Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 1.5

The forest was in flames.

Canceling the Separate Bodies she had deployed in various locations, Velgrynd united them all into one. With a dazzling crimson light, she transformed into her dragon form, clad in a cardinal aura of reddened force. The shock wave alone made the trees burst into flames. Veldora, too, had reverted to dragon form, his force summoning a wildly raging tempest.

The flames flickered as they illuminated the two siblings. The battle between True Dragons was now in full swing.

Velgrynd, back to her true form after a long hiatus, looked at Veldora. He, too, was showing off his massive physique, all but bragging about his vast amount of magicule energy.

It had been ages since the two siblings had seen each other in these forms. Velgrynd had met Emperor Ludora a very long time ago. She was already lurking in imperial circles by the time Veldora began rampaging across the land. She never left Ludora’s side, never venturing out into the public eye. Because of that (and the inconveniences that entailed), she had learned how to replicate herself via Separate Body, but even that was only after Veldora was sealed away.

By Velgrynd’s estimation, the last time they met was over two thousand years ago, in southwestern lands. At that encounter, she showed only a hint of her powers, just toying with Veldora a bit, and he responded by immediately fleeing the scene. The impact, however, was enormous. The energy generated by this short clash between True Dragons created an entire volcanic region in the lands below them, and the ensuing volcanoes were said to still be active.

Hmmm… The sealing hasn’t weakened him after all. In fact, I’d say he’s stronger than ever before.

This, Velgrynd thought, was truly a lucky miscalculation. Her brother’s growth was a joy to see unfold. The way he was acting so disobedient around her was an issue, but if she could tame him, all would be well. And even if she failed, she had Ludora’s power to fall back on.

With Ludora’s force, even a True Dragon can be eating out of our hands. Just look at me, for instance… Wait, what am I thinking?

Velgrynd felt she was about to recall something very important, but her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She mentally turned the page. Capturing Veldora came first. She wanted to avoid relying on Ludora, but should it come to that, she wanted to neutralize as much of Veldora’s resistance as she could, to lighten his load.

Ludora’s at his limit, after all. I need to give him some rest, and soon.

That was Velgrynd’s true intention, and that was why she really wanted to keep him uninvolved. There was no other reason—there didn’t need to be any other reason. After all, she had a decent shot at victory. Veldora was boasting a huge pile of magicules, but he wasn’t using them as well as he could have. That was why Velgrynd didn’t consider Veldora to be that dangerous. He performed brilliantly at their initial clash, but as Velgrynd thought, she could defend herself because she had a better grip on her own powers. Great strength, after all, is useless if you can’t control it.

Once he joins us, I’ll have to teach him a thing or two.

Even now, Veldora would be a powerful card in the game they were playing. But Velgrynd intended to train Veldora further, to the point where he could compete with Velzard. For the time being, however, she wanted to take advantage of Veldora’s inexperience to end this bout quickly.

And then…the pieces will move across the game board.

The game had stretched on for years, but now it was almost over. Victory for Velgrynd and Emperor Ludora seemed imminent.

First, they had to capture Veldora. Once they had his cooperation, that would be their chance to win it all. They wanted to finish this marathon in one fell swoop…and then Ludora would be free.

So Velgrynd took her time, slowly opening up an offense against Veldora.

The fight was beyond intense from the very first move.

Velgrynd acted first, unleashing a scorching Burning Breath without even considering the possibility of a counterattack. The searing light extending from the dragon’s mouth took the form of a thin, compressed, super-heated beam. Its fury came toward Veldora at nightmarish speed, dozens of times faster than the speed of sound.

Veldora evaded it. His Cancel Flame skill would make him impervious to flame damage in the first place, but he was still in a rush to dodge that heat ray.

“My. I didn’t think you would avoid that. As stupid as I know you are, I thought that would end the battle right there, like it would’ve before. I see you’ve finally learned the true nature of your gifts.”

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha! Your breath has Accelerated Destruction applied to it, doesn’t it? If that struck me, my magical force would have gone berserk. I’d waste power trying to wrangle it again, so it’s only natural that I’d avoid it.”

Veldora smiled as he replied. And he was right. Velgrynd’s attack had a special effect, Accelerated Destruction, that was all but the ultimate in force. It had the power to accelerate all events and phenomena, thus boosting their destructive effect. What’s more, it could also accelerate the target’s living functions. Even a spiritual life-form couldn’t resist this power—they might avoid simply being destroyed by it, but they’d still suffer from the resulting out-of-control energy. Veldora, sensing this intuitively, chose to avoid it. He had Analyze and Assess to thank for that, part of his ultimate skill Faust, Lord of Investigation, and that was why he was so confident as he explained matters to his sister.

“Huh… You’ve seen through it then. You truly have grown up. I’m glad.”

Veldora’s response made Velgrynd feel more and more threatened. The dragon in front of her wasn’t just a rampaging fool of a brother, but someone who deserved careful assessment. He had accurately figured out her skills, and that meant he had an ultimate skill of his own. A typical attack from a True Dragon packed the power of an ultimate in itself, but when combined with such a skill, the danger jumped astronomically higher.

But it truly gladdened Velgrynd. She rejoiced at the growth of her formerly inadequate younger brother. But at the same time, she was alarmed. Veldora had grown to the point that he threatened her, and that could make Ludora’s plan fall apart entirely. If this went unaddressed, they’d not only lose control of him—they might even be defeated themselves. This level of growth was not at all what she anticipated.

But as Velgrynd grew more alarmed, Veldora took the initiative.

“Pondering over something mid-battle, my sister? I’d call that letting your guard down!”

He unleashed the skill Thunderstorm Roar, a finisher move of his that multiplied the force of his storm magic. It landed a direct hit on Velgrynd, but she brushed it off without taking damage.

“I see. You really have achieved an ultimate skill, haven’t you? You have my sincere congratulations, Veldora!”

“You’re as formidable as ever, my sister. You caught that attack on purpose so you could analyze it.”

“Well, what do you want? I needed to measure how threatening your powers are.”

“Has my ultimate skill Faust passed your test, then?”

“It’s analytical in nature, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem to add power to your attacks, but it does wonders for your accuracy. Faust played a major role in you gaining control over your magic, didn’t it?”

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha! That’s right. I already outclass you in magicule force; I don’t need even more power than that. As long as I can hit you with it, that’s all that matters.”

Velgrynd smiled at the reply. “You’re wiser than I thought. Yes, you certainly have something I don’t. That’s why I want to add you to our ranks. You’d be a decisive card in our hand.”

“Ngh… Having my sister praise me makes my spine tingle a bit…”

Despite the lighthearted remark, Veldora had noticed the change in Velgrynd’s mood.

“Hee-hee! Well, I’ll have to reward you for that performance. Let’s show you how I really fight!”

“Um, no thanks—”

“Allow me to tap the full power of my ultimate skill—Raguel, Lord of Relief. Prepare yourself!”

Veldora’s fervent request did not reach Velgrynd’s ears. It’d be unthinkable to taste defeat because you didn’t make full use of your skills. Even after that fierce exchange, neither side had sustained much damage. That was why Velgrynd decided to break out everything she had against Veldora—while being sure, of course, she didn’t kill him.

A vast assortment of magic circles appeared around her, the work of several partially summoned replications.

“Take this!”

Eleven rays of light—each one the work of the skill Nuclear Cannon—shot toward Veldora. After a moment’s consideration, he decided to neutralize them all with Magic Barrier. There were too many rays to dodge—and thanks to dismissing them as mere magic attacks, he had lost precious time. He sensed the danger these cannon shots posed for him, and so he put up the barrier.

“Yeow!”

Veldora felt a searing pain. He had failed to neutralize the attack.

“Oh, you really are smarter now, aren’t you? I’m a little impressed that you only took that much damage.”

“Nnngh… I didn’t realize you were putting your ultimate skill into your magic as well… If I took a full hit, I wouldn’t be alive.”

“I was intending to end it just now. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha… I appreciate that, but I’ll save being proud about this for after I defeat you!”

In return, Veldora launched the storm magic Ruinous Tempest. It, along with the ultimate skill added to its effects (a trick he borrowed from Velgrynd), successfully sent Velgrynd flying.

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha! What do you think, my sister? If you learned your lesson from that, we can call it quits now…”

“Don’t give me that! I think you’ve just made me angry.”

“What? N-no, um…”

Velgrynd snapped. Playtime was over for her. The moment she realized his attack damaged her, she threw all calmness out the window. Her pride as his sister was now at stake—and she intended to win it back with her next attack.

Ten heads appeared around her, and eleven fiery flumes of breath shot toward Veldora. At the same time, she teleported herself, taking position above Veldora. Her foe, avoiding the multi-pronged attack, found himself vulnerable as he looked up at her, sizing her up. He was impressed by how she moved—but, sensing that Velgrynd was now fighting him with all earnestness, he internally rejoiced a bit.

Kwah-ha-ha-ha! I was no match for you before, but behold how I fight now! I suppose I have Rimuru’s training to thank for that, but what a glorious day!

He didn’t mind taking a moment to wallow in the joy, but he also knew he was still in danger. He pondered how to escape. Velgrynd, on the other hand, was glad to catch Veldora within what she saw was deadly range. She was sure he’d find no escape from her now.

“Let’s end this, Veldora. You never could escape my full glory!”

With this declaration, Velgrynd rained down scorching hot breath from above—the work of the skill Burning Breath. It poured down incessantly, becoming a pillar of flame connecting heaven and earth. From the outside, it would have looked like a cage of flame.

Veldora danced around in a frenzy, growing increasingly intense. He wasn’t playing around, either—he was anticipating and avoiding all the attacks. The attacks were coming fast and furious, but Veldora didn’t feel it was impossible to keep up with. Trusting his instincts, he propelled his enormous frame through the air—and thanks to that, despite being surrounded by this cage of flame, he survived without a single direct hit.

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! It’ll never work if you can’t hit me with it!”

Veldora shouted gleefully, borrowing a line from a manga he treated as holy scripture. Velgrynd, meanwhile, clicked her tongue in disgust. Failing to land a single hit on him wasn’t something she anticipated happening. There was no doubt that she underestimated him.

However:

This is where my attack truly begins!

Her absolute advantage remained intact. So she decided to reveal one of her hidden talents.

“I’m truly impressed that you’ve seen through my attacks so much. As a reward, I will give you a scorching response! Burning Embrace!!”

Taking position above Veldora proved significant. Below him was molten land, boiling with scorching lava from the fiery breath that Veldora evaded. Even the scattered droplets shooting up from below housed a terrifying amount of heat. What would further heat add to this scorching hell?

“Wh-whoa! What are you…?!”

Veldora realized her intention too late for it to matter. He had been caught in Velgrynd’s trick from the beginning. Her excessive heat attack made the ground literally boil and evaporate. Lava vaporized under ultra-high temperatures enveloped the area around Veldora. This was Bloody Lava, small drops of force gifted with the full brunt of Velgrynd’s authority, and it was pouring upward from down below.

With that, the cage of flame holding Veldora captive was complete.

The essence of Velgrynd’s ultimate skill Raguel was “relief”—in other words, support. Its true purpose was to expand the effect of its target, and for someone like Velgrynd who valued the power of fast acceleration in her moves, it had vast synergistic effects.

But what would happen if Velgrynd applied such a power to the cage of flame right now? It would greatly increase the momentum of the target, amplifying the heat to the extreme. The Bloody Lava would go from two thousand degrees to several tens of thousands, vaporizing in the process.

Thus the scorching prison was created, but its true essence lay beyond that. Velgrynd’s support effect could be increased to any extent she wanted, without any upper limit. In other words, providing an appropriate level of support would have a beneficial effect, but overdoing it just caused unnecessary burden.

The negative effects of such excessive “support” boosts served to accelerate the exhaustion of the subject’s physical strength. It was possible to increase the effect to the point that the heat generated by the target made them burn to ashes.

In other words, the ultimate skill Raguel gave her the power to manipulate all the energy of the world at will.

The red rain created a gentle film that embraced Veldora in its grasp. Anyone who finds themselves trapped in a Burning Embrace immediately signs their fate over to Velgrynd, and that applied equally as much to a True Dragon. Once captured in the cage, there was no escape.

So Velgrynd, convinced of her victory, was about to make her final declaration to Veldora—but then she stopped.

What’s going on?!

She began to panic, an unusual thing for her. Sensing a presence behind her, she hurriedly turned around.

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! I said it earlier, didn’t I? If it doesn’t hit me, it doesn’t matter!”

It was Veldora in human form, gloating over his victory. The high-pitched ring of his laugh battered Velgrynd’s eardrums. Only then did she truly, sincerely recognize Veldora as a lethal threat.

Veldora might have been agitating her opponent as much as possible with his laughter, but that didn’t mean he could just sit there.

Having his outfit burned made him angry, although now that he looked back on it calmly, he realized that there was a big difference in strength between him and his sister. He reasoned that he had little chance of winning a proper bout—and so, after a certain point, he focused entirely on defense.

This was the exact battle strategy Hinata preferred. She’d attack whenever she saw an opening in her opponent, making sure not to take a lethal hit as she waited. Then she’d determine the most effective move to make, and when she was ready, she’d finish the fight.

When he fought Hinata previously, he noticed that she seemed to know all of his habits in battle. When they fought down at Floor 100, he could easily overpower her via brute strength—but after her journey through time, she beat him to a pulp in the form of the Hero Chronoa.

Well, no wonder. It was the first time she had ever fought me, but she knew all my moves and habits. I always thought that was strange!

Veldora saw it as cheating, yet he knew saying that would just make him look like a sore loser. The memory of Hinata’s smug grin annoyed him greatly, but a loss was a loss.

The experience did teach him a lesson, though, as well as give him some insight into how to fight a superior opponent. Not only that, but as he trained against the demons, he learned how to add cunning to his strategy. Even if he couldn’t win on his own merit, if his opponent got exhausted before he did, he could win anyway. That was how spiritual life-forms battled, and now Veldora had mastered it as well.

It granted him perspective that had not existed before. He observed Rimuru’s lifestyle, and as he did he became interested in many things. He’d always had a natural curiosity, and now that he had broadened his horizons, Veldora was thinking in ways that he never had before. The resulting positive effects on him might’ve been what helped him grow as a person—and now the results were being demonstrated in battle against Velgrynd. He knew how not to lose now, and he was acting on it.

In the midst of that, Velgrynd unleashed her Burning Embrace. The ensuing cage of flame was meant to kill the moment it was complete—and once Velgrynd captured him, her victory was assured. Veldora was so desperate to avoid her Burning Breath that he couldn’t see that it was a trap—but then Predict Danger, part of his ultimate skill Faust, did its job. He kept it constantly activated so nothing would ever catch him off guard, and just now it saved Veldora’s life. It had given him a warning more ominous than anything he saw before, so he knew something bad was going down. It dawned on him that continually running away from attack would spell his doom, which chilled him to the core…but even if he tried to address this threat, there was no way to if he didn’t even grasp what it was.

Then came the Bloody Lava shooting up from below. Only then did Veldora realize Velgrynd’s aim—but now things were getting harder to deal with. It was obviously nothing he could use Ruinous Tempest to blow away. The whole area was under the effect of Velgrynd’s Dominate Space, so he couldn’t use Spatial Transport to escape this.

Oh crap! he thought. But just then Investigate Truth—another aspect of Faust—came up with the optimal solution. As long as Velgrynd’s will resided in the Bloody Lava, any contact with it was dangerous. It wouldn’t be easy to evade this volcanic mist, but even if it was impossible in giant dragon form, a human body could perhaps manage it. It meant giving up nearly all defense, but it was at least conceivable that he could weave his way through this barrage that way.

But even so, it was still essentially a coin flip. If he timed it right, he’d be just fine…but fail once, and it’d be all over.

Veldora wasn’t too sure about this, but just then, he realized that he was assured success after all. All it took was activating Control Probability, yet another Faust skill. Surprisingly, this skill made it possible to manipulate events in one’s favor against opponents of the same rank or lower. It was a shock to Veldora, because in essence, this doubled the odds he’d succeed at this—and since this escape had a fifty-fifty chance of working, that just got doubled to 100 percent. It was in the bag.

He was still skeptical about it—it seemed just a little too convenient—but despite his trepidation, he returned to his human form and attempted to escape the cage. Then, in another moment, Veldora was out of danger.

Velgrynd stared at the grinning Veldora, feeling her composure drain. How had Veldora, whom she always saw as this younger, weaker, troublesome brother, grown so much over the years? She considered him a brute, a bull in a china shop, but she was wrong. He had mastered an ultimate ability to the point of even rivaling her—and amazingly, he had just escaped from a situation that was absolutely irreversible.

She assumed she’d be teaching him a lesson or two today, but now she realized that her hubris had blinded her. She hated to admit it, but Veldora had achieved the same heights she had. Now she recognized him as an equal adversary, or maybe even better.

A calm analysis of the situation would reveal that Velgrynd was at a disadvantage. She had just broken out one of her greatest secret moves, and it had been defeated. All her smaller moves could be evaded, and it’d be difficult to inflict any sort of fatal wound. The only way forward was to wear Veldora down and rely on Ludora to invoke Regalia Dominion on him.

So she adopted a more cautious strategy.

“Oh? Could it be that you’ve recognized me as your equal now, my sister?”

Veldora, perhaps noticing Velgrynd’s intentions, sassed her as he returned to his dragon form. Velgrynd found it kind of amusing, despite how aghast all this was making her.

Come to think of it, I’ve never really hung out with him…

It brought an unconscious smile to her face.

“Yes. You’re right; I have. You’re all grown up now, Veldora. So if you decide by your own free will that you want to defy me, I will no longer tolerate it.”

Velgrynd seemed to declare it more to herself than Veldora. Sensing his sister’s mood, he also felt a powerful sense of danger. But there was no backing down now.

“Kwah-ha-ha-ha! Then I, too, will do my utmost to fight you!”

Veldora never used his ultimate skill much before. Now he was getting used to it. He was having a tough battle against his sister, but with this power, he felt he had a fighting chance. So he decided it was his turn to act. He couldn’t tap Parallel Existence the way Velgrynd could, but Veldora had a surefire killer move of his own ready.

The name of the skill, which he had told only Rimuru about, was Storm Blast. He’d developed it with the support of Rimuru, who gave him lots of praise for mastering it.

It even impressed Rimuru. How could it not work on my sister?!

Veldora liked his chances. As far as he knew, there was no one as cunning and tricky in the world as Rimuru. He was always glad to be friends, and not foes, with him; his praise was a ringing endorsement. So he unleashed the Storm Blast without hesitation.

A Thunderstorm Roar emerged from Veldora’s mouth. Its fury tore through the air, sending invisible rays of light in all directions. Velgrynd only paid attention to attacks that posed serious danger to her; she immediately assumed that these crisscrossing rays wouldn’t affect her at all. But that was precisely the trap.

When multiple types of these seemingly meaningless waves intersect, they generate untold destructive power. Much like sonic weapons, they don’t pose a threat on their own…but by the time the target takes notice, it is too late.

Velgrynd was no exception to this, totally missing the Storm Blast. It was only through the painful damage that cut through her entire body that she realized how badly she fell for Veldora’s tricks.

“Nngh…?! I’m in pain? What did you just do, Veldora?!”

“Kwaaaah-ha-ha-ha! It’s a special technique I’ve developed. I call it Storm Blast, and I’m quite proud of it!”

Veldora had the smuggest expression in the world. His plan succeeded with flying colors, and he couldn’t have been more overjoyed. This wasn’t a fatal blow, he knew, but he had never enjoyed such an advantage over his sister. Hence why Veldora felt he deserved to brag a little.

But:

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you? You still have much room for improvement.”

Now Veldora was in agony from intense pain like nothing he had experienced—and Velgrynd was the one gloating.

The moment Velgrynd recognized Veldora as an equal, she abandoned the entire battle. There was no meaning in the outcome of this, she thought, and so she focused just on completing her mission. That was why she had surreptitiously brought the emperor’s flagship closer to Veldora in a way that he wouldn’t notice.

Lieutenant Kondo was on board, and he was fully prepared. As telepathically instructed by Velgrynd, Kondo unleashed his most powerful technique against Veldora.

It was a blow that would destroy even gods—a Judgment Bullet, a type Kondo could fire only once per day. Birthed by his ultimate skill Sandalphon, Lord of Judgment, it was the pinnacle of ammunition, propelled to even loftier heights by Kondo’s God-class Nambu semiautomatic handgun. Nothing could outclass it, not even his own Necrosis Bullets, and as far as Kondo knew, nobody could survive being shot by it. It could even decimate Velgrynd’s replications, damaging her gravely in the process.

Everything had gone exactly as Velgrynd had calculated. The bullet was fired close to the speed of light, penetrating every type of defensive barrier as it reached its target. Veldora, caught off guard, couldn’t address it in time.

So it pierced him—and thanks to that, his very existence was now threatened.

At first, he was confused.

My sister turned to someone else for help?!

He had been elated, riding high and about to beat his sister—but instead, he fell for her trick. Most of all, however, Veldora was surprised his prideful sister had simply abandoned the competition with him. He knew she gave priority to her own conditions of victory, yet nonetheless, it felt very unlike her to do so.

That seemed important, but he had more pressing things to worry about in that moment.

Oh no! That man… He must be the one Rimuru told me to watch out for. But he immobilized me with a single blow?!

Alarms were ringing in Veldora’s brain with full force. As a spiritual life-form, it was highly abnormal for him to feel pain and suffering. The all-powerful True Dragon was on the verge of a life-threatening crisis, an unbelievable fact that even made Veldora fall into panic. If it had been a full-frontal attack, he might have weathered it, even if it was impossible to evade. But now that he had been completely taken by surprise, there was nothing even he could do.

Ow… I’m in trouble, aren’t I? Best to admit defeat this time and get back at her next time. Kwah-ha-ha-ha! Let’s just contact Rimuru and…

Despite all this, Veldora was relaxed. He knew that he and Rimuru were connected through a soul corridor, which would allow him to be revived at any time. As long as Rimuru remained alive, Veldora was immortal. There was no need for alarm.

But things quickly began to take a turn for the worse.

“Regalia Dominion.”

Veldora was so focused on Kondo that he failed to notice the other man on the airship’s deck, dressed in luxurious robes.

…Masayuki? No… Huh?! Wait a minute! What is this? This… This isn’t good at all!!

By the time he realized it, it was too late. Veldora’s spirit was about to be taken over by this man—Emperor Ludora.

Pounded by the Judgment Bullet, Veldora was in dire straits. But even now, there was something that he refused to abide by.

…I hope this is only me…but if this is allowed to pass, even my ally Rimuru could be harmed. I can’t allow that to happen…no matter what!

Ludora’s control over him was stronger than he had imagined. If he got stuck here, unable to do anything, it could even affect Rimuru through their soul corridor. That, Veldora thought, could never be allowed to happen.

So he cut the soul corridor by his own will.

“Good… Good. It’s up to you now, Rimuru…”

With those words, Veldora’s consciousness fell into darkness.