「 ✦ Rimuru Tempest ✦ 」
The afternoon sun streamed through Café Lumière's tall windows, casting that very same golden light across the marble floors that I remembered from our first meeting here.
Funny how some things never changed.
"Hey, Iu," I said, leaning back in my chair, "maybe the labyrinths are each built on a specific idea of training. Like, yeah, they're meant to prepare challengers to face god or something—but they have their own ways."
Iu's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. She looked up at me with that sharp expression I'd grown way too familiar with.
"How would you know?"
I grinned. "Well, I've cleared three of them now. The Great Orcus Labyrinth basically beats your ass until you learn to overcome your own limits. Reisen forces you to figure out problems without magic—like, at all. And Gruen Volcano tests how well you can keep your head on straight when everything's going to hell around you."
I took a bite of my dessert—some ridiculously expensive chocolate thing.
"If that doesn't mean shit, I don't know what does."
Iu set her fork down completely, finally giving me her full attention.
"So you think each labyrinth has its own... theme? Its own lesson?"
"Pretty much! Think about it—the Liberators, or Mavericks, whatever, they built these things specifically to create people strong enough to stand up against god. But they didn't just make them randomly hard. Each one teaches you something different."
"Huh." She picked up her fork again, but didn't eat. Just kind of poked at her cake while thinking. "I never really considered that before. Always thought they were just... you know, death traps with good rewards at the end."
"Death traps with very specific good rewards."
"You're actually making sense for once," she said, and I could hear the reluctant admission in her voice. "It's disturbing."
"Hey, I make sense all the time. You just don't listen."
"I listen. I just choose to ignore the stupid parts."
"Which is apparently everything I say?"
"Now you're getting it."
I laughed sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes, but I caught the tiny smile she was trying to hide. This was comfortable. This was us getting back to normal after that whole thing in the kitchen. Neither of us had brought it up since, and honestly, I was fine keeping it that way. Some things were better left as weird moments that happened.
"Okay, but seriously," Iu said, apparently deciding to engage with my theory. "If you're right, then what do you think the other labyrinths are supposed to teach?"
"Like I know. Haven't been to them yet." I shrugged.
Then she smirked. "Look at you, getting all placid. Next you'll be writing poems about the deeper meaning of dungeon crawling."
We were off and running, falling back into our familiar bond of arguing about everything and nothing. It was weirdly comforting. Like no matter what else happened, this part of our relationship would always be the same.
"Besides," I said during a brief lull in our debate, "how would you even know if I make sense? You've never been in a labyrinth."
Iu paused, that look crossing her face that usually meant she was about to drop some kind of bomb on me.
"Actually, I have Spatial Magic."
I dropped my spoon. It clattered against the marble floor loud enough to make several other patrons turn and look.
"You what now?"
"Spatial Magic," she repeated, looking extremely pleased with herself.
I just stared at her. I'd known there was more to Iu than she let on—the expensive clothes, the way she always seemed to have money, the fact that she could track me down in the middle of nowhere. But magic? Combat-level magic? And the fact I couldn't tell all this time?
"Since when?" I managed.
"Since always." She was definitely enjoying this. "What, did you think I was just some rich diva?"
"I... hmm... yes? Actually, yes, that's exactly what I thought!"
"Well, surprise. I'm a rich diva with spatial magic."
"But you're so..." I gestured vaguely at her general appearance. "You look like you've never seen a weapon in your life."
"Fashion and fighting ability aren't mutually exclusive, you know."
"But you argue about books and complain about my table manners and—"
"And apparently that means I can't tear a hole in space?" She raised an eyebrow. "Your logic is severely flawed, babe."
I picked up my spoon from the floor, my mind still trying to process this information.
"This is why you always know where to find me, isn't it?"
"Among other things."
"And how you can afford to live like this."
"Well, that's more complicated, but the magic helps."
I shook my head. "You know what? I'm not even surprised anymore. Nothing about you has ever made sense anyway."
"I'm perfectly sensible. You're just not very sharp."
"I'm plenty sharp. You're just sneaky."
"Don't you mean 'selectively informative'?"
"Which just means sneaky!" I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. "You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. I've never seen anything like it. Is there anything real about you?"
We finished our desserts still bickering about her definition of honesty versus my definition of being straightforward. By the time we left the café, I'd almost gotten used to the idea that Iu was apparently some kind of magical powerhouse disguised as a fashion-obsessed intellectual.
And I've never even seen her fight, I thought with a sigh.
The streets of Fuhren's rich district were busy with the usual afternoon crowd—merchants, nobles, and people like us who had too much money and not enough sense. We walked without any real destination, just enjoying the expensive scenery and each other's company.
"Hey, Iu. Tell me about something," I said, unwrapping some snack I'd bought from a street vendor, "I still don't understand how you have this much money. Like, what do you actually do for work?"
"This and that."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer you're getting."
I took a bite of whatever I was eating—something with chocolate and gold flakes, because of course it had gold flakes.
"Wife me right now, dude. Seriously. I'll sign whatever papers you want."
She snorted. "You couldn't handle being married to me."
"Try me. I'm very low maintenance."
"You're the opposite of low maintenance. You're like... high maintenance pretending to be low maintenance, which is the worst kind—if that makes sense."
"It does."
We kept walking, and I was busy trying to figure out what exactly I was eating when Iu suddenly stopped and stared at me.
"Have you gotten taller?" she asked.
I paused mid-chew. "What?"
"You look taller. Are you taller than you were last month?"
I looked down at myself, then back at her. "That's... a really weird question."
"But are you?"
"I don't know? I don't exactly measure myself regularly." I studied her expression. "Why are you asking?"
She shrugged, but there was something in her eyes that suggested the question wasn't as random as it seemed. "Just curious. You look different somehow."
"Different how?"
"Different."
We stared at each other for a moment. It was one of those conversations that felt like it was about something else entirely, but I couldn't figure out what. And honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to.
"Okay," I said finally. "That's not weird at all."
"This is just par for the course."
"Whatever."
We started walking again, but I found myself thinking about her question. Now that she'd mentioned it, something did feel... off. Not bad, just different. Like something about me had changed in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Not... weird at all. I was getting creeped out, because I only ever grow taller whenever something major changes inside of me. In the back of my mind, I wondered if this is a sign that something big was going to happen soon—but of course, typical of me, I just brushed it off.
"Where's Tio anyways?"
"Doing your errands, dumbass."
···—–—⚜—–—···
「 ✦ Freid Bagwa | Grand Marshal of the Demon Nation Garland ✦ 」
I've always believed in our cause. Always. Demons were superior, humans were inferior. Simple as that. I've carried that truth to battlefields, turned it into a weapon, and cut down thousands with it. I've ordered millions to die for it.
Never once did I doubt our gods.
Never once.
Standing on the platform of the Palace of Red Keep, I faced the full might of our military force. Thousands upon thousands of elite demon warriors stretched out before me. Metamorphosed monsters towered over transfigured humans, all of them hungry for war.
Thunder crashed behind me. Lightning split the sky like the gods themselves were announcing what was to come.
I raised the voice-amplifying artifact to my lips.
"Demons," I called out, my voice carrying across the assembled horde. "The time has come. For too long, we have watched the inferior races pollute this world with their weakness. For too long, we have allowed them to believe they deserve the same air we breathe."
The crowd roared, weapons raised high.
"But our gods have spoken! They have given us purpose, given us strength, given us the right to claim what has always been ours. Today we march not just as conquerors, but as instruments of divine will. Today we show these pathetic humans what true power looks like!"
Another roar, louder this time. The sound of it made my blood sing.
"Let none stand before us. Let none question our authority. We are the chosen of the gods, and today—today we fulfill our destiny!"
The roar that answered me shook the very foundations of the palace. This was what I lived for. This was what I was born to do.
But even as I spoke those words, even as I felt the fire of righteous purpose burning in my chest once more, my mind wandered to the conversation I'd had with my king just days before.
The one that had changed everything.
The Demon Lord had summoned me to his private chambers. I'd expected another strategy briefing, another discussion about troop movements and supply lines. Instead, he'd looked at me with something I'd never seen in his eyes before.
Worry.
"There is a single individual I need to be extra wary of?" I had asked, confused by his sudden concern.
"Yes, Freid. Rimuru Tempest is dangerous."
The name meant nothing to me. "I've never heard of that name, my lord."
"Rightfully so." The Demon Lord's hands had clenched into fists, his knuckles going white. "It has been made known to me by our god, Nelson the God of War... that he himself battled with this individual and lost."
I couldn't process the words at first. I stared at my king, trying to make sense of what he just said. A god—our god—had been defeated? By some unknown human whose name I'd never even heard uttered in intelligence reports?
Even Hajime Nagumo, that irregular bastard I'd fought to a draw at Gruen Volcano, hadn't warranted this level of concern from both the Demon Lord and the gods themselves.
"...A-and where is Lord Nelson now?" I had managed to ask.
"Recovering." The admission seemed to physically pain him. "Times have changed, Freid. It is now or never. Our two gods shall watch your back in the fight to come. Do not disappoint our brethren."
"Never, my lord."
But even as I'd said that, something had taken root inside me. A crack in the foundation of everything I'd believed. If a god could lose...
The sound of war horns snapped me back to the present. The assembled army was cheering, their war cries echoing off the palace walls. The thunder above seemed to answer them, as if the very sky approved of what we were about to do.
That's right, I told myself, pushing down the doubt that had been eating at me since that conversation. All in the name of our gods. All for the demon race.
The army was moving, thousands of voices raised in battle cries that shook the very foundations of the palace. This was it. This was our moment.
I could see the bloodlust in their eyes, the absolute faith they had in our cause. They believed in our gods with the same unwavering devotion I'd always had.
Had.
The word tasted bitter in my mind.
But I couldn't let them sense my doubt. I was their commander, their symbol of demon superiority. If I wavered, they would too. And then everything we'd worked for would crumble. As I watched them go, I thought again about that name.
Rimuru Tempest.
An anomaly, the gods had called him. Something that didn't fit into their grand design. Something that had managed to do what should have been impossible—defeat one of our own gods in single combat.
But whatever this Rimuru Tempest was, whatever power he possessed, I would face him. I had to. Not just for the demon race, but to prove to myself that our gods were still infallible.
That my faith hadn't been misplaced.
The thunder crashed again, and I took it as a sign. The gods were with us. They had to be.
Because if they weren't...
I crushed that voice immediately. Doubt was weakness. Doubt was human.
I was neither weak nor human.
The time for questions was over. The time for war had begun.
And if this Rimuru Tempest—or that fucker Hajime Nagumo and his bitches—wanted to stand in our way, then he would learn what it meant to face the full might of the demon race. God-killer or not, he was still just one man.
We were an army of the chosen.