DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN NOW READ THREE TO SIX CHAPTERS AHEAD. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE LINK.
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Above Tempest, the sky crackled and churned like a blender with reality itself caught between the blades. The clouds that had formed were jagged and uneven, their edges sharp enough to resemble countless blades, while the wind that danced through them carried enough force to uproot trees and tear buildings from their foundations.
The storm seemed to descend upon the city like some enormous living organism, twisting and writhing as though it were breathing, and at the very centre of that unnatural tempest, a young girl stood suspended in the air, staring down at the gathered figures below.
Kaede stared at the girl at the centre of the storm, her expression slowly changing from confusion to disbelief. "What the hell? That's me. Why is there a second me up there?"
"Hey! I already asked that!" Veldora snapped, folding his arms. "I saw her first!"
"C'mon, dude. Now's not the time," Rimuru scolded, though his own eyes remained fixed on the figure above them.
Around them, the others had also fallen silent. Benimaru stood near Rimuru with his eyes narrowed toward the sky, while Shion remained close by, her hand resting near her weapon as she watched the strange apparition. Soei had already begun observing the storm with his usual unreadable expression, while Hakurou stood slightly behind them, calmly studying the movements of the clouds.
Hanae remained beside Kaede, her attention fixed upward, and Hachi stood at Kaede's other side, still wearing her damaged Wickerman armour from the battle with Hinata.
The members of Luminous's entourage were equally tense. Hinata, still bearing the injuries from her battle with Hachi, had been standing beside Luminous, while the remaining Great Saints had instinctively gathered around their leader.
Their earlier hostility had disappeared beneath a much more immediate concern, with Arnaud, Fritz, Garde, and the others staring upward, weapons no longer drawn but their hands remaining close to their hilts.
Luminous herself said nothing at first. Her crimson eyes remained fixed upon the figure in the storm, her expression becoming increasingly serious.
"I have a dreadful feeling," she finally said in a low voice.
Rimuru and Kaede glanced toward the Vampire, both catching the unusual weight behind those words, before slowly returning their gazes to the sky.
The obscuring clouds suddenly shifted.
For a brief moment, the turbulent mass separated, revealing the figure hidden within it more clearly. The girl looked almost exactly like Kaede, standing at the heart of the storm as countless prismatic fragments of light revolved around her. Yet something about her presence was wrong. The air itself seemed to bend around her, and even from the ground, the sheer pressure radiating from her existence could be felt by everyone present.
Luminous's eyes widened.Recognition flashed across her face, followed immediately by alarm. "Hinata, cover your eyes!!"
As she roared in panic, Luminous leaped over Hinata, shielding her with her own body just as an exuberant amount of spiritrons suddenly exploded into existence around them.
Surprised by the Vampire's sudden action, Rimuru and Kaede were both a fraction of a second too slow to react to the beginning of the next series of events.
Shion exploded.
Rimuru seemed to stall completely, like an engine that had suddenly seized, as bits and pieces of his secretary rained down onto the floor around him. His eyes remained fixed on the remains for several long moments before his mouth finally moved.
"Wha...?"
On Kaede's side, she stared in shock at the mass of energy hovering in the exact spot where Hanae had been standing only a moment ago. The sight was so sudden and so completely unexpected that, for an instant, even Kaede's thoughts seemed to stop functioning.
Then Veldora roared.
Unleashing his full might, an enormous torrent of magicules erupted from his body, rapidly taking the shape of a colossal golden dragon. Its form coiled through the battlefield, its jaws opening as it expanded outward, completely encompassing the rest of Rimuru's entourage, what remained of the Saints, and finally Hachi herself. The golden dragon wrapped itself around them like a living fortress, its immense body radiating enough power to make the surrounding space tremble.
By the time the dragon had fully formed, both Kaede and Rimuru finally seemed to regain the ability to move. They looked around sharply, their eyes darting across the battlefield as though neither of them could quite comprehend what had just happened.
Of the seven Saints who had been standing beside Luminous only moments ago, before she had leaped forward to protect Hinata, only three remained. The others were no longer recognizable as people, reduced to writhing piles of flesh that bubbled and oozed across the ground.
"Rimuru! Snap out of it!" Veldora roared, grabbing the slime by both shoulders and shaking him. "This is bad! Very bad! That's not Kaede at all!"
Rimuru finally tore his gaze away from what had once been his secretary and looked toward the faces of the rest of his family. Shuna looked the most horrified, one hand pressed tightly over her mouth as tears formed at the corners of her eyes while she stared at the remains of Shion.
Benimaru had a faint look of horror on his usually composed face, while Soei struggled to maintain his composure despite the sheer shock written across his eyes. Even Hakurou's expression had cracked, his eyes wide open and his irises narrowed into thin pins as he silently stared at the devastation around them.
'Raphael! What just happened?!' he roared internally.
On Kaede's side, however, things were somewhat different.
Kaede held her breath as she felt something familiar moving through the depths of her soul. Hanae's soul was returning to her through the soul corridor created by [Mother Of Monsters], and the sensation, although terrifying, gave Kaede something to hold onto. She knew Hanae was not truly gone, and that knowledge kept her from completely losing herself in the shock of what had just happened.
But knowing that her daughter had just been killed in an instant, without warning, without even the slightest indication that an attack was coming, was another matter entirely.
Her fingers slowly curled into fists. 'Artificia. Who is that person? And why do they look like me?'
Kaede's gaze locked onto the mysterious figure responsible. 'I'm going to kill her.'
Her aura began to bubble around her like water reaching its boiling point, only for the vapor to darken into thick, unnatural black steam. The ground beneath her feet trembled as her killing intent slowly began to seep into the surrounding air, turning the atmosphere itself heavy enough to feel oppressive.
For the first time since the battle had begun, Kaede was no longer merely angry.
She was furious.
[xxx]
Within the Frozen Palace on the Ice Continent, Guy Crimson stared unimpressedly at the unexpected intruder standing in the heart of his castle. The Demon Lord rested comfortably upon his throne, one elbow propped against the armrest and his chin balanced lazily against his fist, while beside him, Velzard remained far more cautious, her sharp eyes never leaving the young woman before them.
"I'm all for a good irony every now and then." Guy sighed, his expression slowly shifting into one of mild amusement. "But even I have to admit that this feels a little unfair to Leon, don't you think?"
Across from the Demon Lord and True Dragon, Chloe Aubert didn't even flinch. She stood her ground beneath their combined pressure, calmly staring both of them down despite the absurdity of the situation.
"Chloe Aubert. You suddenly appear in my domain, even after Leon spent the last two centuries desperately searching for you, and you're in possession of not one, but two Hero Seeds." Guy narrowed his eyes, studying her carefully. "You shouldn't even be possible. So, what? Did you travel through time or something?"
Silence was his only answer.
Guy's eyebrow twitched before he slowly sat upright. "Wait..." His eyes widened slightly. "Seriously? You're from the future?"
He turned toward Velzard, almost as though asking her to confirm that what he had just heard was actually possible. "Is that allowed?"
Velzard shook her head without hesitation. "No. It isn't. There can only be one Chloe Aubert."
"There is only one." Chloe finally cut in, her expression becoming slightly sad. "Although, my past self is going to have a rough time again. I wasn't supposed to arrive at this point in time, and certainly not in this way."
Her gaze shifted back toward Guy, and for the first time since entering the Frozen Palace, a trace of urgency appeared in her eyes.
"I need your help, Guy. Before it's too late. I don't know how she did it, but she somehow followed me back..." Chloe's expression darkened as she corrected herself. "No. It's more than that. She completely derailed my return. She's already here."
"Who, exactly, are you talking about?" Guy asked, looking intrigued, although with him it was sometimes difficult to tell whether he was genuinely interested or simply happened to have an unusually amused resting expression.
"Demon Lord Maple." Chloe's voice became heavier as she spoke the name. "She's here from the future, just like me, and she's far too dangerous for me to handle on my own."
She took a small step forward.
"You need to meet Rimuru immediately. If we can bring him into this, then maybe... maybe we actually stand a chance."
Guy and Velzard exchanged a long look. Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Then Guy slowly turned his attention back toward Chloe, his expression filled with genuine confusion.
"Who's Maple?"
[xxx]
Within the vassal kingdom of Raja, Queen Towa knelt before the enshrined statue of her God. It was a life-sized statue of Kaede Honjou, sculpted in her likeness and carefully placed upon a raised altar within the temple, its bronze surface polished until it gleamed beneath the soft light of the surrounding candles.
Towa had prayed before this statue every day and every night for the past year and a half, ever since she had begun worshipping her God and the love of her life. Each time she prayed, she could always feel the familiar sensation of being watched, as though Kaede's gaze was resting upon her from somewhere beyond the statue itself. To Towa, it was proof that her beloved could always feel her heart and emotions, no matter how distant she might be.
On certain occasions, Towa would even reach deep into that connection, allowing herself to sink beyond the boundaries of her physical senses. When she did, she could hear something that did not reach her through her ears, but through her very soul—the true name of her God.
Maple.
And today, just like every other day, Towa began her worship.
She recited a short poem that had been taught to her by her mother, carefully replacing the names of the ancient gods with Maple's true name. Then she thanked her for the gift of life. The gift of joy. The gift of sustenance. The gift of breath. The gift of peace.
As she offered her thanks, she felt it once again.
The attention of a higher being pressing down upon her.
Towa basked in the familiar warmth, her expression one of absolute devotion as she ignored the streams of blood slowly pouring from every orifice in her body. Blood stained her lips, ran down her chin, and dripped onto the floor beneath her, yet she paid it no mind. To her, such things were insignificant compared to the presence she could feel watching over her.
"I ask for your loving grace, My Lady Maple."
The statue of Kaede suddenly seemed to glow with a dark bronze colour.
A thin stream of blood leaked from its eyes, running down its unmoving face before dripping from its chin. Then, impossibly, those bronze eyes moved.
They lowered themselves and peered directly down at Towa.
The statue's face slowly began to change, the rigid features twisting into something that no sculptor could have possibly created. Its lips pulled apart into a terrifying grin, revealing rows of bronze teeth that could not possibly have been hidden behind its bronze lips.
And Towa could only smile in devotion.