The festival has long passed, relations with Sarion have been established as Empress Elmesia comes and goes, Luminas Valentine has requested to take part in a new science project being lead in the labyrinth by sending men from her country, she has also asked Rimuru to send her as many musicians as possible, she wants to see them in her country as she was very bedazzled by their performance.
Rimuru, Gazel and Fuze established a 3-way economic-diplomatic-military alliance between each nation.
Since then it has been a good 3 weeks, Tempest was enjoying the best time in it's life, trade was bustling with the help of a man named Myourmiles, a very clever and smart merchant whom Rimuru met on recommendation of Fuze.
But peace will soon shatter.. And when the time comes all will be explained.
Deep in the Labyrinth a massive ceremony was being held, the Labyrinth will soon be open for business.
And with it, Rimuru saw the need to make a system like the Video-Games from his original life.
Every 10 floors has a boss, now, the first 50 have already been put in place, some good monsters, while flood 50 had Gozer & Mezer, the two eternal rivals of the tribes of the Centaurs and Minotaurs.
Rimuru spoke up.
"The guardian of the 60th floor will be...
The Shadow of the Colossus, a golem I made that can use Shadow Movement.
The 70th will be Apito, the Queen Bee.
The 80th will be Kumara, the Nine-Tailed Fox.
The 90th will be Ririna, the space-gravity Kijin.
The 96th-99th will be guarded by four dragons brought over by Milim.
The 100th will be Veldora."
A loud cheer erupted, all the selected guardians looked extremely prideful.
"We thank you, Rimuru-Sama." A long black-haired Kijin with horns devoid of any colors, with beautiful eyes of sky blue, with feminine features of a 23-year old, accepted the grace of Rimuru, it was Ririna, the 90th floor guardian.
"Yes, we do!" The other floor guardians accepted with grace, the Dragons were in their floors, and Veldora was reading his sacred text in the back.
"Now, onto the next announcement, brought to you on the surface."
As everyone who took part in the event left to the surface, the coliseum was cleared of anyone and seats were being sold, as today was the most important day in the journey for strength of a certain Insectar.
Rimuru and Veldora sat atop the Coliseum in a special announcer box, the announcer, Shion, was beside them.
"Shion, this is a test of your restraint, prove to me you can speak like a proper general."
"Yes, Rimuru-Sama!"
For some reason, she took this very seriously.
The seats sold out quickly, special seats were even taken by some important guests, Velzard, Guy, Luminas, even Dino was there for some reason.
Milim, who bawled her eyes out when she found out Rimuru didn't invite her to the Two Day festival was sitting with Ramiris above her head.
As the Coliseum filled up to the brim with some 100,000 viewers, even more on the outside as they were using a broadcasting technique through supersizing a video orb.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, are you all ready??!
Ready for the final test of one of the guardians of Tempest?
Ready to see whether he ascends into the next level or will be brought back down to earth from his flight through training?"
A massive ear-deafening cheer erupted in the crowd, as Shion was very excited.
Iudex POV
Today is the final test for my pride and joy of a masterpiece, my perfect carving, Zegion.
This is the only day where I will unleash hell upon him.
I have taught him everything I needed to teach him, Iudex Style, Saint Style, Demon Style, Demon Lord Style, even some parts of True Hero and the Awakened Alters.
The only way is up for him now, if he succeeds today, I will give him the final push he needs to ascend into the heavens.
I heard Shion's roaring voice, she was a good announcer, I'll give her that, she riled everyone up.
"On one side, we have the Insectar who broke everyone's expectations out of the box!
Originally nothing but a beetle, this Insectar is undoubtedly one of Lord Rimuru's strongest subordinates, if not the strongest!" (A/N: this whole line is just a meme on how people always compare Zegion to Diablo.)
"Will he prove worthy, it's no one but Zegiooooooon!" As she finished that sentence the crowd shook the entire Coliseum with their sound.
I saw Zegion on the opposite side of the arena through the tunnel, as he walked out.
"And for his match, we have the King of Combat, the God of Martial Arts, Zegion's mentor himself, who will judge him to see if he is worthy or not.."
I was always kind of a mystery, barely anyone knew me in Tempest even after Rimuru announced to quite a lot of people who I was, no one knew who Zegion's mentor was.
"Iudex!" The crowd stopped cheering in anticipation, Zegion was a decently popular figure in Tempest, but he was a level higher than me in popularity.
As I walked out, the present crowd stayed silent.
"Oh? That's the new Demon Lord, isn't he?" A voice, Luminas, asked.
"Yes! That man who blocked my Drago Buster with his punches!" Milim said excitedly.
"I don't really know how strong he is or how strong he can be, I can only gauge a rough estimate.." Dino said.
"Wait, why are you here? Are you really that interested? This is a sight to see.." Luminas questioned him.
"Eheh.. no... I'm working for Ramiris in Rimuru's Labyrinth."
"What? You? Working? How?" Luminas asked in utter confusion.
"Long story, it was a good recommendation from Guy over here since Dagrule kicked me out."
"Yes, I told him to, I barely convinced Rimuru."
"Interesting..."
"Rimuru~ is truly a strange figure.." Velzard said, she was sort of back to her old self.
I heard all that, since they were directly above my tunnel.
Me and Zegion walked closer towards each other.
"Iudex."
"Zegion, I trust you won't disappoint.
There is no need to hold back today.
But neither will I."
"I trust it will be a good fight."
We nodded to each other and took our place.
"Let..
The.
Fight.
BEGIN!!!" The crowd stood silent in anticipation as Zegion came closer to me slowly, I immediately assumed a stance that helped block suddenly attacks.
Zegion immediately launched at me soon after, his speed had gotten very impressive, but I was still superior in every aspect.
This was not a battle where he could defeat me, this was a battle where he tried his best to injure me as much as possible and defend as much as possible until I deem him worthy enough.
Me and Zegion exchanged a few blows, at first I was hesitant, but after affirming Zegion having higher physical strength then me, I realized I need to make it up through lightly charging God-Fist.
I landed a few punches towards Zegion's Hihiirokane Exoskeleton, that was still not enough.
"Good resistance, your metal has become accustomed to you, Zegion, but will it withstand this?"
I immediately used Decastrike with a heavier charged God-Fist with Iudex Style: One Punch Too Many.
Zegion blocked that! How? His reaction speed is impressive, but he was still sent flying away.
"Hmph... you're not going all out, Zegion, do better!"
Zegion seemed to have activated thought acceleration and rushed at me, but to his surprise I was still catching up.
We exchanged thousands of hits over the next few seconds, with me slowly gaining the upper hand, then Zegion took my hand and grabbed me into an arm lock, and I was forced on the ground, with him over me.
"It seems Zegion has gained the upper hand! What will Iudex do now!" The crowd was dying in anticipation and excitement.
"Zegion really is a monster..." Velzard said.
"Really, he is."
I sighed, it's time.
I activated Flow, Decastrike, and Charged God-Fist to the maximum all within a split second.
To the slow eye it wouldn't even be visible.
But to the stronger people present, they knew what this meant.
Zegion immediately jumped back and let me go, he entered an absolute defensive stance.
"Iudex/True Hero Style Combo: True Hero Bone Breakers!"
Zegion used my Energy Exhaust, and we exchanged well over ten thousand punches in the span of no time.
But it was already decided, Zegion wouldn't stand long, as my speed was increasing.
"Zegion.
You are worthy.
Worthy of the title of Demi-God of Martial Arts.
Be proud."
"..."
As he stood silent the battle ended, I finished my combo seeing an opening to use a Neck Breaker.
Zegion was sent flying after the ground shook heavily, his Hihiirokane vibrated a little, which didn't make sense to anyone, his neck bent the same way Veldora's did when I last used it on him.
"...What a fight! Winner is Iudex! Zegion has lost the battle by a destructive combo!"
Zegion was immobilized for a good 4 minutes.
Then he was helped up in front of me when I was given a speaker.
"... To say that you took me by surprise would be an understatement.
Zegion, you truly are a freak of nature.
You are my greatest student, and soon to be the greatest mentor to the citizens of Tempest.
You would put Rudra to shame, you learned much faster than him and apply skills more intelligently."
A silence enveloped the entire arena.
"Zegion, from here on out..
I pronounce you the Demi-God of Martial Arts.
I have recognized you as the sole owner of the new lineage of Martial Arts; the Zegion Style, which you will put techniques in as you see fit.
I will give you access to each and every single Martial Art I deem you fit to use, including those I previously told you that you weren't.
You are the heir to my throne, the prince of martial arts."
The crowd erupted into a cheer as Zegion was silent, then everyone was shut down by the Voice of the World.
[Confirmed, individual Zegion has been granted blessing "Martial Arts Demi-God", and has gained access to the unlimited knowledge of martial arts through the sharing of "Divine God of Martial Arts Zhen Wu"...
Success, individual Zegion has evolved into "Nigh-Godly Insectar", and has gained the Ultimate Skill "King of Combat, Iudex", a skill created from the absolute Student-Teacher bond individuals Zegion and Iudex share.
Sub-skills:
Focus: A gauge that determines the user's dedication to the fight they are partaking in, it is raised through the exchanging of blows and blocks.
Enhance All: Raise every aspect of the body's existence by a margin relative to your "Focus" Meter.
Divine Fist: A skill which focused an alteration of magicules at a certain point, it is the inferior version of God-Fist and is weaker but less stress inducing, the strength of the charging is directly in relation to the "Focus" Meter.
Magic Arts: The user can manipulate magic at will to use with any Martial Art.
Instinctual Processing: Raise the processing of thoughts by a factor of 10,000,000, not applied to analyzing.
This concludes the evolution.]
3rd POV
....
Silence.
Zegion felt weird, he felt something new.
He felt respect, and not the one he feels towards Rimuru, no, it was different.
It was the respect you feel towards your enemies when they are warriors who fight honorably, it was the respect you feel when your teacher is one of those warriors.
"My job is done.
And all is yours to take now, Zegion, there is nothing more I can teach you."
Iudex extended his hand.
Zegion took it.
"Understood, Iudex, no..
Master Iudex."
Iudex was taken aback, for this one moment, Zegion broke his normal character.
The crowd erupted in a massive cheer as Zegion was congratulated by Rimuru.
"Zegion, good fight, I trust you will take yourself to new heights now, beyond the sky."
"Yes, Lord Rimuru, I will."
"Iudex... I must thank you once again, Zegion is invaluable to us as he was, now you made him our top asset."
"Untapped Potential must be realized, I just did my job, Rimuru, think nothing of it."
As the arena slowly emptied, the demon lords came down, along with Velzard and Guy.
"Truly a performance, Zegion, you are as he said, a freak of nature." Luminas said.
"Fight me! Please! Please!!!" Milim was begging Zegion to fight her.
"No! No! Milim no food if you keep being annoying!" Rimuru shut her down.
Iudex was smiling as he saw all this unfold.
"But is it true, Iudex?" Rimuru asked me, then continued the question.
"That you are.. retiring as the teacher?"
"Yes, although it was very short lived, I had to entrust someone to teach everyone else properly, I'm not always going to be here."
Rimuru wondered what he meant.
"Iudex, is it true what I heard? The skill Zegion got was named after you?" Velzard asked me.
"I was wondering the same." Guy also was curious.
"Yes, I think so, I have no idea why, but it did say something about Student-Teacher bond."
"That is.. cool.. say.. Iudex.. do you have any angelic skills?" Dino asked Iudex.
"As in the skills that are opposite to the sin skills? No, Zhen Wu counts as a different set of Ultimate Skills that I do not know the origin of.
"Oh.. alright." Dino looked quite relieved for some reason.
"Subordinate Dino! We must get back to work!"
"Yes lady Ramiris!"
Ramiris and Dino soon left.
"Well, I'll let Hinata and her Holy Knights train here as we agreed."
"Go ahead." Rimuru accepted and Luminas soon left.
Milim also left after a while saying she'll go mess with Veldora.
"Zegion, you may go, I will follow you soon and tell everyone who'll teach them from now on.
Do not think for a second you are unable to, you have the knowledge, and you do not need words to teach, only actions."
"Yes, Iudex, I will do the same job you did with me."
"I only expect that, nothing less." Zegion left after Iudex said that.
"...Come, you three.
It is time to get back on track." Iudex told Rimuru, Velzard and Guy.
Everyone else left soon after.