— — — — — —
After allocating his freshly earned stat points, Rimuru looked over his shiny new attributes and couldn't help grinning. Humming happily, he bounced toward the crystal, ready to snatch it up.
"Hiya! Rimuru-chan, I'll be taking this, thanks. No need to see me off—bye-bye!"
Out of nowhere, Kiana popped into view, snatched the crystal straight out of Rimuru's reach, and bolted into the forest like her life depended on it.
"What? You dare steal food right out of my mouth?! Get back here!" Rimuru nearly lost it. He wanted to give chase, but looking at the dense, winding terrain, he stopped. There was no way he'd catch her in there.
"Ugh, why am I just standing here? Next time I see that fluffy white dumpling, I'm catching her and teaching her a proper lesson. Hmph!" Rimuru stomped his little slime body in frustration, then picked a random direction and moved on. No point wasting time—he had to get stronger. After all, the championship was his real goal.
---
Meanwhile, Kiana was sprinting through the trees, constantly changing direction and throwing nervous glances over her shoulder to make sure Rimuru wasn't tailing her.
"Phew… thank goodness he didn't chase me, or I'd be toast." She wiped the sweat off her brow. The image of Rimuru wiping out the Anti-Entropy crew in seconds was still vivid in her mind. That guy's stats had to be insane. At least for now, she didn't stand a chance.
"Kiana! I told you not to get involved in this mess. You didn't get hurt, did you?" Mei's voice called out with concern.
"Mei!" Kiana flung herself into her arms, proudly holding up her prize. "Look, look! I stole this special item all by myself!"
"You really are reckless…" Mei sighed, though when she saw Kiana's puppy-dog expression, she gave in and patted her.
"Kiana's amazing as always. So, what does this crystal even do?" Mei tilted her head curiously.
[Transfer Crystal: Allows you to swap positions with a designated enemy using a purple crystal. Usable once.]
"Huh? That's it? Just swapping places?" Kiana frowned. No attack, no defense—what use was that? She'd risked her neck for this, and it turned out to be such a lame prize.
"Even if it looks useless now, who knows? It might come in handy later," Mei said gently, trying to comfort her.
— — —
Back to Rimuru, who hadn't gone far before running into someone who made him want to turn and run himself.
"Rimuru-sama! I finally found you!"
"Eh? Shion, what are you doing here?" Rimuru blinked, then smiled despite himself.
"Rimuru-sama, I've been searching everywhere! Look, I gathered all these ingredients for you so we can make a big feast!" Shion proudly dumped her pack out, showing off her collection.
"…What… is all this?" Rimuru's vision blurred as if someone had slapped a censor filter over his eyes. Cold sweat trickled down his face. He could've sworn he'd just heard something downright ominous.
"See, these are giant bones from the skeleton knights I hunted. Super nutritious! Oh, and this is a dragon wing I managed to get. And this one—" Shion happily went on listing her "treasures."
Rimuru's slime body trembled. Cooking ingredients? This sounded more like poison prep. Was she planning to feed him or assassinate him?
"Uh, Shion-chan, I just remembered something important. I'll… be going now!" He inched backward, ready to bolt.
"What's the rush? I'll come with you!" Shion beamed, totally missing his attempt to escape, and stuck to him like glue.
"Uuugh…"
No matter how he tried, Rimuru couldn't shake her. In the end, he had no choice but to travel with her.
By noon, the inevitable came.
"Here, Rimuru-sama, try this fresh soup I made just for you." Shion ladled out a steaming bowl and handed it over with a smile.
At that moment, a skeleton knight spotted them and charged. But before it got within ten meters, it froze, eyes wide with terror, then bolted like the devil himself was after it.
"…" Rimuru stared at the fleeing skeleton, then at the bowl in his hands, and fell silent.
On the surface, the soup looked delicious—fragrant, colorful, perfectly appetizing. But Rimuru didn't need taste buds to know this thing was lethal. If it could scare off a skeleton, something that didn't even have a tongue, then calling it "cooking" was already a crime.
"Rimuru-sama, why aren't you drinking? Hurry, before it gets cold." Shion urged sweetly.
"…Fine. If I die, I die." Rimuru steeled himself, shut his eyes, and downed it all in one go.
And then—
Superman fired his laser. Humans and beasts clashed in a bloody war. Autobots transformed. Eren married Mikasa. Sun Wukong called him daddy. God created the world, then destroyed it.
One bizarre scene after another flashed through Rimuru's mind. For a moment, he glimpsed eternity itself—past, future, everything.
"Haa… haa…" He gasped for breath, looking like a man who'd barely escaped death.
"What's wrong, Rimuru-sama? Do you want another bowl?" Shion asked, genuinely concerned.
"…I, uh… feel sleepy. Gonna take a nap." Rimuru forced a stiff smile, shifted back into slime form, and flopped onto the grass, unmoving.
"Sleepy? Now that you mention it, I'm a bit tired too. I'll just hold you while I nap." Shion snuggled him against her chest and lay down on the lawn, quickly dozing off.
"…They're seriously taking a nap? In the middle of this?" Sengoku muttered, watching them through his spyglass.
(Rimuru: No, I don't want to sleep. But if I don't, I'll have to drink another bowl. And I refuse to accept that fate.)
"You want us to take them out?" Garp asked, lazily picking his nose.
"Nah. Let them rest. Disturbing someone's nap isn't good manners," Sengoku chuckled. This wasn't life or death anyway—just a guild battle. Winning or losing wasn't the point.
"Bwahaha! You've really changed, old friend. The Sengoku I knew would never have said that." Garp slapped him on the shoulder, laughing heartily.
Sengoku only shrugged. "Let's rest too. Right here."
And so, under the midday sun, the battlefield fell strangely quiet.
The Dimensional Guild really was a bizarre place.
.
.
.