Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 45: Back To the Past! Part 3
__________________________________________________________________________
- Felix -
"Hahaha, so that's how Veldora got sealed, huh? I was pretty surprised that some Hero managed to seal a True Dragon; even Veldora, in his berserker fighting style, would be almost impossible to beat for an Awakened being."
Even Rimuru was trying to hide his smile at hearing about Veldora's fate.
One thing that was a bit odd was that I could still feel the Blessing I gave to Aether, even though, from what I know, Aether was back in the Elemental Realm and stripped of my Blessing for failing in its duties.
You can imbue individual Blessings with intent, my intent was for Aether to protect Hinata, he failed and so the Blessing was taken away, and yet I still feel my Blessing.
'It is possible that due to the Master's wish of protecting the individual Hinata, the Blessing was passed onto Hinata in an effort to protect her.'
Huh, I didn't know that was possible. It seems Blessings can stay active throughout Space and Time.
Neat.
It seems Hinata has made a significant amount of progress since I last saw her. Taking out self proclaimed Demon Lords, saving villages and towns. She was playing as a bonafide Heroine alongside Chloe.
She even became friends with Luminous, a Demon Lord. Hinata really is having her very own Isekai Adventure!
…. Wait, does this mean Hinata is older than me?!
No! Impossible! This can't be!
I was distracted from my realization by Luminous. "Indeed, it was quite enjoyable watching that Lizard be shown his place, that is one of my fondest memories. His screams of pain were delightful." Said Luminous with a fond smile.
Well alright then.
Man, she really never will get along with Veldora huh? Though not that I can blame her, Luminous is completely justified in this case.
Even if someone has reformed, that does not excuse their past actions, at least that would be the case back on Earth.
In this world however power matters most, whether Luminous likes it or not she can't do shit to Veldora, both due to his personal power and due to Rimuru's intervention.
Not to mention his siblings might not like that either. Velzard strikes me as the type to be completely okay with killing Veldora herself, but if someone else does it… well safe to say they will have an angry Frost Dragon on their ass.
"I'll enjoy rubbing this one in Veldora's face. I imagine Hinata will as well. Who knew she would manage to beat Veldora."
I remembered watching as Veldora stomped Hinata into the ground, taunting her all the while. Now, seeing her triumph was truly satisfying.
Luminous looked at me with a haughty yet prideful expression. "Of course my dear Hinata is capable of such a feat."
I raised my brow at her. "Your dear Hinata huh?"
Hearing me, Luminous glared at me. Geez, what did I do?
"Yes, MY dear Hinata." She repeated, her smile growing as if challenging me.
I began looking at Luminous suspiciously. Could it be? Could Luminous possibly bat for the same team?
"Could you… possibly like Hinata?"
Woah! Hinata and Luminous yuri yuri moments! I could already imagine such a scene.
I wonder if she is into Chloe too? Chloe isn't a child anymore either so it's not like I can disapprove, she is like… hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Huh, that's weird to think about.
I may be in a world where might makes right, but that doesn't mean I'm cool with someone who is practically a child getting preyed on by a thousands of years old hag.
Heh, Luminous the hag.
I noticed even Rimuru had a vacant look on his face, heh, even he is daydreaming about that.
Truly, great minds think alike.
Indeed, a Hinata and Luminous yuri yuri moment would be delightful.
Luminous' eyes widened before she resumed her default haughty expression. "And so what if I do? Do you have a problem with that?"
Woah! I just took a random shot in the dark! Who knew I would be right?
Truly, my greatness astounds me.
'....'
'Did you say something Odin?'
'Negative.'
'Well, alright then.'
I resumed my conversation with Luminous. "Pfft, no, just imagining that picture in my mind is hot."
Umu, Luminous yuri moments!
A crimson flush appeared on Luminous face. "Wh-What! Stop what you are doing at once!"
"No, I don't think I will." I said with a smirk on my face before my expression became more serious. "Though do know, Hinata is my precious student, should I find out if this pursuit of yours was not… consensual on Hinata's part, I will erase you from existence." I said with a cheerful smile on my face.
I doubt consent is something the truly powerful of this world really care all that much about, if Nobles can casually grab peasants off the streets and do what they want with them in most Kingdoms, then I imagine those with true power can and will do something similar should they have the desire for it.
Though I doubt Luminous was capable of forcing either Hinata or Chloe to do anything. If they are capable of sealing Veldora, then they are capable of dispatching Luminous.
Luminous' face paled slightly. "No... that is not the case, Hinata has not seen fit to return my affections."
I tilted my head curiously. "Really? She wasn't interested in a hot piece of ass like you? Guess she doesn't bat for the other team then huh? Unlucky." I shrugged my shoulders. "Oh well, her loss."
"A h-hot piece of ass?!"
I rolled my eyes at her. "Yes, have you seen yourself?" I gave Luminous a blatant once over.
Luminous might not be super busty but she was definitely attractive, her sleek slender body definitely pushed some buttons for me. Her heterochromia eyes also had a charm of their own, not to mention she is basically a goth!
Everyone loves a goth!
I noticed Luminous' blush had returned tenfold. "Stop looking at me like that!" She shouted, covering her body slightly.
I raised my hands up in surrender. "Sure sure."
Hmm, she is a Vampire, the Progenitor of them in fact, I wonder if she is into blood play?
Before Luminous could respond, Rimuru interrupted with a cough. "Go flirt somewhere else you lucky bastard!"
"F-flirt! No such thing was happening here Rimuru!" Said an embarrassed Luminous.
"Yeah, well I call it like I see it!"
Who knew Luminous could get embarrassed about something like this.
Seriously, how did she end up with Lust? Well I guess Lust can mean multiple things. It doesn't specifically need to be sexual lust, or maybe Luminous just has a weak defense and a strong offense.
Before Luminous and Rimuru could devolve this discussion into an argument I interrupted.
"Alright, why don't we joke around later? Come on Luminous, tell us what happened next, you've got me hooked on this story."
I could totally make a manga out of this.
Luminous quickly regained control of herself and nodded, though not before sending a glare Rimuru's way, one he casually ignored.
Look at that, they are friends!
"Very well," Luminous began, her voice steadying as the blush began to fade. "fter Veldora was sealed…."
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
"Fufufu, that was an excellent battle Hinata!" Luminous exclaimed as she raised her glass of wine for a toast.
They were currently in Luminous' dining hall, it was just her and Luminous present along with Chloe who was watching from inside her.
Hinata rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am sure you are extremely happy about your mortal enemy's current situation."
Hearing her Luminous did something she would normally abhor doing in public, she pouted. "You couldn't have completely finished him off?"
Hinata sighed. "No, I could not. His sealing was necessary, he must stay sealed in the cave for the foreseeable future."
Luminous took a sip of her wine before she sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine fine. At the very least he got some pain dealt to him. Perhaps he will be careful of where he goes on his pointless rampages from now on."
Hinata thought it was truly odd how different Luminous acted with her current self when compared to her past self, this Luminous was far more… friendly, whereas she treated Hinata far differently originally.
Luminous truly had her younger self fooled, she never would have expected their relationship to be that of friends. At the very least she could rest assured that Luminous would be capable of keeping their true friendship a secret from her younger self.
Her younger self was always examining Luminous, looking for weaknesses, for any sign that the Demon Lord needed to be put down.
She wondered what her younger self would think of their relationship now?
"I did have a question though." Luminous said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Hinata looked at Luminous curiously. "Oh? What kind of question?"
"Where did you learn that new Art of yours?" Asked Luminous. "From what I saw it was incredibly powerful, even capable of easily dealing with that Lizard's fire breath. Normally a casual fire breath from Veldora would wipe out a city, let alone what he had used on you."
Hinata nodded. "Ah, you must be talking about Distortion Field."
Luminous tilted her head. "Distortion Field?"
She nodded. "Yes, it is an Art that Chloe taught to me, and was taught to her by Felix. It is basically a fool proof defense against the majority of attacks, only extremely high level attacks have a chance of breaking through it."
"I see. That sounds powerful. In fact, I have not heard of anything like it before. Would you mind teaching me it?"
'What do you think Chloe? Will that change anything?'
"Hmm, it should be fine. I don't see any real chance for Luminous to put Distortion Field to use until after we have already returned to when we left from."
'Indeed, that was what I was thinking as well. I remember Luminous telling me that she hadn't been in any sort of battle ever since she fought Veldora when he destroyed Night Rose.'
"Very well then. Though from what I know you may not be capable of learning it, it requires an extremely high Spatial Affinity. Even I was incapable of learning it without Felix's Blessing."
Luminous looked at her haughtily. "Very well, we will find out if I have the affinity some other time. For now we drink!"
Their food was soon presented before them, each dish made by Luminous' most elite chefs.
Hinata took a bite and found herself comparing the taste and texture to the food that was served at Tempest and found it lacking. The fact that Rimuru had been able to perfectly recreate all of her favorite food on a whim was ridiculous.
Putting aside any Slime wizardry this was more than sufficient.
Luminous and Hinata both continued their small talk before Hinata decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for sometime.
"Luminous, who are your parents?"
When she asked Luminous in the past about her origins, she always found a way to change the subject, while when she asked if Felix knew he said he would tell her as a reward for when she manages to make him try slightly more. He said it would motivate her further.
Arrogant brat. She already had all the motivation she needed to land a clean punch to his face.
"My parent hmm?" Luminous gained a reminiscent look on her face. "Very well, I shall share some of my story with you. I know all about you, but you do not know nearly as much about me."
"My father was a direct creation of the Creator God, Veldanava, Twilight Valentine is the man single handedly responsible for the creation of practically every single race."
Hinata's eyes widened. "Every race!"
Luminous nodded. "Almost every race, the Daemons, Angels, Elementals and of course the True Dragons along with various other races were not created by him, but the most common ones were."
"Like?"
"The original Ancestors of Humans, the High Humans were made by him, primarily my technical brother, Jahil, one of the original High Humans, though there were others. I always disliked that one. The Demi-Humans were created from his various experiments of mixing Magic Beasts with Humans, he is also responsible for the Lycanthropes existence as well as the Giants, the Enki, the Dwarves, the Sirens, and even the Elves were created by him."
Hinata took a moment to comprehend all of that. For a single man to do such a thing, he should have been remembered as one of the greats, a man remembered throughout history, yet he was not known for some reason.
Luminous continued. "Some races he just helped take form, like the Great Spirit of Earth had split off and filled the world with its Element, the Element eventually materialized with Twilight's help leading to the birth of the first High Dwarf. The High Sirens came from the Great Spirit of Water, the High Enki from the Great Spirit of Fire, and the High Elves came from the Great Spirit of Wind. Each was at a higher level of existence when compared to the Dwarves, Sirens, Enki, and Elves of today."
Hinata stared wide eyed. "For a single man to be capable of creating such a massive impact on the world…."
Luminous rolled her eyes. "Don't admire him too much, I ended up killing him for crossing certain boundaries he shouldn't have. In fact that is part of the reason Dagruel and I are constantly at each other's throats. He was a rather close friend of my so-called father after all."
It seems Luminous and her did have one more thing in common, they both committed patricide.
Ah, that was a fairly dark thought wasn't it?
"It really was Hinata-nee."
"Twilight then began breeding those races he had created, as if everyone was a mere breeding horse for him, from that came the Ogres, the Goblins, Beastman, and various other races with intelligence. Some were successes, others were failures, either way they were each discarded." Said Luminous.
Ah, this Twilight was the mad scientist type wasn't he? Like Vesta but even worse.
Vesta was fairly responsible and understood what things he should not do, what boundaries he should not cross.
To create an entire being, an entire race and then just discard them to live in the world? That was just irresponsible.
"Anyways, two specific races were created directly in Twilight Valentine's own image. The Humans, or the High Humans as they were known as back then, and the Vampires. Each race had their own flaws, High Humans were magically powerful but incredibly idiotic in the head. If it weren't for that, then I would say they would be by far the race with the highest potential. They were held back by their own arrogance."
Hinata tilted her head. "Incredibly idiotic?"
Luminous snorted. "Indeed. Idiotic is what I would call them. Who else would summon a Primordial and expect to be able to completely dominate them, and expect them to be completely subservient."
Hinata's eyes widened. "A Primordial?!"
She only knew of three Primordials that were around in this day and age. Guy Crimson and his two maids.
The rest would remain in the Daemon Realm for the most part, until they would be summoned by their future Masters.
A bad feeling started to circulate throughout her body, after all… only a single Primordial fit the description.
Luminous smirked. "Indeed, a Primordial, Guy Crimson was Summoned by my idiotic brother in his attempt to defeat a rival nation. Of course, every Daemon has a price for their services, in Guy's case he destroyed both his summoner's nation as well as the enemies nation, completely eradicating the two Kingdoms and Awakening into a True Demon Lord in the process. He even incarnated his two maids in the process."
Hinata did not know what to say to that. Was the Ancestor of Humanity so… idiotic? It painted a bad picture for the rest of Humanity.
"...I see. Is it safe to assume your brother is long gone?"
Luminous nodded. "Indeed, he is quite lucky that Guy did not keep his Soul around to play with."
Hinata's lips twitched after hearing that. Some Daemons did keep certain Souls around to torture for eternity.
As far as she knew, Felix had yet to do such a thing, but she also knew that his three Primordials Subordinates had done such a thing on countless occasions.
Primordials were not known to be merciful beings to their enemies. She had heard about what Arcueid had done to her enemies, what the result of the Lake Shore Dyed Scarlet Incident was.
"Then moving onto Vampires, as you know, the standard Vampires also have two critical weaknesses. Vampires are magically powerful, possess a powerful body, nigh immortality, and are not complete idiots. Not to mention the many Intrinsic Skills they are born with."
Indeed, most higher level Vampires had a multitude of Intrinsic Skills. Blood Raise which allowed them to bring back the dead as an undead. Charm allowing them to hypnotize others, Coercion which allowed them to evoke pressure with their voice. Paralyze, Self-Regeneration, and Steel Strength all helped increase their base strength.
And even then they could transform their physical bodies and travel through shadows.
The Vampires were feared for a reason.
Without taking account their weakness, Vampires were by far the most powerful race, at the very least their weak members were far more powerful than the weak members of other races on average.
And when it comes to war, foot soldiers mattered an incredible amount. At the very least they mattered until someone truly strong took action, numbers meant nothing to the truly strong after all.
She imagined that if the Dwarven King Gazel ever took action against an enemy Nation, he would be able to make quick work of them, even as an Incomplete Saint he was a monster.
There is a reason an army of over 30,000 Majin was casually wiped out by Felix, a reason a force of over 10,000 was wiped out by Rimuru, both done with casual ease, and both did so before Awakening as Demon Lords.
Even using Guy Crimson as an example, he single handedly wiped out a Nation the progenitors of Humanity were having trouble with. And that was before Awakening.
Luminous continued. "If it weren't for the inherent weakness of Vampires they would likely be considered the most powerful race, but the weakness to sunlight ensures that no Vampire is truly unbeatable, as well as their need for Human blood. As it is, not many Vampires have overcome those limits, though those that have had evolved into beings that are capable of taking on even the strongest of Humanity, Saints."
Indeed, there were a few Vampires that were somewhat capable, but were limited by their weaknesses. But once they got past that weakness they were a fearsome opponent for most.
"Anyways, Humans were chosen as the ideal race and various worlds were then populated with them upon Veldanava's decree." Finished Luminous.
"I see... Are any of your… siblings still alive then?"
She hadn't heard about the Dwarven Ancestor, Guran Dwargo, the Ancestor of the Incomplete Saint Gazel, the Dwarven King of her time, so she assumed Guran was long since dead along with most of his fellow True Ancestors.
Luminous nodded. "Some of them are, like Sylvia, or rather as she goes by now Sylvia El Ru, the mother of the current Elven Empress. We have even kept in touch over the years, she is by far the easiest to get along out of all of Twilight's creations. She prefers to tinker in her lab above all else."
Hinata tilted her head. "Sylvia El Ru?" She had heard vague mentions of her from Luminous in the past.
Luminous nodded. "Indeed, Sylvia El Ru is an incredibly powerful woman with immense magical knowledge. She was even the beloved of a previous True Hero who had perished, the Elven Hero, Sarion."
"I see." She had a lot to think about now. She was well versed in history, but there were still some things she did not know. Luminous did not often share some of the more secret things and Felix only occasionally satisfied her curiosity.
"Then there is also Basara, one of the True Ancestors of the Giants, though I would rather not speak of him."
Hinata nodded. "Who is the other one?"
"Kisara, the wife of The Continent's Wrath, Dagruel."
Hinata's eyes widened. "Demon Lord Dagruel has a wife?!"
"He used to have a wife, she had passed away due to reasons unknown to me." Responded Luminous.
"I see. Thank you for sharing."
"I can do at least that much for my friend." Responded Luminous.
"Right, to friends." Hinata said as she raised her glass.
___________________________________________________________________
'What did you want to talk about Chloe?'
"Hold on, let's wait for Luminous to arrive."
'Very well.'
It didn't take long for Luminous to arrive in their room.
"You wished to see me Chloe?"
Chloe nodded. "Yes, there is something I want to talk to you two about."
Luminous took a seat on the couch in front of them.
"Very well, I am listening."
Chloe nodded. "I will be disappearing soon."
'What?!'
"What?!"
Both Luminous and Hinata yelled at the same time, with her in Chloe's mind and Luminous in the real world.
Chloe ignored their surprise and continued on. "Soon, Leon-onii-san will be appearing in this world, alongside my younger self."
Luminous nodded. "Yes, you have already spoken about your older brother figure, a future True Hero and Demon Lord. I have already promised not to interfere with his rise to power."
Chloe nodded. "Thanks for that."
Hinata and Chloe trusted Luminous enough not to change things for their advantage so they shared some things that Luminous wouldn't have a personal stake in, of course they still have not shared the Luminary of the Sun's inevitable betrayal, nor will they inform Luminous about it.
She would understand their reasons as to why they kept it hidden, if she could let go of them not acting to stop Veldora from destroying her precious palace, Night Rose, then Luminous would definitely not mind them keeping Granbell's betrayal hidden.
"Well, just after I am summoned, as you know I will immediately be summoned to the future leaving Leon-onii san alone here, which will spark certain events."
Hinata knew she was talking about Shizu-sensei's Summoning, something that was key to the future.
It was thanks to that event that Rimuru would acquire the Anti-Magic Mask and then later pass it onto Chloe, leading them to this situation, Shizu-sensei was also the source of Rimuru's Humanoid form as well. Not to mention the impact she had on Rimuru.
"It is due to Leon-onii san and my younger self appearing that I will disappear, for a moment, there will be two of the same exact people in this world, a taboo that the World itself will attempt to correct."
"A taboo?" Asked Luminous.
So this was something even Luminous was unaware of?
Chloe nodded. "Yes."
Assuming the multiverse theory was real, then there could possibly be multiple worlds and universes out there, possibly even parallel universes. After all, Hinata knew for a fact that other worlds did exist. After all she herself came from another world, not to mention the Daemon Realm that Felix spoke about sometimes would also qualify as an entirely different world, same with the Elemental Realm, the realm the Spirits resided in.
There could possibly be another version of her out there, that was still living her life back in her previous world, a world where her father did not destroy their family. There could be another version of Felix out there, maybe hundreds of different Felixs!
Hinata didn't linger on that thought for long or she feared for the direction her thoughts would go.
"Due to two of the same exact Souls existing at a single point in time, the World will suppress my Soul, I will still be here but I won't be there at the same time. My Soul will sort of be sleeping in my body."
'How is that possible?'
"I don't know, I can't even begin to understand how the World truly works."
Luminous nodded in understanding. "I see, since there is only a single version of the Cardinal World as it was Veldanava's first world as well as the world he had resided on. The Voice of the World will act to correct this paradox."
Luminous' words poured cold water onto her shoulders.
If there was only a single version of this world then… did that not mean… that every time Chloe went back in time, every time something changed, did that not mean that all of those other various timelines ceased to exist?
Whenever Chloe traveled back in time was she erasing an entire timeline? Was the entire world remade whenever she traveled back in time, erasing the timelines Chloe left?
That thought was horrifying to consider.
How many lives had been erased over Chloe's loops? Trillions? Quadrillions? She did not know.
She knew it wasn't Chloe's fault, but it was still a mind blowing realization.
Who knows how many different versions of her ceased to exist, how many different versions of Luminous, of Rimuru… of Felix.
This had to be the last loop. She wouldn't allow another timeline to be erased, not one with many people she was personally close to.
In the worst case scenario… she could ensure that Chloe's Time Traveler does not activate again, if her Skill never activates, then the timeline is never reset. While it would not be the ideal outcome, at the very least Hinata would be satisfied as long as certain people will survive.
Hinata would not have considered such a thing previously, she wasn't one to possibly betray her precious student, but things change, who knew she would care for a person enough to twist her morals.
Even now she is still learning new things about herself.
There were a few ways she could think of to make sure Time Traveler did not activate, the option Hinata was most against was killing Chloe, then there was the option of committing suicide somewhere Chloe could not see her, as the condition for Time Travler to activate was for her to die in front of Chloe.
There were more options she could consider later.
She wouldn't even have these thoughts if she didn't find a way to keep her thoughts hidden from Chloe.
If Chloe was willing to erase a countless number of timelines to save Rimuru, then Hinata did not think Chloe would hold it against her if she had to stop Chloe from resetting the timeline for the precious few people close to her.
Though emotions never cared for reason.
Chloe's time leaps may have been accidental at first, but Hinata did not doubt that even if Chloe originally knew what she was doing she would still go through with it, erasing a countless amount of lives.
Hinata could only see herself helping Chloe with another reset if Fel- if the people close to her were already dead.
Hinata knew she was justifying herself, but sometimes that is all one needs to commit horrific actions they would not normally commit.
Hinata knew it was a cruel thought, but she knew that she wasn't a good person, she could live with that sin on her shoulders.
Hopefully she would not need to resort to drastic measures.
Though one thing she was not sure about was that if the World did not allow any sort of paradox, then why did the Anti-Magic Mask exist? The Mask itself was a paradox.
Originally Shizu-sensei passed it onto Rimuru who then passed it onto Chloe who would later pass it on to Shizu-sensei in the past. It was a cycle of passing on the mask.
In that case, where did the mask come from? Who was the originator?
If such a paradox was allowed, then it seems there were some rules to these paradoxes that were unknown to her, otherwise the Anti-Magic Mask would not exist as it did.
"Since you will be indisposed, will Hinata be piloting your body?" Asked Luminous.
Chloe nodded. "Yes, that is what should happen. Hinata knows what she needs to do."
Indeed she did, if Chloe will be unable to, then it seems she will be responsible for rescuing Shizu-sensei and teaching her.
To think the person that Shizu-sensei respected so much was her all along. She would be responsible for teaching Shizu-sensei everything she could possibly need, knowledge that Shizu-sensei would then pass onto her younger self which would serve as her foundation.
Truly, the world works in mysterious ways.
'What about when my younger self appears? Then who will be left piloting the body?'
"When Hinata's younger self appears I remember going berserk, it wasn't me but another personality within me." Said Chloe.
'Another personality?'
"Indeed. I suspect it to be a hidden Ego inside of me. When you bestowed the name of Chronoa upon me, I think that counted as a naming, a naming for that mysterious Ego within me."
'Could Chronoa be a Monster of some kind then?'
"I'm not sure, but it is possible. I don't have enough information from my previous loops as by the time Chronoa takes over, I will have already left that timeline."
'I see.'
Luminous gained a thoughtful expression on her face. "Very well then. I will work on creating a seal, a Holy Ark that can isolate both of you from this Space-Time Continuity so that in the future, you can be unsealed. Once we return to the future, I will unseal you during the ideal conditions."
Chloe smiled brightly, her usual enthusiasm resurfacing. "Alright, thank you, Luminous! You're the best!"
"It is no problem. I promise no harm shall come to your body."
Chloe gave Luminous a big smile. "Don't worry! I trust you!"
Hinata noticed Luminous had gained a slight flush to her cheeks, and she decided that she was better off ignoring that.
Luminous clapped her hands together. "Very well then. Since you will soon be disappearing from my life for some time to come, why don't we hold a celebration?"
Chloe nodded. "Sure, I'm sure Hinata will enjoy it as well."
"Very well then. I will order Gunther to begin the preparations."
___________________________________________________________________
Hinata made her way through the Great Jura Forest, it was the safest way to Leon Cromwell's territory at the moment.
Any other route would involve going through another Demon Lord's territory, and while she was easily capable of dispatching said Demon Lords like Clayman, Hinata decided against that course of action.
She didn't want to risk changing the future at all, who knew if that single interaction would lead someone like Clayman on a different path, so that he didn't cross paths with Felix allowing Felix's rise into an Awakened Demon Lord.
Clayman along with his army were the ones who were used as fuel for Felix's Harvest Festival after all.
Hinata casually dealt with the Beasts that had attacked her using Battlewill. They may be strong for the majority of the world, but against her blade they all met death.
There were far more Magic Beasts present in the Jura Forest, but eventually they got the hint and stayed away. She was fairly familiar with the terrain as it had not changed much from how it was in the future, so she was able to navigate through Jura fairly easily.
Leon Cromwell had defeated and slayed the Demon Lord Kazalim some time ago, but Hinata did not act then, after all Leon still had a role to play, a very important role.
So to occupy her time Hinata went from village to village, country to country, and helped with any sort of threat, whether it was Human slavers, or Majin who got far too arrogant.
She had experienced quite a bit over time, she had made friends, lost friends, even when they were dying to something that she was able to fix, like illness, she refused to help, too afraid of changing the future.
It hadn't become so clear to her until after she had been left alone, but her knowledge had turned into heavy chains. But she was fine with that, as long as she got back to the future she left from everything would be worth it.
She even had the chance to meet Violet, the Primordial of Purple, on occasion. Violet and Luminous seemed to be rivals, and Violet occasionally showed up to stir up trouble with Luminous.
One time, when Luminous had left for a Walpurgis, Violet had showed up. Seeing Luminous was not present, she began throwing a… tantrum.
Violet was a fearsome opponent, but she was not going all out and neither was Hinata. Violet was simply looking for entertainment, the Daemon Realm probably got boring after a while.
Violet was not as strong as she would be in the future, but she was able to keep up through her sheer skill, she was a Daemon that had been fighting for millions of years, she was by far one of the most combat experienced beings in existence.
Still, as terrifying as Violet might be now, Hinata could never look at Lalatina the same way again after seeing her with Felix.
She had to fend off Violet's attacks while making sure not to cause any damage that could possibly change the future. She knew it was a low possibility but she was careful anyway.
Safe to say that after that fight, Violet became interested in her.
She looked forward to their reunion in the future. It would likely be quite interesting. Hehe, even Felix would be surprised.
She spent years doing that while also honing her skills further, until there was less than a hundred years until Felix would appear in this world.
Soon, everything would come to fruition.
Hinata waited and waited, that is until she heard about a certain Majin known for her masterful manipulation of Flames, a Majin that was under Demon Lord Leon's direct purview and looked incredibly young. Hinata knew there was only one person that could fit that description during this time period.
And so Hinata set off to rescue Shizu-sensei from the Demon Lord while also, by extension, setting her on a certain path, a path that would lead Shizu to a certain Slime.
Leon was currently located in the Demon Lord Kazalim's former territory, he had yet to claim the continent that would come to be known as El Dorado in the future.
Leon's palace was hidden behind a rocky mountain and was covered with numerous Magics, all meant to keep it hidden from view. And yet that did not halt the attacks on his palace, as he had occupied Kazalim's former palace, and many knew its location. Thanks to that, it was fairly easy to locate.
She had heard Shizu-sensei was one of the most well known subordinates of Leon in this time period, she had killed countless enemy Majin and was known as a Mistress of Flame.
While Leon was not a True Hero anymore, he was not completely heartless. His territory was filled with the outcasts of society, those with mixed Majin blood, those who would be relegated to the status of slaves in places like the Eastern Empire or the Western Nations.
Thanks to Leon taking them in, many of them admired him and were willing to give their lives for him. Hinata did not want to needlessly kill these people, thankfully she was strong enough that she could easily deal with an enemy without fatally wounding them.
Still, Hinata decided to give Leon a warning, a heads up that she was coming, he was a good ruler from what she knew, he would quickly evacuate all those unable to fight.
She was sure he was already mostly prepared to move his base of operations to the Southwest Continent. After all, thanks to Luminous' various sources, she was able to learn that Leon was discreetly sending people to the Southwest Continent. Since it was practically uninhabited in the current period, all the Human nations were left in the dark as Leon claimed a massive portion of the world.
Only the ruler of the Eastern Empire, Rudra, as well as Guy Crimson could claim to rule over a landmass of that size.
From what she knew, Demon Lord Leon and Empress Elmesia of Sarion both had a fairly good relationship. In fact Elmesia had helped Leon a great amount when he was establishing El Dorado.
By now Leon should have everything he needed prepared to move, the perfect time for her to rescue Shizu-sensei.
Once she was approaching Leon's palace, she let go of her perfect control of her internal Magicules and Aura allowing her presence to be felt all throughout Jura.
Heh, Veldora was probably sensing her as well; perhaps he would think she was coming back so he could finish the job.
She was able to quickly arrive in Leon's current territory and was met with great resistance.
There was no army in front of her. No, Leon was smart enough to understand that numbers wouldn't be enough to take her down.
He had simply sent a single subordinate of his, the Black Knight Claude. He stood in front of her.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to retreat?" She questioned.
The Black Knight shook his head. "I will fulfill my duty to My Lord. May I ask why you have attacked My Lord unprovoked?"
"Unprovoked? I am a Hero. He is a Demon Lord. There does not need to be a reason for all this. It is just the way the world works." Declared Hinata.
"... I see. I shall not let you go further."
Hinata sighed. "Very well then. Let's get this over with."
Perhaps she could hold back a bit here, giving Leon some more time to evacuate his civilians. She could sense people disappearing in droves, but there were still some individuals left.
Hinata equipped her Holy Armaments, thankfully it was quick and easy to carry around, the Armor could automatically equip itself when she wished and was stored in her bracelet.
She withdrew her God Grade Rapier, Moon Mistress, and casually blocked Claude's strike.
Her own swordsmanship style was somewhat reminiscent of Claude's, as she had learned from Shizu-sensei, who had learned from Claude himself.
Thanks to that she was able to read most of his attacks fairly easily, while the Black Knight was strong when compared to most, he could even be considered close to the Demon Lord Seed level, he was still far from her ability.
She had trained her swordsmanship for hundreds of years now, she wouldn't be able to look at Felix in the eyes if she struggled with Claude.
Hinata and Claude continued to exchange blows until Hinata sensed Demon Lord Leon fleeing from his palace, leaving behind a certain girl as the last defense.
Claude jumped back and sheathed his blade. "It seems I have a lot to learn. Farewell Hero."
She didn't bother stopping the Black Knight as he ran away. She had a goal, after all.
She quickly made her way to the palace, standing in front of it was a teenage girl, a girl who seemed to have given up.
It did look like Leon had abandoned her after all, Hinata knew such a thing was false thanks to Chloe's future memories. No, Leon did not abandon Shizu, he left her here in the hopes that the Masked Hero would take her in and give her a better life.
He was a bit of a softy at heart.
"Y-You shall not pass, Hero!" Shizue exclaimed, raising her sword in preparation. Though it was clear she knew she was outmatched.
Hinata smiled under her mask. Who knew a young Shizu-sensei would be so cute. Hmm, maybe she should play along? That could be fun.
Though she did notice that Shizu was not speaking the common language of this world, she was speaking Japanese and using Magic Sense to understand what others were saying.
She would have to teach Shizu-sensei the language of this world it seems, not everyone had Magic Sense and could understand her.
"Oh? And who is going to stop me? You?" Hinata asked, deciding to mess with the cute Shizue for a bit.
Shizu-sensei nodded with a determined look on her face.
Hinata smirked under her mask. "Well, then, come on. Let's see what you're made of."
Shizu-sensei quickly charged at her, her rapier wasn't anything too special, a Unique Grade. For a Demon Lord of Leon's caliber he could have afforded her something better, but that also could be detrimental to her growth.
Hinata quickly used a Wind Magic Spell to displace Shizu-sensei slightly and then kick her in the side, sending Shizu-sensei tumbling down to the floor.
Shizu-sensei slowly got up. "Come on, is this all that one of Demon Lord Leon's subordinates is capable of?"
Shizu-sensei gritted her teeth before shouting. "I am not a broken tool!"
Oh?
Shizu-sensei came at her with renewed vigor and seemed to be drawing on Ifrit's power, fire began seeping off Shizu-sensei in waves, it seems Ifrit was lending its full power to Shizu-sensei.
"That's more like it!" Hinata praised.
From the amount of power Shizu-sensei was currently radiating she would easily qualify as Special-A Class, she had the potential to reach the Demon Lord Seed level, potential that would not go wasted if she had her way.
Shizu-sensei may be fated to die in the future, but Hinata would be damned if she wasn't strong enough to enjoy her life between now and then.
Hinata continued to fend off Shizu-sensei's attacks until she felt she had a good understanding of the current Shizu-sensei's abilities.
Shizu, who felt like she wasn't strong enough to fight back, felt Ifrit take control of her. She instantly became wilder, her flames hotter than ever as she practically turned berserk.
It was at that instant that Hinata appeared in front of Shizu-sensei. Stopping her from attacking before gently placing the mask on her face, feeling as she regained control of her body.
"It's okay now, Shizu. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now." Hinata whispered, gently holding onto Shizu-sensei as she keeled over and fell unconscious onto Hinata's chest.
Hinata looked up into the sky, something she had grown accustomed to doing ever since Chloe had left. It was strange not to have her enthusiastic voice ringing in her head after hundreds of years together. "It seems I have a student to train now." She muttered.
She didn't know who she was talking to, but she hoped her message reached them.
___________________________________________________________________
I have a discord server, come hang out if you want! https://discord.gg/VxR5Gn72Fp I also have a channel in Shiro's Gaming Omniverse.
Links: patreon.com/theogbasilisk
Author's Note:
Hello everyone, we got to see some more of what has happened in the past this chapter, this whole back in time arc should be wrapping up soon.
I wanted to build up Hinata's character more since she will be playing a bit of a more active role in the future. In canon she never really cared that much about the previous timelines which I found fairly odd so I changed that a bit. I am a firm believer that the memories and experiences make the man, in this case people's memories are practically reset and the timeline goes back to the past, basically killing those future versions of those people.
Anyways I was hoping to do a bit more world building, explain a bit more in detail about Twilight and his deeds as well as what Shizu got up to in the past, what Leon was up to as well as Hinata's point of view on certain matters.
Support me if you want to read ahead on pat reon *.com* / theogbasilisk
Thanks to @Salante, @BonVoyage, and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Also, you guys should check out @BonVoyage Tensura fic, it's pretty damn good.