8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives' Worth of XP and the Third Princess's Appraisal Skill, My Behemoth and I Are Unstoppable! Volume 1

By SkyFarm and teffish

Master swordsman, sage, dragon knight... Remille can’t believe his ears when the princess lists off his possible futures. Born to a lesser noble house, he’s never been anything but a low-level adventurer. In fact, he’s lived that same life seven times—always forming an adventuring party with his friends at age fifteen, and always giving his own life to save theirs three years later. But not this time. The eighth loop is going to be different.

After his most recent death reveals his friends’ treachery, Remille finally takes a different path that leads him to Princess Ciel, wielder of the powerful Eye of Appraisal that can judge anyone’s true potential. Will her wild claims about Remille’s future come to pass? With her guidance, can he really become a great sage or a rider of dragons? Is the adorable catlike familiar he’s tamed in past lives really a mighty behemoth, the strongest of the magical beasts? And will he really be able to escape the deadly destiny that’s claimed his life seven times already...?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J-Novel Club
• Release date: Oct 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781718304321

Book preview

Prologue: The Seventh Death

Am I...dead? My voice was small against the pitch-black world. Again?

You’d think that by the seventh time I ended up here, like it or not I’d at least be able to see it coming. But...

So this is it, huh? The seventh time already?

I could accept dying a seventh time. What I couldn’t accept were my friends—or rather, my former friends. How could they...? There was some kind of mistake; there had to be. But try as I might, I couldn’t escape from the looks on their faces in those last moments. I couldn’t escape from those expressions—that tableau of my dying moments.

❖

Get it through your thick skull. I told you, we don’t need you anymore. Margus, the party leader, leered at me as I cowered there, in the depths of the forest untouched by any except the highest-ranking adventurers. Margus was the fourth son of the Earl of Argus. As a magic swordsman and aspiring hero, he led our party.

Of course, being a fourth son, even of an earl, meant he had to earn his own keep. Through blood, sweat, and tears, he’d pushed himself to excel at both swordsmanship and sorcery, and won his fame as a magic swordsman. He was a man to look up to.

Look, when it comes down to it, a poor country noble like you was never going to fit in with us, Rui the sorceress chimed in. As the third daughter of Viscount Rutus, she would typically have been nothing but a game piece for a political marriage; strong-willed and unconventional as she was, however, she had made a name for herself as an adventurer. She had poured her determination not to be a pawn to her family’s desires into nurturing her magical talent and become a brilliant sorceress, leaving a trail of great victories in her wake.

But all of that strength of will hid a deeply anxious nature. In truth she was a bit of a crybaby, and I’d often found myself in the role of comforting and protecting her.

All this time you really never realized. Pathetic. This came from Aman the lady knight, clad in full armor. She was the fifth daughter of Baron Kyle. Unlike Rui, she wasn’t destined for marriage, but rather for the arduous task of service to the realm as a mounted knight. Fearless even in the face of death, she’d carved her path as an adventurer.

The cold brusqueness of her words reflected how strict she always was with herself. That same strictness was sometimes pointed at others as well, but I found her unrelenting standards for herself and refusal to tolerate nonsense appealing.

These were the three people I had come to trust and rely on more than anyone. I couldn’t believe they, of all people, were speaking to me like this. It felt like everything I was—everything from all seven of my lives up until this moment—was a lie. I could not, absolutely could not accept it.

Margus leaned in close as I shrank away. There’s no way we’re strong enough to beat that horror, y’know.

That would be the grotesque, evil creature we’d just encountered. A horror truly worthy of the name. A horror of such overwhelming dark power that it would make a giant dragon capable of bringing down a company of fifty royal knights look like a cute puppy.

Y-Yeah...

So. Since you’re the most disposable, you’ll be the bait. We can make our escape while it eats you.

What the...? How could...? I stammered.

I had already died many times.

Somehow or another, right when I was eighteen years old, our party would be caught in some dire dilemma. Every time, I would volunteer to sacrifice myself for the sake of the party.

And every time, I would loop back to that day when I was fifteen, the day we first formed our party.

We will cast aside our selfishness! We will fight together, become top-ranking adventurers, and with our noble deeds we shall rise above even the houses of our birth!

I’m with you...yeah! We can do it! We will rise above, no matter what! We’ll show them all!

I will make them see... By my own deeds I will make them acknowledge my power!

I’d gone through that scene seven times so far.

And now, for such vicious words to come from none other than the very comrades with whom I had sworn an oath at fifteen years old to fight together as one...that was even harder to swallow than my imminent death.

Knights are nobles in name alone. And worse, you’re just a third son, good for nothing but supporting your poor family. Did you really think you could be our equal?

You really ought to know your place...

At least you’ll serve some purpose in the end. Be proud.

As I listened to their words I didn’t feel angry, or even sad. I was just desperately hoping to wake up from this nightmare.

The horror loomed ever closer.

The first time around, it was a dragon. Knowing that I wasn’t fast enough to keep up with the others, I willingly offered myself as a decoy, and died.

The second time, it was a minotaur that had somehow escaped its dungeon.

The third time it was a cerberus, a three-headed wolf.

And the fourth time—that’s when shit started getting really weird. It was like every monster and demon had been fused together into a grotesque and horrifying chimera. With each loop, it gradually gained strength. By this time around, it seemed like after chewing through me, this terrible being would go on to destroy the entire world.

Anyway, the point was: no matter where I went or what I did, in the end I’d always be killed by some unfathomably powerful monster. Every time, I chose to give my life for their sakes.

But this time... You, you all—

We were always planning to dump you at some point. We’ll just tell your lowly family you got yourself killed, Margus sneered.

This time, it was their betrayal that had gotten me into this fix.

Hmm, maybe my family will send them something too, on the occasion of your inevitable death. That’s good, right? At least your family will be taken care of, Rui added.

Ugh... I couldn’t easily fight back, having been conked on the head by the flat of Margus’s blade.

To make matters worse, Rui started chanting some spell. There was nothing more I could do. Rui’s magic was too strong—I was finished. But at least I could let my companion who’d fought by my side all this time escape. With that thought, I looked around for my companion.

Instead, I was met with a sight beyond my comprehension.

Oh yeah, just to be totally safe in case the impossible happens, we’re gonna kill your useless familiar too.

No, st-stop...

I couldn’t get the words out.

Stop it. Please, stop this!

Honestly, lugging around a gross little monster has got to be the most annoying and pathetic magical art.

Fitting for someone of such low birth, don’tcha think?

One last glimpse of my companion. My gentle, fluffy, catlike flying companion. I never even knew the true name of its species... For two whole loops, we...

STOOOPPPP!!!

Oh, shut it. Fine, we’ll kill you first.

—Slash.

Fade to black.

And that’s how my life ended for the seventh time. And the very last thing I heard...

Ugh, his stuff is all damp. Well, at least we can sell the familiar’s pelt, I guess.

Of everything my ex-friends had said, that was absolutely the most despicable.

insert1

The Eighth Loop Begins

We will cast aside our selfishness! We will fight together, become top-ranking adventurers, and with our noble deeds we shall rise above even the houses of our birth!

I’m with you...yeah! We can do it! We will rise above, no matter what! We’ll show them all!

I will make them see...by my own deeds I will make them acknowledge my power!

Hey, Remille, aren’tcha gonna say anything?

Oh, yeah, sorry, I muttered. I just, uh...

I guess I’m back here again. Back to just after graduation from Adventurer Preparatory School, to the day we formed our party.

On the first loop I was a swordsman, but I failed to keep up with my friends’ progression and ended up sacrificing my life for them.

On the second loop, I was determined to draw on my experience from the last time and give it my all, but nevertheless when I was eighteen I died protecting my friends just the same.

On the third loop, I gave up on fighting in the vanguard. I tried my hand at magic rather than swordsmanship, but it made no difference and I died anyway.

On the fourth loop, I switched the focus of my magic to be entirely on support spells. And I died.

On the fifth loop, really more for my own sake than for my friends, I buffed my defensive abilities, aiming to become a mounted knight like Aman...and I died.

On the sixth loop I completely avoided the front lines. The best way I could think of to keep myself out of battle was to learn alchemy and beast taming, but still...I died.

And the seventh loop, well... That was my greatest hits compilation. I armed myself with my alchemical skills, used my beast taming magic to bolster our ranks, and fought with both magic and the sword. I contributed more to the party than I ever had.

And that led to...well, you saw how that went.

I just, um, can’t really hope to keep up with you all. But I’ll try my best, I guess.

What are you talking about? If anything happens, we’ve got your back, Margus assured me.

That’s right! Rui broke in. I can use my magic just fine with or without you. Ah, I mean, that’s not to say we don’t need you or anything, just...um... Anyway, I’ll protect you!

Defense is my domain, Aman added. You just stick to your own skills and do what you can.

Thanks. Could these three really end up so awful? How could that be...?

Out of habit I formed the question, then jolted with sudden realization. Oh. Right. I don’t have a companion yet in this loop.

❖

I broke away from the others and slipped into a quiet side alley. Finally alone, I thought through it all again—every one of my previous lives, and where to go from here. The conclusion was inescapable. I’ve gotta split up from them as soon as I can.

Sure, I wouldn’t have thought there was any ill will lurking under the surface just from talking to them today. But I knew how this would play out. And let’s be real—I had spent seven entire lives with those three without seeing through their facade. I didn’t exactly have a lot of confidence in my own judgment. Even now, I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe they truly felt that way about me.

Hmm, I guess I’ll go for being a master tamer... Skills from the life immediately previous were always sharpest. My body retained some memory of skills I’d learned over my lifetimes, so by now I was starting out with at least some knowledge of swordsmanship, magic, taming, and alchemy. Technically speaking, I was exploiting the fact that I already knew the techniques, but the way I saw it I had worked hard to make that much progress in three years. This time around should be no different.

So assuming I’m right, even on my own I should be able to get at least C rank. Maybe. I hope. I had never actually tried this before, so I couldn’t be sure, but it should work. If I was really lucky, I might even make B rank. With all the experience I had under my belt, I should be able to land on my feet quickly enough.

When it comes down to it, the only reason I’ve stuck with them through seven whole loops was that I trusted them... But every time, no matter what, I died at eighteen years old. That was the end I was signing up for each time I teamed up with them. The only reason that I kept trying and trying to find a way to make it work was that I liked them. As hard as it was to accept at the moment, if I continued to cling to that feeling, I was dooming myself to repeat the exact same death. And who knew how many loops I’d be able to go through? I had to do whatever I could to survive.

But the party’s already been formed. That’s where the loop begins. I couldn’t avoid it. If I couldn’t find a way out by that fateful day, I would definitely die. So the first thing I have to do is break off from the party, and then I’ll...

And then... Then what? My thoughts turned to the future. Uh...hmm. And then what would I do? I’d never actually had to consider my own desired path. Now that I thought about it, I’d spent seven whole loops giving my life to them. Literally sacrificing my own life...

I’ll show them...somehow. At the end of my last life, they had mocked me for coming from a family of knights. They must have been harboring that prejudice the whole time. I mean, it’s true that my family are lower nobility, outside the line of succession... But that shouldn’t have made any difference. None of us were in line to inherit a title.

I would show them. But how? Performing deeds glorious enough to earn myself my own noble title, maybe? Could I make myself known to someone of higher societal standing than they’d ever imagine? If somehow I could team up with a princess or something, that would definitely show them, right?

As I absentmindedly grumbled my thoughts up to the sky, I locked eyes with a girl who was staring down at me. Her robe wrapped her whole body and hid most of her face, but she spoke in a clear voice.

Sounds good to me. Let’s do it!

Huh? I was certain I’d checked to make sure no one else was around when I entered this alley. I thought I had been on the alert for approaching enemies or breaches of my perimeter. And yet I hadn’t noticed her at all until she was close enough to talk to me...

I’m Ciel, she told me. Or I guess I should say, the third princess of the Elton royal line. As she spoke, she lowered her hood. Her eyes sparkled with determination. Her long golden hair was pinned up, framing a pale face that still retained the smooth curves of girlhood.

Between her appearance and her introduction,