...
..-
Cylob: "-AAAHH!"
I feel pain in my leg. I immediately wake up and start observing my situation.
A skinny, brown haired, brown eyed guy with a bandana is holding a rusted dagger in his hand right in front of me.
Cylob: "Why the hell would you do that!?"
mercenary: "I'm sorry! It was an order throm Crusch-sama!"
As soon as he said Crusch-sama, I calmed down and decided to look around.
I noticed that I was in a carriage, I could feel the slight bumping, I could see the everchanging scenery in the window, and then I remembered about the pain.
Cylob: "Shit. It hurts."
Thank god I was always pretty good at taking physical pain.
mercenary: "Umm... Do you need some kind oth healer or somefing?"
Cylob: "No, I'll be fine. You can go back to whatever you were doing."
The mercenary stands up and sits into his corner.
I focus on my healing, the cut is not deep so it only takes about 10 minutes to heal it up. The mercenary was watching me with a surprised expression the whole time.
After I finished with my healing I decide to start a conversation.
Cylob: "What's your name?" I ask the mercenary.
mercenary: "Name's Kolun. What's yours?"
Cylob: "Cylob. Do you know in which carriage Crusch-sama is, Kolun?"
Kolun: "She's two carriages behind us."
Cylob: "Thanks for the info."
Thankfully, I had to jump in the opposite direction of our ride, so air friction wouldn't be a problem.
I jump from carriage to carriage until I reach the one with Crusch in it. The only ones who aren't sleeping in the carriage are Crusch and Rem.
Cylob: "May I please ask why you told someone to hurt me?!"
Crusch: "We got an urgent message from Subaru to wake you up. So if you want to blame anyone, blame him."
Cylob: "Subaru?"
Subaru specifically said to wake up me up? Why?
...
Wait.
Would we have encountered the Archbishops before I woke up? That would've been bad, so my future self told about the attack to Subaru and told him to wake me up.
That would explain this situation. Thanks future me!
But did I have to reveal to Subaru that I know about RbD or did I find some other way to get out of the situation? Whatever, no time to think about that right now.
Right now I have to make sure Rem and Crusch will stay safe.
Cylob: "So it was Subaru... If that's the case then allow me to make sure you're safe Crusch-sama." I turn to Rem. "You too Rem-san."
Rem: "What do you mean by that?" She says while being on guard.
Cylob: "If Subaru said to wake me up, then that means that I have a role to play. And that role is protecting you two."
Crusch: "...Why are you so sure about that?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
Cylob: "Subaru has extreme insight, so I'm sure he knows that the only thing I can do is guarantee your safety."
Crusch: "Why are you so sure that Subaru said to wake you up exactly for that reason?"
Cylob: "Because I know of his awesome ability."
Crusch: "What is that ability?"
Cylob: "His insight."
She narrowes her eyes even more.
Crusch: "...Why do you hold so much trust in Subaru and his insight?"
Cylob: "Because he's awesome and his insight is the best there is! He's gone through pain several times worse than any of us, and he's still alive, kicking and defeating things that have been undefeated for centuries with the use of this very insight! So please let me guarantee your safety!"
At my praise of Subaru, I could see a small smile on Rem's face.
Crusch: "What are we supposed to be saved from?"
Cylob: "Like I'd know! But Subaru is never wrong in these kind of situations! So just trust me! And if you don't trust me, trust Subaru!"
Rem looks for confirmation at Crusch.
Crusch closes her eyes, sighs and opens her eyes, which are now a little bit warmer.
Crusch: "Not a single lie. You hate lying, don't you?"
Cylob: "Yep. So, what do you say?"
Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept.
Crusch: "...How are you going to ensure our safety?"
Cylob: "I'll send you to the safest place I know. The only thing you have to do is not resist and let me hug you."
Crusch: "Hug?"
Cylob: "Yes, hug." I nod.
Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept.
...
Crusch: "...What about everyone else? What about their safety?"
Cylob: "Unfortunately, I can't guarantee everyone's safety. You two are the ones Subaru and I don't want to lose the most."
Crusch looks at me with a displeased look and I respond to her look with my most serious one.
Cylob: "You two are the most powerful people here, so if your safety needs to be guaranteed, that means that the enemy is that much stronger than the both of you. So you staying won't do much either way."
Crusch closes her eyes for a moment.
Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept. Please accept.
...
She opens her eyes.
Crusch: "...Alright, I'll trust your and Subaru's judgement. But, I will only agree on the condition that once we are safe, you will do your best to ensure others' safety."
Cylob: "Thanks!"
I turn to Rem.
Rem: "..."
Cylob: "Come on. I'm trying to do good here. I understand that you don't like the smell on me, but please trust Subaru's intuition."
Rem kept eyeing me, but after a while, she smiled.
Rem: "Rem will trust her Hero."
Cylob: "Thanks!"
Then I hug Rem and use Beelzebub on her.
I can feel something flowing on my face, as she gets successfully consumed.
Crusch: "What happened? Why are you crying? Did it not work out?"
Then I touch my face and confirm that I am indeed crying.
For the first time since coming to this world, I'm crying.
I turn to Crusch with the biggest smile on my face.
Cylob: "No, I'm just extremely grateful that I succeded!"
Crusch was surprised by my reaction, but not for long as she did an action I didn't expect, but greatly appreciated.
She patted me on my head.
Crusch: "Good job."
Cylob: "*sniff* Thanks!"
...
After staying like that for a while, I wipe my tears off.
Cylob: "Alright, that's enough wast-"
We hear carriages being broken.
knight: "We are under attack!"
Dammit! I have to ensure Crusch's safety!
I look at her with the most determined look on my face.
She looks into my eyes, and after a second that felt like an eternity... she smirks.
She then turns to the knights.
Crusch: "If this young boy says something, you are to follow his instructions! Understood?!"
knights: """Yes ma'am!"""
When did they wake up?
She looks back at me with a look that practically said: Don't disappoint me.
I nod, hug and consume her.
...
I did it...
...
I actually did something for once!
I want to start crying again, but I know I don't have time for that.
Cylob: "Everyone! Stop the carriages! Those who are too weak to fight pretend to be dead! Everyone who can fight, get out of the carriages! And most importantly. DON'T GIVE YOUR REAL NAMES!"
knight: "But-"
"If you want to ingore my orders, that's fine". That's what I would say in any other situation, but I made a promise to Crusch.
Cylob: "Do you want to against Crusch-sama's orders?!" I glare at the knight.
The knight recoiled a bit, but seemed to accept my comands.
Then they started jumping out of the carriages, I did too.
A small distance in front of us was Regulus, but I couldn't feel Lye anywhere.
Cylob: "Stay on your guard! There's another enemy hiding somewhere! I'll negotiate with this one!"
I walk up to Regulus.
Cylob: "My name is Rimuru. May I ask who you are?"
Regulus: "You told me your name first, that's good. You know, some people are just too prideful to tell their name first, even though it's common courtesy. I don't like those kinds of people, as it means that they look down on me from the start. But to answer your question, I am the Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Greed - Regulus Corneas."
I could feel some knights getting restless as soon as they heard that, so I had to put my hand up to stop them.
Cylob: "May I ask what business you have with us?"
Regulus: "You keep showing me proper respect. That's good. You know, it can get tiring to work with incompetent people who can't even treat others right, and I've had to deal with a lot of those kinds recently. But to answer your question I was asked to intercept these carriages and then I could do whatever I wanted. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's anything for me to do here. There is no one worthy enough for me over here, so I will leave as soon as my mission is done."
I can barely keep up with his rambling.
Cylob: "Does that mean that you will not be attacking any of my compatriots?"
Regulus: "I was not given such an order, so I do not have any need to do so. But I must say, even though I am extremely generous, I will attack anyone who dares violate my rights. You see, I take very strongly to someone violating my rights. I have rights as all people should have, and if someone can't abide by that fact, I will not be so kind as to not give punishment, as it is important for making sure that that kind of behavior does not repeat. But you're one of the better people I've had to deal with, so I would forgive a couple of unintentional violations of my rights, but not many, as even I'm not so kind."
If it weren't for Lion's heart, I feel like he would have lost his breath about 4 times during that talk alone.
Cylob: "I see. It pleases me that someone of your stature thinks of me like that."
Where is Lye? Is he waiting until we lower our guards?... Gotta take a risk.
Cylob: "I would also be extremely grateful if I could recieve some of your guidance, as to the whereabouts of your accomplice."
To be honest, talking so formally like this isn't too bad. I kinda like it, makes me feel more important or something similar.
Regulus: "Asking for guidance or any other kind of offer is extremely scornful when you do not even think of giving some kind of compensation. When you ask for an offer you should be prepared to give something of value to the other person, if you don't, then it seems as if you are looking down on them because you expect them to do something just because you ask, but on the account of my kindness and your previously acceptable behavior, I will let this incident go."
Shit, I messed up a lil' bit.
Cylob: "I thank you for your kind nature."
Regulus: "It's a good fa-"
Kolun: "Why are we even talking wif fis guy?! He's an ene-"
I could feel Regulus getting ready to slash his hand through the air, so I glared at Kolun the fastest I could. He recoils quite a lot and understands that he's done something bad.
Gotta act fast!
Cylob: "I am really sorry about my comrades behavoir. I'll make sure to punish him properly after this." I turn to the knights and mercenaries. "And all of you should show some respect! In front of you is Regulus Corneas! A person stronger than the White Whale!"
At that action I could feel Regulus lower his hand which was waaay too close to slashing. The knights seem surprised at my statement, but understood that I'm not lying from my serious expression.
I turn back to Regulus.
Cylob: "Again, I am extremely sorry for what happened. Would you like some kind of compensation?"
Let's take an even bigger risk.
Regulus: "In most cases-"
As soon as he started talking, he closed his eyes, I took that opportunity.
I applied Predator to my sword and swung right at his neck.
If it's just one swing I can do it!
The sword started eating away some parts of the neck, but then I felt as if a mountain pushed me to the side, and I got sent flying.
I stabbed the sword and one of my hands into the ground to stop myself.
What I saw in front of me was Regulus and Lye standing right next to each other.
Regulus was stunned while Lye had an expression only a gourmet would have, aka a crazy happy and twisted one.
Lye: "Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult representing Gluttony - Lye Batenkaitos! Nice to meet you ~tsu!"
I couldn't sense him at all!
Cylob: "Everyone! Remember to not reveal your real names! You will be fighting that crazy kid! I will take on Regulus! From now on, you will refer to me as Rimuru!"
Lye: "Making our meal harder to get. It's not cool. It's definitely not cool. We do not find it cool. Cus it isn't cool. You aren't cool. Gluttonous drinking ~tsu! Gluttony ~tsu!"
Regulus was still in desbelief at what happened. It seems like getting hurt was a much bigger deal for him than I thought it would be, even if he can't feel pain.
It actually looked pretty weird. He had a portion of his neck removed yet no blood came out. I wasn't quite good with blood yet, so I wasn't sure whether that fact was a blessing or a curse.
Lye on the other hand looked happier than ever. I guess bypassing Regulus's defense was just that impressive, so he wanted to have me as a meal.
Should I release Crusch and Rem to help the knights?... No. That would just put us at square one, at zero some might say,. Regulus can easily beat me in a drawn out competition and no one else can hurt him or stop his attacks, so it's useless anyway.
Also, wasn't Regulus capable of healing the damage attacks did? Why isn't he healing from mine?
Regulus: "YOU! HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE THAT?! VIOLATING NOT ONE, BUT MULTIPLE OF MY RIGHTS! IT'S UNACCEPTABLE! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU'RE PROPERLY PUNISHED FOR THIS!"
Then the 'battle' starts.
The reason it's in quotation marks, is because Lye can easily overpower all of the knights, but he doesn't because he wants them to 'prove' themselves first. And Regulus's and my 'fight' is just an endless cycle of me being barely fast enough to dodge and sometimes eat his attacks.
Regulus: "Dodging your punishment is the limit of arrogance! You do not even try to understand that you're wrong and hopelessly try to deny it, as if you're above the world! People like you are the reason we can't have a peaceful life! I just want to live, not asking for much and you try to deny my satisfied existence like that! Either way it's hopeless for you to even try to escape your punishment. Can you not see how hopeless it is? You're constantly running around not doing anything of value. You should just give up. It's hopeless to oppose me! How can you not see that?! Why do you keep trying?! Why do you keep dodging?! WHY DO YOU KEEP WASTING MY TIME?! IT'S ALL USELESS IN THE END!"
Fortunately, I am unable to understand what he's saying thanks to Thought acceleration, but I can still see that he's getting more and more agitated.
On one hand, it's good because his attacks become less accurate. On another, it's bad because his attacks become faster. So the change is neutral if you combine the two facts.
As soon as he gets to the peak of his frustration, he stops. Lye does too. They get far enough from us and get something out of their ?pockets?. I immediately recognize the item.
The Gospel.
They quickly start reading. A knight fired a Goa at them, but it got stopped right in front of them. The knights we're confused at that, but tried to fire more spells. Unfortunately none of them reached the Archbishops. When they were done reading, they ran away as if nothing happened.
Eh? That's it? And here I was planning to do a finishing move on Regulus. Did the Gospel catch that and tell them to retreat? Well, I guess I can't complain.
After that short encounter we were unsure of what to do with the bodies of our fallen comrades.
We don't have much space in our carriages, so taking them with us will be impossible.
After some thinking, we decided that some people would stay and guard the bodies, while the others would ride as fast as they could to the capital and report what happened.
.▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒.
We were taking the carriages to the capital. The remains of the destroyed carriages behind us were pretty far away. So far away in fact, that nobody beside me could properly see what was happening over there.
Everything was peaceful, but then I got a bad feeling in my gut.
Cylob: "EVERYONE GET OU-"
But before I could even finish my sentence, everything shattered.
I can feel something flowing on my face, as my instincts immediately activate Predator and Thought Acceleration.
But that doesn't help, as all I can see is:
BLOOD.
...
...
...
I'm so dumb. How could I not see that coming? I knew what kind of people the Witch Cult has, and yet I didn't even try to process the information I had. I was so happy to save Rem and Crusch that I stopped thinking at all. How could I be so dumb? How could I be so... slothful?
I'm sorry Crusch. I tried the best I could, but it wasn't enough I guess. Well, at least I didn't break my promise. I hate making them because I know I have a big chance of breaking them. But this one was an easy one to not break, ya know? So it's not like it makes me feel better about myself.
I was surprisingly calm.
Maybe my body understood that it was in danger, or maybe for some other reason, but I felt crystal clear.
Anyway, I quickly scanned the area around me. I could feel Regulus, and I could also feel Lye now, although barely.
Why can I feel him now? Whatever, that doesn't matter. All I have to do is not die. Saving Crusch and Rem is the least I could do.
As everything falls to the ground, I turn off my Thought Acceleration and Predator.
What I see in front of me are the two Archbishops.
Cylob: "So you came back. I should've seen that coming. You're not the type of people who would retreat."
Lye puts on a happy expression, while Regulus just stands there... menacingly.
Lye: "You are most certainly a good meal. An excellent meal. An interesting meal. A scared meal. A lost meal. A weird meal. But still an extremely delicious meal! Gluttonous drinking ~tsu! Gluttony ~tsu!"
That was uncomfortably accurate.
Regulus was still standing. Just standing, nothing else. Tbh he was creeping me out more than Lye. Something about someone his character just standing there while doing nothing was inherently wrong.
But as I was being creeped out by Regulus, Lye attacked.
My Thought Acceleration turned on and I was able to pretty comfortably follow his movements.
Blocking against him was easier than dodging Regulus's attacks, but I knew that he was just playing with me. Someone of my skill and power level was nothing to the real power of the Archbishop of gluttony.
After a while of nothing significant happening, he leaped behind me. I was able to track him with my Mana sense so I didn't get confused, but the fact that I was able to react so quickly and accurately, pleased the crazy kid even more.
Lye: "You're just becoming a better and better and better and better meal!"
After a couple more leaps he got serious.
I was still able to track his movements, but that didn't mean that I was able to fully dodge or block them.
I was getting more and more scratches. The pain from them slowed me down, which resulted in even more scratches. I wasn't applying Predator, but only because I had to preserve my remaining mana. The fight with Regulus, while not taking much, still used some up. Either way my goal was to live, not win.
After a while, he landed in front of me and dashed at me in a superman pose with his left hand. This attack was much faster than all the other ones, so I didn't have much time to think about how to go best about it. I decided to redirect the attack to my right with my sword.
I should've dodged that.
But I realized that way too late, as the next thing I know he used the momentum from my sword to spin counter-clockwise and slashed off my left arm from the elbow down with his right knife. I was able to activate Predator, but I wasn't able to pour enough mana into it, so the only thing that happened was the fact that Lye's right knife was now a little rusted.
The shock from that was enough to shut down my mind for a second and when it turned back on, I was on the ground face down. He probably hit me in the back of my head to send me down. When I lifted my head I saw that Lye was standing right in front of me.
And then the pain hit.
Cylob: "aaaAAAAHH!"
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
I wanted to thrash around, but I couldn't: Lye was holding me down. I wanted to excrete whatever I had, but my current body wasn't built for that. I wanted to cry, but I wasn't allowed even that kind of relief. So I did the only thing I could to sooth the pain: scream. I screamed and screamed, louder and louder, and since my throat was nowhere close to hurting I kept going and going and going. My instincts were telling me to stop screaming, but I couldn't. The pain was too much for me to handle.
Then I felt a stab to the remainder of my left arm.
Cylob: "AAAAAHHH!"
More pain? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
I screamed even louder, but then I felt another stab.
Cylob: "AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
I wanted to scream even louder, but even my slime body was incapable of giving of such powerful sounds, so I started strugling as best as I could to try and thrash around.
Another stab.
Why? Why? Why?
Another stab.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Another stab.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Another stab.
My instincts take over and I stop screaming and thrashing around, so I have to take all the pain in silence.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.
Lye: "Seems like you can listen to us now. Would you like to tell us your name, or keep the pain going? ~tsu."
He's the one who gave me so much pain!
I start getting angrier and angrier. Wrath tries to take over me, but my calculating judgement prevents that. Due to me regularly hiding my emotions, wrath wasn't shown on my face even for a split second. I decide to take advantage of that.
This is my chance to get one over him!
Cylob: "My name is Cylob Protsav!" I said with the most pleading expression I could muster.
Lye puts his hand on my head then brings it close to his mouth and licks it, while muttering.
Lye: "Cylob Protsav."
As soon as I heard him say it, the world went blank for me. The only thing I felt was the feeling of the sword in my hand and the wrath that was trying to permeate my entire being. I slashed my sword at him as fast as I could. Lye's reaction was a little bit delayed, but he still managed to jump back to avoid the hit.
Shit!
However his face was now bleeding because of a horizontal cut between his eyes and nose.
While he was puking, I managed to get back on my feet by letting wrath cloud my sense of pain.
Lye looked at me with hate, and when he looked at my eyes he became even more angry and also... ?dissapionted?.
Lye: "How sad."
With a sad expression, he leaped behind me and cut off my legs so fast I couldn't react at all.
Lye: "How truly sad."
I wanted to keep fighting as my wrath was nowhere close to satiated, but my instincts gave me another idea.
This is my best chance at pretending to be dead!
So I fell to the ground and didn't dare to move a cell or show the slightest amount of bloodlust. Because I let go of my wrath to stop the bloodlust from leaking within me, my body started hurt all over again, but I couldn't show it or I might actually die.
Lye: "How could it not be sad?"
But then out of nowhere, Lye started taking away my mana.
Lye: "We don't like it when you make us so sad."
Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Isn't this mana drain?! How does he know how to use it?! What do I do?! If he keeps taking away my mana, I will actually die!
Unfortunately for me, Lye was showing no signs of stopping.
Lye: "It is definitely sad."
How do I get out of this situation?! Think Cylob, think!
Then I came up with the only idea that could work. It would be pretty risky and it would leave some lasting effects, but it was the only way out of the situation.
So as soon as my mana dropped to zero and Lye stopped taking my mana because of that, I fought off my inclination to sleep and slowly started taking some mana out of Rem and Crusch.
Lye: "We are so SO sad."
Sorry you two, but this is the only way I can keep all of us alive.
This would make it so that Crusch and Rem would be short on mana, so they would be weak for a while, but it was the only way out.
After I was done with my plan, I felt my head explode.
Regulus: "Useless lower being."
For some reason I stopped feeling pain after my head was destroyed, so I could much more easily pretend to be dead.
A small amount of time later, they both left.
I transformed into my slime form and started absorbing the mana in the atmosphere, while also repairing my body. Luckily my arms and legs were still in peak condition so I could absorb them to heal up faster, my head tho... let's not talk about it.
After I heal up, I will go to the capital and report everything that happened.
Even though there were those kinds of thoughts going through my mind, there was one thought that triumphed all the others.
I did it!
...
...
...
...right?