Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 25 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Kalman III vs. Kalman II and Co.

OGRE GOD MARTA was on the rampage. The giant ogre swept through like a hurricane, smashing through rows of trees and turning up the earth. Carried along by the shockwaves, we found ourselves separated from the battlefield. Zanoba and Dohga were handling the big guy. The Ogre God was supposed to be a straightforward monster with brute strength, so they matched up well. No one could beat Blessed Child Zanoba on strength alone, and Dohga did well against aggressive opponents. I didn’t think I needed to worry.

I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about anyone except myself. In front of me stood Number Seven of the Seven Great Powers, North God Kalman III, Alexander Rybak. This was one half of the duo that’d pushed me into the ravine. On top of that, I didn’t have the Version One this time, and the updated Version Two was incomplete. I couldn’t relax. I couldn’t hold anything back. Victory would go to whoever moved first. I’d open with Quagmire—

“I was waiting!”

Or so I thought. North God Kalman III made us wait. Of course, our opponent was a North God warrior. He could just as easily pretend to wait, then take us by surprise.

I put a Quagmire in place, then followed it up with a Stone Cannon.

“Before we fight, I want to talk a little!” He deflected the Stone Cannon harmlessly. Or, wait. Did it go off course? Whichever it was, it changed trajectory in midair and shot away. Not only that, even though I’d definitely put a Quagmire under the kid’s feet, he wasn’t sinking.

Is this the power of the North God?! No, never mind. I know about the King Dragon Blade’s abilities.

“You have every right to be angry. Someone cut your arms off and threw you into a ravine. I’m sure you’re itching to fight. But please, wait a little longer. When I’ve said my piece, I’m all yours. Even a runt like you is surely capable of waiting while two great warriors talk?”

Did he call me a runt?! Asshole! I’ll send you home in pieces!

Or, I guess I’d have thought that if I had more of a flare for the dramatic, but I couldn’t muster up the anger. From the perspective of one of the Seven Great Powers I was a runt. I’d been boosted so high lately the perspective felt refreshing, if anything.

I didn’t want to hold off. He might be stalling to buy time, and I wanted to win quickly so we could go help the rest of the team. I took a step back and looked at Sandor. Just like Alexander, he made no move to attack. And I had no hope of winning this alone.

“Sorry,” Sandor said with a shrug. He stepped forward, then said, “…All right, what is it, stranger?”

“Stranger? You call me, your blood, a stranger?”

“Isn’t this the first we’ve met?”

“The first time we met was when I came out of my mother’s belly, Dad.”

Why was Sandor playing dumb?

“Enough with this. I know you, even underneath that ugly helmet.”

The Man-God had gotten a look at me, so Alexander probably knew everything too.

“You are North God Kalman II, Alex Rybak!”

“Alec, you’re stepping on my line,” Sandor said. He sighed as he took his helmet off to reveal black hair and a middle-aged face. Alec had the same crop of black hair. Now that I got a look at them, the family resemblance was strong.

“You’re supposed to defeat me, then say ‘You were a worthy opponent. I would at least look upon your face at the end,’ then take the helmet off…”

“Forget about that! I thought you were dead… What’ve you been doing?!”

“…Taking on apprentices and teaching my skills as I pleased. Though not long ago, I was inspired by Her Majesty Queen Ariel of the Asura Kingdom to become a knight.”

“Apprentices? What were you doing taking on apprentices after you surrendered your sword to me and set aside North God Style?!” Anger flashed in little Alec’s eyes. I didn’t know what had happened between them, but Sandor’s words had touched a nerve.

“Alec, I didn’t set aside North God Style.”

“Liar! You don’t even have a sword now!”

“Hmm.” Sandor raised his staff and looked at it. It was made from metal, and I was pretty sure he’d said it was an ordinary staff, but maybe it had some special power. It looked ordinary, though.

“I just think fighting this way makes you stronger,” he said.

Alec was thunderstruck. “That’s idiotic! You want me to believe that old stick is stronger than the King Dragon Sword?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Alec, that sword is the strongest in the world. I wielded it for a hundred years, so I know it better than anyone.”

“Then…why?”

“That sword is too strong,” Sandor replied simply, like he was making an obvious point. “Once you’ve got that sword in your hand, nothing stands a chance against you. Not the most enormous beast, the most cunning monster, or the most steadfast warrior. I won battle after battle, and I became a hero.” 

Sandor paused and regarded Alexander. “Only then when I stopped, I had a thought. I was a hero. Wasn’t everything the same as before I’d taken up the sword? Was the North God II, Alex Rybak, really strong?” Sandor cast his eyes downward. “Once I’d had that thought, I could no longer fight as I had. Not to deny my own battles nor my allies, of course… I realized I was finished as a hero. That’s why I surrendered the role of the North God as a hero to you, while I went to spread the teachings of North God Kalman I.”

I couldn’t help but feel left out of this. I wasn’t really following, but here goes: Alex (Sandor) the dad had gotten tired of fighting, relinquished his symbolic sword, and gone to spread his school of fighting. His kid (Alexander) was mad about that. I mean, I can’t blame the kid entirely. I’d probably be pissed too if my dad dumped something so heavy on me and then walked out.

Child abandonment—pretty uncool.

“So that’s how we ended up with Auber—with the eccentrics?”

“That was one of the paths shown to us by North God Kalman I.”

“I don’t recognize the legitimacy of the eccentrics. That isn’t North God Style,” Alexander said, shaking his head with undisguised disdain.

Auber, huh… Well, he wasn’t a swordsman, that’s for sure. If anything, he was more like a ninja.

“It’s not even sword fighting, is it?” Alexander went on.

“The First North God Kalman wielded a sword, but he taught that one need not rely only on the sword.”

“What, and that’s why you’re using that old stick?”

“Yes. With this, I can feel myself getting stronger. Knowing one is growing makes one stronger still.”

“…I don’t get it,” little Alec said unhappily.

He was still young. Once he’d decided something was one way, he couldn’t see it differently.

“Now, Alec, It’s my turn to ask you. What are you doing here?”

“I came to defeat Orsted. I’m going to defeat the Dragon God and become number two of the Seven Great Powers.”

“Aiming high, eh? Makes a father proud,” Sandor said with a smile.

Um, Sandor? Hate to bring this up when you’re all bursting with pride, but you’re on my team, right? You’re not going to suddenly say, “I’ll give you a hand then!” and switch sides. Right?

“Well, I’ll be fighting against you this time, but I suppose you’re going to strike me down to challenge Orsted.”

“Naturally. I don’t care if you’re my opponent. I will make the name of North God Kalman III one I don’t have to be ashamed of.”

A name you don’t have to be ashamed of? Seriously? Although I guess you get hung up on stuff like that when your dad and your family are famous.

Still, I didn’t exactly feel like cheering on little Alec’s dreams.

“That’s not all,” he said. “I will wipe those Superd devils from existence!”

“Huh?” Sandor looked perplexed. “The Superd aren’t devils. You saw them when you came to the village, didn’t you?”

Alec nodded readily. “That’s not important. Everyone thinks of the Superd as devils. If I kill them all, I’ll be remembered as a hero for all eternity.”

“That’s not what a hero would do.”

“It isn’t, is it? If I get picky about methods, I’ll never surpass your great deeds. My name will never outshine that of North God Kalman II.”

“So outshining me is the same as becoming a hero?”

“Exactly!”

Sandor turned to me, his mouth half open. Then, he bowed. “I’m terribly sorry, Master Rudeus,” he said. “I thought I could convince my idiot son. It turns out he’s even more of an idiot than I thought.”

“…It does look that way,” I agreed.

Alec, it seemed, was a slave to the word hero. Rather than become a hero through heroic deeds, he just wanted to become famous so everyone would make a fuss over him.

Anyone with half a brain would point out, that’s not how it works. Don’t ask me the details of how it works, but it sure as hell doesn’t work like that.

“Let’s stop him.”

“Yeah.”

Sandor donned his helmet and raised his staff. Behind him, I spread my arms, ready to provide back-up. Alec glared at us, still grumpy. First, he’d had his choices disapproved of, then he’d been the subject of exasperated scorn. He was seething with anger and had no way to let it out.

“…You think you can defeat me with an old stick and that deadweight amateur? When I wield the King Dragon Blade?”

“Of course I do,” Sandor said confidently. “I’m going to put you in your place.”

At the words “put you in your place,” Alec’s patience finally snapped.

“You’re dead!”

Thus the battle between Kalman II and Kalman III began.

***

“Yaaaaah!”

Alec attacked first, slashing down on the diagonal at Sandor. He wielded the huge sword effortlessly with one hand.

“Whoa!” Sandor parried its devastating mass with his staff. Alec lost his balance…and yet his defense didn’t drop. With formidable poise, he twisted around and came at Sandor again.

Sandor reacted like he’d seen it coming. As Alec spun around to strike at him like a hurricane, Sandor parried once more. As he parried, he used the principle of leverage to sweep Alec’s legs out from under him. Just like that, Alec—no, he wasn’t knocked down. He leapt as though to jump over Sandor, then plunged back to the ground with impossible speed. It was an insane move, but I recognized where it had come from. He was using the power of the magic sword, King Dragon Blade Kajakut—gravity manipulation.

“Grrraaaar!”

Sandor was ready for it. With his back still to Alec, he parried a blow from the King Dragon Blade, then another, then another. He turned a little each time until he was facing Alec.

Alec’s blows weren’t easy to parry. Every time he kicked off, he left an indent in the ground, and the shockwave when he swung his sword struck trees. Those trees began to topple, creaking, to the ground. I was standing a ways off, and the vacuum wave he generated was strong enough to bite into my cheeks.

The blow didn’t hit Sandor. The guy might have been retired, but he was still the North God. He went on parrying Alec’s strikes without ever looking worried. With his ability to manipulate gravity, Alec could move as freely and as acrobatically as he liked, which made him impossible to predict. Sandor was keeping up with him all the same. It looked like he wasn’t moving at first glance, but his body almost quivered as he made minute adjustments to get into a more advantageous position.

So this was what a fight between North Gods looked like. They weren’t that fast. Maybe because of all the training I’d done with Eris and Orsted, I was able to follow their movements. They were so tightly packed and so unpredictable that although I could follow the fight, I couldn’t help.

“Take thaaaat!”

“Whoaaaaa!”

Man, these guys made a racket.

There was no time for thoughts like that, though. I steadied my breathing, then looked hard at the two of them. If they were evenly matched, my intervention could swing the battle. Even with the Demon Eye of Foresight, reading their next moves was no easy task. Even if I couldn’t read Alec, I knew how Sandor moved. At the very least, he was also easier to predict than Alec. He had a pattern.

He went right, then left. When his opponent got directly behind him, he had a pattern…

“There!” I fired a Stone Cannon. Whoosh—it went barreling in a straight line right into Alec.

Scratch that, it wasn’t straight, and it wasn’t a direct hit. Its path warped. Even as it left an indent in Alec’s armor, it slid off the surface and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

It did throw Alec off balance, though.

“Hah!” Sandor didn’t miss his opening. His blow slammed into Alec’s solar plexus.

“Nngh…!” Alec let out a grunt, but at the same time, he leapt. He was heading straight at me.

He’s fast!

“Butt out, runt!”

He steps in sharply. Slashes down on the diagonal.

Looking with the Demon Eye of Foresight, I took the blow on my remaining gauntlet.

“Oof…” The moment it hit, a crushing weight pressed down on my legs. The gauntlet cracked and I sank to my knees. I thought my left hand was going to come flying off…but then, with a grinding noise, the black arm parried the sword. The Atofe Hand was sturdy.

“That arm…!” Alec exclaimed. “No way. Is that grandma’s?!”

“Electric!” I yelled, releasing the mana I’d stored up in my other hand. Alec’s body was bathed in purple lightning. I poured mana into my left hand, preparing to fire a Stone Cannon at his face at point-blank range.

“Yooouuuaagh!”

Only, Alec didn’t stop. Curving his back like a shrimp to dodge my Stone Cannon, he spun on one foot and slashed at my legs.

I jumped out of the way. By then, Alec had already regained his footing. I saw his blade coming straight for my neck.

“Yaaah!” At the last second, Sandor came charging into Alec from one side, ramming him with his staff. Alec went flying straight off in a tailspin to the side…and came back to earth in a gentle arc that ignored the laws of gravity.

“…Hmph.” At a glance, he didn’t seem to have taken any damage. It didn’t look like Electric had done much either.

Was this the power of the sword? The quality of his armor? Or was he just being stoic? Maybe he was trained differently. Perhaps his body was made differently. Anything was possible.

“Looks like I held too much back,” Alec said, like he was on a losing streak in a fighting game. “Guess it’s time to get a little more serious…”

All things considered, this wasn’t a bad situation.

If we kept this up, we had a chance of winning. Sandor would be the front-liner, and I’d support him. If we each landed a hit every time, eventually we’d be able to bring Alec down. North God Kalman III was a tough opponent, but Sandor was strong too. They were evenly matched. I’d be the deciding factor.

I’m no deadweight! I thought, just as Sandor discouragingly said, “This is bad.”

You’re kidding. We’ve got the advantage! You haven’t taken any damage.

That last exchange of blows had broken the Zaliff Gauntlet, but the Atofe Hand had even better specs. We could still do this.

“He’s holding his power in reserve for his fight with Orsted later. He’s going to get stronger and stronger.”

Ah, crap. He was holding back. He was totally toying with us.

“How much longer will Miss Roxy be?”

“I don’t know.” She was supposed to send word when she was ready. It had already been half a day, so I thought she should be good to go soon. Unless Eris or Zanoba had gone down and the enemy had steamrolled Roxy too.

“He’s much stronger than he was when I knew him. I may have promised a little more than I can deliver,” Sandor said meekly.

Don’t be like that. You can still try. I’ll do my best to support you. I’m no deadweight, I swear! I’ll buoy you up like a helium balloon! Only, I can’t manipulate gravity, so maybe only emotionally.

“Let’s buy some time for now.”

“R-right.” With this quick conference over, Sandor charged forward, and Alec ran once more to meet him.

“Uuah!”

“Grrryaah!”

They got stuck into another exchange of blows. It was just as Sandor had said: I couldn’t pick up on anything different at first glance, but Sandor was no longer deflecting Alec’s blows perfectly. With every parry, his stance degraded a little further. The level of Alec’s attacks had changed—they looked the same, but I guess he put more weight behind them.

If he got the advantage over Sandor, I wouldn’t be able to squeeze in any direct hits with my Stone Cannon. The number he parried, deflected, or evaded would increase.

I stopped shooting. Instead, I used magic to shape the earth. First of all, I’d put a stop to the bouncy, physics-defying aerial maneuvers. That’d take the pressure off Sandor a bit and give him more flexibility for how he attacked.

Then, time to reintroduce my Stone Cannons.

“Earth Lance!” I raised pillars of earth to surround the two of them. I added, “Earth Net!” About fifty centimeters above Sandor’s head, I formed a net out of the earth. If I blocked off the space above them, those gravity-defying leaps would…

“You pest!” One hit and the net was down. That was a no go, then.

“What’s the matter, Dad? Is that all you’ve got?”

This was bad. Sandor was getting backed into a corner. It wasn’t a difference in skill. Without a doubt, the difference was in the weapons. Every blow from the King Dragon Blade bent Sandor’s staff further. I was frantically shooting Stone Cannons to back him up, but they were all thrown off course. He seemed to have decided to deal with me later, because even when they grazed him, he totally ignored them.

Dammit. We weren’t even going to buy time at this rate. Things would get worse and worse until we lost.

“Gaaagh!”

Then it happened. A shadow came hurtling at Alec from the side, like a comet. A red-haired woman with a sword in each hand who threw herself at Alec with all her strength. Alec stopped that attack, but then ate another from Sandor and was thrown back. The red swordswoman followed, striking again. Alec made another landing that spat in the face of gravity, then immediately lashed out with his giant blade.

The red swordswoman couldn’t respond in time.

“Oof…!”

Behind her, following like a shadow, was a green-haired warrior who diverted the strike.

“Graaah!” 

The mad dog howled. Steel flashed, running right at Alec’s throat, but something invisible turned it aside. The blade dug into his shoulder, but his armor was unexpectedly sturdy and stopped the blow, leaving only a scratch. The mad dog didn’t chase too far. The second she saw the attack hadn’t hit home, she jumped back. The great sword swept across where she’d stood, slicing through a few strands of her hair.

There was distance between them now.

I saw red hair and green hair, standing with their backs to me.

“Sorry for the wait, Rudeus!” Eris said, casting a quick look my way. Ruijerd didn’t turn around, but he probably used his third eye to check I was okay.

They’d come to help us. If I were a maiden, it’d have been love at first sight.

Hold me! Ravish me!

“Oh, come on…” While I was having my maiden moment, Alec looked taken aback. Or more accurately, he looked shocked.

“You can’t mean Gall Falion is dead?” he demanded. I gave Ruijerd a questioning look and he nodded.

Holy cow. Sure, it had been two-on-one, but Eris and Ruijerd took out the Sword God.

“I knew he’d stepped down as Sword God, but I didn’t think he’d go down so easily… I suppose I overestimated him.” Alec’s tone was haughty, but he looked upset. Come to think of it, he and Gall had seemed pretty chummy back when they shoved me into the ravine.

“I didn’t know him long…but he was a good man…” Alec’s demeanor had changed. All sense of easy confidence had evaporated.

“I thought he’d wipe the floor with the likes of those two. We were going to fight Orsted together…” Alec gripped his sword and dropped low into his stance.

Something was coming. Sensing the overwhelming aura rolling off him, Eris and Ruijerd’s hackles went up and they too lowered their stances.

If he was just getting serious now, then he was too late. Eris and Ruijerd had joined me and Sandor. It was four on one. Even if the one in the equation was one of the Seven Great Powers, equipped with the world’s strongest sword.

“In my right hand, a sword.” Alec raised the point of the sword held in his right hand up to the sky. “In my left hand, a sword.”

He gripped the hilt with his left hand. A two-handed grip. Up until now he’d been swinging the greatblade with one hand, but now he held it in two. Was this his true fighting style, then?

Sandor cried out sharply, “We’re finished! Flee!” He dived to one side.

He was too late.

“With these, mine arms, countless lives shall I claim. A hundred million deaths I will deliver.”

Alec raised the King Dragon Blade high above his head.

“My name is North God Alexander Rybak.”

I realized I was floating. Not just me. Eris, Ruijerd, and even Sandor, who’d tried to dive away. We were all hovering in midair. All the fallen leaves and branches were floating too. This was the King Dragon Blade’s gravity manipulation.

We didn’t fall, and we didn’t climb any higher. I flailed my arms and legs, but I couldn’t retreat.

As I hung there, totally defenseless, I could see power crackling through every fiber of Alec’s body.

“Now, I avenge my friend and ally!”

Shiiit. Just then, my body started to move of its own accord. I concentrated mana in both hands and released a sonic wave. I sent Eris, Ruijerd, and Sandor flying far away. Right after that, I pulled the fragments of the Zaliff Gauntlet back to me, then pointed the tip of the Stone of Absorption at Alec. Whatever was in the space between me and the sword disappeared, and I fell back to earth. I threw the Stone of Absorption aside, then drove all my mana into my arms, and pointed them toward Alec who was already swinging down his greatblade—

“Secret Technique: Gravity Fracture.”

There was an explosion and a flash.

I lost consciousness.

***

When I woke up, I was on top of a tree. I’d been sent flying, which I knew because my armored leg was broken. The leg segment was smashed to pieces and my leg was bent at a weird angle. My legs weren’t the only casualties; my chassis had been smashed into fragments too, and there was an intermittent pain in my chest. My ribs were probably broken.

“Ack… Ahh, ahh.” I coughed, and pain flared in my chest, but I could still talk. Right away, I cast healing magic on my wounds.

“How far was I… Whoa?!” When I tried to raise myself up, the tree branch supporting me snapped. I went tumbling down a fair distance, crashing through branches as I went.

I didn’t reach the ground. I must have been really high up.

I saw a crater. It was about twenty meters across, right next to the ravine. It hadn’t been there before. It must have just been made. Probably by that attack just now.

“Holy hell,” I said. Then, I looked around. Over in the direction of the Superd Village, I saw something shining. I knew that light.

“Is that—whoa?!” Another branch snapped. Banging into other branches as I went, this time I fell all the way to the ground.

“Ow…” I’d gone and hurt myself again just after using healing magic. Right away, I cast more of it to patch myself up. Whatever was going on, I needed to get a handle on the situation. Where was Eris? Ruijerd? Sandor? What about Alec?

I stood up, then realized with a start that someone was standing right in front of me. I jumped, then got into a fighting stance. The person before me wasn’t an enemy.

“Sandor!” I cried.

“If it isn’t Master Rudeus… Could I trouble you for another healing spell?” he asked. He was covered in wounds. His armor was half in ruins, his helmet was shattered, and blood trickled down from his head. His left arm dangled, limp.

“Yes, of course.” I laid my hand on him and healed his wounds.

“Much appreciated.”

Barely taking in his thanks, I asked, “What about Eris and Ruijerd?”

If even Sandor had taken wounds this bad, those two wouldn’t have made it out unscathed either.

“Minor injuries. It was a good thing you allowed them to get some distance. They should be fine even without healing magic. They’re still unconscious over that way.”

That was a relief.

“What about North God Kalman III?”

“After he saw we were down, he went on ahead.”

“He didn’t try to finish us off?”

“That last technique of his was the strongest in North God Style. He probably assumed he didn’t have to.”

First pushing me into the ravine, and now this. The kid seemed a few cards short of a full deck. That had saved our skin, but even so…

We’d let him get past us. He was headed for Orsted. Orsted would probably win in a fight between them. I mean, he was supposed to have fought Alexander and the King Dragon Blade in all the loops up until now. In the plan, he wouldn’t go out of his way to fight unless he had to, but if he did, I was sure he’d crush him without breaking a sweat, just like with Water God Reida.

That last technique gave me pause, though. Orsted wasn’t the only one in the Superd Village. There were Superd, who’d only just recovered from illness, and then Julie and Norn… If Orsted had to block or deflect that attack on someone else’s behalf, it would take a considerable amount of mana—even for him. Fighting a battle on the defensive was more difficult than the offensive. If Orsted couldn’t protect everyone, they’d all die.

“Can you still fight, Sandor?” I asked.

“You’re going?”

“This isn’t over yet. I saw a light in the forest just now. The light of a summoning. If Roxy’s got everything ready, we’re just getting started.”

Just as I said this, two green-haired men came running toward us out of the forest. They were both Superd warriors, though neither one was Ruijerd. When they saw us, they approached us right away.

“We have a message from Roxy. The summoning worked.”

“All right.”

The Superd nodded.

“Right,” Sandor announced, “I’ll dive in first. I’ll slow him down some.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t.”

After this brief exchange, Sandor set off running.

“You take care of Eris and Ruijerd. When they wake up, tell them to come and back us up,” I said to one of the Superd.

“Understood!”

“Please show me the way.”

“Understood!” Leaving Eris and Riuijerd with the Superd who had nodded before, the other warrior and I ran off to find Roxy. We went there directly, jumping over tree roots and plunging through undergrowth. With the Magic Armor broken, I couldn’t move that fast…or rather, I guess because it had stopped working. It was heavy.

Thus, on the way, I pulled off the Updated Version Two Magic Armor so I could run unencumbered. North God Kalman III was stronger than I’d thought. I couldn’t back down now. Not when the real fight had only just begun.

“Rudeus…!”

We reached our destination. Roxy wasn’t there, only a Superd warrior and Elinalise.

Which meant, all according to plan.

“You look terrible…”

Despite patching myself up with healing magic, my armor and my clothes were in tatters. When Elinalise saw me, her eyes went wide, but her face smoothed back to a neutral expression in seconds.

“It’s ready,” she said.

There it was, behind her, crudely and quickly sketched. A magic circle. It had already stopped glowing. This was the same circle that had been on one of the scrolls rendered useless at the bottom of the Ravine of the Earthwyrm. That scroll’s maker was Roxy Greyrat.

The circle was broken, crushed under the weight of a massive set of armor. The Magic Armor. The duplicate Magic Armor we’d made. As we’d predicted, there was a chance that it might get destroyed in the fight. This was the set we’d had to leave at the workshop because there was no room for it in the office armory. It was the one trump card that had escaped the destruction of the office.

“The Magic Armor Version One.”

All right, time for round two.