Mushoku Tensei: A different path

(Rudeus POV)

I am 100— no, 1000% sick and tired of this day! One bad thing after another happens, and I can't catch a break.

I found out I've neglected my relationship with Sara (if there even was one, to begin with). Paul and his family got chased out of Millishion because of stupid allegations. Then I find out Eris thinks I want to take revenge against Orsted, the colony dispatched while we weren't paying attention, and that annoying queen and her elites just won't die!

And would you look at that? The prodigal swordsmen are there and still haven't finished jack shit. What are the odds?!

It may be the effects of [Thunder God Beast] wearing off, but I feel like all this rage could set off a Demon Dragon transformation just thinking about everything.

But contemplating about my condition and my low mana reserves, that might just be what I need.

Regardless, there is no way around this other than to wing it. And I'm not talking about the wings I could've had as a Demon Dragon.

The swordsmen outside the city were already heading to the queen and her henchmen, and so was I.

As I jumped over the crumbled wall, I kept my giant shuriken near it and went forward with all my might, stretching the mana arm an abnormal length. Once I thought I had a good distance, I applied barrier armament to my feet to claw myself on the ground and pull the giant with me.

"INCOMING."

I let out a warning for everyone to know; I pumped large amounts of mana through my ambient boost into the shuriken and guided it toward the queen.

Everyone got out of the way as the spinning wheel sliced through the air, grazing on the ground before reaching what I can only assume was the queen.

It sliced her in half, but then she hit the ring with her grossly large fist, breaking it apart.

I still had my Magic Eye on, so I saw how the Touki around her fist swirled like the muscle insect.

Not bothering with that, I concentrated mana in my left hand to unleash a boosted [Flamethrower], reaching the level of King-class in Fire Magic.

A fire flood unleashed from my hand, swallowing the queen in it.

I could tell that the fairy and the morphing insect shielded themselves with their respective ability.

Something was off about the muscle insect. I could pick up its signal, but it was in the exact place as the presumed insect queen before vanishing from my detection.

"Rudeus? You're alive?" I heard Ghislaine in shock over my survival, given I had pushed her out of harm's way last time.

"No time for that!" I shouted with an undertone of anger. "That thing needs to be dealt with first."

As I charged for the next spell I would shoot, I watched as the fairy charged an attack of her own. I can't use Disturb Magic with these hands, as that would likely dissolve them.

To my surprise, Sword God beheaded her before her spell was released. His speed was no joke. Even with [Thunder God Beast], I doubt I could reach his level without going bonkers.

While I was observing Sword God, North God tried to strike the queen but was teleported further away, letting him miss his target.

It went a bit chaotic after that, with the two master swordsmen trying to reach the queen but getting interrupted by her teleportation technique or overwhelmed with the morphing insect's barrage and fairy's gravity traps.

Both sides seem to struggle, but neither one had exactly the upper hand in this.

What have I been doing during that? Just watching and learning the teleportation technique.

From various sources in my previous world, I know this technique is powerful as it is irritating if used correctly, and I'm not going to risk getting thrown through buildings for a third time.

I tried figuring out the mechanics of that technique and so to find any weaknesses in it.

Seeing Sword God and North God struggle against the three insects also brought some joy, especially Sword God, as I loathe him the most for encouraging Eris in her suicidal goal.

There is nothing I have particularly against North God. But thanks to his idiocy, the queen got her hands on that dangerous sword. I deeply wish I hadn't given him that weapon back.

Both the queen and the fairy tried to gain control over the King Dragon Sword while the morphing insect kept Sword God busy. North God Style appears superior to Sword God Style when fighting the Immortal tribe's Demons. This could be due to North God's experience fighting other immortals.

"Rudy! Do something."

"Not now," I replied to Sylphy.

"'Not now'?!" Ghislaine shouted. She then moved to me and grabbed me by the shoulder, turning me away from the scene. "You can't be serious! This isn't the time to… to-"

Her eyes went wide when she noticed my Demon Eyes. They may be the same color as my original ones, but they are not the green and blue ones, nor do they have the same shade of green.

"Let. Go. Now!"

Upon my order, the beast woman shuddered and took a few steps back, fear emanating from her as I turned back to being a spectator.

One would call me cowardly for just standing around instead of joining, but we talk about creatures with regeneration along with their own representative abilities. I would have tried to blast them to smithereens, but first, I need to find a counter against that teleportation thing.

Ghislaine decided to join the brawl before me after giving up on convincing me.

As I continued watching the three of them fend off against the last of the insect threats, I mainly focused on North God's fight against the queen.

The queen's outer appearance was still unstable, but it slowly started to take shape. She slowly gained more of an... hourglass figure. Was this some succubus kind of defense mechanism in this world?

But even so, she managed to take in the attack from her opponent and occasionally land a few hits with her bare fists on him whenever she found herself struggling to dodge.

And that's exactly what tipped me off about her mana manipulation.

I discovered the setup AND an essential weakness I could exploit.

Concentrating my fists with mana, I waited for an opening to attack.

It didn't take long. Just before the queen intended to dodge the attack from North God, I held out my hand and canceled her teleportation.

All that happened to her was a slight glitching and a big shock from the failed teleportation before her opponent seized the opportunity to slice her in half.

Next, I used Water Magic to freeze the body before it could regenerate.

Like any technique, there is always a weakness, even if it isn't visible to the naked eye.

The teleportation technique involves connecting oneself with ambient mana, forming it into a dome, and setting it in motion. A spiraling tube of mana gets formed inside and connects the target with the destination point, warping the enemy to the specified spot to reappear at the other end.

My double [Terabolt] likely assisted by spinning mana like a bigger tunnel connected to a branch connection.

But because the ambient mana gets into motion, it takes a few seconds for it to settle down enough to pin a new target and excess point.

Despite how simple the build sounds, it's much harder to maintain in practice. If it wasn't for my hands, I could've used Disturb Magic to break the tube apart.

My interference against the queen did not go unnoticed. The fairy and morphing insect turned their attention to me, fear and hatred mixed in their feelings. I guess they have some scars left on their dignity from getting thrown around by my performance.

What surprised me, however, was the fairy... flying off into the distance..... slowly. Guess speed isn't her forte.

"Sassy bitch thinks she can just leave."

I was about to aim my hand at her, but the morning insect came to intercept with its stinger tentacles. Luckily for me, I had a guardian North God on my side who came in and swooped in to guard me.

Meanwhile, I shot out a [Stone Canon] at the fairy. She, of course, noticed it beforehand and tried to redirect the attack. Emphasis on 'tried'.

Since I knew that her shield mostly slowed down any attack before diverting it, I made an effort to make my attack as fast as possible.

But it seems I'm not the only one who learned from his mistake. With more collective effort from her, the force field stopped the projectile completely.

Too bad she didn't see the [Lightning] I set up above her as a backup for just this kind of scenario, her smug smile dropping as soon she got hit by the thunderbolt, her simmered pieces falling to the ground where they got the same icy treatment as the queen.

Two down, one to go.

Man, do I feel dumb for making things so complicated for myself back at the campus?

Sure, that technique of mine is great for going against most people in the world, but immortals are definitely not one of them.

Which is why it was so easy for me to send out a couple of [Flame Slice] at the maces. I guess the thing got tired of the barbed ones.

One of them smashed into the ground before it lifted a plateau of dirt that would have buried North God and me alive had we not already jumped away from it.

'H̴͙͉̙͛͌͘ë̸̙͇́̔͜͠l̵͉͖͉͌͛́l̸̺͍͇̓͑̕o̸̺̿̓͐͜?̴̢̼̀͌̾͜'

"Hm?"

After landing back on solid ground, I suddenly heard static rustling inside my ears, like a message sent through radio communication with a terrible signal.

It wasn't Kagami this time. At least I think so.

I couldn't understand what they were saying, and when I looked around, no one could have spoken to me so close, and the voice sounded too feminine, even for Ghislaine's.

"Quit getting distracted, brat!"

North God went off to assist the others with the last insect.

Meanwhile, I was still standing around, confused about the message I just heard.

Was I so low on blood that there wasn't enough oxygen send to the brain?

'C̵͚̼̾͘͜͝ä̵̠̘́͛͘n̵̼̺̝͑̚͝ y̵̢̟͓̔͑̿o̴͕̼̪̾͝u̵͕̙̓̕͜͝ h̴̪̦͚̒̈́͐e̴̘̦͌͐a̵̡͍̘̔͆͠r̴͎͍͛̒̕ m̸͉̟̺͛̈́͝è̴̺̝͛́?̵̪̠̿̾͒'

Nope, wasn't imagining things.

"Who said that?"

Still, there was no one around who could've talked to me. And it certainly wasn't Sylhpy. She was heading to the city's wall where-

"Oh, come on. Do they never learn?"

Besides the obvious outcome of Eris following me, Sara and Soldat were right behind them. Those two know very well how dangerous it is around me.

P̴̺̙̠̔͌̓ĺ̴̢͉̫̈́̕e̵̢̻͕͒͆̒a̵̫̼̦̓͆̒s̸̺̺̐̾̿e̴͚̪͚͋̐͘,̴͔̼͑̓̐ s̸̻̦̞͊̓͝h̴͇͖͕͛͐͒e̴̢͕̘̽͊̐ i̸̘̺͓̽̾͠s̵̻̼͖͌͠͝ d̵͙̻̔̕͠y̵̢͎͍͋̔͠i̵̢͙͋̿̔͜ń̵͔͇͚̔͝g̸̢̠̺͛̾͛.̵͉͓̪̈́̈́͆ Y̴͚͔͙̔̐͠o̴̻͔̦̐͝u̴͕͖͑̀̀ g̵̦̘͔͑͆͌o̴̻͇̫͊̕̚t̵̡̞͖̾̔͑t̵̝̟̟́̓͐a̵̫͍̽̽͌ h̴̫͙̞͝͝e̴͚̫̝̾̿͘l̸̡̺͋̀̾p̵̪̦͉͝͠ ḧ̴̦̦͉́̒̚e̴̢͉̝͐͆̈́r̵͕͉̫̿͑̚.̸̟̻̪̈́͑͒

"ARGH!"

The voice became more intense. I held onto my head in agony, thinking my eardrums were about to bust.

Just what the hell is that that voice trying to tell me?

"Look out!"

Ghislaine's warning came just in time for me to defend myself from the tentacle with the scissor pincers, smacking it away with Wind Magic.

But instead of grabbing me, the pincer went after something behind me.

It was the frozen insect queen.

"Oh no, you won't!"

I aimed my other hand at the morphing insect's extendable limb, attempting to cut it to prevent freeing the queen, but then-

'P̵̻͚̫͒͋͠l̵̪͉͚̈́͑͊e̴̺͖͖͆͊͝a̵̢͓͑͌͜͠s̸̞̻͆̓̽͜e̵̟̠̘̽̕͝,̸͓͕͎͛͑́ y̵̢̞̙̽͊͆o̸̙̙͖͐̀͠u̸̻͍̟͛̾͘ g̸̢̫͓̈́͊̚o̴̢̟͕͊͑͆t̵̟͉̾͛̾͜t̴̡̡̠̐̿̀a̵̦̞͋͝ s̸̫̞̓͒͋a̴̘͖͙̽͊͒v̵͚͍͍͑̓̚e̴̝̝͇̾͆̐ h̵̡̾͊͊͜͜e̵̢̝̘̓̔r̸̞͕͌̓̚!̸̢̝͒̀͜'

"Fuck!" I yelled out, not able to finish my attack and holding my head again from wincing in pain.

This led to the morphing insect grabbing onto the pieces of the queen and dragging them in its direction.

Sword God intervened and cut the tentacle into pieces, but from afar, I could see the frozen remains from the fairy getting swallowed into the ground. The morphing insect must've dug a tunnel with a different tentacle.

Pushing through my headache, I aimed my hand at the main body and conjured my Water Magic for another ice attack. Everyone went out of the way for me to hit it, but then another arm sprouted from it that swung in diagonally, sending a gravity blade my way.

Thanks to my Demon Eyes, I was able to dodge the attack. However, I didn't seem to have been the target.

The attack hit the queen, crashing into her and finally freeing her from her icy casing. She wasted no time teleporting directly before me, her fist charged with swirling Touki hurling at me.

Her fist came in contact with my chest, which was covered in my own Touki, just in the nick of time. Yet the impact somehow bypassed my defense, similar to Randolph's sword strikes against my head.

I didn't just slide on my back along the ground; it felt as if an earthquake had shaken my insides all the way to the core of my bones.

Besides my difficulties breathing after hitting the city's walls or the fact that my mana flow felt disrupted from my injured heart, I was... blinded.

My Demon Eyes shut down from some time limit I was unaware of and left me with blurry eyesight.

'P̴͎̞̪͋͌͘L̵̝̪̻͒͊E̴̟̼͖͋̒̿A̴̞͎̝̔̐̕S̸̡̞͚̒̀͝E̴͓̓̕̕͜,̵͙͎͍͆̓͠ S̵̼̻͚̓͐̿A̸͎͖͎̒͛͛V̴̘̪͍̽̀͐È̴͓̘̻͝͠ H̴̠̠̀͊͝E̵̫͎̻̓̀̈́R̴͕͔̼̽̕!̸͕͖̘̾̽͘'

Not to mention the damn voice in my head that won't stop bitching about whatever it's talking about!

I have to worry about surviving and then saving everyone before I can figure out what this voice wants from me.

My detection was still working, so I could tell that the queen teleported herself next to the morphing insect. Probably to tag team against the others.

Meanwhile, Sylphy approached me along with Soldat, Eris, and Sara. She placed her hand on me and used her Healing Magic to mend my internal wounds.

Breathing gradually became easier, my bones rearranged, and I noticed a slight improvement in my eyesight.

Much to my regret, the fiery lady beat me to it and was on her way to join the other fighters.

Sending out my prosthetic arm, I grabbed onto Eris's sword and pulled her back to us.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I angrily said.

"To help them finish that thing off," she replied, firmly declaring.

"Absolutely not! I will not allow that!" I retaliated as I stood up.

"You can't tell me what to do!" she replied.

"Well, obviously, I have no choice since Ghislaine's done a shit job in keeping YOU out of trouble."

"Don't you dare say that!"

"I'm just stating the truth. Your chances of surviving out there are very low."

Both of us just glared at each other, my body steadily getting warmer from all the blood pumping through my heart.

With Sylphy standing before me and Soldat before Eris, they went between us to break off the conflict before Eris pulled back her fist.

"Rudy, please, this is not the time for fighting in our midst," Sylphy said.

"He's right. Let the others handle this," Soldat sternly said.

"Shut up!" Eris shouted at Soldat, giving him a ruthless punch to the face.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Sara yelled at her.

Alright, that's it! I'm gonna knock Eris out again if it means she won't get herself killed. I just need to-

'P̵͓͇͕̓̓͌L̴̢̟̦͑͠͝E̵͕̝̙̔͑͝A̴̪̪̘̿͌S̴̢̙̻͌͌̀E̵̟͔̙̾͋͠,̸̦͍̠͝͝͝ S̸͎͔̘̓͛͝A̸̺͔̻̒̒́V̵̡̙̺̈́͋È̸̫̙͎͑͝ N̴͖̺͓̒͋͝A̵̠͎̘͋͆̚N̸͓̙͔͛͊̈́A̵͍͖̫͒̕̕H̸͍͓͋͐O̵̝̦͛̾̒͜S̴̞͎̓̈́̚H̴͕͔̟́̽̔I̵̡̻͖͊̿̔!̴͔͍͌̚͠!̴̘̻̘̾̓̈́'

"ARGH!!! Son of a bitch!"

This time, the voice was even louder, to the point where it echoed in my head with a consistent volume.

I found myself dropping to my knees, clutching my head, pressing my forehead against the ground, and clenching my teeth. Even my prosthetic arms were starting to get disrupted from my prolonged suffering.

The others were starting to worry about my agonized state. And no matter how much Healing Magic Sylphy tried to apply me, it wouldn't stop.

Then something more concerning happened. The queen and the fairy and morphing insect merged into one, catching mana all over the area as they did in the process.

This led to a new aura emerging, one that declared the arrival of a powerful creature.

It was at the same time that the voice in my head turned down slowly until it was fully away, but it didn't change the fact that we were screwed in the face of that monster.

I feel pathetic. I couldn't even see what we were dealing with. I became shortsighted from overusing my Demon Eyes.

All I can do is wince and use my other senses to figure out what is happening. And right now, it's telling me that we are even more doomed.

"Oh no... North God," Sylphy said, covering her mouth. "She got the King Dragon Sword again!"

It's just as Sylphy said. With the combination of all three insects plus the queen's power, the fully combined creature snatched North God's sword. AGAIN!

Now it actually makes sense. THIS is the true insect queen. She divided herself into four individuals and split her powers among them.

SHIT! What can I do now?

'Kagami, if you hear me, please, do something. Anything!'

'Already on it.'

Now, it is not an exaggeration to say that I was dumbfounded to get an answer at all. A full-on confirmation of a plan, nonetheless.

That's when a second signal with a terrifying aura arrived, with a speed like Gal Farion, from a far distance.

The person hit the queen with such speed that I couldn't even follow it with my detection fully concentrated.

That person is, in fact, so fast that he keeps striking the queen even before she teleports and continuously slips through openings in her defense. Whenever the person doesn't reach her in time, they just dash to her destination point in the blink of an eye in a surprise attack. Even when the queen attacks, everything gets parried and countered.

This means whoever this is, they have total mastery over all three schools of swordsmanship.

Is it even a person at this point or a mon... ster.... oh, it has to be Orsted. I mean, no one in this world could outclass two master swordsmen in their respective areas of expertise.

"Thank god, he's alive," Sylphy said with huge relief.

"Are you kidding me?! How does someone else have that kind of power!?" Eris furiously said.

"Who is it? I can't see anything?"

"What are you talking about, Rudeus?" Sara, who crouched next to me, said. "Nothing's blocking your view."

"Actually, I lost a bit of eyesight this time. I'm... shortsighted at the moment."

The attention shortly went back to me, the guy looking at something or another.

However, it lasted just for a brief period until something different occurred, putting their attention back on the field.

*BOOM*

A sudden burst of weird mana waved the entire area like a tsunami, going further into the city.

"... am I reading this wrong, or did someone just destroy the King Dragon Sword?"

"NOOO!" North God cried out, automatically answering my question.

Weirdly enough, I retained my eyesight moments later, to which I next saw a white and black flash strike someone, which I assumed was the queen, engulfing her severed parts in a white fire.

And so slowly but surely, the signals of the queen diminished, meaning that she was killed indeed.

I estimate that the newcomer took about one minute... maybe? It's difficult to keep track of time when all you have is detection to inform you of what's happening.

This felt anti-climatic to be true. But it could be because I only saw the end happening with my eyes.

The person who ultimately took the decisive action was a man with silver hair, wearing black gauntlets and boots with white fire shackles, a mantel comprised of a pair of wings stretched long, short dragon wings ears, a single diamond-shaped crystal floating before his forehead engulfed in white fire, white scales going down his face from his eyelids, and his golden eyes with slit pupils and black sclera.

I can't believe it. It's another person with the Demon Dragon curse. I didn't know there was another one like me.

He held a katana in his hand, its presence striking and unsettling. This was not just any sword; its aura suggested it was a blade of extraordinary significance, something far beyond a mere weapon.

I initially thought the ominous aura came from the man, but the weapon itself made me shiver down my spine.

After holding his striking pose for a few seconds, he closed his eyes and exhaled, a cloud of breath escaping his mouth. As he did, all of the features that made him seem like someone like me faded away, just like the katana in his hands.

That's when it struck me. It... it was-

"Paul?"

As soon as I spoke his name, he immediately shifted his focus to me. The relief on his face reminded me instantly that he was looking at me as his son.

The feelings of guilt I thought I had sorted came back running in my mind when I realized yet again that he was looking at Rudeus, not the person behind that name.

"Graaaaah."

A roaring from the sky broke off the silence. It was Hiryu and Sandor, arriving out of nowhere and landing right next to us.

The gust of wind from my pet dragon's wings was light enough to throw up some dust. But to me, it felt like someone had hit me with a [Sonic Boom], throwing me back and getting caught by Sara.

I felt a wave of dizziness and fatigue wash over me, and staying conscious was a struggle. I'm all out of mana, but how?

Panic rippled through the crowd. Suddenly, Paul was by my side, skillfully pushing his way through.

Instead of questioning... that any further, a different all-time question arose inside my head after everything was finally over.

Why am I always one of the survivors who comes out the most wounded at the end of the day?

///