That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime (WN) - Chapter 298：Visit to the Unknown

Michelle was in despair.

She had been betrayed by Jegyll, the one friend who she trusted and could be real with.

Her body could not move.

Her brain had been disconnected from it, and now her own body felt like it was far away.

Ah, I’m so tired—Michelle thought.

When the ideals that her father had dreamed of were shattered, Michelle decided to live while hiding her true feelings.

As a leader, she decided to prioritize the values of the majority over her own.

Save those who needed to be saved, even though it came with sacrifices.

You couldn’t save everyone, but save those that you could.

And in the worst-case scenario, you might have to sacrifice a hundred to save one. She had that resolve when it came to politics.

Kill your emotion and only act based on the logic of numbers you could trust.

It was people who could do this that were fit to lead.

So, no matter how much she agonized over something, she didn’t complain in front of anyone.

She had always acted as if what she was doing was right. And she would lead them with pride.

—However, it had been different with Jegyll.

And now she was betrayed. It dealt more damage to Michelle than she could have ever imagined.

And that was why the lock to the door had broken.

(I don’t care about what happens now…)

She muttered without a voice.

Despair and then resignation. It seemed natural enough.

But…

-Don’t give up, Michelle. If you give up, the Mobius System will become uncontrollable—

Her father’s voice awakened her consciousness.

(Yes… It’s too early to give up…)

Even though she could not move her body, her mind was healthy.

The Mobius System was already running, but she could still…

Besides, there was something strange about Jegyll’s betrayal.

(Yes, now that I think about it…)

When she thought back on it, Jegyll had seemed odd.

Her voice and movements were the same as usual. Michelle had occasionally said things that referenced their past as they talked. And Jegyll had reacted properly every time.

And so Michelle assumed that the strangeness she had felt must be nothing. However, now she considered the possibility that something she wasn’t aware of was at play here.

The ‘brain’ was an important organ and was protected in several ways. That meant that hypnosis and brainwashing should not work, but she couldn’t be completely confident about it either.

After all, something similar was happening to herself currently.

Perhaps Jegyll had also had her ‘brain’ isolated from her body and had the information stolen—in spite of knowing very little, Michelle was able to make a guess that was very close to the truth.

(If that’s true, then I cannot give up here!!)

Her fighting spirit burned anew, and she considered what it was that she could do now.

Her body wouldn’t move.

The only thing that she could do now was to pray for Jegyll and the resistance.

However…

Michelle’s consciousness was combined with overwhelming energy that overflowed from her. Her thoughts now moved silently, but faster than the speed of light, towards the hearts of those she believed in…

◆◆◆

Michelle’s prayer reached Jegyll as well.

However, it was too late to change anything.

…

…

…

Karman had transformed most strangely. And Jegyll could no longer handle him.

At first, Jegyll had had the advantage with Machinery Arts, but now, none of the attacks could deal a finishing blow.

Karman had incredibly healing ability—it was superior to even the Super Beasts, and he healed immediately after Jegyll dealt any damage.

No. If anything, it seemed like his defense ability was improving every time he healed. Just as a broken bone is stronger after being healed, the Dragonic Armor seemed to react as if it were a living creature.

Furthermore, Karman showed that he could adapt to Jegyll’s movements.

While Jegyll should have been the more skilled of the two, her attacks were no longer hitting their target.

Yes, it was as if he had eyes on the back of his head. He was able to deal with attacks from all directions.

And it wasn’t just that.

She was able to place her palm on his armor, but it was poisoned.

The powerful acid would burn her hand.

The shock from the hits and the plasma that hit her upon contact. It was so bad that all of the previous damage did not seem like much to Jegyll.

The various firearms and methods of counterattack.

It was at the same level as the Machinery Four or even higher in terms of energy output.

And this perfect defense that Jegyll could not penetrate.

Karman had completely stopped Jegyll’s most powerful method of attack, End Vibration.

It took apart molecules and atoms by causing a certain area to vibrate. It was an incredibly destructive skill that was supposed to be impossible to defend against.

As far as Jegyll was aware, the only way to do this was to create a special barrier that rejected and sealed away any external forces…

Yes, Karman was using the Ether Ring Barrier.

(What’s happening? You shouldn’t be able to control the Ether Ring Barrier without the Star System… You have to create ‘ethers’ with the use of a linked particle accelerator…unless, he recreated it!? Do those strange suits they wear come with the Star System installed!?)

Jegyll could not help but come to that conclusion.

She didn’t want to believe it, but when it was happening right before her eyes like this, she did not have much of a choice.

(How could the resistance of all people have access to such technology…?)

She had so many questions, but now was not the time.

As her strongest attacks had been ineffective, Jegyll had no way of defeating Karman.

And before she knew it, Karman’s men had joined the fight as well.

They were wearing the Powered Suits that should have been destroyed as they toyed with Reiz and his men.

The Super Beasts were there as well, and the battle turned into chaos.

She could not expect reinforcements or the possibility of being revived after death.

And then it happened. In that split second after Jegyll’s attack, Karman fired his Giga Buster, immediately evaporating the lower half of Jegyll’s body.

As she lay there in shock, Karman thrust out his fist like the jaw of a dragon. He was going to deal the final blow—he was right in front of her now.

……

…

…

The fist was in front of her eyes. Jegyll saw her own defeat—no, her own death.

(Why…why am I here? Fighting like this?)

It wasn’t fear that she felt, but bewilderment.

The ‘brain’ that was in the Bionoid had become active, and she was awakening to the free will that had been their originally.

Karman’s merciless attacks had caused much of the special cells of her Bionoid body to be lost. Many of her functions were shut off as the preservation of life became the main priority. The result was that the restrictions on Jegyll were weakening.

And so she now had doubts about her current situation.

As far as she knew, she had been in a meeting just a moment ago.

It was like she was in a dream. Jegyll desperately resisted the cloud that was muddling her mind.

And then—

—Jegyll? Is that you? Don’t give up. Regain your heart!!—

—As Jegyll’s consciousness resurfaced from the depths, Michelle’s prayer reached her.

Upon hearing those words, Jegyll’s consciousness returned completely.

(Yes. Yes. I was with Prime Minister Fudora and…)

The memories came back as if she were waking from a dream.

And then she remembered the things she had done when she wasn’t herself. She was able to read and understand the memories that were saved.

(Ahh… No, no one will believe me no matter what I say. I’m sorry, Michelle… I was not able to be of use to you…)

As the fist of death approached, the memories flashed in her mind.

She felt waves of regret and despair.

Prime Minister Fudora had used her. Then she had betrayed Michelle, which resulted in the current predicament.

But at the same time, there was a small hope.

She saw it while looking at Karman. He had defeated her. While she wasn’t at the same level as the Machinery Four, she was one of the strongest soldiers.

With such power, perhaps they could go and rescue Michelle.

With both regret and hope in her heart, Jegyll accepted her death…

“Damn it! I am not going to give up on the goal we strived towards for so many years! Not here!!”

…No, she could not accept it.

Now that she had awakened, she wouldn’t give up. And she didn’t need Michelle’s encouragement to reach that decision.

Jegyll used her Bionoid abilities to parry Karman’s Buster Knuckle. By sacrificing even more of her cells, she was able to protect the vital organs.

And so she did not die, but now her combat abilities were practically nonexistent.

The battle was over.

Now, she just needed to negotiate.

“That was supposed to be the finishing blow. Miss Jegyll, you are a tough one.”

“Hmph. I could not allow myself to be killed. I remembered something. My old dreams and ideals.”

“You really don’t want to die, then? And what is this about ideals all of a sudden? You tricked us and tried to kill us…”

“I wish I could explain everything to you. But there is no time. Would you please let me go until we rescue General Michelle?”

“Rescue? You betrayed us and now you’re trying to make excuses?”

Even Michelle understood how convenient it all sounded.

Still, she had to persuade Karman now, or she would not be able to help Michelle.

She had to get Karman to understand her position.

“You may not believe it, but I was being controlled. I want to rescue Michelle now, so will you not let me go?”

“Let you go? You would like that, wouldn’t you? As if we would believe such a story!”

Jegyll could not blame him.

Besides, Karman had a fierce personality and was known to be merciless towards his enemies.

And so she understood that there was no way that he would let her go now.

However, she had to try.

But then, something most unexpected happened.

As she opened her mouth in order to continue the desperate attempt, Karman suddenly looked up at the sky and froze.

“That…”

She heard him mutter, and then she looked up and saw that a black shadow seemed to be spreading in the sky.

No, according to the analysis of her telescope feature, it was a universal strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

“That must be first lieutenant Hiragi…”

“Yeah. I know because I partnered with Hiragi many times. But why here…?”

Jegyll and Karman both seemed to forget the fight as they looked up at the reconnaissance aircraft.

Jegyll was thinking of taking advantage of the moment.

Karman wondered if it was going to interfere.

However, both of their expectations were blown away in the next instant.

‘Can you hear me? Jegyll! And Karman!’

Hiragi’s voice boomed so loud that the air seemed to shake.

Jegyll and Karman looked at each other.

Then Karman’s men and Reiz and his men stopped fighting.

‘I need you to stop and listen to me! That is what General Michelle wants!’

And like this, an unexpected visitor put an end to Jegyll and Karman’s battle.

◆◆◆

Karman was with first lieutenant Hiragi once again.

“Ah, Mister Hiragi. So you were safe?”

“Yes. After telling General Michelle about your defeat, I received a different order from Jegyll by a secret line. It said to wait for the right time and then rescue you guys. But things changed once General Michelle started moving. I was told to follow you and gather information while offering support from the shadows.”

Hiragi said as he glanced towards Jegyll. He added that there had been no need to offer support after all.

Just now, a female officer who worked under Hiragi was putting the torso of Jegyll into a medical capsule. It would not be able to regenerate the lost cells, but by sending nutrients to her body, her ability to self-heal would return. Jegyll had told him as much.

“Jegyll ordered you?”

“Yes, she did.”

“…Now I remember. I did give you that order.”

Karman was confused. Hiragi nodded. Jegyll confirmed it.

“So, she really was being controlled then…?”

“That appears to be the case. It’s definitely difficult to believe, but we should get on the ship now. We can talk as we head over to where General Michelle is.”

And so Hiragi invited Karman and his men to come with them.

While Karman wasn’t completely satisfied with everything, he had known Hiragi for a long time.

He couldn’t believe that Hiragi would betray him, and so he decided to believe him.

However, Jegyll was an entirely different matter.

Or so Karman thought…

‘Jegyll, you’re safe. I’m so glad that I made it in time.’

The mechanical voice rang once Jegyll’s capsule was brought onboard.

“!?”

Karman looked surprised.

And then Jegyll’s eyes blinked and she muttered.

“…It can’t be. Is that you, Michelle?”

‘Yes. It’s thought waves. I took over this ship’s operating system.’

“What!?”

“Are you kidding…”

The mechanical voice said something most shocking.

Could it be that some artificial intelligence was trying to trick them?

No, Karman knew that this wasn’t the case. After all, while the voice was different, the manner in which it talked was clearly the same as Michelle.

And more than that, there was something about it that had a strong sense of authority.

>

Huh. Karman nodded.

“I see. That’s a… Well, you always exceed my imagination, General Michelle…”

“Well, that’s what she does. Her voice is what woke me up. So I can’t complain…”

Karman had a lot more that he wanted to say, but at this point, he had no choice but to believe.

Judging by Jegyll’s shock and how she reacted as if she were seeing a ghost, he decided that she wasn’t lying.

And it wasn’t just Jegyll.

Reiz and his men had also regained their own will after being exposed to Michelle’s thought waves.

“What have we been…”

Reiz and the others looked like they were waking from a dream.

After seeing this, Karman could not continue doubting it.

He put a cigar in his mouth and scratched his head.

“Tsk. All right then. So, General Michelle. What’s the situation?”

Karman finally bent.

He swallowed his anger towards Jegyll and decided to listen to what Michelle had to say.

And then he learned that Michelle was currently cut off from her body.

Her body was running wild and unleashing massive amounts of energy…

“…With the encryption key that I have, I could connect Michelle’s ‘brain’ to her body again. I have to hurry!!”

Jegyll said.

But it was very dangerous for Jegyll to get close to Michelle in this situation.

However…Jegyll still intended on going.

Karman also did not hesitate.

“Let’s go, Mister Hiragi.”

“We already are. And at full speed.”

Not only Karman, but Hiragi, no, everyone aboard the ship was united on this.

They would witness the fate of the world…

While Karman was reluctantly convinced…

Kristoph was also listening to Michelle’s ‘voice.’

Now just Kristoph, all the officers and men on the battlefield and all of the resistance were also listening.

This was because Michelle was using the immense amount of energy that was overflowing from her, to unleash the thought waves in every direction.

As the thought waves were so strong, those who still had intact ‘brains’ were able to return to their original selves.

Of course, those who were just following orders would now obey Michelle.

As for the resistance…

Sharma had told them that Michelle was an ally, and so they quickly realized that something strange was happening.

Thankfully, Zaza was quick to believe.

“Stop fighting! This is without a doubt, the ‘voice’ of Michelle!!”

Because of Veldora, Zaza could no longer be shaken so easily.

And so he was able to accept all of this as if it were a mundane part of his every day.

In a way, you could say he had been poisoned by Veldora. But for now, it was working in a good way.

As the resistance’s largest fighting force that Zaza was with had now stopped fighting, the Empire was also able to settle down.

And so the battle came to a close without too much chaos.

Once the fighting was finished, they were able to detect the release of unbelievably high-power energy coming from the city.

And with that realization, came the certainty that continuing to battle now would be foolish—both the resistance and Empire were in agreement on this.

“I’m worried about Michelle. We have to go and find out what is happening…”

It was as if Zaza’s words represented the will of everyone present.

And then…

They all decided to head to that location.

It was there that they would bear witness to something they could never have imagined.

◆◆◆

Damn it. What was happening?

I take my eyes off them for one week and now a whole world is about to be destroyed.

No one would understand what I’m saying, but even I don’t understand how things had come to this.

I had just escaped to take a light breather, as a present to myself. But it looks like I made a mistake in allowing Veldora and Ramiris to do as they pleased.

To think that they would lead a world to destruction…

My little trip seemed cute in comparison.

Yeah, these two were crazy.

They had no sense of what was normal.

Looking at this world that was about to be destroyed, there was something about it that was more shocking than when my body had been torn in two.

It’s no wonder Beretta had asked me for help.

……

…

…

I had absorbed the two pieces of the body and then went to the labyrinth to hear about the research results while I was away. That was when I realized that something was amiss.

Shinji had greeted me most suspiciously.

When I interrogated him, he said that Veldora and the others had gone off to another world without permission.

They had used the Different Gate, which was still being worked on, and had been waiting for me to leave.

Oh, dear. I thought.

They clearly wanted to be the first to find something new, so they could brag about it later.

I could see through them every time.

As there was no point in waiting for them to return, I analyzed the remaining magic circle and tried to pinpoint their location.

>

Master Ciel was always ahead of me.

I was not surprised. Just then, a ‘Thought Transmission’ arrived from Beretta.

‘Lord Rimuru. There is a problem. The two others are also with me…’

Beretta said.

The timing was a little suspicious, but I didn’t ask.

He had come to me for help and sounded very frantic.

It seemed that Beretta had become involved in their mess as well.

Stopping those two was a task too great for Beretta.

Had he waited for the right moment and then called me secretly?

In any case…

“Shinji. It seems that they’re causing a lot of trouble over there. I’m going to go check on them. I’ll leave the rest to you!”

I told him.

As for Shinji, he was standing in front of the new researcher I had brought—Irina. He was sweating and making excuses about something… Well, it had nothing to do with me.

His cheeks were flushed as well, but there was no point in thinking about that.

“What!? Lord Rimuru!? Yo-you’re really going to leave me in this situation alone…!?”

Farewell, Shinji!

Sorry, but I can’t save you!!

You two enjoy your time together.

Oh, he looks like he’s going to cry—well, he is crying.

In any case, I left Shinji there and used ‘Interdimensional Teleportation’ to go to where Beretta was.

I was greeted by Beretta and tried to ask him about what had happened.

However, it did not seem like we would have much time.

“The truth is…”

Just as Beretta began, I felt that the world was starting to creak.

“Hey, hey! You’ve gone too far! Does Veldora not understand…”

“Uh, no, this isn’t Lord Verldora’s doing…”

“I’m sorry you had to put up with this, Beretta. All right. I’ll go and give him a good scolding!”

“What!?”

Ramiris as well-I said. And then I jumped towards Veldora and the others.

……

…

…

And so I beat Veldora with my paper fan…

Now, what to do?

“Guh!? Rimuru!? Why are you here!?”

“It’s not my fault! I just got mixed up in this mess because of Master!!”

Veldora was surprised while Ramiris wasted no time in betraying him.

Of course, Ramiris always made excuses, and there was no mistaking that she was an accomplice.

Beretta seemed like he had meant to cover for her a little, but there were limits to what you could do.

In any case, it was then that Beretta also teleported to our location.

“Pl-please wait, Lord Rimuru! You have it wrong. We were experimenting with the magic circle and got caught in an accident!!”

Beretta said frantically as he came after me.

Hmm. An accident, huh?

Is there more to this story?

Or is he just making up excuses?

After hearing Beretta’s words, Veldora started to shout as if suddenly acquiring a will of his own.

“That’s exactly true, Rimuru. It is most hurtful that you always blame me for everything. And how can you hit me on the head like that so suddenly!”

He made a show of being angry and indignant, but his eyes looked oddly anxious.

That suggested he was at least somewhat ashamed.

And Ramiris betrayed Veldora immediately because she knew she had done something bad… It seemed like a good time to mislead them.

“I see. Sorry about that. I actually wanted to praise you for making such a wonderful magic circle… But since you say it was an accident, I guess it was just a coincidence that it turned out so well?”

So, what would be their reaction?

“That’s because of my research! It wasn’t an accident! It was all according to plan!”

“Ramiris!? We both did the research! I won’t forgive you for trying to steal all of the credit!!”

Idiots.

They took the bait too easily.

“…Lord Ramiris, Lord Veldora… That’s what you call a confession…”

Beretta muttered sadly.

“What!?”

They realized at the same time.

They let the cat out of the bag.

But Beretta was guilty too. He had tried to lighten the crime by saying it was an accident, but perhaps he should have discussed it with the others in advance.

Well, he may have had his reasons.

And…

“Well, it seems there are more pressing matters. And this really doesn’t seem like Veldora’s doing.”

I said as I looked towards the two Collapsers that were enlarging after sucking in energgy and matter from around them.

The two Collapsers were affecting each other and growing, and there was a single woman between them—the singularity of supergravity, a black hole that swallowed up everything.

“Why is this happening?”

“That’s what I want to know! Apparently, it’s called the Mobius System or something. That woman over there, Michelle; her power reactor caused it to go crazy. We were just trying to stop it!”

“Exactly. We’ve been desperately trying to stop the destruction of the world. I am very offended that you could blame it on me, Rimuru!”