the pantheon .ᐟ

So much for wanting some semblance of normalcy.

—Rimuru Tempest

··—–—⚜—–—···

「 ✦ Tio Klarus ✦ 」

My grocery shopping at Fuhren was supposed to be a simple affair today.

The young master had mentioned wanting fresh ingredients for dinner, something about trying his hand at a particular dish he'd been craving. It was a small request, but I had accepted it with the same dedication I would show any task he assigned me.

The irony was not lost on me—a dragon princess reduced to grocery shopping. Yet there was something deeply satisfying about fulfilling even such ordinary needs of my lord.

I was examining a particularly fine selection of vegetables when the first explosion echoed through the streets.

The vendor beside me ducked instinctively, but I barely glanced up from the tomatoes I was inspecting. Living with the young master had taught me to distinguish between true threats and mere, well, inconveniences. This felt distinctly like the latter.

Another explosion, closer this time. Shouts began to fill the air, followed by the sound of clashing steel and mana discharging. I selected three of the ripest tomatoes and placed them carefully in my basket.

"Miss, you should probably—" the vendor started to say, but his words were cut off as a group of armed men in military uniforms came charging around the corner, pursuing what appeared to be a collection of rather strange-looking criminals.

I stepped aside politely to let them pass, then continued my shopping.

It was while I was debating between two different cuts of meat that I caught sight of something familiar through the chaos. A flash of white hair, moving recklessly through the mayhem. I paused, tilting my head slightly to get a better view.

Hajime Nagumo.

The boy who had once impressed me with his strength, before I learned what true power looked like. He was running through the destruction with his usual companions—Yue and Shea.

But there was someone new with them. A girl I didn't recognize, with features that marked her as one of the Dagon—the merfolk people. She was perched on Hajime's shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world, her arms wrapped around his head for balance.

How curious.

I watched them disappear around another corner, pursued by what appeared to be half the city's military force and an equal number of criminal elements. I selected the better cut of meat and added it to my basket.

The chaos continued to rage around me as I completed my shopping. Military police battled gangsters in the streets while civilians fled in all directions.

None of it concerned me particularly. This was merely the sort of commotion that seemed to follow certain individuals wherever they went.

I paid the increasingly nervous vendor for my purchases and began making my way back through the war zone that Fuhren had become. The real question was how to report this to Lord Rimuru when he returned. He would probably want to know about Hajime's presence in the city, particularly given their complicated history. And the addition of this new Dagon girl suggested some kind of development in the boy's circumstances.

I paused at an intersection, waiting for a running battle between rival criminal factions to pass before crossing.

Perhaps I would simply mention it casually over dinner. Lord Rimuru had a way of gathering information that seemed almost effortless, and I suspected he would learn the full details soon enough regardless of my report.

For now, I had more pressing concerns. The vegetables needed to be prepared properly, and Lord Rimuru would be expecting his meal to be ready when he returned from whatever business had taken him out this morning.

I adjusted my grip on the shopping basket and continued toward the hotel, stepping carefully around the debris and occasional unconscious criminal that littered the streets.

··—–—⚜—–—···

「 ✦ Rimuru Tempest ✦ 」

The spatial motion brought me to the bottom of the Great Orcus Labyrinth with the sensation of space folding in on itself. I materialized in the chamber that had become something of a personal retreat for me multiple times.

Honestly, I probably didn't need to hide the Relicbook down here. It would be perfectly safe in my Stomach, or even just sitting on my coffee table. But having an excuse to visit this place was worth the minor inconvenience of the trip.

The accommodations here were absolutely fantastic.

The ancient Mavericks—or Liberators, depending on who you asked—had really outdone themselves when they'd constructed this place. The hot spring alone was worth the journey. Natural mineral water heated by perfectly regulated artifacts, with privacy that was guaranteed by being buried beneath hundreds of floors of monster-infested labyrinth.

I retrieved the leather-bound tome from its hiding spot behind one of the murals and settled into the living area. The Relicbook was hefty—easily a few hundred pages of dense text chronicling everything the Liberators had learned about the gods and the true nature of this world's twisted game.

Most of it I'd already committed to memory, but there were always details worth reviewing.

I flipped through the pages, scanning sections about mostly labyrinth construction, until I reached the part I was looking for. The pantheon. The list of divine beings who had turned an entire world into their personal playground.

Time for some light reading in the hot spring.

The water was perfectly heated as always, steam rising in lazy spirals as I settled in with the book propped on the stone edge. There was something deeply satisfying about reading about genocidal gods while completely relaxed and naked in luxurious hot water.

The contrast felt appropriate somehow.

Keith, God of Mischief.

I paused at this entry, frowning slightly. Keith. That name was familiar, but not in the way it should be if I'd read it here before. Where had I... oh, right. A wanted poster. I was pretty sure I'd seen that name on a wanted poster. Some petty criminal or another.

Weird coincidence, but probably nothing. Common name, after all.

Hel, God of Death

Now this one I knew personally. A charming, flirtatious, awfully talkative beauty. Did I mention scorchingly hot sexy?

Had a real talent for making even small talks feel like death threats. We'd had what you might generously call a disagreement about the value of mortal life.

Ehitruje, God of Creation

The big bad himself. Or so he liked to think. Ehit, as he preferred to be called, was the mastermind behind this whole twisted scenario as far as I'm aware. The one pulling the strings.

Ghidorah, God of Destruction

The name alone spoke of catastrophic violence. According to the notes, this one had been responsible for several apocalyptic events throughout history, but is currently dormant.

Athens, God of Wisdom

The original template for the Apostles.

Alva, God of Darkness

One of the dual gods worshipped by the demon race.

Nelson, God of War

One of the dual gods worshipped by the demon race.

I sank deeper into the hot water, letting the heat work the tension from my shoulders as I continued reading. The detailed accounts of each god's recorded interventions made for disturbing but necessary study.

The afternoon was slipping away pleasantly when I first noticed the sounds from above.

At first, I'd dismissed it as the usual labyrinth noise. But as I continued reading, the sounds grew more intense and persistent. This wasn't the typical pattern, this sounded like sustained combat. Something unusual was happening up there.

I closed the book and listened more carefully, extending my senses upward to its maximum reach. The disturbance was coming from somewhere around the ninetieth to hundredth floors—deeper than most adventurers ever managed to reach.

Still, something felt off about it.

There was something else... a presence that felt awful and wrong.

I climbed out of the hot spring and began getting dressed, still listening to the creepy ass sounds. There was something else up there. Something that didn't belong.

I finished dressing and secured the Relicbook back in its hiding place. My peaceful afternoon was apparently coming to an end.

Shadow Motion.

I stepped into the shadows at the edge of the chamber, feeling the familiar sensation as darkness embraced me. The sensation of moving through the spaces between spaces was always strange, but I'd grown used to it over time.

The sounds grew louder with each passing moment, and I could now make out individual voices among the chaos. Young voices. Familiar voices.

I emerged from the shadows on the edge of the ninety-ninth floor's chamber. The hero party, battered and desperate, facing off against—

··—–—⚜—–—···

「 ✦ Shizuku Yaegashi ✦ 」

The hundredth floor.

We were so close I could almost taste the success that awaited us at the bottom of this cursed labyrinth. After everything we'd endured, all the monsters we'd fought—we were nearly there.

How naive we'd been to think we could actually make it.

"Here you are. Finally. Should the hero really be tiptoeing around the dark like this?"

The demon woman stepped out from the shadows. Beautiful and terrible, with eyes that held the cold certainty of our doom. She called herself Cattleya. Even her name felt like poison on my tongue.

I watched Kouki struggle to his feet, blood painting his lips crimson. His hands trembled as he raised his Holy Sword, and I could see the defeat already creeping into his movements. Even he knew, somewhere deep down, that we were finished.

"Silence, demon! No matter what it takes, I will defeat you!"

Empty words. Desperate bravado. The light from his sword flickered weakly, like a candle guttering in a hurricane.

"Kouki-kun! You're still wounded," Kaori's voice cracked with terror.

"You still have the energy to fire off one of your spells, huh?" Cattleya's smile was the smile of a predator playing with wounded prey. "Go ahead, fire away. Before you do, though, I have something to show you."

The horse-faced monstrosity that emerged from the darkness was like something torn from our worst nightmares. And in its massive hand, dangling like a broken toy...

Meld-san.

My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. This was it. This was how we died. Not as heroes, but as foolish children who'd wandered too far from home.

"Meld-san!! Curse you, unhand him!"

No, Kouki. Please don't—

But I already knew. He would charge. He would fall for the trap. Because that's what heroes do in stories, isn't it? They rush headlong into danger and somehow emerge victorious.

Except this wasn't a story.

The sound when the second monster hit him was wet. Bone cracking. Blood spraying. The sickening thud of a body that wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon.

"Kouki—!"

My voice sounded small and broken in the vast chamber. He wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing properly. The strongest among us, reduced to a crumpled heap on the stone floor.

"What a letdown." Cattleya's disappointment was genuine, and somehow that made it worse. We weren't even worthy opponents. Just insects to be crushed beneath her heel.

My hand found my katana's hilt, but what was the point? What could I possibly do against something that had just effortlessly destroyed our hero?

"Shizuku-chan... Kouki-kun, he's..." Kaori's whisper held all the despair I felt clawing at my own throat.

"Damn it!" The words tasted like ash. I forced air into my lungs, tried to think through the inevitability. "What's your angle? There must be some kind of goal, or you wouldn't be keeping us alive."

A pointless question. We were already dead; we just hadn't stopped breathing yet.

"So, you must be the brains of the party, then?" Her amusement was salt in the wound. "It's simple, really. How about you come over to our side?"

Around me, I felt my classmates' resolve crumble like sand. Who could blame them? What was loyalty worth when it only led to death?

"What are you going to do with Kouki?"

I already knew the answer. Could see it in her smile.

"I'm sorry, but I can't keep your hero friend alive. I doubt he'll reconsider switching sides, and you're unlikely to persuade him either, right? He's going to have to die here."

There it was. The final nail in the coffin of our hopes.

"I take it the same holds true for us if we refuse, correct?"

"Naturally. There's no way we can just let a future threat go, right?"

Each word was another link in the chain that bound us. No escape. No hope. Just the illusion of choice where none truly existed.

"So semi-free slaves, basically."

"Bingo. Thank god at least one of you has a brain. Now, I recommend you use that brain of yours to make the logical choice."

The logical choice. Survival at the cost of everything we'd believed in. I could hear it happening around me—my classmates breaking, one by one.

"I-I think we should take her up on her offer!" Eri's voice shook with tears and terror.

"Eri!! You backstabbing bitch!"

Ryutarou's rage was the last trace of defiance, and even that felt hollow. We were turning on each other now, just as she'd planned. Dividing us. Conquering us.

Then Meld-san spoke, his voice carrying the weight of a man accepting his death.

"You kids... think only about how you're going to survive! Do whatever it takes to stay alive!"

His final act of heroism, the suicide attack with his pendant, blazed with desperate hope for maybe three seconds before that turtle creature devoured it whole. Even our mentor's sacrifice was meaningless. Futile.

We had nothing left. No trump cards. No miracles waiting in the wings.

That's when the air itself seemed to die.

"You're still not done?"

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, carrying an authority that made my bones ache. Even Cattleya—terrifying, invincible Cattleya—went rigid with fear.

A figure stepped from the shadows. Gray hair, purple eyes, a horn marking him as something far worse than anything we'd faced. This wasn't just another demon.

The massive wolf-like creature behind him was the size of a building.

I felt my body seize up completely as those eyes fixed on me. Some part of my brain was screaming warnings that my conscious mind couldn't process. This was how prey felt in those final moments—paralyzed by the absolute certainty of being devoured.

The claw that rose above me blotted out what little light remained in this hell. Time stretched into an endless moment of pure terror as I watched my death descend, knowing with crystalline clarity that there was nothing—absolutely nothing—I could do to stop it.

We'd never had a chance. We'd been dead from the moment we set foot on this floor.

The massive claw began its final, inexorable descent—