(Rudeus POV)
I'm losing any faith in this world's leaders.
Royals, lords, politicians, church council members, all of them, idiots beyond repair.
I thought Ariel's people from the Asura Kingdom were the greatest scum, but now the Millis Church is rivaling them in terms of craziness.
Paul and his family took refuge at [Chaos Breaker] because the Kingdom of Millis had officially declared me Demon God Laplace.
I know for a fact that this screams Hitogami's name after what Luke had said about me.
What I don't understand from all this is Orsted's assistance. He convinced Perugius of his entrance to his castle and even saved Lilia and the others from assassins sent by Zenith's mother while Paul dealt with their leader.
Well, Paul defeated all of them anyway. Orsted held them off and was trying to ask them something.
It is highly probable that he has already deduced that the mastermind behind this conspiracy is none other than Hitogami.
Whatever the deal is, Paul and the others are safe for now. What I'm afraid of is if Paul ends up telling Orsted about his dream.
Even if I don't like the idea of fighting him again, I can't let Ortsed do the same thing to Paul as he did to me.
I've accepted Perugius's invitation for once and headed out to the World Power Monument myself.
Sara asked if she could come along, but I told her that it would be dangerous if I encountered Orsted, so I left her behind.
The trip outside the city was peaceful. Hiryū did a good job at exterminating those monsters while I was preparing the city for the upcoming raid.
But my bad luck came back to haunt me in the form of the strongest being in the world standing between me and the ruin that has the monument.
Orsted just stood there facing me, almost as if he waited for me this whole time.
I have a feeling that Nanahoshi didn't play any tricks on me to get me to meet him. It seems more likely that he waited until Arumanfi informed him about the situation and then reached out to me.
'So that's Dragon God? Even as a ring, I can feel his ominous aura.'
'Just ignore it. It's only your hea-... I mean mind.'
Leisurely walking past him, my heart kept pounding like crazy.
I won't engage in a fight against him, but my mind can't come to peace over the events at the Red Dragon's Lower Jaw.
His eyes were fixated on me, almost as if he was waiting for me to say something, but instead speaking himself.
"Rudeus Greyrat, we need to talk." Orsted, he said to me.
"You've already wasted your chance."
"..."
'Harsh.'
I ignored Randolph's comment, removed the flute from my pocket dimension, and used it to call for Arumanfi.
Orsted looked at me with genuine shock at my display of magically summoning an object from thin air. I guess there are still things he needs to see for the first time himself.
An awkward silence began, and none of us said a thing before Arumanfi appeared beside me.
He was rather surprised when I faced him before he materialized back into a physical.
I want to know how this deconstruction of magic works, but I know it has something to do with him being a spirit.
"You came alone?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No. It makes the teleportation process easier."
"Figures."
After our quick and brief exchange, he handed me a short metal rod. Upon touching it, I felt the inactive Magic Circles finely engraved on it.
After assisting in Nanahoshi's project, I can tell that it isn't Summoning Magic, so I guess this is a method directed by Teleportation Magic. I never heard of it being used along with an item, but this could very well be an invention Perugius thought of just for teleporting guests into his castle.
"Hold this with your bare hand. Lord Perugius will do the rest."
Sounds easy enough.
I did as Arumanfi instructed, removed my right glove, and held the item with my bare hand, making sure not to have a loose grip on it.
Before I could even ask more questions, he vanished into the light and headed towards where the flying sky castle must be. Seems like someone is still mad about having actually lost his head to me. He only needs to behave, and there won't be a massacre.
"Are you an ally of Hitogami?"
Orsted has just asked me his question despite my disapproval.
I couldn't blame him. He must have regretted not waiting for my answer, but I can't tell, with my detection being distracted by the mana waves coming from his head, most likely the vent for his curse to give its effects.
"You never had anything to fear about me until you acted too soon, nearly doing that self-proclaimed god a big favor."
"What was that?"
His menacing but surprised demeanor, which made me uneasy, is just worsening the PTSD I should've had from him. So, I confessed to avoid any further misunderstandings.
"He wants me dead. In his Future Vision, he saw that I would one day kill him after having destroyed the world. So, he used the imagery of the morphed form I had in that vision to tell people that it was the reincarnation of Laplace who would one day fail in an experiment to gain the power of dragons and run rouge."
"How do you know all of this?"
"I was able to find out the truth when one of his errand boys finally came clean. It was a bit of a trick to get him to confess, but a few of us managed to pull it off. It was difficult to believe what I was hearing, but at least now I somewhat know what he is doing, given what I just heard about what happened at Millishion."
His expression started to get grim, and the next question was almost too obvious to me.
"Who was it?"
"I can't tell you. Besides, after completing the task assigned by Hitogami, he will no longer be useful. Another apostle must be preparing some sort of ambush attack on me as we speak."
My words must have caused something because Orsted just put his hand on his chin and started staring at an empty space again, obviously thinking about something for a few seconds.
"I heard that Sword God Gal Farion is on his way here. You should stay on guard when you two meet. There is a high chance that Hitogami has turned him into one of his apostles."
Oh great. Just what I needed. Another World Power is potentially being used against me by that shitty god.
Let's see which item will trap this one's soul. I hope it's something more useful, like a sword. Wait, what the hell am I thinking? Unlike Randolph, this World Power has a dojo to oversee. I can't disrupt their teaching by ending their mentor's life. I would get chased by uprising swordsmen throughout the whole world.
"Is it because of my status as a higher-ranked World Power?"
"Sword God Gal Farion is a skilled swordsman who is known for his rationality and arrogance, but he is not easily provoked. His main strength lies in his speed, which has earned him the title of the fastest swordsman of his generation. Even the current Water God cannot withstand his attacks due to his incredible speed."
Huh. This Gal Farion guy sounds like the real deal. And that guy supposedly trained Ghislaine to become a Sword King, so he's got to be a great instructor.
"With your reputation as a young Magician World Power who is actively spreading his teachings around, he will most likely want to test your strength himself and perhaps rise up his own rank by chance."
Ah, there's a catch. It would have been strange if there wasn't any.
"You said that he is rational. Does that mean it is possible to talk to him?"
"It is. But should it come to a fight, I recommend you to keep it at a distance and avoid a frontal confrontation as he is also Emperor class in Water God Style."
So, great defense and even greater offense. That guy doesn't just sound like the real deal; he sounds like a perfectly balanced swordsman.
This time, I won't be able to rely on anything besides my cursed form to save me.
But I was so fixated on a method of fighting this Gal guy that I completely forgot about what was happening here.
"Hold on, why are you telling me all of this?"
"You said it yourself. Hitogami wants you dead, so keeping you alive should foil his plans further."
Oh, okay. That makes absolute sense. And given his dreadful smile, he definitely enjoys the thought of Hitogami dying if I stay alive long enough.
Has he forgotten that he almost ruined it by acting too quickly and that it would cost the whole world to end?
But now, let's move on to the other thing that is bothering me.
"How much longer is this teleportation process taking?"
It's been more than a minute. The only experience I have with Teleportation Magic was from the calamity, but that was nearly four years ago.
I'm holding the item with my bare hand. Arumanfi didn't give any more instructions than that, so why isn't it happening?
Wait a second. He told me that it would be easier since I was alone. Then what about Randolph? Does he count as a person even without physical form out of flesh but still bones?
'Randolph, I think I should take off the ring for now.'
'Probably a good choice. Makes things easier for the old guy to connect to you anyway.'
I also removed my left glove, took off the ring, safely secured it in a pouch, and put it into my pocket.
Since Randolph can only see through the eyes of the ring's wearer, entering the dark space, which is my pocket dimension, isn't a bother for him.
The only thing bothering me is Orsted's curious gaze on me. Even turning around doesn't help since I can feel his gaze with my detection.
How can his curiosity be stronger than the mana waves from his curse?!
But the mana connection came to my rescue, reaching for the item I was holding with my right hand.
Alright! Here we go. Let's do this. Let's reunite with the family I so abruptly joined in and try to reconcile with Paul, if possible... hopefully.
'You're not ready yet.'
A voice suddenly rang in my head, and it wasn't quite Kagami's but someone else's.
In the next moment, I felt a hot sensation in the palm of my hand before my vision blurred into a rippling water surface. This must be another message by the goddess!
Another scene unfolded itself in front of my eyes, but just like the others, I couldn't grasp its full meaning yet.
It showed an elderly-looking man with the same silver hair and golden slit eyes as Orsted's, sitting on a throne and heaving heavily with his arms missing.
He wore mostly damaged armor and was bleeding out a lot, and a crow-masked woman was lying before his feet, mangled from the neck down and having no sign of life.
As I looked up, his menacing stare filled me with sadness. I cautiously approached, stepping over the deceased woman.
My gaze went down without my will, giving me the image of how my hand got plunged into his chest, the pulse of his heart vibrating through the palm of my hand.
For some reason, the man looked at me with sad eyes and a smile, and the sadness within me grew larger.
That was the end of my vision, and I came back into the world of consciousness.
The burning sensation in my palm did not end, though; it intensified even.
Looking down at it, I saw white flames engulfing my hand as they melted the item I was holding, nearing the point where it liquified into an orange lump of metal.
"YYYEOWCH!"
In pain from the melting metal, I threw what was left of the item out of my hand and immediately started applying Healing Magic to my palm with my other hand.
What were those emotions that rose up from me? Who even was that man? Was that perhaps Perugius? The voice said that I'm not ready to face him yet. But then why did the image show me how he got killed then?
And the expression on his face the man had at the end. It's almost as if he accepted getting killed in the end.
Was this a warning from Kagami, or was it some sort of message for me to kill that person?
But disregarding the vision, now I can't meet Paul and the others anymore with the item destroyed. I dearly hope it's not an irreplaceable item or artifact.
"Those white flames... what are they?" Orsted asked.
"You wouldn't understand it."
"Did you perhaps inherit that from having Paul's Dragon Blood?"
Paul's Dragon Blood? Does he mean a genetic aspect of me having inherited Paul's dragon genes? Wait, Paul is a Dragon race?
My quizzed look made Orsted go deeper into what he meant, giving me an example of it.
"While I defended the Greyrat family on the Holy Sword Highway, Paul Greyrat came in and eliminated the remaining assassins, his sword's edge engulfed in white flames like your changed form had.
After he was finished, I caught a glimpse of his eyes and hair color, which had changed into that of a member of the Dragon race before it vanished and went back to his original appearance."
Honestly, it is already hard to believe Paul is secretly a Dragon, but to experience Orsted being more cooperative is even more surprising. That damn Hitogami just wanted to fool me when he put that parasite into my mind.
"And... and the Demon part... what about that?"
"That part wasn't present in his appearance, but I have a vague theory about the Demon part of yours. It involves-"
Orsted's sentence was interrupted as we both backed up from the line of fire stretching out between us.
I immediately noticed Hiryū's presence as he pushed me away with his snout. Without hesitation, I adjusted to sit on his neck and we took off at lightning speed, leaving Orsted far behind within seconds.
But what surprised me was that I was having a co-passenger.
Looking back, I saw Sandor clutching onto Hiryū's neck as hard as he could, opening his eyes from shutting them tight earlier.
"Sandor, why are you here?"
"Oh, hello there, young lad. It's good that we got you before you fully left."
"What happened that you even rode Hiryū to get me? And why IS Hiryū here?"
"Sword God and his group encountered a large group of insect monsters on their way to Sharia. Sword God's daughter was bitten by venomous creatures and needed urgent transportation to the city, but your dragon saved them and took her directly to the school. But the Healers aren't able to cure her with low-class Detoxification Magic."
This was honestly expected. Not the incident but the fact that these monsters have venom to use.
But this opens a good opportunity to get into a friendly relationship with Sword God should I save his daughter's life.
If that doesn't work, I can follow Orsted's advice as his detailed explanation may be more helpful than any of Hitogami's ever been.
Speaking of dealing with the Sword God, I hope Orsted is all right. Hiryū's flames are strong enough to damage my own Touki as well.
"What were you facing there anyway? It felt pretty menacing." Sandor asked me as I was adjusting the wind resistance.
"It was Orsted."
"The Dragon God?! I guess it was a good thing we picked you up before the third [Bright Sky Wave] would have occurred."
"First off, it would have been the fourth one. Second, the teleportation process failed anyway. Third, I'm in debt to Orsted now, but that can wait for later. Now that Sword God having at Sharia, we can start planning the raid more properly."
"Actually, your dragon only took an acquaintance of yours with him, together with Sword God's daughter. My son was there as well, but it seems he and your dragon aren't on good terms, so it came to an argument about whom he would take."
"What? Hiryū!"
Don't tell me he picked a fight with him. Is this about the King Dragon Sword? I know he is a dragon, but I expected him to be intelligent enough to accept my decision to give it back to him.
*Huff*
"Don't you *huff* at me! Do you know how much time this will cost us?"
*Growl*
Just look at me. Complaining about a flying feathered fire lizard not acting like a reasonable person. I'm putting too much fantasy mindset into this.
"Sandor, you mentioned an acquaintance of mine being in the city. Who is it?"
"Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia."
Ghislaine? What is she doing here? I didn't expect her to go back to her master and... and... if she is here... does that mean... oh no.
"Hiryū? Was there a red-haired girl among the group you saved?"
*Huff*
That was a yes.
"... Sandor."
"Yeah, lad?"
"Hold on tight."
"What do you-"
"HIRYŪ! FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
After shouting out my order, Hiryū began to cast his Fire Magic in between his wings and folded them, while I used my Wind Magic to minimize the air resistance hitting us. This ultimately turned him into a military jet, with me as the pilot.
My passenger, Sandor, despite being one of the most famous swordsmen in late history and having defeated an allpowerful dragon before, screamed from the top of his lungs while clutching on the green feathers on Hiryū.
I held us both with [Specter Force], but only one thing covered my mind while my boiling rage distracted me from the coldness.
'Why the hell is Eris here!?'
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