The world seemed to slow down for Asuna as her vision cleared. She saw flesh and blood flying through the air, the fleeting glint of a sword, and a man in a white cloak swinging a greatsword. She felt as if the whole world had slowed down, allowing her to clearly see the man's flowing hair and cold face.
It wasn't delicate or the type of handsome girls usually fawned over, it was the masculine handsome type. But at this moment, Asuna's eyes held only this one man.
The bisected bodies around her weren't in her sight.
Because she had experienced a roller-coaster of emotions, and her brain had completely shut down.
"Walter, leader of the Black Dog Mercenary Group. It seems you treated the mercenary management regulations I specifically gave you as worthless scrap paper."
Ryuji swung the greatsword in his hand, not bothering to look back at Asuna and Origami who were behind him. He casually tossed a ball of flame at the milk delivery girl he had met once before, then looked towards the greatsword-wielding man who was the only one that gave him the slightest sense of threat.
The opponent was strong; Ryuji was sure of that. Because this was the man who could truly defeat the Dark Elf Queen Olga. Although Olga's power was weakened at the time, she wasn't someone just any Tom, Dick or Harry could overcome.
So, even if the opponent's swordsmanship wasn't top-tier, Ryuji decided not to underestimate him.
Walter, for his part, didn't care about his bisected team members killed in Ryuji's surprise attack. He watched Ryuji with extreme caution. He knew the intel on Ryuji. The legendary, fearsome man rumored to annihilate armies with a single strike.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't consider fighting him. But now that they've clashed, there was no other choice.
"Who cares about that stuff?! You have no idea how to be a king! If I were king, every woman in this country should present themselves for me to fuck!"
He stated his ultimate ideal without hesitation, confirming Ryuji's genuine disgust for this man.
Although Ryuji loved harems, he also believed true love existed in this world.
As ironic as it was, he believed it.
Moreover, if he sought to possess any beautiful woman without any bottom line, how was he different from a wild beast?
Was the woman truly in love with her husband?
Had the woman and her husband overcome countless hardships to be together?
Was theirs a love story that could move people to tears?
Back on Earth, although Ryuji was afraid of marriage and even somewhat disliked realistic women, he was also well aware that beautiful love and marriages did exist in the world.
Someone like this, who only knew how to indulge his desires, would never consider such things!
"It seems we are complete opposites. While I like beautiful women, but when it comes to married women, I only think she must be able to bear more beautiful daughters. But someone like you only destroys everything!"
Ryuji rotated the hilt of his great sword. He was different from his opponent. But if he couldn't control his own desires, he would eventually degenerate into a beast like Walter, who completely disregarded others' feelings.
Ryuji wanted to become the Harem King, but he certainly didn't want to become the King of Depravity!
"Ha! It seems so. No wonder I disliked you the moment I saw you! What's wrong with indulging your desires?!"
Walter felt the same way about Ryuji. Both wanted to sleep with more women. But unlike Walter, who treated women as disposable consumables, Ryuji's approach was different: he seemed to want beautiful women to give birth to more beautiful women, so he could continue sleeping with even more of them.
But...
That's too troublesome!
Just plunder them directly! What's wrong with sleeping with your own daughters? If there are no beautiful women here, go somewhere else! What does the life or death of ordinary people have to do with me?
What does others' happiness have to do with me?
Just kill them all!
Subordinates, wives, friends, brothers—none of them are trustworthy!
As long as I'm happy, that's all that maters!
All the beauty in this world is a lie!
Holding such thoughts in mind, Walter raised the greatsword in his hand and swung it towards Ryuji.
"There's indeed nothing wrong with that. I once wanted to be like you too, but now that I'm actually standing in front of you ..."
Ryuji rotated the hilt of his great sword, and the power of flames instantly transferred to the blade, clashing with Walter's greatsword.
Although Walter's greatsword had no flames, it carried immense force! So much so that Ryuji instinctively had to twist his body to redirect the power.
But Ryuji's strength was no less formidable!
Swinging his greatsword, the two blades continuously collided in mid-air, producing brilliant sparks. While Ryuji's flames swirled around him, incinerating all the venomous insects trying to ambush him.
The storm generated by the clashing of their greatswords even blew back Asuna and Origami's hair, who were protected by Ryuji's flames, making it hard for them to see the figures of the two combatants clearly.
The more Ryuji fought, the more surprised he became. In the game, Walter was just so-so, but the swordsmanship Walter displayed now wasn't much inferior to Esdeath's!
But ultimately, it was still lacking, unable to give Ryuji the sense that a single misstep could lead to defeat, unlike Esdeath.
Right, he is undoubtedly the main character...
Ryuji could feel that Walter's swordsmanship had a strong military style. Clearly, Walter must have been a soldier or something similar in some kingdom long ago. It was unclear whether his nature was inherently like this or if this world had forced him to become this way.
But...
"Walter, your journey, the Black Dog Mercenary's journey, ends here!"
In that instant he forcefully parried Walter's greatsword, creating an opening for him, Ryuji gripped his greatsword with both hands. Having already maneuvered Walter swordplay to allow himself to charge up his lightning manipulation technique, Ryuji extended his arm, pointing two fingers at Walter.
A bolt of lightning instantly struck the greatsword Walter used for defense. The high voltage still sent Walter flying back with a scream.
Seizing this opportunity, Ryuji closed his eyes, relying on the lingering will of the Universe in his mind to sense the trajectories of time and space.
Then, he opened his eyes and took a step forward.
Slash!
Ryuji's figure instantly appeared behind Walter, without any movement, leaving only a trail of sword light behind him.
The two people hiding behind Walter, including the fully bandaged Shamuhaza, instinctively tried to counterattack. But Ryuji's body showed no stiffness; he immediately swung his sword backhand.
This single swing instantly shredded Shamuhaza's body and that of a short, bespectacled man into pieces. Moreover, blazing flames erupted from the blade, instantly igniting their bodies. The moment the sword reached the apex of its swing, a fiery sword aura shot out, connecting with the mark left by his space-time slash. It carved a fiercely burning gash into Walter's body, which was frozen stiff in place, slowly splitting into two, ultimately dividing him into four parts.
Walter didn't even have time to scream before he was reduced ashes by Ryuji's dragon fire. The surrounding Black Dog mercenaries all showed expressions of horror.
They instinctively wanted to flee, but unfortunately, the next moment, walls of ice abruptly rose before them. And a blue-haired woman with a bloodthirsty expression appeared in front of them.
A morbid smile spread across Esdeath's face, one that could only send chills down one's spine.
"Daring to lay hands on my master's possessions... are you prepared to beg for mercy?!"
Without hesitation, she raised her finger. The next moment, a sharp pillar of ice erupted from the ground beneath a man trying to ambush her, impaling him from below until the ice pillar emerged from his mouth. Meanwhile, a long blade of ice formed in her hand as she laughed maniacally and charged into the group of mercenaries.
The cavalry troops, who had arrived late after hearing the news of Ryuji's departure, witnessed the scene of Esdeath's carnage.
Ryuji paid no mind to Esdeath slaughtering the Black Dog mercenaries. None of the Black Dog members were good people; that was clear. Killing them was fine; it was a good opportunity to clean up the mercenary industry.
He felt somewhat melancholy looking at Walter's ashes.
He truly envied the other man, but also genuinely despised him. And he had to admit that he and Walter were similar in some aspects.
But if he had to pinpoint the difference between them, it was probably that he would still feel lonely when he is away from people, and he desired genuine affection from friends and others.
Moreover, he contemplated his future, pondered what kind of person he wanted to become.
And his preferences differed from Walter's. Walter chased the thrill and the feeling of conquest. While Ryuji also enjoyed those things, he also liked interacting with those lovely girls in other ways, or perhaps...
Ryuji, was far greedier than Walter.
Because he wanted the girls he slept with to like him, because he wanted to enjoy other kinds of pleasure, because he wanted to be praised... these were things Walter wouldn't even dare to dream of.
He was a predator far more voracious than Walter.
And his reputation would be infinitely better!
I am a beast far more ferocious than you, Walter.
But I know when to bare my fangs.
Thinking this to himself, Ryuji turned his gaze towards Asuna and Origami.
Asuna was still in a daze. Looking at Ryuji as if she were looking at a God.
At this moment, she hadn't even considered what Ryuji might do to her; she simply looked at him with gratitude, as if nothing else mattered.
Ryuji understood clearly that if he wanted to pursue her, it probably wouldn't be long before this girl blushed and invited him into her room.
This was the biggest difference between him and Walter: he, Ryuji, was enjoying all of this.
But...
Ryuji looked at Origami. Although there was gratitude in her eyes, it lacked the attachment, even the admiration, present in Asuna's gaze. Ryuji knew why; he had watched some Date A Live after all.
Origami had simply turned out this way because Shido Itsuka saved her when she was a child and that was the whole origin of her personality and fixation.
To put it bluntly, Origami was the type whose heart was permanently locked onto someone. There was practically zero chance of "capturing" her in a romantic sense, so Ryuji turned his attention toward Asuna instead.
He waved his hand, dispersing the flames around the two girls, walked over, and casually raised a hand in greeting.
"Yo. Milk delivery girl, Itsuka Origami, we meet again. And you must be Miss Yuuki Asuna, right? Nice to meet you. Please take care of me."
As he spoke, Ryuji smiled and extended his hands toward both of them, intending to help them up.
He did feel a little sentimental about Walter dying by his hand, but that didn't stop him from using Walter's death to pick up girls!
"Ah... y-yes! Th-thank you! Thank you so much!"
Asuna took Ryuji's hand, her face instantly turning red. But she still held his hand tightly as she stood up and subconsciously moved closer to him.
During this time, the people she had encountered were either the ferocious Esdeath, who openly stated she would use them as bargaining chips, or those terrifying bandits, villagers, and people like the Black Dog Mercenary Group.
Honestly, seeing a friendly person who saved them and smiled at her made her really excited. She instinctively wanted to seek a sense of security from him.
After all, he knew Miss Tobiichi!
"It's you…?"
Origami looked at Ryuji in surprise but immediately remembered the women she had seen in his yard when delivering milk. And also recalled what Esdeath had said earlier, so she immediately spoke up.
"I will repay you! But, but it's impossible for me to repay you with my body! I already have someone I like!"
Ryuji, of course, never planned on making Origami his target. Because she was basically hard-locked, and on top of that, she was also a Spirit.
In fact, the moment he arrived, he had already sensed the immense power brewing within her. That power as vast and unfathomable as the Sailor Moons'. If it fully awakened, Ryuji felt that even if he teamed up with Esdeath, they still might not be able to stop her.
To be honest, the reason he acted so decisively and used the space-time slash wasn't just to ensure Walter's complete death; it was also to prevent this young lady from turning dark.
After all, the Spirits in the Date A Live world basically walking split-personality disasters, each with an Inverse Form.
In simple terms: they could turn dark.
Once Inversed, they didn't fight reasonably anymore, their normal attacks were practically map-wide nukes. Based on his memories, Ryuji roughly estimated that in a real fight, only his space-time slash and Esdeath's ultimate move could deal effective damage to them.
Even Esdeath's role would mostly be crowd control.
But even if they managed to kill a Spirit by chance, it might not matter, because to some extent, Spirits are immortal. Though he didn't know whether that immortality was effective in this world.
So, if a real fight breaks out, the outcome was still uncertain.
What he could confirm, however, was that he and Esdeath would probably survive, but the humans of the Black Beast world would be doomed.
Even so, Ryuji felt a bit numb.
Logically speaking, Ryuji, wasn't weak. But every time his power leveled up, he always encountered an even stronger women, leaving him completely speechless.
Tsunade and Kiri went without saying; the Red Dragon Queen is still etched to his memory to this day... And when he went to the Detective Conan world, magical girls like Usagi Tsukino only needed to transform to gain strength that rivaled his. With a little development, they could surpass him entirely.
But his leveling speed wasn't slow at all! Yet, one cheater after another kept appearing before him, and he was truly feeling a bit numb.
He felt he was cursed.
It can't be that in the future, where two female Gods appear in front of me and start fighting, even obliterate the universe to nothingness, right?
Ryuji couldn't help but complain internally, though he found the idea ridiculous. While the 7 Days to Die world summoned people in the most inhumane ways, summoning a creator god was probably unlikely.
So, he put aside his thoughts, tapped Origami lightly on the head, and sighed.
"What kind of person do you think I am? Also, we still have something to settle. You lied to me using a fake name before; otherwise I would've recognized you as my teammate long ago."
Origami covered her head, and began to argue with an expressionless face:
"Mmm... Who uses their real name in another world…? Didn't you call yourself Rick too?"
She never expected that the outrageous harem-builder was actually Ryuji.
"My name is Ryuji! They call me Rick because this is a Western fantasy world!"
Ryuji had major issues with this. Due to the pronunciation of 'Ryuji', a bunch of people were now calling him Rick!
But he didn't have a grandson named Morty, and he wasn't a drunk old scientist!
"No way!"
Origami continued speaking without any expression and a completely flat tone, but she was more concerned about something else.
"However, since you're also a Transmigrator, do you know why we're being transported? This is already the third world I've traveled to, but I still don't know why I transmigrate. I even almost faced a court-martial because of it."
Origami looked at Ryuji very seriously. She had wanted to know about this for a long time!
She's determined to eliminate the mastermind behind it!
Ryuji: "....."
"Three worlds?"
He stared at the girl in front of him in astonishment. He was genuinely shocked. Because if what she said was true, then he had never managed to find this teammate until now.
And most importantly, if that were the case, hadn't he potentially missed even more teammates?!
So, he asked:
"Didn't you try to kill the demons and monsters in the world with the Demon Slayer world? And in the previous modern world, didn't you look for people with special abilities?!"
Origami looked at Ryuji in surprise.
"You were there too?... But why would you think I had the ability? In the first world, I had no weapons and basically survived by working part-time jobs. In the second world, I almost to death due to identity and language barrier. And in this world, on my first day working, I was almost sold. You don't think I worked as a milkman in the last world because I liked it, do you? And in the last world, just before payday, I was sent back to my own world!"
Origami couldn't help but recount her transmigration history, but the more she spoke, the sadder she felt. She was almost on the verge of breaking her expressionless composure and felt like crying.
In the last world, she had finally paid off her debts and was just waiting for her salary and bonus to enjoy a full meal of barbecue.
Then, the day before payday, she was transported back to her world.
So why was it that when Ryuji transmigrated, he either had a house or became a king, while she was still just happy about having a full meal?!
Ryuji: "..."
Honestly, Origami's transmigration experience didn't seem much better than his had been in the beginning.
"That's why I said you should just follow me. Instead, you ran away on your own and foolishly became prey... If you were still my subordinates, I would definitely skin you alive, then chopped off your heads, to show others the fate of fools who overestimate themselves... But unfortunately, you are no longer mine."
Esdeath's voice rang out. Her face still bore a few traces of blood. As Asuna and Origami's bodies involuntarily stiffened, she quickly approached the two girls, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders, pulling them into her embrace, and smiled at Ryuji.
"Now, your fates depend entirely on my Master. Don't be surprised. Because I lost to him, so just as we agreed before..."
Her fingers slid over Asuna and Origami's chins, giving the two rigid girls a bad feeling.
Especially Asuna, because she was the easiest to bully. Esdeath brought her mouth close to Asuna's ear as she spoke.
"...You are to be the bargaining chips for my survival. And one more thing, useless, foolish girls like you should learn that your best fate is to become my master's obedient bitches , sticking your asses out and wait my Master to favor you... So don't make me break my promise to my Master, or I will be displeased."
Esdeath's eyes turned cold as she said this. Because if her subordinates made her break her promise, she would have to resort to some coercive measures.
So, she moved her hand down to Asuna's chest and, amidst the girl's startled cry, squeezed her plump breasts, presenting them to Ryuji. And at the same time, kissed Asuna's cheek.
"How about we start… with you?"
Asuna's eyes were filled with terror because...
she had neither the courage nor the reason to rebel against Esdeath.
________
Author's Note:
Asuna is completely countered by Esdeath. As for Origami...
This girl is basically locked onto Shido, but don't worry, she won't be let off.
But the Date A Live world is really damn hard to interfere with; it's a complete closed loop.
So, I'll have to get creative with it.
~~~~~~~~~~
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