Chapter 133: Salmora’s Identity

“…I refuse.”

To my firm answer.

“…..”

There was no response for a while.

He stared at me as if time had stopped.

“…Why?”

He conveyed a deep sense of doubt.

“If you and I joined hands, this world could welcome a peace without conflict, could it not?”

He wasn’t wrong.

If Salmora and I joined hands in this current world, nothing would be more peaceful.

However.

“You should speak honestly. What you want isn’t me, but Leon. And a vessel that can create a perfect species, isn’t it?”

“Is that important? At any rate, using that as a medium, we could join hands and — “

“Then what about the humans?”

At my question, he could not answer.

“What do you intend to do with the humans living in this world right now?”

“To show compassion for bugs… It seems you have truly absorbed a persona properly.”

Salmora, wearing a twisted smile, continued, “Do you wish for human survival? Well, it’s not something I can’t grant. If you wish for it, the humans will continue to live in this world.”

“As slaves to the perfect species you created, you mean.”

I knew the kind of world he desired.

A world ruled by the perfect species he created and so, he would stand in a position like that of a Creator, and by virtue of that achievement…

‘He would be able to reach the unknown.’

I had harbored a question before.

Just what exactly was this Tower that appeared on Earth?

And I had once obtained a clue regarding that on the Gritia Continent.

“…Balancers. That is what we decided to call them. Unknown beings who appear when a world’s crisis or collapse begins, bestowing blessings or curses to exert power so that the order of the world is maintained.”

An old, worn-out book.

The contents I had seen there, where only faint words could be identified in a nameless text.

Balancers.

Perhaps this Tower was a structure created for the order of the world — no, for the order of the dimensions.

And that meant…

‘My dimensional transfer is the same.’

Was my dimensional transfer also a part of these Balancers’ plans?

And Salmora was in the middle of trying to approach these unknown beings by becoming the creator of a perfect species.

Furthermore, humans were not part of that plan.

Even the life as slaves he just mentioned to me was only something he would do if I, his partner, desired it; if I hadn’t said anything, the current humanity would have met their end.

Because…

‘He loathes imperfection.’

Salmora loathed imperfect beings.

That applied to the Demon Clan, and even the gods.

He felt loathing toward them, even though they could be called fairly perfect beings, so what would he think of the most imperfect humans?

He loathed humans more than cockroaches.

“I do not know your intention in choosing to save bugs, but if you wish, I can do it as much as you like. However, they must be ruled by the perfect species I have created.”

He expressed his agreement with my words.

“That is what I am saying I dislike.”

“How strange. What value is there in the mere survival of bugs that you would act this way?”

“Have you forgotten the fact that I am human?”

“Human?”

Salmora’s eyes widened.

“Hahahaha!”

For once, he didn’t give his characteristic laugh, but let out a hearty, refreshing one.

“You are a human? You, who separated the persona that reached divinity through your own power and lived for 1,000 years?”

“…..”

I couldn’t deny it.

I was already a being who had deviated from the human realm.

But.

“Even so, the fact that my roots are human remains unchanged. Just as you cannot escape being a monster no matter how much you struggle.”

In that moment.

“How dare you!”

Along with a rage rarely seen from Salmora…

“Rumble!”

A massive energy, a sheer presence, began to encroach upon the entire area.

“…A monster? Who are you talking about!”

That was the ferocity Salmora hid beneath his composure.

No, it could be called the instinct of a monster.

“You are clearly showing it now. That ferocity. No matter how much you evolve and develop, the fact that your roots, your origin, is that of a monster does not change.”

Only I knew Salmora’s true identity.

His true identity was a monster.

And a Slime, at that — one that was nothing more than the lowest rank.

The jelly-shaped creature that was the first monster Adventurers encountered and the easiest to defeat.

He was born as a Slime.

But he possessed an ego that other Slimes did not have.

He was a sort of mutant.

This Slime had a powerful Trait, which was the ability to make a portion of the traits of an absorbed target his own.

Of course, the absorption rate was less than 0.1%.

How strong could a Slime, which had no particular means of attack, become by absorbing that?

The probability of being destroyed by an Adventurer or the Demon Clan before absorbing a trait was 99.99%.

But Salmora was different.

Like a mutant, he boasted an absorption rate of 1% instead of 0.1%, and he survived for a long time through that Trait and his ego.

Fellow monsters, humans, the Demon Clan, and even gods.

The beings he swallowed were diverse.

Thanks to that, he was able to reach his current level of existence.

And.

“Because you were born imperfect, you loathe imperfection and seek perfection. That is your ultimate goal.”

The reason he loathed humans and imperfection was that he himself was born imperfect.

As the weakest being, the most imperfect Slime, he hated his own kind.

Because they were just like his past self.

That was why he sought perfection.

Because he wanted to become the being who created perfection.

To reach the realm beyond, which no one could grasp, within the unknown.

But one’s roots cannot be hidden.

Within him…

The form of a Slime still remained.

He had not completely escaped the imperfection he loathed so much.

“Perfection? That is a realm that cannot be reached.”

“Shut up.”

“That is why it is beautiful.”

“…..”

“Because it cannot be reached, it is called perfection. The moment you reach it, it is no longer perfection. It becomes part of imperfection.”

He was chasing a vain dream.

Perfection was something that did not exist.

No, even if it did exist, it was perfect only when it could not be obtained.

The moment you grasped what you thought was perfect, it turned into imperfection.

“This time, I shall make a proposal.”

Up until now, he had proposed to me.

To form an alliance on the condition of handing over Leon, the sacrifice for perfection.

And my proposal was.

“I will let you live.”

Until now, I had never let anyone who opposed me live.

That had been the case until just a moment ago.

I had no intention of letting Salmora live but the moment I looked at him, I felt pity.

That figure, struggling for something he could not grasp, resembled a human.

Along with a sense of kinship, I felt the urge to let him live.

“I will permit your territory, so live there quietly. I will no longer concern myself with you then.”

I would permit the territory of him and the experimental subjects he had completed.

I would allow him to build his own kingdom without taking a single step out of there.

“You must know me well. Letting you live despite your rejection of the alliance is my utmost consideration.”

“…..”

There was no answer to my favor.

Instead.

“Hehe… Hehehe.”

Salmora regained his characteristic laugh.

“It sounds as if you are above me.”

“Has there ever been a time when you defeated me?”

The Demon King’s Legion.

The Fetter of Light and Darkness.

The Rank of Creation.

I had thoroughly crushed all the traps and plans he had prepared.

And that meant…

“The Rank of Creation that you gave up. I also opened up Leon’s potential.”

“…..”

“It is the same this time, Salmora. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot defeat me.”

“…I admit it.”

Surprisingly, he readily admitted it.

“As expected of the being I recognized, you have ruined all my plans. Even if that ruin was also a part of my plan.”

“That’s how everyone comforts themselves.”

“But… what about now?”

-Whoosh!

A formidable aura erupted from Salmora’s body.

That was…

‘The beings he has absorbed until now.’

Humans, the Demon Clan, divinities, and more.

Diverse and numerous energies were flowing out, mixed together.

“Do you know? It doesn’t matter if my plans are ruined. Because I have the power to overturn all those plans.”

A surprising fact.

Among the energies Salmora was emitting…

‘This is… me?’

Surprisingly, my energy was also included.

Of course, since he had used me as a test subject, he could have taken some of my power.

But this was…

“Are you surprised? I have absorbed you, the Rank of Creation, and everything else.”

Light and darkness, including me, and even creation.

He had absorbed all those energies and made them his own.

If it were only a part, I could understand.

But the energy he was emitting possessed a level of perfection such that it could be called another ‘me.’

And I knew the one single reason why that was possible.

“You… were you a Time Traveler?”

Belmond and I were dimensional transferees.

And there were those who experienced similar phenomena, phenomena of the bizarre.

One of them was the Time Traveler.

They traveled through time, jumping between the past, present, and future.

Wasn’t that ability too broken then?

Of course, they couldn’t choose at will.

That ability activated randomly, and they couldn’t choose the time either.

They might even move to a time of despair and die if things went wrong.

Because of that, many Time Travelers met their deaths.

Yet Salmora had survived until the end.

“Ho? Did you know about Time Travelers as well? Well, I suppose you could approach the truth, having denied your meeting with Belmond until now.”

It seemed he also knew a lot.

“Dimensional transferees. Time Travelers. Returners, possessors. Various ability users exist in the world. All of them are devices of order created by the Balancers.”

The existence of ability users like us was the arrangement of the aforementioned Balancers.

Spare parts for order, for balance.

And he…

“I will destroy the order they so desire. I will rule them and recreate all that balance and order!”

Indeed.

He was dreaming a grand dream, fitting for Salmora.

Well.

If it were him, who had gained tremendous power after undergoing all sorts of hardships as a Time Traveler, it might be a possible dream.

However.

“Even though you have to defeat me first before reaching that place?”

“If necessary…”

Stopping his words for a moment.

“…As much as you want.”

Instantly, murderous intent encroached upon the area.

Just by him harboring murderous intent, this space fell under his control.

It was like a type of barrier.

An absurd ability that allowed him to dominate space with nothing but his will.

Certainly, that was…

‘Massive.’

How many people had he swallowed while traveling through time?

How many deaths must he have brought about to gain such power?

In that moment, I had no choice but to think differently.

“This won’t do.”

I decided.

“If I let you live, beings in all times will die out.”

I wasn’t just talking about this time.

The various timelines that were still flowing even now were being consumed by him.

To stop that, I had to eliminate him.

And for that…

-Slide

A blade approached his neck.

Behind Salmora.

“It’s been a long time.”

Leon, who had finished conquering the Tower’s First Floor, had appeared behind Salmora at some point and was expressing his hostility toward him.