Chapter 12

When I returned to the village mounted on Sleipnir and followed by the herd of Bicorns, the villagers couldn't get over their astonishment, and shouted with joy when I told them that these were their new companions. The only one who didn't seem happy was Rogue, who was looking at Sleipnir as if he had found the nemesis of his existence.

I could imagine why. I was sure that the Nightmare Wolf would not accept anyone other than himself as my mount.

"Now, Rogue. Don't be angry." – I told him as I dismounted from Sleipnir and approached the Nightmare Wolf. "I was only riding Sleipnir to see how it felt, but you know that you are the only mount that I trust. – I told him while I stroked his head. "In fact, I was thinking of giving Sleipnir to Browen as a gift."

Hearing that I wasn't replacing it with a Bicorn, Rogue's countenance returned to its normal state of everlasting bliss, and he attacked me with his most terrifying skill, the "Tongue Attack!"

However, our joy over the new acquisition for our village did not last long.

"Lord Rogan! There's an emergency." - Browen yelled as he ran towards us, his expression serious.

"What's wrong, Browen?" – I asked, alarmed.

"Lord Okimura and I were practicing our skills near Dragon's Peak, when we hear huge explosions near the top of the mountain, where the dragons nest. We went to investigate and found two guys dressed as harlequins attacking the dragons in the area. We were going to withdraw, to come and warn you, but they discovered us and attacked. Lord Okimura stalled them so I could escape and tell you." - Browen replied, while catching his breath.

"Some harlequins, you say?" Tuatha intervened.

"That's right, sister."

"Do you know these harlequins, Tuatha?" – I asked the Dark Elf.

"Did they have masks?" - she asked Brown.

"Yes. One had a mask like an angry clown, and the other looked like a sad clown, with a tear in its eye." - Browen replied.

"Then I'm afraid the situation is serious. Those harlequins are allies of the Demon King Clayman." – Tuatha told me.

"Clayman again? First the problem with Katar, and now these harlequins." – I muttered to myself. "I must go immediately to confront them. Even if Okimura is powerful, it's two against one. And if we let them attack the dragons, the big beasts might get angry and attack the nearby settlements, including us. – I told those present. " Rogue, enter my shadow!" – I ordered the Nightmare Wolf, while using Mimicry to create a pair of dragon wings.

"Yes, Master!" – He answered me and hid in my shadow, while I took flight towards Dragon's Peak.

Thanks to the speed of the wind dragon's wings, I reach the top of the mountain in no time, finding Okimura facing off against the two harlequins. Although the Kijin wasn't doing too badly, it seems that his opponents were too strong, and between the two of them had him cornered against the side of the mountain.

The harlequins, a fat one with an angry face, and a small one with a tear falling from her eye, seem to have already done their thing, as the corpses of several dragons were nearby.

Before the harlequins had a chance to attack Okimura again, I landed between them and the Kijin, erecting a rock wall between us and them with earth magic.

"Okimura! Are you okay?" - I asked the Kijin.

"I'm fine, Lord Rogan. I'm sorry I wasn't able to remove this threat without your help." - Okimura apologized.

"That does not matter now. Rogue!" – I called the Nightmare Wolf.

"Here, Master" - Rogue answered me, coming out of my shadow.

"Okimura, you and Rogue will take care of the sad clown, I'll take care of the angry one." – I ordered them, and lowered the rock barrier.

"As you order, Lord Rogan!" – They both answered me, and left after their objective.

"Who are you?" - I asked the angry harlequin, once the others moved away while I drew out Huges's sword.

"Ho, ho, ho. My name is Footman, the Angry Parrot, and I'm part of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance. But it doesn't matter if you know who I am or not, since you will die here!" – Footman said, and then he attacked me with a quick punch.

I used "Thought Acceleration" and my own agility to avoid his fist while slashing with my sword, but Footman quickly dodged my slash. For such a heavy body, he sure was agile!

Now with a bit of distance separating us, I used "Fire Manipulation" to launch a large blaze of fire at the clown, but he began to spin like a top and once again dodged my attack.

I was getting tired of this game!

Footman's way of fighting was melee; I had to find an effective way to counter his blows. And that exactly gave me an idea! Activate "Decaying Body Armor"!

Once this skill was activated, every part of my body was covered in scary-looking plate armor, and when Footman attacked again, this time I didn't dodge. The force of the fist almost sent me flying, but I managed to hang on thanks to "Sticky Thread". Footman, on the other hand, had not come out of his attack unscathed. Thanks to the corrosion effect of my armor, I had destroyed his entire left arm, forcing him back.

While planning my next move, I used the Unique Skill "Observer" to see how Okimura and Rogue's battle against the other harlequin was going.

Both of them had managed to corner the harlequin, Tear according to the Librarian, against the side of the mountain, thus reversing the situation they were in when I arrived.

Tear, seeing that she was at a disadvantage, managed to jump over Okimura and Rogue, and join Footman, whose arm had already fully regenerated.

"Hey Footman. These guys are very strong! I think we should withdraw." - Tear told Footman.

"You're right, Tear. Anyway, we already have what we came for." – Footman said, and the corpses of the dragons that were behind them disappeared.

"Ha, ha, ha. Let's see how that slime manages to beat Charybdis." - Tear scoffed, and then they both disappeared in a cloud of magicules.

"They escaped with "Spatial Travel" - I told Okimura and Rogue when they got closer, once the battle was over.

"Of course! They must have feared the Master very much." - Rogue exclaimed.

"I don't think it was that. Their target seemed to be the corpses of the dragons. Defeating us seemed to be more to make sure we didn't tell anyone what they were up to. And before they left, they said something about a certain Charybdis and a slime." – There was only one slime that was famous enough to be called "the slime" "I think they're planning something in Rimuru's city"

"Lord Rogan, we should go help Lord Rimuru." - Okimura advised me.

"Yes, the best thing will be..." - I started to say, when a great roar shook the whole mountain.

I quickly used the Unique Skill "Observer", to spot whatever it was that made that noise, and what I saw made my heart race. Five dragons, much larger than the Wind Dragons that had attacked the village earlier, were now heading towards the village. After a quick analysis by the Librarian, he classified four of the dragons as Arch Dragons, the immediate evolution of lesser dragons, and Calamity Class creatures. But the most terrifying of all was the great purple dragon that led them, which the Librarian designated as a Dragon King, the last evolutionary stage of the dragon race, considered by the Free Guild to be a Disaster Class creature. According to the Librarian, the four Arch Dragons were associated with the four elements Water, Earth, Fire and Wind, while the great Dragon King was associated with the Space element.

"The village is in danger! Quick Okimura, take my hand!" – I warned them and Okimura quickly took my hand, while with the other I touched Rogue, and I used "Spatial Manipulation" to teleport us to the village.

"Everyone, listen to me carefully!" – I spoke to all the members of the village, using "Thought Communication" to its full capacity. "The village is in danger! A group of particularly strong dragons will attack the village in a few moments! These are my orders: Okimura will face the Fire Arch Dragon, as his wind element will give him an advantage over it. Yoshi will face the Wind Arch Dragon; with his fire element he will have an advantage over the wind. Hiroka will face the Earth Arch Dragon with her space element. And Rogue will face the Water Arch Dragon. Browen, you and Tuatha will gather all the members of the village and use the bicorns to travel to the sea shore, where you'll wait until the battle is over. I'll take care of the Dragon King."

"Understood, Lord Rogan!" - I could hear the cacophony of everyone's voices, while they answered me.

As the villagers prepared to leave, the Kijins, Rogue and I prepared ourselves for the tough battle ahead.

When the dragons finally reached the village, only the five of us remained, waiting for them. At my signal, we all split up and started running in different directions, attracting our specific prey.

Rogue was running at full speed through the forest, while being chased by the Water Arch Dragon. The Arch Dragon, a creature that outsized Rogue several times over, quickly closed in on the Nightmare Wolf.

Rogue, knowing that he couldn't go far without the Arch Dragon reaching him, finally turned to face it. The Water Arch Dragon then activated his Extra Skill "Hydropulse", with which he sent large jets of pressurized water towards Rogue, who dodged the attack, taking advantage of his amazing speed.

Next, Rogue used his own Extra Skill "Ghost Flame" to attack the Water Arch Dragon which was flying over the area. Although air wasn't the best medium for the Water Arch Dragon, it managed to dodge the green fire sphere, landing awkwardly on the ground, which was just what Rogue wanted. Using his "Shadow Step" and "Shadow Motioning" skills, Rogue dove into his own shadow, and appeared near the Arch Dragon, then jump on the creature's back. The Arch Dragon tried to open his mouth to attack Rogue, but he quickly used "Ghost Flame" to release a large flame into the very mouth of the Water Arch Dragon, causing it to immediately burst into flames.

The Water Arch Dragon attempted to use "Water Manipulation" to put out the fire, but the flames from "Ghost Flame" were not normal flames, but necromantic fire with the element of corrosion, thus, the Arch Dragon's water couldn't put out the flames that slowly consumed his body and soul as he roared in pain.

As he watched his enemy die, Rogue felt fulfilled. He had managed to defeat the enemy that Lord Rogan had entrusted to him! Lord Rogan will surely pat his head when he comes back! What a joy! Rogue was very sure that that ugly two-horned horse that Lord Rogan had brought wouldn't have been able to defeat the Water Arch Dragon, as he had done!

This were Rogue's thoughts, as he began his journey back to the village, in search of his master.

And so, the Water Arch Dragon was defeated by Rogue.

As Rogue dealt with the Water Arch Dragon, Yoshi did the same with the Wind Arch Dragon. He had managed to lure the creature a good distance from the other Arches Dragons so they couldn't collaborate with each other, and it was time to face his enemy.

Yoshi normally loathed battles, quite content to simply leave them to his brother and sister while he dedicated himself to researching and learning the secrets of this world. That was, until he met Lord Rogan, of course. After meeting such a magnificent creature, Yoshi could not help but be super jealous of the attention he gave his siblings, due to their strength in battle. Lord Rogan had also paid attention to him, and had even praised him for being able to cultivate a Unique Skill. Haaa, those times together in his lab while researching the capabilities of his Unique Skill, were very special to Yoshi; for the first time he felt like he've met someone who truly understood him and his passion for research!

For these reasons, Yoshi wanted to make Lord Rogan proud of him as he was of his siblings, so he worked every second of every day to transform his Unique Skill "Alchemist" into a skill that could be used in battle. And finally, he had succeeded!

The poor creature that would serve as the test subject for Yoshi's new Skill was the Wind Arch Dragon. But Yoshi didn't feel too sorry for the creature, after all, Yoshi's favorite saying was "Discovery requires experimentation" … and of course the dragon was an enemy of the village, too!

While Yoshi was thinking all this, the Wind Arch Dragon finally attacked. The sky suddenly clouded over and a large tornado began to descend on the area where Yoshi was.

Yoshi, a very analytical being, had already predicted that the Wind Arch Dragon would use this type of attack, so he used "Multilayer Barrier", a skill he had obtained in the past few days in preparation for his new super skill, to create a dome-shaped barrier with the property of resisting magic, so that it would protect him from the Arch Dragon's attacks.

The barrier was completely successful. The Arch Dragon's continuous attacks disappeared upon hitting the barrier, only a small breeze remained of them.

The Wind Arch Dragon, seeing that his ranged attacks weren't working, decided to physically attack with his own body, launching himself at the Kijin.

And that was exactly what Yoshi was waiting for, because when the Arch Dragon was close enough that he couldn't dodge his attack, Yoshi finally activated his new skill, Composite Skill "Natural Process Reversal". The Wind Arch Dragon was engulfed in a reaping white light, and completely disappeared, without a trace of it.

What had happened to the Wind Arch Dragon was very simple, in Yoshi's terms. When he and Lord Rogan were studying the effects of the sub-skill "Natural Processes Acceleration", Yoshi thought, "if I can speed up the natural process of something, then maybe, I can reverse it too". Following this thought, Yoshi devoted himself, body and soul, to finding a way to achieve such a phenomenon, and he achieved it using the bases of another of the Sub-Skills, "Transmutation" which allowed changing the properties of matter, to reverse everything that this skill would touch back the particles that formed it. Now, as its sister skill "Natural Processes Acceleration", this skill also consumed a lot of magicules, but Yoshi fixed this problem, using his new Extra Skill "Multilayer Barrier" to create a small barrier that would compress and contain the power of "Natural Process Reversal" until it was released, greatly reducing the consumption of magicules.

The end result of Yoshi's skill would simply be seen as the Kijin releasing a small sphere of semi-transparent light towards an enemy. The sphere then would later expand to surround said enemy and decompose his entire body, either into particles or magicules.

And that's how Yoshi, who would later earn the nickname "Mad Scientist" for some reason, defeated the Wind Arch Dragon.

Hiroka's thoughts weren't nearly as complicated as her little brother's. For her, things were very simple. Lord Rogan had ordered her to eliminate the Earth Arch Dragon, and she always complied with his orders, no matter what.

Hiroka had lured the Earth Arch Dragon away, lest it join forces with the others. Now it was time to deal with him.

The battle was short and painful, for the poor creature.

While the Earth Arch Dragon used "Earth Manipulation" to throw rocks at Hiroka, she used her "Spatial Manipulation" to send his beloved needles to pierce the Arch Dragon's vital points, but the creature's scales were very thick, and the needles struck harmlessly against them.

This annoyed Hiroka, who wanted to eliminate the dragon quickly to go support Lord Rogan. Since her needles alone couldn't pierce the Arch Dragon's scales, Hiroka decided to attack the weak point of said scales: the joint of the wings.

This new attack was a complete success, and the Earth Arch Dragon fell to the ground, stunned for a few moments due to the impact.

Taking advantage of this, Hiroka used the new Extra Skill she had acquired, in her quest to be better at her job as a spy and assassin, the Extra Skill "Bloody Needles" which was born from Hiroka's proficiency with needles, and allowed Hiroka to use the iron in the blood of her enemies to create needles.

The sight was pretty disgusting: The Earth Arch Dragon had great armor on the outside, but its insides were just like any other creature's, so while the poor Arch Dragon helplessly roared in pain; huge, pointed iron needles sprouted out from inside its body, causing as much pain as possible. It only took a few seconds for the Earth Arch Dragon to die.

And so it was that Hiroka, who would later become Souei's main rival in the art of espionage and assassination, defeated…and tortured the poor Earth Arch Dragon.

Okimura, the last of the Kijins, also drew the Fire Arch Dragon away from the others. Unlike his siblings' rare new Skills, Okimura hadn't obtained a new skill. Instead, he had spent all those months since the battle against the Orcs, practicing and perfecting his "Kamaitachi's Wind" and training a new Art that he had acquired, called Instamove, which allowed him to move from one place to another in a matter of seconds. Once he had perfected both, he combined them creating a new Art, which he called "Omnidirectional Shear Wave". And it was perhaps, this new Art what ensured that the Fire Arch Dragon did not stand a chance.

As soon as the fight started, the Fire Arch Dragon launched his "Fire Breath" towards Okimura, who dodged it using Instamove, and jumped into the air to get closer to the Fire Arch Dragon, and using "Wind Manipulation" to create small footholds to stand on for a few seconds, he proceeded to use "Omnidirectional Shear Wave" which basically was to use "Kamaitachi's Wind" and "Instamove" in succession around the Arch Dragon, increasing the speed of the attacks more and more.

The result was that the mighty Fire Arch Dragon, a Calamity Class creature, was cut into pieces so small that they scattered in the air like confetti.

And that was how Okimura, the future Commander of Rogan's Army, defeated the Arch Dragon so quickly and overwhelmingly that it would one day become the subject of legends.

All of this, I was able to observe thanks to my Unique Skill "Observer", while facing the mighty Dragon King. All this thanks to the Librarian Sub-Skill "Parallel Processing", which allowed me to do more than one thing at the same time, without losing control of any of them.

As soon as the others dispersed and began their fights against the Arch Dragons, I tried to lead the Dragon King away from the village, but the creature wasn't going to follow me that easily, and launched a huge breath attack towards me. Thanks to my speed in the air, I managed to avoid it, but the attack hit the village, destroying a good part of it in the process.

This provoked my anger like few times before.

This was my village! Where my friends lived! And that overgrown lizard dared to destroy it!

Just as my anger was reaching its climax, the Librarian warned me of something.

Warning.

The user has witnessed the death of the targets though Unique Skill "Observer". Conditions for acquiring the Skills of the targets through Unique Skill "Grave Robber" have been met. Do you want to activate the Unique Skill "Grave Robber"?

Yes

No

When I asked the Librarian what the hell he was talking about, he warned me that the Kijins and Rogan had defeated the Arch Dragons, and since they were within the range of my "Observer", this counted as if I had witnessed their deaths, so "Grave Robber" allowed me to gain their skills. Of course, I accepted!

Warning.

The user has obtained the following skills: Extra Skill "Water Manipulation" and Extra Skill "Earth Manipulation"

Ha! I now had control over all four elements! That reminded me of a certain animated series I had seen in my previous world about a boy who could control the four elements… and that in turn gave me an idea on how to get rid of that village-destroying lizard.

Before the Dragon King could use his attack again, I used "Water Manipulation" to create a whole damn lake of water under us, and then move it up… I may have even struck a pose like the boy in the animated series… but no one saw me, so no one can tell!

The water I controlled thanks to "Water Manipulation" went up like a giant geyser towards the Dragon King, knocking it off balance a bit. Then, to make it fall, I combined "Fire Manipulation" and "Wind Manipulation" to create a sphere of powerful giant flames above the Dragon King, and I launched it at him. The combined attack sent the Dragon King plummeting to earth, where its impact caused a large crater to form.

With the Dragon King still confused from his forced landing, I used "Earth Manipulation" to make the earth and rocks surrounding the Dragon King cover its entire body and imprison it, leaving only the creature's head free.

Once I was sure that it was completely imprisoned, I descended on him and placed my palm on his large forehead, and activated "Selfish One"

Do you want to activate the Forced Possession sub-skill of Unique Skill "Selfish One"?

Yes

No

Yes! With my consent, I possessed the body of the Dragon King. What followed, not even I suspected.

Analysis completed. Skills gained through Unique Skill "Selfish One": Mimicry: Space Dragon King, Extra Skill "Spatial Storage", Extra Skill "Spatial Transference".

Warning

The user has reached the necessary conditions… Unique Skill "Skilled One" has been obtained.

Warning

The individual "Rogan" has met the necessary conditions to evolve.

The body structure will reformulate and evolve into a new species.

Checked

Evolution from "Wraith" to "Lich" …

Successfully done.

Increased all physical skills …

Successfully done.

Relearn all past skills and resistances...

Successfully done.

New Skills and Resistances:

- Intrinsic Skill "Reanimate"

- Intrinsic Skill "Undead Tyrant"

Successfully obtained.

- Thermal Fluctuation Resistances will evolve to Natural Effects Resistance

- Paralysis Resistance, Poison Resistance and Corruption Resistance will evolve to Altered States Resistance.

Successfully done.

Demon King's category is now available.

This ends the evolution.

Warning

The user's "Mimicry" forms have evolved, due to the user's evolution.

"Hellmoth" form has evolved to "Hellmoth Queen" and has acquired Extra Skill "Hatch" and Spiritual Attacks Resistance.

"Dark Steel Beetle" form has evolved to "Unobtainium Beetle King" and has acquired Extra Skill "Magisteel Reinforcement" and Physical Attacks Nullification.

"Nightmare Wolf" form has evolved to "Hell Hound" and has acquired Extra Skill "Chaos Rain" and Ailment Resistance.

"Wind Dragon" form has evolved to "Wind Dragon King" form and has acquired Extra Skill "Scaled Armor" and Extra Skill "Haki"

"Greater Fire Spirit - Ifrit" form has evolved to "Fire Lord Spirit - Balrog" form and his Extra Skill "Combustion" has evolved to Extra Skill "Plasma Core"

"Greater Demon" form has evolved to "Arch Demon" form and his Extra Skill "Material Creation" has evolved to Extra Skill "Molecular Creation"