DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN NOW READ THREE TO SIX CHAPTERS AHEAD. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE LINK.
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Above the forest of Jura, beyond the world's atmosphere, the three heads of the Ｈ̷̿͝Ｙ̶̎͂Ｄ̸̈́̐Ｒ̵̈́͝Ａ̷͗̒ circled like a living cloud, their enormous forms moving through the darkness of space with unnatural grace.
Beneath them was the ever-shifting fractures in the sky, each one a prism-like construct that showed the face of one person.
Kaede stared down at the person wearing her face with cold fury in her eyes.
For several moments, she said nothing. She simply watched.
The sight of her own face staring back at her from within those strange fractures was unsettling enough, but the familiarity in that woman's expression only made it worse.
"Mother?" Rimuru blurted out beside her. "What is she talking about? I thought I knew all your daughters."
"I don't care who she is." Kaede snarled. Her eyes never left the figure above them.
"Well, you should." Rimuru countered. His expression had become noticeably more serious as he looked between the strange woman and the monstrous Hydra surrounding them. "Because we can't fight here, above Jura. We'd wreck everything. Maple Tree's down there too."
Kaede momentarily paused at that.
Her anger did not disappear, but her attention instantly spanned across the entirety of the Forest of Jura.
Her senses swept through the forest below them, passing through the trees, settlements, and territories that made up her country as she located each and every member of Maple Tree and the people under her protection.
Acer.
Charlotte.
They were the only two she could not immediately locate.
Kaede's eyes narrowed.
At that same moment, Luminous appeared right next to the two of them, her arrival accompanied by a brief distortion of light.
She looked upward at the fractured sky, her expression becoming increasingly displeased as she recognized the nature of the attack that had just been directed at them.
"She has some nerve to attack me, not to mention three Demon Lords." Luminous's crimson eyes narrowed. "What is the meaning of this, Kaede?"
"You're asking me?" Kaede snapped. She finally tore her gaze away from the woman wearing her face and looked toward Luminous.
"You're watching the same thing I am. She attacked three of us like you said."
"Tch." Luminous frowned.
For a moment, she seemed more irritated than surprised, but then her expression slowly changed as she continued looking at the monstrous Hydra above them.
"The last time I felt something like this was when I was still rather young."
"Something like what?" Rimuru asked.
Luminous did not answer immediately. Her eyes remained fixed on the creature.
There was something about its presence that she recognized, something that had stirred a memory from an age she had not thought about in a very long time.
Before Luminous could reply, the three heads of the Ｈ̷̿͝Ｙ̶̎͂Ｄ̸̈́̐Ｒ̵̈́͝Ａ̷͗̒ moved again.
All three enormous heads twisted toward them at once.
Their jaws opened.
The strange violet glow within their mouths intensified, and for a brief moment, the three Demon Lords could see the enormous quantities of energy being compressed within each head.
Then they fired.
Three waves of violet liquid erupted from the Hydra's mouths.
This time, instead of a tidal wave of poison, the attack was an impossibly dense mass of liquid venom compressed into a form capable of moving at the speed of light.
The very space around them distorted as they tore through the void, and the sheer pressure contained within each attack was enough to make even three Demon Lords take them seriously.
Rimuru's expression hardened. "Again..." he muttered.
There was no time to discuss them. The three attacks were already upon them.
However, the three Demon Lords had all been preparing for this.
"Leave one to me!" Luminous shouted. "In my name, [Disintegration Wave]!"
Her eyes flashed red.
The familiar power of Disintegration erupted from her body, but rather than forming the usual concentrated blast, Luminous forcibly altered its shape.
A vast wall of brilliant light appeared before her.
It stretched across the void like an enormous curtain, its surface rippling with countless particles of holy energy as the modified spell collided with the first stream of violet poison.
The impact caused the entire wall of light to tremble.
Luminous's expression immediately became serious. She had already understood the power contained within the attack.
This was not something she could casually erase.
She was using Disintegration to destroy the poison itself, forcing the immense wave to continuously break apart as it crashed against her spell.
"Not bad..." Luminous muttered through gritted teeth.
At the same time, "Reverse the Unholy, [Inverse Sovereignty]!!"
The moment Kaede activated her ability, the nature of the incoming attack changed. The violet liquid, turned golden.
The violet wave that had been capable of killing almost anything now possessed the properties of healing liquid, washing over Kaede's barrier without harming her.
Kaede narrowed her eyes as the transformed liquid continued rushing past her.
Even after reversing its property, the sheer quantity of the liquid remained enormous.
Rimuru raised his hand toward the third attack. "Again, [Beelzebub]."
His expression became increasingly serious as the third head's attack continued pouring into Beelzebub.
Beneath them, the golden liquid that Kaede had allowed to pass through her defenses fell toward Jura like a tidal wave.
It spread across the forest below, washing over the treetops and spilling into the depths of the forest, but instead of destroying everything in its path, something completely different happened.
The very concept of life seemed to blossom wherever the golden liquid touched.
Trees began growing at an unnatural speed, their trunks thickening as they rose higher and higher into the sky. Branches stretched outward, pushing through the surrounding canopy as their leaves became a brighter, more vibrant shade of green.
Flowers that had been closed suddenly bloomed. Grass spread across barren patches of earth. Even the smallest plants seemed to surge with vitality.
And it wasn't only the plants.
The monsters and wildlife of the Forest of Jura that were caught within the golden essence felt their bodies changing as well.
Their muscles strengthened. Their vitality increased. Their senses became sharper.
Even creatures that had already reached the limits of what their species normally allowed suddenly found themselves being pushed beyond those limits.
None of them understood what was happening.
They only knew that something warm and overwhelming had washed over them, filling their bodies with an almost intoxicating sensation of vitality.
Kaede, however, was completely unaware of the consequences of what she had done.
The golden liquid she had casually allowed to pass was already causing a massive evolution among the lesser monsters throughout the Forest of Jura.
And the spirits were changing as well. Their forms became denser. Their presence became stronger.
Some of the weaker spirits that had once barely possessed enough power to maintain their existence began to develop in ways that would normally have taken them years, if not centuries.
It was a blessing born entirely from an attack that had been intended to kill them.
And Kaede didn't even know she had done it.
"We can't keep defending like this!" Rimuru yelled.
[Beelzebub] was still active, the Ultimate Skill continuing to consume and devour the enormous stream of poison that had been fired at him.
But Rimuru had already changed its target.
The invisible force of Beelzebub stretched outward, reaching past the attack itself and beginning to pull at the three enormous heads of the Hydra.
"You want to get closer?" Luminous asked. There was a clear hint of irritation in her voice.
"...No?" Rimuru coughed. He glanced toward the enormous Hydra, then toward the strange figure wearing Kaede's face.
"That doesn't seem like a good idea. That might be Kaede up there." He paused. "Scary."
"That's not me." Kaede retorted. Her expression twitched slightly. "Fine, I'll go. Follow my lead."
Kaede's gaze moved between the Hydra and the two Demon Lords beside her. "Rimuru, you're our support, and Luminous is our main offensive."
Luminous's eyes widened. For a moment, she looked genuinely surprised. Then her expression shifted into one of clear indignation. "Are you giving me orders?"
Meanwhile, Rimuru's expression immediately brightened. "Heck yeah, a party."
"Party?" Luminous repeated. She sounded genuinely confused. Before she could question him further, Kaede's body suddenly changed.
A pair of enormous white wings burst from her back, spreading outward with enough force to send a powerful gust through the surrounding atmosphere.
With one powerful beat of her wings, Kaede shot upward.
Her figure became a white streak as she accelerated toward the upper atmosphere, leaving the two behind.
Rimuru watched her go. Then he smiled. Black wings suddenly emerged from his back.
They were large and distinctly draconic in appearance, spreading behind him like the wings of some enormous dragon.
"Keep up, Luminous!" Rimuru shot upward after Kaede.
"Wha?" Luminous looked confused for a moment before finally spreading her own wings and following after them.
"Wait!" She accelerated after the two Demon Lords, her expression becoming increasingly irritated as the three of them climbed higher and higher.
"What do you mean by party?" she demanded. "This is no time to mess around."
"Haven't you heard about an adventurer's party?" Rimuru glanced down at her while continuing to fly. "From the Adventurer's Guild. How do you not know that? You're like, a million years old."
"I don't particularly concern myself with such drivel." Luminous defended herself.
Rimuru stared at her for a moment. "You're a shut-in, aren't you?"
Luminous's eye twitched. "I am not a shut-in."
"Whatever." Rimuru turned his attention back toward the enormous Hydra above them. "Anyway, Kaede's our main defense, so she's the tank."
He gestured upward toward Kaede. "I'm probably the most versatile."
Rimuru paused. Although he didn't say it aloud, there was a small question in his mind. 'Although, I'm not sure how she knew that. Raphael, I thought she couldn't see my abilities.'
His expression became slightly suspicious before he continued. "As for you, you're probably the most experienced out of all of us, since you're so old."
Luminous's face tightened.
"And you have Disintegration." He nodded toward her. "So you're our main offensive."
Luminous looked completely flabbergasted.
For a moment, she simply stared at Rimuru as if she couldn't decide whether she was more offended by being called old, or being called a shut-in.
Meanwhile, the surroundings continued to change.
The blue of the sky gradually became darker and darker as they climbed higher. The clouds slowly disappeared beneath them, as the atmosphere thinned.
The Forest of Jura became smaller and smaller below, while the darkness of space slowly began to surround them.
Luminous took a deep breath. "...You!"
Rimuru glanced toward her.
Luminous closed her eyes for a moment, visibly restraining herself..Then she exhaled. "Let's just deal with this."
Rimuru smiled. "That's the spirit."
The darkness of space had almost completely swallowed the light of the world below them.
The three heads of the Hydra were still circling above them, their enormous bodies moving through the upper atmosphere with unnatural ease.
Kaede slowly raised one hand..A burst of magicules gathered around her. Then, with a flash of black light, a shield appeared in her hand.
It was enormous.
A black Tower Shield, large enough to cover most of Kaede's body, with a rose-shaped motif embedded directly into its center. The edges of the shield were reinforced with thick black metal, while the rose in the middle seemed almost alive, its petals forming intricate layers across the surface.
Luminous's eyes immediately narrowed. "...That shield."
Even from several meters away, she could feel the enormous quantity of magicules radiating from it. It was very similar to her own weapon in the quality of its existence. "Legendary Grade."
Rimuru looked at the shield. "Really?"
Luminous gave him an incredulous look. "Yes, really."
Kaede, however, seemed completely unconcerned by the revelation. She simply adjusted her grip on the shield. "Here they come."
The three heads of the Hydra suddenly stopped circling. For a single instant, the enormous creature became completely still.
Then they descended.
The air ignited around them as their enormous bodies accelerated downward, their sheer speed causing the atmosphere to erupt into blazing trails around their forms.
The sound came a moment later. A thunderous roar that shook the upper atmosphere.
Kaede's eyes narrowed, and she raised her shield.
The first head reached them.
"Come on!" Kaede thrust the shield forward. The black Tower Shield suddenly released an enormous amount of energy.
A translucent barrier erupted from its surface, expanding outward until it became a gigantic shield of energy several times larger than Kaede herself.
The Hydra's head slammed into it.
BOOM!
The collision sent a shockwave through the atmosphere. A sphere of pure force expanding outwards.
Kaede's body was pushed backward several meters. Her wings flared open as she resisted the force, but she didn't let go.
"Not getting past me!"
The enormous creature was forced to halt.
At the same time, Rimuru's eyes flashed. "Now, [Beelzebub]!"
The space around the Hydra distorted as the vortex of Beelzebub formed.
The first head, already being restrained by Kaede's barrier, was suddenly pulled sideways.
Its enormous neck twisted as the vortex seized it.
Rimuru raised his hand. "Got you." The force of Beelzebub intensified.
The Hydra's head was dragged further into the vortex, its enormous jaws snapping uselessly as it attempted to resist the pull.
But that was exactly what Rimuru had been waiting for. "Luminous!"
"I know!" Luminous moved. Her entire body became surrounded by crimson light.
The familiar power of Disintegration gathered around her, but this time she didn't release it as a wave.
She compressed it. Forced it forward. Then, "Disintegration!" A massive lance of holy destruction shot forward.
It was over twenty meters wide.
The enormous lance of energy tore through the darkness, heading directly toward the exposed neck of the Hydra's first head.
For a brief moment, the creature seemed to understand what was about to happen. Its other two heads twisted toward them.
But it was already too late.
The Disintegration lance struck, and the neck was severed in an instant. And before the severed head could even begin to fall, Beelzebub swallowed it whole.
The vortex collapsed inward, consuming the entire head and the remaining traces of its existence.
Rimuru blinked. "...That was easier than I expected."
"Except, Hydra is just an Extra Skill." Kaede immediately burst his bubble, leaving Rimuru's expression frozen for a moment. "Honestly, that's the minimum requirement to even fight me." There wasn't even any arrogance in her voice when she said it, she sounded completely matter-of-fact, as though she had just pointed out something painfully obvious.
"I thought you said that wasn't you." Rimuru snapped at her, his expression becoming increasingly incredulous. "And how is that the minimum requirement?"
Kaede glanced at him. "The poison also has instant death, so don't get careless."
"What the hell?"