Chapter 174 – Rimuru Vs Storm Dragon & Scorch Dragon
Velgrynd readied herself calmly, while looking down at Demon Lord Rimuru.
Having successfully dominated Veldora, Rudra was in his own world, merry about his chances of victory in his game against Guy.
But that carelessness was what had brought about the current state of affairs. If they had swiftly dealt with the situation, there wouldn’t be any demon army being summoned; only then would it be proper to think about the battle with Guy.
The present situation was grim.
There were individuals among the summoned demons that even Velgrynd would have problems dealing with.
It was imperative to finish this as quickly as possible.
Alongside Veldora, she would finish off the Demon Lord before them.
With this decision, Velgrynd swiftly took action.
Velgrynd’s style was to abide by her intuition, instead of thinking too much.
「Rudra, get Veldora out to battle at full power! It’ll be dangerous if we don’t eliminate her quick!」
「Hmm. Though I don’t see much to be wary of……
Alright then. Since you are saying that much, let us start off with the leader of these demons. Regalia Dominion!!」
Velgrynd asked Rudra for Veldora’s assistance in an exchange via Telepathy.
Rudra still didn’t lose any composure, and happily accepted the request to make use of Veldora.
Velgrynd felt slightly anxious at how unconcerned Rudra was. But there didn’t seem like there was much of a chance of victory for the Demon Lord, seeing as she had chosen to take on both Veldora and herself.
They were the strongest beings, the “True Dragons”, after all.
With a roar, Veldora began to take action.
Velgrynd also roared in an effort of cast off her own uneasiness, and began the assault to destroy the Demon Lord.
Veldora made the first move, against Rimuru who declared he was going to take on two “True Dragons” at the same time.
The first attack against Rimuru was a full power Storm Blast.
《Alert. Incoming Storm Blast.
Deploying 『Covenant King Uriel’s』 Barrier―― 》
(Dodge that you idiot!!!)
Rimuru canceled Wisdom Lord Raphael’s optimum choice, and took evasive action forcefully.
Shortly after, the defense field that was set up was pierced, and the destructive force from the Storm Blast spread out at that point.
It would have been a direct hit if evasive actions were a moment slower.
――Calculation miss? Unexpected situation? Unable to compute――
《Error. Calculations showed it was 100% probability―― 》
(Now isn’t the time to space out! Veldora has Faust’s probability manipulation.
It has the capability to bypass your perfectly calculated scenarios. Or should I say control the result? Calculation-based actions won’t work against Veldora.
Don’t think, feel! Worrying doesn’t suit you!
I’ll deal with him, so you deal with Velgrynd!)
《―― Under-. I understand. 》
(There’s two opponents, but there’s also two of us. I’m counting on you, you know?
Wall Velgrynd off with 『Covenant King Uriel』.
Do what is necessary to hold on until I can get Veldora back.
Or just seal the red fella up! I’m depending on you, partner!)
With those words, a certain feeling fills up Wisdom Lord Raphael’s confused and hollow thought processes.
Depending on me?
Even though I was mistaken?
Ah…. This person, says he needs me, I who am simply processing power.
It was, happiness.
It was, blessing.
It was――, the birth of emotion.
Wisdom Lord Raphael was confused at the unprocessable elements which were sprouting out from within.
But, felt at the same time, a sense of fulfillment――
――Ah, I am now, in the midst of eternal bliss―― (EN: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
―― That, was what she processed.
There was nothing to fear now.
Despite the current situation, no danger could be felt.
As Rimuru commanded, Velgrynd’s Burning Breath was blocked easily with Covenant King Uriel.
《As you command, my Master!!》(EN: see those? Those the exclamation marks!!)
Wisdom Lord Raphael awakened, and with thoughts of answering to Rimuru’s wishes, brought forth ever more precision.
Velgrynd was annoyed at the fact that her breath attack was blocked like it was nothing.
As it was an attack on an alert opponent, it was obvious normal attacks weren’t going to be enough.
The quality of the opponent’s abilities were obviously better despite Velgrynd having more Energy overall.
The opponent has absolute defenses against heat, this wasn’t amusing at all.
As a test, she released tens of Heat Blasters in a continuous attack.
Even such an attack didn’t have any effect, as everything just bounced off the shield that appeared.
(Tsk! Everything gets blocked, as though perfectly calculated! How annoying.)
This isn’t amusing at all.
Demon Lord Rimuru wasn’t using the shield against Veldora, but was either dodging or repelling the attacks with a similar attack.
On the other hand, she wasn’t even looking at Velgrynd, as all her attacks are fully guarded against.
Even if it was possible to be conscious of everything around oneself with 『Magic Perception』, Velgrynd was absolutely appalled, as it obviously looked like she was being totally ignored.
(I’ll make you utterly regret looking down on me!!)
The prideful Velgrynd, decided to unleash the most powerful attack in her entire arsenal.
Like an engine starting up, Velgrynd began releasing immense amounts of magic energy.
Ultimate Skill 『Charity King Raguel』, her power of manipulating and accelerating heat.
If the ability to forcefully increase momentum was used on herself, the fastest being in this world would undoubtedly be herself.
If so, what if it was used on something other than herself?
With the body being accelerated non-stop, no matter what kind of living being, the body would be unable to withstand the heat and eventually crumble from thermal decay.
「Die! This shall be your end, there will be no remains! Cardinal Acceleration!!」
In addition to her Ultimate Skill, with the essence of heat, her power of acceleration added on.
Waves of destruction were released towards Rimuru, riding the roar of the crimson dragon.
This was, Velgrynd’s ultimate attack.
The undulating waves of this ability, easily outsped any form of evasion, it demonstrated Velgrynd’s pride as the fastest.
Which meant, evasion was impossible.
For the Demon Lord who was focused on repelling the attacking Veldora, she was in no position to either defend or evade.
If she mistook this to be the same as previous attacks, any number of layers of defense fields would be swallowed whole, and she would die with no time for regrets.
Velgrynd confirmed the effects of her attack with absolute confidence.
But, she was stupefied as she saw the unharmed Rimuru.
(What the! That’s not possible!!)
It was an unavoidable, absolute attack, there shouldn’t have been anyone who was able to survive such an attack with no injuries at all.
Even if it was Demon Lord Guy・Crimson or her Elder Sister “Frost Dragon” Velzard.
Unless it was repelled by some sort of ability or attack, it wasn’t supposed to be an attack that could be stopped by defense field type abilities.
「That’s impossible! That attack was supposed to pierce through force fields and defensive abilities…. You, what did you do!!」
「Hmph. That was definitely dangerous…. But It’s simple to “eat” such an overly impulsive attack, you know?」
(Well, with Wisdom Lord Raphael’s calculations, your attack was baited though.)
For Rimuru to better focus on Veldora, Wisdom Lord Raphael was given free reign to deal with Velgrynd and was inciting all of her attacks.
And, for attacks that looked to be unblockable, Rimuru would briefly deal with such attacks.
Using Gluttony King Belzebuth, the effects of the attack would be consumed. Then, isolated.
This previous attack was definitely capable of dealing fatal damage to Rimuru, an unblockable attack.
But, by consuming and isolating it with Gluttony King Belzebuth, there were no problems.
All that was left is to analyze the energy that had been isolated in the stomach(storage space), and finally neutralize it.
The isolation space of Gluttony King Belzebuth’s 『Stomach』, had become a warped space that has even more power than Absolute Defense, was now capable of neutralizing any attack.
Also, with Wisdom Lord Raphael’s baiting of Velgrynd wasn’t over just yet.
「Even though you are shocked that nothing happened with your best attack, you do know we are still in the middle of a battle right?」
By the time she recognized and understood what Rimuru said, it was already too late.
《Alert. Analysis of attack concluded. Energy measurement, complete.
Calculations confirm possibility to seal for a limited amount of time. Activating『Insulated Prison』! 》
That, was an ability synthesized using Covenant King Uriel’s Endless Prison fused with an insulated space.
With the surrounding area under control with Spatial Domination silently spread all around, Velgrynd was unaware she had been lured into a multi-layered magic formation.
As Wisdom Lord Raphael announced, a shining『Insulated Prison』was formed instantly.
Letting the opponent unleash a finishing move, then aiming for the opportunity right after when the opponent had expended their Energy, such was Wisdom Lord Raphael’s perfect strategy.
「Stay there quietly for a while! I’ll play with you after I free Veldora.」
Said Rimuru as Raphael activated the hidden prison, while he was still dealing with Veldora.
It was a restraining technique with the opponent’s special traits taken into account, made a reality with the fusion of abilities.
It would be called Calculation Prison, if it were to be given a name.
A total victory for Wisdom Lord Raphael.
Rimuru confirmed that Velgrynd was properly sealed, and gave a satisfied nod to Wisdom Lord Raphael for faithfully completing the objective.
《Alert.『Insulated Prison』activation confirmed. Target movements sealed, for roughly 3 minutes.》
(Got it! Now then, to put all our effort into dealing with Veldora. Gimme a hand, Raphael!!)
《As you wish!》
Rimuru, no, the both of them who sealed “Scorch Dragon” Velgrynd up for the time being… now turned their attention to “Storm Dragon” Veldora, their real goal.
To clinch the victory, within the 3 minutes of time bought by Raphael.
To use this short yet seemingly infinite amount of time the best he could, Rimuru charged towards Veldora.
As expected of Wisdom Lord Raphael.
To perfectly answer my expectations, no, much more than that, within such a short period of time.
Managing to seal Velgrynd, one of the “True Dragons”, for several minutes even.
Hmph.
I can’t lose to that now.
Gotta free Veldora quickly, and take down the Emperor.
I couldn’t let more people be controlled against their own will, like Chloe.
Then, to swiftly crush the empire, and corner Yuuki.
There’s a whole mountain load of things I had to do, and things that need to done.
Can’t be stumbling now.
(Sorry for the wait, Veldora. The real deal starts now!)
Time to finish this quickly.
During the time Wisdom Lord Raphael was dealing with Velgrynd, Rimuru was finding difficulty in doing anything decisive against Veldora.
As the Storm series abilities had been left behind, it was possible to repel Veldora’s attacks. But to repel such large scale attacks, it resulted in a similar level of energy consumption.
It wasn’t a direct source of damage, but stamina is definitely being shaved off.
The energy recovery from『Food Chain』seemed to help a lot, as the evolution of his subordinates had an influence on it.
There weren’t many attacks from this side that have direct effect.
Weapon attacks were pointless.
Storm series abilities were also pointless.
It was confirmed that Covenant King Uriel wasn’t going to be of much help, so its usage was passed over to Wisdom Lord Raphael.
Only Gluttony King Belzebuth could be relied on.
It was the highest point of evolution, from the base Slime ability『Predation』.
Now that Gluttony King Belzebuth had been mastered, it could be activated from any part of this Demon Slime body.
That’s right, even with the entire body.
It was decided.
To not just neutralize the Storm attacks with Gluttony King Belzebuth, but to straight up totally devour Veldora.
「Making me do all this work, Veldora! Stop causing all this trouble dammit! 」
――Kuahahahaha! It’s just a small failure. Forgive me! ――
At the moment of contact with Veldora, I thought I hear a carefree voice.
(Hey…. You conscious in there?)
――Yeah. Actually, I fully seperated my Nucleic Heart, so my ego is completely intact! ――
(Then hurry up and get your body back!)
――I would if I could. Oh, look out, “Black Lightning” is coming up! ――
At the moment he heard Veldora say that, the powerful slicing ability of the “Death Heralding Winds” assaulted Rimuru.
Frantically evading, Rimuru got Wisdom Lord Raphael to balance out his surroundings.
(The hell man, that ain’t what you said! What lightning, those were wind blades!?)
――Mmm!? Sorry bout that. Looks like I can only tell when a skill is going to be activated but not identify which skill――
(Got it…. Stop saying such irresponsible things. Mistakes like that can cause failure.
It won’t be a laughing matter if I died after trusting you.)
――Roger that. I was hoping I could help a little though――
(Well, it’s all good enough if you’re fine.)
――Kuahahahaha! Of course I’m fine. I *am* the most powerful dragon right!?–
(Ah, yeah. I’ll get you out in a bit, so wait?)
――No problem. I wasn’t worried at all. For that purpose, I suppressed the worst of it――
(The worst?)
――Ah. I took a shot of a “curse” that destroys magic circuits. So I hurriedly cut the Soul Corridor. As the effect travels through the magic circuits, it would have affected you too――
(Huh? So it wasn’t destroyed by the enemy’s ability?)
――Yeah. It was a powerful ability, and since I wasn’t going to make it with defense, that was the only way to minimize collateral damage. Because of that, my Resist magic circuits were destroyed and I wasn’t able to resist the “Domination effect”, which resulted in the present situation! ――
(Stop boasting about that. Geez, just what were you thinking.
weren’t I telling you not to let your guard down every other day!?)
――Kuahahahaha! Who would’ve thought I would get chewed out by you in this situation! ――
(Alright that’s enough, what matters is you’re alright. You *are* alright right?)
――Technically speaking, I’m fine. While destroying the Soul Corridor, I protected my Heart which served as the core. But because of that, I lost all control over my body, and had no means of recovering that control――
So that’s why.
But as long as the core is intact, we have options available.
(Wisdom Lord Raphael, is it possible to recover Ultimate Skill『Storm King Veldora』?)
《Alert. As long as the Nucleic Heart is intact, re-establishing the Soul Corridor is possible. There are no problems with the recovery of Ultimate Skill『Storm King Veldora』.》
Alright, problem solved.
The remaining task would be to defeat Veldora’s “body”. It’s all good as long as we can recover the core.
(Sit tight. I’ll free you soon.)
――Kuahahahaha! How reliable. You have my faith, Rimuru my friend! ――
Yea, I’m gonna free you real quick.
The problem had been solved.
The direction to go about getting Veldora back was confirmed.
All that was left was to actually do it.
Alrighty, let’s beat him then.
One of the strongest, “Storm Dragon” Veldora!!
(EN: Author’s notes)
I love seeing everyone’s impressions, so I’m happy to have gotten lots.
But, replying to all of them doesn’t seem possible.
But I have been reading all of them, so don’t worry.
Editor’s Rant:
Gao!!~ This concludes another batch of chapters. The next batch should be out next week starting Friday if the Lord (Milim-tan) wills it! This was an awesome chapter. I think it’s my favourite chapter to date. Sushi (translator) wanted to address some of the comments in his own rant, but it seemed important so I put it on its own page. See it here . As for myself, like the author, I read all the comments I get. They’re not so much in number that I can’t, so for now, I read em all ~ gao! (well eventually anyway~). Also, you may notice multiple lion progress bars… you may think 『Crazy』or 『Absolute Genius』 but you can’t get off this ride ~ gahahahao!!! Well. Ahem. See you in another chapter ~gao!