Chapter 226 - 155: S Rank Gate
Story: I’m a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 155: S Rank Gate
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- Felix -
"How was the fight?" I asked Megumin as she blinked into the living room.
She was gone for essentially the entire day, and now it was well into the next day.
In fact, I was just about to get ready for my date with Hinata. Luminous had stolen Hinata off as I was discussing the plans with her. Apparently she was going to help Hinata get ready, and have some "girl talk" that I was certainly not interested in hearing.
Megumin plopped herself onto the couch beside me, a dust cloud somehow managing to cling to her even though I was sure she’d been in a completely different dimension like five seconds ago.
"It was great!" Megumin said with a laugh.
"Oh? What happened?"
She grinned. "He’s way stronger now. Still has a ways to go, but he’s learning fast. Though he was clueless about lots of things. The guy didn’t even know what a Spiritual Lifeform was!"
"Hmm, that doesn’t surprise me, did you explain what he’s become, or did you not care enough to."
Megumin shrugged. "Eh, you seem to like him, Milord, so I told him what he had become."
"I see. What else? How did his abilities improve compared to when you fought him before?"
Megumin grinned. "He was strong, he had a little bit more raw power than me, I’m pretty sure."
I raised a brow. "Oh really?" That was right around the area I guessed Ashborn would be at.
Megumin’s EP was at around 5,700,000, so that means Jin-Woo had a greater amount of magic power than her, since raw power output was heavily based on total magic power. I suppose that was expected if he really was a protagonist. Going from weaker than even the weakest Saint in raw power, to a level of power few Saints would ever reach. Though I wasn’t one to talk.
Megumin would surpass him in raw energy in not too long, especially if our "dual cultivation" continued, but that was still an impressive amount of power. That does make sense though with how the Monarchs had single handedly wiped out entire planets and maybe even dimensions. Even with those dimensions being incredibly weak metaphysically compared to what I was used to, that was still an incredible feat, and equally monstrous.
Megumin went on to tell me all about her fight. It was nice that she still got excited about these things.
She told me about Jin-Woo’s new divinity, how despite his greater raw power she still mopped the floor with him due to his lack of control. He even tried to use his Shadows in the fight but they all got destroyed with some Nuclear Magic. She didn’t even need to use her Ultimate Skill.
Though she did comment that Beru was making good use of the upgraded abilities I gave him.
So safe to say Megumin was still Jin-Woo’s superior, but this wasn’t the peak Jin-Woo that I knew of. He had yet to form his shadow armaments, the armor in particular that would buff him up quite a bit. From what I guessed, it was made using Spiritual Body Manifestation, which was just creating an armor out of his preferred affinity, and then applying some of his Authority to it.
Though I wasn’t sure when he would figure that out. He had yet to truly understand his new Authority. He was essentially just a fledgling.
"I’m glad that you had fun then." I said to Megumin at the end of her narration as I grabbed her by the hip and pressed her into my side.
"Nn!" She nodded shyly.
We sat there in silence for some time, giving me the time to consider my plans from now on.
The meeting with the Rulers would be coming up in a few days, then the International Guild Conference in which I planned to try to help the Humans out a bit by telling them more about what was coming in a way in which they couldn’t cope their way out of thinking everything would be fine.
So far, most Humans and news outlets were still spreading the story that the Monarchs could be dealt with with the National Hunters, which was simply wishful coping. I didn’t want there to be extra deaths simply because those in power wanted order. I’d personally kill when I had to, but other than that, it was important to me that I didn’t become too egotistical to just ignore the consequences of my actions.
I tried to treat my people fairly because of that belief as well.
Though perhaps Jin-Woo could do that now. Yeah, I’ll have him be the one to speak about the upcoming threats, he would be trusted more, plus less work for me. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if Gunhee was also thinking the same thing. He had a good head on his shoulders.
Jin-Woo was recovering now from the injuries Megumin gave him, but she said it was nothing too bad.
Then there was the Phantoms to account for. They could theoretically begin making moves on Earth at this point. The memories from the Phantom I interrogated didn’t suggest much about their more discrete actions, mostly because that Phantom was too low on the totem pole for that, but that didn’t mean the Phantoms couldn’t be sneaky and try to mess things up on Earth.
I planned to tell the Rulers about them, and then let them deal with finding any hidden Phantoms. They had better resources for a planetary search for that. The Phantoms didn’t seem too competent based on what Velzard had told me about them, so I trusted the Rulers to take care of them. And if they failed, then I’d handle it since they were my problem in the end.
After the conference I want to visit the dimension of the dead I sensed when Jin-Woo was creating Shadows. The same realm that Sirka said Nidhogg, the being that was a key component of the Monarch succession was, and also where the World Tree of this universe was.
Maybe I’d go with Milim.
In canon, the Monarchs did initiate a few plans during the International Guild Conference. I did wonder if they’d do the same in this world, and if the Phantoms would make a move with them.
I’d keep an eye on things just to be sure. I imagine they’ll want to take out some Ruler vessels if they can, to get rid of some of the opposition, something the Rulers already know of and should have made arrangements to prevent now that the war was kicking off far sooner than in canon.
If they didn’t, then they were idiots, and wouldn’t have made it this far in the first place.
I wonder what’s taking Hinata so long though.
As I continued to wait I took out the phone Gunhee gave me.
Megumin was leaning over, looking at what I was viewing. "Ooh, they’re still dealing with that big Gate?" She asked.
I nodded. "Mhmm. The Japanese government apparently hired some strong S Rank Hunter named Yuri Orloff."
The news outlets were hyping him up quite a bit. His Barrier Magic was known to be on the level of National Rank Hunters or something, so the Japanese government was rather confident in him. Though from what I recall, he was far from the level of a National Rank Hunter, or at least the ones who were vessels of the Rulers.
Otherwise he was actually decently strong. Barriers could make for a rather interesting power to have, especially if you could imbue the barriers with certain effects.
In his case, the best offense was literally the best defense.
Oh well. If he managed to actually deal with the Gate in this timeline, then good for him. If not, I’m sure Hinata will take action once she sees things getting bad.
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
She sighed as Luminous made her look into yet another full length mirror, this time nodding in satisfaction. The dress she had on now had a v-neck that showed off a little bit of her cleavage. Nothing excessive, but in Luminous’ own words, it was to "remind Felix that it was there". It wasn’t usually her style, but Luminous knew better for these kinds of things.
But still, she couldn’t help but have doubts. "Was all this truly necessary, Luminous?"
Luminous’ lips pursed. "Of course it is! This is your second true date with Felix, is it not? Then it needs to be a good experience for both of you! Maybe you can even muster up your courage and get him into bed with you, fufufu." Luminous said with a giggle.
Her lips twitched. "I do not believe that will be happening for some time to come."
A teasing grin formed on Luminous’ face. "Oh~? So it will be happening eventually then is what you’re saying."
Hinata just sighed, knowing there was no point playing these games with Luminous. Felix was the only one she knew that could actually get one over Luminous. Otherwise, it was pointless to argue with her.
On the dresser she saw the tablet she had open flash, updating to a recent news article about the S Rank Gate in Japan. She quickly looked through it in a moment, and was relieved to see that the Japanese government took the appropriate measures, even ignoring the absurd fee Yuri Orloff demanded.
She finally turned from the mirror, tugging at the hem of her dress as if to remind herself she still had some control over the situation. "If you’re quite finished, I think Felix has been waiting long enough."
Luminous waved her hand dramatically. "Fine, fine, I suppose I can’t keep him waiting forever. But don’t forget, be confident. Men love confidence. How do you think I got Felix?" Luminous said with a grin.
Hinata just rolled her eyes, content with the thought that at least Luminous was trying to act in her best interest.
She walked out of her room with Luminous trailing behind her.
By the time she made it to the living room, Felix was already standing up and waiting for her. She noticed Megumin was lounging on the couch behind him as well.
Felix didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes merely trailing up her form, and if they remained on her cleavage for a moment longer, then neither of them said anything.
"You look wonderful, Hinata. It’s different from your usual style."
"Who do you think is responsible for that?" She responded with a sigh.
Felix grinned, looking behind her to Luminous. "Thanks for the eye candy, Luminous." He said with a wink.
"Fufufu, of course, my consort." Luminous responded with a matching grin. Truly, those two fit too well together sometimes.
It was still odd to hear Luminous refer to Felix so affectionately, when in the past his name was mentioned with just sheer annoyance and some fondness.
In fact, despite how Luminous acted, she seemed to be genuinely enjoying the relationship she now shared with Felix. She wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t make her jealous; she was well aware now that she held romantic feelings for Felix.
Looking back on everything, it wasn’t surprising.
She was not jealous that Felix held other lovers either, at least not too jealous. Perhaps if she held the same mindset she did when she first arrived in the Cardinal World she would have gone crazy in jealousy, but she had been in the Cardinal World far longer than she had been on Earth, even if she was raised on Earth for the most part.
Not to mention, even if her relationship with Felix did grow, she would not be abandoning her role in Ruberious. She was dedicated to that, and she was not going to leave it until she was satisfied with how Ruberious turned out.
So Felix having other partners was good for her in that case; he wouldn’t feel as lonely, as despite how nonchalant he liked to act, she knew he valued the company of others. Why else had he surrounded himself with so many people?
"Are you ready to go, then?" Felix asked.
She looked at him and nodded, hiding the nervousness she was feeling behind her stoic gaze. She had gone on a date with Felix before, but she was still nervous about how it would go.
She was sure her past self would be laughing at how she was acting now, but then again, she could slap her past self away with her pink finger now.
"To Japan it is." He said as an illusion was placed over his face, but one that only affected the people of this world rather than her. She would be rather put off if she couldn’t even see Felix’s face on their date after all.
"See you two later." He said to Luminous and Megumin. Then, with a snap of his fingers, they vanished.
- Sirka -
As Milim told her about some event that occurred in her home world, Sirka couldn’t help but smile. It truly was quite odd how things had changed for her so quickly, and all of it was thanks to the pink headed Demon Lord next to her.
Even with time moving quicker in the Chaos World, it still felt like yesterday when she was a mere girl, being raised to be her grandfather’s successor should he die. She was treated as more of a weapon than a relative by her grandfather, but that was only to be expected.
He saw her potential and had her trained to eventually become one of his generals, but the Monarch of Frost’s priests also subtly trained her to eventually inherit the position of Monarch of Frost.
That day was never thought to come, and if it did, it would be far in the future, and yet he still died far sooner than expected. A Monarch dying to someone not a Ruler or another Monarch was something unthinkable to her before. Even the strongest being of the Chaos World other than the Monarchs fell far shorter than a Monarch, and yet it still happened.
Though her grandfather truly was unlucky this time.
There was no love lost between them as the Humans liked to say, so she did not hold anything against Milim’s so-called "bestie", but it was still a surprise.
She was not truly ready to become a Monarch at that time, and even now she was still struggling. The mantle of Monarch was not one easily worn, after all. It spiritually pressed down on her, but she fought against the seat’s influence.
She had no true choice in becoming a Monarch so soon with Antares pushing things, as he wanted to rebuild some of the forces he had lost.
Three Monarchs dead in a single day was something that had never before occurred, after all. Not even the mythical Ashborn had done anything as close to that.
She had somehow managed to pass all the trials and inherit her grandfather’s power, all under the watchful eye of Antares. Then, once she became a Monarch, Antares’ interest in her vanished. He was content that he seemingly had another strong piece on his board. He was confident that when he came calling, she would be there, and he was exactly right if Milim hadn’t recruited her.
Antares was simply that terrifying.
She never would have had thoughts of rebellion before, or at least she wouldn’t have entertained them, as there would be no purpose in doing so. But now she could afford to doubt Antares and his motives.
From what Felix told her and seemed to know, none of them likely mattered much in Antares eyes. In the end, even among the Monarchs, the law of the jungle reigned supreme.
Every person for themself. She thought the Monarchs could give her the companionship and friendship she desired, but she was wrong. She looked to her side, where her new "Lord" was sitting beside her, waving her legs as she continued to rant.
But she was happy now.
"Mou, Felix went to go visit that new Gate thingy with Hinata!" Milim whined, completely changing the subject. Over time she had learnt that Milim could be a bit of a spaz as the Humans called it. Truly, the Humans had some rather amusing words. "And I wanted to see it too!" She said as she kicked her legs up.
"There is nothing special about it." Sirka responded. "I imagine it is likely a test of sorts for the Humans of this world from the Rulers."
The Gates were created and regulated by the Rulers; they must have created such a large one for a reason. They were not the sworn enemies of the Monarchs for no reason.
Milim just crossed her arms. "Hmph! You’re supposed to agree with me!"
She blinked. "Oh? Is this some other custom I was unaware of? Very well then." She said with a nod. "Indeed, Felix should have allowed you to come with him."
Milim sighed. "It’s no fun when it’s like that."
She tilted her head. Truly, these modern customs could be rather confusing.
"There are other S Rank Gates other than the one in the land called Japan." She told Milim.
Milim pouted. "I know, but I wanted to go to that one!"
Sirka couldn’t understand Milim sometimes. Actually, most of the time. Sensing her confusion, Milim spoke up. "I want to show off to my bestie!" Milim said with a pout.
Sirka’s eyes lit up with realization as she nodded. This must have been similar to when she would work hard for her grandfather’s praise. That was a long, long time ago, back when she was naive.
"I understand."
"Mou, that meanie Felix!" Milim said as she pumped her fist up. "I wanna go blow stuff up with him!"
She would share Milim’s concerns with Felix. That was what a proper subordinate would do. Probably.
"If that is the case, why not go to the S Rank Gate in the United States? It is the most powerful nation in the world currently, and your exploits will undoubtedly be on the so-called internet." Sirka advised.
Milim’s eyes lit up. "Ooh! That’s a good idea!" Milim said with a nod. "As expected of my minion, you’re smart!"
Sirka blinked. "I thank you?"
"Before we go though," Milim said. "Do you need anything? Anything you want to do? As my newest minion, you get privileges, you know!"
Sirka shook her head. "Nothing comes to mind. The only thing I am curious about is this homeworld you come from."
Milim grinned. "Hehe, it is pretty nice! Middray is even beginning to actually cook food now!"
Milim told her that Middray was her oldest and strongest subordinate, at least until she joined Milim. Now Milim was not certain who her strongest subordinate was. This was even harder to decide with the new sacred gear, as Milim called it, Felix would be giving to Middray.
"Hmm, I’ll also name you when we go back to the Cardinal World."
Naming, the process of inscribing a name upon one’s soul, creating a connection between the two parties. This would also likely strengthen the name receiver in the process.
"Who knows if you’ll lose even more control of your power and freeze the city or something!" Milim said with a laugh.
"That is a wise choice then."
Even with the extended period of time she had been a Monarch due to the time difference between worlds, her control was still lacking.
Even if Milim had been assisting her in training her control with her Milim Eye, as she called it, pointing out her weak points ever since she had joined Milim, it was still not enough.
The power of a Monarch was foreign to her. It was granted to her, and so it would take an extended period of time to truly make it her own.
In fact, the entire reason she was residing inside a Gate-linked dimension was to lure in Human challengers; people to fight to work on her control. The hope was that the Gate would grow, and grow, as it was a new type of Gate created with the help of Antares’ allies, the Phantoms. A Gate that would grow over time as it absorbed more energy rather than costing more energy to create and starting stronger.
The hope was that once it grew to S Rank, the Humans would send in one of the Ruler vessels for her to fight and grow against, while also eliminating them. But of course, that never happened. In fact, Antares likely assumed her to be captured by the Rulers, as her power had not returned to Nildhogg for the next successor to claim.
That did make her worry for her people, but she believed in their capabilities. Not to mention that Ice Elves were one of the stronger species in the Chaos World; Antares would not waste them as mere sacrifices.
They had lost many of their number over time, especially with the Rulers essentially stealing a portion of their dimension to become one of their Gates. And with that portion, many of their fighters were slaughtered. But they would recover, she was not leaving them for long.
She was not certain how Felix planned to transport her entire kingdom into Milim’s territory, but Milim just said to trust him, and so she would.
"Hmm, enjoying yourself, Milim?" A voice called out. Demon Lord Luminous Valentine, as she introduced herself.
"Ooh, Luminous!" Milim said as she shot up. "Did they leave already?"
Luminous nodded. "They did. Thank you for staying your hand. Hinata will enjoy the experience."
Milim pouted but didn’t say anything else. Luminous then looked to her, as a smile grew on her face. "Are you certain that you do not desire to trade something for dear Sirka here?"
Ah, that was another thing. Luminous seemed to want to recruit her just as Milim had. Luminous had shared that she hoped to find interesting subordinates in this world, and stated she would leave with Hinata in the near future to explore the world and search for people with the potential to serve her.
Milim’s eyes narrowed. "Nope! Sirka’s mine! Hands off!"
Luminous pursed her lips. "If you are certain then, but the offer is always open. My chefs can make some rather delicious sweets."
Milim pointed at Luminous. "Hey! Using sweets is no fair!"
Luminous merely smiled. "I am merely using all the resources in my possession."
"Hmm, now I want more ice cream!" Milim said as she jumped up.
Indeed, while things had gone far from how she predicted, she was still satisfied with the way things turned out. Especially with the internet. The internet was truly an amazing thing.
She especially loved the so-called cat memes.
"Come on Sirka. Let’s get some ice cream before we go!"
- Felix -
I looked up at the gigantic Gate in the air as Hinata and I casually held hands as we walked the streets of Tokyo.
The Gate itself was almost as large as Tokyo, and I could sense the gathering energy around and within it. It would burst within a few hours now. When it burst, all that energy would flood into the world, further increasing the mana density of the planet, making it more durable.
But more than that, I could sense a far more demonic kind of energy leaking out of the Gate in small quantities. It was most definitely the mana signature of a Monarch, meaning this was the Gate Legia the Monarch of the Beginning was sealed inside of.
There was a chance that I was wrong, since I was just going off my foreknowledge, but with how things lined up so far, I was probably right.
There was a large military and Hunter presence in the city as well; around 15 Hunters that fell in the EP parameter of S Rank. An entire district was cleared off for this raid in fact, even though traditional weapons wouldn’t actually do a thing to monsters for the most part.
Hinata had already told me that if things got out of control, she wouldn’t hesitate to help, and they likely would get out of control.
I could also sense the largest aura in the city, which must have been Yuri Orloff. He was decent, that’s all I could say.
His Barrier Magic was nothing I hadn’t seen before.
There weren’t any more Hunters because there were plenty of Gates popping up around the world, so nations couldn’t afford to send their best Hunters to Japan. They wanted to keep their best in reserve.
And they weren’t wrong to do so. Over the last few hours, numerous S Rank Gates sprung up around the world, and each of them leaking a whole lot of mana; the telltale sign of a Gate break.
More shenanigans from the Rulers, of course. Probably a last ditch effort to make the planet more durable. I imagine they put Legia’s Gate here because his mana was among the strongest, and this region of the world would be home to many fights, most likely.
They spawned only in the territory of the big nations, and seeing as people were beginning to suspect the true origin of Gates due to the broadcast of my fight on Jeju Island, there were quite a few conspiracy theories I could see with a quick glance of the internet.
National Rank Hunters and top ranked S Rank Hunters were deployed to take care of those Gates.
I looked to my side at Hinata who was mostly just looking around curiously. She hadn’t been to her home land in a long time so she wanted to do a little bit of everything. At least she was enjoying herself.
We had already gone through the usual tourist stuff; street food, a few shrines, even some shopping, though Hinata seemed more entertained by the sheer density of people. Compared to any of the cities in the Cardinal World, this was a different kind of organized chaos.
The population of the Cardinal World was far larger, but the world was also far larger, so it didn’t seem as large.
It was still hilarious to me that with the S Rank Gate looming above them, the majority of stores were open with people going about their lives. They really bought into their government’s words about having everything under control. Some listened of course, but the majority stayed other than the quarantined zone.
Even in another world, modern Humans had zero survival instinct.
"Anything else you want to do?"
The date had been mostly casual so far, with nothing but some lewd handholding occurring. Hinata was the one who went for my hand first in fact, so that was progress. I had known Hinata for what felt like a long time, and I could admit that perhaps I cared for her beyond the realm of friendship, but I was more than willing to let her dictate the pace of things.
Hinata told me a bit about what she was doing in Ruberious, about how Saare and her Great Saint subordinates were doing. Apparently she was having Saare copy her Arts with his Skill, and then having him fully master the Arts before moving onto another Art, which was smart.
I’d be doing the same thing if I didn’t have Othinus on my side to carry my control aspect, or else I’d have to dedicate time to master each of my abilities. With her, I could just focus on my main abilities and hone them to the extreme.
I then told her about some of my time in this world, like my trip to the Chaos World with Megumin, of course, leaving out the sex aspect. Though Hinata probably suspected something with the suspicious way she was looking at me after that story.
Though the pieces weren’t hard to fit in a puzzle with how Megumin acted with me now. That being as a far more affectionate cat, who wanted some attention then would go do its own thing elsewhere.
Hinata and I were already far past the "getting to know each other" phase, so this was just about spending time together. Overall it, was just a normal date, which was nice. Hinata was getting some looks because of her attractive appearance, which was pretty amusing.
"Hmm, not particularly. I am content to enjoy my time with you."
My lips twitched at her innocent line. Though it did make me happy.
"Let’s try that store." Hinata said while pointing at a sign.
"What’s boba?" I asked.
"You’ve never had boba?" She asked.
"Nope, never even heard of it."
Hinata nodded. "Hmm, then we can go there. It can be a difficult drink to get right, but when done well it can be quite satisfying to drink."
I shrugged. "If you say so."
And so we continued our innocent date.
- Milim Nava -
She looked at the phone Felix gave her in annoyance. "Why doesn’t this GPS thing tell me the directions! It only has directions for cars, walking, trains, and bicycles! Does no one fly in this world!" She said as she stomped her foot down, causing cracks in the sidewalk.
The Humans who designed this GPS were so stupid!
To appease some of her annoyance she took a bite of her ice cream.
"I do not believe many humans capable of intercontinental travel." Sirka said from beside her as she took a bite of her own ice cream.
"Ugh, this is so annoying."
Milim pouted, puffing her cheeks as she kept glaring at the phone. "Ugh, it’s so dumb! How do they even live like this without being able to just fly wherever they want? What if I wanted to go to another continent right now? Man, being weak must suck." She sighed.
She had no idea how the average person could live their life. Their lives sounded super monotonous, but maybe they liked that. She wasn’t one to judge someone else’s lifestyle.
"They use an airplane to get around." Sirka responded. Sirka had been super into the internet lately, so she knew a lot about how earth worked.
Milim pouted. "That doesn’t look fun at all. And they make you sit down the whole time? Boooooring!"
"Humans appear to enjoy such inconveniences." Sirka said with a small shrug.
Milim leaned closer to the phone, poking at it again with sticky ice cream fingers. "Fine. I’ll just pick ’walking.’ If it thinks I’m walking, and I actually fly, then I’ll get there even faster! Hah! Outsmarted your dumb human toy, Felix!"
- Felix -
I wonder how Milim’s doing. Hopefully she’s not bored. I know I’ve spent more time with my lovers than her, but I did make sure to go out and enjoy myself with her as well, but I’d still make sure to spend more time with her.
I wasn’t the type of guy to put my lovers before my true friends. I liked them to be on equal standing, in fact, and Milim was certainly a true friend, one of my closest ones.
"Ooh, this boba thing is quite good." I said to Hinata.
She nodded. "Indeed."
"Why are there little blobs at the bottom?" I asked after fishing one up with the oversized straw.
Hinata smirked knowingly. "Those are tapioca pearls. That’s the ’boba’ part."
"...So it’s a drink you have to chew?"
"Exactly."
"Interesting, I suppose."
We then continued to walk down the busy street. Hinata tugged my hand lightly, pulling me toward a claw machine outside an arcade. "I want to try."
"Ah, the classic date activity." I nodded. "I understand."
Watching her concentrate on the claw machine was hilarious since even without any added Skills, her computational power as a Divine Human made winning at a claw machine child’s play. At least it should have, if claw machines were actually fair.
Hinata Sakaguchi, Hero of Ruberious, was glaring at the claw machine as the claw descended toward a plushie shaped like a fat cat. The claw wobbled, grasped it, then let it fall.
Claw machines were, for the most part, rigged. Many claw machine manufacturers included a setting within the machine that allows the owner to set how often the machine will actually use the proper amount of force to successfully pull a stuffed animal.
The majority of the time it wouldn’t use enough force, as Hinata was witnessing now.
Hinata’s frown deepened.
I stifled a laugh. "Don’t tell me you’re actually getting competitive over this. Want me to help?"
"I will succeed."
Several tries later, after more yen than I’d like to admit, she finally pulled the cat plush free. She turned to me with the faintest triumphant look, thrusting the prize into my arms. "Here. For you."
"...You’re giving me the cat?"
"Of course. I wanted to win it for you."
For a second, I didn’t know what to say.
It was supposed to be the other way around! But I didn’t mind.
"Thanks." I said as I took the plushie.
She gave me one of her small smiles and we continued.
- Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light -
He looked around the room each of his fellow Rulers were currently present in. They did not gather like this much, but as of recently, they had been doing so more and more often.
Most of their discussions have been revolving around the situation on Earth, as activity in that dimension was rapidly increasing. Felix was another subject of interest with how his Aura was similar to the Aura of the Cup of Reincarnation, an artifact Veldanava created.
Then there were the powerful individuals he brought with him, each capable of causing mass amounts of destruction. Thankfully, it seemed that he was on their side for the time being, but they did not last as long as they did by blindly trusting.
They would trust, but they would still be wary.
"Sung Il-Hwan has made contact and delivered the invitation." The Illuminating Fragment of Brilliant Light stated to them all. "He has accepted."
"Hmm, that is good. Perhaps we will be able to resolve our doubts." Said the Luminous Fragment of Brilliant Light.
"He had also stated that the Shadow Monarch had been reborn. His son was intending on taking the trial and by now must have completed it if Ashborn’s confidence in his vessel was a reflection of Sung Jin-Woo’s ability." The Illuminating Fragment of Brilliant Light continued.
"He is his father’s son in the end." The Radiant Fragment of Brilliant Light said.
"Hmm, the quantity Gate activity has decreased as we had decided beforehand, but the level of the forming Gates is above what we had initiated in the past, with multiple S Rank Gates forming above the nations of those with potential." The Glittering Fragment of Brilliant Light stated.
They had been going all out on the Gates, releasing as many of them as they could, and making them as strong as they could without making it impossible for the Humans. It was certainly cruel, as lives would be lost, but it needed to be done, or the Humans’ very planet would be destroyed.
The Gate Legia was sealed in was created close to the Shadow Monarch’s territory. It was meant for him to get a glimpse at the power of a Monarch. At least that was the purpose in the past, before Sung Jin-Woo became a Monarch himself.
Now, they no longer considered him a Human. No, he was the full-fledged Shadow Monarch, and underestimating him would be foolish, no matter his origins. There was still the possibility of Legia’s heavy mana causing an awakening or even a double awakening, but that would merely be a side benefit.
And now that the Shadow Monarch was on their side, the Monarchs were on even more of the backfoot. This was the only timeline in which they had such an advantage. He did not know what events needed to line up after an eternity of facing defeat at the hands of the Monarchs, but he was still grateful for it all the same.
The realization that all their efforts weren’t for nothing gave them all a renewed sense of motivation, something they had sorely lacked after the first few hundred times they had lost against the Monarchs and been forced to rewind time.
"Are the others quickly coming up to pace?" The Dazzling Fragment of Brilliant Light asked.
He was the one who responded this time. "Indeed. Thomas Andre shows the greatest potential among them."
They had thought it wise to reach out to their vessels, as with the disadvantage they possessed, the Monarchs would likely wish to discreetly kill their vessels in an attempt to even the odds, even if only slightly.
Querehsha could be quite the nuisance when she desired to with her poisons. Among the Monarchs, she was the best at discreet killings.
They hadn’t shared everything with their vessels, of course, but enough to inform them of the true state of things. It wasn’t hard to gain their trust when they had been present within them for as long as they were Hunters.
Thomas Andre proved to be the most unruly of them, however. He heard them out and believed them, and yet he stated that he’d do whatever he wanted either way.
"He is still with us; that is what matters in the end. He will do his duty." He stated with confidence.
"We will leave him to you then." The Gleaming Fragment of Brilliant Light said. "Are the silver soldiers prepared?"
The silver soldiers were their army of angelic warriors, they were the ones the Hunters were linked to to provide them with their supernatural abilities.
"Indeed. They will be able to handle the Monarchs’ armies."
The Gleaming Fragment of Brilliant Light nodded. "Then we can do nothing but prepare."
- Felix -
Hinata and I continued to make our way around Tokyo. We could teleport around, so that made exploring a lot of Tokyo fairly easy.
All of a sudden we both paused and looked towards the Gate in the sky. A mass of energy was gathering. The both of us could stop the Gate break right here and now, but in the end, that wouldn’t help the people of this world.
Japan would otherwise continue to underestimate the Monarchs. And then there was the fact that the Gate break released a large portion of mana into the world, reinforcing the world far more than the Gate did previously.
"It seems it is happening then, the Gate break." Hinata stated.
"Let’s go watch." I told her.
We both vanished and appeared above where the main encampment was to deal with the Gate.
Crackles of energy flickered off the Gate as the shadows of multiple rather large beings fell down. All the shadows slammed into the ground with a crash, the impact exploding the earth outward in jagged fractures.
The city practically shook from the impact. The ground split as the common soldiers were knocked off their feet.
"G-Giants!" Someone yelled.
"The bosses that come out from upper A Rank Gates are coming out right away!? Just what is this Gate?" The man who I believed to be Yuri Orloff said. "Still, this much is nothing." He said with a grin as he held his palm out. He drew in energy from the ore that was filled with mana around him, creating a barrier around the area of the S Rank Gate.
"Ahaha! I didn’t think I’d see your kind from this Gate! But did you think the likes of you would be able to penetrate my barrier?" Yuri Orloff boasted.
"He’s doomed." Hinata said as she shook her head.
"Indeed."
An even larger Giant emerged from the Gate, crashing down onto the earth. And then with a swing of his sword he shattered the barrier Orloff placed.
"Wha-!?" Orloff couldn’t even finish his sentence as another Giant grabbed him in his shock and tossed him into the air.
"You going to help then?"
Hinata merely nodded.
"Have fun then. I’ll stay behind and watch."
Despite Orloff’s foolishness, his barrier did prevent anyone from losing their life so far, so I didn’t need to take action to save any civilians, which I would do if necessary. It would take no effort, after all.
"Very well." Hinata responded as she held her palm out, Divine Moonlight appearing in her palm, but not her armor or her other weapon, Truth.
With that Hinata dashed off, the illusion over her fading allowing the world to see her.
She appeared next to Yuri Orloff in the blink of an eye, catching and moving him away from the jaws of the Giant that was attempting to eat him with one arm, and sending a slash out with her rapier at the same time.
The Giant that broke the barrier was the target of her Aura slash, and was immediately bisected, his body erupting with blood like a geyser.
"W-Who is that!? I couldn’t even see her?" Someone with S Rank levels of energy said. Japan recruited other S Ranks to help, after all. "She killed the S Rank that destroyed Orloff’s barrier!"
"It doesn’t matter right now! What matters is that she’s here to help! Forward!" Another yelled, and they all dashed into the fray.
- Milim Nava -
She wore a carefree grin on her face as she boomed across the ocean. The GPS stopped working at a certain point for some reason, but that didn’t matter. She had already locked onto the signature of one of the fun Gates, in which she could even sense some pretty strong people!
She sensed Felix next to one of them too. The Gate Felix was next to seemed to be the most interesting, but he was out with Hinata so she didn’t want to disturb him. But the one she was going to seemed fun too!
Sirka was following behind her. She had to slow her own speed down since Sirka couldn’t keep up with her casual speeds. The things she did to keep her minions happy! She didn’t want to teleport either, mostly because she couldn’t.
That stuff required a lot of calculations, and she didn’t care enough to do that! She didn’t know how Felix stomached all that. It was way easier to just fly wherever she wanted.
She had been flying for a few minutes now, and she’d be at her destination in a few moments. She was getting excited!
Milim dropped out of the clouds like a meteor, the shockwave of her landing flattening trees. Of course she knew how to do a cool landing!
She could sense a lot of people around her, some weak, some slightly less weak, and then one that was moderately strong. That guy was why she came here, she was bored enough to fly across the world for him!
The Gate itself was looming above the city she had arrived in, and from inside of it, tons of monsters were coming out. Monsters that the so-called Hunters were all battling.
"This looks fun!" She wasn’t here to one shot the monsters, though. That would be pretty boring. She could do that back in the Cardinal World if she wanted to!
She wanted to meet the moderately strong person instead. From what she had observed, most people in this world were weak by her standards. They also gained their powers from elsewhere, as with her Milim Eye, she could easily see the connection they shared with some beings in another dimension.
Some had thin and narrow connections, while others had wider connections.
She asked Felix about it and was able to learn the entire story, so she was curious why this person was so much stronger than the average Hunter. She was mostly here to satisfy her boredom.
She couldn’t use her Milim Eye over such a long range, so she’d have to be in front of the moderately strong person she sensed to see what’s up with him.
From the Gate, multiple kinds of monsters came out. Some she hadn’t seen before, others that seemed to be variants of what could be found on the Cardinal World.
Sirka landed behind her gracefully. "Have you discovered anything interesting?" She asked as she looked around curiously. "You wished to come here due to the Gate, yes?"
She nodded. "Pretty much, but I think there might be someone fun nearby!"
"Damn it! Is that one that snuck out of the Gate!?" Some Human asked as he dodged past the strike of a large flying bird.
Sirka did look a bit out of place. She had pale blue skin, white hair, and pointy ears. Plus she was still radiating a very miniscule amount of Aura. Whereas she looked perfectly normal, if still way more awesome than everyone else.
What could she say? Her Demon Lord look was "peak" as the Humans in this world said online. That was something else she discovered too. The internet was home to some funny things, though for some reason Felix turned on something called "parental protection" before giving her her phone.
Milim nodded. "Mmm, I’m gonna go see what that guy is up to. If someone attacks, just don’t kill them."
"Very well, and which guy?" Sirka asked before she paused. "I see. It seems there is a vessel present then. I could not sense him until now. Perhaps some protection the Rulers built to protect their vessels against the senses of a Monarch?" She mused. "It does not matter, I suppose."
Felix had also told her about the Ruler vessels already. "Oh, so that’s why he’s stronger than the rest. Let’s go see him then!"
Before she could go after him, one of the winged beasts, some type of Wyvern, dove down towards her with its talons glowing with some form of energy.
Sirka appeared in front of the Wyvern’s path, and casually backhanded the monster mid-dive. It exploded into a rain of gore and feathers, the shockwave blowing out nearby windows.
"Thanks!"
Sirka nodded.
That action caught the gaze of the rest of Hunters that were distracted with other monsters.
"Humans!" Milim called, waving enthusiastically. "Don’t worry, I’m a Demon Lord and am here to help!" She said as she released some of her Aura, intimidating the monsters that were still around, though she made sure to avoid all the Humans with her Aura, while also keeping the monsters alive so Sirka could have fun too.
She was a generous boss!
"Is that a child?" Someone asked. "What about that monster next to her? She looks humanoid. And again, why is the child revealing so much skin?"
She wasn’t a child!
She didn’t get a chance to wipe out all the monsters in the area for the Humans because she sensed the Ruler vessel’s aura boom towards her.
More monsters surged out of the Gate, it was practically a flood.
"Can you take care of them?" She asked Sirka as she withdrew her Aura from the surroundings.
"As you wish." Sirka said. She raised her hand towards the Gate, her eyes glowing with a pale blue sheen.
Milim thought it was funny how the people of this world had that visual effect when using their energy.
But it looked cool! Maybe she’d start making her eyes glow pink too!
She could feel the air instantly drop in temperature, with the air fogging, and the ground they were on cracking as frost raced across it. A wave of cold spread out from her palm, sweeping toward the monsters.
Eh? Was Sirka trying to show off? She could have totally killed all the monsters with a simple wave, but instead she was making a show of it.
Was this what the internet called "aura farming"? Was it super popular in this world or what? She’d heard everyone was doing that in this world, even Felix!
The flood of beasts emerging from the Gate screeched in confusion as their limbs locked mid-charge, encased in crystal-clear ice. The first row froze solid within seconds, then the second, then the third, until the entire swarm was frozen. Even the ones halfway out of the Gate were stuck just past the threshold. It actually looked pretty cool!
"What the fuck!?" Some Hunter yelled, but Milim wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. Her gaze shifted down one of the streets where she could sense the vessel coming from.
His Aura actually reminded her a bit of Carrion.
After a moment she spotted the guy, who also saw her. Even his looks reminded her of Carrion.
He was a large, muscular man with long blonde hair and a toothy smile. She liked his outfit too!
His Aura roared around him as he grinned. "I thought I sensed some weird Dragon. What are you doing here, brat?" He asked with a cocky grin as he glanced at the army of frozen monsters above them. "I had to stop enjoying myself with those Mantises on the other side of the Gate because of you." He said dangerously.
Her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t a kid! "Hmph! I’m 2,000 years old!"
"Heh, sure you are. What’s your name?" He asked as he stepped forwards. The Hunters around them all seemed to be tense.
Sirka stepped in front of her, but Milim waved her away. Thomas only gave a passing glance at Sirka, probably because Sirka had learned to conceal most of her power.
She placed her hands on her hips. "I’m Demon Lord Milim Nava, The Destroyer and a Dragonoid! Bow down to my greatness! Introduce yourself too!"
His eyes narrowed before he clicked his tongue. "Tsk, another monster. You seem pretty strong too. And of course it’s another one of your kind." He said with a sigh. "Clearly intelligent as well, are you another one of those shitstain Monarchs, or you with that Felix guy? He introduced himself as a Demon Lord too."
He shook his head. "Doesn’t matter, I’ll beat your ass anyway. At least I’ll get to let loose a bit, those other monsters were lightwork." He grinned as he took his sunglasses off, revealing his glowing yellow eyes. "I’ll take out your friend after." He looked at the still tense Hunters. "You all stay out of this, you’re too weak, even for her friend. If you get in the way, I won’t be saving you."
"Eh? Are we fighting!?" She asked with a laugh. She didn’t take offense to his words. Why would she care for the opinion of an ant? She was above throwing tantrums for small things, though she would still beat him up to teach him a lesson. She turned to Sirka. "Stop anyone from interfering. I need to beat this guy up!"
"Hahahaha, it’s been a long time since someone’s treated me like a nobody! I shouldn’t be too upset that I missed out on Japan then." The man said as he cracked his knuckles.
"What’s your name? I can’t just keep referring to you as "that guy" in my head." She asked, ignoring the bloodlust the man was releasing.
"The name’s Thomas Andre." He said with a sharp toothed smile as he began to release more of his Aura. "And I’m the strongest damn Hunter on this planet." He said with a wild grin.
"Ooh, strongest Hunter eh? Hopefully you don’t bore me too much then!" She said with a giggle.
She knew this was all probably a misunderstanding. He thought she was with those Monarch guys, which was a fair assumption to make since she hadn’t explained anything, but so what? She was Milim Nava, and she thought this would be fun. She’d solve the misunderstanding later, so it would be fine.
Felix might scold her but that was it. Though he did say she could be with Felix, so maybe he didn’t even care that she wasn’t associated with those Monarch guys. He probably just wanted a fight or something, in which case she was happy to oblige.
Plus maybe she could make a new friend! If he was anything like Carrion, she knew she’d like him. She liked Carrion too, after all! He came to her territory often to "hang out" with Frey.
He always made sure to bring her sweets like a good boy to keep her happy!
"Ha! What a brat!" Thomas yelled as he coated his arms in his Aura. He raised a brow at seeing her making no preparations before shrugging.
As if she needed her Aura to deal with him.
"Oh shit, he’s seriously going all out!" Some Hunter yelled from the side. "We need to get back!"
She ignored them all though as Thomas dashed forwards.
Thomas’ charge split the cracked pavement like an earthquake, his Aura bursting in a violent wave of sorts that sent the Hunters that were in the process of running away flying back.
Milim only tilted her head, eyes sparkling with excitement as she planted her feet and grinned.
The air itself shattered around his strike as his fist came down at her. The shockwave shattering the already atomized glass further somehow.
Her small hand rose lazily and caught his punch, the ground beneath her exploding into a crater.
"You’re decently strong!" She said with a beaming smile. "But you’ll need more than that to impress me!"
Thomas’ eyes widened but then his grin only widened. He twisted, bringing his other fist in a hook aimed at her jaw. She didn’t see a reason to dodge this time, so she allowed his fist to connect, only for it to just flutter her hair.
She was a master in showing off!
"Eh?" One of the Hunters who had managed to stay close enough croaked.
"Not bad, not bad!" Milim said cheerfully, her eyes now glowing pink so she could look cool too. She then casually shoved him back with a single push. The force of it sent Thomas skidding across the street, his boots tearing grooves into the street before he steadied himself with a laugh.
"Now we’re talking." He said, shoulders rolling as more power surged off him. With a wild look on his face he said, "Finally, someone worth throwing hands with!"
He really was quite similar to Carrion.
Milim bounced on her heels, clapping her hands together once in excitement. "Hehe, don’t hold back! If you bore me after all your talk, I’ll get mad!"
Thomas barked out a laugh, Aura spiraling upward as the sky above them darkened. "Good! Try not to break too easily, brat!"
She raised her fists as the Unique Grade gauntlets Felix had gifted her quite a while ago formed. The gauntlets would restrict her power in a way that she didn’t feel as if she was holding back as much, making it feel more natural.
The ground between them split as they launched forward at the same time, their two shockwaves colliding mid-street.
___________________________________________________________________
I am highly motivated by your guys’ reviews and likes, so do that! I’ll probably keep writing or something.
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Author’s Note:
Sup everyone, back with another Chapter. We get a date with Hinata, some more slice of lifeyness, and then the S Rank gate breaks begin this Chapter.
We get to see a bit more about what the Rulers are thinking of things and some more of their reasoning for certain events. I wonder what Milim’s going to do in the USA?
The next Chapter or so will have more alt povs since Felix isn’t going to be present at the things taking place at one time, though it all intersects.
I won’t say much more, but thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta’ing this Chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
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