“Whoa, lady,” earring guy said. “You got guts, I’ll admit that, but if you wanna take back what you said, now’s the time.”
“Let me show you magicules aren’t the only deciding factor in a battle!” she snorted back.
I remember a certain red-colored ogre saying something similar a while back. But regardless, we now had an audience of rubberneckers here in this arena, ready to watch Shion fight off these three would-be pretenders coming for my throne.
Shion wiped the floor with them.
The fat guy with the lip piercing moved far more nimbly than looks would suggest, charging at Shion like a cannonball. Shion just kicked him away and sent him flying straight into the earring dude. Then, seizing that single open moment, she plunged her fist into the stomach of the nose-ring man, too stunned to react in time. Grabbing earring man by the arm and collar, she executed a perfect judo throw on him, smashing his head against the stone floor. He lay there, motionless.
“Arrrgh! What did you do to my brother?!”
The fat man with the lip piercing grabbed Shion from behind, attempting to lift her up. Shion’s brute strength stymied him.
“Wh-what the—?! But I’m so much stronger than you…!”
Shion glared at the man and snickered. Shifting position, she locked arms with him, and the test of strength began.
“Hnn…nnnnggghh…”
Snap!
Sadly, it wasn’t long before the fat man’s arms both bent in ways they shouldn’t have. They were all magic-born, so I figured they’d be all right, but judging by the way he was screaming and writhing around, it must’ve done a lot of damage.
But Shion didn’t even take a moment to marvel at her work before another pistonlike fist slammed home. Before the fat man could shout anything else, she landed a one-two finish on him like none other. The earring guy attempted a screamer of a kick on her body, but Shion simply bent backward and let it whiz past her. But the guy was smiling. His leg, still in the air, came down like a vicious battle ax, aimed squarely at Shion’s head.
There was a loud, dull thuddd! Shion’s stonelike head had just shattered the man’s leg. She executed a low kick to shatter the other one and sent him crashing to the ground. Without missing a beat, Shion straddled him, landing a flurry of punches on his head and body.
That sealed the deal.
Without even needing to take out her enhanced Goriki-maru sword, Shion had beaten the crap out of those three guys. Clearly, she had grown stronger. Smashing these opponents, all of whom equaled or beat her in magic force, didn’t even quicken her breathing. And she took all three down at the same time, no less.
“B-Benimaru?! Shion’s…?”
“Yes, this is quite a surprise. I see she went quite easy on them after all.”
That’s not what I’m talking about! This isn’t Milim there, on the arena stage! Benimaru clearly had a different definition of “going easy” than me. That wasn’t at all what I meant, but…ah well. No point wasting my breath.
Seriously, though, Shion’s amazing. No joke. She just proved that you can easily overwhelm an opponent otherwise your equal through prudent use of your magical force. Whipping Clayman must’ve helped her grow a lot. Benimaru’s non-reaction to it indicated he was expecting this all along, too.
I didn’t like it much, but Shion was now as powerful as an ex–demon lord—and by definition, Benimaru as well. Hell, maybe even Soei and Geld. Or maybe I’m overthinking it? Watching Shion grow must be wrecking my mind or something. Or not. Better stop thinking too much about it.
“I’m sorry, was that not enough?”
Shion must have been taking my disturbed look wrong, as she eyed the three heaps sprawled on the ground.
“No, no, that’s fine!” I hurriedly shouted. That was more than enough, yes. “And if you guys have had enough, then stop getting in our way! Also, the other demon lords are even worse than that, so try not to fall out of line again, okay?”
The earring guy (the first to regain consciousness) rapidly nodded. That advice was for their own good, really. I guess they got cocky enough to think they could take on a demon lord, but good thing they picked me first. If they went to someone else, their punishment would’ve been a lot harsher than Shion’s.
“You guys are even stronger than Dad said,” the earring guy muttered.
“So Rimuru himself is…?”
“Yeah… He’s even better.”
“Fwehhh-heh-heh! I’m getting hungry.”
Now all three beheld me with respect. One of them was still acting a little strange, but no point worrying about it. I really didn’t want to bother with them any longer, but I felt it prudent to at least look into their backgrounds.
“So who pointed you here?”
I hoped they would be honest with me. I didn’t have to hope for long.
“Ah yes! We’re the sons of the demon lord Daggrull. I am Daggra, the eldest.”
“I am Liura, the second oldest.”
“And I’m Chonkra, the youngest!”
Just as I thought.
“Um, you sure you want to be so open with your identities like that?”
“Sure,” Daggra replied. “Dad actually ordered us to go train under you, the demon lord Rimuru.”
“We kind of caused a ruckus back home, and he got royally mad…”
“Fweh-heh! So he kicked us out!”
That was…refreshingly honest of them. So basically, Daggrull had had it up to here with his problem children, so he was forcing them on me. What the hell? It’s not like we knew each other that well or anything. Where did he get off?
…But maybe I could make him owe me a favor now, huh? It’s not like we were that stable of a presence yet—I didn’t think it wise to make an enemy out of one of the strongest people in the world. Plus, while I didn’t want to spend another minute with these guys, I had the perfect drill sergeant in Shion right here. I’d seen her train Gobzo and the others, but she was so mean to
