Ben 10: The One Who Defies Gods

by Chris Chronos

Summoned as a non-combat class to Tortus, Ben Tennyson has set off on a journey to find the meaning of his life. As his life has been gradually shaped by the people around him, he who possesses otherworldly abilities holds onto his own beliefs and logic and proceeds with his journey to find the truth of Tortus.

6. Chapter 6: DRAGON, DRAGON & MONSTER WAR?

BEN 10: THE ONE WHO DEFIES GODS

CHAPTER 6: DRAGON, DRAGON, AND MONSTER WAR?

The cover image of the story has been uploaded.

Please consider writing reviews so that I can improve further chapters in the story.

Benzarro is a mutated Ben. Azmuth tried to cure him but it was too late.

Not every Omnitrix can prevent mutation and Benzarro wears a prototype. There was one episode in Ben 10 (2005-2007) where Ben became an elf. But the complete Omnitrix is just OP. And it is very cautious and can even react to the big bang.

What if Ben eats monster meat in human form? He will probably have a stomach ache or extreme mana eruption and probably die. But even if he dies, the Omnitrix will just revive him and repair his body on a cellular level. (monster meat is lethal on a cellular level.)

The only way to survive this is water from Divinity Stone, I guess. But this would result in a hybrid like Hajime, which people didn't consider human anymore.

Only Terraspin is immune to mana, Chromastone can turn the mana eruption into energy for himself, Upchuck has a stomach dimension that digests food at a super high speed and turns it into his own usable energy. The rest of the aliens (other than the ones durable and biologically immune to mutation) will also die and the Omnitrix will still revive them.

Warning: The following part is a parody story.

I am Ben Tennyson. Better known as Ben Prime across the multiverse, since there are several alternate versions of myself. Wielding the Sacred Artifact called Omnitrix, I defend the universe from various kinds of threats. I am the hero of the heroes!

One day, I was summoned to the Court of Omnipotence, which is between the Marvel Omniverse and DC Omniverse.

The space around me was a timeless void. The surroundings were filled with stars.

In the Court, three Omnipotent beings stood proudly...

"Excuse me," I held up my hand. Yes, my hand. Technically yes, literally no.

"Speak," the other "Omnipotent" being with an energy body said.

"We are not omnipotent. Why are "we" here?" I sincerely asked.

"Us, too," the "omnipotent" being who is an old man in a gentleman suit and wears a hat, said. "We are not omnipotent. It's just a title anyway."

And yes, I was Alien X. The third member of the court for unknown reasons. The two figures before me – The One Above All and The Presence – both looked intimidating.

Then why the heck is this called the Court of Omnipotence while we all are not Omnipotent? This is a pain...

I looked back at the voice of rage and aggression, Bellicus and the voice of love and compassion, Serena.

If Bellicus had shoulders, he would probably shrug off my questioning look.

I sighed and looked back at the two beings.

"Anyway, what do you want from us?"

The One Above All and The Presence looked at each other.

"Ah, the thing is..." they began to explain.

No time later,

"Huh? You destroyed the whole Anime Fiction-verse just because Marvel and DC fans were fighting!?"

"No, no, we didn't destroy," The Presence said with a smile.

"We erased," The One Above All said nonchalantly.

If the face of Alien X could show expressions, I would probably have deadpanned.

"And? What are you gonna do now?"

""Recreate!""

"Ok, not my business. I am leaving."

I teleported back to Universe Zero.

But just before I detransformed, the two beings arrived before me and froze the time itself.

"Help us rebuild the anime universes," TOAA demanded.

"Nope, I fail to find a reason why I should help," I replied, before teleporting myself into the Andromeda Galaxy.

"Please..." they appeared before me again.

Crap... these guys are so annoying.

"We will give you a special reward for helping us," The Presence said, holding up his fist.

"You are "Omnipotent." And you erased it. You should be able to recreate it then..."

"We will make a condition for you," TOAA stated. "Say, how about giving you an opportunity to make a replica of every anime universes and... have a crossover with them."

"It will be hell," I responded, deadpanned.

"Ahem, I have something to say in this matter," Bellicus spoke up.

"Hmm, what is that, Bellicus?" I asked, looking back at the duo of the voices.

"Some Ben Tennysons need rehabilitation," he said. "From mental problems and whatnot."

"How many of them have gone mad?" I questioned.

"That's not my point," he got annoyed, causing his forehead to wrinkle.

Serena volunteered to answer my questions. "He means using the replicas of the anime universes will be a wise option in the subject."

"I don't understand but you mean I should take on their offer?"

"Yes…"

"OK, you got my vote then."

"Motion Carried! Alright, then, we will accept your offer. But make it one-third of them."

TOAA and The Presence looked at each other. They looked overjoyed for some reason.

TOAA snapped his fingers and a pile of documents was summoned before me.

"Let's see…"

The heck, there were a very few of them who survived the erasure of TOAA and The Presence. Some of them had already recreated their universes or anything.

Fantasy, Adventure… and Romantic Comedy. And… what the heck is with these two? Harem and Ecchi… uh, anyway, these will be rejected–

"Stop! Give me those two!" Bellicus requested.

"I don't know why but you can have them…"

I summoned the Harem and Ecchi anime documents into the debate dimension and gave them to Bellicus.

"Hmm, there are a lot of characters who are more powerful than Alien X. Hey, you two…" I called TOAA and The Presence. "Why didn't you assign these tasks to them?"

"They are stubborn and selfish and all of them rejected our offer."

The Presence answered.

"I found a world called Tortus among these," Bellicus said, showing a particular document.

Fantasy… Harem…

"What are you gonna do with that?" I demanded.

"Hmm… I will save Bad Ben…" Bellicus answered.

"Don't just screw up…" I warned him and again turned back at the two beings.

-(TRANSITION)-

Mini-Episode (1)

UNLUCKY HAREM PROTAGONIST

"Sorry!"

A beautiful young woman with a white bath towel wrapped around her body ran out of the men's bathroom. Who is she? It is me.

Tsk, I forgot I was a female at that time. I quickly ran into the female bathroom.

The bathrooms of Tortus are similar to public bathrooms in Japan but with slight differences. These bathrooms look somewhat Roman or Greek.

Before I went to sleep, I decided to take a bath in Masaka Inn's bathroom. I had forgotten I was a girl at that time and accidentally walked into a male room. But then I walked into the female bathroom.

There was only one woman in the bathroom, who was enjoying her warm bath in the tub, facing her back towards the entrance. She possesses mint green hair and a petite body.

Wait… if I got into the tub… I would probably see her… naked body!

I sniffed and smelt her aroma in the air…

This is immoral! This is so wrong!

"Oh, it's you, Miss Tennyson," hearing my footsteps, she turned around and greeted me.

It was… the receptionist of the inn.

I smiled awkwardly at her.

"Uh, hehe… don't mind my invasion."

Damn… though my body had more female hormones then, I could feel the warmth on my cheeks.

The water surface was covered by the warm mist.

I cautiously sank into the warm water, keeping myself from gazing at her.

Now I look at her… She's truly cute. Wait, WTF, dude, you are a girl right now.

Uh, what if my female counterpart is a lesbian? No, no way in hell.

"Ahem…" I tried to start a conversation."Do you always take a bath here?"

"Y-yeah, oh, I've not introduced myself earlier. My name is Sona Masaka."

I returned an awkward smile in response.

"I am Benjamina Tennyson… Wait, Masaka?"

Masaka Inn and Masaka… It must not be a coincidence.

"Yeah, my parents are the owners of Masaka Inn so I work here as a manager."

"Hmm…"

When I gazed at her and smiled, Sona immediately covered her chest and shot a glare at me as if I were a molester.

Grr… Who would look at your… flat (?)... Damn, her chest isn't flat. And it is clearly a sexual harassment.

I sighed but didn't say a thing to her. Relaxing my feminine muscles, I leaned back on the bank and closed my eyes.

…

Sona left the bathroom about 5 minutes earlier than me. Normally, I wasn't one who would like to take long baths but my female body seemed to take a liking…

Wait, do I have a good smell? I sniffed my armpits and chest. But… I couldn't say. It was like… I had been living with this body for all my life.

Uh… Forget it. Let me enjoy my bath and relax my body…

When I went back to my room, I witnessed Masaka peeking into the neighbouring room… which Shea and Ruby occupied.

"What are you doing–"

"Shoo… quiet please," she whispered to me.

"What are you doing!?" I demanded, lowering my volume.

And it was Shea's voice that made both of us twitch.

"Ah! Ruby! Don't pull my ears! I'm sorry! I won't go to Bennison's room!"

Outside the room, we, two girls, awkwardly made eye contact.

"I will punish you," and a monotonous speech of Ruby.

I gulped and gestured at Sona to let me peek through the hole she found.

Slowly and Quietly, I pushed her aside and peeked into the small hole cautiously.

The scene I had imagined was… Ruby sitting on the back of Shea and pulling her bunny ears.

But apparently, there was no one in the room.

"Benny, what are you doing?"

""AHH!"" Sona and I let out a surprised scream in unison before Ruby covered our mouths.

"Bennison, you are a pervert!"

Think, Ben, think. This is the Big Brain Time. Use every last brain cell to give them a good excuse.

"Aw, Masaka found this hole and… I was helping her to fix–"

"Who is this Masaka?!" When Shea asked, I pointed at the receptionist girl with my thumb.

"Are you gonna be three-timing?" Ruby said nonchalantly – hard to tell if she was joking or not.

"More like I'm zero-timing…" I muttered to myself.

"We took a bath together and got to know each other so…" Sona said without knowing the consequences.

"Wait, did you two take a bath together!? I haven't even reached that level with Bennison!" Shea pouted.

"I hope you have a good explanation for that," Ruby grabbed my bath towel and dragged me into the room.

"Sona, help!"

"You are calling her by her name now!?" Shea said, following us into the room.

"No, I can explain."

Shea slammed the door as we three had got into the room.

"Hehe… A night with Bennison…"

"Look, I am a girl now. OK? You don't wanna do something stupid, right?"

"But you are Benny on the inside," Ruby answered. "You should entrust your body to us."

"No way I am entrusting my body!"

I tried to get away but Ruby grasped my bath towel and got it unwrapped from my body.

No way I am a lucky protagonist now.

"Boom!"

My hero!

The door was slammed open and Sona Masaka entered the room, with a broom in her hand.

Wow, it was close.

She waved her broom in the air and then froze, intently stared at me and the girls.

A shot of nosebleed suddenly leaked out of her nostrils, subsequently fainted and fell to the ground.

Wait, my savior is just… Down?

Ruby dragged her out of the room and slammed the door closed.

For the first time, I saw her smirk. But I understood it's not for a good reason.

…

-(TRANSITION)-

Aiko Hatayama, 25 years old. A high school teacher.

"Then, take me with you. I want to hear more about my student's life after falling into the depths of the labyrinths."

"Excuse me?"

Hatayama-sensei… although most students call her Ai-chan or Ai-chan-sensei, I call her by her family name and title. She was one of the few people who watched over me. And one of the few people I could respect.

She is a young and inexperienced teacher… so her perspective on the teachers is so simple. But she watches over her students and cares about them so much… apparently. I was an anti-social kid in the class so I didn't know … or more like I didn't try to know the characters in my class.

But she was one of the few people I noticed. Unlike Amanogawa, her intentions were genuine.

Speaking of Amanogawa, I heard that his sense of justice put all the students in danger. He is a hero… he may have better stats than others. But he can't guarantee to protect everyone. He doesn't know the importance of his popularity and position. It's not my place to say it but… he is brainless. I am just a social outcast – my words won't do any competition about him.

Amanogawa's recklessness made Hatayama-sensei more worried about her students.

Not only had they suddenly been thrust into a different world, while she was still reeling from the shock of such an incomprehensible event, but it was also her student that had calmed everyone down. Then before she knew it, her precious students had begun preparing for war despite their tender age.

No matter how she tried to persuade them, the students had already been swept up by the current created from their own determination. Her pleas fell on deaf ears, so they marched off to battle despite her protests.

I can imagine her having a thought like this:

If I can't stop them, then I'll at least be there to fight by their side!

But even that hope of hers had been crushed when she discovered her job was useless in combat. Instead, because of how rare and valuable her skills were, she was ordered to go to various towns to improve their farming conditions and create new plots of arable land. She tried to argue back, but both her precious students and this world's priests urged her to go. And because she couldn't deny the fact that she was the only one capable of doing the job, she ended up reluctantly agreeing.

She spent her days fretting over her students, knowing she was powerless to help. Escorted by the church's templar knights and the Heiligh Kingdom's imperial guard, she traveled to various towns and undeveloped areas to improve their soil or create new tracts of farmland. Then, when she was finally able to return, she learned that one of her students had died in battle.

I feel guilty for not returning to the capital at once.

It was just an excuse that I wanted to kill more monsters or…. Well, I am not a social person and I don't feel so well around the people who don't want me.

Why? I was content with just one friend or two… living my days without a single word of complaint. And now after living with Ruby and Shea for a few days, I understood how much I was wrong.

It's not like… I'd prefer to be alone. Rather… my path was already thorny and lonely. And I'd got no other choice.

Hence I didn't return.

My teacher felt responsible for my supposed death…

It's all in the past. We will have to move on…

Due to her sincere nature, the people around her began to change.

David Zahler, the Templar Knights' Commander. The blond knight I fought with today. He is one of the loyal protectors of the Goddess of Agriculture.

And many other knights.

The group of my classmates here are also the ones who insisted on defending Hatayama-sensei because of their distrust in the knights.

Now… back with the story.

"Don't say I never warned you. You aren't even the American President. Why do you want to oppose the opinions of other people?

Oh, I am tired of being nice."

- Bad Ben before killing a Forever Knight Leader -

The sun has long set. The moon is up. But the night is still young. Through the open window of the room, the wind carries both the coldness and the warmth from the lake of Ur.

In the fancy room where only high-class nobles can stay for the night, the Goddess of Agriculture stands in front of the window. She isn't sightseeing the lake. Nor the farmlands. She has been worried about her students ever since she was summoned to this world along with them.

Seems that she is overthinking and her expression changes again and again in seconds, showing her emotions on the face. Lucky that no one but she is the only one in the room.

At the time, an invisible creature phases through the door into the room. Of course, no way a normal person – even if she's titled a goddess – can't witness my dramatic entrance when I am invisible.

"I don't care, you're still coming with us," she says excitedly, holding her hands up.

"Sensei…"

My freaky, otherworldly voice escapes my mouth… startling the teacher. As she sees my now-turned-visible body and attempts to scream, I cover her mouth with my cold palm.

"Don't freak out, don't freak out," with a green light, I reveal my human form. "I am Ben."

"Oh, it's you, Tennyson-kun. Why didn't you come in normally?"

"Well, I entered through the door… through the door…"

Yeah, I wasn't lying. I casually walked through the door though it was closed.

"Why are you repeating– You broke into a woman's room at the time of night and snuck in! What is your problem?"

I roll my eyes. "Are you sure you want to come with us?"

"I am sure."

How can I take advantage of the situation?

I am sure I can protect her while searching for the people… so this shouldn't be an issue.

And… if she knows how powerful I am, it won't be necessary for her to be worried about me.

I was someone whom she thought was dead until this evening. Hence… she can be a little… at least a little lax on the day trip.

As twisted as I am, I couldn't be kinder and gentler to my teacher.

"Then it's decided!"

"Thanks!" she takes my hands and shakes in… joy?

"But I have something else to say to you…"

"Hmm, what is that?"

This is a sensitive subject thus I chose this time of the night to talk to her alone.

"When I reached the bottom of the Great Orcus Labyrinth, I found out the truth about the labyrinths."

And I must explain clearly… for her to understand.

Will she believe me? Or not? I don't care… as long as I can still have the right to protect this little teacher.

"Mhmm…"

"Once upon a time, humans, beastmen, and demons would fight with each other species or among themselves… for various reasons. Small… or big, insignificant or important… anyway, there were wars among the species."

"Mhmm…"

"At that time, a group of people who wanted to put a stop to the wars appeared. The leader of the group came to realize the true intent of their god."

"Hmm?" The teacher became interested in my story.

"Their god was using his people as pawns, and the war was no more than a game."

I pause my storytelling and look at the teacher to check how she reacts to the story. Being from another world, I am grateful that she isn't part of such a crazy cult. Yeah, but she has a mysterious ability to change the nature of the people around her. The best example is David Zahler. Zahler himself is commander of the church knights. But he swore his loyalty to Hatayama-sensei.

At first... I thought I shouldn't tell her about all these liberator things... but I later realized that... she was one of the most reliable people for me. At least... if she knows the truth, she can help the students... at least...

"The god was the puppeteer behind the scenes and the cause of all the wars. Hence, a group of "heroes" called liberators appeared... to take down the god and free the people of this world from him."

I continue my explanation as the teacher listens to me intently.

"But they failed... they plans fell apart. And the god... he declared the liberators as the enemies of the Church. People began to oppose and attack them. Those "Heroes" couldn't bring themselves to the people they chose to protect... they were relabeled "mavericks" and most of them were taken out. Only a few "core" members survived. Since they couldn't defeat the god with their power, they scattered across the world, built labyrinths,... and hid themselves away."

I hope these wouldn't confuse the lady teacher.

"They made trials and traps... to test the challengers. So that should anyone pass their tests, they could grant them the maverick powers. Powerful ancient magic, to say. And... these champions who win their trials will someday become someone who can defeat the god and free everyone from the mad god's games."

I look up at Hatayama sensei who is staring at me in awe and hee mouth is wide open.

"Believe me or not, it's your choice. Isn't your duty to watch over the students?"

After a moment of silence, her lips slowly close and then wear a powerful, sincere smile.

"Of course!"

"If you have something to ask, I will answer if I know."

No matter what she is thinking, her face is like a teenager... no she can be easily mistaken as a 12-year-old child.

"Will you... defeat that god?"

"Ha..." sensei, it isn't a knowledge question, you know?

You sounds worried... Did I grow more worries in her heart?

"One day, yes, I will defeat him. Not because I am a hero. I just... feel like challenge a god."

"Aw..." her smile faded... "Good luck."

"But now I will be enjoying my journey!" I try to sound cheerful and eager before my sensei. "It's so fun, sensei."

"Is it?"

"Yes..."

Tears flow down her cheeks...

"It's okay as long as... you are alive and having fun, Tennyson-kun."

Looking through the window, you will love the scenery outside.

There are farmlands, mountains, a lake, and a river. And countless trees and plants. The moon and the stars... and you will wonder... "why did I stare into this view?"

Sometimes... humans can be attached to the simplest things.

Humans are such a fragile species, don't you know?

-(TRANSITION)-

I deadpan, looking at the group of students who tagged along with Hatayama-sensei.

"Sensei... are they coming with us?"

I ask... reluctantly. Sensei isn't fazed to lose her smile.

"Yes. They insist they want to accompany me for my safety. I can't really reject their kindness... also we want to look for… Shimizu-kun…"

What did you do my always-serious sensei to make her bring you here, pests!?

Wait, who is Shimizu?

Before I can say anything, Ruby grabs my arm... and gently shakes her head. This is an understandable sign for me. Thus, I wasn't able to ask her about that Shimizu guy.

"Uh, OK... let's go in my rust bucket."

"Rust– what?" One male classmate asks but I ignore his question.

I mentally command the Omnitrix to open a portal to my dimensional garage!

Uh... let's see. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... ok, Tridoron and Mini-rust bucket are out of the question with this number of people.

Come on! Start your engine and come to your papa, Rust Bucket!"

"Roar!"

Letting out a rumble, a seemingly four-wheeled vehicle but indeed six-wheeled runs out of the portal... causing my classmates to run away out of surprise. The Rust Bucket stops right before Aiko Hatayama who was too slow to react to the sudden appearance of an RV truck.

This vehicle is made... in memories of my Grandpa. And my cousin, of course. We would go on a summer vacation trip every year... in this vehicle.

I made some enhancements. The original Rust Bucket was tough enough, but I made this one tougher. While unfortunately lacking flying-in-air functions, on the land and water, this vehicle runs smoothly and roughly at the same time, lol.

"Wow... this... this is a truck!?" The same male classmate exclaims in astonishment.

"Mhmm, yeah," I proudly answer. "Call this one Rust Bucket Mark - X!"

"Wow, Tennyson-kun. Did you make this all by yourself?" A female classmate whose name I don't know asks.

"I am a synergist, after all. Ha..."

Grey Matter, Brainstorm... and Jury Rigg... I will never forget your sacrifice.

"Amazing..."

"Hahaha, I know right."

Rust Bucket Mark-X… Some materials are made by the matter creation ability of Deejay Emcee. With the big brains of Grey Matter and Brainstorm, Tech expertise of Jury Rigg and Upgrade… I successfully built the rust bucket.

"Uh, you guys are acting like the bodyguards of Hatayama-sensei, right?"

"It's rude," a female classmate with reddish-brown hair responds. "We are her bodyguards!"

"Yes, yes, it's true," another female with light-brown hair agrees.

"Uh, then, bodyguards. May I know your names?"

The silence takes over the conversation. My classmates look at each other… communicating through eye contact.

"Wait… you don't know my name either?" the male classmate says.

I gently tilt my head. "Well, I never bothered to learn your names. Sorry."

"Oh, it's okay," then he points to himself with his thumb. "I am Tamai Atsushi. Don't forget it!"

"Hmm, okay, I will try my best."

Atsushi Tamai has short spiky dark-brown hair and purple eyes. He seems to have good chemistry with the girls he is with.

"Dude, it's just a name!"

The girls start giggling at us.

"I am Taeko," the girl with reddish-brown hair says. "Sugawara Taeko."

Come to think of it, these three girls have naturally brown hair…

Sugawara possesses wavy reddish-brown hair and a mole on the left side of her chin.

The girl in a light-green robe takes a step forward.

"I am Miyazaki Nana, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances."

"My pleasure," I reply.

Miyazaki has long light brown hair that she has stylized a lock of it into a side ponytail.

"And you? What's your name?"

It is the girl behind the three classmates. She has chestnut-brown hair.

"My… My name is Yuka. Sonobe Yuka. A pleasure to make your acquaintances."

"Likewise…"

This girl is… Shy around me or something? Ah, whatever.

Spiky dark hair – Atsushi. Reddish-brown – Sugawara. Light-brown – Miyazaki. Chestnut-brown – Sonobe.

"Thanks for protecting sensei," I mutter to them.

The forest is engulfed by the fog, but it isn't really a problem.

"Alright, everyone. Get in the car. I think there are seats in the back."

As I open the door, my classmates and my party get Into the vehicle. Sensei waits for me, standing outside of the vehicle.

"Let's go, sensei."

"Hai, Tennyson-kun."

Sensei takes the seat next to the driver's seat. The vehicle is left-driven so I am on the left of sensei.

"Do you have… a Driving license?"

She questions, looking at the steering wheel. Wait, did she think this is an autonomous vehicle?

"No, but I am good enough."

She widens her eyes in shock.

"No, Tennyson-kun! You can't drive without a driving license. It's dangerous."

"No, sensei. I am good enough. I used to ride motorcycles."

"This is a car. An RV at that. No, you can't–"

Suddenly, someone pokes my arm… and the culprit is Ruby.

"Why not use that Upgrade thing of yours…"

"Oh… Good job, Ruby…"

She smiles when I pat her hair… but sensei doesn't. Well, I am patting Ruby's head and not hers–

"Don't flirt in front of your teacher! And don't drive without a license!"

In the end, I have to explain to my teacher about Upgrade and convince her to let me drive peacefully.

"UPGRADE!"

"Wow, wow, another Tennyson transformation!" Atsushi exclaims.

"Wow... the patterns on his body... look cool..." a girl comments.

Sensei stands up from her seat and carefully watches me, placing her hands on the hips.

I turn my body into a liquid state and the nanites begin to fuse with the machines, taking control of the vehicle and the technology attached to the RV.

In seconds, the rust bucket is completely taken over by the Upgrade.

The nanites flow into the engine and the vehicle rumbles as I start the engine and change gears.

Aiko Hayama lets out a sigh of relief and finally walks back to her seat.

She screams out of surprise as my head pops out of the dashboard right before her. For some reason, Ruby also occupies the driver's seat beside sensei.

"Ahhh– Tennyson-kun?"

"Hai!" The Japanese "yes" comes out with an electro-techno voice.

We didn't talk for long after that.

As our vehicle rumbles through the off-road wilderness, I notice that Hayatama-sensei has now fallen asleep.

Radar on! Multiple cameras on!

The Northern Mountain Range.

Mountains ranging from 1000 meters above sea level to 8000 meters above sea level exist within the range, and the flora and even environment vary drastically from mountain to mountain. One mountain may be covered in trees with leaves the vibrant color of fall, but the next mountain over would be a dense green jungle. And then some mountains resemble desolate wastelands.

Moreover, no matter how many mountains one scales, one will only see a sea of mountains extending infinitely northward. The first four rows of mountains have been somewhat explored, but past that is unknown territory.

Several ambitious adventurers have tried mapping the entire range, but as the strength of the monsters grows with each progressive mountain, no one has yet managed to scale the fifth row.

The highest mountain in the first row is the so-called Sacred Mountain where the Holy Church's headquarters are.

I can hear the sound of splashing from a distant waterfall (?).

I park the car on the shore and transform back to human form.

"This is our destination. Uh… You can leave sensei asleep in the car."

At first… the boy and girls get out of the RV and enjoy the scenery of the surroundings.

The trees… the natural sounds of the waterfall and birds… and leaves… but… one disturbing sight–

"Wh-what is this? What the heck happened here?"

Atsushi says seeing the stones and almost everything else is burnt on the shore.

Even the metal things like swords and shields are awfully burnt… Almost reduced to ash.

One of the nearby trees has had its bark ripped. Furthermore, it was stripped a full two meters up the tree's trunk. It looks like someone has meticulously scraped off all the bark, but judging from the height, no human could have done that.

Crap… that means a monster is around.

And the thing that made my classmates grimace is… Traces of blood.

"Atsushi, Miyazaki, Sonobe, Sugawara, wait here and protect sensei. Shea can stay with them and defend them if anything happens."

The girls don't seem to have recovered from the shock, but Atsushi encourages them.

"Okay, Tennyson. Guys, let's do our part and fulfill our duty!"

"Okay! Let's do our best!"

"Understood! Bennison," Shea says, beginning to scout the area with her ears.

"Ruby, come with me. We will check out the waterfall… There is a cave behind it."

"Roger," she responds with a monotonous voice and walks towards me.

She thrusts her hand and cast wind magic on the waterfall.

"Fissuring Wave: Wind Wall!"

The water around the waterfall is pushed to either side, the wind wall keeping the resulting spray from soaking them.

"Be careful, Benny," she warns.

"I will," I whisper to her and walk into the cave behind the waterfall. She also walks after me into the cave and cancels her spell.

Well, I will use Water Hazard next time instead of relying on her.

The cavern angles upward, and it opens up into a rather spacious room after we walk through a narrow passage. Water and light pour into the room from above, the water creating a large puddle in the center.

Hmm… interesting. According to Upgrade's sensors… we have to go further.

Finally, we find a man in the furthest corner of the room. He is young, probably no more than twenty, with graceful features. He looks pale… but he doesn't seem to be injured. There is a bag with a little food nearby.

I lower my head and examine him… he is just asleep. He isn't dead yet. I sigh and give a thumb-up to Ruby who nods at me as a sign of comprehension.

The green light covers the whole room… and then it disappears to reveal my Water Hazard form.

I grab the man and carry him on the shoulder. We then leave the chamber and walk back to the waterfall entrance.

When we stand behind the waterfall, I hold up my hand, concentrate my mind, and manipulate the flowing water to form an opening for us.

"Wow, I didn't know you could do it, Benny," Ruby whispers with a monotonous voice.

I don't have a mouth that can smile at her.

When we arrive at the area where the rust bucket was parked, Aiko Hatayama-sensei is already awake.

Sensei and her students widen their eyes in horror and hold up their weapons – in sensei's case, it is a rock she picked up from the ground – as they witness my Orishan form. Yeah, Water Hazard is a little ugly and intimidating…

Only when they notice the vampire girl behind me, do they lower their weapons.

"Please don't scare us, Tennyson," Atsushi murmurs. Again, sorry, I don't have a mouth that can return you a smile.

"Oh, Tennyson-kun. that's the one you have to search for?" Sensei asks me.

"Dunno, I grabbed him because he looks like a nobleman," I nonchalantly answer.

What do you expect? Water Hazard doesn't possess a face that can normally show expressions.

This guy is sleeping fine… so fine he doesn't wake up even when I carried him from the cave to here…

I put him down onto the ground and pour extremely low-pressure water onto his face to wake him up.

"Guwah!"

He awakes with a scream and covers his face with both hands.

Hatayama sensei seemingly wants to have a word with me about the method I just used.

I sigh and revert to my human female form before the pure man notices my presence.

"Are you Will Cudeta?" Ruby asks.

"Umm... Uwaah, yes! I am! I'm Will Cudeta! That's me!"

I take a step forward with a lovely smile…

"Nice to meet you. I am Benjamina Tennyson. I've come looking for you at Chief Ilwa Chang's request. I'm glad you're alive."

Hey, why are you guys vomiting in my back? I am trying my best, you know?

"Ilwa-san sent you!? I see. I guess... I owe him another debt for this. Umm, thank you for coming here. If Ilwa-san sent you, you must be pretty strong… though you look just like a normal girl."

I roll my eyes before shooting a glare at him. "I am fairly strong."

Fear is now added to the mixture of gratitude and respect in his gaze.

"Uh… okay."

And then the Cudeta boy answers…

In short, this was what happened to them:

Will Cudeta and his party were climbing up the mountain path when they were set upon by ten Bulltaurs. Unwilling to take on such a force, the party began to retreat. However, more and more Bulltaurs kept on coming and, before long, they had been driven up to the river a little over halfway up the mountain.

Surrounded and driven into a corner, the party's paladin and swordsman gave their lives to let the others escape. Forced further upward by the advancing horde of Bulltaurs, the party arrived at the second river, only to meet their doom.

A black dragon was waiting for them.

The moment they burst out on the riverbank, it had fired its searing breath at them, sending Will flying into the river. As he was being washed downstream the last thing he'd seen was one member of the party get completely incinerated, while the remaining two were trapped between a dragon and a horde of Bulltaurs.

After falling down the waterfall he'd stumbled into this cavern, and had been hiding inside ever since.

After he has told us what happened, he becomes a sobbing mess.

"I-I'm the worsht. Everyone died, but even though I wash usheless, I survived... and then... I even felt happy when I learned I wash shaved!"

I couldn't care less about his feelings…

"Dragon, huh? A black dragon is more powerful than a normal one, right?"

"Mhmm," Ruby answers.

The students and teacher surround the noble boy and encourage him. Uh… why should I care for him? Damn… I can't resist his depressive speech, hence I walk up to him to have some words.

"Who is useless?" I say, patting his head. I am glad, I took the body of a girl. It's not awkward to interact with a boy this way.

"Hmm?" he looks up at me with his eyes filled with tears, sure he may not even see me clearly at this point.

"You couldn't save anyone? No, you saved yourself. And your comrades saved your life. It is now… so precious. You saved that precious life."

"B-But... I..."

"Don't make the death of your comrades meaningless. The only way to show gratitude to them… is to live on…live on this very precious life they sacrificed themselves to save."

"Live… on…"

Tears still in his eyes, Will blankly repeats my words.

"You know what, I am not a therapist. But I can give you a piece of advice or two if you want. I… I mean… I faced a similar experience when I was… younger. I tried… to kill myself many times but I never succeeded…" I notice I am digging out something I have sealed away… "Oh, sorry, you won't want to listen to my story. Sorry…"

"Benny…" "Bennison, I didn't know you had such…"

Ruby and Shea drag me away from Cudeta.

Crap… I have gone and said it… I forgot there were classmates and my teacher around for some seconds and… slipped.

I ignore the worried looks of my classmates and Hatayama-sensei… and get into the RV to take a rest.

I noticed that Ruby softly whispered something to Shea but couldn't identify her words. But both girls don't pry into my past – well, I prefer this. I know… it sounds like I want to keep things secret from my comrades. Maybe Ruby… I will reveal my full story to Ruby. Maybe Shea, maybe not.

"It's okay. You said the right thing, Benny," Ruby says.

"Yeah! You are the best, Benjamina!" Shea cheers me up.

I lean back in the seat and smile at them…

"Thank you, Ruby, Shea."

"Live, with everything you've got. We're going to survive together, right?" (Ruby)

"Yeah, yeah! Bennison, I know you are strong!"

I slowly close my eyes.

"I won't leave you guys, don't say that. Even if I try killing myself… I will never succeed."

Yeah, the suffering will never end.

"... Good," Ruby whispers.

For now, I should relax…

Black dragon… Bulltaurs… shit, I should keep my guards up.

Otherwise, I won't be able to save anyone…

Like… that one time.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Holy… crap… I open my eyes wide and hastily get out of the vehicle…

A dragon, its scales jet black and its eyes glinting a cruel gold, glares down at us from the sky.

It is easily seven meters long. Claws as big and sharp as swords jut from its forelegs. The wings sprouting from its back are glimmering faintly, covered in a sheen of mana.

"Holy… Crap! Sensei, everyone, get in the car."

I look back at the group and see everyone is gazing at me...

"Hurry up! We've got no time."

"We want to help you, too," Atsushi speaks up.

"Yeah, Tennyson-kun," Miyazaki holds up her weapon.

"No, I can't have you guys die on me," I bluntly respond to their words... "If you wanna help me, you can do it by protecting my teacher. Ruby, you can drive, right?"

"Mhmm," she answered.

"Ok, then, Shea, go with them."

"No, I want to help Bennison, too!"

"You will just be a hindrance if the enemy is too strong..." well, these words are something I would never say to comrades but... "I will handle this monster..."

Shea goes silent. She reluctantly follows Ruby and the rest into the RV.

Now then... black dragon... you and me, hope you are strong enough to give me a good fight...

Every time the dragon flaps its wings, an unbelievably powerful gust of wind blows past me. The vehicle has now set off...

"Come on! Proto-tool!"

The inventory portal appears next to me and I grab the weapon out of the dimension. Then I start shooting blasts at the dragon to distract it from the vehicle.

Its two eyes glow gold... the background is a red moon in the pitch-black sky.

"Yes, you!" I yell, shooting another round of blasts at the dragon. "Now come for me."

Its pupils are slitted, giving them a reptilian appearance, while its eyes are narrowed in a dangerous glare... they are... beautiful.

Kiiiiiaaaa!

A strange keening sound echoes throughout the sunset orange mountains.

Um... something is coming.

I throw the weapon into the portal before it closes.

"Haven't used this skill in a while..."

The dragon's black breath cuts through the air with the precision of a laser, directed towards me.

I smirk wryly as the last time. The breath has reached the place where I was with a thunderous roar... but I wasn't there anymore.

CYCLONE! JOKER!

One of the skills I created via Magic Edition skill.

Cyclone - Gives me weak aerokinetic abilities. Can summon gales and tornadoes. Based on Ruby's wind magic.

Joker - Gives me a dodging ability. So long as this skill is activated, my body will move at high speed to dodge the incoming attack.

When I become aware of my whereabouts, I am floating in the air, pushed above by the powerful winds.

My unbuttoned coat flows in the wind, even my short hair is wavery in the gales.

Oh shit... it's cold! I forgot that my cleavage was left open...

Well, yeah... the black breath is so powerful the ground the beam touched has now turned into black ash or something... it leaves a crater.

"Well, you prove to be a good opponent. Now... JETRAY!"

I fly through the air towards the target at supersonic speeds while charging my eyes and tail to unleash powerful neuroshock blasts...

As I approach the dragon, I curl my body and fire the neuroshock blasts from my eyes and tail... my attacks are all canceled out the moment they touch the scales of the dragon. It's not like my blasts are weak, rather it is too strong...

Crap...

The tail of the dragon swings its way towards me... but I narrowly dodge the tail and shoot blasts at it... though they don't do much damage.

I hastily press the Omnitrix insignia.

"CHROMASTONE!"

This time when the dragon unleashes the black breath, I absorb all kinds of energy that are concentrated in the blast... floating in the air.

Female Chromastone is no less the same as Chromastone, except for her voice which is more on the feminine side.

It seems... the dragon is now dumbfounded.

"Thanks for the food, I guess. Now your turn to taste my food!"

As I unleash multiple UV rays from my torso, directed at the dragon, it is pushed back by the impact of the rays. But still... its scales are impressive.

The guys on the bottom of the Orcus' Labyrinth – the Hydra – didn't really have such tough scales.

I need to do something on a high scale.

This time, I am caught off-guard.

The breath it unleashed brought me down into the ground... making a crater around myself.

Thankfully, my durable rock body isn't fazed by this much damage.

Dragon... dragon... dragon? Wait, I've got to have a dragon, too.

I tap the Omnitrix again, mentally commanding it into a new alien.

The green light this time glows on a larger scale of the area.

When the light dies down, a giant reptile-like alien with a pair of wings is seen...

"SIR DRAGKNIGHT! The glorious me has become one of the proud dragons!"

I proudly declare with a feminine British accent.

Sir Dragknight is a 30-ft-long dragon-like four-limbed alien with dark green skin, a tough hide, and a pair of wings on the back. He can move in bipedal or quadrupedal fashion.

The Omnitrix lies on the torso. It also serves as a universal translator for Sir Dragknight.

Female Sir Dragknight possesses a tail with a sharp blade at the end.

I stretch my wings and begin to fly through the air to the dragon.

Face the rage of the real dragon! Fire Breath Nostalgia Part 2!

As the dragon opens its mouth to unleash a black breath, I also open my mouth to blast a fire beam towards it… the two beams compete in the center… before the fire beam finally overpowers the black breath and takes her down to the ground.

"Cute… miss dragon…"

But it is not the end.

"I expected as much…"

The dragon again flutters its wings and begins to fly into the air.

"Too slow…"

I concentrate the fire energy, create a fire beam and blast it at the dragon, suppressing it to the ground.

Now… I'll have to restrain it before it recovers from the impact. From the looks of it, it will take the entire area destroyed to slay it off completely.

Fluttering my wings, I float above the black dragon and mentally command the Omnitrix to transform into Diamondhead.

Female Diamondhead doesn't have much physical feminine feature in general (since the petrosapiens are made of silicon crystals and perhaps NOT mammals, therefore they don't have "milk glands") but the outfit includes pink portions. Her crystals on the head form a pony tail like structure on the back of the head. Her voice is, yeah, feminine.

In the air, I shape my arms into crystal blades, descending through the air at high speed while gaining the momentum.

My blades thrust onto her scales… and though they can't penetrate, they can hurt the dragon a lot… causing it to groan in pain.

"New DNA symbol obtained!"

Hmm… what does it mean? Wait, don't tell me… this guy is sentient…

"Well… let's give the big lizard a big lizard."

With a green light, a colossal dinosaur-like alien appears on the back of the dragon who is lying on the shore.

"Rrrrr! HUMUNGOSAUR!"

I become larger and larger before start punching the dragon again and again, triggering shockwaves in the area.

Though female humungousaur doesn't possess any mammary glands (due to her species being closer to reptiles) her natural breast plates on the torso sports feminine appeal.

"No! Please spare me!"

I finally stop punching, as I catch my breath and look at where the voice came from. It is a feminine voice… that means… this dragon is a female. Oh shit, did I just punch a female? AHHHH, wait, I am a female, too. Well, then it shouldn't be a problem.

Shit, once upon a time in Bellwood, the people opposed my "heroic" acts blah blah just because I punched a female criminal. Later, I didn't punch female criminals, I kicked them.

Oh anyway, it was out of context.

"... Uh… Lord Lizard?" the dragon lady (?) says, looking at me.

Hahaha… lord lizard… the dragon scale looks pretty tough, I guess I'll give her one or two more punches.

"Ah! Please stop! Your punches are so strong, it can awaken a dragon from sleep."

"What do you mean?"

I jump down her body and hold her cheeks tightly.

"I am a member of the esteemed dragonborn race!" she begins to explain but her mouth just opens, her jaws doesn't really move. "Wild circumstances have led me here. Can you spare… my life?"

"As long as you are… honest. Also, I am a girl, too, at least now."

"You are huge… Oh, I mean, your size is. What is your race, miss?"

I look down at my body which is now… 40 ft tall.

Ha… and she is barely 20 ft. I really bullied the weak.

I release my intense muscles and my body quickly shrinks back to my normal size – which is 12 ft.

"Uh… I am a… Vaxasaurian."

"Vaxa– what? Never heard of such a species."

At that time, the green light temporarily blinds her before revealing a gorgeous teenager in a black coat before her…

"Well, I am a human, too."

"A… a human… a vaxa-whatever-it-is… are you like me–"

"Vroom…" an engine roar interrupts our conversation.

It is my RV with Ruby as a driver. The car stops just before us…

I fold my arms and watch as the teenagers, their teacher, a blond noble boy, a vampire old woman and a bunny girl gets out of the RV.

"You… you singlehandedly took down a dragon!" Will Cudeta exclaims.

"No big deal if you are a dragon yourself," I respond with a smirk.

"Wh-wh-wh-what?!"

"Calm down, dude. He is… I mean, she is kidding you," Atsushi intervenes our little mind game.

"Uh, anyway, here is a dragon woman. We can eat her for dinner," I calmly say, ignoring the glare of the dragon.

"Monster meat is poisonous, you know?" Miyazaki warns me.

"Really? I've eaten countless monsters and… oh…" I remember something and roll up my left sleeve to see the Omnitrix. Then I roll the sleeve down.

"Bennison, how do you know she is a… woman?" Shea asks me with a worried look.

I bears a proud smile that can arouse jealous girls. "Hahaha, I checked her rear!"

My classmates eye me with disgusted looks. My teacher also seems to have some words for me.

Ruby? She does seem to know something yet she still doesn't say out loud.

"Everyone, sorry, I lied. This is a dragonborn… so she can speak."

But the dragon lady doesn't speak up…

I feel dumbfounded and look back at the dragon who returns an innocent dumb look in her eyes.

Damn, my classmates and teacher don't believe in me anymore and they are taking the first one seriously. The only ones who look dumbfounded as the black dragon are Shea and Will. I am getting a feeling that Shea has a twisted common sense. Will Cudeta is busy either thinking how to avenge his comrades or simping on me. I don't like his eyes that are moving all over my body.

Shea… ever since this girl said the whole "taking virginity" thing, I knew her common sense is as twisted as the dumbest anime girls. Or is it her old man – Cam Haulia? That guy is also VERY willing to have his daughter married off. Perhaps he is so wise he doesn't want his dumb daughter around?

And the dragon… I don't know if she is being wise or not – while I don't know much about Dragonborns, from the looks of it, dragonborn seems to be heavily discriminated. "Never heard of them"... it means they are almost extinct… there is one right next to me though.

Jeezz… that bitch!

"Ha, haha, maybe I was wrong. Let's cook this bitch!"

"Tennyson-kun! Watch your language," my teacher warns me.

"Let… let me kill her…" the noble boy speaks up. His eyes are widened as if they are gonna pop out of the sockets.

"No, I won't let you. The monster meat is the best if you killed the monster right before cooking. I am keeping her in my dimensional refrigerator," talking to Will Cudeta, I wink at the dragon lady.

Hey, I am saving you, you better be grateful blah blah…

"B-but…"

"Ruby, come here," I ignore the noble boy's protests and call Ruby out… to whisper some instructions into her ear.

"Got it?"

"Roger…"

Come to think of it, Ruby is so obedient in almost every aspect – apart from bedtime. For unknown reasons, she often crawls into my bed, even when I am a female. AHHH, I am a goddamn virgin, don't give me hopes, you 300-year-old hag!

One night at Masaka Inn, she and Shea dragged me into their room… I almost lost my female virginity there. I had to sneak out of the room, using Big Chill.

No, Ruby is wiser than Shea. And their ways of thinking are different or… rather opposite in some cases. Thus, I guess one of them is horny and another one is trying to… gain my love? No, I am missing some pieces here.

Wait, why the heck am I thinking about them in the middle of work?

Ruby drags Will into the Rust Bucket and locks the door… then I use the control panel I implanted in the Omnitrix functions to cover all the glass panes of the vehicle with a layer which light can't penetrate.

"Why did you lock him away, Tennyson-kun?" Hatayama-sensei asks curiously.

"Because he is too much of a pain to deal with," I bluntly answer. Then I look up at the dragon. "Now, care to speak?"

"Tennyson-kun, she is a mon–"

"No," I say, regaining my male appearance. "You guys just need her trust. Her species is at the brink of extinction and… if my guess is not wrong, humans or other sentient species are the culprits why the members of their species are dead… is that right?"

The dragon lady stares at me for a short while before nodding.

"No worries, dragon lady…" I say, rubbing her snout. "We all aren't from this world. We were summoned to this world, except for these two," I explain, pointing at the vampire and the bunny.

"And the blond I locked away is one of the adventurers you tried to kill. He is the only one who survived."

"Hmm…" she begins to speak. "I regret it but… I couldn't do anything…"

"She isn't lying…" Ruby assures me. "I know about Dragon people. She must have some reason to do what she did."

"You know… about Dragonborns?"

Ruby walks to the dragon and touches her cheek. "I am the last surviving vampire. Three hundred years ago, our monarchs looked to the dragonmen as models of how to live, as well as how to rule."

In other words, to Ruby the dragonmen are symbols of righteousness.

When she heard about Ruby's heritage, the dragon was even more surprised.

"Unbelievable! A vampire... and three hundred years old at that... I see. Our sources from the outside world had told us the vampires had been wiped out, but I see their princess still yet lives. I believe your name was..."

So she is probably as old as the vampire hag… Or maybe even older.

Needless to say, Aiko and Atsushi and the others are even more shocked. Their jaws are hanging open.

Wait, didn't Ruby discard her past? No, I must intervene before she digs out her past…

But Shea suddenly grabs my arm and stops me…

"My name is Ruby now," the vampire girl clarifies. "The person I treasure most in this world gave it to me. Please use that."

She is blushing slightly, and holding her hands close to her chest, like she is cupping something dear.

No, Ruby-sama, don't just spill the beans!

Sparkling waves of happiness are radiating off her. When they see her expression, the girls all look like they've spotted a buffet of sweets.

Please don't tell them I am the one who named you… AHHHH! It will be hell…

"Please, proceed with your explanation," I intervened.

"Oh… As you wish. I was manipulated by a man. I was no more than his tool!"

Manipulated? This explains why she didn't speak when I fought her…

We all widen our eyes and bear different expressions on our face, out of surprise.

"And?" I ask.

"I had no intention of attacking you people. However, the man who took control of me ordered me to find and kill that young man and his comrades."

"You couldn't resist his orders?" I demand.

"Yeah… you are not cooking me, right?"

I nod at her. "As long as you are telling the truth. And you know, manipulating others is one of the things I hate the most."

"Oh…"

"Don't mind me, just keep going."

"Let me revert to my humanoid form before my mana runs out."

I am genuinely surprised. "You can… transform into a humanoid form?"

The black dragon's body is wrapped in a cocoon of mana and gradually starts to shrink. When she has shrunk to about human size, the cocoon of mana dissipates.

What emerges from the cocoon of black mana is a beautiful woman. She has long black hair and piercing golden eyes. She is sitting on her knees, supporting her body with one hand. Her luxurious, thick hair falls straight down to her waist, and her disheveled bangs are stuck to her blushing face. Her expression is ecstatic. Anyone would find her current appearance seductive.

Wait, what, the black dragon's facial expression has been like this all this time.

"Are you also a pervert?"

"N-no…"

"Good, if you are a pervert, I will just cook you and eat."

"Ah, you are so mean. What's your name?"

I roll my eyes, averting away from her face that is blushing…

"You can't eat a human, Tennyson-kun!" Hatayama sensei immediately scolds me.

"I… I am not a cannibal, sensei. I am just fooling around," I face the dragon girl again.

Oh, crap, I accidentally looked at her… breasts. Alright… this is just a normal cliche…

Why do the girls from fantasy work have such unrealistic sizes? Uh… Sorry, Ruby. You are just a child, after all. But see Shea and the dragon girl… And you will know what I mean.

She has the figure of a woman in her early twenties. Though her height is easily over 170 centimeters. She wears a black outfit similar to a Japanese kimono with unique floral designs along the bottom, and a pink undershirt. She also wears a red Japanese-styled hairpin and piercings on the top of her hair, as well as worn oiran's sandals.

When I look back at the people, I sense the envious eyes of the teenage girls…

Encourage a girl with one sentence.

Haha, this lady must be rich in mana, that's how she's got her big chest – and you guys are from another world, so the sizes are irrelevant for your bodies. Haha…

I think laughing would help.

"I go by Ben Tennyson in this body. When I was a girl, my name was Benjamina."

"Thank you for sparing my life… "I have caused you all much grief. Please understand that I truly, truly am sorry for what I have done. My name is Tio Klarus. I'm a dragonman of the Klarus clan."

She is staring intently at me. "Please forgive me for asking this question. But are you a man or a woman?"

There is a moment of silence in our little interview.

"Originally, a man. But I can be a woman… because of my biological composition, my cells are unstable. So I don't really have specifics in gender," I lied.

I am Benjamin as a summoned synergist but Benjamina is my legal name. I registered all the services with the "Benjamina" name.

"Oh, I don't understand but I shouldn't pry into this matter, anymore, right?"

I wink at her. "You will be appreciated for this," I mutter under my breath.

"Ah… My body still aches… My back… And every time you give me that look, it sends shivers through my spine. To thinthe pain could feel so sweet…"

She is making that face again, blushing for nothing.

"Humungousaur's punches are so hard, you can awaken a dragon from sleep."

"On second thought, you are a pervert! I am gonna cook you alive if you don't just explain what happened but play around!"

"Master… Your glares and your scowl… Ah, you are being mean to me but I feel somewhat good…"

Wearing a deadpan face, I lower my body to blow air into her ear… she returns an "Ah" to me.

"Listen…" I whisper into her ear. "Save that stuff for a later time. I will reward you if you do so…"

"R-really?"

I nod at her, half-lying. No way in hell I can handle such a woman…

"Hmm, I promise," hahaha, I am the man who stands atop of evilness. It is easier to trick her into a trap – though I don't wanna do it. Forgive me, Tio.

Tio then went on to explain how the robed figure who was gathering a monster army was planning on attacking the nearby villages. And that he had already gathered a mob of three to four thousand monsters. Most of the monsters that inhabited the second mountain range lived in packs, so all he'd needed to do was subjugate their respective leaders, and the packs had followed.

Finally… A war? Monster manipulation… So that figure must be a demon.

No… I can't say for sure… As far as I know, demons are the ones who tame the monsters.

"If that's true, we should warn the people in the town andevacuate them," Aiko Hatayama-sensei proposes.

I smirk, looking up at the sky. "No need, sensei... I can handle this when the time comes. But you should warn them not to come out of the house when the war happens."

Hatayama-sensei walks towards me and grips onto my right waist.

"No, I can't just let my student face thousands of shoulders alone... even if you can take down an enemy."

"Who said he's alone?" Shea says, placing her hands on her hips. "We are with Bennison in this battle. Isn't it true, Ruby?"

Ruby smiles and nods at the teacher. "Mhmm. Trust Benny and his party."

"I will also help you guys," Tio declares, standing up from the ground. "Given one day, I will recover my mana enough."

"You are a formidable opponent, I don't doubt you can handle this one..."

"Thanks... but now..." she suddenly falls to the ground. "I don't have any mana left. Can you carry me all the way to the town?"

I narrow my eyes... full of doubts.

"Ruby… Drive them back to Ur."

I request Ruby before transforming into Jetray.

"And tell that Cudeta boy that I am off to the mountains to cook the dragon."

"Roger," she gives off an insecure look at Tio but her face is expressionless, so I can't just read her thoughts.

"Can I tag along–"

"No," I reject Shea's request immediately. "Go with the rest.

She pouts at my order and walks back to the RV.

I let out a sigh of relief, then I notice Atsushi and the girls looking at me. "What?"

"Do you order around the girls like that? Wow, I envy you…" Atsushi comments.

"Please not…" I reply and grab the dragon girl from her leg with my leg claws before shooting into the sky.

"Ah, you don't just have mercy on me!" she says with a seductive voice.

"Sh-shut up your trap!"

"You have no mercy with words, too."

On second thought, I'm gonna drop this lady in the lake of Ur. Perhaps her perversion will be cleansed.

-(TRANSITION)-

"Hmm… I still can't return to Fuhren?"

Next morning, we deliver the news about the monsters to Will Cudeta.

"So please wait until the monster problem is over, Okay?" I use my feminine charm to calm him down. He isn't necessarily aggressive but… we locked him up in a car last night… I guess I can understand why he is being a BIT aggressive, te~he~

"If you say so…"

It's funny in a sense how he sees me as a fellow adventurer (adventurer ONEE-SAN?) but in another sense, it isn't. I mean, Will is a serious man despite his romantic affection for his mom… so he probably looks up at me as a respectable adventurer.

"It will help me a lot, Mr. Cudeta. Now please excuse me, I will have to attend a meeting to strategize a plan to defend the town."

As I walk to the door of the room, I hear a whisper from him. "Thanks…"

Tio is waiting outside of the room.

Man, we lied to Cudeta that I had cooked and eaten this woman… Hope he never finds out this is the culprit dragon…

"Mistress Benjamina…"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Hehe…" she giggles gracefully, covering her mouth with a black fan.

"Ben Tennyson…" I suddenly hear a masculine voice that calls my name.

I tilt my head and see the owner of the voice: the blond knight leader of the templar guard group, David Zahler.

"... Thanks for keeping Miss Hatayama safe."

"No need to thank me," I reply with a dramatic rise in my ego. "Sensei is my teacher after all. If anything, I have to thank you guys for protecting her all this time."

I have heard from my teacher that this man would follow her rather than the Church. Just being around her can change a person…

She is a teacher, yes, no matter where she is.

"Miss Hatayama is waiting for us. Let's go to the meeting room," he then walks away from us to a building.

I give a nod to Tio and we two follow the blond knight into the village.

"Tennyson-kun. About the black-robed boy..."

Hatayama-sensei asked me to find out who he is.

"...Yes. I have to be sure. Tennyson-kun... I understand what I'm asking isn't easy, but..."

"I'll bring him to you."

"Huh?"

"The black-robed kid. I'll bring him to you. Do what you want with him… I'll follow your decision."

"Tennyson-kun... Thank you so much."

-(SKIP)-

The sun has already set. We would gather at the center of the town hall.

"As we discussed, I need you four and the knights to keep watch over the other sides of the town. The monsters are coming through the valleys in the north if I am not wrong. But I can't guarantee they aren't coming from the other side."

"Understood, Sir Ben."

David Zahlar started addressing me "Sir" after the meeting this morning.

"OK, Tennyson-kun."

The four teenagers together are assigned to the west of Ur, the Urdea Lake, and the knights take responsibility for the East and South.

Ruby, Shea, Tio, and I have to watch over the path connected to the valley roads, located north of Ur. If I am right, we will encounter the monster army in the north.

"CHROMASTONE!"

Manipulating the light waves, I sense about 200 large monsters in the first row of the monster army… and a person in black robe and mask. SInce I have never seen a demon, I can't say whether he is one or not.

"I am building a wall…"

As the trio nods at me, I fly through the air to a distance and make a superhero landing on the ground, pressing the Omnitrix symbol on my torso.

"DIAMONDHEAD!"

I punch the ground and summon a durable silicon wall that's at least 15 feet tall…

"SWAMPFIRE!"

I jump down the wall and release some seeds from my body into the ground… They consequently grow into a vine forest.

"Preparations, complete!"

Female Swampfire is almost the same as its male counterpart. She sports feminine features and the flame-patterned head now has a yellow/ red ponytail on the back. The body is slimmer and the collar raised up around her neck is smaller than her male counterpart's.

"Whoa, Bennison… I've never seen you this motivated before."

Rabbit-chan jumps over the wall and the vine forest, landing in front me.

"How many monsters do you think are coming?"

"Hmm, Tio said a thousand or something."

"A thousand, no. Not even ten thousand. It's forty thousand."

"Wow…"

I open the inventory dimension and hand the proto-tool X to Shea.

"Combine it with your Hammer. You will feel better."

"Do you think the enemies are strong?"

It is Ruby…

Ruby floats towards the spot we are standing.

"Why do you ask?"

"You prepared this much," she nonchalantly says.

This is the least I can do… I mean, I've not done the precautionary measures using other aliens.

I roll my eyes to look away at the mountains.

"The town… I'm not interested in protecting someone," I smirk wryly at Ruby who is blankly staring at me. "But no way I am making my teacher cry again."

"You sure care about your teacher."

"Of course…"

"And you stink…"

Oh, I've got a distinct rotten stench.

"You don't need to tell me about that!"

The fourth voice enters our pre-battle conversation.

"Hmm, you are one of the "tsunderes" they said?"

It is Tio. Wait, where did she learn that word?

Tio takes a glance at the diamond wall and vine forest, and beams.

"Of-of course not. I am not a tsundere, no way."

She grins, seemingly pleased by the answer.

"But your classmates said you are a tsundere."

This girl… if I am triggered, she will just abuse me even more.

"Th-they don't know a thing about me. D-don't take their words seriously."

"Hmm… if you say so," she brings out her paper fan and giggles quietly behind it.

Trying to ignore my surroundings for some moments, I lean back on a tree, closing my eyes and breathing quietly.

"There, there, you shouldn't be depressed about your odor," I feel Ruby's hands rubbing against my vinehead fake flames.

"Oh, shut up," I bark back.

"Mistress Benjamina…"

"What again…" when I open my eyes, I can see a blushing Tio.

"Umm, once your battle here is over, and you have safely seen young Will to his family, will you be resuming your travels?"

"Yeah? So what?"

Tio's blushed and her breathing grows heavy.

Hmm… what the heck is she…

"I see. Well I was hoping... that I may be allowed to join you. Ahem! Of course, I am not asking you to do this for free! If you agree to let me join you, then I shall call you master or maybe mistress, and devote myself to you… body and soul! Surely—"

"Alright, okay, fine, do what you like," I sigh, eyeing her head-to-toe… "Body and soul, huh…"

Shea swings her hammer at my head, destroying it completely.

"... AHHH! MISTRESS BENJAMINA!"

"Hmph… I will punish bad boys and girls," Shea declares.

My hand moves swiftly, slapping her cheeks.

"Ah… Mistress Benjamina… are you not dead?"

The vines from the insides of my neck begin to emerge to the outside and grow into a head.

"Jeez… this girl…" I shoot a glare at Shea who is whistling. "I can't die, but that doesn't mean I can't feel pain."

"You… can't die?" Tio widens her eyes in surprise.

"Hmm, yeah. It's a curse I've been living with for a while. You are gonna be one of us anyway…"

"That aside… I'd love it if you would give me that scornful glare, too…"

Hmm, what is she talking about?

Wait, wait, I have seen these things in anime… this is… what they call "masochism?"

I don't swing that way.

"Huh? Don't drag me into your fet–" I glare at her.

"Whoa, that look… your eyes tell me that you deserve to be my master!"

"Hmm, speaking of which, what can you do other than… dragon thing?"

"Within my village, I am one of the strongest fighters. My endurance especially is far greater than the others. Even when someone did manage to get the better of me, they could never inflict any damage."

"Wow, that's impressive. But you still can't beat me. I can blow up Bennison's head!" Shea proudly declares.

This bitch… I shrug off two seeds toward where she is standing. They suddenly grow into vines and bind the worthless bunny girl down to the ground, wrapping around her white bare legs and arms, one tip grows into her skirt and the other into her cleavage.

"Ah, ah, I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

"Wow, as expected of my mistress. Your tie-up method is perfect! Tie me up, too! And tentacles… im-impressive!"

I facepalm out of disgust.

"I always won. But it was only after I fought you that I first came to learn the true pain and humiliation that accompanies a real defeat. Your fists rocked me to the core! And your otherworldly abilities left a lasting impression! You left my whole body aching and... Haah... Haah..."

"Ahhhhh! Stop talking! Or I will tie you up for real…"

"Please do so," Tio approaches my face (which stands 7 feet above the ground) and wags her non-existent tail in excitement. This pervert… both the bunny (usagi) and the dragon (ryuu) are perverts… I didn't get summoned to this world to accompany perverted girls. "Please…"

I roll my eyes and shrug off two seeds for her, which then grows into binds that crawl into her kimono.

From further on, I don't look at them anymore. I peacefully walk out of the vine forest, ignoring the moans of the two.

"Glad to see you are no less disgusting after becoming a female."

When Ruby comments and follows me from behind, I whistle, overjoyed.

"Oh… they are here."

The monster army has arrived, but the robed boy is nowhere to be seen.

The horde of monsters is large enough to bury the earth. There are Bulltaurs, other humanoid monsters, massive black wolves three to four meters large, six-legged lizards, pythons with needles growing from their backs, praying mantis-like things with scythes for arms, spiders with tentacles growing out of their engorged torsos, white serpents with horns growing from their heads…

The army is massive. They kick up a tornado of dust as they pass, and swallow up the ground before them like a wriggling black tidal wave. Their murderous red-black eyes glint in the black mass, a sea of corrupted rubies. There are even more than I have initially seen at the mountain. At a guess, there seem to be around fifty to sixty thousand in total.

Worse, the sky is filled with flying monsters as well. They look like a flock of pteranodons.

"Guess this is gonna be interesting…"

I snap my fingers and release the two women from the bind.

"Don't tire yourself out. If you need rest, take it."

"Ha… Mmmm," Tio walks to the spot next to me and lets out a light moan as she thrust her hands, creating a dark energy ball in her palm. Unleashed from her palms, the energy ball hurls into the massive army and destroys some monsters in the first row.

"Apparently, the robed man controlled the leaders and the leaders ordered their disciples," she theorizes.

"I will kill every last one of them anyway," I say, pointing to myself.

"You will become the culprit of the monster extinction, Benny," Ruby bluntly comments.

"OK, ok," I can't just compete with her expressionless eyes."I will be careful."

"Let's go, guys!"

"Don't get carried away, Shea!" I shout at Shea who advances towards the incoming army alone.

"Oh, whatever, XLR8!"

In a moment, I become a blur and reappear in front of the monsters. My hands have now become pincers that destroy the monster bodies at supersonic speeds.

The wolf monsters charge toward where I was but I am not there anymore.

"There you are..."

The wolf monster that is slightly bigger in size than others and producing weird low frequency sounds has been spotted. Dodging the swipe of a nearby bulltaur, I charge toward the "leader" of the wolf group,...

"HUMUNGOUSAUR!"

As I grow larger and larger in size, my colossal punch is thrown into the wolf leader, slaying it immediately.

Alrighty... who's next?

The bulltaurs stop their movements and look up at me...

I stand 60 feet... while they are not even 10 feet tall.

"Hmph..." I let out a grunt of satisfaction and slam my fist onto their heads...

Shea appears before me, swinging her weapon again and again to deal with incoming bulltaurs.

"Bennison!"

"Hmm?"

I look at where she is as I lift a bulltaur and throw at the mantis monsters.

"The sky!"

Shit... I've been occupied with the monsters down here therefore I forgot about the flying ones.

Some of them are similar to Hyveria and some of them are like dragons and pterosaurs.

"I will deal with it!"

Now it's time to use the trump card!

Shattering my soul, yes.

"ECHO ECHO!"

With a green light, I become a white humanoid creature with a childish height.

In some seconds, I duplicate myself into my clones and push away the nearby enemies with the sonic screams.

"Guys!"

I shout at my clones.

They number about 15.

They all nod at me as a sign of comprehension and...

We all press the Omnitrix insignia at the same time. We become engulfed in green light... transforming into different aliens.

"Wow... Bennison... it's awesome..."

I've used this move only once... and the last time I used this was real hell. But Azmuth fixed the problem of personality disorder of sonorosian clones... thus I don't have to worry anymore.

"UPGRADE!"

The sonorosian clone who became a galvanic mechamorph jumps at the bunny girl and fuses herself with her weapon, turning it into a even bigger weapon with black spikes...

"FOUR ARMS!" "ARMODRILLO!"

Armodrillo thrusts his now-turned-drills hands into the ground and her jackhammer pistons on the elbows begin to pump... creating a destructive earthquake.

Let me introduce Armodrillo of Talpaedans ... of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Armodrillo is a yellow ten-foot-tall alien with an armored, robotic-like body. His head is similar to a Greek Corinthian helmet with two ears on it, giving him the appearance of an armadillo. Armodrillo has a gray tail and jackhammer parts on his elbows, wrists and hands, creating the impression that he is a digging robot. Despite his mechanical appearance, all of these aspects are, in fact, biological and natural to his race. He also has blood that is grey and partially translucent.

Female Armodrillo sports the feminine feature, being a mammal. Her body is a lot slimmer, and her tail is longer. There exists grey biometallic breastplates on her front, which are sealed with a metallic lock. The Omnitrix symbol lies on her waist.

Four Arms stands next to Armodrillo and as the Talpaedan cutie has triggered a quake. And then the Tetramand warrior lady claps her hands together, creating a "Thunderclap Shockwave" that blows the enemies who lost balance due to the quake.

Female Four Arms... yeah, she looks like Princess Looma but different in a sense.

"ARCTIGUANA!" "WATER HAZARD!" "BIG CHILL!"

This ice/water trio has entered the battle.

Water Hazard uses high pressure water to propel herself into the air and then blasts the large amount of water at the group of monsters.

And then Arctiguana stands on four, and fires a long-range freeze rays and isolates the wet monsters in ice.

As his name suggests, Arctiguana's appearance somewhat resembles an iguana. He is a cold-blooded alien (as normal reptiles) whose blood is literally very cold.

Arctiguana had small spikes around his face, three dorsal fins reaching down his back and white gills on the sides of his head.

Female Arctiguana doesn't have breasts since she isn't even WARM-BLOODED.

Big Chill phases through the monsters and freezes them in ice.

There is no female Big Chill. He/she is asexual. Thus, he/she looks the same as the normal Big Chill – wait is there even a normal Big Chill since there is only one ASEXUAL version?

"JETRAY!" "ASTRODACTYL!" "HEATBLAST!" "BIG CHILL!"

The flight aliens have shot towards the flying monsters...

Female Heatblast, being a humanoid alien, she possesses feminine features. The hair of flames now forms a short hair around her head.

Female Jetray and female Astrodactyle don't have many differences from their respective male counterparts. They both belong to COLD-BLOODED reptiles.

Big Chill is your asexual friend as always.

"Rwrrr, let me tell you something you spiky python! You can't go away after you fucking messed with Rath without a punishment!... blah... blah... blah..."

Glad to see you are a cat as always.

Female Rath has a much slimmer feminine body and wears a wrestler leotard suit, with a green mask on her face. Her claws are slightly shorter than her male counterpart's.

Rath leaps into the air and strikes the spiky python monsters with her claws.

"Screech! Let's have a faid brawl, mister..."

Holy shit! This is... a... hen? Wait, is she a hawk?

Kickin 'Hawk! The combination of Chicken and Hawk. Female Kickin Hawk's head resembles both of a hen and a hawk. While her muscles are almost as big as her male counterpart's, feathers cover her chest although... she doesn't have breasts.

She is brawling against a group of bulltaurs who have blades for arms.

"Taste the unbreakable diamond blades!"

Diamondhead as blades for her arms charges towards mantis-aliens with blade arms.

Biltzwolfer opens her snout split open into four parts, and lets out a powerful sonic scream.

Female Biltzwolfer is slimmer, wearing a black leotard with green lines. Her tail is smaller but more furry. She has mammary glands.

Snare Oh jumps over the werewolf alien and grabs the opponents with her bandages to gather them in one place, while the werewolf screams to kill the monsters.

"Oh Crap... it's hell for them..."

I let out a sigh. I am pretty sure I don't wanna be one of those poor monsters.

Don't blame me for monster extinction.

"My turn now... DEEJAY EMCEE! Hahaha... how entertaining! How exciting! How thrilling!"

After consuming the fear of the nearby monsters, I teleport myself onto a cliff.

Female Deejay Emcee looks exactly the same as Benjamina though she has green skin and antennae.

"Hmm? Who... who are you!?"

The robed man has been watching the battle all this time… on a cliff.

He freaks out seeing a green-skinned cutie with antennae.

Monster leader, my ass. Oh, crap, my female version has a bigger ass.

"Your… Worst… Nightmare…" I scare him, creating red blood-like liquid in my hand out of nowhere… and show it to him, frightening the shit out of the "demon general."

"AHHHH! What the hell! What the hell is going on! This can't be happening! I'm supposed to be the hero— Gweh!?"

Thanks for the food. You are so entertaining.

I find a bunch of interesting information inside his head… via mind reading.

"Hmm… And I am the cute villain who's gonna defeat you… I am an alien… I will abduct you… And castrate you–"

With a scream of terror, he jumps down the cliff, and tries to use dark magic but… a Jetray appears in front of him…

"Ahh! Get away! You monster… Shit, why can't I tame him?"

Jetray brings the robed person back to the cliff… Then I tie him up with a rope I just created out of nowhere.

"Now… it's your loss, Shimizu Yoshitani…"

YOSHITANI Shimizu widens his eyes in shock and horror.

"How do you know…"

"Too bad. I can read your mind… pretty easily. Say, what do you feel… Manipulating those monsters?"

Hmph… you don't want to answer me, huh? That's OK for me.

"Now then, I wonder what Hatayama-sensei will do with you?"

I reveal my male form to him.

"Ten… Tennyson Benjamin… y-you are not dead!?"

I laugh dryly. "Fortunately… or unfortunately I survived. Well, that's not important for me anyway."

In fact, Shimizu's eyes are psychotic and scary… freaky and creepy… No, I am not judging his appearance. His mind… What he thinks and his soul are all reflected in his eyes.

Clouds of dust still hung over the devastated plains, which were covered in a sea of blood and flesh.

The battle is now over… My clones vanish into the thin air… one by one. The monsters have either retreated or been defeated.

I'm not someone who is interested in my classmates. Therefore, I've never remembered this name… or never known… until yesterday.

Before sensei wants to meet him, I read his mind and see his plan. This guy… As brainless as he is, his schemes are dangerous.

Yukitoshi Shimizu.

A person who wants to be a hero… yet the existence of "hero" – Amanogawa outshines his presence.

Secretly an otaku: someone who's crazy with anime, novels, manga, and stuff. Otaku basically are fans on a crazy level.

For Yukitoshi Shimizu, being spirited away to another world had always been his dream. He knew it wasn't possible in reality, so he'd spent his free time reading light novels about being summoned to another world and daydreaming about his own adventures. He'd had countless fantasies about saving the world and winning himself a harem of girls.

Every inch of Shimizu's room was covered with posters of cute anime girls, and he had a display rack for all of his figures, many of which were in suggestive poses. His bookshelf was packed with manga, light novels, art books, and visual novels of all kinds. Those that didn't fit in his bookshelf were stacked up in corners of his room.

He did a perfect job of hiding his hobbies though.

Though he never let it show, the constant bullying warped his personality. He began to harbor a desire to lord over other people. That desire manifested itself in the games he played, as well as the fantasies he had.

That was why when Shimizu had finally been summoned to another world for real, he'd been overjoyed. Even when Aiko had been yelling at Ishtar to send them back, or when Kouki had been rousing the students to fight for the people, Shimizu had been lost in his own thoughts, thinking of how he would finally get to become the hero he'd always dreamed of. Though he was elated at first, he soon began to grow discontent with his new otherworldly life. He came to realize that reality was very different from the fantasies he'd always had.

First of all, while Shimizu did have overpowered cheat abilities, so did his other classmates. And the supposed hero wasn't even him, but Kouki. Because of that, he was still no more than a minor NPC in the eyes of his classmates, and the girls all flocked to Kouki.

It was no different from how it had been in Japan. Even though his biggest wish had been granted, Shimizu only grew more spiteful and dissatisfied with his life.

How come he wasn't the hero? How come Kouki was the only one getting all the girls? How come Kouki was the only one getting special treatment? He was certain that if he were the hero, he could do a better job. He knew that he'd be nicer to everyone if they came to him... He blamed others for all of his problems, and the egotistic conviction that only he was special began to eat away at his psyche.

It was then that the first expedition to the Great Orcus Labyrinth happened. Shimizu saw this expedition as his chance. No one ever noticed him. No one cared if he was there or not. But if he could show how awesome he was in a fight, his classmates would have to take notice of him. He didn't even realize how unrealistic his hopes were... but the events in the labyrinth later forced him to realize the truth.

He wasn't anyone special, the universe wasn't going to bend over backwards to make him seem special, and if he let his guard down for even a second, he'd die. All his fantasies were shattered when he found himself surrounded by an army of Traum Soldiers, with a raging Behemoth at his back.

And when he saw one of his own classmates fall to his "death," his poor heart shattered.

He'd kept himself going by making excuses and secretly despising everyone around him, so he was by no means strong-willed. Defeated, he reverted to being a shut-in when they returned to the palace, but he could no longer turn to anime and video games to find solace. So instead, he lost himself in books about dark magic, as his profession was Dark Mage.

Dark magic generally influenced the target's thoughts and perception. In combat, its main purpose was to debuff enemies. He took to it like a fish to water, and he quickly grew proficient at creating illusions to disorient foes, interfering with their ability to cast magic, and even making them hurt themselves in confusion.

In his depressed state of mind, Shimizu came to realize something about the magic he was practicing. If he mastered dark magic completely, could he not control another person's mind? The thought brought him great excitement. If he was correct, he could manipulate anyone to do anything he wanted. Anything. That twisted thought took root in his mind. From that day, he devoted himself utterly to the study of dark magic.

However, things didn't go as well as he'd hoped. He learned that creatures with high intelligence, like humans, couldn't be brainwashed unless he spent a day or more continually casting magic on them. This also required them to not resist at all.

Of course, most people would react if someone tried to cast a spell on them. This meant he'd need to find a way to put his target to sleep for long periods of time if he wanted to control them. Trying to hide for hours at a time to cast a spell on someone was physically and temporally impractical. Furthermore, the risk of being discovered was far too great, so he'd been forced to give up on brainwashing people.

As he'd been despairing, he'd suddenly remembered the reason they'd been summoned in the first place was because demons had started taking control of monsters. Monsters were far more instinctual than humans, who had a much stronger sense of self, which meant brainwashing them wouldn't be as hard.

In order to confirm his theory, he'd snuck out of the capital every night to experiment on the weak monsters found in the nearby plains. He'd found that brainwashing them was far easier than brainwashing a person. Though it was only easy for him because of how much natural talent he'd already possessed. According to Ishtar, normal humans would have to spend their whole life to take control of one or two monsters.

Once he was certain of his abilities, Shimizu started craving stronger monsters to place under his control. However, he would feel embarrassed if he asked to join Kouki's party now after all this time. As he was worrying about what to do, he heard about how some of the students were going to form an escort party to guard Aiko. He figured if he went with them, he'd be able to find some pretty strong monsters during his travels.

That was why when Aiko Hatayama-sensei and the others had come to Ur, he'd disappeared and headed to the mountains to make more monster puppets. When he next returned, it would be at the head of a great monster army, and everyone would finally give him the respect he deserved.

Originally, even with his outstanding affinity for dark magic, and even if he'd focused only on the leaders of each tribe, he wouldn't have been able to control more than a thousand or so. And he wouldn't have been able to control monsters any stronger than a Bulltaur.

However, thanks to the assistance of a certain individual, along with the stroke of fortune that had let him control Tio, he'd been able to command monsters from as far away as the fourth mountain range. He forged a contract with said individual, who then started sending him more reinforcements every day. All that power finally corrupted him.

Convinced that he actually was special, he waited for an opportunity to unleash his might on Ur.

Too bad for you, "hero," your villain was the glorious Ben Tennyson.

We stayed silent during the session… And I was a female Deejay Emcee and was reading his mind.

As twisted as I am, I can't say this guy is crazy or something. For the last 3 years of my life, I killed several villains… out of hypocrisy.

I never tried to become a hero. But I justified the definition of "villain" and "criminal." I kicked the asses of countless people.

I can't say Shimizu is worse than me… No, I've seen worse. I have killed millions and committed a genocide… Highbreed, yes.

He killed… dozens? Well, it doesn't interest me at all. But I should watch over Hatayama-sensei when she talks to him…

But one thing… I… want to punch him to death for a reason… a shitty reason… no, I'm glad I came to this town. I'm glad I am… here. I am the happiest man in the universe for defeating him. Because…

Because of one shitty "contract" he made with demons.

I detransform and drag him to the outside of the building… into the yard where sensei, her pupils and her knights are waiting for us… together with my party.

Poor Aiko Hatayama is seen walking to and fro… with a worried look on her face.

"Sensei…" I call out to her as I gently put down the miserable Shimizu.

Aiko, he could still be dangerous."

Zahler tries to stop her, but sensei simply shakes her head. She asks to untie him as well.

She said she wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with him otherwise. I suppose sensei still intends to have a teacher-to-student talk with him.

"Why did you do something like this...? That's all I want to know. I just want to understand your feelings."

I can answer her questions on his behalf... But I want to know how honest he can be.

Sensei, unlike me, is a gentle person and can influence others around her in a wholesome way.

Must protect.

I kinda understand why these knights sorta worship her as their goddess.

His eyes stop darting about. He guiltily averts his gaze and he starts explaining... or rather insulting everyone.

"Why? You can't even tell why? That's why you're all a bunch of incompetent losers. You all always look down on me... and go on about hero this, hero that. Even though I'm way better than that prick Kouki... none of you ever noticed. You always just pretended like I wasn't even there... You're all a bunch of retards! That's why I wanted to prove my worth to all of you..."

My classmates couldn't contain their anger.

"You little... Do you realize what you did!? You nearly killed everyone in the town!" (Atsushi)

"And you called us losers!?"

"Do you even know how worried Ai-chan-sensei was about you?"

I move between them and Shimizu and stop them. "Guys… please stop. Sensei has… things to tell that bastard."

Sensei seemingly ignores our comments.

"I see. So that's what you were dissatisfied about, then... But you know, Shimizu-kun. I don't understand, why would you try and get back at your classmates because of that? Why'd you try and attack the city? If you'd succeeded... and killed all the people of this town... even if you had an army of monsters at your command, that wouldn't have proven your worth."

He looks up at Aiko, dark eyes peering through dirty bangs. He smiles thinly and gives a most shocking answer.

"It would have... to the demons."

"Wha—!?"

Monster Taming… and demons. It doesn't surprise me since I already know about all this information inside his head.

His smile turns into a triumphant grin, which only makes his voice grow stronger.

"I went alone to the northern mountain range to brainwash monsters. But while I was over there, I met a demon. I was wary at first, but... the demon just wanted to talk to me. And they were the first one who understood. Who understood my true worth. That was why... I made a contract with them."

"A contract... you say? What kind of contract?"

Sensei's voice hints at the anger that bursts out at the moment she realized that one of her students had made a deal with enemies.

I guess she is convinced it is the demon that has led her student astray.

I already know the answer.

No… he is… already corrupted from the beginning.

Shimizu simply grins maniacally and gives the most disheartening answer we could've possibly heard.

If I didn't read his mind beforehand, I wouldn't be able to contain my anger and kill him the moment he told us those words.

"A contract... to kill you, Hatayama-sensei."

"...Eh?"

My classmates are angered and the knights would want to kill him on the spot. Ruby, Shea, and Tio take place between the protected of Hatayama-sensei and us.

For a second, Aiko can't even comprehend what Shimizu has just said.

Despite the glares and all this hate he received, Shimizu doesn't seem to stop talking anytime soon.

"What's with that dumb look? Did you really think the demons were just ignoring you guys? There's no way they could have ignored you, you're even more of a threat than the hero. The demon told me that if I killed you... if I killed the fertility goddess along with the rest of the town, that I'd be recognized as a hero. That was the deal."

The corner of Shimizu's mouth twitched, and he continued in an increasingly louder voice.

"They told me. They told me my power was the strongest. That it was a waste for me to languish beneath the hero. They actually understood. They gave me all these super strong monsters, and the strength to make a huge army... so I thought that... that I'd be able to kill you for sure! So why!? How!? How did you beat my army!? Where did you get those kinds of monster powers!? Just... Just what the hell are you!?"

I lift him off the ground and punch him right in the face.

"Because I am a monster," I glared into his eyes. "Because I am not a protector or hero. That's why I have all kinds of absurd power. You know what? You are weak. You are nothing compared to me. Now give up your nonsense and live your normal life. Maybe 2 or 3 years in jail, I don't care. As long as you are weak and jealous, you will just be a jerk like that.

Hero, my ass. How many people have you ever saved? Heck, you don't even know what a hero is. All you have done is bullshit. And all you will do is also bullishit unless you change your ways."

"Tennyson-kun…" sensei grabs me furiously and pushes me toward the vampire girl who then catches me.

"As a teacher, I will handle this one so it's enough for your part…" she says…

"Shimizu-kun. Just calm down."

"Wh-What the fuck!? Get away from me!"

He tries to shake sensei off, but she strengthens her grip, making it clear that she isn't going to let go.

"Shimizu-kun... I understand how you feel. You want to be special. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone wants to feel like they're special. And I'm sure you can even become someone special. Even if your methods were mistaken, you were able to do so much... Still, you mustn't side with the demons. They only wish to use you. As a teacher, I cannot allow you to entrust yourself to such selfish people!"

Hmm, she is the type you can't just hate… I hope it will work out. Otherwise…

"Shimizu-kun. It's not too late to start over. If you say you're willing to try again, I promise I'll help you. Someone as strong as you can surely fight together with Amanogawa-kun. Don't you want to help everyone find a way home and go back to Japan with us?"

Shimizu quietly listens to Aiko, but his shoulders are trembling.

If I am not wrong…

Damn him. All this crap is a gamble I have to take… I hope it is a win, but there is no helping it is a loss.

My eyes were fixed on the Shimizu boy just before he did some stupid.

Aiko Hatayama sensei moves closer to pat his head, when suddenly Shimizu tightens his grip on sensei and pulls her forward. He then wraps his arm around her neck and starts squeezing.

But thankfully… my legs involuntarily move on their own toward Shimizu and sensei… and easily release sensei from his grip.

But… I have a problem.

I feel… something sharp… sinking into my neck.

What's that?

I look back at the Shimizu boy and… notice a short, ten centimeter needle in his hand.

"This is a poisoned needle I took off one of the monsters in the mountains! One prick and… you're dead… Hahaha! I… I killed Tennyson. I… I killed the monster."

And my whole body falls onto the ground, and my eyelids become too heavy to leave them open. My vision begins to fade away…

"T-tennyson-kun… No!"

"Benny!" "Bennison!" "Master Ben!"

I can't identify the words…

My whole body feels weak.

What am I facing again?

Death? How many times have I faced death?

Every time I die, it's so lonely.

My heart has stopped but my brain hasn't yet.

I will have a memory flashback.

Or probably my thoughts and monologues will flood my brain.

It's cold… No, it's hot. Nah, it's hot and cold at the same time.

As if someone is being indecisive whether he should send me to hell or not…

Man, I hate dying.

My five senses are cut off… it's lonely.

Suddenly…

"... safe… vated… reign… poison…"

I can't hear the words that I am hearing.

But looks like…

"What! What is happening?" Shimizu's voice.

"He's getting revived!" Shea's voice.

"Oh, this is how…" Tio's voice.

"Please…Tennyson-kun!"

My senses are coming back to reconcile with my consciousness.

I open my eyes weakly and see everyone is surrounding me and looking at me… some of them have teary eyes.

"Who… said… I… would… die?"

Ruby nonchalantly points at the Shimizu boy who is now held down to the ground by Zahler's disciples.

As for Zahler, he bows in front of me.

"Thanks for saving Miss Hatayama!"

With Shea and Tio's help, I am able to stand up again. Indeed my body is good as new.

"... Follow my order. Darkness Release!" (Shimizu)

"Look out!" I shouted…

The knights who have been holding him down are all pushed away… And then he brings out another needle.

"Here we go again…"

"Haha, loser… You think… you can just defeat me…"

"Hmm?"

Standing before Shimizu is me but already transformed into Diamondhead.

I grab his hand and break the needle into two parts before encasing it in a crystal.

"Now… you seriously need to sleep, psychopath!"

A crystal punch is introduced to the face of the hero wannabe.

Only Shimizu falls to the ground out cold, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Tennyson-kun…" Sensei calls.

"Don't worry," I assure her. "He is just unconscious."

I give her a shining crystal smile.

ベン・テニスン

END OF CHAPTER (6).

This was so long, 17000+ words.

Note: Will Cudeta has an Oedipus complex. Means he has feelings for his own mother. But seeing Benjamin made his indecent feelings for his mother disappear.

I haven't properly read the light novels, hence the source material is mainly anime. Chapter 1-5 covers Vol. 1-3 (half of vol. 3) but a lot of precious scenes are removed. For example, the Brooke Town scene was so short and Sona's character was shown only shortly in the anime.

So I plan to include some OC/ canon stories about Brooke and Fuhren (probably as flashbacks or storytelling) in the later chapters.

Mini-episode (1) is heavily based on canon. Mini-episode (2) will be about the adventurers of the Brooke town.

I have never written a proper Ecchi scene so please forgive me if you find it difficult to feel the scene. But… Chad Hajime Vs. Virgin Bad Ben (lmao). As the writer of the story, I can confirm that Bad Ben still has the virginity of both genders. And I don't think Ben is a fan of polygamy, (friendly reminder that Ben 10 himself has a harem, he's too dense to notice) BUT if we are talking about Bad Ben, it can be either way. This part can be a spoiler for the very last chapter of this story in the future, so I will leave the rest to your imagination.

Thanks for reading and writing reviews on my chapters. I will try my best to improve the story further in the future.

Christopher Paradox Chronos.