Zarario couldn’t hide his consternation. He had no sense of what had happened to him, even though he had just experienced it.
He thought he heard a voice talking about “performing the ability adjust” or something, and immediately afterward, he could hear the chains binding his heart core shatter inside him. It was only a mental image, but Zarario was sure he’d felt it.
After he inherited Michael, Lord of Justice, Feldway immediately had full control over Zarario—and in an instant, all that was gone. He no longer had Israfil, Lord of Trials, the ultimate skill he had managed to obtain, but it was better to toss that aside than to be under someone else’s rule forever. That was what he thought at first…but then he realized that skill was still there, and it had become even more useful to him.
This ultimate skill was something of a low-level version of Uriel, Lord of Vows. It had some missing parts by comparison, although it compensated for them in other ways—but regardless, the skill worked in much the same manner. Its specialty was managing spaces, making Zarario capable of exerting control over any kind of matter, flow, or wavelength within its effective area. The only exceptions were special cases like data or stellar particles.
In other words, not even Disintegration—the skill Leon was so good at—would work on him now. Leon could make it work if he had the same kind of energy stores as Zarario, but the real-life difference was too great. If Zarario tried hard enough, he could even reflect Leon’s Disintegration back at him.
That being said, Leon wasn’t using any of his special skills in this fight. He hesitated to tap into them, thanks to some doubts he had. That was fortunate for him—and for Zarario, too, although it made for a less climactic show.
Thanks to Ciel, Zarario’s skill had been reborn. The ultimate skill Metis, Lord of Retribution—the ability to manipulate any and all materials and wavelengths in a given space—was a truly insane power, even transcending Uriel. It didn’t work on data or stellar particles, but it was still one of the most powerful combat-oriented skills in existence.
Zarario could intuitively sense all this.
I can’t believe it. Why? I accepted the proposal, yes, but I didn’t say I would be that voice’s ally…or no, actually, before that…
He understood he was panicking a little. Who could blame him? Ultimate skills are normally incredibly difficult to acquire. Zarario had lived for tens of billions of years, and only recently did he finally nab one for himself. He knew they existed, of course, but thought he didn’t need any. Maybe that was why he never got one, but either way…
I know for a fact they’re hard to acquire, and now I just get one out of nowhere? Is that even possible?! And who could even do that?
Zarario shuddered. The ultimate skill system was invented by Veldanava the Creator as tools to manage the world with. Other administrative skills could replace them, but a specialized, useful power like Zarario’s brand-new Metis was truly a divine force. He could even raise the dead with it if he used it right.
But is it really possible to just modify ultimate skills like that? These forces that could destroy the very laws of the world?
The thought made him shiver. Even contemplating these heady topics was such a strange sensation.
“Who in the world could have done this…?” Zarario muttered despite himself.
“It was Rimuru,” Leon replied.
“Rimuru? You’re saying the demon lord Rimuru did that?”
“Yes. You don’t have to think too hard about it. Just accept it as the way things are.”
That’s insane, thought Zarario. But looking at Leon, staring into the distance, he could tell Rimuru had put this demon lord through a lot.
“You’re being disrespectful to Sir Rimuru,” a miffed-looking Soei chided.
“Wait a minute,” replied Zarario. “Don’t you see how crazy your master is?!”
“That’s right,” Leon said, nodding.
The unexpected affirmation made everyone fall into an awkward silence. Zarario attempted to change the topic.
“And you got one, too? Are you sure of that?”
“Don’t be silly. I can feel it.”
Leon was now in possession of Surya, Lord of Brilliance. It slotted perfectly into his body, like he’d had it the whole time, and Leon could interact with spirit particles without any issue.
In terms of pure technique, Leon’s ultimate skill was above Zarario’s. The former was an experienced warrior, but his enemies were the uniform, never-changing insectors, so honing his skills was never a concept for him. The same was true of Obela; she had been fighting the same enemies for so long her skills had been optimized to work best on those foes she knew so well. Since her beloved sword had gone God-class, she was able to slice right through the exoskeletons of the insectors. Any further refinement of her skills was unnecessary.
Along those lines, Leon was a former Hero who had fought against all kinds of enemies, albeit over a different time frame from his companions. When it came to overall experience, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he actually beat Zarario. That was why, despite Zarario holding back a bit, he could beat him without relying on ultimate skills, even with the wide gap in strength.
“Are you all right, though? Because I haven’t seen you use a skill yet.”
Leon just smirked at the question. “It’s fine. Now we can fight each other without any second thoughts…but what do you think?”
Zarario couldn’t help but laugh. Leon was all but saying “how about I test it on you first?”
“We’ll have plenty of time for that later,” he replied, parrying the question as he turned his attention to the now-visible Milim.
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