Chapter 154: 153 – Thanks for the Memories – I

"It's been a while, Rudy." Ruijerd gave me a warm smile as I arrived.

Unlike his usual attire of a tribal vest and pants, he wore form-fitting steel armor with Arcadia's crest emblazoned across the chestplate. His spear hung on his back, kept attached by mana, while his green hair had grown out a bit, reaching his shoulders.

Compared to when I first met him, the Supard warrior had changed quite a bit. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he regained his former vigor? The man had been a commander in the past, and it seemed like the experience of both teaching Norn's rivals and leading military forces had drawn him out of his dark past.

Though I suppose the fact that the Supard were starting to erase the stigma around them with his efforts played a role in that.

Either way, he was more calm and level than he had been when we first met, and even more so than the last time I saw him.

I smiled back at Ruijerd and held out my hand. "It has. You look like you've been doing well."

Ruijerd shook my hand and then nodded. "All thanks to you."

"I'd say it's more of your own effort, but I won't reject your praise. Now..." I ended the handshake and looked at the site in front of me. "I've heard you've confirmed that the seal on this place is breaking?"

A thick dark miasma. An ominous looking castle shrouded by that darkness. Mountains jutting out all around that darkness as well, almost like a crown.

The place definitely gave off 'Last Boss' vibes. But at the same time... It wasn't really malicious?

I wasn't sure why, but for some reason the entire thing felt more like a show piece than an actual Demon Lord castle.

Ruijerd shifted his gaze to look at the castle and then frowned. "Yes. I confirmed it with Rika in regards to the seal. But moreover..." His gaze sharpened and he said, "I can sense it. That malevolent mana that ruined my clan and family..." He grit his teeth, causing a cracking sound to echo.

"Hm... I don't sense anything though?"

It wasn't like I doubted Ruijerd. Even if he didn't have the same level of mana sensitivity and perception as me, it would be impossible to forget the presence of your mortal enemy.

The problem was, despite the ominous appearance, I didn't see anything off. The mana floating around just felt like natural mana and didn't have anything that felt demonic.

A flash of light emerged beside me and Rika walked over, adjusting her glasses. Staring at the castle, she said, "If that's the case, then we should take even more caution." She frowned and said, "Though unlikely, if the situation is that Magic God Laplace managed to arrive in this world..."

I nodded. "That could be a problem. And it would definitely explain the situation..."

If Magic God Laplace was an alternate version of me who doubled-down on mana manipulation then it was possible to explain why I couldn't sense anything. After all, if I went to a parallel dimension, the first thing I would do would be to mask my mana signature from myself.

Though...

'Is that guy really good enough to do that?'

I could objectively say that I was strong. At this point, I understood mana on a fundamental enough level to turn the imaginary into reality. Moreover, I was fairly confident I had a good idea on what it meant to be a 'god' according to the rules of this world and just needed a bit more time to sort that out before smacking Being W in the back of the head.

But...

"I guess it's better to be safe than sorry."

I held out my right hand and grasped the hilt of a sword that didn't exist. But the moment I did, reality flickered and it emerged with a flash of crimson light.

Rika glanced over at my hand and then flinched, immediately covering her eyes. "What in the world is *that*?!"

"God slaying blade. Works all the time... except for that one time when Being W cheated. I've worked out the kinks since then though."

"God slaying-" Rika shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "Whatever." She shifted her gaze back at the castle and said, "I've negotiated with Perugius and he said that we can have the first attempt at things since this is our territory. However, he, his familiars, and Chaos Breaker are on standby to step in the moment he thinks things have gotten out of hand."

I nodded, but then I suddenly felt a shiver down my spine.

Ruijerd glanced at me and said, "Is something wrong, Rudy?"

"No. Just..." I frowned and said, "...I'm starting to really dislike that phrase."

Rika blinked. "What? Step in?"

"No. Things getting out of hand." I walked forward and swung my blade towards the barrier surrounding the castle.

The sound of shattering glass echoed as the barrier shattered. At the same time, the ominous darkness started to spread.

I swung my blade again, forcing all of that darkness to condense into a black orb before falling on the ground in front of me.

...Which was weird since I clearly meant to disperse the darkness instead of gather it.

Ruijerd gave me an approving nod. "As expected of you, Rudy. To so easily erase Laplace's ominous aura..."

I frowned and activated <Clairvoyance>. At the same time, I cautiously stepped forward while activating an upgraded <Magic Arrays>.

'...I swear to god, this better not be a fakeout...'

With that thought in mind, I took the lead, Ruijerd and Rika trailing behind me.

-SNG-

"Achoo!" Eris sneezed as she rubbed her arms, glaring at the dark skies. "Stupid rain cloud. Next time I'll have my revenge..."

Stella patted her new puppy's head while she sighed. "I think that's your fault for trying to stop the rain by cutting it, Eris nee-chan."

"Hmph." Eris crossed her arms and then closed her eyes, as if meditating. The moment she did, a crimson haze surrounded her body and steam started drifting as her wet clothes dried from the heat.

...Onii-chan's harem members are all pretty scary, aren't they?

Stella sighed again and then took a look around.

The downpour had intensified, making it almost impossible to see anything around. Not only that, but it was raining so much that the rain had created an artificial lake.

Which was why Eris nee-chan had tried to cut the rain away.

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Unfortunately, what was inside a rain cloud was more rain, so it only made things worse until Wata created a makeshift ice boat to carry the carriage and the poor waterlogged horse. An overhead roof blocked out the rain now, but it didn't do much for the sound.

Because of that, Toni and Sena were doing their best to try and ignore the sound by sleeping inside the carriage.

Miko and Fai were with the beast girls, the former two thinking it was a bit too pitiful to leave the latter whimpering by themselves.

So that just left Stella standing at the front of the boat with Eris while Wata steered them.

But speaking of boats.

Stella squinted her eyes, peering through the rain up ahead. As she did, she could see a sparkling silhouette of a floating object.

It seemed like Stella's erofu sister-in-law had the same idea as Wata.

Still...

"Hah." Stella shook her head and said, "Why doesn't Onii-chan just magic the weather away like in Arcadia?"

Eris opened her eyes, dismissing that crimson haze. After that, she sighed and said, "I asked Rudy the same thing." She huffed and said, "Apparently, he doesn't want to mess with the local weather patterns because it would draw attention and send off the wrong message to the Beast Race people."

Oh. Right.

If those Toni and Sena were treating Stella like that just because she was a 'Hero', what would the Beast Race people do to a literal 'God?'

And what if there was a misunderstanding?

Stella paused, suddenly remembering her a bit unstable erofu sister-in-law. "...Eris nee-chan. Um, Ero- I mean, Sylphy nee-chan won't go on a rampage, right?"

Eris laughed and patted Stella's head. "Ero... Good one, Stella. Yeah, Sylphy is definitely Ero."

"Nee-chan! Stop!"

Eris smiled and then said, "Don't worry though. Since she's trying to show off as a good mother to Rudy's kids, she won't do anything too crazy."

"...Are you sure?" Stella shifted her gaze to look through the downpour. And when she did, she saw something that made her sigh. "...Even if some people try to ambush us?"

"Hm?" Eris turned to look and then let out a deep sigh. "...It's never just a peaceful time when Rudy takes us out on a trip, is it?"

It was still hard to see through the rain for normal people. But everyone in the Greyrat family was far from normal.

A sea of colors. Mana signatures slowly drawing closer, numbering in the dozens.

Not only that, but mana signatures that seemed to recognize the danger Sylphy nee-chan posed and were diverting their path to circle around towards Stella's boat.

Eris drew her sword and said, "Sit tight, Stella. I'll-"

A silver flash skipped across the water surface and then that cut apart the dense rain, flying at Stella.

A speed that Stella barely registered, appearing like silver lightning.

But one that Eris easily matched.

A thunderous explosion echoed as the boat rocked among the waves, water splashing everywhere.

Stella's puppy leapt out of her arms, landing on the ground and barked at the figure.

No, it wasn't just barking. It was talking in the Beast God language.

"Stay away from the hero!"

Stella wobbled to maintain her balance and said, "I'm not the hero, Puppy!"

Eris shoved the ambusher away and moved towards Stella, nodding. "That's right, Stella. Don't be like your big brother and try to do crazy things."

The ambusher stepped back, holding out a crimson blade. Their features were obscured by a thick hooded robe, making it impossible to make out who it was. But Stella could clearly see a glowing green light from beneath that hood.

Eris raised her sword at the ambusher and grinned. "Now, how about I cut off that hood to see-" She froze, suddenly cutting off her words.

The ambusher chuckled and then said, "I thought you matured a bit from those words, Ojou-chan. But it looks like you still can't hold yourself back from a good fight, can you?"

...Eh?

Stella blinked and then looked back at Eris. "Nee-chan. Do you know-"

"Ghyslaine!"

Ghyslaine?

The ambusher pulled back her hood, revealing a beautiful woman with wild silver hair, a scar over her face, and... dog ears?

Eh?!

Watching how happily Eris and 'Ghyslaine' were, Stella frowned and muttered, "Just how many beautiful woman have Onii-chan met?"

-RNG-

"Achoo! Dammit." I wiped my nose and said, "Who the hell's talking behind my back at a time like this?"

Ruijerd chuckled and said, "It's to be expected of one with your power and position, Rudy."

"Just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right. Hah..." I shook my head and focused on advancing through the dimly lit obsidian corridors. "Let's just hurry up and confirm whether Laplace is in this damned place so I can get back already."