On the obsidian throne, Perugius leaned forward slightly, and an emperor-like pressure swept down like Mount Tai.
He looked down and spoke calmly, his voice reverberating through the hall:
"State your name, your purpose, and-how you got up here."
Meeting those two blade-sharp gazes, Rudeus stepped half a pace forward, neither servile nor overbearing.
He took a deep breath and uttered a string of extraordinarily complex, ancient syllables with a distinctive resonance:
"Honored Lord Perugius, my name is Rudeus Greyrat."
[Emotion Points +1000 from Perugius.]
In an instant, the air in the hall seemed to freeze!
The moment Perugius heard the language, his previously impassive expression changed drastically.
His hands clenched around the obsidian armrests, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He stared fixedly into Rudeus's eyes, disbelief and shock filling his own:
"You... why do you know the Dragon God Tongue?! Who are you?!"
"Rustle-!"
Almost at the same moment, the twelve familiars stationed on either side moved in unison.
The hems of their white robes whipped wildly as icy killing intent and murderous magic power locked onto Rudeus.
The keenly felt killing intent from another world sent Ghislaine into a battle-ready stance.
Her beast ears shot upright, the fur on her tail bristled, and her large, rough hand gripped her sword hilt.
At the slightest movement from the other side, the Sword King would draw her sword and attack without regard for anything else!
"Lord Dragon King, please calm yourself."
Composed, Rudeus continued sincerely in fluent Dragon God Tongue:
"I can tell you everything honestly. I harbor absolutely no ill will toward you. So I beg you to calm down first and let me finish. Will you?"
Perugius stared at me for a full three seconds before his turbulent emotions finally settled somewhat.
He took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and waved at the familiars around him.
Only then did the taut killing intent recede like the tide, and the familiars became cold statues once more.
Seeing that the situation was under control, Rudeus's lips curled slightly as he dropped a bombshell in the Dragon God Tongue:
"The truth is, I am not from this world. To be precise, my soul was summoned here from another world by an ancient god."
If he was going to make something up, he might as well make it big. Rudeus planned to put his "supreme bullshitting technique" to full use.
Perugius's brows knotted, the suspicion in his eyes so thick it practically dripped.
Without a change in expression, Rudeus continued spinning nonsense:
"You may not believe this, but the god who summoned me called himself the 'Primordial God.'"
"He granted me a portion of his divine power to command the laws, and my ultimate mission in coming to this world is to completely change its predetermined fate."
At that, Perugius could no longer suppress the suspicion in his eyes.
He abruptly turned toward the line of familiars and shouted:
"Kalman!"
"Here!"
Before the words had died away, a familiar stepped slowly forward.
He turned his eerie mask toward Rudeus. This was [Kalman the All-Seeing]-Perugius's tactical adviser and intelligence expert.
Of the twelve familiars, he alone possessed the supreme divine ability to see through lies and discern the abilities and secrets of others.
Buzz-!
Two eerie blue lights suddenly glowed in the eyeholes of Kalman's mask. His gaze seemed to pierce Rudeus's flesh and plunge straight into the depths of his soul.
Rudeus knew Kalman was using his innate ability to judge him, so he simply spread his hands and relaxed his body and mind completely, allowing him to look as he pleased.
Please, I knew this would happen, so I prepared in advance.
I learned a spell from the Grimoire Accompanying the Deity to block detection techniques, just in case. Sure enough, I'm a genius!
Sure enough, after staring at Rudeus for a long while, Kalman's body beneath the mask seemed to tremble slightly.
He extinguished the blue light, hurried over to Perugius, bowed slightly, and whispered a few quick words in a low voice.
Though the contents were inaudible, Perugius looked as if he had been struck by lightning after hearing the report.
His face full of astonishment, he stared at Rudeus as though looking at a monster, disbelief in his eyes. Even his voice came out distorted:
"...You, continue."
"I know many of this world's secrets. Naturally, these were all revelations granted to me by the Primordial God. But heaven's secrets must not be revealed, so there are some things I cannot speak of now."
Rudeus smoothly seized the opportunity, his tone growing ever more enigmatic:
"You need only know that in the near future, I will be your staunchest ally and help you utterly destroy the Demon God Laplace!"
"Absurd! Words alone prove nothing. How will you demonstrate your master's divine power?!"
Perugius slammed his hand on the armrest and demanded an answer.
"An excellent question."
Rudeus smiled mysteriously:
"Mortal magic requires chants and catalysts, but I can use 'Primordial Magic.'"
"In fact, the reason I was able to come here without any tools just now was the power of the primordial."
"Then show this king!"
"As you wish."
As soon as he spoke, the magic power within him erupted like a volcano.
Without provoking hostility, the dense, pure magic power formed rings of nearly tangible pale golden light that enveloped his entire body.
Under everyone's gaze, Rudeus's body slowly rose into the air without a chant, ascending halfway to the ceiling of the hall.
But this was only the beginning.
"[Clone Technique]!" he shouted inwardly.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-!
Clouds of white smoke burst one after another out of thin air, and eleven clones radiating tangible fluctuations of magic power instantly formed a neat array.
It's not over yet!
[Transformation Technique]!
A dazzling light flashed, and the appearances of Rudeus and his eleven clones changed completely in an instant.
When the light faded, twelve figures in pure white robes and a bizarre assortment of eerie masks hovered in the air in perfect formation.
Each one was identical to one of the twelve familiars below, even their magical auras mimicked to perfection!
Everyone was stunned!
A deathly silence fell over the entire hall; a falling leaf could be heard.
At that moment, the real twelve familiars all raised their heads, their eyeballs almost popping out from beneath their masks;
Perugius was even more shaken. He shot to his feet from the obsidian throne, his eyes wide, looking for all the world as though he had seen a ghost.
As for Ghislaine and Eris below, they were completely baffled.
From the two women's perspective,
All they saw was Rudeus rattling off a whole lot of incomprehensible "alien talk" to the Armored Dragon King, after which the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.
Then, with a sudden "pop," Rudeus turned into twelve people, all looking like those masked men.