Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race-Chapter 149 - A New Challenger

After flying in Ezkalor, everyone returned to their normal daily activities and training with renewed motivation, Rygar was now in the room of his house in the Sword Sanctuary.

Leaning over a wooden table containing several books and scrolls was Aisha.

Eris and Ghislaine went to train together.

Rygar was currently teaching Aisha about lightning magic, starting from what he considered the "beginning," which was a basic shock, when he heard someone unknown approaching the door.

Before he could even knock, Rygar had already opened it.

It was an adventurer, covered in snow on his cloak; he looked cold and was shivering.

"Uuuuuh, man, it's really cold here!" he said, taking some letters out of a bag.

"They said that the Red Wolf lives here, is that you?"

Rygar took the letters and said:

"Yes... that's me."

He cast a wind spell mixed with fire to blow away all the snow and briefly warm the man, then threw up a barrier magic that blocked the cold around him, saying:

"I appreciate the letters."

The man, surprised, tried to respond:

"What?!"

But Rygar slammed the door in his face and returned to the room where Aisha was. The girl was sitting, with a quill in hand, leaning over the books and papers.

Rygar sat in an armchair in the room and began examining the letters. There were many. He often received letters, mostly coming from the Great Forest.

Lately, the letters didn't bring exactly good news.

Even though the Iron Legion was growing a lot, they were also in great conflict with Milis.

He already knew there was little hope of fully restoring ties with them after everything that had happened, but it wasn't impossible.

Unfortunately, the content of the letters showed that the Temple Order, and the entire faction for the expulsion of the demonic races, had been extremely aggressive in recent years.

The Legion did not cower before the aggression shown by Milis and retaliated with equivalent force, making the conflict grow more and more.

It's not as if there weren't those who didn't want the conflict.

The Legion's diplomats had spoken with important nobles and knights in Milis at the beginning, but the expulsion faction gained a lot of influence and fame recently due to several factors, one of them being the emergence of a Miko who could see memories.

The constant casualties were used as weapons against those who tried to stop the conflict with the Legion.

So, despite the efforts, the conflict intensified more and more.

Fortunately, the Legion was stronger than ever. Although most activities outside the Great Forest had ceased, Tinaver and some nearby towns remained firm.

Milis rarely invaded the forest, as they were always easily cut down by the feral warriors of the Legion. It had become a stalemate between the Great Forest and Milis.

Many talents had grown in recent years since Rygar left Milis, and many warriors were recruited on various premises.

In any case, the Legion had a lot of combat power now, capable of withstanding Milis, due to its power, territorial advantage, and the internal divisions of Milis.

Another piece of information Rygar had received the last time the letters arrived was... disconcerting.

While he opened the letters, he looked at Aisha studying.

Last time, he received information about the stone-helmeted mage and the silver-haired mage. Their true identities? Rudeus Greyrat and Sylphiette.

Rygar still hadn't told Aisha after learning this.

He spent a long time wondering why they would attack him, and why they didn't try to negotiate if Aisha and Lilia were with him.

But he thought that they probably didn't even know the girls were with him, as they had no known names among the group at that time.

So, if he removed those two from the equation, Rygar was just another target in their perception.

According to the information he had from the deceased leader of that group, Larax, the two children likely ended up on the Begaritt Continent and ended up joining his mercenary group.

Unfortunately, they became enemies. Rygar would have liked to have tried to recruit them to the Legion if possible because of their talent.

Rygar kept thinking that, perhaps, if Hitogami had just told him directly that one of them was Rudeus and the other Sylphiette, the situation probably wouldn't have become so complicated.

But if the Human God said nothing, they would still try to ambush him anyway.

He didn't even know if the God could see that either way—he always said he could only see certain things at certain times, although his words were worth as much as shit.

Whatever the truth, Rygar always assumed the worst of Hitogami.

Rygar also seriously questioned Rudeus's and Sylphiette's intelligence; he didn't even hear their names once during the fight.

Rudeus was even called the Glass Cannon and hid his face with a Stone Helmet, and Sylphiette had somehow turned her hair silver.

Didn't they care about looking for their missing family?

He wondered if Hitogami's advice, not to kill Minister Yaylol at that time, would make the Tyranny Storm look for more information and he would end up meeting those two another way.

But now it didn't matter anyway.

Let's imagine a hypothetical situation, where nothing else happened after that.

If it had only been the ambush against him, Rygar could partially forgive them if Ghislaine agreed—after all, that Rudeus completely burned her with his magic.

And even if she agreed, Rygar would not let the boy go without tearing off some of his limbs for having injured his wife to such a degree.

Still, he would let them live if they held no grudges.

And that only out of his consideration for Lilia, his adorable disciple Aisha, and for Laws, in Milis.

But it didn't end there.

In the end, they actually went to Milis to take revenge... or at least he supposed so; what other reason would they have to go to Milis?

Rudeus and Sylphiette should have prioritized going to Fitoa, and the woman and the old man were residents of Begaritt—both destinations were on the opposite sides of Milis.

He didn't understand their reasoning. He kept thinking about what would lead them to make such a decision.

But they went.

As a consequence, Weys led a group to arrest or kill them after Rygar warned him by letters that they might seek revenge.

Considering that the objectives of that group were unknown, Rygar considered that action valid.

The only thing he would change was that, if he had known they were Rudeus and Sylphiette, he would have ordered only their capture and not their death.

But it ended up that they clashed. They fought against the Legion. And, when the Legion was about to capture them, Laws appeared and complicated the situation even more.

He ended up being killed in front of Sylphiette and Rudeus.

Rygar was a bit saddened by Laws's death; he wasn't a close friend, but he was still his friend.

The fact was, if the girl didn't hold a grudge before, now she certainly hated the Legion with all her strength.

That became evidently clear by the way she reacted afterward, killing everyone around her and fleeing to Milishion.

Aisha turned from the books and asked: "Master, is there any letter from my mother?"

Rygar checked and picked one up: "Yes, there is."

He handed the letter to the young girl, while opening a new letter from Taes.

It described mainly the progression of conflicts with Milis.

Taes had recently clashed personally with Galgard and was forced to retreat wounded. It also spoke about the progression of the Legion's strength and its most promising members.

It briefly mentioned Rudeus, Hector, and Sylphiette—who had attacked the place where the mage of their group was being held prisoner.

They attacked alongside Milis's knights.

Rygar kept thinking that those elders in Milis were much more ambitious than he had thought while reading about the countless clashes that occurred between them.

But fortunately, the Legion surprised by becoming even stronger.

About Sylphy... she had to die.

Her hatred for the Legion, thanks to her father's death, was irreversible.

And about Rudeus... Rygar would think about it in due time. Aisha didn't care much about him, so killing him shouldn't be a big problem.

Lilia would be upset... but he couldn't let them escape after they tried to kill him and became public enemies of the Legion.

No matter their motives. They were dangerous.

While reading the letter, he pondered constantly: 'Maybe... if I rescue that Paul and Zenith, she will forgive me for killing Rudeus? Well, I don't even know if they're alive... I'll leave that choice to my future self.'

He continued reading the letters. Kilian's letter spoke about the many powerful warriors emerging in the Great Forest and about him going to the front lines to help Taes, leaving Gustav in command of the Legion there.

It also spoke about Linia, Lisena, and Pursena, who were getting stronger by the day.

The letter from his mother, Selene, began joyfully, saying that his father, Hontar, had become a North Saint.

Apparently, when Rygar left, everyone pressured him saying that his son was leaving him far behind.

Despite trying not to be affected, he trained intensely, trying to improve at all costs to reach Rygar, even if just a little—and he really succeeded.

Selene also joyfully wrote that she was pregnant again! Rygar was pleasantly surprised. He was going to have a new little brother or sister!

The rest was about everyday life.

In his master's letter, Verdia wrote about the many children with enormous potential she was teaching magic after Rygar's departure—Kilian, Lisena, Linia, Pursena, and other talented ones taken in by Kilian throughout the Great Forest.

But she commented that she had never found a talent as great as Rygar's until now.

At the end, she also advised him to return to Milis as soon as he finished his training.

Even though the Legion was holding up very well, it would still be good to put an end to it as quickly as possible.

She also said she would travel to the Demon Continent to invite an old friend to help against Milis.

She asked about daily life, how the journey was, and Rygar's heart warmed as he noted the obvious concern in her writing.

Rygar had many other letters—from Peikak, from the Dragon King's Realm, from various places. Some he simply ignored and burned. Others he wrote fitting responses.

When he finished, Aisha was still leaning over a book. He said: "Aiz, what did Lilia's letter say?"

Aisha answered excitedly: "Mom asked about my progress and told how life in the dojo is, she says she still hasn't found any information about Paul, Zenith, and Rudeus. And says that rumors about us have even reached the Asura Kingdom!"

Rygar pondered for a while as he looked into Aisha's green eyes: "Aiz, would you obey me regardless of the decision I made?"

She replied: "No!"

Rygar raised an eyebrow.

The little one continued, with a mischievous smile: "If master asked me to abandon him, I would refuse to the end!"

Rygar smiled maliciously and slowly stood up: "Trying to deceive your master...?"

Aisha froze: "N-n-no...?"

Rygar approached and stroked her head, saying: "Grab your sword. Let's train."

At that moment, Rygar heard something interesting coming from the entrance of the Sword Sanctuary.

He was always hearing much more than others, but skillful enough to suppress those sounds and listen selectively.

It seemed that a new challenger had arrived at the Sanctuary.

Rygar spoke while looking into the distance, seeming interested, "Change of plans, Aiz, let's go to the entrance of the Sanctuary..."

---

POV: Rygar Adoldia

I wasn't in a hurry.

The cold wind blew as Aisha and I walked toward the entrance of the Sword Sanctuary.

Although I knew there was an unusual visitor there, I didn't feel a thirst for blood.

Sometimes some idiot would show up wanting to kill all the enemies he defeated, but he was quickly killed by someone more skilled.

Whoever it was, he wasn't there with the intention to kill.

In other words, he was just another normal challenger, although nothing I heard, smelled, or felt seemed 'normal' about him, even the atmosphere seemed to change around the presence I felt.

In the distance, I could hear quick footsteps and soon recognized the scent—Nina.

She ran to the main gate, probably having heard the commotion as well and went to check. Her voice rose in a cautious, distrustful tone.

As I got closer, I could clearly hear what was being said.

"Bwahahahaha! I'm looking for a certain Rygar! My nephew... no, great-nephew? Well! A relative of mine told me he would be here!" said a thunderous, energetic voice.

"Why are you looking for him?" Nina replied cautiously, her hand firm on the sword hilt.

It was rare to see her so tense, but I could see the reason. This guy, he was strong.

And then I saw the entire situation.

The scene didn't catch me by surprise because I had already been hearing everything from a distance.

The field in front of the gate looked like a cemetery of warriors. Dozens of bodies lay scattered on the ground, limp, unconscious or completely knocked out.

They were all swordsmen from the outer dojos of the Sanctuary, defeated in succession. None of them appeared mortally wounded, however.

And there, among the bodies, was the one responsible.

A demon.

Very tall, imposing, with an aura as powerful as it was eccentric.

His skin was black as obsidian. He had six arms—the upper ones crossed over his chest, the middle ones pointing directly at us, and the lower ones resting relaxed on his hips.

His long hair, down to his waist, was a deep purple shade and swayed in the constant cold wind.

As soon as my feet touched the gate, his eyes turned to me.

"Hahahahaha! I see you have Golden Demon Eyes, boy!" he exclaimed laughing with a wide grin, his canines clearly visible.

"So you must be Rygar Adoldia! I am the Immortal Demon King, Badigadi! I heard about you from my great-nephew, the North King, Lwis!

With each word, he marched toward me, his feet sinking slightly into the earth with each powerful step.

"I challenge you to a duel!" he roared, stopping a few meters from me.

For a moment, no one spoke. Neither Nina, nor Aisha, nor the warriors watching from afar. The tension permeated the place and it was... delicious.

I smiled as I imagined a fight with this guy.

"Straight to the point, huh?"

-----

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