Carrera, realizing the situation after Zeth’s prompting, gritted her teeth. She had been enjoying her little confrontation so far, but after her parade got rained on like this, she lost all interest.
Then she felt a chill. She instinctively leaped back, and a moment later, the place where she was exploded.
“Hmm. Excellent,” said Zeth. “Thanks to you, I am one step closer to becoming a new Creator. I want to test this power…and I’ll need your help.”
Also speaking more naturally than before, he opened and closed his fists as he addressed Carrera. It was the strong speaking down to the weak, an attitude that trampled all over Carrera’s pride.
“Uh-huh… Funny to hear that from you,” she said. “You want me to be your sparring partner for that?”
“You do not have the right to refuse.”
As soon as he said it, Zeth lightly flicked out his fist. It was a gentle jab—lodged at several dozen times the speed of sound. The shock wave was strong enough to burn the air and shatter the ground.
Clearly, he was more powerful than before. Zeth’s EP hadn’t doubled, but it had likely seen a major upgrade. More troubling was the fact that he had likely gained an array of new special skills.
What a cowardly move, Carrera grumbled.
She had constructed a path to victory for herself, and now it was back to the drawing board. But as difficult as it had become, she didn’t think it was impossible. Zeth might have more power, but it didn’t seem like he had gained any new battle expertise. If Zeth had shown off a mastery on the level of Zegion, Carrera would’ve felt mortally endangered, but there was no feeling like that. Despite her qualms, she hadn’t lost her cool yet. That being said, Zeth had just publicly dissed her, and she couldn’t wait to pay him back for that.
So Carrera’s smile hadn’t faded from her face because she had fallen into despair at the sight of Zeth’s power. No, the problem was more with his friends.
That one over there looks like bad news, Carrera thought. She looks stronger than my prey here. Tag team or not, I wonder if Obela and Middray can beat her…
By Carrera’s estimation, it would take the combined efforts of Gobta-Ranga, Geld, Carillon, and Frey just to maybe defeat Mujika—that was how formidable he had become as well. Even if that did come to pass, it was still a coin flip.
…And any self-sacrifice is against the will of my master.
Carrera remained faithful to Rimuru’s orders. She was engaging Zeth like this because if she took on the toughest enemy, that would prevent casualties among any of her allies. That, of course, was based on the premise that Milim would do something about Zeranus, the enemy’s leader…but if Carrera took on their number-two fighter, she figured the rest would work itself out.
Now that this assumption was proven to be wrong, she didn’t want to be stuck with Zeth, who had become number three in the pecking order. It was time for her to make a momentous decision.
I wanted to save this in case something came up, but I don’t want to regret keeping it under wraps. Sorry, Zeth. I would’ve enjoyed fighting with you more, but it looks like this is going to be goodbye.
She turned toward Zeth, apologizing internally. She had wanted to defeat him with her core strength for the sake of gaining experience, but if her friends’ lives were at stake, she couldn’t put her own fun first. So, her mind made up, she pointed her Golden Gun at him.
“Heh. Don’t you understand yet that it doesn’t work on me?”
As Zeth said this, the magic bullets condensed by Carrera’s gun were only powerful enough to damage Zeth’s exoskeleton—damage from which he immediately healed and regenerated, so it essentially did nothing. She continued to use her gun as a distraction, however—as well as one other, more important, reason.
“All right,” she said. “Die, then.”
It was also her trump card when push came to shove. Before Carrera’s words reached Zeth, a bullet shot out from the Golden Gun—a Judgment Bullet, capable of felling anything that existed.
“Huh?”
Zeth froze as he looked at the hole in his chest. Then, a beat later, came the sensation of his life fading from him. The magicore that maintained his existence was destroyed, and he understood there was no escaping the death advancing upon him.
“You…you were going easy from the start…?”
“No. We were about equal in actual strength…and you’re a pretty impressive sight now. If we went all out against each other, it would’ve been tough to beat you.”
“So…why…?”
“Why else?”
Fighting a battle she couldn’t predict the outcome of was fun to Carrera…but her personal concerns could no longer take first priority. The more Carrera struggled against Zeth, the greater the chance her friends would be wiped out.
But there was another, more personal reason.
“The fight has been interesting enough for me…but you’re weaker than Zegion, so, like, I think I’m good now.”
With a big, innocent smile, Carrera told Zeth the truth—a truth that plunged him into despair. It was a very demonic thing to do, but that sort of thing came naturally to her.
“I…was inferior…? I was destined to become a new Creator…”
His voice sounded full of regret as he spoke his last words.
Even seeing the end of such a powerful enemy like this, Carrera didn’t feel she had accomplished much. Without even a moment spent basking in her achievement, she was about to head over to help Gobta and his cohorts—but then a hidden enemy made his move.
“Heh-heh-heh… I was waiting for this moment.”
“What?!”
She had detected no one else near her, but Carrera was startled by the sudden “pain” that ran through her arms—not actual pain, but data impulses reporting to her brain about the damage. An unbelievably heavy, violent shock had smashed itself against her, striking the arms she had put up to defend her vital points. It was the work of the Insect Lord Zeranus, who evaded even Carrera’s Universal Detect before making his appearance. Carrera’s instincts reacted quickly enough, but if it were anyone else, that one blow would have ended it.
“Heh… About time you showed up,” she said. “Why the hurry?”
“If you are within attack range, I will not hesitate to crush you.”
Just as he said, Zeranus was looking for any and every opportunity to hit Carrera. He far outclassed her in skill, something he was rightly proud of, but still he laid low and waited for the perfect opportunity, fearing what may happen otherwise.
It was Carrera’s Judgment Bullets that scared him. Minaza, sent out as part of the vanguard force, had once sent a report warning him about a man named Kondo. She didn’t go into great detail about all his abilities, but based on her observations, Kondo had “an unknown but extremely dangerous skill”—a description Zeranus took seriously. He later inquired with Michael and Feldway about it, and when he did, he learned that Kondo’s skill had been transferred to Carrera.
Thanks to this research, Zeranus had come at least somewhat prepared for what was to come. Michael’s Castle Guard seemed to block the attack, but Zeranus had nothing like that. He had concerns about his own personal security, so he wanted to wait for Carrera to break out that fearsome skill on someone else before he had to deal with it. Call it caution, call it cowardice—but it was one factor that made Zeranus the strongest of his kind.
Now that the moment had arrived, all his concerns were gone. They had lost Zeth, a truly valuable pawn, but it was clear he’d had good reason to be so vigilant.
Enemy or not, it was a truly wonderful weapon, Zeranus thought. If it were used on me, I’m not sure I would have survived it.
Despite that praise, Zeranus’s concerns about Carrera were already in the past. He had covered all the bases, and with that, the demon didn’t seem dangerous in the slightest.
Carrera, too, understood the danger as she looked Zeranus in the eye. This is a dangerous foe. Great. I can’t even see how far down his power goes…
It felt like she was facing Zegion or someone worse. Zeranus had no openings to exploit. She had no clue how to begin tackling him. She hated to admit it, but she had to—she might have been the Menace Lord, but the Insect Lord had her outclassed.
But not even that was going to make Carrera give up so easily.
“Huh? Pretty petty move for a so-called king, isn’t it?” she asked.
Even now, she wasn’t afraid to rile him. But Zeranus had her beat there.
“Heh! Trying to act strong at this point? You demons are all incredibly sore losers, aren’t you?”
He looked down on Carrera, calm and composed—the attitude of a winner.
“Oh, you think you’ve already won this? Isn’t that a little too arrogant around the likes of me?”
She was quick to retort, but the breezy, relaxed look on her face was gone. A single kick from Zeranus had crushed both her arms. She could barely ready her Golden Gun, much less hold her sword.
Her skeleton was originally crafted by Rimuru from orichalc, which had subsequently evolved into crimson steel. It boasted God-class strength, toughness, and resistance, making it unbreakable. Maybe it would’ve been understandable if a God-class weapon had damaged it…but a mere kick? It was beyond unexpected. That alone showed just the kind of threat the Insect Lord posed.
The secret behind it was made clear by looking at Zeranus’s body. His exoskeleton shone in a dazzling array of colors—the sheen of crimson steel.
So his whole body is crimson steel…?
It was clear from looking at the Insect Lord that he was a kind of ultimate life-form, the perfect combination of offense and defense. His entire body was both a deadly weapon and an impenetrable shield.
Slowly, Carrera observed his entire body. The fine, silvery hairs that ran from his forehead down his back gave the appearance of a long head of hair…but upon closer inspection, each hair had a tiny ridge that resembled a blade. Every single one was made of crimson steel that shone every color of the rainbow, depending on the angle you observed from.
I suppose each hair is a God-class blade. I don’t know how he controls them, but they could chop me up into bits if I’m not careful…
On Zeranus’s head were a pair of antennae. Two pairs of red, glowing wings sprouted from his back, and three pairs of arms were poised on both sides in a fighting stance.
Those wings are bad news, too. Is he compressing his energy into them? They seem pretty densely packed. If he released all that, it could change the whole shape of this planet.
It could very well be more destructive than the extreme magic Carrera held sway over. That was how much energy she could feel from those two pairs of wings.
And then there were those six arms. One pair was casually folded across his chest, but the other two were ready for battle. The arms on the bottom were crossed together, ready to fire magic on a moment’s notice. The pair on top, on the other hand, changed color and form as they went along, becoming thin and blade-like at the end and emitting a dull sort of shine. If he had struck with those bladed arms first, he would have had a good chance of amputating both of Carrera’s arms.
As Carrera continued to observe, Zeranus placed a foot on the prone Zeth. It was akin to stepping on his own son, but the truth was even worse.
“What are you—?”
Carrera’s question was met with a sort of crunching, chewing sound coming from Zeranus’s foot. Right before her eyes, he was consuming his son, the chief insectoid general.
“Hey, uh, he was bragging about how he was gonna be the next Creator and stuff.” Carrera’s eyes narrowed. “Was he actually this disposable to you the whole time?”
Zeranus answered that question with a loud, high-pitched laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous. My successor must be the strongest. Even stronger than me.”
“…”
“No one weaker than I could ever become a Creator.”
Suddenly, Zeranus moved. The mouth that appeared on the sole of his foot had finished consuming Zeth, and having absorbed his knowledge and experience, he turned it into his own. He, too, now spoke more smoothly than before—and the power…
Carrera desperately tried to defend herself. But her arms didn’t work.
Uh-oh…! If I take that undefended, I won’t be able to recover from that damage!
She accelerated her thoughts a million times over only to reach that conclusion. Life—or at least the life she had led in this incarnation—could be cruel to her.
But for this instant, it was not to be. Someone caught Zeranus’s kick.
“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Now I’m ready to pitch in. I’ve had enough of being patient!”
The girl smiled happily, her light pink hair blowing in the wind, like she was enjoying this. This was Carrera’s new friend—the demon lord Milim Nava herself, one of the strongest figures in the world.
“Let me handle this guy, Carrera!”
With that, Milim and Zeranus plunged into all-out combat. Carrera no longer had any role to play.
“…So much for that,” she said. “I still have a lot to learn. Better get myself healed.”
Quickly and calmly, Carrera moved on.
As she repaired her body, her focus shifted to Obela’s team, for whom she saw the battle was growing more intense and deadlier than expected. With Zeth out of the picture, Piriod and Mujika were the only Insect Masters left…but they were both serious trouble. That held especially true for Piriod, wife of Zeranus and mother to the entire insector race; she seemed to be gaining more power by the second.
Five members of the team, led by Obela, were fighting her—Middray being the sole exception. Obela was the commander and tank of the party; once fatigue got the best of her, Geld stepped right in to replace her. The remaining three—Carillon, Frey, and Gobta-Ranga—were using hit-and-run tactics to attack Piriod.
This was a pretty dangerous approach in Carrera’s eyes. Carillon and Frey were part of the Million Class, but they were almost fully spent—a single strike from Piriod could be fatal. But they were still out there attacking and trying to defend themselves. Obela and Geld were busily occupying Piriod’s attention, but one misstep would lead to almost certain disaster. It meant Obela and Geld had extremely important roles. With no healer in the group, there was no way to sustain this fight without Geld and his self-regenerative skills.
Middray, meanwhile, had subbed in for Geld against Mujika, making it a one-on-one fight again. Mujika had greatly powered up, his EP stat now far higher than Middray’s. However, it was a close battle, seesawing a bit but otherwise pretty even. This was thanks to Middray fighting with 100 percent of his force. All the restrictions he usually placed on himself were lifted—he knew now was no time to hold back—and he was showing off his Dragon Body form, something he only broke out when sparring with Milim. He was still human, but his arms and legs were covered in dragon scales, and he had similar protection under his clothes, except at the joints of his limbs.
This didn’t mean a statistical rise in EP for Middray; it just meant he was finally tapping into all his power. When Middray threw all the rules aside and fought the way he really was, this was the result. Perhaps that was why this battle had become so heated, with both sides feeling each other out and even waging something of a psychological war on top of the physical one.
“Wow, Middray, good job,” said Carrera. “I was curious about who’d win in a fight between you and Zegion, but now I think it’s pretty much a toss-up!”
Carrera, watching, couldn’t help but cheer for him. It was perhaps the greatest endorsement Middray had ever received. Mujika, after all, was a self-styled warrior, one very sure of his skills—Geld would have pummeled him long ago otherwise. He was even with Geld before he powered up, but now his EP had multiplied several times over. It was easily triple Middray’s, an overwhelming difference. But there he was, fighting on equal terms with Mujika. How impossible was this?
If Middray ever got serious, he probably could beat Zegion. But what if Zegion adjusted his intensity to match Middray’s…? The way Carrera saw it, it was impossible to predict who’d win.
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