Chapter 17 Surreal Reality

After an unknown amount of time of dreamless unconsciousness, he slowly opened his eyes to a comfortable, squishy sensation beneath his head and a warm on his forehead.

"…Ngh…" Noah groaned.

Parting his eyelids slowly as his vision was blurry, he could vaguely make out a slender, pink-haired figure looking down at him.

"Aki…?"

The magical girl had a gentle smile of relief at his awakening, stroking his forehead, "You're awake! I was worried…You're my master after all, aren't you?"

As he sat up, he realized he was using her lap as a pillow, though he was reluctant to abandon such a comfortable place.

"You figured that out?" Noah asked.

Aki shook her head lightly as her fluffy hair subtly bounced, "Sung Hyeon told everybody. Well, I already had an idea since I'm used to dealing with spiritual contracts! Still…I'm glad you're awake, since things got a bit out of hand."

"What're you…?"

Before he could finish asking his question, he saw what was "out of hand" as colorful shock waves of magic propelled through the vast, arena-like courtyard.

Engaged in battle, the purple-eyed 'Singular Leveler', Sung Hyeon, was clashing against the King of Heroes.

For Noah, the spectacle before him was like something straight out of fan fiction, or at the very least, his wildest dreams.

Sung Hyeon swept his mystical greatsword through the air, unleashing a gale force of azure energy that repelled the array of projectiles that the pompous King of Heroes launched at him.

"Why're they fighting?" Noah asked, standing up.

Aki helped him stand, "Well, err…that King guy really didn't seem to like the idea of taking orders from another and began questioning your strength after you passed out."

—

After having his diamond projectiles blown away, the King of Heroes let out booming laughter while keeping his arms crossed, simply summoning more mystical weapons.

"You're not half bad, mongrel! Still…a mere human should know his place!" The King of Heroes yelled.

There were dozens, if not hundreds of weapons born from the king's will, pointing towards Sung as explosive energy swirled around their immaculate form.

"It doesn't matter if you're a king or a god, I'll destroy you and be done with it," Sung Hyeon stated calmly as his purple eyes gleamed, lifting his blade upward.

["Demon Lord's Greatsword: Azure Tempest"]

A condensed storm of lightning and fire birthed itself in the proximity of the fight, coiling the air with strands of mystical electricity that swirled around Sung.

In addition to the imposing power emitting from his sword, the Shadow King invoked another ability:

"Shadow: Kuma," Sung Hyeon uttered calmly and confidently.

Manifesting from a mass of darkness, a colossal bear forged of shadows roared out, bearing an icy essence that ran in stripes along its form.

The King of Heroes smiled, "Finally! A bout worthy of a legend!"

Witnessing this, Noah knew such a fight was far too destructive to be any good, prompting him to act, though he found himself still weakened, stumbling over.

"Hey! You're still not fine yet," Aki said, helping him stand.

"--" Noah huffed.

[WARNING: Mana levels are at a critical low. Please rest immediately and consume calories to refill your mana.]

Unable to step in yet, he was about to try brute-forcing a command to stop the two generals from combating, but before he could part his lips, another figure stepped in.

It was just before Sung unleashed the storm sealed in his demonic blade, and before the King of Heroes launched his magical weaponry, getting between the two, the adrogynous, small-in-stature 'slime-human' arrived–

"Gluttony!"

Mirumu shouted out, causing a power of enigmatic origin to spawn in the form of a beast's astral maw that parted open like a typhoon, swirling with malignant darkness on either side that consumed both attacks from Sung and the king.

"--?" Sung looked confused, still holding his stoic expression.

"--?!" The King of Heroes seemed offended.

The courtyard was ravaged by a storm born from the trifecta clash of immense power as the blue-haired, feminine-faced slime struggled, sweating before managing to condense the gluttonous ability down, swallowing both forces.

"...Phew…" Mirumu sighed.

Sung Hyeon was surprised but exhaled slowly, "I see. This world is more interesting than I gave it credit for."

​ "On that, we shall agree," the King of Heroes said.

To Noah's relief, it seemed the interruption by the third-party was enough to bring them to their senses.

"Good job, Mirumu," Noah said.

A cheeky smile spread across the pale, blue-haired figure's lips as they placed their hands on their sides, "Well, if I didn't step in, everything would've been destroyed. Still, I've got something I want to talk to you about, err, Mr. Noah? M-Master? Can I just call you Noah?"

"Sure," Noah nodded with a relieved smile.

While the others seemingly got along, discussing tales from their own worlds, Mirumu and Noah went to a quiet section of the subspace mansion: a vast library that spiraled high, holding a calm lounge and fireplace within it.

"This place is seriously amazing. I'm sure Deluge will have architecture like this someday–well, that's what I want to talk to you about," Mirumu said.

"Deluge?...Oh, that's your country, isn't it? 'The Federation of Monsters'," Noah said.

It was likely odd for the summoned figures that Noah knew them like the back of his hand, but it was only the truth as the adolescent had spent most of his youth engrossed in such novels.

The azure-haired figure folded their arms, wearing a long, black-and-gray coat, "Yeah. I have a duty as their ruler, you know? I can't explain it, but there's something inside of me that makes me subservient to you…I feel a bond to you, but still…I have my own people that rely on me. Friends. Family. I can't just abandon them."

"You're not asking to return exactly, are you?" Noah realized.

Mirumu shook their head, "I'm asking you to do what you did to bring me here, but for Deluge itself–now, don't worry! I'm not asking ya' to summon thousands of people here at once, just eventually."

At first he was confused, believing this would be something he'd have to consider, though with the realization of how the magecraft he put into place functioned, he realized it was much more simpler than that.

"That won't be necessary," Noah agreed.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"You're free to return to your world anytime you wish. I can summon you when I truly need your help, and that's all–in return, you can have anything you need from this world. I'm sure you miss certain manga series, right?" He told Mirumu.

"Wait, really? Aww, that's a relief!" Mirumu laughed, "And totally! I need to catch up on Won Peace!"

"Yeah, you do," Noah assured them.

Noah could only count himself lucky that ["Sentience Bestowment"] made figures like Mirumu affable enough to him as if he were a childhood friend, otherwise he likely would've been attacked on the spot for dragging them from their lives.

After fully explaining the conditions of their summoning and that they could still return to their worlds and back to normal Earth as his call, he took his leave, finally returning to his room as he locked the ethereal entrance in his closet.

"...Phew…"

He immediately fell onto his bed, drained from the experience, though left in a surreal state that surpassed even the reality of his powers.

'They're real. They're seriously real. So cool…' He thought.