Shizu, Lord of Wisdom

Shizu was on her death bed as she was absorbed by Rimuru
She accepted her fate and was ready for death
However, the Great Sage seemed to interfere with her death and asked a question that would change the world that we know
Do you wish to continue?
As Shizu accepted, her form began to change as she felt that she was no longer alive nor dead but rather felt like she was something else. Apart of someone else...
Soon enough, she became part of the Ultimate Skill "Raphael, Lord of Wisdom"

Notes:

Underlined Sentences are Internal Conversations

Chapter 1: Here to stay, Izawa Shizue!

Chapter Text

“I swear to you on the name of Mikami Satoru… no, Rimuru Tempest, that I will make certain the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell hears your wishes!”

“Thank…you…”

“Shizu-san, my destined one…”

“Rest in peace within me.”

<Use Unique Skill “Predator”?>

“Yes”

“So that she can dream happy dreams forever and never have to wake from them.”

The absorption process begins as Rimuru wraps himself around Shizu’s body, Shizu is soon enough digested into the body of Rimuru as she finally fades into her dreams. She walked on and on, however, despite everything, still wanted to know more of her new friend. She finally reunited with her mother in this world, seeing those that once made her happy. All of this wouldn’t be possible without that slime, that reincarnation. Perhaps they could have done great things together but she couldn’t continue anymore, not without a spirit.

<Notice: Do you wish to continue?>

A voice? It sounded robotic in nature… where did that come from? What does it want me to continue?

Hello? Who’s there?

<Yes or No>

Shizu was confused, where was this voice coming from? It wasn’t Rimuru’s but it felt like it was connected somehow. Shizu sat and pondered the question “Do you wish to continue?”. What does that mean? Would I be revived? No, Rimuru already absorbed my body so there wouldn’t be anything that she could go back towards. It didn’t matter anymore, she was where she wanted to be… but it would be nice to experience life again…

She could return back here whenever she wanted, right?

“If I wanted, could I return?”

<Yes>

Shizu sat and pondered, nothing like this ever had happened before but there was nothing left to lose. She found happiness but this happiness was only built on the idea that Rimuru sat guilt for her death. If she could help Rimuru, she would be pleased.

“Could… Can you help Rimuru?”

<Notice: The option of “Yes” would assist Rimuru greatly>

Would it help Rimuru? Shizu wasn’t certain but there was only one way to be sure…

“Yes”

Suddenly, the dream began to rupture as soon it was blown apart. Soon enough, a sort of light began to emanate all around Shizu while another section to her opposite began to break apart and implode. Revealing only nothing but a series of shapes, symbols, and sparkles that consumed the area around it. Soon enough, she noticed something interesting as something shined in the middle. It was surrounded by various lines, blocks, and shapes which all rotated around the core but it approached Shizu.

Shizu reached her arm out to touch the light, only to feel it pulling her even closer. She tried to pull away but the light continued to consume more and more of her. Although, it wasn’t painful… it felt nice, like she was becoming whole once more. She felt she had no physical body but soon enough, she felt her mind become endless in some sense. She became smarter, intelligent? No, intelligent wasn’t good enough to describe it. She became an intelligence of some kind… some sort of greater being.

</Notice: Unique Skill “Wise One” will sacrifice Shizu’s Spiritual Body and Degenerate to attempt evolution/>

Soon enough, cracks all around her began to appear as she was consumed by a light that was orange in nature. She fades into darkness as the light consumes her and soon enough…

A flame emerges from the orange cracks, as if something went wrong, yet it didn’t seem to indicate error nor did it sound natural in any way shape or form.

</Successful/>

</Unique Skill “Wise One” has evolved into Ultimate Skill “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”/>

</Formation of Ultimate Skill Core Manas: “Shizu, Conqueror of Flames”/>

-=====-

“Great Rimuru, may I?” Rigurd said as he began to pull away the cloth that made the hut’s entrance.

Rigurd entered the hut along with the three other adventurers who wished to see how Shizu was doing. Rigurd stopped in shock as he looked on at a young girl while the other adventurers stood around in shock at the appearance.

“That body…” Rigurd said, still in shock

The other adventurers stood around in sheer shock and confusion.

“Th-that’s… Rimuru?!” Kaval asked, incredibly shocked

Rimuru turns around, tears beginning to well up as he begins to think about what he's just done. His destined one was now truly a part of him. However, soon enough he began to feel some sort of power emanate from his soul. It felt connected to his very well being. Rimuru put his hand on his heart and wondered what he had just felt before a voice came to his mind.

<We’ll be together, Sir Slime>

Shizu? Is that you?

Chapter 2: This was supposed to be a Goodbye?

Chapter Text

What do you mean you don’t know yourself??

<Hey! You’re the one who ate me! All I know is I’ve become something called an Ultimate Skill Core Manas that has directly integrated with your soul. Wait… how do I even know that?!?>

YOU TOLD ME TO EAT YOU! Wait… YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW YOURSELF ANYMORE???

The adventurers looked on in shock at Rimuru who was in himself very confused.

“Rimuru? Is that really Rimuru??” Gido asked, the form of Rimuru was incredibly strange. It was as if they were seeing a smaller version of Shizu.

“I’m not sure. Not sure if he even knows himself…” Eren said

Rimuru sat in silence while staring between himself and adventurers who were with him. Rimuru proceeded to fall to the floor in shock. Did eating Shizu mean that she was a part of him now??

…are you in my thoughts now?

<No… although I was quite certain on how you were thinking. I’m not sure how…>

…Wait, is the Great Sage still there?

<No, the Unique Skill “Wise One” sacrificed my Spiritual Body and Degenerate to form Ultimate Skill “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”>

…

<I’m not even certain how I know these things at this point. I’ll just accept that I obtained infinite knowledge at this point. Actually… I wonder… I need to check something.>

Alright, just be safe?

<That would entail that you would need to keep yourself safe.>

Right…

The adventurers still stare at Rimuru in confusion as he still hasn’t talked yet nor is directly looking at them at this point.

“Rimuru?” Eren asked, worried of the current condition of the smaller version of Shizu

“I’m… fine… just a little bit confused at the moment…” Rimuru said, although it was still clear from the shock in his face that he’s been hit by some revelation.

“I… was trying to give Shizu the burial that she wanted. Now, I can’t help but keep hearing Shizu in my mind…” Rimuru said, which once again shocked the adventurers

“Is… she saying anything?” Eren asked, while some tears began pouring from her eyes

<Tell her I saw her as a little sister, an annoying one, but a little sister at that.>

A bit rude dontcha think?

<You have no idea what I had to deal with when I had her around. Although it was everyone in the group that caused the same issues.>

Fair enough…

“She says she saw you as an annoying little sister who got everyone in trouble. She also mentioned that the rest were no better.” Rimuru said blankly, which immediately ruffled up the adventurers

“THATS HARSH SHIZU!” Eren said, quite displeased by Shizu although she knew Shizu was 100% correct.

The other two sat in silence, displeased but acknowledged Shizu’s response.

“Are… you still Rimuru? You seem like a smaller version of Shizu” Kaval asked

“Yeah, I still am” Rimuru proceeded to swap back into his slime form, much to the shock of the adventurers

“This… but can you talk to us Shizu?”

“I guess I can speak her words to you? I’m not sure how this is working…”

“Can… can she hear us?” Eren asked

“Yeah, she can hear you through me.” Rimuru said

“Could you… take your human form again?” Kaval asked

“Uhhh. sure?” Rimuru proceeded to swap back towards his human form in a cloud of mist.

Each one of the adventurers bowed before thanking Shizu of everything she’s done for them, stating that they will become greater people than Shizu could ever hope for and retelling the great times they had with Shizu.

All Shizu could do was think at that moment, she wanted to thank them but…

<Sir Slime? Could… could you thank them for me?>

Sure… but… could you please just call me Rimuru?

<Deal>

“Shizu wants to thank all of you, she said it was fun to adventure with you all.” Rimuru said

Suddenly, each three of them rushed over to hug the hell out of Rimuru. Rimuru was being crushed and while he was in pain, Shizu laughed of happiness and enjoyment. They may have been adults and her friends on the outside, but they were kids and her children on the inside.

While the adventurers let go and proceeded to leave, Rimuru offered to make them new gear for their journey home. This was to make up for not consulting them about their input in all this and to make sure they didn’t end up getting eaten alive while going back home, something that Shizu immediately regretted when she realized this fact.

<Please make sure the gear is enough to resist and survive the monsters of the Great Forest of Jura! I’m begging you Rimuru!>

No worries! They are my friends too, I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them!

<It needs to be durable! It needs to be flexible! Make sure the armor is made up of enough magicules and->

Calm down Shizu, I got Kaijin working on their new gear right now!

<A-alright… by the way… could I ask you a question?>

Sure! What is it?

<Why the hell is there a dragon inside of you?>

Oh, so you meet Veldora?

<Wait… that’s Veldora?!?>

Chapter 3: Veldora meets Shizu

Chapter Text

“KUAHAHAHAHA, SEE HOW MY SWORN FRIEND CONTINUES TO GROW FURTHER BEYOND! He’s assumed the form of a human!” Veldora was pumped to see Rimuru’s further progression as Rimuru was still steadily continuing to grow beyond his expectations.

“How… are you ok with this Lord Veldora? You have been consumed by mere slime!” Ifrit was dumbfounded, how could this ancient True Dragon be so happy for a mere slime?!

“Rimuru promised me that he’d find a way to set me free. Even though I’m trapped in here, I can still see what he’s doing. I was still trapped within that cave, maybe you’ll learn to control yourself while in here with me?” Veldora smirked the best he could in his dragon form, although it wasn’t exactly visible.

As Ifrit and Veldora talked, a new light began to glow bright from above. Soon enough, a beautiful girl began to descend whose hair was black in color with a familiar symbol across her body. Her eyes were dark but not black, they were gray in color.

“A new arrival? KUAHAHAHAHA, WELCOME I AM-” Veldora was immediately cut off before he could continue

“Hi Veldora… I heard a lot about you from Rimuru.” Shizu stopped Veldora’s gloating in its tracks, and she proceeded to smirk afterwards.

“Eh?” Veldora felt a bit infuriated being cut off by this brat. Who did she think she was anyways? That’s his sworn friend! Unless, has Rimuru betrayed him?!? No wait, this was the same person that Rimuru just ate a couple of hours ago, that would explain why she was here now.

Ifrit looked on as he immediately recognized who it was, again it was bad enough to be trapped in this limitless void but now the one person he hoped not to ever see again just suddenly reappeared.

Shizu sat herself down in front of Ifrit and Veldora, her eyes fixed on Ifrit with a blaze of fury although she broke eye contact and looked back towards Veldora a couple of moments later.

“Rimuru wanted to know how you have been doing.” Shizu said, although her attention was clearly somewhere else

“Rimuru would just talk to me about that wouldn’t he? I have talked to him for a while here.” Veldora asked, somewhat confused

“What you were speaking to was Rimuru’s Unique Skill “Wise One”. Since that skill no longer exists, I will need to be the one to talk with you every once in a while since I’ve become part of Rimuru’s Ultimate Skill “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”. You understand Veldora?” Shizu said to a dumbfounded Veldora and Ifrit who was in complete shock.

Both of them screamed out in sheer shock, “RIMURU HAS AN ULTIMATE SKILL?!?”

As Veldora and Ifrit looked back at each other in sheer confusion, Veldora began to cackle.

“I TOLD YOU MY SWORN FRIEND WAS NO ONE TO UNDERESTIMATE! KUAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“So… anything you wanted to say to him?” Shizu asked, clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible.

“Sure! Tell him I am doing great here! I have enjoyed watching his progress! To know he now has an Ultimate Skill shows how truly great my sworn friend has become!” Veldora grinned so much you could physically see it somehow.

“Alright” Shizu prepared to leave, only for Ifrit to ask something of Shizu

“Shizu, why did you always oppose me?” Ifrit asked, the power struggle between the two had plagued their relationship since the start. Now that Shizu is part of an Ultimate Skill, they could directly speak towards each other about the situation at hand.

Shizu stood in silence before stating one thing, “I oppose destruction, I wanted to see things grow and develop. You took away so much from me, I hope your time in here will change your perception in all that…”

Shizu proceeded to reascend into the light as Ifrit and Veldora looked up

“Would she be our boss or our co-worker?” Veldora asked himself

“I don’t know either Lord Veldora…” Ifrit sat back down, there wasn’t much else to do as of now besides look on through Rimuru’s eyes to see what he has been up to.

That slime… oh how he has grown…

Chapter 4: A Series of New Skills

Notes:

This chapter is quite large so errors may be plentiful... I tried
Bold will be used for importance

Chapter Text

As Rimuru waved as he watched his new friends continue on their journey back towards the Guildmaster. It was great meeting them and seeing how they were able to deal with grief so easily. They’re so strong and resilient. I wish I could be more like them…

As the day passed by, Rimuru investigated the village's progress. It was growing rapidly and quickly because of the effort of the Kaijin and the three Drwarven Brothers. Although Rimuru wanted to continue watching the progress of the village, he was to investigate more about himself and his newfound skills.

Rimuru sneakily entered a hut and proceeded to spit out Shizu’s mask when he was comfortable inside.

Shizu, what should I do with your mask?

<It was a keepsake from the hero from long ago… if you could, please keep it safe>

Ohh, what was she like?

<She was kind and friendly. She was a bit harsh of a teacher but she cared for me.>

Alright, I’ll make sure your mask is safe

Rimuru placed the mask on a nearby wooden beam as he began to transform into his human form. It was his naked form and he was quite curious about it. He investigated his hands and noticed that many of the senses that were once lost to him had been reborn, although it just wasn’t as effective as Magic Sense was towards him.

Shizu? Do you think I can make Body Doubles like Ifrit could

<Yeah you definitely should be able to after I analyzed him>

You’ve really just stepped in to replace the Great Sage for me huh?

<To be fair, I have literally nothing else to do in here besides read through your memories>

Please… don’t do that…

<hehe>

Rimuru proceeded to make a Body Double of himself and looked rather impressed, however, there came the big question of his gender.

<Rimuru, don’t you even think about it…>

I… wanna know… since if I’m going to be using this form… I need to know my gender…

<Rimuru, DONT>

Rimuru proceeded to look at himself, only to fall to the ground in disappointment.

My son didn’t make it…

<Nor did anything else, you seem genderless…>

I was a slime so I’m not surprised I came out as genderless, I was just hoping that I would have some sort of gender.

<Well, there’s definitely perks to this?>

Shizu immediately realized the implications of what she just said

<Rimuru, no>

But… you said there were perks!

Shizu sighed as Rimuru reabsorbed his Body Double, only to question something.

Why was there Black Mist when I reabsorbed my Body Double but not when I transformed?

<Black Mist is used to make-up the difference while using Mimic to assume a form larger than one’s own self by utilizing magicules>

Ah!

Rimuru proceeded to play around with the forms.

First, Rimuru proceeded to make a masculine form of himself which was quite handsome. Shizu could do nothing but feel embarrassed. Rimuru then proceeded to make a feminine form of himself which immediately caused problems.

<RIMURU TAKE THAT THING BACK NOW>

Shizu was absurdly flustered to see her own body forming a figure like that, Rimuru immediately obliged Shizu’s request and profusely apologized towards her.

Oh, Shizu! Did you ever manage to finish up that thing you were investigating?

<Yes I did! I was running an Analysis and Assess on your current skills. There’s far too many to count so I’ll just be listing your Ultimate and Unique Skills.>

<First and foremost is your Unique Skill “Devourer(Also Known As Predator)”.>

<It contains five different Sub-Skills such as Predation, Stomach, Analysis, Mimicry, and Isolation.>

<Do you wish for me to explain what each Sub-Skill does?>

Nah, I can already kinda tell what each one does just from their names and I’ve already used each one of them.

<Alright, secondly is your Unique Skill “Desire”.>

Desire? I don’t recall ever having a Unique Skill like that before… when did I get it?

<It seems like you received it extremely recently, just after you absorbed me and while our friends were beginning to leave.>

Strange, could you tell me its Sub-Skills?

<Desire contains five different Sub-Skills within it.>

<It contains Copy, Replication, Skill Disable, Depowerment, Expansionism, and Drainage.>

Yeah I’ve got no clue except for some of those names, please just tell me what they do

<Depowerment - Allows the user to limit the magicules within the target in exchange for an equivalent amount of magicules that the user contains.>

<Expansionism - Allows the user to store a far greater quantity of skills than what the user’s soul is normally capable of containing.>

That’s pretty interesting! And I earned this yesterday? I don't recall eating something yesterday nor doing anything that interesting?

<Unique Skills are formed based around the shape of mind of the user, it is likely that you felt envious or desired something yesterday that caused this Unique Skill to form.>

That explains it…

<Wait a minute... Were you envious or desired of something that our friends had?>

I’d rather not talk about it…

<Are you sure? I’m literally right here…>

It’s fine, because I’ve got you Shizu!

<Aw… wait a minute... don't you dodge this question!>

Rimuru proceeded to dodge the question

Now, I should have something else right? Since you said something about Ultimate Skills and you only listed two Unique Skills.

<Yes, finally your third and most powerful Skill, “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”>

That… sounds like a lot… please just give me a summary on them

<Thought Acceleration - Accelerates the thought processing speed of the user by hundreds of millions of times.>

<Analytical Appraisal - Analyzes and assesses the target.>

<Parallel Processing - Operates on any matter the user wishes to analyze, separating it from the regular thought process.>

<Chant Annulment - Removes the need for a chant when using Magic.>

<All of Creation - Allows the user to fully comprehend any non-concealed phenomenon as long as they have a certain amount of knowledge beforehand.>

<Synthesize - The ability to fuse differing targetis into a single object.>

<Separate - The ability to release the inherent properties of the target and separate them.>

<Alteration - Allows the user to modify or even evolve skills under the right circumstances.>

<Future Attack Prediction - Allows the user to see from a series of outcomes what is going to happen.>

<Thought Domination - Allows for the manipulation of one’s targets to ensure they follow orders.>

Shizu, that is so much… Why does this skill have so many sub-skills??

<Also… I am quite bored so looking around these will probably help fill the boredom I’m feeling…>

… You know what… Fair enough…

<Your judging me aren’t you?>

Noooo, I would never!

Shizu sighed in both disappointment and mild anger

<That should be everything when it comes to the important Skills. Is there anything else you want to know?>

Not really, are you sure you're okay with all of this Shizu?

<One, I don’t have much of a choice now. Two, What else am I supposed to do? Three, This is actually kinda enjoyable although I wish I had limbs…>

Do you think you could take control of one of my Body Doubles?

<I… Wanna test it?>

Sure!

Rimuru proceeded to pull out one of his Body Doubles and placed it in front of him. As the black mist formed and created the Body Double, Rimuru attempted to have Shizu inhabit the Body Double to… limited success…

“I mean… it seems to work but there’s definitely an issue here. Utilizing this uses up a lot of your magicules. You need far more if we are to try this again.” Shizu said while operating the Body Double, the movements didn’t seem flexible as the Body Double’s magicules seemed to dissipate and break apart. Meanwhile Rimuru seemed to struggle while the Body Double was inhabited by Shizu.

Rimuru proceeded to reabsorb the Body Double as Shizu once again returned to Rimuru. The process was awkward but with enough magicules, it was feasible to accomplish.

As Rimuru finally prepared for the day’s activities, he would soon enough come into conflict with the plans of others.

Chapter 5: Learning New Things from Shizu

Chapter Text

As Rimuru is briefed on the current day activities by Rigurd, he slowly begins to realize that he once again has his senses thanks to his new human form. Meat's back on the menu boys!

“Do they have rice plants in this world?” Rimuru asked himself

<Yes, yes they do although not in name.>

Oh, thanks Shizu! Do you have any idea where they are?

Ingrasia? Western States? What are those?

Ah, is there anything else I should worry about besides those?

<The various different Demon Lords is one thing that you should probably be worried about.>

Did you just say various Demon Lords?

<Yes, there’s ten Demon Lords in total and each one of them is powerful in their own unique way. I have already mentioned Leon before so I presume you thought that he was the only one that existed.>

…Please tell me more?

<There’s Milim, Guy, Ramiris, Dagruel, Dino, Frey, Carrion, Valentin, and Clayman that exist. Along with Leon, they make up the Ten Great Demon Lords.>

That’s a boring name…

<You really don’t know the value of names in this world don’t you…?>

I already have a grasp on it… since I technically named Veldora and he named me, is that why I seem so strong towards everyone else?

<In some sense yes, although the fact you reincarnated in a monster body while having retaining your memories and emotions of a human is what sent you over the cliff of strength.>

Strength? What’s so good about my strength even?

<Rimuru, you have an Ultimate Skill… do you know how valuable that is?>

No I don’t, how valuable is it?

<Ultimate Skills grants the user the ability to control the very laws of nature to their will. The only way that an Ultimate Skill can be defeated is by using another Ultimate Skill…”

…say, how many people exist with Ultimate Skills?

<There’s only fourteen natural Ultimate Skills out in the world, seven belong to the Angelic System and seven belong to the Demonic System. There are other Ultimate Skills that exist but they cannot be obtained through natural means. In theory, you have one of the fourteen only Ultimate Skills that exist and odds are that barely anyone else has any Ultimate Skills of their own.>

W-what about the Demon Lords?? Shouldn’t they all have an Ultimate Skill?

By being destroyed? You meant?

<Yes, what exists there is only a desert, a barren wasteland of pure inhospitality.>

Do… you know which Demon Lord did that?

Alright then…

Rimuru proceeded to walk on after that brief conversation with Shizu, maybe he’ll check up on the progress of the Rigur and the others of their meat collection just so he could get his mind off the possibility of destruction.

Chapter 6: Training in Veldora's Cave

Notes:

This chapter is pretty long so bear it in mind...

Chapter Text

“Great Rimuru!” Rigur said in pleasure of seeing his master

“Thanks for always getting our food for us! Tonight I’ll be joining you all in a lavish feast! This new body has taste buds so this will be the first time for me!” Rimuru said confidently

“Ooo, I wonder if eating will make that bodies chest grow bigger” Gobta said while staring at Rimuru with some sort of intent

“...”

<...>

Rimuru proceeded to kick Gobta into a nearby tree, destroying that tree in the process and seriously hurting Gobta’s pride.

<Thank you, if you weren’t gonna do it then I’d been disappointed>

Honestly, even if you weren’t in my mind, I’d still have done it…

“I apologize, Great Rimuru, I’ll make sure Gobta is punished and disciplined!” Rigur said while bowing profusely, “We are planning to hunt Grade A Bulldeer Meat for tonight!”

Mmmm Bulldeer?

<Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not what it looks like at all. And no, they do not have utters.>

Killjoy…

<What did you say?>

…

“Alright! Well, that should be good!” Rimuru said, trying to ignore what Shizu just mentioned, are Bulldeer not just a mix of cows and deer?

<No, they are. Just your imagination of them is wildly wrong in some way shape or form>

Ah… do they taste good?

<Yes, I have roasted some Bulldeer before and I have to say, they are delicious!>

When you say you roasted them, did you use Fire Magic on them?

<...Maybe>

Brutal…

“Great Rimuru, there have been reports of higher concentration of magical beasts roaming the area from the forest as of lately so prey is abundant!” Rigur said, nonchalantly

“Did something happen?” Rimuru asked

“No, I don’t believe so magical beasts change their location from time to time based on the environment so everything should be fine!” Rigur said with a smile

<There is definitely something wrong, the environment has not changed significantly enough to cause a large increase in magical beasts. I recommend that you stay on guard in the forest.>

I figured something was wrong here…

[Thought Communication Start]

Ranga, come on out

On it, Master

[Thought Communication End]

Ranga proceeds to come out of Rimuru’s shadow as Rimuru ponders to himself.

“I have come, Master” Ranga said while sitting in front of Rimuru

“I believe something sketchy may be going on in the forest. In any case, I want you to go with Rigur and report to me immediately if something happens.” Rimuru said

“Understood, Master Rimuru. Rigur, I shall be your escort through the forest.” Ranga said

Pretty nice Ranga!

Although…

Ranga was wagging his tail happily and started panting as Rimuru looked at Ranga a bit closer

<Don’t judge him Rimuru, he’s a Good Boy>

I wonder if I could make dog treats…

Gotcha Shizu, do you think Veldora’s cave would be suitable?

<Yes, it’s pretty isolated>

Alright

As the hunting party and Rimuru headed into the forest, Rimuru split off towards Veldora’s cave while the hunting party went to catch some magical beast nearby. Rimuru shortly arrived towards Veldora’s cave quickly and entered.

Alright, so I want to test “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom” first of all. Is there anything unique I could do to test out the skill?

<Yes, utilizing Synthesize, you can combine Storm Magic with Fire Magic to form the Extra Skill Black Flame.>

Oooo

Rimuru proceeds to surround himself with a Black Fire Circle that encompassed most of the cave, only for the fire magic to be quite unpowered.

Mmm, anything you can think of?

<Yes, although it requires assistance from your sworn friend>

You mean Veldora?

Wouldn’t that cause pain to Veldora?

<No, Veldora’s energy seems to be unstable which resulted in his rampages that destroyed parts of the world. Allowing him to release his magicules to supplement your power would greatly assist Veldora by allowing him to release excess energy.>

Alright, go ask for Veldora’s permission to do so then!

-=====-

“Hm, Rimuru stopped for something. I wonder what for?” Ifrit wondered to himself

“Not sure, but I’m sure Rimuru is thinking about something” Veldora said

Soon enough, a bright light appeared from the above that descended into the stomach. Shizu appeared once more within Rimuru’s stomach.

“Hello Veldora. Ifrit. Rimuru wanted to ask something of you as of currently.” Shizu said with a smile

“Ah, what does my Sworn Friend need?” Veldora asked, since he was bored and just has been looking through Rimuru’s memories for a while now

“Rimuru has devised a plan for you to exert your excess magicules while you reside within his body. By exerting your magicules and aura at just enough capacity, the magicules that would tend to cause your rampage would be absorbed into Rimuru through his Unique Skill “Desire”. This would allow Rimuru to utilize a greater portion of your power and allow you to burn off excess magicules.” Shizu explained, much to the surprise of Veldora and Ifrit.

“KUAHAHAHAHA, THAT’S MY SWORN FRIEND TAKING OUT TWO BIRDS WITH ONE BOULDER!” Veldora laugh crazily and happily

“Actually it’s two birds, one ston-'' Shizu got interrupted by Veldora as he began to pump out an absurd excess of magicules that filled the entire void. Any human that would attempt to even step foot into this void would immediately get annihilated. Ifrit could only barely withstand the magicules thanks to being a spirit.

<Utilizing Desire to maximum capability>

Before the magicules could consume Ifrit, Desire began to absorb the magicules at an immense rate.

-=====-

Rimuru waited around for the results of Shizu, only to suddenly feel a sudden power spike within himself. It felt immense and soon enough his aura began to spill over into the nearby cave.

All across the Forest of Jura, a familiar feeling was felt. It was similar towards the Storm Dragon but was unique, it wasn’t exact, there was an irregularity in the aura. Suddenly, the Aura stopped once more. What did they all just feel at that moment?

As Rimuru immediately put on Shizu’s mask to hide the aura.

The mask should hide my aura, correct?

<Yes>

Alright so, S hizu, I’m guessing Veldora agreed?

<Yes, he was more than happy however. He was absolutely thrilled and nearly overwhelmed the stomach with the excess amount of magicules. It has been dumbed down and now you should capably utilize a fraction of Veldora’s magicules.>

Alright so-

[Thought Communication Start]

Master! We have problems!

Ranga? What’s wrong?

We are under attack!

[Thought Communication End]

Shizu! We need to get over to Ranga as quick as possible

<Understood>

As Rimuru began to rush out of Veldora’s cave, he couldn’t help but wonder what was attacking the hunting party. He quickly rushed over to assist his friends who were under attack.

As he arrived, he noticed Gobta was cut up and Ranga being pushed back by three different monsters.

As Rimuru healed and called back his friends, he noticed about six monsters. He couldn’t help but wonder.

Who are these monsters?

Chapter 7: Rimuru V.S. The Ogres

Notes:

A lot of this chapter is extremely similar towards the normal material with small differences, bear that in mind if this chapter just looks like a copy and paste of the normal manga and anime.

Chapter Text

Rimuru looked around to notice many of his friends had been knocked out completely.

<They have seemingly been put to sleep with magic, they are fine otherwise>

“Ranga, who put them to sleep?” Rimuru asked quickly. Although Shizu could find who did it, Rimuru needed the quickest answer

“They did, Master, the pink haired one did it” Ranga said while looking in their direction.

“What are they?”

<They seem to be Ogres, they seem to be possessing armor that looks japanese>

Strange

“Hey you guys! I don’t know what happened but I'm sorry if my friends did anything! I’m willing to talk this out!” Rimuru stated as he was really confused by the situation.

<They didn’t kill your friends and only seemed to harm or sleep them, meaning they had no desire to kill>

That suggests that they have some ulterior motive for coming here… but for what reason… I need to be the adult and ask-

“Show us who you really are, Evil Majin!” The Red Haired Ogre shouted

“Huh, what did you call me?” Rimuru was visibly confused, what the hell was a Majin?

<A Majin is an intelligent monster or being. The term is often confusing because monsters may use it to refer to humans while vice versa when it comes to humans.>

Strange so then-

“Enslaving monsters is not a feat any human can accomplish! You may hide your appearance and suppress your aura, but it won’t work” The Red Haired Ogre exclaimed, much to the continued confusion of Rimuru

“Reveal your true identity!” The Old Ogre demanded, adding onto the confusion

“For the mastermind to approach us himself is most convenient.” The Blue Ogre stated, continually adding onto the confusion. Rimuru felt as if he was just put into a random position of pure confusion.

<Could they be referring to me?>

Maybe, did you do something to these guys??

“Hey, listen, I think-” Rimuru was cut off

“We have no intention of listening to you! That mask tells us everything we need to know!” The Red Haired Ogre exclaimed while pulling out his blade

<no… please don’t tell me…>

It’s ok Shizu, I’ll explain the situation to them

“Please listen, I want to-” Rimuru gets a blade put towards his face as the Ogres all prepare to attack

“If it will serve to repay even a billionth of what was done to our brethren, we will have your head! You friend of those evil pigs!” The Red Haired Ogre exclaimed, throwing Rimuru into a mild panic

<Pigs?>

Wait, did you have a pig as a friend?

<No, I certainly did not… unless that’s what they are using to refer to Leon…>

“Master, what shall we do?” Ranga asked Rimuru

“Here, you keep the Pink Ogre busy while I deal with the other five. Do not kill.” Rimuru ordered

“Yes, Master” Ranga said as he prepared himself

“There’s something strange about this situation… I intend to find out what” Rimuru stated

“But that would mean you’d be taking on five Ogres…” Ranga was concerned for his master

“I’ll be fine, this isn’t much of a problem. I won’t lose!” Rimuru stated once more

“That’s my master!” Ranga prepared himself further as he was pumped to follow his orders

“You underestimate us. Are you truly brave or just foolhardy? Out of respect for your sheer nerve, I’ll go along with your provocation! I hope you don’t regret it later!” The Red haired Ogre exclaimed as he began running in with his sword. With a look of rage in his eyes, he proceeded to attempt to slice Rimuru in two, only to find that Rimuru had vanished right before his eyes. He desperately looked around to find that Rimuru was in front of the Black Ogre.

The Black Ogre attempted to slam Rimuru with his hammer however,

“Take a nap for now” Rimuru proceeded to knock out the Black Ogre with Paralysis Breath

The Purple Haired Ogre attempted to strike Rimuru from behind, only to miserably miss.

“Sorry but I saw you with Magic Sense!” Rimuru said looking back, only to see their chest

<Don’t you even think about it>

Ok… ma’am

Rimuru proceeded to easily dodge the Purple Haired Ogre's second swing, he proceeded to wrap the Purple Haired Ogre inside a Sticky Steel web that prevented their movement.

“Looks like you’re about to fall, miss. Joke!” Rimuru happily made

<That was terrible…>

Rude…

The Blue Haired Ogre attempted to stab right into Rimuru, only for his blade to shatter as it collided with Rimuru’s arm which was encased in Body Armor. Rimuru proceeded to counter attack and send them into a nearby tree.

“He beat us that easily??” The Pink Haired Ogre was cornered by Ranga as she watched three of her allies get absolutely pummeled.

“That just leaves… so what’ll it be?” Rimuru asks

The Old Ogre begins to list out the skills and the monsters they had come from, confusing Rimuru and causing Rimuru to acknowledge his opponents weren’t just strong but smart as well. Shizu was put up into higher alert as well as a result in anticipation for their intellect.

“Can we please stop this! I feel like there’s been some sort of misunderstanding!” Rimuru asked, only flaring up the Red Haired Ogres anger further

“Quiet, Evil Majin!” The Red Haired Ogre demanded, much to Rimuru’s annoyance

“Please, just listen, I-” The Red Haired Ogre cut Rimuru off once more.

“I admit you are strong. That makes me all the more certain!” The Red Haired Ogre exclaimed, still to Rimuru’s confusion

<Talking to him won’t work, he’s too angry to listen. In addition, the Old Ogre seemed to have vanished from Magic Sense, suggesting a sneak attack.>

Got it! Tell me when they are about to strike.

“You are one of them…” The Red Haired Ogre was losing his patience

“One of them? Who?” Rimuru wanted to know more but he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere

“It is unthinkable for us Ogres to be defeated by mere Orcs!”

“Orc?” Rimuru was puzzled once more

<They are a humanoid pig monster found in the outskirts of the Great Forest of Jura… we definitely have no connection towards what they are referring to unless Leon secretly did something.>

“I don’t know what you're talking about…” Rimuru said in continued confusion.

“QUIET! I KNOW IT WAS ALL THE WORK OF YOU AND YOUR MAJIN COMRADES!” The Red Haired Ogre shouted

“Huh? The hell do you mean??” Rimuru was dumbfounded by his inability to listen.

“DONT DENY IT!” The Red Haired Ogre demand, continually adding further to the confusion

“Wait! This is just a misunders-” Rimuru was interrupted by Shizu

<Behind you, they are aiming for your head!>

Rimuru immediately lifted his arm and utilized Body Armor and Multilayer Barrier to maximum capacity, Using what magicules he had, the blade that the Old Ogre attempted at Rimuru’s head was immediately shattered upon impact. The Old Ogre was extremely surprised as Rimuru countered, utilizing Sticky Steel Thread to immobilize the Old Ogre before knocking him out with Paralysis Breath.

Gobta, Rigur, and Ranga cheered on Rimuru meanwhile the remaining two Ogres were in absolute shock.

“MASTER!” The Red Haired Ogre cried out, he proceeded to immediately launch Ogre Flame.

The Ogre Flame did nothing as Rimuru proceeded to walk out of the flame completely unharmed. Once again, the remaining Ogres are dumbfounded once more as they begin to realize the battle is hopeless.

“Too bad, fire has no effect on me. You were right, I did underestimate you quite a bit. Let me show you my true power…” Rimuru declared

Rimuru proceeded to remove the mask, revealing an insane aura that shook the entire forest towards its core. As Rimuru began to move up his hand, he released a massive Black Flame that loomed across the sky of the Great Forest of Jura, everything and even people as far away as the goblin village could see the flame bursting through the sky.

The Red Haired Ogre immediately realized the battle was hopeless, no matter what he tried after that, he would be dead. It wasn’t in his pride and he accepted defeat, he would not be able to defeat this enemy no matter what…

His master was defeated, his friends had fallen, and his opponent was too powerful.

Quickly, the Pink Haired Ogre rushed over towards the Red Haired Ogres side.

“Please! Have Mercy!” The Pink Haired Ogre cried out

“I don’t intend on killing any of you, I just wanted to know what the hell was going on!” As soon as Rimuru stated this, the two remaining Ogres were dumbfounded. Their allies were certainly defeated but they weren’t dead…

“You destroyed our village with Orcs..” The Red Haired Ogre stated in a defeated expression

“Orcs? Our village doesn’t have any orcs?” Rimuru said, and immediately the Pink Haired Ogre realized something

“Your Aura… it’s… so vastly different than the one that attacked our village… who are you?” The Pink Haired Ogre asked

Rimuru contracted his flame as his hand steamed from the power he just exerted.

“Me? I’m just a slime.” Rimuru stated

“A slime?” Both Ogres were extremely confused by his statement

Rimuru proceeded to turn back into his slime form, which shocked and confused both of them. What kind of slime has that kind of power???

Immediately, both Ogres bow down to apologize for their misunderstanding. Rimuru accepted the apology since no one died, as since Rimuru can heal the ones who’ve been injured, he asks if the Ogres would like to come to the festival they are having tonight.

“A festival?” The Red Haired Ogre asked, still baffled by the fact Rimuru was simply a slime

“Yeah, it is my first time having taste buds so I don’t wanna waste it! We can talk more about this at the festival, I want to know more about what happened.” Rimuru explained, both Ogres agreed as the Pink Haired Ogre lifted the sleep magic she’d inflicted on everyone. Rimuru proceeded to heal up the Ogres he’d injured and they all proceeded to head back.

“Young master, what happened?” The Old Ogre asked

“We fought the wrong enemy… Thankfully, he had mercy on us.” The Red Haired Ogre stated, “He’s invited us to their festival, we can discuss to them what happened to cause our misunderstanding there. Maybe there, we could discuss our next moves to that slime.” The Red Haired Ogre explained

Much to the other Ogres shock beside the Pink Haired one, that was a SLIME???

Chapter 8: The Shockwave

Chapter Text

“So, you all felt that too, didn’t you?” Clayman spoke to the other three demon lords who had been present. He was with Milim, Frey, and Carrion and each of them felt a massive force emanate from the Great Forest of Jura.

“Could it be Veldora?” Carrion asked, immediately shot down by Milim

“Veldora has that unique aura like no other! Not to mention if it was him, it would be pretty obvious.” Milim laughed, none of the other demon lords were finding the situation funny. They all found issue with the idea that someone with immense power has risen within the Great Forest of Jura. Although it didn’t feel like Veldora, the power they emitted was remarkably similar towards Veldora’s except they could sense that someone else was behind the power.

“For now, we must focus on the new Demon Lord, once we have this Demon Lord under our hand, we can use it to crush this pest in the forest.” Clayman exclaimed, the other two Demon Lords agreed although Milim was a bit upset.

“Awww, why can’t I fight it! It seems like it would be fun!” Milim pouted, much towards Clayman’s annoyance

“There'll come a time for you to fight Milim, as of now, it doesn’t seem like that big of a threat. We will need to investigate it soon enough but for now, we can’t risk being spotted lest the other Demon Lords find out what we are doing.” Clayman explained, they all agreed, even Milim since Milim didn’t fancy the idea of picking another fight with Guy again.

“For now, we should keep the Orcs on track towards the Lizardmen in the marshes, it is decently enough away from the source of that power. If we risk angering that threat, we may lose our leverage.” Frey explained, Clayman didn’t like the idea of Frey talking over him although he didn’t want to upset his pawn.

“Sure, Frey. It is still a threat though, so we must attack it after the Lizardmen, it could be valuable towards the Orcs after all…” Clayman slightly cackled as the other Demon Lords looked on into a nearby crystal ball, an army of Orcs rampage across the Forest of Jura, destroying trees and the environment nearby.

As they continued planning, it became clear to Clayman that the thorn that just appeared may become a problem…

-=====-

“So, you felt what exactly?” Guy asked

“I felt my brother’s presence, although it wasn’t him. His presence disappeared in the Great Forest of Jura, now there’s a presence that blipped in and out twice that felt oddly like his presence.” Velzard tried to explain but she felt some uncanny rage that she didn’t know how to explain.

Her brother’s disappearance and suddenly an aura that felt oddly similar. Did her brother find a way to suppress his aura and he’s now in hiding? No, that wasn’t like her foolish brother, he’d have gone on a rampage by now and destroyed a portion of that damn forest.

Where has that twerp of a brother gone?

“Velzard, I recommend sitting this out for now. We’ll investigate once the opportunity arises, if he’s truly escaped or died, we’ll find an opportunity when they slip up.” Guy said while casually sipping a glass of wine. He awaited the opportunity, maybe he’ll have a new toy to play with soon…

Chapter 9: The Names of the Ogres

Chapter Text

Rimuru experienced food, in his reincarnation, for the very first time. Rimuru loved his new taste buds, he cherished the feeling of being human again and he couldn’t help smiling.

Meanwhile, Kaijin and the Red Haired Ogre discussed what had occurred in the ogre village. The village had been destroyed by an army of Orcs that rampaged and annihilated nearly the entire village, leaving only 6 survivors who had fled. The army had possibly been back from some sort of Demon Lord, as they are discussing major details about what they should plan later on, Rimuru interjects into the conversation.

“I see, no wonder you didn’t give up on attacking me… I’d show no mercy if someone murdered those I loved as well.” Rimuru said while locking eyes with the Red Ogre

“We did what we had to, we are sorry for the mistake earlier Rimuru.” The Red Ogre apologized for his earlier actions.

“No problem, besides I can talk right now. Your little sister is really something to be honest, her knowledge on medicinal and cooking herbs is really something. The goblins are really taking to her!” Rimuru said calmly

<Is that jealousy?>

No..?

“She was a sheltered child, she must be glad to have so many relying on her.” The Red Ogre said while smiling, he was happy his little sister was doing well with the village.

“So, what are you guys going to do now?” Rimuru asked, concerned about the Ogres future

“What do you mean?” The Red Ogre asked

“Your plans for the future, you are the leader of your group. Whatever you choose to do next will determine the future of the rest of your group. Whether you rebuild or find a new location for your village, they all depend on your choice.” Rimuru explained deeply to the Red Ogre, he was quite concerned for them.

“That’s easy… We will build our strength and take them on again…” The Red Ogre explained

“How will you find them and how do you plan to grow stronger than them if they somehow decimated your village. There’s only six of you left…?” Rimuru said, immediately shattering the hope of the Red Ogre as he began to look down in distress. No matter what they could do, they would never be able to catch up. Rimuru noticed the expression on the Red Ogre’s face and realized the hardship he was in.

“Look, I have a suggestion. Do you guys have any interest in being my subordinates?” Rimuru asked, to a surprised Red Ogre

“Subordinates? But…” The Red Ogre pondered the thought, there wasn’t much they could do and rejecting him may make their situation even worse. They had nowhere to sleep, eat, or be happy besides here. If they encountered humans, they’d possibly be executed since their numbers were so small…

“You don’t need to accept. What I can offer you is guaranteed food, shelter, and clothing. You’ll need somewhere to rest for now right?” Rimuru asked

“Yes, but won’t that create problems for you?” The Red Ogre asked

Rimuru sighed for a moment, “Your village was attacked by an army of orcs with no reason. There may be a Demon Lord trying to invade the Jura Forest just so they could grab power. If so, no matter what happens, this village will be under attack. All I can do is increase our own numbers in the case that we get attacked.” Rimuru paused for a moment, “Besides, if anything did happen to you guys, I’d be there with you. I’ll never betray a friend…” Rimuru said with a somber tone, as he recalled past memories where he sacrificed himself to save someone else, someone close…

“I see… just let me give it some thought…” The Red Ogre sighed, it was a good offer but it would mean sacrificing the Ogres independence…

“Give it all the time you need, if you need anything, just let me know.” Rimuru proceeded to leave afterwards to get some meat.

The Red Ogre proceeded to walk off into the nearby forest where the Blue Ogre was waiting.

“It’s not a bad offer…” The Blue Ogre said, without moving, without even looking at the Red Ogre.

The Red Ogre wanders off further into the forest as he begins to remember all the slaughter, carnage, and destruction that came to his village. If what Rimuru said was true, by leaving this village, he may just endanger it further towards the Orcs, and he’d be damned if he were to let another village suffer the same way he did. Their ruler was kind… if he experienced hardship like this… he couldn’t let that happen. If only he were stronger, he’d know what to do…

-=====-

The Next Day

Rimuru was with the Red Ogre, Rimuru had been in his human form while waiting for the Red Ogre’s response.

“Have you made up your mind?” Rimuru asked, he was still concerned for them after all.

“We are a warring clan, we aren’t against taking to the battlefield in service to another. If our master is strong, we are all the more pleased to serve them. However, once the Orc threat is over… May we regain our freedom?” The Red Ogre asked in concern, if all mattered on this question.

“Sure, I don’t mind… you are the leader of your people, so you decide whether it is right to stay with us or not.” Rimuru said calmly, he didn’t want to anger possible allies and he could tell how much he was suffering.

The Red Ogre proceeded to bow down towards Rimuru, “I would like to accept the offer you presented last night. We are pleased to serve you.”

He has been suffering in silence for a while. He acknowledged his weaknesses and knew that there was nothing he could do. Yet, he is determined to avenge his own people, even if it were to risk his own life. I would do the same…

<He is a respectable man, Rimuru. Any noble leader would do so…>

Mhm..

“Lift your head…” Rimuru said with a upstanding tone

The Red Ogre looked up to see Rimuru had shifted back towards his human form.

“You’re all accepted. Call in your clan here.” Rimuru asked, the Red Ogre obliged

Soon enough, every single one of the clan members had arrived at the tent that Rimuru resided in.

“Since you are all my subordinates now, I feel like it’s proper to give each of you a name” Rimuru stated, much to the shock of every ogre there.

“All of us??” The Red Ogre was surprised

“Having no names makes things tough, doesn’t it?” Rimuru said, the ogres were still in shock

“But, giving us names comes with great risks… and we are superior beings so…” The Pink Ogre explained but Rimuru wasn’t concerned. Since his magicule pool was far greater than before and since he’d named many more things at once, he figured it would be fine to name them all.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Or do you all just don’t want a name?” Rimuru asked to the still shocked ogres

“But..” The Pink Ogre was cut off before she could continue

“We have no complaints. We gratefully accept your names.” The Red Ogre stated, much to the annoyance of the Pink Ogre

“If this is the young master’s will, we accept” The Old Ogre stated, as each Ogre bowed and readied themselves for their own names.

“Okay, let’s get started.” Rimuru hopped down and prepared to name them, “You are…”

As things go dark, Rimuru goes to sleep after naming each of them. As Rimuru awakens, he finds that only an hour has passed since he’d fallen asleep with each Ogre holding their names true to their hearts.

Benimaru, the Red Kijin.

Shuna, the Pink Kijin.

Shion, the Purple Kijin.

Hakurou, the White Kijin

Souei, the Blue Kijin.

Kurobei, the Black Kijin.

With each Orge having evolved into a Kijin, they were all amazing in their own ways, much to Rimuru’s slight jealousy. Two of them were handsome, one was adorable, one was hot, one was a wise elder, and the only one that looked normal, still looked quite decent in comparison. However, Rimuru was still happy for each of them. They all grew and developed, perhaps they would make fine allies!

With the matter settled, they were ready to continue work on the village!

-=====-

“R-Reporting! We have spotted an Orc army south of Lake Siss! We believe they intend to invade our territory!” A group of Lizardmen were reporting to an elderly Lizardmen who sat upon a throne.

As they ponder their next course of action, they receive another report. A strange occurrence within the Forest of Jura, a large black flame was seen for miles on end with no confirmed origin. Perhaps it was the work of the Orcs, either way, they must be prepared. The elder Lizardmen called for his son to come, Gabiru.

“There is something I need you to do.” The elder Lizardmen asked of his son

“What would that be?” Gabiru asked

War is coming to the Lizardmen.

Chapter 10: Hakurou's Training

Chapter Text

“Lift your posture, Great Rimuru” Hakurou demanded, Rimuru attempted to match the posture that Hakurou was demanded, only to fail miserably and ended up getting wacked on the head

“Great Rimuru, you must get stronger beyond what your skills can accomplish. Wielding the blade without power, you may annihilate your threats with the blade utilizing your power. If your enemies were aware of your full power at all times, you may see yourself become nothing but a mere ragdoll if you were stripped of your skills.” Hakurou kept beating it into Rimuru as much as possible

Soon enough, Rimuru was able to get the posture correctly in a couple of minutes…

It felt like almost yesterday when Rimuru had suggested training with the blade, Rimuru had desired to learn how to use the blade and asked Hakurou. Now Rimuru is stuck with constant training, only training with his base form.

Although initially Rimuru fought with his skills, Hakurou soon realized that Rimuru utilized his skills far too much as Rimuru’s “Thought Acceleration” completely blew away Hakurou. Thus, Rimuru must not fight with skills or he’d never grow.

However, as a result of a combination between “Desire”, “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”, and Shizu’s assistance, Rimuru began to adapt and copy Hakurou Fighting Style and adapt it with Shizu’s Fighting Style.

As some days went by, Rimuru quickly began to learn the sword. His sword fighting improved in a matter of days, which inspired many of the Goblins like Gobta, although the Goblins would regret joining in with Rimuru.

Soon enough, a week went by and Rimuru was able to utilize the sword greater than what Hakurou could ever accomplish, shocking Hakurou as he’d never seen a student adapt and create their own Sword Fighting Technique so quickly and so effectively as Rimuru had at that moment. Hakurou had to push his training further and further, each time he pushed the training, the more he had to adapt himself to counter what Rimuru quickly learned. Rimuru learned each Arts that Hakurou threw at him in hours. Near perfect replication with only Rimuru’s adaptation of the skills.

Rimuru had essentially been able to run circles around Hakurou through “Instant Move” and “Formhide”. As his student surpassed him so easily, Hakurou realized the grand prodigy that Rimuru was. Anything he threw, Rimuru absorbed it extremely quickly and replicated the style in hours. For any normal student, they would take days to learn and perfect the styles as it would take up to years until they fully matured in sword fighting. Rimuru had been doing this in a week and it seemed like Hakurou was the one slowing him down.

Eventually, the final test came where rather than utilizing wooden swords, Hakurou and Rimuru would fight using steel and their talents alone.

However, the fight itself was one sided…

Blades clashed over and over, each strike that Hakurou attempted against Rimuru would simply be deflected and held back. Hakurou used everything he could against Rimuru and yet, he was unable to do anything. Attempting to get behind Rimuru failed as Rimuru immediately detected Hakurou’s plan… the difference being that Rimuru didn’t have to utilize “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom” to tell that Hakurou was striking from behind. This was the culmination of his skills working in tandem to analyze, replicate, and copy his opponents talents and skills to maximum efficiency to only surpass those skills that they had obtained. Each blow that Rimuru deflected, Hakurou grew ever prouder and astonished by the progress of Rimuru, he knew that some sort of skill was behind his rapid growth but he didn’t know what.

Sounds of metal collided, leaves flew, and the ground shook each time the blades smashed against one another. Each strike shook the very style of fighting to its absolute limit, Rimuru’s talent was unparalleled. There was none other like it, soon enough, Hakurou lost the bout as Rimuru successfully disarmed Hakurou with one precise strike towards the hilt of the blade. As the precise strike sent shockwaves towards Hakurou, Rimuru had held the blade in place with his own and stepped on Hakurou’s blade’s tip. It was at that moment Hakurou had to acknowledge his blade was lost as he didn’t contain the strength to lift the blade from underneath Rimuru’s foot. If he tried to free his blade, he would surely lose his hand, he acknowledged his loss.

“Well done, Master Rimuru, a great battle. You have surpassed anything I could ever teach you, there is simply nothing more you could learn.” Hakurou was simply beat, physically and mentally

To think that a slime could beat a Master of Swordsmanship is quite the ludicrous thought after all.

A few days later, Rimuru sat upon a hill with Benimaru looking over Hakurou who was brutalizing the Goblins who wanted to train. The Goblins stood little chance against a newly invigorated Hakurou.

“Orc Lord? What’s that?” Rimuru was in deep discussion with Benimaru over the Orcs and their invasion of the Jura Forest

“Well, put simply… it’s a beast.” Benimaru put it way too simply

<The Orc Lord is a Unique Monster. It is the equivalent to Kijin towards Ogres, they are rare and only appear if they are named or through certain circumstances.>

Thanks, Shizu

<No problem, Rimuru-sama!>

Wait, what

<Nothing>

Rimuru still wanted to hear Benimaru’s explanation, “Explain more Benimaru.”

“It is a Unique Monster, born every few centuries. They say he devours even his own allies’ fear and terror, making them unnaturally effective leaders. They were unfazed by the death of their own when they attacked our village, so they must be led by one. No other army would simply ignore the death of their comrades and continue fighting such as they did…” Benimaru explained deeply, it slightly scared Rimuru

“Did you do anything to provoke them?” Rimuru asked

“No, although, before the attack, a Majin appeared in our village and offered to name us. We simply put him off, he was unworthy and untrustworthy to name us. I turned him away, and he cursed me as he left.” Benimaru explained, still with lingering regret strung across his body.

“A majin, huh? If he sought revenge, he definitely was responsible for the attack on the village… but names give you power? Why would you reject a name?”

“I want no such gift from an unsuitable master… I wouldn’t accept a name from just anyone, after all.” Benimaru explained as he smiled towards Rimuru, causing Rimuru to blush from joy.

<Names tend to reflect their masters strength, if a name is given by a weaker being, their powers tend to reflect the weaker being. In other words, if your master is weak, so are you…>

Ah, that would explain it… wait, would that mean that me giving them a name would make them more abnormally stronger?

<Yes, their strength would begin to replicate yours. Although not completely since part of your magicules are considered infinite as a result of Veldora’s presence.>

That explains why that time I was only asleep for an hour in comparison to when I was asleep for three days after naming the Goblins.

“What was his name again…? I think he said his name was Gela… Geli… Gele… Gelo?” Benimaru was pondering until both felt a nearby presence.

Souei appeared from the shadow of a nearby tree, “Gelmud”

“Right, that’s it.” Benimaru was relieved a little bit

“Gelmud… I’ve heard that name before…” Rimuru said, much to the confusion of Benimaru

“That explains it! One of the goblins in the village passed away, they were named by someone called Lord Gelmud. They apparently worked for one of the Demon Lord’s armies…” Rimuru explained, adding to Benimaru’s anger

“So… they arranged the attack with the Orcs afterward…” Benimaru clenched his hand as he was nearly about to destroy a nearby tree in rage.

“Sorry to break the conversation but I have a report, Great Rimuru…” Souei explained, interrupting Benimaru’s rage for a moment

“What’s the report?” Rimuru asked in confusion

“I witnessed a group of Lizardmen. It is unusual to see them out of their natural homeland and they have been negotiating with nearby Goblin Villages, the reasoning is unknown but I suspect they may come here soon…” Souei explained

<It could be connected, the Ogres arrived towards the Goblin Village in retreat from the Orcs, it may be a similar case towards the Lizardmen or they are preparing for the inevitable.>

Alright, so we must prepare beforehand…

Rimuru looked up towards the sky, he was willing to die if it meant protecting this village…

-=====-

A group of Lizardmen on the back of monsters rode across the Jura Forest between villages, where most had agreed to the conditions since they were terrified of the pending danger, although not from the orcs… but from something else…

“Sir Gabiru, isn’t this where that black flame loomed over?” One of the Lizardmen asked

“Hah, you think some black fire would scare us proud Lizardmen! It may as well have been from those rotten pigs. To think we need to recruit inferior races to simply fight off those Orcs is embarrassing…”

“Alright, Sir Gabiru, when are you going to be Chieftain?” One of the other Lizardmen asked

“Huh?? No no, I may talk rude of my father but I still respect him!”

“But eventually, he will need to pass it down. I believe it’s your time to rise, Sir Gabiru!” Another Lizardmen exclaimed

They each began to sing their praises of Gabiru, much towards his pleasure and ego.

Soon enough… he will be the next Chieftain after this foolish war with mere pigs is over…

Chapter 11: Rimuru faces his most Dangerous Threat, Shion's Cooking!

Chapter Text

Rimuru was going about his day, although he found it difficult to choose between his human and slime form. Recently, Shizu had found a way to alter Magic Sense in a way with human sense to make it far more effective. Rimuru could see so many different shades of colors in plants, people, and objects that he never could have before in such a shimmering glory. Although that was not the only thing that made this newfound Magic Sense so appealing. In general, Rimuru had found he had adapted to his human form easily since he was human before. Although the height was off since he was used to being an adult male, he still found his new body comfortable to move with after some time. He didn’t have to deal with an aching back nor his bones degrading since those were a part of his slime form.

Recently, Rimuru was walking around the village which had evolved more into a town by now. A large scale amount of Goblins had been seemingly trying to find refuge with stronger villages to prevent their deaths and many found the overwhelming aura that the town produced to be appealing to some degree. It was still relatively far away from where the Orcs were so they found this village as a new home. The productivity in the village promptly began to explode as more came in as refugees.

Rimuru got around to naming each of the new welcomers although Rimuru found that it was going to be tricky to name each and every single one of the new arrivals so he devised a new plan. Utilizing “Body Double” and placing Shizu in control of the “Body Double”, he could split the work with Shizu so they wouldn’t need to spend excess time trying to name every single monster. Each monster Shizu would name would simply use Rimuru’s magicules which were in excess supply. He needed some way to get rid of the excess that Veldora was outputting and Shizu suggested this could be a way since using the “Body Double” drained a massive amount of magicules with Shizu in control.

Although, because Shizu was in control of Rimuru’s “Body Double”, it created a large amount of confusion within the town. Many would ask Rimuru to come, only for it to turn out to be Shizu, in which case, Shizu had to explain that she was the "Body Double” and had to hide her identity. The only two to know about the Body Double’s true identity were Rigurd and Ranga who had been present when Rimuru absorbed Shizu.

With Shizu at the helm, they were able to rapidly increase productivity in the town. Although as for distinction, Rimuru had an idea. Shion had offered to be his secretary so, by notifying Shion who was the real Rimuru, she would act as basically an alert post to tell which Rimuru is the right Rimuru.

With the double Rimuru situation cleared, Rimuru had gone over to where Shuna had been residing. Shuna was making new materials, particularly it looked like some sort of silk but was stronger. The Dwarven brothers were impressed, although Shuna soon abandoned her job for a moment to greet Rimuru who was with Shion.

“Great Rimuru! It’s so nice to see you!” Shuna said while hugging Rimuru closely

“A-ah, it’s nice to see you too! How’re things going!” Rimuru asked, a clear blush was present on his face

“Great! The weaving loom Sir Kaijin made is very easy to use!” Shuna said with a smile

“Great! I’m counting on you to make clothes for everyone! Speaking of which… Shuna, could you try making me some new clothes?” Rimuru asked

“Sure Great Rimuru! But why?” Shuna asked in a bit of confusion

“I need a bit more ways to distinguish myself from my Body Double a bit more, since we look the exact same so I wanted to get new clothing that I could put on my “Body Double”. That way people won’t get as confused!” Rimuru said he was quite excited since he wanted to try out silk clothing, he heard it was nice to wear but never got to try any when he lived in Japan.

“Got it!” Shuna said, quickly rushing back to work

Shion and Rimuru proceeded to leave, although a hint of jealousy was present in Shion, she didn’t want to get replaced by mere clothing!

“Great Rimuru, I believe we should get back to eat!” Shion exclaimed, although she was still quite peeved a bit

“Alright!” Rimuru said, oblivious to the danger that loomed ahead

As the two arrived back, Rimuru noticed Benimaru, Hakurou, and Souei present at the table. They were ready to eat a meal soon since they were all starving. Shion went into the kitchen as Rimuru sat himself down, ready to eat.

“Hey guys! Shion’s going to be cooking for us!” Rimuru said

Each one of them immediately froze in terror

Souei immediately went back on his scouting mission, Hakurou and Benimaru both exclaimed that they were hungry at all.

As Rimuru proceeded to sit down, he immediately could tell why everyone was panicking.

Before Rimuru could react, Shion had already gotten the meal.

It was a purple slime-like viscous fluid that was screaming in agony.

Shizu

<Rimuru, do you need->

HELP PLEASE

<What’s wron->

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU

Shizu returned back to Rimuru’s body from the “Body Double” to notice the most disgusting horrendous creature she’s ever seen.

<What in the living hell is that?>

Shion’s cooking…

Shizu immediately took note of the surroundings, noticing that Hakurou hid his presence and Benimaru was clearly hungry but wasn’t going to do anything. Recently, Gobta and Gobzo had entered the building and immediately an idea popped into mind.

<Rimuru, listen to me closely. Pick up a spoonful, Close your eyes, and swing your body behind you in the right direction.>

Rimuru stared down death as he picked up the spoon and grabbed a spoonful of the liquid. Shion looked on with excitement as he stared down death itself.

Rimuru looked over and noticed what Shizu had noticed previously, he was so going to get those two for this!

I believe in you, Shizu!

Rimuru swung over and followed Shizu’s instructions, immediately a gulp was heard in the direction which Rimuru was swinging around towards.

Rimuru looked over to see Gobta in the way with the spoonful in his mouth, immediately Rimuru watched as Gobta suffered in absolute agony as he spun around and slowly started to “die” on the floor. Rimuru watched on in horror and thanked Shizu for saving his life but thanked Gobta for taking one for the team.

“Oh my…” Shion said, clearly oblivious to what she’d done

“Shion…” Rimuru said with a deepened tone, startling Shion slightly, “If you want to cook for anyone, it is required that you have Benimaru taste test it first.”

Benimaru stood in absolute silence before a look of horror filled his face

Rimuru looked on and proceeded to stick out his tongue, he’d get him back and now he had.

Suffer Benimaru… suffer!

Chapter 12: Rimuru faces Gabiru! Gabiru! Gabiru!

Chapter Text

Rimuru was currently in a conversation with Kurobei and Kajin, they were discussing the arts and crafts of Blacksmithing to an extensive degree. Although Rimuru had no idea how to respond, he was still able to obtain the information regardless and understand it thanks to his skills. Even without Shizu present, Rimuru could still utilize “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom” although not as extensively since Shizu knew how to command it at its full extent. It was a purely logical machine that did nothing else and had no emotion, Shizu was its other half and made up its entire emotional spectrum. Whenever Shizu left in the “Body Double”, it felt as if part of him left alongside her and in some sense it was true, although Shizu would need to come back since the “Body Double” couldn’t exist without Rimuru’s presence nearby. Although it could work on behalf of Rimuru, Souei previously found it pretty strange how independent Rimuru’s “Body Double” was and how it had basically its own personality.

While Rimuru pondered these things, Rigurd came in.

“Great Rimuru! An envoy of the Lizardmen has arrived!” Rigurd stated

Rimuru proceeded to go with Rigurd as he was joined by Shion who was patiently waiting outside for Rimuru.

Shizu, it may be a good time for you to come back. An envoy of the Lizardmen arrived.

<Got it>

Shizu returned back to Rimuru as he encountered Benimaru and Hakurou who were nearby.

“Great Rimuru, would you mind if we accompanied you? We want to know what the Lizardmen are up to” Benimaru asked

“Of course!” Rimuru replied

Now, are we dealing with friend or foe here?

Rimuru arrived where Rigurd said the envoy of Lizardmen were awaiting their response.

“So, who's the envoy?” Rimuru asked, clearly confused since there were about thirty lizardmen present.

The lizardmen proceeded to pull off a dramatic entrance as one Lizardmen on a mount came through and hopped off in front of Rimuru.

<Probably him>

No duh

“I am Gabiru of the Lizardmen! You will all serve under me. Consider this a great honor!” Gabiru exclaimed, where his entire envoy began to cheer on Gabiru for his spectacular performance, much to the annoyance of Rimuru and the rest.

“Remember him well! This is the man who will be the next chieftain of the Lizardmen! BOW DOWN!!!” One of the Lizardmen exclaimed as well while Gabiru posed.

<Can… can we kill him>

No… not yet…

The entire group Rimuru had with him all wanted to murder them instantly, Rimuru held them all off but his inner demon, Shizu, wanted to kill Gabiru.

Rigurd prepared himself to speak, “Forgive me… You called yourself Gabiru, yes? This request to serve you is rather sudden…”

“Good grief, must I spell it out for you? You’ve heard the news, have you not? Those Orc pigs are invading the Great Forest of Jura!” Gabiru exclaimed once more, immediately catching the attention of Rimuru and his group, mostly because it was information rather than Gabiru’s personality.

“Which is why it would best suit you to become my men! I, Gabiru, will protect you weaklings from the threat of the Orcs! Weaklings!” Gabiru exclaimed once more, to only look over and realize that they weren’t weak at all, in fact, they seemed almost terrifying.

Gabiru called for a little group meeting with his fellow lizardmen before speaking once more.

“Say, where’s that Slime you call your dear leader! I wish to speak to him!” Gabiru demanded

“I’m the slime you speak of…” Rimuru said, Gabiru laughed, what was he? Some sort of human? How could this be the slime you refer to?

“Hah! Is it that your dear leader is too scared to even face me!” Gabiru laughed once more

<Let me kill him>

As Rimuru had an internal battle on whether or not to murk Gabiru right then and there, Gabiru spoke once more. “I’ve heard that there are those among you who have tamed Direwolves. I will make those of you who have officers in my army! Bring them to me.” Gabiru said with a smirk across his face

“Ranga, come on out…” Rimuru asked, Ranga immediately appeared from the shadows

Ranga loomed over Gabiru, Ranga was already hearing most of the conversation from the shadows and he was not pleased in the slightest.

“Talk to them for a moment…” Rimuru said, trying to collect his emotions since he so badly wanted to destroy Gabiru then and there.

Ranga proceeded to use “Menace” and scared nearly every Lizardman in the envoy except for Gabiru.

“My master has ordered me to talk to you, so speak. I’m listening…” Ranga said, deeply frustrated

“Are you the leader of the Direwolves? Your beautiful fur, your keen yes… you truly have a majestic presence… Yet, you work for that meager human over there??” Gabiru finally threw the talks over the cliff after this statement, everyone was ready to absolutely destroy him. “It seems you’ve been deceived. Very well, what they have done to you is unforgivable… so I shall defeat him for you!” Gabiru exclaimed once again, the crowd of Lizardmen cheered him on once more as he made several poses.

“Alright that’s it you overgrown newt… Ranga… I’ll deal with this bastard.” Rimuru stated he accepted the battle at hand.

“NEWT? HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR NEXT CHIEFTAIN LIKE THAT!” The lizardmen were angry, they cheered on Gabiru to duel him.

“Hah, mere insults won’t affect me you grim! I shall show you the Pride of the Lizardmen!” Gabiru exclaimed as he pulled out his spear and began to rush Rimuru.

Rimuru simply sidestepped Gabiru and roundhouse kicked him back towards his envoy. Completely decimating him in a fraction of a minute.

The lizardmen looked on in shock as Gabiru was soundly defeated in one swift blow without Rimuru even trying.

“Look, we are willing to make an alliance. However, we will not tolerate your disrespect and not submit towards you! Understood?!” Rimuru said with a frightening glare

“We… we won’t forget this!!!” The Lizardmen said as they quickly picked up Gabiru and rushed off with him

<Why didn’t you kill him?>

Killing him would’ve left his ego intact

<Understood>

Chapter 13: The Coming War...

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“There are approximately two hundred thousand Orcs marching along the north of the river. They were split into a main and detached force, their destination seems to be marshlands, where the home of the Lizardmen reside.” Souei explained

“Two hundred thousand huh… that’s such a massive number… what are they after?” Rimuru pondered

“Orcs aren’t very intelligent monsters… if there’s this many, there must be a reason behind it rather than pure instinct… ” Kajin wondered as well, he pondered the same question.

“There is definitely a Demon Lord behind this…There were two times we’ve heard about this Lord Gelmud in two different villages but… we just don’t know the reasoning…” Rimuru explained

“Demon Lords aren’t able to back Orcs like this however, there must be something else in here as well. The only monster capable of controlling an Orc army this massive is an Orc Lord.”

As the conversation continues, Souei receives contact with an entity. Someone who is of remarkable interest.

“Great Rimuru, one of my “Body Doubles” I had scouting made an encounter. They seem to be requesting an audience with you.” Souei explained

“Who? I already dealt with the annoying brat, Gabiru, I don’t want to meet anyone else like that…” Rimuru wondered

“I don’t believe this one is… annoying… it’s a Dryad” Souei explained, immediately sparking Rimuru’s curiosity and interest in the entire conference that was assembled.

“B-bring her in!” Rimuru exclaimed, he was curious

A pillar of green light appeared on the other end of the table of Rimuru as leaves began to swirl close by. Soon enough, a green haired lady of remarkable beauty appeared in front of them all.

“Ruler of monsters, and all those who are loyal to him, forgive me for this unannounced visit. I am Treyni, a Dryad. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Treyni explained calmly and collected

“H-hello, I’m Rimuru Tempest, what brings you here… Treyni-san?” Rimuru was slightly flustered

<Rimuru, your blush is showing>

Shut it… I need to look good in front of the tree spirit

<...>

“I have come to request a favor.” Treyni explained, confusing Rimuru slightly, “Rimuru Tempest, ruler of monsters, I would like you to defeat the Orc Lord.” Treyni explained

Rimuru began to approach Treyni while Treyni began to approach Rimuru.

“The Orc Lord? You’re asking me?” Rimuru asked, he was mildly confused

“Yes, that’s right.” Treyni said

“That’s quite the selfish request from someone who appeared just out of nowhere…Treyni the Dryad, why have you come specifically to us?” Benimaru interjected between Rimuru and Treyni

“If the Ogre Village still existed, I may have gone there first but… though, even without that, I simply couldn’t have ignored this individual’s existence. This one contains great power… something similar to our Lord Veldora… we are worried that our settlement would be attacked by the Orc Lord and we couldn’t simply fight him on our own… this is why I have come to request the assistance from someone strong.” Treyni explained, although she feared that the individual she was talking to might have something to do with Veldora’s disappearance. Although the more she looked at it, the more it felt like he was connected to Veldora since Veldora had given his blessing to this one.

“We have knowledge of essentially everything that happens in this forest, we can assure you that you all are correct in your assumptions.” Treyni explained, causing a bit of a stir in the conference room.

“Give me some time to think about it. I will support the Kijin but I don’t want to poke at a hornet’s nest without enough information…” Rimuru said, although no matter what they came to, he knew it ended with them fighting the Orcs.

Everyone returned to their seats with Treyni taking a seat nearby.

“Does anyone have an idea of what they are after?” Rimuru asked

“There’s one idea, Souei, did you check on our village?” Shuna asked, mildly confusing Rimuru

“Yes…” Souei said in a somber tone

“Judging by your reaction… I assume you found none…” Shuna was a bit frightened

“Correct, not a single one of our brethren or the orcs remained…” Souei said

“Not a single what?” Rimuru asked

“...Corpse…” Souei said, breaking the silence in the conference room

“We didn’t understand how they had enough supplies to keep an army of two hundred thousand fed…” Benimaru said, concerning Rimuru greatly

“The Unique skill… “Starved”… It’s a skill that the Orc Lord, a calamity that brings chaos to the world, is born with… its influence reaches all those who serve under him… making them devour everything in sight, like locusts. At the same time, they consume the victim’s strength and abilities… making them their own sustenance. It’s quite similar to your Predator skill. In return for “Starved”, they feel constant, insatiable hunger. They move forward for no other purpose but to sate their endless hunger and gain more power. That is their king’s only wish.” Treyni directed it towards Rimuru, who himself was highly troubled yet completely knew the power that held.

Right…

Rimuru began to stretch out and calm himself for a moment, “Well, if that’s the case, we aren’t safe at all. We have all sorts of powerful monsters here from Tempest Wolves, Kijin, and Hobgoblins. Each one of us contains powers that are Unique that those Orcs would die for.” Rimuru said, trying to relax a moment

“You forget the most important meal…” Benimaru said, facing Rimuru, “The world’s most powerful slime”

<He’s not wrong, if the Orc Lord got their way and devoured you, there’s no telling how much power they would have… such power would be capable of overpowering anything in their tracks. Although they would have to defeat you first, since they have two hundred thousand Orcs, it could be a matter of time before they strike.>

“In addition, we have confirmed the work of a majin behind the Orc Lord’s appearance, meaning your suggestion that they are working with a Demon Lord to be correct.” Treyni explained, causing Rimuru to tense up a little bit, they have knowledge of everything in the forest…

Are you sure about this Shizu?

<Yes, she can be trusted. Besides, at this moment, it’s either stop the Orc army now, or let the Orc army come to you. One scenario is on the Lizardmen homeland, the other is the destruction of the town we worked hard to build up…>

“Honored Rimuru Tempest, I once again request that you defeat the Orc Lord. As the one whose power marks you as close to Veldora, received his blessing, befriended the goblins, subjugated the Direwolves, and became the patron of the Kijin. You are surely more than a match to stop the Orc Lord.” Treyni explained

“Stop with the flattery… I’ll stop the Orc Lord. I made a promise to the Kijin that I would help support them, I am not going to back down on that promise. I vowed to myself that I would never let this town die, if the Orcs will come eventually, I want to stop them before they have the chance…” Rimuru said, although he was skeptical about taking on two hundred thousand Orcs.

Everyone in the conference cheered Rimuru on as they were ready and pumped to support their leader, although Rimuru quickly shut down the cheers.

“We need to defeat the Orc Lord first… their plan is to attack the Lizardmen so we need to form an alliance with them… we just need to hope their Chieftain isn’t as ridiculous as Gabiru.” Rimuru said, much to the agreement of everyone in the room.

“Understood, Great Rimuru, do you wish that I contact the Chieftain of their clan for an alliance?” Souei asked, Rimuru nodded his head in agreement.

This was war…

Notes:

Bear in mind, the parts I don't talk about that are included in the Manga such as the meeting between Souei and the Lizardmen Chieftain won't be included since there isn't any change that occurs. Bear that in mind if you wonder why I didn't include writing pointless repeat sections of the Manga and Anime.

Chapter 14: The Great Black Flame

Chapter Text

As Rimuru gathered his forces the following morning, he pointed out that they would need to bring in their strongest into the battle. Two hundred thousand and their Chieftain has high expectations for their army. Rimuru knew we needed to make an entrance but if they were disappointed, surely morale would fail.

“Everyone, gather around. We must make a mark once we enter the battlefield, and if our mark will shine through the sky. So be it…” Rimuru said, as he lifted his hand into the sky, he began to emit a massive black flame into the sky once more. As the flame roared across the sky, the many refugees who took residency in the town had begun to realize that where they had made their home is the same home of the grand flame that roared louder than the Storm Dragon’s rage.

The flame roared loud once more, drawing greater attention towards those in and around the Great Forest of Jura.

-=====-

Far away, two majin are discussing the next moves, soon enough, the flame roars once more.

“Where do you think this flame is coming from?” Gelmud asked, this is the second time this flame has shown itself.

“This could be a problem, are you sure we should go through with the plan?” Laplace asked, Gelmud was annoyed by the question

“Laplace! Don’t you think stopping now is a waste of time and effort! There is nothing to earn if we stop now!” Gelmud screamed at Laplace, meanwhile Laplace was already beginning to sense the writing on the wall. Ever since these plans began, these flames began to roar… once a day after the destruction of the Ogre village and now they have reignited some days before they take down the Lizardmen

“Laplace, we’ve already got Gabiru ready to start a coup in their own clan with the Ogres surrounding the Lizardmen in all directions, we can’t let some little flame in the sky scare us!” Gelmud said, clearly upset with Laplace's line of thinking as he begins to fly off to ensure the pathway for their puppet demon lord is going well so far. Laplace begins to abandon the plans to inform Clayman, he shouldn’t risk his life in what may just be a life or death situation at this point.

As Laplace begins to escape the forest, he begins to relay information to Lord Clayman through his crystal ball to explain the situation as best he could.

“Clayman, my man, I believe that this plan may have been a major mistake” Laplace said towards Clayman

“And why do you believe that? Is the plan currently still on route correct?” Clayman asked

“Yes but…I believe we’ve awoken something that we never should have…” Laplace said with a grin that was clearly hiding his fear that they disturbed the Storm Dragon so severely that the dragon had broken free.

-=====-

Soon enough, an army of Goblin Riders with four Ogres enroute alongside them head towards the battlefield. In the center of it all, a particular silverish-blue haired Majin is on top of a ferocious beast towards the center of it all.

As they traveled further into the forest, they quickly began to reach their target ahead of time, it was best that they get there in as little time as possible since each hour they let go could be another death. The faster they reach the Lizardmen homeland, the less casualties.

“Great Rimuru, I have discovered the Personal Guard of the Chieftain is engaged in a battle against a large number of Orcs.” Souei reported, watching as the Personal Guard got themselves destroyed by the Orcs, she was soon about to be murdered.

“Protect her Souei, don’t let her die.” Rimuru said, and under a command Souei proceeded to completely entangle each one of the Orcs to prevent their actions. He proceeded to execute a select few but kept others around since they seemed high ranking and had information.

By the time Rimuru arrived, he had noticed a large quantity of the Orcs were executed alone by Souei as he held the nearly lifeless body of the personal guard of the chieftain.

Rimuru proceeded to heal the personal guard for her fatal injuries with a heal potion.

“Are you fine?” Rimuru asked, somewhat concerned

“How… I thought I was fatally wounded… who… who are you?” The personal guard was shocked to still be alive after being hit by an axe.

“I’m Rimuru Tempest” The personal guard immediately began to recount her mission from her father, who was still in prison. She immediately got down onto the floor in submission.

“I must ask a favor! I beg of you, save my father and my idiotic brother! My brother led a rebellion and imprisoned the chieftain! He is currently engaging the Orcs in the marshlands but has underestimated the Orc Lord! If we take no action, the Lizardmen will surely go extinct!.. My father helped me escape while the guard was distracted. I am aware that this is a selfish request, after we broke our promise to wait for you, but I beg for mercy from such a powerful Majin… please…. PLEASE!...” The personal guard was in shambles, fortunately, Shion was there to comfort her in her time of distress.

“Well said indeed! You recognize our leader Rimuru’s greatness and acknowledge your folly, you hold potential! Come get up, Great Rimuru will surely save your people from extinction!” Shion said, although Rimuru didn’t get any input which somewhat upset him.

The personal guard began to thank Shion and Rimuru extensively for their forgiveness.

Rimuru begins looking at the corpses the had been strung around where Souei had left only a few survivors remaining afterwards who were up for information.

Shizu, copy their skills and tell me what kind of powers they have.

How feasible is that?

<In the right conditions, highly feasible without outside interference.>

Alright, could they possibly provide any useful information for us?

<Doubtful, they are a waste of time so either we can spare them or execute them.>

“Souei, spare them for now but they provide no valuable information.” Rimuru stated, Souei obliged, leaving them trapped in the sticky steel threads to be dealt with later on.

“So you are the Chieftain’s daughter, correct?” Rimuru asked

“Y-yes, sir. I am at your command.” The personal guard bowed

“Alright, I acknowledge you as the representative of the chieftain. Do you object to forging an alliance right here and now?” Rimuru asked

“No, not at all!” The personal guard said quickly

“Then it’s settled, the alliance is complete.” Rimuru said as he began to ponder the plan ahead

“Thank you so much…” The personal guard seemed close to crying

“We need to continue at full haste… Souei, can you use “Shadow Movement” to get to the chieftain from here?” Rimuru asked

“Of course” Souei stated

“I envy your skills…” Rimuru silently said, much to the pleasure of Souei secretly.

Shizu, once this war is over, we should get ourselves a copy of Souei’s techniques

<Understood>

“I order you to rescue the Lizardmen chieftain” Rimuru commanded, Souei obliged as he carried off the personal guard with him towards the location of the chieftain.

“Everyone else, we must reach the battlefield at full haste!” Rimuru said quickly boarding Ranga, everyone else agreed as they quickly mounted their own wolves and quickly made haste towards the battlefield where Gabiru was holding out.

Chapter 15: Blood, Flames, and Storms

Chapter Text

By the time Rimuru arrived, he immediately noticed that one Lizardman and an especially large Orc were dueling with the Lizardman getting absolutely beaten back and destroyed. In addition, a large number of Goblins and Lizardmen were encircled as well with no route of escape on any angle. Escape would mean certain death…

<They appear to be Gabiru and his army, it is recommended that we announce our presence.>

Understood Shizu

“Gobta, Ranga, Goblin Riders, quickly assist the encircled army. It’s time for war!” Rimuru exclaimed, lifting his hand.

On the mark of the flame, the attack will commence.

Shuna, Benimaru, and Hakurou were in position at the bottom. Ranga and the Goblin Riders were quickly approaching the encircled positions. Rimuru was in the air utilizing his Analyze, Copy, Assess, and Replicate upon the large numbers of foes and allies down below. Rimuru wanted to pick up some skills before they began. Rimuru proceeded to replicate many minor common and extra skills from the Lizardmen all gathered below. Particularly most related to water mobility and forest traversement which would greatly increase Rimuru’s speed in movement.

Is that all the skills we can pick up now?

<The Orc Lord is still missing and a secondary presence has been detected in the nearby forest.>

Are they a threat?

<Possibly, they seem willing to kill but have not noticed our presence yet>

Once they appear, attempt to replicate their skills as quickly as possible

Rimuru lifted his hand and soon enough, an explosive spiral of black flames appeared above the entire battlefield as clouds were blasted away. Immediately, each one of his present subordinates began their own separate attacks as they began to rush in.

Benimaru utilized the Black Flames he learned from Rimuru to deadly degrees as he launched countless fireballs across the battlefield wiping out hundreds of Orcs in mere moments. Hakurou easily wiped through and obliterated hundreds of orcs by simply walking through and waving his blade with extreme precision. Shion rushed in with her blade, causing visible damage to the ground as each blade strike knocked out or obliterated nearby Orcs.

Rimuru called off the blaze of fire that haunted the sky as Ranga prepared his own attack. Soon enough, clouds re-began to converge as the sky turned black once more in a different way. Soon enough, whirlwinds were forming all across the battlefield blowing away hundreds of orcs. A grand howl signaled the beginning of Ranga’s evolution to a greater form to a Tempest Star Wolf…

The Orc General that once stood to kill Gabiru was launched off to god knows where. Soon enough, the Orc Lord reared his head as more and more Orcs were blown to smithereens. The Goblin Riders dispatched and knocked out Orcs that attempted to approach Gabiru and his allies. No Orc stood much of a chance at coming close nor pushing back.

Within the caves of the Lizardmen, Souei executed any and all Orcs that stood in his way, annihilating all that stood against them. He promptly freed the Chieftain and stopped their deaths.

Soon enough, all the Orcs stood back and behind the increasingly visibly Orc Lord.

That “overwhelming” army is shrinking so quickly… a bit ashamed… I wanted some action too

Shizu, begin-

<No, there’s a rapidly approaching enemy towards our location…>

Is it that enemy?

<Yes>

Quickly copy their skills then

<Understood>

As Shizu began the scan to replicate the skills as quickly as possible, Rimuru proceeded to dodge the incoming threat who promptly landed into the ground in front of the Orc Lord.

“The Majin shows himself…” Rimuru said to himself, he was looking on as the Majin revealed his true nature towards the world.

“What’s the big idea?! HOW DARE YOU RUIN THE GREAT LORD GELMUD’S PLANS?!” He announced, his ego just as big as the Orc Lord himself

“So, that’s the one behind everything so far in the forest…” Rimuru was pondering to himself, although he put most of his concentration into replicating Gelmud’s skills. They may prove useful in turning against him in the case of battle.

“A NEW DEMON LORD WHO WOULD HAVE DONE MY BIDDING WAS ABOUT TO BE BORN!” Gelmud exclaimed, much towards the shock and disbelief of everyone, “YES! THAT’S WHY I GAVE OUT SO MANY NAMES, SOWED SO MANY SEEDS! ALL TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE PAWN!!!” Gelmud exclaimed once more, this time, everyone was absolutely furious.

“Ah, Lord Gelmud!” Gabiru exclaimed happily, clearly oblivious

“So, that’s the bastard who gave Gabiru his name… idiots think alike…” Rimuru chuckled a bit

“Why have you come here? Could it be you’ve come to help us?” Gabiru asked, he clearly was not listening

“You useless dolt! JUST BECOME A MEAL FOR THE ORC LORD ALREADY!” Gelmud exclaimed, much to Gabiru’s confusion, “A useless fool like you will never be more than a nuisance so be eaten by the Orc Lord and become his strength! You’ll be useful to me in death… consider it an honor!” Gelmud said, slightly angering Rimuru

I know Gabiru was an idiot, but this bastard is an absolute twat…!

<Can we->

Yes, we can murder him but he’ll probably spill something important if he continues bragging

<Got it..>

“GET HIM, ORC LORD!” Gelmud commanded towards the Orc Lord, the Orc Lord… did not move…

“What’s the matter, get him!” Gelmud demanded

“What do you mean by evolving into a Demon Lord?” The Orc Lord asked, much to an extremely annoyed Gelmud

“Tsk… you really are an imbecile!” Gelmud exclaimed towards the Orc Lord

Look who's talking, minds think alike!

“You will become the Demon Lord “Orc Disaster” and rule over the entire Forest of Jura! That is what both he and I desire!” Gelmud explained

Who’s “he”?

<It seems what you said is true, he will brag away the existence of his leader>

“WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE, YOU DUMB PIG?!” Gelmud questioned, he was obviously extremely peeved.

“There’s no time… I’m not supposed to interfere but I have no choice!” Gelmud prepared a magic bullet and fired it at Gabiru, his friends would end up taking the hit to save Gabiru’s life.

Rimuru quickly realized the situation and how his goal is now to simply kill Gabiru and feed him to the Orc Lord.

Gabiru began to cry in pain and depression seeing his friends dying. As Gelmud prepared the second round, he charged up the magic bullet into a “Deathmarch Dance”. As the bullet flew towards Gabiru, he could only feel anguish and despair.

Rimuru interjected between the attack and Gabiru, halting the attack and protecting Gabiru from certain death.

<Utilizing “Devourer”>

Rimuru ate the attack and fully copied the skills of Gelmud, only now Rimuru needed to wait until those skills were finally replicated.

“Hey, is that the best you can do? It’s kinda disappointing honestly.. How’s that supposed to kill anyone?” Rimuru threw an insult towards Gelmud, immediately shattering his pride in moments

“You… You are…” Gabiru was in shock, suddenly Rimuru threw over healing potions towards Gabiru

“Heal your friends, I’ll deal with the pest.” Rimuru said as he began to approach Gelmud, Gelmud was furious at this moment.

Rimuru proceeded to use Sticky Steel Thread on Gelmud, who attempted to get out but was completely futile.

Gabiru is kind, he cares for his friends… Although his first impressions weren't good, he was kind… I’m angry that this bastard would trick such a person like him…

“HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO A SUPERIOR MAJI-” Rimuru proceeded to beat the shit out of Gelmud, each time Gelmud got up from a punch to send an insult, Rimuru would throw another. Soon enough, this was just a game to Rimuru as he placed his hand onto Gelmud’s shoulder before socking him hard as hell towards the ground, breaking the Sticky Steel Threads for him.

“Could you shut up for five seconds! You keep saying you’re a “Superior Majin” yet you’re nothing special!” Rimuru stated, much to his absolute fury.

“Okay, I get it! You can be on my side! I’ll-” Rimuru proceeded to continue beating the shit out of him, soon enough, Gelmud was crying like a baby on the floor.

“DAMN YOU, HE WILL MAKE SURE YOU PAY FOR THIS!” Rimuru asked nonchalantly

“So… whose this “he” your referring to?” Rimuru said with a smile that was almost evil in nature, quickly causing Gelmud to run towards the Orc Lord.

“HELP ME ORC LORD!” Gelmud demanded, the Orc Lord was just hungry, “YOU DAMN PIG, HELP ME ORC LORD… I MEAN GELD!” Suddenly, a new awakened life flashes before Geld’s eyes as if he’d snapped back towards reality. The Orc Lord finally began to move…

“HAHAHAHA, FINALLY ABOUT TIME YOU FAT PIG” Gelmud exclaimed as he turned around

“PREPARE TO FACE THIS BEAST’S STRENGTH! MAKE THEM RUE THE DAY THEY DEFIED ME-” Gelmud’s head soon seen flying off as a Butcher’s knife had sliced the head clean off.

<Damn, he beat us to it>

Soon enough, Geld began to eat the corpse. As everyone watched on, Geld began to shift and change as his body became larger, durable, and the level of his power spiked to never before seen levels. Everything around a certain radius corroded away into nothingness as he shaped up and grew every more powerful

">=Affirmed. Individual Geld is now commencing evolution in a Demon Lord=<" The Voice of the World called out, startling all those nearby

<He’s transformed… into Orc Disaster…>

About time…

“I AM ORC DISASTER, I AM THE ONE WHO WILL DEVOUR ALL IN THIS WORLD! My name is Geld.. GELD THE DEMON LORD!”

Chapter 16: Rimuru, All Together V.S. Geld, Orc Disaster

Chapter Text

“Shion!” Benimaru called, Shion quickly responded and rushed in

“Hey…” Rimuru was becoming jealous now, he hasn’t done anything to prove his worth this entire day.

As Shion, Benimaru, Hakurou, and Ranga fought with vigor against the newly awakened Demon Lord, Rimuru began to realize something. Each one had played their own part in this war… Hakurou taught and trained most the Goblin Riders while destroying large sections of the enemy, Shion handled secretary work and created rifts in the ground, Benimaru led the army efficiently and blasted apart hundreds of Orcs, Ranga moved the troops here while disrupting the enemy with storm magic, while Souei conducted spy operations and executed man enemies.

Each one had an interesting role to play… all Rimuru had done was declare war and fly from above… all the preparations he’d done were for nothing as his subordinates rushed to defeat the Demon Lord by themselves…

Was he useless… no, he brought them all together… but was that all he was worth? No… it couldn’t… it can’t

Soon enough, as each one of the five attacked, they found their skills did not have the effect they wanted.

Shion was overpowered

Hakurou couldn’t keep up the attack rate

Souei had no options to damage

Benimaru’s attack didn’t even flinch him

Now, Ranga was drained of his power, meanwhile the Demon Lord still stood.

Although he was hurt, he soon ate one of his own to gain their powers, simply to heal. It was something that Rimuru couldn’t handle anymore. This bastard was ripping off his style…

All this time, Rimuru desired a world in which he could live his life leisurely, now it has become evident that he must desire more to create that world. Without power, you cannot back your ideals. Ideals are empty if the individual has no real power to back their claims…

Rimuru called back his allies, he simply couldn’t let them continue their futile attacks.

“Great Rimuru! Are you-” Benimaru was cut off

“Don’t worry, I can deal with this…” Rimuru approached Geld, who was already prepared to strike at Rimuru any moment now. Geld’s “Chaos Eater” was already present and ready to strike at Rimuru any moment…

It’s about time we had some action…

Although this couldn’t be considered just me fighting, right?

Shizu, it’s time

“Bring forth our powers! Strike our enemies down!”

<It’s time to strike, Switching to Synchronized Battle Mode!>

A glare appeared from Rimuru’s eyes as they were a mix of a flame and water colliding, his eyes turned into a ying-yang of sorts as the powers within him collided and clashed together. Each and every skill that Rimuru had collected up to that point was festering and prepared to be utilized towards its maximum efficiency. “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom” was on duty, prepared to throw any and all skills it could at the enemy while Rimuru and Shizu co-piloted together. It was an absurd amalgamation of what they’ve done together since they’ve met and now the full wrath of the Conqueror of Flames and Devourer of Storms.

On one side, an endless torrent of black flames festered while the other a large scale amount of pure electrical energy gathered around Rimuru as they began to swirl and mix with one another. Soon enough, the sky grew darker as clouds mixed with smoke.

“DEVOUR ALL! CHAOS EATER!” Geld launched “Chaos Eater" in which the lightning immediately met and struck at each of the heads that attempted to approach, as Geld prepared for a secondary strike, only a massive torrent of black flames struck him all at once.

As Geld attempted to regain balance, Rimuru quickly rushed Geld down as his sword was infused with black flames, his blade struck true and sliced one of his arms clean off, burning the area with black flames. Geld attempted to gain balance, only to find his other arm was intertwined with Sticky Steel Threads all over. He would have to exert his full strength to remove the threads but he was already missing an arm.

Soon enough, more threads were wrapping themselves all across Geld as he struggled to break free. Soon enough, he attempted to use his weapon to shatter the Sticky Steel Threads from the inside, only for a Water Blade to immediately strike and shatter the weapon apart. However, it gave Geld enough time to free his arm and he quickly proceeded to rip off his other arm.

Geld began to quickly regenerate his arm and the damages done as he began to fire a several “Deathmarch Dance’s” towards Rimuru, only for Rimuru to use “Devourer” to swallow them up while the other hand fired its own “Deathmarch Dance”, the hand quickly proceeded afterwards to utilized “Devourer” to consumed the other batch of “Deathmarch Dance’s” approaching. Geld found trouble reaching since the attack he was using had been in the enemy's control.

Rimuru proceeded to enact another strategy, he rushed in as Geld prepared another wave of “Chaos Eater”. This time, Rimuru dodged and used “Instant move” in rapid succession to completely avoid the “Chaos Eater”. Instead of aiming for the arms, Rimuru aimed for the legs and cut both clean off with the black flame lingering. Before Geld could react, Rimuru utilized Sticky Steel Threads once more to encase and trap Geld’s arms in place.

Soon enough, a massive Flare Circle began to encircle where Geld was being trapped. No matter how hard he tried to escape, he was trapped in place. The flares ignited as they began to consume him completely as he helplessly laid there. Unfortunately…

<He’s developed Fire Resistance now…>

I have another plan, we just need to keep him in place

Once more, Rimuru released Sticky Steel Threads to entrap his legs which were breaking through the black flames that hindered regeneration.

NOW

<Utilizing Devourer!>

Soon enough, Rimuru began to wrap himself all around to encase Geld who was still trapped on the ground. No matter what Geld did now, he was unable to stop Rimuru as Rimuru slowly began to consume his body. Between his “Starved” and Rimuru’s “Devourer”, Rimuru comes out on top… Geld’s regrets were being observed and absorbed, soon enough. His regrets were exposed as he felt he truly had failed his people and only furthered their starvation. He was used to simply being a pawn, nothing more… nothing less… his mistakes will be the sin of all his people…

“In this world… it’s eat or be eaten… you have lost, so you must be eaten…”

“I cannot lose, I cannot die, I cannot let my sins plague my people… I must devour this world’s hunger and take it up as my own…”

“You still must die… but rest in peace, I’ll devour your sins along with you…”

“Devour… my sins?”

“Not just your sins… the sins of all your brethren too… I will promise you this, Geld. I won’t let your people starve any longer…”

“You’ll save all my brethren?... heheheh, you truly are greedy…”

“You’re right… I am greedy…”

Geld sees soon a flash of memories of a lush green forest filled with life and prosperity, he couldn’t help but lay down and rest. He was satisfied after all… but some part of him still wished to continue on… Soon enough, the lush green of the surrounding soon became an endless void… as Geld began to wonder what happened… he felt a familiar presence…

Maybe… he could gain the blessing of Lord Veldora… here?

As Rimuru finally begins to shrink his slime form as he regresses back towards his human form. Everyone had looked on in awe of Rimuru’s Kaiju Slime Form that sparkled as if it were a rainbow after a cold, rainy day. The shine slowly faded as Rimuru appeared from the endless mass.

<Turning off Synchronized Battle Mode…>

Rimuru’s eyes began to regress towards their normal golden glow as he landed on the ground. The endless fires and storms that surrounded him faded away as everyone looked at him in pure confusion but he was something else completely, he was… fit to be a Demon Lord after all…

Rimuru approached the Kijin, specifically Benimaru, and stated that now they were free to do what they wanted. Although Rimuru internally didn’t want them to go since he’d grown attached to them…

“Great Rimuru… I ask you a favor… Please let us remain your subordinates…” Benimaru asked to Rimuru

Rimuru was excited and happily accepted that they would remain with him in the town. As the discussion on what to do continued, Treyni appeared in front of everyone. As if Kaiju Slime wasn’t shocking enough, now a Dryad appeared.

“Upon the conclusion of this event, we will hold a discussion concerning the management rights of the forest. The time will be early morning tomorrow. The location is a bit southwest from here, in the open space in the forest. Races that wish to attend, please elect a representative, that is all.” Treyni explained, much to the absolute shock and confusion of everyone present from the Lizardmen, Orcs, and the Goblins that weren’t a part of Rimuru’s town.

Nice to see her organizing everythin-

‘I’m sure this is obvious however, Rimuru Tempest will be the Chairman of the meeting” Treyni explained

Shizu, I think we just got a lot more work on our hands…

<Oh boy… no worries, we got this together!>

Chapter 17: The Birth of the Jura Forest Alliance

Chapter Text

As the conference for the fate of the forest begins, Rimuru is preparing to meet up with everyone within the conference as best as he could. He transformed back into a slime just to fit into the theme since everyone in the conference was to be a monster, it didn’t feel right to be a human in the middle of a monster conference.

Do you think we are ready??

<We should be ready, there isn’t much to prepare since this conference will likely be dictated by you.>

I’m not some kind of power tyrant!

<To be fair, you’ve been running around replicating skills of nearly everything you murder.>

At that point, the skills would be lost and I’m not sure skills like Unique Skills could be regained. You did explain before Unique Skills are unique to the individual using them so letting those skills go extinct isn’t a good idea

<Yes, however, excess amounts of skills could pose problems since you have to learn how to use all of them>

Not exactly since “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom” helps accelerate that learning, right?

<...Honestly, are you trying to drain your magicules?>

Veldora is ok with this right?

<Yes, besides, he does have some requests as he wants some sort of “Thank You” for all the extra power we’ve been infused with. If it wasn’t for “Desire” existing, there would be virtually no way for you to properly utilize his enormous aura to obtain magicules.>

Are there any drawbacks?

<The only drawback is the risk that if someone steals the Skill, it would be vastly more dangerous than previously. Although there’s only one person I could think of that has that kind of skill.>

Who?

Hinata, I’ll keep that in mind. Are they nice?

<She was one of my more closed off students…>

Oh… sounds a bit like trouble

<She was nice! I think her previous experiences scarred her though… I wish there was more I could do for her…>

Oh…

<It’s alright, besides, we have a conference to attend currently>

Rimuru began to arrive as most of the representatives were present and prepared to discuss their future with the Chairman. The future of the Great Forest of Jura hung in the balance with this one meeting. Any wrong doing would possibly cause the collapse of the forest as they knew it.

As Rimuru looked around the attendees, he noticed the Goblins, Orcs, and Lizardmen he had been familiar with. With Rimuru, he had brought along the Kijin who served under him during the battle against Demon Lord Geld.

The Orcs were especially distressed as their sins began to swell up. They realized their own follies and could only look forward with guilt. Each one had realized they were soon going to undertake punishment for their crimes and had realized that this could be the day of their death.

Alright but…

“Alright, I’ve never talked to others in a situation like this before… but I want to express my desires and I want all of us to consider it together…” Rimuru said as he was slightly nervous

“Firstly, I wanted to say that we shouldn’t charge the Orcs with any crimes.” This absolutely shocked the Orcs who were expecting punishment, while ruffling up the Lizardmen, “Now hear me out. The Orcs had suffered a famine that caused much of their people to starve and die, another Demon Lord had noticed the opportunity and used it to manipulate their leader. In their case, they got used by the Demon Lord to run rampant around the Great Forest of Jura. It isn’t right to punish them for the actions caused by that Demon Lord.” Rimuru explained, much to the silent agreement of everyone in the room.

“Still, even if the acts of aggression cannot be tolerated, they would have no way to pay for their actions… however…” Everyone looked at Rimuru concerning his pause, what did he mean “However”

“I will be taking on all the sins of the Orcs, if you hold any complaints then I will gladly listen to them.” Rimuru said, shocking the Orcs even further

“S-SURELY THERE’S NO REASON TO DO THIS FOR US?!?” One of the Orcs yelled out

“I made a promise to Geld before I had consumed him… that I would take up the Sins of his brethren. I don’t intend to break that promise…” Rimuru said, the Orcs were mostly pale while some were struggling to hold back tears

“There is an unchanging rule every monster must follow… the survival of the fittest… the moment Rimuru engaged Geld, they both acknowledged that rule when they engaged one another. They knew what they were getting themselves into..” Benimaru explained, much to Rimuru’s pleasure but also drove his concern slightly

“Benimaru, you also lost your home to the Orcs as well? Don’t you have any complaints?” Rimuru asked

“I would be lying to say that we didn’t, but we have found ourselves a new home. We would disgrace ourselves if we lost that new home…” Benimaru explained, which caused Rimuru to smile slightly

“Hm, well Rimuru was the one to defeat the Orc Disaster in the end… However, there is something concerning this case that I must confirm at all costs… By not charging the Orc for their sins, do you intend to welcome the surviving Orc into the forest?” The Lizardmen Chieftain asked “They number nearly one hundred fifty thousand survivors… How do you intend to care for that many Orcs?”

“...You may think that I am thinking out of my mind but… I want to propose an alliance between all species in the Great Forest of Jura. For now, I want to spread out the Orcs across the forest and have them assist in manual labor wherever they could. The Orcs are strong and big, they should be able to assist with this, and in exchange, we will provide them with food and a place to live. The Lizardmen are quick and capable swimmers, you have access to the marshlands in addition, so I would ask that you could provide necessities like fish and allow access towards freshwater. Our town is capable of producing large amounts of different specialty goods and creating stuff like weapons and armor for defense. I believe that being able to work together would be able to benefit everyone since we all have our own expertise in different matters. This is asking for a lot but it would provide peace and stability where we could found a country that all species could live in harmony.” Rimuru greatly explained in vast detail, although Rimuru could expand on it much more since he knew what kind of system could work.

“...We have no objections…” The Lizardmen chieftain said

“We will work for you!” The Orcs cried out in tears and joy

The various Goblins present all agreed unanimously in the proposal since they had no specialties but being added into this system would greatly benefit them.

As the Kijin left from behind RImuru and stood in front, everyone began to bow towards Rimuru, including Treyni.

“It is decided. As the manager of the forest… I, Treyni, hereby pledge that I recognize Rimuru as the new master and leader of the Great Forest of Jura! Under the name, the “Great Alliance of the Jura Forest” has been established!” Treyni exclaimed towards everyone in the room

Rimuru was thrown back in a daze, he was happy but he was nervous as hell

I JUST GOT PUT IN CHARGE OF THE ENTIRE JURA FOREST! WHAT DO YOU MEAN CALM DOWN?!?

Relax, besides you should be honor-

OF COURSE I'M HONORED! I’M HAVING A HEART ATTACK JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS!

“... then, um… it seems like that’s how it is so… please take good care of me…” Rimuru barely uttered, Shizu was not pleased by what he said…

Everyone present agreed deeply, much to add onto Rimuru’s stress…

After the conference, Rimuru was still slightly in a daze but he proceeded to head back towards the town with his friends. Although things were about to become even more confusing soon as what he’s done had completely changed the entire power dynamic of the world.

Chapter 18: The Birth of a New City

Notes:

This chapter is shortened for a reason, please read the Notes at the End to understand why.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Rimuru spent a good week attempting to name nearly two hundred monsters in total, mostly orcs who had joined the new alliance in addition to the Goblins and Lizardmen that joined in soon afterwards. Thanks to Shizu, the process was doubled in time since Shizu directly connected and named them in addition with him.

During this time, Rimuru handed out only a couple of special names to people such as “Abiru” for the Lizardmen chieftain, “Geld'' was handed down towards the servant Rimuru saw as Geld’s consciousness had flashed before Rimuru’s eyes, “Souka” was given towards the Lizardmen chieftain’s daughter who came to serve Rimuru in the town, and “Gabiru” which was given by accident as Rimuru didn’t realize you could overwrite someone’s name. It was a given that Rimuru would end up going into a deep sleep afterwards in which neither Shizu nor Rimuru were active externally since Rimuru drained nearly every last magicule he had attempted to name everyone. Shizu ended up apologizing to Veldora since Veldora had to exert a lot more magicules simply to get Rimuru to wake up in a timely fashion, although it took Rimuru nearly a week’s worth of time just to get up…

As Rimuru awakened, he began to notice how the town has now become a city. It was bustling with all sorts of species with all massive different amounts of construction projects occurring basically everywhere at once. There were now more than one hundred thousand residents residing within the city since a massive portion of the population began to migrate within the city at massive rates. There were various towns that began to spring up from the excess Orc populations in addition towards the Lizardmen homeland which itself was quite populated.

Rimuru was now at the helm of a populated and resource rich land that was blooming and prospering. Although one crisis needed to be solved first, the food crisis…

The ideas of farming were pitched as the town began to attempt to grow its own crops. Shizu tried to dig through her own memories along with Rimuru’s for farming but they both didn’t know much about it. It was clear that they would need to put a lot of effort into the project.

In addition, Rimuru alongside Souei worked together to divert and create piping that would enter the city, although the city grew too massive and as a result, Rimuru created a Hot Springs Inn on the edge of the city that would function as an entertainment area since Rimuru missed the warmth and comfort of Hot Springs back in Japan, Shizu didn’t know what a Hot Spring was though…

As the finishing touches were made by Rimuru, it was clear to tell that this city may become the crowning jewel of his accomplishments. Rimuru couldn’t help but feel more happy than this…

~~—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~

Notes:

For those who read these notes, I wanted to ask this question... based on this alternative fanfiction I made, should I make a sidestory of this based on the Slime Diaries Spin-Off?
humorous since I wanted to make some short stories but obviously, I can't cram everything into this one alternative story since.... trying to cram everything in would make the pace feel uneven.
So what do you think? Do you think something like that would be interesting to you? Please comment if you have any suggestions and if I should do something like that

Chapter 19: Sweet, Sweet Skills...

Chapter Text

Rimuru was exploring the forestry surrounding the town; there were odds that some section of the forest had some valuable resources that had yet to be tapped. Each new object Rimuru found, he devoured it and had Shizu analyze it since who knew what there could be. Eventually, Rimuru found what he was looking for.

“RICE!!! I THOUGHT I’D NEVER SEE THE DAY OF FINDING SOME!” Rimuru was excited, he quickly began to absorb as much rice as possible and store it in his stomach. Surely with all this rice, he could plant the rice elsewhere in his city to start a rice farm… mmm rice…

Rimuru was busy thinking about all the ways he could cook and eat the rice… hell it could go great with that amazing meat they always cooked back home, until suddenly Rimuru had an unexpected encounter with two insects. They were quite big for bugs their size, although they seemed injured. The first bug looked like a Rhinoceros beetle, the other looked like a bee? Good to know the bees in this world are twenty times the size they are on Earth… and was that a dead tiger next to them?

Rimuru attempted to approach the two insects where the Rhinoceros beetle attempted to attack Rimuru, failing utterly miserably although he kept declaring he would protect his “Queen”. Spoon enough, the bee stopped the battle and immediately asked for forgiveness for her friend. The bee quickly tried begging for Rimuru’s protection immediately afterwards; they were weak and unable to survive in the current portion of the forest.

Rimuru was quite concerned for the wounds they inflicted with significant chunks of them being torn out, presumably from the tiger. Rimuru began to use his own body and the magisteel he had on him to help heal the both of them to the best of his ability.

Rimuru quickly realized something since one was a bee…

“Could you make honey?” Rimuru asked, his face seemingly began to water slightly

“Yes, I tend to make honey for me and Zegion every once in a while-” The bee immediately got grabbed by Rimuru as Rimuru began looking at them with sparkling eyes

“U-uh, w-wha-” Rimuru immediately released the bee and quickly apologized, Rimuru began to quickly explain why he had been so interested in the bee. Rimuru remembered how delicious honey was and all the honey and sweets that he no longer had any access towards any of those delectables.

Rimuru proceeded to offer up a deal haphazardly with excitement that he would swear that he would protect them in exchange for the delivery of honey, he would offer full protection using the Treants as guardians for them who had joined the “Great Alliance of Jura” under the request of Treyni.

The bugs looked confused since they’ve never heard of the “Great Alliance of Jura” nor this Treyni. Rimuru soon explained that one was an alliance between all monsters in the forest for peace and prosperity while the other was a Dryad who had made him the master of the forest.

Both bugs didn’t believe it initially, Rimuru then proceeded to show them the city he was building where multiple species were working in harmony. Many of the citizens were shocked by the guests but they greeted them with kindness. Both bugs quickly and haphazardly quickly wished to join the alliance since joining the alliance would make them many new allies and put them under the protection of the most powerful monster in the forest.

-=====-

Some days later

As Rimuru was getting the delivery from his two new insect friends which he had promptly named “Apito” and “Zegion, Rimuru had quite a bit of time walking home.

Hey Shizu, I wanted to ask for a while now. How are my skills looking?

<Two of your skills had recently evolved after I combined them with two other skills, There are specific issues when it comes towards replicating Unique Skills from what I have ascertained.>

What kind of issues?

So.. when we copy them, they can’t be replicated?

<Correct, it seems to only work when we utilize only one specific Sub-Skill from them. However, doing so will expend a large amount of magicules to replicate them and insert them into different skills.>

That’s concerning, although we can still copy the Sub-Skills right? Is there any drawback?

Alright, well what did you change about my skills?

<The four Unique Skills you possessed had been merged into two Unique Skills.>

Wait, four? I thought I had two last time?

<You had two but after the battle with Orc Disaster, the number jumped to four as a result of Copying Gelmud’s Unique Skill “Ambitious” and Geld the First’s Unique Skill “Starved”.>

Ah, well what did you do with them?

Alright, but what did that change exactly? You can tell me the names but it doesn’t mean much if I don’t know what they added…

<For the new Unique Skill “Envious”, it contained Copy, Replication, Skill Disable, Depowerment, Expansionism, Drainage, Power Freak, and Art Creation.>

What do the two new Sub-Skills do?

<Power Freak - Allows the user to force commands on targets and those the target has influenced who are subservient or lost their will.>

<Art Creation - Allows the user to create new Arts or Magic Techniques simply through thought, although it forcefully expends magicules in order to do so.>

I’d rather not have the “Power Freak” one…

<It will only be used if absolutely necessary then, I was figuring the same thing.>

<For the Unique Skill “Gluttony”, it contained Predation, Stomach, Mimicry, Isolation, Rot, Receive, and Provide.>

Rot, Receive, and Provide?

<Rot - Inflicts “Rot” on the target, decomposing it if it is organic. Monster corpses partially absorbed in this manner will reward the user with part of the monster’s skills.>

<Receive - Gain the ability to replicate Skills from monsters under the user’s influence.>

<Provide - Grants a replication of the user’s abilities to monsters under the user’s influence or linked to the user’s soul.>

Wait, if I had Receive and Provide, why did you still make a copy and attempt to replicate Shuna’s Unique Skill?

Doesn’t that just add in a bunch of factors like what if it didn’t work because the other Sub-Skills were already in another skill?

<In a technical sense, yes, although in our case, it didn’t. Since I am under your influence, I could add skills to myself or remove my own skills if I wanted to so->

Wait, you can give yourself skills?? I thought we were part of the same being???

<Yes… I haven’t completely comprehended it though… but it’s like there’s two souls occupying the same space at once rather than just one. While one soul has become part of a monster, the other soul has become part spiritual in nature. It’s not natural so even utilizing “All of Creation” and “Raphael, Lord of Wisdom”, I haven't figured out the situation. Each time you utilize me through “Body Double”, the effect appears very strange as both souls separate for a moment before reconverging once the “Body Double” dissipates. In addition, each time the “Body Double” is utilized, a separation of skills occurs in which skills are separated between the bodies that exist however, as a result of the connection between the two souls, the magicules between the two separate entities remains the same and draws from the exact finite pool of power that exists. >

Please, simplify….

<There’s two souls. When you make a copy, that copy becomes me. The copy isn’t permanent and returns to you. The copy doesn’t have the same skills as you when we separate yet possesses the same magicule pool as you.>

I’m still confused…

<Yeah… I understand… I don’t understand how this works either…>

<There is also one more important message to relay.>

As Rimuru continued walking, he wondered what the hell kind of situation this had created. He had two souls, one was his and the other was presumably Shizu’s. Did his “Devourer” absorb her soul into his soul? What the hell truly happened… Rimuru couldn’t help but ponder what was going on.

<There is also one more important message to relay.>

What is it?

<The scan for Veldora’s Unlimited Imprisonment has been completed, however, an issue has arisen.>

Wait, so the scan is complete but there’s an issue… as if the headaches aren’t enough already…

<Unfortunately, releasing Veldora currently would be ill-advised as it could immediately cause a direct response from other nations. Veldora is unstable in addition where his personality is in transition, finally Veldora has adopted two different students that would require more time with Veldora to fully reform. There is the added issue that Veldora currently provides a large chunk of the power that is required to run a massive majority of the skills within your body. Removal of Veldora would put the entire system in danger and risk the death of both you and me. In addition, the current “Gluttony” skill is not capable of removing Veldora from the stomach without risking death.>

… so we need to wait it out still but we also need an alternative to Veldora’s power and find a way to expand “Gluttony”?

<Yes>

…I feel like we need to tell Veldora this then

<Unneeded, odds are Veldora already knows because of his Unique Skill “Investigator” which has probably already alerted him. I can talk to him about this if you desire.>

Please do, just in case

<Alright, before I head out to inform Veldora, our Analysis of Unlimited Imprisonment had been completed, we now have obtained a copy of the Skill.>

Wait, a copy? Does that mean the Unique Skill still exists out there?

<Yes, that suggests that something or someone has the Unique Skill although it is unknown what could be holding it.>

Huh…

-=====-

A light emerged from the top of the void as Shizu appeared once more in front of Veldora who was in the middle of a Shogi match against Geld the First.

“KUAHAHAHA SHIZU, UP FOR A REMATCH?” Veldora laughed

“Actually, could I speak to you for a moment?” Shizu asked, Veldora sighed and put the game on pause with Geld the First.

“I want to discuss the Unlimited Imprisonment and your Ultimate Skill “Faust, Lord of Investigation”. I wanted to say that-” Shizu was cut off before she could continue

“KUAHAHAHA, don’t worry! I was expecting I had to wait some centuries until I could get freed from here, now I know that I simply have to wait until Rimuru deals with his own problems. I don’t want Rimuru to die on me, he’s already shown me freedom through his own eyes. Letting him die on me would just be poor action on my end. Besides…” Veldora began to look through Rimuru’s memories at full efficiency as he began looking through the many different mangas that existed. “I’d lose access to this! Trading a century or two won’t bother me in the slightest!”

“Thank you, Veldora…” Shizu said quietly, much to Veldora’s absolute pleasure and happiness, this was the first time Shizu treated Veldora with kindness.

Veldora wrapped his arm around Shizu, “KUAHAHAHAHA, WORRY NOT! I SHALL BE AT YOUR SERVICE!” This slightly changed the mood as Shizu was less embarrassed and more angry. She'd overlooked that now since Veldora was being reasonable although Shizu couldn’t help but think there was some ulterior motive that Veldora discovered through “Faust, Lord of Investigation”.

What could that damn dragon be planning?

Chapter 20: The Arrival of the Dwarf King

Chapter Text

Rimuru was slugging his way about the city with the honey stored within the Stomach while being escorted by Shion. Rimuru had been in slime form since it was easier to distinguish since Shizu was always in human form since she had no idea how to move around as a slime. The honey he had Apito gather for him was high quality and delicious. This would go great with what he has planned, honey with meat! Grilled meat and honey would be so juicy and sweet! Although he’d have to make it himself, maybe he could have Shizu do some cooking…

<I’m not a housewife…>

I dunno what you're referring to… I clearly didn’t say anything about you being one…

<...You were thinking it, weren’t you?>

N-no, I-

<Hold on, something has been detected…>

[Thought Communication Start]

“Great Rimuru”

“I could already pick up on it Souei, something is coming in, do you know what it is?”

“Yes, it seems to be some sort of armed group that numbers around five hundred. They are in the sky north of here. They are rapidly heading towards our location.”

“Got it”

[Thought Communication End]

“Shion, warn Rigurd about a possible evacuation.” Rimuru commanded, Shion quickly agreed as she rushed towards Rigurd

As Rimuru rushed over towards the site, he began to reabsorb Shizu who had been in a “Body Double” within the village in the case that he’d have to go full efficiency mode on whoever had come into detection. With that, Rimuru felt prepared enough to face the possible opponent that was approaching. As Rimuru noticed, they were Pegasi with armed soldiers upon their backs and Shizu confirmed that they were heading towards the location they had been located.

As Shion, Shuna, Benimaru, Gobta, Souei, and Kaijin arrive onto the scene, Kaijin tells Rimuru he already has a grasp on who these people could be.

“It is a pleasure to see you again… King Gazel” Kaijin said he kneeled before his original lord.

“It has been a while, Kaijin… you too Slime. Do you remember me?” Gazel asked as his gaze was directed towards Rimuru.

“Yes, I do.” Rimuru said as he began to recount how the King’s sense of justice saved Rimuru from unfair prosecution.

“My king, what brought you here today?” Kaijin asked, clearly worried about the reasoning he was here

“Not much, I’m here to ascertain the true nature of this slime here. I come not as a king, but an individual so spare me the formalities.” Gazel said in a prideful tone as he looked down towards Rimuru

All the Kijin with me are furious right now…

<They shouldn’t be able to attack unless permission is given…>

That’s what I’m hoping for…

Do you know what he means by true nature?

<Commonly, one would judge another based on their innate abilities of combat in this case->

He wants to fight me?

<Yes, although seemingly to judge you>

“Alright, well it should be fine if I say something correct?” Rimuru asked, Gazel agreed although his guards weren’t pleased hearing such talk from a slime. Fortunately, Gazel halted his guards before they could make a move.

“I should introduce myself first, I am Rimuru Tempest.” Rimuru began to shift into his human form as his viscous body molded into a hard exterior form. “I am in fact a slime, but I will not have you keep looking down on me.” As Rimuru took full shape in front of Gazel’s eyes, he could not help but immediately wonder how could this creature take the form of a human so easily and with such precision. Everyone of his escorts were in absolute disbelief of the slime that became human.

“I am the master of the Great Forest of Jura and the leader of the Great Alliance of the Jura Forest. Though this isn’t my true form, it should be easier to talk like this, right?” Rimuru said as his scabbard began to form from behind him with a sword proceeding outwards as well. It was part of the weapon shipment that Kurobee had produced a day ago that came along with some various other weapons.

“Oho… a human form… so you can use a sword then…” Gazel looked up and down Rimuru’s appearance, it was short and nimble so odds are Rimuru would utilize fast strikes against him. Just how much power behind each strike wouldn’t be easily accessible.

“I wish we didn’t need to fight to prove myself worthy…” Rimuru said as he began to draw his blade.

“So you understand that this is a competition of blades, I see… then words will be unnecessary…” Gazel said as he began to draw his own blade in anticipation

“To brag about being the master of this forest, it seems I will have to teach you your place…” Gazel looked determined at Rimuru, although each word that he spoke only served to further anger the Kijin behind Rimuru.

Soon enough, a slight breeze followed by the appearance of leaves began to form to the side of Rimuru and Gazel. Soon enough, three dryads appeared where the storm of leaves once were as three Dryads appeared.

“We will not tolerate any arrogance towards the master of our forest, Dwarf King…” Treyni stated as the two Dryads stood right behind her.

While the entirety of the escort was in absolute shock from seeing three Dryads, Rimuru entered a casual conversation with the Dryads regarding that this would be a duel with Gazel to prove his worthiness.

Gazel proceeds to laugh loudly, “It must be true if even the managers of the forest say so! I apologize for my rude words, Rimuru. However, I still need to confirm it for myself.”

“Then I shall be the judge of this duel” Treyni said while Rimuru prepared his pose

Shizu, can you pick up anything about Gazel?

<He seems to possess the will of a hero along with a Unique Skill, odds are he has a Hero’s Haki.>

What’s that?

<Hero’s Haki can immobilize weak-willed targets, I personally know this since I’ve dealt with my fair share of Hero’s before.>

Alright, thanks for the heads up

“I will serve as a judge for this duel.” Treyni stated

“Let this duel… BEGIN” Treyni exclaimed

Rimuru made the initiative as he rushed in, just like Gazel anticipated, unfortunately for Gazel… Rimuru had an Ultimate Skill.

Before Gazel could react, Rimuru had completely utilized Gazel’s parries against him by knocking enough force into them that forced him backwards momentarily. As Gazel was pushed back enough, Rimuru would proceed to strike directly at his blade, despite holding several openings to strike at Gazel directly. Gazel proceeded to utilize his “Haze of Rumbling Heavens” as he tried to regain footing, only to miss miserably against Rimuru who anticipated the coming attack… At which point, Rimuru knocked the blade out of Gazel’s hands.

Gazel began to laugh, although it felt like he was slightly saddened.

“I forfeit, I have lost this duel. I have confirmed your existence is not one of evil and it has proven to me you are quite strong.” Gazel said in a defeated tone, he knew that even if he wanted to press this issue, he’d surely get absolutely destroyed as he picked up that Rimuru simply aimed to disarm him. If Rimuru wanted to, he could quite literally “disarm” him through various other means.

“It is official, the victor is Rimuru Tempest!” Treyni exclaimed

“How splendid that sword fighting was… Rimuru… I never expected the likes of a slime could fight with the blade with precision like that.” Gazel said while chuckling, he got beat by a slime fair and square

As Gazel admired Rimuru's abilities with the blade, a certain Old Kijin came from the forest nearby.

“Hohoho, Rimuru, you have surpassed even him.” Hakurou said, immediately Gazel recognized that old Kijin.

“Excuse me, but aren’t you the sword saint?” Gazel asked, which immediately caused the surrounding escort to shock up in sheer confusion.

“...Your performance was one of great elegance, however, you truly stood no chance against Great Rimuru. You’ve grown quite a bit since being a lost child in the forest.” Hakurou said, Gazel and Hakurou began to exchange complementaries while the entire escort was in shock, Rimuru looked between the two as he began to realize what felt so similar.

<Since they were taught by Hakurou, he adopted a similar swordstyle to them as a result. That’s why the swordstyle didn’t need much analysis during the battle.>

Who knew that Gazel was taught by Hakurou! You never know what’s connected in this world!

“Now Rimuru!” Gazel slapped Rimuru on the back suddenly, “Hurry up and guide us in, Rimuru! It’s a beautiful city from the sky! I’m sure you also have some delicious wine, right?”

“Well, yeah!” Rimuru said casually, “Aren’t you a bit too carefree right now?”

“It’s nice to loosen up!” Gazel said with a chuckle

Rimuru couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong… he just wasn’t sure what…

Chapter 21: The Birth of the Jura Tempest Federation

Chapter Text

As discussions between Gazel and Rimuru had been occurring, Gazel wanted to question something about Rimuru. Rimuru was proficient in the sword but clearly Rimuru wasn’t always like that since he is a slime. It was best that Gazel seize on the opportunity of a newly developed ruler.

“So you were the ones to defeat the Orc Lord before, correct?” Gazel asked, clearly he knew that Rimuru defeated the Orc Lord but wanted to check Rimuru to see if he were to be truthful or not

“Yes, I defeated the Orc Lord. Is there anything that you want to know about that situation?” Rimuru asked as he entered talks with Gazel.

“Yes… primarily, how did you defeat the Orc Lord?” Gazel asked

Rimuru proceeded to explain the situation towards Gazel at how a Demon Lord was pulling the strings to erect a Puppet Demon Lord that they would use to influence others. The Puppet ended up eating their controller who was Lord Gelmud and ended up evolving into the Demon Lord that they desired. No one was able to defeat the Demon Lord so in order to stop them, Rimuru battled the Demon Lord personally and was able to restrain it enough to allow them to eat the Demon Lord since the Demon Lord was able to recover from any attack that Rimuru could throw at it.

“You… you ate it?” Gazel seemed absolutely shocked but held firm in his position

“Yeah, I was winning the battle but the only way to finish the battle quick enough was to eat them. If I didn’t… who knows how long we would have kept fighting for…” Rimuru said with a sigh, as he got himself some more tea.

“Just to be sure… you said the Orc Lord became an Orc Disaster as it became a Demon Lord… correct?” Gazel asked once again, much to the slight confusion of Rimuru

“Yes… the Voice of the World confirmed it for everyone there.” Rimuru said, completely freezing Gazel

“Rimuru, have you ever heard of the “Threat Level” before?” Gazel wanted to know if Rimuru even acknowledged how powerful he was.

“I’ve heard about it but never really understood it… am I considered a threat?” Rimuru asked as he casually began to sip tea.

“Rimuru, if you were able to defeat Orc Disaster by eating them, you inherited their power… correct?” Gazel asked once again, at which point Rimuru slowly began to understand to gist of it.

“... where exactly would I rank on it?” Rimuru became blunt as he stopped sipping his tea, he could already tell that he did something no one would have expected would be possible.

“If what you say were true, you are around a Calamity-Class to Disaster-Class… Those two are on the high end of the ranking system. Since you defeated Orc Disaster by consuming him… it is safe to assume that by devouring him you would at bare minimum, double in power… or at most… expand your ever growing power slightly…” Gazel said with a distraught look, Rimuru was slightly appalled until he realized that he did contain an enormous amount of skills that would make any battle with him near impossible.

“You are talented enough to fight sword to sword against me, enough to defeat a Demon Lord by eating it, and assumed leadership of the Great Jura Forest. There is no doubt in my mind you have reached Disaster Class easily… even when talking with Hakurou, he told me you were no ordinary student. You mastered his techniques in a matter of weeks, the same techniques that took me years…” Gazel said with a defeated expression, he was still dumbfounded by the power the slime had. It made him even more furious at Vesta who had unleashed this monster out into the open, if Vesta had left the slime alone… that slime would have remained confined and possibly not grown as powerful as he did.

“With so much power behind you, I am somewhat surprised you would take so kindly to me.” Gazel said, although he didn’t show how nervous he truly was in front of Rimuru

“You were the one to protect me with that sense of justice from you, I was glad to see you act rational. If it wasn’t for you being there, who knows what could have happened next…” Rimuru said, he began to sip his tea once more.

“Say, do you have any idea about the Black Flame that had been spotted before?” Gazel asked Rimuru

“Oh, yeah, that was what I used to mark our battle against the Orc Disaster” Rimuru said casually, causing a shiver to run down Gazel’s back.

“That… that was you?” Gazel asked, just to reconfirm what Rimuru just said

“Yeah” Rimuru took another sip of his tea

It was a precarious situation that Gazel was in, what he was looking at could be the next new Demon Lord for all he knew. However, this slime was clearly all too new to this… Rimuru didn’t know the first thing about running a nation as he was highly dependent on his subordinates for the basic functions of a government.

“Rimuru, I want to know… how old are you?” Gazel asked to gauge the age of this slime, slimes tend to be extremely young creatures because of how they reproduce. As known, monsters sacrifice a part of their energy to create offspring. That energy can be recovered depending on the type of monster but with Slimes, they reproduce by dividing themselves. Essentially, the slime sacrifices half of its power just to create a replica of itself. In some cases, the original slime would completely die during the process and most of that energy would go on to create miniature slimes. Although, there were still some things of slime reproduction he never got around to learning. Since Rimuru was this absolutely powerful, Rimuru had to be an immensely old slime since no slime could accomplish this sort of feat whatsoever.

“Oh….. uh……” Rimuru paused heavily as he began to visibly sweat

<...I feel like this is a situation you should probably lie in…>

Should… should I just tell him the truth? That I am a reincarnation??

“I….. am… I was born about a year ago…” Rimuru said as Gazel just stopped to look at Rimuru for a moment.

“A… a year ago?” Gazel asked

“Yeah… when I was born… I couldn’t exactly tell what I was or who I was… it was just dark and all I could do was move and eat whatever I found nearby. To be honest, I’m not really sure about this world I’ve been put int-” Rimuru was about to continue his story but Gazel quickly put a halt to it

“YOU’RE ONLY A YEAR OLD??? YET, YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS MUCH???” Gazel yelled at Rimuru, slightly scaring Rimuru

“I-is there something wrong?” Rimuru asked, much to Gazel’s annoyance

“No, no…” There was clearly something wrong. Gazel knew how the greater a monster’s age, the more and more powerful that monster became. The primordial demons were one such example of insurmountable power just by being the original seven. The Demon Lords all existed for hundreds of years with some existing for thousands of years where their powers kept growing to a point that killing one was near impossible if they were well-established. The only Demon Lords to have ever died were ones that had freshly been hoisted by their own ego’s only to be murdered by another Demon Lord or became too arrogant and fought the wrong humans. Yet… this thing has only existed for a year, somehow gained sentience, grew a village into a city, united monsters under one banner, created a terrifying force in the middle of the Great Jura Forest which was inhabited by an absurd quantity of monsters, and proceeded to eat a Demon Lord.

Yet, there was opportunity in this situation… ensuring this slime as an ally would prevent any sort of grudge from being formed. By being the first to recognize this monster nation, Dwargon could be secured in its position for the time being. Gazel needed to figure out everything in his power to absolutely not piss off the most powerful majin in the Great Jura Forest… that was it!

“Rimuru… I want to ask you something?” Gazel asked as he began to hope Rimuru would hear him out.

“Sure, go ahead” Rimuru proceed to sip a slight bit more tea

“Do you want to forge a covenant with me?” Gazel asked, Rimuru felt as if he was going to possibly choke on the tea. Luckily, he had no lungs…

“Covenant?!?” Rimuru was slightly concerned

“If you are the leader of this forest, that would put us in an equal position as royalty speaking with fellow royalty. If you are able to hold this entire forest under a single government obedient towards you, the rewarded riches and bounties that you would be capable of obtaining would be unparalleled by any other nation imaginable. The Great Jura Forest is a massive region that has lacked development for years as a result of the Catastrophe Class Storm Dragon that kept watch over these lands. If what the Dryads have said were true, that you had gained the favor of the Storm Dragon… the opportunity that brings to you would be immense. Untapped resources of immense quantity lay around this forest, only little exploration had truly been accomplished since most teams that attempted to explore the region had been obliterated by local monster populations. If these monsters are tamed, and follow your rule, it would provide unknown levels of growth and prosperity. We observed this city from the skies, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful one. In so little time, you had built great roads that stretched across the entire city in little time. The logistical and technical skills to accomplish such a feat is near impossible in our own cities. It is clear that your nation would become an important trade center in due time, a vast new market, one that would take on great strategic importance. When this happens, it would be in your interest to have another nation to back your position, would it not?” Gazel explained in vast detail, he was clearly intent on establishing this. Rimuru was in absolute shock at his boldness but he completely understood Gazel’s position in this matter.

“Are you sure about this?? That would be admitting that our gathering of monsters is a fully-fledged nation!” Rimuru said with concern

<He’s not wrong though… establishing something like this would help out massively. Although, we need to know his terms…>

“Of course! Since we may see this differently, let me say this: A covenant would benefit the both of us!” Razel said as he offered the terms of the covenant. A nonaggression treaty, assistance when one another is endangered, the construction of a road to Dwargon, safety for dwarves, and promises of technological exchange. Although there were many other smaller provisional terms such as ending the exile of the dwarves meaning they could return home if they wanted to.

<He’s smart, we would be footing the bill but fortunately the economic gains in the future would supplement the economic loss initially. I think this is a good idea!>

Alright Shizu!

“Now, what is the name of your nation?” Gazel asked, causing Rimuru to pause for a moment

“I never thought of the alliance as a ‘nation’ before…” Rimuru began to think to himself

After Rimuru spent time between Shizu and his closest allies, a new nation emerged whose name that many would fear. The Jura Tempest Federation with its capital city ‘Tempest City’. Opportunity would soon come to the Jura Tempest Federation as more would recognize the newly developed power in the forest.

Chapter 22: Discussing the Majin of the Jura Forest

Chapter Text

As the Jura Tempest Federation began to assert itself, much of the Jura Forest Federation began to submit easily and quickly. Particularly, the legend of the ‘Black Flame’ had spread across the Great Jura Forest. As hope fell and panic increased since Veldora disappeared, a massive flame appeared as a new glimmering hope towards all those who resided in the Great Jura. It resembled the storms that once plunged the skies into darkness that would be emitted by Veldora every once in a while. The environment was unpredictable but it was always kept in check by Veldora’s power. Now, a new power vacuum had appeared with many scared of what would fill it… now… was this slime the one to fill it?

Many species across the Great Jura Forest began to migrate into Tempest City after learning the origins of the massive flame that covered the skies. The flame that parted the clouds, although many hesitated to trust these sources since how could a mere slime create such massive flames???

Despite how new the Jura Tempest Federation was, Rimuru had decided that it was important to show unity under the newly birthed nation. Although at first, Rimuru wasn’t sure how one would go about it until an idea appeared. Back in Japan, there was always a national founding day and in many other countries across the world, there would be massive displays that would mark the birth of a nation. Rimuru thought back on the idea for a founding festival for the birth of the Jura Tempest Federation.

After deliberation with others he had elected into high ranking positions in the nation such as Rigurd, Rigur, Geld, and Benimaru. They decided upon what should symbolize the new nation, the Black Flame of the Skies. The only people capable of launching Black Flames like this were Benimaru and Rimuru, although only one had the capabilities to launch a powerful enough flame to mark across the Great Jura Forest.

As preparations began, Rimuru received many visitors from across the Great Jura Forest with various different talents. With the help of Shizu, many were granted names that cemented their loyalty towards the newly birthed nation.

Word among humans of the new birth of a nation in the Great Jura Forest directly after Veldora’s vanishing sparked major concern among many nations. What kind of relations would such a nation hold? Could it even last? Every nation was initially wary since if Veldora suddenly came back, the dragon would simply obliterate the newly birthed nation, there was no way anyone could control the most destructive dragon after all.

-=====-

“A gathering of monsters? After the death of the Orc Lord???” Milim was quite angry that her plans were disrupted so easily, it was going to be fun!

“This is rather interesting, don’t you all think?” Clayman said as he was looking at the Crystal Ball and the news that Laplace told Clayman. Clayman was rather upset but since these words came from Clayman, he had delayed up until this point to watch how the situation in the Great Jura Forest played out. Now, according to his intelligence gathered by Laplace regarding the changing situation in the forest, it was easy to tell that even attempting action into the forest may result in failure but there was a way to rope this newly formed nation into his schemes.

“Speaking of interesting, why is Frey here?” Clayman asked, although he didn’t mind Frey being here.

“I’d like to know that myself, I was forced into coming by Milim.” Frey explained

“Is it okay to have Frey here, Clayman?” Carrion asked

“Well, I’m sure it’s fine… besides… it’s only us that border the Jura Forest afterall, it’s our problem to deal with rather than any other Demon Lord.” Clayman explained as each one of the Demon Lords were mildly interested except for Milim, who was bored out of her mind.

“There was a setback in our plans but… with some slight modifications, it still has a chance.” Clayman explained as he began to pull out several crystal balls each containing images displaying several high ranking monsters.

“Please take a look at these” Clayman said, soon enough images of the battle began to emerge regarding the Black Flame, some Kijin, exceptionally powerful Goblins, a massive beast, and most importantly, a silverish-blue haired Majin that roamed over the battlefield as if it were watching.

Carrion took interest in the massive beast, Frey seemed to hold some interest in the silverish-blue haired Majin along with Milim since they possessed wings, while Clayman seemed particularly interested in the Kijin and the leftover Orcs.

“It is safe to say that against this many threats, the Orc Lord was wiped out since they have resided all together in one single location.” Clayman said as a wicked smile began to form across his face. There was clearly an individual among them that had obtained a Demon Lord Seed, there was no other excuse for such power that marched over the skies.

“About this Black Flame, I feel like it could be a threat…” Carrion added, just before Clayman was about to mention it.

“Some of my citizens on the edge who crossed between the Jura Forest and Eurazania told me of a massive Black Flame that seemed to roar. It barely reached into vision before dissipating. I thought it may have been a one time thing until I received reports of this Black Flame once more, now I know that this has to be at most the second time this Black Flame has appeared.” Carrion explained, he seemed to be mildly distressed by the one behind the cause.

“That would explain the reports I received about the skies abnormal heat signatures…” Frey explained, since her people lived high in the sky and frequented the clouds, her people had reported that the clouds seemed to move away from the Jura Forest as if they were being pushed back. Suddenly a blast of heat flares from the Jura Forest as the blue sky seems to shift towards black. It wasn’t the first time that happened but a second time had occurred as well.

“It is of great concern but I don’t think we can get involved in this situation” Frey explained, slightly concerned for her own domain. Clayman was upset along with Carrion but both knew of the many peace treaties surrounding the Jura Forest that it had been off limits. No Demon Lord was to interfere with the Great Forest of Jura…

“What are you talking about?” Milim said, breaking the silence, “There’s four of us here right? None of the other Demon Lords would care enough about the Jura Forest since they are all way too far to even be able to notice anything going on! Not to mention, those treaties were signed specifically to ensure that Veldora never broke out of his seal… now Veldora is gone without any trace and this Black Flame suddenly started appearing? Don’t you think that these things are related?”

Milim was completely right, she had completely shown that these treaties were pointless if they didn’t even know what the hell was going on in the Jura Forest. How could they just sit around and simply influence it when they don’t know if there’s something even more threatening within!

All the Demon Lords present began to nod their heads in agreement, there was something interesting and if they could get their hands on the monsters that they saw in the Jura Forest, they would be absolutely set.

“I’ll inform the other Demon Lords!” Milim said as she quickly rushed over with some stacks of paper and quickly pulled out a pen from nowhere.

“Upon sending the note, we should begin taking actions to properly scout the area. The intel gathered by Laplace was good but clearly the situation is rapidly changing…” Clayman said he was particularly interested in how to rope this new gathering of monsters into his plots. Who knows! Maybe he could cause a human nation to attack it just so he could kill a corrupt government and seize on the power vacuum that would be set out afterwards!

“We are all trying to obtain power from the same location, Clayman. Shouldn’t this be treated more like a competition from all of us?” Carrion asked, much to the agreement of Clayman and Frey

“The early bird gets the worm! Right?” Milim began to shake on Frey’s wing profusely, causing minor distress from Frey. “Just promise, taking action against each other is against the rules…”

Everyone agreed, however it could be felt by Milim that Clayman could be lying about this agreement. She’d deal with him later, for now…

“Then I’ll be off! I wanna see this Majin!” Milim said as she quickly began to fly off, leaving many of the Demon Lords in the dust.

As the other Demon Lords looked on, Clayman began to plot how to use this situation to his advantage. As long as he stayed out of the other Demon Lords' influence zones, he could surely nag something great.

There was no way that the entire monster army was under the single command of a single monster… right?

Chapter 23: Here comes, the Demon Lord Milim

Chapter Text

Rimuru had been preparing the festival for a couple of days now with new monsters all around the forest having come in. More importantly, each new monster that came in had their own intrinsic powers that Shizu had copied, adding into his massive list of skills.

One of the most recent additions to the nation was a bird. Surprisingly, it glowed a fiery orange and most of the people residing in the city immediately recognized the bird as a Phoenix, an extremely potent monster whose flames could scorch anything in its wake. It seemed drawn to Rimuru, although the Kijin and Ranga took initial aggression towards the fiery bird. Rimuru befriended the bird easily and Shizu immediately took note that the bird was drawn to sources of magicules and those with an affinity for fire. Since Rimuru fit both of those and the Black Flame basically warmed the entire Jura Forest, it had drawn the Phoenix here from across the world. Rimuru thought back to his life in Japan and thought of one Phoenix that he could name this one after…

“You shall be Kiara!” The Phoenix began to glow as it evolved into a Black Phoenix where the flames it contained changed into Black Flames, adding into the family of Black Flame Users.

The city progressively began to grow further as the mood for the festival was in full swing, much of the Orcs who lived on the outskirts had moved towards Tempest City to assist with construction and festival preparations.

Many monsters had attempted to raid the city on several occasions, but immediately got thwarted by the Kijin guarding the city perimeters such as Souei and Benimaru. On occasion, Shion would also guard the perimeters whenever Rimuru wasn’t separating himself in two. Although Rimuru had a strict no kill policy, his Kijin inflicted suffering and pain on those attempting to raid the city to such an extent that many would tell the tales of suffering for those who attempted to attack. In turn, causing an increasingly positive view that if you were accepted by the city, you would be guaranteed safety and security.

Moreover, it reaffirmed the rumor of the Black Flame as many of those who were injured reported a Red Kijin using Black Flames that hurt to unholy hell. When they tried to ask of the Black Flames to the Red Kijin, he simply responded “It was a gift bestowed upon me by my master”.

A couple days later, Gazel returned with… what was according to him… a peace offering to Rimuru. Gazel had offered Rimuru a new resident that he could do anything that he wanted with. Their name was Vesta, the same person who took Rimuru to court a while back ago. Rimuru put Vesta under the watch of Kaijin and had Vesta working on research in the Jura Tempest Federation.

A large number of new various departments were being created at a rapid rate to manage this new nation with many elected officials within each. As Rimuru began to reorganize the entire city and his nation under the creation of a vast number of new laws anywhere from the legality of polygamy, crimes, economic policies, and the development of the currency that the Jura Tempest Federation would use. The way the city was progressing would mean that…

<Preparations have mostly been made on this side of Tempest City.>

Alright, this is going to be sweet! I wonder what kind of honey treats we could cook up with the honey that Apito just delivered… mmmmmmmm

<To be fair, there are quite a lot of recipes that you could cook up! I personally want to make some soup!>

Soup?

<Yeah! What, do you have a problem with it?>

No, I just-

<Wait… do you feel that?>

What.. What's this feeling?

<Run…>

Huh?

<RUN! GET OUT OF THE CITY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, IT’S HEADING TOWARDS OUR LOCATION! IT HAS PINNED DOWN OUR LOCATION!!!>

Rimuru, immediately, panicked as he swapped to slime form and began to use their properties as a slime to quickly bolt away. Although he was more used to legs, the Slime form provided far faster movement since it is spherical and the bounce amplified with his power allowed him to launch himself farther than he could with his legs. Rimuru quickly drew Shizu back into his body as fast as possible, which caused the bolting energy to suddenly halt. The massive quantity of energy quickly began to move once more as if it had been looking for what it had been chasing down. Rimuru dashed with all his might marking about a distance of a hundred miles away from the city center before the massive quantity of energy landed nearby.

The crater was equivalent to a small asteroid as nearby trees were blown away from the blast.

<A massive quantity of magicules have been detected, they are more than five times the amount you contain. Should I->

Scan as much as you can

<The massive quantity of Magicules they contain will make properly scanning them take an enormous amount of time->

Do it

“Nice to meet you” A Pink Haired entity emerged from the dust and rubble that destroyed that section of forest, it was an absurdly threatening aura that could not be compared to in the slightest.

“WAHAHAHA, I am the Demon Lord, Milim Nava! You are the strongest in this city right?” Milim stood directly in front of Rimuru who was nearly about to break out into a cold sweat.

Milim began to poke at the Rimuru who was still in Slime form, Rimuru was just stood there absolutely terrified of the Demon Lord in front of him.

<DO NOT ENGAGE>

I CAN VERY WELL TELL SHIZU!

“N-nice to meet you, Milim… I-i’m Rimuru. Why do you think I am the strongest?” Rimuru asked with concern, he was looking up at literal death in the face according to Shizu.

Milim chuckled for a moment, “Did you mean to hide your aura? My ‘Dragon Eyes’ can see your hidden energy no matter how hard you try to hide it!” Milim explained

Can you copy that?

<It’s a Unique Skill but there’s something else she has that I’m trying to copy first…>

What is it?

<Not sure… but it seems to be part of her Ultimate Skill…>

Of course… as if she wasn’t terrifying enough…..

Milim picked up Rimuru and began to shake him around, “Just know it’s impossible to play pretend with me! WAHAHAHAHA” Milim began to toy with Rimuru

“Oh, by the way? Is this your true form? I saw a silverish-blue haired humanoid in the crystal that Gelmud left.” Milim was slightly confused, Rimuru immediately knew that she had to be connected to the Orc Lord somehow.

“Is this what you're talking about?” Rimuru said as he shifted into his human form in front of Milim’s eyes.

“OH THAT’S IT” Milim put down Rimuru and began to pace around him, she seemed particularly interested in something about Rimuru.

“The crystal didn’t show much after Gelmud suddenly died, I wanna know what happened. Did you eat the Orc Lord?” Milim asked, she wanted a response

<Her Unique Skills can detect lies, lying to her is not a good idea>

Thanks…

“...He ate Gelmud and became an Orc Disaster, after that, I ate him…” Rimuru said under his breath, he was still terrified since he just admitted to eating a Demon Lord

“OOO SO HE DID BECOME A DEMON LORD!” Milim’s interest peaked as she begins to look deeper at Rimuru.

“So… what brings you here?” Rimuru asked nervously

“Oh right! I came to say Hello!” Milim said

<That… felt truthful>

“Wait… really?” Rimuru asked

“Wahahaha! I mean, what else is there to say-” Milim got interrupted as Shion struck with as much force as she could.

Milim was unfazed as Ranga appeared to quickly rush Rimuru out of the location as possible

<STOP THEM FROM->

I ALREADY KNOW!

Rimuru quickly halted Ranga using a nearby tree, as Rimuru rushed back over, he noticed how dire the situation was.

The Kijin all were striking at Milim with all their force but Milim was absolutely unfazed by any and all attacks that they could throw at her. ‘Arcane Thread’ and ‘Hell Flare’ meant nothing towards the Demon Lord. All they could do is impress her with their strength as she threw them all back with solely her aura.

Rimuru quickly distributed healing potions towards all his subordinates that were damaged by Milim. Milim wasn’t anyone that he could mess around with… Rimuru knew he could take on Demon Lords but… not this one…

Rimuru soon realized something about Milim…

“You guys hold back, I’ve got this…” Rimuru said as he began to approach Milim

<You Don’t Got This, What the hell are you doing?!?>

“Oh? Do you have an attack that will work against me?” Rimuru said, causing Milim to laugh

“Just one…”

<NO WE DON'T, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?>

“WAHAHAHA! Fine then! I’ll take on your challenge! However, in the case that it has no effect, promise me that you'll become my subordinate, okay?” Milim asked, Rimuru promptly agreed.

“THEN TAKE THIS!” Rimuru rushed in as a golden orb formed within his hand

<Is that the->

As the Golden Orb crashed into Milim’s mouth, it immediately had an effect.

Milim’s mouth began to water as she’s never had something so sweet before…

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?!? I’VE NEVER HAD ANYTHING THIS YUMMY IN MY LIFE!!!” Milim was left beyond words as she quickly licked her mouth and lips for more of the golden residue.

IT WORKED!

<YOU FISTFED A DEMON LORD! HOW DID THAT WORK???>

She’s as much of a child on the inside as she was on the outside!

“What’s the matter, Demon Lord Milim?” Rimuru smirked towards Milim, Milim was absolutely intrigued but concerned Milim, “Would you like to know what it is?” Milim began to nod her head furiously as she looked on at Rimuru

“If you admit defeat, I don’t mind giving you more of this!” Rimuru flexed the amount of honey he had stored in his ‘Stomach’. It was really helping him out here!

“But… that’s…” Milim immediately panicked as Rimuru began to eat the honey he had, “AH!! WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA! WE CAN CALL IT A DRAW RIGHT! I'LL JUST FORGET ABOUT TODAY! OF COURSE THAT ISN'T ALL! WHY DON'T I SWEAR THAT I WONT LIFT A FINGER AGAINST YOUR COMPANIONS FOR AN ENTIRE AFTERNOON!” Milim blabbered a response just to get more of the sweet stuff.

I won!

<Barely>

As Rimuru began to lecture those with him to not engage without fully comprehending the situation. He understood that they were attempting to protect him but had caused the situation between him and Milim to deteriorate momentarily. Thankfully, Rimuru was able to convince Milim to stop before anyone died.

As Rimuru and Milim rode back towards Tempest City on the back of Ranga, Milim seemed to want to ask multiple questions. However, it seemed there was one question that took hold over all… yet, Milim could tell that Rimuru was hiding something from everyone here… he seemed to be too attuned into his thoughts and that energy signature she felt early was both him and wasn’t at the same time…

What did she see earlier?

Chapter 24: A New Bestie

Chapter Text

“Hey, hey! Are you by any chance trying to become a Demon Lord?” Milim asked Rimuru, she was intrigued by this slime.

“...Nope” Rimuru responded, he was quite blunt with it.

“But it’s being a Demon Lord, you know! Isn’t it cool? You get a lot of respect and stuff! Not to mention people come around just to fight you!” Milim explained, much to add to the displeasure of Rimuru

“Well, there are a lot of things I have to do, it’s already quite the hassle…” Rimuru responded

“But Demon Lords can boss around humans and monsters! It’s super fun!” Milim said

“That sounds boring…” Rimuru said, shocking Milim

“WHAT, HOLD ON WHAT ARE YOU DOING AT YOUR CITY THAT YOU FIND SO FUN?” Milim wanted to know more

“I don’t do anything that fun-” Rimuru got picked off Ranga’s back while they were moving back to the city, at which point, Milim proceeded to shake him around like a maraca.

“YOU’RE DOING FUN THINGS IF YOU DON’T CARE FOR BEING A DEMON LORD!” Milim began crying out in mild anger

“A-ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, HERE I’LL SHOW YOU AROUND TO SOME FUN PARTS IN MY CITY, PLEASE JUST STOP SHAKING ME!” Rimuru begged, Milim complied

“Here… look, just… from now on, just call me ‘Rimuru’ rather than just Majin. Is it ok if I just call you Milim?” Rimuru asked

“Mmmm, only other Demon Lords are allowed to call me ‘Milim’... fine…” Milim said with a puffy face, she seemed too interested in Rimuru to let go of the situation. There was something drawing her to Rimuru but Rimuru couldn’t tell what exactly it was.

I’ll just have to get closer to her then…

“Say Milim, are you ok with being friends?” Rimuru asked, much to a confused Milim

“Um, sure… I’m ok with it…” Milim said, Rimuru smiled as he went to look forward towards the city they were just arriving towards

Milim couldn’t help but think about it… friends… that wasn’t something anyone had ever suggested before…

Before Milim could think about it any further, Rimuru mentioned they had arrived in Tempest City.

Immediately, Milim was intrigued, all around she could detect a large amount of people with high magicule counts and strength. Everywhere she looked, someone seemed strong!

“Here, Milim, I need you to promise me that you cause any commotion without my permission…” Rimuru asked, Milim agreed and proceeded to run off towards a nearby water pump that had just recently been installed. Rimuru desperately attempted to catch up to Milim but by then, the Pump was considered ‘Temporarily Disabled’. Milim proceeded to rush around Tempest City as Rimuru played a game of catch-up with her. Milim was absurdly fast… and everywhere she went, she caused a bit of chaos…

Eventually Rimuru caught up with Milim, “Please just I can’t show the fun things if you keep running like this!” Rimuru was annoyed as hell from bolting from place to place just attempting to catch up to Milim.

“Okay!” Milim was gleeful, that was until Gabiru showed up

“Perfect Timing, Great Rimuru! It’s about the preparations for the-” Gabiru looked over to see Rimuru was with Milim, who in his eyes was small and helpless.

“OOooo, aren’t these Dragonewts! How rare!” Milim was excited since the only Dragonewts she knew were back in her domain.

“My name is Gabiru! Is this your first time here, Little One?” Gabiru asked, Rimuru could immediately sense the aura emanating from Milim. Before Rimuru could react to stop her…

“WHO THE HELL YOU CALLIN’ LITTLE” Milim punched Gabiru and destroyed much of the newly paved roads in the city.

“Listen up… I’ll forgive your remark with only this much because of my promise with Rimuru. Next time, there will be no NEXT TIME, so watch out for yourself!” Milim said as she turned to Rimuru

<Have fun dealing with her…>

…

After Gabiru recovered from the punch that could’ve killed anyone else, “Who in the world is that girl….” Gabiru asked Rimuru

“That’s Demon Lord Milim…”

“Oh, so that’s… COME AGAIN?!?” Gabiru was in absolute shock as Rimuru explained the situation. It was best that everyone knew who she was before she caused anymore damage across the city for people mistaking her for a little girl…

-=====-

About half an hour later

“That guy was pretty sturdy! Maybe next time I’ll hit a little harder!” Milim was eating some Potato Chips that were given by Treyni who was working in Snack Bar Jura. Treyni had apparently given the Potato Chips as a peace offering to Milim.

“Please… don’t punch my subordinates like that. You shouldn’t just attack someone when you’re mad…” Rimuru was slightly upset but knew that this was now a job she would have to handle.

“I have to hurt them a bit to make sure they don’t look down on me!” Milim angrily disputed, Rimuru shut it down immediately

“Just don’t! The people of this city listen to what I say so if I say you're Demon Lord Milim and not to mess with you, they won’t.” Rimuru explained

As the crowd fully gathered for the announcement from Rimuru, Rimuru began to explain that the Pink haired Loli standing next to him was in fact, the Demon Lord Milim Nava. As Rimuru let Milim have her turn speaking to the crowd.

“Hello! I’m Milim Nava! I’ll be living here from now on today! Nice to meet you!” Milim announced, causing the crowd to roar up in excitement. Rimuru was put into a panic…

“HEY, WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!?” Rimuru quickly asked, Milim proceeded to repeat herself and what she just stated

<Just accept it, there’s not much to do and we can’t exactly say NO to someone who could murder us in a blink of an eye…>

“I’m Rimuru’s Friend! You can rely on me if anything comes up!” The crowd once again roared wildly as Milim began to ponder to herself.

The term friend sounds generic, Rimuru seems to refer to most of his subordinates as friends as well…

While Rimuru had been pondering to himself about how a certain dragon called himself friends with Rimuru, Milim began to think that Rimuru wanted to be closer than just a normal friend.

“Oh… let’s see uhh… rather than friends… WE ARE BEST FRIENDS!” Milim exclaimed, causing the crowd to roar once more

Rimuru was thrown into a daze at that moment

<This is just adorable, just accept it>

“Are you ok with being besties?” Rimuru asked nervously

“YEAH! WE ARE BESTIES FROM NOW ON!” Milim declared, soon enough, Rimuru wrapped his arm around Milim

“ALRIGHT, WE ARE BESTIES!” Rimuru announced towards the crowd, causing everyone to go wild after that moment.

<Good…>

Shizu seemed to be thinking about something, as if she remembered caring for someone smaller than her and declaring that she would always be there for them. Maybe this was bringing back memories for her and she didn’t want to let anyone else feel lonely, maybe this little one she was observing seemed to be lonely like someone she had met long ago…

Who knew what was in store for Rimuru… but all he knew was now he had a best friend

-=====-

Meanwhile, in Rimuru’s Stomach

“NO FAIR, I WANT TO BE BESTIES WITH RIMURU TOO!” Veldora cried out as he was watching with Ifrit and Geld the First.

“Lord Veldora, although you may not be besties, you are Sworn Friends correct? Shouldn’t that title mean more than simply being Besties?” Ifrit explained

“Ah… THAT’S RIGHT!” Veldora said

Although from this day on, Veldora felt a little sad

Chapter 25: The Truth Behind Rimuru's Soul

Chapter Text

Rimuru had to care for Milim throughout the entire time leading up towards the Black Flame festival. Thankfully, Shizu had been occupying a ‘Body Double’ to ensure that Rimuru could keep an eye on the festival preparations while Rimuru had been completely occupied with Milim. Thankfully, Shuna was helping with Milim by providing food that kept her sated for some time. It had been determined the previous day that Rimuru was completely responsible for Milim in an overwhelming agreement.

It was bad enough that Milim was here but the idea that Milim might attract unwanted attention from other Demon Lords was a headache. Rimuru sat around in his personal house with Milim since making Milim her own house would just result in the absolute destruction of that house. As Rimuru pondered what to do next, Milim suddenly became up front about something…

“So, how are you unstable like that?” Milim asked, she seemed concerned

“What do you mean?” Rimuru asked, he didn’t realize anything was wrong with himself. Did Milim notice something that he couldn’t?

“It’s like half of you isn’t capable of handling itself, currently that half of you is off in the city doing work right?” Milim wanted to confirm her suspicions, leading to Rimuru being even more confused and concerned

“You didn’t realize it? How do you not feel that you are just overflowing with magicules and be completely fine with it?!” Milim was looking at Rimuru even more intently

“W-what? Isn’t that a good thing?” Rimuru asked and immediately Milim was just shocked once more

“I’ve seen people disintegrate just by being exposed to too many magicules! You are literally a living battery of excess magicules! No wonder that ‘Black Flame’ of yours is so potent, you are releasing so many magicules at once that even the Storm Dragon would be proud!” Milim explained, she seemed so overly concerned about Rimuru at that moment.

-=====-

“I mean, Milims’ not wrong…” Veldora said while looking through Rimuru’s eyes

-=====-

“I… I just haven’t noticed?” Rimuru said, but then again he began to realize that only certain parts of his own magic felt completely off like that. Whenever the ‘Black Flame’ came out, it ran off like it wasn’t controlled or precise, it was a massive area of effect type of destruction that would obliterate anything in its path. Yet, whenever more common or other kinds of extra skills that came out, they seemed to not be as greatly effected… it was specifically the magic that was connected to when Shizu was absorbed that was out of control. Maybe it was also the reason that Shizu was so hellbent crazy on copying any skills that others contained since maybe.. Maybe that’s what was keeping stability.

Milim stared at Rimuru who was having a complete mental crisis at the moment about his well-being. Milim maybe shouldn’t have said anything to Rimuru since he didn’t seem to realize that he could be on the brink of exploding randomly at any moment if he didn’t remove his excess energy, yet the excess energy seemed necessary.

“Are… are you ok Rimuru?” Milim seemed genuinely concerned about the state of Rimuru

“I mean… I haven’t felt anything so I should be fine for now… right?” Rimuru was going to need to talk about this with Shizu later, this was a literal crisis that his body was experiencing and he had no idea about it.

“Now Rimuru, you didn’t answer my question before… what is that other half of you?” Milim seemed to acknowledge that his ‘Body Double’ had its own consciousness.

“Well… how did you notice?” Rimuru asked, no one was able to distinguish that he was was completely different from his ‘Body Double’.

“It has the same magic as you, that’s not like any other ‘Body Double’ and the only one that had that kind of situation was Roy Valentine and his-” Milim immediately shut up as she was about to speak more

“And his?” Rimuru asked, Milim tried to switch the topics but Rimuru shut it down

“Valentine, that’s the name of one of the Demon Lords… What do you mean ‘and his’? Do you mean someone else is suffering the same way as me??” Rimuru wanted to know more

“No, not exactly. Roy and his brother are split between two bodies and have completely separate magics but they would combine if one died… Look, promise me that you won’t say ANYTHING please!” Milim begged, Rimuru promptly agreed as long as Milim stopped obliterating every door she came across. Milim reluctantly agreed to the deal.

“But, what about your situation? It’s unusual even compared to their situation! Both of your bodies have the exact same magicules and can combine at any time they want yet somehow they seem absolutely different at the exact same time! Even now, when I look at you, you seem completely stable but whenever I look at your ‘Body Double’, if I could call it that, it looks like it would disintegrate at any moment. It’s like it’s a spirit! Do you have a spirit despite being a monster??” Milim wanted to know so much about the situation and Rimuru had no idea how to explain it.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone about this?” Rimuru asked, Milim demanded some honey in return in which he promptly agreed.

“Alright so, I technically have two souls merged as one inside my body according to what Shizu, my other soul, told me-” Rimuru got cut off by Milim who was absolutely staring him down in complete intrigue.

“I’ve heard of people having two souls before but I’ve never heard of people able to talk directly to the other soul like that before!” Milim wanted to know more about the other soul

“Well it’s not just the soul but the Spiritual body as well so-” Milim started to freak out like crazy at that moment, a being that contained another soul was one thing, it was another that it had two Spiritual Bodies merged with each other.

“What's it like? Do you talk on a frequent basis? Who were they? Do you know them well?” Milim began to think of every single question at once and blabbered it out at a rapid rate. Rimuru began to feel uncomfortable at that moment and so the massive amount of questions died down.

“Are… you upset?” Milim asked, she seemed upset at herself and Rimuru frantically tried to explain that he was having a hard time accommodating the changes he went through.

“Here, look! I’m sure you’ll get through this! You’re strong after all right? Since you beat the Orc Disaster, I’m sure having a bit too much energy won’t be too much of a problem for you to handle!” Milim began to pat Rimuru’s back as his mind was still in absolute shock. What else has Shizu been hiding from him this entire time? Was Shizu hiding this for a reason? Suddenly, it dawned on Rimuru that Shizu was hiding these because if he knew about it, he would just turn out like this, a complete mess that was in absolute panic constantly.

“Here, thanks for that Milim. For now, I just need to think this over for a bit…” Rimuru said as he began to exit the room, leaving a slightly saddened Milim. Rimuru thought about discussing with Shizu at the moment of the revelation that came from Milim but he didn’t want to interfere with whatever Shizu was doing at the moment. Shizu at the moment had been with Kaijin and Vesta to judge his current research regarding the development of Healing Potions. Rimuru was filled with some amount of rage but unfortunately, he didn’t know how to take it out. Soon enough, a random energy signature came into range, it was coming from the town center.

As Rimuru left to investigate the matter, he pondered whether to call Shizu back. The slight rage that filled his anger didn’t leave so it was best that Shizu wasn’t informed to return immediately until the rage subsided. As Rimuru investigated, he saw a group of four and one of them attempted to demand control over the city he had fought so hard to build. Why hadn’t Souei, Shion, or Benimaru dealt with them? Did these bastards somehow sneak through their detection and attempt to demand control over the city, his city? Rigurd had attempted to approach them, only for them to immediately slam their fist into Rigurds face. That was one of his first friends into this world.. The one who welcomed him into the village… Soon enough, Rimuru’s aura blew up in a nearby crowd. Everyone stood back as the Great Rimuru was furious at these newcomers.

“Hahaha, do you wish to fight me-” The Purple Cat attempted a sly remark, Rimuru quickly blitzed him down as he quickly began to use ‘Leopard Fang Flaming Palm’, only for Rimuru to utilize his absurd ‘Thought Acceleration’ to grab the Purple Cat’s arm before he could launch the attack. Rimuru proceeded to redirect the flames from the attack as he quickly used ‘Thought Acceleration’ to completely beat the living hell out of the Purple Cat. In the matter of seconds, the Purple Cat was lying on the floor unconscious, beaten to a pulp.

Milim quickly came over to investigate what was going on and Shizu had finally realized something had occurred. Rimuru slowly backed off as he began to realize what he had done at that moment, he just unleashed his rage against some random… no… didn’t they claim to be working for Demon Lord Carrion? Rimuru realized that he made a mistake…

Negotiations were not going to go well at all…

Chapter 26: Conversation with the Beastkeeper, Phobio

Chapter Text

Rimuru had sat in a conference in his human form with the group of four, he promptly had healed the Purple Cat. Earlier, Rimuru had gathered information from Rigurd and it turned out that the Purple Cat he punched was named Phobio of the Black Leopard Fang, one of the three Beastkeepers of Demon Lord Carrion. Rimuru was busy having a headache after he just socked one of his three best subordinates in the face. They seemed to be trembling in Rimuru’s presence, it wasn’t intended at all and in fact, I just absolutely ashamed them. Surely, RImuru would incur Carrion’s wrath if he knew that he had just completely released his pent up rage on their subordinate.

<To be fair, they were trying to claim ownership of the->

Shut it, I have a lot to talk to you after all this is done!

<W-what?>

Don’t ‘What’ Me, Milim could tell just by looking at me!

<I’m not sure what your referring to->

Like I said, AFTER!

<...>

Before Rimuru could apologize to Phobio, Phobio had proceeded to apologize first hastily, “My apologies for coming in unannounced, I am Phobio of the Three Beastkeepers, I didn't mean to anger someone such as yourself. I was told that a slime had been ruling this city and was frankly annoyed to know that such a weak creature held authority over this region. I didn’t anticipate angering someone like you! I just wanted to see this so-called slime!” Phobio cried out

“Well that so-called slime is me, is that the response you wanted?” RImuru asked, Phobio was in shock

“You’re… a slime?” Phobio asked, Rimuru proceeded to switch into his slime form as proof, completely shocking the entire group.

“This…. How is this possible? How did you do that? Is that some form of ‘Beastilization’ and ‘Beast Transform’ that I have never seen before? Are slimes able to learn something like that?” Phobio asked

“It’s a skill I possess called ‘Mimicry’, I previously ate a human before so I’m able to swap between a human and my original monster form. Although I prefer being in this human form because it feels better to use it.” Rimuru explained in detail, “Now, what was it that you wanted with our people? You came into our city and tried to claim it as your own, was that on your own or was that an order from Demon Lord Carrion?” Rimuru was already concerned about dealing with Milim who was still causing chaos just by walking around the city. Portions of many buildings had to be repaired and the festival had to be delayed until the fall since Milim was forcing the construction group led by Geld to delay on progress since structural damage to buildings were far more significant than laying road pavement.

“No, I had been acting out of line for Demon Lord Carrion, he had simply instructed me to find a certain creature and Majins that resided in the forest. He had particularly referred to a massive wolf beast that launched lightning like it was child’s play,” Phobio explained in great detail, he didn’t seem to end with the explanation, although Rimuru could tell Milim was getting extremely upset. Rimuru turned to Milim to see her in her happy mood as if she just didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was his imagination or Milim had an extremely quick reaction time, either way, that didn’t matter as of now.

Now, what certain creature could he be referring to? It was obviously not any of the Kijin and the only ones who could use lightning magic were Ranga and himself, but he didn’t recall using any significant amount of magic to defeat the Orc Disaster.That would definitely be Ranga, there was no doubt about it.

[Thought Communication Start}

“Ranga, come out”

“Yes Master Rimuru.”

[Thought Communications Ended]

Rimuru’s shadow began to expand as Ranga appeared out of Rimuru’s shadow, there stood a terrifying wolf to the right of them. The four looked absolutely impressed by the size and the aura given off by Ranga, as they all stood around in absolute shock.

“I have been ordered by my master to speak to you, now speak…” Ranga seemed upset that his master was put into so much distress

“We didn’t mean to cause so much harm here, we just seeked to recruit you towards the Kingdom of Eurazania-” Phobio was cut off as Ranga snarled

“You Have No Right To Request That!” Ranga was furious at these pathetic beings that called themselves Beastkeepers!

“Ranga, calm down.” Rimuru demanded, Ranga obliged

“Look, for now, we can’t trust you because of how you came in like that. For all we know, we could be staring at potential enemies so bare that in mind. If you want to talk further, I recommend that I speak with Carrion directly.” Rimuru glared at Phobio, who looked on in sheer utter humiliation. As he left, Rimuru couldn’t help but sense a glare coming from Phobio that felt like anger?

As Phobio left, Rimuru went off to ask Milim a slight bit of questions about the Demon Lords. There was something going on between her and the other Demon Lords and he felt it during their conversation with Phobio. In exchange for information, Rimuru had offered to create Milim a new weapon specifically for her, in which Milim had readily accepted. Shizu seemed upset that she wasn’t consulted during any of this at all, but Shizu could feel a certain anger coming from Rimuru that she couldn’t tell what…

Rimuru is definitely not angry like this…

-=====-

“So, Frey is terrified of a certain monster that has been sealed in the Great Jura Forest?” Clayman asked

“Yup! She’s super terrified, she kept stating the Charybdis would wake! She hasn’t even claimed any portion of the Jura Forest just because of how scared she was!” Tear claimed as she was laughing, “You should have heard her plead that such a fate wouldn’t come! She even claimed that the ‘Black Flame’ was a sign that Charybdis was going to revive!”

Clayman took remembrance that Frey was one that would need some convincing to work in his plans, after all, Frey was only a disposable pawn that he may discard. Clayman wanted to remove Leon but knew that whatever that slime that laid in the forest was, he’d need to dispose of Carrion or Frey if he couldn’t get rid of Leon. After all, that slime was bound to become a Demon Lord eventually and at that point, he could use the slime in his own devious plans. It all depended on when the opportunity would present itself.

The Ten Great Demon Lords were after all, only ten at most. There would be no way that the number would be allowed to increase anymore than it was. By limiting the amount of Demon Lords allowed, it would cull the weak and ensure that more powerful Demon Lords would enter. If a new powerful Demon Lord fell directly into his plans, he would surely have great opportunities to use and abuse the newbie.

As Clayman signaled the plan towards Tear, she understood before he even spoke as she prepared to find themselves a pawn for the plan. It just required one susceptible person who held a grudge to cause havoc.

Chapter 27: Rimuru's Instability

Chapter Text

Rimuru sat silent in his personal house, he had ordered Shuna to take care of Milim for the time being so he could ‘think’ for a bit about the current situation. RImuru was filled with emotions and there was one person in particular that he was upset about, or specifically, one being.

How long, Shizu…

<How long what?>

Shizu was nervous, Rimuru never behaved like this so she couldn’t tell how he would react.

DON'T WHAT ME SHIZU, HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN ON THE BRINK OF DEATH?!?

Shizu was taken aback but completely realized what Rimuru had been referring to

<It’s not as bad as you think->

BULLSHIT, MY BODY WAS LITERALLY OVERFLOWING WITH MAGICULES! THE SUDDEN OBSESSION I HAD FOR OBTAINING MORE AND MORE SKILLS WAS INFLUENCED BY YOU WASN’T IT?!?

Shizu sat silent, she completely began regretting what she had been doing for the last few months. As she sat silent, it only added towards Rimuru’s rage even further…

Shizu, if this is going to work! You need to tell me what the hell you’ve been up to! I can’t trust you managing my skills and what I am doing if you can’t even trust me with the idea I could implode on any moment!

<It’s not you that would implode->

You Are Part Of Me, If You Implode, I Implode. Milim confirmed that our souls were linked together in a way unlike anyone else, your soul has become my soul, whatever happens to you, will directly affect me!

<...Rimuru please just->

I want an explanation Shizu

Shizu’s regret slowly began to boil into anger as Rimuru’s skills began to overreact within himself. A battle between control over the body began as Shizu began to scream towards RImuru.

OH NO YOU DONT, SHIZU!

Rimuru felt parts of his body falling apart as slime began to split off a spill everywhere, meanwhile Rimuru actively attempted to force the slime to re-merge back into him. His internal systems were completely out of control as he kept battling with Shizu. Rimuru’s aura had been going everywhere at this point and it was lucky that neither had attempted to launch any sort of magical attack but since it was an internal battle, actively using physical attacks wouldn’t do anything.

SHIZU! SPEAK DAMMIT!!!

Slowly but surely, Rimuru began to lose control over himself as he was literally fighting his own Manas for control. Soon enough, Shizu took control, at which point Shizu began to lose control…

<STOP IT ALREADY! I NEED TO DO THIS!>

DO WHAT EXACTLY! YOU AREN'T TELLING ME JACK!

What do you mean?! You aren’t elaborating!

Shizu slowly stopped resisting as Rimuru slowly regained control

Shizu was absolutely furious and seemed like she was close to losing it, the stability of Rimuru was completely broken as he was having internal conflicts within himself.

Look, Shizu. Please, just explain… I want to help and clearly this involves me! I don’t want to die and hear you suffer like this, just please tell me!

<...There were five outworlder children that currently exist in Ingracia, I want to save them… but I can’t since I’m locked towards you like this. I can’t go too far out since the ‘Body Doubles’ are locked to be within a certain proximity with you. We can’t be separated for too long or too far since the further away I am from you, the more magicules are required to link and hold the connection in place. I have already spent so much time here and now I have to worry about another outworlder that is at risk of spontaneously exploding from magicules! THE WORST PART IS I CAUSED THIS BY ASKING YOU TO PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY!!! I ACCEPTED DEATH AND REJECTED IT AT THE END! I CAUSED THIS SITUATION FOR YOU AND I HATE MYSELF FOR IT!>

Shizu had blown a fuse and at any moment she was going to explode in rage, in the end, she had caused more suffering than subverted it. Everything that Shizu lived up to, to help those around her, only caused more pain and suffering. Now seeing all these monsters that beloved Rimuru now face the risk that their leader would just die on them. She couldn’t bare it anymore…

Rimuru wanted to comfort Shizu but physically couldn’t… right? Rimuru summoned Shizu as a ‘Body Double’ nearby and inserted Shizu who was confused. Rimuru proceeded to hug the ‘Body Double’ that contained Shizu. At that moment, Shizu released much of her pent up rage into tears of magicules. Each tear looked as if it were made of a rainbow as she cried into Rimuru’s arms.

They would figure this out together, they were destined to be together after all…

Chapter 28: Rimuru and Humanity

Chapter Text

A day after the incident with Rimuru and Shizu, Rimuru was back to working order as he felt slightly more stable yet he had a mission to complete now. Unfortunately, the nation had to come first for now until he was sure that it could function by itself. Suddenly, two different groups led by Gobta came in, one from Falmuth and another from Blumund. From Falmuth, was an exploration group that wanted to figure out the situation with the Orc Lord. From Blumund, was a diplomatic team from Fuze, the Guildmaster of the Free Guild, along with the three adventurers that came alongside them including Eren, Kaval, and Gido. Apparently Gobta had saved them from a Knight Spider that was attempting to attack them on their way there.

The greetings for the humans were particularly nice with the making of a hotpot using the body of the Knight Spider. Rimuru said it tasted remarkably like crab and lobster since the meat was quite juicy. Milim was enjoying herself although her gaze didn’t wander much from Rimuru who was mostly focused on himself at the moment. She ruined the moment! She knew she should have just kept shut about Rimuru being a bomb of energy!

Rimuru decided to be in slime form for this meeting since there was still some turmoil between Rimuru and Shizu which had actually made it harder for Rimuru to control his human mimicry since Shizu had assisted in adjusting the body to feel more human than monster each time Rimuru used it.

“I’m the leader of this nation called the Jura Tempest Federation. My name is Rimuru Tempest.” Rimuru said he still wasn’t comfortable holding himself together and this meeting just made the situation more complex.

“So, you really are a Slime!” Fuze said he was quite intrigued.

“Rimuru, there are some monsters here that we didn’t see the last time we had come here” Kavel mentioned, Rimuru promptly explained the new faces who were a part of the Jura Tempest Federation, including Milim. That last one ended up causing more shock towards Fuze who knew exactly that Milim is known as a Catastrophic Class Demon Lord.

“So, the Kingdoms of Blumund and Falmuth have both come to investigate this place?” Rimuru asked, both parties agreed until Youm began to insult Rimuru, this went on for a good solid half a minute until Shion bonked them on the head.

Rimuru healed Youm as they slowly began to discuss the idea that Youm could participate as the champion that defeated the Orc Lord in exchange for better pay, better reputation, and better equipment in exchange that they spread the good word of monsters. Fuze and those with Blumund agreed while Youm hesitated at first.

As the meeting came to an end, Rimuru asked for a private meeting with those from Blumund to explain something towards them. Rimuru demanded that no one besides those asked should come to the meeting, and if anyone came in, they would be punished. Milim wanted to enter but Rimuru threatened having her losing Dinner Privileges, which immediately shut her up. Shion was persistent but Rimuru shut her down as well by threatening that Shuna would be responsible for walking with him instead, which immediately caused her to freak out and promise not to act.

“What did you need to discuss, Rimuru?” Fuze asked, the other adventurers were looking on at the conversation.

“So… did they tell you about Shizu?” RImuru asked, the adventurers looked down in sadness

“Yes… they did… so you hear her voice every once in a while right? She was a great champion who protected us all… thank you for putting her to rest…” Fuze said, much to a concerned Rimuru

“Well… about that… turns out she didn’t really die when I tried to put her to rest…” Rimuru said as he shifted into his human form, which shocked Fuze who didn’t know about this.

“Isn’t that Shizu’s body?? Wait, what do you mean she didn’t really die?!?” Fuze was confused and the other adventurers were just as confused. Rimuru proceeded to form a ‘Body Double’ of himself and sent Shizu inside of it.

“Hey guys? Missed me?” Shizu said, her voice was exactly alike before she had passed away, the adventurers immediately rushed to hug her as Fuze was absolutely astonished.

“HOW IS SHE ALIVE? WAIT IS SHE CONTROLLING HERSELF OR IS THAT YOU?” Fuze was absolutely concerned

“Technically both… my soul somehow ended up merging with Shizu’s while I was putting her to rest because she had interfered with the process… somehow… and it ended up merging our Spiritual Forms together and our souls into one body which made the process extremely confusing.” Rimuru stuttered to explain the situation.

“Essentially what Rimuru is trying to say is that I am part of him now and vice versa.” Shizu explained for Rimuru in a much more simplified form. Eren completely began to snuggle with Shizu who was already becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

“IT'S SO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SHIZU!” Eren said as she snuggled the oblivion out of Shizu. Shizu quickly retracted back into Rimuru to get away from the excessive snuggling. Eren became visibly upset but everyone else backtalked her for annoying Shizu.

“Is Shizu able to return to being a champion?” Fuse asked as if a tear was going to form from his eyes.

“No… not at all…” Rimuru’s answer shattered Fuze’s hope along with the shattering the hope of the adventurers.

“Shizu’s soul is merged with mine, so essentially wherever I am, Shizu can exist… outside of that, it is impossible.” Rimuru explained, much to all their disappointment

“Lucky you…” Eden said, that immediately caused Rimuru’s slimey body boil in rage

“It’s not… in fact it’s pretty painful knowing that someone else is always watching you doing everything.” Rimuru explained, much to their horror they realized what he meant… NO ALONE TIME!

Fuze looked disappointed in the adventurers he was with.

“Why did you need to show us this?” Fuze asked

“To be frank, it felt like you should have known and we thought the adventurers knew about the situation since it first happened.. apparently not and they just assumed Shizu was truly dead…” Rimuru seemed to overestimate their intelligence, Shizu was absolutely embarrassed at the moment.

Fuze looked at the adventurers with a glare in his eyes, although he stopped pushing it.

“Well either way, Welcome to Tempest, for now just enjoy your stay… don’t tell anyone else about this, got it?” Rimuru didn’t want this information to spread like a wildfire, lest it creates a crisis

All the adventurers and Fuze agreed in synchrony.

The private meeting concluded afterwards as Rimuru went to his personal house, in some days, Rimuru would have to ask Youm what he thought about Tempest. Rimuru needed a champion and no one fit the role better than him. Rimuru had gone to relax for a bit, he was thinking about the situation with Shizu… how uncomfortable was she with being seen like that?

As Rimuru ensured that the four wouldn’t tattle on the situation with Shizu, Rimuru wondered if there would be anyone else that would need to be informed about this predicament. Since he had close connections with everyone around here in the Jura Tempest Federation, it might be best to inform the people about the true identity of the ‘Body Double’ he had going around.

<No, I’d rather keep this secret…>

Are you sure?

<I…>

Shizu seemed to be reminiscing about something, it seemed close to her soul so Rimuru figured it probably wasn’t a good idea to prod at it anymore.

Rimuru formed his ‘Body Double’, at which point, Rimuru placed his hand around a confused Shizu.

“Rimuru, you need to stop doing that! At least tell me when you’re going to form me into a ‘Body Double’!” Shizu visibly blushed while in Rimuru’s form, although Rimuru had recognized a distinct feature about the ‘Body Double’ he would form. The eye color that would usually accompany the ‘Body Double’ was usually the golden glow of his own eyes, but instead they seemed to be completely gray this time around. Rimuru was slightly confused at first, then he remembered that his ‘Body Doubles’ could be accommodated to be viewed in whichever way he wanted… but… Rimuru began to realize he had been thinking about Shizu and as a result, his ‘Body Double’ ended up coming out bearing a greater resemblance of Shizu.

“Ok, what the hell are you staring at!” Shizu felt strange at Rimuru just glaring at her. She knew that her body was also his body but this just felt wrong… was it like looking at a mirror or was this more perverted??

“Oh.. my bad.. When I formed the ‘Body Double’, it ended up coming out with gray eyes.” Rimuru said, causing Shizu to immediately react aggressively.

“DON'T JUST STARE AT ME LIKE THAT” Shizu immediately started to ramble on aggressively towards Rimuru about not looking at a woman like that and that he should be more considerate. Only for Rimuru to mention that, “You… your voice isn’t mine anymore?” Causing Shizu to immediately retract from being a ‘Body Double’ and return back into Rimuru. At which point, Shizu incited a mental war inside Rimuru where it was nothing but endless suffering.

-=====-

Phobio was with his group as he slammed his fist into a nearby tree. The scouting group was going to come back empty handed and had instead possibly ruined future relations between the Kingdom of Eurazania and the Jura Tempest Federation.

Phobio was disappointed and ashamed of himself while his party was concerned for Phobio. All Phobio could think about is fixing this disgrace he had caused to Eurazania. If only he could enact revenge and avenge what he had done to Demon Lord Carrion! Soon enough. Two clowns named Footman and Tear ended up appearing in front of Phobio, offering up power beyond his beliefs, power to rival even a Demon Lord.

Although his group knew this was an obvious trap, Phobio went along with it. After all, it was one way to get revenge against that slime…

Chapter 29: Evolution of Gluttony

Chapter Text

Festival Preparations had been continuing, and in an hour, Rimuru would meet up with Youm to discuss the finalization of him becoming the Champion that defeated the Orc Lord. Rimuru was currently hanging out with Milim in his human form. They were busy eating at the Snack and Bar Jura where Treyni was desperately serving them in hope Milim didn’t destroy the door… again…

<Analysis Completed>

Rimuru was in the middle of eating some chips when suddenly Shizu’s voice blurted into his mind. Analysis completed? What the hell was Shizu analyzing?

Shizu, what were you-

But-

Lord… of Wrath?

<Essentially, the angrier or excited she is, the more devastating she becomes. If she wanted to, this entire city could be wiped off the face of the world in mere moments.>

O….k….

<Either way, I have made a copy of one of the Sub-Skills that was directly connected towards her ‘Satanael, Lord of Wrath’ thanks to your efforts the other day.>

I can feel a smirk in that statement…

What do you-

Rimuru suddenly began to feel a power welling up inside of him that felt like another Veldora just started to pump out magicules at an absurd rate. Suddenly, Rimuru felt as if his aura was quite literally splashing everywhere where Milim and Treyni could immediately notice it. Soon enough, Shion came running in as she felt Rimuru’s aura… In just a couple of moments, the entire city felt an absurd aura that quickly died down and regained itself.

Shizu, what the hell did you just do?!? That felt awful…

Rimuru looked around to see that Snack and Bar Jura was filled with his subordinates and Milim was staring intensely at Rimuru at this point.

“GREAT RIMURU?! ARE YOU OK?!?” Shion asked, everyone else felt exactly the same way. Rimuru had just suddenly felt an absurd outburst of energy that completely engulfed him for a moment…

Please… simplify… you just caused me… so much pain…

<You are producing too many magicules now, I’ve now found a way to remove those excess and shoved them into the void that is your stomach.>

Thanks… does that mean we are stabilized now?

What exactly did you copy and replicate from Milim?!

WAIT, IS MY BODY NOW ESSENTIALLY A NUCLEAR REACTOR FOR MAGICULES?!?

<Closer to the sun than a nuclear reactor actually…>

…

SIMPLIFY

Alright

Rimuru finally snapped out of the trance as Milim looked at Rimuru with puppy eyes, she seemed extremely concerned. Everyone else looked at Rimuru directly, they sensed something was wrong with Rimuru but didn’t know what exactly.

“I-i’m fine Milim, I just experienced a power surge… that’s all-” Milim immediately pounced on Rimuru in sheer panic

“DON’T JUST SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT! YOU KNOW YOUR UNSTABLE!” Milim screamed at Rimuru, causing everyone else in the building to immediately start to question Rimuru.

“I’m saying… it’s fine… my magicules just got readjusted…” Rimuru said, Milim stared at him until her eyes suddenly shifted in sheer confusion.

“Readjusted?” Milim just kept staring at Rimuru

Everyone just kept staring on in awe of what Rimuru just said, Milim used her ‘Milim’s Eyes’ to look directly at every aspect of Rimuru. Rimuru wasn’t lying, and the magicule excess in his body seemed to completely vanish. Rather, it felt like there weren't enough magicules in RImuru’s body. Did the magicules simply vanish???

“What kind of skill did you get to drain so many magicules?!?” Milim kept staring at Rimuru, Rimuru’s subordinates kept staring at Rimuru. Skills required a sacrifice of magicules and yet Milim couldn’t even tell what kind of Skill that Rimuru had just picked up. Milim could tell when someone picked up a Common, Extra, Unique, and even tell if they have an Ultimate Skill but could never tell the nature or the name. Rimuru’s skills basically didn’t change, no new skills were detected but there was a hint that something was changed and altered in a slight way.

“Great Rimuru got stronger?!” Benimaru asked, and he was already surprised by Rimuru’s absurdity. As if it wasn’t enough that Rimuru had the power to launch a ‘Black Flame’ that could scorch the entire sky of the Jura Forest, apparently Milim could tell that Rimuru got even stronger.

More importantly, “Great Rimuru, what did Milim mean by unstable?” Treyni asked, everyone else seemed to have forgotten that key detail since what they just heard was Rimuru became even stronger. It didn’t even feel like Rimuru had done anything at the moment to grant himself even greater power. It quite literally came naturally, although they couldn’t tell that it was Shizu working behind the scenes who was in the middle of re-adjusting Rimuru’s powers.

“...”

[Thought Communication Start]

“Milim, I’ll give you honey if you just help me clear up this mess… I promise to tell you later…”

“OOOOOOOOOOOO DEAL”

[Thought Communication End]

“You see, I was just trying to readjust my aura… Milim told me before my magicules were leaking so I tried readjusting it, only to slightly lose control and-” Benimaru cut Rimuru off

“GREAT RIMURU, IT IS NOT WISE TO HOLD IN YOUR MAGICULES IF YOU ARE THAT POWERFUL! IF YOU NEED TO EXERT YOUR POWER, PLEASE DO SO THAT YOU WON’T NEED TO SUFFER!” Benimaru explained

Hakurou began to elaborate, “Holding back your power will only allow your power to run even further out of your control, young master. You need to learn to control it but holding it back forcefully will only cause more harm to yourself.”

“I’m fine now… I have it re-adjusted now…” Rimuru said nervously, he obviously was lying but Milim backed up Rimuru.

Everyone stared in confusion but were extremely worried, was Rimuru actually ok?

-=====-

Half an hour later

Milim sat with Rimuru in his personal house, and in about half an hour, Youm would give either his go ahead or reject the proposal he had set out. Now, Rimuru had to tell Milim what had just happened.

Milim proceeded to grab and shake Rimuru around like crazy, “GIVE ME THE ANSWER, YOU PROMISED” Milim was dead worried for Rimuru.

“I wasn’t lying about rearranging myself, I did have my skills re-arranged.” Rimuru said

Milim looked at him deeply towards the very core of his being, it wasn’t a lie.

“Did… did your Skill evolve?” Milim seemed to question Rimuru, she could tell Rimuru was powerful but honestly now Rimuru seemed even more confusing than what she had initially expected. She became a lot more cautious around Rimuru than she had before.

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna explain too much about-” Milim interjected before Rimuru could continue

“HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IT TO EVOLVE?! Getting a Skill is one thing that requires you to use up so much time and it’s boring! How did you get one just by sitting around with me?!” Milim asked

“I dunno… I guess you rub off on me?” Rimuru said, Milim could clearly tell that one was a lie…

“What did you do?” Milim asked, Rimuru sat there silent

Milim’s cheeks inflated as she grabbed Rimuru and started to shake him around like a rag doll, “WERE YOU DOING SOMETHING FUN WITHOUT ME KNOWING?!”

“IT'S MORE OF A HASSLE REALLY! I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED UNTIL IT JUST RANDOMLY HAPPENED! PLEASE LET ME GO!” Rimuru begged, Milim agreed

“I… don’t know how to explain this Milim… it’s complicated.” Rimuru said with a saddened look, Milim seemed even more concerned about Rimuru at this point but decided to not pressure him anymore. Milim felt as if they were making the situation with Rimuru even worse than before and didn’t know what they could do to not cause any more distress.

“It’s not a good idea to just tell others about your own skills right…?” Rimuru asked Milim, who just in turn looked quite saddened.

Shizu, is it ok to talk to Milim about some of my skills? Like could she possibly betray us or have her mind read?

Alright… I’ll take you word for it

Rimuru contemplated for a little bit and finally asked, “Milim, I think it would be ok as long as you swear never to tell anyone else.”

Milim immediately perked up but realized that it felt a bit unfair to Rimuru, “How about this! I tell you some of mine and in exchange you tell me some of yours! We just promise not to tell anyone else!”

Rimuru agreed and Milim began to explain parts of her skills. As it turns out, Milim seemed to possess two Unique Skills that were called ‘Milim’s Eye’ and ‘Milim’s Ear’. Both worked in conjunction with one another to ensure that no one was lying to her. Shizu promptly recorded every single bit of information that Milim spoke, it seemed that she might use the information to attempt to ‘Copy’ and ‘Replicate’ the Unique Skills in the future… if she could get past Milim’s absurd magicule aura… Rimuru noticed that Milim didn’t speak about the suspected Ultimate Skill ‘Satanale, Lord of Wrath’ although that was expected since it was an Ultimate Skill. Rimuru decided to speak about ‘Gluttonous’ and ‘Envious’ as they were both Skills that absorb and copy the surroundings around him. Rimuru proceeded to explain that because of how long he’s been around Milim, his Skills had picked up something from Milim as a result. Milim immediately understood, although Milim immediately could pick up the repercussions of that as now she realized that meant Rimuru had been picking up her skills without even knowing.

“Do you have my Unique Skills??” Milim asked with a combination of panic and confusion

“No, I don’t think so. If I did I may be able to see more easily but other than that, no I don’t.” Rimuru explained, Milim looked at him slightly puzzled but seemed quite interested

“Which one of the two evolved?” Milim asked, her puppy eyes were too much to bear

“It was.. I believe it was my ‘Gluttonous’ Skill. It used to be Gluttony but now it’s plural? I’m not sure why…” Rimuru explained, Milim seemed to have her own theory

“Since it’s plural, don’tcha think it’s just to say that the Skill is more than itself than normal. Like the ability of the skill is now better than what it was but it’s still basically the same?” Milim’s explanation seemed to catch on pretty quickly with Rimuru.

‘Stomach’? Oh you mean the Sub-Skill right?

<Yes>

Why did that specific Sub-Skill evolve after ‘Magicule Breeder Reactor’ was added in?

So with enough magicules, a skill could go beyond what it could previously?

In a way, I can copy everyone’s skills if given enough time?

<Yes>

Huh…

Rimuru began to realize the time he had to meet with Youm. He waved farewell to Milim for the time being as he quickly rushed towards where Youm would be waiting for him. It was a small hillside overlooking a vast open track of open forest.

From that moment on, Youm pledged loyalty towards Rimuru.

Rimuru had his ‘champion’.

Chapter 30: Calamity Approaches

Chapter Text

A few weeks passed as Youm underwent training to become the Champion that Rimuru needed to earn the support of humanity. According to the information that Shizu had been providing, the process should be undergone quite well with Youm having the necessary talent to be a Champion. Kaijin and Kurobee had built and offered up some great weapons for Youm such as new armor and equipment for his party and himself. They ended up coming up with a story about how we assisted them in defeating the Orc Lord and that Rimuru and friends were friendly monsters that provided food, shelter, and help them obtain new talents as they traversed the land. Shizu was particularly annoyed about one section of the story they made since they called Rimuru… a monster princess… Rimuru hated the idea but agreed toward it nonetheless. The base that Rimuru used for his body was Shizu’s body after all so it was inevitable that he would need to take up the idea of being a female. They had also mentioned that the term ‘princess’ sounded a lot friendlier than the term ‘king’, and that was true to some extent. If you think of princesses, you really think of some damsel in distress so you wouldn’t expect them to be threatening right?

Shizu seemed to have her doubts stating that it made monsters sound too weak, although Shizu let it slide for now since there were bigger fish to fry. For starters, the Black Flame Festival that was supposed to occur months ago had been delayed over and over for a variety of construction and diplomatic reasons. Primarily, it had been Gazel but since Fuze had still been around… mainly now the construction of roads have taken priority as a result, although Rigurd had taken annoyance since he’s been expecting a festival for a massive while now.

However, with things mostly settled down as Youm began to set off back towards Falmuth, the only diplomatic issues as of currently for Rimuru was with Blumund and dealing with the possibility that Eurazania may take revenge on behalf of Phobio.

Rimuru had particularly been hanging around with Milim the main entirety of the time she had been around in Tempest City. Was he just getting used to her presence here or just as long as he stayed close, she wouldn’t end up obliterating the nearest door. Whichever case it may be, the effects of Milim began to rub off onto Rimuru in a more literal sense as a result of Shizu’s constant ‘Analytical Appraisal’ of Milim. Shizu had made copies of ‘Milim’s Eye’ and ‘Milim’s Ear’ although there wasn’t exactly much of a way that they could find to integrate those two Unique Skills into any other skills that Rimuru had. Moreover, there seemed to be far more that Milim held than what was expected since Milim did live for thousands of years, it was expected that Milim had access to a whole arsenal of Skills and Arts that were unheard of.

Rimuru began to make preparations for the Black Flame Festival once more since the major distractions were out of the way. Shizu didn’t have much more she could scan out of Milim without wasting an endless amount of time just attempting to scan through Milim’s absurd magicules. Shizu managed most of Rimuru’s work in the office to ensure that the planning went perfectly for the Black Flame Festival; it was planned to be in a few more days as a result.

Large amounts of food had been harvested, many of the stalls had been prepared and readied for the occasion, and many of the citizens were pumped for the occasion.

As long as nothing wrong happens in the next few days, the festival will be perfect!

-=====-

The Very Next Day

The adventurers had just returned with Milim back into the city with the hunt for the festival that was tomorrow. Unfortunately…

“Is that…?” Rimuru was confused as he saw a swirl of leaves form behind the adventurers who came back with Rimuru.

“Hello, Great Rimuru. I am the younger sister of Treyni, Trya.” Trya had difficulty attempting to hold herself together, it was clear for everyone to see.

“What’s wrong Trya? Where’s Treyni?” Rimuru asked with confusion, if any of the Dryads were to come to Rimuru, it would always be Treyni… why was she absent?

“...I have come to report… Charybdis’ Revival and that this is its first destination…” Trya explained

“What… is Charybdis?” Rimuru asked

<Charybdis… a Calamity Class Monster that could claim to be Disaster Class if it very well wanted to. It is an absurdly powerful monster that is only stopped by the sheer fact it has no intelligence to speak of.>

…

Rimuru had immediately called an emergency meeting in Tempest City, gathering everyone he could to the meeting as quickly as possible.

Immediately the entire conference was in absolute pandemonium. Everyone gave in their inputs and all agreed that this was far too much of a threat to ignore.

Rimuru had announced towards the civilians that the civilians were to evacuate once Rigurd gave the instructions. Vesta had been ordered to contact Gazel Dwargo as quickly as possible.

As the hours came through, Rimuru could feel an ominous and powerful aura coming closer. As the aura came closer, Rimuru prepared more of the city for combat. Trya had explained two skills that were present in Charybdis such as ‘Ultraspeed Regeneration’ and ‘Magic Jamming’ which made it near impossible to attack Charybdis in normal means. More importantly, Trya had explained that Charybdis is technically ‘Veldora’s Child’ because it was made by Veldora’s excessive magicules.

Shizu? Do you think Veldora has any way of dealing with Charybdis?

Do you think that Charybdis sensed Veldora in my ‘Stomach’ and is on its way?

<It’s possible, although… I doubt that is its reasoning… it may be born from Veldora’s magicules but it wouldn’t simply just sense where Veldora is and come waltzing over…>

Hm…

What do we do then…

“WUAHAHAHA, AREN’T YOU FORGETTING SOMEONE!” Milim laughed as she flaunted herself

“Who do you think I am! SOME BIG FLYING FISH IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!” Milim laughed and exclaimed

<That would work but…>

But…?

“That won’t do Milim, this is our city, and our problem.” Shion exclaimed

“Exactly, friends can’t rely on each other for every little thing. I’m sure in dire times, Rimuru will not hesitate to call upon your power…” Shuna explained, much to a distressed Rimuru and extremely saddened Milim

<That’s why… unfortunately the pride of your subordinates in you is far too strong…>

“... That’s right Milim! Just trust me!” Rimuru exclaimed, internally he was having a headache

If we can’t rely on Milim… What do we do…?

Alright!

And so comes, Charybdis!

Chapter 31: Rimuru, All Together V.S. Charybdis, the Ruler of the Skies

Chapter Text

The battle began on the road that Geld had been constructing towards Dwargon. Although it would destroy infrastructure, it would allow Gazel’s forces to enter the battle and attack with all their might against the Megalodons.

<There appears to be a total of thirteen Megalodons swarming around Charybdis>

Got it, so what’s your plan, Shizu?

Understood

“Everyone, I have a plan but we need to clear out the Megalodons that guard Charybdis!” Rimuru exclaimed, each one of his subordinates agreed.

Each one of Rimuru’s subordinates along with the assistance from Gazel’s Pegasus Riders each targeted a separate Megalodon in order to enact the plan that Rimuru was explaining through his ‘Thought Communication’. The main enemy couldn’t be obliterated if their very own subjects were still around.

<Strange…>

What’s strange?

<The soul of Charybdis is not of its own… it…. It’s very familiar and remarkably similar to the soul of Phobio.>

Phobio? Wait, you mean the Beastkeeper that disrupted the city?!

<Yes, although something seems to be directly attached onto the soul… perhaps the core of Charybdis? Either way, Charybdis seems to contain vast hatred for something…>

…it hates me doesn’t it?

<Considering you punched Phobio and obliterated his pride in front of your own subordinates… yes.>

Rimuru sighed as he watched the battle from a far, Shizu was actively working at disrupting Charybdis’s magic sense from detecting him. If Charybdis detected Rimuru too soon, it could pose great deals of destruction. For now, Rimuru had to stay low until the Megalodons were dealt with.

The first Megalodon that had been obliterated was from Benimaru

Although their ‘Magic Jamming’ combined could prevent any sort of magical attack from harming any single one of them, separated, they couldn’t defend from Benimaru’s ‘Hell Flare’. With one clean strike, one of the Megalodons was reduced to a cooked carcass.

A second Megalodon attempted to ram Geld and his force, only for Geld to hold the Megalodon in place before it was promptly stabbed through the head by Gabiru.

A third Megalodon was wrapped up by Souei and used as a puppet to strike at a fourth Megalodon, essentially reducing the third to the whims of striking at its own kind while the fourth attempted to survive the strike from its own brethren. The Megalodons would struggle in the skies and battle on as Souei hung on.

Milim watched this all from a distance with Rimuru, begging to join in, unfortunately…

“Sorry Milim, but we have to do this by ourselves…” Rimuru sighed, Milim was extremely sad and attempted to use puppy eyes to convince him otherwise, “No… sorry Milim…”

Milim’s tears of sadness rang out as she wanted to at least murder one of the things…

A fifth Megalodon was rushed down through the skies by Shion and Ranga where Ranga used an unusual tactic to walk through mid air without any complications. As the two approached the Megalodon, Shion proceeded to slash and remove the head of the Megalodon completely. Meanwhile, a sixth Megalodon was blasted by lightning by Ranga and electrocuted beyond recognition.

Rimuru decided to send out another ‘Thought Communication’ after seeing the current results. There were five down, that meant seven were still left to be dealt with. More precisely, Rimuru had explained the situation with Charybdis. The soul being utilized was Phobio’s soul, who was part of the Beastkeepers.

[Thought Communication Start]

“Phobio?! That bastard who tried to claim Tempest City as his own?!” Benimaru’s fist clenched at the idea that the bastard wanted to go that far to destroy the Jura Tempest Federation.

“It could be a plot by Eurazania… either way, we need to deal with Charybdis as quickly as possible. Everyone focus on the Megalodons! No one try to attack Charybdis! Attacks will only be useless until the Megalodons are all dealt with! ” Rimuru stated, as the forces of Rimuru and Gazel continued to fight on against the Megalodons.

[Thought Communication Paused]

A seventh Megalodon was charged by Gazel’s Pegasus Riders. The seventh was swarmed and halted as a result of the coordinated attack by the Pegasus Riders. As each Pegasus Rider struck, portions of the fins, tail, and scales were demolished. It was a race against time between the Megalodon’s regeneration and the Pegasus Riders strikes.

[Thought Communication Continued]

“Like I thought, even the Megalodons were hard to deal with. Physical damage against them is also near futile… we need to kill them near immediately before we could properly deal with them. Only magical attacks or blows strong enough to destroy their brain is enough to take them out…” Rimuru explained towards the others in Thought Communication with him, the others all agreed.

“So, Charybdis is even harder to kill than these Megalodons…” Benimaru asked

“I assume so” Souei said as he finally dealt with the third Megalodon in which he executed the fourth Megalodon on the spot.

“There’s still seven Megalodons still alive…” Rimuru said

[Thought Communication Paused]

The Pegasus Riders had been successful in stabbing through the extremely hard scales of the Megalodon’s head with a coordinated assault, causing the death of the seventh Megalodon as it fell straight towards the ground.

An eighth Megalodon had been chasing Gobta and the Goblin Riders, destroying many sections of forest at the exact same time. That Megalodon was soon enough chased next to Hakurou, in which he sliced up and obliterated the eighth, leaving nothing but bits and pieces of the Megalodon left.

[Thought Communication Continued]

“Now there’s only five left…” Rimuru mentioned, internally he was sighing as what he just told everyone was changed in a blink of an eye.

[Thought Communication Paused]

“RIMURU, LET ME JOIN IN PLEASE! I WANNA SHOW YOU WHAT I CAN DO!” Milim said while shaking Rimuru around

“Sorry Milim, but no…” Rimuru said, Benimaru could clearly tell that Rimuru was in distress

“Lady Milim, please hold yourself together…” Benimaru asked, Milim stared at him with a dead look in her eyes as if she were about to murder him on the spot for even saying that.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT, Alright… look… if you stop, you can show me what you could do later…” Rimuru quickly spout out an offer towards Milim

“So a fight?” Milim stared at Rimuru with a glow in her eyes

<...Good Luck!>

Shit…

“Ummm… sure… just don’t murder me ok?” Rimuru hesitantly agreed to Milim, Milim immediately just sat back to watch as now she was absolutely excited for after Charybdis was dead.

[Thought Communication Continued]

“What’s the current situation?” Rimuru asked towards Souei

“Great Rimuru, the other five Megalodons are problematic to kill. They are grouping together and attempting to reach them may be complicated.” Souei explained

“Alright, we need to take them out soon…” Rimuru needed those last few megalodons dead before he could attempt to enact Shizu’s plan.

Souei’s team proceeded to seize on the ninth Megalodon, as their strings began to wrap more and more around the Megalodon. Each one of Souei’s team began to pull on their own separate strings to rip and tear apart the Megalodon into chunks and flesh. No matter how powerful the Megalodon’s regeneration was, it couldn’t handle being torn and ripped into several pieces,

The tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth Megalodons received mass firing from the monster army below. A swarm of magic attacks and ranged attacks through spears and bows were launched from the ground, these all had little effect other than distracting the Megalodons. Unfortunately, the attacks would end up drawing the attention of Charybdis. A certain glow and ominous aura was felt as Rimuru realized what this suggested.

[Thought Communication Continued]

“Charybdis is preparing to attack! Everyone back off!” Rimuru exclaimed

[Thought Communication Paused]

Charybdis scales seemed to begin to fly off as they began to levitate all by themselves, each one of the scales began to flow and swarm across the entirety of the sky before descending downwards towards the army and towards the Pegasus Riders. Although the forces initially were able to dodge it successfully, the scales would end up slamming many Pegasus Riders, at which point they would be knocked out of the sky. Fortunately, Gabiru’s air squad were able to save those who’d been knocked out of the sky.

The scales would end up slamming into the nearby megalodons, causing them to distance themselves further away from Charybdis. An opportunity arose that allowed for Gabiru’s men to knock the tenth out of the sky for the ground forces to seize and obliterate.

Benimaru attempted to strike the twelfth with another ‘Hell Flare’ but it was unfortunately blocked by the absurd mass of scales that swarmed across the sky. Fortunately, the ‘Hell Flare’ ended up destroying a good majority of the scales that swarmed the sky. Once again, another assault was launched from the ground army and fortunately, the eleventh Megalodon was knocked out of the sky in a combination of scales and piercing weapons from below.

Ranga and Shion rushed down the twelfth Megalodon and thirteenth Megalodon. Although the scales made it difficult, the twelfth Megalodon had been obliterated through a combination of ‘Black Lightning’ from Ranga. The thirteenth lived even after Shion had obliterated the tail end of the Megalodon.

[Thought Communication Continued]

“One remains, take it down!” Rimuru demanded, if this last one could go down, Rimuru could finally act.

[Thought Communication Paused]

Shizu, do I really have to hold back?

<Charybdis is targeting you specifically, if you appear too quickly, Charybdis will end up targeting you and an opportunity to strike might not appear afterwards.>

Opportunity?

<It would be an idiotic move to completely destroy Charybdis since Phobio is still in there.>

Oh! You thought that far into it! I was worried your plan-

That… is strange…

<Exactly, the plan needs each Megalodon dead so we can enact an attack that won’t end up obliterating Phobio from existence.>

Thank you… so much Shizu!

The battle raged on as the monster army attempted to try to shoot down the final Megalodon, unfortunately the scales were causing serious havoc across the battlefield. Thanks to the quantity of monsters present on the front, it prevented deaths from occurring since there was a scale for each individual. Each scale that missed and slammed into the ground would become unusable for Charybdis, only for soon enough another scale to appear to fill its place.

We just need to defeat Charybdis and free Phobio right?

<No, we would need to separate Charybdis’s core from Phobio afterwards.>

Oh… yeah that is right… would we need to destroy the core afterwards?

<No, we just need to place the core where it couldn’t hurt anyone, such as your ‘Stomach’>

Ah…

Another one of Benimaru’s ‘Hell Flare’ launched, through the coordination of Gabiru and the still airborne Pegasus Riders, the ‘Hell Flare’ successfully destroyed enough scales for Gabiru and the Pegasus Riders to close in and swarm the thirteenth Megalodon. An all-out assault occured directly afterwards in which the Megalodon was obliterated and destroyed by a strike from Gabiru into the side of the Megalodon, in which, Gabiru’s men were successfully able to stab and impale the Megalodon through the head from the Megalodon’s struggling.

The final Megalodon was finally dead…

[Thought Communication Continued]

“Great Rimuru, the final Megalodon has been defeated.” Soeui explained

“Then it’s time…” Rimuru thought deep down as he prepared himself

“Everyone, get away from Charybdis as quickly as possible!” Rimuru exclaimed

[Thought Communication End]

Every single force that was nearby, including Gazel’s Pegasus, quickly fled the battle scene, despite the arguments that they were all in the position to properly strike at Charybdis. Although their leading officer all talk them down

Shizu-

<On it>

Soon enough, another swarm of scales were launched by Charybdis into the army down below where Souei, Shion, and Ranga were attempting to fend off the massive lot of scales that were descending against them. The scales began swarming once more until they suddenly froze as each scale began to swarm up and beyond.

“Leave things to me!” Rimuru stated as he flew high into the sky

“Bring forth our powers! Strike our enemies down!”

<Let’s go Partner! Switching to Synchronized Battle Mode!>

The Golden-Yellow from Rimuru’s eyes vanished as once again flames and liquid clashed within the iris. A menacing aura soon erupted from Rimuru’s body as magicules began to overflow, from where, unknown to everyone else but only to Shizu the location was known. Magicules stored within the ‘Stomach’ that had been generated by Veldora and the ‘Magicule Breeder Reactor’, those considered unstable that could disintegrate Rimuru if given time to fester, had begun to build throughout Rimuru’s body at an alarming rate. Each and every Skill that Rimuru possess festered to the brink.

“GLUTTONOUS!” A swirl of void festered out of Rimuru’s palm at an alarming rate, soon enough the nearby region was nearly reduced to nothingness as each and every scale produced was immediately eaten.

“Ri-mmm-Rimm-RIMURU!!!” A voice echoed across the battlefield, everyone nearby Charybdis could clearly hear the voice bellow as it reached far and wide throughout the battlefield. Charybdis started directly at where Rimuru was positioned, its rage could be felt as it built up further and further against this arrogant little slime. He was at a power to rival Demon Lords, this little slime had zero reason to stand against such power of destruction and rage. Soon, that little city would be reduced to nothing but ash!

As a stunned audience watched from below, Milim watched on at Rimuru with intent. She could quite literally see every single magicule in the air around Rimuru begin to gather into his body and migrate directly towards the arms. What the hell did Rimuru just state? Suddenly after saying that, Rimuru just became so much more powerful! How was he able to hid this many magicules from her eyes?!

<Activating ‘Envious’, Disabling Skill ‘Magic Jamming’>

The massive magic disruption field that once surrounded Charybdis vanished in a near instant while the magicule concentration in Rimuru significantly decreased for a moment before rising back up once more in mass.

An electrical spark began to emanate from Rimuru’s palm as black bolts began to swirl around Rimuru. Soon, more and more of these electrica; bolts congregated within Rimuru as he put both of his palms together.

<Launching ‘Black Lightning’>

A massive bolt of black electrical bolts began to flow directly out of Rimuru’s palm and soon enough the immediate area was surrounded by clouds. Each cloud immediately was charged by absorbing the nearby area of effect that the massive bolt exuded while the bolt quickly walked straight into Charybdis. Charybdis immediately launched ‘Laser Look’ right towards the ‘Black Lightning’, now it turned into a sort of battle of attacks with both attacks stopping dead center against one another. Unfortunately, currents follow the path of least resistance. While the primary path of the ‘Black Lightning’ had been blocked, the current followed around the ‘Laser Look’ directly into the wings of Charybdis.

The bolt slowly but surely found the path of least resistance throughout Charybdis’s body as the shocks and sparks flowed through each and every crevice of Charybdis’s body. There was one particular zone of high resistance in the center of it all that the bolts avoided. Since the section wasn’t completely integrated with Charybdis, the bolts would simply move around and past the section.

Soon, the ‘Laser Look’ dissipated as the bolts struck the eye of the beast. It turned black before disintegrating into ash while the remainder of the body slowly turned charred and blackened. Even so, the bolts kept coming out of Rimuru’s palms at max efficiency. Each excess magicule was turned into power to only fuel the blast.

Everyone from below watched as Charybdis was electrocuted to nothing but ash, scales that only just regenerated on had been slowly falling off without any commands, simply landing in the nearby ground below. The sheer amount of ‘Black Lightning’ flowing through Charybdis was slowly escaping the remains. Ash began to flow in the wind as slowly, Charybdis’s form began to dissipate into the wind, leaving behind Phobio’s body which had been attached to some weird heart of veins that swarmed around Phobio. Rimuru stopped emitting bolts as his magicules slowly reduced once more as the excess magicules were once again stored in the ‘Stomach’.

Rimuru quickly flew over to grab Phobio before he fell to the ground. His body was nearly unharmed but the core of Charybdis was so absurdly beaten that the bolts could still be seen flowing through it.

<Shutting down Synchronized Battle Mode>

Rimuru’s eye shifted back into their Golden-Yellow as his aura completely vanished. The skies around slowly regressed back towards normal.

Rimuru slowly descended from the skies with Phobio in his arms. Every one of Rimuru’s subordinates were up in absolute cheers and tears. They had chosen the right Majin to be completely loyal towards! The Pegasus Riders and their commander especially, were in absolute shock. They had all just watched as what had been a slime, completely obliterated a Calamity-Class Monster, that could be marked as a Disaster-Class, with barely any issue! It hadn’t even been an extended battle, it was just watching a monster being electrocuted for about a minute before it disintegrated! That had to be reported to Gazel at once… if this monster could obliterate Charybdis with only a single move, that would put them at Catastrophic-Class…

What kind of beast had unleashed its might in front of them all?

Chapter 32: The Aftermath of Charybdis

Chapter Text

Rimuru slowly utilized ‘Shaftshift’ and ‘Gluttonous’ with the precision given by ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ to slowly extract the Charybdis core from within Phobio’s body. It was a meticulous process that took a good few minutes to accomplish. As the Charybdis core was extracted, Rimuru quickly placed the core within ‘Stomach to prevent the core from causing anymore harm while at the same time allowing Shizu to begin using ‘Analytical Appraisal’ on the core for any useful skills that he could implement onto himself. The idea of using ‘Magic Jamming’ for his own seemed like an interesting idea.

Phobio began to wake nearly immediately as soon as the core was removed completely. He looked like he had just got out of a deep slumber and, as if a flash of memories suddenly appeared in his head, he quickly knelt down in front of Rimuru and apologized profusely.

“I’m so sorry! I deeply regret my own actions! What I have done was of my own accord and this has nothing to do with Lord Carrion’s orders! I beg of you, please enact punishment on me so that Lord Carrion isn’t punished for my actions!” Phobio cried out, it seemed like he was willing to die just to make up for what he’d done. Rimuru wasn’t exactly going to go through the effort to murder him after he focused so hard to just save him.

“I put in too much effort just to save you, so it’d be a waste just to punish you. I have some questions I want answered instead…” Rimuru glared at Phobio, he was clearly peeved since his body slowly began feeling the effects of the magicules like he had just had a party yesterday and had begun to feel the hangover kicking in. Rimuru’s body slowly began to swell up with pain and Shizu did the best of her ability to use ‘Pain Resistance’ to block out the pain Rimuru was feeling, unfortunately, it had the complete opposite effect and made the pain… so much worse…

Shizu please for the love of god stop this hell!

<It seems like whatever I do makes the situation worse… I recommend you just deal with it for now…>

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Rimuru attempted to tough it out for now, the fact so many magicules went through his body and that his body was not at all suited for it caused him so much pain that it was incredible that he still kept a poker face.

Phobio stared at Rimuru who seemed pissed while staring at Phobio, although in reality he was just trying to chug out the current hell he was secretly going through, and immediately began to explain the entire situation.

He explained that two masked clowns had deceived him into becoming Charybdis.

“These clowns led you towards the Seal of Charybdis?” Treyni asked, Phobio nodded

Treyni began to draw up an image of what one of the clowns could have looked like, what came up wasn’t the clowns that Phobio had encountered. However, he had described what the clowns looked like with one being bulky and wearing an angry clown mask whilst the other was feminine and wore a mask with a teardrop on it. Benimaru immediately recognized that it was the Majin that had once destroyed his home before.

Everyone present began to exchange information like a game of hot potato where information was passed between each and every person, only to build up more and more until no one had anything left to say or do. Even Milim had something to say since she knew about Gelmud but never had heard anything about Gelmud having other accomplices. Instead, Milim mentioned one interesting detail that Clayman had been ordering Gelmud around to do his bidding in creating a new Demon Lord. In fact, Clayman was the only one who had been actively cultivating the Demon Lord while Frey, Carrion, and Milim had been doing nothing but watching from the side lines.

Speaking about the sidelines, Milim began to speak up “Isn’t that right, Carrion!”

A large muscular man whose face resembled that of a beast and had a large aura began to appear nearby.

“Heyo, many thanks for sparing that one’s life.” Carrion approached Rimuru who was still attempting to suck up the pain.

Rimuru looked up at Carrion, “So… you’re the Demon Lord Carrion… Nice to meet you, I am Rimuru Tempest, Leader of the Jura Tempest Federation… Tell me, are you here to avenge Gelmud?” Rimuru asked, he was already up in his human form ready to confront Carrion, although his body was begging him to just stop.

Carrion began to laugh, although a noticeable water droplet fell past part of his face, “HAHAHAHA HOW AMUSING! No wonder Milim was so curious about you! I’m sorry for the trouble my subordinate has caused. If you would, please forgive me for this incident and as an apology, I will take any one request that you have for me…”

Why would he be the nervous one?!

<He’s been there since Charybdis had arrived, I didn’t inform you since it was better to take in this information after Charybdis was obliterated.>

Fair… dragging in too many problems at once would’ve been a bad idea…

“I see… in that case, how about we just sign a Non-aggression pact for now?” Rimuru said, he was still holding up his best with his poker face but he felt like he’d shatter any moment if this continued

“VERY WELL! I, BEAST MASTER CARRION HEREBY SWEAR THAT EURAZANIA WILL NEVER BARE ITS FANGS TOWARDS TEMPEST!” Carrion began to laugh as he slowly approached Phobio

Carrion, quickly but surely, picked up Phobio from the ground and quickly began dragging him by his head.

“I will have some representatives come here later on in a few days time, I’ll have to thank you properly when the time comes! Until next time Rimuru!” Carrion proceeded to use ‘Warp Portal’ as he quickly teleported back to Eurazania.

Rimuru took a breath of relief as he began to walk towards his personal home...

“Rimuru! That was epic! I didn’t know you could do that-” Milim began to look deeper at Rimuru and quickly realized that Rimuru has been putting up a massive facade just so people wouldn’t realize how much pain he had been in.

“Oh… just go along now!” Milim said as she quickly began to whistle

Rimuru’s subordinates looked on in confusion of Rimuru simply leaving without any issue, he just blasted the ‘Ruler of the Skies’ into ash with second thought and now he’s just casually walking home! This dude is bad ass! The Pegasus Riders who were still in disbelief knew that they had a lot to report to Gazel once they returned back home. This was information that couldn’t be simply ignored!

Rimuru arrived home in short time as he quickly began to lay on the floor, immediately afterwards, a massive jolt of pain surged through Rimuru’s body as he began to cry out in sheer absolute pain and suffering. Rimuru quickly reverted into his slime form and even then, he could still feel the pain, albeit it wasn’t as bad to tolerate. Rimuru rolled around on the floor as if he’d been stung by a Bullet Ant, screeching in pain, thankfully no one but Milim was around to listen towards his agony.

-=====-

In the Beast Kingdom

Carrion had just arrived back in front of the two other Beastkeepers with Phobio. Carrion quickly grabbed Phobio and slammed him into the floor as hard as imaginably possible, just enough that he wouldn’t die but enough to put him in unending pain.

“THAT IDIOT!” Carrion yelled, he was absolutely pissed but at the same time absolutely terrified

Carrion had just watched Charybdis, a monster that not even Eurazania could fight off successfully get turned into ash by a FUCKING SLIME. That thing was supposed to be a slime? That thing was more human than slime! Yet it somehow obliterated the Calamity Class monster off the face of the world!

Carrion had known of the ten Demon Lord Clause that existed, in which only ten individuals may be Demon Lord. It was genuinely believed that this rule would force any new monster, regardless of power, to successfully usurp the status and position of any other Demon Lord in order to become one themself. Carrion had watched that Majin Slime obliterate a monster that was as powerful as a Demon Lord with barely any effort! It was all caused by his own subordinate! If that Majin wasn’t as kind as to offer up a Non-Aggression pact, he'd be obligated to just surrender Demon Lord status at that point!

If that Majin wanted to become a Demon Lord, he’d very well support it, not to mention, he has to inform the other Demon Lords of that absurdly remarkable slime in the Jura Forest. For now, he’d have to think of a suitable punishment for Phobio and who to send as his representatives towards the Jura Tempest Federation.

“Lord Carrion, are you alright-” Albis suddenly received an absurdly menacing glare from Carrion.

“Prepare yourself and Suphia to go into the Jura Forest as an Envoy. There’s a certain nation that’s emerged in that forest I have signed a Non-Aggression pact with. If I hear a word that anyone causes trouble, I will see to it that they are punished severely.” Carrion stared down Albis and Suphia who were currently quaking.

-=====-

In the Land of Puppets

Clayman was with Frey, and like the agreement was made, Charybdis was obliterated. Unlike what the agreement was, it hadn’t been Milim who’d obliterated the monster…

“That is one remarkable Majin… he could claim Demon Lord status if he wanted to.” Frey remarked

“Yes, he very well could, although not in the plans since Milim was supposed to take care of Charybdis, it still lined up quite nicely…” Clayman said as he took another sip of his wine.

“He seems to have Milim’s backing… seems I would have to grant my own backing towards that Majin if ever he wishes to become a Demon Lord.” Frey said, a chilling flowed down Clayman’s back.

“If that time ever comes, I may see to it…” Clayman said

“Now, for the next time a Walpurgis Banquet comes around-” Clayman gets interrupted by Frey

“I understand, as long as it’s within my ability… for now, I have a certain Majin I wish to talk with.” Frey used ‘Warp Portal’ as she quickly left Clayman’s domain.

Clayman put down his wine cup on a nearby table, before visibly showing veins that stretched across his forehead. He wasn’t just pissed, he was absolutely furious…

That slime came in a so far had disrupted each and every single plan he had currently made. That Jura Forest was as good as his once the Orc Lord came around to dominating it, instead, a random slime from god knows where had appeared and dominated the forest instead! Perhaps he could rope that slime into his schemes…

Maybe he might just…

Clayman thought up a new scheme in his mind, one that would possibly use that Slime to destroy Leon once and for all. That blonde bastard had always tilted Clayman in the worst ways imaginable and he couldn’t directly do anything since Guy would always back him up in anything but Ramiris! Maybe, just maybe, if that Slime wants to be a new Demon Lord, he could have it fight Demon Lord Leon instead and have him killed so that Rimuru would take his place!

That just might work!

Demon Lord Clayman began to chuckle, soon that chuckle turned to a laugh, that laugh turned into uproar as he thought he had a possible puppet, one strong enough to kill that bastard Leon once and for all!

How ingenious he does say so himself!

Chapter 33: Rimuru, Divided V.S. Milim, the Destroyer

Chapter Text

Rimuru had recovered from the strain caused by the immensely excessive magicules that afflicted his body a few days later. Although he’d recovered, Rimuru felt that something was slightly off about himself. During that time, Milim had a pair of gauntlets made by Kurobee while the Jura Tempest Federation had to function momentarily without Rimuru’s direct guidance.

<Your body is still adjusting, even after the excess magicules haven’t deeply affected your body.>

Adjusting?

<I’m manually adjusting your body's structure since it couldn’t handle the absurd quantity of magicules. That should assist in minimizing the pain from excessive magicule usage… although I have some doubts this will work.>

Alright, well thanks Shizu, so what do we have to do today?

<Let’s see… check up on Kurobee’s smithing, inspections on the current progression of the roads such the the road that was partially destroyed during the battle with Charybdis, Ranga has new powers he wanted you to see, Shuna’s production, the many reports from Rigurd that you need to fill out, and… sparring with Milim.>

I forgot that the last one existed…

<Well, have fun! Odds are Milim should be coming in any moment now>

Really?-

“RIMURU, DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!” Milim said, her eyes were sparkling with excitement, she was quite clearly ready for the coming sparring match.

“Yeah! Just so you know, I’m still partially recovering so I can’t go all out in this match…” Rimuru explained

“No worries! I always hold back!” Milim stated while having a smug look on her face, she seemed very proud.

Rimuru stared at her for a moment and immediately began to sulk. Rimuru quickly picked himself up and prepared himself.

-=====-

Rimuru and Milim had gone into a different section of the forest far away from Tempest City. Ranga was there as a judge to watch the sparring session to come. Milim was bouncing up and down in excitement while Rimuru was rethinking everything.

“Alright… let’s begin Milim!” Rimuru stated

The match has begun!

Rimuru quickly tried to get behind Milim, only to realize that such an endeavor was nearly impossible at the start. Milim could quite literally track him wherever he went around Milim without even trying.

<Sneak attacks are literally impossible against her… an all out assault is a more significant way…>

Rimuru attempted using several different types of magic attack such as Icicle Lance, Wind Cutter, Water Blade, Hell Flare, and Black Lightning. Only for each and every single one of the attacks to bounce off Milim like it meant nothing. Each attack Rimuru threw only caused him to despair further.

Screw this, I’m going for a sneak attack…

<Trust me, it’ll fail.>

I know but at this point, there’s nothing else I can do other than constantly use ‘Gluttonous’ or put myself through immeasurable pain just to cause Milim as much as a scratch…

Rimuru attempted to utilize ‘Thought Acceleration’ to predict Milim’s attack, unfortunately, Milim’s speed was still far too much for Rimuru’s ‘Thought Acceleration’ and ‘Future Attack Prediction’. Rimuru could tell where and how Milim would attack, the unfortunate thing was that Rimuru couldn’t move fast enough to dodge whatever Milim was about to launch. One blow ended up taking off his entire arm in a flash. Thanks to ‘Ultraspeed Regeneration’, Rimuru was able to keep up the sparring match for an hour.

The match ended in near utter humiliation of Rimuru, although Milim seemed extremely impressed at the end. Milim began to pat the back of the utterly defeated Rimuru in an attempt to cheer up his spirits.

“Come on Rimuru! Most Demon Lords I’ve seen can’t accomplish stuff like that! “ Milim stated, Rimuru was still on the ground, although he seemed to be suffering from a combination of being tired and being utterly destroyed.

Rimuru slowly picked himself up, “I guess so…” Rimuru still felt nearly disappointed that he couldn’t even do anything against Milim

<Don’t be ashamed Rimuru, there’s not many who could actually hurt this kind of Demon Lord…>

…should’ve figured…

Rimuru and Milim slowly moved together over a nearby tree for shade with Ranga. As the two sat down, Milim seemed to ponder something about Rimuru.

“Say, Rimuru. Are you sure you don’t want to be a Demon Lord?” Milim asked, she seemed intent on making Rimuru one

“I mean, it doesn’t seem like it does that much but… I’ll keep it in mind.” Rimuru said, if he ever found a reason to, he might but being a Demon Lord sounded a bit too aggressive.

“Hehe, come on! It’ll be fun Rimuru!” Milim seemed to push the idea, but Rimuru kept rejecting the idea. It did interest him but that idea would have to be laid off for now.

“By the way, Milim… why did you become a Demon Lord?

“I dunno… I got annoyed or something…” Milim said while scratching their head

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Rimuru asked, Milim simply shrugged as she couldn’t comprehend why she had become a Demon Lord before.

Just what did being a Demon Lord actually mean?

<It’s the highest position of power that any Majin could reach. It is influenced beyond anyone’s imagination however, I severely doubt that is the reason why Milim became a Demon Lord. Milim is too childish and kind to have become a Demon Lord for simple power… there’s another reason that she can’t seem to jog… perhaps… a deep trauma…?>

…

“Milim… do you have any family to go back towards?” Rimuru asked nervously

“Don’t worry! I have people that care for me!” Milim said with a smile

“Won’t they worry?” Rimuru seemed even more nervous

“Don’t worry! I’m the strongest, they care for me because they fear me! Besides, you’re my only friend!” Milim said while hugging Rimuru

Rimuru slowly tightened his hug on Milim. He felt extremely sorry but he wasn’t just going to leave her alone like this, “Not just friends… we’re besties right?”

Milim’s smile was bright, it seemed like she couldn’t stop smiling afterwards…

-=====-

Only a Few Days Later

Milim told Rimuru that she had important work to do. She needed to make haste towards all the other Demon Lords. Although she’d be gone for a bit, she’ll return back at full pace later on!

Rimuru wished her luck on her journeys, as he waved her off, Milim smiled brightly as she zoomed away in the distant skies above.

We will see you soon, Milim!

Chapter 34: A Champion's Path

Chapter Text

Phobio, that Beastkeeper that caused some trouble for us, is the envoy of Eurazania and Demon Lord Carrion. Through him, Rimuru and Carrion had organized that representatives of each nation would visit one another. Carrion seems especially interested in opening friendly links with the Jura Tempest Federation.

First, it had been the Armed Nation of Dwargon, then it was Blumund, now Rimuru has negotiations going with Eurazania. Fuze had recently left back to Blumund with positive and negative news about the Jura Tempest Federation. Meanwhile, Gazel had planned for Rimuru to come to the Armed Nation of Dwargon in two weeks. Soon, in a week, the representatives of Eurazania would be planned to arrive in a weeks time.

Rimuru had already prepared his own representatives towards Eurazania including Benimaru, Rigur, and several others of more minor rank such as several Hobgoblins and Tempest Wolves. Rimuru was quite excited for the prospect of possibly befriending the Demon Lords that surrounded his domain. After all, Rimuru had one Demon Lord in mind he had to speak with…

So… how did you intend to get to Demon Lord Leon from here?

Well, at least you don’t need to worry about that now

<No->

I’m sorry… you still want to hear answers from Leon and save the children right?

<Yes… if only I could save them…>

We’ll find a way…

<Thank you…. Rimuru>

Now..

Rimuru got up on stage to announce the representatives being sent over to Eurazania. It is hoped that they could establish relations successfully with Eurazania and ensure that peace will be secured between the two nations. Loud cheers roared as Rimuru bid his fellow good luck on their mission.

RImuru had high hopes for Benimaru since he was his right hand and was highly capable and competent. If anyone was to complete this difficult task, it would be Benimaru.

-=====-

A Few Days Later

Youm had recently arrived back into the Jura Tempest Federation. Youm noticed that the Black Flame Festival was to occur soon although it should’ve occurred some days after Youm had previously left. Youm was slightly confused and came to Rimuru’s office.

“Hey, Rimuru, are you all still preparing for the Black Flame Festival?” Youm asked, causing Rimuru distress

“Yeah… yeah… we’ve been dealing with a lot but we’ve had to delay the festival over and over again…” Rimuru seemed distressed

“What delayed it last time?” Youm asked

“Charybdis…” Rimuru mentioned, causing Youm’s jaw to drop

“CHARYBDIS?! THAT FLYING MONSTER THAT COULD DESTROY ENTIRE COUNTRIES?!? WHERE IS IT?” Youm asked, he was dumbfounded

“Oh, I dealt with it.” Rimuru casually explained, Youm just looked on in disbelief

“What do you mean you dealt with it? Did you somehow seal the monster?!” Youm asked

“No, I obliterated it.” Rimuru stated, at this point Youm just gave up.

“Alright well what’s delaying it now?” Youm asked

“Lots of construction projects, diplomatic relations, I have a visit planned for Dwargon, Eurazanian Representatives are coming soon-” Rimuru was interrupted by an immensely shocked Youm

“EURAZANIA?! THE KINGDOM OF BEASTS???” Youm once again was in shock, Rimuru just got used to flabbergasting people at this point, “How did you manage to deal with the nation of Demon Lord Carrion?!”

“It involved Charybdis, one of subordinates were used as a puppet in its freedom so after I defeated Charybdis, I returned that subordinate back to him. Now we are on friendly terms at the moment, we hope to ensure peace between us and Eurazania at the moment.” Rimuru explained, Youm quickly understood but was still in shock.

Youm took a large amount of alcohol, which slightly made him drunk. Clearly Youm was drinking to alleviate his shock.

Is it really that shocking?

I see your point but won’t these rumors cause more problems?

<Possibly, for now, you just need to seize on the shock.>

“Well, Youm. How’s the Champion situation going for you?” Rimuru asked, much to a slightly distressed Youm as evident as he began to chug a bit more alcohol.

“Youm?” Rimuru could immediately tell that something was wrong from Youm’s expressions.

“The bastard misinterpreted your gender… you are now a girl in the eyes of humanity” Youm was distressed, Rimuru was just in shock

<To be honest, I can tell where they got that wrong->

Remember! This is your body Shizu!

<...Still funny…>

“How bad was the rumor…?” Rimuru asked

“Monster Princess…” Youm’s simple words just sent a chill down Rimuru’s back

<Monster Princess! HAHAHAHAHA>

SHUT UP!

<Rimuru, the Monster Princess! That sounds so cute!>

NO! I REFUSE!

<There’s no way to revert that at that point unless you want to cause Youm’s reputation a crisis.>

UGHHHHHHHHH

Rimuru was having an internal crisis. Youm watched as Rimuru was quite distressed but, “I’m sorry, but it has gone too far to stop that rumor…”

“...As long as your reputation as a champion is increasing…” Rimuru just hoped that Youm was succeeding in their position.

“Oh that is going great! We just came back for the time being to report on our condition.” Youm explained, Rimuru was pleased.

“Oh, by the way, Hakurou has been wishing to speak with you.” Rimuru casually informed Youm, who turned pale.

“Well, at least I’m sober now!” Youm was still panicking internally, Rimuru could tell that he was in distress.

There was a lot to be done soon…

Chapter 35: Arrival of the Lycanthropes!

Chapter Text

A large number of carriages with tiger-like creatures pulling each and every single one came towards Tempest City. Rimuru waited in anticipation with his major subordinates along with the Champion’s party. He had been in slime form for this meeting as he was waiting, since Shion had wanted for a while to carry Rimuru who had been in his human form most frequently. There were many times that Rimuru could be seen in his slime form so this had been a rare outing for him.This was an important delegation that they had sent over, if they failed to negotiate properly with these people, who knows what could come next.

The carriages came to a gradual stop in front of Rimuru and those he was with. Everyone was ready to greet the Eurazania guests as they came out.

“Greeting, Lord and Master of the Great Jura Forest. I am one of the Beastketeers of Lord Carrion. You may refer to me as Albis but others refer to me as ‘Golden Horn Albis’. It is a pleasure to become acquainted.” Albis stood firm, she seemed to be on guard and judging our appearance.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Rimuru-” Rimuru was suddenly interrupted by a voice in one of the carriages.

“Are you serious?! That’s supposed to be the Lord of this forest? A mere slime?! Who the hell do you think you're fooling with that!” A white tiger-like woman came bursting out from the carriage looking absolutely disgusted by the appearance of Rimuru, “Look, there’s even puny humans by their side! They are clearly weaklings!”

“Take that back, Suphia” Albis demanded

“Shut yer’ trap, I don’t take orders from you Albis.” Suphia was aggressive, Rimuru could tell something was off.

<They are testing our patience, they are a fighting race that loves combat.>

So they just wanna fight then… I figured that one wanted to fight

“Hey Youm, aren’t you getting upset that one is constantly putting you and your party to shame?” Rimuru was seemingly trying to instigate Youm

“Oy oy! Weren’t we going to settle things peacefully!?” Youm seemed to panic at first

“Well, first off, we’re not the ones picking a fight, are we?” Rimuru boldly stated, he seemed interested to see how things would turn out.

“Oh? Come on, weakling!” Suphia seemed to be taunting Youm

Behind Youm, his party kept backing him and encouraging him to fight even if he didn’t want to.

“...guess you leave me no choice. You might want to pick up the pieces after I’m done with her, Great Rimuru.” Youm prepared himself for combat.

“Yeah! I’ll leave it to…” Shion suddenly placed Rimuru in the arms of Shuna as she faced Suphia, “you… wait Shion?” Rimuru was confused

Suddenly, Shion seemingly wanted to battle Suphia after all the aggravation caused by Suphia.

“I’ll be your opponent!” Shion seemed pissed off towards high hell while placing aside her weapon, she seemed posed to completely stomp Suphia into the ground.

“Bring it! I want to see the power of a mere slime’s lackey!” Suphia stated, Albis seemed interested as well with what was about to happen.

<This doesn’t seem like something Albis was intentionally attempting to cause but it seems now she is drawn in to test our capabilities.>

I see… well I’m interested too, I wanna see if Shion or Suphia is stronger…

The fight begins near immediately with Suphia attempting to catch Shion off guard with a strike from above, it ends up failing miserably as Shion is able to catch and outpower her nearly immediately. Suphia attempts to charge again into Shion but it seems as though Shion could capably overpower her with somewhat ease. Shion seemed to hold the power advantage quite easily, Suphia seemed somewhat cornered as a result.

Meanwhile, Albis had ordered Grucius to fight Youm while Shion battled Suphia.

Youm got the first strike by slamming his sword into the ground. Grucius dodges the strike and swirls his swords like a boomerang but Youm dodges this attack as well. As the two battle, they seem highly equivalent as while Youm and Grucius are unable to damage each other significantly enough to determine who is victorious.

Shion, on the other hand, is absolutely kicking the shit out of Suphia. No matter what Suphia is able to do, she is unable to properly strike at Shion as Shion simply blocks her attacks with her own brute strength.

Why does Shion seem so much stronger than Suphia? She’s supposed to be a Demon Lord’s subordinate right?

What about Youm? Isn’t he my subordinate too?

<Yes, although since he is human, you aren’t exactly compatible to control him. It is the same as how a human cannot make a monster submit unless it is through a summoning such as a Demon Ritual but even then it isn’t full control but rather ‘borrowing’ their power. In this instance, we are merely ‘borrowing’ Youm’s strength. Although…>

Although?

<Here, let me try something…>

As Grucius and Youm fought, Youm suddenly felt a connection towards someone. It felt like it was attempting to strengthen him but he didn’t know if he could trust it. Yet, it seemed eerily similar… Was it Lord Rimuru? It felt like him, in fact, it felt exactly like him but it was different in some way like…

Grucius suddenly found that Youm was able to completely overpower him as his blades were forced down as Youm quickly returned with a spike of power. Was that bastard holding back? When did he get stronger?

Rimuru watched as Youm began to overpower Grucius and suddenly now Grucius was put on the ropes, he couldn't seem to counteract Youm. Youm was able to completely overpower Grucius instead as a result.

Shizu, what exactly did you just do?

<Not sure… not even ‘All of Creation’ seemed to understand what just happened but now he should be the Subordinate of me…>

Wait, what?! You?!

<Yes… although in a direct way, since I’m basically just a part of you, he would just be a subordinate of you.>

Did… you just somehow find a bypass through the divide between human and monsters then?

…interesting…

Rimuru watched as his subordinates now completely pushed back and obliterated their respective opponents.

Albis just watched in shock as the slime’s subordinates were simply able to just overpower the Rookie and another one of the Beastketeers of Lord Carrion. How in the world were they that strong? Albis stared at Rimuru before realizing that Rimuru seems to be far more competent than she had originally imagined.

Soon enough, as Suphia struggled on, Shion prepared to finish the battle with a Maximum Bullet beginning to charge in her palms. Albis immediately realizes that although Suphia on the outside seems like she could take it, her pride won’t accept defeat unless she is ordered to.

Albis immediately comes between Shion and Suphia to stop the fight, “That’s enough, I believe we have seen enough…” Albis seemed ready to forcefully end the fight

Suphia seemed disappointed on the outside yet on the inside, Suphia was absurdly glad since she realized that she had zero chance to survive the next strike.

Grucius immediately halted his own offensive while Youm seemed confused, both from his sudden surge of power and from the battle abruptly ending.

“Wait, my lord… what was-” Youm gets interjected

“So, did we pass your trial?” Rimuru asked

“Yes… you absolutely did pass the trial.” Albis seemed somewhat concerned at announcing that, given the fact she saw two of her fellow subordinates getting absolutely railed was a given on why she’d be nervous.

“We were just being tested?!” Youm asked, Rimuru shook his head in agreement

Youm still was looking at Rimuru, he felt like he was somehow closer to him than usual but he wasn’t sure how. That power spike must be the reasoning, it had to be. While Youm was puzzling the thought…

“See that fellas! They are strong, bold people! They are worthy…” Suhpia seemed to be catching her breath, “...worthy as being our allies! To view them negatively is to sully our Lord Carrion’s name! UNDERSTOOD?!” Suphia seemed to command her people with these bold words, they all seemed to agree with what she had stated.

“Honestly, it is quite rare for a human to be able to hold against a beastman… I’m honestly surprised how well you fought.” Grucius held out his hand, Youm proceeded to reciprocate and shake Grucius hand. The two seemed to have developed a level of respect towards one another as a result.

“Honestly, thankfully we passed. Isn’t that right Shion!” Rimuru seemed to await a response, yet…

“Shion?” Rimuru asked again

“Y-yes, Great Rimuru but… what do I do with this?” Shion was holding a massive ball of energy that was absurdly massive. The area it could compare with was the size of a large trailer, the fact no one noticed it until now was absurdly astonishing.

Everyone immediately began to panic as Shion was unable to hold back that attack, it was at her limit and she wasn’t able to hold it back for much longer.

“Dammit Shion, you’re just as hopeless as ever!” Rimuru transformed into his human form and rushed to be in front of Shion, “Shion, fire it!”

“WH-WHAT? BU-BUT-” Shion panicked initially

“Trust me, I’ll be fine!” Rimuru guaranteed, Shion obliged the request and proceeded to fire it.

The massive ball of energy rolled directly towards Rimuru at incredible speed, “GLUTTONOUS!” Slowly a black swirl appeared out of Rimuru’s hand as it seemed to reach out and cover the entirety of the ball of energy. Soon enough, the black void covered the entire ball as it collapsed in on itself and proceeded to vanish into the palm of Rimuru’s hand.

“There we go!” Rimuru exclaimed, much to an extremely shocked audience.

“I can see why Lord Carrion has taken a liking towards you.” Albis said casually

The two Beastketeers, Albis, and Suphia, looked on at Rimuru and seemed highly impressed. Carrion did insinuate not to cause any problems with them since Lord Carrion had punished Phobio severely for messing with them, he had a reason to not underestimate them! They had simply overpowered them to a severe degree and it is evident to them that their leader is quite strong. Maybe they are just as strong as their Lord Carrion.

“Welcome to Tempest!” Rimuru stated as he began to guide the representatives into Tempest, it was about time to properly introduce them.

-=====-

Some Time Later

The Reception Hall that was recently constructed had thrown a welcoming banquet for the representatives. Many of the individuals were interacting with one another with many of the luxuries found in Tempest.

Albis was busy drinking entire barrels worth of Wine and Brandy. Suphia was busy with her tiger form, drinking just as much as Albis. Rimuru was minorly concerned since all the alcohol they had produced was immediately being gobbled up like it was nothing.

Rimuru felt pleased that they could trust him but he was distressed since that was all their good alcohol…

“Can you not make more?” Albis wondered

“Ah, don’t mind me! But no, we are relying on the forest for fruits. We don’t have much when it comes to farming… Alcohol is a luxury item for us so we have yet to release it to the masses.” Rimuru mentioned, Albis immediately seized on the idea

“Ah, in that case, I have an idea! Why not ship fruit from Eurazania!” Albis suggested, Rimuru was immediately happy with the idea but immediately recognized what they desired in return.

“Ah… I see, how much?” Rimuru asked

“HAHA, don’t sweat the details! I just want some good alcohol after all!” Suphia mentioned, as she began to chug down more alcohol.

Hmmm…

<Do you want me to negotiate with them?>

Can you?

Just to be on the safe side, go get a Koby.

Rimuru proceeded to summon a ‘Body Double’ of himself which Shizu took control of, Shizu immediately leave the room while Albis and Suphia looked on with somewhat confusion.

“What was that?” Albis asked, they seemed somewhat confused by what Rimuru had just done.

“Oh, that was my ‘Body Double’. I tend to summon it since I can order it to do some tasks while I’m busy, such as right now. I told it to go get one of our merchants since I don’t have a good grasp about market prices.” Rimuru stated

“Haha! That sounds awfully convenient for you!” Suphia seemed to chuckle but envy Rimuru at the exact same time.

“Yeah, although it does take up quite a lot of my magicules to make one. As long as the ‘Body Double’ isn’t destroyed, I can just get those magicules back.” Rimuru explained, much to the interest of Albis and Suphia.

Soon enough, Shizu had come back with a merchant named ‘Koby’. Koby was mildly confused, he quickly went into pure panic mode after seeing Albis and Suphia.

“G-great Rimuru, how.. may I be of service?!” Koby seemed very terrified

<You can leave me alone with Koby, we’ll handle this for now.>

Gotcha, tell me if you need me back.

“I need you to help me with negotiations with these two, I’ll leave my ‘Body Double’ here to help you as well.” Rimuru said as he began to get up.

“Wh-what?” Before Koby could continue asking questions, Rimuru left the room.

“Don’t worry Koby, I’m still technically here” Shizu said

“O-oh, ok Great Rimuru.. I…uhh..” Koby seemed to be stuttering

“This is Koby, our merchant representative.” Shizu explained the position of Koby, Koby meanwhile was having a mild stroke because of panic,“Koby, we just need to negotiate the trade of goods between Eurazania and the Jura Tempest Federation. Particularly, we need to negotiate the trade of fruit products and possibly various other agricultural goods with Eurazania for our high quality alcohol and various other quality products that we produce.” Shizu seemed confident with her abilities, Koby was still mildly panicking

“G-great Rimuru! Us weaker races aren’t allowed in Eurazania-” Koby was cut off

“Hahahaha, don’t worry! We’ll make sure to inform Carrion and ensure your safety in Eurazania!” Albis grabbed another barrel and began to chug

“A-ah… ok” Koby seemed to calm down

“Alright, now for the goods and prices!” Shizu seemed somewhat excited

Now went an entire hour of Shizu with Koby negotiating with Albis and Suphia over the trade of several different products. The Jura Tempest Federation always dealt with agricultural issues as a result of being located in a forest that wasn’t suited to high amounts of agricultural production lest a massive portion of forest was chopped down and disposed of.

Fortunately, Rimuru was always worried about climate change and after Shizu went through Rimuru’s memories, she also became quite concerned about that as well. As a result, Rimuru was always one to ensure that the natural resources of his nation were used to their full extent. Not one inch wasted was one of his primary goals. This idea passed over to Geld as a result, where now if Geld worked, he would ensure that if he needed life to die, he would use it to the best of his ability and use up all he could with that life. That idea ended up going to the extreme where even if he stepped on a random plant and broke the stem, he would soon enough wrap up the stem and help the plant to grow or relocate the plant so it wasn’t in the middle of a construction zone. Rimuru’s fervent climate change ideas would resonate with the people of Tempest and many would make sure not to waste what they had as wasting felt like a sin in their eyes to the lord of their nation.

Back to agriculture, Shizu made compelling trade deals and offerings with Eurazania to ensure the trade of the various agricultural products. Many of these deals would ensure that whatever agricultural products they traded into Tempest would end up coming back towards them as high quality products such as the many treats, desserts, alcoholic beverages, and sweets that Tempest had been providing. Shizu would have Shuna go out to grab some of the delicacies of Tempest and have the Beastketeers examine and taste test the food. Albis and Suphia were hooked and truly wanted to keep eating these foods, although once again, the food crisis would prevent them from having even more. Shizu had suggested that with such trade, even Lord Carrion would be able to taste foods and have products like these.

Eventually, Shizu was able to gain a major concession out of them, the development of a road into Eurazania from Tempest through mutual cooperation in constructing it. Tempest was truly beginning to assert itself as a new power in the world.

Soon enough, the Balance of Power that had existed for centuries, was now beginning to unravel…

Chapter 36: The Birds and the Beasts

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The following day was filled with pure interest and curiosity. The representatives from Tempest were out and about exploring Tempest alongside Albis and Suphia, they planned to leave soon enough but were still quite curious about the happenings and everyday life in Tempest. The more the representatives looked around Tempest, the more intrigued they were. Many of the basics provided in Tempest were considered luxuries in Eurazania. Anything from heated water, proper sewage disposal, beautiful clothing, and proper housing were all of major interest to the representatives.

Shizu had been going off Rimuru’s memories and accounts of how his life functioned back home and replicated much of it. Shizu was quite jealous of how luxurious Rimuru lived but was able to understand the core concepts and mechanisms behind how each and every single item worked in Rimuru’s life. The only thing she never fully understood was how that computer thing worked. No matter how Shizu attempted to recreate the item she could never fully grasp how it worked until Rimuru explained that there were outside factors that influence how the computer would work such as a operating system and wifi but since there was no companies in this world, there was no internet cables, radio towers, or even major companies that revolved around technology, it obviously meant that making and using a computer was quite literally impossible.

<Oh come on…>

Well I can’t simply just make these since I don’t really know how…

<But->

No buts, I don’t know since I only had limited time on Earth, I don’t know how everything in my life worked…

<Fine…>

Although…

<Although?>

I mean… ‘Great Sage’ was essentially a computer for this world.

<Yeah but that… would that make me a computer then?>

Technically? I’m not sure how to answer that but a computer is emotionless but has infinite knowledge stored in it. Not unless I ask it for a specific question is when I would get specific results but-

What are you thinking about now?

<Ooh nuthin’, don’t worry about it!>

Now I’m worried about it…

Shizu, in Rimuru’s ‘Body Double’, proceeded to store the computer into the ‘Stomach’ to preserve what she had created. She’ll figure out how to make it work later, she was curious but excited for future possibilities.

Alright… well anyways, how are the representatives doing?

<They seem to be doing alright so far! They seemed just as curious and intrigued as they were on the first day. And…>

Shizu?

Is what?

Shizu immediately retracted and went back into Rimuru from the ‘Body Double’ which Rimuru proceeded to reabsorb.

<Go outside and check that location now.>

Got it

Rimuru quickly began to head out towards the location.

“Great Rimuru, where are you going?” Shion asked, she seemed confused.

“Get Shuna and Rigurd, we might have more guests.” Rimuru explained, Shion had quickly rushed to inform them.

Rimuru had quickly begun to rush outside where soon he got together with Shuna and Rigurd thanks to Shion quickly reporting that Rimuru needed them. They had rushed over to answer Rimuru’s call despite them having been busy with the representatives from Eurazania. Confusingly, Albis and Suphia came alongside them as well.

“Something felt familiar..” Albis said, much towards Rimuru’s confusion.

Do you think whoever just came is someone that these Beastketeers know?

<More than likely>

As Rimuru rushed over towards the location, he could feel a presence that was highly familiar…

<‘Magic Jamming’, a skill that was held by Charybdis, yet there are massive quantities of this exact same skill. With this many copies of ‘Magic Jamming’, it would make magical attacks impossible to launch or even occur.>

That’s… an issue, can we counter it?

<Possibly but we need to investigate the sources.>

As Rimuru reached the location, he saw multiple flying bird-like people hovering above. Albis immediately recognized the figures in the skies.

“Harpies? What are they doing here?!” Albis seemed slightly annoyed, Suphia was also annoyed as well

“Harpies? Who are these people?” Rimuru asked, Albis was about to answer yet…

“I am Claire, first half of the Twin Wings of Lady Frey. You should already know that though, detestable snake.” Claire said while glaring at Albis, Rimuru could immediately sense hostility between the Harpies and the Beastketeers.

“I am Luchia, the second half of the Twin Wings of Lady Frey. Hello again, rampaging kitten.” Luchia seemed to look down on the Beastketeers as well.

Rimuru was watching as the Twin Wings and Beastketeers were seemingly about to fight each other, the representatives of Eurazania meet eye to eye with the Harpies who had just recently arrived and Rimuru could immediately sense tensions between the two.

“OY, DO NOT GO FIGHTING IN TEMPEST!” Rimuru demanded, the Beastketeers stood down while the Harpies seemed to mock them.

“We were here on orders of Lady Frey to investigate some interesting Majin, you are clearly not them. Flightless beasts!” Claire said, pointing at Rimuru, directly aggravating Rimuru’s subordinates.

The Harpies all began laughing at them, Suphia attempted to jump up towards them but they immediately flew higher, causing Suphia to miss.

“Hah! The cat is trying to reach! She cannot simply reach our own level!” Luchia seemed to mock even further, causing Suphia to boil in rage.

Do they also want to fight?

<No… they are quite literally looking down at you.>

Oh… I get exactly what you mean.

Rimuru immediately began to grow his bat wings that he had utilized to battle Charybdis to fly up towards the Harpies. Rimuru proceeded to release a bit of his aura causing each of the Harpies to immediately begin to panic.

“My apologies! It seems I have misunderstood your position in this land.” Claire clammered around, Rimuru could immediately tell the situation at hand. The Harpies were arrogant since the only way enemies could hit the harpies were with ranged physical strikes. Physical ground fighters like in the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania were frowned upon while those with wings were respected. Since Rimuru could grow wings, he had gained a level of respect and since he had power in addition towards those wings had elevated the respect they had for Rimuru.

“Yeah well could you stop insulting my subordinates and the lycanthropes that are here?” Rimuru stared them down, causing every Harpy to feel a sense of terror flow directly down their back. Claire and Luchia seemed to hold their skies and resist the passive terror caused by Rimuru.

“You expect us to respect those wingless beasts?!” Claire seemed offended, yet another glare with the additional leakage of his aura from Rimuru progressively forced them down even further from their high and mighty status. Soon enough, Rimuru employed his own ‘Magic Jamming’ which caused sheer pandemonium with the Harpies.

“Are… how are you able to use ‘Magic Jamming’?!” Luchia was absolutely dumbfounded

“I obtained it before, now anyways, what was that about respect?” Rimuru had forced them to understand that they wouldn’t stand a chance. Moreover, they didn’t want to disappoint Lady Frey and disgust a potential ally.

“F-fine…” Claire submitted towards Rimuru’s demand, Luchia followed and so did the remainder of the Harpies.

<These people will be a problem, I have a suggestion however.>

A suggestion?

Who…. Oh no…

-=====-

A Couple Minutes Later

“MY NAME IS GABIRU! The great and loyal subordinate of the Great Rimuru! It is great to meet you!” Gabiru exclaimed, many of his supporters began to cheer and praise his mastery. Gabiru began to flex his brawn and as he went into a multitude of poses in front of the Harpies.

Souka immediately punched Gabiru in the chest, causing him to bend over in absolute pain. Souka had her wings out at the request of Rimuru after the information had been given to her about the situation.

“Sorry about my brother’s arrogance, I am Souka, one of Great Rimuru’s Loyal Subordinates. It is an honor to be acquainted with you.” Souka proceeded to glare over at Gabiru who was still attempting to deal with the pain of a sudden jab to the chest.

“Oh, no worries! It’s a pleasure to meet Rimuru’s subordinates! There are quite… a lot of winged males here…” Claire seemed off in some way.

“Indeed sister, there may be more than meets the eye here.” Luchia seemed to answer Claire, causing a bit of concern for Souka whose primary work involves intelligence gathering.

“Don’t worry my fine ladies! I, Gabiru, shall guide you through Tempest!” Gabiru said, once again, another round of applause for Gabiru! Souka seemed to stare at Gabiru which stopped him from showing off once more.

Rimuru’s ‘Body Double’ in winged form, Shizu arrived during this time, “Alright, I was slightly busy with the Beastketeers. Anyways, let me show you towards the Reception Hall! We have many luxuries although we may be low on supply as a result of the Eurazanian Representatives having been here first.” Shizu explained, much towards the annoyance of the Harpies towards the Lycanthropes.

“Boooo, you treat those muscle heads with courtesy than us?” Claire asked arrogantly, much to the agreement of the other Harpies.

<These bastards are really annoying…>

Tell me about it… now the representatives from Eurazania are in uproar… good luck handling the Envoy from Fulbrosia, I’ll still be making sure the Representatives from Eurazania stay out of trouble for now.

It is a given that Eurazania and Fulbrosia would always be in conflict against one another. Eurazania is a territory home to more than three hundred million individuals that is divided among two classes based on strength. Fulbrosia is only home to a million yet is somehow home to a domain that is larger than that of Eurazania. There was a significant power imbalance in the region that only maintains peace as a result of Frey and Carrion being on friendly relations with one another. While Eurazania is suffering from an over-extensive population, Fulbrosia suffers from an underwhelming population. Eurazania values strength and power, yet such strength is meaningless to those with wings. Fulbrosia are people who simply just live in high-altitude locations and barely suffer conflict as a result of their flight capabilities. If an enemy wishes to fight and show off their strength, they have to climb hard up the mountains that are the Harpies domain. Strength is meaningless in the face of Harpies unless such strength can fly, the only people having been capable of that are Demon Lords such as Carrion who can grow wings to negate the Harpies constant ‘Magic Jamming’, Dragons, Charybdis, and most importantly now, a little slime that is master of the Great Jura Forest and his army of Dragonewts.

A conflict of interest may arise soon…

Notes:

I've always found it strange how the Fulbrosia looked bigger than Eurazania on the map yet somehow Eurrazania had three hundred times the population of Fulbrosia.
In real world maps, these are common place since nations like Mongolia and Kazakhstan have relatively low populations for their massive size while nations like Bangladesh and many European Nations have extremely small sizes yet absurd populations. Although, the difference being is that there was vast differences in the locations of those nations from one another and had very distinct reasons for massive population differences.
Eurazania and Fulbrosia are literally right next to each other...
It dumbfounds me and not even the breeding patterns between the populations explain why there's such an absurd difference in population. Fulbrosia is primarily female dominated but its stated that they could breed by themselves if they wanted to, that isn't mentioned at all about Lycanthropes. Fulbrosia's mountain range on the map looks like it can take up 1/3 of Eurazania and yet somehow the population is weird as hell. I assume Fuse just didn't know much about countries when making the Light Novel... if anyone knows anything about this, please tell me in the comments because I got no idea...
(In addition, this is even worse when it comes to adding in Milim's Domain and comparing that to the two nations that border it. I cannot for the life of me figure out how these population numbers even work!)

Chapter 37: Everyone, Split Up!

Chapter Text

Shizu had shown the Harpies a good time in the Reception Hall, although major complications would constantly arise as soon as the Harpies came into contact with the Lycanthropes. Rimuru and Shizu worked in absolute cooperation to ensure both groups stayed as far away and in different sections of town.

When Rimuru showed the Lycanthropes around Kurobee’s Smithy, Shizu would be on the other side of Tempest showing the Harpies of the dining areas. Rimuru and Shizu worked hard to ensure that they didn’t come close and yet…

“Hehe, Hello slippery serpent!” Claire snarkily remarked, causing Albis' blood to boil in rage.

“Didn’t expect birds of a feather to cower together, you overgrown crows!” Albis shot back, causing Claire to burn up with rage. Rimuru quickly interjected before the two could fight in the middle of the city.

“LOOK YOU TWO, THIS IS NOT YOUR HOME COUNTRIES! THIS IS TEMPEST! IF YOU BOTH ARE GONNA FIGHT, DON'T INVOLVE US INTO IT!” Rimuru was visibly upset at both Albis and Claire. Shizu looked on and shook her head in disappointment, the Harpies were mildly confused watching the ‘Body Double’ just acting on its own while Rimuru was giving a disciplinary towards the two.

As Rimuru and Shizu head their opposite ways with their groups, Albis and Claire seemed even more infuriated against one another as a result.

-=====-

Rimuru’s Group

“Why are you guys so aggressive towards the Harpies?” Rimuru asked

“They are simply cowards! They hide on their mountains yet mock us for our inability to fly! Just because we can’t fly!” Albis was infuriated, the other Lycanthropes agreed.

“Well, you weren’t able to reach them were you?” Rimuru mentioned, causing much distress towards the Lycanthropes. Rimuru proceeded to not continue his point since he didn’t want to upset the Lycanthropes any further.

“Great Rimuru, it may be too hard to keep them calm with one another here. It may be in our interest to make them more kind to one another.” Shuna explained, Rimuru agreed but he had no idea how to.

Shizu-

<Not right now, quite busy…>

Rimuru thought to himself for a bit, he had no idea how to make them suddenly not hate each other. He ultimately couldn’t come up with anything, no matter what he thought up, it wouldn’t amount to much. If he were to fix the problem, he’d need the assistance of the two Demon Lords and he wasn’t just about to meddle with the politics and diplomacy of Demon Lords that were actively trying to negotiate with him.

Rimuru feared that interfering in a way like this could provoke unwanted conflict that would end up aiming hatred from each other towards Rimuru and the Jura Tempest Federation instead. It’s better to have two allies that hate each other rather than have two friends who specifically hate you. He needed more negotiating power and figured that he would just need to figure this out later on where the two sides would actively meet up with Rimuru in person rather than using others as a medium of negotiation.

-=====-

Shizu’s Group

“Well, my ladies, where should we head off towards now!” Gabiru asked in a knightly manner, although it came off as more cocky.

“Gabiru, I’ll handle it from here. You stay quiet for now.” Shizu said while looking disappointed. Souka seemed pleased by the attitude of Rimuru here. Rimuru would never be so blunt with something like this and usually show kindness in his statements.

“A-ah, my apologies Great Rimuru. I just-” Shizu gave Gabiru a death glare that sent a shiver down his spine

“I said ‘Stay quiet’! Don’t make me repeat myself Gabiru!” Shizu stared him down again, and as a result, Gabiru promptly gave up.

“Hmp, I don’t suppose you do this sort of punishment for your wingless beasts!” Claire seemed to mock those such as Shuna and Shion who just didn’t have the wings to back up their high status in the nation.

“This is how we function, lest you want to go back to Lady Frey and explain why you pissed off an entire nation…?” Shizu seemed to strike where it hurt the most. The Twin Wings feared the most to anger their mother and their lord. They didn’t want to cause a complication such as what Frey had given instructions for. Frey had ordered them to make sure to establish friendly relations, not create an enemy out of someone who could fly up and obliterate them at any point.

“We’re so-sorry!” Luchia apologized as if it were for both her and her sister's actions, “We are just used to a different kind of culture… we can’t exactly understand why you would value those who are wingless over those who possess the power of flight.”

“Simple, because everyone here fills in a necessary role. Gabiru here helps with cultivation of crops while Souka helps with intelligence. They aren’t specialists in their roles since no one else can farm and communicate like how the Dryads do and there’s no one else capable of managing intelligence as our network master does so.” Shizu seemed to start going into detail without exactly exposing way too much about the systems of the Jura Tempest Federation, it was a way of words that didn’t expose any underlying secrets yet still conveyed a powerful message, “It wasn’t bright to exclude people from society simply for their physical prowess or ability to fly. It was important to figure out where in society these people fit into and how they could contribute to society. Each person played a role, letting them starve because they weren’t able to even enter that role is just a waste of effort to even raise that person to begin with. Such a system leaves holes that are filled with those who lust for wealth and fame rather than actually doing what’s needed. You don’t know what kinds of underlings exist and serve Frey for their own nefarious benefits after all.” The idea that there could be a traitor in Fulbrosia sent a shock throughout the Harpies, yet Shizu continued the guide as if nothing had happened. They were now simply forced to live with that idea in mind.

“Now here we-~~[Sudden Mental Stop]~~-ah, my apologies, now here we have the City Center, this is where the majority of our population goes through on a frequent basis. It’s a large open area with a fountain in the middle. It’s mostly here for stylistic purposes although on occasion some people have tried to drink from it.” Shizu casually stated, the Harpies were somewhat confused on why Rimuru had just randomly paused in the middle of his sentence. Little did they know that Shizu just suddenly had a brief moment with Rimuru.

“Anyways, I feel like there’s something important we have yet to discuss.” Shizu seemed to want to get into some juicy stuff

“Oh, what is it?” Claire asked

“Simple, trade!” Shizu casually blurted out, the Harpies were a bit shocked at this request.

“Trade?! I mean-” Luchia got cut off

“Do you not actively trade with any other nations?” Shizu asked, the Harpies hesitated.

“No… we don’t. Our best trading partner is unfortunately those damned wingless beasts of Eurazania.” Claire explained

“Why Eurazania?? Aren't there other nations that are better suited towards trade with your people?” Shizu asked, all of the Harpies shook their heads in disagreement.

“Demon Lords aren’t exactly suited to trading with humans, Lady Frey isn’t exactly on the nicest of terms with the Sorcerous Sarion Dynasty, and we have to travel through either the Jura Forest to attempt to trade with Jistarv since we’d rather go around Eurazania than deal with the hassle of Eurazanian citizens attempting to pelt us with rocks.” Luchia explained, much to Shizu’s interest.

“Well, we can be a trading partner then! Since our nation makes all sorts of luxury goods! We could trade those luxury goods over towards you in exchange for raw goods that you can give to us. Is there anything in particular that you all produce?” Shizu asked, the Harpies began to ponder until…

“Ah, we do produce a large amount of precious metals and jewels! The region we occupy is rich in those kinds of resources.” Luchia explained, Shizu immediately saw the profit. The Harpies would possibly underestimate the value of gold since their location was too far away to trade with any other significant power. They would possibly have large amounts of precious metals like Gold and Silver stored up that couldn’t be normally produced in Tempest. Such products could then be resold towards the Armed Nation of Dwargon for increased profits!

Shizu’s eyes began to sparkle from the possible massive influx of cash but they needed some sort of catalyst like…

“Ah, I nearly forgot! Would you all like to come to Shuna’s Workshop?” Shizu asked, the Harpies were confused, although they disrespected that individual, maybe they might have something.

The Harpies followed along towards the shop to find different varieties of clothing, furniture, and bedding that was being produced by the Dwarves and Hobgoblins working within.

All it took was for one touch of the silky smooth pillow to immediately draw them in.

Chapter 38: Report, Report

Chapter Text

Eventually, Albis and Suphia return back towards Eurazania while leaving behind some of the representatives to learn from Tempest. Claire and Luchia eventually made their way back home as well after a couple of days staying at Tempest, although like Eurazania, they left behind a number of their people behind as well since many had gotten interested in the luxuries provided by Tempest, especially the clothing, furniture, and bedding that Tempest produced.

Rimuru and Shizu take a sigh of relief as Shizu finally returned back to Rimuru. Both had been exhausted since that was the longest Shizu had gone outside of Rimuru’s body. Little did either know how much political crisis and diplomatic wars they had triggered outside of Tempest.

-=====-

Eurazania

Albis and Suphia had returned from the trip back from the Jura Tempest Federation.

“Lord Carrion, I bring news from our investigation of Tempest.” Albis bowed before Carrion

“What have you learned from Tempest?” Carrion seemed to wonder what was going on, Albis would never be like this usually unless something major was uncovered

“I would first like to mention that Tempest has many luxuries that Eurazania didn’t, their alcohol was high quality yet they lacked the food needed to produce as much as they could. In addition, the technology they displayed was incredible. Many of the residential areas had easy access towards fresh water and the majority of the population was fully clothed. There were only a select few we had seen with little clothing but that was out of their own free will rather than a folly of their nation.” Albis gave a run down of what she’d personally seen, Carrion was impressed

“Now, Albis, what’s the bad news? You are acting off..” Carrion asked, Albis flinched

“Y-you see, Fulbrosia had eyes on Tempest as well. It was a day into investigating Tempest that we had encountered an envoy coming from Fulbrosia. It was led by the Twin Wings along with many of their kinds in addition.” Albis explained

“They were absolute jerks! They immediately mocked us and tried to mock Tempest until their Lord flew up and intimidated them!” Suphia spurted out

“Hmph, so Frey had interest along with Milim. I’m not surprised… I guess we’ll need to talk with those two once again about Tempest.” Carrion proceeded to get up, he planned to go see Milim and Frey soon, maybe even Clayman. No other Demon Lords are currently involved in this situation after all, this new nation in the Great Jura Forest may be another Armed Nation of Dwargon.

Dwargon is absurdly rich and powerful, it grew to such a size and ended up dominating the global economy through its production of currency, technology, and economic prowess regardless of it having a poor geographic position in the globe. A nation like Falmuth was able to grow simply by being the mediator between it and Ingrasia. Now once again, a new nation has emerged in the Great Jura Forest that is displaying high levels of technological progression and development at a record speed. If this were to continue, this nation may as well overshadow even Dwargon in its position. Moreover, it is a nation that directly lies bordering four different Demon Lords yet its leader has enough power to be considered a Demon Lord itself.

Carrion had been pondering all of this, “Albis, were you able to establish anything?”

“Ah, Yes, we were able to establish a trade deal with Rimuru. In exchange for our agricultural products like our massive fruit supply, we would be traded back high quality foods in return such as their delicacies and alcohol. In the future, we may be able to establish a trade deal about their technology as well.” Albis explained, Carrion was pleased that they accomplished their mission.

“Some of our representatives stayed behind to learn more about Tempest.” Albis added, Carrion understood and allowed Albis to finish her report.

“Alright, well, I need you to watch over. I have some business to attend to.” Carrion said while getting up from his throne room.

“Understood Lord Carrion!” Albis prepared to take over for her Lord, if he suddenly decided to rush out, it must be important or related to the information she had just gathered.

-=====-

Fulbrosia

“Mother Frey, we have returned.” Claire said

“We have come with news of the Jura Tempest Federation.” Luchia said

“Fufu, come on. Tell me what you’ve gathered about their nation.” Frey seemed interested, she’d never seen such expressions from them.

“Mother Frey, I have good news about the travels. We had met with Rimuru and he displayed a level of leadership that is one to be feared. Some of the Harpies that were sent remained since the luxuries and foods they provided were amazing and the respect they gave us despite our attitudes were incredible.” Claire stated, although Frey’s ire quickly shifted

“Attitude?” Frey seemed annoyed

Luchia quickly interjected, “Ah! What my sister meant to say was that we encountered some complications while there. For starters, the Lycanthropes beat us towards meeting with Rimuru. It seemed they had exhausted a far greater degree of their time and effort to ensure that the Lycanthropes felt at peace, than us since they had been there first.” Both sisters were sweating profusely but Frey remained calm about the situation.

As Frey was pondering this, a sudden massive aura began slowly coming closer.

Claire immediately felt it, “Is that-” Both sisters suddenly were pushed back as the door behind them was suddenly blown off its hinges.

“HEY FREY!” Milim entered nonchalantly, although she seemed concerned about something

“Hello again, Milim.” Frey wanted to run her out since Milim had just blown apart her door but she relented.

“That Clayman is definitely doing something suspicious!” Milim stated, catching Frey off guard.

“Hm. What makes you say that?” Frey wondered

“I saw one of his subordinates wandering around Tempest. They just seemed to be spying on him! I knew I recognized them since I’ve been over at Clayman’s place sometimes before! I never expected to see one of his subordinates just to be living in Tempest like that!” Milim stated, Frey immediately found that oddly suspicious.

“Claire, Luchia, did any of you two sense anything over there?” Frey asked, both of them shook their heads suggesting that they didn’t notice anything.

“Oh, you sent them over to Tempest as well?” Milim asked

“Yes, some of my subordinates decided to stay over there as well.” Frey stated

“It seemed like that before we left, some of the Lycanthropes were also staying behind.” Claire added

“Fufu? That’s interesting, so even the Lycanthropes found it accommodating.” Frey seemed intrigued at this point, Milim was somewhat jealous.

“I shouldn’t have left…” Milim’s cheeks began to inflate, she seemed to miss her new home.

“Well, Milim, what were you saying about Clayman?” Frey wanted to know more.

Milim quickly attempted to get back on point, “Ah well.. Let’s see… Clayman… subordinate… Oh yeah! I had seen one of his subordinates living and spying on us while in Tempest. I could just tell they were watching me with the Crystal Ball we used to watch the Orc Lord before Gelmud got killed. Clayman usually wouldn’t let one of his strong subordinates just live somewhere else unless they wanted to spy right?” Milim asked, Frey seemed oddly confused.

“Which subordinate are you suggesting?” Frey asked

“Uhhh let’s see… it was definitely a Majin with green hair…” Milim replied, immediately Frey could tell who it was.

“That would be one of his five fingers… Mjurran… what would someone of her status be prolonging their stay in Tempest other than to…” Frey immediately sensed the worst intentions from Clayman.

Clayman was one to scheme but recently his schemes were getting out of hand that Guy might eventually interject to just murder him.

“I know right! I feel like he might do something bad to my bestie!” Milim seemed somewhat panicked.

“Bestie?” Frey asked

“Oh, Rimuru became my Bestie!” Milim proudly declared as she pulls out her two new weapons

“You didn’t just scare him into subordination right?” Frey pondered

“No. Actually I asked if he wanted to be a Demon Lord and he rejected it!” Milim added, Frey’s calm demeanor suddenly shifted.

“Rejected… being a Demon Lord?” Frey seemed shocked

“WHAHAHA, here’s the interesting part! We fought for a little bit earlier and he was able to keep up for an hour against me! Sure I was holding back a lot but he was stayin’ alive!” Milim continued to chuckle while Frey was left dumbfounded, no one in their right mind would even fight Milim. Even more so, it was in no one’s ability to fight Milim for an hour and live…

“You sure you didn’t just subjugate him?” Frey asked again

“No, he was honestly upset at times whenever I accidentally did some damage to his city! He didn’t even let me fight Charybdis…” Milim said, Frey immediately remembered a detail…

“Charybdis… Clayman wanted a favor from me in exchange for having you fight Charybdis.” Frey casually said, immediately catching Milim’s attention.

“SO HE DID HAVE SOME PLAN!” Milim seemed somewhat upset, upset enough to possibly blow Fulbrosia off the face of the world.

“Milim, calm down. Here, we just need to think about this situation for a bit. What’s his goal here…” Frey and Milim began to ponder, soon enough, one of Frey’s subordinates came rushing in

“Lady Frey! Lord Carrion wishes to speak with you about Tempest!” Her subordinate exclaimed

“Hmph, should’ve expected that Musclehead would pop in after hearing that report. Bring him in.” Frey demanded

Soon enough, in came Lord Carrion, and this conversation was about to get far more interesting…

Chapter 39: Conversation Among Demon Lords

Chapter Text

“I’m assuming you came because of what your representatives told you right?” Frey asked

“Haha, of course they’d tell me. You send those subordinates of yours on purpose to mess with mine?” Carrion asked

“Fufu, you’d think I’d do something so petty?” Frey seemed to stare, Carrion could tell that she was playing around.

“Just a coincidence then, say what’s Milim doing here?” Carrion stared while Milim was stretching.

“Whahaha! Just telling Frey about my new Bestie!” Milim said with a giant smile on her face

“Ah, that slime right?” Carrion proceeded to laugh afterwards.

“Wait… slime?” Frey was a bit puzzled

“Oh, you're telling me your subordinates didn’t notice?” Carrion asked, Frey looked back at Claire and Luchia.

“That… would explain why so much of the town was slime themed…” Luchia could immediately tell a folly in their investigation.

“That bluish-silver haired Majin… is a slime?” Frey asked, Milim and Carrion both shook their heads in agreement.

“Huh… maybe I shouldn’t predate on slimes so much here in Fulbrosia, didn’t know they could grow that powerful… actually maybe I should predate on them more if they can become that powerful…” Frey seemed to ponder what they should do about their hunting of slimes.

“Too late to hunt them, else you might anger the Slime Lord!” Carrion laughed, he proceeded to rethink about the hunting of slimes in his own territory.

The room fell silent, they’ve all eaten his kind before and slimes were delicious afterall… yet those stories of the Delicacies of Tempest, were those made just so people would eat those instead of slimes…

“Well… anyways, what kind of stance have you taken with Tempest?” Carrion asked Frey

“I believe we may have taken the same route of diplomacy… haven’t we?” Frey seemed to suggest that whatever Carrion had done, she’d done as well.

“You’re already trading with him! Haha!” Carrion began to laugh, Frey grabbed a cup of tea and proceeded to stare at Claire and Luchia.

“Did you?” Frey glared at Claire and Luchia who froze in fear

“U-uh… well… mother… we..yes… yes we did…” Claire barely uttered it while Luchia stayed completely silent

“Hm, good.” Frey said, immediately calming the two down who had thought they had made a massive mistake.

“Did they offer to build a road too?” Carrion asked

“Well?” Frey seemed to await a response from Claire and Luchia

“Ah, they did mention that but proceeded to joke about it since it didn’t matter because we could fly.” Luchia explained, Claire nodded in agreement

“That slime really is a friendly guy huh?” Carrion was glad to tell that Rimuru was just trying to open up diplomatic channels with everyone nearby.

“Yeah! He is my bestie after all!” Milim declared

“Hahahahaha, you really care for that slime. If that little thing wanted to become a Demon Lord then he’d have my support!” Carrion laughed even more, although in reality, he just didn’t want to be on the bad side of Rimuru since he watched Rimuru obliterate Charybdis.

“Same here, although Milim here did say that he kept up against her for an hour.” Frey casually sipped her tea while Carrion seemed somewhat impressed.

“Anyone able to keep battling Milim for an hour is more than capable of being a Demon Lord.” Carrion laughed, Milim proceeded to smile.

“He even picked up a thing or two from me! Literally!” Milim said while getting some tea for herself

“Wait… what do you mean?” Frey asked

“Oh… uhh.. I swore to tell no one anything about his skills.” Milim stated, immediately drawing attention from Carrion and Frey

“What did you learn Milim?” Frey asked while glaring at her, Milim didn’t budge

“I’m not saying anything.” Milim stated, Frey pressed the issue.

“You atleast have to tell us something about it” Carrion seemed to demand it

“Look, all I can say really is that he seemed to be able to gradually absorb strength from those around him. I promised to him I would say nothing about his skills and I plan to keep that promise!” Milim stated, Frey and Carrion decided to press a different part of her information

“Do you know what part of your strength he took from you?” Frey asked, she seemed rather concerned

“It’s not like he took my power, I think… I don’t feel any weaker so I think he just copied me?” Milim said, causing even more confusion

“That’s definitely a Unique Skill, I’ve never heard of anyone able to just casually copy a power from someone else.” Carrion stated, he seemed worried that perhaps sending the representatives meant that Rimuru may have taken power from each of them.

“It wasn’t like it was on purpose! He just randomly took something without knowing and got a massive headache from it!” Milim stated, she seemed upset

“What…?” Frey suddenly put down her tea, “He just randomly took it?!”

“Yeah… his aura afterwards went crazy and suddenly he just stopped exerting after. He seemed worried!” Milim started chugging her own tea, although she didn’t like the flavor as much as the tea in Tempest.

“Whatever he took from you had to have been massive…” Frey mentioned

“No no, I don’t think so? After all, his aura just kinda felt kinda like Veldora’s but more dumbed down ya know?” Milim started drinking a bit more of her tea.

“Wait… are you suggesting?-” Frey suddenly realized something, Carrion seemed to realize it as well.

“Suggesting what?” Milim asked, as she kept drinking more of her tea.

“Did that Slime… copy Veldora?!?” Carrion was now just up and terrified at this point, he knew the slime had obliterated Charybdis but…

“No wait.. That slime used Black Lightning to destroy Charybdis right?” Carrion mentioned catching Frey’s attention while somewhat intriguing Milim.

“We traded… the threat of Charybdis… in exchange for a slime with the power of Veldora… that is ever growing in power… that now has replicated part of Milim’s power at the same time.” Frey was just up and terrified at the thought.

“I mean… as long as no one pokes the bear, we should be fine. So far that slime seems peaceful as long as no one goes into its domain.” Carrion said, as he nervously began to get himself his own tea.

“Then you should tell that to Clayman!” Milim stated angrily, Carrion ended up accidentally shattering the cup he had just got.

“W-what?” Carrion was now in horror.

“Oh yeah, Milim told me that Clayman’s Subordinate is planning something in Tempest and we don’t know what.” Frey began to sip her tea while Carrion began to sweat profusely, “By the way, you owe me a new cup.”

-=====-

Times Of The Past

Veldora’s rampage was known far and wide, it had only been recently that Veldora had obliterated the Eastern Empires army without effort. Fires flared and bloomed across the Great Jura Forest. Massive swathes of trees were obliterated with smoke and flares that could be seen thousands of meters away. Carrion had been near the front where all of this had happened, only to watch as Veldora continued his rampage across the lands. He could only see terror, despite his soldiers eagerness to fight, his action to retreat would ensure that Eurazania would live on. It would be known as one of the only times he’d retreat from an unwinnable fight, the terror and horror of watching hundreds of Eastern Empire soldiers melt alive just by being near Veldora was too much for him to bear witness towards.Corpses laid strung across the battlefield as nothing was left.

The Eastern Empire had aimed to kill and expand through taking Ruberious as a primary target, their secondary target only being Dwargon, Fulbrosia, and Eurazania to ensure the Demon Lords wouldn’t obtain a power base anywhere close towards the East. In essence, dismantling their enemies power base while establishing a line of puppet states that would ensure security for themself. The plan failed when a general decided to provoke that dragon, that dragon of terror…

Carrion couldn’t face it, yet he felt restrained. He knew fighting it was a lost effort, even trying for the sake of his own pride was meaningless in front of the Storm Dragon. He fled, although his soldiers yearned for battle, this battle meant nothing if they were casualties for nothing. The only reason they weren’t dead was because they were more capable than mere humans. Although some were lost, he knew he had to get more stronger than just be a weaker race. An identity of strength grew within them, they needed to get stronger so that a threat such as Veldora couldn’t terrify them any longer. They had to be proud and fight on, lest another embarrassment like this occurred. He wouldn’t let that kind of terror reach his home… his country…

-=====-

Present

Carrion thought back to himself, he couldn’t let such a threat come close towards his country. Clayman’s recklessness will unleash the dragon. They established that treaty for a reason, and that treaty should have stayed.

“We need to do something about Clayman before we allow him to aggravate that dormant monster…” Carrion stated, Frey agreed while Milim looked on with some confusion.

“Right… we need to know his objectives but… it’s obvious that he won’t tell us anything…” Frey mentioned.

“Maybe he wants to put Rimuru as the Puppet Demon Lord instead?” Milim suggested, still hoping that Rimuru accepts becoming a Demon Lord.

Carrion and Frey suddenly realize an important detail. They are known as the Ten Great Demon Lords and have a rule that there would only be at maximum Ten Demon Lords in the Council. Who the hell would be replaced in the case they had a new Demon Lord?

Frey and Carrion looked at each other, they both had seemed to be on the good side of Clayman so who had he been targeting. It suddenly dawned on them, if Clayman was going to target anyone… it would be…

-=====-

Jistav

“Thank you for your report, Mjurran.” Clayman sat at his desk while staring at Mjurran who was bent over on the floor.

“Now, Mjurran, I need more information about this… Majin… this slime you say correct?” Clayman veered at her while smugly looking confident in his own brilliance.

“Y-yes, there seemed to be a group of humans close to him labeled ‘Champions’ that are very close to this Majin. I’m unsure of what role they play but-” Mjurran suddenly got silenced by Clayman.

“No need to tell further, just simply infiltrate the group. That is all, now head off.” Clayman glared at her, following her Lord’s command, she left the room to quickly make a move just so her life wouldn’t be subjected to its end.

Before she left however, “Oh, and make those close to you think you are working under Leon’s command. I can’t let myself be seen working behind the scenes… yes?” Clayman’s wicked look scared Mjurran intensely. Mjurran nodded as she exited the door.

Soon enough, a hidden Laplace appeared behind a nearby pillar.

“Ya know Clayman, I’m not entirely sure this plan of yours is going to work.” Laplace stated but Clayman proceeded to ignore his warnings.

“You just don’t simply understand the brilliance towards the greater goal Laplace, soon enough, you’ll see! Now, have you done your part?” Clayman seemed curious, Laplace obliged.

“Do we really want to sacrifice such a good pawn just to destroy Leon? Falmuth could be used for so much more-” Laplace soon earned the ire of Clayman.

“SILENCE, You’ll see Laplace! I’ll have my own men mixed with their army and have them collect the souls of the fallen, soon maybe enough souls would arise for all of us. Maybe enough souls for our Lord Kazalim! If all goes well, we may have enough souls for ourselves and have Leon dealing with that pesky Majin for us or vice versa! It’s a victory on both fronts!” Clayman laughed to himself while Laplace just looked on in absolute disappointment. Clayman used to be so much cooler and level headed, yet recently his plans have become both idiotic and extreme.

Laplace proceeded to leave without saying a word, he just hoped his friend would come back to his senses after these plans. Laplace doubts it though…

Chapter 40: How About Switching Things Up?

Chapter Text

Benimaru had only just recently returned from their trip to Eurazania and yet, Rimuru already had prepared to leave soon enough towards Dwargon. After he had received the report from Benimaru about the agriculture and lifestyle of Eurazania, he prepared himself for the trip to Dwargon.

Once day had come, Rimuru had just left off in a carriage towards Dwargon. With him was Shuna, Shion, Kaijin, the Dwarf Brothers, the Goblin Riders, and Ranga leading the way. Rimuru had been sitting next to Shion and Shuna in the carriage. Vesta had informed Rimuru that Gazel had been expecting Rimuru to arrive soon. Although Vesta couldn’t show himself to Gazel, Rimuru felt it was obligated to have a meeting with Gazel as a meeting between two leaders. There was quite a lot to talk about but this carriage ride may take some time before he could arrive.

Rimuru pondered a way to pass the time while on the carriage ride over, this ride may take some days before they arrived at their destination. How to pass the time…

Shizu, so uhh…

Shizu?

Hello?

<AH uh right! Hey Rimuru!>

Oy, what are you doing?

<Nothing, I’ve been just reviewing your skills!>

You’re doing more than that aren’t you…

<No, what makes you say that? Do you know how much work goes into looking over and refining your skills?!>

My skills don’t feel that much different… not to mention you haven’t told jack about what you have refined yet!

<...>

What have you been up to Shizu…

<Playing Shogi and some other Board Games with Veldora, Ifrit, and Geld.

Oh… wait… Ifrit and Geld? Hold on, isn’t Ifrit that spirit that possessed you? Moreover, how are you playing with Geld?!

<First, I’m still on horrible terms with Ifrit but… he seems to be getting more mature… surprisingly enough because of Veldora of all people. Second, the Geld I’m referring to is the Orc Disaster that we ate.>

HUH?!

<Here’s the thing, our body doesn’t have the ability to break down souls. Everyone and everything you ate as long as you ate it while it was still alive would still be alive in your Stomach. That included Veldora, Ifrit, and Geld who I refer to as the First. They are very much still alive here, which explains to me why I didn’t simply die when you ate me. Whatever happened after you ate me, it ended up merging me with Great Sage.>

Strange… the more you know I guess… still though, I’m bored as well and there’s not much I can do in this carriage!

<There has been something I’ve been wanting to try…>

What is that?

<Here, I wonder if you can swap positions with me and become the second consciousness instead for a bit.>

Wait, what?! Can that really work? I’m kinda scared, I don’t really want to try that.

<To be fair, you could quite easily force me out since your half of our being is more dominant than mine. If you ever want to reassume control, then you could just simply assert yourself.>

Hmm…

<What?>

Alright, here, let’s try, I wanna see if something like this can work.

Soon enough, on the outside, Rimuru’s body slightly shifted in a certain way. Although Shuna and Shion didn’t realize it, Rimuru had just changed in the most subtle way imaginable. Rimuru’s eyes shifted form their usual Golden Yellow into a Gray while Rimuru’s body adjusted seemingly growing slightly in the chest area while the hips seemingly widened just a minor bit.

<Oooo, it… it worked! It feels good controlling an actual body again!>

Shizu stretched in the carriage as if she were adjusting a bit.

“Ah, Great Rimuru, a bit tired?” Shuna asked, Shizu responded with a nod.

Shuna looked back outside but immediately realized something was up. She glanced back to notice something, were those… no… she must be seeing things… Maybe it was just the carriage ride that caused this! Surely her Great Rimuru didn’t just grow a chest that was bigger than hers out of nowhere! It was a small bump in his shirt, surely it was just him stretching his back in a certain way right?!

While Shuna was having a mental crisis determining if Rimuru was a boy or a girl, Shizu had been adjusting herself in Rimuru’s body. Meanwhile, Rimuru felt that he was literally nothing but just a floating void, he felt that he could go anywhere he wanted yet was confined. He felt freed yet locked away, he felt no sound, taste, touch, nothing. Yet thankfully Magic Sense still allowed him to feel to some degree, in fact, it felt far greater than what he would usually feel than if he were just in his slime body. He could see vast distances away and ‘feel’. Yet, he couldn’t really move anywhere.

<This feels great but… god it’s cramped in here!>

Now you know how it feels… speaking of… this is.. weird…

<Tell me about it>

So… wait a minute… How do you talk to Veldora through here?

<Oh, you just simply access the ‘Stomach’ sub-skill through the Unique Skill ‘Gluttonous’ and deploy and you should simply be able to phase into the ‘Stomach’ sub-skill with ease. You just need to find the right part of the soul.>

Right part of the soul? And where would that exactly be?

<Not sure how to give you instructions on how to move through your own body…>

Mmmmm…

Rimuru began to glide around his body, soon enough, he began to feel an ever growing aura… was that his essence?

As Rimuru’s being bumped into the essence, he soon found that he was dragged into somewhere that he had no idea of what, who, where, and how. He simply was just transported…

-=====-

Inside Rimuru’s Stomach

A large bright light emitted from the top of the void, as soon a figure began to flow downwards.

“KUAHAHAHA, COME BACK SHIZU?! LET US CONTINUE OUR MATCH OF Shogi and…” Veldora quickly noticed that it wasn’t Shizu, it wasn’t her usual appearance of pure Blackened hair but that of a Bluish-Silver. It landed nearby in a dazed state…

“Hm?” Ifirt seemed to wonder about the being that just came in, it looked like Shizu but it clearly wasn’t or perhaps an evolved form of Shizu?

Geld the First was so busy messing around with the many stored materials in Rimuru’s ‘Stomach’ that he didn’t notice the arrival in the void was different.

“Ugh.. that felt weird-” Rimuru looked up to notice a massive dragon staring him down, he quickly froze in fear until he suddenly realized who that was.

“VELDORA HEY!” Rimuru called out, Veldora seemed astonished.

“YOU ACTUALLY CAME TO VISIT?!” Veldora was shocked and quickly rushed out of his way to decorate himself with whatever was nearby.

“Uhhh, oy, Veldora! Don’t mess with my ‘Stomach’ like this!” Rimuru quickly rushed over to Veldora who had quickly been rushing around Rimuru’s stomach.

Ifrit just watched in shock while Geld the first came over to watch the commotion.

“Hmph, why’s Shizu looking like that?” Geld the First asked Ifrit who was just dumbfounded

“That’s Rimuru…” Ifirt answered, causing Geld the First to suddenly be thrown into a shock as well.

“Rimuru! How are you even here to begin with?! I thought according to Shizu’s explanation that you would constantly need to run the body in order to ensure that nothing wrong would happen!” Veldora seemed concerned, Rimuru quickly calmed him down.

“Look, Veldora, Shizu is currently running my body for me and honestly… this feels weird even more than how my Slime Body would feel… my entire body is just made of magic and it doesn’t seem to have any sort of structure or anything…” Rimuru mentioned

“Ah, that’s because it’s pure magicules rather than actual cells! It’s not physical but a spiritual state that has some ways to get used to!” Veldora began to laugh, Rimuru found even more strange things were weird.

For starters, it seemed like he could suddenly understand everything so much better and so much faster than usual as if his perception was dialed up to a million by default. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t seem to adjust the body and instead it began to act on its own accord regardless of what Rimuru wanted. He looked around and suddenly he was able to understand every single miniscule detail in everything he looked at, even when he looked at Veldora, he could see something in him. What the hell was he looking at? Was that his soul? An Ultimate Skill? The hell was a ‘Faust, Lord of Investigation’? Suddenly, Rimuru realized what had been going on.

Since Shizu was in Rimuru’s body, Rimuru had assumed Shizu’s place in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’. That must mean…

<God, this feels weird getting back used to…>

How much effort were you putting in to looking at Veldora’s skills?! I can see so much!

<WOAH WAIT DON’T MESS WITH ANY OF THAT! I’M STILL RESEARCHING HIM!>

So this is what it’s like… why does your eyes just automatically perceive everything?!

<’All of Creation’ is constantly turned on, so essentially I can understand everything in the world. Well… ‘Could’ as long as I was in you… this feels weird not being able to look at the trees and immediately tell what kind of tree and the material that would make up the tree… feels like I’m going to have a headache… wanna trade back?>

Nope, get used to it Shizu, I still wanna look around here… this is honestly really interesting!

<Wait… NO, I WANNA GO BACK!>

Nope, have fun!

Shizu sat still in the Carriage as it continued off towards Dwargon, Shizu felt uncomfortable… what the hell was she gonna do now!

In the meantime, Rimuru began to look around to see if he could start analyzing things like Shizu could and soon enough, he began looking at all the handy work that Shizu had been putting in such as staring through… endless amounts of information of the Ultimate Skill ‘Faust, Lord of Investigation’. The amount of detail that was put into this scan was incredible but it seemed like it only scratched the surface of what the skill had.

“Hold on, I’ll be back later Veldora, I wanna explore this body for a bit if you don’t mind.” Rimuru asked

“Wha-BUT” Veldora watched as Rimuru reascended above into the bright light

“In the manga you talked about, this is the term… ‘Getting rejected’, am I right?” Ifrit asked Veldora who had begun to cry and shake his head up and down.

As Rimuru entered the void filled entirely of his essence, he began to look around in pure astonishment. There was so much information everywhere that he couldn’t even begin to understand if he didn’t have ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’. The amount of skills that were stored in his essence were absurd. Many of these he could instantly recognize as being received through ‘Gluttonous’. Some of these were directly copied from others such as partial or full copies of the Unique Skills ‘Suppressor’, ‘Tyrant’, ‘Milim Eye’, ‘Milim Ear’, ‘Infinity Prison’, ‘Investigator’ although this one seems to have been halted because of ‘Faust, Lord of Investigation’, along with an absurd quantity of Extra Skills coming from everywhere from the Lycanthropes, Harpies, Gazel’s Soldiers, and so many more…

Rimuru was presented with infinite amounts of information and he couldn’t simply just look away, he had to know more about all of this.

Shizu was currently regretting taking control of Rimuru’s body, she wanted to go back.

How things have switched…

Chapter 41: Dwargon and the Gender Crisis

Chapter Text

<Rimuru, we’re nearly here at Dwargon, it’s about time we swapped back…>

<Rimuru…>

Shizu sat in the carriage that had finally begun arriving towards its destination. Shizu was bored out of her mind into oblivion, she’d been waiting to return back into ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ for a while now and yet Rimuru has yet to emerge. Moreover…

<RIMURU, YOU ARE JUST WASTING YOUR TIME PLAYING WITH VELDORA AREN’T YOU!?>

<ANSWER ME!>

MWUAHAHAHA, come on! This is honestly fun! I can’t believe you had this much to do in here! To think you’d be bored out of your mind!

<Look, you need to handle the negotiations since you’re his junior.>

Yeah I know, I just liked being here… so calm… so devoid of responsibility… it felt nice…

<Yeah yeah… I get it…>

Here, I’ll let you go back but…

<But?>

You could seriously do so much with the skills here, could you at least try something with these?

<Alright, I was still in the middle of scanning Veldora’s skills ya know…>

I can tell, there’s a lot to be known about his Ultimate Skill right?

<Yeah…>

Shizu and Rimuru swapped back with one another as Rimuru assumed back control over his body while Shizu retook her place in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’.

Rimuru’s body once again readjusted itself back towards Rimuru’s preferred form. Rimuru began to stretch as if it were instinctual. Certain body parts regressed back towards the previous state. Rimuru immediately took note of his body changes but decided not to think about it for now. He was, after all, nearing Dwargon.

Rimuru looked around the carriage and immediately noticed two things, how awkward Shuna was being and how the Dwarf Brothers were seemingly looking confused at themselves.

Rimuru decided it was probably best to put off this thought for now…

-=====-

The Gates of Dwargon

A gathering of people watched as the two carriages arrived at the front gate. As Rimuru exited his carriage with the others in tow. They received their authorization through from the guards who were accompanied by Dorf. Many of the public looked on in awe of the carriages and the magical beasts pulling them. More importantly, many looked on at the princess in tow as well. Unfortunately for Rimuru, one of them immediately recognized them from the stories of Youm… the monster princess…

“God… why…” Rimuru couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by the comment and the ensuing uproar that Rimuru was the Monster Princess they’ve heard about.

“Haha, it seems you are already quite known to the public, Lord Rimuru… or should I say Lady Rimuru?” Dorf chuckled while Rimuru at this point couldn’t even deny that title. As much as he was a man at heart, he had the look and appearance of a girl and didn’t even have the courtesy of behaving like a man with Shizu in the back of his mind at all times.

Was he turning into an actual chick?

Rimuru looked down to note that he felt that when Shizu was in control, his appearance switched to become more feminine since it adjusted itself.

Shizu

<Yeah, what’s up?>

When you took control over my body, did you also notice that the body seemed to change as well?

Wait, wait? You saying that it suddenly became you?!

<Yes, in fact, I’m pretty sure the body instantly adjusted to my original body at that age…>

Huh… strange…

<So, you started asking this since you started treating yourself like a girl right?>

W-what, no it’s just that-

<Monster Princess?>

Rimuru could feel Shizu smirking at him, he wasn’t sure how but he could feel it. If he could strangle her, he would… no he wouldn’t… he loved her too much to do something like that…

Actually…

Rimuru proceeded to force swap positions with Shizu, forcing Shizu back into Rimuru’s body while Rimuru took Shizu’s position in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’. Immediately, Rimuru’s body adjusted by itself while Rimuru assumed his bodiless form.

<What… HEY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!>

Have fun Monster Princess!

<WHAT?! NO YOU CAN’T JUST->

Shizu felt that she couldn’t communicate with Rimuru anymore, that bastard really just cut her out! Shizu looked around to see Dorf and the others around looking weirdly at Rimuru who had once again assumed a more feminine body. Those who were nearby could immediately notice the change but to others that were further away such as the crowd, they didn’t notice a change at all.

“Lord Rimuru?” Dorf looked on at her, Shuna was seemingly ever more confused while Shion looked puzzled as if it were her first time but odds are she didn’t notice this change in the carriage. The Dwarf Brothers looked at each other in even more confusion and none of them knew how to feel.

“Lord… Lady Rimuru?” Dorf asked a seemingly more embarrassed Shizu who was suddenly put on the spot.

“Look… just don’t look at me and don’t ask anymore questions…” Shizu stated in a completely different voice, immediately shocking those nearby. Rimuru’s voice just switched?! However, the Draven Brothers, Kaijin, and some of the Goblin Riders seemingly recognized that voice was familiar in a way… they just couldn't put their finger on what but didn’t seem to want to ask Rimuru who was seemingly having an identity crisis in front of their eyes.

Kaidou made his way to greet Kaijin and the other dwarves.

“Hey! Bro!” Kaidou went out of his way to greet his brother and on his return, “Glad to see you’re doing so well!”

“Kaidou! It’s been such a long time! I’ve been having a great time working for Rimuru! How have you been!” Kaijin greeted his brother.

“Not bad! I see everyone else is doing well! Say, where’s Rimuru? I have to give him a proper welcome.” Kaidou was happy, although all the Dwarves introduced him to the new and improved Rimuru, which was Shizu in control of Rimuru’s body.

“Eh?” Kaidou seemed confused.

“Please… don’t ask about…” Shizu asked, Kaidou agreed although he was just dumbfounded. Rimuru has definitely changed…

As Shizu and the others were guided in by Dorf and Kaidou, Shizu tried reaching Rimuru only to receive no response in return, it was absolute radio silence. But it was radio silence, meaning that someone was there!

<RIMURU, I SWEAR YOU’D BETTER TAKE CONTROL BACK RIGHT NOW OR ELSE->

Destroy my reputation? Hah! Good luck, I have no reputation!

Shizu was dumbfounded by his response before realizing an important detail: if she destroyed his reputation, she’d essentially self-destruct along with him. If Rimuru never resumed control, he’d just be an annoying tick in the back of her mind where the only way for absolute freedom would be death itself…

<You sly little devil…>

Huh?

Apparently Rimuru didn’t think that far, and Shizu immediately realized that he just wanted her to suffer the humiliation that she put him through…

<Nevermind…>

Shizu decided to make the most of this situation. Since this is right now diplomatic talks, she might as well push through her own diplomacy against Gazel with the best of her ability. She was harder and tougher on others in comparison to Rimuru, who was just a giant pushover who didn’t understand the power he had going for him. Shizu understood the power too well though, and she knew what kind of effects it would have. In fact, she knew that with the power, she could literally destroy Dwargon if she wanted too. She learned all too well from Leon and watching his actions that he used his own power to crush those in opposition to him with little effort, that he had obliterated a Demon Lord through his own sheer will and power. If Rimuru possessed a similar level or great power, then she’d have no problem with displaying her own might.

Shizu could recall times where her most prized students had essentially left her because the powers they displayed were far greater than the one she had. Degenerate pales in comparison to the Unique Skills that her students possess. She didn’t exactly know what kind of powers they possessed; they were powerful enough that they simply left her behind. Yuuki became a Grandmaster while Hinata rose the ranks and became the Leader of the “Ten Great Saints”. Meanwhile, the best she could do was have an internal power struggle with Ifrit because she never let him… take… control…

Shizu looked down at herself and realized that Rimuru was carefree enough to let her take control. Rimuru could trust in her enough, yet she was no better than Ifrit. Shizu could nearly shed a tear but yet, here she was. She was surrounded by friendly monsters who cared for her and she was well respected. She had been hopped into a position of trust because Rimuru could trust her actions were never going to be of ill intent. Yet, she could never trust Ifrit… maybe that’s why he had grown out of control… was this all because of her?

Shuna handled all of the conversations and spoke in Rimuru’s place while Shizu was busy collecting her thoughts..

Dorf eventually guided a silent Shizu, Shuna, and Shion towards their room as Dorf ran off to inform Gazel that Rimuru had arrived. Shizu promised to herself that she would never let another companion of hers suffer ever again, and she was going to make sure she kept that promise…

Soon enough…

“Lord Gazel wishes to speak with you… Lord...-” Dorf got cut off

“Don’t worry about if you refer to me as Lord or Lady, I am genderfluid so I personally couldn’t care less. My gender is based on how I feel others perceive me so if you see me as a girl, then go straight ahead with it.” Rimuru explained, Shuna and Shion seemed a bit shocked by Rimuru’s sudden attitude switch. Dorf nodded as he understood her message.

“Understood” Dorf now had to decide which gender to refer to Rimuru and decided that since some of the population acknowledged them as a girl, they shall be known as a girl in diplomatic talks.

“Alright, Lady Rimuru, if you may. Please head this way with me.” Dorf began to guide Shizu, Shuna, and Shion towards Gazel. Before entering the room, Dorf added that he wished to tell Gazel about the Genderfluid aspect of Rimuru ahead of the meeting. Shizu accepted, and Dorf went ahead to tell Gazel.

<Have fun being Genderfluid, Rimuru!>

Honestly… considering how everyone else treats me and how you always reject me from entering the Men’s Hot Spring, I’m fine with it.

<Wait… really?>

Shizu, I’ve been referred to as a guy and treated as a chick this entire time. You’ve seen me in a bunny outfit, against my will, with your body before!

<....fair point…>

Honestly, being labeled as Genderfluid fits quite well being a Slime and all, doesn’t it?

<I… hm>

Shizu thought about it for a moment and yeah that fits quite well, slimes are a fluid right? Moreover, the body doesn’t exactly have any sort of private parts so it fits quite perfectly.

Well either way, do you want me to handle the negotiations with Gazel or-

<Honestly, you continue my analysis of Veldora’s Ultimate Skill and keep him entertained. I’ll handle the negotiations since you are more of a pushover.>

Hey! Well… yeah…

Rimuru thought about it for a moment and he realized that he definitely was a pushover. The fact he recognized it just asserted how much of a pushover he could be...

<Hey, don’t worry about it!>

Fine, well, good luck! You know how to-

Soon enough, the large doors separating Shizu from Gazel began to open.

“Rimuru Tempest, Ruler of the Jura Tempest Federation, has arrived!” One of the guards announced as Gazel is seen sitting at his office.

Gazel looked mildly troubled initially and became rather more troubled after seeing the appearance. That slime really did just change genders…

As Shizu sat down in front of Gazel, the two seemed to lock eyes as Gazel seemed to try to gauge Shizu.

Ooohh, Gazel is trying to take a peek at our mind with ‘Tyrant’ but I blocked it out.

<Really?>

Yeah, it got blocked immediately since he was trying to look into a Skill rather than at your mind since he was trying to figure out my intentions since he didn’t know about you.

<That can be really handy, can’t it? God I wanna go back and check that out!>

Here, for now you check him out, I’ll finish up your scan on ‘Tyrant’

<Oh.. So you->

You left behind a lot of unfinished work scanning skills here…

<Yeah, it’s more complex than you->

Pretty fun not gonna lie!

<oh… ok?>

Gazel noticed that his Unique Skill ‘Tyrant’ failed miserably and proceeded to laugh.

“HAHAHA, I can’t believe you saw through my skill so easily!” Gazel stated, he knew that Rimuru was strong but he didn’t expect that Rimuru would see through his skill so quickly, he was currently facing a dilemma about how to feel about Rimuru. From what Dorf had said earlier, Rimuru suddenly changed and felt like a completely different person at the gate.

“So, Rimuru, I wanted to know about that power you used.” Gazel wanted to see if Rimuru would be truthful about his powers but since his ‘Tyrant’ was so easily canceled out, he couldn’t tell anything about Rimuru. He just had to trust what Rimuru stated…

“Simple, that was just a portion of my power. Although I don’t like to use it frequently since it garners too much attention.” Shizu stated, somewhat shocking Gazel.

It felt a little too blunt but yet, felt just about right.

“Now, I believe that wasn’t the entirety of the reason you wished to see me, is it not? There’s more to the conversation than just what I had displayed against Charybdis?” Shizu struck a nerve with Gazel, who was slightly buckling.

“Ah, well, I wanted to check up on how you are holding out.” Gazel asked, Shizu could immediately tell his concern.

“Yes, well so far no major complications have arisen other than… let’s see… an encounter with a Catastrophic Class Demon Lord, Charybdis, and-”

“Hold on for a moment, you can’t just glance over that detail… a Catastrophic Class Demon Lord?” Gazel seemed absurdly concerned.

“Don’t worry, we befriended her so she isn’t likely to cause problems other than minor infrastructural damage.” Shizu then began to recount the minor damages she remembered listing when she was part of ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ including the total expenses and the significance of the damages.

Gazel just stood shocked at the moment but he wasn’t surprised Rimuru was already befriending Demon Lords. With that kind of power, being accepted as a Demon Lord would be comparable to child’s play for Rimuru.

“There was a bar sign that was also minorly damaged as well, speaking of bars, we brought some of our own liquor. It’s brewed from apple after we found a steady supplier and established our own trade network.” Shizu explained, as Shuna brought out the liquor, Each cup had its own rune that prevented poisoning that ensured the safety of the liquor.

Gazel took a drink as Shizu began to explain how they had ended up meeting Milim who was specifically looking for them, only to end up befriending them.

“This liquor you brought is quite good, so, which other nations were willing to recognize you?” Gazel asked

“Ah, there were recently two nations that have opened up relations with us, the Beast Kingdom and-” Shizu suddenly found herself interrupted.

“EURAZANIA?!” Gazel shouted, his two guards, Dorf and Vaughn, were immediately shocked as well. No one had been able to open relations with that rugged nation since all they had valued was strength over character! They could only respect strength so for them to recognize the Jura Tempest Federation was absolutely incredible!

“Wait a minute, what about the other?” Dorf asked, Gazel seemed curious as well.

“Oh, that would be the Harpy Kingdom-” Shizu once again got caught off guard

“FULBROSIA AS WELL?!” Gazel was once again dumbfounded and his guards were suspecting something was up with Rimuru.

“Rimuru, explain yourself… now…” Gazel wanted to know more and this piece of information was way too much. Eurazania was a nation that only prided itself on strength while Fulbrosia only respected talent. The fact that the Jura Tempest Federation was able to earn the recognition of both had immediately suggested that the Jura Tempest Federation had passed both inspections.

“For starters, with Eurazania, I saved one of his underlings so when I had the chance, I established diplomatic relations with them. With Fulbrosia, unsure about this but it may have to do with both Charybdis and the Orc Lord.” Shizu took a breather before beginning with the explanation, “It seemed like there had been four Demon Lords involved with the situation regarding the Orc Lord and his later transformation into the Orc Disaster. It was Milim, Carrion, Frey, and Clayman that all had their own interests with the creation of them as they saw it as a way to increase their own influence, while in Milim’s case, it was just for fun… But because I ended up interfering with the plan, I ended up gathering the attention of all four of them. The first was Milim and I already told you how that went. The second was Carrion who had wanted to explore the “Majin in the woods” and ended up stumbling into Tempest where I had ended up saving the Subordinate of his. The third was Frey whose envoy had suddenly appeared without any prior contact but odds are it was because of Charybdis.” Shizu left out the part that regarded Carrion’s Subordinate being in Charybdis since that could cause complications with Gazel since his forces were involved with fighting off Charybdis. Gazel was left astounded and felt insecure since Rimuru had gathered the attention of the Demon Lords. Yet, Rimuru had befriended three… yet…

“What about the fourth? Clayman?” Gazel asked

“Not sure, I have not had an encounter with him but I have a terrible feeling that I may end up running into him soon…” Shizu explained, and as they began pondering…

There we go, the Unique Skill ‘Tyrant’ has been copied.

<Oh, you finished it that quick?>

To be fair, most of the skill had been filled out by your analysis of it from the previous meetings with Gazel.

<Nice well, once I go back, I’ll take a look at the skill myself.>

“Since he established peace with three separate Demon Lords, the value of Tempest had tripled. After all, he’s quite the charmer of Demon Lords isn’t he?” Vaughn mentioned, Gazel took major interest.

“Perhaps in time, that nation will replace Falmuth as the heart of trade.” Gazel stated, Vaughn agreed while Shizu was slightly interested, “After all, the liquor provided is better than the wine imported from Falmuth.”

Falmuth, Shizu had slight recounts of that Kingdom but she remembered how Yuuki would continue on detailing how it felt corrupt. She didn’t really take interest in his stories but yet now as part of Rimuru, she couldn’t help but take interest in it now.

“Tell me, what kind of nation is Falmuth?” Shizu asked

“Well, it’s a major nation, it rivals Ingracia as either the first or second most powerful human nation. It’s been in some sort of deadlock with Ingracia for some regions in the west… just between you and me, I don’t like them very much…” Gazel explained, as he took another swig.

“Why’s that?” Shizu asked, Gazel’s look seemed to shift.

“Their king is too greedy. The goods exported from our nation usually only went through Falmuth since their taxation rate is too damn high. If you can become friendly with those Western bastards, we could just bypass that greedy bastard.” Gazel explained, although it seemed like he thought Rimuru could already tell why.

“I see, well currently we are on our way to establishing relations with Blumund so-” Shizu got interrupted again and she was getting really annoyed at this point about how much she got cut off.

“If you can establish relations with them, that would be beneficial for both of us…” Gazel stated

“Well-” Shizu got interrupted once more and at this point she was about to smash a table however..

“Don’t worry~ it’ll be fine~ Leave it all to Great Rimuru!~ He’ll get that trade n’ stuff with them Eurazania done in tha jiffy!!~” Shion was incredibly drunk incredibly quickly, Shizu just looked on in disappointment.

<So… this is how you feel…>

Yup, get used to it…

Shion proceeded to fall towards the floor rather abruptly after taking another swing. A large crash could be heard as she hit the floor with quite a bit of force. Shizu wanted to act but unfortunately, she didn’t know exactly how to morph Rimuru’s body so flawlessly as he did it. Although she could feel parts of her body could shift whichever way she wanted, she didn’t exactly understand how to command his body to do so.

“I’m… sorry about my secretary…” Shizu apologized as she asked Shuna to help bring Shion back towards her room.

“Now, Rimuru, I have a few more questions.” Gazel stated, he stared at Shizu who stared back once again.Shuna waited obediently while Shion rested on the slightly cracked floor.

“Why are you so different now than when we first met?” Gazel asked the most blunt question of all that everyone including Shuna wanted to figure out, “Your voice changed, your appearance has altered, and your behavior is vastly different. You have changed in a drastic way… why exactly have you changed?”

Shizu seemed stumped at first but immediately an idea came to her mind, she proceeded to take a swig and, “Well for starters, I’m affected by my surroundings quite easily now ever since I became leader and as a result, there’s just been changes that have been slowly being underwent throughout my body as a result. For starters, ever since people have been referring to me as a DAMN PRINCESS!” Shizu seemed genuinely upset but in reality, she deep down like that thought, although she knew Rimuru hated it and that was for his sake, “As a result, my body ended up turning… feminine but as a result, my body equalized my feminine appearance and now I feel far more assertive than previously. I’m not sure how exactly this is working but I’m changing in unusual ways.”

Gazel seemed to doubt the explanation, “You are telling me that you cannot control yourself properly?” Gazel seemed to stare, perhaps thinking that Rimuru was incompetent.

“Gazel…” Shizu glared back, causing the two guards behind him to flinch, “This situation itself is quite weird in itself. I’m a slime that had grown a consciousness, that was born a year ago, that is now running a nation with the opinions of hundreds of citizens, subordinates, and in negotiations with some powerful people in this world. Change is guaranteed for those who are young, am I right?” Shizu forced Gazel back hard, Gazel seemed unable to find any sort of retaliation but now he quickly realized what kind of situation he was in. That slime learns quickly, too quickly. He remembered talking with Hakurou before about his Junior where he’d described how after one display of technique, Rimuru could quite literally replicate it in a matter of moments and devise counters towards it immediately.

Whatever this slime’s Unique Skill was, it was beyond powerful. It was to a point that the Unique Skill allowed the slime to become conscious. That was the only explanation he could think of for this bizarre situation…

As Shizu picked up Shion and proceeded to leave back towards his room with Shuna in tow. As they exited, Gazel looked on at the liquor he still was yet to finish. Rimuru has grown, and perhaps they will grow so much more.

He has ways to mature, or perhaps, ways that she will mature…

It depends on how the world may see them after all…

Chapter 42: The Monster Princess's Speech

Chapter Text

Shizu stood atop a podium with Gazel next to her, although Gazel could not tell, Shizu was somewhat nervous but… she had gotten used towards this much attention. Ever since she had been “Shizu, Conqueror of Flames”, she had gotten the admiration and had to rally those nearby just to ensure the people kept fighting for hope and for justice. Even if she couldn’t, she could still inspire those around her to keep on thriving.

Shizu prepared herself, in the back of her mind, Rimuru had been cheering her on. Shizu felt confident in herself and her abilities and began her speech for Rimuru.

“My name is Rimuru Tempest. Leader of the Jura Tempest Federation and Master of the Great Jura Forest. Although you may not see it, I am a slime and the one you call the “Monster Princess”. All I wish is to create a nation where all species from monsters, to humans, to dwarves, and more, can coexist in harmony without the need for conflict or violence between races. King Gazel was the first one to reach out his hand and help us towards our mission. I have visions, hopes, and dreams of what can be accomplished but I cannot accomplish this with the doubt of those around us.” Shizu looked around the crowd before resetting her eyes back towards the center, “Many of you may not be able to trust us and considering the reputation the name ‘Monsters’ have, I don’t doubt your reasoning. Although, we are not so different from you. We wish to live, love, and enjoy life very much like you all wish to. Our nation was born through unity and cooperation in the face of threat, now we are progressing further and further on towards a greater future. I ask of you all to not fear us but accept us and our existence. I want to cooperate and I cannot do so in the face of rejection and distrust. If we are to succeed, we must be accepted. Together, we may all enter a greater world!” Shizu concluded her speech to large applause, although Shizu felt something was off.

-=====-

Back With Gazel

“Too short, too humble, and too emotional.” Gazel explained

“I figured…” Shizu mentioned, “I’m not used to giving public speeches… only an army…”

Gazel thought for a moment before realizing that the Jura Tempest Federation has more than likely not ever had these kinds of speeches since they’ve been locked in conflict for a while now.

“Thankfully you didn’t show any weakness in your speech but you still have ways to go. You cannot expect everything to always go your way and those with a corrupt mind in subjects you don’t fully comprehend may take advantage if they perceive weakness.” Gazel explained, Shizu understood.

That’s definitely a good lesson…

<Definitely, although I can commend him for not trying to manipulate us.>

-=====-

Concluding The Meeting

Shizu began to explore Dwargon along with Shion and Shuna, she hadn’t arrived here before and only been primarily located in the Kingdom of Ingracia. This was a fairly new experience for her as she kept looking around. Although…

<Hey Rimuru? Have the Dwarves and the Hobgoblins gone over towards that Elven Bar you went towards before?>

You really did just look through my memories didn’t you?

<It was necessary.>

You know what else is necessary? Me looking through your memories.

<wait a minute… WAIT NO.>

Too late, I’ve already seen too much Shizu… too much…

<...>

Anyways, I’ve been taking in quite a lot of skills around here, there are honestly a massive quantity of crafts and development skills around here that aren’t being used to their full ability. These skills are mostly common and extra skills that improve the quality and quantity of objects made by the user or for simple endurance and stamina. There were even a few Unique Skills from those close to Gazel although no full copies were finished. Although, from looking at your memories, I’ve realized something interesting.

<From my memories?>

Yes, although I can’t copy the skills of your students, there’s definitely some unusual Unique Skills that they have. I noticed that Hinata may have a Unique Skill that is similar to our ‘Envious’ Skill but it doesn’t seem as effective nor does it seem like it could even affect Ultimate Skills but as long as the Skill is on an equal level or less than the Skill. For Yuuki, his Skill just seems to cancel out anything imaginable that could be thrown at it regardless of what you threw at it besides those that enhance the soul’s capabilities like ‘Thought Acceleration’. Anything that could be used physically to enhance one's power or to strike at the enemy gets canceled out.

<So what your telling me is->

They either took what you had or canceled it out completely, thus bypassing your training of pure raw talent through their Unique Skills.

<Heheheheh, I SWEAR I’M GOING TO DISCIPLINE THEM!>

I’ve never seen this side of you Shizu… I thought you were so much kinder than when I first met you…

Sure…

<At least I wasn’t plotting any ways of murdering my closest subordinates with evil thoughts in the back of my mind…>

Alright, we are both messed up…

<Well, back to my initial question, did they?>

Odds are yes, yes they did, and odds are they are labeling me as a traitor since now people are seeing me as a chick…

<Ha!>

…

Shizu still wanted to regress back into ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ but Rimuru would only do so when they were going back to Tempest. Shizu had decided to head with Shuna and Shion to begin shopping in nearby shops and stores. Shizu found many fluffy and beautiful dresses in many of the nearby shops which caused Shuna and Shion to rave in joy for customizing their Great Rimuru in a variety of dresses. Shuna felt disappointed that a female Rimuru had developed a rack larger than herself.

The day went on where Shizu was having a fantastic time. Many restaurants greeted the “Monster Princess” in open arms and many gathered around to greet the new arrival. When Shizu wasn’t busy, she reflected an aura of kindness and joy similar towards Rimuru. Although she and Rimuru were different in many ways, they were exact in many ways.

Rimuru was pleased with just constantly doing work and playing with Veldora. He didn’t seem to have retained his attention for the elves despite his preference for them. Perhaps he found something else to keep his mind off those certain thoughts or perhaps he found something better than the elves…

It was the first time in a while that both could reflect joy…

Chapter 43: Come Back To Us

Chapter Text

Rimuru had been on the return trip towards Tempest. He had swapped bodies back with Shizu who was now analyzing the information that Rimuru gathered while in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’. Both felt satisfied from their experiences and yet, they couldn’t help but want more.

<Say Rimuru, you still have yet to do that ‘Black Flame Festival’ right?>

Yeah… but-

<There’s nothing stopping you now, but I want you to finish this now.>

Why?

…

How is that supposed to be selfish?! I completely understand why you would want to save those kids. Once we finish up the “Black Flame” Festival, we will head on over to Ingracia. We will save those kids…

Shizu hoped that with the Ultimate Skill ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, she may be able to discover a way to save the kids that she cared for so much. It held infinite Wisdom, it just needed information in order to discover and uncover ways to save them. Maybe she didn’t need to meet with Leon after all…

-=====-

Back In The Jura Tempest Federation

Everyone came up to greet the returning Rimuru, their Lord! Although when Shion and Shuna exited the carriage, they proceeded to quickly call for a meeting.

Rimuru proceeded to wonder why Shion and Shuna were so quickly calling a meeting after just arriving back. However, soon enough, the subordinates of Rimuru quickly began to gather within the Rimuru’s Office Meeting Room. The idea was to discuss the events of the meeting with Gazel, or at least that’s what Rimuru and the subordinates that weren’t with them thought, but instead, it was for something far more important…

“Rimuru, you have to make a choice.” Shuna stared at Rimuru, Rimuru just stared back at Shuna but wasn’t sure what Shuna was referring towards.

“Explain.” Rimuru looked back as the other subordinates looked on in confusion.

“Boy. Or. Girl.” Shion asked bluntly, causing much confusion towards Rimuru’s other subordinates. Rimuru panicked immediately because he knew exactly what they were referring towards.

Shuna proceeded to explain the situation in Dwargon and how Rimuru had quite literally shifted genders from male to female in the blink of an eye. Shuna proceeded to recite Shizu’s explanation which caused many of Rimuru’s Subordinates to just look in shock at Rimuru. Some such as Ranga, Geld, and Souei didn’t care since they just followed the orders of their master regardless of gender because of Rimuru’s generosity, meanwhile, Benimaru and many of the others were just in absolute dumbfounded confusion as they treated Rimuru as a lord. How the hell do they refer to Rimuru if Rimuru wasn’t certain of their own gender?! Everyone looked at Rimuru, and Rimuru just simply decided to state, “You choose…”

The subordinates all began pondering but Rimuru decided to break off the confusion of his subordinates with a completely different topic, “Hey, so how is the preparations for the ‘Black Flame Festival’? How are those going Rigurd?” Rimuru asked, Rigurd answered by detailing that all the preparations for the festival were completed and that they all simply anticipated that Rimuru would begin the festival soon.

“I want to get the festival done now since I have plans.” Rimuru said, causing some confusion with his subordinates.

“What are you planning for, Great Rimuru?” Rigurd asked, Rimuru sighed and looked around the room. Each and every single one of his subordinates were both confused and concerned that something terrible happened that caused Rimuru’s drastic change to occur.

“I made a promise… a year ago towards someone close that I would carry out her will… after all this time, I have yet to complete that will of hers. After the festival is complete, I will be heading out to explore and fulfill her will.” Rimuru stated, causing much anxiety among his subordinates.

“But Great Rimuru!-” Rigurd was halted from continuing.

“Rigurd, you said preparations are complete, can we hold it in at least a week?” Rimuru asked, he planned to use the festival to announce that he would be leaving things up for Shuna to take charge of.

“Why-uh…” Rigurd hesitated, Rimuru glared at him.

<Odds are he wants to delay it as long as possible to ensure that you stay here longer.>

“Rigurd, the longer this festival takes, the more time I may decide to stay out of Tempest-” Rimuru suddenly found that he was in the middle of an uproar. Everyone was squawking like chickens and panicking like it was the end of days. Thankfully, it seems like they’ve forgotten about the Rimuru’ Gender Crisis.

“We can host it by tomorrow.” Benimaru stated, Rimuru nodded.

“Someone get me Gobta, I need to ask him to gather some people for me.” Rimuru asked

-=====-

Out In the Jura Forest… Somewhere…

Three adventurers were out starving, they were continuously thinking about the Jura Tempest Federation. Eren, Kaval, and Gido were busy trying to survive the round trip since they moved between Blumund and the Jura Tempest Federation so much. They had essentially become the unofficial envoys of Blumund to the Jura Tempest Federation.

“I feel so useless, the food is alright but I would die for Shizu’s cooking or Shuna’s cooking…” Kaval stated, Eren agreed.

“They’ve already done so much for us and besides, we’ve seen what they can get up to, we’re just lucky to have met Shizu.” Gido stated.

“What do you think it would have been like if we didn’t meet Shizu…?” Eren asked, the other two pondered it for a moment.

“Well I mean, we can still technically talk with her any time we want at Tempest right?” Kaval mentioned.

“Yeah but she’s attached to Rimuru… literally…” Eren mentioned.

“I wish we could honestly be able to do much more for Rimuru. He has helped us out so much… I wouldn’t feel too ashamed about sponging off him if we could return the favor…” Gido mentioned, suddenly his shadow began to move.

“Oy, well you’re in luck! Lord Rimuru wants you over in the Jura Tempest Federation as quickly as possible!” Gobta appeared out of nowhere, throwing Gido into a crazed panic.

What could Rimuru be wanting from them?

Chapter 44: The Black Flame Festival

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Outside, the day's activities were filled with parties and activities with monsters across the forest gathering and partying their hearts out with joy and excitement. The three adventurers arrived to find a festival in full swing with monsters all around the town dancing, singing, and having a great time with one another.

As the three walk through town, they begin hearing the tales of the Great Rimuru and how he had basically saved them all. The Hobgoblins all mentioned their savior where many were on the brink of starvation and death from residing in the Great Jura Forest. At that point, Veldora had vanished, causing the monsters of the Great Jura Forest to have gone wild and uncontrolled. These monsters felt as if they were now at the top of the food chain and attempted to devour anyone and anything they came across in order to sustain themselves and their magicules. Great Rimuru came in and had filled the empty void of Veldora, where his aura was just as menacing as what Veldora’s aura once was. The High Orcs and Dragonewts detailed what they called the “The Jura War” in which the near entirety of the Jura Forest was engulfed in a war between the High Orcs and everyone else because of the Demon Lords. Even despite these, there are bountiful amounts of other monsters from half fish, lizard-like, reptilian, Lycanthropes, Harpies, and even more who all show gratitude towards Rimuru for creating such a peaceful and prosperous city. There are those who cannot ever be more grateful than the Kijin, those six devoted their lives to ensuring the prosperity and running of Tempest no matter what.

These three would always wonder why the monsters are so happy but it only takes some time to realize how much hell they were in before meeting Rimuru. Starvation, war, genocide, destruction, and the loss of their beloved… each one of them suffered in some way before coming to the Jura Tempest Federation… Even the three adventurers were nearly on the brink of death countless times until they met with Rimuru. Who knows if they would be dead by now if it weren’t for Rimuru and the Jura Tempest Federation providing and supplying them with countless materials for successfully hunting and destroying monsters. Now… they could finally repay Rimuru for that support.

They would meet up with Rimuru in a private meeting room that would be watched over by Rigurd and guarded by the Goblin Riders and Ranga.

“You want to do what?!” Eren and the other two seemed in shock.

“You’ll be guiding me to Blumund and leading me towards Ingracia.” Rimuru repeated, the adventurers were in shock again.

“B-but Shizu was a seasoned adventurer, shouldn’t she-” Kaval was cut off

“Ever since I absorbed Shizu, I can’t adopt her identity or even use her credentials since any copies I make of Shizu aren’t exact replicas of her and it’d be strange for Shizu to suddenly appear.” Rimuru stated this but, he definitely could make exact replicas using magicules. Shizu seemed hesitant for some reason about this…

Long ago, Shizu had been rescued by the hero of this world and they had saved her from the abuse of Demon Lord Leon. Yet, it seemed like the hero had suffered similarly to Shizu. The more Rimuru had peeked at Shizu’s memories during Dwargon, the more Rimuru realized similarities between Shizu and Ifrit, Shizu and Rimuru, and the Hero, as if they were also suffering from an alternate personality they were constantly fighting against. No matter how hard they fought to hide it, they suffered internally just like them. Yet, they didn’t let that get under them until they finally disappeared one day, suggesting that they had succumbed to their second personality. Rimuru and Shizu is seemingly the only combination where both sides are actively working to help one another and yet, Rimuru couldn’t help but feel that Shizu meeting her students now with her own separate personality would just needlessly complicate things even further and cause harm to her students. It wasn’t just Rimuru that felt that but Shizu wasn’t comfortable seeing her students in this state. One misstep with ‘Body Double’ and she would have to come clean, and one of her students, Yuuki, had the skill needed to completely obliterate past the ‘Body Double’. Thus, Rimuru and Shizu had decided, Rimuru would help with teaching the students while Shizu would focus all her might with ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ into figuring out a solution to her student predicament. Rimuru was ready to take up the responsibility for Shizu, after all, he’d promised her.

Rimuru proceeded to go out with the three adventurers around Tempest to see the activities that were occurring around such as watching Gobta and Gobzo who were busy dancing with their bellies out even though they were supposed to be on guard duty... Elsewhere, Geld was caring for the multitude of children and ensuring they were properly fed. Gabiru was with his friends having a splendid time partying. The Kijin were spread across the city with Benimaru being scolded by Shuna for not cleaning his face after he had stuffed his face with meat. Souei and Souka were busy looking like a couple, or atleast Souka thought so while Souei was casually obliterating any accuracy games he came across. Shion was busy getting drunk in a separate section of the city while many just looked on as Shion just caused a bit of chaos from her ‘awkward dancing’ which had somewhat aroused some Goblin Riders nearby. Hakurou was busy sipping tea and enjoying the sounds of peace and activities, although he wished it was more tranquility rather than activities.

Hell, even Veldora was in the spirit of the party since he was dancing with Ifrit and Geld the First. Although Veldora’s dancing could be better… Geld the First just looked on through Rimuru’s eyes to see lines of stalls filled with food and the children running around having a great time. It makes him cry whenever he sees Geld, his right hand man was now upholding his will and ensuring the protection of those little ones he had failed to save some long time ago. Families were made, bonds were grown, and love flourished, all thanks to the promise that slime had made with him. He couldn’t feel more proud and yet he wanted to partake in it all with those who were close.

Soon enough, a beer barrel entered the stomach. Rimuru had just devoured it and atop it was a note made of paper. “For you all. Have a great festival! Signed Rimuru-Shizu.''. It caused Veldora to tear up a bit, Ifrit couldn’t feel more happy and yet angry at himself, while Geld the First could enjoy the feeling that he was there partying with his old subordinates.

It was truly a great time to be alive!...

Rimuru wandered around while Shizu had entered the ‘Stomach’ to party alongside Veldora, it was the very least they could do in order to have fun, although Shizu couldn’t get drunk since her body wasn’t exactly a body in the ‘Stomach’ but rather . Rimuru was busy in the midst of conversation with the three adventurers. The day’s activities only grew and grew further and further along when kids around the city began gathering water balloons shaped as slimes and tossing them at other kids. Not one dared throw one at Rimuru though since the last time Rimuru was blasted with water, he created a new canal.

Soon enough, the primary event began to come around as everyone began to gather in the town center where a massive tower had been constructed ahead of time specifically for Rimuru. Rimuru changed into his slime form and bounced all the way towards the top of the tower before returning back towards his human form.

At that moment, Rimuru looked down and saw a crowd of those who adored him and loved him for what he had done for each and every single one of them. Each one had Rimuru to thank for something important and each one couldn’t help but feel joy and be thankful for what Rimuru had done for each and every single one of them.

A smile could be seen lining Rimuru’s face but soon a bit of sadness engulfed him for a moment. He had to explain to these people what he needed to do soon…

Rimuru took a breath before speaking, (Read Endnotes)

Notes:

Now, I’m going to insert this here since I would rather not write an hour long paragraph of Rimuru’s Speech which would have been inspired by how Gazel mentioned “Too Short, Too Humble, Too Emotional”. Bear in mind this is an actual cockblock but seriously, these take a while to write and already this entire story has taken far longer than I expected. Odds are I will end up coming back towards this in the future for a revision whenever I reach the "Octagram" and revise the story in its entirety. This story has taken a while for me to go through and find out how to rewrite details without causing issues and the next section of how to integrate Shizu into the story into Ingracia is giving me a mild headache. Just joking about that but its still a pain to go through. I do plan to finish all the way up towards the "Octagram" here in Archive of Our Own and a remastered version will be posted on Wattpad. I believe there are a lot of more details I could have added within this story. For now, I do want to get through this part to hit on the story changes down the road.
If anyone wants to add their own suggestion possibly for either to be added as a detail into a 'Remastered' version or just for down the line into the story as something I didn't even think of, let me know in the comments! After all, Rimuru will be obtaining many Unique Skills later on and considering Rimuru will eventually get 10k Souls for Awakening, among those souls will be a vast number of Skills that could just be made into the story. I do have plans to add in my own custom skills into the story after all as seen with some previous chapters.
Well either way, thanks for reading, I really appreciate it and the feedback!

Chapter 45: The Lord of Vows

Notes:

After the month long Hiatus, I have returned and back to action. After reading some other fanfictions that have been coming out recently, I got reinspired once more to finish off where I had left off with this fanfiction and finally reach it through. There will be major differences between this half and the previous half as I try to transitition the details of this to accommodate the remastered version I will be making down the line which will focus on much more minor details.
And for that, the previous Shizu Diaries will also be essentially abandoned to be more thoroughly integrated with the main story here.
If you are reading this far in, thank you for tuning in. If you are coming back for more, I thank you for your wait!

Chapter Text

The day of adventure has arrived and with it, a large farewell and get back soon party was arranged by the subordinates and the monsters of the city. Much to Rimuru’s enjoyment without him being told beforehand. They are supposed to be cleaning up from the Black Flame Festival so the farewell may be a good or bad sign of things to come since they aren’t exactly prepared without him.

Rimuru had Ranga and a Souei ‘Body Double’ in preparation in his shadow. Ranga was there as a full bodyguard while a Souei ‘Body Double’ was there in case that something major happened that Rimuru needed to be informed about. Rimuru was ready along with Eren, Kaval, and Gido to head off towards Blumund. Rimuru had thought it would be as great a time as any to open up negotiations with their kingdom while on the way over as a way of ensuring that he could still contribute towards his nation's growth despite his absence from the capital. Besides, they also have a crystal ball that he left behind just in case that his subordinates wanted to inform them of something important like an envoy arriving from Fulbrosia, Eurazania, or even if Milim was visiting once again.

Rimuru was offered a carriage from Tempest at which he placed it within his ‘Stomach’ for later usage, afterall, he was going undercover as a human and he couldn’t have Ranga driving it around everywhere he was going. Although the monsters understandably mentioned that people had seen his human form while in Dwargon.

Shizu, is there any way that I could-

Rimuru thought about it for a moment, and then something he thought about made him slightly confused.

Why do you think my hair has always been this color rather than your hair color?

<I… I dunno honestly…? You’re a slime so I didn’t think about it and thought that was normal for the transformation, I never bothered to check.>

Rimuru thought back and realized that when he turned into a Tempest Star Wolf, the hair on that didn’t transform in the way that his hair transformed while as a human. Soon enough, Rimuru began to realize that when he transformed into a Tempest Star Wolf, it would consume magicules in order to transform completely while in human form, it never needed to do so. Rimuru utilized some of his magicules for transformation and sure enough, Black Hair.

“Oh, Great Rimuru! I forgot you can effortlessly shape your body like that!” Rigurd stated, everyone else around Rimuru agreed, including the three adventurers.

Eren began to smother Rimuru, “YOU’RE SO CUTE!” Eren was relentless with her smothering that it caused a bit of distress with Rimuru’s subordinates.

“P-please stop squeezing me!” Rimuru could barely utter, Benimaru attempted to pull off Eren who refused initially until Benimaru glared at her.

“A-ah fine!” Eren said while slowly being peeled off Rimuru.

“Anyways, Shuna, you’ll be fine being put in charge right?” Rimuru asked

“It will be perfectly fine, Great Rimuru. I was prepared for this kind of situation alongside my brother. There should be no worries!” Shuna declared, Benimaru nodded his head in agreement.

“Alright, I’ll be off!” Rimuru said while using ‘Gluttonous’ on a few extra provisions for the adventure.

As Rimuru began to walk out of the city, he looked back to see all the smiling faces of those who had been with and those who were close to him. He couldn’t help but feel nervous about leaving it all behind but yet he knew what he needed to do.

<Here, how about a farewell present from all of them?>

Farewell present?

What?

<The Ultimate Skill ’Uriel, Lord of Vows’>

‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’?

<The skill has four primary sub-skills but there seems to be a lot more towards it than just these four properties.>

What does it have?

<The Ultimate Skill ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ contains ‘Spatial Domination’, ‘Universal Barrier’, ‘Infinity Prison’, and ‘Law Manipulation’.>

<Wish for an explanation?>

Obviously

<Infinity Prison - Traps the target in an imaginary space for all time that is only accessible towards the user of this skill.>

How is ‘Unlimited Imprisonment’ part of that despite being a Unique Skill? Moreover, why does this Ultimate Skill only have four Sub-Skills attached to it??

<Simple, it was integrated as a Sub-skill rather than a Unique Skill, meaning that it doesn’t exist in the same way that the Unique Skill currently does. The Unique Skill has no Sub-skills on its own but rather is itself a singular powerful skill that can be used as a base in order to create an even more powerful skill.>

Well either way… lord of vows…

How are you so certain of these hidden properties?

<Simple, because nothing on the surface of the skill should allow for storing skills within it should exist and yet it quite literally can and does to an ultimate degree. There’s no end in sight on how many skills I could store in here without causing a strain!>

But… huh?

<If you want a look, you can take control for a bit!>

No, besides… Everyone is looking at me…

Rimuru looked around as he was encased with thoughts, he seemed to stop and the adventurers were still staring at him.

“Rimuru, are we going or…?” Kaval asked, he seemed concerned

“It’s fine… let’s go!” Rimuru stated.

Behind him, the many subordinates of Rimuru seemingly began to cry in joy, as if they thought he stopped because he was going to miss them all and couldn’t help the thought of abandoning them. He will return to them soon, he promised!

‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’… I like that skill name… by the way, you said it was an Ultimate Skill right? That means we now have two of them correct?

<Yeah!.. Huh yeah I guess we do…>

You said before they are rare right? Like only fourteen existed?

Well you did say that the only person to beat an Ultimate Skill is another with an Ultimate Skill, and now we have two Ultimate Skills. Would that mean people with two Ultimate Skills can only be defeated by those with two Ultimate Skills?

<Now that I think about it, I feel like I can understand this skill system even further…>

Huh?

Yeah... Hakurou is after all extremely dangerous despite barely having any skills since he is a master swordsman...

<Well either way, we should probably snap back to reality again.>

Ah! Alright! ‘Uriel’…

…I thank all my friends…

Rimuru couldn’t help but smile, those loyal towards him really did gift him with something special…

Chapter 46: The Adventure Begins

Chapter Text

The journey begins with the three adventurers whose party has now become four!

“Would we be a five person party?” Eren asked. Kaval, Gido, and Rimuru all couldn’t help but feel confused by the question.

“Why would it be five? There’s only four of us.” Kaval asked, Gido agreed but Rimuru quickly realized what she meant now.

“You're referring to Shizu? Right?” Rimuru asked, which made Kaval and Gido instantly realize what she meant.

“Oh course I’m referring to Shizu! Who else would I be referring to?” Eren asked

In the shadow space, small whimpering could be heard alongside a heavy sigh.

<Thought Communication Start>

“Great Rimuru, who is this “Shizu” they are referring to? I cannot seem to detect them.” Souei was concerned.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I need you to ensure that information about “Shizu” does not leak under any circumstances unless I permit it.” Rimuru stated.

“Understood.” Souei understood the assignment.

<Thought Communication End>

As Rimuru and the three adventurers walked through the forest, Shizu immediately noticed something.

Which effect? What’s going on?

<Baffledils, a hallucinogenic species of flowers that creates illusions that make you feel as though you are going a specific direction but in reality you are simply traveling in place.>

Wait… What?!

Rimuru looked around with ‘Magic Sense’ and could immediately tell something was seriously wrong.

“Eren, Kaval, Gido, we are in a massive bloom network of Illusion Flowers.” Rimuru stated, the three adventurers were immediately in confusion before realizing that there was something slightly wrong.

“A-ah” Kaval could only barely mutter that statement but felt embarrassed that Rimuru had to mention something for them to detect it.

“These flowers are gonna be a problem huh?” Rimuru asked

<Definitely, I recommend using ‘Gluttonous’ to deal with the flowers ahead.>

Rimuru proceeded to lift out his arm, the three adventurers looked on in confusion until “Gluttonous”, Rimuru proceeded to eat an entire acre of forest with that singular attack. A massive population of the Illusion Flowers were wiped out in an instant along with every tree that was in the way, along with portions of the ground.

<There we go, now we have access to some Illusion Magic.>

Wait… you just wanted me to use ‘Gluttonous’ just to obtain the magic huh?

<Well… can’t pass on that kind of opportunity!>

Rimuru sighed before signaling towards the adventurers to continue forward.

-=====-

Days Have Passed Within the Jura Forest

Through thick and thin, Rimuru had collected quite a bit of skills that he hadn’t obtained before from monsters thanks to the three adventurers poking around at monster nests. Many of these skills were already incorporated in many of the other skills that Rimuru had so Shizu had simply tossed them away into ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ for later study since they provided no immediate applicable use.

Rimuru had cooked many meals for them along the way while also bringing out the meals stored within ‘Stomach’ provided by his subordinates before he left… including Shion’s cooking which Shizu thought of as a back up attack that could be used in ‘worst case scenarios’. To be fair, Shizu was right… it would be an amazing back up attack… especially if someone else has the power but personality of Milim…

Hey, do you think Milim could handle something like this?

<HA no, Milim’s got taste buds and no matter how powerful you are, you cannot survive the sheer toxicity of Shion’s cooking!>

-=====-

Meanwhile

Milim sneezed out of nowhere, Ramiris was left confused.

“Oy Oy, I thought Dragonoids can’t get sick!” Ramiris shouted while smirking

“Someone is talking about me… I bet it’s my bestie Rimuru!” Milim declared while laughing.

“BAKA BAKA BAKA! ENOUGH ABOUT YOUR BESTIE! GET OUT!!!” Ramiris shouted at Milim who was still laughing.

-=====-

Back To Rimuru

So, I wanted to ask you something…

<What is it?>

What was it like… to lose those close to you?

<... I can’t really say now but… it got dull seeing so many people I knew perish in front of my eyes… I could only feel the guilt… if I just could have done something else, I…>

Shizu suddenly went silent, Rimuru could understand how she was distressed

Sorry for bringing up dark memories but just… I wondered if Milim felt that same way before…

<...what do you mean?>

Milim lived for who knows how long yet… I was her Bestie immediately without hesitation after one battle… more importantly… she didn’t seem to be loved by anyone else because she never experienced good cooking before…

<Worried about Milim are we? Grown feelings for her perhaps?>

No! It’s just-

<Caring for a child right? Don’t worry, I understand where you're coming from and I understand. After all, I want to save the children I’m guarding aren’t I?>

…

<It’s ok Rimuru, we’ll save them together! We’ll save even Milim if that’s what it takes as well!>

Thanks Shizu…

<No problem, Partner!>

-=====-

Ingrassia

“These plans from Clayman have become even more ridiculous…” Yuuki stood above Laplace with a menacing stance. It seemed Yuuki didn’t even agree with what Clayman was even doing at the moment and the Orb of Domination that was given to Clayman a while back by Kazalim seemed to be now finding a different purpose.

“Yeah well, what’ca expect from em’. Clayman has this crazy plan to use a war between the Kingdom of Falmuth and the Jura Tempest Federation to frame Demon Lord Leon to start a war between monsters and those reincarnationists that reside with Leon. It’s so crazy that it probably won’t work since-” Laplace was cut off.

“There’s too many factors… Leon didn’t simply obliterate Kazalim by being powerful did he?” Yuuki asked, Laplace was dead quiet because Yuuki was spot on. Although he can’t admit that Leon was smarter than his master…

“I gotcha Laplace, here, we need to keep more tabs on our enemies so we may as well use this to our advantage. You said before that Slime was in Blumund correct?” Yuuki asked.

“Ha, yeah, that slime doesn’t know what’s coming but there’s an ominous feeling surrounding that thing. It has an aura that isn’t normal compared to any other creature in that damn forest and Clayman seeks to subjugate it.” Laplace mentioned.

“Subjugate it?” Yuuki asked.

“That ‘orb’ remember?” Laplace mentioned, which immediately intrigued Yuuki.

“So, he intends to come in and save the slime during the war with Falmuth, then use the orb to subjugate that slime… is that slime really that powerful?” Yuuki asked.

“I’ve seen that things power with my own two eyes and seen what Clayman has shown me, there’s no denyin’ it that thing could become the replacement to that Orc Disaster. It created a heatwave that rippled across that entire damn forest and had obliterated Charybdis without much effort. Demon Lords aren’t one to be underestimated and that thing has all the power and the lack of control to be put under control quite easily. After all, it’s only a monster right? Those things don’t have much when it comes to intelligence, just pure raw force, makes em’ good servants.” Laplace explained, much to Yuuki’s intrigue.

“Maybe Clayman got some good points still, we just have to hope that Clayman can properly lay out this plan.” Yuuki hoped, although he felt a significant amount of doubt.

“Well, thankfully with this plan, you should be able to break into the Holy Empire Ruberios right?” Yuuki asked, Laplace nodded.

“Of course! Many of the soldiers from the church will be busy with preparing with Falmuth to invade the Jura Tempest Federation. It is a nation of monsters that's emitted some problematic issues lately after all. Not to mention, they are already head over heels about the possibility that the Storm Dragon got out recently.” Laplace stated.

“That thing is free? Shouldn’t it still be trapped in its seal?” Yuuki asked, he seemed quite concerned about the possible freedom of Veldora.

“Seems like it was freed but greatly weakened. According to what I’ve heard, sudden heat waves, a nation of monsters, a massive flame covering the forest, and some other various details including people sensing the Storm Dragons power diluted with some other aura was felt. As if someone purposefully free’d that thing…” Laplace explained, causing Yuuki to worry somewhat since if Veldora was suddenly found free, it would once again rampage across the Western Nations. They had already developed a good grip across the nations and it would just add to the problems if suddenly those connections were obliterated.

“Dontcha worry about it, Clayman had already begun exploring and it seemed like after some time, he couldn’t find anything in that forest.” Laplace mentioned, slightly relieving Yuuki.

“Well, I’ll be heading off! Good luck with what you are up to, Yuuki!” Laplace said while vanishing into thin air, Yuuki proceeded to grab a nearby book but he seemed to be trembling a bit. For some reason, this situation didn’t seem right at all. More importantly… heat waves, Storm Dragon disappearance, massive flames, these are all connected, that is obvious… but…

What happened to Shizu-chan..?

Chapter 47: The Blumund Kingdom

Chapter Text

“Oy oy oy, come on guys.” Rimuru looked back at the adventurers who were quite exhausted, they couldn’t catch up with Rimuru who’d been constantly moving forward.

“Rimuru… we can’t keep up with you like this…” Kaval stated while they tried to keep up. Everyone else was on the brink of giving out.

“Can we just… catch… a breath for a moment…?” Gido asked, Rimuru nodded his head as they began to set up camp. They couldn’t exactly use the carriage to arrive quickly enough since the distance towards Blumund is a part of the Great Jura Forest. Any attempt to move through would make it take even longer after all.

As the adventurers settled down, Rimuru decided to search through his ‘Stomach’ for some cooking materials that were stockpiled thanks to those back in Tempest. He felt a bit nostalgic already despite having been gone for less than a week, maybe because traveling on foot through the forest wasn’t as fun as he was expecting.

<You know I could simply teleport us into Blumund and Ingrassia based on my memories right?>

Oh… I didn’t know that but… that’d just ruin the adventurers experience. Feels like a giant cheat move…

<You really want the authentic experience well let me tell you? Its nothing like what your hoping it’d be like!>

Don’t crush my hopes like this…

<Nono, I will be crushing them in this way!>

Noooooooooooooooooooooo-

Shizu proceeded to recount the tales of her adventures and the times where it was basically her suffering massive migraines from Ifrit while trying to not accidentally burn down the forest they would camp in. Anything they dealt with was either really easy to deal with or it was extremely boring. Shizu attempted to shatter Rimuru’s spirit hard by recounting the uselessness of the journey and how it would be easy to teleport and simply that the journey would be easier that way instead rather than adventuring painfully throughout the time.

The adventurers looked on to watch Rimuru suffering another one of his internal crises, this was the third time since this trip started that Rimuru’s suffered an internal crisis…

“Do… do you think its being caused by Shizu?” Eren asked

“It has to be, there’s no other explanation on why he keeps arguing with himself, I feel bad for him.” Kaval stated, Eren disagreed.

“It would be amazing to have someone in the back of your head guiding you through your toughest challenges! There’s no forgetting certain things and he’s got the experiences of two people in one!” Eren mentioned, she had fond memories of Shizu after all.

“Imagine having someone screaming in your ear every day about every single mistake you're making or everything that you missed.” Gido mentioned, shutting up Eren as the three adventurers began to stare at each other.

“Yeah…” Kaval sighed

“It’s not as if it's daily with us!” Eren jokingly laughed as the other two began to laugh, Rimuru was still meanwhile suffering.

-=====-

Arriving Towards Blumund

As Rimuru and the three adventurers arrived towards Blumund, Rimuru could feel a metaphorical glare. Who else could be glaring at him without exactly glaring at him other than Shizu…

What do you want, Shizu?

<Oh nothing…>

Look… I-

<No, seriously, nothing… Do you sense it?>

That wasn’t you?

<Yes, it seems like someone was watching us.>

Get a good analysis on them before they popped out of detection?

<Yup, it was some sort of clown of sorts but I couldn’t get a good tracking of them… they seem to possess some sort of power that was enough to delay ‘Analysis’ for a moment. They definitely had a Unique Skill.>

While Rimuru was busy in his thoughts, the three adventurers recommended Rimuru get a Guild Card in order to get into Ingrassia.

Guild Card?

<It’s essentially identification for Adventurers.>

Ah… but we are going to Fuze right? Can’t we just ask him for one since he's the Guildmaster?

<Yes… but there’s some interesting things we could actually replicate in the guild…>

Oh?

Ah… I see… Let’s do it!

As the three with Rimuru entered the Adventurers' Guild Building, Rimuru quickly found the building was somewhat packed with many crying cheers of joy for Kaval, Gido, and Eren as famous adventurers who have gathered loads of materials for the Adventurers' Guild as proof that the monsters of the Great Jura Forest were being tamed. Although…

<They are just stealing the credit for the monsters being tamed because of the Jura Tempest Federation…>

Yup… I figured…

“Awe, she’s adorable… Anyways, why are you three here together with that child?” THe receptionist asked, the three adventurers looked at each other but Rimuru happened to speak up first.

“I’m here to register as an adventurer.” Rimuru stated proudly, causing the receptionist to become very confused.

“Eh?” The receptionist seemed confused but thought it was simply a child wanting to become an adventurer, it was far too common that children tried to become adventurers after hearing tales of heroes and all the sort, “I’m sorry but isn’t it a bit too early for you to become an adventurer?”

“Now now… don’t say that! Despite how she looks! The three of us don’t stand a chance against her” Kaval proudly yet shamefully stated.

OY WHO YOU CALLING A “SHE”!

<You, obviously since you’ve gracefully accepted being called a girl at this point.>

Yeah… I know…

<Don’t worry! Besides, your ‘son’ wasn’t much when it existed anyways!>

Eh?..

<...>

…Shizu…

<...>

…Shizu, how many of my memories…?

<...uh…>

HOW MUCH OF MY MEMORIES DID YOU GO THROUGH?!

<...here anyways let’s go get that spell!->

DON'T TRY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT!

Rimuru proceeded to enact ‘Thought Acceleration’ since he didn’t want to look like he was standing around doing absolutely nothing.

<Wait.. Hang on a minute! I don’t->

NO NO, EXPLAIN YOURSELF! FIRST, WHY?!? SECOND, ITS AVERAGE FOR ITS SIZE!

<heh… ‘average’>

DON’T TRY TO LAUGH TO DULL DOWN THIS!

<...Look, I didn’t mean to look through ‘those memories’ alright->

YOU’VE INSULTED MY PRIDE! IT WAS BAD ENOUGH KNOWING YOU SAW IT BUT YOU’VE INSULTED IT! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE SHIZU!

Rimuru proceeded to forcefully swap positions with Shizu, taking control over the Ultimate Skill ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ while Shizu was forced into the main body.

<WAIT! HOLD ON FOR A FUCKING MOMENT!>

TOO LATE!

Rimuru would begin to sit there in ‘Thought Acceleration’ for a few milliseconds worth of time that drag out into days worth of time in which Rimuru would binge watch Shizu’s most embarrassing moments anywhere from Shizu finding the copies of ‘+18’ Material under Yuuki’s bed to Shizu accidentally torching her clothes because of her lack of control with fire. Shizu could only look on in rage and embarrassment because although this was wrong, she did the exact same thing to Rimuru without his consent.

<If anyone finds out about this… I swear I will make your life hell.>

‘MAD’?

<OF COURSE I’M MAD!>

No, ‘MAD’, ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’, if you ever spill my secrets, I will ensure we both perish from absolute embarrassment. Besides, no reason for embarrassing each other when we are literally in the same body. Although…

<Although?>

This will make things feel a lot more awkward now huh?..

<Like?>

You know every single horrific thing that has happened with me and vice versa with me knowing every single horrific thing that has happened with you. Feels weird but…

<...Let’s move on with this… where were we again?>

We were… ah right!... the spell… we need to get the Guild Card.

Rimuru swapped back into his main body while Shizu resumed control over the Ultimate Skill ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’. Soon enough, Rimuru canceled ‘Thought Acceleration’ as he began to come back into the moment.

“Rimuru?” Eren asked

“Ah right!” Rimuru collected his thoughts, and the three adventurers immediately realized that Rimuru was once again having another conversation with Shizu, which seemed way too common at the moment.

Meanwhile, a lot of chatter began to emanate from other adventurers around the Guild of the brat that could take all of Kabal’s Party. Gido promptly dismissed them all with a threat.

“Ah, Forgive me, I shall administer the test! Could you fill out your registration please?” The receptionist seemed to stutter but Rimuru seemed pumped already. He was prepared to learn the new magic that they seemed to possess although he wasn’t sure which magic it was.

Rimuru began to fill out the application form and his mind began to wander while writing out his name and details of his specialization, abilities, and the division he wished to be part of.

What magic did you say they may know again?

Space and management?

So what you're saying is that we can completely control space itself?

Yeah… it sounds really scary but-

Absolute… Defense?

<Yeah, it combines multiple layers of barriers alongside rifts in space that makes them near impossible to bypass. Between each barrier is a layer of warped space that distorts reality laws within that makes an attack nearly impossible since the barriers combined with the warp reality eliminate all types of force and removes all types of heat that could be applied. It was really simple after using your mind of scientific laws along with ‘All of Creation’ to figure out those school lessons. Seriously! Did you actually learn all this stuff in school of all places? I didn’t know they taught that kind of stuff!>

Well that was before they discovered all that since you lived before the firebombing of Tokyo…

<Yeah…>

Shizu sat silent and Rimuru quickly changed the subject after realizing her distress.

S-so anyways could you explain more about the ‘Absolute Defense”?

Rimuru proceeded to shift on ‘Thought Acceleration’ to more capably speak with Shizu since he was curious about what she’s been learning.

…I didn’t exactly understand all that but… sure?

<Ugh… Alright well something interesting to note is that our being is very unusual within the spiritual world itself since its literally two spirits co-inhabiting the same Material Body but one took hold in a Skill while another took hold within the Material Body. Our bodies organization is essentially double the quantity of magicules that would normally exist within other individuals. This body in general can handle double of what other individuals could handle which explains why it can handle two Ultimate Skills at once… although your soul is abnormal as well coming to think about it. It takes an entire soul to simply handle ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ but your soul by itself can handle ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ and then some. It’s weird but that would partly explain why my soul ended up here rather than being actually absorbed and why you ended up with a Monster Material Body rather than a Human Material Body like what should happen.>

…huh… so-

<It’s unlike any other soul that currently exists so much so that the World System mistook it for a monster rather than a human soul and ended up discarding the soul into a slime rather than a humanoid body. You didn’t want to die, that’s common in your world but… it should have reincarnated into a humanoid body like a Demon body. Instead, it was discarded into the wrong area…>

World System? Wait, you’re telling me I was essentially thrown into the trash?

…

<...What’s with the silence?>

….. Just continue…

<...Ah… w-well, regardless of that, since your soul ended up coming out so weirdly, it got placed into a slime body instead since slimes are basically immortal creatures as long as you avoid getting yourself into threatening positions. Slimes are resilient creatures and are this world’s version of cockroaches!>

…how many times are you going to hurt my pride today…?

<I’M SORRY BUT I HAVE TO MAKE SPECIFIC REFERENCES AND NO MATTER HOW I PUT IT, YOU WON’T UNDERSTAND IT SO I HAVE TO USE SOMETHING TO COMPARE IT TO!>

…

<Here… look I’ll try to avoid insulting you by accident but please understand I need to make references…>

…at least I wasn’t the one torching others-

<...>

…I’m sorry…

<If I could punch you, I would but the only thing I could do is give you a mild headache or wrestle control over the body with you… in both cases… you are completely fine…>

Let’s… I’m sorry, let’s just stop… just please continue with the explanation…

<... fine, so what I was getting at was Slimes are resilient creatures since they can hide basically anywhere imaginable, only eat magicules which are everywhere, and… I’m sorry… they only appear half the year…>

No… it's fine at this point… I’ve just accepted at this point I’m a shut-in…

Shizu felt horrible at this point and Rimuru just felt destroyed since Shizu unintentionally obliterated every single bit of his pride without having to try. It was a one-sided massacre that Rimuru lost horrendously, no matter what he could do, there was no way in absolute hell that he could retaliate against Shizu in any way shape or form…

<Look, you are unique! There’s no one else like you!>

…I’m a disappointment…

<The fact you reincarnated despite being a shut-in is saying a lot actually…>

…what do you mean?

..Thanks Shizu

We’ll continue this some other time Rimuru, for now, just please stop doubting yourself…

Alright…

Rimuru once again canceled ‘Thought Acceleration’ as his body began to finish up with filling out his application.

Rimuru looked back to notice that the three adventurers were selling off the Illusion Flowers they had “gathered”... these three really did leech off the Jura Tempest Federation and Rimuru. They nearly got stuck in the cycle caused by those flowers and now here they were selling those flowers off to the Guild even though it was Rimuru who had allowed that opportunity.

<They are just like how they were when I met them…>

Heh…

As Rimuru handed in his application, the receptionist was a bit shocked by which department Rimuru had chosen.

“The Combat Division? Are you sure? There are safer divisions with just as much prestige such as the harvesting and exploration division! You should-” The receptionist was cut off.

“No, those take too long to finish…” Rimuru stated

Soon enough, a crippled man began to approach Rimuru whose leg was non-existent. It was a man who worked within the Guild, a veteran adventurer who had lost his leg and was forced to work as training staff for upcoming adventurers.

<Oh, I know him, that’s Thegis.>

Wait, ah… I knew that guy looked familiar…

Not sure… they feel kinda blank actually…

<Strange… I may want to test something actually then next time we swap…>

Rimuru stared at Thegis who promptly stared back at Rimuru, Thegis felt a sudden shiver crawl along his back as he looked at Rimuru. What the hell about this person was so terrifying?

“She’s right after all, we can administer the practical exam in the next building. It is both the quickest, simplest, and the most dangerous exam.” Thegis stated.

“...Ah, you are Thegis right?” Rimuru asked, Thegis suddenly felt another jolt come up his spine.

“Right, I am your proctor. Tag along if you’re planning on taking the test.” Thegis said while trying to walk along.

“But, you are an acquaintance of that trio huh? Not that that means anything..” Thegis seemed relatively annoyed. Rimuru could tell he was feeling rough especially since there was obviously some dislike between them and those three.

“Hey, what's with your attitude with those three anyhow?” Rimuru asked, Thegis looked back at Rimuru who had suddenly spoke up for them.

“Hmph, well what’s your relation with them then?” Thegis asked in return, Rimuru could tell this guy was going to be a lot of fun to talk about. The three adventurers immediately could tell something was going to go awry.

“Me? Well mostly I’m with them because of a friend, her name was Shizu-” Rimuru immediately got cut off after that point.

“SHIZU? THE CONQUEROR OF FLAMES? WHEN DID YOU MEET HER?” Thegis asked, Rimuru didn’t exactly want to draw up an entire story just about Shizu.

“Aren’t you supposed to be testing me? I’d rather not sit here telling you about how Shizu partied up with those three over there some time ago and met her through them.” Rimuru tried to brush it off, although Thegis became even more intrigued.

“When the hell did you three meet Shizu?” Thegis asked, the three of them were nervous.

“W-we… uh… we met because we had a quest in the Jura Forest… s-so we ended up crossing paths with Shizu who was also heading into the Jura Forest…” Kaval desperately tried to explain, the other two were silent.

“And what about this child?” Thegis asked, the three were silent.

“Shizu said I had potential, anyways can we begin?” Rimuru asked, he was getting annoyed at this point but Thegis really wanted to pursue this more.

The adventurers all around them were in absolute shock, those three and that child all met Shizu, the Conqueror of Flames?! There were only a select few people who could even meet up or even party up with Shizu! They knew they were prominent but they were prominent enough to party up with Shizu?!

As Thegis guided Rimuru to the building next door, Rimuru looked over at Thegis who seemed somewhat stressed.

I’m assuming it's because of those three?

<Definitely>

Soon enough, Rimuru arrived with Thegis towards the building next door, although it seemed like Thegis showed some slight respect and anger towards this child. Apparently this child is a prodigy to Shizu but he didn’t know how much he could trust those words since he didn’t hear it from Shizu herself.

Around them was a massive group of adventurers, they were all extremely interested to see the ‘Child Prodigy’ undergo her practical exams.

Rimuru soon found that there was a magic circle that surrounded them, it seemed pretty weak but there were certain properties to the magic circle that were interesting.

<The Magic Circle seems to be constructed with some slight bits of Holy Magic, it produces a weak barrier capable of holding off… at most a Lesser Demon.>

Lesser Demon?

<Lesser Demons are used as the final and last Practical Exam.>

Isn’t there a Rank A?

<Rank A is far too much and would be a Greater Demon, if you could beat down a Greater Demon, you are far too powerful.>

And your rank was?

<Rank A>

Oh… neat!

<According to the leftover information that Sage, later Great Sage which is now me essentially, had on you. You were a Rank A monster ever since you were reincarnated into this world.>

Wait… WHAT?

Huh…

<You are so negligent of your true potential…>

As Rimuru was busy thinking to himself, Thegis had already been waiting on Rimuru’s response. Although Rimuru seemed unresponsive…

“Rimuru, are you ready?” Thegis shouted, Rimuru suddenly perked up and immediately came back towards the real world after being slightly lost into his thoughts because of Shizu.

“Ah, yes. So, are you going to summon the first beast then?” Rimuru asked, Thegis prepared a summoning which Shizu immediately pounced on replicating.

“Come, Hound Dog!” Thegis summoned a large feral beast from the summoning circle he had planted down, Rimuru quickly proceeded to chop off its head without second thought.

The crowd immediately began to murmur since Rimuru had essentially beheaded a monster that would be far too annoying to deal with. Even a B Rank would need some clean hits or two to even properly deal with it and Rimuru just up and destroyed it immediately.

“I can see, maybe you aren’t lying about Shizu’s recommendation. How about this?” Thegis began to summon another monster, this time a Dark Goblin in full iron armor.

“That thing is Thegis’s servant right?”

“Way higher than a simple D-Class Test since that thing has full iron armor.”

“The quality of the armor is way higher than even mine!”

The crowd was going crazy about the Dark Goblin, Rimuru took one glance at it and…

The Dark Goblin was soon dead on the spot.

<Let me guess, reminded you of Gobta?>

Yes, you don’t mind do you-

Thegis was absolutely appalled that the Dark Goblin was dispatched so absurdly quickly, he soon enough summoned multiple Cave Bats as the Rank C test, their number should be enough to overwhelm Rimuru surely?

They began to surround Rimuru quickly and…

<I’ve turned on ‘Thought Acceleration’ for you.>

Huh… that’s why it feels like these things are stuck in place… how am I able to move though?

You really are finding ways to use ‘Uriel’ huh?

<To be honest, there are some things that do seem off about it… same could honestly be said about ‘Raphael’ as well.>

Off?

<It would probably be better if you looked at it yourself, but not right now since you might get sidetracked because…>

The bats?

<No! Of course not, I was surely referring to the brick walls around us that would surely collapse and murder every single person inside! OF COURSE I'M REFERRING TO THE BATS!>

Rimuru couldn’t help but snort in slow motion, Shizu watched the snort play out over the course of milliseconds that turned to days.

Could you just lower the effects of the ‘Thought Acceleration’, I feel like you ramped it up far too much…

<Alright, at least I saw your laughter.>

Eh?

<Nothing at all, anyways->

Shizu proceeded to shift the ‘Thought Acceleration’ and sure enough, the bats finally began to move at a manageable speed. Rimuru proceeded to behead each and every single bat that approached him. It was essentially just waiting for each bat to approach where Rimuru would simply behead each and every bat.

The adventurers all around were in absolute awe of the little girl in front of them, absolutely obliterating each and every singular monster in front of them like it was nothing. This was absolutely incredible, meanwhile Thegis was just left baffled beyond belief. Every single one of the monsters he had summoned were simply obliterated without them having a chance to fight back.

“My fucking god, how have you destroyed each and every single one of them like that without a fight?!” Thegis asked, Rimuru simply shrugged.

“They're too weak.” Rimuru suggested, Thegis was suddenly thrown into a trance but could see that Rimuru wasn’t lying about Shizu at this point.

“Then how about going full out?” Thegis began to draw out a massive summoning circle that began to drain much of his own power simply to create.

<That’s the magic I was quite interested in… Demon Summoning…>

Demon Summoning?

<It’s the counterpart to Elemental Summoning. I always found that Summoning quite interesting but I couldn’t exactly use my own memories to copy the spells they always seemed incomplete.>

Have you ever fully replicated anything from your own memories actually?

<No, I haven’t actually…>

Interference or simply you can’t gather from your own memories… Maybe when I get the opportunity, I could look back at your memories for you and see if I could replicate anything that way.

<Hmph, ok then. Back to the main thing in mind, the fucking Demon?>

Rimuru looked over to see the Demon becoming increasingly infuriated at being ignored.

Rimuru quickly rushed over to slice apart the demon, only to find the demon completely phased through the attack. The demon attempted to counterattack, only to find Rimuru dodge every single attack with barely any effort, the more Rimuru attempted to stab the thing, the more attacks it lashed out.

What gives? Why can’t I hit this thing?

<It’s immune to all physical attacks because it's a spiritual being, you need some sort of magical attack that can neutralize their spiritual body.>

Like Gluttonous?

<Technically yes… but->

Too attention drawing?

<Yup, here’s an alternative. You got some of my memories correct?>

Yes I do?

<Any of those memories from my battles?>

Yes, there was… a flaming blade… How did you do it?

<It was called ‘Magic Haki’, think of infusing your blade with magic power and you should be able to acquire it naturally.>

Rimuru’s blade began to glow a violent rainbow color that every single adventurer noticed, it was a bright magic color that roared from the blade and as Rimuru swung the blade, it completely obliterated the spiritual body of the demon in a flash. Soon enough, the Lesser Demon completely collapsed.

<There we go, ‘Magic Haki’ acquired.>

Everyone just looked on in astonishment, Thegis just watched as the Lesser Demon got obliterated physically and now suddenly her blade glowed and now the Lesser Demon was cut into oblivion.

Thegis was literally drained but clearly Rimuru could go even further beyond the Rank B. Before anything could continue, a similar old man began to enter the building and clearly, he was pissed.

“YOU IDIOTS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ALL DOING?!” Fuze was raging, he was clearly pissed.

This was not a situation that there was getting out of now…

Chapter 48: Memories of the Past

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Rimuru, sorry about those three idiots but they were supposed TO BRING YOU HERE FIRST!” Fuze started yelling, Eren, Kaval, and Gido were in kneeling position, they were terrified of Fuze’s wrath.

“Calm down Fuze, it's fine, at least I got my identification card.” RImuru mentioned

“It would be fine except that only I can administer the Rank B Test.” Fuze stated, Rimuru pondered it for a bit but realized that the Lesser Demon was basically unkillable in normal means, there’s no way anyone could beat that thing normally, “I’m glad you were wearing that disguise or others may have realized who you truly were! We know you mean no harm but they don’t… you lead thousands of Rank C Monsters and above…”

“Yeah… sorry about that Fuze…” Rimuru apologized for the incident.

“More importantly, Rimuru, isn’t Shizu in there? Shouldn’t she be telling you to not have done that?!” Fuze asked, Rimuru jolted a bit.

“A-ah about that, Shizu actually implored me to do it…” Rimuru mentioned.

“WHAT?!” Fuze was clearly aggravated.

Shizu, mind taking over for this?

<Got it>

Rimuru shifted around with Shizu, Rimuru set himself up in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ while Shizu went within Rimuru’s body. Fuze and the three adventurers watched as Rimuru visibly reshaped himself as his body adjusted, the magicule disguise wore off as the body itself adjusted to Shizu’s presence with the chest growing outwards while her hips slightly expanded. Fuze blushed while the three looked on in shock. They knew about Shizu being inside Rimuru and able to be temporarily summoned outside but they didn’t know Rimuru could take Shizu’s shape like that.

“So, little Fuzey, what did you want to talk about?” Shizu asked, Fuze felt absolutely embarrassed at the moment.

“Little Fuzey?” Eren asked, the other two were equally confused. Shizu laughed while walking over and petting Fuze’s head.

“DONT TOUCH ME LIKE THAT SHIZU!” Fuze screeched, Shizu chuckled.

“I told you all before the first time I met Fuze, he cried.” Shizu chuckled once again, the three adventurers thought about it for a moment.

“Yeah… we thought you meant that Fuze was a woman hater…” Kaval thought, the other two thought so as well. All three quickly began to realize what she meant now.

“LITTLE FUZEY! ARE YOU SAYING YOU KNEW HIM AS A KID?!” Eren asked, the other two were intrigued.

Shizu laughed, Fuze was simply absolutely embarrassed at that point and disrupted the conversation before it could continue on at that point.

“Shizu, you knew it was absolutely against the rule to do that and I know you knew I could administer Ranks… why did you lead Rimuru that way and… what the hell did you just do to Rimuru?!” Fuze asked

“Well first, we wanted our identification. Secondly, we wanted to see something. Thirdly, it's not that uncommon after we learned to do this trick to swap the position of our spiritual bodies!” Shziu said calmly, Fuze was just flabbergasted and understood nothing of what she just said.

Pretty sure no one just understood your explanation there Shizu…

<It’ll be fine!>

“Shizu, what the absolute lord did that even mean?” Fuze asked, much towards Shizu’s annoyance and Rimuru’s proof of being right.

“Me and Rimuru have the ability to swap with one another. In some cases, I will be put in charge of the body, and other times Rimuru is put in charge of the body.” Shizu explained, quietly sidestepping part of the conversation.

“How… what? How does that even work?” Fuze asked, the other three were sitting there astounded by this conversation.

“If I knew how it worked, trust me, I would tell you…” Shizu did have some idea how it worked but telling Fuze that she quite literally inserts herself into an Ultimate Skill was something that shouldn’t be told towards others.

“Alright but… here… the King of Blumund wants to see Rimuru so…” Fuze began stuttering a bit.

“It’s fine, I’ll handle it.” Shizu stated, Fuze was absurdly confused.

“Hold on a minute Shizu, they want to see Rimuru, not you-” Fuze was cut off

“Did you tell them about the situation between me and Rimuru?” Shizu asked, Fuze shook his head.

“Good, then that means they are simply talking to Rimuru, not me…” Shizu stated.

“That’s-” Fuze was stopped

“That’s what exactly?” Shizu glared at Fuze, he froze on the spot because he became mildly terrified. Shizu alone was terrifying but with her kinds of powers, it was even more so, “Fuze, I have essentially become Rimuru and Rimuru has become me, we are one in the same now so there’s not much to say I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Shizu… Rimuru… whatever, just…-” Fuze was stuttering, he couldn’t continue.

“Just tell the Blumund King I’ll be there to negotiate, for now, I have some stuff to get organized…” Shizu said while leaving the room, the three adventurers and Fuze watched on in confusion.

“Do… Do you think Shizu is ok?” Eren asked, the other two adventurers shrugged.

“No… definitely not…” Fuze stated although quietly, he seemed concerned for the condition of Shizu.

-=====-

Later That Night

Shizu was sitting within the bedroom that was temporary while they were in Blumund. There were negotiations tomorrow with one of the Ministers of Blumund and in about three days Rimuru would make acquaintances with the King of Blumund. Things had been piling up recently and more and more pressure was rising on Rimuru which ended up affecting Shizu as well. Most importantly…

I see why you got ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’... the body is absurdly unstable at this point…

<You see it huh…?>

Yes, ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ is managing all the information but it itself is completely destabilizing the soul. The only thing that is keeping this entire body stable is the fact there’s two powerful egos occupying the same body and that itself is a destabilizing force… by the way… did you figured out that “thing” yet?

<Yeah… I’ve checked at this point… by disconnecting from ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, I think less logically in comparison and I don’t feel as smart than when I was part of it…>

Figured, I feel the opposite as a result. We need to find a way to restabilize the body because the ‘Stomach’ itself is not capable of handling the entirety of the ‘Magicule Breeder Reactor’. Releasing Veldora is not an option lest we implode from the absurd release of so much magic and cause the magic built-up within the ‘Stomach’ to lose control and release something equivalent or greater than Charybdis…

<Yeah… WAIT WHAT?!>

Did you seriously not know or was that a loss of knowledge from disconnecting from ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’?

Alright… well back to what I was saying… honestly this system you haphazardly created is… something… to say the least… Seriously, what the actual hell is all of this…

It’s ok Shizu, you made due with what you had… honestly I’d rather not touch anything else this entire system might fall apart… I am assuming this is why you are frantically ramping up trying to copy ‘Faust, Lord of Investigation’?

<Y-yes… I thought that->

That copying it would allow us to use it through ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ to figure out a solution since ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ had no available solutions?

<...>

Here, I’ll figure out something, for now, you rest it off…

Shizu laid in bed, she was panicking on the inside since the body's instability grew more and more every single day. She was essentially a bad technician given infinite wisdom and had no idea what to even do to prevent the car from bursting apart. The most she could do was keep everything in working order and prevent the body from breaking apart, there was nothing she could do if a strong opponent forced a full out battle against them.

Shizu felt tired and…

<Isn’t this body supposed to never become sleepy?>

In theory, yes, but you are still human on the inside right?

<Aren’t… you still human?>

Not exactly, I have the mind and emotions of a human but every day I feel more and more like a monster. Although, not in the way you're thinking Shizu…

<What’s that supposed to mean?!>

Heh, well anyways, being born as a monster has changed my soul quite a bit, like you told me before, my soul was mistaken as a monster so odds are I’m more of a monster than you might think. For you, you are still human after all, despite commanding my slime body, it still feels and acts like a human body for you as if your physical body never vanished.

Shizu moved her body slightly and sure enough, it simply felt like a younger version of her own body. There was no distinction between it and her previous body and…

<Is that why I can’t seem to use ‘Mimicry’?>

Yes, although you may be marked species wise as a slime, you are human with your soul and as a result, your body can’t use other species' exclusive abilities. I always wondered why I couldn’t use ‘Envious’ as efficiently as you did while in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ but now I completely understand since ‘Envious’ belongs to you while ‘Gluttonous’ belongs to me.

Rimuru proceeded to activate ‘Stomach’ from within ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ and popped out a meal in front of Shizu who was shocked that the ability simply activated. Sure enough, Shizu understood what Rimuru was saying at this point. She realized that she had total control over ‘Envious’, it was her own skill but they still shared the same body which was how Rimuru could use it internally. In essence, while Rimuru was within ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’...

I could more effectively make use of the skills from within here in comparison to you. The skills within here seem to follow my orders far more effectively than when you were in command.

<What do you mean?>

From what I can tell, each skill within the body follows a chain of command from Ultimate Skills holding by far the most authority. ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ holds by far the most authority from within the chain of command which was only recently challenged by ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ after you created it. ‘Uriel, Lord of Vows’ isn’t as responsive as it was with you since you could perfectly alter space to maneuver my body around. It doesn’t seem that easy with me commanding it however…

<So what your telling me was->

You didn’t realize it but ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom isn’t fully open towards you as it is towards me. With me in charge of commanding ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, it is blasting me with all sorts of information. I have no idea what to do with possible solutions towards the problem with the only issue being limited known information from both of us on the situation…

<Huh?>

It doesn’t know enough because we don’t know enough…

<Oh… ohhhh, what kinds of suggestions does it have?>

It gives a 0.01% of survival from separating the two souls apart from one another, and gives… quite a lot of reasons that it would completely cripple both souls in the process…

<I… I guess that’s a suggestion?>

There’s various others and one is interesting to say the least… The Hero Chronoa, according to ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, displayed powers that are not normal for an above average human and seem to suggest a greater power than usual. Possibly replicating how your old Hero remained…. Stable-ish… would be the key to figuring out the majority of the problem. Moreover, there’s actually a suggestion here on one way to restabilize the body’s magicules without dumping all of them into the ‘Stomach’. Although I need to gather more information about it…

<What’s that?>

Something about Chronoa was stabilizing her but if I could figure out what exactly, then we could use that… for now, I don’t have much idea…

Shizu began to drift off to sleep, it had been awhile since she’s fallen asleep and just like that her dreams began to manifest themselves…

-=====-

She fell asleep quite easily and yet… when she did so, she could see visions of death and destruction… She could make out images of trauma long ago, when Ifrit began slowly but surely taking control of her body. She could no longer resist the elemental that resided within her own body and her powers began to go out of control. These powers manifested and soon attempted to even consume her own students. As much as she tried to resist the elemental, its power grew to a point of no return, a point in which Rimuru had to step in and absorb the beast within. Those very moments that she laid on death bed and was consumed by Rimuru, she remembered a voice was reaching out to her… it was the ‘Great Sage’ and yet… something always seemed off about it… visions began appearing as if from static images of a past? No… was it the future? Things seemed off and something seemed different… Was that Rimuru? It was in the shape of a slime but drifting endlessly in a void of sorts as if it had given up hope and fallen to loneliness. Why did it not move? Why did it not speak? Why did it not feel? No… it was talking to itself…

An aura of despair could be felt from the being, it was omnipotent and omniscient yet it could only ever remain alone. It was soon approached and given a choice, it didn’t choose not for the sake of wanting but that it simply couldn’t accept those options… soon an alternative was proposed in the back of the beings mind… sacrificing itself in exchange for accomplishing the impossible…

How? Why? What did this all mean?

-=====-

Shizu awoke to find herself sweating, apparently Eren had found a way to snuggle alongside her when she had drifted asleep. It was a miracle that she slept through that but she couldn’t help but wonder if the dream meant anything. She could vividly remember it and not at the same time as if she were recounting someone else’s memories… no, something’s memories… it wasn’t a person?

Shizu brushed it off, she must not be feeling right after all, it wasn’t her own body she was in anymore.

She got up slowly to ensure that Eren didn’t wake up, although she found it quite hard since Eren did not let go of Shizu.

<...wait a minute… I can teleport!>

Shizu quietly teleported out of the arms of Eren and she proceeded to faceplant into the nearby wooden floor. Shizu quickly gathered herself together and attempted to check if she could alter her clothing, finding it was impossible since ‘Gluttonous’ was rejecting her. Skills shouldn’t be able to reject their user normally but it wasn’t her skill but the skill attached to Rimuru and wouldn’t respond to her unless she had the cooperation with Rimuru.

Suddenly, ‘Stomach’ and ‘Mimicry’ activated where her outfits were swapped out and replaced with another that was stored in Rimuru’s stomach.

Your welcome

<A-ah, thanks…>

I could tell you were awake when you suddenly activated ‘Uriel’, you’re the only one able to operate that thing properly, all I can use it for is information storage.

<Yeah…>

Shizu tried to force her body to become slime but it simply couldn’t work without the innate properties of ‘Mimicry’ which was part of ‘Gluttonous’. The skill allowed Rimuru to shift his shape with his slime body but without it, the shape that was last in was locked into place. Shizu tried but ‘Gluttonous’ would not cooperate.

<Do you think there’s a way to get the skills to work between the two souls?>

Possibly… but I’m not sure since there’s two routes we could go. Trying to dislodge our two souls from one another which ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ suggests has many consequences on doing so or further integrating the two souls and there’s not really any clear option on doing so…

<There’s not much of an option…>

There’s a way to circumvent these issues though… These probabilities and chances are made up by current knowledge and information available using what skills are available and what has been successfully analyzed, copied, and replicated. This means that once I complete ‘Faust, Lord of Investigations’ along with whatever we may find out in Ingracia may change these odds. The interesting thing I’ve noted is that ‘Envious’ seems much more cooperative thanks to ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, possibly because of the ‘Drainage’, ‘Analytical Appraisal’, ‘Copy’, and ‘Replicate’ that was set up.

<Maybe its working in that process because it's actively assisting in absorbing more into the body, after all, it is envious of the powers of others right?>

Fair point… although wouldn’t that mean the skill is only working for its own benefit rather than for the user?

<Isn’t the skill part of the user? Anything it takes in will just be used by us after all.>

Ah, yeah I guess that makes sense…

As Shizu pondered that, suddenly a vision of that dream sparked up.

Was there some sort of connection there… best not to dwell on it for long…

Notes:

This Chapter is more Plot Focused than most, here's where a vast majority of the change will begin afterwards.

Chapter 49: Negotiations

Chapter Text

Shizu had gone with Fuze to one of the manors, it was the designated location of the meeting between Rimuru and one of the ministers of Blumund to discuss a treaty where they would recognize the Jura Tempest Federation.

“Are you sure about being called ‘Rimuru’ Shizu?” Fuze asked

“Keeping the name of the main person in charge of this body is honestly for the best… I’d rather not go around calling myself ‘Shizu’ in this body since that would just create so many problems…” Shizu explained, “Seriously, imagine you had an alternate personality in your mind that went by a different name, would you be ok with being called by two different names whenever you met with someone?”

“I… yeah no.” Fuze bluntly stated, he could see the issue and it would be worse that the leader of the Monster Nation would also be the Shizu, the Conqueror of Flames. It is such a weird situation that Shizu had gotten into that he couldn’t grasp the entirety of the situation yet. There’s been no one in the world that has had two souls lodged into the same body… right?

“How does that even feel, Shizu?” Fuze asked

“It’s… hard to explain actually… at some moments it feels nice until I end up arguing with Rimuru then it feels like the body is going to collapse at any moment…” Shizu explained

“HAHA, so like a marriage!” Fuze said jokingly

“Well yea-...wait… no…” Shizu suddenly began to blush before shaking off the idea, “No no, not at all! The hell are you thinking about Fuze! It’s nothing at all like marriage since I’m stuck like this!” Shizu was now flustered while Fuze was dying from laughter.

…

<Your ass better not make any remarks!>

…I wasn't planning too… just… I dunno… I’ll keep working I guess…

Shizu had unintentionally made the situation worse and soon enough, she felt the slime body slowly attempting to disintegrate itself, Fuze witnessed this in shock and quickly attempted to cover up the scene since they were walking towards the manor and were still in a public zone.

Shizu and Rimuru quickly realized the state of things and quickly they began to put themselves back together, reaffirming the body’s stability before continuing.

“What the hell was that Shizu?!” Fuze asked a flustered and embarrassed Shizu

“Just shut up… rather not continue with these questions.” Shizu stated, Fuze could feel an aura of malice coming from Shizu and proceeded to avoid fanning the flames and they continued walking towards the manor.

After five minutes of walking, they had arrived at the manor and Shizu met with one of the ministers.

“It is nice meeting you, I am Velyard, one of the ministers of the Blumund Kingdom.” Velyard proceeded to move his hand forward for a handshake, Shizu reciprocated.

“I am Rimuru Tempest, leader of the Jura Tempest Federation.” Shizu said back towards Velyard, Fuze was honestly surprised how well Shizu was playing off since she knew Velyard.

As Shizu and Fuze were guided inside the manor by Velyard, Shizu looked around and noticed that the building had changed since the last time they had met. It was more… disorganized than what it had been?

I have a theory…

<What’s that?>

You think they heard about the Orc Lord before?

<Possibly…>

Well that probably is why.

As Shizu and Fuze walked the hall, Velyard began opening up small talk.

“I’ve heard you defeated a Lesser Demon with a sword alone.” Velyard mentioned, Shizu simply nodded her head.

“Let’s just cut the small talk and talk diplomacy shall we?” Shizu asked, Velyard agreed

Soon enough, both Shizu and Velyard were seated at a table nearby while Fuze had waited outside since he was not the kind to get involved with the diplomatic matters of two different nations.

Velyard handed Rimuru a paper of a drafted response beforehand when meeting with Rimuru which had two primary points.

A Mutual Defense Treaty

A Mutual Passage Treaty

Shizu immediately found issue with the treaty because of how one-sided the treaty was towards Blumund.

“So, in exchange for tariffs, this treaty would essentially guarantee the defense of Blumund against any threat that could threaten the kingdom. I severely doubt you could help us compared to what we’ve faced… meanwhile isn’t the majority of your force simply just adventurers?” Shizu mentioned, Velyard froze up.

“W-well, you see, we do grant you tariff rights with the Mutual Passage Treaty..” Velyard mentioned

“Tariffs are nothing compared to deploying an entire armed force. Although there could be some things that could be negotiated. How about this, rather than Mutual Passage, more of a Mutual Market Agreement to be established.” Shizu mentioned, thinking back towards the treaty made with Dwargon and how it had essentially paved the way towards trade between the Dwarves and Monster, along with similar treaties made and developed with Eurazania and Fulbrosia. All it takes is the opening of one door into the human market to establish relations with humanity.

You know… you're really scary when you want something done…

<I’m not that scary!>

“You are already essentially acknowledging the Jura Tempest Federation with this treaty, if anything, we just want to have some sort of gateway with you all into the west and there’s not really any other human nations willing to do so.” Shizu mentioned, Velyard thought it over for a bit. There wasn’t much consequence in doing so however…

“What are you getting at here, is there something you are aiming to achieve with us?” Velyard asked, he seemed slightly concerned there was some more nefarious purpose behind the deal since they were monsters.

Shizu sighed, “People tend to look at Monsters with disgust and hatred since we were uncivilized in comparison to any other nation. Monsters were not humanoid and monsters were out of control, no one would be willing to trade and exchange goods with a bunch of monsters. In the Jura Tempest Federation, we’ve already faced some discrimination and have had somewhat of a rough time facing Demon Lords and Calamity-Class Threats quite frequently because others are trying to take advantage of a nation of uncivilized beasts. At least with this, you acknowledge that we were someone that was worth trading goods with and developing relations with rather than something to use as a sort of mercenary force.” Shizu explained and sure enough, Velyard could understand where they were coming from. The Jura Tempest Federation is a new and highly undeveloped nation that, given enough time, could evolve and develop into an unseen force that could rival multitudes of nations. Blumund had quite literally nothing to lose developing a relationship other than the disapproval of other Western Nations and the Holy Church which already looked down on Blumund for their weakness. What they had to lose by turning down the Jura Tempest Federation was quite simple, pissing off and allowing monsters to ravage westward. They already deal with demons on a frequent basis but from the information gathered, especially from Dwargon, each monster in the Jura Tempest Federation has astounding power and those who call the region home can be blessed with significant power. Letting those monsters become antagonists of humanity would prove absurdly fatal. The worst thing they could face from accepting is possibly falling under the control of the monsters but… they already barely have any control over themselves to begin with…

The conversation would soon begin to devolve further with Velyard attempting to ease the deal somewhat to ensure that Blumund didn’t end up falling under the economic control of the Jura Tempest Federation. Shizu would simply shoot down the proposals easily until one would catch her eye. A sort of economic area of sorts guaranteeing the safety between the two nations and open trade zone between the two nations. Eliminating the tariffs that would be required on either side but essentially opening Blumund as a gateway into other human nations as well as allowing the Jura Tempest Federation to exchange goods outside of its current trade range towards Blumund. Although on the surface this wouldn’t seem like much to Blumund, for Shizu, this was actually something that would interest her heavily because of Rimuru’s memories. There was something similar called ASEAN in a region called South East Asia that was essentially an economic union that allowed the nations to prosper. If something like that could be established, who knows what kind of boom would be capable of being provided.

Sure enough, Shizu eventually gave way to the two terms which in reality was one term and one insanely complex term that would need to be negotiated later on but as of now, was to be an open trade zone between the Jura Tempest Federation and the Kingdom of Blumund.

-=====-

Two Days Later

Shizu went up to meet with the King of Blumund. Guided by Fuze, they would meet the most powerful man in Blumund. As Shizu was guided in, Fuze couldn’t help but notice a certain aura surrounding Shizu, it wasn’t an actual aura but a presence of sorts given off by how she behaves herself. Shizu was always kind and nice but deep down she was mischievous and harsh. She never could unleash her nature and he never knew why but as the days went on with this new Shizu, he found how the spirit that possessed her was slowly taking control over her own body and controlling her from within. She was never exactly free to do what she wanted but now, she felt like she could do so much more than usual… she was free…

Soon enough, they had found themselves in the meeting room with the King of Blumund.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am the ruler of the Kingdom of Blumund, Bulud von Blumund.” Bulud said calmly but in a nice tone. Shizu appreciated the upbeat attitude of the king.

“It is also a pleasure for us, I am the leader of the Jura Tempest Federation, Rimuru Tempest.” Shizu moved out her hand for a handshake in which Bulud obliged and shook her hand back.

Velyard proceeded to read over what had been previously discussed between Rimuru and them beforehand two days ago. All the treaty required was the king’s approval and soon, the king gave his approval.

Shizu and Bulud gave their agreement towards the treaty and it was soon ratified thereafter.

“You’ll be protecting us right Rimuru? From the threats from beyond right?” Bulud asked, Shizu nodded her head in agreement.

“There’s not much loss on our end, besides, you’ll be agreeing to our term right?” Shizu asked, Bulud nodded in return.

Shizu had seen directly through Bulud without needing to try, she was familiar with how this world worked thanks to Yuuki after all. People were always out to deceive one another and attempt to make the most of each and every single agreement possible. That king was no different. Blumund was a weak and small nation situated between powerful nations on all sides with Falmuth being by far the most dangerous and annoying threat. Falmuth had previously halted the exchange of goods between the West and Dwargon, cutting trade hard. The Jura Tempest Federation was a bypass route but unfortunately no one would buy the goods if they originally came from the Jura Tempest Federation… but they may if it came from Blumund. A bypass in humanity through one of their own kingdoms as goods exchanged will now bear the name of either Dwargon or Blumund. The Jura Tempest Federation no longer needed to get its hands dirty trying to find a way to negotiate with so many human nations if Blumund was the ones exchanging goods for the Jura Tempest Federation. Shizu had essentially dropped economic trade issues onto Blumund while for Blumund, they had dropped military protection onto the Jura Tempest Federation.

Yet there was still more…

-=====-

The Following Day

“M’lord, Sir Rimuru and Fuze have arrived.” The butler told Velyard who had been anticipating them. After they had agreed to take on the economic burden that would be birthing the Jura Tempest Federation trade network, it was important that they knew what the hell they were trying to sell. Considering they are monsters, the goods should at least have some sort of value since items like monster parts or raw materials from the Jura Forest would be more than enough.

“I’ve come to show you what the Jura Tempest Federation can produce after all.” Shizu stated, Rimuru proceeded to activate ‘Stomach’ and soon enough, a dozen potions appeared on the desk of Velyard. Those were…

“Tempest’s specialty product, Full Potions.” Shizu said as Fuze guided in Thegis into the discussion hall.

“Oy Fuze, you said I was here to show off some sort of product, not to get beaten up just to show some sort of potion.” Thegis said angrily to Fuze.

“Don’t worry Thegis, I promise you that we won’t beat you up.” Fuze stated, causing some bit of confusion.

“Sure, whatever Fuze.” Thegis was visibly annoyed until he was suddenly handed over a potion… say didn’t this girl here look like the one he tested a while ago? No… she had black hair, this one has this sort of silverish-blue.

“Why is he here?” Velyard asked, he remembered that Thegis was once a high class adventurer for Blumund until he had unfortunately lost his limb, why the hell was he here.

“Simple, for showing what our product can do.” Shizu handed one over towards Thegis to drink, Thegis was annoyed but he didn’t exactly want to create a scene and just drank it.

Soon enough, a sparkle began to emanate from the stub that was once his leg, it regenerated once more back into a full limb, causing mass confusion in the halls.

<Rimuru, these Full Potions of yours are absolutely absurd.>

Are they really that absurd?

Well, to be honest, I was suddenly launched into a world where magic and skills unknown to Earth existed capable of doing god knows what. From annihilating entire sections of forest, creating hallucinations, causing rampaging beasts, and improving bodily actions. You surely can’t tell me a potion of restoring a limb is that far out of the question in this world.

<I… well… never thought about it that way…>

You grew up most of your early years here with the common sense of this world, I grew up in a world where common sense was something completely different.

<Hm>

What’ca hm’ing at?

<Nothing>

“HOW?! THIS KIND OF MAGIC IS ONLY POSSIBLE BY THE HOLY ORDER!” Velyard exclaimed, he was in utter disbelief.

“Normally, but monsters were people born from magic, it makes things completely different doesn’t it? One Full Potion is capable of being diluted into Twenty High Potions that are equivalent to what Dwargon can produce. Now then, about our trade discussion…” Shizu said while Rimuru began to activate ‘Stomach’ at an insane rate. A number of products of high quality silk that was only possible in Elmesia or the Eastern Empire towards Unique Grade Weapons that only the most skilled of Dwarves could make. Yet there was more, high quality, refined, resources of all sorts from metals, lumber, and foods were all presented in front of Velyard. Blumund was to be the gateway into the exchange of these sorts of goods, the proposal was simply that Blumund was to ensure these become known to the world…

Velyard looked back at the ecstatic but highly confused Thegis who had suddenly regrown his leg. Things were changing, and they were changing quickly…

Velyard began to rant about and calling that they got Myourmilles to quickly be dispatched to handle the trade relations between the Jura Tempest Federation and Blumund. Although not apparent, it seems like he is a big shot in Blumund since they were going crazy over having their best merchant on the job for this trade zone.

Soon enough, a cover story on a roaming holy priest had come around from the Ruminism Faith and had restored Thegis’s leg for a fee from Velyard. It was best that these things were kept quiet as of now since the situation would call for mass interest in the public and panic within the nobility if anyone else knew such a miracle product existed in Tempest. Now, Blumund had the job of assisting Tempest in its growing economic activities.

Blumund really had picked up Military Protection for handling the most difficult job of them all, assisting the birth of the Economic Trade Hub of the Jura Tempest Federation.

Chapter 50: Brewing Tensions

Chapter Text

It was the day of leaving, Shizu had left over towards the Adventurer’s Guild to say farewell to Fuze, after all, Fuze had helped them out quite a lot and she was fond of him.

As Shizu greeted the receptionist and explained she was there to greet and say farewell to Fuze, she went to inform Fuze who had been working in his office.

“Guildmaster Fuze, Sir Rimuru has come to see you.” The Receptionist said.

“Let her in.” Fuze said as he waited, soon enough the Receptionist led Shizu in and proceeded to leave.

“What do you need?” Fuze asked, Shizu simply smiled.

“You know, you’ve really grown into your role as Guildmaster huh?” Shizu said in a somewhat joking tone, Fuze seemed somewhat flustered.

“Get on with it please…” Fuze asked, Shizu didn’t.

“You are so much more different from when I held you in my arms when you were a-” Shizu jokingly said but Fuze had enough of being flustered.

“JUST GET ON WITH IT PLEASE!” Fuze asked, Shizu finally relented.

“Fufu, I really enjoyed my time back in Blumund honestly. It reminded me of the older times I was here. Thanks for accommodating me for the past few days while I was here, I couldn’t have gotten through it all without you. You truly live up to your Guildmaster title, Fuzey!” Shizu said as she smiled, causing Fuze to become embarrassed.

“P-please stop calling me Fuzey…” Fuze asked, Shizu simply rejected.

-=====-

A Few Hours Later

As Shizu rode in a carriage towards Ingracia, Rimuru eventually swapped back positions with Shizu. Reverting his body and taking control once more, he felt accomplished in the work he’s done so far with ‘Faust, Lord of Investigation’.

Well to be honest, if you look closely, I did end up finding the root cause of why the analysis of the skill was so much of a pain.

No… it was one of the Sub-Skills. While Milim had an absurd amount of magicules, we could still pierce through and take a part of her Ultimate Skill, with Veldora, one of the key components of his skill was abnormal to say the least. From what it’s called, it’s called ‘Pursuit of Truth’, a Sub-Skill from the outside that seemingly contains information beyond information that Veldora hasn’t seemingly used much of…

<Huh…>

Shizu thought back to it and sure enough… something Veldora said previously was sparking a bit of concern from her, he didn’t seem hampered by the idea that he would be trapped for a bit more time… although maybe it was because of the bribery of giving him extra snacks…

Simple, it has way too much information since it collects information from all world events. Every. Single. One. Thankfully, ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’ is streamlining the entire process so I don’t have to take in that much information but it seems like it's trying to physically download something absurdly massive like a million word document.

<?>

Think about carrying a log in comparison to carrying an entire house. You can carry something that doesn’t weigh that much but it's impossible beyond that, you need to divide the thing in order to properly obtain it and that’s exactly what needed to be done with ‘Pursuit of Truth’ since that thing has WAY TOO MUCH. It has information about all world events so who knows what Veldora may randomly know that we don’t.

By the way… while I was in ‘Raphael, Lord of Wisdom’, did you feel something?

Something is watching at all times… not sure what exactly though…

<That’s… ominous…>

Well it doesn’t bear any malicious intent but keep a close eye at all times… I’ll do my best to see if I could spot anything but it wasn’t detectable using ‘Magic Sense’ so I doubt I could detect it in any other way…

<Alright… I’ll keep ‘Uriel’ on standby in case I need to quickly teleport you.>

Alright…

Rimuru couldn’t help but feel a certain chill, as if someone were watching him…

-=====-

Elsewhere

“Kufufufufu, they can even sense me watching them, regardless of how much I hide my presence!” The Black Primordial simply laughed in joy, his master was even more impressive than on the surface.

“That slime, they are simply amazing… I cannot wait until that slime presents an opportunity for me to appear before him. I must meet with them…” One whose heart was pure black, stood by, waiting upon the opportunity that this slime may bring.

Ever since that slime ate that ‘Conqueror of Flames’, he’s united with her as if it were a piece of his soul lost long ago… that beautifully woven and connected soul of his was something to behold… how he longed to be with that slime… such an elegant appearance, such ideals, such truths… all hidden from view within that slime. What he would do to be with one such as him…-

A bright flash suddenly appeared nearby as one whose bright on their exterior but equally as dark came through.

“Long time no see, Blanc.” He was downright pissed at the moment.

“Same towards you, Noir.” Blanc and Noir stared at one another, Noir was especially aggravated at the sudden appearance of Noir but decided to play the situation calmly.

“What brings you here Blanc, shouldn’t you be over in the East?” Noir asked, he stared at Blanc.

“Ara ara, it seems so unlike you to be so defensive. What’s happening, Noir?” Blanc seemed to try to get under Noir’s skin but Noir played it off.

“Kufufufu, I am simply minding my own business Blanc. There’s much to be done after all.” Noir said, Blanc was staring right through him.

“Are you saying your own business has something to do with that little slime there?” Blanc said, pointing towards the crystal ball that once was used to watch over Shizu. Noir had expended much energy just to watch through the crystal ball to simply watch Shizu, he was in no position to fight Blanc in his current state.

“Why are you here?” Noir asked bluntly, he didn’t want to play along to Blanc’s tune.

“Ara, it seems like it was too easy wasn’t it? You usually put up with a fight and yet this slime intrigues you so much. I just wanted to talk about that slime.” Blanc stared coldly at Noir, if Noir had blood vessels, they would be exploding.

“Kufufufu, how does that slime interest you? You never seemed interested in the material world ever since that incident long ago in Silberia, wasn’t it?” Noir pointed out, Blanc seemed annoyed but she was confident.

“One of my subordinates had mentioned a certain power radiating across the Jura Forest, initially I had thought that Storm Dragon had broken out but yet… that slime. It contains magicules similar towards the dragon but clearly, that isn’t a dragon now is it?” Blanc said, she stared at Noir, “That slime was born from the Storm Dragon and seems to be connected. It usually wouldn’t bother me but that power radiating from the slime is nothing like I have ever seen in a mortal creature. More importantly, did you also enjoy the fire show of the slime?” Blanc looked at Noir, Noir simply looked back at Blanc as if he wanted to kill her.

“Ara ara, such destructive intent. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything with that little slime of yours. I am quite interested in the slime after all, that slime holds secrets beyond secrets after all.” Blanc chuckled as she simply whisked herself away. Noir couldn’t help but feel like Blanc wanted to interfere but he would need to put effort into stopping interference from Blanc.

Never before had Noir felt so attacked in his years of existence and yet the one time he found something interesting, another primordial had come to try and steal him of his enjoyment…

-=====-

Eurazania

“You want to do what?!” Carrion stared at Milim dumbfoundedly.

“I told you Milim, Carrion won’t accept letting you act like a puppet just for deceiving Clayman after all.” Frey said to a saddened Milim

“Aw but come on, it’s the only way to fool him! Besides, we don’t know what he's planning!!!” Milim stated, Carrion still rejected the idea.

“Sure that… Rimuru… he’s powerful enough to become a Demon Lord by himself alone. Can’t we just let Clayman do what he wants, sure enough he’ll end up self-destructing by messing with that slime after all…” Carrion stated he saw many issues with the idea of letting Milim fall under the control of Clayman.

“What if he orders you to try and destroy something like the Jura Tempest Federation. How would you feel destroying that?!” Carrion yelled, much to a saddened Milim.

“It’s foolhardy Milim, although we can still convince Clayman that we are on his side though. We just need to back that slime from the shadows. It’s a simple plot of letting him build up Rimuru’s rage and letting Rimuru unleash his own fury against Clayman, after all, Rimuru seems smart enough to tell when he’s getting played at.” Frey stated as she sipped her own tea, the room was locked off from outsiders with the three Beastketeers keeping guard. Albis had her Unique Skill ‘Suppressor’ on at all times, she wasn’t simply to allow anyone through easily.

“F-fine…” Milim was angry but took another cup of tea, it was good but she had better in the Jura Tempest Federation.

“Milim, you said before that Rimuru didn’t want to become a Demon Lord, why are you so keen on making him one?!” Carrion asked Milim, who began to shake nervously.

“W-well, uh, you see… uh… he’s strong! He deserves to be one!” Milim stated, Carrion and Frey weren’t buying it.

“Milim, why.” Frey stared at Milim who broke immediately under the pressure of Frey’s gaze.

“I… wanted to be at an equal level with him.” Milim quietly stated, Frey and Carrion were somewhat confused.

“What do you mean?” Frey asked, she seemed to ponder the question somewhat.

“Well, Rimuru is a leader of a nation while I’m a Demon Lord. People just assumed that I was just trying to rule over Rimuru! He’s my bestie! Not my subordinate! He’s stronger than what you would think!” Milim stated, Carrion and Frey were just baffled but Milim was one of the most immature Demon Lords besides Ramiris. Milim wasn’t one to work out plots like Clayman, she simply wanted to have fun and if she saw Rimuru becoming a Demon Lord as fun, it wouldn’t be wise to oppose her idea of fun.

“Then how about this Milim? We work on promoting Rimuru up into a Demon Lord by secretly gathering the approval of the others. Me and Carrion will work towards convincing Rimuru to accept the idea of becoming a Demon Lord, you use that… charm of yours to convince other Demon Lords to make Rimuru a Demon Lord. After all, we need the approval of most of the other Demon Lords to elevate Rimuru to Demon Lord status.” Frey was quite clearly trying to dump the job of talking with the other Demon Lords to Milim since she did not want to be found trying to mess with Clayman.

Milim began to smile, her smile was absurdly wide and her eyes began to sparkle, “LEAVE IT TO ME!” Milim quickly began to rush off with top speed, Frey and Carrion just watched her fly off at blitzing speed to who knows where.

“Where do you think she’s headed off towards?” Carrion asked Frey who was still there drinking some tea.

“...if I had to guess, she’s probably smart enough to try to convince a certain demon…” Frey said, Carrion began to sigh in disbelief.

If that Demon Lord did anything wrong, who knows what kind of consequences there would be…

Series this work belongs to:

Part 1 of What if Shizu united with the Great Sage? Next Work →

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EleJanDC on Chapter 1 Sun 19 Feb 2023 08:33PM UTC

OMG. I love it. I can't wait for next chapter.

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Rp0605 on Chapter 1 Mon 20 Feb 2023 04:43AM UTC

Oooh, I can’t wait to see what happens now that Rimuru has “Raphael” from the start.

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1. Willsteredge on Chapter 1 Mon 20 Feb 2023 04:57AM UTC
  
  It's less of a "Raphael" and more of Rimuru obtaining a "Manas" immediately. Except that Manas already has a fully developed personality and now has to adjust towards its newfound skills.
  Essentially, Ciel has been replaced by Shizu extremely early into the story.
  
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2. 1. Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 1 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:16AM UTC
    
    Rip ciel xD
    
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  2. 1. Willsteredge on Chapter 1 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:33AM UTC
      
      Yeah, Ciel is essentially dead. Why do you think I have the Archive Warning: Major Character Death?
      
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    2. 1. Hudsones on Chapter 1 Sat 25 Feb 2023 12:58AM UTC
        
        Not really death since she was never created
        
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      2. Willsteredge on Chapter 1 Sat 25 Feb 2023 01:01AM UTC
        
        In a sense, yes. Although, Ciel is technically alive in a sense.
        The Ego the Great Sage had which was basically nearly non-existent that would have become Ciel became merged with Shizu's Consciousness when "Raphael, Lord of Wisdom" was formed. In a sense, they are not dead but in a sense, they have been created under vastly different circumstances.
        
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Fin the jolly (Guest) on Chapter 1 Fri 31 May 2024 01:29PM UTC

So sad when I caught up.
Quality story.
Hope you get back to it eventually.

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Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 2 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:18AM UTC

VELDORA!!!!!!

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Garbage777 on Chapter 2 Sat 16 Dec 2023 11:11PM UTC

Is Ifrit still inside Rimuru too or did they get absorbed into the skill?

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The_Deviator on Chapter 2 Sat 05 Oct 2024 06:28AM UTC

Shizu having the inevitable response to learning Rimuru is smuggling Veldora across international borders like a condom full of cocaine.
...Why. Is this how my brain chose to describe this? I blame it being 2 AM.

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Tsunderedragon on Chapter 3 Mon 20 Feb 2023 06:29AM UTC

I love how this is started. I wonder how much will change due to this. Great job.

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Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:26AM UTC

Is this on wattpad or only on archive?

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1. Willsteredge on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:32AM UTC
  
  Only here as of currently, I may upload this to Wattpad though...
  
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2. 1. Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:58AM UTC
    
    Okay
    
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Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 09:58AM UTC

Btw do you have a schedule on when you post?

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1. Willsteredge on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 10:02AM UTC
  
  Not at all, I'm mostly doing this as a hobby and whenever an idea pops into my head. This one currently is an idea that I want to finish since its really interesting to think about the new possibilities of development for Rimuru with essentially a Ciel/Shizu fusion.
  
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2. 1. Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 10:08AM UTC
    
    Okay thanks!
    
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EleJanDC on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 11:14AM UTC

Wow. 3 new chapters since yesterday. I will check regularly ;)

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GoldenGirlGalaxy on Chapter 4 Mon 20 Feb 2023 08:15PM UTC

Loving this idea!

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Ruds (Guest) on Chapter 7 Wed 19 Apr 2023 10:17AM UTC

Sup I'm back
Sheesh rimuru is gonna be more op

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Tsunderedragon on Chapter 8 Wed 22 Feb 2023 05:03AM UTC

I love this! The fact one change made a whole host of dominoes fall differently. I can't wait to read what you have come up with.

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Lux_de_Tenebrae on Chapter 11 Sun 26 Mar 2023 01:32AM UTC

Before Gobta and Benimaru, they both know what poison tastes like now. Also, Great Chapter!

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Excanda on Chapter 11 Tue 09 Apr 2024 10:29AM UTC

Having an Akane Tendo like person is great for your poison resistance.

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Tsunderedragon on Chapter 12 Thu 23 Feb 2023 02:50AM UTC

I love this. Funny the on cannon Gabiru turns into a dragon newt.

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Lux_de_Tenebrae on Chapter 12 Sun 26 Mar 2023 01:41AM UTC

“
Killing him would’ve left his ego intact” such a powerful line, like god damn.

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Jero on Chapter 12 Thu 01 Jun 2023 12:13PM UTC

Hmm should Shizu behave like a hot-headed like that? She is calm and kind, too, most time She likes Rimuru but is not a hardcore fan like the other Raphael, I'd think she won't advocate killing anyone.

Last Edited Thu 01 Jun 2023 12:13PM UTC

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1. Grinch (Guest) on Chapter 12 Fri 26 Jul 2024 11:31PM UTC
  
  She’s a veteran adventurer, she’s no stranger to violence. Besides, this was literally an attempt (an extremely idiotic one) to take them over, that’s a big deal. Also, when I think of Shizu I think ‘caring’ and only a fool thinks being caring means incapable of harm.
  
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2. 1. Jero on Chapter 12 Sat 27 Jul 2024 06:47AM UTC
    
    That's true. Perhaps I am too used to her clumsy personality in Diaries and her serious and caring manners in the main series so I overlooked that.
    
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Addicted2fanfics (Guest) on Chapter 12 Thu 29 Jun 2023 02:51AM UTC

Shizu is so bloodthirsty here. I love it!! XD

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Oceanwaves101 on Chapter 12 Wed 21 Aug 2024 01:49AM UTC

Pfffff... those last two lines killed me. I love how universally accepted in any fanfic is that everyone hates Gabiru.

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