Kapitel 50: Chapter 50
Well, it's time. Soeui did what I told him to do and as expected he didn't get much. The only thing he got was their names. Footman and Tear. That and they planned to revive Charybdis. Not much to go off of, but it's all we need.
Rimuru was a bit scared about it, but it would be fine. He immediately wanted to try to get Milim, but then he remembered that she was off getting his souls for him, so that was out of the question. Milim was definitely able to wipe the floor with the Charybdis, but she isn't the only one who can.
I wonder who else is available able to unleash one massive attack that could instantly kill Charybdis. Hmm, I have no clue. We'll just have to find out.
"So those clowns are instigating Phobio to revive Charybdis and attack our town? Artoria, do you know about them?".
"Yeah, they're the ones Treyni was having a bit of trouble with during the orc stuff. They're called the Moderate Harlequin Alliance or something like that. It's a group Clayman is a part of. They follow his orders and this whole Charybdis stuff was ordered by him. He should be running out of options soon given that he's basically all alone now. Well, not really since he has some other connections, but you get the idea.".
"How do you know all this?".
"Rimuru remember how I told you, about connecting some dots and using what we already know to formulate a story that seems completely possible?".
"Yeah? What about it?".
'Let's think for a second. Originally, Clayman and his group wanted to investigate the forest, but now we've allied with all of them except for him. This means he wanted to use this forest for something, whatever it was doesn't matter since we know his goal was the forest. Phobio has a grudge against us since he got beat up, so they are using him to revive Charybdis and destroy this town to get rid of us for whatever purpose they have. We're quickly becoming a threat to them so Charybdis is a sort of hail mary attempt at killing us. What I want to say is that this gives us a good excuse to attack him.".
"First of all, that's all just speculation. We need more evidence than just that to fight him just for that.".
"Why do we? He's moving all in the shadows and he'll make sure it can't go back to him. We need to do the same if we want to nip this weed before it grows and festers.".
Rimuru opened his eyes at what I said. "That's a bit harsh isn't it? Won't we be just like him if we do that though?".
"And? Trust me, RImuru, this won't be the last you or me will have to do something like this.".
"So do we just stop them before they can revive Charybdis?".
"No. We need to kill Charybdis. It's part of the alliance made with Frey. I told her we could take care of Charybdis and part of our alliance relies on this. Also, you need to absorb part of Charybdis so your evolution can go more smoothly and get some more power. Also, you need to get another unique skill just to be sure. Remember that technique I taught you? You need to get that to some kind of unique skill.".
"I'll try to do that then. So how do we fight this thing?".
"Do you want the easy answer or the one that will benefit most of our troops?".
"Both?".
"For the easy answer, I can just do it myself. For the beneficial one, we let our troops fight it so they gain more combat experience and practice their skills. We'll need some air power, so Gabiru and his dragon newts will be needed. Ground forces will be tricky to utilize unless they have some kind of anti-air skills or magic. We can also call upon Gazel and his pegasus knights.".
"Ok. We can have Vesta send a message to Gazel and we should get a meeting started with everyone.".
"Sounds good to me. The earlier we make plans the better.".
/\\//\\//\
Alright, it time.
A few days have passed. Youm was out there doing his thing. I could tell that their training was very beneficial and efficient. The Dryads also showed up to tell us about Charybdis, but it was mostly the same stuff we learned already. Or more like what I told Rimuru.
The plan was very simple. The megalodons would be handled by our ground forces. The kijin, the orcs, our goblin riders, and what not. Charybdis would be attacked by our flying forces. Gabiru and his men, Gazel's pegasus knights, and some of our heavy hitters that could be taken into the air. Like Ranga who can walk on air and someone could ride on him. Shion is the best pick for that. In terms of pure and raw power, she takes the cakes for that.
On paper that's fine, but this is going to take hours.
/\\//\\//\
Arotria and Rimuru were on a hill looking at the approaching monster surrounded by multiple megalodons. It was a scary sight to see, but they were prepared as much as they could be. Artoria was calm for such a monster, but Rimuru wasn't. He doesn't know what was taking Milim so long to get the souls, but he wishes she could've arrived earlier.
"Relax, Rimuru, it's only a calamity class monster that's only focused on destroying everything in its path and bringing about the end of cities. Nothing to worry about.", Artoria told Rimuru trying to ease the tension.
"What do you mean nothing to worry about?! Beating this thing is going to be super hard! That thing also has magic jamming! We'll have to use something that's not magic or magicules for it to be as effective as possible.".
"Don't worry about that. I can easily overcome that. 'Magic jamming' is a skill beneath me. Don't worry. Oh look, the megalodons are diving to attack.". Artoria started pointing to some of the megalodons that were starting to attack.
The diving megalodon would normally be a sight to be scared of, but they were splitting up and attacking by themselves, leaving them vulnerable to being outnumbered. Which is exactly what happened.
In the face of so many kijin, orcs, and goblin riders, they quickly became sushi. Whether it was a suplex by Geld that opened the soft underbelly of the sharks, or the precisely targeted strikes at their weakpoints like the eyes or the small gap between the armor they had on. The sharks were light work for them. The main course was the big tuna in the air.
"See, Rimuru they got it. I'll be waiting nearby, so just tell me when you need me to kill it.". Artoria went to the side and sat down and got out a picnic set. She was sitting down eating some(a lot) of food she prepared for herself.
Rimuru, seeing her was just dumfounded at how incredibly calm she was about this entire thing. More so when he saw how much food there was in that little picnic box.
'Great Sage, are you sure the right person got the gluttony skill?'.
[...I don't know]
'What do you mean? You're supposed to know everything! Whatever, let's focus on Charybdis.'.
More time went by and very little progress had been made. Charybdis's regeneration was just too fast. Even with Rimuru's black fire that could stop regeneration, it was still a bit short. Even with Shion's power, it was still not good enough. Her attacks were equivalent to one massive strike of burst damage. The pegasus knights were also struggling. They were like flys in comparison to Charybdis and their attacks while being able to do damage also fell short.
Rimuru came back from battle and noticed a few hours had gone by and they had not made much progress. It would reach their town before they could defeat it.
"Rimuru, have you noticed the thing about Charybdis? Have you sensed any other body or person in it?".
Artoria's words made him do another analysis on Charybdis and he noticed that Phobio was there.
"You finally noticed. This will give us more favorability with Carrion. He's here watching this little fight and making sure Phobio doesn't die would give us a lot of brownie points with him.".
"If he's here, why isn't he helping us?! I'm sure a demon lord's strength is nothing to scoff at.".
"He wants to see how strong you are. His kingdom respects strength a lot and this is his chance to see how strong we are. He didn't get a chance to see it when I first met him, but this is a good opportunity for him. Anyway, do you need help?".
Rimuru let out a sigh. "Yeah. We've tried what we could, but it's way too tough for us right now. You should just end it.".
"Alright, make sure to clear out everyone on the battlefield. What I'm about to do will cause you a lot of damage if you stay too close.". Artoria got up and summoned Excalibur. Excalibur seemed almost alive with how much energy or magic it seemed to be radiating. With a clear sight of the enemy, it seemed to grow in strength a bit. Rimuru was taken aback a bit. Even he felt affected just by being in its presence.
"Wait, where's your sheath?". Rimuru asked Artoria.
"I'm letting someone else use it. To make sure they don't get hurt.". Arotria responded before jumping off the hill and going towards Charybdis.
"Shuna, make me a platform!".
/\\//\\//\
Shuna was currently holding down a megalodon with some magic. Her training had paid off at this moment. Getting past the magic jamming of Charybdis was easy work for her, but other magic users struggled a bit. The megalodon was trying to break free, but it couldn't no matter what it did.
"Shuna, make me a platform!". Shuna heard the words of Artoria and with a flash of yellow light, a large bolt of magic instantly pierced the head of the megalodon, killing it instantly.
She quickly made her way to Artoria, who was in the air and made a platform out of magic for her to stand on. Artoria was now level with Charybdis. She looked down at Shuna and said, "Thank you, Shuna. Can you please make sure the battlefield gets cleared? I don't want anyone to get affected by this attack.".
Shuna just nodded and went to do what she asked. She realized that she had to be quick.
Artoria stood there looking at Charybdis. Her armor shining and attracting attention. The pegasus knights, who were backing off, saw her and felt almost starstruck. They felt as if she was what they should aspire to be. Even just standing there, they felt this way.
Artoria grabbed Excalibur with both hands. "All right, let's finish this.". Nothing much was felt at first, but instantly a massive pressure started to be released in the forest. Dirt and small rocks were starting to float off the ground. All the monsters and the pegasus knights felt it. They were already in the process of cleaning the battlefield, but it seemed the area was too big.
'Great Sage, what can we do here?'.
[Answer. Putting up a sufficient barrier will protect everyone.]
'Put up a barrier then!'
[Notice. You don't have sufficient strength to make a barrier that can fully protect everyone.]
'Come on, Great Sage.'
Rimuru was panicking. The pressure only seemed to be getting stronger for the attack Artorai was charging up. Just when he was running out of ideas, he saw Shuna below moving perfectly fine as if she wasn't feeling anything. More than that, he saw a blue and gold sheath on her back. No sword, just the sheath.
'So that's who has it. It kind of looks funny on her. It's almost as big as her. But what is she doing?'.
[Answer. She is most likely preparing to set up a barrier.]
'Can she set up a barrier strong enough?'.
Shuna stopped and started forming together her magic. As soon as she finished she put her arms to the sky and a barrier appeared that covered both Artoria and Charybdis and shielding everyone from the pressure that she was emitting. Shuna used Avalon to help set up the barrier.
'Great Sage, can you analyze this?'.
[Unable to analyze. This barrier is similar to the one from the cave.]
'So is this not magic or something? Who cares, as long it protects everyone here.'
Where Artoria was, small yellow motes of light could be seen gathering on her sword and in the general area. From the outside nothing could be felt but everyone could see the intense gathering of magic.
'Woah, this uses up quite a bit of magic. Who would've thought?'. Artoria thought to herself while charging up. 'The question is though: Should I say it? I don't have to, but I kinda want to. I think that's why I'm delaying this a bit. I don't know if I should say it or not. Screw it, I might as well go all the way with it.'.
"Sheathed in the breath of the planet, a torrent of shining life. Feel its wrath.".
As Artoria chanted, a massive beam of light started taking shape. She raised it into the air with both hands. That entire part of the forest was basked in a bright yellow glow from the light of the beam.
"Ex…calibur!".
Artoria brought down the sword beam. Everything in its path was getting destroyed. The trees were destroyed or uprooted, and a large gash formed in the path of the sword beam. Being such a massive target, Charybdis didn't stand a chance at dodging it. The tip of the beam made contact with Charybdis and its defense that was giving trouble before became nothing. Its regeneration meant nothing. Its hard scales were like butter being cut by a hot knife.
A large explosion rattled the area. The sword beam that made contact with Charybdis, shot up into the air at the center of the explosion. The barrier stopped it from going higher into the air, but it dissipated the energy around the barrier.
The pegasus knights and monsters who saw it were in awe. They stood in place looking at it. The power of the attack was the last thing on their minds.
Charybdis was no more. Almost every part of it was gone. It was akin to being disintegrated or atomized. Once everything settled down, a body could be seen falling toward the ground. It was the body of Phobio.
Artoria jumped down and caught the body, less a gruesome scene take place one he made impact on the ground. She caught Phobio and just lay him on the ground. The barrier started to go down and Rimuru quickly made his way there. Phobio's body was there, but also something else, that looked fleshy looking.
"Abosrb that, Rimuru. Also, you can come out Carrion, I know you're there.".
From the bushes, Carrions popped out. He looked a little freaked out after witnessing that strength. He started counting his lucky stars for allying with someone of Artoria's caliber. He quickly got himself together though.
"That was something else you did right there. Also, thank you for keeping Phobio alive. I take it you don't really take it to heart what he did?".
"No, I don't. You can handle things internally with him. I can promise you we won't be looking for any kind of retaliation or anything like that. How are things on your end?".
"Thanks for that. As for us, Albis and Suphia keep bugging me about wanting to come over to your town. I'll send them over as part of an envoy later. Also, I assume that slime is the other leader?".
Rimuru, who just finished absorbing part of Charybdis, looked over and finally saw who Carrion was supposed to be.
"Rimuru, meet Carrion. Carrion, meet Rimuru. Now, I would say to introduce yourselves, but we have other things to focus on. Mainly, the one who caused this whole thing. I'll say it how it is. Clayman is the one who's responsible for this. He ordered some clowns called Footman and Tear to revive Charybdis and manipulated Phobio to become its vessel. Now I don't about you, but that seems like a very good justification to go to war. He's clearly working things out behind the scenes.".
"I can understand where you're coming from, but he's a demon lord. These things are better left to a Walpurgis. You can settle your things there, but one of you would have to become a demon lord.".
"Rimuru's doing that, so we have that covered, but that's waiting too long. If we give him more time he'll come up with another plan and the more they fail, the more desperste he becomes. If we do wait, we'll have to play some mind games with him. We'll have to seem weaker and make him think he has a way out so he doesn't start acting all desperate. I'd rather not do that when we can easily beat him in a fight and take over his territory or something.".
Carrions let out a sigh. He was thinking about it, but he realized that if what she said was true, then they had the right to do that. And his whole kingdom ran on "might makes right". For him, it's only natural that a much stronger person or army rules over the weaker ones. Ultimately, this did involve him a little bit as well. Even if Phobio had done something dumb, he was still part of his nation and he was targeted by what was now an enemy.
"Um, are you guys going to ignore me or what? I'm still here.". Rimuru felt that he had been forgotten a bit in this whole conversation between Artoria and Carrion.
"Listen, Rimuru, When you evolve into a demon lord, we'll start making plans to finish Clayman and then start building up from there. If it'll make you feel better, everyone will become stronger when you evolve. If wasn't easy before you evolve, then after you do, it will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Now let's get our of here, I want to eat something and those megalodons are in prime ready-to-be eaten shape.". With that, Artoria left, leaving Rimuru and Carrion alone.
"Well, she's an interesting person. I'll be leaving then. I have to say some words to Phobio.". Carrion said as he picked up Phobio like a sack of potatoes, before leaving.
Rimuru was the only one left.
'What just happened? Does this mean we're going to war soon? I still need to save Shizu's students. Maybe, I can tell her about it so that it can be delayed. We don't have to do all this right now.'.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein