Chapter 120 - Slaughter

Hinata rolled her eyes as she saw who had taken the first strike. Just as she had expected. The Luminaries, all seven of them, stood in front of her.

"Of course it's you seven," she muttered under her breath.

As she glanced at the group of seven, Rimuru was facing his own set of enemies.

"Oh, an Insectar!" Rimuru said with amusement. In front of him stood an insect-like creature, similar to one of his subordinates, Zegion.

Beside the Insectar stood five Saint-level humans, each clad in legendary spiritual-grade armor.

"Let's start this, shall we?" Rimuru stood casually, his sword resting on his shoulder. He gave a small, mocking gesture, inviting the enemies to attack.

Razul lunged forward, his fist tightly clenched and aimed directly at Rimuru's chest. Rimuru raised a brow, sidestepping with ease to dodge the attack. With a smirk on his face, he twisted his body and landed a swift kick to Razul's side.

"Not bad," he said nonchalantly.

Razul grunted as he was sent flying several meters away, crashing into the ground.

One of the saints, a massive man wielding a greatsword, swung at Rimuru with deadly force. Rimuru barely moved, stepping back just enough to let the sword miss. The slash carved deeply into the ground.

"Saints... you were foot soldiers back in Citadel," Rimuru remarked casually as he swung his own sword in a counterattack. The saint was able to absorb the hit thanks to his armor, but he was still pushed back by the force. "But I guess in this world, you're at the middle-top of the food chain, huh?"

Another saint seized the opportunity and dashed toward him, aiming to pierce Rimuru's body with a swift thrust. As Rimuru prepared to counter, another saint moved in behind him to strike.

Rimuru grinned, seeing the coordination between the saints. With one hand, he blocked the attack from behind using his sword, while simultaneously holding the blade of the saint in front of him.

"Sneak attacks, huh?" Rimuru laughed. Then, with a snap of his wrist, he broke the blade in his hand and tossed the shattered weapon at the saint in front of him. The saint dodged and quickly retreated, visibly shaken by the display of strength.

Seizing the opportunity, Rimuru turned and slashed at the saint behind him. The saint's face filled with shock as Rimuru's legendary-grade sword cut through his opponent's armor.

"Don't compare your armor to my sword," Rimuru said, a smug grin tugging at his lips. "Even if it's legendary-grade, this is one of the highest tiers of the legendary grade."

The remaining saints continued their assault, with two flanking him on opposite sides. Rimuru glanced at the two curiously, sensing the approach of Razul from behind.

He saw the attack coming and jumped high into the air, flying upward. Razul followed in pursuit, launching a barrage of punches and kicks at Rimuru.

"Zegion is much stronger, but I guess comparing you two isn't fair," Rimuru mused, now taking the fight more seriously. His aura surged into his sword, and he began to deliver powerful, precise strikes toward Razul.

Razul looked at his exoskeleton-covered arms with a mixture of shock and uneasiness as slash wounds began to appear, blood pouring from them. He quickly turned to evade another deadly strike aimed at his body.

Rimuru grinned, enjoying the reaction. "What? Never been injured before?"

Frustration began to boil over inside Razul as he realized the growing gap in strength between him and Rimuru. In a desperate bid, he leaped directly at Rimuru, aiming to finish him off by attacking his head.

But Rimuru, without even using his sword, landed a powerful unarmed punch directly to Razul's face. The impact sent Razul flying several meters away, crashing into the ground with a loud thud, followed by a cloud of dust and smoke.

Dazed and unsteady, Razul staggered to his feet, his mind spinning, his vision blurry.

The saints, watching their strongest attacker, who they had been told was incredibly tough and durable, barely able to stand, hesitated for a brief moment. However, they quickly regained their composure and attempted another coordinated attack.

Rimuru, on the other hand, was growing bored with their persistence. He sighed lazily, raising his sword above his head. The saints watched his every movement carefully, and suddenly, he vanished.

The next thing they knew, two of the five saints had fallen to the ground, their heads severed and rolling away. The sound of their heads hitting the ground echoed through the area as the remaining saints grew anxious, unable to see where Rimuru had gone.

"Damn it!" one of the remaining saints cursed. "Sir-Dam—"

Before he could finish, Rimuru appeared right in front of him. The saint's chest burned with intense pain as he looked down, seeing Rimuru's sword deeply embedded in his torso.

"Ghak..!" the saint gasped, his body crumpling to the ground.

Rimuru removed his sword effortlessly, and the saint fell lifelessly.

"I don't even want to bother with you two," Rimuru yawned, nonchalantly pointing at the two remaining saints and snapping his fingers.

Out of nowhere, the four Onis, who had been presumed to have returned to the forest, suddenly leaped from their hiding spots. The two saints stared wide-eyed, realizing they hadn't sensed the Onis' presence earlier.

The Onis raised their weapons and swiftly ended the lives of the two saints.

....

Hinata stood nearby, watching with a mix of pity and amusement as the saints struggled against Rimuru. She could only imagine the overwhelming sense of powerlessness one would feel, fighting against such a godlike being, even a weaker version of him.

Her gaze shifted to the seven Luminaries surrounding her, each preparing their own magic to unleash upon her.

"Will you start with disintegration?" Hinata raised a single brow, her tone laced with sarcasm.

Offended by her words, one of the Luminaries launched a massive fireball at her. It engulfed her body in flames, but Hinata swiftly swung her rapier, slicing through the fire and extinguishing it with ease.

"Pathetic," she muttered, unimpressed.

"Ocean's Wrath!" Another Luminary cast, summoning a torrent of water that came crashing toward her from behind. Hinata, unfazed, turned and sliced through the wave with her blade, splitting it in two. Without skipping a beat, she dashed forward toward the Luminary who had fired the flames.

"Great Wind!" The winds picked up violently, trying to halt her progress. The ground beneath her began to shake as massive spikes shot up from the earth. Hinata leapt backward to avoid them, her movements fluid and graceful.

"Holy Cannon!" One of the Luminaries, finally getting serious, launched a concentrated burst of holy energy at her. Hinata dodged with ease, rushing at the Luminary. Her rapier met resistance as a barrier formed around him, shielding him from her attack.

But it was futile. With a single swift strike, Hinata's rapier shattered the barrier, piercing through the Luminary's body. She made sure to strike several more times, ensuring the spiritual being was fully destroyed.

"That was as pathetic as I expected," she sighed, clearly disappointed.

Furious at her words, the remaining Luminaries began casting a spell in unison, and a massive holy magical circle formed beneath her. Hinata couldn't help but chuckle lightly at their attempt.

"Disintegration, it is then," she remarked with a small smirk.

As she spoke, the Luminaries completed their incantation. Three of them released their disintegration spells in unison, their voices ringing out together: "Trinity Disintegration!"

Hinata exhaled deeply, raising her hand to where the attack was coming from.

"Subjugate." The holy light came to a halt just a foot above her. With a smooth, effortless motion, she took control of the disintegration spell and redirected it toward one of the Luminaries. The holy light curved and struck him, erasing him from existence without leaving a trace.

"Impossible!" one of the Luminaries who had fired the spell shouted in disbelief.

"It is," Hinata said, tapping her foot lightly. The disintegration spell reactivated above her, and she pointed at the next Luminary.

"Ahh..." The Luminary fell to the ground, crawling in terror as his legs gave out. "No... NOO!"

"Trinity Break!" Several beams of light shot toward her. With a swift motion, Hinata swiped her sword to deflect the barrage. At the same time, she activated her Ultimate Skill: Subjugate King Absolom. The absorbed energy flowed into her sword, charging it with raw power.

She pointed her sword again, now glowing brightly with holy energy.

"Holy Ray."

This time, the energy did not explode from the blade. Instead, Hinata's speed, faster than the Luminaries could follow, allowed her to reach them before they could react. With precision, she targeted their cores, delivering devastating strikes. One by one, the Luminaries fell to the ground, gasping for any trace of life.

"Don't bother," she said coldly, beginning to drain their life force from them.

Soon, their bodies shriveled up, turning to mummified remains, then bones, and finally dust, leaving only their vestments fluttering in the wind.

Hinata glanced toward Rimuru and saw that he was beginning to wrap up his own fight.

"This was such a pointless ambush, orchestrated by idiots in power. Politics are a nightmare," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Now, now," Rimuru said as he suddenly appeared behind her, ruffling her hair with a grin. "While their invasion and the church's involvement were idiotic, I have to admit, it was fun."

Hinata pushed his hand away, clearly annoyed. "Yeah, well, we lost good Holy Knights just for their greed."

Rimuru raised an eyebrow. "I did tell them to be more lenient when fighting Holy Knights. At best, you lost 20-30% of the forces you brought, and those were stationed in the rear. As for the ones in the advance team and the main army... well, they're gone."

Hinata clicked her tongue, the weight of the loss sinking in. Even average Holy Knights were valuable fighters. Losing that many meant hundreds had died unnecessarily, just to prove that Rimuru and she weren't allies, but enemies.

She turned to Rimuru with a cold, almost sadistic expression on her face. "Make sure the Falmuth idiots suffer. Make their lives hell."

Rimuru laughed lightly, a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Is Humanity's protector really supposed to be saying that?"

Hinata's gaze darkened, her tone as cold as ice. "I can't do my job if they're doing this kind of thing. My request is reasonable: if possible, have the king die after torturing himself by accident."

Rimuru continued his laughter, then he stopped and turned to the Insectar Razul. He stared at him coldly, and with a snap of his fingers, he severed the connection of the person who was using the Insectar's sight to watch them.

"We have ourselves a hostage." He smiled as he cracked his knuckles, walking toward Razul.

After beating up Razul, he returned to Sear. Hinata said her goodbye and followed the retreating Holy Knights. Rimuru had told her that he would only need to chase them halfway to Blumund, after which they could return.

"Welcome back, Master," Ciel greeted him as he tossed Razul into their underground prison.

"Brought home an Insectar. How's the battle?" Rimuru asked as he looked at the cells full of people. Razul was taken away and put on one that can hold him.

They were muttering to themselves as they huddled in the corners of their cells, making themselves as small as possible.

"No... no more..."

"Please... I just..."

"Where... ahh..."

"I want to go home..."

Several other mutterings and pathetic pleas could be heard throughout the prison. Rimuru couldn't help but feel proud at the sight before him. Carrera and Ultima had truly shown them fear like never before.

"We have about fifty nobles, a hundred children of nobles, ten military generals, some minor princes, and the King of Falmuth," Ciel listed, giving Rimuru a categorized list by their status and location in the prison.

"Are they being treated well?" Rimuru skimmed through the list.

"Ultima has brought a few hundred common soldiers infected by her poison who are near their cells. They can hear and see them, cursing and groaning in pain," Ciel told him, pointing at the opposite side of the prison that held more than ten purplish-skinned soldiers per cell. "Carrera has also been coming to do minor torture every hour, while Ultima lights a scented poison candle that causes an increase in their pain receptors."

Rimuru whistled at their ingenuity. "They sure have been creative."

"This is only minor stages used in Citadel to create saint-level soldiers," Ciel corrected matter-of-factly. After all, intense pain and life-or-death situations help force the body to evolve. "This much, however, won't cause them to evolve. I made sure it doesn't."

Rimuru was feeling nostalgic. After all, he had memories of the time when they were still in Citadel, working and creating departments to manage the multiverse.

"Set free ten or twenty soldiers per day around the border, they can be a useful way to spread fear and rumors." Rimuru left the prison, planning his next move.

A/N: Honestly, Hinata is too OP to even have a hard time with the Luminaries. Granbell is also not in his main body so he won't put out a real fight. He is however stressing right now.