Ryutarou POV
The hero's party had just gotten back to the Heiligh castle after beating the Behemoth and making it to floor 70, finding the teleportation there. They were told that there was someone waiting for them there, but Ryutarou was more focused on the feeling that he felt when fighting the beast. He knew that he was strong, but he couldn't help feeling that he could have done better in that fight.
'I could have moved faster. If I was faster and as strong as I am now, Selena and Hajime could have been with us.'
Ryutarou glanced over at Kouki. Kouki still has that happy look on his face. He must be thinking that we had 'avenged' them, but if what Shizuku says is true, then they are still alive, and Kouki won't listen to us.
Most of the party decided to stay with the other classmates, letting them know they had beaten the behemoth while the rest of them were led to the throne room. On the way there, they had to deal with the kid prince, Lundel S. B. Heiligh, getting concerned for Kaori and trying to get her off the team, only for Kouki to flare the kid's resentment for him. Honestly, it is funny to watch them go at it, albeit unintentionally on Kouki's part. But just before it could devolve further, the group heard a voice ring out.
"Lundel, stop acting like a child. You are bothering Kaori and Kouki."
"B-But sister…"
"No buts. Not only is everyone working hard for our sake, you are holding them up from meeting father."
"B-But…"
"Lundel?"
"I-I just remembered that I need to do something! Excuse me!"
It was amusing watching Lundel run away, refusing to admit that he did something wrong.
"Sigh. Kaori, Kouki, I apologize on my brother's behalf." Liliana bowed as she apologized to them.
'Honestly, it is equal parts funny and frustrating seeing how oblivious Kouki is to this.' It made more sense why Selena told me to take a step back and see what was going on with Kouki. I'm starting to see more of the problems that he leaves unresolved. He is at the very least ignoring what some of his closest friends say about Selena and Hajime being alive. I could only imagine what else he basically just ignores regularly.
Focusing back on the princess, Ryutarou noticed her face flushed a deep crimson and she was at a loss for words. 'Ah, Kouki must have complimented her. Let's check something out.'
Ryutarou walked up to Kouki and trapped him in his arm. Time to check if this is another problem of his…
"So, Kouki. What do you think of the princess? Don't you think she is cute?" Trying to get a rise out of him.
"Hm? Of course she is cute. Just her presence alone helps to make us feel better." Kouki tilted his head in confusion. However, Liliana went nuclear with her blush. Ryutarou just stared blankly at Kouki as he released him.
I-Is he for real? Does he not know that I was teasing him… or is it that he is just that dense? Just as he was about to question him again, Shizuku placed a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention.
"You would just be fighting a losing battle." As she tiredly sighs and shakes her head.
No way… he really is that dense? I need more proof. Hopefully, whatever the king summoned us for will let me verify if Shizuku was right.
"W-Well, anyway, let me lead you to the throne room. You got here just in time. The Hoelscher Empire's envoy just arrived in town not that long ago." I got to give it to the princess. She can bounce back fairly well.
We were then guided towards the throne room and lined up to greet our guests. A few minutes later, and five people were on the red carpet in front of everyone gathered there. King Eliheid proceeded to greet them with arms open wide.
"Welcome, envoys. You are free to appraise our kingdom's saviors at your leisure."
The one that seems to be the leader of the group, bowed his head at the greeting. "Your Majesty, we are truly grateful that you were able to accommodate us on such short notice. Pardon my abruptness, but which among them is the hero we have heard so much about?"
"Yes, Allow me to introduce him. Sir Kouki, if you would be so kind as to step forward."
"As you wish." Kouki was fairly good at learning proper etiquette in the past two and a half months of us being here. The envoy glanced at him, sizing Kouki up, before the leader spoke up.
"Tell me, Sir Hero, is it true that you made it to the sixty-fifth floor of the labyrinth?"
"Yes sir, we have managed to beat the behemoth on the sixty-fifth floor. However, we were able to get to the seventieth floor, and found a teleporter between that floor, and the thirtieth floor." Kouki stated with his chest puffed out.
Ryutarou wanted to smack the back of his head for the way he was puffing his chest out. Almost like he thought that they made it there on his merit alone and not that he did almost nothing against the behemoth.
"Hmm, not that I am saying that I don't believe you, but I am a firm believer of 'action speaks louder than words'. So, with that in mind, how about you have a mock battle with one of my guards here. That will give us the clearest picture of your skills, Sir Hero."
"Well, I don't mind, but…"
Kouki looked unsure and turned to look at King Eliheid. King Eliheid, in turn, looked towards Ishtar for confirmation, who nodded solemnly. This is the most obvious way to quickly clear any doubts on Kouki's ability without abusing the authority of the church.
"Very well. Sir Kouki, please demonstrate your strength to our guests."
"Then it's decided. Could you please prepare a suitable location for our bout?"
The match was decided and everyone present shuffled out of the throne room and onto the arena.
The man facing Kouki seemed average in every way. Average Height, average looks, average build. He could easily disappear in a crowd of people, and didn't seem all that strong either at a glance. The envoy's bodyguard drew his sword, and just had it down. His stance reminded Ryutarou of Meld when he first met him.
Ryutarou could see the anger building in Kouki.
'Oh no. He lost his cool already.' As Kouki rushes towards his opponent with Supersonic Step.
Every strike Kouki threw was dodged, blocked or parried with ease. The warrior's expression was growing more and more disappointed with every swing.
After knocking Kouki back, the warrior spoke up. "...Hey, Hero. You don't come from a fighting background, do you?"
"Eh? Umm, no, I don't. I was originally just a student."
"...And now you're Ehit's chosen hero, huh?" the guard looked towards where Istar was, before looking back to Kouki. "Prepare yourself, Hero. If you hold back again…"
Kouki was just barely able to block the decapitating strike, bringing him down to his knees. With a shout and a burst of mana, Kouki seemed to force the guard back. Kouki starts to rush with a stab with his sword, but even from a distance, Ryutarou could tell that Kouki was slowing down.
A glance at the bodyguard, once could see the disappointment in his eyes before he near instantly corrected his stance and deflected Kouki with a wave of his sword. Following that, he jumped back and sheathed his weapon.
"Do you realize what you are going up against?"
"U-Umm, we'll be fighting monsters and demons and stuff… The ones who are making all these people suffer."
Hearing that, it made Ryutarou think… We have only faced monsters outside of training. What did the demons even look like? We have been told a lot of things, but we haven't seen a single demon this whole time. I think we have all been ignoring this fact, none more so than Kouki himself.
As he was distracted by his thoughts, the bodyguard started to walk away from Kouki while King Eliheid and various priests were shouting various things at him. It seemed to be bolstering Kouki to argue with him more. Just before he could, Ishtar spoke up.
"As you can see, our hero is still in the midst of his growth. It's unfortunate, but he simply does not have enough experience yet. I do not expect your nation to come to a conclusion right away. I shall assume the words you directed at our esteemed hero were for his own sake. I hope we can leave it at that. If not, as the pope of the Holy Church, I may have to sanction an inquisition against you. You understand what that would mean, correct, Emperor of Hoelscher, Gahard?"
Surprise could be seen on the faces of the students turned heroes. The moment he was pointed out as the Emperor, the man took off the earring he was wearing and everything about him changed.
The emperor was a savage-looking man that seemed to be in his forties. He had short cropped silver hair, and piercing blue eyes that was reminiscent of a wolf's. He was fairly handsome, and had rippling muscles that corded his entire body. He now looked the part of a warrior king. Just seeing him filled Ryutarou's body with both fright, and excitement.
Eliheid massaged his temples as he asked a question, seeming nonplussed.
"Lord Gahard, what are you doing?"
"Ah yes,Your Highness Eliheid, I do apologize for not greeting you earlier. I also apologize for this disguise. I simply wished to ascertain this hero's strength with my own eyes. After all, his existence will be vital in the battles to come. Do please forgive my insolence."
His apology didn't seem that sincere at all, but everyone else thought it was normal. This felt like an opportunity had just shown itself to Ryutarou. Just as Gahard was about to turn towards Ishtar, most likely to give the same insincere apology to the pope. A voice rang out from the spectators.
"A moment please, Emperor Gahard." Ryutarou jumped into the arena, gaining everyone's attention.
From where Ryutarou jumped from, Kaori and Shizuku could be seen shaking their heads at him.
"Hm? And who, may I ask, are you?"
"Sir, my name is Ryutarou Sakagami. I am one of the members that traversed the seventieth floor with my friend Kouki."
Gahard glances at Ryutarou, still as unimpressed as before, before responding. "And what is it that you want?"
Ryutarou bows his head with his hands in front of him, one grasping the other that was clenched as a fist.
"I would like to request a spar with you, Sir. I wish to see the difference in strength between the two of us. I already know that I am not as strong as yourself, but I wish to feel the gap between us." every fiber of my being just wants this fight to happen!! Sir
Their classmate in the watching area could help but think there he goes at it again, fighting first and asking questions later.
Shizuku could get it too since she knew Kouki would never use full strength against her and that kinda train doesn't help her.
"Oh? Then, let me ask a similar question that I asked Sir Hero then. Do you come from a fighting background?"
Ryutarou looks at Kouki for a moment before looking back at the emperor, "I am of the same as Kouki. However, unlike Kouki, I have a goal that I am aiming for."
Seeing the fires burning in his eyes, Emperor Gahard narrows his eyes, before turning to face him fully, "Very well, I will give you a lesson in the difference in our prowess."
Ryutarou rushes in with a Supersonic Step to get in close.
Gahard sneers then goes for a diagonal slash to counter. "Boy you are nowhere near the speed of the hero."
Ryutarou attempts to cross arms to guard, but it breaks. The force of the blow threw him back. He was getting frustrated at the fact that he was nowhere near Kouki's strength.
Boy is that it?
No, not at all I will reach you. Ryutarou use Supersonic step to get in close, but he didn't charge in a straight line like the first time. He was going around in circles trying to confuse the emperor as he stood there with sword forward waiting for the incoming strike. "I see that there's some strategy in that thick skull of yours."
"Haha don't worry, I will get you this time." Ryutarou's mana was starting to run low due the continued use of the Supersonic step in quick succession….. He came at him once again from the front.
"A brave idiot I see," Gahard parried it once again, but got behind Ryutarou and hit him on the back of his neck going for a knockout blow.
"Ha ha," a red aura starts to be released from Ryutarou unconsciously as the Rage skill attempts to take control.
"Boy skills are meant to be a tool, but you let yours run wild. You should go back to basics and train some more before asking for a rematch. Don't you have body strengthening? Boy you got multiple skills, use them to bridge the gap…" Gahard turned away and walked into the private room they had set up for him, followed by one of his attendants .
Ryutarou punched the ground and broke the floor, frustrated with himself. He didn't see the area anymore but instead he thought about the day after training in the dojo and Selena was starting a run instead of ending her train and all he could see was that back.
Pov emperor Gahard
Later that evening, in his private quarters, Gahard gave his true opinions to his subordinates.
"That hero is no good. He's barely out of his diapers. The way he talks, it's clear he truly believes the bullshit on ideals and justice he spouts. Worse of all, he has just enough strength and charisma for people to believe him, too. He's the type of person that'd kill without hesitation if it was for the sake of his 'ideals.'"
"Agreed. I can't believe he honestly put demons and monsters on the same level. If it had been a conscious decision, then it wouldn't have been so bad, but…"
"Yeah, there was no thought when he said that. Hell, he might be the type that thinks ignorance is bliss. It's surprising that he has been able to live this long with that mindset. I don't know if his original world was one where that was acceptable, or if his strength has carried him until now. Either way, he's nothing but trouble. Unfortunately, we can't speak against him since he is Ehit's chosen warrior. For now, we don't have a choice but to go along with the brat's whims." It was clear that Kouki was no hero at all. Despite the strength that Kouki has from only learning how to fight just a few months ago, Gahard reasoned that most of his potential was being smothered by his blind ideals.
"That other boy was interesting though. He definitely has some spirit in him. He might be worth something if he can learn to control his skills better, along with some more training."
"We will keep an eye on him, Your Excellency." His aide bowed before making plans to have Ryutarou monitored.
Pov Shizuku
Watching this second match happen was an eye opener since to this point I thought we were the strongest, but I was shown otherwise to see that if the king Gahard could end my friends life if this was a true battlefield.
"Sigh,"
"What's wrong, Shizu?"
"It's just that we got a much needed reality check here."
"What do you mean?"
"If the emperor really wanted to, he could be as far as us in the dungeon, but he had duties to hold him back. After that duel I can tell there he isn't the only strong one in his kingdom and if that is true what about the demons in future or the next thirty floors? can we do without current strength…" Kaori placed her hand on her lap where she had been balling it into a fist.
"You know you're going to get cold feet if you keep looking so grim all the time. Remember we are not alone looking down there." They both stared down and saw Ryutarou punching the floor in anger. "We are not alone in wanting to reach the bottom of the labyrinth."
"Remember Hajime isn't alone either he has Selena and she has Hajime!"
"AHHH!" Both girls screamed, having forgotten about Endo, who had just chimed in.
"Yea…" at that moment Kaori's aura changed to dark. "What if they are kissing or holding hands or maybe…" This went on for a bit and Shizuku and Endo grew worried.
"Kaori stop," Shizuku was shaking her trying to snap her out of it. They grew used to this, but it did hinder her from focusing on the moment.
After that day, the hero's party ended up staying in the castle for about two weeks to rest. Most of the party only practiced the bare minimum. However, Ryutarou's group didn't know the meaning of rest. The four of them would take whatever chance they could to find some monsters to either practice new moves, or improve on what they already had.
The day before the party was to journey back towards the Orcus Labyrinth, the group of four could be found in the forest just outside of town. Of the four, Kaori could currently be seen facing off against a pack of wolf-like monsters called Deloses.
"Sacred stigmata of light, descend from the heavens and seal mine foes — Binding Blades of Light!" With a swing of her staff, a barrage of light crosses, that resembled swords, bore down on the monsters. But the nimble beasts swiftly dodged out of the way and began rushing at Kaori.
"Divine Shackles!" She let loose the follow-up spell from her original multicasting technique. This technique, that she developed on her own, was the result of her packing the incantation for Divine Shackles into the chant for Binding Blades of Light. The result of this was the casting of the second spell being just as strong as the first.
From the ground, chains of light sprung out and entwined themselves around the legs of the Deloses. Being the weak monsters that they are, they couldn't break the chains, holding them down in one place.
Two of them had narrowly avoided being bound, however, and they now moved to pincer Kaori. She didn't even flinch at their approach, easily trusting in not only her skills, but also her friends.
The moment that they were about to strike the determined healer, a pair of swords sliced them down before any harm could fall to Kaori.
"Thanks Endou." Kaori smiled at the two before she focused onto the next set of incantations.
"Holy light of judgment, bring retribution upon the wicked and crush those restrained by justice." Immediately after that, the normally non-destructive light spell started to make the Deloses howl in pain. The Divine Shackles began to tighten around the wolf monsters, crushing them in the chains.
Since this was not the intended usage for the spell, it required an enormous amount of mental focus to not only change the spell's nature, but also rearrange the magic circle to apply the new effect.
On the other side of the clearing from the clearing from the duo of rouge and priestess, was the duo of swordswoman and monk who were fighting a swarm of enemies.
"Man, this bait that the kingdom gave us is really effective!" Ryutarou says jubilantly as he punches a Delose before spinning around with a haymaker.
Shizuku rolls her eyes at the comment as she finishes a diagonal slash before changing her hold to perform a horizontal arc slash at some Delose that tried to surround her.
As the fight continued, Ryutarou, who was panting a few minutes earlier, was starting to catch his breath despite still fighting more monsters. At the same time, a blue shine would occasionally come from Shizuku's sword as she slices monsters, sometimes slicing further into the monster before shallowing out at the end. After another two hours, the monster tide that they were fighting ended.
Shizuku tiredly sits down against a tree to rest after such a prolonged fight. Ryutarou follows her and leans against the same tree and just looks at one of the baits that they were given to them from the kingdom. This small piece of bait could have easily been mistaken for a small opal.
"Man, who would have thought that such a small piece of bait would last about three hours," Ryutarou comments in amazement.
"That seems very concerning," Shizuku states, looking wearily at the bait that is in his hand.
"Eh, I don't think we need to worry about that. I mean, who would be stupid enough to break this in the middle of a town?"
"I agree with Shizu," Kaori adds as she and Endou join them. "Why would a kingdom that is being assaulted by demons that can control monsters, create a bait that attracts monsters to it?"
"Well, logically, they must have it for a reason." Endou says, shrugging his shoulders. "Who are we to determine what they use it for? Though I gotta say, those binding chains of yours are a terrifying skill. I didn't know that they could do damage like that."
"Oh, they can't. Or at least not normally," Kaori scratches her cheek in embarrassment, "I had to recreate the circle while holding the base concept of it. Then I had to put in the intent of crushing my enemies into the earth in the spell to get the result."
The three of them just looked at Kaori with blank expressions at what should have been a cute girl, just casually talk about crushing her enemies into dust. The three look at each other and just nods at the same time.
"Kaori, that is just scary" Ryutarou flat out states, "just like when Gahard asked Shizuku to marry him."
"Hey!" Shizuku shouts, "There is no way that I would marry a guy like Emperor Gahard." She crosses her arms and looks away with a pout.
"Well, you've got to admit, it was scary for you, right?" Endou asks, further proving Ryutarou's point.
Shizuku grumbles for a moment, before reluctantly nods her head.
"Well, I don't have any ways to naturally deal any damage. So I need to do it indirectly to protect myself and even find Hajime." Kaori says with a blush on her face at being compared to the Emperor.
"Well, regardless of why you created that spell, it's still a nice ace to have in your pocket. Let's hope that you never need to use it on me." Shizuku states, with a gentle smile for her best friend.
At that moment, a dark aura starts to surround Kaori as she starts to giggle. Filling her head on who she will bind with her chains on. All the while, Shizuku tries to break her out of her imagination. Ryutarou and Endou start to slowly walk away, trying to keep out of Kaori's line of sight.