The World's Ego (Book 2)

Foolish

Third Person POV

Su cringed when he saw the two girls being shot down from the sky by the unaware Rimuru but that was the least of his problems as his eyes fell on Vita.

"That girl..."

Vita, with similar thoughts, glanced at him, "That's a familiar face."

"Huh?!" Rimuru gasped as she pointed at Veldanava, "Veldanava?!"

"Hey. It hasn't been long, has it?" Veldanava greeted her while exchanging strikes with Guy, "Due to some circumstances, I'm afraid I'm currently your enemy."

"Huh?"

<Not to worry, I have analyzed the situation. He's a memory recreation.>

"Which means..." Rimuru glanced back as she noticed Hua and Feiyun's wounds recovering before their flames lit again, both ignoring everything around them, "... Ivarage has this much power?"

<Too many factors have caused this result. I am surprised that her core is still this active after summoning this many powerful fighters. Although, magicules aside, she is starting to run low on Arcadia Honkai energy.>

Rimuru fiddled with the <Soul Corridor> that connected her to Feiyun, eyes narrowing when the attempt was repelled.

"That wasn't an outside interference, which means Feiyun has sealed it off. It's not broken." Rimuru concluded, "Feiyun's consciousness must still be inside there. Ciel, can you find a method to free her from that control?"

<Understood, please leave it to me. But remain wary, Ivarage might have a similar level of Ultimate Skill as Velgrynd's <<Cthuga>>.>

"I'm willing to bet that it's worse." Rimuru sighed inwardly, looking back at Ivarage, this was going to be a long fight, "I am Rimuru Tempest. So you are Ivarage, yes? Apologies for introducing myself the way I did but you did snatch up my subordinate without permission, and now you have done this to her, causing trouble for my other friends in the process."

Ivarage shrugged, still unfazed by her presence, "I thought I could make use of her first before swallowing her soul."

The smile on Rimuru's face fell almost immediately, "... You're unpleasant."

Before he could blink, the glint from Rimuru's katana was now in front of his face. His barrier had long disappeared because of Vita and was too late to respond to the strike, getting himself flung into the air while Rimuru followed after him.

"Rimuru!"

"Veldora?" Rimuru noted as she responded to him, "I will deal with Ivarage and find a way to free Feiyun. Just hang in there a little longer."

"Don't worry, no one here will go down so easily!" Veldora assured her, "I know you can deal with that thing but call for me if you need help!"

"Thank you."

After cutting off the communication line, Rimuru continued her assault, using whatever sword techniques she knew to land hits on him as Ivarage finally brought out a claw to catch her blade.

"... You are definitely strong. I felt your presence when I took that girl. But you know what?" Ivarage pushed against her blade, "I heard that this world was uniting for the sake of one person's wishes. I wanted to see who it was. And now I know."

Rimuru tugged at the handle of her blade, judging that it couldn't be removed and instead, swung her body, lifting her right leg for a roundhouse kick aimed at Ivarage's head as it was predictably blocked and she took the chance to dislodge her blade from his grip.