Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 3.3

Gabil was locked in mortal combat with Baraga—and it was the Azure Dragon Spear in Baraga’s hands that proved to be the deciding factor. It was unacceptable from Gabil’s point of view that a difference in weapons would determine the outcome like this, but the reality was that even his prized Dragonskin ability couldn’t provide much defense against the Azure Dragon’s spear thrusts.

“Inflicting wounds on the likes of me… A worthy foe indeed.”

“Kah-ha-ha! I’d say the same of you. I meant to finish you off in a single blow, but you’re far more of a handful than I expected.”

Both of them were severely wounded. But neither of them stopped attacking. They were only hurting themselves further, but neither cared.

“The fact you fight at my level after my awakening is truly amazing. But I cannot let myself be defeated!”

“Hmph! Even without awakening, Sir Gradim was far stronger than you. If he had pulled off the feat, you wouldn’t have even given him a struggle.”

“Nonsense! There are many who serve Sir Rimuru who are stronger than I! You are a good fighter, no doubt, but compared to the likes of Lady Ultima, you are but a minnow in a pond!”

It didn’t dawn on Gabil that this was tantamount to calling himself a minnow as well. He didn’t exactly have the gift for words that some of his compatriots did, but in his mind, he meant everything he said.

And while he might have been struggling to hold his own, he still kept an eye on the war situation around him. Daring to expose himself a bit, he attempted to guide Baraga away from the sleeping Carillon, successfully shifting their location little by little.

Lady Sufia has rushed to our aid, so I’m sure Sir Carillon will be fine. Now he won’t be caught in the thick of it if we unleash some larger-scale moves.

In his own way, Gabil was strategizing. And as he did, Frey defeated one of the Three Generals.

“What? No! Now Nazim is slain, too?!”

Following in the steps of their leader, the woman they had informally treated as his second-in-command was now also dead. Being confronted with this made Baraga furious.

“Y-you will pay for this! This spear will be used to avenge my friends’ deaths!”

Now he was truly coming into his own.

“A true Chimera Knight is a warrior who has obtained the power of Animalize, previously the exclusive privilege of beastmen. Do you see what I mean? We have been granted The Beast, a specialized medical treatment, to artificially integrate man and beast’s powers together. That is who we are—the ultimate in warpower.”

As he gave this speech, Baraga’s body began changing rapidly. He had been undeniably human before, but now he was showing more and more of the characteristics of a dragon. It made his military uniform bulge, but it managed to hold out without tearing, as he transformed into something resembling more like a dragonewt than a full-on dragon.

“Ahhh… This feels good. Unlocking true power is such an uplifting feeling!”

It was the first time Baraga ever tested this transformation out. He thought it was possible for him, but he never told anyone about it, keeping it his little secret. But now that Gradim—whom he admired and respected—was dead, all the fetters on his mind had been lifted. With his comrade Nazim fallen as well, there was no more reason to hesitate further.

“Come to me, all of you!”

Baraga was calling out to the troops serving under him, currently running berserk across the battlefield. These poor soldiers, reduced to unthinking magical beasts, still obeyed the orders of this overwhelmingly strong presence, their instincts recognizing him as the superior one among them. The same was true for those somewhere on the spectrum between human and beast.

Then Baraga lunged upon them all. Their magicules flowed into him—almost visibly, like a pulse—and the devoured victims dried up like mummies, their lives scattered to the winds.

“Wh-what a feat! Those were your soldiers, weren’t they? And now you’ve—”

“They were nothing but fodder for the enemy as they stood. They should be thankful they got to die serving me.”

“How selfishly evil of you! I refuse to let this outrage go unchecked!”

Gabil charged with his spear, his instincts telling him that Baraga would be trouble if left unchecked any further. Judging by the situation, he was likely procuring energy from his soldiers to bump his magicule count up to the maximum this current form allowed him. His magicule count was still up there with Gabil’s—on the verge of what you could call an artificially awakened demon lord—so it’d be harsh to criticize Gabil for panicking a little. That haste, however, led to the worst possible outcome.

“You fool! On the battlefield, the first to die is the one who loses his presence of mind. Did you think I’d be so preoccupied with my meal that I’d let my guard down?!”

There were two purposes to Baraga’s actions. One was to shore up his newfound power capacity. The other was to make Gabil act too early, and it worked—he was all but jumping into certain death.

“What?!”

By the time he realized it, he was too late. Baraga was using his feet to nimbly work the Azure Dragon Spear, and as Gabil flew in, the tip pierced his stomach. His magisteel breastplate did not cover his abdomen, and not even Gabil’s Dragonskin skill could withstand an attack from a blind spot he wasn’t even aware of.

“Gah… Gwahh!”

Gabil spat out blood, an open hole in his stomach. The sight made Baraga laugh at the top of his lungs.

“Kah-ha-ha! Now I will feed upon you—the greatest honor you will ever receive!”

It would have been the end for Gabil. But fate was not about to allow it.

Confirmed. Activating unique skill Braggart… Successful. The subject Gabil’s fate has changed, and he has avoided death.

It was the World Language. Even Gabil himself had forgotten about the unique skill Braggart, but now its power had just altered his destiny.

He’d acquired this unique skill when Rimuru became a demon lord, but its effects had remained unknown at the time. All he knew was that it had the effect of either increasing or decreasing the power of his attacks. They’d get stronger when he was on a roll mentally, but weaker when he felt more timid or fainthearted. The power suited Gabil’s personality to a tee, but it wasn’t exactly the most convenient of unique skills to tap into.

“Gwah! Huh? I am rather sure I was run through in the stomach just now…”

It made him worry a little. But he was never one to sweat the details. So he easily shunted it from his mind and readied his spear toward Baraga.

“No! What just happened?”

From his foe’s point of view, this reality wasn’t so easy to accept. He had finally come up with a plan to ensnare and kill Gabil, this powerful enemy. Once he had him overwhelmed, it was assuredly in the bag. This just seemed unfair.

“This is complete nonsense! In that case, I’ll make sure to pierce your heart next time!!”

All the magicules Baraga absorbed made him rapidly grow in power. Now, he thought, it’d be child’s play to defeat Gabil, dirty tricks or not. So he grabbed his Azure Dragon Spear with both hands.

Once again, the two fighters were staring each other down. Once again, Gabil was at a disadvantage. He got a karmic saving throw just now, but lightning wouldn’t strike twice for him. Unbeknownst to Gabil, the unique skill Braggart’s Change Destiny feature required a long cooldown time before it could be reactivated. No matter how much he got fired up, he could only tap into that skill once a day at most.

So Gabil had no other secrets left at his disposal. Even worse, after this marathon battle, he had rapidly depleted his physical strength. Coming back from the brink of death, as he did just now, would require an extended period of rest for most people.

But despite all that, Gabil beamed, showing no signs of fear.

“Gwah-ha-ha-ha! Your technique is sharp as a tack, but I have yet to lose. With a master as excellent as mine, you shouldn’t expect to win that easily.”

Gabil sharpened his focus, preparing to respond to whatever Baraga tried on him.

…And then fate made its choice.

It wasn’t because of anything Gabil’s skills did for him. It was just the moment Ciel was born within Rimuru’s mind. And just when he was about to expend his remaining energy on a final decisive strike, a voice from the heavens reached out to help him.

Do you desire power? Then let me give it to you. Please agree to my upgrade for your unique skill.

…?!

Gabil didn’t ask what that meant. The voice felt so warm, so familiar, that just listening to it had a calming effect. So, without hesitation, Gabil agreed to it within his mind.

The effect was dramatic.

A wise choice. I will sacrifice the unique skill Braggart to grant you a new ability.

As soon as the voice disappeared, a new power awakened in Gabil.

The ultimate gift Moodmaker, as granted by Ciel, included five effects: Mind Accelerate, Alter Destiny, Control Unforeseen, Control Space, and Multilayer Barrier.

Mind Accelerate raised his perceptive speed up to one million times. Alter Destiny was an upgrade from the Change Destiny skill in Braggart. This could be activated at Gabil’s will, although it was still limited to one use per day.

Control Unforeseen was, in turn, an upgrade from Braggart’s Unexpected Effects skill. Up to now, he could boost his attack power only through unintentional actions; now he could trigger this at will. It still acted based on his mood, however, so only when he was excited and driven would his attacks gain more strength.

Control Space was the same skill already available to Benimaru and the other top officers. Its chief application was for Spatial Transport, letting the user return freely to anywhere they previously visited as long as no external interference had taken place. Said interference could also be used to keep your enemy from escaping battle on you. This made it extremely useful.

Finally, Multilayer Barrier was a defensive technique that Rimuru had already put to great use. A combination of various single-purpose barriers, it could protect the user from virtually any kind of attack—and thanks to Gabil being under Rimuru’s authority, now he had access to it, too.

Gabil correctly understood the effects of a skill that had been mostly opaque to him until now. Ciel laid it all out for him in his field of consciousness, after slowing it down a million times over for him. It was a truly moving experience.

Then, without thinking, he said:

“Amazing… Truly amazing! I feel undefeatable!!”

Already Gabil’s emotions were soaring to new heights, and in his case, that was the best thing he could possibly have done. He smiled, banishing the gloom from the air, and that alone proportionally boosted his powers.

“Wh-what’s going on?! Your powers have ballooned out of nowhere! What have you done?!”

“Gwah-ha-ha-ha! Sorry to burst your bubble, but I truly have a great master. And as long as I enjoy his protection, I cannot be defeated!”

It was big talk from the ebullient Gabil, even though there was still every chance of losing this battle. His body was teeming with almost-overflowing power as he spoke. Now it’d be difficult to stop his momentum.

“Prepare to die!”

“Ha! Allow me to carve my power into your body!”

So the pair of them, both as strong as an awakened demon lord, clashed with all their might. The exchange lasted a single moment—and it was Gabil who won. The Azure Dragon Spear, swung with abject recklessness, was bounced away by Gabil’s Vortex Spear. It left Baraga wide open, and before he had time to regain his footing, a thrust from Gabil left a large hole in his chest.

“Gahahh! I… I’m not done yet… With my recovery skills, this much means nothing…”

Baraga, too, boasted the consummate healing skills exclusive to beastmen. By taking in energy from those who served him, he could heal a given level of injury almost instantly. He tried using it to fix this one up as well…but things didn’t work out that way. Much to Gabil’s own astonishment, the combination of Alter Destiny and Control Unforeseen activated for him, and together they took away Baraga’s healing abilities. Alter Destiny could work just once a day—but that limit only applied when used on the same target. As Gabil had just discovered, he could also invoke it against an enemy.

Just as Baraga himself said, the first to die in battle was the one to lose his presence of mind.

“Th-this is more powerful than I thought…”

And so Gabil had gained not only new strength, but an undeniable victory by his own hand.

Meanwhile Gozaline, the final survivor out of the Three Generals, was up against an unexpectedly formidable foe.

With the defeat of their commander Gradim, the Magical Beast Division had fallen into great disarray. Before they could even attempt to fully regroup, a huge force of demons flew into the picture. “Huge,” perhaps, was overstating it—they were about five hundred in all—but their qualities made each of them a one-man army.

These were the Diable Chevaliers, a fearsome force under the direct command of the demon lord Rimuru. And while Chimera Knights were nearly twice as powerful as them in terms of magicules, they were having surprising difficulty gaining the upper hand in battle—that’s how much more capable they were as fighters.

Seeing things not go their way made Gozaline’s frustration grow. And it was right at that moment when destiny came knocking.

What’s that…?

A writhing shadow appeared at the edge of her vision. Something about it made her instincts set off alarm bells. She turned her eyes away from the battle, trying to figure out what it was. She was right to do so, for if this shade had been left unattended, she would have died without ever knowing what happened to her—although it could be said that she’d have been happier that way.

The shadowy figure was undulating right where the wreckage of the Demon Colossus was lying. Now it stood before Gozaline, who was still trying to figure it out.

Before her now was a handsome, topless young man with black hair that reached down to his waist. His skin was a dark shade of brown, with a dull sheen to it. It almost seemed to be metallic in nature—but in fact, from the waist down, the man had merged himself with the ruined Demon Colossus. Before Gozaline’s eyes, the wreckage melted into liquid metal, changing its shape as the man’s lower body did the same.

“Oh my… I’m naked, aren’t I? How mortifying.”

The man’s tone of voice, extremely ill-befitting his good looks, was identical to that of the enemy Gozaline had just been fighting.

“I hesitate to ask…but are you Lord Gadora?”

The man grinned at her. “Well, of course I am! Or did you think you had me beat back there? Well, not if I have anything to say about it.”

The mysterious nude man was Lord Gadora himself.

“Are you kidding me? You used a self-destruct spell to end your own life! How can you be alive when you burned away your existence like that?!”

Gozaline was having trouble trying to comprehend this, but Gadora’s words were putting her into full-blown panic. She tried to seize the conversation, not wanting to be swept away by him any further.

“Ah, I remember now… I used the elemental magic Sacrifice to do myself in, didn’t I? And you think I died from that? Well, a man of my stature can never truly die by suicide. And I’d advise you to never rest on your laurels until the battle is fully at an end.”

Gadora quickly created some clothing to put on as he spoke. It wasn’t very flattering for him, but—he figured—it beat remaining naked like this.

“Enough blather! Answer my question!”

Gozaline, for her part, wanted to be rid of Gadora without a second thought. But she found herself taking a cautious stance. He was supposed to be completely dead, yet here he was, back to life. She couldn’t know if he’d be fully honest with him, so regardless of his response, Gozaline intended to put all her energy into her next attack.

Knowing this old man, I’m sure he’s up to one trick or another. Maybe he prepared some kind of substitute sacrifice in advance. He wants to disturb me, I’m sure, but I know my power can crush any stupid game of his!

Her magisteel body, despite appearances, was extremely heavy. Even if she just rammed into him, it’d still be a shuddering impact with enough speed. What’s more, if she launched a High-Frequency Mince Strike with all her tentacles, they’d turn into living bullets that shredded anything they touched.

Gozaline concentrated all her strength in her legs. Picturing herself as a cannonball, she triggered an explosion in the earth to gain propulsive force—another one of her secret abilities.

Now her aim was squarely upon Gadora—but the old sorcerer, unaware of this, began to offer a sincere commentary on what just happened.

“That’s right! I have been reincarnated. You see, I prepared a mysterious art known as Reincarnation in advance, for a situation just like this one. Using it means saying good-bye to this world for a while, but it also grants me a new life while retaining all my memories. It’s a wonderful thing, you know.”

“…And?”

“Well, the success rate isn’t all that high with it, but the potential rewards you reap are incredible. And by this point, I’ve been reincarnated so many times that it’s all but guaranteed to work.”

It’s a fact—the first time you attempt something is when you’re least likely to pull it off correctly. Adalmann had failed at this, and it certainly wasn’t because Gadora was unskilled.

For himself, Gadora always had a few magic spells set up in advance that could be invoked instantly when needed. People like Razen could maybe prepare one or two of these at a time, but Gadora always had at least three ready at all times. One was a teleport magic for a quick escape; another was a self-destruct spell to take his own life—and he made sure that the Reincarnation spell was always active, so he’d be safe even if death took him.

He was clearly a cautious caster, but this time, something unforeseen had happened. Upon invoking Reincarnation, Gadora’s soul had escaped from his physical body. Protected by magic, the soul was supposed to reenter the cycle of reincarnation, searching for its next body—but then a certain promise came into play.

Gadora had previously asked Diablo to become his apprentice, but this application had been put on hold. Normally Diablo would have rejected it immediately, but the demon had taken a liking to Gadora, thanks to their shared high praise of Rimuru’s magic. “You are an interesting man,” Diablo told him at a party, “and I never dislike interesting people. I will make you one of my own—if I decide that you are truly useful to Sir Rimuru.”

The sorcerer assumed this was just Diablo’s way of saying no while being polite about it, but still he did his level best, hoping to win the demon’s approval. However, by that time, he had already fallen into his seductive trap. His Reincarnation spell had been rewritten, unbeknownst to him. Now, if he chose to die for Rimuru’s sake, it was possible for him to be reborn as a demon.

Demons, of course, were a race born with fighting abilities. And since Gadora was now one—with his old memories and all—it was only natural that he’d have a very special incarnation.

The one hitch was his physical body. As spiritual life-forms, demons needed those in order to remain in this world. Gadora would normally have to either possess someone’s corpus or contact Diablo and ask for a summoning, but with Ciel manifesting in Rimuru’s mind, fate was working quickly for him as well.

If you seek a physical body, I will grant it to you. I will give you more power as well. So…

So, the voice concluded, please be useful to Sir Rimuru.

This was a dream come true for Gadora. “Of course,” he all but shouted, and with that, the contract was concluded. This was the birth of a brand-new race—the metal demons.

Now his body was clad in black, as perhaps befitting his roots in a dark tribe. His hair, eyes, and skin were all dark shades—but they also had a metallic luster to them, giving him something of an artificial, manmade atmosphere. But he wasn’t modeled after the old Gadora. Instead, he was based on a previous incarnation—his very first life, in fact, as a young man. It was reproduced from the memories engraved in his soul, not based on anything from his newfound species.

In fact, thanks to being a new race, he wasn’t bound by any of the typical restrictions demons faced. The current Gadora’s magicule count was comparable to the out-of-control Clayman, and together with his knowledge and experience from previous lives, he was no doubt far stronger now. Gadora truly felt reborn, and as if to savor this, he was now feeling rather talkative as he sized up Gozaline.

“So you’ve become a ‘metal demon’? This brand-new thing?” she asked him.

“It certainly seems that way, yes. And let me warn you, I’ve become quite a bit more powerful. I’d suggest surrendering right now, in fact, because you don’t stand any chance at all. Do so, and I’ll spare your life, in the name of your former comrades.”

“Only a fool would agree to that!”

Ready and waiting for the opportunity, Gozaline rushed toward Gadora, her tremendous speed turning her body into a massive bullet. Gadora, she thought, was too busy prattling away to cope with it at all—but the next moment, her eyes widened in surprise. Just before she reached him, her body was forced against her will in another direction.

“Strange, isn’t it? Well, to put it in simple terms, I used magic to manipulate the local magnetism to create a powerful magnetic field. Apply a current to it, and I can place an electromagnetic force on a given target, like I did just now.”

The target, in this case, was Gozaline. For someone like Gadora, well studied in the science of other worlds, there was a lot he could do with his magic. Corralling Gozaline’s greatest skills was no sweat for him.

“You…”

Gadora aloofly stood here, a large book in his left hand. He used his right to turn the pages with care.

“How do you like it? Now do you understand my powers? Now go ahead and surrender for me, please.”

Gozaline interpreted this as condescension. He didn’t mean it that way, but to her, this was a wound on her pride as a strong woman. That’s why surrender wasn’t an option.

“All right. I didn’t want to break this out, but I see I must make up my mind!”

So Gozaline swallowed her pills and launched The Beast. This was going to unlock untold force within her, just as it did for Baraga. But Gadora had no reason to wait for it.

“Oh dear. Well, in that case, you can be the subject I’ll test my new power out on!”

Gadora looked on with delight, like a scientist staring at a guinea pig.

“Ultimate gift Grimoire… Unfold!”

The book in his left hand glowed with an ominous light. Inside of it was all the magic that Rimuru—or, in essence, Ciel—controlled. Seeing all the beautiful magic formulas that lined the pages, Gadora’s face lit up in ecstasy. Then he selected the one most suitable for this exact moment.

“Limited Hellflare.”

This was an art developed by Benimaru, but Rimuru had made it into a skill for his own purposes. And since magic is itself a kind of skill, it was listed in his Grimoire.

“…Huh?”

It was an inferior version compared to what its inventor could conjure, but it was still no slouch power-wise. And with it, before she understood what was happening, Gozaline was set ablaze, instantly scorched beyond repair.

“Ah, I wanted to brag about it a little more. But oh well.”

Gadora attempted to stroke his beard as he muttered this, only to find nothing there—not even a little stubble.

“Ah, damn it all! I look like a young man now, don’t I? Well, I can’t have that. My hair’s dark as night, too—I’ll need to invest in some dye, I suppose… Oh, wait! Actually, I can cast some transformation magic to handle that, can’t I? Let’s see…”

So he gleefully began flipping through his Grimoire.