Singularity (Rimuru x Arifureta)

Chapter 22 | Declaration

This was never what I wanted.

Death was what I wanted.

I thought I had it, didn't I? Only to be reborn here.

I always found it strange, but now it all made sense.

It was you, Raphael, wasn't it? 

You pulled some strings to ensure my resurrection.

How cruel, how selfish, how twisted.

That's right, this was never what I wanted.

Even in death, I want you to regret it, lament it, repent it.

For whom? For what?

For your life, I would've slaughtered a billion souls.

Dying together with you would've been my final peace, but you just had to ruin it by leaving me all alone.

Maybe I am meant to find meaning in your demise.

That, too, would give meaning to my lone existence.

But don't you worry, Raphael.

I will be the one to finish what we started.

I've failed you in life,

I will not fail you in death.

In time, I'll be seeing you soon.

In time, I'll be joining you in the stars,

Raphael. 

We'll be happy again.

.........

......

...

"I knew it." The new Rimuru, released from Gleipner, walked on thin air. His presence emanating a new level of power completely different from the one before. Each of his steps were powerful and full of confidence. His air seemed to disregard the beings before him as insignificant pests.

"I always knew I couldn't trust prophecies." He said, looking directly to the souls of these forgotten souls. Those eyes of his.... his eyes held no killing intent. There wasn't any malice whatsoever. Neither was there any emotion. It was as empty as how he felt. The feeling of loss that overwhelmed all others.

The overwhelming mana he radiated before vanished into thin air like nothing. It was as if a seemingly uncontrollable storm of cosmical proportions randomly vanished. It was completely abnormal. The primordial angels, which could be called the highest of light-based beings, feel completely hopeless in the face of a presence-less being in front of them. This was an enemy now beyond them. 

The fully realized potential of Rimuru. 

What's more dangerous is that this evolved Rimuru is feeling conflicted of the world around him. He views everything as nothing. To him, it seemed nothing held meaning. A complete feeling of nihilism, and a crisis presented like never before. If let free with his current state of mind, Rimuru could very well be the very thing he fought to prevent in his previous life, the end of the world.

But, contrary to Zalario's views, it seemed Rimuru was still rational. Its just that his feeling of loss was so incomprehensible that it wasn't weird to come to those conclusions. 

I exagerrated, Zalario thought.

"Ah, I should've seen this coming afterall... It was like this with Shizu, now that I remember it." Rimuru said with a tinge of nostalgia. A complex symphony of emotions visible in his eyes.