Zegion who had been set asleep by Rimuru due to his evolution, had been given to Guy for protection as Rimuru is moving out, has just woken up in a green grassy field with a beautiful sunset and one large tree with a table surrounded by 4 chairs.
Zegion stood up and looked around him, he saw one man standing a few meters away from him, facing him.
"Who are you, and where is Lord Rimuru."
"Relax, I'm a friend, Rimuru le-"
Zegion immediately attacked him, he won't have anyone disrespect his master, you either add honorifics or use "Lord" or "Great or the like.
Zegion went for a dash at him which caused the ground below the grass to crack a little, launching at massive speeds, he then went for a direct hand pierce to the heart, Zegion felt like he was times more powerful, he felt much faster, more agile and his movement felt like the flow of water.
His strength felt like he could crack a boulder as large as a castle if he put his mind to it, and this was just the beginning, his evolution has not finished yet.
Iudex immediately dodged, Zegion's outburst was not out of the question, he didn't expect it to happen so soon, he made a blunder that fast, that has to be a world record.
The two clashed blows, seemingly on equal footing in terms of skill and technique.
As the two exchanged more and more blows, it seemed like this battle would never end.
Neither got tired at all, since this was a world where anything can live infinitely, and so can your stamina last infinitely.
To say that Iudex was very impressed, was a massive understatement.
This creature in front of him could easily match Rudra in terms of skill.
It seems that Iudex has chosen his disciple when he incarnates.
"I'll give it to you, I did not expect such a powerful foe to be what I see first thing when I wake up, I must live up to Rimuru-Sama's expectations."
Iudex smiled, such a mentality will make him a monster in battle.
"You are great, rivaling ancient heroes with ease.
You have much to improve in, and I will help you."
Zegion paid no mind to these words, but he didn't realize it.
Iudex jumped back a few meters away and the world began to stand still, it wasn't a time stop, the air had ceased to move out of the energy being released.
"Witness the final art I created.
Tell me your name, promising one."
"Zegion, tell me yours."
"Iudex, from this day forward, I will teach you all there is to the Legends of Old Style."
Zegion prepared a defensive stance, he knew if he were to approach the energy being released would slow him down.
"True Dragon Style: Star-Dragon King's Nihility Collapse!"
As Iudex said that, Zegion knew no defense would stop this.
Suddenly the air felt as if it was compressing Zegion, he felt power unrivaled and unstoppable flow through his body, he felt as if his body was frying itself trying to stop the pain.
Zegion immediately fainted.
The world began to collapse, Iudex smiled.
"I finally.. did it..
Rudra, I will see you.. I hope you will remember where me and you went wrong.."
Iudex fainted....
[Success. Individual Zegion has evolved into Spirit Insectar.
Additionally, established connection to Individual Iudex's Skill "Sleep Space", allowing traversal to and from the skill.]
"Yes..."
As Iudex fainted, so did his world crumble, he could rebuild it later when they wanted to use it, but it is done..
Finally, after hundreds of years... Iudex could see the real world again..
What if he's weak..?
No, it doesn't matter, he should be grateful he could go back to the real world again.
Omnipotent or not, Omniscient or not, Omnipresent or not, it was all the same.
The hardships he faced to return to the real world were not because he wanted more power, it was because he wanted to make up for his mistaken thoughts.
Everyone standing in the Ice Castle was on high alert to defend Zegion, after a good 30-45 minutes the entire ground began rumbling.
[Success. Individual Zegion has evolved into Spirit Insectar.
Additionally, established connection to Individual Iudex's Skill "Sleep Space", allowing traversal to and from the skill.]
As they heard that, a massive light descended from the sky right in front of the castle, it caused heat rivaling Velzard's ice.
"What the fuck is that?!?" Rain exclaimed.
"Hell if I know!" Guy said.
He didn't think such a beam could be fired, this was no disintegration beam, this was a whole new class, an annihilation beam if you will.
Velzard was trying to maintain the barrier around the Ice Castle so it wouldn't melt.
Mizery joined in to help her.
After a while Zegion shot awake and the beam immediately stopped after he woke up.
"...Where am I." Zegion asked.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Zegion, yes? I'm Guy, Rimuru's friend, he sent you here for protection, he said he's going to leave for a while.
You met anyone in your sleep?" Guy asked, to which Zegion nodded.
'Good.. finally we can meet in reality, Iudex.'
A figure stood with a clear silhouette, with an aura so large it would rival Guy's and even Velzard.
The aura dissipated as the silhouette approached, Zegion recognized the silhouette and got closer to watch.
Iudex stepped into viewing range, he noticed how they were observing him.
[Success, Individual Iudex has partially regained the skills fused to create "Sleep Space".
Which are the following:
Mind Overclock: Increase thinking speed by a factor of 10,000,000 to 1, separate from analysis.
Ultimate Skill - "Divine God of Martial Arts, Zhen Wu." has the following sub-skills:
Decastrike: Each attack is multiplied by 10, releasing 10 exact copies of each attack the user produces.
Null Misstep: It is impossible for the user to make a mistake in technique, making all battles down to pure skill in martial arts.
Flow: Using attacks in succession, to which attacks released from Decastrike do not count towards, increases the user's speed and reaction time by 1/10th for each successful attack landed on an opponent(objects included.).
Unique Skill - "Instinct of Veterans" - Detects any power ups, items and equipment whether they are hidden and/or have alternate effects that don't appear to the surface.
Resistances: Physical Attack Resistance - Holy Attack Resistance.
This concludes the window of skills.]
Guy and Velzard jumped down to him and welcomed their friend.
"Welcome, or should I say welcome back? Anyways, come, let us show you the beauty and horror of this world, Iudex." Guy urged Iudex to follow him.
"Iudex~ it is good to see you, even if it hasn't been long, it feels different seeing you in reality, my my, do you look even better in reality~"
This earned a little of a flustered look from Iudex who nodded.
"T-Thank you.. Ve-Velzard.. anyways.." He saw Zegion.
"There is my disciple."
"Disciple? Did you guys fight?" Guy asked him.
"Not a fight at all, Lord Guy, I was simply put into my place, I do not know what he saw worthy in me.." Zegion replied, still holding his humble and down to earth attitude.
"Although you still have a long way to go, you are pretty good."
He shook hands with all of them, he felt as if he had ascended to heaven, finally being able to experience mortal life once more...
Is this what Veldanava felt when he sacrificed his Omnipotence to experience love and mortality? I guess you could say that.
"Well, what are we doing right now?" Iudex asked.
"We're waiting for Walpurgis to happen, meanwhile Rimuru is going on a mission to kill someone, Velzard is on standby..." Guy smiled a bit thinking of an idea.
"Hey how about we spar? Let you warmup and blow off some steam, and you should be able to get a general idea of how powerful you are."
Velzard affirmed this idea with an aggressive nod, she wanted to fight someone, Zegion observed them.
"I guess since I have nothing better to do.
I'll show you the power of what happens when you leave a man to develop his own martial arts for centuries."
"Hah! I'll be glad to see it."
They went a bit far out and settled in their positions, first round is Iudex vs Guy.
'It seems I've lost my Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence...
all I'm left with is Nigh-Omniscience of future events...and Omniscience of past events..
Sigh, let's do this.'
Velzard stood between them, counting down to 0.
"Take your marks, Iudex~ and Guy.
3...2...1..Go!"
As the count down ended they both disappeared into thin air, a massive clash happened right where Velzard stood, Guy sword had struck down on Iudex, but Iudex blocked it with a perfect defensive stance using his arm, the sword was deflected as Guy was taken aback.
"Woah, that block was perfect!
Too bad I know this is a battle of skill thanks to your Ultimate Skill."
Guy spun around bringing his sword to Iudex's side with such speed, but to Iudex that was on the slower side.
Iudex grabbed Guy's blade and shoved it against his head, sending Guy back a little.
"You speedy piece of...
I didn't expect you to be this strong.."
"They didn't call me God of Martial Arts for nothing."
"Yeah I guess."
"Let me show you a martial art style of a legend I admire."
Guy began to move slowly towards Iudex.
"Witness.
True Dragon Style: Storm Dragon's Piercing Wind!"
'True Dragon Style?!? The hell is that!?' Guy thought as his instincts screamed at him to duck for cover, as he did, he noticed the attack fly and slice a mountain behind them in half with ease.
"Hm.. good instincts, but you should keep dodging."
"Huh? Wh-" As Guy was talking 9 more of the same attack were released, 4 hit Guy while he dodged the rest.
Guy was extremely hurt by this, but he stood up, he copied this move and prepared to unleash at a greater power.
Guy had higher total power than Iudex, by a very large margin.
Iudex is the prime example of sharpened skill beats brute force however, his speed enhancement and reflexes also give him a higher edge than anyone.
Guy released the attack with all his might , it hit Iudex's arm, sending it flying.
"Augh... No matter."
They both charged at each other.
"Demon Lord Style: Guy Crimson's Imitate!"
'What? Imitate? Is he..'
Guy went for a quick cross slash, to which Iudex did the exact same thing at the same space at the same time, naturally one couldn't block Guy's, that's where Decastrike came in, using 9 others it beat Guy's cross slash after the eighth attack and sent him flying back with the last 2.
'Bastard... He's too strong for me... I need to find a way..'
Guy slowly got up, but what he didn't realize is by the time he got up Iudex was already behind him.
"True Hero Style: Emperor Rudra's Neck Breaker!"
Iudex raised one leg and swung it at a 360 angle, hitting Guy right into his neck and sending him down.
Truth be told Guy didn't take this seriously from the get go, he didn't know Iudex had such good control and speed, meanwhile Iudex had seen how the threat of losing was real.
Guy coughed up and barely got up.
"You.. win.."
Iudex looked apologetic.
"Eheh... sorry.. it seems I got serious and you didn't.."
Guy was helped up by Velzard.
"Yeah I guess... Damn it my neck..
You really had to use a technique that Rudra made?"
"Eheh.. it just felt right."
"Cheeky bitch.. I'll get serious from the get go next time.."
Velzard and Iudex chuckled, Zegion stood next to Iudex.
"Sir, what should I call you? Lord, -Sama, I do not want to disrespect you." Mizery approached and asked him, in awe of how someone defeated Guy.
"Just Iudex is fine, I'm not one for honorifics, never was."
"That's why you were embarrassed of me calling you Iudex-Sama~? I know it was, but you liked it didn't you, Iudex-Sama~?" Velzard said teasing him before laughing it off.
Iudex felt like he wanted to bury his head in the ice.
"S-S-Stop.. p-please.. Don't make me go back to the skill.."
Velzard and Guy laughed.
"Well, Iudex, when will begin training?" Zegion asked
"We will begin once we sort out where I'm staying, and once we meet up with Rimuru and figure out what to do going forward, I'd give it about a week."
"Alright, I'm looking forward to it."
"You're forgetting about me, Iudex, where's our spar?" Velzard asked as if he owed her one.
"Yeah I didn't forget it, but I'll fight you later, we can't let Guy die here." He laughed lightly saying that, Guy muttered something to the lines of "Yeah whatever laugh next time when I hang you upside down.."
"Sore loser much, Guy~?" Velzard asked him.
"Of course not! Let's go." He got up and wiped the dust off him and walked to his Ice Castle.
"Well, I'll be off with Zegion..."
He paused for a second before Guy and Velzard turned to him, wondering what's wrong.
"Ah.. right.. no Omnipresence..
A little help.. guys?"
"Fine, Tempest?" Guy asked him to which Iudex nodded.
"Tell me when you're ready to get beaten, Iudex~" Velzard said before Guy teleported them.
Zegion and Iudex appeared outside of Tempest, immediately after they appeared Diablo was out there to meet them.
"Ah, you must be that... Insectar.. Zegion.
And you are?" The demon asked expecting an answer.
"He's with me, is Lord Rimuru here?"
"He's about to leave, hurry along if you have urgent business."
"Let's go." Zegion lead Iudex to the beautiful city of Tempest, a city which he could've never conjured in his Sleep Space.
"This is.. quite.. a breath taking scene...
Breathe... the air feels so fresh.. real.. unlike that artificial one.."
"I know, it is Lord Rimuru's greatest pride and joy." Zegion answered with quite the pride behind his voice.
"Hah, I know, Rimuru is an amazing person."
After walking for a while with people staring at this weird Insectar and the human walking towards the court, they were stopped by Benimaru.
"I apologize but Lord Rimuru is busy at the moment."
"Tell him Zegion has awoken, and his friend is here."
"Can it wait until he returns? He's literally just about to leave.
Congratulations regardless."
"I'd rather talk to him now." Iudex said.
"And you are?" Benimaru questioned this person.
"A close friend of Lord Rimuru's, let him through at least."
"I'm sorry but I've nev-" Iudex sent a chop straight at his head knocking Benimaru out.
"Jeez.. he's so persistent.. Get someone to wake him up.. I'll meet you later, Zegion."
"Yes, I will be seeing you later Iudex."
Benimaru was dragged to the court by Zegion as he took Benimaru to Shuna so she can look after him.
Iudex POV
I took a deep breath standing in front of a door with quite a number of voices behind it, it's like a strategy war meeting, why was Benimaru waiting outside when he's the...
You know what, nevermind.
I knocked the door and entered.
I saw quite a lot of people there, namely Kaijin, the ogres, the shadow squad, Milim and a fairy, who I knew was Ramiris, there was someone else as well, the Demon Lord Karion.
As I entered, the tension in the room shifted to me as I felt a shiver down my spine from the stares of everyone.
"Who are you?! How dare you interrupt Rimuru-Sama's mee-" A tall lady with purple hair who I presumed to be Shion talked, before she was silenced by Rimuru who simply went down from his chair and walked towards me and hugged me.
"Woah there, Rimuru, I didn't know you missed me this much.."
I returned the hug, which was quite difficult considering he was shorter than me.
"How... does he speak so casually with Rimuru-Sama!?!?!?"
After letting go of me, Rimuru introduced me.
"Everyone, this is Iudex, the man who lead me to where I am today."
The room went quiet, Milim seemed to have noticed I am hiding power, and she seemed eager to test out how strong I am.
Karion was also somewhat aware of my strength, I wasn't doing much to hide it, I was only really hiding my aura.
"Wait, explain.." Karion said confused.
"This man's wisdom is unmatched, he has predicted many things and they all came true, I have been longing to meet him in conditions such as this, but the time never came."
"Well, pretty much what he said plus somethings...
Name's Iudex, that's You-dex, don't add honorifics please."
I tried to sound cool, which impressed Milim and some others to some extent.
"Wahahahah! I can see you clearly with my Milim Eye! You're super strong! You might even be able to put down Dagrule!"
Well I guess I could, maybe even his brother Fenn..
People all around gasped quite a little, please stop, I don't want to sound too cool and disappoint...
"Well, no matter, we can talk about him more later, Iudex, I'll have a room prepared for you now, I need to leave to get Clayman before Walpurgis."
"Sure, go ahead, don't kill everyone tho, some of them might join you, a skeleton to be exact."
As I said that ever so casually I felt weird stares from everyone, did I say something strange?
"So he's like an oracle.. That is.. extremely useful to say the least." Souei.. Praised me? I'm not sure if that was praise.
"Thank.. you?" I had to put something there at least.
Rimuru left soon after and I got introduced to the ogres and what not, Shuna took me to a room beside Rimuru's, she apologized for her brother's behavior earlier and left.
Man... it's still so surreal seeing this world.. after so long..
"Rudra.. I'm coming.. Just wait..
I'll save you.. and Velgrynd.
With Rimuru's and Velzard's help, nothing will be impossible.."
He entered his room and laid on the bed, he experienced being tired for the first time in a long time and slept since god knows when...