Instead of a counterattack, though, the [Killing Intent] vanished as if it had never been there, and the light from lighting crystals caught on a network of wires in front of Ava. If the two had truly rushed in, they might have lost limb or even life. Both of them rubbed their necks unconsciously, seemingly seeing a vision of their death in the moment that the [Killing Intent] was released. They then stood down, which was when Jessa spoke.
"I think that's quite enough of a welcome, don't you, everyone?"
Surprisingly, it was Ava who replied, "well, I guess it's barely a pass. You have the backbone to attack a potential enemy, but retreat when you know the danger."
"Let me introduce us again. My name is Ava. This girl is Rea. We were invited to help by Martis-san over here. Jessa-san, thank you for your show of good faith. Arlo-san, how did we do by your standards?"
The newly-released Arlo chuckled and rubbed his head, saying, "ah, ojou-san has seen through it, huh? Well, I must say I am happy to have your assistance. I would not wish to be on the opposite side to you on a battlefield, but as an ally you will probably be one of our strongest war assets."
Ava nodded at the evaluation, saying, "indeed, I pity the fools of the Empire who have made an enemy out of so many elite fighters. Your fighting spirit is indeed commendable."
Umm...isn't this too different from what Martis told me?? Jessa confusedly thought in her head. Since when was this girl so reasonable? Also, what kind of terrifying intuition she must have to understand the situation immediately once she stepped in. She must have noticed that Arlo was not truly angry, and was testing him the same as he was testing her. She knew that Arlo would not have been so careless as to fail to activate his
Beside Ava, Martis also looked shocked at her changed demeanour, before realising that he had also been tested when they had first met. Jessa immediately realised her mistake at taking Martis at his word. She had not thought that without time to prepare, Ava would so quickly respond to Martis in the manner of testing him and by extension, the rest of the rebellion. In her mind, Jessa laughed at herself.
"Arere Ava-san, it seems we have been outdone, huh? You predicted this once the conversation with Martis was over, huh," Jessa asked, smiling.
"Nn. It was obvious that either this place would be full of the rebellion's heads, or completely empty. Martis-san wouldn't be so half-assed. Despite his fragile constitution, I can tell that he's quite reliable."
The whole room immediately burst into raucous laughter.
"To call Martis-dono 'fragile', wahahahaha!"
"Ahahahaha, our reliable Martis-dono has fallen to such depths!"
"Ah, what happened to our composed Martis-dono, eh? Simply hilarious!"
The subject of this laughter trembled, looking down at his hands, muttering, "ah, my reputation...it was nice knowing you..."
Cutting into this laughter was the suppressed voice of Jessa, seemingly stifling her own laughter, saying, "maa, maa, everyone. If you had faced Ava-san by yourself, I'm sure none of you would return mentally intact either, you know?"
The laughter petered off, replaced by solemn faces. Indeed, they too knew that if they had to stand against Ava and attempt to recruit her by themselves, they might be in the same or worse state than Martis. In fact, it would not be surprising if they lost a limb or their life. That was just how strong the pressure was that emanated from her predator-like eyes. That was just how heavy the [Killing Intent] that she released was.
However, those words delivered a fatal blow to Martis, who mumbled, "mentally intact..."
Jessa then clapped her hands, saying, "well then, shall we get this meeting started? Let's all get to know each other better, since we'll be fighting alongside each other in the near future."
Seeing that everyone had taken their seats, with Martis standing behind Jessa and Rea standing behind Ava, Jessa continued, "Ava-sama, Rea-sama, I'm Jessa. I'm the captain of the secret service, which handles covert operations and espionage. I'm also the de facto leader of organising these guys, but Martis usually handles that as my lieutenant. I specialise in [Dark Magic] and fighting at range. My
"Yo, I'm Catel. As you can see, I'm a Forsythkin. My area of expertise is that of rallying other strongmen to join our alliance. I'm a Mercenary Guild branch head who's retired, but still has contacts all over the Empire. I specialise in [Taming] and I've got a bunch of contracted A-rank monsters living in the forests nearby. My
"Ossu. I'm Mishka. I'm a current adventurer, but I haven't been to the guild in a while-ssu. I specialise in [Magic Warfare], and despite my appearance as a magic swordsman, I'm actually an artillery specialist-ssu. My occupation is [Artillery Mage]-ssu."
"Ah, I'm Remil. I'm Remi's son. I work in the government as a mid-level official, so I'm kind of one of the inside men. While I'm A-rank, my head-on combat skills aren't that great. As you can see, I'm a [Camilar], which means most of skill routes tend towards craftsmanship. However, my greatest combat asset is [Weapon Manipulation], which allows me to overclock most weapons and also to generate a field of floating weapons around me. Ten years ago, I created a skill called [Gilgamesh], which generates a sword field. My occupation is
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hura. I'm a technological specialist and spend most of my time on optimising equipment. As you can see, like Remil I'm also a [Camilar]. My specialty is in creating explosives and disrupting magical arrays. My
"Ou, jou-samas. I'm Arlo, a [Goa]. My speciality is body enhancing magic. I use [Limit Break] and [Berserk] in battle. I'll be part of the main fighting force's vanguard as the commander. My
As the introductions ran around the room, Jessa noted a slight colour of uncertainty in Ava's eyes, before it was replaced by resolve.
"Greetings, everyone. Thank you for your honesty. I'm Ava. I specialise in multiple forms of combat. Recently, I created a skill called [Void Control], which is a combination of [Spatial Magic] and [Dark Magic]. My
A stunned silence rang out in the room. In the face of that, Ava simply calmly looked on, sipping her tea, while Rea stood composed behind her. It almost looked as if they had no idea what kind of bomb they had just dropped on everyone present.
The first one to recover was Catel. With a look of rising consternation on his face, he stuttered, "wait, wait. New skill, new
"Nn. You've guessed right. I'm a [True Ancestor]. Newly minted, though."
"Yare yare, and here I was thinking just how much more outrageous you could get..."
"Just how did we get such an outrageous existence to help us???"
"Ou, Martis-dono. Gutto jyobu (good job)."
Jessa finally recovered, and found the presence of mind to ask, "Ava-sama, just how..."
"Ara, it's a long story. Suffice to say, I noticed the similarities between [Dark Magic] and [Spatial Magic], and happened to have the right skills to make it work. That also deviated my evolution tree."
"Really, what a terrifying existence..." Jessa muttered. Out loud, she asked again, "so, what prompted you to be so honest with us? You seem to understand that an existence like yourself is rare and others might want to make use of you."
"Two reasons. One, I've judged that I can trust you all with this information. Two, if I made a mistake in that judgement, I've also judged that I can kill whomever betrays my trust."
A straight shot!!
Jessa sighed, because it was true. With Ava's strength, she could indeed kill whomever betrayed that trust. Her first judgement was also true. These people were people that she fully trusted, and none of them would ever betray each other. They had been working together for years, and the kind of pride that they all had made it impossible for betrayal.
"Well then, Ava-sama. What do you plan to do as a part of the rebellion?" Jessa asked.
"Three things. I will face the S-rank squad. I will help transport people and resources to wherever they are needed, as long as you can get me maps and imaging crystals. I will also buy slaves from the slave market and turn them into my kin if they so choose. I want to raise my own elite squad."
"Eto...you've thought about this already, huh? No hesitation at all."
"Nn. I'm not going to sit around and do nothing, but neither am I going to do things that I don't want to."
"Ah, how very headstrong of you," Jessa bitterly joked.
"That's one of my
"Ah, one more thing...when I was at the 40th floor of the [Labyrinth], I ran into a group of around twenty people. Are they your people or the Empire's? Or just a bunch of random adventurers?"
"Ah...eh? 40th floor? Did they go that deep? I think they should be our people. We sent them in to [Tame] some monsters that we could use as cannon fodder against the military," Jessa replied.
To this, Ava's expression changed for the first time. Her cheeks were tinged with a faint red, making that gap between her regular expression and her embarrassed one result in a destructive charm.
"About that...I apologise. I think I must have killed all their [Tamed] monsters. I didn't know who they were, and I was just killing monsters all the way up, so they may take longer to return than expected."
Another stunned silence resounded, partially from that gap moe, and partially from hearing that Ava was single-handedly wiping out floors worth of monsters in the [Labyrinth].
"Ano...Ava-sama...I mean, that's alright, but...what kind of angel of death are you? You were wiping out floors worth of monsters by yourself??"
"Ah? I was just levelling up normally."
"""""NORMALLY???"""""
"Oi, oi, normally you go in with a party, a party! Even if you're A-rank, it's common sense to go in with a party, you know? Even if it's only the 40th floor! There are still a couple of B-rank monsters here and there, you know???" Catel ground out in consternation.
Before Ava could respond, however, a voice full of pride rang out, "everyone, Ava-sama is not that kind of spineless coward, okay? She fought by herself from the 87th floor all the way out."
"""""EHHHHHHHH?"""""
"Oi, what do you mean 87th floor. Isn't that the furthest anyone's ever reached?"
"Ava-sama, what kind of monster are you??"
Ava clutched her forehead, saying, "I'm a reincarnation. I was reincarnated into the 87th floor at level 1 with no stats. So I fought my way out."
Yet another stunned silence resounded. While everyone was aware of the fact that reincarnations from other universes were common in this world, no one had ever heard of someone being reincarnated into the deepest part of the [Labyrinth] that any person had ever reached, and furthermore, actually surviving. On top of that, at such a low level? Jessa and the rest were beginning to understand the reason for Ava's strength that exceeded her rank, the weight of her [Killing Intent], and her complete lack of common sense. Of course, one would have to kill monsters above their own rank if they were dropped into a situation like that. Of course, one would have to polish their combat skills and techniques to the very limit if they had to contend with an environment teeming with danger and threats of death. Of course, to survive in a place like that and reach the surface, one had to possess the will and intent to obliterate any enemy that stood in their way.
And of course, after that, the meeting proceeded smoothly. Hearing that kind of story, who could retain any further reluctance towards Ava?