On my back, the kids were all excitedly looking down as we flew, while Rimuru was having a panic attack thinking they were going to fall off. In front of us was small forest, with a large tree in the center of it, which was our destination.
We arrived at the outskirts of the tree and I set everyone down, turning into my human form I start walking towards the base of it with everyone behind me. While we were flying there, Shizu caught up with all the kids, and Rimuru and I had conversation of our own.
(Flashback to the flight)
While Shizu was occupying the kids, I decided to talk with Rimuru, though my voice was rather loud, considering I was in my dragon form, I was still able to use limitless to create a sound barrier, that let Rimuru hear me without any issues.
"So, from what you told me you were reincarnated correct?" I ask with fake curiosity.
"Yes, I am. I used to be a human, then I found myself here. I was in a large field, but one of my starting abilities was Shapeshifting magic, so I didn't have to be in the form of a slime at all. I wandered around until I found one of my friends, Tiss. She's also a professor at Freedom Academy. She asked what I was doing wandering by myself, and I told her what happened. That's when she realized I reincarnated and took me back to Ingrassia with her."
'Interesting, she even got reincarnated somewhere else.'
"I'm not much different you know. I was reincarnated as well, though mine was much different than yours. I also used to be human, though I lived until my 80s."
"Really? Did you live on earth as well?"
"Yes. I lived in the United States, California specifically. Where'd you live?"
"Tokyo, Japan! I got killed saving my friend from being stabbed by a robber. We were on our way home from college and a robber was running at my friend. I pushed her out of the way and the robber hit me with the knife he was using, I bled out there."
'College? How old was she?'
"Ohh, College? How old were you?"
"I was 20. You?"
"I was 89."
She looked at me with wide eyes, then she relaxed, "Well how is that fair. You lived much longer and still got reincarnated."
"Our situations are a bit different. I wasn't reincarnated by chance, it was on purpose. Though we can talk more about that later. What do you plan to do from now on?" I ask her.
"What do you mean? I'll keep teaching the kids."
"Well, I think Shizu wants to take the kids back to our country and continue to teach them. I doubt the headmaster will say no to her, he has a lot of respect for her. If we do, provided the kids want to come, will you come with us or stay at Freedom Academy and teach a different class?"
She looked hesitant at my statement. She honestly wasn't sure, if the kids wanted to go, she would let them, and she wanted to go with them, but at the same time, she felt guilty because she didn't want to leave her friend Tiss who essentially saved her.
"Don't answer now, think about it, it's not even assured that the kids will want to go or not." I say to her.
She nodded at me and fell back into contemplation. Seeing that our conversation was ending, I focused back on the forest that I could see in front of me.
(End of Flashback)
"Well, here we are, the entrance to the Labyrinth. Rimuru, you and Shizu stay at the back, kids stay in the middle and I'll lead. Don't wander around, you could easily get lost." I say the last part looking at both the kids and Rimuru.
They all nod seriously, and I begin leading them into the portal in front of me. We arrive at the other side of the portal, in an empty room, there's no lights, but we can still see perfectly fine. In front of us, there is a path of light that extends as far as the eye can see, to normal people at least, I can tell its spatial manipulation, not that it matters.
"Ramiris, come out here, we need to talk." I say as I look in the corner of the room, where a woman is standing with a playful grin waiting for us to walk forward.
When I look at her, she realizes I can see her and her eyes open wide. "Ha, you're no fun." She pouts and comes out of invisibility in front of everybody. She flew up to my face, "Well, since you know who I am, then you must've came here for my help."
"Yes, these kids are otherworlders, if they can't get a superior spirit to inhabit their bodies and control the rampant energy in their bodies, they will die."
Hearing how serious I was, she flew back a bit and dropped her playful demeanor, putting on a more serious and serene one. "Allow me to introduce myself, My name is Ramiris, the Demon Lord of the Labyrinth, I am also the Queen of Spirits. It's my job to help guide people, I am an impartial party. So if you need help, I'm more than willing to lend you my aid."
The others were surprised she was a demon lord, she looked so harmless. "Surprised she's a demon lord?" I ask them all, to which they just nod.
"Well, even if she is, don't let the title fool you, she's harmless, at least right now."
"Hey! Take that back, I'll knock you out in one punch I tell you!" She cut in.
"Well if you knock me out how will I repay you for helping the kids?"
Her eyes shone and she flew up in front of my face once again, "Well, come on, what are you giving me."
"You'll have to wait until after the kids are all okay, but I'm sure you'll like it."
She pouted that I wasn't going to tell her what it was, but she didn't ask me anymore. We talked for a while longer, and I ended up giving Ramiris some cookies that Shuna made at some point so she could try them. I remembered she was addicted to them in the anime, and it wasn't different now.
After a few hours, Ramiris flew up, "Okay, let's save you all, I want to know what my reward will be!" She said with unhidden excitement. With that, she led us down the path, which continued for a while but eventually it started to incline and curve, finally ending on a platform that was more or less floating.
What happened from there was more or less the same as the anime, until it got to Chloe. Like in the anime, Chronoa appeared, but along with it, time stopped, and everyone but her and I stopped moving.
She look at me for a moment, before she spoke, "How are you not frozen in time like everyone else?"
"You aren't strong enough." I said bluntly, which caused her to scowl a little.
"Calm down, I'm not trying to antagonize you, I was being honest. If it makes you feel any better, no one in this world is strong enough to freeze me in time. Part of my bloodline gives me basic control over time."
She seemed to realize what I meant and the scowl went away, though she was still annoyed that it didn't work.
"Well I don't have much more time, I need to fuse with Chole, or else she will die. What's your name?" She asked me, while walking towards Chloe.
"Kai... We'll talk more in the future."
Chronoa turns to me and nods, "You know the next time we meet, I won't be able to control my self right? I won't be in control anymore."
"Yes, though to be honest I still don't really understand the whole thing. I know Chloe will disappear, and Hinata will gain control of the body, and she won't really be able to control you, so she locks herself in the ark. I'll deal with it."
She turns to me and bows to me, "Thank you, she will gain some of the memories from the other timeline. She might need someone there to help her with that, since you know about everything, please take care of her."
This surprised me, from what I understood, Chronoa was the manifestation of all of Chloe's negative emotions over years that gained sentience when Hinata's soul fused with Chloe's body.
She noticed my surprised look, "I know I'm all of her negative feelings, but I'm still her. If you can help when I lose control and go into a rage, I will owe you a lot."
'She wants me to take care of Chloe so when she loses control, I will have more reason to save her. Smart Girl, guess that's what happens when you live over and over again.'
"Sure, now go, you're running out of time."
Time resumed and she merged with Chloe's body, but this time, no one knew what happened, or what spirit was summoned, only that it was different than the others.