「 ✦ Kouki Amanogawa ✦ 」
I sat alone in my chambers, my cheek still stinging from Shizuku's slap, staring at my reflection in the ornate mirror across the room. The red handprint had faded, but I could still feel the burn of it.
Why couldn't she understand?
Why couldn't any of them understand what I'd done tonight?
I'd exposed a demon. I'd protected innocent people from a creature that could have destroyed this entire kingdom on a whim. I'd done exactly what a hero was supposed to do—stand against evil, no matter how it disguised itself. And yet they all looked at me like I was the villain.
Shizuku's words echoed in my mind, each one a fresh wound to my pride. "You arrogant, self-centered piece of shit!"
How could she say that to me? How could she not see that everything I did was for the greater good? I was the chosen hero, blessed by Ehit himself, granted power specifically to protect this world from darkness. If I couldn't trust my own instincts about what was right and wrong, then what was the point of being chosen at all?
But nobody seemed to care about that anymore.
Ever since he showed up, nothing had gone right. Ever since Rimuru Tempest arrived with his strength and his infuriating competence, everything had started falling apart around me.
Before him, people looked to me for guidance. Before him, my friends trusted my judgment without question. Before him, I was the undisputed center of our group, the one everyone relied on, the one whose opinion mattered most.
Then he came along with his superior swordsmanship and his mysterious powers, training Shizuku like I never could, solving problems I couldn't handle, making me look inadequate by comparison. And everyone just... accepted it. They welcomed him with open arms while treating my concerns like paranoid delusions.
Well, tonight had proven me right, hadn't it?
The way he'd moved, the casual ease with which he'd killed those knights—that wasn't human. That was something monstrous wearing a human face, exactly like I'd suspected all along. The fact that he'd hidden his true nature so well only proved how dangerous he really was.
I'd done the right thing. I'd seen through his deception when everyone else had been fooled. I'd acted to protect innocent people from a creature that could have slaughtered them all.
So why did I feel so... hollow?
Because they don't understand, I told myself firmly. Because they've been deceived just like everyone else. They can't see past his act to the monster underneath.
But even as I tried to convince myself, doubt gnawed at the edges of my certainty. The way Shizuku had looked at me—not with disappointment or anger, but with genuine disgust. Like I'd become something she couldn't recognize.
"You're not even the friend I grew up with."
Those words hurt more than I wanted to admit. Shizuku had been my closest friend since childhood, the one person I'd always been able to count on for support. If she couldn't understand why I'd done what I did, if she thought I was motivated by jealousy rather than justice...
No. She was wrong. They were all wrong.
I was the hero. I was chosen by god himself to protect this world. My instincts about good and evil couldn't be wrong—they were divine guidance, not petty human emotion.
But as I sat there in the silence of my room, other memories began to surface. Memories I'd been trying to suppress, moments that had shaken my confidence long before Rimuru had ever appeared.
The Orcus Labyrinth. The 65th floor. The Behemoth.
Our first real defeat as a hero party. The first time my strength hadn't been enough, my leadership hadn't been sufficient, my divine blessing hadn't guaranteed victory.
And Hajime Nagumo.
The thought of that useless classmate made my jaw clench with familiar irritation. Weak, pathetic Hajime who'd somehow captured Kaori's attention despite being completely unremarkable in every way. I'd never understood what she saw in him—why she wasted her time and affection on someone so ordinary when she could have...
When he and the Behemoth fell in that chasm, I'd felt… relief. It was a terrible thing to admit, even to myself, but part of me had been grateful that the source of my confusion about Kaori was finally gone. But even with Hajime dead, everything had continued to fall apart.
The party's morale had plummeted after our retreat from the labyrinth. But they should have been looking to me for leadership, for reassurance that we could overcome any obstacle. Instead, they'd withdrawn into their guilt and self-doubt, and I'd found myself increasingly isolated even before Rimuru had shown up to make everything worse.
But now... now I saw the solution clearly.
The labyrinth.
That's where it had all started to go wrong, and that's where I would make it right again.
I stood up from my chair, moving to the window that overlooked the capital city below. Somewhere out there, my party members were probably still reeling from tonight's events, questioning everything they thought they knew about justice and heroism.
They needed to see my strength again. They needed to be reminded why I was chosen, why I was their leader, why they should trust my judgment above all others.
The Behemoth was still down there on the 65th floor, the monster that had dealt us our first defeat. If I could return there and destroy it—if I could show them that I'd grown strong enough to overcome our greatest failure—then everything would go back to the way it was supposed to be.
They'd see that I was right about everything. About the labyrinth, about strength, about the threats we faced. And maybe, eventually, they'd understand that I'd been right about Rimuru too.
A dark smile played across my lips as the plan solidified in my mind. Tomorrow, I would gather the hero party and propose we return to complete what we'd started. They'd resist at first, still shaken by the memory of our defeat, but I'd convince them. I'd make them see that facing our failures was the only way to move forward.
And when I stood victorious over the Behemoth's corpse, when I proved that my divine strength was sufficient to overcome any obstacle, they'd finally remember why they'd followed me in the first place.
The doubt would leave their eyes. The questions would stop. And everything would be the way it was meant to be—with me as their unquestioned leader, their beacon of hope, their chosen hero.
All I had to do was prove that I was strong enough.
··—–—⚜—–—···
「 ✦ Rimuru Tempest | 1 Month Later, 2 Months Into Reincarnation ✦ 」
I pushed the bloody memories of the ball to the back of my mind as I flew through the sky, my black dragon wings spread wide. Below me was the Sea of Trees—a massive forest surrounded by thick magical fog that supposedly only beastmen could navigate safely.
The fog swirled around me, trying to mess with my head like it did to other intruders. But it didn't affect me at all. I guess being what I am has its perks.
And there it was—the Grand Tree Uralt, rising from the center of the forest like some kind of natural skyscraper. The thing was absolutely massive. Its trunk was so wide it could probably fit several cities inside, and it stretched up so high I couldn't even see the top through the clouds.
I remembered what I'd read in the Relicbook about this place. To conquer the Great Uralt Labyrinth, you needed four markers of strength from other labyrinths, the power of restoration from clearing the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, and a bond with the beastmen. I had none of those things yet.
Still, no harm in taking a closer look, right?
I folded my wings and dropped down to the forest floor. The air felt heavy, and everything seemed bigger and more imposing from down here. I started walking toward the base of the giant tree, just wanting to get a better sense of what I'd be dealing with eventually.
That's when a voice boomed out from the tree itself, deep and threatening.
"Thou hast dared to tread upon this hallowed ground, defiling it with thine unholy presence. Begone, wretched fiend, and meet thy doom."
"Well, that's rather—"
I didn't even finish the sentence. A massive root-like tentacle shot out of nowhere, moving so fast I barely saw it coming. Before I could react properly—BOOM!—the thing punched straight through my left side, completely obliterating my torso. Chunks of me went flying everywhere. For a split second, I just stared down at the gaping hole where part of my body used to be.
Then my regeneration kicked in, knitting themselves back together in an instant. By the time the root retracted, I was already whole again.
"Okay," I said, shaking off the shock. "What the hell?"
More roots erupted from the ground around me, all aiming to skewer me from different angles. This time I was ready. I kicked off the ground, launching myself into the air just as several tentacle-like appendages whipped through the space I'd been standing in.
I landed on a boulder, but only for a second before another root came crashing down. I jumped again, then again, bouncing from rock to tree to branch as more and more attacks followed me. The whole forest seemed to be coming alive, trying to crush me.
"And what exactly are you supposed to be?" I called out, balancing on a high branch.
That's when it showed itself. The thing that crawled out from the base of the Grand Tree was like a twisted nightmare version of a Treant. Ten feet tall, made of gnarled bark and writhing roots, with empty black holes where its eyes should be. It looked nothing like the wise, beautiful, and gentle Treants back in Tempest.
It let out this horrible screech—like the sound of wood splintering—and lunged at me. Its arm stretched out unnaturally, turning into a mass of roots that shot toward me at incredible speed.
This time, instead of dodging, I caught it.
The impact sent shockwaves through the forest, snapping smaller trees in half. The bark-covered tentacles squirmed in my grip, trying to break free, but I held on tight.
I spun around and slammed the creature into its own tree. The impact sent splinters flying everywhere, and the ground shook from the force.
The thing howled in rage and yanked its arm back. More roots burst from the ground—dozens of them this time, all coordinated, all trying to pin me down or tear me apart.
I started moving, weaving between the attacks. These weren't random strikes; there was intelligence behind them, strategy. But they were still predictable. I could read the flow of magical energy before each attack, see where they were coming from.
In a few seconds, I was right in front of the creature.
My hand shot out, grabbing it by what might have been its chest. With my free hand, I pointed at its core.
"Gluttony," I said.
Space twisted around my hand as a vortex formed. The creature thrashed wildly, roots shooting up from everywhere in a last desperate attempt to stop me. But it was too late.
The singularity pulled at its very essence, unraveling whatever magic held this thing together. Its final scream cut off abruptly as its body collapsed inward, consumed entirely by the void.
When it was over, only some withered root fragments remained, and even those crumbled to ash within seconds.
"All that just for taking a walk," I said, dusting off my hands.
But as I looked up at the massive tree, something clicked. The creature had called me "unholy" and attacked immediately, like it was programmed to eliminate certain types of beings. If this labyrinth was built by enemies of the gods, then maybe...
"Either it detected that I'm not exactly human," I mused aloud, "or maybe the gods of this world really aren't originally from here either."
Just speculation, but my gut told me I might be onto something. It was mentioned in the Relicbook but it was questionable, so I didn't believe it right away. Either way, I'd learned what I came to learn. This place was definitely hostile to beings like me, and I'd need to meet those requirements from the book before trying to conquer it properly.
I was about to spread my wings again when I sensed them—multiple presences moving through the dense fog. My wings quickly retracted as I turned toward the disturbance.
From the thick greenery and swirling mist, a small company of beastmen emerged. I counted about eight of them, all armed and moving with the coordination of experienced fighters. Their animal features were varied—wolf ears here, cat eyes there, a few with more reptilian characteristics. All of them looked ready for a fight.
I remembered what I'd read about the beastmen of the Sea of Trees. These guys were openly hostile to humans. Shoot first, ask questions later types.
They quickly surrounded me, weapons drawn. Swords, spears, claws—the usual assortment you'd expect from the race. Their leader, a tall wolf-beastman with graying fur, stepped forward with his blade pointed at my throat.
"Human," he growled, "I won't ask how you're here, but you have trespassed on sacred ground. Surrender now, or we'll cut you down where you stand."
I raised my hands in a peaceful gesture, keeping my expression calm. Sure, I could probably take all of them without breaking a sweat, but where was the adventure in that?
"Hey now, no need for hostility. I was just taking a look around."
"Liar!" snarled one of the younger ones, a cat-beastman girl with juicy proportions and orange fur. "No human can navigate the fog barrier! You must be using some dark magic!"
"The corruption from the tree," added another. "He's the one who disturbed the ancient guardian!"
Well, they weren't wrong about that last part.
"Look," I said, keeping my tone reasonable, "I'm not here to cause trouble. I was just curious about the big tree. Is that really such a crime?"
"Curiosity?" The wolf leader spat. "Humans kept invading our homeland, enslaved our people, and now you come here speaking of curiosity?"
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. Several of the beastmen were practically vibrating with barely contained rage. I could see claws extending, pupils dilating. This was about more than just trespassing.
"You'll pay for the sins of your kind!" shouted one of them—a bear-beastman built like a mountain.
"Actually," I said, "I'm not exactly—"
That's when the hot-headed cat-beastman lost her patience. Her delicate claws extended to full length as she lunged at me, aiming straight for my neck with a swipe that would have taken my head clean off (probably not).
I sighed and caught her wrist mid-swing.
The crack of breaking bone echoed through the forest as her wrist shattered in my grip. She screamed and dropped to her knees, cradling her mangled hand.
The reaction was immediate. Every weapon in the circle was now pointed directly at me, and the killing intent radiating from the group had just multiplied tenfold.
"Stand down!" the wolf leader barked, though his sword never wavered from my direction. "You're under arrest, human. You'll be escorted back to Verbergen for imprisonment and trial. Resist, and we'll kill you here and now."
Verbergen? Now that was interesting. I'd always wondered what a beastman nation looked like. Back in my world, I never got the chance to properly visit Demon Lord Carrion's Kingdom of Eurazania before everything went sideways.
I looked around at the circle of hostile faces, then shrugged.
"Alright. Lead the way."
The wolf leader's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're not going to resist?"
"Nope. I'm curious about your place anyway."
They clearly hadn't expected that response. Several of them exchanged confused glances, probably wondering if this was some kind of trap. The injured cat-beastman was still whimpering on the ground, which probably wasn't helping their confidence.
"Bind his hands," the leader ordered after a moment. "And watch him carefully. Anyone who can shatter Zara's wrist like that isn't to be underestimated."
As they approached with rope, I couldn't help but smile. This was turning out to be more interesting than I'd expected. A chance to see beastman society up close, and all I had to do was play the part of a captured human. Sometimes the best adventures were the ones you didn't plan for.