Ch O3: The Six Flame Chasers

...---This chapter is Written by Void-King---...

...___________...

In the dense forest filled with monsters, we see a beautiful girl with long white hair. She is wearing a white dress with a black sailor collar and a teal necktie, a black high-waist skirt, black thigh-high boots, and detached black-trimmed miko-like sleeves with black ribbon scarves and teal ribbon bows.

She is holding two katanas, each with a different color. In her left hand, she holds a white katana, and in her right hand, she holds a red katana.

She is facing off against a group of monsters ranging from A to SS class.

***

My name is Rimuru Tempest, or now known as Ariana and The Chaos Creator in the Cardinal's world.

Right now, I'm fighting hordes of monsters, ranging from beast-type monsters like the Dark Wolf to insect-type monsters like the Bladed Mantis. Each monster I encounter serves as a way for me to familiarize myself with this new body that I have.

While lost in my thoughts, one of the Bladed Mantises swings its spiky arms towards me.

I jump backward to avoid it and swing Moonlight to generate a deadly Wind Slash.

Moonlight is the white soul weapon that belongs to the real Ariana. I'm able to use her soul weapon since our souls have fused into one.

As I deliver my wind slash, a Black Bear called a Horned Bear swings its paws towards me

A Black Bear is bear five times larger than an average Earth Bear with razor-sharp claws and a black spiky horn on its forehead.

I use the Red Katana in my right hand to block its attack, but it's too powerful and sends me flying a few meters away.

I use my Wind Magic to stop my body from flying further and as a booster to propel myself toward the Horned Bear. I use Moonlight to cut its head off.

Using the momentum, I twist my body to the right to cut down all the remaining monsters with my two katanas.

After a few minutes, I manage to defeat all of them.

After defeating all the monsters, I store their bodies in my storage and return Moonlight to its scabbard on my hips.

Then, I look at the Red Katana on my right hand. Its name is Alette, the Sword of Reality. As the name implies, it's a sword capable of bending reality to a certain extent.

This is also a soul weapon that belongs to Amakawa Mizaki, the person who was controlling this body before I took over.

If my memories serve me right, Mizaki lives on Earth, it's not the same Earth I once lived on, but a different one. On her Earth, something called a Dungeon appeared one day and started wreaking havoc all around the world.

Modern weapons such as tanks, aircraft, and guns didn't affect the monsters at all.

And when humanity lost all hope of surviving that madness, six individuals appeared.

They killed monsters and protected civilians using their weapons.

Later on, those six individuals became known as the Six Flame Chasers, also known as the Six Legendary Heroes who saved the Earth from its destruction.

Each of them has the power to harness flames that control specific elements of our existence, and those flames manifest in the form of a soul weapon.

The Green Flame harnesses the power of time, and its soul weapon takes the form of a green double pistol wielded by a person named Tatsuya.

As the name suggests, it has the power to control time. Its wielder can manipulate time at will, but it is limited by the user's mastery of controlling its power.

The Blue Flame harnesses the power of space, and its soul weapon takes the form of a blue bow with infinite arrows wielded by a person named Mizuki.

The Blue Flame is considered one of the most useful powers among the six since the user can bend space at will and use teleportation to travel from one place to another.

The Yellow Flame harnesses the power of the soul, and its soul weapon takes the form of a scythe wielded by a person named Minoru.

The Yellow Flame is known as the most mysterious among the six since even Minoru doesn't know how to properly control it. All that is known is that the Yellow Flame can harness the soul of a person; its other abilities are yet to be discovered.

The Fourth Flame is known as the Purple Flame,

which enhances the power of its user. Its soul weapon is a battle axe used by Astrid.

The Purple Flame is the most useful in combat because it can amplify the user's abilities and buff other flame users.

The fifth Flame is known as the Orange Flame, capable of harnessing the power of the mind. As the name implies, it can harness the power of its user's mind. The stronger the user's mind, the stronger they become. It takes the form of a golden sword, and its user is known as Yuuya.

The last of the six flames is known as the Flame of Reality. It has a crimson red color and is considered the strongest among all the six flames. It has the ability to control reality to a certain extent. Its soul weapon takes the form of a red katana and its user is Amakawa Mizaki.

***

As I look at the red katana in my right hand, memories of Mizaki start flooding into my head.

Mizaki was a young and cheerful girl loved by everyone around her, her friends and the other five Flame Chasers considered her their family.

However, the cheerful persona she displayed was nothing but a mask to hide her suffering.

Mizaki was born into a struggling family, living in poverty since birth. Her mother died when she was young, and her father, is an alcoholic, who would beat her whenever he was drunk.

Despite the hardships, she continued to live and face every obstacle that came her way.

During high school, the world took an unprecedented turn when portals appeared out of nowhere, unleashing hordes of monsters that started destroying everything in their path.

During one of the early outbreaks, she was attacked by hordes of monsters. Unable to escape, she accepted the reality that she would die a hopeless death.

At that moment, she awakened her powers, a power that would later become one of humanity's symbols of hope and a source of envy and jealousy for some.

Mizaki, along with five other people, used their powers to save humanity from its fated destruction. When everything returned to normal, people around the world also started awakening, but the Six Legendary Heroes were still considered the strongest.

People believed the heroes were invincible and untouchable, given their powers far surpassing those of the monsters from the portals.

However, that belief shattered when a giant portal appeared out of nowhere, releasing monsters ten times stronger than any seen before.

Even the six heroes tried to save humanity once more, but they stood no chance against these monsters.

Mizaki took all of humanity's hope, and using her power to its full potential to close the portal and erase the monsters from reality.

But for using such great power, there must be a price to pay. For Mizaki, that price was her life.

On her dying breath, all she could do was wait for her team to arrive. When they did, Mizaki was on the brink of death.

Unable to move her body, she felt her life slowly escaping from her Grasps, but she held on, wanting to see her teammates and the man she loved one more time.

"Mizaki, hang on. We will heal you," the man she loved said to her.

But she stopped him, knowing that nothing could heal her.

She extended her hand to hold Yuuya's hand, who was trying to heal her.

"It's okay, Yuuya-kun."

"No, don't talk. I'll heal you, and you will be back to normal again," Yuuya said as he held Mizaki, whose body was now covered in cracks with a red glow.

"Tatsuya, what are you doing? Use your power to revise her time. Hurry," Yuuya pleaded to Tatsuya, urging him to use his time-manipulating ability to save Mizaki.

However, Tatsuya shook his head from side to side.

"I'm sorry, Yuuya. My power can't revise her time because she is being erased from our reality," Tatsuya said, aware of the power Mizaki used, as she had told him about it.

"No... No, this can't be, Mizaki," Yuuya cried while holding the dying girl.

"It's okay, Yuuya-kun. I know this will happen," Mizaki said weakly.

"I hate my life. I hate who I am. I hate the people who made me suffer."

Mizaki continued to talk as more cracks appeared on her body.

"Yuuya-kun, you know I hate this world so much, but at the same time, I also love it. But If there is a next life, I will probably never return here."

"I'm going to forget about everyone. That's why forget about me too, okay?"

"How could I forget about you," Yuuya said, crying.

"This is not something to be sad about because I'm only going to a better place, okay?"

"Once I'm gone, please visit me once in a while. But for now, live well." Mizaki Smile while Tears falls from her eyes.

Each word Mizaki spoke hurt the people around her, especially Yuuya, who love her.

Mizaki's body started to glow, gradually disappearing.

"No... No... Mizaki, please don't go," Yuuya pleaded.

"Don't cry. I'll be going first. Bye-bye till next time... I love you, Yuuya-kun."

Mizaki said as she closed her eyes, and her body disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

On that day, the whole world mourned her death.

However, fate had something else in store for Mizaki. She reincarnated in the body of a villainess in a game she loved so much, a game she thought was too realistic to be just a game.

She did her best to change Arian's fate, but it always ended with her being betrayed by the people she thought were her allies.

The crown prince, who was supposed to be her fiancé, accused her. If things progressed as in the game, Ariana and Mizaki's fate would end in death.

Unable to use her powers, which were locked away after her reincarnation, there was only one way to stop this: she wishes for someone to change their fate by using her soul and body as a sacrifice.

***

And here I am, the one who accidentally granted her wish.

Standing in this vast forest, the two people whose souls merge with mine have their own stories and have suffered a lot.

Looking back at it now, I notice that my personality is also beginning to change. I, the great Demon Lord Rimuru Tempest, am having an identity crisis.

And Ciel is being awfully quiet. She didn't speak to me after I entered the forest. I don't know what she is up to, but I guess I'll just leave her be.

Also, to add to my frustration, this forest is too huge. It's been two days since I entered this forest, and I haven't even seen the end of it.

All I did was fight monsters over and over again. I'm starting to get stressed out.

I wanted to explore this world while changing the fate of both Ariana and Mizaki, but how am I supposed to explore this world when I can't even come out of this damn forest?

As I was complaining to myself, I could hear the sound of a horse and wagon from afar with my enhanced hearing.

I run towards where the sound is coming from, using magic to speed up, and after a few minutes, I found the exit of the forest.

And once I'm out, I can see a huge wall and a huge city.

"Wow, this feels like a fantasy game," I said with amazement.

...---End---...

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