Finishing Earlier than Expected

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Horaud.

After the reunion with the students and knights, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James entered the inn's dining hall. There, they introduced the rest of the group to Aletia, Shea, Tio, and Myu. They then proceeded to tell everyone about their adventurers after Tatsuo and Sumire were separated from them.

Hearing the fantastical story that was filled with suspense, the students and knights hung on every word, asking questions when they found something particularly unbelievable. However, after the story was finished, most of them returned to their rooms to get some rest.

Yet, before the group separated, Kouki asked if he could talk to Tatsuo alone for a moment. And Tatsuo, having some idea what he wanted to say, agreed. So, they left the inn to find a place to speak in private. Though, they did not go too far.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Amanogawa?" Tatsuo asked while standing a few feet away from Kouki.

"I just thought you should know something about your cousin, Alaverus." Kouki said, sounding as if what he was about to say could not go wrong in any way. "He killed Hayama after you fell into that abyss."

"Yeah, I know." Tatsuo replied calmly while nodding his head. "I saw his body down there, after all."

"I think you should keep your distance from him." Kouki continued. "There's no telling when he might attack you, too. In fact, I think it would be safer if you came back to join us with those girls you helped along the way."

Instead of replying, Tatsuo tilted his head to one side and looked at Kouki like he was crazy. Yet, Kouki did not notice the look in Tatsuo's eyes.

"And why the hell would I do any of that?" Tatsuo asked in that same calm tone.

Not expecting Tatsuo to question him, Kouki's eyes and mouth opened wide in surprise. A moment later, he shook off his shock and answered Tatsuo's question.

"Because he's dangerous." Kouki replied solemnly. "People like him are capable of anything. And he may hurt the people you're traveling with."

"Dude, are you serious?" Tatsuo asked in a dumbfounded tone. "He killed someone who betrayed his comrades. What's wrong with that?"

"Because killing is wrong." Kouki replied resolutely.

"*Sigh* And this is why James doesn't like you." Tatsuo said in a tired tone. "Look, I have nothing against your no killing policy. If we were in our world, that is. But are you seriously trying to keep that mind set here? Especially after telling these people that you would help them fight their war? Or did you somehow think that you would be able to lead the humans of this world to victory without taking a life?"

Hearing that, Kouki opened his mouth to retort. However, he had nothing to say in his defense. As a modern teenager, he understood the concept of war. However, because he only understood the concept, that also meant that killing never really entered his thoughts.

"Seriously, Dude." Tatsuo said while turning around. "You need to think about the situation you're in. And I mean really think about it. Not just thinking that everything will work out. Because, if you keep going like this, you're gonna get someone killed."

With that, Tatsuo did not wait for Kouki to respond. Instead, he started walking away. Then, after a few steps, he [Blinked] from where he was walking, disappearing from Kouki's sight. Meanwhile, Kouki continued to stand there, mulling over what Tatsuo said to him. However, it would have been clear to anyone that he was putting Tatsuo in the same category as the one he put James in, thanks to Tastuo's thoughts that did not align with his own.

A moment later, Tatsuo reappeared on a roof overlooking the area where he spoke to Kouki. And he looked down at him for a while. Then, he shook his head after guessing what Kouki was thinking based on his facial expressions.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Tatsuo muttered to himself. "Now, all I can hope is that he doesn't try to get in my way."

"You should have known that was the way it would end up." James, who had followed Tatsuo and Kouki, said from beside Tatsuo. He then pointed to a corner near where Kouki was still standing. "More importantly, look over there."

While taking his smartphone out of his pocket, Tatsuo turned his head to look where James was pointing. When he saw the girl with black hair styled in a bob-cut, he was not surprised. He was even less surprised when he saw the murderous intent swirling in the depths of her eyes.

"*Sigh* She's gonna be a problem for real, isn't she?" Tatsuo asked in a tired tone while sending a message to Sumire through the [Dimensional Chat]. "Oh well, I'd better let Sumire know that Amanogawa is probably going to try to convince her and the girls to stop traveling with us because we're too dangerous.".

"That's probably a good idea." James replied with a nod. "Although I don't like the guy, I don't want him to get hurt for no reason. Hell, I still shiver from that nut shot Sumire hit that one guy with."

And just as James said, he started to shiver while subconsciously covering his crotch with his hands. He then shifted his gaze between Kouki and Eri as he continued speaking.

"But seriously, we need to do something about those two." James said. "I mean, they're just a bunch of problems waiting to happen."

"*Sigh* I know." Tatsuo replied as he finished sending the message to Sumire. "And I bet a bunch of those problems could be solved if Amanogawa and Nakamura got together. Then, Nakamura wouldn't be so likely to do something so crazy and Amanogawa might take the time to get his head out of his ass if he had something to worry about other than his self-righteousness."

While Tatsuo was only speaking his mind, his words sparked something in James' mind.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I think that might actually be possible." James muttered. "Now that I can use my Demonic Power, I can influence humans' thoughts to an extent. And if I do a little tweaking, I could probably make Amanogawa notice Nakamura's feelings. I'm not sure what I can do to make Nakamura less bat-shit crazy, though."

"Yeah, that would be a whole lot of memory alteration for that crazy chick." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "Still, just making Amanogawa notice her might help the situation by a lot."

"I'll do what I can." James said. "Even if there's a [Teleportation Magic Circle] connecting the 30th and 70th floors in the labyrinth, it will still take them a while to---"

Stopping mid-sentence, James closed his eyes and focused on his senses, and Tatsuo did not interrupt. A few moments later, James opened his eyes and looked in a certain direction.

"Well, the Demon that was mentioned in the [[Mission Objectives] probably just showed up." Tatsuo muttered. "And they're moving straight to the Labyrinth's entrance."

"*Sigh* Then I guess our time in this world is almost over." Tatsuo muttered as he turned to look in the same direction as James. "Well, you should try and change Amanogawa's mindset as much as you can tonight. Because I don't think we'll be going into the Labyrinth with them tomorrow."

"Good." James replied. "I'm bored with fighting those weak ass monsters, anyway."

"Then, you better say all the goodbyes you want to." Tatsuo said. "Because we'll be headed straight to Erisen after leaving Horaud. Then, after we safely deliver Myu to her mother, we'll invite Aletia to the [Chat]. I guess we can spend a few days relaxing after that, before we're sent back to our worlds."

"I guess that's as good a plan as any." James replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'll get going."

"Yeah, me, too." Tatsuo replied. "Tell Sumire-San about the plan when you get back."

"Got it." James replied just before vanishing from where he stood in a burst of speed."

Once James was gone, Tatsuo looked down at where he spoke with Kouki. He then looked where Eri had been hiding. After that, he once again turned to look in the direction of the Dungeon. And now that the Demon James sensed was closer, Tatsuo could sense them as well.

"Well, let's get this over with." Tatsuo muttered before he, too, vanished in a burst of speed.

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Orcus Great Labyrinth, 27th Floor.

Unseen by any of the humans training in the Labyrinth, a young male Demon with dark red skin, pointed ears, and green hair was moving swiftly through the 27th Floor with a two-headed white raven perched on his left shoulder. His target was the 30th Floor, as he had been informed that there was a [Teleportation Magic Circle] that lead down to the 70th Floor by the informant who sent the Demon Race a lead that the Hero Party would be descending to the Labyrinth's 90th Floor in the next few days.

However, this demon, Celeka, a Vice-Captain of the Demon Army, was not moving alone. Instead, he was accompanied by a number of [Camouflaged] monsters that the Demon Race had been able to control ever since their Supreme Commander, Freid Bagwa, conquered one of the Great Labyrinths.

"This is ridiculous." Celeka grumbled while moving quickly through the Labyrinth with his horde of controlled monsters. "To think that an army vice-captain would be sent to deal with a group of young humans who have never stepped on the battlefield before. All because that human informant said there were three extremely powerful humans in their ranks."

In fact, Celeka was not even the first choice to go on this mission. Originally, a young female Demon named Cattleya was supposed to undertake this mission. However, after the human informant's last message, the Demon Lord decided to send someone with more power.

However, contrary to what one would expect, the Demon's primary goal for this mission was not to kill the Hero Party. Instead, it was to recruit them and bring them onto the Demons' side. Killing was only to be thought of as the last option.

And Celeka was chosen to undergo this mission because, among all the vice-captain level soldiers in the Demon Army, he was the most loyal and had the most belief in the demon's cause.

"Still, this is much better than those humans deserve." Celeka said to himself just as he reached the stairs to the 28th Floor. "These foolish and weak humans will get to live when the rest of their race is either killed or enslaved. They should be grateful."

"You know, I don't think they're going to agree with that train of thought."

Hearing that unfamiliar voice, Celeka came to a stop just before stepping onto the first step leading to the next floor. He then took a few steps away from the stairs so that he would not have to worry about his footing when he fought the owner of that voice.

*Growl!*

On top of that, when sensing the unease their handler was feeling, the nearly two dozen monsters he managed to sneak into the Labyrinth began to release warning growls, as well.

"Who's there?" Celeka asked in a solemn tone. "Show yourself. If you do, though I can't let you go, I promise to give you a quick death."

"Yeah, that makes me want to stay hidden even more." The voice, Tatsuo, who had been following Celeka in [Stealth] since the moment he entered the Labyrinth, said in a mocking tone. The only reason he waited so long to confront him, however, was the fact that the passages until now were too narrow to fight all the monsters Celeka brought with him.

The fact that he had not seen anything in the higher Labyrinth past the 20th Floor might have played a small part in Tatsuo's decision to let Celeka travel so far, too.

Either way, the area at the end of the 27th Floor where the stairs leading down could be found was a perfect area for a many against one fight in Tatsuo's opinion.

*Growl!*

When Tatsuo spoke once again, the monsters all growled threateningly.

*Thud!* x 2

"Bad!" Tatsuo, still concealed, said sharply.

 *Spurt!*

A moment later, the sound of a couple of objects falling to the floor could be heard. Those sounds were then followed by the sound of something spraying all over the place. Then, after another moment, the things that fell and spurted liquid revealed themselves.

The first thing Celeka noticed was a tall, bulky, headless, bipedal body with four arms, a tail, and a pair of wings spraying blood from its two necks. On top of that, several other monsters who were, in some way, in contact with the dead monster's corpse also appeared. And there were quite a few.

More important than the monsters that appeared from nowhere were the pair of heads that were rolling across the floor before stopping in front of Celeka's feet.

"How can this be?" Celeka asked in a disbelieving tone. "It should be impossible to find one of those Chimera when it's using [Camouflage]."

"Hmph! You think an amateur like that can hide in front of a master like me?" Tatsuo asked, making Celeka snap back to his senses and start looking around for him.

'Actually, I've still got a long way to go before I can call myself a master of [Stealth].' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I'll need to get on Yu IlHan's level before I can do that. Hmm... Now that I think about it, would I be able to copy his [Stealth], or [Concealment], with [The End] if I ever met him?'

After having that thought, Tatsuo forcefully shook himself free of the possibility of becoming as undetectable as he wanted to focus on the matter at hand again.

"But seriously, you brought so many monsters with you." Tatsuo said in a faux surprised tone. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'bringing sand to the beach?' I mean, you're in a labyrinth filled with monsters for goodness sake."

However, Celeka did not respond. Instead, he continued to stare at the two decapitated heads of his monster.

"Oh, was that such a shock?" Tatsuo asked in a tone filled with faked concern. "Here, let me do this..."

*Thud!* X 2 *Thud!* x 2 *Thud!* x 2

*Spurt!* *Spurt!* *Spurt!*

Not long after Tatsuo finished speaking, several more sounds of objects falling to the floor and liquid spurting all over the place could be heard. Then, more and more decapitated bodies with four arms and wings, as well as all the monsters who were in contact with them, appeared surrounding Celeka.

"There, that should make the whole thing more believable." Tatsuo said, sounding proud of a job well done. "That way, you won't think it was just a fluke. No need to thank me."

That was finally enough to snap Celeka back to the here and now. And if he were being honest, he was both absolutely livid that what he presumed to be a human had killed so many of the monsters he was given to complete his mission and completely terrified at the fact that he had yet to see the attacker at all.

'Damn it.' Celeka thought to himself while looking around cautiously. 'He's killing them in one strike, there isn't even enough time for the White Raven to heal them when he kills them like this. Damn it, what should I do? At this rate, I'm going to lose all the monsters... And probably my life, as well.'

"Tell me, are you one of the heroes summoned by the Heiligh Kingdom?" Celeka asked, trying to buy time to think of a plan.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a hero." Tatsuo replied.

*Thud!*

*Spurt!*

"But I was summoned to this world by that so-called god, Ehit." Tatsuo replied after cutting off the head of a monster that looked like a wolf with four eyes.

Hearing the way Tatsuo referred to Ehit, Celeka thought that was where the key to convincing this human to switch sides.

"If you're so dissatisfied with Ehit, I'm sure that our God, Alva, would be---" Celeka said, starting his pitch.

*Thud!*

*Spurt!*

"Yeah, no." Tatsuo replied as he cut off the head of a turtle-like monster while interrupting Celeka's sale's pitch. "If I have an issue with Ehit, why the hell would I join hands with one of his subordinates?"

"What did you say!?" Celeka shouted, outraged by Tatsuo's insinuation. "How dare you insult---"

"Hey, wanna see a cool trick?" Tatsuo asked, cutting off Celeka once again before his rant could go on for too long.

Even more furious, Celeka intended to continue his rant. However, several loud noises and their after effects stopped him in his tracks.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

With each explosive sound, the result of Tatsuo discharging his pistols, Celeka watched as a projectile was fired into the chests of all the still standing corpses of the chimera monsters. Seeing that, Celeka wanted to mock Tatsuo for attacking already dead monsters. However, he was unable to do so when he saw what happened next.

*Swoosh~~~~~! * *Shoop! *

Before Celeka could start mocking Tatsuo, black spheres with midnight purple outlines began to spread from each chimeras' chest. And each sphere was large enough to cover the majority of the bodies of all the monsters around each chimera. Then, once the spheres expanded to their limits, they snapped back to their points of origin. When they did, nothing that had been covered by the spheres remained, not even the floor of the Labyrinth.

Meanwhile, Celeka after seeing every monster he brought with him disappear without even being able to find his opponent, was left completely dumbfounded.

"Gone..." Celeka muttered in a tone filled with disbelief while looking at all the missing parts of the floor. "They're all gone... How is this possible?"

"Oh! You just reminded me. Thanks." Tatsuo said in a cheerful tone. "I should really buy you a drink for reminding me. I mean, I can't leave a job only partially finished, right?"

*Splatter!*

In the next instant, the left side of Celeka's face was covered in blood and white feathers. And when he turned to see what just splattered all over him, while trying to deny reality, Celeka was just in time to see the white raven that was perched on his shoulder fall, having been split down the middle from between its two necks to its crotch.

"There, now they're all gone." Tatsuo said as he appeared in front of Celeka while nodding his head in satisfaction. "I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. What do you think?"

When he asked his last question, Tatsuo looked in Celeka's direction after assessing the damage he had caused to the enemy forces.

Celeka, on the other hand, was both too angry and too scared to speak. However, he knew he could not stand there and wait to be killed. Instead, he needed to get out of the Labyrinth, out of Horaud, out of the human territory so that he could report this anomaly to the Demon Lord.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! I know exactly what you're thinking." Tatsuo said while wagging his finger at Celeka. "And I really can't let you do that. You see, I really don't want to start flying above the radar yet, ya feel me?"

Unfortunately, Celeka did not have the leeway to reply to Tatsuo's question, as he felt a cold sensation rake past his throat. He then raised his hand to feel what just touched his throat. However, when he did, he felt a sticky, wet feeling on his hands. On top of that, he felt a stinging sensation on his throat, as well.

Raising his hand to see what was on it, Celeka saw that his fingers were covered in blood. And it did not take him long to figure out that it was his own blood. He then looked past his hand at what he perceived as a smiling young human male. And he was just in time to see the image of the young man fade away.

"Well, I'll get going." Tatsuo said, his voice coming from behind Celeka. "It's pretty late. And I've got stuff to do tomorrow."

Then, without giving Celeka a chance to reply, Tatsuo [Blinked] out of the Labyrinth. Then, a moment after Tatsuo disappeared, Celeka's head rolled off his neck when the blood pressure proved to be too much for his severed neck to contain.

At the same time, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James all received the same alert from the [Dimensional Chat].

{[Notifications]

-[Objective] #5 – Complete}