Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 10.2

Rudeus

ERIS’S SWORD whistled through the air, following the shortest, straightest path to Atofe’s neck while the demon king gaped up at the Magic Armor. The magic blade, like a beam of silver light, met its mark with all its lethal force intact, sliding into Atofe’s flesh, then on through—

Alarm showed on Eris’s face, and her sword stopped. It came to a halt around halfway through Atofe’s neck.

Meanwhile, Atofe’s sword was buried deep in Eris’s right shoulder, and Eris’s right arm wasn’t moving.

She hadn’t merely stopped. Someone had stopped her. 

Sword of Light pierced right through between bones, essentially becoming a load-bearing beam within whatever body it penetrated. That was why it was renowned as the ultimate sword technique…and it had been blocked.

“Gyaaaaaah!” Eris immediately gave up on her right arm. Using only her left, she pulled her blade free. Normally, Sword of Light should have taken her opponent’s head clean off. With just one hand, however, its power was reduced. A third of Atofe’s neck remained unsevered, still firmly attached to her torso. That would mean death in any normal battle. Getting even a third of your neck sliced through would be a mortal wound. But Eris’s opponent was Atofe. Immortal Demon King Atofe.

“Ngraaah!” Atofe looked like a corpse as she kicked Eris away. An awful bwong sound pealed as Eris went flying. Roxy caught her. Blood flowed freely from her shoulder; she stared at Atofe with unwavering murder in her eyes. She still wanted to fight, but her part was over for now.

Atofe howled a battle cry, then turned toward me. She held up her sword in a defensive stance, then leaned forward into a lunge as I readied my gatling gun. Maybe it was some animal instinct that made her come for me when I still hadn’t done anything; maybe it was based on experience.

With Eris out of the way, my line of fire was clear. 

“Fire!” I shouted and unleashed a hail of stone cannons.

On my first step, Atofe’s armor shattered into dust. On my second, her shoulders were shredded and her sword thrown up into the air. On my third, her torso, peppered with holes like a honeycomb, was blown off her pelvis.

There was no fourth step. Her remaining lower half lurched and fell. It was a heart-stopping scene. There was no blood—maybe because Atofe was an immortal demon king—but it would have been truly nauseating if there were. I still wasn’t used to killing people. I never would be. I was only able to use the gatling gun at point-blank range because I knew she wouldn’t die. That’s right: even after this, Atofe wouldn’t die.

Roxy applied healing magic to Eris’s wound, then looked around anxiously at Atofe’s personal guard. “Did we do it?”

Without Atofe around to give them orders, they wouldn’t attack us. Not one of them was worried about Atofe. They had complete faith in their master’s immortality.

“Not yet,” I said, still on alert.

The guards muttered amongst themselves. 

“Do we go next?”

“Nah, impossible.”

“Keep your eyes down! Did you see that attack carve through black steel?”

“Armor won’t do any good, huh? What even was that magic?”

“Last time he fought Lady Atofe he attacked with a super powerful stone cannon. It’s probably that.”

“Ah, that makes sense. So like a rapid-fire stone cannon?”

“So that means that…what is it, a staff? Is a magic weapon separate from the armor?”

They were analyzing the fight. Did nothing get them worked up? But then, I guess they knew it would take more than that to kill Atofe.

Atofe would regenerate. She was literally in the process of doing so right now. Scattered chunks of flesh flocked together to form bigger lumps, connecting up piece by piece until she was almost back to her original size. Unlike certain parasytic life forms, she could put herself back together even after you pulled her hair out…

Her life force was so strong it felt like it wouldn’t matter if a few bits of her were left out from the whole, because any little lumps of flesh that remained would regenerate themselves through mitosis. A creature like that, wearing armor and training for battle… It was no wonder she was tough.

Atofe finished regenerating while I mused.

Because I’d riddled her with holes, her upper half was naked. Her abs—even more well-defined than Eris’s—and her breasts—big, but not as big as Eris’s—were on full display. Was there any point, I wondered, in a creature like her working out? I guess there was. Heck, there was probably more of a point to getting ripped when your cells couldn’t die than there was for ordinary people. Intriguing.

When Atofe stood before me, fully restored and unarmed, I asked, “Do you still want to fight?” I’d come ready for a drawn-out battle where I’d use every skill at my disposal, but I hadn’t come with hostile intent. If I decided Atofe, freshly regenerated, was too much hassle and seriously tried to imprison or exterminate her, Moore, who was watching from behind Atofe, would decide I was hostile. Having made that call, he would take command of Atofe’s personal guard and attack me. That’s what Orsted had told me. I had thought about how to handle that eventuality…but I didn’t want to resort to it. Her regeneration was a hassle, but beating her down every time she came back, as many times as it took to satisfy her, was the better option. I didn’t know how many times that would be, but I’d fight her for as long as my magic held out.

But then Atofe yelled back, “No!” 

Moore ran over and put a cloak over her. “I’ll get you a change of armor at once, Lady Atofe,” he said. Atofe huffed, then sat down on the ground with a thud, crossing her legs. Apparently, she wasn’t going to fight. She stared resentfully up at me instead.

I was genuinely surprised. I was convinced the moment she was on her feet again she’d charge me like a wild boar or command her guards to attack us from all sides. Eris stood between the two of us, sword at the ready, but Atofe didn’t spare her a single glance. Behind me, Roxy gripped her staff, but I doubted she’d get a chance to use it. 

Atofe continued to stare at me for a long while without saying a word. After what felt like forever, she muttered, “Do you remember it, Moore?”

“I’m afraid I wasn’t alive for the Great Human-Demon War,” he replied.

“Oh, right. True.” Her voice was quieter than I’d ever heard it. Calmer too. “It wasn’t like that, back then. It was way flashier. It didn’t have that weapon, but it was faster and stronger too.”

Atofe had to be talking about the original Fighting God Armor—the ultimate suit of armor crafted by Laplace.

“But that’s what humans were like. They were weak at first. Helpless as babies. They broke and fled the moment we attacked. But as time went on, they changed. New characters, new armor, new weapons. Even the way they fought. They gathered together and scattered apart, lay in wait in the mountains, and faced off across rivers… And as they did so, little by little, they grew stronger. Kal used to say that that was the humans’ strength.” Atofe looked composed, and she actually sounded intelligent. Maybe immortal demon kings got sage-like post-regeneration, just like humans did after other activities.

“You made that?” she asked me.

“I did,” I replied.

“Huh… You’re strong, aren’t you? Really strong,” Atofe said. Her eyes looked bright and refreshed. “Funny. You pathetic humans are catching up to the Dragon Clan when even my father couldn’t defeat them, no matter how he struggled.” She stood up slowly, then ordered Moore to her side and looked up at me, where I was struggling to understand what she’d said. She folded her arms and went on. “I am defeated. As promised, I will join your cause, as long as you’re still alive.”

That’s how Atofe became my ally. She also told me, “You beat me, Rudeus Greyrat, and so I name you ‘champion.’”

So I became a champion too.

***

Later, there was a banquet at Atofe’s fortress. A banquet to celebrate the death of the demon king, hosted by the vanquished demon king herself. Her personal guards were the waiters, and also the guests. 

The vast training ground served as the banquet hall. The training dummies and gear were cleared away to make space for an arena in the center surrounded by leather mats. The guards sat around drinking and feasting. Demon King Atofe had been defeated, but that didn’t mean any of her prisoners got to go free. Atofe probably wouldn’t understand if I brought it up, and besides, it was my problem if her personal guard got weaker from here on out. I decided to leave things as they were. This wasn’t cops and robbers, after all. I couldn’t free everyone. Well, okay, if any of them were desperate to go home, I’d look for a chance to sneak them out in turn. So long as I did it slowly, Atofe wouldn’t notice. 

Having said that, Atofe’s personal guards all looked like they were happily enjoying the feast. None of them seemed about to rise up in revolt. I guess that made sense. It wasn’t like they’d beaten Atofe themselves.

“This is a joyous day! We shall drink! We shall sing! And we shall fight!” Despite her defeat, Atofe was in high spirits. She was having a great time making her servants do battle in the central arena. I noted that with every cup of the ale I’d brought her, she bellowed, “Delicious!” She appreciated my present. It was a strange thought, but she reminded me of Badigadi in this moment. After a battle, her first priority was to drink and sing… Hey, they were siblings, after all. Maybe the Immortal Necross Lacross had been like this too.

“Ahahahaha, good!”

“Crush him!”

“Raise your guard! Come on! Raise it! Ahhh…”

They fought hand-to-hand in the arena. No weapons, no armor, just bare knuckles. The brawniest men in Atofe’s personal guard pummeled each other with their fists, and it was all very macho.

Huh? Wait, never mind. That wasn’t a guard. Or a man, for that matter.

“The victor is…Eris!” Eris stood in the arena. She must have had some fuel left to burn after the battle with Atofe. She was beating the crap out of a demon from Atofe’s personal guard with the ferocity of a feral dog. This was after she fought Atofe’s Ultimate Four earlier! The girl never stopped…

It was a good fight. The lizard-faced guard gave as good as she got. It was a sign of how elite Atofe’s personal guards were. When you took away Eris’s sword and had her fight hand-to-hand, however, the two were evenly matched. Unless one of them was holding back…but no, that wasn’t it. Contestants lay sprawled unconscious around the edges of the arena. Eris had already beaten up three of them. She’d taken a few knocks, but Roxy was there as her second using healing magic. She’d be fine.

Eris had gotten a whole lot stronger…

Atofe cackled with delight. “You are a tough one! Just what you’d expect from the champion’s comrade! All right, who’s next? Who’s it gonna be?”

“I challenge you, Demon King Atofe! Get down here and fight me!” Eris shouted. At this, Atofe cackled again.

“You’re an even bigger moron than Kishirika, challenging me to unarmed combat! I like that! All right, I’ll fight you!” She threw aside her cloak with a dramatic swish, then, still naked from the waist up, went down to the arena. The banquet approached its peak; the cheers were so loud it felt like the ground might split asunder. Who would win? Eris? Or Atofe?

The odds had to be on Atofe. Personally, I wouldn’t put it past Eris to cause a major upset—

“Master Rudeus… Master Rudeus!”

“Ah! Sorry.”

I wasn’t at the banquet. I was sitting with Moore in a room in the fortress discussing what to do next. I ought to have been the guest of honor… The banquet was hitting a fever pitch out there. Who was the banquet in honor of, again?

Moore cleared his throat. “Thank you for the details. I have here a request for the search and extermination of the Man-God’s disciple Geese and support in the fight against him, the search for Kishirika, the establishment of an intelligence service, and support in the fight against the Demon God Laplace. Is that the extent of it?”

“That’s right.”

Unlike Atofe, Moore was a guy you could talk to. He’d heard my requests, put them in order, and was giving them due consideration. I wondered if maybe one day, long ago, Atofe’s brain had gotten a mind of its own, escaped the narrow confines of her skull, and turned into Moore.

“Setting aside the first two, for now, I doubt we’ll be able to help with the second two, especially the fight against Laplace.”

“Is it really impossible? Does she have some sort of obligation to Laplace…?”

“Lady Atofe lost to you and you alone. If you die that becomes null and void. Will you be alive in eighty years?”

“…Probably not.” At the end of the day, her debt was to me. Maybe I should have played it so she thought she’d lost to Roxy…well, it was too late for that now. Chalk it up to destiny.

“The mercenary company is also a problem,” Moore went on.

“Is it a territorial thing?”

“Lady Atofe reigns over this region, but her only subjects are her guards. If you want to set up another organization, that’s your prerogative, but they’ll have to look after themselves.”

“Very well,” I replied.

So Ruquag’s Mercenary Band was a no-go. We could set it up, but we’d always have to keep in mind that we were operating right next to an organization led by Atofe.

There would be problems. It wouldn’t be smarts that were needed to resolve them, but brute force, right then and there. I could imagine showing up and finding the whole thing gone up in smoke.

“To find Kishirika, we can send letters signed by Atofe to all the demon kings. Their Excellencies should be willing to assist with a search operation.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one who’ll deliver them, Master Rudeus. We lack adequate information on the whereabouts of the teleportation circles.”

“But of course.”

Right, this guy knew about the teleportation circles. I didn’t have to hide them. Humans had banned the teleportation circles, but demons, especially the older ones, didn’t see them as especially taboo.

“Lady Kishirika won’t give you the run around unless she has a good reason to. I doubt it’ll take long to find her.”

“Yes, though faster is always better.”

“It’ll depend on how fast you deliver the letters… But I imagine you’ll find her within a year.”

As usual, no one knew where she was.

“Why do you think she’s always roaming around like that?”

“I would never presume to know what goes through the minds of old demons like her.”

“…Fair enough.”

From where I stood, Moore looked like an old demon too. I didn’t know how old he was, but he was an immortal demon, so we were talking well over a few centuries.

“You have grown much stronger, Master Rudeus,” Moore said. “You’re like a different man compared to when I saw you last.”

“That’s thanks to the Magic Armor.”

“You’re too modest.”

“It’s not modesty. I might have gotten hold of enough power to make Lady Atofe yield, but my personal strength hasn’t increased dramatically at all.”

“Strength” was something you could make, provided you combined magic and skill, but I didn’t come by that strength on my own. I’d had help from Zanoba, Cliff, and most recently Roxy. Without them, the Magic Armor would never have been completed and I could never have learned to operate it.

“You are only the second person to whose strength Lady Atofe has acknowledged after just one blow. The first was Lord Kalman, the first North God.”

“I don’t think I’m at the level of a Great Power.” If Atofe had kept fighting and resurrecting herself, I think I would have lost in the end. The Magic Armor burned a lot of energy and I only had so much magic in reserve.

“There’s nothing wrong with compensating for what you lack, whether it be skill, weapons, or allies. Lady Atofe recognizes it all. That’s why she always tells the challengers to come at her all together. That’s what makes humans strong, according to her.”

Humans’ strength was in…combining our powers? So using weapons and fighting alongside others were just different kinds of tactics and skills. There was no cowardly way to fight. That was how Atofe had come to accept her defeat, and why Moore was praising me now. I got it now. Kinda.

“But remember: Lady Atofe still has the skills of a North God Style warrior, and us, her personal guard. Don’t be fooled into thinking she fought you with no holds barred.”

“I’ll be sure not to forget.”

This time, I’d fought Atofe alone. But that was Atofe at her weakest. She was always drawing on the power of others to enhance her own. She would arm and armor herself, and she had her personal guards. When she went into battle for real, she mobilized all of that against her opponent. She had plenty of strength in reserve, though where she planned to use all that power, I couldn’t say. It was scary to think about. I remembered how the Rudeus from the future had been done in by Moore…

When I came here this time, I’d kept in mind the possibility that I’d have to fight the guards and prepared accordingly. Roxy had magic scrolls on hand for every contingency, which meant so long as we could hold Moore off for a few moments, we could have escaped. Thinking about it now, though, if the guards had joined the fray we might have been in serious trouble.

Just then, I heard Atofe yelling for Moore. “Moore! Moore! Bring Rudeus down here!” Her voice was so loud it easily traveled all the way up here. I looked out the window and saw Eris face down on the ground with Roxy rushing to her side.

She’d lost, then. Of course she had.

“Looks like I’d better go,” I said. “If you need to get hold of me, use the contact tablet I set up earlier.”

“I shall. One last thing, though.” Moore picked up a box from beside him and held it out to me. It was about the size of a dictionary and engraved with devilish patterns. The kind of box that curses you when you open it. I took it and found it was unexpectedly light.

“Lady Atofe told me to give this to you,” Moore said.

“What is it…?”

“Should you find yourself in a desperate situation, open it. I am sure you will find it useful.”

So you’re saying, “It’s a surprise”?

“Let’s be off, shall we?” Moore said.

“Sounds good.” I put the box in my pack, and we left the room.

After that, I was shown to a seat next to Atofe with the best view in the house of the arena. Wine flowed freely as the banquet continued. We were shown a five-on-five team battle between the guards, followed by a ridiculously flashy magic display by Moore and a few others. Then came an acrobatics show like a Chinese circus, followed by a bard who sang for us. 

I found it difficult to enjoy any of it. Atofe sat next to me the whole time, still naked from the waist up. I didn’t know where to look. Rudeus the Celibate’s celibacy, you see, had only made him hornier.

I stole a peek, but I hadn’t noticed that Eris had sat down next to me. She grabbed my ear and Roxy, who plopped down on my lap, blocked off my view of Atofe.

It was a great banquet.