The moment Michel's figure came into view, Carmen and the others snapped to attention in unison, bowing their heads.
Michel returned the salute.
Tension filled the air—and was instantly swept away by Veldora's booming laughter.
"Kuhaa-hahahaha! Michel, was it? Quite the bigwig has come to visit, hasn't she? How about it? It seems my calculations were right on the money—these people served as perfect bait! My name is Veldora! How convenient—I've been meaning to tell you—"
That flippant, arrogant tone was enough to drain the color from Zaza and the others in an instant.
It wasn't just Zaza—even Carmen's group had their eyes wide with shock.
"D-don't say stupid things! Shut up! You're useless, so just shut up!!"
Zaza scrambled to clamp a hand over Veldora's mouth.
And then
Michel's name was known to every last member of the Resistance.
She was one of the famed Four Great Generals—supposedly the strongest among them—and the Flash of the Battlefield.
Her epithet, "Burst Flash Princess," was no idle boast.
It was said that her combat capabilities were enough to take on an entire army single-handedly.
That was why Michel never traveled with bodyguards.
It wasn't merely that she didn't need them—it was that they would actually get in the way.
Angering someone like that would reduce this hideout to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Zaza's fear was entirely justified.
"I'm... hurt. We've only known each other for two days, and already I feel like I'm being treated worse and worse..."
Veldora sulked, but Zaza wasn't about to humor him.
"That's because you never listen to anyone!"
she snapped, silencing Veldora with a sharp rebuke.
In just a single day of dealing with him, Zaza had learned exactly how to handle Veldora.
Gentleness didn't work on this one.
No—beyond that, if you didn't make things crystal clear, he would twist your words into whatever interpretation suited him best.
Zaza understood this through painful experience.
And so, the already careless way Zaza dealt with Veldora had finally devolved into the way one handles a troublemaker.
"Enough! Don't interfere with me!"
"You idiot! If we leave it to you, things will end badly!"
"Hmph—how dare you say that to the great me—"
And so their bickering continued to escalate.
*(Damn it, damn it! If I weren't being restrained right now, you'd be drowning in a sea of blood!)* Veldora was on the verge of angry tears.
In the end, he'd been verbally outmaneuvered by Zaza once again, and it seemed he would lose his chance to shine yet another time—until...
"Heh heh heh. Garbage worms, all of you. Just as one would expect of creatures burrowing in the earth—they swarm toward garbage for bait."
Michel's words changed everything.
Her cold pronouncement was enough to make some of the children begin to cry.
The adults rushed forward, placing themselves protectively in front of the children.
They knew it was futile, but they were trying to buy time.
Yet Michel ignored the adults entirely, turning her gaze toward Carmen's group instead.
Then she pressed her index finger to her lips— "—!?"
"Hmph. Traitors. Not worth keeping alive as subjects of the Empire. Die right here!"
Her voice was devoid of any emotion.
Then she closed one eye and gave Carmen a signal.
"—!! Y-you son of a—!! W-we didn't betray anyone!!"
Carmen shouted in a panicked tone.
Michel gave a small nod in response.
Then she crossed her lithe fingers and snapped them together.
In that instant, violet lightning arced from between her fingers and detonated in a brilliant flash right in front of Carmen's group.
"Gwaaaah!!"
Carmen and the others screamed as they were blown away—or rather, flung themselves to the ground, tumbling across the earth.
Their cries were spirited enough, but the movements were conspicuously theatrical.
"Heh heh heh. That settles the Empire's embarrassments. The nuisance has been dealt with—now then, let's remove the real threat. Which one of you is Beretta?"
Michel said this after casting only a cursory glance at Carmen's tumbling group.
They were clearly unharmed, but Michel didn't seem to care.
Watching this, Shalma and the others began to wonder—could Michel be putting on an act?
*Could it be—* thinking this, they swallowed hard and decided to watch how things unfolded.
"I am Beretta."
After glancing back and forth between Michel and Veldora, Beretta identified herself.
Even Beretta had to admit that letting Veldora continue like this would be unwise.
However, the opponent before her was an existence that exceeded her own—a being on the level of an Awakened Demon Lord.
Raw strength wasn't determined by energy volume alone—they would have to actually fight to know who was superior. That was precisely why backing down now felt like conceding defeat, which was unacceptable.
More importantly, Beretta could read the room—and it was obvious that Michel was performing.
*I could probably play along with her act, but can Veldora-sama manage that...?* Beretta felt a flicker of unease.
After all, Veldora was so notoriously oblivious to social cues that people literally said he couldn't read the atmosphere.
Leaving things to him here could, if he mishandled it, cause the opponent to get serious.
But then again, Veldora's frustration had already reached its boiling point...
Either way, it was a dangerous gamble.
*This has become an unexpected predicament. I should have flattered Veldora-sama more before this.* Beretta quietly reflected on this.
But then, salvation arrived from an unexpected quarter.
"Heh heh. If that's the case, there was apparently another person I couldn't afford to ignore. No—you're the truly dangerous one. May I ask your name?"
*Nice!* Beretta thought.
Michel's deft handling immediately restored Veldora's mood.
"Kukuku. Kuhaa. Kuhaahahahaha! As expected—you understand. You took one look and realized I'm no ordinary being. Quite the perceptive woman. Very well, I'll tell you. My name is Veldora! I am the sworn ally of Demon Lord Rimuru and the strongest dragon species—the Storm Dragon
*Ba-baaam!* Veldora announced his name at the top of his lungs.
And with his sisters conveniently absent, he took it upon himself to declare he was the strongest.
*That's done it,* Veldora thought.
He was overjoyed.
So overjoyed that his eyes were actually glistening with tears.
*(Kukuku—now my magnificence will spread even further, and adults and children alike will be captivated by my charm!)* Lost in these rather one-sided fantasies, Veldora was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Now in high spirits, he addressed Michel cheerfully.
"So then, this Michel person. What business do you have? Since I'm in such a fine mood, I'm willing to discuss just about anything!"
The onlookers watching from the sidelines were pale as sheets.
They had only just been relieved that the opponent didn't seem to be serious, and now Veldora was apparently about to provoke her into anger.
No one had been prepared for Veldora's approach.
No one would have imagined that anyone could speak with such flagrant arrogance toward one of the Four Great Generals.
Or rather—perhaps it wasn't quite that extreme as deliberate provocation.
But this was one of the Empire's top leaders.
There was no predicting how she would react to such insolence from a complete stranger.
In the tense silence, the gathered onlookers watched the scene unfold.
"It's nothing major. I simply wanted to nip in the bud what looks like it could become a threat to the Empire."
"Kukuku. So that means you intend to defeat me?"
"Take it however you like."
Michel and Veldora continued their conversation without a care for those around them, at a pace that felt almost like casual small talk.
Neither seemed the least bit tense.
Watching their exchange, Zaza felt his long-gone stomach churning.
He was carefully watching for the right moment to cut in and seize control of the conversation.
"J-just a moment—"
The instant Zaza tried to interject, Ramiris poked his shoulder.
Then she whispered.
"Hey, you know what I think? I feel like we should let the Master have his moment soon, or he's really going to sulk and it'll be a mess... That other person doesn't seem to be serious either, so why don't we just let the Master handle it?"
Reluctantly, Zaza fell silent.
He wasn't convinced, but he figured that if Veldora got burned once, he'd learn his lesson.
More to the point—the atmosphere radiating from Michel had visibly shifted.
Facing that Intimidation, Zaza couldn't even open his mouth.
"Whoa!?"
Ramiris was startled too, her eyes going wide...
"This is—!"
Beretta quickly shielded Ramiris.
Sensing the air change around Veldora as well, the adults began carefully ushering the children back...
The moment that was complete— "Well then, it seems preparations are finally in order. Come at me with everything you've got. I'll teach you the difference in our class!"
Veldora declared.
◆◆◆ Michel had come here of her own volition, driven by a particular purpose.
After receiving Colonel Grassam's report, she had been waiting with a gnawing feeling in her gut.
It was virtually impossible for the Resistance's technological capabilities to develop a new weapon.
If there were any explanation, there were two possibilities.
The first was that survivors of a destroyed city had been secretly developing it.
The second was that a trial run of a new weapon developed by a different "city."
The Resistance simply didn't have the capability to produce a weapon that matched the Empire's front-line equipment.
The reason was clear: personnel, facilities, and materials—all three were lacking.
So even the first theory—survivors of a destroyed city—was questionable from Michel's perspective.
In any case, the results of the battle against Carmen's group would shed light on these questions—or so Michel had believed...
Lieutenant Carmen, despite his temperament problems, was genuinely strong. Michel had believed he wouldn't lose regardless of which scenario it was.
What she received instead was a shocking report.
"M-Ma'am! Carmen's squad has entered a hostile engagement, but it appears they've been defeated..."
The previous night, Lieutenant Hiiragi had reported in a panic.
Michel exchanged a look with her adjutant, Jigiru.
She ordered Hiiragi to continue surveillance and discussed the unbelievable report with Jigiru.
"I can't believe it. Carmen's squad has the latest Augmentations and they're not far behind Combat-type Mechanized Humans in capability..."
"Indeed. On paper specs they may be somewhat inferior, but their armaments alone are evenly matched. I think we should assume they were overwhelmed before they could bring their firepower to bear."
Michel agreed with Jigiru's assessment.
Still, the question lingered—even with all five working together, they couldn't even deploy their weapons?
"Regardless, an enemy force capable of defeating Carmen's squad can't simply be left alone."
"Agreed. Let's assemble a Special Assault Squad and eliminate the unidentified hostile. At the same time, I'll contact the other cities to check whether any of them are running secret weapons tests."
"Yes, that's a good plan. Leave it to you, Jigiru."
"Understood! I'm on it, Michel."
With that decided, they completed preparations overnight.
Jigiru contacted each city, but no information about the mysterious hostile could be found.
Which meant either it really was remnants of a destroyed city—or...
If they had truly been conducting secret experiments, there was a possibility they would deny the facts entirely.
When Jigiru requested authorization to destroy the mysterious hostile, responses of approval came back from the Central Capital and the other three cities.
It was a simplified document for emergency situations, but a clause had been attached stating there would be no repercussions later, so there was no problem.
*(—So there really is no involvement from the other cities...?)* Michel judged accordingly, though questions remained.
If there was a genuine possibility of a threat, destruction was the only option.
"A force capable of single-handedly defeating an entire mechanized squad led by Lieutenant Carmen. Don't even think about capture—destroy them immediately. All restrictions on—"
Just as Michel was about to deploy the Special Assault Squad, she received an urgent communication from Lieutenant Hiiragi.
"Lieutenant Carmen's group has been confirmed alive! However... this is unbelievable, but it appears they've defected—"
So it went.
Hiiragi, who had been monitoring the situation by measuring sound waves and eavesdropping on conversations, delivered this report.
Everyone present was rendered speechless.
But upon hearing the details, it was nothing of the sort.
"Defection" sounded alarming, but in truth, Carmen had merely made some comments slightly sympathetic to the Resistance.
Hiiragi had dramatically blown this up into treason against the Empire.
Hiiragi was famously known for swearing absolute loyalty to the Empire, and by that standard, even a personal friendship with Carmen didn't hold weight.
—Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing aside, Michel found it rather lonely.
Separately from that, Michel was racking her brains, trying to figure out if she could use this situation to her advantage.
Carmen's defection?
That was an overstatement—Carmen's loyalty still lay with the Empire.
Or rather, with the southern city that had taken them in.
Moreover, upon learning the inner workings of the Resistance, he had been visibly shaken.
If that was the case, there was a strong possibility Carmen could become Michel's personal ally.
If she shared what she knew about the Empire's internal affairs, cooperation would be virtually guaranteed.
But why was this mysterious hostile keeping Carmen's squad alive?
They weren't a new weapon from another city—if they were, eliminating witnesses would have been standard procedure.
Then were they truly survivors of a destroyed city...?
That remained unclear, but at the very least, they weren't aligned with the Empire.
If so, perhaps, if she explained the situation...
At worst, she might have to deal with them herself, but laying her cards on the table and talking things through might be worth trying.
Having reached this conclusion, Michel steeled her resolve.
The truth was, Michel was one of the rulers, but she had very few subordinates she could trust.
Only Jigiru, her adjutant and close friend, and a handful of others.
Everyone obeyed Michel, but that was only because of the Empire's backing.
Even if Michel declared she would pardon the Resistance members, not everyone would follow suit.
Worse yet, it could spark an entirely new conflict—and there was no guarantee Michel herself wouldn't be purged.
And besides...
*(Judging by what I've been secretly investigating, it's clear there are dissidents within the Empire—)* Yes—Michel was one of the Empire's top leaders, yet she didn't trust the Empire itself.
If that was the case, then an enemy that appeared to have no connection whatsoever to the Empire could very well become a valuable ally for Michel.
That was her hope.
That was precisely why— "How dare you! Are you saying you've betrayed me!! I won't forgive this, Carmen!!"
She erupted in fury like a raging fire.
And using the fact that everyone was too afraid of Michel's anger to approach, she ordered them all to stand by and set out alone.
……
…
—And now.
Michel stood face to face with Veldora and the others, concealing her shock.
A large man with tanned skin and golden hair.
A masked combat automaton.
A small girl of indeterminate identity.
Based on the mask mentioned in the reports, she identified Beretta.
However— *This being called Beretta certainly possesses great power. But that man called Veldora—* —was on an entirely different level, harboring power beyond comparison.
Michel's proprietary measurement methods could peer into the depths of any target, giving her a rough estimate of how much energy they contained.
Beretta included.
Her capacity was unbelievable but not incomprehensible.
But this man, Veldora— She had tried to provoke him, but she couldn't afford to make him get serious.
Michel continued her performance while thinking this.
She wanted to use this opportunity to test the opponent.
To see his true nature and determine whether he could be trusted.
◆◆◆ The battle began.
"Well then, it seems preparations are finally in order. Come at me with everything you've got. I'll teach you the difference in our class!"
The moment Veldora made this declaration, Michel moved.
What split the air was a flash of light.
Michel's golden hair left traces of brilliant radiance as she closed in on Veldora like a streak of lightning.
What she launched with full force was her right fist.
Machinist Arts—Vibration Fist Wave.
By delivering ultrasonic vibrations as wavelengths without making physical contact, it induced high-frequency molecular excitation within the target.
Visually, it was nothing more than a punch—difficult to perceive at that speed, certainly, but just a punch nonetheless. Yet it carried more than enough power to be a killing blow.
It was a technique of this world's unique martial art— Machinist Arts.
For mechanized soldiers whose joint articulation was completely free, conventional martial arts were useless.
Moreover, punching a body made of superalloy typically resulted in the attacker's fist shattering.
That was pointless, so research had been devoted to developing techniques that could deal damage while ensuring the user's safety.
The Machinist Arts, which relied not on direct impact, were born from that background.
Veldora took Michel's punch head-on.
He deflected it with his left palm, pushing her right fist aside, and shifted his body half a step to the front-left.
From Michel's perspective, it would not have been strange for Veldora's arm to be blown off at that point—or for the shock to affect his entire body.
She hadn't intended to kill, but she had planned to deal a meaningful blow.
Yet Veldora was unharmed.
His body was composed of Magicules, that mysterious substance, allowing him to freely redirect any vibrations transmitted to him.
Had this been Beretta, the unknown technique would have dealt damage.
But for Veldora, physical damage simply didn't work.
In a world where Magicules—the mysterious substance—didn't exist, Veldora's very being was an anomaly.
There was no need to dwell on theories and laws.
Just as Beretta had been bewildered by unknown principles, Michel found herself equally confounded by Veldora's sheer irrationality.
Veldora tried to circle behind Michel, but she wouldn't allow it so easily.
Even as she was flustered by Veldora's reactions, Michel's instinctively ingrained movements took over.
Without dissipating the momentum from being deflected, she used her planted right foot as an axis and transitioned into a spinning left kick.
Veldora read it, pulled his chin back, and leaned away to dodge.
Then he executed a backflip, creating distance from Michel.
On the surface, it appeared he had skillfully evaded both of Michel's attacks.
"I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to dodge my attacks."
"Kuha-ha-ha! Not bad at all. This is more entertaining than I expected! Beretta—this woman might truly be stronger than you."
Veldora remarked this cheerfully.
Lately, this was the most impressive he'd appeared in some time.
But what must be remembered is that Veldora was
In truth, despite his usual demeanor suggesting otherwise, Veldora's combat techniques were superb.
From just that exchange, he had already seen through the essence of Michel's technique—and even replicated it.
And when Veldora learned a new technique, his first instinct was to try it out.
"Like this?"
He threw a punch toward Michel.
It looked like nothing more than an amateurish telegraphed punch.
But that wasn't it—it was a Vibration Fist Wave, with a portion of Veldora's own energy converted into vibrational energy.
Michel was surprised by this, but she wasn't so foolish as to be taken down by her own technique.
She deflected it easily and muttered with exasperation.
"You really are absurd. The battle record against Carmen's squad mentioned that you apparently refracted a Neutron Convergence Beam—and it seems that wasn't a joke either. It looks like I'll have to get serious if I want to win..."
As she spoke, she materialized a sphere of darkness in her right hand.
At the same time, she pressed her left index finger to her lips and sent a signal to Veldora with her gaze.
Despite her words, Michel had already lost the desire to fight Veldora.
She had observed enough and was now convinced that this mysterious man was not an operative of the Empire.
Whether he was trustworthy or not was another matter entirely.
*If only he could understand this—* With this wish, Michel turned her back completely on Veldora, showing him nothing but her back.
If he attacked her from behind, so be it—Michel had made her peace with that.
It was precisely this boldness of conviction that had propelled her to the summit.
Michel hurled the sphere of darkness toward the staircase she had descended.
The dark sphere obeyed her will, ascending toward the upper floors...
It engulfed the upper level in the flames of hellfire.
However, the effect did not reach the lower floors.
By generating a gravitational field—a spatial distortion—she had isolated a specific phase space.
A glimpse of Michel's power: an application of supernatural offense.
The purpose, needless to say, was to prevent eavesdropping.
With Lieutenant Hiiragi monitoring from above, she had created a situation where it wouldn't look unnatural to destroy the surveillance and cover her performance.
"Oh my...?"
Veldora marveled but didn't move.
Not that he couldn't move—he simply chose not to.
He was only slightly disappointed that the attack hadn't been directed at him.
Veldora was too oblivious to pick up on the meaning of Michel's signal.
He saw no reason to attack an opponent who was wide open—that was the sort of thing small fry did.
He would fight fair and square, and win decisively.
That was Veldora's aesthetic.
With no intention of killing his opponent, Veldora planned to crush every attack with overwhelming power and wait for his foe to surrender.
By doing so, he would bask in the admiration of everyone present—that was what Veldora believed.
But Michel's unexpected move had thrown his plan into disarray.
Veldora had been waiting for Michel's attacks with an air of superiority, but that composure was simply perceived as a failure to react.
No one could possibly understand Veldora's intentions...
"Thank you. You noticed my signal, didn't you? Now the surveillance has been blinded, and I can finally speak honestly."
Michel's words only deepened everyone's misunderstanding.
*Huh?* Veldora thought, but it was too late.
In other words—everyone concluded that it wasn't Veldora who had been impressive, but that Michel had been holding back all along.
Furthermore, with Michel detonating the upper floors, the onlookers began to realize she had never intended to fight, and the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated.
It was entirely Veldora's miscalculation.
The first to move was Zaza.
"Good for you! If Michel-sama hadn't been holding back, you'd be a pile of ash right now!"
He laughed, slapping Veldora on the back.
"—Huh?"
"What!?"
It wasn't just Veldora who was surprised—Michel was too.
Both of them realized it was a misunderstanding by Zaza and the rest, but by now there was nothing to be done.
Zaza's words were well-intentioned and perfectly captured how everyone felt.
"No wonder! There's no way a regular mechanized soldier could take on one of the Four Great Generals!"
"Seriously, when you stepped up, I was worried sick! But I'm glad you're okay!"
"Totally. As expected of a companion of Ramiris-san and Beretta-san! So you're the evangelist of Machinist Arts, right? That's why they were calling you Master!"
The adults had completely bought into the misunderstanding and were celebrating Veldora's safety.
After just one day of acquaintance, they had taken a liking to Veldora. His endlessly cheerful disposition was received in a positive light.
They interpreted it as: while he might not match Beretta in raw performance, he must be the evangelist who taught Machinist Arts to Ramiris and Beretta.
That was the conclusion they had reached.
Thinking of it that way, even Veldora's outsized attitude made sense.
The fact that Ramiris called him Master further confirmed it in their minds.
*(Whaaaat!? My brilliant moment of glory, and this is the reaction I get? I expected way more fawning and praise than this...)* Veldora was bewildered.
But Michel didn't seem interested in fighting, and his big moment had already passed.
He was about to resign himself to the situation when he noticed people gazing at him with sparkling eyes.
The children.
They were looking up at Veldora with eyes full of shining admiration.
"Awesome!!!"
"I want to learn Machinist Arts too! Will you teach me?"
"You stood up in front of us, right? That was so cool!!"
And so, words brimming with heartfelt gratitude rained down upon Veldora.
*(This is it! This is the kind of admiration I've been waiting for!)* Veldora was deeply moved.
It was a shame the adults hadn't grasped his greatness, but he decided to let that go.
If he could become popular, it didn't matter whether it was with children or adults.
"Kuhaaahahahaha! You lot have real taste! Totally unlike those dead-eyed adults. Very well! I'm in a generous mood, so I'll splurge on you all! Now then—let's resume the hotcake party!!"
Veldora's mood soared back to its peak as he set about preparing the iron griddle once more.