Chapter 245 - Decisive Battle at the Summit Part 6

What the heck are you doing...?

When I thought that,

「Guh, Guooh... Power, I ran out of power at the last moment...」

Veldora-san insisted on something which was no more than an excuse.

I guess he was fine.

Although I didn't really feel the need to be worried about him, I couldn't help it considering his usual antics.

He looked awful but there seemed to be no other problems.

That's right. After all, Veldora-san was the only one who suffered any damage from that big explosion.

Everyone else seemed to be unharmed, what a relief.

Oh well, if it's Veldora-san, I felt a mysterious reassurance that he would turn out okay even if he was seriously injured.

Since his real body was inside me, it wasn't an exaggeration.

「What are you doing? Didn't you boast that you would be fine?」

「Grrr, that's my line! Why did the "Corridor" suddenly closed even though I tried to suppress the explosion with force!?」

When I asked him mixed with a sigh, Veldora angrily asked back at me.

Corridor... did he mean the "Soul Corridor"?

"Fufuu. It's because Veldora had been the one most wasteful with Master's magic essences. I wanted to teach him a lesson, so I calculated that it will go out of control, but that it would only damage him and closed the "Soul Corridor" at the perfect moment."

You did what!?

Rather, Ciel-san appeared to be angry for some reason.

Although she had said that Veldora could use it as much as he liked in the previous conversation, what's with this sudden change of attitude here…...

"In the first place, I've been suppressing the usage so that the energy won't be used inefficiently. In regards to the energy usage, Veldora is――"

「When I saw you absorbing the energy, I thought I wanted to copy it too! Even though it was just a bit more and I would have completed it and powered-up myself too.」

「No, no, I think that's impossible...」

I guess this is what people would call flabbergasted.

I never told him not to copy someone else, but I wished in this tense situation, he wouldn't try something that he couldn't do.

First of all, how can Veldora power-up himself if he didn't have the ability to convert energy...?

It was a simple task, all he had to do was to suppress and offset it normally; It's amazing that he could deliberately mess up.

Veldora-san probably tried to blend it with a large amount of energy he tried to draw out from me while suppressing it with his own full power.

Did he assume that by doing that he could forcibly take in the altered energy?

"Not just that, he tried to pour the energy through the "Soul Corridor" when he couldn't get used to it smoothly. Rather than a power-up, he probably planned a recycling."

I see...

Certainly, Ciel-san could deal with it easily, but it would be risky if sending weird things became a habit.

She's right by refusing as she seemed to be conveniently used as someone who took care of things when he was in trouble.

Since he couldn't deal with it himself, he pushed it to Ciel-san and took the energy as he pleased.

Even Ciel-san would flip out over that.

Though she meant to rake him over the coals, she probably wanted to punish Veldora.

As expected, not even Veldora could deal with it since Ciel-san had done it when he was unprepared for something like that.

Oh well, Ciel-san probably determined the moment when he couldn't handle it though.

I was surprised that such foolish exchanges were happening without my knowledge.

「No matter how I look at it isn't that your own fault!」

「Grrr... It's not fair that only Rimuru can use such a convenient ability...」

Don't go "Grrr" at me. Are you a kid!

Oh, well, whatever, his foolishness was quite painful for everyone to see.

「Veldora, you――」

See?

Even Velgrind, who put the sword over her shoulder, is now glaring this way with half-opened eyes, you know?

Also, it's very scary that Velzard is smiling but her eyes aren't.

I told that to Veldora through eye contact.

OH NO! So Veldora, whose face turned miserable, seemingly wanted to say.

It seemed he realized that he was getting a bit too full of himself and he looked back and forth between me and his two sisters in panic.

「Well, practice is the key. Even you will be able to use it if you keep doing your best, so be diligent. Therefore, help me to defeat Velda first.」

I decided to give Veldora a helping hand.

My reason was it would be a bother if he ended up sulking, but Veldora-san who was shivering before his two older sisters looked pitiful if I didn't do anything.

I acted as if this time he just messed up a bit and everything was going as planned from the start.

「Ha…hahaha. I guess so. It seems I have been a bit too overconfident. One has to learn humbleness or something like that, right. Alright, then I'll return inside and lend you my strength!」

Until the end, Veldora was still glossing over his coolness and returned back inside me as if he was running away.

He owed me one for this.

Since it was a good chance, I decided to make Veldora-san reside inside my katana.

I got Veldora's agreement and put Veldora who underwent『True Dragon Core Transformation』into the katana.

I didn't feel like being stingy in this seemingly final decisive battle.

I thought that it was great that I could retrieve Veldora back smoothly since Velda would be very cautious if he were to see Veldora transforming in front of his eyes.

Since I pretended that I retrieved him back because he was hurt, Velda wouldn't notice the change in my katana.

Veldora-san's mischievous conducts were surprising, but it might result in something good.

　　　　　　◇◇◇

Well, with this, my preparation was complete and I only had to defeat Velda now.

I could ignore the effects on my surroundings since this is in the sky.

If I used my full power on the surface, it would become a serious problem due to environmental destruction.

I cut apart the ocean before; the follow up afterward was very hard.

It seemed that when Guy and Milim fought each other long ago, they ended creating a barren desert.

With that said, the heavens could be said to be the perfect place.

「Hey, need help?」

Guy asked.

I was happy with the offer, but I would be fine alone.

Because I planned to swing Veldora Sword, it would be a big problem if anyone got involved.

「No, I alone am enough. However, since I'm planning to unleash a bit of my full power, it would be quite helpful if you help Ramiris with the barrier. I don't want Velda to run away from this place and just want things to be absolutely ensured.」

「Oh? You're quite confident. Okay, leave that to me.」

Guy nodded and began to help Ramiris in reinforcing the『Different World Barrier[1]』that covered up the heaven.

「I'm counting on you, Rimuru!」

Milim looked at me with eyes full of anticipation and following after Guy, she started to pour her power into Gaia who was in her embrace

It seemed that she was helping with the barrier's reinforcement.

「May fortune smiles in your favor, Rimuru-sama!」

Diablo encouraged me while he was tending to Testarossa and the other two.

「Let's finish this quickly and rebuild our country.」

「Kufufufufu, I'm looking forward to it.」

「If by any chance I got defeated――」

「Surely you jest. It's impossible for Rimuru-sama to lose.」

Diablo declared so with a tremendous faith.

I didn't have any intention to lose, but my victory wasn't guaranteed either...

Diablo didn't seem to think that I could lose at all.

「Sensei――」

「I'll finish everything. It seems I can finally save you.」

「I... Sensei... If Sensei looks about to lose――」

「Don't worry. It's impossible for me to lose, you know? Whether that's true or not, I'll prove it right away.」

I cheerfully quoted Diablo's words and Chloe finally smiled.

「Yes. I'll be waiting for it.」

I could feel the strength behind her words that she would be waiting for me as her tense expression seemed to soften a bit.

I was worried about Chloe who was kind of unstable, but she would be fine now.

Guy, Milim, Ramiris, Chloe, Diablo and Testarossa and the others had their eyes glued to me while Velzard and Velgrind, the True Dragon sisters, and Velgaia were as maintaining the『Different World Barrier』

Everyone's gazes were concentrated on my back and I raised one hand to answer it.

I maintained my gaze to Velda.

「Sorry to keep you waiting. Well, let's get started.」

「... Shut up. Don't get full of yourself just because you won over these crowds. It'll be easy for me to massacre all of you if I get serious.」

「Ah is that so. I think it's impossible, but try it if you can.」

My and Velda's sights intersected simultaneously with my katana and his sword.

At that moment, a clear sound echoed in the place as a severed tip of a blade flew into the air and stuck on the ground.

Velda's face was dyed with shock.

Naturally, it was because I slashed Velda's sword with my katana. Moreover, the shockwaves caused by my surging slash blew away half of the remaining castle.

The delayed echoes were the sounds of the destroyed castle crumbling.

Let's deliver the final blow on Velda with the sounds as his requiem.

Velda created a new sword without panicking.

It was impressive that he immediately regained his calm, but it had been proven before that his sword was no match against Veldora Sword.

I swung the katana and slashed through Velda's sword again.

I thought it was amazing that he could create many God Class swords, but even I could do something similar. It wasn't an ability that needed to be fussed over so much.

「It can't be….. Although mine is ranked the lowest, it's definitely a God Class sword――No, what is with his sword? Impossible... Could it be a Genesis Class[2]!?」

He seemed to finally have noticed it.

About my katana, Veldora Sword.

It was my first time hearing Genesis Class or something like that, but I didn't really care about such a thing.

Its silvery blade is dyed with aura thinly cladding it and emitting jet black radiance. On its blade, the golden blade pattern undulating beautifully, giving off a very fantastic beauty.

It's really a shame to call a sword with an unserious name as Veldora Sword.

Oh well, Veldora-san's real form is also jet black-colored and he looks magnificent and beautiful if he shuts his mouth though.

(Hey, did you think of something really rude just now?)

Nope, everything is fine.

I felt like I heard some kind of dissatisfied voice, but let's not worry about it.

「I don't know what class this sword is. But it has nothing to do with defeating you! Come now, let's end our warm-ups and quickly show me what you can really do. I have plenty of time, but they are not for playing with you!」

I declared at Velda as I wanted to finish this soon.

There was no point in playing with him any longer. I thought about going serious soon.

However, I perceived something was wrong with Velda.

「――Kuh, what I can really do, you said? Don't you dare underestimate me, for I'm the true successor of Veldanava!!」

With an expression distorted by anger and humiliation, Velda brought his hands together.

Then, he shouted「Divine Sword Summon」and a sword harboring ominous power was summoned.

Unlike his previous creations, it was a mysterious sword that clearly was of a higher rank.

「I shall give you my praise for making me take out this sword, my last resort. This Genesis: Veldanava Sword[3]!!」

It was a beautiful sword.

A large long sword with a slightly inward curved blade.

The blade shined with blue glow as if the blade itself emitted the light.

Contrary to its appearance, its mass might be comparable to a planet. It was a cluster of super-high-dense energy.

It seemed to be a Genesis Class thingy he mentioned earlier, so did we became equal in terms of weapon or something like that?

As I expected, it was unlikely for me to win easily, but this was within my expectations.

「Rimuru, it was beyond my expectation that you possess a sword comparable to this one and only Genesis Class, you know. However, since I've pulled out this sword, it's over for you.」

Velda declared with his restored confidence.

Then, he swung down the sword toward me.

His movement was exactly what you would call as Godspeed, it might be impossible to react to it if it was not me.

However―― From my point of view, Velda's movement was really crude.

Although I said that the warm up was over, is he still testing me?

Or perhaps he underestimated me this late in the game because I was lower ranked than him...

I didn't mind either way though. Since I would just do what I had to do.

「Too slow.」

I muttered a few words and swung my katana.

Velda hurriedly changed the trajectory of his sword and stopped my katana. However, he was unable to bear with the overwhelming shock wave that occurred when our blades clashed and he was blown away while breaking several piles of rubble as he rolled over the ground.

However, that was strange.

It was certainly a terrifying shock wave, but I only felt like it was a breeze.

Was this guy perhaps…..

Could it be that was his full power?

I thought there was no way that was true and denied that thought.

When I met Velda in the Imperial Capital, I felt a very threatening presence from him.

If we fought that time, I thought that it was very probable for me to lose.

And yet, I didn't feel the same threat from him now...

"Of course. Master is evolving every day after all."

To answer my question, Ciel-san declared so as if what she said was natural.

Hey, hey, didn't you say that super-strengthening or something like that was not possible? And yet, why did I feel like I'm getting super strong!?

"Master is an exception. Plus, there's an exception even for everything else."

Isn't that a double standard!?

For Ciel-san to conclude her explanation with a double standard, how formidable she had become.

「Damn it, if only『Raphael』, if only I got my hands on『Raphael』, I could become the ultimate form!!」

Velda began shouting something he regretted

Raphael? Did he mean the Ultimate Skill that I had?

Ciel-san had said it was unnecessary and erased it after the synthesis, but was it really such an important Skill?

「I had that Skill before, but it's already gone now, you know? It's unfortunate, but there was no possibility for your wish to come true.」

With the intention to break his heart and a bit of compassion, I cruelly informed Velda.

Our fight's outcome would be decided by the one whose heart broke first.

Therefore, what I said would become a decisive blow against Velda.

「It, it can't be!?『Raphael』is gone――? Then, I can't prove that I'm Veldanava...」

Velda muttered unclear words with his hollow expression.

"How foolish. Even if he supposedly was able to manifest your Skill, it will be impossible for an imposter to be acknowledged as Veldanava."

Ciel sent her thoughts as if to deal the final blow on Velda.

Could you send your thought to everyone like that? Or rather, what did you mean with acknowledging Veldanava or something like that?

"I just said what was appropriate, please don't mind it."

Ehh, is that true?

Ciel-san said that she said that to break Velda's heart but... She didn't hide something, right?

Without my knowing, it seemed the means of communication had increased, Ciel-san was really full of mysteries.

"It's okay. There's no problem."

No, it's not that... oh well, whatever.

She might not have lied, but I didn't think she told the truth either.

「It can't be, I am―― I am Veldanava... I won't accept this... If only I have『Raphael』, the real Lucia will acknowledge me!!」

Velda shouted as if he went mad and attacked me without care of anything, but his weak attacks wouldn't work on me.

I easily repelled his sword and blew Velda away for the second time.

I guess it was not a fight anymore.

His heart was broken too, what was left for me was to deal the final blow.

When I thought so――

「It's Rimuru's victory.」

I heard Guy said that.

Hey, if you say something like that――

「Wai, Guy! When you say something like that, if I remember correctly―― you will set off a "flag", saying something like that is quite famous in the industry, you know!」

「That's right! I also studied Rimuru's manga. It's taboo to say something like that, you know!?」

Ramiris and Milim came to stop Guy faster than I was.

However, not just Guy, the True Dragon sisters also joined the fray.

「What are you guys trying to say. No matter how you look at it, isn't this Rimuru's complete victory?」

「That's true, Velda has tremendous power for a fake, but as I expected he's not comparable with the real Aniue. He doesn't seem to be a match for that absurd slime.」

The two of them eagerly said those words as if the crisis had passed.

「Like I said, it'll be a lead up before the enemy gets stronger, so stop with statements like that.」

「That's right, that's right! They called this "cliché", you know?」

Milim shouted and Ramiris agreed with her.

However, they were already too late...

「Fufufu, ahahahahaha!」

Velda stood up while laughing.

Has he lost it? No, rather than that, his expression is――

「I knew it. It was as I had expected, Rimuru-san.」

With a smile I knew very well, he called me with his clear voice.

This sensation, this guy is without a doubt――

「Is that you, Yuuki?」

「Yes, long time no see. As I expected, Velda couldn't win against you. However, it's not a problem. He had earned me plenty of time. Well―― shall we start the final battle between you and me?」

While still smiling, Yuuki said so and pointed Genesis: Veldanava Sword at me.

[1] 異界結界 Ikai Kekkai. Ikai can also mean Spirit/Foreign/Alien World/Underworld. But imo different world fit the context. Otherworld Barrier?

[2] 創世級(ジェネシス) Sousei Kyuu (Jeneshisu). World Creation Class/Rank.

[3] 創世剣(ジェネシス):星皇竜角剣(ヴェルダナーヴァ) Souseiken (Jeneshisu): Seiōryū Kakuken (Verudanāva). World Creation Sword (Genesis): Stellar Lord Dragon's Horn Sword/Blade/Edge. I add sword to it for easier differentiation between the sword and the person.