Labyrinth Encroachment Part 8 (End)

Dino possessed a hidden ability.

One of the oldest Ultimate Skills, Fallen King Lucifer.

Its power was a mix of Guy's Prideful King Lucifer and Milim's Wrathful King Satan.

However, compared to Guy and Milim's ability, his was inferior.

As such, Dino understood that Fallen King Lucifer would hold no meaning in front of Guy and Milim.

Dino, who was the Star King Dragon Veldanava's trusted friend.

Always by his side, Dino rushed to the battlefield as his sword.

It was then that his name as the strongest swordsman was established.

And then, the world was subjugated and war had disappeared from the surface.

After that, he was entrusted with the role of the world's guardian by Veldanava, which made him travel throughout the world.

However-

As if aiming for the time when Dino was absent, his master, Veldanava, left this world.

And along with him, his beloved wife, Lucia, as well.

In a fit of rage, Dino obliterated the foolish country.

It was at that time that he acquired the Ultimate Skill: Fallen King Lucifer.

The Ultimate Skill given to him by Veldanava before, Prideful King Lucifer, had altered into this.

With utmost hatred and rage, Dino brought ruin upon the world.

Without even being perceived by Demon Lord Guy, he had gotten his vengeance.

But, something like that wasn't going to make Dino feel any better.

He had thought of destroying the world itself but after remembering Milim, Veldanava and Lucia's child, he suppressed his raging heart.

A few thousand years after that.

Even after losing sight of his meaning in life, Dino had continued his role as the world's guardian.

Although the role only consisted of him living like a sloth and sometimes receiving reports from his two underlings.

He had only become a Demon Lord to obtain information.

His only meaning in life now was to protect the being called Milim from the shadows.

Even then, he didn't have any direct contact with her, neither did he plan on accepting her as his master but...

Then, when Milim was punched by a lowlife like Clayman, something changed in Dino.

The unique skill he had acquired without even realizing, Sloth, had turned into the Ultimate Skill Slothful King Belphegor.

The unique skill Sloth which Dino acquired by continuing his lazy way of life was an ability to make the target fall into depravity.

As he did end up acquiring such a skill, Dino thought of using it.

To kill time and to tease Dagrule, he was playing around to make Dagrule fall into depravity by using the unique skill Sloth.

Dino pitied Dagrule as he was the same as him, having lost the master they vowed loyalty to-and so, another reason behind Dino using the unique skill on him was to release him from that feeling.

It was a completely unpredictable event, for that skill to evolve into an Ultimate Skill by using it like that.

However-

His acquiring this skill would lead to the change in his fate.

-Whether that was just a coincidence, or perhaps, fate-

The beings possessing the angel skills cannot resist the hidden ability of the Ultimate Skill: Justice King Michael.

The only possibility of resisting it was to offset the angel skill by possessing a demon skill.

Although it had changed, Fallen King Lucifer is still an angel skill and so cannot escape from Justice King Michael's absolute command.

However, at this moment,

Here, in the labyrinth Ramiris had created,

The moment he activated his Ultimate Skill- Fallen King Lucifer which he had sealed for such a long time,

Dino realized.

(Ahh, so that's it. The angel skills are what the marker for thought control are-)

In contrast to the free demon skills, the angel ones were systematic.

It was programmed to make them obey the superior being.

Dino, who had more power to resist the manipulation as he had fallen, was now completely released from the curse of command after entering the separated s.p.a.ce.

And, once he has escaped it, he will not be trapped again.

Dino had now compensated his Fallen King Lucifer with Slothful King Belphegor and completely escaped the control.

Piercing through the labyrinth's outer walls, Dino had jumped out into the separated s.p.a.ce.

Once outside the labyrinth, after sensing the traces of thought manipulation, he had already finished taking countermeasures with Slothful King Belphegor for Justice King Michael's thought control using Fallen King Lucifer.

Although his character was rotten, Dino was still fast at work.

It wasn't like he couldn't do work, he just didn't want to.

That was the man called Dino-when needed, he completes his tasks as quickly as possible.

Although , it is needless to say that the best outcome for him is to not work at all.

However, unfortunately for Dino, his fate was already forced with many different roles.

[Good job! Now then, you have another thing left to do!]

Even though he was separated from Zegion, he could hear Ramiris.

In other words, he had completely succeeded in escaping Zero's body.

It seems the other two were already on standby so Zegion quickly went to the designated location.

They could feel the presence of two beings who possessed energy exceeding that of awakened demon lords.

The three including Zegion were standing such that they made an equilateral triangle.

(Diablo and Benimaru, eh?

—These guys... is it just me or are their energy even greater than before?)

Although he thought that, he didn't feel energetic enough to retort.

Dino quickly understood the aim of the plan and his role in it.

It was to annihilate Zero with the strongest move.

Since annihilating a dragon species isn't simple, Dino had thought it was impossible to completely destroy but... it looks like they were serious about it.

Dino also went to his designated position.

It was a ritual which needed four people.

With two, it would be one dimensional by connecting two points.

With three, it would be two dimensional by drawing a surface.

With four, it would be three dimensional by forming a s.p.a.ce.

Meaning, it was a dimensional magic circle far exceeding the laminating type magic circles...

And so, enclosing the Mad Evil Dragon Zero, a regular tetrahedron was formed.

With each of them at the vertices, Zero was trapped in an Ultimate Barrier.

"Kufufufufu, as expected of the Demon Lord Dino-sama. It helps that you're very perceptive."

"Ah, yuck. No need for honorifics, Diablo."

"Is that so? I say it without a drop of honor towards you so I think it is fine if you don't worry about it."

"Don't joke around with me! That's even worse!! That's just sarcasm at this point, isn't it?"

"Enough of that. Let's just get this over with."*

"Exactly. Joke all you want later."

'Eh, I am the one at fault here?' Dino held himself back from saying it out loud.

After all, it would be useless even if he did and even worse, it might make Zegion even angrier.

Dino had already felt that Zegion would be someone hard to deal with.

"Alright then, Dino-dono. We will leave the main move to you. We will time ours with yours." said Diablo.

Benimaru and Zegion didn't object.

If it was just the three of them, they would have been able to perfectly match their timings but it would be harsh to ask that of Dino.

And so, they took the stance of using their moves, following Dino's.

Dino had no complaints with that.

In fact, he was relieved that they didn't ask for something unreasonable, like telling him to synchronize with them.

"Got it. I will go with full force!"

Dino yelled, and honed his mind to concentrate at releasing the strongest attack.

His six pairs of wings shone as he focused all the spiritual and magical energy from the surrounding into his dual swords-

"Fallen Crusade!!"

And so, blades of white lights and black shadows were fired.

They magnificently intersected inside the tetrahedral.

The colorless, ultimate light filled the ultimate barrier.

However, the attacks on the Mad Evil Dragon Zero didn't end there.

The moment Dino's attack intersected-

"End of World!!"

"Dimension Storm!!"

"Prominence Acceleration!!"

And so, all their super special attacks were launched.

With exquisite timing, all the attacks reached the middle of the tetrahedral at the same time as Dino's attack.

The collision produced an enormous amount of destructive power, the biggest one yet since the beginning of the universe.

The catastrophe of destruction filled the ultimate barrier, which was formed to not let any of the energy escape.

—-Quartet Skill: Breakdown Nostalgia—-

All four of the abilities melted into one and resulted in the ultimate destruction.

It was for the best that this was the separated s.p.a.ce.

After all, even though it was inside the ultimate barrier, the waves which would leak from it would be enough to destroy the surface.

With a quartet skill from four of the top most beings in this world, the synergy between the skills had produced a result which was unimaginable.

Everyone who saw that spectacle kept silent.

Except for one person.

"Kufufu, kuha, kuhahaha! Amazing! Truly amazing power!!

However, what is even more amazing is the dragon species.

After all, even such a power couldn't completely annihilate it-"

While laughing loudly, Diablo a.n.a.lyzed the situation calmly.

And just as he said, in the middle of the tetrahedral, just the dragon core remained.

It was a mysterious sphere, emitting a sharp gleam.

Everyone there was captivated by that sphere.

And that lead to negligence.

The Mad Evil Dragon Zero, with his last breath, tried to at least take them with him.

If even one corner of the tetrahedron collapsed, the explosive power trapped within the ultimate barrier would be released and everyone there would be dragged in-that was his calculation.

Although Zero's instinct wasn't aware of it, if he had succeeded, it would have also greatly affected Ramiris' labyrinth.

As his wicked instinct ordered, Zero used the last bit of his strength to stretch one of his tentacles.

In front of that tentacle was Dino, Pico and Gracia.

"Ah-"

Gracia reacted to it the fastest-she pulled Pico towards her and threw her to Dino.

She protected Pico from the tentacles with her body but that was her limit.

As the tentacle grabbed Gracia, it dragged her into the ultimate barrier.

Pico lost her balance and from her arms, Gaia jumped out towards Gracia screaming 'Kyuuuii-!'.

Everything happened at a moment's glimpse.

"Gracia!"

Although he yelled, Dino couldn't move.

Because he understood that the ultimate barrier would collapse if he moved now.

"I will-!"

"Stop! You will be obliterated if you enter that-"

Dino stopped Pico, who was about to jump in.

The power inside it wasn't something she could bear.

He knew that if she were to do that, he would end up losing her, as well.

"d.a.m.n it! If only I didn't let my guard down..."

He regretted but there was nothing to be done.

He had no choice but to give up.

"But, then, Gracia will... and Rimuru-sama's pet will also..."

Pico tried to appeal to Dino.

But even Pico understood.

That there was nothing that could be done.

"This... I don't like this... Diinooo-!!"

Just one.

If there was one way to do it, it would be-

"Listen, I will give you my power. I will give you all my power along with my abilities, so use that to hold the ultimate barrier.

Gracia won't last long if she gets pulled into the center.

Relax. I will just go and quickly save her!"

"But, that will-"

"Believe in me. There's no time so let's start immediately."

Dino forcibly started acting.

Although the tentacle itself had already vanished, Dino wouldn't be able to reach Gracia's place with his strength alone.

After all, the power brought out by the quartet skill was enclosed in the ultimate barrier, focused in the center.

That produced a tremendous pull towards the center, consigning everything into oblivion.

To escape from there, one had to exceed the speed of light, which was impossible theoretically.

Because the s.p.a.ce here has distorted to such an extent, using teleportation was also out of the question 'cause that requires a stable s.p.a.ce.

There was no time to be spared.

As she got nearer to the center, the burden on Gracia would just got bigger and bigger.

Only because she was in the same level as an awakened demon lord and specialized in defense that she could somewhat hold the barrier up.

"Alright, hold on to your senses. Transfer, start-"

"There is no need for that."

The moment Dino was about to start transferring his powers to Pico, a voice was heard from Dino's pocket.

It was a small, round sphere, emitting bright light.

It was the sphere Rimuru used to play with, which Dino received before the plan from Zegion.

As if it was drifting, the sphere floated in the separated s.p.a.ce and glowed intensely for just a moment.

And then manifested, a human shape resembling that of a girl's.

It appeared out of the blue in front of Dino, with fluttering, blueish-silver hair.

And then, that person tapped Dino's shoulder lightly saying 'Mm, alright then, I will be back in a while' and went soaring towards the ultimate barrier.

Gracia recalled the events of her life like a revolving lantern.

She protected Pico and was caught by the tentacle.

At that moment, she had given up on her life.

After all, she couldn't imagine surviving the vortex of ultra high density energy which could even destroy dragons, as she was just one awakened demon cla.s.s level fallen angel.

As she approached the center, the load on Gracia's body kept on increasing further.

The reason she could still hold on to her self was because of the small dragon holding on to her, Gaia.

Gaia supported Gracia's defensive barrier by shaving off his own body and was barely able to neutralize the destructive energy.

But that too was only a matter of time.

A quartet skill used by four of the strongest beings in this world.

That skill had produced such an enormous, destructive power, which this world had never felt before.

Gracia's senses couldn't even grasp the size of it.

"You're stupid, aren't ya? There was no need for you to come with me...

It is a pity but I can't save you anymore-"

"Kyuui?"

Gracia muttered and stroked Gaia who was clinging on to her chest.

And like that, calmly accepting death, she quietly waited for the last moment which will soon come...

However, such a moment did not come.

Because—

(PN: This is Rimuru's perspective)

Just by a hair's breadth.

If Ciel was just a tad bit late in producing that new ability, they would have lost Gaia.

If that happened, who knows how angry Milim would be.

I get shivers just by thinking of it.

Not to mention Dino trying to jump in to save them-talk about being reckless.

It doesn't matter that there are two awakened demon lord level beings. There is no way they can exceed the speed of light.

After all, there was no meaning reaching even 99.9% of light's speed in front of a black hole...

They might have been able to escape if he reached them before those two reached the center but that was a very risky gamble.

It isn't something you can help with just willpower.

Then, if it's me, can I do something?

It is obvious but even I can't move at a speed faster than light.

But even then, the reason why I could say that it will be fine was very simple.

If I just stop time itself, there is no need to even think about speed.

Doing that, I can unmistakably move at a speed faster than light at will.

But even that is not needed this time.

My Turn Null using nothingness collapse can neutralize it to a certain extent.

It turns everything which touches the barrier into null energy and takes it in.

That was Turn Null's special characteristic.

I won't escape, I will endure it till the end. That was the only way.

Well, if by chance it fails, I will be fine.

After all, the new skill Ciel had developed, 'Multiple Existence', was incorporated into the Ultimate Skill, Void G.o.d Azathoth.

It is an ability Ciel made after a.n.a.lyzing the Ultimate Skill: Evil Dragon Lord Aji Dahaka but with this, I can now produce connected clones.

Thanks to this ability, I have no need to be cautious of Velda anymore.

I came out like this but I don't think Velda can sense me here in the separated s.p.a.ce.

Thinking of all the possibilities, I couldn't be lax.

However, it wasn't a problem now.

Even if he sensed me and isolated Ramiris' labyrinth, my clone which can be said to be my actual body would still remain in the separated s.p.a.ce.

In the case he isolates the labyrinth, there's a chance the connection between my clones will be cut off but if that happens, it will be easy to find it by searching from both ends.

After all, we are the same being.

It's a weird feeling but I can also think simultaneously with both bodies without difficulty and can perform different tasks without problem.

It wasn't the half-baked ability Vega used. As long as it's the 'Multiple Existence' Ciel created, it can be said that annihilating me has become extremely difficult.

All of my different existences are connected through Soul's Hallway.

Well, even though I say that, I am still in the training phase and can't exist like this unless I use the sphere as a core.

Either way, I will probably be able to use it easily soon if I keep practicing.

And so, even if I were to die by a very off chance, only the sphere will get destroyed.

I would need to think about how to calm down Milim in that case but that is another story.

"Y-you're...!?"

The other being I was saving besides Gaia, Dino's ally Gracia, looked at me with an astonished expression.

I thought I knew her but this is probably my first time meeting her in person.

"Mm, ah, nice to meet you? I am Demon Lord Rimuru."

I greeted her inside the barrier.

Gracia looked like she was lost for words and couldn't speak properly.

Is she nervous? Well, it's fine either way.

I was safely able to retrieve Gaia and Gracia so all that's left is to wait for this storm to calm down.

The moment I took a breath thinking that, I noticed the dragon core at the center of the tetrahedron.

"If we have that, you might be able to turn into a real dragon species."

It was my fault I blurted that out to Gaia, who was being held by Gracia.

I wasn't really planning to do it or anything.

But even then-

"Kyuuuii-!!"

And with an energetic shriek, Gaia jumped out from my barrier.

"Wai-you!"

I called out but it was already too late.