Dance of Death : Philanthropy

Though he had expected Paul's group to be decently powerful, Saikon never expected to see his Lieutenants sliced through, weapons and armor included. Neither did he expect to be sent crashing through several trees by a human female whose waist was so thin he was pretty sure he could have grasped it with a single hand.

"Dance of Sacrifice, Act I, Shimmering Waves."

Following her initial attack, Eula effortlessly brandished her massive, predominately blue and white claymore known as the Whiteblind. It had the moderately broken effect of increasing attack power and defense by 6% every time it landed a blow, but, as impressive as the claymore was, it paled in comparison to its wielder's beauty.

The moment Saikon recovered and attempted to smash the upper half of her body with his massive fist, Eula pirouetted around it with such perfect timing that her figure appeared to disappear. At the very least, that's what Saikon felt before her claymore impacted his side, breaking several of his ribs and sending him flying a second time.

While Saikon was still in the midst of his flight, Eula moved like a phantom under and past him before spinning around and slashing upward, this time sending him flying into the sky. To the Ogre's credit, he was actually able to right himself in mid-air. However, the moment he did so, he found Eula waiting above him, her powerful and muscular thighs allowing her to leap more than 20m into the air in order to send him crashing into the ground like a meteor.

Erupting from the ground with a thunderous cry, Saikon shouted, "I will wear you...!" as he charged toward Eula like a berserk rhino. His durable hide, resilient muscles, and steel-like bones had allowed him to endure Eula's onslaught with only mild injuries. There was also steam rising from his body, a tell-tale sign that he had inherited at least a lesser form of his race's exceptionally rare and cheat-like regeneration.

Harumphing in response to Saikon's words, Eula cooly remarked, "How uncivilized." before adopting an elegant yet defenseless-looking posture with her back slightly arched and her sword strung behind her, supported by a single arm. If she were an ordinary person and the Whiteblind were a standard, extremely heavy claymore, swinging from such a posture would have been impossible.

Demonstrating that both she and her claymore were beyond exceptional, Eula used her hips as a pivot to initiate an extremely swift yet graceful flip using the Whiteblind's momentum. The path of the blade traced a perfect crescent that impacted Saikon's head the moment he got within range. It wasn't enough to crush his skull, but it was more than enough to send him crashing face-first into the snow and dirt as Eula landed gracefully atop his back.

With the intent to finish Saikon off, Eula gripped the hilt of her claymore with both hands, a resolute expression on her face as she aimed for the connecting point between his neck and skull. At this point, her attack and defense had increased by 24%, so there was a hazy shimmer covering the length of her claymore as she brought it down like the merciless blade of a guillotine.

Fearing for his life, Saikon attempted to roll to his side and dislodge Eula from his back, but the only thing he accomplished was exposing the side of his neck, an area without bone and a lot of vital arteries. Whiteblind cut through nearly a third of his neck as Eula used the force of his movement to propel herself high into the sky, flipping at the apex of her arc to bring her claymore down a second time. Had this been a normal strike, Saikon might have been able to react to it. Unfortunately for him, Eula's descent effectively disregarded the laws of physics as she accelerated toward the ground several times faster than its natural pull.

Had her opponent been virtually any other species, Eula would have won the moment she decapitated them. Instead, as Saikon's head rolled along the ground, glaring at her, his body pounced forward to try and tackle her. Not expecting this, Eula was nearly caught in the muscular Ogre's grasp when crisscrossing beams of light passed through his torso, courtesy of Paul and Ghislaine.

Recovering from her brief and momentary stupor. Eula cast a rather frosty gaze on the detached head that appeared to be trying to regrow its body. Ogres had tremendous vitality, not enough to regrow their body, but more than enough to pull themselves back together after being sliced apart.

Seeing Eula staring at him, Saikon released a largely soundless, gurgling roar that caused bloody foam to erupt from his mouth and the base of his neck. He knew he was about to die, so he didn't hesitate to use one of the trump cards of the Ogre Tribe, Blood Eruption.

Sensing danger, Eula immediately dodged backward with Whiteblind in between her and Saikon's head. At the same time, Saikon's head and the individual sections of his body all exploded, a corrosive, blood-red mist immediately filling the area. Fortunately, while it was an incredibly lethal attack up close, Blood Eruption only had an effective kill range of around 8m. At their levels, Paul, Ghislaine, and Eula were easily able to escape to safety, dodging all but a few stray droplets of the corrosive mist.

"What a cunt...he inherited two of his race's most extraordinary abilities and used them to enslave others? I thought the Ogre Tribe was supposed to be one of the nobler species of Demons..."

While using a ball of bubbly water to wipe away some of the stray, visibly smoking blood droplets from her body, Eula remarked, "The actions of a single individual are not representative of their entire race. While this man was undoubtedly reprehensible, it would be discriminatory to consider the rest of his species as loathsome."

Not expecting to hear such a remark from Eula, Paul briefly found himself at a loss for words before awkwardly replying, "It wasn't my intention to sound racist or anything...I just..."

Shaking his head, Paul added, "Forget it. I said something out of line, and for that, I apologize. Thanks for helping to keep me in check, Eula."

Returning the faintest of smiles, Eula placed her hand between her fairly modest but immaculately sculpted breasts as she offered a curt bow and said, "It is my pleasure to be of service."

Resisting the temptation to say something flirtatious in response, Paul adopted a faint smile of his own before shifting his gaze to Ghislaine and asking, "Think you can track their scent back to their lair? I want to check and make sure they don't have any slaves locked up somewhere. I would feel pretty shitty if I just left them alone to starve to death..."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Ghislaine said, "Leave it to me." before bolting off in the direction Saikon's group had initially approached from. When she found the base and returned to inform Paul about it, the latter felt both relieved and vindicated as there were a total of eighteen slaves being held captive in a surprisingly large cave. The condition of some of them made Paul's brain buzz with frustration and anger, but he was glad he hadn't simply left them to die...

...

..

.

Though he had every right to keep it for himself, Paul allowed the victims affected by the Red Oni Hunting Party to divvy up the spoils found within Saikon's lair. The only articles he kept for himself were the group's ledger and a few letters proving their affiliation with various Nobles. He couldn't really do anything with them right now, but they would be handy to have if he decided to oppose or punish the Aristocracy of the Magic Triumvirate.

In his previous life, Paul had always looked down on people who tried to play the part of a hero. His mentality had changed once he gained access to the Intersection of Fate, but unless he could be relatively certain of his success, he would rather not stick his neck out for others.

For the time being, Paul's top priorities were gaining strength and simply enjoying his life until shit invariably hit the fan. He didn't consider himself a good person, but he also wasn't a complete piece of shit. Thus, while he was more than willing to both save and free the slaves he had rescued, he had no intention of looking after and caring for them after the fact. There were simply too many people suffering in the world of Mushoku Tensei for him to drop everything he was doing to help a bunch of random people he had never met nor stood to gain anything from.

Fortunately for the former slaves, Paul, as he was so fond of mentioning, wasn't a complete piece of shit. He wasn't willing to look after them, but he didn't mind handing over the additional twenty-three gold pieces they needed to enroll into the Ranoa Magic Academy. That would give them a solid eight years to figure something out for themselves, as, regardless of the age they enrolled, Ranoa Magic Academy allowed students to stay for eight years before they were forced to graduate.

While 23AGC wasn't exactly a small amount, Paul had more than 153,000 stored within the Intersection of Fate. If he wanted to, Paul could roll for pity seventeen times in a row, purchase several castles, or finance a literal army. Instead, he typically just used his funds to give hardworking people surprise, often life-changing tips. After that, it was up to them to turn their lives around and improve them for the better.

With the lives of billions of people resting on his shoulders, Paul literally couldn't afford to live for others...all he could do was give them a push in the right direction and hope for the best...

...

..

.

"I guess this is where we part ways. See you around, Revaan."

Since he had genuinely expected Paul to make him work off his debts, Revaan couldn't even begin to describe how grateful he felt. Not only had Paul saved his and the lives of several others, but he went out of his way to help them enroll in the Ranoa Magic Academy. It was an unbelievably noble and selfless act, so much so that Revaan still couldn't believe there were no strings attached.

"I will never forget the kindness you have shown me these past two days, Paul Greyrat. If ever the opportunity presents itself, I will do everything in my power to repay this debt. If not to you, personally, then your children and your children's children. I swear it upon my name, Revaan Oakwood."

Clapping the youthful-looking Elf on the shoulder, Paul said, "Worry about that when the time comes. For now, just focus on your studies and making your family proud. After that, so long as you live a proper and just life, the debt between us can be considered null and void."

Inhaling a deep breath, Revaan's respect for Paul grew tenfold in a matter of seconds. He had never even heard of such a kind and generous human before. Even compared to Demons, humans were known to be greedy and borderline insatiable in their desires. They generally regarded every other race, even the ancient and noble Dragons, as beneath them. If he were to tell the people back at the Motherwood of Paul's existence, Revaan knew not a single person would believe him...

"Were there more humans like you, Paul Greyrat, this world would be a much better place..."

...

..

.