In the Northern Land -Middle Part-
A cheerful laughter echoed inside the hall.
When she heard it, Velgrind regained her composure.
She didn't feel anxious anymore about her body being controlled and not moving as she wanted it.
A bigger problem than that was that her foolish younger brother, Veldora, could see her current pathetic figure that was being controlled by someone―― So Velgrind thought.
That was unpleasant...
Very unpleasant.
For her disgraceful figure to been seen by him not just once, but twice, Velgrind thought this would greatly hurt her dignity as an older sister.
(That fool, it seems he thinks I was being controlled and get carried away...)
She felt anger boiling up inside her when she heard his loud laughter.
When Velgrind calmed down, she inspected her body carefully once more.
As before, her body didn't respond to her own will. However, when she investigated the cause, she noticed that some kind of meddling was done through the Ultimate Skill engraved deep inside her heart[1].
Is this the reason――?
A fragile corridor connected to Ultimate Skill『Justice Lord Michael』was constructed with Ultimate Skill『Charity Lord Raguel』as the axis.
Velgrind realized that the "Ultimate Dominion" Lucia had declared was done via this corridor.
And, that meant the control circuits were inside the Ultimate Skill itself from the very beginning...
(In other words, this was the mechanism that older brother created for emergency control, something like that――）
Velgrind found out the true nature of the mechanism that manipulated Velzard and herself in this event.
If her older brother was the one who built the mechanism that meant it would be near impossible to cancel it.
Although her despair had disappeared with Veldora's appearance, the situation was still bad.
She wanted to click her tongue bitterly, but her body wouldn't do as it was told.
(Well, what should I do now?)
At the moment Velgrind thought so, a mysterious voice echoed deep inside her.
――"If you desire it, I shall grant you even more power"――
So, the mysterious voice whispered to her.
It wasn't something simple like an auditory hallucination; a clear and strong will could be sensed from the voice.
It sounded similar to "Voice of the World", but a bit soft and refined gentleness could be felt from it.
The problem was the meaning behind its words.
(Even more power, you said? If I obtained it, can I overcome this situation?)
――"It's possible, so I assure you"――
(I see, it's possible. Then, there's no need to hesitate!)
Velgrind consented without any hesitation.
Yes.
For Velgrind, if she could break through this situation――a situation that exposed her unsightly appearance to her foolish younger brother, Veldora―― She wouldn't hesitate even if she had to shake hands with the devil.
――"I have confirmed Velgrind's will. "Alteration[2]" will be activated"――
That "Voice" announced.
At that moment, Velgrind felt surges of incredible power.
It was emanating from deep inside her and gently enveloped her whole body.
"Notification. Individual: "Scorch Dragon" Velgrind's Ultimate Skill『Charity Lord Raguel』has evolved into Ultimate Skill『Flame God Sovereign Cthugha[3]』."
Along with fantastic and majestic sounds, "Voice of the World" loudly announced.
However, that voice could only be heard by Velgrind. Since a complete concealment was done.
And now, Velgrind had been liberated from any constraints.
Velgrind's thought halted at the unbelievable occurrence that had occurred to her own body.
As the amount of information was too much and too abnormal, Velgrind, who wasn't the thinking type, couldn't suppress her confusion.
But, she didn't care about that sort of thing.
Right now, the most important thing than anything else was...
There was only one person that came into her mind that could make this phenomenon possible to occur in her body.
That aloof slime.
Veldora's close friend named Demon Lord Rimuru.
(It can't be...! Could it be that slime... he had fiddled with the control circuit inside the Ultimate Skill and made it possible to evolve it by incorporating my will and ability to the unnecessary space!? That's not on a level of optimization anymore!! Such an absurd thing is a technique that only Velda can do―― If there's another being who can do it then...)
Velgrind shuddered as she imagined such an impossibility.
She nearly fell into a thought loop of amazement, but she recalled that it wasn't the time for it right now, her consciousness returned to the reality.
Lucia looked at Velgrind suspiciously, but there was nothing serious to be worried about.
As for Velgrind right now, she could only see the likes of Lucia as an unimportant weakling.
Velgrind's ability had been improved to a terrifying level for her to be able to think so.
◇◇◇
Fufufu, Fuhahahaha!
I was made to go to the place where my two older sisters were, for a moment I thought about what will happen, but it seems the God has not forsaken me!
Veldora thought so and felt relief from the bottom of his heart.
Her two older sisters were being controlled.
They couldn't move with their own will as they were under the control of that angel named Lucia.
Taking the advantage of this chance, Veldora would come to their rescue in style. By doing so, her two older sisters would feel grateful to Veldora.
And then, they would repent for their oppressions against him until now and apologize to him.
That was the scenario that Veldora imagined.
(I came to this place reluctantly, but I didn't expect that I will stumble across a chance like this... I must give Rimuru my thanks――)
While thanking his good fortune and his friend's order, Veldora opened his mouth again.
「Hey Guy, you seem to be struggling. But, rest assured. With me here, there is no need to worry anymore!」
「It's you, Veldora. Honestly, I'm grateful. Even for me, it's impossible to release them from the control while fighting them. I understood the principles behind the ability, but its deactivation would be troublesome.」
「Oh? I expected no less from you. Then, as long as their movement is stopped without killing them, it's possible to release them from the control, right?」
「Yes. We could do something if we put all our power into thinking. But, in addition to your sisters, there's that strongest Hero. Anyway, we need to disable these three people in front, you know? I think I might have been killed if you didn't come.」
「Kuaaaahahahahaha! If that's the case, you should be grateful to me!」
Veldora got even cockier than before.
Guy had an astounded face, but he said nothing.
As he just said, he thought that fighting those three people would be hard even if Veldora was here.
Killing them aside, the degree of difficulty jumped severely for disabling them.
Rather, Guy thought he wanted to hear the reason why Veldora could be so optimistic.
「Kukuku, well then, Guy. You could have the Hero as your opponent. I shall quickly show my older sister some of my improvements!」
When Veldora stopped laughing, he stepped forward with a fearless expression.
He walked towards Velgrind without hesitation.
「Velgrind. Kill that fool.」
Lucia ordered Velgrind as she coldly gazed at Veldora.
And then――
Baaーーーーーng!!
A huge sound echoed inside the hall.
Veldora was staring blankly. His cheek was swollen red for some reason.
Veldora had his eyes blinking incessantly, thinking about what just happened.
(Eh? It looks like Aneue moved by her own will just now... there was no murderous intent at all, but I felt a strong will to torment me though!?)
Agitation ran through Veldora's heart.
(It, it can't be!? That's impossible!!)
In front of the reality that he didn't want to acknowledge, a bead of sweat trickled down Veldora's forehead.[4]
「Hey, Veldora. Just now, did I hear you say you were going to show me something?? Or did I misheard it?」
Velgrind walked quietly to Veldora with a gentle smile on her beautiful face.
However, Veldora knew that she was never a gentle person and that she was the embodiment of this world's terror.
「Ah, hauah...!?」
「It wasn't "hauah", you damn fool!!」
Velgrind's fists approached him.
Veldora's train of thought stopped operating as if they were paralyzed, it was impossible for him to take an evasive action.
Alas, the memories of fear etched in his instinct from his childhood interfered with Veldora's action.
An awfully heavy and painful, but damage-less attack hit Veldora.
It didn't take much time for Veldora's eyes became teary.
「Kuh... Isn't this strange! How could Aneue move? Weren't you being controlled!?」
「Shut up! Did you think that I'll fall for the same trick over and over again? Did you underestimate me? Hey, Veldora?」
「N-no...I didn't mean it that way...」
While trembling, Veldora realized that there was nothing he could do except to wait for his older sister's anger to subside.
What is really absurd was that the damage jumped over『Parallel Existence』and reached Veldora's main body.
The reason for that was...
「Hmm, this is sure convenient. I see it's something called『Space-Time Continuous Strike[5]』. Whether it's『Parallel Existence』or『Multiple Existence』, it seems I can deal an attack beyond the space-time with this.」[6]
Velgrind nodded pleasingly.
Veldora who heard it started to look pale.
Velgrind's words meant that his method of escaping by sacrificing one of his clones as the scapegoat was no longer usable.
『Parallel Existence』 had given him an absolute advantage, but now it had fallen to a meaningless ability.
Indeed, it was the birth of the natural enemy of Veldora.
(Woahhhhhhh, what have you done, Rimuru!!)
Veldora screamed in his mind.
He couldn't think of anyone else other than his close friend, Rimuru, who would give such unnecessary help like that for his older sister, Velgrind.
Velgrind seemed to be satisfied after hitting Veldora for some time and turned her face towards Velzard.
And, towards Veldora who was grumbling「It was supposed to be the best scene though... isn't this different from the promise...」, Velgrind said.
「Silence, how unsightly. If you are my younger brother, don't expose more of your foolishness. Veldora, I will leave the Hero to you. She's your friend's important person, right? Make sure you don't fail foolishly. I'll be Aneue's opponent.」
「But...」
「How tedious! Are you going to make me say it twice?」
「Understood, Aneue!」
Veldora understood Velgrind's words and bowed respectfully.
It would be a foolish thing for him to go against his older sister.
While rubbing his beaten cheeks, Veldora went towards Lucia who had possessed the Hero Chloe.
Looking at Veldora, Velgrind turned around to say something to Guy.
「Guy, if it's you, you can annul the control over Aneue right?」
「Yeah, it's possible. However, I can't do it while fighting.」
「No problem. I have my stupid younger brother to deal with the Hero Chloe. I want you do your best in releasing Aneue from their control.」
Receiving Velgrind's request, Guy pondered for a bit.
Canceling it might be possible. After all, he had seen the control activation happen before his eyes, so he could understand the principles behind it.
The problem was the time required for it.
「Listen, the cancellation would take quite some time with how I'm right now. Because I need to do a specialized calculation to cancel it, don't expect me for help during that time, okay? By the way, my fighting strength would decrease greatly. If you guys lost, it would be our defeat. Even so, you don't mind right?」
「No. Hurry up and start it.」
Guy decided to believe in both of them after he received Velgrind's approval.
He wouldn't disappear even if he got defeated, and in the worst case, he would get revived after several hundred years.
A defeat wouldn't be interesting for Guy who was the strongest, but it wasn't something that he should avoid either.
He thought that if it could distract him from his boredom, he had no regret even if it became so.
「All right. It's pretty annoying for my Velzard[7] to be controlled forever, I guess I shall release her from it quickly.」
Saying so, Guy started the Ritual of Status Alteration[8], which he hadn't done in a long time.
Velgrind and Velzard faced each other.
And Veldora walked towards the Hero Chloe―― in other words, Lucia.
It appeared that everyone was confirming their respective opponent.
Lucia didn't panic even when she saw it.
No, she thought that there was no need to panic.
She acknowledged Veldora's strength.
Since he had defeated Dagruel too, his strength was the real deal.
But, for Lucia――
「O Velzard, go kill Velgrind.」
She gave a brief order.
However, she wasn't calm on the inside due to one problem.
It was certain that the control circuits to Velgrind had been severed.
She couldn't think of the cause. Since the control circuits prepared by Velda were impossible to sever unless it was by the controller.
The only possible cause she could think of was the loss of the Angel series' ability either due to an evolution of the ability or degeneration.
"Could such a phenomenon conveniently occur in a situation like this?" Was a question that popped up in her head.
But, Lucia stopped thinking too deeply about it.
She had an interest in the sample, but she decided that she would think about it later.
Although she had raised a question, it didn't affect her fighting forces.
She had the strongest "True Dragon" Velzard under her control.
And Lucia herself had become the strongest being too.
At the same time Lucia gave an order to Velzard, she drew the katana that Chloe held.
The body moved naturally, an untold swordsmanship could be seen.
Lucia had assumed that Chloe's ability had completely become her own and was convinced of her victory.
Right now, Lucia's main body was protected by『Castle Guard』, but she could go on the offensive because she had possessed the『Hero Chloe[9]』.
In other words, her main body wouldn't be defeated no matter what happened so her defeat was impossible.
There were no attacks that could work on her.
Velgrind's azure hair spread out and was waving like flames.
At the same time, Velzard's pure white hair also curled up like a blizzard.
Both of them moved simultaneously, a large-scale shockwave like a nuclear strike was created as both of them shifted into an all-out fight.
Velgrind's crimson fist howled as it clashed with Velzard's『Snow Crystal[10]』and broke it.
Its fragments became diamond dust and rained down over Velgrind.
However, before Velgrind who had become the incarnation of the flame god, ice type attacks had no meaning.
The rank between their ability was different.
With her strength increased remarkably, Velgrind approached Velzard.
Since she had left the cancellation of the control to Guy, she only had to earn more time for him.
Velgrind challenged Velzard as to test her enhanced ability.
Veldora took a stance towards Chloe.
And then he thought.
"Why am I barehanded?
Chloe had a katana, but why I'm barehanded like this?" So he thought something like that, but if he said it right now, it would surely incur her older sister's wrath.
Clearly, Veldora knew that Chloe's swordsmanship was the best of the best, there was no one who could rival her.
He had experienced it once; he thought that he was at a disadvantage for being unarmed.
At that time, he could nullify Chloe's『Absolute Severance』because he had the advantage of being a spiritual life-form and both of them didn't possess Ultimate Skill, but he couldn't nullify the current Chloe's sword techniques.
After all, Chloe was fighting evenly against Guy until a while ago.
This is very bad―― So Veldora thought.
Well, his troubles were only on the level of "It seems to be painful if I get cut" though...
At that moment, a sword pierced the ground in front of Veldora.
It was one of the best swords in this world, the demonic sword "World".
「Hey, use that.」
When Veldora turned around, there was a fiercely beautiful woman beyond his eyes.
Her scarlet hair flowed down divinely, the presence of her abundant breasts and round buttocks were emphasized by her slender waist that looked like it could break easily.
It was Guy who had transformed into his female form.
「Guy, is that you?」
「Ah? Who else do you think is here? It's me of course.[11]」
Guy annoyedly replied to Veldora's question.
Guy had no fixation over the difference between genders, he didn't care about appearance.
Ability was more important than appearance.
Different from his male form which was specialized for combat, his female form was specialized in processing information.
Guy thought that it was necessary to raise his information processing power to the maximum in order to cancel the control circuits that had been created by Veldanava.
Therefore, he had transformed into his female form after a long time.
That was all.
「Then, I shall use it」
「Oh. Don't lose, okay?」
「Kuaaahahahaha! What a foolish question! I had thought that I wanted to fight with the Hero who got serious once again. This is a good chance for it, I shall fight her seriously too!」
While saying those words, Veldora regained his confidence with Guy reply of「Well, good luck.」.
He thought that talking to him would be a waste of time.
Guy switched his consciousness and put Velzard into his sight.
And――
(Just you wait. I'll release you from it right away.)
Guy concentrated deeply and calmly which sharpened his ability.
Guy's『Godspeed Calculation[12]』 raised his normally high processing power to an excited state[13].
Guy diverted all of his energy to the calculation without any hesitation and began the『Spiritual Dive[14]』towards Velzard.