"Even Velzard-san and Rimuru-san."
"You all give me a very mysterious feeling."
"Because we are not from this world."
Rin's answer greatly shocked Darkness.
But soon, the girl recalled some rumors she had heard. "Could it be that you're actually from another world?"
The Konosuba World also had settings for Otherworlds and reincarnators.
Aqua had tossed many reincarnators here, even causing an overflow of cheat items at one point, which greatly troubled the Otherworld goddess Eris.
"Yes, and no."
Rin said, "We are indeed Otherworlders, but not from the Otherworld you understand."
"What do you mean?"
Rin didn't explain further, but instead raised his hand and tapped Darkness's forehead with a finger.
The next moment, a large amount of information flooded into the girl's mind.
"This?!"
Darkness's eyes widened, her face filled with shock and disbelief. "How, how could it be like this?"
"Cardinal World, magicules, monster levels, and the power to travel between worlds..."
At first, when she learned that Rin was not human but a monster, Darkness was deeply shaken.
After all, in the Konosuba World, monsters were never good things.
As a follower of the goddess Eris, she was even more irreconcilable with monsters, and would never compromise with them.
The thought of submitting to a monster made Darkness feel a surge, a surge...
Well, Darkness's dream had come true.
The princess knight had finally fallen into the hands of a monster.
So, next was the much-anticipated corrupted plot, right?
"Bang!"
Rin flicked Darkness's forehead, interrupting her corrupted fantasy. "There's no such thing."
"Watch it properly, you M-leaning princess knight!"
Scolded by Rin, Darkness instantly lost all thought of resistance.
There was nothing she could do. Rin was just too powerful.
Even if it meant corruption, she would accept it!
"Eh?"
However, as the concept of Cardinal monsters gradually unfolded in her mind, Darkness realized she had misunderstood Rin.
Although both were called monsters, there was a fundamental difference between the two.
The monsters of the Cardinal World, rather than being called monsters,
it would be more accurate to say they were 'demi-humans' different from humans.
Just like dwarves, elves, and orcs.
They possessed their own civilizations and nations, and aside from their appearance and habits, they were almost identical to humans in every other way.
The Konosuba World also had elves and orcs.
They were not discriminated against.
"So that's how it is."
Darkness lightly touched her chest. "You scared me, I thought, I thought..."
For some reason, the girl showed a perverted smile, and it was clear she was thinking of something inappropriate again.
"You're actually regretting it!"
Rin caught the regret in her tone and was speechless.
"I!"
Darkness panicked and quickly defended herself. "T-that's because the one who wanted to corrupt me was Rin, so that's why..."
Only on this point did Darkness have absolute conviction!
Only Rin could corrupt her and turn her into a force of the stars.
No one else, no matter what they did, could shake her heart in the slightest!
Even if she became a sow, she would only be Rin's sow!
"Hmm, a good realization."
Rin was quite satisfied. "Don't worry, I'll satisfy you. Isn't this our agreement?"
"Mm."
Those words reminded Darkness of what had happened last night.
For some reason, her body flushed again with heat.
But even with her strong physical constitution, she had not fully recovered.
"Alright."
"You already know my identity, so..."
Rin extended his hand to her. "Are you willing to become my dependent, and be my Guardian Knight?"
After Artoria, Rin had found a new knight once again.
"Ah."
Darkness forced herself to get up. She was only clad in a translucent gauze dress, yet still knelt on one knee. "Dustiness Ford Lalatina, I hereby swear."
"I am willing to be your sword and shield, for all eternity, I swear to follow you until death!"
"Swish!"
Rin picked up the knight's sword she had placed to the side and lightly touched it to her shoulder. "I accept your fealty, my Knight."
Not only the oath of fealty, but also the dependent contract were established at that moment.
"Ugh!"
And with the completion of the contract, an invisible connection was forged between Rin and Darkness.
A surge of magicules poured into her body, beginning to transform it, causing the girl to let out a pained groan.
Fortunately, Darkness's willpower was resilient.
Mere pain could not make her frown.
Soon, the transformation ended.
Darkness's attribute panel also appeared before Rin's eyes.
---
[Darkness]
Race: Saint
Magicules: 990,000 EP (Pre-Awakening)
Unique Skill: Defender, Pious, Ascetic
Special Skill: Eternal Shield (Binds life to body, and mind to soul; as long as life is not exhausted, none of the three will be damaged.)
---
"Three Unique Skills, plus one Special Skill?"
Not to mention that those three Unique Skills meant that once Darkness awakened, she had a high probability of obtaining Ultimate Skills.
Just this Special Skill alone meant Rin's dependent slot was already a guaranteed profit.
"Eternal Shield..."
The moment Darkness obtained this Special Skill, Rin also acquired it.
And its inheritance condition was one million magicules.
In other words, any True Demon Lord under Rin who had already awakened could share the Special Skill Eternal Shield.
As for its effect...
Just reading the description might make it hard to understand.
Simply put, it was about digitizing Darkness, Rin, and others.
Then, like characters in a game, they would only lose life when attacked, but their limbs wouldn't be damaged.
That was the characteristic of Eternal Shield.
You could deal damage, you could kill them, but you could not cripple them before their life ran out.
"What a buggy Special Skill."
Special Skills were buggy precisely because they had almost no upper limit.
Of course, this didn't mean the effect of Eternal Shield was invincible.
The same Eternal Shield, when used by Rin compared to Darkness, would produce vastly different results.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)