Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 111 - Action, Finale — Steel and Blood
"Nobody move — unless you want to end up like that."
When Leda made her entrance, the first to act was Perugius's subordinate, Almanfi of [Radiance].
He seized her blind spot in an instant. In the next, he was split cleanly in two.
No corpse. He scattered into particles of light and was gone.
The next to move was Trofimos of [Waves], another of Perugius's subordinates.
He only raised his hand toward her, trying to release something.
Leda tilted her blade once. Trofimos was cleaved in half.
He scattered into particles of light, same as the first.
Then a high-ranking noble made his move, tried to be the first out the door. His hamstrings were cut before he got a step away. When he screamed, the flat of her blade caught him across the skull and he crumpled, unconscious.
Leda had pinned the entire room.
Every person in that hall understood it at the same moment: they were all within her range. If anyone moved, they died. Simple as that.
"Now then — come out and help your master, won't you?"
A figure in apprentice knight armor stepped forward. She pulled off her helmet, and her eyes were full of confusion.
"Master... why... why are you doing this?"
"Ah, Isolte. Your master stands utterly alone in this world right now. And you still need to ask why?"
"But—"
"Pick up your sword. Kill Ariel, Aisha Greyrat, and Eris Greyrat."
"I, "
"Now! Once we rewrite history, I will pass everything I have on to you." Leda's voice dropped. "Or you can die here. Your choice."
Isolte went still.
Her hand was wrapped tight around her sword. She never drew it.
She was still lost in it when someone else broke the silence.
"What are you waiting for?! Kill Ariel! Kill that whore over there too!"
Darius. He couldn't help himself.
The whore he meant was Doris.
"Shut your mouth!" Leda snapped at him. "My disciple is not yours to command!"
That was all it took. The man behind that obese frame went quiet.
And strangely, that same exchange seemed to settle something in Isolte. Her expression shifted, just slightly, just enough, and she turned and walked toward Ariel.
...
Damn. This situation...
Possibilities cascaded through Ariel's mind, one after another, going nowhere useful.
She looked at Aisha. She looked at Eris.
Neither of them moved.
They didn't move because moving meant dying.
Ariel didn't understand the sword technique she'd just witnessed, but she didn't need to. What she'd seen was effectively flawless.
What about Lord Perugius? Two of his subordinates just died, and he hasn't reacted at all...?
Is there a plan? Is this a test?
No. There's no time for that.
Ariel watched Isolte walking toward her and understood, clearly, that she might be about to die.
Like this. Unable to fight back. Watching her own death come to meet her.
She looked at Aisha one more time, and found her smiling.
Smiling.
The moment Isolte reached Ariel and drew her sword, she stopped.
Two people had appeared at the entrance, strolling into the hall as if they had nowhere better to be.
"Oh? You're..."
Leda squinted at the doors, uncertain. Darius recognized them instantly.
"Rudeus Greyrat and that damned demon! Kill them! Kill them now!"
Leda narrowed her eyes at the two arrivals.
Beside Ariel, Aisha heard the name and smiled. She didn't have to force herself still anymore. She just turned her head and looked at her brother.
She moved.
Leda's strike came instantly, but it didn't reach Aisha.
The blade went wide.
It found an innocent noble instead, and split him from crown to floor.
Leda's expression froze. She stared at Aisha Greyrat.
"What is, "
Aisha patted Ariel and Eris on the shoulders. Both of you can move now.
Ariel stood stunned for a half-second, then looked toward the entrance.
Rudeus Greyrat stood just inside the doors, wearing a gray-black robe, the Water Dragon King staff loose in his hand, watching Leda without urgency. At his side stood a green-haired man holding a spear.
"You used magic on me just now?" Leda asked.
"Not me. And not just now."
"Hm?"
"You were probably hit sometime shortly after you entered this room. You just didn't notice."
"Magic that falsifies your senses." Leda let out a low breath. "Interesting."
"You guessed right. But the caster wasn't me, I wasn't even here."
"Unheard of." Her voice went flat. "Truly... unheard of."
She stepped forward, and nothing happened. Her legs felt packed with lead. The leap she intended never came.
What magic is this?!
She turned toward the caster. It was Aisha Greyrat, holding a scroll, activating the spell with a smile on her face as she walked toward her brother. Eris Greyrat walked alongside her.
"Sensory impairment really is fatal for a swordsman," Rudeus said.
"Heh. Arrogant little brat."
Rudeus raised his staff. He was still smiling.
"In your domain, anyone who moves gets hit from every angle, 360 degrees, no blind spots. You should know what that feels like." The smile didn't waver. "But within my casting range, staying still won't help you either."
Around Leda, from her feet to the top of her skull, true 360-degree magic with no gaps crashed into her from every direction at once.
"...I didn't think I'd go out losing to a mage."
"Don't sell yourself short. Killing you is still costing me real effort."
"Of course it is, do you have any idea who I am?!"
"I assumed from the beginning this would take a while."
He stopped talking and got to work.
Expressionless, mechanical, Rudeus stood at the entrance and poured spell after spell into her, every variety, relentless, unbroken. And Leda carved through them, her Sword Boundary moving in constant motion, cleaving apart the magic as fast as it came.
No one in the hall moved. They could feel it now, the paralysis had lifted, they were free to go. But not one of them left their spot. They turned their heads slightly. Their eyes tracked the entrance.
They watched Rudeus Greyrat stand there and bury Leda under what seemed like an infinite supply of magic.
It went on for nearly an hour.
Even Leda started to breathe hard.
"What kind of mana reserves do you even have... this is cheating."
"Isn't it?"
Rudeus raised a finger. A pillar of earth erupted beneath her feet, and the shock wrenched the sword from her grip. Leda's eyes went wide. She reacted immediately, snatching it back out of the air before it could fall.
But the spells never stopped.
In that one instant, that single opening, countless ice pillars drove straight through her chest.
"Heh... dying like this... so undignified..."
She was still holding her sword when she died.
"Granny, GRANNY!"
Isolte's voice cracked.
She was the first to move. Her sword came out, her legs shaking, and she planted herself in front of Rudeus and raised her blade.
"You dare do that to Master, "
Rudeus didn't spare her a glance. He nodded to Aisha and walked away. Eris fell into step behind him without a word.
Aisha looked at Isolte. Then she looked at Eris's retreating back.
"Eris-nee..."
"This is her choice."
Aisha drew her sword.
Isolte's face changed. She stared at Aisha Greyrat like she'd seen something she had no business seeing.
"This... this can't be... how could you possibly..."
Aisha hadn't even moved yet.
Isolte lowered her sword.
...
Rudeus scanned the room and found Darius.
The obese man was running. He knew he wouldn't make it. He ran anyway.
Rudeus lifted his staff, then paused, glancing at the woman beside him.
Eris shook her head.
"I don't have any particular feelings about it."
"...Leave it to Ghislaine?"
"Yeah. She wants to do it herself."
Rudeus nodded and called out through the hall entrance.
"Ghislaine, he's yours."
Then he had Eris wait and walked slowly across the floor toward Ariel.
When he reached her, he dropped to one knee and brought the back of her hand to his lips.
"My King. Forgive me for arriving late."
Every noble in that room saw it. Every noble in that room heard it.
Ariel blinked once. Then she smiled.
"No. You came at exactly the right time."
The next ruler of Asura Kingdom was decided in that moment.
Ariel Anemoi Asura.
Not a single voice rose in objection.
➤ Next: Aftermath, Returning Home