Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.07

Veldora's sadness was none of Shion's concern. The battle with Dagruel had reached its climax, and the end was near. Dagruel and Shion clashed. Shion's attack hit Dagruel directly but did not even cause him an itch. Shion, however, was undaunted and repeated her attacks. Dagruel, not to be outdone, counterattacked. Shion's "Hercules Deluxe" caught a fist heavier than a massive iron hammer. Before the next barrage of blows could be unleashed, Shion continued to fire her fighting spirit with her large sword.

Dagruel floated in the air. It was an unusual sight. He was more than one size larger than Shion, and there was a huge gap between them in terms of the amount of magicule. Sensibly, it was an impossible phenomenon.

"Nooooo!"

"Not yet!" Shion followed.

She put more fighting spirit into "Hercules Deluxe" and slammed it into Dagruel. Her deadly sword, whose blade had more than tripled in length, struck Dagruel directly. Dagruel, however, was also a great fighter.

"Nnnn!" Dagruel formed a defensive membrane with his whole body filled with his fighting spirit, eliminating Shion's technique. The "Hercules Deluxe" was caught by Dagruel's crossed arms. He then returned the favor with a kick. Shion, however, clicked her tongue and retreated from the situation. The residue of Dagruel's fighting spirit hit Shion, but she was strangely unconcerned, as if nothing had happened.

"Hmm?" Dagruel wondered, suspicious that the response was different from what he expected, and tried to find out the cause.

Shion, by contrast, was unconcerned. She did not even realize her power had increased, and just kept on attacking Dagruel.

Dagruel immediately realized that even he did not understand. In such a situation, it was hard to expect to gather information through conversation.

(Never mind. We can just smash them as we had originally planned.) Dagruel changed his mind and counterattacked with more force. As a result, Shion's power also increased, and the battle became more and more fierce.

The reason for Shion's change was her evolved power. The essence of the Ultimate Skill 'Susanoo, the King of Tyranny' was the offsetting ability (Mai Nasu Break), which can be called the natural enemy of spiritual life forms. When she received energy from Veldora, she unknowingly utilized the power before it was completed. She offset the received energy with her own, neutralizing it and converting it into her own. Not only that, she could also take the target's energy and divert it by her own attack, making her able to defeat any enemy in the end.

However, the "eventually" was the key point. Since Shion's energy was limited, it could not become inexhaustibly strong. If this were the only reason, it would not be as strong as Dagruel, which was far superior to Shion. The reason Shion was able to approach Dagruel so rapidly was because she was operating her power beyond the limit. Shion had been trying to absorb and own the huge amount of energy that would normally collapse her own body. Even if she was damaged by the surplus, she exercised her power without worrying about it. This caused Dagruel to accumulate more fatigue than necessary, reducing his physical strength even though he was not injured. This is why she is a natural enemy of spiritual life forms. Combined with Shion's immortality, the effect was all the more vicious.

Shion, as the name of the tyranny implies, controlled the raging energy. She took the energy and put it in her own body to fight against Dagruel. Thanks to the Ultimate Skill 'Susanoo', she fought a good battle against Dagruel, a mass of energy.

However, that was about to end. Dagruel was a monster with a hundred battles under his belt. He had not claimed to be a demon lord and was not so soft that he could do whatever he wanted to the newly awakened chicks.

(I see. She seems to be appropriating my power, doesn't she?) Dagruel thought. (Then, the countermeasure is easy. All I have to do is end the game with a power that Shion cannot control.)

"I will do my best. Don't hate me even if I die!" Dagruel declared.

"I hope so!" Shion responded.

Dagruel unleashed his localized destruction technique, an anti-personal technique that converges maximized energy shockwaves.

"Maelstrom Buster!"

Dagruel's high energy shone blue, and the wave spiraled like a whirlpool. Riding the wave, Dagruel's huge frame took the lead and approached Shion. At first glance, it looked like a drop kick, but its hidden destructive power (energy) was truly Catastrophe-class. Even with her Ultimate Skill 'Susanoo, the King of Tyranny', it was impossible to neutralize all of them. Dagruel tried to end the game with power that was an order of magnitude different from Shion's. (The difference in power was overwhelming, something that could not be overcome by level.)

"I am sorry, but you should know that what you have cultivated is powerless in front of me."

Dagruel recognized Shion. He did not underestimate her and admired her experience and strength of mind. However, Dagruel knew well that there was no room for such feelings in a battle, and that the only result would be an overthrow by force. Shion fought well, but only so far. When faced with Dagruel's true spirit, she had no other choice but to face the irresistible end.

For Dagruel, it was not a certainty but a reality that had to happen.

However, Shion was unaware of Dagruel's inner thoughts. In the first place, it did not matter what the enemy was thinking once the battle had begun. Even in the face of the oncoming Dagruel-polar vortex maelstrom buster, Shion smiled fearlessly.

Dagruel noticed this and became suspicious.

"Has she given up in the face of death? No, that's not it..."

Shion looked like a challenger who had not yet given up on victory. Her expression showed her will to fight back. At a time when there was nothing she could do—

But at that moment, a flash of light fell on Dagruel's brain.

"True Chaotic Fate!"

Shion's flame arrived late. Dagruel's eyes widened in astonishment. Yes, there was an intense pain in his brain and forehead that he had not felt in a long time. It was a pain that had been there for thousands of years, but that was not the only thing that startled Dagruel.

He felt a solid response as if a maelstrom buster had exploded with the intention of killing Shion and his respect for her. This was as expected, but Shion's response was unexpected. Shion threw away all her defenses and focused all her energy on the attack.

"That's ridiculous! Is she trying to die?"

Dagruel liked Shion. He was even attached to Shion to the extent that he did not want her to die if possible. Although they were enemies now, he thought they might become friends when the war was over. Even if that was impossible, Dagruel had no intention of killing her. If she was as strong as Shion, there was a possibility that she could survive as long as she was on the run. As long as she did not give up her life to the end, Dagruel was willing to let her go as long as she did not disturb him anymore.

However, Shion died in a vain attempt to save her life...

"What?"

At that moment, Dagruel noticed something strange. He was distracted by the pain in his brain, but there was something else wrong. Incredibly—yes, unbelievably, but unrealistically—Dagruel was on his knees on the ground. He could not get up.

"What happened?"

Dagruel read his memory again. Shion did not defend. She had done her best to counterattack, perhaps realizing that she would not be able to defend herself completely. She slashed "Hercules Deluxe" from below to counter Dagruel's attack from above. Normally, the blade would never have reached Dagruel because it would have been repelled by the violence of the maelstrom buster. The difference in power was that great, but at the moment of intersection, Shion's blade disappeared as if in a haze. It was as if the blade had defied the laws of physics and struck Dagruel directly.

"No way... Guaranteed Outcome? Did Shion perform 'causality manipulation' on me?"

Dagruel's understanding was correct. Shion had already had the experience of reaching Dagruel with her blade on several occasions. Although she had not been able to inflict much damage, she had certainly been able to "hit" him. So for Shion, it was a simple matter to reproduce the phenomenon.

The power of the Ultimate Skill 'Susanoo' is 'Thought Acceleration, Universal Perception, Demon Lord Haki, Guaranteed Outcome, Infinite Regeneration, Behavioral Alteration, Emptiness Offsetting, Illusion Destruction, Spacetime Manipulation, Multidimensional Barrier'—all outstandingly diverse and useful. Among them, 'Infinite Outcome' and 'Illusion Destruction' are the most dangerous ones, and if combined, they could kill even Rimuru, as Ciel warned. Since Shion made full use of these powers, it is natural that Shion's true Chaotic Fate gave Dagruel a severe blow.

However, Shion herself would not be safe. Shion was also directly hit by Dagruel's Chaotic Fate, and her 'Ultraspeed Regeneration' or even 'Infinite Regeneration' should have killed her instantly. But that is only if Shion was alone.

"Rebirth!"

Luminas's beautiful voice echoed through the battlefield. The voice of Luminas echoed on the battlefield to save Shion by the hand of God before the violence of Dagruel shattered her soul. Shion, who was destined to die, was rescued from the brink of death by Demon Lord Luminas' Ultimate Skill 'Lustful King Asmodeus'.

Shion stood proudly against Dagruel, who knelt on the ground. The victory was clear for all to see.

"Uh-huh. Thank you for saving my life, Luminas-sama."

"You dummy... what were you going to do if I couldn't save you?"

In that case, Shion would have died. Shion's strategy had worked, as she had hoped that Luminas would surely be able to save her.

"Of course, I believed that Luminas-sama would do something about it!"

Hearing this, Luminas let out a big sigh of exasperation. She shook her head and smiled.

"Don't call me 'sama'. You can call me Luminas."

"—!"

"Are you dissatisfied?"

"No, Luminas, from this day on you are my friend!"

Very straightforwardly, Shion smiled and showed her goodwill.

"Hmph! You can think whatever you like!"

Luminas responded with a bright red cheek, as if embarrassed. Then, she turned away from Shion with a tsuntsun.