Chapter 132
Chapter 132
Chapter 132
VS. The King (1)
Rudian had thrown out those words with his own resolve.
But unexpectedly, Rebecca's reaction was refreshingly straightforward.
"I don't mind though?"
"...Huh?"
"It would be a bit sad if I age after 10 years, but I didn't rush out here without any resolve either."
Rebecca looked straight at Rudian with clear eyes as she spoke.
"Rather, if that's how it can be, I welcome it. I have no intention of being baggage."
"......"
Those eyes held deep determination.
"Besides, I've already seen everything there is to see and experienced everything there is to experience like everyone else, so telling me to back out now is a bit much, isn't it?"
Rudian met Rebecca's gaze for a while.
She still didn't turn her head away and carried through with her will to the end.
"Fine."
Rudian raised both hands, expressing surrender.
"Don't regret it."
"I absolutely won't."
Rebecca smiled, showing her teeth.
***
Rebecca certainly tried to keep her word.
The environment of this Great Forest is so harsh that even ordinary people can't endure it just by being here.
But she was silently helping with hunting and preparing meals, doing her best to support the group from behind.
Once even Rebecca's problem, which had been his biggest concern, was resolved, Rudian had nothing left to hold him back.
"Maria, Eugene, could you come over here for a moment?"
"...Huh? What's wrong?"
"Oho, have you finally made up your mind?"
While Maria tilted her head, Eugene grinned as if he had guessed Rudian's intention.
"Three people should be enough."
"That would be right. This is the first time meeting like this. Queen of the psychics, it's an honor to meet you."
"Ah, yes."
Eugene addressed Maria with a considerably polite tone.
It was an attitude that acknowledged the difference in status.
Rudian asked Maria.
"Maria, how's your physical condition?"
Maria turned her body this way and that, checking her condition.
"Physical condition? It's not particularly bad, I guess?"
"Then if... you were to fight several people with similar levels to this guy, how do you think it would go?"
Rudian's finger pointed to where Eugene was.
She glanced at Eugene briefly, then nodded.
"If it's just a few people, it might be okay?"
"I thought I wouldn't be outmatched no matter where I went... This feeling is quite strange indeed."
Rudian deeply empathized with Eugene's deflated words.
I understand that feeling. The opponent is her, after all.
Maria ghostly noticed the reason she was called and smiled with an innocent expression.
"So, it seems like you called me to have a big fight... Who's the opponent?"
"Well, it's about something that happened not too long ago...."
Rudian summarized the conflict with Seven Arks that had occurred shortly before Maria's arrival.
The point about how they forced threatening proposals on Luciella and Elvin.
And the point about how he temporarily joined hands with the demon race to eliminate those guys.
Finally, the point that now that she had come, there was no need to join hands with the demon race anymore.
Maria immediately frowned upon hearing about Seven Arks' ideology and purpose.
"Hmm, I don't really like them."
"Ah, if it's about joining hands with the demon race..."
"No, not that. Those Seven Arks people."
She crossed her arms and mulled over Rudian's explanation, then at some point coldly narrowed her eyes.
"A country of pure humans only? Where does such a thing exist?"
"......"
"No matter how human I am, the world doesn't belong to humans alone."
A heroine who gathered all the persecuted heterogeneous races including psychics and waged war on the continent.
She would never know that fact from the original future now, but at least that future was possible because of her ideology and the great vessel to contain that ideology.
"Alright, if those people are really that dangerous, I'll actively lend a hand."
"It's reassuring to have you."
"So, are we going right now?"
Rudian nodded.
"Yes. We have to go right away. Though the demon race is a bit of a concern... Even if it's Baal, he's bound by the covenant within the Great Forest, so at least he won't interfere."
Rather, they were even checking their location in real-time and sending it this way.
Baal would probably sneer at this side asking if they couldn't handle just those kinds of guys, right?
Damn bastard.
***
Somewhere in a cave located in the southwestern part of the Great Forest.
"Dugrid, how's your arm?"
"It seems like it'll take some time to get used to."
Dugrid, who had lost one arm to Demon King Crosel, barely succeeded in regenerating his arm with Layla's help.
"Combat is immediately possible, but it'll take at least 3 years of rehabilitation to regain my previous combat power."
The bodies of strong individuals like Dugrid require a great price to pay for regeneration, unlike ordinary people.
Especially when hit by a specific aura.
Layla, who had consumed considerable evil spirit energy in regenerating the arm, grumbled with a slightly tired expression.
"If it wasn't magic, I could have healed it completely right away... It's really unfortunate."
"This much is sufficient. It's not like combat is completely impossible."
At Dugrid's words, Galdran, who had been watching, stroked his white beard.
"The revenge battle against those guys will happen soon, so bear with it a little longer, Dugrid."
"I'll be looking forward to it, Galdran. Ah, speaking of which, Layla, have Zigmund and Britian arrived?"
At Dugrid's question, Layla slightly gritted her teeth in irritation.
"They'll arrive soon. If only that sister-obsessed bastard Rowen hadn't suddenly defected..."
Right after Rudian mentioned Evangeline, Rowen suddenly requested a member replacement, saying he was concerned about his sister's safety.
Galdran was displeased, but Evangeline's existence was both Rowen's reverse scale and Seven Arks' secret weapon.
In the end, Galdran had no choice but to send Rowen away and fill his vacancy by summoning two people.
"How long are you planning to accommodate that bastard's convenience? We should just modify Evan into a spirit body."
At Layla's complaint, Galdran quietly shook his head.
"Not yet. Humans modified into spirit bodies exhibit god-like power but have extremely shortened lifespans. We should only bring her out when facing someone like Celestial's Giovanni."
The fact that she was almost disposable was Evan's most fatal weakness.
"Besides, Rowen is still useful. I'm the only one in the organization who can definitely break that guy."
"......"
Layla and Dugrid didn't particularly deny it.
"But Rowen isn't someone who participates in our organization's ideology. He'll definitely cause future troubles."
He came in as a successor after his father, the previous member and former Elaid, died during a mission, but his eyes were always focused solely on his sickly sister.
He did what he was told to do, but he wasn't particularly active or enthusiastic.
A variable who might defect from the organization at any time.
That was Seven Arks' assessment of Rowen.
"I know. That's why I've been keeping him with me all this time, preparing for any possible case, haven't I?"
In the frustrating situation, Dugrid let out a quiet sigh.
"Anyway, we need to establish our foundation soon. If the Morian Empire is difficult, then toward Kapuras or Seta... The Luuren Holy Kingdom is such a group of fanatics... Hmm?"
Dugrid couldn't finish his words and suddenly turned his head to stare directly outside the cave.
And at the same time, Galdran and Layla's heads also turned toward the same direction as Dugrid.
BAAAANG!
BAANG!
Intense explosion sounds heard from nearby.
Given the Great Forest's situation, it was much more likely that someone was engaged in battle rather than setting off bombs.
Especially when such familiar auras could be felt, there was only one answer.
"It's Zigmund and Britian's auras."
"...They're fighting. And quite fiercely at that."
"Who's the opponent?"
At Layla's question, Dugrid answered.
"Powerful magic and psychic power... In this Great Forest, the only one who can emit this level of magical power is that bastard Eugene. The problem is the other side. It's someone I've never seen before."
Dugrid's assessment was accurate.
"Hehee... Very quick, Rudian Belstad."
"Galdran, are you saying that's the work of that bastard called Rudian?"
At Dugrid's question, Galdran nodded his head pleasantly.
"Yes, very faintly but I can feel that familiar heterogeneous sword energy I felt back then again. This is definitely that bastard's handiwork."
Galdran, who had been chuckling, suddenly lowered his expression and coldly gritted his teeth.
"He's determined to push us back completely. He brought someone very powerful."
"......!"
The people Galdran had truly evaluated as strong included only two so far, including Celestial's leader Giovanni.
"Should we retreat?"
"No. We can't lose Zigmund and Britian. We'll fight as much as possible, and if it really doesn't work out...then we'll immediately retreat with those two."
CLANK!
Galdran drew his Sword breaker, which had been with him for hundreds of years, and emitted killing intent.
"And we need to show that arrogant brat who doesn't know his place that we Seven Arks are definitely not to be taken lightly."
Galdran was never just a carefree grandfather.
***
It wasn't by chance that Rudian's group discovered Seven Arks members Zigmund and Britian.
In any world, in any era, those who could fly through the sky without the help of tools were extremely few.
"Damn it! Eugene, you bastard! How dare you launch a cowardly surprise attack?"
"Is this what they call a bumper crop of bullshit? You were thinking of backstabbing first if you had the chance, weren't you?"
"Kyaaaah! Who the hell is this monster?"
Sword Prince Zigmund and Saint Britian.
These two Seven Arks members were crossing the Great Forest to replace Rowen at Galdran's call.
Rather than moving secretly, their blatant flight through the sky was naturally caught by the demon race's eyes and conveyed to Rudian in real-time.
Rudian didn't miss this golden opportunity and ambushed them directly.
'Deceiver Zigmund, lewd Saint Britian.'
Every Seven Arks member had some twisted aspect.
In the case of necromancer Layla, as could be understood from her profession, she was a severe necrophiliac.
In the case of these two, Zigmund was a famous underground con artist, and Britian had the ridiculous setting of forming a reverse harem that rivaled Asmodeus.
People with strange flaws compared to their status in the outside world.
And they all shared the common trait of being unhelpful for future endeavors.
"Hahahaha! It would have been great if Gray could have seen this battle - he would have learned a lot. How a magician handles a swordsman!"
Eugene and Zigmund seemed to have quite a difference in skill level, as the duel progressed with Eugene's offensive and Zigmund's counterattacks.
Zigmund was certainly a being who had reached Grand Master as a swordsman, but he seemed to lack just a bit compared to Eugene.
Still, this side at least constituted a proper fight...
"Huff, huff, huff!"
The confrontation between Maria and Britian... Was Maria unilaterally pummeling Britian to an excessive degree.
"You, what the hell are you? What makes you this strong!"
"How strange. I definitely used enough force to kill."
Maria tilted her head as she looked at Britian.
She had definitely pummeled Britian with attacks that should have overwhelmed even super-regeneration abilities, but somehow she wasn't dying at all and kept regenerating continuously.
After thinking for a moment, Maria finally figured out the identity of the discomfort she felt from Britian.
"Ah, I see. You're the same type as Gude."
"What?"
"Then I should treat you accordingly."
BZZZZZZT!
Maria, who had only been using basic telekinetic power until now, this time began controlling genuine 'attributes' to definitively finish off her enemy.
BZZT! BZZZZZT!
"Oh my, fuck..."
Britian was dumbfounded by the sight of the giant thunder dragon that appeared before her eyes.
She had the intuition that with the power contained in that thunder dragon, the blessing of love god Ruura and everything else would be completely finished.
Naturally, terrible pain would be a bonus.
While Britian was seriously considering surrender.
"Stop tormenting our comrades there."
Just as Maria was about to launch the thunder dragon, a dignified lion's roar was heard that stopped her movement.
"...They're here."
Overlord Galdran, who practically leads Seven Arks.
He appeared before Rudian's eyes, leading Dugrid and Layla.