(A/N)
CURSE YOU, BERYL!!!!!
(I'm talking about the hurricane, just to be clear. Not anyone named Beryl.)
Also. Spain won the Euros!!! I didn't really care who won it, but as long as England loses.
Anyway, on to the chapter.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I'm staring down Milim who was around 20 paces away from me. She was wearing a pink cowboy hat along with a cowboy version of her "bold" outfit. It was a weird contrast, but when nobody can beat your ass, you can dress however you want.
We were on a road and many of the townsfolk were nearby watching us. The sun was getting higher in the sky, the wind was blowing around dust, and a piece of tumbleweed was rolling across the road. Rimuru was on the side, also wearing a cowboy hat. He was going to give the signal for us to draw.
'Rimuru what have you done by teaching Milim about WIld West duels?'.
I put all the blame on Rimuru for getting to this point. Ok, maybe not all the blame, but most of it. Like, at least 99% of it.
I was a bit preoccupied with something beforehand. I looked over at Shuna, who was spectating, and our eyes met.
/\\//\\//\
(Earlier that day)
Artoria and Shuna were in a field not far from town. It was close to the training grounds but still separated enough to be its own thing.
It was a simple field. It was fenced around and there were various targets scattered around the field. Some close and some further down range. There were some steel targets and some standard wood targets that had typical circles that showed accuracy.
It was an outside range that reached 150 yards or about 140 meters. It was made for many kinds of weapons, but that was for later. Right now, it is being used for handguns, until Artoria had Kaijin make some more guns.
Artoria was showing Shuna how to handle a revolver. How did this happen? Well, Arotira approached Shuna asking if she wanted to hang out with her and show her one of her interests. Shuna was more than happy to learn more about her and for Artoria it was good for spending more time together.
It was like a date at a shooting range. Something only Artoria in the whole town would find normal.
"And that's how you load the Remington, Shuna. It's a bit of a lengthy process, but it's not that bad. Anyway, are you ready to start shooting? I promise it's going to be fun.". Artoria asked Shuna in an excited tone and with anticipation in her eyes for Shuna to say yes.
Shuna was going to say yes regardless, but seeing Artoria like this was special for her since she didn't usually appear like this in front of everyone else in town. Shuna asked her about it and she told her that a certain standard was to be shown in front of everyone. There was a time and place to let yourself go and be less serious about everything.
"Yes, I want to try shooting. From the way you were explaining things, you seem very passionate about it."
"Yeah, some of it rubbed off from my mom. She was the one who taught me a lot of things. When it came to shooting she was…something else. She would win competitions for fast draw and western action shooting. She was the best at it. I may be a little biased but it's my mom, so she is always the best. In fact, one time when I was seeing her compete, she drew faster than the blink of an eye. Well, that may be a little exaggerated, but in point of view that's how I saw it. There was also another time-"
Artoria kept telling Shuna many highlights of her mom's shooting skills. Shuna just listened patiently all throughout with a smile on her face and acknowledged her throughout her excited frenzy.
Artoria eventually caught herself and looked sheepishly at Shuna. "Sorry about that, it seems I got a bit carried away."
"It's okay, It didn't bother me. I quite enjoyed it very much. How 'bout we get back to what we were doing?".
"Oh, yeah of course. Come on, I'll teach you what I know."
Artoria then proceeded to teach Shuna all about shooting. From proper stances, how to shoot one-handed and two-handed, and even how to quickdraw. Shuna wasn't wearing her usual attire. She had to wear something different to accommodate shooting guns and the range of motion it required.
It was a lot of fun for both of them but unfortunately, things had to come to an end.
While they were having fun, Artoria immediately sensed something…or someone coming their way. They were approaching very fast and she knew who it was.
"Shuna, I'm sorry I have to do this, but I need to go take care of something. I'll make it up to you later. I promise.".
"I understand. I also felt that something is on the way here. Don't worry too much about it. I trust that you can take care of whatever is on the way here.".
Artoria went up to Shuna and hugged her. "I would appreciate it if you told everyone not to immediately attack.".
'Yeah, they would do something like that. Don't worry, I'll keep them in check.".
Artoria let go of her and immediately went off to confront Milim.
/\\//\\//\
I knew she was coming here sooner or later, but why does it have to be at this moment? She could have come way earlier, but no, it had to be now. I expected her to come as soon as she knew I was a dragon, but it looks like it doesn't matter.
No matter. I have a little plan that will benefit me in getting stronger.
I'm making my way to the cave. I made sure to send thought communications to evacuate the place. Vesta questioned me about it, but I just told him the "Destroyer" was on her way, and that shut him up immediately.
While running to the cave, Rimuru pooped up next to me. "Artoria, I know you felt that. What should we do?".
"There's not much we can do, but I have a certain plan, and if things go south, you have our secret weapon.".
"What do you mean?".
"You have the honey right?".
"How do you know about that?".
"Good. Keep that on standby. Also, it doesn't matter how I know, just that I do.".
"Fine, whatever.".
We eventually made our way into the cave. I don't think Rimuru knew why I chose the cave. I think he just followed me since he looked at me as if I knew what I was doing.
"What are we doing in the cave anyway?".
"I need the magicules they will bring here. It will speed up the process of something I have going on.".
"Could we beat whoever it is that is on their way here?".
"Rimuru, you have an ice cubes chance in an Arizona desert during the summer at winning.".
"What?".
"As for me. Nah, it's not happening. I wouldn't win, but I don't think I would lose. I have a pretty good defense that can keep up.".
While we were waiting, Milim's presence was getting stronger and stronger. The magicules she was releasing were astonishing, but this was just what I needed. Or what Excalibur and Rhongomyniad need.
We heard a sound akin to rocks being smashed apart one after another. It seems she's just blasting holes throughout the cave to get here as fast as possible. It's a good thing we left the door open so that it wouldn't be destroyed, but that's assuming she even went through the door. Which I highly doubt.
She crashed into the ground making a crater while kicking up dust and debris.
"Greetings! I am Milim Nava the Destroyer, the one and only dragonoid!", she said loudly and in an excited attitude.
I looked over at Rimuru and I could see his eyes wide open. He must have tried to gauge her magicules. He looked over at me and I could tell he was begging me to take care of this somehow.
"You guys are the ones from the crystal ball I was looking at!"
Since Rimuru wanted to leave everything to me, I might as well just talk to her.
"So, Milim, what do you want to talk ab-". Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to say anything before she interrupted me.
"You're a dragon! Not only that you're also a divine spirit! ", Milim said excitedly to me, I'm sure she using those eyes of hers to know everything about me, but she paused a little bit. As if she noticed something. "Are you a hero?".
Hero? I think only humans can become heroes and that's only with the help of a spirit.
Wait. Hero, Spirit. Heroic spirit. Throne of Heroes.
Hold on. Am I already a hero? No, if I was, the Voice of the World would have said something to me.
Wait. Can I just make myself a hero? I know a spirit helps in making heroes and since I'm a spirit, a pretty strong one as well, is it possible to make myself a hero or saint or whatever it's called?
Questions for later, but if Milim is asking that question, then the possibility should be there. That would also mean that I still have some human part of me to qualify as a hero. Does that mean I'm a human/divine spirit/dragon instead of a divine spirit/dragon? Or does this mean that "human" means more than just the race human? Or am I just a special case?
Ah, I'm thinking too hard. I'm only bringing up more questions.
"Hello? Are you there?". I was brought out of my thinking when I saw Milim just waving her hand while going around me in circles.
It seems that I didn't use thought acceleration.
"Sorry about that, Milim. I was just thinking of something. So what brings you here?". I asked her to get back on track.
"I came to this place to look for the strongest person and you are that person. I want you to fight me!".
If Rimuru wasn't panicking now, then this time he was. He knew a fight with her would be bad, but that's his opinion. This would be a boon for me. I just have to entertain her and with the magicules released, my weapons will evolve much faster.
Just fight a bit and then just give her honey and like that, we have a new friend.
Wait. Considering I have Avalon, I should be able to fight indefinitely. I could just fight until my weapons evolve, but I don't know how long that would take. I'll find out.
"Well, Milim. If you want to fight, I'll be happy to fight you, but this will only be a friendly fight. No stipulations. Is that fine with you?". I asked her.
"That's fine with me! Will it be just you or will it also be the slime as well?".
Rimuru looked at me like I was crazy. "Artoria, what are you thinking?! You can't just decide to fight someone who is super strong!".
"I will be fighting someone super strong.".
"But your fight is going to destroy this cave! Unless you set up a barrier or some kind of boundary. Everything will be destroyed!".
"Calm down, Rimuru. How about this, before me and her fight, do you want to witness it or would you rather stay outside?".
"What do you mean by that?".
"I can set up a 'barrier' of sorts and I can put you in it if you want to see our fight.".
I'd rather not. I'll just wait for you to finish.".
"Are you sure? You might miss out on something valuable.".
"Yeah, I'm sure.".
"Alright, your loss then. Hey, Milim, are you ready?".
"Yes! Don't expect me to go easy on you! This is going to be so much fun!".
She was clearly very excited, but I was a little nervous. I just can't help it. This is Milim I'm talking about here.
"Alright, let me set up a barrier so we don't destroy this cave.". I took Avalon which was hanging on my waist. Was it a bit weird to have a sheath without a sword hanging on me? Maybe, but knowing what it was, I didn't mind. The sheath started dissipating into tiny particles that started to envelop me.
I made sure to take Milim, me, and my weapons into the bounded field, while excluding everything else. The bounded field formed and it was like we were transported into another world.
It was a large plain with a blue sky. A perfect line separated the ground and the sky. There were various flowers growing and the air was literally perfect. I would say this place is beautiful, but it's something more than that. I can't find the words to describe how perfect this place is. The only word to describe this place was…well, a utopia.
Big shocker I know.
The magic here was also on a whole 'nother level. The cave might as well have been a AAA battery compared to a Dyson Sphere or something in terms of how much magicules there were. I looked at my weapons and I could tell that they were absorbing up the magicules of this place like crazy. More so Rhongomyniad compared to Excalibur.
I can't believe I'm just finding this out now. The first time I used Avalon was just to heal the goblins when I first met them, but that was just a tiny activation to heal. This is setting up the actual bounded field that takes me to the actual place Avalon or at least a part of it since I'm setting a limit on how big I want it to be.
I saw Milim looking around with stars in her eyes. She was clearly excited about this place. It makes sense since she gets bored and wants to do fun stuff and exploring a place she's never seen that was filled with countless possibilities was certainly a good way to relieve boredom. I know fairies and spirits exist here, but what about other phantasmal beasts, and what about the Lady of the Lake?
"What is this place?", Milim said to her herself in complete awe. She looked like a lost puppy going around the place. I found it a little cute if I ignored that she was actually smarter than how she presented herself. I didn't mind it though, I kind of like that childish side of hers. It makes me want to spoil her and stuff.
"This is the place where we're going to fight, Milim.".
She got out of her stupor and looked back at me. "This place is perfect! Get ready! Here I come!".
/\\//\\//\
(Outside of Avalon)
Rimuru was surprised when Artoria and Milim seemed to disappear from his sight. He looked around and couldn't find anything amiss.
'Great Sage, where did they go?'
[Answer. They are in a barrier that separates us from where they are.]
'Do you know that for a fact or is it just from what Artoria said?'.
[Answer. This is based on the answer the subject "Artoria Pendragon" said.]
'Can you detect anything weird or different about the magicules in this place?'.
Rimuru walked around a bit. He was hoping to get in contact with the border of the barrier. If there was one.
[Notice. Detecting unusual fluctuations in this area.]
'Can you analyze it?'.
[Notice. Unable to analyze composition of barrier.]
Rimuru's eyes widened in shock. This is the first time that Great Sage gave an answer like this. At least with Infinity Prison, Great Sage was able to give an estimate on how long it would take to analyze and break it, but with this, it wasn't even able to give an answer.
'What do you mean? Why can't you analyze it?'
[Answer. After attempting analysis, the only data that could be received is that the barrier is something else besides magicules.]
'I hope Artoria is fine in there.'.
/\\//\\//\
Artoria could be seen bouncing and skidding on the ground. She was thrown like a ragdoll and in her wake were gashes in the earth and several craters. The flowers that were there were destroyed but were quickly regrown. The green pastures were also left as upturned dirt and with some roots showing, but that was also fixed.
"GODDAMN! Her punches are stronger than a garlic milkshake!", Artoria said out loud with a Southern accent that got out of her.