked his dagger away, seemingly deciding to rely on his God Grade weapon entirely.
As the Clown was talking she quickly came up with a plan. She quickly teleported behind the Clown with Aether's help, of course the Clown somehow expected it and was already prepared for her attack.
Her attack was parried and quickly returned with a counterattack that she was expecting. Just before the Clown's strike could hit her, The Elemental of Space, Aether teleported her further back closer to Chloe.
She quickly took out multiple Talismans from her Spatial Storage and sent them towards the Clown. "Astral Bind!"
He seemingly did not expect her attack as he was completely surrounded and temporarily sealed by her Talisman. She was originally planning on using this on Rimuru should their meeting come to blows. To hold an Awakened Demon Lord they needed to be sufficiently powerful.
She cast the Miracle Level Holy Spell Disintegration in her empty left hand, completely chantless. She then imbued the Disintegration into her God Grade rapier. Her strongest Magic was imbued in her strongest Sword Art.
The technique that shall slash through all things in the world.
Her body was glowing lightly in a luminescent light.
While the Clown was still inhibited by her Talismans, she quickly dashed forward with her sword drawn. "Take this! Melt Slash!"
Melt Slash was her Ultimate Ability meant to instantly kill her targets. She created it herself in her pursuit to grow strong enough to beat Luminous. It seamlessly combines Magic and Swordsmanship. Hinata was a bit put off when she learned Felix could easily do something similar, though he made a mockery of it by calling it his Excalibur Beam. The power of Melt Slash is tremendous, such that even Lady Luminous would not want to be hit by it or else she would risk being erased.
Her sword now possessed the attribute of eliminating evil. The speed of her attack was approaching that of light speed, it was practically impossible to avoid. Even Felix admitted as much.
Though he still went on about how he wouldn't be hit by it, but she just thought he was being arrogant.
She quickly approached the Clown that was now looking at her in fear. Her blade soon penetrated his heart, completely ruining any chance of him surviving. The rampant Spiritrons soon began destroying his body from the inside out.
It was over. Everything was over.
All of a sudden she saw a dagger penetrating her chest. She coughed out blood as she fell to the floor.
"Hinata-nee!"
- Rimuru Tempest -
Rimuru quickly made his way to where the teleportation incident happened.
'Raphael, is it possible?'
'Answer. Of course. The Spatial Coordinates have been found, the Master can teleport to the location whenever he wishes.'
'Good.'
He turned to the kids. "Stay here, I'll have someone come pick you up."
They all nodded in understanding.
He quickly sent a Thought Communication to Benimaru.
"Yes Lord Rimuru?"
"I need you to come to my location and pick these kids up. Take them to one of the safehouses."
"Very well My Lord."
Benimaru appeared within moments, seemingly sensing the urgency in his voice.
"Leave them to me My Lord." He nodded to Benimaru and had Raphael teleport him to where Hinata and Chloe were.
He appeared outside of a Barrier of some kind, though he should have no trouble breaking it.
He saw Hinata dashing towards a Clown that seemed to be sealed by something. Her attack was even giving him a bad feeling. Chloe was also safe and sound.
'The Holy Magic Spell Disintegration causes Spiritron decay within the target, anything within its effects gets erased at speeds approaching that of light speed, even souls can be destroyed.'
Hinata is seriously not messing around.
He shook his head and focused on his task. Though for some reason he felt something was off. He focused on the Clown for a moment.
'Notice. It has been detected that the Clown that the individual Hinata Sakaguchi is attacking is an illusion.'
'What!?'
He quickly broke the Barrier surrounding the battlefield, but it was too late. He watched helplessly as the real Clown appeared behind Hinata and stabbed her with a dagger.
'Notice. It has been detected that the dagger that the individual Hinata Sakaguchi was stabbed with was coated in Spiritrons.'
Shit!
He activated Thought Acceleration to quickly come up with a solution, maybe Felix can help?
He sent Felix a Thought Communication.
"Yeah Rimuru?" He heard Felix sound out.
- Felix -
Milim and I appeared at the same spot we left from, I expanded my senses towards Tempest to see what exactly was going on, most of the attackers should have long since been taken care of by now.
Universal Sense may not grant me sight in the traditional way as it only allows me to perceive light, sound, heat, and smell, but with the combination of the various Extra Skills like Celestial Eye and Heavenly Eye also being imbued into my Universal Sense has turned Universal Sense into Clairvoyance basically. Clairvoyance over a fairly large distance as well. Not nearly as large as what I could cover with Universal Sense, barely even a fraction of that in fact.
I turned to Milim. "Alright, let's go back to Tempest, all the action seems to have calmed down by now."
Milim nodded. Just before I was about to teleport us I received a Thought Communication from Rimuru.
"Yeah Rimuru?"
"Something happened to Hinata! It'll be easier if you just come here and take a look!"
"Send me the coordinates."
"I'll send you back first Milim, I have something to do." I instantly teleported Milim back to Tempest and myself to the coordinates Rimuru had sent me.
I could feel the remnant Magicules in the air, I quickly looked to Hinata who was bleeding out.
'Odin?'
'Notice. Her body is being destroyed by rampant Spiritrons.'
Shit, no Holy Magic will help here, it'll just hold off the inevitable.
'Notice. The Unique Skill: Falsifier and the Unique Skill: Seer have been analyzed.'
I ignored Odin's words as my gaze snapped to the weird Clown that seemed to be responsible for Hinata's state. He was looking at where Rimuru was.
He dressed similarly to those two other Clowns I fought before I became a Demon Lord, Footman and Tear I think their names were.
If this Clown is the one responsible… then he will pay.
- Laplace -
Laplace signed in relief, finally he got his job done. He didn't think he'd have to put so much effort in, that goes to show how strong this Hinata Sakaguchi is. Even though he had a stronger physical body and a greater Magicule Capacity she managed to almost match him with sheer skill. He imagined the results of this fight would have been vastly different if she knew of his abilities.
He watched as the Elemental of Space soon vanished, he had no clue why the Elemental was so much stronger than the standard, but he was just glad it was over. He'd be asking the Boss for a vacation after this.
He would have been toast if it wasn't for his Unique Skill: Seer. It gave him a perfect precognition for events a few seconds in the future. Using that he was able to use his other Unique Skill: Falsifier which specialized in Illusions to deceive Hinata and make her think he was caught in her trap.
Falsifier was a very insidious Skill if used a certain way. It allowed him to deceive the very senses of other people, creating a false reality where only he knew the truth. He could make someone see any sort of reality he wished, it was the peak of Illusionary Magic.
Even sensory Skills such as Magic Sense, or Danger Sense would prove useless in the face of Falsifier.
He could make father kill son, lover kill lover, sibling kill sibling, and they would not even know. He used that to make Hinata think he was caught in her trap.
He watched as the kid ran up to Hinata. He sighed. "Feel free to give ya goodbyes, I ain't someone that'll kill a kid."
He knew the Boss would probably be upset, but something deep within him recoiled at the thought of killing a child. It was good that they did not know his name, otherwise he may have been forced to do something he would regret.
Hinata would die soon, and his task would be over. The dagger she was stabbed with was coated with rampant Spiritrons. The Spiritrons were slowly destroying her Spiritual Body and would soon even corrupt her Astral Body.
There was no way to save her.
"Hinata-nee!"
Hinata coughed up more blood as she slowly withdrew her other Legend Grade blade from its sheath.
"C-Chloe. It's good that you aren't hurt." She then held out her Legend Grade rapier and left it beside Chloe, and slowly put a bracelet on her wrist.
Laplace noticed that when Hinata took off the bracelet her Armor disappeared. It must be stored in the bracelet then.
"Chloe, I-I was not able to teach you much, but… I am sure you will surpass me."
Well, he had overstayed his welcome. He didn't bother with confiscating the weapons, he wasn't cruel enough to do that. Though that God Grade weapon will be his reward for his victory.
As he was about to step forward to grab the blade he felt the Barrier he placed to isolate the battlefield shatter.
He turned to look in the direction he felt a massive Aura rising from, he could sense multiple waves of Ki, Sword Ki, Mystic Ki, Supreme Ki, and one other he couldn't put a name to.
He saw a beautiful blueish silver haired figure staring in the direction where Hinata laid.
Damn, the Slime found out. He had a far less likely chance of getting away now. He had no clue why Seer hadn't warned him of anything, but he could think about that another time.
All of a sudden his gaze snapped to the child. He may not want to kill a child, but there is nothing wrong with using a child as a hostage right?
He heard a demonic voice growl. "What did you do?"
That voice… something about it unnerved him. He slowly turned around and was met with the gaze of a white haired man with glowing blue eyes that made him shiver. He felt as if his very soul was being judged.
The killing intent being released was capable of making someone like Clayman fall unconscious, he was barely holding himself together.
Deep down in his Soul, he knew that he could not defeat this being.
- Felix -
I lifted the Clown up by his neck and quickly crippled his Magic Circuits, my Aura was running rampant in his body, with his Magic Circuits crippled he should have no way to escape. I began to pressure him with my Demon Lord's Haki, but before I could question him I was interpreted.
"Felix! Focus on Hinata first!" I heard Rimuru call out. I took a deep breath and nodded. Stupid emotions.
"Fixation." I whispered, leaving the Clown paused in Time midair, and mid choke.
I teleported next to Hinata who was saying something to Chloe.
Hinata noticed my appearance. "A-Ah, Felix, I guess I failed… to reach your expectations."
I sighed. "You're not even 30 yet and you are still stronger than the vast majority of the world my dear. I'm sure you will become quite the fearsome figure in time."
Hinata shook her head. "No, this is where everything ends. I don't know why but I can feel my end coming."
Hearing her I quickly touched her stab wound and quickly healed it with Holy Magic. But as I thought, the Spiritrons that the Clown injected into Hinata's body are running rampant.
Even Metatron would fail to save her, even with its domain over Spiritrons. It is incapable of precise manipulation of Spiritrons and specializes in mass destruction. Using that on Hinata would just kill her.
Spiritrons were just that destructive. They are used primarily to destroy lives, not save them.
Fuck! Is there seriously nothing I can do?
'Odin can you manually manipulate the Spiritrons inside of Hinata?'
'It is impossible. The Spiritrons have already routed themselves deep with Hinata's soul, her very Ego is currently being corrupted. There is not nearly enough data to freely perform surgery on the Soul.'
Damn it!
'Odin, can I consume her with Beelzebuth and then separate her injury from her?'
'It is impossible. The Spiritron corruption has already spread to her Spiritual Body and Astral Body, almost her entire Core has been corrupted, even the Ego is falling apart. Only an extraordinary set of circumstances could save her now.'
Damn it. This is different from Mahito's bullshit, I just needed to restore the Soul to its natural shape. I'm not capable of healing souls outright. I would need some sort of Reality Manipulation to fix this, and even then it would be iffy. Saeko's Cook definitely isn't enough, it just doesn't have enough conceptual oomph.
Even the Chaos Dragon's situation was different. It still had an intact Ego, whereas Hinata's was currently falling apart.
Hinata's shakily raised her hand to my cheek. "I-I'm sorry." And then her hand dropped to the ground.
I could feel my Demon Lord's Haki raging out in waves, its strength far beyond what I had used to stave off Velzard's Dragon Spirit Haki.
"Felix!" I heard someone call out but I just couldn't hear them.
All of a sudden a white glow caught my attention. I turned to look at who the glow was emanating from.
Chloe?
She was protected from my Haki from a Barrier Rimuru quickly placed.
She was shaking. "N-No, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Not this early! I didn't know it would turn out like this! Hinata-nee!" All of a sudden a glow emanated from Hinata's body, the glow went towards Chloe.
The moment Chloe and the light from Hinata's body made contact, Chloe glowed far brighter than before, and then vanished.
…..
…..
…..
Is that Temporal Energy?
'Notice. It has been detected that the individual Hinata Sakaguchi wished to pass on her Unique Skill: Mathematician to the individual Chloe Aubert. Hinata's rapidly deteriorating Soul bound itself to the Unique Skill: Mathematician as the Skill was passed onto the individual Chloe. After which both Chloe and Hinata were sent across Time.'
"What just happened?" I heard Rimuru mutter.
Fuck.
- Rimuru Tempest -
He stared, gobsmacked at where Hinata's body lay. Chloe was there too, but not anymore.
Felix was still kneeling by Hinata's side with his Haki running rampant, but he couldn't blame him. His precious student just seemed to have died after all. But the world couldn't handle much more of his Haki. He was barely able to protect himself from it while containing its damage.
He turned to look at the Clown to make sure he was okay. He was their only source of information right now after all. Whatever Felix did to the Clown seemed to be protecting him from the Haki as well.
Thankfully Demon Lord's Haki has no physical effects, or Rimuru would think that Felix would easily destroy a country sized area with his Haki, and that was him being hopeful, in reality he wouldn't be surprised if his Haki caused even more damage than that.
Even now, the sheer Spiritual Pressure Felix was leaking was enough to kill entire countries with ease, even if they are incredibly far away.
Any being below the Special-A Rank would immediately die when exposed to this level of Demon Lord's Hali.
His best friend was really broken.
Thankfully he was able to quickly place a Barrier using Uriel that is able to contain Felix's Haki. But some of his Haki did leak out for a moment, he could only hope that it didn't cause too much damage.
"Oye Rimuru! Who's Haki was that?! It felt as strong as my sisters' Haki!" He heard Veldora's voice sound out in his head.
"Your sisters'!? That was Felix!"
"Ghaha, then as expected of him!"
To think Felix's Haki was that strong, to be comparable to Veldora's siblings who even Veldora was terrified of.
He took a deep breath, he needed to focus on the current events. He can consider what effects Felix's Haki had on the surrounding area later.
'Raphael, do you know what just happened?'
'...Unknown. Situation is abnormal. No information can be obtained other than that the individual Chloe Aubert emanated a mysterious form of energy before disappearing.'
Damn it. Even Raphael was stumped.
- Luminous Valentine -
Luminous made her way to her hidden sanctum which only her closest subordinates knew about. She needed some time to think and ponder on everything she had learned recently.
She had only left Tempest hours ago, she felt she had seen more than enough, she stayed for the main portion of the Festival at the very least. The continuing days were just going to be repeats of everything that occurred earlier on in the Festival.
She had made sure to check on the Church Branch that was in Tempest, everything was up to her standards, and she had some of Hinata's best subordinates staying there, each member of the Ten Great Saints had the potential to Awaken and become a Saint, two of them already had Awakened, Hinata and Saare.
She was quite surprised by everything she had learned from her visit to Tempest. The sheer technological advancements that Tempest had made in such a short period of time, was incredible, even the musical advancements they made were incredibly impressive.
There were many Vampires who enjoyed music, her included, the issue was that with immortality came a halt of progress, practically no progress has been made in the last five hundred years when it comes to music. No new innovation, no new inspiration, nothing.
She was quite put off by it but didn't push as inspiration and improvement is not something that can usually be forced, at least not for truly good things.
But once she had attended the concert in Tempest her mind was blown. She would need to get Rimuru to have some of his musicians come and teach her own.
Then there was the bigger issue to consider.
The timeline seemed to be mostly intact, it seemed Chloe and Hinata's efforts were not in vain. She even left her seclusion to meet this mysterious Slime and Daemon that Chloe and Hinata would go on and on about, much to her annoyance.
Both were incredibly annoying, Felix more than Rimuru, but in the end she was thankful for them, as without those two she would not have met either of her friends.
They both had important roles to play in those two's lives after all.
She even initially formed the Western Holy Church to give the future Hinata a place to come to.
Luminous had come out of her centuries long isolation and attended the Walpurgis just to finally meet those two and gain some sort of understanding about them.
Both of them were incredibly powerful, far more powerful than a mere Slime and a Daemon like Felix had any right to be. Each was an Awakened Demon Lord that even she was unable to see through.
She was millenia old and yet she would have to take them extremely seriously should a fight happen, or else she would die.
Her first meeting with Chronoa was quite the odd one.
When Chloe claimed to be from the future, Luminous was originally quite skeptical. But she had won her trust when she had predicted Veldora's attack, though she still lost her most beloved palace Night Rose to the Evil Lizard. She understood why neither Chloe nor Hinata had helped her fight the True Dragon off back then, they were adamant of keeping things exactly the same so that they would return to the same future they left.
She slowly made her way to the deepest level of her sanctum, where no one but her and her closest subordinates, were allowed. Even Hinata was unaware of what lay within, though Luminous could tell Hinata was suspicious.
She slowly stripped herself bare of her clothing and walked towards the beautiful figure frozen in the Holy Ark.
An enchanting smile hung on her face as she observed the nude figure within. She had spent countless hours just watching and caressing the coffin, even ignoring the severe burns that she would acquire.
The coffin was created through pure Spiritron Manipulation, it was infused with so much Holy Power that even an Awakened Demon Lord like her was still burned to the touch. Even with her full power she was incapable of breaching the coffin forcefully.
"Soon, soon you will be free." She said as she began rubbing herself across the coffin.
Her ministrations were stopped all of a sudden when she felt something from her Soul Connection with Hinata.
Luminous' gaze immediately snapped in the direction of the Great Jura Forest.
"Hinata!?" Those two had never informed her about the future in too much detail, too worried about her causing changes by accident.
They never told her when they would go to the past, nor how they would go to the past.
Luminous knew something had to have happened for Hinata's soul to dwell within Chloe, she just hoped she was wrong.
"Damn it! What has that Slime and Daemon been doing!?"
She quickly snapped her fingers causing her normal royal garbs to appear on her.
"Louis! Gunther!" She called.
Louis and Gunter were the only two who knew about this location and just who was sealed in the coffin. Her two most loyal and powerful subordinates. Especially now that Roy's power had rejoined with his twin, Louis was a force to be reckoned with.
"Yes My Lady?" Came Gunther with Louis following close behind.
"Come, we will be leaving, it seems our dear Hinata has had some… complications."
Over time a bond between her and Hinata had formed, and while weak it allowed them both to get subtle feelings from the other. In fact she was fairly certain Hinata knew of her attraction to her.
Luminous already knew what had most likely happened, though she hoped she was wrong. She did not know what she would do if Hinata was truly… dead.
- Felix -
"Felix! Could you please control your Haki! I'm not sure how much longer I can contain it!"
I sighed and forcefully calmed myself down. Hinata was not technically dead. I forcefully reigned in my Demon Lord's Haki and got it under control. Some Skills react intensely to emotional stimuli, Haki especially reacts to emotional stimuli.
I heard Rimuru give off a loud sigh once my Haki was no longer pressuring him.
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine Felix, I can understand why that happened." Said Rimuru.
Fuck. I hate Time bullshit. Still, my shoulders sagged hearing Odin. If Hinata's soul is tagging along with Chloe as a passenger, then that means Hinata was still technically alive, if only as a passenger of Chloe's.
I have no clue what sort of effects binding oneself to a Unique Skill could have, the closest approximation to that would be the Sin Series, each of them sort of have wills of their own.
But even then Hinata's current situation is different. For one will her Soul heal over time now that there are no Spiritrons actively trying to corrupt her Soul?
Who knows what sort of situation those two have appeared in.
Still, it's best I focus on things I can actually have a chance of affecting.
Still I'm just surprised that it is possible to pass on Skills. Hinata must really believe in Chloe if she was willing to pass on one of her Unique Skills.
The only issue is that I don't know if those two were sent to the past or the future. If they were sent to the past I'll have a far easier time finding them as long as they have survived to this day. If they were sent to the future however… well it'll be far more difficult.
"Do you know what just happened Felix?" Asked Rimuru.
Before I could answer I felt three presences teleport very close by, one of them was very recognizable.
"I'll explain everything to everyone, I don't want to repeat myself."
Rimuru nodded as he stared in the direction Luminous had appeared from. Rimuru snapped his fingers and dispelled the Barrier he seemed to have created to contain my Haki.
That was a good move, who knows how much damage my Haki could have done when let loose.
Normally I can just focus my Haki to a certain area so I don't cause too much damage. I guess Hinata mattered more to me than a simple test subject. Our relationship may have started absolutely horribly, and I even started teaching her as an experiment of sorts, but she's grown on me.
Like a fungus that absolutely refuses to leave.
The Clown was still bound by Fixation, I'm not a raging beast, it would be idiotic to kill the Clown when he is our only source of information along with Mariabell.
I just wanted to… hurt him a bit, no biggie. I extended my hand to the God Grade sword that was lying on the ground next to the Clown. I didn't even bother with it at first, far too angry at the Clown.
The sword floated towards me, once it was in my hand I could feel it accept me as its master. God Grade Equipment often had a will of their own and would reject those they found unworthy.
This one seems to have been actually forged rather than created with Material Creation as well. Not just anyone can afford to just hand out this kind of weapon to a subordinate.
I have no doubt that the Clown was just loaned this weapon, I'm sure there is someone pulling his strings in the background.
There is no way it is a coincidence that Hinata was attacked at the same time Tempest was… no this was planned.
'Notice. It has been detected that the Sword has the Anti-Skill Attribute.'
'What?!'
'The weapon has a weaker Anti-Skill Attribute than the individual Yuuki Kagurazaka, and it has been detected that the weapon is likely made out of Human bones. The body often reflects the Spirit, and so the Anti-Skill Attribute was somewhat engraved onto Yuuki's Physical Body. The weapon is capable of cutting through any emission attack from Magic or Unique Skills, however it will have a harder time dealing with an Ultimate Skill, but it is still possible.'
I could feel my fists clenching. I was no fool, a weapon made out of Human bones with the Anti-Skill Attribute, something that is imbued within Yuuki's Spiritual Constitution. No, I could reach the most likely conclusion quite easily.
Yuuki is involved in this somehow. How many others were there with Anti-Skill after all?
I had The Dungeon try and analyze him but I didn't get much new data, I already knew about Anti-Skill, and Small World was never meant to gather data on what Skills someone has by deep diving into someone's soul.
Perhaps if Yuuki demonstrated his Unique Skill that would be different, but he didn't do that is still a mystery.
Either way, even if he wasn't involved in Saeko's death, which is highly unlikely with all this information, he will still cease to exist for this, his Soul and all.
Looking back at everything it does make sense. Footman and Tear said themselves that they were mercenaries, they were hoping to deal with me so that Tempest would have less protection at the time.
Shortly after that, Tempest was attacked.
And then another similarly dressed Clown is once again involved in some sort of plot?
If they were hired by Yuuki, or maybe even his subordinates, it would all line up. It's possible that Yuuki incited Clayman as well.
I still need more information.
I would have to pick Mariabell's brain later. I'm sure she can be… convinced.
"Felix, are you alright?" Asked a concerned Rimuru.
I shook my head. "I'll tell you later." It's best that we focus on Luminous right now.
Yuuki may not know it, but he was living on borrowed time.
"Damn it! What has happened to Hinata!" I turned towards the voice. Luminous had arrived along with two of her subordinates. One was someone I knew of, Louis the Pope of Luminism. While the other was dressed in a suit and tie, he dressed fairly similarly to Sukuna and Diablo, I think it would be a fair assumption to think he is Luminous' butler.
Both were fairly strong too.
Both of their Existence Points are at around 1,000,000, they were about as strong as an Awakened Demon Lord and a Saint.
Quite the impressive subordinates Luminous has acquired under her, both are Vampires as well.
Luminous' gaze snapped to me and then to Rimuru. She quickly stood by my side.
"What happened?!" She asked.
"She was attacked." I responded.
"Of course I can see that! But how did this happen!? With all of your powerful subordinates, with all of your so-called security." Demanded Luminous.
Rimuru is the one that answered her this time. "Tempest was attacked, while my subordinates and I were handling that someone managed to infiltrate and teleport Hinata and Chloe to a discrete battlefield that was prepared beforehand. The Barrier helped isolate any sign of the fight making it hard to send help."
"Chloe?!" Shouted Luminous.
Rimuru looked at her with confusion. "Yes?"
Luminous sighed aggressively. "I… see. Damn it! There really was nothing that could have been done!?" Luminous seems awfully accepting. I would have imagined she would have declared war or something for Hinata "dying" in Rimuru's territory when she is basically a foreign dignitary.
Though I could tell from her clenched fists that internally Luminous was raging.
"Damn it, I have to try something!" Luminous said as she raised her hands and aimed them towards Hinata's body.
Luminous cast all sorts of Holy Spells, resulting in Hinata's body being healed back to peak perfect condition.
Even the Miracle Class Holy Magic wasn't working, which was what I expected. Hinata's issue wasn't her body, it was her Soul.
Luminous even casted a Resurrection Spell which practically evaporated midair.
"She hasn't been gone for long! Why isn't it!"
Hinata's body may have been present, but her Soul was no longer present.
"DAMN IT." Luminous gaze immediately snapped to the Clown still frozen in my Fixation.
"He is the one responsible, is he not!?" Questioned Luminous.
I sighed but nodded. "Don't do anything drastic Luminous." I told Luminous.
Luminous ignored my words and approached the Clown, her Demon Lord's Haki focusing on the Clown.
Of course the Clown was immobile, he could not do anything to defend himself.
Just before Luminous was about to touch the Clown, and likely drain him of his vitality I appeared and grabbed her arm.
Both of her subordinates appeared next to me to defend their mistress. I just ignored their attacks and let Infinity deal with them. I wouldn't blame Luminous for acting out a bit, she did just "lose" someone close to her.
"Don't do that Luminous. He is one of our only sources of information right now. And besides, Hinata is not gone."
If I didn't know that there was a chance to meet Hinata again I don't know what my emotional state would be like, I would probably be just like Luminous, wanting to get my revenge on the Clown.
Now I can think things through more rationally.
"I know she is not gone!"
What? How could Luminous know that? …Unless?
- Luminous Valentine -
As Felix held har arm, preventing her from draining the Clown's vitality she thought back on everything.
Luminous felt powerless, her beloved Hinata laid dead, and she was unable to do anything. For all her power, all her status she was helpless.
The only moment comparable was being helpless to defend her old kingdom when Veldora went and destroyed it, no matter how hard she tried to distract the True Dragon, he had just brushed her off, as if she were a bug.
That day is when she truly understood how powerless she was in front of the truly mighty.
She had never felt as helpless as she had back then, until now.
Confirmed. Conditions satisfied. The Unique Skill: Lust has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Asmodeus, Lord of Lust.
Once the Voice of the World's voice resounded in her ears she could feel her power soar to new heights. Heights she couldn't have even dreamed of previously.
She could feel a new power forming in the core of her being.
Is this the power that individuals like Guy Crimson and the True Dragons have? Is this how they maintain their superiority?
She felt like a true Goddess.
Could… could this be enough? Could this revive Hinata?
She knew it was a fruitless endeavor, but she had to try.
She noticed Felix had loosened his grip on her arm and was looking at her with surprise.
"So you got one too now huh?" He muttered.
She looked to Louis and Gunther. "That is enough you two. You two are incapable of harming someone on Felix's level, so stop trying."
Both of them stopped sending fruitless attacks Felix's way. That stupid Barrier of his wouldn't even let their attacks hit him.
With her new Ultimate Skill she could command the passage of Life and Death as well as view and manipulate the lifeforce of others. Even the Soul was under her dominion.
Though her Skill was more focused on the aspect of Life.
Louis and Gunther were each incredibly powerful, but when compared to Rimuru their lifeforce was practically a small fire whereas Rimuru's was a blazing sun. And then when comparing Rimuru's to Felix's the difference was just as vast.
Felix was still more powerful than her, even with her new power, she was still below him, she could feel it.
Just how long would she be helpless to those stronger than her!?
Luminous walked to where Hinata's body lay with Felix following behind her.
She raised her hands to the sky, and commanded Hinata's Soul to return to her body.
The Art Re-Birth utilized one of Asmodeus' sub-skills, Life Domination to resurrect the dead.
She waited, and waited, and waited.
Nothing happened.
She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"There is no point Luminous, you should know that." Said Felix.
She knew that, Hinata's Soul was gone now, Hinata was in the past now.
But still, hearing Felix she snapped. "THEN WHAT IS THE POINT?! This new power of mine was not useful when it was needed most! Then why did I acquire this power in the first place!" She yelled, her heterochromatic red and blue eyes glowing in anger and despair.
She had no clue if when Chronoa was unsealed, if it would truly be Hinata and Chloe piloting the body, or if it would be the berserker Chronoa.
This was her best and only chance at reviving at least Hinata rather than risking it all in a gambit.
Now, that was her only choice.
"You finally got that off of your chest?" Asked Felix with a nonchalant smile.
She did not know why he was acting like it was no big deal, as far as he should know, Hinata was dead.
The present Hinata had never told her she was learning under Felix, but the one that was sent to the past had told her. Over the centuries they had grown incredibly close, so Luminous knew quite well how Hinata felt about Felix and what they had gotten up to.
For Felix to take this all as a joke, it infuriated her.
Before she could rip into him Felix opened his mouth. "Now why don't we talk about how we can save Hinata and Chloe."
" "What?" " Both she and Rimuru said at the same time.
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Author's Note:
Hello everyone, this chapter was busting my ass but I got it finished. Anyways about the Anti-Skill Weapon Yuuki made from his bones, normally Anti-Skill can't really be bypassed through conventional means, the thing is this is a weapon that is no longer directly connected to Yuuki. So while it still carries most of its effects it is far easier to get through then Yuuki's Anti-Skill.
Also for why Rimuru did not immediately notice Laplace using Falsifier, his ability allows him to deceive the senses of everyone around, even Rimuru is subject to that. Just as an Ultimate Skill wielder he was able to easily notice that something was wrong.
If some of you feel Felix didn't seem to care too much for Hinata's "death" then all I can say is that Hinata did not technically die. At first when he thought she was dead he was pretty damn upset. But he quickly found out that Hinata was alive and just temporally displaced. That's my excuse for why I didn't write Felix having a super edgy phase of him being depressed. He has hope, for most, hope is more than enough.
Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed. See ya!
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