Archive of Our Own ^beta

Constructive criticism is welcome, so please tell me what you honestly thinks.

That being said I am looking for someone who can both cross check my chapters and even give me ideas on how to further develop my story!

(edit) Please accept my sincere apologies, you see I just realized that the words of Great Sage were not posted previously so I rushed to fix that as soon as I found out. Hopefully this adds more context.

Again I'm sorry!

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Chapter 1: Reincarnated as a Dragon?!!

I felt….cramped, squashed and contained. Unable to move my body beyond simple twitches and movements such as blinking. The place I was tightly confined in was dark, but he could barely see light coming from the other side of the thin barrier, letting me know that whatever was containing me was not as thick as I had initially assumed it was.

Obviously the next thing he did was try breakout! He really didn't feel comfortable being confined to such a tight space, so much so that he hadn't even thought about how it was he winded up in there in the first place. That was something he would figure out after he found out what it was that he was inside.

And so he began thrashing around, trying to bash my head against the ceiling of the object holding him in order to break through. He wasn't quite sure why he had chosen that method, but it felt like the right thing to do in this moment. After a few more attempts he saw spider web cracks forming at the point of impact.

'Just a little bit more!' He thought to himself as he bashed his head a few more times, feeling a small ache starting to occur in his head. It didn't take long until he finally broke through, 'Sweet freedom! Ah too bright!' he shouted as his head popped out of the dark prison that confined him only to be greeted by a blinding light that immediately had him closing his eyes once more to shield them.

It took a while before my eyes adjusted to the light, and in that time he had managed to the rest of his body out of its confinement, only to fall head first after slipping on a smooth surface.

My eyes finally adjusted to the lighting and I took a quick look at my surroundings. I was shocked to see that I was actually inside a large caving system that was being illuminated by several crystals of various colors growing from the ground, walls and ceiling of the cave.

《Notice! Arch Dragon has hatched successfully. Beginning full body appraisal and acquiring of skills and resistances.》

'What the whaaa?' I shouted in alarm after hearing the slightly feminine yet robotic voice speaking inside of my head, one that sounded strangely familiar. It took me a moment to calm down from the fact that there was a voice in my head after searching around frantically before looking around and seeing there was nobody in sight. It wasn't until a few seconds later that the words it had said registered in my mind.

'Dragon?! Where?!' I shouted once more as I looked around, twisting my body in an attempt to look around more carefully. But the only things I could currently see around me where the glowing crystals, some plants that were growing not too far away from me, the broken round shaped rock thing I'd just broken out of and small pond near the area where the plants were.

… Wait a second!

I swiftly turned back to the unnervingly oval shaped rock like thing that I'd broken out of mere minutes ago. That 'rock' looked very much like an egg right now that I got a better look at it, and the transparent liquid leaking from the opening that I had made.

In that moment I felt all the differences in my body that I had been subconsciously ignoring all this time, the way I was currently on all fours, the fact that my body seemed shorter than I remembered and that my jaws and nostril seemed longer than what any normal humans had any right to be. I dreaded the fact that I may have to accept the fact that I wasn't human anymore.

'Well its better to face this reality now than to try and run from in forever.' I thought to myself before walking, could it even be called walking if I was down on all fours, to the edge of the pond to see my reflection. And what I saw in the mirror while not as shocking as it would have been had I not come to the conclusion myself, was still pretty shocking to see. 'I really am a dragon…' I could think of far worse creatures to be reborn into, and a dragon was certainly not one of them, if anything it was totally epic!

The creature I saw reflecting on the surface of the water was both amazing and beautiful. Sure enough I was a dragon, a hatchling at that so it wasn't as terrifying as one would expect. First things first, I wasn't that big in terms of size, easily large enough to be held in the arms of a human being, but still larger and more imposing than say a house cat.

My body was filled soft and smooth scales as black as the night sky, with series of royal blue and sky blue diamond shaped scales appearing in some areas across my body, almost looking like stars in the night sky. Despite how soft the scales seemed as I looked I somehow knew they were stronger than they looked. The underside of my body had white scales that were slightly softer than the black and blue ones but probably just as durable….hopefully. I had some hair, or is it fur, growing from the side of my head to the slightly larger amount at the back of my head, which had two white small horns growing out, and down my neck, almost like a mane. The fur then extended down in a line following my spinal cord all the way down to the tip of my tail where it grew out a bit. The tail…that was another thing that thing that felt weird to have, though not as weird as the wings sprouting out of my sides, it would definitely take some time to get used to those appendages, especially if I hoped to fly one day.

All in all I looked captivating, even by dragon standards. I hoped the general appearance would keep even as my body grew bigger and bigger.

After taking the time to properly admi…I mean inspect my knew body I thought back to what had led to this situation that I currently found myself in.

The was getting shot in the chest twice, my friend Haku shouting at me to stay alive with tears in his eyes as the sound of more gunshots rang out in the back ground. The hot searing pain I felt from the injury in that moment, followed by the cold numbness that most likely came from the blood loss caused by such a wound.

That's right…my name was Ren Daisuke, and I was a police officer. Served 10 years in the military before dropping to a more local service in the police force, I'd been in the force for another 7 years, doing quite well for myself.

I'm still not quite too sure about the circumstances that led up to my death, my memory was still a bit hazy, but what I was sure of was the fact that it was a large scale operation. There was obviously a shootout…and I was shot twice in the process. Once in the torso and another in the upper chest area…

And now I found myself inside of this cave after hatching out of an egg?!

The thoughts that had been plaguing the back of my mind for a while now came back at full force. I hadn't wanted to accept it before, but now…

'Did I really…die? And then get reincarnated…as a dragon ?! '

Just the thought alone sounded insane, absolute nonsense! And yet, it somehow also felt right. I couldn't deny the evidence that was right before my very eyes. If this was my knew reality then I needed to accept the fact that I was now a dragon.

I mean…that's pretty cool right

So I've accepted it, I'm a dragon now.

I never thought I'd find myself in this kind of situation, but here I am! Now that I wasn't actually panicking about my existential crisis and the second life that I had been miraculously given, I took the time the actually adapt to my new body.

Naturally the first thing I did was get used to moving on all fours. It wasn't anything too difficult, but the changes I went through it took a bit. I could crawl, trot, sprint prowl and just about move how most four legged creatures could. I even learnt how to stand on my back feet, though moving like that was still a bit tricky seeing as my movements were almost penguin like.

Next followed the wings and tail, these were limbs that were far from what I had as a human and thus took a bit more time to get used to. It wasn't that I couldn't move them however I wanted to, I could wag and maneuver that tail as well as flap and fold my small wings, but the extra limbs just felt weird to have altogether. It would take some time before I felt comfortable just having them on my body. I would just have to give myself time to adjust.

And so I spent an unknown amount of time just doing some random stuff with my new bod.

《Notice: Analysis of the individual has been completed. Would you like to hear the results?》

《Y/N》

I'd been playing around in the field filled with when the field filled with numerous flowers that just had this heavenly smell when the feminine voice from before spoke up in my head.

Unfortunately for me, I'd been testing out the strength of my tail, by bouncing around on it from one position to the next. Meaning the unexpected intrusion disrupted whatever focus I had in the that moment and resulted in me getting a face full of dirt as I fell from mid-air.

'Ow that hurt, how about a bit of a warning next time!' I mentally yelled in frustration.

《Notice: You cannot feel pain due to you [Pain Nullification] skill.》

I couldn't help but grumble some incoherent words at what would normally be taken as a sassy response. That is until what it had actually said. Did it just say I have a skill? Aren't those like abilities in video games and stuff like that? That was something I was definitely going to ask, but there was one more important thing I needed to know.

'Who are you anyway?' I asked cautiously, after all having a voice inside your head wasn't very normal…then again, neither was being a dragon.

《Answer: This is the effect of your [Unique Skill: Great Sage, with this skill enabled you will be able to react more quickly.》

"Great Sage huh." As I decided to just accept the fact that I had a skill that seemed more akin to an AI inside my head, there was no point getting worked, "Anyways you said something about having skills? Are those abilities that I have or something."

《Answer: Skills, these are abilities that can be acquired by an individual through personal growth or use of other skills. There a total of five types of skills. Would you like to have them explained?》

《Y/N》

"Yes!" I almost shouted, I could tell this was going to be important stuff, so best to get as much information as I could as possible, "Keep it as simple as possible though please."

《Understood: First are the [Intrinsic Skills] : These are the skills that a monster or demi-human races posses. Aside from unique monsters these skills are usually the same for creatures of the same race or origin. Evolution of creatures strengthens these skills and unlocks more of them.

Second are the [Common Skills] : These are the most common and basic form of skills, and are easily acquired by monsters.

Third are the [Extra Skills] : These have a greater amount of power compared to common skills. These can also exist as sub-skills to [Unique Skills] and [Ultimate Skills].

Fourth are the [Unique Skills] : As the name suggest these skills are unique and can only exist one at a time. They are usually composed of sub-skills which may either be [Extra Skills] or [Common Skills]. [Unique Skills] are gifted to those that have a strong desire or emotion, and have a large amount of magicules.

Lastly are the [Ultimate Skills] : These are the final evolutionary stage of skills in general. They grant the user the ultimate power to control the very laws of nature. [Ultimate Skills] can be acquired from the evolution of [Unique Skills] or through being 'gifted' by another user, though the individual must be a spiritual lifeform and have the necessary magicules to qualify for it. 》

Okay…that, was a lot to process. So I took a minute, maybe ten, to actually process the bombshell of information that had just been dropped on me. Sure I got the gist of it all, but there were still a few terms that I didn't quite understand yet.

'Okay…' I mentally hummed as I tried to decide what question I should ask first. After reviewing everything I'd been told I came to a conclusion, 'Okay, what are magicules. Those sounded pretty important to the whole skill thing. Oh and please keep it simple.' The only reason I felt the need to emphasize the whole 'simple' thing was because I was afraid [Great Sage] would go all technical on me my brain would fry from information overload

《Answer: Magicules, otherwise known as Magical particles, is the spiritual energy that exists in all living things and is essential to the survival of all monsters. They are not visible to the naked human eye, but are heavily influenced by both the environment and living beings, thus allowing them to be used for various purposes.》

Huh. So basically they were like the MP that players have in video games or 'mana' in anime. A source of energy that existed in the world and could be used to empower people be it physically or with things like magic and the like.

This world was getting cooler and cooler by the minute!

'Good to know.' I said mentally, 'Earlier you told me you'd finished your analysis on me. Does that mean you know all my skills and stuff?' It was a reasonable assumption, [Great Sage] seemed like the type of AI, I mean skill, that would help me manage myself and answer questions that I have.

《Affirmative: Would you like to hear the results of my Analysis?》

《Y/N》

'Yes, state each class of skills in the order you explained them to me before, and briefly explain what each skill does.' I said as I could barely hold my own excitement. As a freaking dragon , I was hoping to have some awesome skills. Nothing too OP mind you, just something that would distinguish me as a part of a powerful species.

《Understood: Listing [Intrinsic Skills].

[Dragon Eye] – this allows the user a greater field of vision and analysis of targets, including their skills, however identifying skills may take time depending on strength of the target.

[Dragon body] – increases the users strength and endurance, as well as their magical resistance and regenerative abilities. However this ability is strains the body over time, limiting its use. This drawback can be overcome with practice of the skill and physical and mental training.

[Dragon Aura] – allows user to release a powerful spiritual pressure that immobilizes weaker targets. In some cases it can deal physical and even lethal damage.

[Fire Breath – This allows the user to breath a torrent of flames from their mouth. The size and heat of the flames is dependent on the magicules put into the technique.

[Rapid Regeneration] – This allows the user to heal from injuries and even regrow lost limbs.

[Keen Sense] – gives the user enhanced sense of smell and sound 》

I had to admit to admit, those skills sounded legit. And those were just the [Intrinsic Skills] alone!

'Alright next class please!' I mentally shouted in excitement as I resisted the urge to jump up and down from excitement in my rather small, but totally adorable, dragon form.

《Notice: The individual currently does not have any [common skills] 》

'What?! Really?!' I couldn't help but shout in anger and exasperation. It was kinda embarrassing that I didn't have skills that were considered to be common for monsters. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that it sort of makes sense.

These skills were easily obtained by monsters of any class, probably through actions and other physical practices. It sucked but I guess these were skills one couldn't just be born with.

'I guess it makes sense. Oh well, move on then.' I said to [Great Sage].

《Understood: Listing [Unique Skills]. Would you like me to also explain their sub-skills?》

《Y/N》

'Yes' I responded immediately, it was going to be important to know the ins and outs of all my skills, though it would probably be information overload if they were all listed at once, 'But list the [Unique Skills] one at a time.

《Understood.

[Unique Skill: Great Sage] – a support skill that increases the users reaction speed and provides information.

Sub-skills:

[Thought Acceleration] – increases the users thought processing speed to a factor of a million.

[Analytical Appraisal] – Analyses and assesses the target.

[Parallel Operation] – the ability to detach analysis of targets from users regular thoughts.

[All of Creation] – allows the user to comprehend any non-concealed phenomenon in this world

[Chant Annulment] Eliminates the need for chanting when using magic. 》

'Woah, [Great Sage, you're freaking awesome!' I yelled with wide eyes, and I really meant it too. [Great Sage] truly was a great support skill and source of information, I could already think of many situations in this new world in which it would come in handy. As a matter [Great Sage] was the one listing her skills right now, and now that I had an idea of how it operated I could tell how.

Still, the standard I had for [Unique Skills] had gone up drastically.

'What's the next one!' I asked trying as hard as possible to contain my excitement.

《Answer: [Unique Skills: Predator] – This ability allows the user to absorb the target of their desire. It takes effect instantly regardless of space and time.

Sub-skills:

[Predation] – absorbs the target into body. It affects organic matter, inorganic matter, skills and magicules

[Stomach] – Where all absorbed targets are stored. Stored objects are not affected by time.

[Isolation] – harmful substances identified by analysis are separated are also stored. They are used to replace magic energy.

[Mimicry] – allows user to replicate absorbed targets appearance. Skills and abilities of target are also copied and made available to the user. 》

'Okay, I've gotta admit [Predator] sounds pretty awesome.' And honestly it did, the ability to transform into other creatures, not to mention acquiring their skills and making them my own. It almost sounded too good to be true. The fact that I seemed to have something akin to a pocket dimension from the [Stomach] was also pretty cool, I could see myself storing lots of stuff with that. 'I can see that coming in handy pretty soon. Any thing else [Great Sage]?'

《Answer: [Unique Skill: Desire] – this allows the user to see through peoples desires and stimulate the target emotions, slowly manipulating their thoughts and desires and controlling them without the target being aware.

Sub-skills:

[Copy] – any skill used against the user for an extended period will slowly be absorbed by your being. [Ultimate] and [Unique] skills cannot be copied directly by their sub-skills can be copied as a result.

[Replication] – this technique replicates the art used by a target in battle to an efficiency that is similar or greater. As the target fights and uses their skills [Replication] allows the user to adapt accordingly. Replicable arts include martial arts, weapon proficiency, magic techniques and other relevant arts.

[Skill Disable] – allows the to neutralize targets skills, however the cost of magicules is identical to that of the skill. For Ultimate Skills only sub-skills can be neutralized.

[Drainage] – this skill allows the user to passively absorb magicules from their environment to gradually increase their magicule reserves. Excess magicules will be stored within [Stomach] skill. Dwelling in area of high amounts of magicules will increase the rate at which they are absorbed, resulting in the users growth rate increasing. 》

'Woah…' I said as I tried to digest all that. So not only could I copy the skills of monsters I ate through [Predator] but I could gain skills through fighting as well, that's not even thinking about being able to copy my opponent techniques.

Still that first part about being able to sense and mess with the desires and emotions of my targets was a little unnerving. Don't get me wrong, sensing emotions would come in hand plenty, but manipulating that of others was something I didn't want to do unless necessary.

'That skill sounds awesome to have.' I thought as the applications of these abilities, taking into account my other abilities there were a lot of ways my skills could be used together.

《Notice user currently does not have [Ultimate Skills] shall I move onto [Resistances]? 》

《Y/N》

Resistances? Those hadn't been mentioned in the classifications of skills [Great Sage ] had listed before. Still it sounded like it was useful to know.

'Sure thing' I responded.

《Notice: [Resistance Skills] allow the greatly reduce the effect of the mentioned ailment, while [Nullification Skills] completely negate the effects of any ailments on the user.

[Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] – formed from the union of [Heat Resistance] and [Cold Resistance].

[Paralysis Resistance]

[Piecing Resistance]

[Pain Nullification] 》

'Guess that explains why I don't feel hot or cold in this body. Or why I didn't feel pain earlier on when I fell.' I thought to myself a I mentally went through the resistances that had been listed.

Looking ahead of me I noticed a field of flowers not too far away from where I was. It was strange to see flowers growing so well on a dark place like this. The ground might be moist due to the damp environment, but that alone shouldn't have been enough for them to turn out so well.

' Hey [Great Sage, is it possible to analyze those flowers?' I asked mentally.

《Affirmative. Would you like to use [Dragon Eye] to begin analysis?》

《Y/N》

' Yes' I responded, almost immediately, I felt a miniscule amount of energy leave my body and travel towards my eyes. I had no idea what it looked like from an outside perspective.

But to me, my eyesight became so much sharper, shifting my gaze towards the white plants, I saw the analysis take effect, almost as though I was scanning the plants with my own eyes. It felt strangely weird, and yet natural too, as if I'd always had the ability to do that. I decided not to think to much about it and instead just be glad it wasn't creepy or something.

《Notice: Analysis complete. The plant is a Hipokute herb. It is a plant with powerful healing properties and is used in salves and healing potion. It only grows in areas that are rich in magicules. 》

'If that's true then that means this cave is rich in magicules since its loaded with these hipokute herbs.' I thought to myself, my [Drainage] skill would also be working at greater efficiency whilst I was in this cave as well, but I wasn't expecting to get stronger overnight or anything, it was bound to be a week maybe two before I noticed anything. Still, these herbs were awesome, 'Hey [Great Sage] does that mean if I eat these plants with my [Predator] skill I can store them in my [Stomach] and convert them into potions or something?'

《Affirmative: Would you like to use the [Unique Skill: Predator] on the hipokute herb? 》

《Y/N》

"Lets do it." I said out loud as I moved to the edge of the field of flowers and stood in front of a single flower. Without another word I lowered my head till it was a bit above the flowers and opened my mouth as if I was about to eat it.

Instead a small vacuum of energy, that I assumed were actually magicules, appeared and literally sucked in the flowers I was standing I front of. In a second about six of them were sucked up, before I stopped.

'So how we looking?' I asked [Great Sage, I wanted to see how many potions I could get from the few that we collected.

《Answer: With six hipokute herbs, we were able to create three full recovery potions, which are now currently stored within [Stomach]. 》

'A one as to two ratio, that's a lot better than what I assumed I'd actually need to make a potion, especially one as grand as a full recovery potion! That's totally awesome!' These plants must have been filled with powerful stuff if they could make recovery potions of such quality. And with the ones I could see alone I could probably make more than a hundred.

And so with that I began grinding potions like a madman, running around all over the pace and just sucking in these things and stocking them up for that rainy day or whatever.

Man, how long have I been here now. It certainly feels like its been a day or two, maybe more. My sense of time has been totally messed up by the lack of sun or anything in this dark cave.

Either way I've been doing nothing but gathering hipokute herbs and magistone ore, a rare and valuable mineral I discovered not too long after the herbs, and storing them in [Stomach]. But at this point I've been doing it more out of boredom rather than out of necessity or anything like that.

Still I'd gathered tones of both stuff so I can't really complain about this goldmine of a place.

Oh and I'd also gotten two new skills whilst I was playing around, both of them being water related. The first being [Water Propulsion, I got it after deciding to go for a swim just for the sake of it, using my four feet and tail to push myself forward. And later on learned the skill [Water Movement] as I went down stream, venturing deeper and deeper into the cave.

Aside from that and my continuous grinding of herbs and magistone, I'd yet to come across anyone else in this place. Not another creature or living being in sight. At the very least I had [Great Sage] to keep me from being completely alone, but even I was starting to miss the normal social interactions that every human or living creature needed.

'This sucks, I kinda just wish I'd run into somebody already.' Whether it was friend or foe, it would definitely be better than this solitude.

'Little one.  '

Huh…what was that?! For a second there I thought I heard a voice in my head! One that clearly belong to [Great Sage]. It sounded feminine, and yet was loud and powerful. Did that mean there was someone else nearby?

' Can you hear me, child of mine'

'Who's there?!' I asked in mild panic. While I was pretty sure I could handle myself fine in a fight, that doesn't mean I was about to go picking one with the first creature I saw.

Besides, this voice didn't seem hostile, it was powerful yes, but it didn't seem to have any ill intentions from what I could hear. Still I couldn't let my guard down.

'Is that anyway to speak to your elders.' The voice said as it sounded amused, in that moment a bright light came into my line of sight, it was coming from what looked like a tunnel not too far from where I was right now, 'Why don't you come and find out.'

I would look back on this day in the future, and ask myself what it was that prompted me to take those steps towards the light at the other end of the tunnel? All common logic should have told me to flee, to ignore the voice in my head and just turn away, and yet for some reason I moved forward on my four legs.

And that is how I was born into this world, and how I met the Storm Dragon, Veredia.

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I'll be honest, genderbending Veldora was always going to be a bit of a tricky thing for me, his character and personality are a irreplaceable in the anime. And now I have to find I way to mix that with a feminine and motherly vibe as well.

Oh well, guess that's my problem and not yours!I am looking for someone who can both cross check my chapters and even give me ideas on how to further develop my story!

That being said I am looking for someone who can both cross check my chapters and even give me ideas on how to further develop my story!

I only realized it a few days ago that the words of Great Sage had not been transferred when I transferred my word document onto my fanfic application.

Rest assured the issue has been taken care off and I will make sure to proof read my chapters from now on.

(Chapter 1 has been edited)

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Chapter 2: Storm Dragon Veredia!

I don't really know what I was expecting when I reached the end of the tunnel, thus far this world had been full of one surprise after another.

I died in my world, K.I.A as a cop on the field, and was reborn as a dragon. Learned that I had a ton of awesome skills with the potential to gain more as time went on.

It was safe to assume that anything could have been at the end of this tunnel. And yet the last thing that I expected to see…

… was another freaking dragon!

"Aaahh a dragon!" I couldn't help but shout in alarm I backed up a little.

Before me stood a massive midnight blue dragon that was at the very least a hundred times bigger than I was. Its bright golden eyes glowing as they looked down at me with what was clearly amusement.

"You are a dragon as well, little one." Her voice, because it definitely feminine, alone shook the walls of the cave.

"Oh…right!" I responded sheepishly, if I could rub the back of my head I would have, "I'm still getting used to being a dragon." It was something I would have to get used to quickly, this was my new life now. "Besides , it's not like I saw you or anything, I just followed the light at the end of that tunnel."

"I see, so you weren't able to sense my presence, even as you approached me?" The Dragon asked, a statement that confused me a little. Mainly because I was unfamiliar with the term.

" 'Sense your presence'? What does that mean?" I asked for clarification.

"Makes sense you do not know, you are a newborn after all." I decided not to ask the dragon how she knew that. Probably common sense since I looked like a baby compared to her. "Most, if not all, monsters possess the ability to sense the magicules in the air around them, this skill is called [Magic Sense]. For those without eyes or poor eyesight, this skill serves as their eyes and has a far greater range than what normal eyes can grant."

"Woah that sounds like it be super helpful!" I shouted. Being able to sense monsters and magic all around you over a wide range was something I wanted, it would definitely come in handy.

"Oh, would you like me to teach it to you?" The larger dragon asked much to my shock. "It's a very easy skill to grasp."

The offer was obviously a tad bit too good to be true, so naturally I was wary of there being ulterior motives.

"Uh what's the catch?" I asked. Being taught a skill, no matter how basic it was, was something that someone wouldn't do on a whim.

"You must promise not to take what I wish to share negatively?" The dragon said, I couldn't help but tilt my head in minor confusion. Sure they were a lot of things that she could say that I may not take kindly to, but the fact that she was warning me…

"Uh, okay sure." I responded, not too sure how else I was supposed to respond to the terms of the agreement.

"Very well then. Now to learn this skill you must close your eyes and focus. Feel the small particles floating all around you, those are magicules. If you manage to gain control over them you should be able to 'see' with them." The large dragon explained, I nodded my head and did as I had been instructed. Closing my eyes and focusing on feeling the magicules all around me.

It took me a few minutes but I eventually got the hang of it. My head aching from the sudden rush of information and the perspective it all, fortunately great sage was able to help me process that inflow.

《Notice: You have acquired the Extra Skill [Magic Sense]. 》

"Woah, the world certainly looks more different when you look at it from this perspective." I noted as I used my newly acquired skill to look at my surroundings. The magistone ores all around us certainly looked more vibrant than they did through my eyes alone. This was most likely due to the magicules they had absorbed over time.

"It does, doesn't it. This skill will serve you well so make sure to put it to good use." The dragon explained to which I nodded my head in understanding.

"Will do!" I said as I turned to face the dragon only for my eyes to widen once more, "What the heck! Your aura is huge!"

"Ahahahaha-Ahahahah-hahaha! So you finally noticed did you!" The dragon said after letting out a roar of laughter that vibrated throughout my entire body.

Honestly looking at her through magic sense made me wonder how in the seven levels of hell I hadn't felt such an overwhelming presence before. Still I couldn't help but wonder if all dragons had this much power, and if I'd grow this strong as well.

It would also explain why I hadn't encountered any monsters as I ventured deeper into the cave. If other living creatures could sense this aura using [Magic Sense] or any other method then obviously they would do their best to stay clear of the source of it all!

Well I suppose it's to be expected, I am the Storm Dragon Veredia! One of only four True Dragons in existence! Ahahahaha!" The Dragon, whom I guess was called Veredia, shouted with a bellowed laugh . It took a moment before she finally calmed down and looked down at me once more, "Now about our agreement, little one."

"Yeah, you said there was something that you wanted to tell me." I said as I thought back to the terms of Veredia teaching me [Magic Sense]. I couldn't react badly to whatever it is was she was about to tell me, and honestly that made me a bit nervous.

"Well…how do I put this into words." Veredia mumbled to herself as she suddenly seemed a bit shy and embarrassed and shy to me, though I had no clue why, "I suppose being blunt in this situation is for the best. Little one…I'm your mother."

"…"

"…"

"…"

My eyes simply remained on hers as I tried to process what had just been shared. My mind was running a thousand miles. My first instinct naturally was to deny it, but the more I thought about it the more I realized there was no point in holding onto the ties of my previous life.

I may have had a human family in my previous life, but that meant nothing now in this new world I had been born into. The only thing I could do was keep the experiences of my old life and the values I learnt as a result and carry them into this knew life.

The chances actually being my mother in this world were far too high for me to deny. She was the only living creature I'd come across since entering this world. Not to mention that she was also a dragon. So it only made sense.

"I guess…that makes sense." I said after a moment as my gaze shifted back to the floor before looking back at the dragon.

"Really, I assumed you'd put up more of a fight as a reincarnated soul?" Veredia said as my whole body tensed up while my eyes widened in alarm. My reaction seemed to amuse my 'mother', it would take some getting used to call her that. "Did you assume I wouldn't notice?"

"H-how did you kn-know?!" How the hell did someone know when another person was reincarnated?! That was just absurd! Was it a skill or something?!

Either way this could very well turn out to be bad. If Veredia felt I had possessed her child's body then I very well could be in a shit load of trouble here! I couldn't blow this off as a mere incident!

"Fret not young one, there is no need to fear." Veredia said as she let out a chuckle at seeing my distress. I certainly didn't see anything funny about it, I thought for sure that I was going to die! "If I'm being honest I saw this coming."

"Really, how?!" I asked, I was relieved that I wasn't in any trouble or anything, but I was still curious as to how she knew I had been reincarnated.

"Well…how should I put it." Veredia said as she closed her eyes in thought, "Dragon eggs take a period of 80 days to hatch, with some stretching to over a hundred due to the potency of their dragon factor."

"Dragon factor?"

"That's right, 'Dragon Factor' is a term used to determine how strong the dragon genome is within an individual, with us True Dragons possessing the highest factor and being the strongest of species in this world!" Veredia said boastfully, the pride she held in her strength audible. She then went on to clear her throat as if to wash away the awkwardness of what she just did, "Anyway, there are lesser creatures such as Lizardmen or Wyverns that have a smaller dragon factor being descendants of the dragons and having mixed bloodlines."

"I see…" I nodded my head.

"Anyways your egg took abnormally long to hatch little one, so much so that it worried this poor old dragon greatly! We're talking millenniums here!" Veredia said in distress and concern, "It took me a while to realize that even though your body had fully matured within the egg, it had no soul so to speak. And so because of it the egg never hatched."

"Oh…that must have been hard." I didn't know what to say to all that. I couldn't imagine expecting a child only for that child not to wake due to the body not having a soul. I didn't know if female dragons were as maternal as humans, or maybe even more so, but it had to hurt either way.

"…it was, agonizing in fact. There were times where I lashed out at the world around me, destroying cities for the sake of entertainment and the likes. It's kinda how I ended up getting sealed in this cave." Veredia admitted, I couldn't help but chuckle nervously at how casually she spoke about laying waste to several cities, but I still sympathized with all that she went through, "But I held onto the hope that a soul would emerge in that body and my child would wake, reincarnated soul or otherwise. I was willing to accept it all."

"I…get it. Or at least I think I do." I admitted as I thought my next words over carefully, "I was human in my previous life, and I wasn't from this world either. When I first woke up here I admit that I was a bit shocked to find myself in the form of a baby dragon, and actually hatching out of an egg was quite the experience. But now that I've gotten time to actually think about it I'm glad for this opportunity, to have a new life. To start all over again, and if the gods permit it to make an actual difference in the world."

I really was looking forward to whatever this new life had in store for me, both the good and the bad. Life as a dragon was going to be very different to the life I had before, and it was something that both excited me and concerned me. Whatever the case I would face the challenge head on and continue to grow as an individual.

"I see…" Veredia said as she studied me for a few minutes, maybe processing what I had just told her about my prev-, "Does that mean you're going to call me mommy?!"

Whatever thought process I'd been having in that moment immediately shut down as I literally fell face first into the dirt at the absurdity of that question. The fact that Vere- my mother seemed to look towards me with hopeful and expectant eyes certainly didn't make this any easier!.

"That's…a bit much. Can I settle for 'mother' instead?" I asked, no way I was reverting to a child's language of addressing their parents, I still had some pride left in me.

"I suppose that may have been a bit much." Veredia said with a sigh, though it was clear she understood where I was coming from, "Still, 'mother' seems too formal for me. How about this, you call me 'mom' when it's the two of us, but 'mother' in the presence of others.

Doable, and much less embarrassing than actually having to all her mommy. I don't think I'd ever be able to live it down if I did. Still, Veredia was my mother by blood now, and after everything she had gone through to protect her egg just so she could await the day it would hatch, calling her 'mom' was the least I could do.

"Yeah, mom sounds great!" I responded with a smile, testing the way the word in itself rolled out of my mouth.

"Oh, how wonderful! If it weren't detestable barrier I would have nuzzled into your cute little face!" Veredia squealed in absolute joy.

It was…beyond strange to see what was supposed to be a mighty dragon acting so feminine. But for the sake of my sanity I decided to just ignore it for the time being and focus on the important part of what my mother had just said.

"Wait, how long have you been sealed inside this cave?" I asked as I glanced at the barrier that surrounded the enormous figure of my mother.

"It was a little over three hundred years ago. During my attacks on one of the human settlements, one of them stepped forward to fight me. A hero, is what they called her." Veredia said.

"Wait, they are heroes in this world?!" I asked in excitement. This place was turning out to be your typical medieval fantasy world. Magic, monsters, heroes and who knows what else was out there! It all just made eager to go out there to explore it all.

Though now that I actually think about it, it would probably be best if I avoid any human settlements for the foreseeable future.

"Indeed, we call them Other Worlders. People summoned from your original world to come and serve as weapons." Veredia explained, I couldn't help but frown at that.

"Well that doesn't sound nice." I said, the fact that there may be other individuals from my world as well was awesome! However the fact that they were only brought here to serve as the weapons and tools of people certainly didn't seem fair. If anything it sounded a lot like slavery.

"Is that right." Veredia said as she looked down at me, her expression strangely serious for the first time, "Listen well my child. I don't know how things operated in your previous world, but here there's an unspoken rule amongst all creatures. 'Survival of the Fittest.' That is the rule all creatures in this world follow. Fairness isn't a thing you can expect, as long as one has power then they have the right to rule over the weak however they wish."

Veredia was absolutely serious the whole time she spoke. She wasn't just telling me this, she was warning me of what I was to expect. I made sure to take those words to heart.

'Survival of the fittest huh.' I thought to myself. If that was the case then I had to get stronger, a lot stronger than anyone else in this world. 'I have no desire to be someone else's pawn or slave.'

"Anyway, back to my story. The hero I fought that day was extremely powerful, more so than I though she would be. I even ended unleashing the full might of my power about half way through our fight." Veredia said as she closed her eyes, more than likely recalling the battle between them, "Unfortunately at some point during our battle, I let my guard down for a moment, and it was in that moment that the hero cast this seal, the heroes [Unique Skill: Unlimited Imprisonment]. And because of my carelessness I've been sealed for over three hundred years. My skills locked by the effects of the skill and my magicules slowly leaking out of my body."

That certainly explained why this place was filled with magicules and why magistone ores and hipokute herbs were growing out everywhere! Still, the fact that my mothers magicules were leaking out of her body was very worrying to me

"What happens when you've run out of magicules?" I asked in concern, based of what [Great Sage] had told me about how magicules were essential to the survival of monsters I already had my own suspicions.

"Oh nothing major. I'll probably just die." Veredia responded flippantly.

"That sounds like a major problem!" I shouted in both shock and anger at how she could just speak so casually about dying!

"You must understand little one, I've had three hundred years to come to terms with eventual death." My mother spoke calmly, so much so that it kinda infuriated me even more! "I probably only have a hundred years or so before I run out."

"Nope!" I shouted in denial and anger, drawing Veredia's attention towards me. Without another word I approached the rainbow colored barrier, "Predator!" I shouted as a small vortex appeared from my mouth and made contact with the [Unlimited Imprisonment] and began to grow wider and wider in an attempt to breakdown the skill. However before any notable progress could be made, the vortex stopped growing and vanished entirely.

《Notice: Attempt to devour [Unlimited Imprisonment] has failed.》

"I should have known it wouldn't be that easy." I muttered, cursing silently, I'd assumed that since both [Unlimited Imprisonment] and [Predator] were unique skills I could devour or at the very least weaken the seal to allow my mother to escape. But this seal wouldn't have held for three hundred years if it was that easy to break it. 'Great Sage, analyze the Unlimited Imprisonment.'

"It's hopeless young one, I appreciate the sentiment but you shouldn't waste your time like this." Veredia said, but I merely ignored her as I waited for the results on the analysis.

《Analysis Failed!》

'Damn it all! Just what kind of skill is [Unlimited Imprisonment]. There should be a way to break it, but how?!' I mentally vented.

《Answer: It may be possible to analyze the [Unlimited Imprisonment] with assistance of information gathered from both inside and outside the barrier. 》

'I see, that means that means mom would have to analyze the barrier from within while I did it from the outside.' I thought to myself.

"Hey! It's very rude to ignore someone to talk to your own skill!" Veredia shouted pulling me from the conversation with [Great Sage].

"Sorry mom, but thanks to said skill I may have figured out a way to set you free!" I quickly revealed, hoping to placate her sudden agitation.

"Oh? Do tell." Veredia said as she leaned closer to me.

"Well the [Unlimited Imprisonment] needs to be examined from both sides in order for my skill to break it down, you working from the inside whilst I work from the outside." I explained, "The process will naturally take time given the complexity of the seals almost a hundred years give or take."

"That's cutting it a bit close isn't it? Not to mention there is no way I'll allow you to bind yourself to this place for my sake. As a mother I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that were the case." Veredia said, and through the emotion sensing abilities of my [Desire] unique skill I could tell that she meant what she said about not wanting to tie me down, but that she was also pretty hopeful about being able to be free and return to the world of the living again.

"Fortunately I might have a solution to that, in the form of my other unique skill [Predator]. Using it to destroy the barrier earlier failed, but by consuming both you and the seal and storing you in the hyperspace of the [Stomach] sub-skill, I can go about my daily life while still analyzing the prison from the outside." I explained, I wasn't sure how Veredia was going to take that idea. She may be my mother but I was basically telling her that I'd have to eat her in order to analyze the seal and be able to go about my life.

"I see…" She said with a serious expression as she nodded her head, I couldn't help the bead of sweat that made its was down the side of my face. She then raised her head and took in a deep breath of air before a thunderous roaring laughter came out, a booming laughter that shook the entire cave, "Wonderful! Just wonderful, for a small hatchling to devour the mighty Storm Dragon! Even if you are my son the idea is just outlandish! Let's try it!"

"W-wait seriously?! Just like that?!" I asked surprised by how willing she was to just go with my idea. Perhaps it was the fact that she had nothing more to lose.

"Of course! You are my flesh and blood, I trust you completely. Besides it's a lot better than waiting all alone for my demise for the next hundred years." Veredia responded, and I honestly couldn't argue with that kind of logic.

"Okay then." I said with a nod of my head in understanding as I once more stepped towards the barrier in preparation to swallow it along with my mother whole. "Here goes no-"

"Wait!" Veredia suddenly shouted just before I could use my [Predator] skill. Good thing too, cause I doubt I would have been able to stop once the process had started.

"What is it mom?" I asked, I couldn't help but wonder if she was second guessing her choice to go through with this.

"As your mother it's my duty to give you a name." Veredia said almost smugly, "I wont allow some other lowly being to grant you a name. But before I do, you must know what it means to receive or give a name."

"What do you mean." To be honest I'd totally forgotten that I'd more or less been going around without a name. I guess I'd just subconsciously been referring to myself by my old name.

"Monsters do not particularly have names in this world. Monsters can only be named by individuals that are stronger than them, and in doing so they not only gain more power but also the divine protection of the one who gave them the name." Veredia explained, "For the individual who grants the monster a name, the process consumes magicules. The stronger the monster you name, the more magicules it will take. Name a monster too powerful for you and the process would kill you, the same applies if a monster tried to name itself."

I could feel the pointed stare at me in that last statement. I supposed I'd dodged a major bullet by not introducing myself with the name from my previous life.

Still the fact that monsters didn't have names was something that seemed weird, especially if some of them were supposed to be intelligent. If that was the case then how did they address each other? I decided not to question that too much right now, I'd cross that particular bridge when I came across it.

"That being said as you are now, you're already stronger than pretty much any creature you may encounter in the forest outside of this cave. And with my divine protection your power will only grow that much more." Veredia said, I could tell she was trying to build up the suspense. And if I was being honest she was doing a pretty good job at it too. Getting a name sounded way cooler in this world! "So are you ready?"

"Totally, just make sure it's something respectable." I said, didn't want to end up with a dorky name or something of the sort just because my mother wanted to have a laugh.

"Of course, nothing but the best. Though if that's how its going to be, perhaps you should be the one to choose our shared name, you would know it better as a family name." Veredia suddenly said, I was genuinely surprised that she'd ask me to do something like that. Giving one of the strongest beings in this world a family name was bound to be a major deal, one that I'd have to take seriously.

'Well…she is the Storm Dragon, and I'm her son. At the very least it should have something to do with that.' I said as I let various ideas go in and out of my mind, 'Storm would be too obvious…storm, thunder, hurricane, tempest…? That's another word for Storm isn't it?! And it sound awesome too!

"Tempest! Our family name will be tempest!" I shouted excitedly hoping she would like the name.

"Tempest hhmmm? Veredia Tempest…" my mother mumbled as she rolled the name on her lips to test it out. After the pause she turned back to me "I LIKE IT! FROM THIS DAY FORTH, I SHALL BE KNOWN AS VEREDIA TEMPEST!"

The declaration, accompanied by a loud roar, shook the cave walls along with the ground I was standing on. I was glad she liked it though, it was certainly a fitting name for a being of her caliber.

"Glad you like it." I said as I let out a relieved sigh.

"And now it is your turn." My mother said as she now turned her full attention towards me. I couldn't help but start to feel a little bit anxious, this was a big moment in my new life. This new name was something that I would carry with me for the rest of my life so of course I wanted it to sound at least decent, "Hmm…how about Rimuru. Yes, from now on your name is Rimuru Tempest!"

In that moment I felt something deep within me change, as if that name, Rimuru Tempest, had been engraved into my very soul. My eyes instinctively closed as my very nature began to change, and with that change came strength, an unbelievable amount of power!

"I am Rimuru Tempest!" I declared to the world, mimicking my mother.

《 Notice: The individual known as Rimuru Tempest has evolved into an Elemental Dragon. Physical capabilities and magicule reserves have increased drastically. Beginning analysis of skills and resistances.》

Woah really?! I knew my mom had said than naming a monster may result in its evolution but I hadn't been expecting much since Veredia was my mother and all. But the rush of power in my body right now was almost euphoric, I felt way lighter than I did a moment ago and I could tell that the amount of magicules within me had risen as well.

Curious to see if my evolution had led to any physical changes I went over to see my reflection in the nearby pond. I had grown a tad bit bigger than I had been before. While before I'd been about the size if a house cat, I grown to the size of a fully grown dog. Not much of a growth I know, but at least I could look more imposing now. My appearance for the most part remained the same save for the white horns atop my head growing slightly longer and a royal blue diamond shaped gem appearing on my forehead.

"As expected you evolved. How do you like your new form?" Veredia asked, the pride was audible in her voice. She could more than likely sense the power that was within me.

"I don't look that different to before, but I definitely feel a lot stronger. So much so that's it's like night and day!" I said as I moved back towards my mother, "I also like the name you gave me, Rimuru Tempest."

"Very good Rimuru." Veredia said as she pressed her claw to the edge of the barrier.

I mimicked the action with my own little claw. And though we were divided by the barrier between us, in that moment it felt as though we were actually in contact with one another.

We allowed ourselves to bask in the moment as a bright golden light filled the cave.

"Alright mom, are you ready?" I asked her once I was satisfied.

"Yes, though before you proceed I feel there is one more skill I should pass on to you. It should come in handy if you come across humans, it's called [Shapeshift]." Veredia explained, my attention was immediately drawn to the skill.

"Wait does that mean I'd be able to get a human form?" I asked, cause that would totally be awesome, being able to blend in with other humans or even having a more flexible body.

"Yes, that's the idea. However you can only use this skill to switch between two forms, you true form and your human form. And the appearance of your human form is based on both the state of your dragon form as well as your state of mind. To freely adjust your human form you'd need the evolved version of [Shapeshift] called [Universal Shapeshift, but that's a bit too much to learn in the time we have." Veredia explained.

There were pros and cons to this. The good news was that I'd get a human body, something far more familiar to me than the one I had now. The bad news being I wouldn't be able to decide on my appearance or anything. Still, it wasn't something to cry over, nobody gets to choose how they look when they are born.

"Anyways, the skill is relatively easy to learn. Just envision a humanoid form and gather the surrounding magicules to compensate for the missing mass." Veredia explained, I nodded my head in understanding and began to focus on the magicules around me once more, drawing them towards me as I made a mental image of a basic humanoid.

《Notice: The individual Veredia Tempest is attempting to teach you the skill [Shapeshift]. Would you like to learn this skill? 》

《Y/N》

"Yes." As soon as I uttered my response the effect. A black mass of magicules immediately swirled around me, and I felt my body change both in shape and in size.

By the time it all stopped I was standing on two legs, my line of sight significantly higher than it had been seconds ago. I immediately turned to the pond once more, and while initially shocked by my reflection, I really shouldn't have.

For staring back at me was the figure of a young boy no older than fourteen at the most. I had pale colored skin, short black hair streaks of blue mixed in and emerald green eyes. The only thing that looked out of the ordinary was the blue diamond shaped gem that was still on my forehead despite my transformation.

《You have successfully acquired the extra skill [Shapeshift] 》

One thing that I was late to take note of however, was the fact that I… didn't have any clothes on!

"Ggaahhh!" I shouted as I swiftly reverted to my dragon hatchling form as to avoid further embarrassment before turning to my mother with an annoyed glare, "Why didn't you tell me I'd pop naked?!"

"I don't see what's to be ashamed of, it's just the two of us here." Veredia said as she giggled in amusement.

I however was not amused, mother or not, teens body or not, I had the mind of a thirty seven year old man and there was no way I was going to just stand there as a woman stared at me butt naked!

"Is there anything else or can we move on with this?!" I shouted, wanting desperately to move away from the topic of my nudity.

"Well there is one last thing. But it's more of a request than anything else." Veredia said as her expression became serious once more, prompting me to calm down and pay attention, "You see, the land surrounding this cave is actually my domain. It's known as the Great Forest of Jura, and is home to various kinds of monsters. Prior to my sealing I was the protector of this land, and in a manner of speaking I still am."

"I see… so you want me to watch over the place until you're free." It wasn't really a question but a statement.

"Watch over it, take over it, your choice really. You are my only child, what's mine is yours." Veredia said with the shrug, I couldn't help but feel a little touched by that, but I still didn't know if I was willing to take over an entire forest of monsters. Keeping the peace was one thing but ruling it was an entirely differently matter, "However I must warn you, once my presence vanishes, there will most likely be a great shift of balance in the forest. Not to mention the surrounding nations."

"It's fine, I'll figure it out." I said with a grin.

Sure I knew that it would most likely be tougher than what I was making it out to be, but then again it gave me something to look forward to in this new world. A sense of purpose if you will.

"Is that it then? Are you ready now mom?" I asked as I turned to my mother once more.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this Rimuru!" Her excitement for this was somewhat unexpected, but I wasn't going to complain.

"Alright then, [Predator]!" With my declaration came the activation of my skill, a blue vortex of magicules appearing in front of my open mouth, making contact with the barrier

The vortex grew and expanded as it encased the entire barrier, shocking even my mother as it went over her. Within seconds the entire barrier was engulfed and began to shrink, being rapidly absorbed into the hyperspace of my [stomach].

Within seconds, the barrier that once held the mighty Storm Dragon, along with the Dragon itself, were gone. And with that came the sense of loneliness I had felt before.

I took a few seconds to rest, already missing the loud and somewhat boisterous voice of my mother in the now quiet cave. The only sounds available now, other than my breathing, was the water dripping along the walls of the now empty cave.

I suddenly felt a strong pulse vibrate through my entire body, coming from deep within my being. Without a doubt I knew it was my mother, it couldn't be anyone else.

'She's still here...' I mentally told myself as I took a deep breath, 'It may take some time, but one day you'll be free.'

With that decided I made my way out, to search for the exit to the cave. Leaving behind the chamber that held my mother for over three hundred years.

---

Authors Notes:

Well that's a wrap for this chapter. Naturally as a dragon Rimuru is obviously going to be a lot stronger than he was as a slime, though I'm sure the skill listing in the previous chapter gave that much away. I'll try not to make him OP or anything, but they were instances where I felt there should have been more of a fight in the anime, so yeah, just look forward to that.

Anyways, I hope I was able to do a decent job in creating a feminine version of Veldora. It was tricky to maintain both his aloof nature as well as adding a motherly vibe to that.

All in all I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to you thoughts!

I'm not sure how much time had passed since I 'ate' my mother, the Storm Dragon Veredia. I'm sure that at the very least a day or two had passed at this point, maybe more. Who knows.

One thing I do know is that I hadn't encountered any other creature since then. I'd travelled quite a ways, gobbling up all the ores and herbs I could get my hands on. However the lack of lifeform in this place was starting to annoy me, it made me that much eager to just leave this place and explore the forest outside of it.

Of course, as the old saying goes, 'be careful what you wish for', cause as luck would have it I did come across another monster within the cave…

…and it was definitely not the friendly type.

"What the hell?!" I shouted in alarm as I actually leapt back a bit to put some space between me and the large serpentine monster that appeared in front of me.

《Notice: The creature is known as a Black Serpent. Its known for its potent poisonous abilities. Caution is advised. 》

'Thanks for the heads up [Great Sage]!' I mentally shouted as I turned back to the creature. Now that I had a minute to get over the initial shock of encountering a monster, I realized this Serpent wasn't anywhere near as scary as Veredia had been, meaning I had no reason to fear it 'Okay then, time to test out that skill I learnt recently!'

As someone who was once a soldier, running with my tail between my legs was not an option. And so I charged forward and used my momentum to leap over the Black Serpent as it charged towards me. I stretched my wings and flapped them, catching my self in mid air.

"Looks like all that flying practice came in handy." I muttered to myself. I was still a far cry from a perfect flyer, but that was more due to the confined space of the cave than my inability. I shifted my focus back to the Serpent and focused on my recently acquired skill, " [Water Claw]!" I shouted as I swung my left claw releasing three arched blades of water towards my foe.

[Water Claw] was a skill that I'd learnt whilst trying out various things. It was eventually combined with the skills [Water Movement] and [Water Propulsion] to form a new skill, the [Extra Skill: Water Manipulation].

The blades of water cut through the monster like knives through butter, and with its body split into four parts its death was quick.

"To be honest I expected a bit more of a challenge." Though I shouldn't really be surprised, I am a dragon after all. Compared to that a mere snake was child's play. Guess I just got cautious due to the warning that [Great Sage] gave earlier on. "Oh well.." with that I turned away and began to walk away from the downed beast, that is until a thought came to mind.

'Wait a minute, didn't [Great Sage] say I could copy the skills and appearances of monsters I devoured with [Predator]?' I wondered, I then turned back towards the Black Serpent with a somewhat hesitant look. I wasn't really into eating snake food, but if it was anything like devouring the herbs, plants and Veredia, then there shouldn't be any taste associated with the process. Something that I was thankful for, "Okay then, in my tummy you go! [Predator]!" I watched the remains of the serpent get sucked up by my skill, and I was grateful for the fact that there was no taste with this skill but the sensation alone as it's long serpentine body was sucked up was enough to make my skin crawl! Still it was done.

《Analysis Complete. Skills [Sense Heat Source] and [Poisonous Breath] have been acquired. You can now mimic the Black Serpent. Additionally, magicule reserves have increased by 0.49% and physical capabilities have increased by 0.63%. 》

Sweet! As expected I gained new skills from devouring the serpent. So did that mean aside from the [Fire Breath] skill that I could also breath out poison too? That would be awesome to try out soon, though I should probably try out the fire breathing skill first. [Sense Heat Source] definitely sounded like it would come in handy when scouting the area, I'd make sure to put it to good use alongside [Magic Sense].

Still though, that last bit about my magicule reserves and physical capabilities was not something I'd been expecting, it definitely hadn't been part of the skills [Great Sage] had mentioned before. Still, the increase was so small that I don't feel any different than I had a few hours ago.

"Hey [Great Sage, since when did [Predator] increase my power rather than just getting new skills?" I asked my ever trustful skill.

《Answer: Due to your evolution from an Arch Dragon to an Elemental Dragon the unique skill [Predator] gained a new sub skill thus resulting in its evolution into the unique skill [Apex Predator]. 》

"Oh?" That was interesting to know. So apparently my evolution led to some of my skills evolving as well. Would have appreciated the heads up before, but I certainly cant complain now, "And what does this new sub-skill do?"

《Answer: The skill [Assimilation] allows the user to integrate the strength of targets they devour into their own body, increasing their physical abilities and magicule reserves. 》

"That was more straight forward than I thought." Despite saying that I could already see the many ways that this skill would help me. While devouring creatures of the same species would not help me much in terms of new skills and transformations, it would still result in an increase in physical strength and magicule reserves.

A useful as the skill was, I didn't want to just rely on that kind of power grinding. If I grew in that manner alone then I'd never actually grow as an individual. So I'd only pursue monsters for skills, not for an increase in power. If I happened to come across a strong foe, then that was awesome too.

After my encounter with the black serpent I kept on moving deeper and deeper into the cave. I managed to come across four other types of monsters as I made my way up. They were easy to deal with, and provided the perfect opportunity to test out the various skills that I had, not to mention acquiring the skills that these monsters had.

From the Armorsaurous I got the [Body Armour], from the Evil Centipede I got the [Paralysis Breath] skill, from the Black Spider I got the [Sticky Thread] and [Steel Thread] skills and last from the Giant Bat I got the [Ultrasonic Wave] skills. The skills from the black spider were even merged to form [Extra Skill: Sticky-Steel Thread].

Within what I could only assume were a few days, it was hard to tell down here, I reached what I could only assume was the mouth of the cave, which was made apparent by the large metal doors that were blocking the way out.

Using [Magic Sense] I was glad to see that the gate was not protected by any magical properties or anything, meaning it should be relatively easy to bust open.

However before I could put my plan into action, the large double doors of the cave slowly began to open, and shadowy figures came into view. Making a quick choice I hid my small draconic form behind a boulder as the doors finally split wide open, the shadowy figures from before finally coming into view

'Humans?!' I was surprised to see a group of three people standing by the entrance to the cave that my mother had been sealed in.

From what she had told me, this cave was within a forest of monsters, meaning these people had to be adventures or explorers. The fact that the guys were carrying swords and the girl carried what looked like a magical staff supported that theory. Having used [Magic Sense] I could tell that the girl had the most magic reserves of the three of them, but even then they were nothing compared to my own.

"Man that door was tough to open!" The brown haired man groaned as he and the rest of the party peered around, probably to make sure they were not caught unaware by any monsters.

"That's to be expected though, this place has been closed up for over three hundred years. Though why the guild master thought to send a group of B-rank explorer to explore the cave of the Storm Dragon is beyond even me." The other guy said, this was had mid length blond hair.

'Wait, did that guy say guild master?!' I mentally screamed as I thought about the possibilities. That meant they were guilds in this world then! That just sounds so cool!

"All the more reason for us to keep our guards up." The last member, and only girl, spoke up. The staff in her hand suddenly illuminated the dark cave prompting me to better hide myself to avoid being detected. "The amount of magicules in this place is quite high even up here, so there are bound to be a few monsters the deeper we go."

"Right, well if that's the case then you should come closer so I can activate my [stealth art]." The brown haired guy said immediately catching my attention.

The other two moved closer to him, till they all stood side by side. It wasn't until then the brown haired guy smashed his right fist into his right palm. I felt a shift in the surrounding magicules as the three humans began to become translucent until they became entirely invisible to the naked eye. Though I could still 'see' them clearly thanks to [Keen Sense] and [Magic Sense]. Meaning this skill was only useful for hiding their body heat and visibility.

'Still though, imagine all peeping one could do with a technique like that.' I thought with no small amount of envy. If I was ever given the opportunity to meet this group of adventurers then I'm totally gonna get that guy to teach me that skill!

However for now I was better off avoiding humans. I was a monster now, and I had to accept the fact that if humans saw me it may just result in my early demise. I mean I had a human form sure, but they were two problems with presenting myself to them in that form.

The first was that I would be butt naked, while the reason may seem minor it was a matter of personal pride, I wasn't going to throw my fourteen year old naked body in front of a group of strangers. They would be more freaked out than I would be embarrassed.

The second reason was more practical. It would look suspicious to anyone if they saw a baby dragon, or even a fourteen year old child, inside the cave where the Storm Dragon had been sealed. If they didn't attack me on sight then they would most likely report this to their superiors once they got home, making me a bigger target.

'No, interaction isn't the best course of action.' I decided as I watched them start to walk into the cave with my [Magic Sense, 'But still, maybe they can provide me with information.' One of the things that had stuck with me in my time during the military and police was the value of information.

They were probably the only humans I was going to encounter for a while, so it was best I learnt as much about the human society of this world from them, and perhaps see what it was the humans were looking into in my mothers cave.

'Looks like I'm tailing them.' I said with a sigh as I began to follow after the party of three, making sure to keep my distance.

Tailing these three idiots turned out to be far less entertaining than I actually thought it would be, perhaps it was because I'd already beaten every monster in here on the way up. As a result I didn't get to learn anything in the way of their skills and abilities.

Though, to their credit, they still remained aware of their surroundings the entire time they were down here. The staff wielding girl was the most surprising of the group, she kept turning her head in my direction every once in a while, and even came close to spotting me two or three times! It was almost as if she could sense my presence, but if that was the case then why hasn't she discovered me yet?

Maybe these guys are just dumb?

Either way, they spent about two days or so exploring the cave. They made it all the way down to where Veredia had been sealed before making their way back out. I'm ashamed to admit the journey was made that much shorter due to their better sense of direction. But I'm glad the trip had been made short, listening to them talk and squabble had gotten old real fast. Still though I did learn some stuff.

The first thing being the three adventurers were from a nation called Blumund, it was apparently a small nation that bordered the Great Forest of Jura. As my mother had expected, the disappearance of her aura had prompted most of the guilds to come and investigate the cause of the phenomenon.

I was honestly worried about what the humans would do once they realized that the forest was no longer under the protection of the Storm Dragon. But I guess that's why I was here, to watch over the place until I could free her from the [Unlimited Imprisonment]. Still, I didn't possess anywhere near the amount of power Veredia had, so I'd have to go about protecting this place differently. I'd find an answer to that as time went on though.

"Finally!" The female member of the party, apparently called Eren, said as she ran out the cave and basked in the sunlight. Letting out a sigh as its warmth touched her skin once more.

I don't want to admit it but in that moment I envied her. I hadn't had the chance to enjoy sunlight, or proper fresh air, since coming to this world. Having only been exposed to the damp darkness of the cave. I couldn't wait for these guys to get further away from the cave so I could finally step out myself!

"Come on Eren." The one called Keval, the supposed leader of the group, said as he trailed behind her, "We have to report this to the guild master as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I get the feeling that he'll want to know about this as soon as possible." Gido, the brown haired shady looking guy, nodded in agreement. He then turned back to the direction of the cave, "I still can't believe the Storm Dragon is actually gone though. That's bound to cause some major waves in the other nations." He said with a frown before joining Keval in walking away from the cave. Eren however remained standing as she glanced at the cave entrance nervously.

"I'm just glad to be out of that cave. I can't help but feel that something was watching us the whole time we were in there." She said nervously before shaking her head and running to catch up with her partners, I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

With my enhanced hearing I could hear the three of them went further and further away. I waited until I could no longer hear them before making my way out of the cave.

"Sweet sunlight!" I shouted as I jumped into the light, and allowed my draconic scales to bask in its warmth. Not a second later I took a deep breath of air, "And the air! Oh, the fresh air." I couldn't help but sigh blissfully as clear air filled my lungs for the first time since entering this world.

I took a moment to actually appreciate the small things in life, I never realized how much I would miss these small things. Still though, I couldn't stand around here all day. Wouldn't look good if someone spotted a dragon at the cave Sealed Caves entrance just after the Storm Dragon had vanished. I wanted to avoid revealing that Veredia was my mother for as long as possible, preferably until I managed to release her. Wouldn't want her enemies coming after me for revenge or in an attempt to snuff out what they viewed as a threat.

With that in mind I stretched my wings, flapping them a few times to get a feeling of the air and wind around me.

'This is going to be different from when I was flying around in the cave.' I thought. There was definitely going to be a lot more space, and possibly other flying creatures too. The cave had been confined in all directions, and as a result I couldn't really practice any maneuvers or test how fast I could fly. Doing so in open air was something I'd been looking forward to for a while now.

"Alright then, here goes nothing!" I shouted, hyping myself up as I took to the skies with a mighty flap of my wings, leaving behind a shockwave that dispersed in all directions.

I kept going higher and higher until I was soaring in the sky! The land below me stretched on and on until I could see no further! The rush of the wind against my scales as I went faster and faster was exhilarating! I'd never felt a rush quite like this one before, it was amazing! Is this how all creatures of the sky felt when they flew?! If so then it was no wonder why people always sought to achieve the same!

Looking down towards the forest I activated the skills [Keen Sense] and [Dragon Eye].

'Woah…' I couldn't help but be amazed, even as I soared high in the sky I could now see the several creatures that called this forest home from a birds eye view, and with the help of [Great Sage] I was able to ifentfy all of them.

Looking up at the sea of clear white clouds above me I couldn't help but smirk. With another heavy flap of my wings I ascended upwards. I flew through the clouds and leveled myself just above them. Tilting my body to the right, my left wing was half way submerged into the clouds, cutting through like a knife.

I couldn't help the child like fascination I had as I felt the soft fluffy clouds on the wing.

'This…this is pretty amazing.' The sense of freedom I felt in that moment was unlike anything I've ever felt before, both in this life and the last.

I wished it could last forever.

It wasn't until another hour, maybe two, had passed that I finally descended from the heavenly skies and came back to the ground. My landing was a bit rough though, probably from a lack of experience, but I'm sure I'd get better with time. Right now I had a more pressing concern.

Grrrrruuuuuurrrr

《Alert: Hunger levels are high, hunting for food is highly recommended! 》

And that concern was the growling noise of my empty dragon belly. I'd been so caught up in the hype of flying and exploring this new world that I had forgotten I hadn't really eaten anything since getting in this world.

'Then again it's not like there was anything I could eat inside the cave.' I didn't think snakes, spiders or any of the other creatures within the cave were edible enough to eat raw or cooked. Out here though, the menu was wider in variety. There was also something else that came to mind when it came to hunting some game, 'Hey [Great Sage, do you think you could possibly make some basic clothing for me if I provided the materials?' I desperately wanted to get a feel of this world in my human form, but I wasn't going to be walking around the forest in my birthday. That just wasn't my style!

《Answer: Yes, that is within my abilities. Necessary materials for clothing can be separated using [Isolation].》

'Sweet! Then let's go ahead and do that, but leave the meat for me!' I said excitedly as moved forward, using [Magic Sense] to search for prey.

…..

Finding prey was not as easy as I'd lead myself to believe. For some reason the monsters and other creatures in the area kept fleeing whenever I got within a certain range of them. They weren't even within my line of sight or anything, but rather I'd just sense them suddenly making a run for it in the opposite direction…it was rather annoying.

'What gives? How can these monsters tell I'm coming even from such a distance.' I pondered to myself. The hunger was really starting to kill me here, and I had a feeling that would become literal if I didn't make a plan. I still wasn't sure about how my new biology worked, and then there was how this world functioned in general, so I didn't want to find out what the long term consequences of hunger were.

《Answer: Though I cannot confirm this without conclusive evidence, it can be assumed the creatures of this forest can sense your aura.》

"My aura huh…" I couldn't help but mutter out loud. It made sense, I remembered the first time I felt Veredia's aura back in the cave after gaining [Magic Sense, it had certainly been something that lit up the red flags within me. If creatures of this world used that as a means to sense danger then it only made sense that they'd run away every time they sensed my approach.

'Mom said that even as an Arch Dragon my prowess and magicules far surpassed that of any creature within the forest. That it was because of my 'Dragon Factor' or something like that.' I honestly didn't like where this train of though was taking me, 'Then she named me not too long after, and my power increased drastically.'

"Hey [Great Sage, switch the perspective of [Magic Sense]. I want to take a look at myself." I said out loud, I couldn't help but be nervous at what I was going to see, but it was better to see it now and fix it if need be.

《Understood: Switching perspective of [Magic Sense]》

I closed my eyes as my vision changed. All of a sudden there was a dark shroud in the air, with me at the epicenter of it all. It just kept pouring out of me in waves, spreading over numerous miles into the surrounding forest!

'Jesus! How the heck did I not notice this sooner?!' It was no wonder those monsters kept on running away from me, with my aura stretching so far and being so potent, I may as well have been approaching them with freaking sirens all over me. It certainly explained a lot though, getting the drop on any good game was going to be next to impossible unless I planned to skydive them or something like that. 'Hey [Great Sage, is it possible to actually suppress this aura?'

《Alert! : While suppressing your aura is possible, it is ill-advised to suppress all of it, as that could result in self-injury.》

"Huh." Well that didn't sound good. 'Okay then, how much can I safely suppress then?'

《Answer: You should be able to safely suppress 75%.》

"That's a lot more than I though I'd be able to suppress." The whole 'danger' thing from [Great Sage] gad led me to believe I'd be limited, but three quarters was a pretty good deal all things considered. "Alright I'm gonna go ahead and do that."

I then focused on drawing in all the leaking energy from my body, as well as reducing its potency. I could already feel some discomfort from doing so, but nothing that was too distracting or worrying. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I tried to suppress more than I'd been advised. Answer, I wasn't that eager to find out.

"There we go." I groaned, [Great Sage] warned me when to stop sucking it in and I did so. Using [Magic Sense] once more I could tell that the radius and potency of my aura had gone done by a large amount.

Thankfully it was still enough that any creature that got any funny ideas would actually think twice before attacking me. So in other words, strong enough to still deter the beasts in the forest, whilst also being mellow enough to get in close enough that even if my aura was detected it would be too late for the monsters to escape.

With that sorted out I switched back the perspective of [Magic Sense] back to normal, and began to use all my tracking skills to find some prey.

...and it was during these hunts that I encountered the ogres

Anyways before we get into the nick of things I want to make the official announcment that I will be posting new chapters every two weeks. I held back on making any promises before as I wanted to see how regularly I could post.

I have a completed chapter or two in reserve but I want to keep with the schedule so look forward to that.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

---

Chapter 4: Ogre Village

Ogre Chief POV:

Within the Great Forest of Jura, there was a village of Ogres that lived in the South East of the forest. We were the strongest species found within the Eastern region of the Forest despite our small numbers. Our village had a total population of just over five hundred, with our population slowly declining over a long period of time for various reasons. Famine, war, our low birthrates, and even the fact that groups our people sometimes left the village to work as mercenaries.

The Ogres are warring race, that specialized in combat, and are more advanced than most of the other races that dwelled this side of the forest. This was partially due to the influence of humans, specifically Japanese other worlders that had influenced us. As a result we had learnt from them and developed a culture that was similar.

I am the current leader of the ogre village, it's chieftain. Today was a day like any other day in our village, each ogre playing their part in keeping our village standing and thriving. The hunters and gatherers had left earlier in the morning, and at the current moment I was going through the reports from our scouting team.

There had been a few changes within the forest over the last week. The presence of our guardian, the Storm Dragon Veredia, had disappeared a little over a month ago. And naturally this was a cause for concern for both me and my people.

The disappearance of the Storm Dragon would no doubt result in numerous changes within the forest. They were already signs of numerous monsters changing behavior and becoming more aggressive, a clear sign that without the Storm Dragons presence the monsters of Jura and beyond would see this as an opportunity to expand their own territories.

It was a rather delicate time we were living in now. I'd had to increase village defenses as a result, had to assign protection to the female ogres when they went out to gather fruits or other plants and vegetables, and naturally I had to increase the size of our hunting parties as well.

There had been a few encounters in the last two weeks, but fortunately none of my people had been severely injured or killed. We are a strong people after all.

"Father, may I enter?" The voice of my eldest child, my son suddenly called from outside.

"You may." I responded, glad for the small reprieve.

My son, one of my two children and the 'Young Master' of the village, he was the future of our people and among the strongest warriors we had in our village. But he still had a ways to go in terms of character, he was still a tad bit too brash and short tempered. Often leading to him acting before think.

"What is it?" I asked once my son was seated in front of me, he wouldn't have come to me at this time unless there was something to report.

"Our scouting party has reported numerous creatures retreating from the north. When they went to investigate they said they sensed a powerful and ominous aura, one unlike anything they'd ever felt." He reported, the slight worry and concern in his voice audible, despite this I could see no fear.

"Did they Identify the source?" I asked, voice calm and even.

"No, but from what they could tell, whatever it was seems to be moving in this general direction." My son said with a frown, one I couldn't help but mirror.

A powerful aura could mean many things within this forest. A majin or powerful monster. Either way, without verifying its intentions it would be dangerous to allow it to come any closer to our village. Still, if the creature wasn't hostile, then provoking it would be the worst thing we can do.

"Father please let me take care of this threat." My son said as he lowered his head respectfully.

"You are strong my son, but if this threat is truly as dangerous as we've been made to believe then it will be too much for you to face alone." I said sternly, this would be different from fighting the usual monsters that filled the forest. Not to mention we had no idea how strong this monster truly was, only basing it on the words of our kin. "Gather the elder and fifty of our best men, go and investigate the source of that ominous aura."

"Yes father." The fire in my sons eyes showed me that he was ready and willing to fight for the sake of his people, even if that meant dying for them. However I wanted to prevent as many casualties as possible.

"Listen, son. We don't know what this creatures is, or what its intentions are. However if it bares no ill and can be reasoned with, then pursue the path of negotiations." I said, and my sons eyes widened in surprise. He raised his head to speak up, most likely to object, but sealed his lips once his eyes met my own, "If this creature truly is powerful then fighting it will no doubt result in casualties, even if we do emerge victorious. So don't be the aggressor in this situation."

"…I understand, father." His response was reluctant, but I knew that he would follow my orders regardless of his doubts, for I was his Chief.

~~~ 

Rimuru POV:

It has been a week since I left the cave where my mother had been sealed away. I'd been strolling around the forest since then with no particular direction in mind, occasionally taking a flight to just scope out the land.

I spent the first few days properly adapting to my dragon body. Despite having the ability to assume a human form I still considered my dragon form, and as a result I wanted to be as familiar with it as possible. So I flew, hunted, ate, slept and did everything with that form for the next four days.

Hunting had proven to be my favorite sport in this time, it meant I got to fight some monsters and try out the skills I'd gotten from the monsters in the sealed cave, even getting some new skills in the process. I'd also gotten the materials for clothing, but being a soldier and all in my former life meant that my sense of style was lacking heavily. In the end I just had [Great Sage] make something that was wearable for the time being.

Eating raw meat had been quite the experience though. It certainly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, perhaps it was my draconic taste buds that were different from my human ones. The meat may have been a little bit rough, and sometimes a bit bloody, but my instincts and sharp teeth usually allowed me to push through.

The last three days of the week were spent roaming about in my human form, especially now that I had some actual clothes. The clothes in question were a simple sleeveless white shirt, some leather pants and sturdy shoes. Naturally I had made sure that underwear were involved.

Still it felt good to move around in a human body again, even if it was that of a fourteen year old child. Using my [Water Manipulation] I'd been able to create a makeshift mirror to get a better look at myself.

While I had a general idea of what I looked like from when I was in the cave. But out in the clear sunlight, I was able to see myself in greater detail than I had in the cave, and without the fear of being seen in my birthday suit.

I'd certainly hadn't noticed how much of a hottie, I was turning out to be. Slim but strong body with visibly developing muscles , probably emphasized for speed and power, and smooth facial features that would have made any teen human faint from a smile. My skin complexion was surprisingly pale, I mean I'd noticed in the cave, but out here in the sun, it became that much more visible. The shoulder length black hair with streaks of blue here and there, probably as a result of my scales. Green eye, similar to my dragon form, with the only difference being the pupils weren't slit but instead were round.

All in all, I was happy with my new appearance, and was looking forward to how it would grow in the future.

At the current moment I was in my human form chasing some hover lizards. I figured they would make a good dinner.

'They should be walking into it any second now.' I thought to myself as I kept up the chase. It wasn't until a few seconds later that my trap was triggered.

They moved between two large trees, however before they could go any further they were all stopped and trapped in my [Sticky Thread] and immediately rendered immobile.

"Score!" I couldn't help but shout in victory as I stopped running and approached the trapped creatures, "Alright, I've had my fun, time to put you guys out of you misery." I said as I raised my hand, one clean cut from [Water Claw] and I should be able to off all four of their heads at once.

"Hold it right there majin!" Before I could release my attack, a loud and aggressive voice suddenly roared out from behind me.

I swiftly turned around and was surprised to see numerous creatures that had a humanoid appearance but had different skin colors and horn coming out of their foreheads.

'Woah, what are those?' I couldn't help but ask myself. They were definitely monsters based on their features.

《Answer: These are ogres, one of the more dominant species of the Great Forest of Jura. They are an intellectual species.》

'Really, why are so many of them here though?' And from how they were armed and pointing their swords and other weapons directly at me, it seemed as though they were being hostile.

《It is likely you have encroached into their territory or are nearing their dwelling. They are likely responding to a perceived threat.》

'That makes sense.' I said as I couldn't help but sigh. I hadn't meant to cause any trouble, but even if I had suppressed the majority of my aura, the remainder was still enough to light up any red flags to creatures in the forest. So it's only natural that they came to investigate and perhaps even neutralize the threat, 'How many of them are they?'

《Answer: There are 52 ogres in total. 》

'Are they a threat to me?' I highly doubted it, they didn't seem to have any astonishing magicules, but having [Great Sage] confirm it would solidify that belief.

《Negative: However caution is advised, ogres are capable of using magic arts as well as weapon related arts.》

'Thought so. Still I'd rather avoid resorting to violence if I can. Their the first intelligent monsters I've come across since mother.' While I was happy to be free from the cave the loneliness from before was still there. If I played my cards right I could make some friends or connections here, "Hi, is there something that I can help you with?"

I hoped that was a nice enough greeting, but I also didn't want to appear weak. I remembered my mothers words clearly, that in this world it was kill or be killed, that the strong ruled the weak and most importantly was the rule that was shared by all creatures of this world, 'survival of the fittest'.

"What are your intentions majin?!" The redheaded ogre spoke up, probably the leader of this party. His tone was definitely confident, or was that just arrogance, either way I was confident that he was looking down on me. Most likely due to my smaller and younger body.

"Intentions?" I asked whilst tilting my head to the left a little, I then pointed to the still trapped hover lizards, "Well I was just about to kill my prey, planning to have them for dinner." I probably could have phrased that better, but watching them squirm and get on guard from my words was a little funny.

But honestly I don't see why they seem so bothered by it. Don't they also hunt for meat and stuff like that.

"I see…" an older looking ogre stepped up beside the redhead. He looked like your traditional elder, goatee beard, white hair tied up in a ponytail, squinted eyes. He really was an old ogre, but in my eye that just made him all the more dangerous in my eye.

Back in the military there was a saying that was popular among all soldiers, especially the rookies who thought they new better than their elders.

'Fear the old in a profession where most die young.' Given how this world works, and the fact that the ogres brought him to a fight meant he was a veteran warrior.

"…does that mean you have no desire to attack our village?" The old man went on to ask, his squinted eyes opening slightly. Guess [Great Sage] was right when it said they assumed I was a threat.

"Nope!" I responded with a smile as I waved my hands in front of me, I then pointed at the weapons they still had drawn and some still aimed towards me. "So…um, you guys aren't going to attack me with those right? Cause if so I'd rather we go our separate ways."

The elder kept his gaze on mine for a few seconds. I could tell he was trying to get a read on me, to see if I was trust worthy or if I was just lying so they would let their guards down. After a minute or two he sighed and sheathed his blade.

"Put away your weapons." The elder said, surprising the ogres around him, but none seemed more surprised than the redhead that was beside him. If anything he looked offended.

"But Elder!" He tried to protest.

"This majin doesn't have any intention to fight us. I can sense that much. Attempting to fight him would just result in unnecessary losses." He said sternly. Huh, so the ogres knew they were outmatched and still came to confront me? Perhaps they hoped to overwhelm me with their numbers, "Besides, remember what the chief said young master."

I watched the redhead sheath his sword with an irritated and frustrated scoff. He then cast a glare towards me as if trying to intimidate me or something of the sort. Honestly if he was, then he was failing badly.

"Do you live far from here majin?" The now dubbed 'Elder' asked me. Guess even without names, monsters find a way to address each other.

"Not really, my home isn't too far from here." I answered, I'd made the cave a sort of temporary home base whilst I scouted this forest.

It wasn't much in the way of a home, but the good news was even with the absence of Veredia no monsters dared to enter that cave. Probably an unspoken rule or something. Though I don't know if anymore humans will come in the near future.

"Then if you would like, you could return to our village with us. Perhaps share a meal and talk, you seem to have gathered quite the bounty." The elder said, and this time even I couldn't keep the shock of my face, but it was for an entirely different reason than the other ogres.

"A meal?!" I asked loudly with my eyes lighting up in excitement. I hadn't had a proper meal since coming into this world! Raw meat was good in my dragon form, and I could just roast the meat with [Fire Breath] when eating it in my human form, but what I wouldn't give for a proper meal! With a quick cough into my right fist I composed myself and responded with a smile, "Well if you're offering, then I suppose I'll take you up on it. I guess I should introduce myself, my name is Rimuru Tempest nice to meet you."

As expected they were surprised to hear that I was a named monster. But given the value of names to monsters it made sense that they would react in such a manner. Still I hope this didn't cause any problems moving forward.

"It's an honor to meet you Sir Rimuru." The elder said with a nod. I then felt a hostile aura coming from the redheaded ogre next to the elder. He seem to be growling and scowling as he glared daggers into me for some reason, "Young Master." The elder suddenly said sternly, it was a warning that the redhead apparently understood as he stopped and turned away from both me and the ogre.

"Anyway, let me just finish up here then we can go." I said as I pointed back to the hover lizards. The elder nodded whilst the Young Master cast a curious glance in my direction. Probably wondering what I was gonna do since I didn't have any weapons on me.

'Well, in that case I should probably keep my cards to my chest. At least until I know they can be trusted.' I said as I raised my left hand once I was close to the trapped hover lizards. " [Water Claw]!" I shouted as I swung my hand diagonally and release four blade of compressed water. The next second four decapitated heads fell onto the ground.

I could hear the ogres whispering from behind me, and while I could have listened in with my advanced hearing from [Keen Sense] I decided not to.

The ogres were generous enough to haul the game, even though I could have just stored it in my [Stomach]. Still, I decided not to show anymore of my skills than I already had and instead allowed them to carry it.

After that they started leading me towards their village.

~~~

Young Masters POV:

I couldn't help but feel angry and frustrated as I watched this 'Rimuru' person walk with us back to our village. The way he was flaunting his aura, even as he casually walked amongst us without a care in the world was insulting. It was almost as though he wasn't surrounded by forty monsters that belonged to one of the strongest warrior races within the Great Forest of Jura! The other ten ogres had run ahead of the party to report to my father.

We mighty ogres stand at the top among the races within the Jura forest. And being treated as no threat by a childlike majin was very infuriating.

I can understand that he is strong, based on his powerful aura alone, even if his aura no longer carried any malicious intent it was still very strong. And the majin most likely has the strength to back it up, as shown by how he decapitated the heads of those hover lizards. However, looking down on us ogres is something that I cannot forgive.

On that note, I couldn't help but wonder what was going through the elders head when he invited this Rimuru to our village as an honored guest. This was clearly a mistake, but right now I have no choice but to follow through. Father did say to attempt negotiations with the majin, so even if I disagreed with that approach I still had to follow through with it as it was not my place to question our chief.

'Still though, I want to challenge him. If only to show him that we ogres are not as weak as he thinks.' However I didn't know what would happen if I decided to follow through with that course of action.

With how the majins back was turned though, it may be possible for me to actually land a surprise attack in. However just as the thought crossed my mind, those sharp emerald green eyes of his turned meet my own. And I could have sworn that for a split second his pupils seemed to narrow out, taking an almost cat or reptilian like appearance, but they returned to normal so fast I figured it was just my imagination.

"Hey redhead, is there a problem?" He asked, his tone suddenly frighteningly even and his expression unamused. I couldn't help but freeze in my steps, "I thought you guys weren't gonna attack me." The moment he said that everyone turned tense as they sensed the majins aura become slightly malicious. The ogres quickly had their hands on the hilts of their sheathed weapons, ready to draw them if need be.

"Nobody here is being hostile Sir Rimuru, the Young Master is just a little impulsive, and perhaps wary of brining a majin of your caliber into our village." The elder said in a grandfatherly tone as he put a hand on the majins shoulder.

It seemed to have done the job as the malice in the majins aura subsided and he let out a sigh. He eyed me for another second before turning away from me and allowing the elder to lead him forward. The other ogres seemed to relax once they saw that the potential conflict had been averted before it could start.

I numbly followed as we took off once more, wondering just how this Rimuru had seen through my intentions?! I grit my teeth and clenched my fist, following close enough to still be able to react if he did anything but far enough to not draw anymore of his attention.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something." Rimuru said as he turned to the elder, I couldn't help but listen in, "What the hell is a majin?"

Several of us actually tripped at that question, even the elder had a single eyebrow raised as he turned to Rimuru! Rimuru looked around at us seemingly surprised by our reaction. How could he not know what a majin was?! It was literally one of the most basic and common things for any individual being to know.

"Is something wrong?" He asked with an almost childlike innocence, which was made even worse by his small appearance as well.

"No, no, it's just that most of us weren't expecting that question from you." The elder said probably wanting to avoid offending him, "To answer your question, 'majin' is the term commonly used to describe intelligent monsters such as ourselves. It's a term meant to differentiate us from the average mindless beasts."

"I see, I guess that makes it something of common knowledge huh." Rimuru said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, his pale skin gaining a bit of pink to it.

My fellow ogres and I chose to stay silent at that, not really sure how to respond to that. Instead we just kept moving forward to the village.

~~~ 

Ogre Chief POV:

I couldn't help but sit a little straighter as I felt the formidable aura of our guest enter our village. I'd been informed earlier on by some messengers sent ahead that the party that I'd sent with my son had indeed encountered a majin within the forest, though their description of him was a bit surprising to say the least, he apparently didn't seem that much older than my own daughter, who was currently pouring two cups of tea on the table in front of me, with some biscuits. Though I chose not to put too much thought into that, knowing that majin tended to sometimes be far older than they actually appeared to be.

"Thank you dear." I said gently to my daughter as she finished setting this for my guest and I.

I could tell that she was nervous about the approaching aura, but was holding her tongue. And I knew she wasn't the only one, the majins aura had been felt long before they even arrived at the village, it was only because he had still been too far out that they hadn't sensed it earlier. And despite lacking an malicious intention, it still carried with it a heavy presence.

As much as it pained me to admit it, this majin was stronger than anyone in this village. If it came to it perhaps we could defeat him with numbers, but we would likely lose a lot of people in the battle.

"Go and wait with your mother." I said to my child with a gentle smile. I'd already told my wife to flee with our daughter should a conflict break out and things seem bad. I sincerely hoped it didn't come to that, but I had to take every precaution to protect my family.

It wasn't long until the majins aura was right outside the door, easily drowning that of the elder and my son, almost making me miss them entirely. I straightened my back and exercised my aura to the best of my abilities, an extent I hadn't pushed myself to in a while now.

Soon enough the door opened and my son walked in, he seemed nervous and slightly frustrated, I could only hope he had not done anything brash to earn the ire of our guest. For while he would make a great chief in the future, he was still a bit hot headed.

The village elder came into view next, stepping inside the room before bowing his head towards the third person, presumably the majin, and gesturing towards me, "This is the Chief of our village."

The figure that followed the elder was…much smaller than I had expected, especially given the aura they were exuding. His black hair with blue streaks, his smooth and youthful facial features, his emerald green eye that seemed curious and yet held the same sense as his aura. To be honest, he reminded me more of a human child and didn't look that much younger than my daughter, however it's always hard to tell with majin.

I watched silently as the majin studied the room for a moment, his eyes passing through the elder and my son, however they did linger on my son for a moment longer, prompting him to look away. It was then the majin turned to me before sighing and sitting down on the cushion on the opposite side of the table.

"Hello there." The majin finally said with a smile, his voice deceptively smooth and innocent, just like his appearance. However, his eyes were still sharp and I could tell he was keenly aware of the other two in the room.

"Greetings majin." I said as I bowed slightly, I saw my son stiffen and grit his teeth in anger and frustration, it seemed as though I would have to keep a closer eye on him, "I welcome you to our village and we are honored to host someone of your prowess. I am the village chief, is there any manner I should address you?"

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, thank you for having me." He responded with a genuine smile.

'So he is named.' I thought as I felt myself becoming more cautious of the possibilities.

"Sir Rimuru," My son fists were clenched even tighter now. He was a proud warrior, one who took pride in both his heritage and his race. It must anger him to see me bow and show respect to another monster. He still had much to learn it seems, "may I ask what it is that brings you to these parts of the forest?" I asked.

Rimuru took a moment to answer, looking deep in thought, he then looked to my son and the elder in the room once more as if judging them. It was only when he turned back to me that he finally answered the question.

"To be honest I was born in a very deep cave about three and a half months ago, and I only recently finally made it out about a week ago. I popped up in the forest and have just been doing whatever since then!" Rimuru declared happily with the innocence of a child.

The elder, my son and I were all equally shocked as we tried to process just what it was this majin was saying. Surely he was joking! To think that the individual who had been releasing such a powerful aura was an infant?! It was a scary thought, and one that spoke volumes of this majins potential for growth.

"I-I see…" I responded not to sure how I was supposed to respond to the revelation, "Then if you don't mind me asking, what do you intend to do moving forward?"

"That's rather bold thing to ask, especially since I made it clear I wasn't a threat to you and your people." Rimuru said as his eyes turned cold as they landed upon me, I couldn't help but flinch at the change in mannerism.

"Please don't misunderstand me, it's just that your appearance has happened at a rather peculiar time." I explained as Rimuru calmed down, "You see, this forest recently lost its guardian, the Storm Dragon Veredia. And as a result I suspect that many changes will be coming to the forest, some good and others bad. I am just concerned for my people."

"I see." Rimuru said as he brought his right hand to his chin, "Well to be honest I haven't really figured out what I'm gonna do with my life. Up to this point I've just been exploring the forest, and your people are the first intellectual beings that I've come across."

'I see, so he truly has no intentions of conquering us. That's good, perhaps he could even be an ally to the ogres.' It would only prove beneficial to our people if we established good relations with Rimuru. Despite the fact that he was young, and probably inexperienced he also seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, "Well, I'm sure that wondering through this large forest has left you feeling somewhat tired. We would be happy to have you as an honored guest of our village if you wish to rest here."

The majins eyes actually widened a bit at that, it seemed he hadn't been expecting my proposal. "Hmm." Rimuru mused as his eyes studied me for moment, head slightly tilted to the in confusion and interest, it was a little amusing to see. After a moment a he smiled once more before responding, "I would love that, thank you very much for having me." He responded with a bow similar to the one that I had done before, that had definitely been amusing, but I managed to hold my composure and not give it away.

Meanwhile my son had been watching the entire interaction with his angers and frustrations building over time. I would need to do something before he did something to offend or anger our guest, whom he was currently glaring daggers into right now.

Unfortunately the majin knew it, and his head snapped towards my son with an irritated expression of his own.

"Hey!" Rimuru shouted in anger and frustration, what truly surprised me however was how loud his voice became and the shockwave that followed it. It was so sudden and surprising that my son was forced to take a few steps back, "What's your problem? You've been leaking killing intent and hostile vibes at me since we started walking towards this place!"

This was bad, Rimuru was getting upset, but based on his words he had been exercising great patience. I could not fault him for his anger at my son, but I also could not afford to have them clash. I had to intervene a quickly.

"Son," I called out to my still shocked son who'd failed to respond to Rimuru, once his attention was on me I spoke firmly with a glare, "leave us."

He seemed to get offended by this and opened his mouth to speak against it, but the elder stepped up in front of him before he could. He managed to get him to follow him out, though my son did cast one last glance at me, before glaring at Rimuru.

"I apologize for my sons rudeness." I said as I bowed my head once more, "He is a proud ogre and very protective of his people, and having a strong majin such as yourself among us has him acting out. And I can only assume his pride has also been hurt."

"It's fine I guess." Rimuru said with a shrug of his shoulders, I was glad he was not going to hold my sons actions against him. Still, I feared that this wasn't the last time my son would do something to earn the ire of our guest.

…I suppose I would have to keep a closer eye on him.

Rimuru's POV:

The village chief and I chatted for a bit more after that, he was being a bit more polite than I expected from him given his position. It actually took me a while to catch on to the fact that it was because of my aura and the fact that they assumed I was so strong.

I guess power really does have a lot of value in this world.

Still though, these people would absolutely freak out if they realized that what they had been sensing was only a quarter of my true power. Probably best to keep that on the down low for the time being. It was for this same reason that I hadn't revealed to them the fact that I was a dragon, that would probably get me attacked fast.

The tea was definitely good though, it was something that I hadn't expected to come across in a monster settlement. Though now that I think about it, a lot of the monsters here are dressed in a manner similar to traditional Japanese wear. Kimonos, yakuta, heck even their warriors had katana and dressed in a similar fashion to samurai.

Could they have been influenced by people from my old world? It was the only logical answer. If that was the case then I really couldn't wait to try out their food at the feast the chief spoke about.

After my talk with the Chief, I was led out by a group of mostly female ogres led by a tall and mature light pink haired ogress whom the other called chieftess, clearly the chiefs wife, or partner. I wasn't sure if the ogres even understood the concept of marriage.

"Sir Rimuru, we are here." The chieftess said as she gestured towards a small house like structure that actually resembled a cabin! It had windows(without glass), curtains, a front door and looked big enough to have three rooms! "This will be your quarters for the duration of your stay. I hope it is to your liking." I actually looked at the chieftess with wide eyes to see if she was joking or not.

"So, you're just going to give me an entire house?" I couldn't help but ask.

I mean I wasn't complaining or anything, but taking a closer look now I couldn't help but note that this house was better decorated than most, if not all the houses in the village, the only comparable one being that if the Chief himself.

I understood they were giving me the royal treatment because I was strong and all that, but in all honesty this was perhaps a bit much.

My reaction must have amused the female ogres as I heard some giggles around me, even the chieftess was giggling, though she hid the majority of her expression behind the large sleeves of her attire, though I certainly didn't miss the amusement that was in her still visible dark pink eyes.

"But Sir Rimuru," The Chieftess said as she stopped giggling and composed herself, "As an honored guest of our village its only natural that we give you the best accommodations that our village has to offer." She said with a smile, and I immediately felt all possible arguments within me die as I couldn't properly come up with a counter.

"Still though…" Don't get me wrong, I was glad that I would have a place to myself. It would certainly make it easier to avoid any awkward situations and things like that. But it was the fact that the house seemed more extravagant than many of the other houses in the village that bothered me a little.

"Please don't worry Sir Rimuru, this is just how things are done in our village." She insisted, with a sigh I decided to just let it go and accept it.

With that over the Chieftess led me into the building and gave me a quick tour of the place. I had to admit that the place was really nice. It was well furnished, the floor was smooth and the carpets really soft, and the bed was made out of silk! I had to resist jumping on the bed in that moment, it wouldn't do to behave poorly in front of the Chieftess. The house had two rooms, the bedroom and living room all of it seemed to be heavily Japanese styled. There's no doubt about it, these ogres were definitely influenced by an otherworlder.

Once the rather quick tour of the place was complete the chieftess left me with a few necessities that I'd need for my stay and gave me a quick reminder of the feast that we'd be having tonight and that I was more than welcome to join them.

As soon as she, along with her group, was gone I swiftly ran back to my new bedroom and leapt onto the bed. 'It really is silk!' I couldn't help but marvel as I rolled from one end of my bed to the other. It really was so soft and comfortable, much better than any of the makeshift beds I'd tried to make using my thread related skills that's for sure!

"Haaa, I could definitely settle for this." I moaned in satisfaction.

Looking back at everything that had happened today, I really hadn't been expecting to run into any intellectual monsters this soon into my new life, but I wasn't complaining either. The ogres seemed like a nice enough bunch, except for that redhead, he had some issues. Still though there was a lot to look forward to here, it was definitely better than wandering the forest all on my own.

It certainly felt less lonely that much was for sure.

I'm glad that our paths crossed and hoped to maintain a good relationship with them.

---

Authors Note:

And that concludes the chapter!

To be honest I debated whether I should follow the cannon story line for a really long while, but I eventually decided not to. So instead of Rimuru meating the Goblins he encountered the ogres.

How this will shape the story? Well you'll just have to read and find out!

By the way please feel free to comment and review!

I had some less than ideal comments in the previous chapter, but I'm just gonna push past the haters and move forward with the story!

Hope you all enjoy this one!

---

Rimuru's POV:

Knock Knock Knock!

My eyes snapped open as I heard the sound of a door being knocked on. My eyes snapped open, and I quickly noticed how it suddenly seemed a bit darker out, probably the sun setting or it already being down.

It took me a few seconds to realize where I actually was. The encounter with the ogre warriors, being brought back to their village, speaking with their chief and even being given a place to stay!

'I must have dozed when I hit the bed.' I thought to myself as I rubbed the drowsiness out of my eyes.

"Sir Rimuru? Are you wake?" A polite and feminine voice called from outside. It sounded younger than what most women would sound like, perhaps this ogress was on the younger side.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I called out, quickly washing my face using [Water Manipulation] before I stepped out of my room and walked into the living room.

Given the amount of respect that these people were showing me I wanted to make sure I lived up to whatever standard they had of me. Wish I had some better clothes than these though, maybe I could ask one of the ogresses to make something for me, they seemed skilled with making kimonos and yukatas.

"The preparations for the feast have been completed. I've been asked to escort you there." The probably young ogress outside said.

'Oh yeah, food!' My eyes sparkled in excitement as I remembered the promise of food that had been made earlier in the day. Just the thought of eating real food was enough to get my mouth all watery and my stomach rumbling, thankfully not loud enough that it could be heard from outside.

"Sounds great." I said as I quickly wiped whatever drool was most likely coming out of my mouth, before opening the door and stepping out. Closing the door behind me I then turned to properly greet the ogress who would be escorting me. My eyes widened slightly when she came into view.

The ogress was a petite girl in her late teens that was still developing, by human standards anyway, she looked sixteen to seventeen years, though there's no telling if ogres age differently than humans. She was a bit taller than me naturally. She had long wavy pink hair and deep crimson eyes to match, and two large white horns coming from the top of her head. Her face had red tear-like marking below her eyes, she also had small fangs protruding from her mouth and her skin had a slight pink tint to it.

'She's so cute!' The thought dominated my mind as I turned my head away from her so as to not get caught staring or embarrass myself. 'This totally would have been my ideal type of girl back in high school.'

"Um, Sir Rimuru, is something wrong?" The ogress asked, snapping me out of thoughts. I turned to face her only to see her covering the lower half of her face with the excessively long sleeves of her robe, that just made her large ruby eyes stand out even more!

'Somehow that just makes her look even more cute!' I had to resist the blush that threatened to make its way up my face. I covered it up by glancing away once more and coughing into my right hand. Gathering my bearings I then turned towards the ogress once more, "Y-yes, I'm fine, sorry about that. Please lead the way." I responded after a moment, knowing that I'd already left a less than ideal first impression.

With a small giggle hidden behind her large sleeves, the pink haired ogress began to lead the way towards where the feast would be held, with me following close behind in embarrassment. I really needed to get a better hand on myself, embarrassing myself in front of a pretty girls was.

Given that the village wasn't overly large, it didn't take us long to arrive at our destination, there were several long tables that had been set out with large amounts of food on them, the largest being the one that had the chief at its head. The ogress led me towards the chiefs table and gestured for me to take the seat to his right, his wife and son were seated at his left side.

"Ah, Sir Rimuru." The Chief greeted with a smile as I took the seat that had been offered. The pink haired ogress then went on to take a seat next to the young master, "How are you liking your accommodations thus far?"

"It's great, I slept like a log." I couldn't help but admit. I wasn't going to pretend that I was any good at formal conversations like the ogre chief, besides as far as they were concerned I was barely a few months old so they can't expect much from me in that regard, "Silk beds definitely beat the bedding I tried to make with [Sticky Thread] or [ Steel Thread]." I confessed, it was something I was sort of envious about but given that I'd be enjoying said silk bed for the foreseeable future it was nothing to get worked up about.

The Chief and his wife both look genuinely pleased at that response, while the pink haired ogress looked a bit piqued when I mentioned my thread skills, "I'm glad to hear that. As I'm sure you've been told that house will be your dwelling for the duration of your stay, so please use it as you see fit."

"Thank you, that's very generous of you." I said with the quick bow of my head.

"If you have any questions please feel free to ask myself or my wife," he said before gesturing towards the pink haired ogress, "Or if you prefer you can ask my daughter."

"Daughter?" I couldn't help ask as my eyes widened slightly. I hadn't known that I was escorted by what was essentially the princess of the tribe! Though now that I took a better her she did look very much like the chieftess in many ways.

The young ogress suddenly seemed to blush from embarrassment before quickly bowing her head, "Please forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I'm the second and last born of our chieftain, most in the village refer to me as 'Princess'." The Princess introduced herself, I couldn't help but mentally high-five myself for guessing that title, "Please feel free to come to me if you need any assistance Sir Rimuru." She added as she raised her head with a smile on her face, one that caused my heart to nearly skip a beat and ache ever so slightly.

"I-I'll be counting on you then." I responded with a minor blush and a slight stammer. I chose to ignore the raised eyebrow of the chief, the teasing and amused expression of the chieftess and the glare of the young master in favor of the food that had just been placed in front of me.

I could tell at first glance that it was going to be amazing. The aroma in itself was nearly mouth watering, though that could be in part due to my sensitive nose. The meat, the fillets, the herbs and spices mixed in there all made for one juicy meal.

I cut into the meat with my knife, it was soft and tender, still steaming too. It made me all the more hungry in that moment. Without hesitation I took a bite of sliced meat.

'Wow…wowowwooooow!" I was pretty sure I moaned as the flavor rolled in my mouth. The meat was soft and tender, easily chewable. And the taste? The taste was better than chicken! The sauce and herbs gave the meat an additional sweet taste and yet left a slight burning sensation in my mouth. It was addictive! It, it…..

' It tastes so goooooooood!'

My state of bliss was interrupted by the sound of two people giggling, and it was in that moment that I remembered that I was in the presence of others. My body froze and my eyes slowly opened.

To my utmost shame all eyes were currently on me. The Chieftess and princess were apparently the ones behind the giggling, the chief looked amused by my action and the redhead looked at me as if I'd grown as a second head or something.

I stayed frozen for a second, my entire face going red, "Uh, I've never tasted food this good before." With that simple excuse to justify my reaction I went back to eating my food. I wasn't going to let the attention or embarrassment keep me from enjoying this food to the fullest.

"I'm glad the food is to your liking Sir Rimuru." The chieftess spoke up with a smile in her face, though it wasn't quite visible I could tell that both her and the princess were happy with the praise I'd given towards the food.

It wasn't that I could see it, or that there were ant signs of the pride they felt, but rather that I could feel that pride. Which was kind of strange.

《Notice: This is the effect of your Unique Skill [Desire]. Through it you are able to sense and manipulate the emotions and desires of those around you without them being none the wiser.》

'Huh, so that's what it was. I'd almost forgotten about that particular skill.' I hadn't really had any chance to test that unique skill or the sub-skills that were under it. Not like I had many opportunities to try it out when the only creatures I'd been fighting were non-sentient beings. It had been more efficient to just kill them and get their skills through [Predator] since they had no arts to offer.

Still though, being in a village with creatures that had near human level intellect was a good opportunity to try out [Desire]. Perhaps I could even pick up some arts and skills without having to devour anyone here.

"Please feel free to help yourself to another serving Sir Rimuru." The Chief spoke up, it was then that I realized my plate was now empty. I'd cleaned the whole plate without realizing it, how embarrassing.

"Thank you, don't mind if I do." I said as I filled my plate once more. 'I should probably stop after the second helping, with how good this is I could eat them all dry before the night ends.'

It wasn't long until dinner came to an end. I had a few chats with the chief and his family, with the exception of his son who wasn't keen on speaking with me, but that was fine with me. It wasn't until a little later into the night that the ogres started heading of to their respective dwellings to turn in for the night.

It turns out ogres were late night sleepers.

The princess offered to escort me back to my new house, but I was pretty confident that I knew my way back. Not to mention if I did get lost I could ask [Great Sage] for help.

Ogre Chiefs POV:

"What are your thoughts on our guest my love?" I heard my wife ask from behind me prompting me to turn away from the window where I had been watching Sir Rimuru leave, our children had also turned in for the night.

"Rimuru is…an interesting majin, and a powerful one at that. At first I was doubtful of his claim that he had only been in this world for a few months, but tonight helped confirm that he really is young and inexperienced." I said.

"Yes, some of the female ogres overheard the warriors who came back with him claiming that he didn't even know what a majin is." My wife couldn't help but giggle lightly at that, I could see the humor in it as well. The village elder had told me of the same incident after my initial meeting with Rimuru earlier in the day. For such a powerful individual to not know something that was considered so basic, it was indeed a clear indicator as to how young Rimuru was.

"In a way he almost reminds me of our son when he was that age." My wife added with a reminiscent smile on her face. She missed having an infant child. My wife loved children, especially infants, it was something that had been apparent even before we were together. So much so that even after having our son she wanted another child soon after, despite the risk involved in child bearing for monsters.

While she may have successfully delivered the princess, it had come at a cost for her. She had lost the vast majority of her magicules, and her strength with it. She still had enough to carry on with daily activities and the like, but she was no longer fit for combat.

That's not to say I hadn't lost a fair share of power too, but I still held a formidable enough presence to demand some respect within this village.

Still, neither of us regretted bringing our daughter into this world, she was as much a blessing as her brother, and we loved them both dearly.

"Still, for what's essentially a newborn he has a good head on his shoulders and above average level intelligence. It's best we remain vigilant, if only for a short while, to determine his true nature." I said with a said.

Truthfully I'd already taken a liking to Rimuru, and apparently so had my wife and daughter, but I couldn't just accept him without being sure of his intentions.

"That's fair, but if we're watching Rimuru to make sure he doesn't cause trouble, it's only fair to make sure the trouble doesn't start on our end as well." My wife added, and I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement. If my people were to offend Rimuru and incur his wrath then nothing good would come from that.

"You're talking about our son." It was more of a statement than a question. I'd seen the way he reacted to Rimuru when they first arrived, and according to the elder he had been less than accepting of inviting Rimuru to the village, "Yes, I noticed that the relationship between the two of them had already taken a bad turn. I'll have our daughter watch him to ensure he doesn't do anything."

If we played our cards right, Rimuru could very well be a valuable ally to our people for a long time to come. There was the risk of him deciding to rule this village in the future once he had grown some, I wasn't quite sure what I would do if that came to pass. It would all depend on how Rimuru developed in the future.

I for one hoped it would be a fruitful relationship, regardless of how things turned out in the future. Both for my people, and for Rimuru himself.

Rimuru POV:

The following morning came by a lot sooner than I had expected. Having gone to bed in my dragon form I reverted back to my human form upon waking up. I wasn't quite sure how the ogres would take it once I revealed to them what I really was, much less my heritage.

I'd probably keep that second one on the down low for the foreseeable future though, I didn't trust anyone here enough to tell them that I was the son of the Storm Dragon. Though chances were they would only revere me more if I revealed that truth.

I made my way into the village, wanting to see how the ogres went about their daily lives and if there was anything that I could do as well, I didn't want to just sit around and be the lazy guest that expected royal treatment. If there was an area I could help out or something then I'd be glad to do so, it was certainly better than sitting around all day and being bored.

Using [Magic Sense] I was able to tell that almost all the ogres had gathered about a kilometer from my current location, which I found to be a bit strange. Being the curious little dragon I was I headed off in the direction they were at.

I didn't take me long to make it to my destination, turns out the ogres had gathered by a large clearing. And from what I could tell they all seemed to be training? Men, women and children old enough to hold a weapon were all involved in what seemed like a clan training session. It was actually rather impressive to watch from the cliff I was standing on.

The kids and teens seemed to be learning from various instructors, the chief and elder included. I had to respect the chiefs desire to oversee the development of the next generation himself. The adults seemed to be sparring or practicing amongst themselves with various weapons and hand to hand, guess the ogres didn't just use swords cause I could see using a hammer and another wielding two axes and various other weapons.

They seemed to have been going at it for a while now too judging by how tired some of them seemed to already be. Guess ogres were the early bird kind of monsters. It certainly reminded me of the drills we ran in the military back in my old life.

"Good morning Sir Rimuru." I heard the voice of the Chieftess call out to me, turning I saw her approaching me from the side with a smile. She then did a quick respectful bow.

"Good morning Chieftess." I greeted in return, it sounded weird to refer to her by that title, perhaps it was because I was used to calling people by their names. Still, it was something that I was just going to have to get used to.

"Did the tribes training session peek your interest?" She asked as she turned her attention to the same scenery as me.

"Yeah, I was a bit to see that the village seemed more or less empty after I woke up. But I was even more surprised to see that all of you were doing one big training session, especially the women and children." I admitted.

"Yes, we ogres are a warring race. We thrive in battle and always seek ways to make ourselves stronger." The chieftess said with a proud smile on her face, I could even hear it in the way she spoke, "All of us are trained from a young age, regardless of what role we'll play in the village. This is to ensure that our people are always strong, even if something were to happen to our warriors." I couldn't help but hum in agreement to that logic.

" 'Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war." I muttered out. It was an old Chinese proverb that these ogres actually seemed to put into practice from a very young age.

"Precisely." The Chieftess said as her smile grew at my understanding, "While not all ogres may be on par with our main fighting force, all of us are more than capable of handling ourselves in a fight."

"I can see that." I had to admit that they were all very impressive fighters, it all looked like something straight out of an anime or manga. Then again, this was my new reality now, I had to embrace the fact that the laws of physics I knew wouldn't apply in this world. "How come you're not with them, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh don't mind at all." The chieftess responded as her smile became somewhat somber, "The truth is I used to be a formidable magic user amongst my people back in the day, a talent that my daughter seems to have inherited."

Magic she says? I remember [Great Sage] telling me that ogres were an intellectual species capable of using skills and magic, but I've yet to actually see that. Perhaps I could ask the Princess to show me a thing or two later on.

"However I lost a vast majority of my magicules when I conceived my two children. I don't regret doing so though, those two are my pride and joy, and watching them grow has filled me with nothing but joy." She went on to explain. I was a bit confused as to how conceiving resulted in the loss in power.

《Answer: Monsters are magical beasts by nature, and as a result the process of creating a new life consumes a large amount of magicules. The soul in particular is a highly complex to create and requires the unifying of a large amount magicules from two different sources through mating to create. Often times one or both partners will suffer loss of power and in some cases they may not survive after the child has been conceived. The fact that the Chieftess survived birthing two children while the Chief still wields a decent amount of power is a testament of the strength they had prior to procreating.》

'Wow [Great Sage, that's the most I've heard you speak in a long while.' I think the last time it had offloaded that much info on me was when it originally listed my skills just after birth.

Still though, I had to respect the monsters of this world that chose to have children. I couldn't imagine doing so at the cost of my life, at least not right now, maybe if I met someone I loved that much.

"Is there a way to get back those magicules?" I couldn't help but ask, one thing I was beginning to accept was that there was nothing that was impossible. If there was a will, there was a way.

"Not that I know of." The Chieftess responded, and yet she didn't sound bothered by the fact that she may never be as powerful as she used to be. Perhaps for her the tradeoff really had been worth it.

I turned my gaze back towards the training ogres and couldn't help but wonder if it would be possible for me to pick up a thing or two, preferably in the swordsmanship department. I'd always been a fan of the katana, even back when I was part of the kendo club in my schooling days. Though that couldn't possibly be compared to the level of mastery that these ogres seemed to have. I could always use the [Replication] sub-skill of my unique skill [Desire] to copy their techniques and arts, but doing so from a distance seemed kinda shady.

"Would you like to join them?" The Chieftess suddenly asked as she turned to me eyes closed with a smile.

"Wh-What?" The sheer absurdity of the question actually shocked me, had she been reading my mind or something?!

《Answer: The Chieftess does not possess a such a skill or ability.》

'It was a rhetorical question [Great Sage].' I couldn't help but respond with a mental deadpan. "Is that even okay though? I thought training outsiders in your arts is something ogres wouldn't do." I asked the Chieftess, I had to remember that she may as well be the highest authority outside of the Chief himself so if anyone would know it would be her.

She brought a finger to her lips as she took on what was obviously a teasing thinking pose. I wanted to call her out on it but decided to let her be. "Under normal circumstances my husband wouldn't allow it, but I'm sure with you he'll be more than willing to make an exception." She said with a smile.

"Why though?" I had to ask, was this just another royal treatment thing then I was really gonna have to nip that trend in the bud before they offered me their undying loyalty or something of that magnitude.

"Well, my husband told me that you are young for a majin despite the amount of power that you wield. While I don't doubt you could defeat us with that power, against others of similar strength you would be at a disadvantage in terms of technique and experience. So you see, it's to your benefit that you also get experience. And who knows, maybe we may also benefit from your strength in the future."

'This woman…' I couldn't help but respect the way she was more or less saying I would be indebted to the ogres for their teachings and may more or less be obligated to help them in the future. I mean in a way it is true, in a world where dog eats cat it only makes sense that you make powerful friends. Not to mention that she was right about me needing to gain more strength and experience in this world.

If fighting for the ogres one day was the price to pay then that was a small price to pay indeed for something that would definitely be helpful in the long run.

"…well if you're sure." I said casually with the shrug of my shoulders, while I was happy and excited at the prospect of learning sword arts and other relevant skills, there was no reason to show any desperation or anything of the sort. As the son of the Storm Dragon Veredia, I had to have some semblance of pride.

The Chieftess merely giggled at my response, whether it was because she saw through my facade or she just found my response amusing was something that I didn't know.

Ogre Chief POV:

Todays practice seemed to be going as smooth as always, our people growing stronger with each training session and the next generation learning and becoming better than the last.

It was a tactic that I'd introduced not too long after I'd become chief. Rather than simply training our main fighting force, we trained even those that were responsible for other tasks as well. That way all in our village were strong, and should the worst come to pass we would all be adequately prepared.

I'd felt the powerful presence of our guest not too long ago by a nearby cliff, it seemed he had woken up not too long ago and tracked us down to our training grounds.

While normally I would be worried about letting an outsider see our training methods and the likes, Rimuru was a bit of a grey area. Not only was he young, having been born not too long ago, but he also didn't have any allegiances. The worst thing that could come to pass would be him attacking us out of nowhere, and that was a concern I didn't need to worry about. Rimuru didn't seem like the type to attack without provocation.

Aside from myself it seemed only a handful of ogres had noticed his presence, my son and the elder included as they too glanced in the direction of the cliff before turning to me, I merely shook my head, telling them to continue as they were. My son looked uncomfortable with that, but relented as he continued practicing his kata. I really had to talk with him before he stirred up trouble with Sir Rimuru.

It wasn't until a few moments later that Rimuru's aura began to approach closer to our training grounds that I stopped instructing the children in front of me, delegating the task to another warrior, before going to meet our guest. Most of the ogres seemed to have picked up on his approach, but a quick glance and they all went back to their training.

No reason for them to lose focus in front of their guest, it was important to show Rimuru just how strong our clan was.

I was a bit surprised to see him approaching with my wife leading him towards us. Though what was even more frightening was the smile on my wife's face.

'That smile….' That was the kind of smile she had whenever she emerged victorious in something, be it an argument, debate, game or even something as simple as getting something she wants or achieving her desired results. I'm proud to say that my wife is a strong negotiator, and few have ever managed to outwit her. If she was smiling like that right now… 'What have you done my love…'

Whatever the case Rimuru didn't seem upset, hopeful yes, and maybe a bit anxious and perhaps a bit nervous, but not upset.

"Morning Chief." Rimuru greeted once they were within speaking distance.

"Good morning Sir Rimuru, I trust you had a present sleep." He had expressed his joy at our bedding during the previous nights feast, and I hoped he would continue to find comfort in our accommodations.

"Yeah, I did." Rimuru responded with a laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, "So much so that I missed everyone leaving the village." I could have sworn I heard him mutter something about 'enhanced senses' after that, however I decided not to press on that.

"I apologize for that, I should have had one of the ogres wait for you to wake." I apologized with a quick bow. It had been a lack of insight on my part.

"It's fine, though when I tracked you guys down I never expected that I would find you all in one place doing something like this." Rimuru said as his gaze shifted to the training ogres, I couldn't help but smile with a bit of pride.

"Well we ogres are a warring clan, and are among the strongest species in the Great Forest of Jura. To ensure that our village and people are always strong I feel it is necessary for everyone to participate in training, regardless of whether or not they are part f our fighting force." I explained.

"Your wife told me something similar not too long ago." Rimuru responded, making me wonder what else the two of them had talked about, I was still a tad bit cautious with the smile she had displayed earlier.

"Speaking of which, Sir Rimuru has displayed an interest in learning our techniques?" My wife suddenly revealed with the same smile she had before. I couldn't stop the shock on my face from appearing, and judging by the silence in the surrounding area, the nearby ogres had stopped their practice in shock as well. With one of them crying in pain, probably from taking a hit due to the distraction.

"Truly?!" I asked for confirmation as I turned to our guest. I couldn't imagine such a powerful being needing training from us, unless he was just seeking to add to his power.

"Well, to be honest, I was just impressed by the variety of warriors in your clan. While the majority of your are swordsmen, there are others that wield different kinds of weapons and according to the chieftess there are some of you that practice magic." Rimuru said, once more I couldn't help but feel some pride at the acknowledgement, "Your wife was actually the one who helped me recognize one of my largest flaws though, my lack of experience."

Ah, now the situation was starting to become a bit more clear. Yes, Rimuru had told us that he was more or less a newborn, and despite the amount of power he had and perhaps his Intrinsic fighting abilities (not to be confused with skills), he still lacked any formal training and fighting experience. It made sense that he'd want to pick up a thing or two if that was the case.

"I see…" I said as I brought my hand to my chin. Looking at my wife, I could tell just by meeting her gaze that an agreement of sorts had been reached between her and Sir Rimuru, otherwise she wouldn't have brought it up.

"Ohohoho, so our guest is interested in learning our ways is he?" The elder suddenly spoke up as he approached us, no doubt his curiosity had been piqued by the prospect of training such a powerful majin. "If our chief would allow it I'd gladly take this task."

…well I suppose I wasn't against it, Rimuru seemed like a trust worthy individual, or perhaps that was just his young looks and inexperience reflecting. Either way, it may help further cement our relations if Rimuru were to grow stronger as a result of our teachings.

"Very well, I suppose if both the Elder and Sir Rimuru are willing its okay." I said with the nod of my head, prompting a happy and excited look to suddenly appear on Rimuru's face.

"Really, you're fine with this?!" Rimuru asked, clearly both shocked and yet excited to learn. His excitement was akin to that of a child, once more reminding me of my son when he too started his training.

"Of course." I said with a nod, before my expression turned serious, "However learning to wield a sword is no easy task, and requires dedication and harf work."

"Right! I wont let you down chief!" Rimuru said with a salute, he may be all excited now, but even a powerful majin such as him would be terrified by the Elders ruthless teaching.

"Very well then." I said with a nod as I then turned to the elder, "I'll leave our guest in your care elder." I said to which he nodded his head whilst stroking his beard.

"Leave it to me, I'll whip this youngster into shape." Under most circumstances, hearing the elder speak that way about a majin as powerful as Rimuru regardless of his age would have terrified me, but looking at Rimuru I could tell there was no need for concern.

He seemed to get a bit nervous after that, as if only sensing the potential danger in that moment, but otherwise didn't react.

I turned to my wife and signaled for her to follow me. It was time she caught me up to what she had discussed with Rimuru earlier that led to this whole thing.

Rimuru's POV:

The ogre Elder and I moved to a slightly more open and free area in the wide field. I could still feel the gazes of the other ogres all around us, even though they tried to hide by focusing on their respective activities. If the elder was bothered by this he didn't show it, instead he merely turned towards me once the two of us were far enough from the crowd before throwing a wooden practice sword in my direction, and I quickly caught it with my left hand.

"To determine the best way to teach you I must see what you can do on an instinctual level. And so the two of us will spar." The elder said as he held out his wooden sword in his right hand, "Go!" Without warning the elder simply phased out of existence, like something straight out of a ninja anime.

I triggered my [Keen Sense] and [Magic Sense] after looking around for a few seconds and coming up short. I held my blade with both hands in front of me as I did kendo in my past life. Though I knew that it would do little to help in a fight against a veteran such as this old man.

I barely noticed the old man shimmer into my field of vision right in front of me, blade already swinging for my head.

Reacting as fast as I could I quickly ducked my head and used the momentum to roll under the swing. Swiftly standing up I leapt back to put some distance between us. However sensing the his approach I swiftly brought my sword up defensively, barely managing to block the sword strike that had been aimed for my neck!

This old man despite his looks was actually very fast. It seemed I'd been right to be cautious of him from the beginning, he really was a veteran warrior.

Our blades clashed a few more times, though it was more like I was being kept on the defensive the entire time, before we both leapt back to make some room to breathe.

'The only reason I've been able to keep up so far is because I'm faster and stronger than he is. If we were equal in terms of physical capabilities this old man could have severed my head a long time ago.' It was a rather morbid thought, but one that was true. But that was why I was here right now, to fix that inexperience and lack of skill.

"Hohoho, I see that you've at least got the basic instinct to defend yourself with the blade." The elder said in amusement, before one of his eyes opened and he looked at me with a much more serious expression, "Very well then, it seems I shall have to take this a bit more seriously."

'What!' Before I could put in a word of protest, the old man just vanished again! And just like before none of my sensory abilities were able to find him, it was like he had just vanished off the face of the earth! Seriously, how was it possible for someone to mask their body heat, magicules, odor and even the sound of their breathing and footsteps?! There really wasn't a single trace of him that I could follow.

And so, due to my minor panic, I was totally unprepared when the elder reappeared right behind me and bonked the back of my skull with his wooden blade!

"Ow!" I yelped instinctively as I held the back of my head, although a bit late. The attack hadn't really done any damage nor had I felt any pain from it, I guess the reaction was just a force habit.

"I somehow doubt that you felt any pain" The elder said with a raised eyebrow. Whether that assumption was based of the fact that I was too strong to have taken any damage from that, or he somehow knew that I had something similar [Pain Nullification] skill, I wasn't quite sure. Either way, both points were correct. I hadn't taken any damage nor did I feel pain.

"Uh no, not really. Sorry about that, force habit I guess." I admitted sheepishly, it was kind of embarrassing to be pointed out like that.

"I see…" The elder said as he stroked his goatee with his free hand. He seemed interested in what I had just said but seemed to cover it with a great poker face, "Still though that does present a minor problem when it comes to teaching you?"

"How so?" I had a feeling I wasn't going to like the answer that he gave me, and the dangerous glint that appeared in the elders eyes after I spoke did nothing to reassure me.

"Well, I'm a firm believer of using pain as the best teaching method." The elder said with a grin that actually made me gulp, "Usually I try to keep my students under pressure, and giving them a sense of being in danger. This increases their drive and desire to learn fast so that they can adapt accordingly and avoid any pain."

That, that actually made sense, as much as I hated to admit it. Anyone would want to avoid getting smacked around by the old man and thus would push themselves harder to learn more and grow stronger too. Now I could see what problem he had been meaning earlier.

Due to the fact that I was stronger than him and couldn't feel any pain as well, his training method was being made redundant.

'Hey [Great Sage, is there any way for me to turn off the [Pain Nullification] skill, or maybe reduce its effects?' I asked my ever trustful skill. I didn't really want to feel pain, but if it helped me get stronger…then it had to be worth it.

《Answer: The resistance [Pain Nullification] can be temporarily neutralized. However it is not necessary to do so, the individual Rimuru Tempest can merely duplicates the sword arts of the elder ogre through [Sub-skill: Replication] of your Unique Skill [Desire]》

'Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that skill. It's the one that can copy arts, magic and weapon techniques right?'

《Affirmative》

'That sounds like it would be convenient. So does that mean I've already copied the old mans skills?'

《Answer: [Replication] requires a significant amount of time in order to fully duplicate the arts and techniques, also we have yet to fully analyze the elders techniques as we are still in the early stages of his teachings. However, the continous use of the skill [Replication] will allow for the user to learn arts at a much faster rate.》

'That sounds awesome! Okay then, disable [Pain Nullification] whenever I'm training with the elder. Even if not necessary I feel as though I would benefit from his teaching methods. However if I'm severely injured reactivate it immediately please.' While I wasn't looking forward to experiencing any kind of pain I knew that it would be to my own benefit. Who knows, maybe the pressure and desire to get better would help boost the effect of [Replication].

《…Understood.》

"Then I'll disable my [Pain Nullification] skill, this will make it so I can feel injuries like anyone else. But even then, my bodies is very durable, wooden swords won't really do anything to me." I stated as I rubbed my chin in thought, I completely missed the way in which the elders expression turned sinister as a result.

"Then perhaps we should spar sharp." The elder said to my surprise as he tossed away his wooden blade and began to draw on his sheathed sword. He then turned towards one of the nearby ogres who had stopped sparring to watch the duel between the two of them, "You there, lend Sir Rimuru your blade." The ogre approached me and drew his blade before handing it to me, I nervously took said blade but still made sure to give my thanks.

I swung the blade a couple of times, with one hand and with both, just to get a proper feel of it. It was light, sharp and durable. The craftsmanship was really something too, maybe I should see the local blacksmith about getting my own blade forged. Though that would most likely come after I had some proper experience with the blade.

"Shall we begin?" The elder asked as I took my stance, I nodded my head and prepared myself. I didn't want to hurt the old man, but then again if I somehow overdid it I could always just heal him with the potions I have stored in my [Stomach].

The elder lunged at me once more with a blur of speed that surprised me. I managed to bring my blade up to block it this time before pushing the old man away from me. Deciding to stay on the offensive I gave chase and begun to swing my blade. However the elder merely weaved his way casually between my swings with a smirk on his face.

"Your movements are still to easy to read." The elder said before vanishing just as I swung my blade downwards, resulting in me hitting the ground.

He reappeared in front of me once more and continued his assault, once more putting me on the defensive as I tried to keep up and find any openings in his techniques that I could exploit.

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a multiple stinging sensations from different parts of my body.

《Notice: You have sustained damage, health deducted is 1%.》

'That explains it.' I quickly inspected my body using [Magic Sense] and discovered I had four minor cuts on me. One on my left thigh, right cheek and shoulder, and lastly on my torso. 'Still…four cuts? I didn't even see his blade make those."

My [Rapid Regeneration] immediately kicked in as the cuts stopped bleeding and began to close up. With that the stinging sensation from the wound also seemed to come to an end. Thank god for my regenerative abilities!

"Ho, your healing abilities are rather impressive Sir Rimuru." The elder commented, whispers could also be heard all around us as it seemed the other ogres had stopped sparing and decided to watch the spar.

"Perhaps, but I find the fact that you actually managed to injure me even more impressive. It looks as though I'm the one who underestimated you elder." I said with a smirk of my own. This old man truly was a veteran warrior and master swordsman

"Then shall we continue?" The elder said with a scary smile coming into place as I nervously nodded my head, I had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen, all the more reason for me to keep my guard up.

The old man vanished from my sight once more, his presence no longer detectable through any of my skills. This time I didn't panic, and instead narrowed my eye in focus as I held onto my blade firmly. Because of that when the elder suddenly reappeared at my left side, his blade already coming for my neck, I was more prepared. I leaned back to avoid the strike before leaping away from the old man to put some distance between us.

《Severe injury detected, reactivating [Pain Nullification].》

'What?' It took a moment for me to register just what [Great Sage] was talking about, the several gasps I heard from the ogre crowd certainly caught my attention. It was only as I inspected myself once more that I realized that my left arm…

…it had been cut off.

'What?!' I hadn't even noticed when it happened! Looking around I noticed the severed limb on the ground I'd previously been standing on. I must not have felt it in that moment due to the adrenaline of the fight, either that or [Great Sage] had acted as soon as the limb had been severed. Either way I was extremely grateful, I'd already experienced getting shot three times, I didn't want to experience what it was like to lose a limb, 'Nice reaction speed [Great Sage, you really saved me from a world of hurt!'

"Oh my, it seems I may have overdone it." The elder said as he looked at my stump in concern, fortunately it wasn't bleeding thanks in part to [Rapid Regeneration], but the wound hadn't sealed itself.

'Hey [Great Sage], how long will it take for my arm to regenerate?' I asked.

《Answer: Fully regenerating the will take five days. Reattaching the lost limb would be more efficient, taking thirty minutes until it is fully functional and all sensations are restored.》

'Sweet! Lets do that then.' I picked up the severed limb without a word and reattached it to my stump, much to the confusion of all the ogres. That confusion swiftly shifted to awe and wonder as the flesh began to join together once more and the wound vanished outside all together, "Don't worry about it." I said to the elder casually with a smile as I began to experimentally move my left arm. It still felt off, and it wasn't moving quite as fast as I hoped it would. Guess it would take some time before the nerves and such would fully heal.

"Oh so you can heal that fast ey?" I really didn't like the look on the elders face as his asked that, "That means I can cut you up as many times as I want and you'll be able to put yourself back together." The smile and glint that appeared in his left eye was nothing short of demonic.

Seriously, what happened to the grandfatherly vibes that he had been giving off not too long ago?!

"What?! N-No way!" I shouted in alarm as I waved my right hand in front of me frantically, "It may look healed on the outside but its going to take me some time before I regain normal functions in this arm!" I yelled frantically in panic and fear.

Is this how the elder trained all of his students?! No, I doubt the ogres had strong regenerative abilities like me, so he couldn't go that far.

But still, the old man was really scary! I've seen army generals and commanders with more sympathy.

"Oh, what a shame." The elder said with a sigh as he sheathed his blade, his genuine disappointment was a real concern for me.

'Maybe this old man really does have a screw loose somewhere.'

"Let us leave it at that for today, I've seen more than enough to get a good grasp of how you fight and how to teach you." The elder said with a smile.

'And the grandfatherly vibes are back!' I couldn't help but be shocked at how swiftly he flipped that switch.

"Right, thank you for taking the time to teach me. I'll be in your care." Said with a slight bow of respect for my new sensei. Despite his somewhat crazy methods, this fight had proven to me that the old ogre really was an incredible fighter, and no matter what it would be foolish of me to deny training from him simply because of his methods. 'Guess I'll just have to suck it up.' I thought to myself.

Seeing as the spar was officially over the other ogres that had been watching our spar immediately began to approach both the elder and I. I was surprised when many of them began to praise my efforts and my ability with the sword despite it being my first time wielding one, others questioned me about my regenerative abilities and what other skills I could possibly have.

Naturally I didn't give away any information on my skills, I didn't think it was a wise thing for anyone to do something like that in a world like this one, even among allies.

Still though I couldn't help but feel like I'd just been finally accepted by the ogre village as a whole as I got to converse with some of them. It seemed getting chopped up by the elder had allowed them to see me as just another monster that lived among them, even though they still addressed me as 'Sir Rimuru', indicating they still acknowledged my strength.

Still though, I was making progress. I was beginning to actually settle in among the ogres and they were finally accepting me. So perhaps it was actually worth it.

---

Authors Notes:

And that's a wrap. Rimuru finally settles and is accepted into the village. Some seeds of the future have been sown.

please feel free to comment and give constructive criticism !

First things first, after careful consideration from the reviews and dm's that I got both on and ao3, I've decided to switch Rimuru's former life profile to that of a Special Forces agent and CIA.

Changes to the previous chapters has yet to be done but they will be editted well before the next chapter. The summary of the fic has also undergone a change so feel free to check that out.

My other announcement is that I've taken in a co-author/beta reader who  goes by Omni-Creator Kami on . I'd like to give him thanks and credit for helping go through this chapter and his continued support in the future.

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Chapter 6: Culinary Delights?

It had been two weeks since I welcomed as an honored guest within the ogre village. I've actually kinda settled into this new life really well.

The initial wariness that came from me being a powerful majin and the aura that I emitted eventually began to fade away as I began to interact with the ogres more and more. They still made sure to show me the appropriate respect and stuff, but other than that it was as if I was becoming one of them.

I'd even been allowed to join their hunting party after a few days of just sitting around and being bored. I told the chief that I didn't want to sit around all day and take advantage of their hospitality as well as the teachings that the elder was giving me, so if there was any way that I could help around the village he should let me. And thus I was allowed to join the hunting party.

It also helped that I was able to discover other species that dwelled within the forest, and I took the opportunity to devour them whenever I could. And in the process had gained a few new skills. Skills that I already had were converted to magicules by [Great Sage] that were used to additionally add to magicule count after the monster been assimilated.

Still, doing that with every new creature we encountered eventually earned some questions from the hunting party, so naturally I had to explain myself. I told them an undermined version of the [Unique Skill: Apex Predator] and told them that I had a skill that allowed me to transform into any monster I devoured with it, with a chance at gaining the skills of said monsters. Naturally they were impressed, with the exception of the redhead who just became more suspicious of me for whatever reason. I didn't really bother asking the guy, he clearly had something against me.

Aside from joining the hunting part, my training with the elder of the village had progressed greatly since I started joining their early morning training sessions. I'd now grown to a level where I could match most of the ogres in a clash of swords only, surprising the ogres at how quickly I'd adapted to their sword arts. The elder had recently begun to teach me the arts [Flash Step] and [Formhide].

[Flash Step] was an awesome skill that allowed me to move so fast from one place to another that it actually seemed as though the user was teleporting, unfortunately it wasn't teleportation so the range was limited. But still its battle applications were incredible, especially when paired up with the second art the old man was teaching me.

[Formhide] was a skill that was solely focused on stealth. It allowed the user to hide their conceal their presence. The user rids themselves of any sound, wipes away any smell, disguises their body temperature before hiding their aura and spirit. I hadn't fully mastered this one quite yet, but I was getting there according to the elder. I'd taken to using this art to mask my aura rather than having to suppress it the entire time, so with that kind of practice it should be a day or two before I've got it down.

Aside from that I'd also been doing some training on my own outside of the teachings of the ogres. While I was appreciative of the fact they were teaching me I also wanted to do my dragon heritage proud, and to that end had decided to start forming my own fighting style, mainly based around hand to hand combat since I was already learning sword arts.

As for the fighting style that I was creating, I'd had [Great Sage] sort through the archive of manga and anime stored within my memory in order to find and create the optimum hand to hand combat style. One that both relied on speed and strength but was also flexible enough to be capable of adapting to my opponents. It took three days until [Great Sage] was done sorting through it all and had created the desired fighting style. [Thought Acceleration] really was a handy skill for increasing ones processing ability.

I haven't come up with a name for the style yet, mainly due to the fact that I wanted to have it mastered before actually doing so, but it was probably going to be Japanese or dragon themed at the very best.

Which is why I was currently training away from the ogre village, in the forest, where I came to train on my own without disturbing the ogres. It wasn't too far, I was pretty sure they could sense my presence and vice versa, so if they needed something from e then they knew where to find me. [Great Sage] had recently let me in on something that was interesting something that I had been eager to test out myself.

'Alright [Great Sage] walk me through it one more time.' I requested.

《Understood: Arts are techniques performed entirely through the users own capabilities such as martial arts and magic, rather than the autonomous process of skills. Battlewill is a family of arts that make use of ones aura to increase their physical capabilities as well as achieving feats that are similar to magic. Unlike magic these do not rely on magicules and do not require any chanting, allowing them to be used instantly. Examples include the arts [Formhide] and [Flash Step].》

'So theoretically speaking, I should be able to create my own arts with enough practice and control?' I asked, I could already think of a bunch of anime stuff I was going to incorporate into my fighting style.

《Affirmative: The use of [Thought Acceleration] will also improve the users rate of mastery.》

'Awesome! Now that's what I like to hear. Still though, for now I want to focus on refining my technique with this new martial arts style before I get into creating any arts.' I didn't want to jump the gun and get ahead of myself. The arts I had in mind would only be useful if they had a solid fighting style to go with them, otherwise they were super strong moves that would be thrown around without any real purpose. '…but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just try it out.' I already knew which move I wanted to create first. It should be relatively easy since I could already visualize it and everything, the hard part would be gauging how much energy to put into it. Well, that's what training and practice were for anyway.

Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and began to focus. Slowly letting a fraction of my aura leak out into my arms and envisioning how I wanted the energy to form around my hand. I slowly opened one eye as I looked down at my right hand, and almost immediately a grin made its way onto my face.

'That's a whole lot more than I was expecting to achieve for my first time.' My hand was coated in a dark purplish aura that was in the shape of a three pointed claw. Granted the shape was fluctuating a lot and the claw in itself didn't look that sharp, it was definitely a step in the right direction, and far more than I thought I'd achieve for my first attempt.

《Alert: Structure is currently unstable, any attempt to use the aura construct will result in a minor explosion that would damage the user.》

'…' yeah I didn't even know how to respond to that. But at the same time it wasn't that surprising, though if the explosion was enough to hurt someone like me it would probably be a whole lot worse for someone weaker, like the ogres. Meaning I still had to adjust the amount of power I put behind it.

This was basically a rip off of the Pokémon move Dragon Claw, and I had every intention of sticking with the name too, not like Satoshi could sue me now. Still, I had some work to do before it was perfected, not to mention I'd need to practice being able to adjust its strength for lethal and non-lethal combat. But this was a start, and something I could easily incorporate into the fighting style I was making.

Deciding to end today afternoon session there for the day, I allowed the energy to fade away. And picked up my stuff I'd brought with me and began to make my way back to the village.

"You there, pale skinned outsider!" I almost tripped over my own two feet when I heard that. I turned my head to the left and saw a purple haired ogress with a single black horn protruding from her forehead making her way towards me.

I'd been thrown off by the way she had addressed me. Up until this point all the ogres had been addressing me as 'Sir Rimuru', even if some of them were becoming casual with it. But this was the first time someone had called me something other than that, and she chose to address me as 'pale skinned outsider'? I had many reservations about that particular nickname but I chose not to make a big deal out of it for the moment.

"Yes, can I help you?" I asked, I really wanted to hit the sack after the training I just did, maybe grab a bite or two if there was something around to eat. But it looks like that would have to wait.

"Yes I require your opinion on something, do you have time to spare?" The ogress asked, looking rather smug as she pushed her rather well endowed chest out.

"Uumm, sure." I said with the shrug of my shoulders, it wasn't like I was in any particular hurry or anything, "What do you want my opinion on?" I wasn't really an expert on fashion or things that ogres may be familiar about.

"I've been working on a new recipe that I want to introduce into our village, one I'm sure even the princess and chieftess will admire. I'd like you to be the first one to taste it, so you can give me an outsiders perspective!" The ogress exclaimed excitedly, with a smile as bright as rays of sunshine. I certainly didn't mind helping her out with something like that, the ogres had proved to be pretty good cooks based on the variety of foods I'd tasted over the last two weeks, if the ogress was wanting to present her dish to the princess and chieftess then it had to be pretty good.

Not to mention I could do with something to eat right now.

"Sure, I'm actually pretty hungry myself, so this would hit two birds with one stone." I said with a shrug. Unfortunately, smart as the ogres were, they weren't yet up there with humans in terms of phrases and figures of speech, and so…

"Huh? What do birds and stone have to do with this?" The ogress asked with the tilt of her head, I had to resist the urge to sigh and maybe even laugh a little. Before I could even give a response she shook her head sideways, "Never mind that, come we must hurry before the food gets cold." She said before grabbing my left arm and beginning to happily drag me away.

As we walked I couldn't help but notice that she seemed a tad bit too happy about me trying out her food, and the whispers of the surrounding ogres and the looks of…pity? Yeah, that was definitely pity that was being directed at me. It didn't sit well with me at all. Aside from being slightly unnerved I didn't think much about the whole thing.

The ogress led me into a makeshift cafeteria, where I then took a table as she went into the kitchen. The purple haired ogress told me that she would be serving some soup, though she neglected to tell me what kind of soup it was or what components were in it. I figured she just wanted to surprise me with this new recipe of hers.

It wasn't until the dish was in front of me that I realized I was in for a terror.

There were simply no words to describe the monstrosity that had been laid before me. It certainly didn't look like any kind of soup I'd seen. I just stared at the sludge like soup in front of me as I contemplated just what in the seven levels of hell I had done to deserve this kind of punishment?!

'What the hell?! Does this thing have eyes or something.' I could have sworn I heard the wails of a tormented soul coming from this dish, 'If anything this dish bares more of a resemblance to the sludge Pokémon muk, than any kind of soup.' And chances were nearly a hundred percent that it would be just as poisonous. My nose was burning from the smell alone, how that was possible with [Pain Nullification] was beyond me, but it just went to show how dangerous this dish was.

"These days its hard to find people who are willing to try out my dishes, everyone just seems so busy. But I'm glad at the very least I can cook for our esteemed guest!" The ogress said with her sunny smile, was she that blind to my fear and anxiety?!

' Busy, yeah right. They probably they wanted to live.' I thought as I shakily took the wooden spoon that was being offered to me, 'Not that I can blame them. Just how the hell am I getting out of this?'

《…》

'Hey don't just stay quiet! Help me out here [Great Sage]!' I mentally yelled at my skill.

《…good luck…》

Even [Great Sage] had given up on me. I didn't even think that was possible! That just goes to show how dire my situation really is. The only way out of this now would be to turn the ogress down as gently as possible. So I took a deep breath and prepared to do just that.

Of course as soon as I turned my gaze towards her, whatever resolve I'd built within the last few seconds withered away just as fast as it came. There was no way I could reject her food when she was looking at me with such a happy yet nervous and hopeful expression! It would just be to cruel!

Plus she seemed like the type to cry if I refused.

'Okay fine! Might as well suck it up!' I thought as I got a spoonful of the chaotic sludge, watching as it began eating into the spoon with a terrified expression. Fortunately, or unfortunately me , the spoon had been reinforced with some metal making it durable enough to withstand the monstrosity. With an audible gulp I shut my eyes to spare the sight of this thing entering my mouth and shoved the entire spoon in.

The effect was instantaneous, and in that one moment I experienced absolute hell. As soon as the 'soup' touched my tongue my taste buds were demolished, and I experienced a pain unlike anything I'd felt before. It felt as if I'd thrown a mixture of acid and lava, with my body being strong enough not to cave all I could do was endure the sheer suffering and pain.

With tears welling up in the corner of my eyes I swallowed the source of my suffering, the burning sensation carried down my throat and into my stomach. [Rapid Regeneration] was working overtime to soothe the pain I was feeling.

I took two more spoons of it, despite how much I completely hated it, this seemed to make the ogress happy as her face lit up even more after the second spoon. Guess the other ogres usually stopped at one, if they ate any at all, not that I could blame them. After the third spoon I just couldn't take anymore and slowly pushed the bowl away from me.

《Notice: You have acquired the [Poison Resistance] skill. Remnants of the meal have been stored within [Stomach] and can be used at a later date as a biological weapon.》

There were so many things to unravel in those two sentences, but what terrified me was that I'd just eaten what [Great Sage] considered to be a biological weapon! The fact that this stuff was potent enough that my body had to adapt and develop [ Poison Resistance] certainly made her 'cooking' a formidable threat, and I had a feeling that if I didn't do something about it now, I would be a constant victim of said threat for a very very long time.

"So, how was it?" The ogress asked with a happy but hopeful look on her face. My first instinct was to lie, tell her it was good, just for the sake of sparing her feelings.

That is until I remembered that she planned to introduce this dish to the chief and chieftess. If I complemented this dish I would only be enabling her, and if it was found out that I more or less encouraged this it wouldn't look good on me. So I decided to just be honest with her.

"It…could use some work, a lot of work." Sue me, I couldn't outright insult a hot babes cooking. She seemed to visibly deflated at that as a cloud of darkness loomed over her and tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. I couldn't help but sigh as she reacted exactly how I'd predicted she would, if I didn't say something soon she would be an explosion of tears, and he didn't want to have to explain how he made a fully grown ogre cry. "Listen I'm not saying this to be cruel or anything, it's quite clear that you like to cook and take pride in it. But it seems like a…recent hobby." I tried to approach the subject as delicately as possible so I wouldn't make the situation any worse than it already was.

"W-well yeah, the other ogresses don't really allow me to help out when it comes to making meals for everyone, and my father prefers that I focus more on my training. Something about me being physically gifted even among our kind." The purple ogress responded as she quickly wiped away the upcoming tears.

Yes, now that I thought about it I had seen her around the village a few times doing heavy lifting tasks such as moving logs and the like. From my understanding, while all the ogres were more than capable in a up close fight, the female side tended to specialize more in magic while the males used weapons. Though there was the occasion where a person of one gender specialized on the other side of combat.

Still though, even I had noticed that her physical prowess among the ogres was somewhat prodigious, it only made sense that others were pushing her to nurture that talent, but she also wanted to cook. And since no one had taught her she ended up teaching herself in the worst way possible.

"Then how about this, next time you decide to make a meal find me first. We'll make it together." I offered with a smile, I wasn't the greatest chef in the world, but the good thing about being single and living alone was that you had to learn to cook for yourself.

Things couldn't be that different in this world if they already had things like spices in this village.

"You can cook outsider?" The ogress asked with a raised eyebrow. I was glad the Chief, Elder and Young Master had not spread the word about the fact that I had been born a few months ago, otherwise her question would have held more merit.

"I've dabbled before." Besides if push comes to shove I could always ask [Great Sage] for help. It had to have some knowledge on cooking since it could analyze stuff and break them down. "Point is I can help you become an awesome cook, everyone will be eating out of the palm of your hand. Besides cooking is more fun when you do it with others." I watched as she took a moment think about it, and I mean really think about it. She had her eyes squinted, eyebrows furrowed and everything, it was actually kind of cute and amusing to watch.

"Very well then!" She suddenly shouted as he eyes split open and a confident grin was suddenly plastered on her face, "I accept your proposal and aid! Next time I'll make a dish so grand you'll be begging me for seconds haha!" She declared as she brought her fist to her chest.

"Good, I'll be looking forward to it." I said with a sweat drop. Given the monstrosity she had made today, I knew it was going to take a lot more than 'next time' until she became a decent cook.

《Alert: There is someone who's been standing outside for quite sometime. They have most likely been eavesdropping.》

'What?! Why are you only telling me this now?!' I asked [Great Sage, usually she'd tell me of these things as soon as possible.

《Answer: You had much bigger concerns right in front of you. Besides the presence doesn't seem to bare any ill will, based on the signature it is most likely the ogre princess.》

I hated that [ Great Sage] was right about the food in front of me being a bigger problem than someone listening in.

Ogre Princess POV:

Five minutes earlier

This was bad, this was really really bad.

I'd been accompanying some of the ogres who were taking hell moth silk to the weavers when one of the ogres came running towards me. They looked panicked and somewhat terrified, and so naturally I approached them and asked what was wrong, and that's when they explained the situation to me.

I'll be honest, I too was scared. The purple haired ogress, who while known for her great battle prowess was also known for her rather terrible cooking skills, had invited Sir Rimuru to taste her cooking. And with our honored guest being none the wise he naturally agreed to go with her. None of the other ogres had tried to warn him, not wanting to incur the wrath of the purple ogress, but now they were even more terrified of how Sir Rimuru would react if he was dissatisfied with the food.

And the chances of that happening were almost certain.

I quickly parted from the group and made my way to the cafeteria. Sir Rimuru had already learnt to use [ Formhide] to mask his aura, and while this helped him fit in more with our people it also made it harder to find him when needed. Fortunately I knew just where to go in this particular situation, and so it didn't take me long to get to the cafeteria.

I was tempted to barge in from the minor panic I was feeling, if Sir Rimuru was disgusted and angered by the food he may lash out. And given how dangerous that food tended to be, it could be seen as an attempt at food poisoning him. I certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath if that happened.

Sir Rimuru was indeed a powerful majin, while I wasn't quite sure about the true extent of his power, I did know that it was higher than he had initially led us to believe. I possess a minor analytical ability that allowed me to see as much. The aura he had been releasing upon his arrival was not a reflection of his true power, that being said I didn't know what his true power was, it was currently beyond my abilities to measure. But it was a testament to how powerful Sir Rimuru truly was.

I had let my father and mother know about this, and they asked me to keep it quiet, but to also ensure we never incurred the wrath of our guest lest the ogre village perishes. That meant I had to keep an eye on my big brother half the time, it seemed he had a strong dislike towards our guest.

For what reason, I do not know. Thus far Sir Rimuru had been nothing but a respectable guest among our people. He didn't lord his power as most powerful majins would, nor did he make unreasonable demands. If anything he seemed kind to our people and was doing his best to help around and fit in as well, having joined the hunting party and taking part in the villages training sessions

It was strange for someone of his prowess to behave in such a manner, but it wasn't something to complain about. In fact it was something to admire, that he would bring himself to our level despite being far more powerful. It was something that made me want to know more about Sir Rimuru, if only so that I could understand him a bit better.

Still though, all of that wouldn't matter if our relations with him were destroyed because of the antics of one ours. If Sir Rimuru ate that girls cooking it might be what breaks this relationship between the ogres and Sir Rimuru.

"So, how was it?" I heard the voice of the purple ogress suddenly asked from within the building, I was just outside myself, my distress and panic rising drastically as I knew with that one statement that I was too late…Sir Rimuru had already ate some of her cooking.

"It…could use some work, a lot of work." Oh no, this was bad. I moved towards the window and peaked in through the wooden filters. I could see the bowl of monstrous food on the table as well as Sir Rimuru and the purple ogress.

While Sir Rimuru didn't seem outright angry or upset, something I was truly grateful for, he did seem highly disturbed and disgusted, and maybe in a little bit of pain too. That cooking was not for the light hearted, especially if it caused such distress to a being of Sir Rimuru's caliber.

I'm ashamed to admit that I stayed hidden behind the window frames as I listened to the two of them talk. I was truly surprised when Sir Rimuru offered to help her learn how to cook.

'I wasn't aware that Sir Rimuru knew how to cook.' I don't think anyone knew. Perhaps it was because everyone assumed he was a warrior due to his high prowess and never bothered to look into his other talents.

Still though, the fact that he was willing to offer to teach the purple ogress how to cook was surprising. Especially since he had just been fed something so dangerous. Honestly, how could such a powerful being be so kind?! It just didn't make sense, and seemed to defy all monster logic.

Still though, I was grateful for his mercy, even if he himself was unaware of how generous he was being.

Hearing the purple ogress agree to his offer and her promise to get better actually brought a smile to my face. It seems Sir Rimuru was slowly fitting in with our people as father had hoped. Though he was making friends in odd ways I had to admit.

But it seems my concerns were for not, the issue had resolved itself without need for intervention. Though that was mainly because of how kind he was.

With my worries washed away I stepped away from the window and began to walk away from the cafeteria altogether. Though it seemed fate had other plans.

"Princess?" I heard the voice of our guest call out from behind me, accompanied by the sound of the door opening. I turned to see him stepping out of the cafeteria with a knowing smile on his face.

Had he known that she was watching them from the outside?! Of course he had, a majin of his prowess would easily have abilities that allowed him to be aware of his surroundings! This was sooo embarrassing!

"I take it that you bore witness to my suffering." He said with a sheepish grin. He did not seem angry or upset, if anything he seemed more amused than anything else. Still, I was embarrassed at getting caught and ashamed at my failure to stop this entire thing from occurring. And so I quickly bowed to our guest.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies. You shouldn't have had to go through something like that as an honored guest of our village. If you wish it, we'll make sure that ogress is properly punished." I didn't think he would go that far based on what I had seen earlier. Still though, even if the purple ogress had meant well, father and mother will most likely get furious once they hear of this.

"No no, please don't. Eating that food was hell sure, but I don't think its something worth punishing someone for. Besides it didn't seem like she meant any harm by it, and we came to an understanding." Sir Rimuru said as he shook his arms frantically, looking almost worried about the prospect of the purple ogress getting punished. Truly he was too kind.

"As you wish." I said with a nod as I stood up straight. There was still much I didn't understand about our guest, but I think I was starting to understand him more and more as I interacted with him.

"Besides I gained the [Poison Resistance] as a result so I can't really complain." My head snapped back towards him as both shock and fear gripped my chest.

"You were poisoned by her cooking?!" I nearly shouted, wondering just how Sir Rimuru could let something like that go so easily and speak about it so casually!

"Hehehe, yeah. I was shocked by it myself. I don't think it would have hurt me either way, but gaining a new skill in the process was good enough." Sir Rimuru said with a shrug, I couldn't help but giggle slightly at how carefree he was being about being poisoned, my giggles prompted him to show a toothy grin before he suddenly shuddered, "Though I could use something good to probably wash out the taste." He said with a sheepish laugh, the taste was probably still lingering in his mouth.

"I'm sure there is some food available to help with your plight." I said with a smile prompting Sir Rimuru to look at me with stars in his eyes as his mouth suddenly drooled.

"Really princess?! Cause that would be much appreciated!" He pretty much yelled in excitement. I supposed anyone would be glad for some proper food after eating what Rimuru had. "You're the best you know that princess."

"H-huh?!" I couldn't help but stutter as my cheeks suddenly began to feel warm from the sudden compliment. Looking at Sir Rimuru, he was just grinning as his hands intertwined behind his head. I shook my head sideways rapidly, attempting to sooth the warmth in my cheeks and my beating heart, before facing forward once more.

Though for some reason that even I could not explain, I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face.

It's been hours since I left the ogre village, flying above the trees as fast as my draconic wings could carry me. I had already gone through three goblin villages that had been thoroughly destroyed without a single survivor left alive. It had been nothing but a scene of gore and blood, and the stench of rotting flesh everywhere, and given my now sensitive nose it was not a fun time for me.

Seeing gory things was not a first for me given my previous life. One doesn't work in special forces without seeing their fair share of corpses and even becoming a bit numb and desensitized to it all. Covert ops, assassinations, heck even dealing with drug cartels and the likes. I'd seen all kinds of morbid scenes in my life, and while they still disturbed me to some extent, I had gotten used to it over time. It was different from back when I saw my first corpse or had my first kill.

It took me a while before I reached the location of the next goblin village, and as expected it had been reduced to the ground as well. The condition of the goblin bodies was something very few people would be able to stomach, I barely could despite seeing this in the previous villages.

The only difference in this village was that they were signs of the attack being recent, unlike the previous villages. A fireplace still had some smoke coming out of it, the area wasn't yet filled with the overwhelming stench of rotten flesh, and lastly there were still some fresh paw prints on the ground.

'The attack more than likely happened yesterday or last night.' I thought as I looked at the mutilated corpses of the goblins all around me. From torn limbs, chunks of flesh ripped open, large gash marks, I could tell these goblins had never really stood a chance. And given that I hadn't seen any dire wolf corpses in each village I visited in any of the villages I had passed through I can assume it was just a one sided slaughter, 'This isn't even a territorial war anymore, no it never was. From the very beginning it was mass genocide.'

The wolves were quite literally preying on the weak and looking to eradicate them. This was the fourth village I'd seen now, and based on the time span of the rumor mill in the ogre village the attacks had been going on for two weeks now.

The wolves weren't attacking everyday, if they were they would be a lot more destroyed goblin villages. More than likely these brief pauses are when the current alpha Black Wolf had been taking over other wolf packs and taking their males to further grow his fighting force.

If I was lucky, the wolves wouldn't be attacking the next settlement tonight, if not, then I just had to hope I made it there in time.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I sensed one, no three, magical presences forming a few meters behind me. I swiftly turned around and drew my blade, holding it in both arms as I pointed it in the direction my [Magic Sense] guided me to.

It wasn't long before the air around me changed and three glowing leaves appeared in front of me, carried by a gentle circular breeze. Said leaves then began to glow brighter and brighter until I was forced to close my eyes, but I kept watch through [Magic Sense] so I would not be caught off guard in the event that this was an attack of some kind.

When the light eventually died out I was surprised to see three girls of unnatural and angelic beauty appeared in front of me. They appeared to be around sixteen years of age, eighteen at the most. All three of them had green hair and eyes, and seemed to be dressed similarly, they were most likely sisters then or had a close relationship. They all had a green aura surrounding them that felt relaxing, their scent reminding me of the morning breeze of the forest, and strangely enough they each had two vines surrounding them rising from the ground.

I also had to admit that they were really beautiful. While I couldn't really see their figure, I could tell they were each well shaped, had a sizable bust ,especially the one in front, and they carried themselves in an almost regal and serene manner that just added to the mystery around them.

I mentally slapped myself, sharpening my eyes as I tightened my grip on the blade I had pointing at them.

"Who are you?" I asked sternly, as beautiful as these girls were I could tell they were each strong, judging by their aura alone they were each way stronger than any of the ogres in the village.

I had assumed the ogres were the strongest species in the forest based on their words, but maybe they weren't, or maybe these girls weren't from the forest. Either way I couldn't let my guard down even if I was stronger.

"Please do not be alarmed Rimuru Tempest, we mean you no harm." The girl closest to me responded. The fact that she knew my name did not earn her any favors in my opinion, having a potential enemy know about you whilst you were in the dark was a disadvantage. Basic knowledge for any kind of soldier, knowledge was power, without it there were too many unknown variables that could lead to one's demise.

"That wasn't an answer." I responded firmly. At the very least I could tell they were being honest and had no actual intention of starting anything with me, but that didn't mean that I had to lower my guard.

My [Unique Skill: Desire] had the ability to manipulate and sense the emotions of others. While I hadn't had many opportunities to test out the first ability, I had gotten very good at using the second. Through [Desire] I could sense how someone was feeling and their intentions, and if I knew the person well enough or got enough time to get a proper read, I'd even be able to tell what they wanted based on their emotions alone.

None of the girls in front of me were being particularly hostile or had any malicious intent. If anything they seemed happy and almost excited despite the calm expressions they had on their faces.

"Ah, please forgive my rudeness Lord Rimuru." The elder caught me off guard as to why she would address me in such a manner. I was further shocked when she and the other two dropped on one knee and bowed their heads. "My name is Treyni, and these are my sisters Trya and Dorris."

"We are honored to finally meet you Lord Rimuru." The sisters, Trya and Dorris said simultaneously. The key word that I latched onto there was 'finally'. These girls knew me somehow, and by the looks of things I can only assume they have been watching me or something along those lines.

"My sisters and I are Dryads, caretakers and managers of the forest, assigned by Lady Veredia…your mother." Treyni said as she raised her head and met my eyes with her own, a teasing smile that unnerved me if only a little.

There were a lot of things to unravel in Treyni's last statement. The first being that they were dryads in this world.

As in the tree babes that every teen most likely saw in an ecchi fantasy manga or something along those lines. While the ones in front of me weren't dressed quite as revealingly as one would have hoped, they were still very pretty nonetheless.

Shaking my head sideways I quickly focused on the more important parts of what they had just. The part about them being the managers of the forest really got to me, and the manner in which they spoke about my mother. Perhaps they had been direct subordinates of hers or something.

Through [Desire] I could tell that Treyni had been nothing but honest with every word she said, meaning she really had been appointed manager by my mother, it would also explain how she may know about me, though I needed to be sure.

"How did you know about me? I've kept my heritage a secret since coming into the forest?" I asked as I sheathed my blade. I had no reason to keep being suspicious of these girls anymore, I could tell they held no ill will, besides I could always react with a skill or art if need be.

"We Dryads have knowledge of essentially all that happens within the forest, being connected to the plant life." I suppose that made sense, they were tree spirits after all, "But the main reason we know of your existence is because Lady Veredia would entrust your egg in our care whenever she left the forest. Aside from Lady Veredia, we too have been eagerly awaiting the day you would awaken my lord."

I was a bit surprised by that one, of all the things I expected Treyni to reveal, that was certainly not one of them. And once more I could tell there was no deceit behind their words. [Desire] really was useful for picking out stuff like that.

Still though, if my mother trusted these dryads to not only make them the managers of her domain, but to also watch over my current body prior to my birth, then that meant they could be trusted. And judging by how they were behaving, they were also more than willing to pledge themselves to me as Veredia's heir and the current guardian of the forest.

"If you knew that I had come into this world, then why are you only showing yourselves now?" I asked. She had basically admitted to having eyes all over the forest due to plants. There was no way they hadn't known I was staying within the ogre village, or the week I spent traversing the forest before meeting the ogres. For people who claimed to have been eager for my arrival, they were rather late in welcoming me.

"Please forgive our late introductions. Ever since the 'disappearance' of our lady, there has been a major shift in the forest. We have had to keep a closer eye on things than we'd normally have to. It kept us from properly introducing ourselves until now." Treyni responded with a somewhat guilty expression, one that was shared by her sisters.

Well damn, I didn't mean to guilt trip them or anything like that. And I couldn't really fault them for it either, I'd indirectly given them more work by devouring my mother, so I had no right to ask why I was only meeting them now.

"Don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing for not lending a hand sooner. Mother warned me about the changes that would take place with the absence of her aura." I responded with a reassuring smile, one that quickly helped them ease up and start smiling and giggling again. Still though there were urgent matters to be tended to right now, "So can I assume that you're also here because of the goblin situation?" I asked as I doubted they would only come here for introductions and greetings if they had been putting on hold for so long.

"Yes, to be more precise we've come to lend our aid to you however we can. As you've already concluded, the extermination of the goblins cannot be allowed to continue, lest the balance of the forest be lost." Treyni explained, it seemed she was the spokesperson of the dryads as the others had yet to speak since getting here.

Still though, I wasn't going to reject any help, especially from spirits that had the ability to see the events occurring all over the forest. Bringing a hand to my chin I closed my eyes in thought. Whilst stopping the dire wolves was the priority, I'd rather not have to wipe them out either. As Treyni said, balance in the forest had to be maintained, besides I had to think about the female wolves and pups that were somewhere out there in the forest.

"I see, I really appreciate it. My two major concerns at the moment are which goblin village will be attacked next and the young and female wolves from different packs that according to the ogres have banded together." I said as I looked over the ruins of the goblin village and the corpses scattered all over, "If possible I'd like to deal with this situation without killing many of the wolves, most were likely forced to follow the black wolf into his grand ambitions of taking over the forest. Not to mention the whole issue with the abandoned females and young doesn't sit well with me."

"If I may," Oh it seemed one of the sisters had decided to speak up, Trya if I remember the name well, ", I've been keeping track of the other wolves left behind. They seem to be doing well together under the leadership of a decently strong female dire wolf." She explained, good to know they weren't suffering or at a loss of what to do, but still the situation could not remain as it was.

"I see. My plan was to intercept the wolves at the next goblin village they plan to raid. Trya, would you and Dorris be able to convince abandoned wolves to come there as well, preferably after I've dealt with the issue at hand?" I asked, it would certainly save me the trouble of flying all over the forest trying to find a few dozen wolves.

"With relative ease my lord, us dryads are relatively well known and respected by all intelligent species within the forest, since most times we act on behalf of Lady Veredia." Trya said with a smile.

《Notice: Dryads are well known as the keepers of the forest, and will not hesitate to give out 'Divine Punishment to those who mean the forest harm. Many creatures in the forest benefit from their protection and acknowledge their strength. However, due to their long lifespans, they are rarely seen by other species, only being spotted once every few centuries.》

[Great Sage] to the rescue with an in depth answer! Most of the info was stuff that I'd already pieced together from what they had told me. Still that part about 'Divine Justice' did pique my curiosity, given their elegance and gentle features I honestly could not see them killing monsters or humans. Still though, the strength I felt from them was no joke, especially Treyni who seemed to be a cut above the other two.

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I was about to suggest Treyni come with me when I confront the wolves. Hopefully your reputation in the forest will help put an end to this before any more blood can be shed unnecessarily." I said before facing Treyni who nodded her head in agreement to my request.

Having the dryads here seemed to make things a lot easier for me. Even better was the fact that Treyni apparently knew the next goblin village that was going to be attack next, having been keeping track of their activities. It certainly saved me the hassle of having to fly up all over the place for the rest of the day.

With our plan finally set Trya and Dorris left by doing some sort of plant teleportation. Seeing as the wolves had only been attacking the goblin settlements at night, and the sun was just reaching its peak meaning it was noon, I decided that Treyni and I would go to the next village by foot.

It would give me the chance to actually get to know her, and through her a bit about her sisters too. I also had some questions regarding my mother too. Then there was the fact that these dryads were the managers of the forest.

If I was going to be the guardian in place of my mother then chances were I was going to be interacting with Treyni and her sisters a lot more in the foreseeable future.

It had been about two hours since we departed from the ruined goblin village, Treyni and I had just been making light conversation, getting to know each other better. I had to remind her on several occasions that she didn't need to be so formal and respectful, but I guess it would take a while for the message to stick.

I partially understood why they were that way though. Treyni had told me about her past, how she and her sisters had left their previous home after the queen of spirits died and were left with nowhere to go. Apparently Veredia had taken them into the forest, and given them a place to call home. In exchange they swore their loyalty to her, and were appointed the managers of the forest.

However they were further surprised and touched by the trust my mother had shown them when she entrusted the dryads with the egg that held her child, her heir, in other words me.

Naturally they made sure to repay that trust with nothing but their best efforts, and along the way they also became invested in the well-being of the young lord or lady within.

In a way you could say they had been waiting for my birth just as much as my mother. Though maybe not to the same level.

I did ask Treyni if she knew I was a reincarnation, though I was more subtle about it in case she didn't know. She understood the message and confirmed that they did know I was an otherworlder.

However they also knew that the only reason Veredia's egg had not hatched after over two millennia was because the hatchling within had no soul, and that the only way it would gain one at that point was through reincarnation. However, what neither the dryads nor my mother had expected was that I would retain all the memories of my previous life. Though according to Treyni that was a good thing, as it showed I had a powerful soul if it could transfer between worlds unscathed. This meant my potential for growth was that much higher.

But in the end all of that was irrelevant, as far as they were concerned I was Veredia's child, the details of my former life weren't a concern for them. Veredia had accepted me as her child, and me her as my mother.

That being said I did ask her to keep the fact I was an otherworlder a secret for the time being. I doubted many monsters would take kindly to the fact that an ex-human was about to become the guardian of their forest. With that said, I also asked her to keep a tight lid on the fact that I had consumed my mother as I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention towards me or the forest in general.

"It seems we have guests Lord Rimuru." Treyni said as she looked on ahead of us, prompting me to do the same.

I was rather surprised when multiple small humanoid figures appeared not too far ahead in front of us. More specifically these were goblins, I could tell just by their green skin and rather short bodies. Not to mention their appearance matched that of the many corpses I had seen before. Still though these guys looked less than ideal.

From their torn clothings, their battered bodies and even their poor weaponry. If all goblins were like this it was a miracle their race had survived this long. Then again it was probably due to a high fertility rate or something like that.

"Strong ones…do you have business here?" One of the goblins asked, he seemed to be the leader of this group, he had a red bandana around his head. However just like all the other goblins he was shaking in fear, though held on tight to his weapon.

Judging by how they had addressed Treyni and I they were well aware that they would not win any confrontation, and thus were trying diplomacy. However, using [desire] I could also tell that they were greatly troubled by something and wanted to ask something, but were simply too scared to do so. Perhaps it had something to do with the wolves?

"Yes, we're investigating changes that have occurred in the forest since the disappearance of the storm dragon. Is there any particular reason you are blocking our path? Are you perhaps planning to rob us?" I asked, trying to sound stern, it was probably a bit overkill given that these guys were already shaking in their boots, but seeing them look like they were about to piss themselves was also kinda funny.

"You are mistaken, Strong One! We would never dare to steal from one as strong as you, not to mention a dryad of the forest!" The goblin with the red bandana said as he immediately went down on the ground and groveled, an action that was copied by the rest of the goblins as they threw down their arms and groveled. "However, if you are still offended, I ask that you spare my comrades and take my life as payment!"

'Wooow, I have to respect that kind of loyalty. Though it's also kind of stupid to sacrifice yourself without knowing if I would even keep my word.' I doubt I would get anything from eating the goblins, so there wasn't really a reason to do so.

Besides I wasn't that stone hearted as to kill him for no reason.

"That won't be necessary. Get up, all of you." I said as I casually waved off their behavior, I could have sworn I heard Treyni giggle from behind me, but when I turned to look at her she had regained her serene composure. I let it go and turned back to the goblins who once again stood straight, "So what do you want from us then?"

"Well, our village is just up ahead you see. And we felt two strong auras approaching it and came to investigate immediately." The goblin with the red bandana explained. I had no idea what they would have actually done if we were dangerous foes but I decided not to voice my opinions. "That being said, seeing a majin of your prowess, with a dryad no less, there is a request that we wish to ask of you. So would you please do us the honor of coming to our village?!"

I turned to Treyni to see what she thought about this. I mean it was obvious they wanted to ask for our help with the impending attack. The dryad merely looked back at me with a somewhat amused smile. I sighed knowing that I wouldn't be getting anything from her.

Was this some sort of test? These dryads had literally just shown up and offered their assistance in my mission, but now that I really thought about it they hadn't really offered their own inputs or thoughts on my plan, they just went along with whatever I asked.

Whether that was the extent of their loyalty or if they really were testing me in some way I didn't know. Guess I'd find out later.

"Your village huh." I said as I turned back to the frightful goblins. "Very well then, I'm willing to hear you out. Take us to your village."

"You have our deepest gratitude Strong One!" All the goblins exclaimed in unison as they bowed their heads.

And so the goblins lead us to their village…

Treyni and I were taken to the goblin village, if it could even be called that. The place was extremely basic and very substandard. The houses looked frail and didn't have any proper support, one blow from the big bad wolf they would come falling faster than the straw house of the little pig.

The goblin chief was a frail old man who looked like he was going to keel over any minute now. I was surprised that they had allowed such an old goblin to continue running the village. They tried to be hospitable, but they didn't really have anything to offer, so I merely asked them to skip the pleasantries and get straight to the reason they had asked us to come.

And so the goblin chief and the goblin with the red bandana, who was apparently his son, explained their situation to us. As expected the dire wolves had already begun to attack this village. They had already suffered considerable losses since the attacks began.

There had once been a named warrior, he was the goblin chiefs eldest son, he gave his life to deliver some information on the wolves. A real trooper in my eyes. But given the lack of strength, that named goblin may have died in vain had I not come here today.

"...I see. Your situation is indeed quite dire." I muttered. I might as well save this village whilst dealing with the wolves. It had always been the plan to intercept them before they struck the next goblin village. Given the state of things I had partially failed, but as long as they were survivors then it wasn't a complete failure.

"We have heard your request to intervene in the dire wolf raids," Treyni suddenly spoke up, bring the attention of all present to her, myself included. She hadn't spoken a word since we encountered the goblins, so part of me had just started to ignore her. "but what are you willing to offer us in return?"

'What?' I was actually surprised to hear Treyni ask that. Wasn't she supposed to be the protector of the forest or something along those lines?

"The individual whom you've requested aid from is no ordinary majin. His name is Rimuru Tempest." She started once more, my eyes widened in alarm as I realized what she was about to reveal. However it seemed I was too late, "He is the son of the Storm Dragon, our Lady, Veredia. And the next lord of these lands. Surely you have something you can offer him after making such a request."

I was shocked, the goblins were terrified as their heads went down against the ground and they immediately began to beg for my forgiveness.

I was more surprised that Treyni had put the goblins on the spot like that. I mean seriously, for a second there she nearly reminded me of the ogre chieftess!

Those two should never be allowed to meet I decided.

"Please forgive us, Lord Rimuru! We had no idea!" The goblin chief said as both him and his son were shaking like leaves, I kinda actually felt sorry for them.

But at the same time I had to remind myself that this was how this world worked, 'survival of the fittest' as my mother had told me. Given that, there was no reason for me to expect the people of this world to function with the same morals as my world.

In this particular situation I was the stronger being whilst the goblins were weaker. My responsibilities as guardian were to the forest, my mothers domain, rather than the creatures that actually dwelled, or at least that's what I got from Veredia and Treyni. Whilst they had both worked to protect the domain, they had never really involved themselves with the disputes that took place within the forest. Not unless it threatened the forest as a whole.

Was that an example I was going to follow? I wasn't quite sure yet…

The way I saw it, without mother here to establish her dominance the forest was likely to collapse from within or get taken over from the outside. Such was the effect when a major power vanished.

"As for what we can offer…I'm afraid we goblins don't have anything that would be of value to give to you." The goblin chief said in resignation. Even I could tell they didn't have anything of value, which made me wonder why Treyni had brought it up in the first place, "All we have to offer is our unflattering loyalty! So please Lord Rimuru, grant us your divine protection!"

The son and chief were once more groveling. This was starting to get old and uncomfortable real fast.

Looking to the entrance of the hut we were in I saw a few goblins peeking in from the other side, I could even sense a few more on the other side of the walls, most likely trying to listen in. One thing I could tell from their desires was that they were all desperate, and they were all scared.

They were just as scared of me as they were of the dire wolves, maybe even more so. But they were also desperate enough to risk asking for my aid and possibly failing than to just let the dire wolves kill them off.

As for them suddenly swearing their loyalty to me I had no idea what to make of it. Feeling out Treyni's emotions, I realized she was just curious to see if I was satisfied with the offering, and how I would proceed. Meaning she had been expecting this, I didn't know if I should be annoyed at her pushing this without at least telling me or if I should be nervous of her manipulating nature.

Still, these goblins had far more to benefit by me taking them in than I did. They were the weakest species in the forest by default, and with their current numbers it wasn't like they were an army or anything.

Regardless I couldn't leave them to die, I was already dealing with the wolves one way or another, might as well save a goblin village whilst I was at it. I would figure out what to do with their sworn loyalty after that.

"Very well then, I accept your loyalty. From this day on you're now my subordinates, under my divine protection." I said as I allowed a smile to come onto my face, if only so they wouldn't be so fearful of me. I then summoned a barrel filled with the processed healing potion and placed it in front of the two goblins. "To mark this occasion take this barrel of healing potions. Take it and use it to tend and treat your wounded."

The two goblins looked at me wide eyed as tears began to fill the corner eyes. The chief's son was quick to call in other goblins into the tent to help carry the barrel out, while the chief groveled once more.

"Thank you so much for your generosity, Lord Rimuru! We are eternally grateful to you and from this day forward we are your loyal servants!" The chief said once more, barely able to contain the tears that threatened to pour out of his eyes.

"Good, see to the injured for now. Then gather the rest of the village outside as soon as possible. It's time we deal with the wolves before they can do any more harm." I said seriously.

"Right away my lord." The chief said as he swiftly stood up and followed his son and the other goblins.

I already had a plan in mind to deal with the direwolves, but it hinged on them being the prideful creatures I was assuming they were. Especially the pack leader, if it worked then he would be the only casualty by the end of the night. If not, then a few more direwolves would die before the rest either fled or submitted, and in the worst case scenario I'd have to kill them all.

Either way, it was all coming to an end tonight.

Black Wolf POV:

I stood upon a large stone slab gazing at the full moon that stood at its peak in the night sky.

"Tonight is the night." I declared to my pack through [Thought Communication]. My pack numbered a little over two hundred. All males and our numbers made us strong. I'd proven myself as the strongest direwolf in the forest, fighting and defeating all the other wolf pack leaders in the forest.

My efforts had been rewarded by my evolution into a black wolf. My superior strength recognised by the Voice of the World itself. Now it was time for me to extend my reach to the entire forest, starting off by eliminating the weaker races.

"Without the Storm Dragon to grant its divine protection, it's the perfect opportunity for us dire wolves to rule this forest!" The members of my pack responded with excited howls. "We will tear through our foes with our mighty fangs and claws, for we are the apex predators of this forest!"

The pack responded with louder howls that filled the night sky. Good, they were excited. That meant they would fight to the best of their ability.

I leapt off the pillar and began a full sprint into the forest, the pack following close behind. We ran faster than the wind itself. Within minutes we had arrived at the goblin village, only to find two figures standing in our way. The first one shocked even me, it was unmistakably a dryad. The protectors of this forest and the ones who gave out divine punishment.

As soon as my eyes fell on the second figure I knew they were undeniably strong. Even more so that the dryad beside him. The aura they were radiating made my own instincts yell at me to retreat. It almost felt as though he were the predator and I was the prey. But regardless I wouldn't retreat, we direwolves were prideful creatures who never turned tail.

And so I stepped forward and addressed them, "Who are you? Why would the dryads of the forest and a majin stand in our way and protect the goblins." I asked.

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, I am the son of the Storm Dragon Veredia, and the goblins you wish to attack are under my protection." The majin, Rimuru Tempest, declared firmly. "Direwolves, you have two options, either you submit to me or die at my hand." the majin added before unleashing even more of his aura, causing my pack and I to tremble as we tried to keep upright despite the pressure being released.

'This majin, is he truly the son of the Storm Dragon?'

"Father, perhaps we should reconsider." My son spoke up from beside me.

He was a direwolf unlike any that had come before him, unique in appearance. He had silver fur surrounding his neck and appearing at the end of his limbs and tail. He also had a star shaped mark on his forehead formed by a darker shade of fur.

"Shut up!" I barked at him, quickly forcing him to take some steps back. "We are wolves, apex predators of the forest! We do not yield to anyone!" Despite my words even I knew that I stood no chance against neither the dryad nor the majin.

Regardless, retreat was not an option not when there was such an opportunity to expand our reach within this forest. I was sure we could overwhelm these two with our superior numbers at the very least.

"Attack!" Numerous wolves charged forward at my command, ready to utilize their greater numbers for coordinated attack.

I watched as the majin cast a single glance towards the dryad who responded with a nod. In the next second, numerous vines and tree roots sprouted from the ground and effectively trapped the charging wolves.

Strangely enough none were killed, but they were still unable to set themselves free, their limbs held securely and their jaws snapped shut.

"Have you made your choice then?" The majin Rimuru suddenly said, drawing all eyes on him, his expression cold and his voice sending shivers down all who heard, friend and foe alike. "Very well then. Leader of the dire wolves, for the massacres against the goblins, abandonment of the females and young of your own kind and threatening to disrupt the balance of the forest, I Rimuru Tempest shall give you the death penalty. Do you have any last words?"

"As if I would allow myself to be defeated that easily!" I shouted in blind rage as I charged towards my opponent. Deep within I knew this was suicide, that I stood no chance against this being far superior to me, but if I was going to die, I would die with my pride intact.

I leapt into the air, claws out and fangs bared, ready to tear into the flesh of my foe as I descended upon him. Only for my body to come to a halt as several sturdy strings suddenly wrapped around my limbs and neck, effectively holding me in place in mid air. Struggling proved useless, if anything it only made it painful as the string began to dig into my skin, drawing blood.

"I never had any intention of harming your pack just so you know. I only wanted you to stop your crusade. But I can see now that you have no intention of doing so." The majin spoke as he calmly walked towards me, his aura covering his right hand in the shape of a large three pointed claw, "Take comfort in the fact that should your pack submit to me, they will be cared for, along with all the other wolves you abandoned. [Dragon Claw].

The world went dark before I could even blink or respond, though his words did bring at least some peace to my soul. Knowing that my son and the rest would be cared for.

Rimuru POV:

My attack cut right through the black wolf's neck like a knife through butter, his head falling to the ground with a loud 'splat' sound. Stepping back I released the strings that bound the now headless body allowing it to drop next to the decapitated head.

It was unfortunate that it had come to this, but it had been expected. And even if he had given up and submitted to me I wouldn't have been able to trust him in the long term. I could sense his level of ambition through [Desire] and that meant he would more than likely betray me for his own goals. Hopefully, with the death of their leader and my show of strength, the other wolves would fall in line. Still though, it wouldn't hurt to further prove my superiority just so they didn't try and usurp my authority.

"Devour my prey, [Apex Predator]!" I called out as I consumed the downed alpha wolf with my unique skill. His strength added to my own through [Assimilation], increasing my power by a small fraction whilst [Great Sage] analyzed its skills.

《Notice: Black Wolf skills have been successfully acquired. User has acquired [Thought Communication] and [Menace]. Due to already possessing the skill [Keen Sense] has been converted to magicules through [Assimilation] and used to further increase your strength.》

'So skills I already have are just added onto the strength absorbed from my prey. That's good to know.' It meant that nothing would go to waste when I devoured something. Talk about efficiency!

Turning to the other two hundred or so wolves I spoke whilst unleashing [Menace], "So what will the rest of you do now? Will you submit to me or go your own ways?" I wanted to make it clear that they were free to leave as long as they didn't cause trouble, but if they chose to fight then their lives were forfeit.

The unique dire wolf with a star pattern on his head stepped forward with his head lowered submissively , I remember hearing him address the black wolf as father, guess that made him the new pack leader. The rest of the wolves followed suit without complaint, bowing their heads in submission, even the ones Treyni released from her vines.

"We yield to you 'Strong One', our pack will follow you!" The unique wolf declared as all the rest howled in agreement.

It was quite a strange sight, to see over two hundred wolves bowing down to a single individual. But I was glad that it was over. From behind me I could hear the goblins celebrating and praising Treyni and I. Treyni herself looked very satisfied with the turn of events.

Great, there were no complaints. Now all that was left to figure out what I was going to do with the sudden increase in subordinates?! That's not even counting the other two hundred plus wolves/pups that Dorris and Trya would probably be bringing in by the morning.

That was something I would figure out in the morning, for now I really wanted some shut eye after such a stressful day.

"Speech"

'Thought'

*Thought Communication*

《Great Sage/Raphael》

{{Voice of the World}}

---

Chapter 9: Foundations

Rimuru POV:

Morning came by sooner than I imagined. I'd been given the best hut that the goblins had to offer, but even then, it was a far cry from the comfort I had enjoyed in the ogre village.

But that was to be expected given that the goblins were nowhere near as developed. To compensate I decided to just sleep in my hatchling form, warming the ground beneath me using [fire breath] in a circular motion, much like I had seen Toothless do in How to Train Your Dragon. It turned out to be highly comfortable and warm, and I reminded myself that I should do it more often in the future. And so with that I slept nice and warm through the night.

"Lord Rimuru we have a situation!" It was the goblin's elder son, the goblin with the red bandana, shouting from outside the tent. Though I'd already been awake I couldn't help but groan at the disturbance.

I mean seriously, what could be happening so early in the morning that it required my personal attention.

《Answer: [Magic Sense] has detected the presence of Treyni and the other dryads approaching with numerous lower class monsters. Based on the numbers it can be assumed these are the wolves you asked to be guide here.》

Oh…right. Treyni had left the previous night after the entire matter had been handled, claiming she would help her sisters guide the female wolves and pups towards the goblin village.

'I hadn't expected them to arrive so early in the morning but whatever.' It was probably for the best that they did arrive early though. It would make sorting this whole thing out a lot easier.

That said, I could understand why the goblins would panic at the sight of more wolves approaching their settlement in large numbers.

"Relax." I called out as I stretched my small draconic body. Flapping my similarly small wings a few times I hovered out of the tent and surely enough was greeted by the goblin with the red bandana. His eyes widened upon seeing me and I realized that this was the first time that any of them had actually seen me in my dragon form.

"L-Lord Rimuru?" The goblin asked, I merely nodded my head in response not even bothering to respond to the obvious question, "I-I see. So this must be your true form, you truly are the son of Lady Veredia."

Putting aside the fact that he had actually doubted the claim of my heritage I decided to just move forward. I could understand the doubt a bit, even I would be hesitant to believe someone who just claimed to be the son of the guardian deity of the land.

"I take it the 'situation' you were referring to earlier was the arrival of more direwolves?" I asked, the goblin heir responded with a nod of his head. "Alright then, tell the chief and other goblins not to worry, I'll handle this myself."

"Yes sir!" The young goblin responded enthusiastically before running off to complete the assigned task.

I then flew off in the direction where I could sense the male direwolves already gathered, it seemed as though they had already pieced together what was going on. I landed in front of the unique colored direwolf, who was now the pack leader.

"Master, good morning!" He greeted excitedly, tail wagging and everything. In fact now that I took a better look, all the direwolves seemed to be reacting the same way.

"Morning. Judging by everyone's reaction you all know who is heading this way." To this the direwolves all nodded their heads like excited children or dogs being given treats. "Good, allow me to make one thing clear then."

This time my expression became stern and serious, prompting the wolves to calm down and pay more attention to my words. Which was good, cause I wanted to drive this point home.

"What happened before with the previous pack leader was unacceptable. And I'm not just talking about the attack on the goblin settlements or the disruption of the forest, but I'm mainly the fact that you all abandoned the females and young of your respective packs." I scolded them sternly. The wolves lowered their heads in regret as wines could be heard coming from some of them, "Abandoning comrades and allies is not how things should be, even in a world of 'Survival of the Fittest'. As my subordinates I hope this mistake will never be repeated again, cause I won't tolerate it. Are we clear?"

"Yes Master!"

As someone who once worked in an environment where teamwork and comradery could save your life I wasn't happy with the way things had turned out in the direwolf pack. Hopefully it wasn't too late to fix things.

"Good, I asked the dryads to gather the females and pups and bring them towards the village. Hopefully they will agree to serve me too, thus allowing me to right this wrong." I said with a nod as I closed my eyes. And yet I could still see the tail wagging of the wolves start once more through [Magic Sense], honestly…

Being able to reunite the wolf packs under me would be great, but if the females refused to submit then that would mean having to let the males go. I wasn't really going to force them, nor was I going to keep the males and females separate. So regardless of how this went the direwolves would be whole by the end of the morning.

I took the wolves with me out of the village to intercept the incoming dryads and female wolves, wouldn't do to suddenly crowd the goblin village with over four hundred direwolves. That reminded me of the fact that I was going to have to think about what I was going to do with all these subordinates after all was said and done. Including the goblins they would be nearing five hundred.

Before I could think further on it Treyni and her sisters once more appeared before me using their leaf teleportation technique that I for some reason could not copy with [copy]. [Great Sage] had said it was because it was an Intrinsic Skill tied closely to their nature as dryads that allowed them to connect with plant life within the forest. Meaning it would be useless to me since I lacked that connection.

Whatever, I'm sure I'll find my own teleporting skill soon enough.

"Lord Rimuru, we have returned, our mission accomplished." Trya said as all three dryads went down on one knee in front of him and bowed their heads. The female wolves stepped out of the forest behind them, small pups in the center of the moving pack. Guess all creatures had strong maternal instincts, even in this world of monsters.

'They're really taking this whole loyalty thing too seriously aren't they?' On one hand I was glad to know that I had three beautiful and strong girls serving under me, but I couldn't help but feel as though they were laying it on a bit too thick.

The male wolves wasted no time running forward and mingling with their mates and pups, it was a somewhat touching moment seeing several of them be reunited and all that. One of the female wolves stepped forward, her eyes met mine for a moment before turning to the unique direwolf who was still beside me and then looking down at the ground as she continued walking towards me. Was this a sign of submission?

"My lord, this is the direwolf that took charge of the remaining wolves that were left behind." Treyni explained, it certainly explained why she was stepping forward. Still though, she had to be strong by direwolf standards to gather and control so many wolves in such a crisis.

"Please, I merely gathered us together under the common goal of protecting and taking care of our young." The female wolf tried to lower herself.

It made sense that the female wolves would band together for the sake of the young, even if they were from different direwolf packs. They all shared a common goal, and with each pack having lost more than half its hunting force and protection, it was better the adult females and mothers band together for the sake of the young.

"What happened with the Black Wolf was unacceptable, and I've made sure all the remaining direwolves know I won't tolerate the abandoning of comrades. Should you and the rest serve me, I can guarantee a safe place to raise your young to be strong as well as my divine protection for all the direwolves." I said hoping that she would accept.

The other females and pups seemed happy to be reunited with the males. So chances were she would also accept.

"The managers of the forest spoke very highly of you, Lord Rimuru. We will gladly yield and follow you." The female direwolf said as she lowered her head in submission.

I had no idea what Dorris and Trya had said but this just made things easier for me so I didn't complain.

…still though, that meant there were nearly five hundred direwolves now, including the pups. That was a lot more than the sixty plus goblins that were currently in the village. No matter how you looked at it the goblins wouldn't feel very safe given the recent events.

Well there was nothing I could do about that for now, other than make sure that both parties knew to get along well together. I had no intentions of staying here any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Tryeni, Dorris, Trya." I called out to the dryads as the two wolf leaders went to join the rest of the pack upon my dismissal. The three spirits turned towards me, "I just wanted to say thanks for the assist. I doubt I would have been able to handle this as quickly and smoothly without your help."

"There is no need to thank us, Lord Rimuru."

"Yes it is simply part of our duties as managers of the forest."

Tyra and Dorris were the ones to respond while Treyni merely smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"Right. That being said, I also wanted to let you know that you can also count on me for help should something occur within the forest." I told them, I had promised to look out for my mothers domain, and these ladies had eyes all over the forest.

"Understood. Though please don't hesitate to call on us as well Lord Rimuru. Regardless of the task, we would be happy to help." Treyni said with a smile as her sisters also nodded in agreement.

"I'll keep that in mind." Like I was actually going to forget these three anytime soon. Still, it was reassuring to know that the burden of looking out for the entire forest didn't rest solely on him, and that these dryads would be there to back me up should I ever need it.

After that the dryads left for their home, and I went back to the goblin village with the wolves in tow. Thanks to the village elder, soon all the goblins and wolves were gathered together outside the village, the village was still too small to fit the large population of wolves.

"Alright everyone, now that the crisis has been resolved and everyone present has sworn loyalty to me I expect every one of you to get along." I knew that my words weren't magic but I hoped they would at least put in some effort to get along, "Now given the absurd number of wolves compared to goblins, I think it's only fair that we even things out a little bit. Elder, are there more goblin villages nearby?"

"Plenty my lord, we are scattered all over the forest." The old goblin answered swiftly, it was expected. Even in video games goblins were well known for their mass reproduction and high numbers. Why they chose to live in such small numbers in this world was beyond me though.

"Do you think it would be possible to recruit them under me as well?" I asked.

"With relative ease." He said with a bow before explaining further, "As I explained yesterday, we goblins are among the weakest species in the forest, and so most times we are at the mercy of superior species and even humans. If the other villages were to hear of the forest's new guardian and the son of the storm dragon offering protection they would no doubt agree to become your subordinates."

It was a sad reality, and the fact that he spoke about so casually spoke volumes about how this world worked. This was their lot in life, and they had all accepted it.

"Alright then, I'll be coming back to that later, for now let me deal with the lot in front of me." I said before taking a deep breath, "As my new subordinates I'm going to give all of you names to mark you as mine."

…

…

…

I was confused by the three seconds of absolute silence that followed that announcement. I guess I thought they'd be more ex-!

"Woohooooo!"

"Oh yeeeeaaaahhh!"

"Lord Rimuru is the best!"

"Thank you so much sir!"

All of a sudden all hell broke loose, and everybody just seemed to lose their minds. They were loud cries of joy, frantic jumping and hugging, even the wolves were howling and tail wagging expressing their own joy. It was just a crazy site all together.

'I expected them to be happy, but this…isn't this a bit too much.'

It took a while for everyone to stop jumping up and down all over the place. I had them line up, separating the goblins and the wolves. I decided to start with the goblins, wondering what they would evolve.

"Alright you will be Rigurd, you Rigur, Gobta, Gobuzo, Gobichi, Ririna, Haruna…" And so forth until I had named all sixty something goblins.

I wasn't really creative in the names that I gave them, but each one was very appreciative and seemed to like the names I had given them so there was nothing to be worried about.

'Great Sage, how am I looking on my reserves?' I asked, naming all the goblins had taken far less energy than I thought it would, but now came the wolves. They were of a stronger race than the goblins and their numbers were far higher. I needed to know if I could safely name them all or if I'd have to split the naming process.

《Answer: Magicule capacity is still at 84%. It is possible to name all the wolves in one sitting and still be left with enough energy to operate normally》

'Good to know' I thought before approaching the wolves, who at first glance looked serious, but the wagging of their tails gave away their excitement.

The two wolf pack leaders stood in front of the rest and were likely going to be the first to be named. I wanted naming the pack leaders to hold a bit more significance than the rest, not to mention I planned to take one of them as a familiar of sorts should all go well, that said I decided I would give them each a name that held a relation to my family name 'Tempest' and my affinity 'storm'.

"Alright then, I'm going to call you Ranga," I said pointing at the male direwolf leader with a star on his forehead, before pointing at the female direwolf leader, "and you Ranko." I declared.

A golden glow surrounded them as my magicules were transferred. Just when I thought that was the end of it, something peculiar happened. My magicules continued to get drained at a much larger rate than before.

'Wh-what's happening?!' I couldn't help but ask in alarm. Had I accidentally poured in too many magicules when I was naming them? No, that wasn't possible with [Great Sage] here to help me regulate all of my magicules.

《Answer: It seems all the direwolves have also begun to go through the evolution process as a result of naming the individuals Ranga and Ranko. This is most likely as a result of the pack mentality of the direwolves, allowing them to evolve through the shared name of their respective leaders. Total magicule capacity remaining is 54% 》

'Damn, does that mean the magicules used are equivalent to the amount I would have used if I named all the wolves myself?' I couldn't help but wonder, it was really convenient that I didn't have to spend the next few days naming all the wolves, but at the same time it seemed unfair to not name the rest, since part of the reason I was naming them was for the sake of individuality and identity, strength and evolution were just a bonus to that.

《Negative: The rest of the pack has received less magicules than the named leaders, and thus the magicule count is less than if you choose to name them individually. In the event that you do name them the individuals Ranga and Ranko would also gain more strength in order to maintain hierarchy.》

'Huh, word. Guess that means I can still name the rest, though I'll probably do that after they have all evolved.' There really is no point in naming them right now when they were about to evolve.

"It seemed as though all the direwolves have gained strength from naming the two of you." I spoke to Ranga and Ranko.

"It makes sense master, we wolves normally operate as a single unit, one mind and body, with the leaders being the head." Ranga said as Ranko nodded along in agreement.

"A pack mentality, then that means you will all most likely evolve through a shared name." It was just as great sage had said, "If that's the case then I'm going to hold off on naming the rest of the pack until said evolution has occurred." Both named wolves agreed to that.

And just like that the naming spree came to an end, at least for now. I decided to give the wolves and goblins the morning off to relax as their evolutions took place, it also gave me time to regain some of my magicules.

It was about an hour after noon that everyone was once more gathered before me, and I have to say I was surprised by how everyone had more or less 'grown'.

Looking at the goblins, the males all had slim but muscular figures, with the village chief Rigurd looking far more jacked than the rest, a major contrast to the frail old man form he had before. The male goblins had all evolved into hobgoblins, and their moss green skin had turned apple green and they reached a maximum height of 6 '7, with Rigurd standing at 7' 2. They all seemed to have taken on an appearance that seemed identical to humans except for their green skin and pointed ears.

Turning to the female goblins who had all evolved into goblina, I had to stop my mind from going down the gutter almost immediately. Which was hard given their current state of dress. Anyway, the goblina had all evolved wonderfully and seemed to have become more human shaped as well. The tallest among them reached up to a height of 6'4 and they all had light green skin. They all had envy-worthy figures that would have had any straight male looking back and several women glaring in hatred and envy, despite that their proportions were different, most likely as a result of genetics and all that.

Aside from that all the hobgoblins and goblina's had beautiful facial features that complimented each of their figures. Seriously, it was like an artist had sculpted these guys!

'Are all Hobgoblins and Goblinas this attractive?!' I couldn't help but wonder.

《Negative: The evolution of the goblins was influenced by your subconscious desires. Physical appearances and capabilities. Aside from outer appeal, the evolution has also resulted in the goblins gaining more magicules than initially intended and jumping rank. Where they were previously low E-rank at average and were meant to evolve to mid D-rank, they have all reached a standard level of mid C-rank》

'Hold on, so what would have happened if I poured a large amount of magicules in one of them?' I asked in curiosity as apparently I could not only influence their appearance but also the amount of magicules I gave an individual upon naming them.

《Answer: the goblins would have skipped the hobgoblin evolution and evolved into ogres, requirement to achieve this is the reaching mid B-rank capabilities.》

Well wasn't that something, to think that goblins and ogres were part of the same evolution line. Still though the goblins were close enough as is, if they actually trained their bodies and developed some techniques of some kind I bet they could reach high C-rank or maybe even low B-rank if they put the extra effort, maybe even go far enough to evolve on their own. Either way they had gotten stronger than planned but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing as long as they remembered their humble beginnings.

Turning towards the direwolves I was just as shocked by how they had changed as well. They all stood three meters tall in height and their length was double that, making them quite bigger than the goblins. Ranga and Ranko were naturally the exceptions, Ranko having grown 3.5 meters and Ranga standing at 4 meters tall and their body length being twice that.

In other words the wolves had become huge.

《Notice: The direwolves, through your intent to name the individuals Ranga and Ranko after your storm element, have undergone a unique evolution into Tempest Wolves. This means they have inherited a fragment of your [Storm Magic, thereby giving them a lightning and wind attribute respectively.》

' [Storm Magic]? Since when did I have a skill like that?' I didn't remember [Great Sage] telling me that I had acquired such a skill.

《Answer: You inherited the [Intrinsic Skill: Storm Magic] as a result of your heritage and dragon factor from the Storm Dragon Veredia. The skill had been present since birth but laid dormant, only awakening upon reaching a certain level of strength and control.》

So I had my mothers unique True Dragon magic. Honestly I shouldn't have been surprised by that, being her son and all, but it was somehow still a lot to process. The fact that the direwolves had also managed to gain a fragment of this affinity simply because of the names I chose for their leaders was also absurd, but not unwelcome. That just meant I had stronger subordinates.

'How strong are the Tempest wolves now anyways?' I asked my sentient skill, I already had a rough estimate based on magicules alone but [Great Sage] could give me more accurate details.

《Answer: Where previously they were D-rank monsters, with the leader being C-rank, the Tempest Wolves are mid B-rank with their leader being high B-rank. As a pack they were previously a B-rank threat, now they are an A-rank threat capable of more complex techniques and strategies. They can also run up to 100 km/h for seven hours before needing a short rest.》

Woah, talk about a major evolution. I looked forward to seeing them in action one day, and that thing about running at 100 km/h just made me want to take one of them as a familiar even more. I'd probably take Ranga, seeing as he'd been sticking by me more since I took the wolves in.

"Alright everyone listen up!" I called out after inspecting everyone. Ranga laid down on his belly to my left and Rigur stood at attention to my right. It took a minute but soon everyone was quiet and paying attention. "Saying you've all grown up would be the understatement of the century. You've all evolved more than I expected, even going as far as skipping a rank. That being said, don't let this power get to you. I won't tolerate complacency or discrimination of weaker races from people who used to be weaker themselves. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

However not even a second after they finished responding so enthusiastically one of the goblins went on to raise their hands, gobta if I remember well. He didn't seem to have changed much in terms of appearance, but there was no mistaking the increase in strength.

"Yes Gobta, what is it?" I asked, already having a feeling as to where this was going.

"Lord Rimuru sir, what do you mean by 'complacency' and 'discrimination'?" Gobta asked as he tilted his head to the side. I could immediately tell that others amongst the goblins and wolves had also had no understanding of what I had said.

I couldn't help but sigh a bit, while their recent evolutions allowed for them to grow and for their minds to clear, basically they had a higher level of intelligence than before, but they still had to learn things like literacy and other stuff before they could properly apply that newfound intellect.

"Basically I'm saying don't let your newfound strength get to your head and become arrogant. There are still plenty of individuals out there that are stronger than you, so you always strive to grow stronger and better yourself." I explained as they hummed and nodded their heads in agreement, "Also don't look down on weaker races just because you have become strong. Treat others how you would want to be treated."

I especially looked at the goblins whilst saying that last part as this would be their first time being in a position of power, or at least being stronger than the other goblins of the forest.

Second rule, no attacking or killing humans unnecessarily." I'd taken some time to think about this one before coming out here, "Reason being that humans tend to live in numbers that range from tens of thousands up to even millions, with armies of equivalent size. If we attack them without reason they will just report back to their leaders and attack us with their numbers. If peaceful solutions fail then make sure none of the attackers leave alive to report back. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Good, it seems as though there were no questions this time. Would have been worried if they were cause I'd been as direct as possible.

"Third thing, no infighting between any of you. As my subordinates I expect all of you to work together in the best interest of everyone. Any arguments that happen should be taken to Rigurd, he'll be the head of this village and the goblin lord." Rigurd immediately began to bow and thank me for the honor, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was just dumping all the responsibilities on him. "That being said, I'll be taking a few measures to ensure cooperation. To ensure a balanced community, I will be tasking Rigur and a few others to travel to the nearby goblin villages and offer them my protection, this should help even out the numbers for both goblins and wolves."

"Yes sir, please leave it to me!" Rigur said with a bow, I could feel his excitement at the prospect of completing such a task that would add to my ranks. I decided not to ponder further on that.

"Additionally I will be asking some of the wolves and goblins to pair up with the wolves, forming groups of two. You'll form the hunting parties, cause we'll definitely need more than one, local guards, and watch guards . We'll refine the details later, but that's the gist of it. Any questions?"

There were none, which was good.

"The last thing is that I will not be staying as a permanent resident." I announced, prompting more than a few frowns, scared expressions and even whimpers from everyone. I decided to explain myself, "Thing is I've already been living in a nearby ogre village for a while now, and have more or less made that my home. That said I will be staying until everyone is well on their feet and more than capable of defending themselves and taking care of themselves ."

That seemed to put them at ease, though none looked particularly happy about that news. That was to be expected, the goblins thought they had finally found a protector that would guard and watch over them, which I would do just not in the way they had been expecting. As for the wolves, I had more or less taken over their pack and become their true leader, so it made sense they would be just as bummed about it all. Still though, I rather liked where I was at with the ogres. I would make sure to check on the goblins and wolves often enough that they would feel reassured of their protection and that I hadn't abandoned them.

"Alright, with that being said it's time to address the three main issues. Food shelter and clothing…"

It's been three days since I named everyone in the village. In that time frame I had helped the goblins and wolves settle into a proper system. It wasn't that complicated given we were literally building something from ground up, but it would do for the time being.

The first thing I did was organize a hunting party. Naturally it was mainly comprised of direwolves, the number of goblins were still too few to match the wolves but Rigur and five others had already gone out to some nearby goblin villages to spread word of the protection I was offering, I was expecting them to be back by noon today given they left the day before yesterday.

The goblina's helped by gathering herbs and spices that I told them about based on what I had learned in the short time I had been with the ogres. The Princess and Chieftess had been more than willing to tell me about this world's herbs when they found out I was teaching the purple haired ogress how to cook. They also gathered fruits from the trees of the forest that could be eaten safely.

I had the goblins prepare watch towers within the trees surrounding the village and a fence surrounding the village itself. Local guards of both wolves and goblins made sure the perimeter was secure during the day and night.

All in all, the only problems I was seeing right now were the clothing and housing. Given how everyone had grown the small huts the goblins used to call home just didn't cut it anymore. Worse was the fact that these guys weren't skilled in making houses, meaning that I would need to find some proper artisans real soon if I wanted proper shelter for these guys.

The other issue was clothing, due to the fact that the goblins had grown so large compared to how they were before their clothing was literally being stretched to the limit. Which certainly made for a lot of eye candy for me when it came to the goblina.

Hey, I'm a growing dragon, you can't blame me.

《...》

I chose to ignore that silence from great sage. Anyways, for the time being we were making do with animal skin from the hunted monsters and animals, meaning they were at least able to cover the essentials, but that still left a lot of skin visible. That would need to be addressed real soon, preferably before I evolved the goblins that Rigur was going to be bringing today.

I was currently scouting the woods with Ranga, it certainly beat sitting in the village all day as the goblins tended to my needs as though I were some god or deity. I didn't mind it at first but it got old really fast and I just had to escape. It probably didn't help that the goblins had less to offer in terms of hospitality compared to the ogres.

《Alert: Hostile presence detected, threat level A-rank!》

I was brought out of my wonderings as I turned my head in the direction I could sense the spike in magicules as well as the malicious intent. Judging by the way Ranga also tensed he could also feel it.

"Master…"

"I know, I felt it too." It was natural that he would be weary of this threat. A-rank would make this the strongest monster, outside of the dryads who were actually spirits, that I had encountered since entering the forest. Whilst it still posed no legitimate threat to me in terms of raw power it was always good to lean on the side of caution, "Let's go check it out, a potential threat this close to the village cant be left unchecked."

"Right Master!" Ranga responded as he ran in the direction the malicious aura was coming from. He really was a good boy.

As we got closer to the scene I could make out two additional signatures as well, both very faint and weak. Either an injured and exhausted monster or a very weak species.

It didn't take us very long to arrive at the location of the aura. I was rather surprised by the scene that Ranga and I walked into. It seemed I had landed right in the middle of something, and I meant that literally.

On my left side was what I could only assume was a majin that was wearing a plague mask and a white cloak, holding a cane in his left hand. This majin seemed to be the one that had been responsible for the malicious aura that I had sensed earlier on. He looked totally sus.

Turning to the other side I noticed two insectoids, or at least that's what [Great Sage] said they were, insect-like beings that were gravely injured. One greatly resembled a large beetle, except for the fact that it was slightly over a foot and a half in height. The other resembled a garden wasp, about a foot long. They were both missing more than half their bodies and were rapidly bleeding out. Next to the beetle was a dead blade tiger monster that [Great Sage] explained to me was B-rank.

"Who might you be?" The majin suddenly spoke up grabbing Ranga and I's attention, "How dare you stand in the great Lord Gelmuds way?" The majin spoke arrogantly as he flared his aura some more.

I had to admit, he was decently strong, far stronger than the ogres that's for sure, but still small fry to me. Part of me was tempted to flare my own aura just so I could get that point across but I decided to wait a bit, see what I could get him to spill before actually scaring the living daylights out of this bastard.

"Are you the one that did this to them?" I simply asked as I gestured back to the insectoids behind me, the bee was barely conscious at this point and the beetle was fighting to stay awake as it stood protectively in front of its comrade.

"What is it to you?! Leave us to our business or you will feel my wrath!" Gelmud shouted in frustration at seeing his attempt to scare me with his aura being rendered useless. It wasn't an answer to what was going on, but whatever it was I could tell through [Desire] that this guy was not wanted here, and was more than likely not even a resident of the forest given his self proclaimed title of 'lord'.

"You called yourself a 'lord' earlier. Pray tell what exactly you are the lord of?" I asked as I hopped off Ranga and turned to the majin, the alpha Tempest Wolf growling threateningly at Gelmud. I placed a hand on his head to hold him from acting, but he still kept his eyes on the potential enemy. What a good boy!

"W-what?" Gelmude stuttered as he took a single step back, becoming tongue tied in that moment. That was the only reaction that I needed in order to tell that this guy wasn't the ruler of anything. The whole 'lord' thing really was a self proclaimed title. I couldn't help the shitty grin that made its way onto my face and judging by the way he began to growl and shake in fury he didn't like being looked down on by some bratty looking majin, aka me. "I won't be insulted by some stupid child, know your place. I am lord Gelmude, an esteemed member of the demon lord's army!"

Okay, this guy was very stupid and incompetent. But hey, I wasn't complaining, if he was that willing to spill his guts out then I was more than willing to listen. Still though, that thing about being part of a demon lord's army, if that was true then this guy was more trouble than I had initially assumed.

Thanks to the ogre chief I had some idea as to what demon lords were in this world, they were the highest and strongest beings, only surpassed in power by the true dragons themselves. But unlike in most video games and manga, there wasn't just one demon lord, but rather there were many of them in this one, ten of them!

And that wasn't even the worst part of it all, the Great Forest of Jura was bordered by four of those demon lords! That was something that kept me up at night for a few days. If these demon lords came to investigate the disappearance of my mother and found out she was gone, there was a very big chance they would act and try to take over the forest to grow in strength and power.

From my mothers words I knew I was pretty much the strongest individual within the forest at the moment, but it's hard to take her words at face value and trust her to be unbiased. At the very least I was stronger than treyni who was the strongest individual I'd met since coming into this world aside from my mother herself. Still though, that didn't mean I was strong enough to go against a demon lord.

If this Gelmude person was here then it can only mean that one of them was taking action. I promised my mother that I would protect this forest, her domain, in her absence. Part of that promise includes protecting all those that were under her protection. But now I also had my own reasons for wanting to protect the forest. I'd made friends and grown close with some of the residents and even managed to get a few subordinates. Whether or not I can beat a demon lord is up in the air, but until such a threat presents itself I'll continue to do that duty.

"Alright I think I've heard enough, it's time for you to leave." I said as I let out a breath of air, I took a step forward as I slowly began to unleash my aura. I wasn't subtle about it this time, oh no, I released about two thirds of my aura this time around as a burst of energy left me and blew everything away from me, uprooting the nearby trees and scaring away creatures within numerous miles of our position.

Ranga swiftly leapt from beside me and landed behind me in front of the insectoids, protecting them from the brunt of my power, yet the wolf creature was barely holding his own as well. As for Gelmude, he was blown back by the sudden force of energy and actually rolled on the ground a couple of times before coming to a stop.

I stopped emitting my aura, everything seeming to come to a stop and dropping to the ground. I watched as Gelmude shakily stood up.

"Who are you?! How can this be, nobody told me there would be any majin this powerful in the forest!" Gelmude shouted in frustration as he stomped on the ground and threw a fit like a child.

"All you need to know is that I'm the new guardian of this forest, and you are not welcome here. Leave before I decide to kill you." I told him flatly, and I really would too. The more this guy spoke the more I felt like he was plotting something.

I watched as Gelmude growled in frustration once more, his grip on his cane tightening so much that I thought it might break.

"Why you…" I could literally feel the rage burning within the dude as he was contemplating whether to attack me or not. But we both knew I could kill him within a split second if I wished, so in the end he made the 'wise' decision to live to fight another day, "You haven't heard the last of me! You'll regret interfering with his plans!"

Before I could even ask the dude what he was babbling on about now the dude shot off into the sky like a freak'n rocket. Within seconds he was out of sight. Guess he's heading back to report to his master or whatever. Things were starting to get chaotic faster than I had thought they would, I needed to get stronger.

"Master, are you sure it was a wise decision to let him escape?" Ranga asked as he came up to me.

"To be honest, probably not. But there was no right answer in this specific scenario, if he really is a superior majin under orders of a demon lord then him dying here would have alerted said demon lord to the presence of a powerful individual in the forest, and scaring off Gelmude meant showing my hand a bit." I said with a sigh, in the end I just made the decision that was less than likely to have an immediate effect. With Gelmude reporting, his superior would more than likely want to investigate before making any sudden moves, meaning I had bought me some more time

"Understood , please forgive me for doubting your actions." Ranga said as he hung his head low. I couldn't help but shake my head sideways at the wolf's antics. It was then that I remembered the two other creatures that were present, and turned to face the insectoids, who surprisingly were still very much alive despite missing large chunks of their bodies.

As I turned and walked towards them the large beetle dragged its body forward and stood in my way. Glaring at me defiantly. A stupid move on its part given its current state and my recent display of power. But it was trying to protect its friend, and that sense of comradery was something that I could respect.

"W-wait…" a soft and pained feminine voice suddenly spoke up through [thought communication], I traced the origin of the 'voice' to the large bee insectoid. I was actually surprised that she was sentient enough to even speak.

"...please forgive me. I no longer have the strength to protect you." The beetle said, proving that it too was an intelligent being. It seemed as though it had resigned itself to its fate, knowing that it stood no chance against me but would still rather die trying if it granted even a second for his friend to escape.

"What happened to you two?" I asked.

"...blade tiger attacked us…heavily wounded…majin appeared…offered healing and names…but we didn't trust him." The beetle spoke between heavy breaths.

I see, it was impressive that these two had managed to defeat a B-rank monster on their own, despite the injuries they sustained at the end of it all, and it certainly showed the potential they had to grow under the right circumstances. It also seemed Gelmude had appeared shortly after the attack and tried to coerce them into joining him by offering to heal them and names to make them stronger or whatever. Fortunately they had the intuition to tell that the guy was bad news.

"Strong one..." The bee spoke up, I couldn't help but wonder if that was how the monsters of this world referred to every powerful individual? "you…protect us?"

Well I guess my recent actions could be seen as me protecting them from Gelmude, not to mention the fact that Ranga had protected them from the burst of power I had unleashed earlier on. But still, even I wasn't sure that I could heal injuries as severe as these ones with a potion or magic.

《Answer: It is possible to heal and empower the insectoids through the use of magisteel to rebuild their exoskeletons and blood and scale samples from you to boost their regenerative abilities and increase the effectiveness of the full potion.》

'Really, it sounds a lot like a blood transfusion with a bunch of other stuff.' I would basically be infusing these two with some of my dna. But if that was the only way I could save these two then there was no reason not to.

"I can treat your wounds, but are you willing to put your trust in me?" I asked, basically asking if they were willing to become my subordinates.

"Yes" They both responded.

With their approval I then stepped forward and began the procedure that would save both of their lives. Using some of my blood and scales to increase their regenerative abilities and magisteel to give them stronger and more resilient exoskeletons. Once all was said and done I decided to put the final nail by giving the two of them names.

The bee I named Apito and the beetle Zegion. The two of them swore their loyalty to me and as a result I decided to bring them back with Ranga and I to the goblin village.

The two of them seemed to have gotten pretty strong from the healing method and naming, putting them on low A-rank, so I decided to have them serve as guardians to the village especially in my absence. This helped relieve many of the worries that the goblins had about their safety after I left.

Even better was the fact that Apito had apparently awakened a unique skill as a result of her recent growth. A unique skill called [Hive Queen], it basically allowed her to create and control worker bees about slightly less than half her own size. She could only create about three per day but we had yet to determine how many she could control.

Said bees had very weak egos and lacked any free will of their own, meaning they were very reliant on orders from their queen. The other disappointing factor was that they had no military use whatsoever, not being built for combat.

But I later asked Apito if she was capable of making honey, something which she confirmed for me. We later came up with the idea of using her 'worker bees' or 'drones', as I liked to call them, to collect pollen in the forest which she would use to make honey. For higher quality honey I had to strike a deal with Treyni that would allow Apito's drones to enter the Treants forest to collect pollen from their territory. Treyni and her sisters agreed easily enough, only asking for a portion of said honey in exchange.

I'd also asked Treyni to keep an eye out for Gelmude or any other suspicious majin or people within the forest. Things were changing a lot faster than I had expected in the forest. I had to prepare and train harder if I was going to protect my mothers domain, not to mention the bonds that I had forged within the forest.

I was the guardian of this forest now, it was up to me to maintain the peace.

Two days had passed since I found Apito and Zegion out in the forest and more or less recruited them under me.

In that brief time period a few things had changed within the goblin village, for starters our population had grown some. Turns out Rigur had been more successful than I thought he'd be when it came to that recruitment task I had assigned him and a small party to. Returning home with a group of slightly over a hundred and fifty goblins, given the time frame I expected less than a hundred. Still that boosted our goblin population to just above 230 so I wasn't complaining.

Apparently these goblins had all come from one village and though it had taken some explaining and convincing had all jumped on the wagon after Rigur explained that I was offering to name them as well as granting them protection. They all happily agreed with my terms of being under Rigurd, with their chief being one of the goblin lords that reported directly to him.

Naming all the goblins had been a tedious task, not because of the magicules or anything like that, I had plenty of power to spare, but rather because of how time consuming it was and how creative I had to get, in the end a lot of the names I gave out weren't creative but the goblins were still appreciative nonetheless. By the end of it all they had all grown into attractive hobgoblins and goblina just like the rest.

I also took the time to start naming the tempest wolves, naming them didn't result in any further evolutions, however the tempest wolves did rise to high B-rank while Ranga and Raya rose to low A-rank as the pack leaders. From what I had noticed in the short time I spent with the tempest wolves, both seemed to have an affinity for wind and lightning as [Great Sage] had told me but the scaling differed, the males had a higher lightning affinity while the females had a higher wind affinity.

By the time all was said and done I was feeling confident in the village's security and was ready to set out to dwargon on with a small group, I'd be going with a small group of five goblins and tempest wolves. In that party were Rigur and Gobta, apparently Gobta had traded with the dwarven kingdom before, even if most of the time he got bullied before even getting in.

"Alright we're heading out, try to keep yourselves out of too much trouble." I told the gathered crowd as I sat atop Ranga with the rest of the goblins on their respective wolves.

"Yes Lord Rimuru!"

"Have a safe journey!"

"Come back soon!"

There were many other farewells, and so with a smile my party and I took off towards the Armed Nation of Dwargon, in hopes of finding some artisans that would help with the expansion and development of this village.

"Ah wait!" I exclaimed as I suddenly remembered something important, bringing a pause to the hunting party, "Dorris." I called out, it wasn't a shout or anything just how you would call someone a few steps ahead of you.

And yet with that simple call the wind seemed to change direction and a swirl of leaves suddenly appeared before Ranga and I, before finally the dryad revealed herself. Many of the goblins and wolves were surprised, but honestly they shouldn't be, given the role the three dryads played in bringing about the current peace they had.

"You called for me Lord Rimuru?" Dorris said as she went down on one knee.

"Yeah, I know that dryads aren't in the habit of appearing before others whimsically, but I need you to pass along a message for me." I told her. If she refused that was fine too, I'd just deal with the aftermath of my absence when I got back to the ogre village.

"Of course, please do not trouble yourself with such minor details." She said with a smile as she shook her head sideways.

"Thank you, in that case I need you to go to the ogre village I've been living in recently and explain to the chief the events that occurred here. Tell him I'm also leaving Jura to find dwarven artisans so my return to the village may take longer than planned." I explained, they were probably worried about me after not hearing anything for five days.

I'd also left after dropping the bomb of my heritage on the. So that was something else that would need to be addressed once I got back to the village.

"Leave it to me my lord." She said with another bow before leaving just as swiftly as she appeared.

The ogres would probably be surprised by the appearance of a dryad in their village, but I'm sure Dorris could handle it. I had something else to look forward to right now.

I wasn't really sure what I was expecting to find there but I couldn't help but feel excited at the concept of what I would see. This would be my first time leaving Jura after all.

Seeing Dwargon would give me some insight as to how civilizations in this world operated and perhaps what to expect from some of the surrounding nations in terms of development and the like.

All in all, it was bound to be an adventure.

---

Authors Note:

So yeah, I always wondered why cannon never showed the opposite genders for some of the major races of Tempest such as the orcs and tempest wolves, that's obviously something I plan to fix this time around.

In case it wasn't already obvious, I intend to make Rimuru's subordinates stronger than they were in cannon since this Rimuru is stronger too. It just makes sense given his food chain skill.

Skill wise nothing will really change, but I do plan to introduce more arts rather than having Benimaru spamming Hell Flare every chance he gets. It will give them a wider range of abilities.

Feel free to throw in any ideas you have for character arts, I may just use it.

Please comment and constructive criticism is welcome!

Two days, that's how long it had taken us to travel from the goblin village to the Armed Nation of Dwargon on the backs of the tempest wolves. Which was something I considered record time given the fact that the Rigur had said the trip took them two months on foot, I figured it would be at least a week with the how fast the wolves were, buy they proved me wrong by dashing across the woods as fast as a car.

With them running at speeds of 100mph for seven hours, and only needing short breaks in between, we made it to our destination within two days. At the current moment we stood in the outskirts of the forest leading to the path that walk right up to the large gates of the dwarven kingdom.

"We're here Lord Rimuru, welcome to the Armed Nation of Dwargon!" Gobta shouted enthusiastically as a leapt in front of me and pointed towards the large gates.

"Huh, is the kingdom inside the mountain or something?" It seemed strange that someone would do something like that, then again these were dwarves, well known in various video games for their craftsmanship and affinity for earth, so I guess it was kind of fitting.

"Yes, dwarves are craftsmen by nature and prefer to live in areas where good mines are available." Rigur answered, the question had been rhetorical but I appreciated the confirmation nonetheless so I nodded my head.

"And here I was hoping for a lush fantasy vibe kinda place." I muttered lowly, first trip out of Jura and I'm spending it in the mountains, literally. Well I was here more for the sake of the goblins than myself, so it was best to just look for those artisans and get out of here. "Do they even allow monsters and majin in Dwargon?"

"Yes, the walls within Dwargon are neutral territory for all sentient species as long as we obey their laws and don't cause trouble." Gobta answered before a pained expression appeared on his face as if remembering a bad experience, "Though the problem usually start outside the walls for goblins like us. We're usually easy pickings for adventurers while waiting in the lines for entry."

"Right, then Rigur and I will be the ones to enter the city and get what we need. The rest of you will wait out here until we return, if you encounter any trouble retreat into the depths of the forest, do not engage in any conflicts." I ordered sternly, it would end badly for them if the a large army of soldiers attacked them at once.

"Yes sir!"

"Alright, next problem is decent clothing." As I looked at Rigur who still only had animal skin covering waist to thigh with the rest of his body being exposed, "Walking in as you are now will more than likely get attacked as they will assume you are feral and unintelligent."

'[Great Sage] , think you can help out a bit in that regard?' I should have some materials left over from various creatures that can be put together to make some decent clothing.

《Affirmative: Taking the individual Rigur's measurements. Analysis complete. Crafting clothing from available materials. Complete. Request has been completed.》

'Awesome, thanks!' I brought said clothing out of my [Stomach] and passed them onto Rigur who was more than grateful, swearing that he would take good care of them and all that, honestly I felt he was exaggerating a little, but the way the other goblins seemed to get jealous showed me that I'd have to be very careful how I handed out things between subordinates as the others may take that as a sign of favoritism even if that wasn't the intention.

About two minutes later Rigur returned fully dressed wearing a brown shirt that had black fur along the edges and leather pants and shoes. It wasn't the most fashionable or solid attire but it would work well for the time being.

"Looking good Rigur, we should have no problem entering the city now." I said with a nod, the goblin blushed faintly as the other goblins also praised the attire.

"You're too kind my lord, I swear I'll cherish this as the first gift you granted me." He said as he bowed at a full ninety degree angle.

"Yeah sure. Anyways we should get going, the rest of you keep look out and avoid trouble at all costs." I warned them one more time to which they all nodded their heads excessively.

We had no problems getting in from the front gate after a few hours.

Ogre Chiefs POV;

Its been nearly a week since Sir, no, Lord Rimuru had left the village to resolve the goblin crisis, and yet there's been no word or sight of him since.

Naturally I was concerned, but I also there was no need, for I knew he was a powerful individual capable of matching almost any creature in this forest. And if he truly was child of our guardian then he was even stronger than what he had displayed.

Our scouts had confirmed that the dire wolves had stopped their advance within the forest, and that the females and pups seemed to have joined up with their male counterparts. This had to mean that Lord Rimuru had been successful right?

If so then what was keeping him? Perhaps he other matters had arisen within the forest. Regardless, it wasn't my place to question what he was doing. He had said he would return and all we could do was wait until he did, and try to continue living our lives as we always did.

Though I doubt things would be quite the same when he got back. Word of his heritage had spread throughout the village before I could even make the official announcement, so much for trusting my council to keep their lips sealed, forcing me to make the announcement a lot sooner than intended just to prevent any unsavory rumors.

The clan took it well much to my relief, some being a little nervous at the fact that they treated him too casually, but I ensured them that if Lord Rimuru had a problem with that he would have let them know.

The only other issue that had changed was my son. Word of his actions and words towards our guest had also spread throughout the village, putting him in a rather unfavorable position, even though nobody would outright display it due to him being my son. It would seem he had lost the trust of some of the villagers, not that I could blame them. He brought this upon himself.

"Father!" My daughter suddenly came rushing into the room, panting as if she had been running a marathon. It was a bit unsightly but I ignored it due to the slightly alarmed expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I stood up.

"Th-they're some people here to see you. They're dryads!" She shouted, shocking me as I walked up to her faster.

"What did you say?" I asked as I placed my hands on her shoulders, I didn't want to alarm her but I needed to confirm her words.

"They are three dryads outside asking to speak with you father." My daughter responded.

Dryads hadn't been seen in the forest for over a hundred years, and now they were suddenly appearing here?! Why?!

No…wait, there was only one possible answer. They were the managers of the forest that acted on behalf of Lady Veredia herself, to ensure that the peace in her domain was maintained, they had knowledge of all the happenings of the forest. So that must mean they knew about Lord Rimuru.

I shook my head sideways, there was no point in driving myself mad trying to figure out why they were here. They were outside and it would be rude to keep them waiting any longer.

Placing a firm hand on my daughters shoulder I then walked out, her following close behind. It didn't take long to find the large crowd of ogres that were gathering, upon seeing my approach they split apart to give me way. Walking through the crowd I eventually made it to the front, and sure enough before us stood three dryads.

Their aura both imposing and yet calming, an ethereal green glow surrounding their bodies, the scent of a morning breeze filling the air and their eyes both warm and yet slightly calculating.

The one who stood in front of the rest turned her eyes towards me, I could only assume she was the leader based on her stronger aura.

"Are you the leader of this village?" She asked, more than likely already knowing the answer but simply asking for formalities sake.

"Yes, please forgive me for not greeting you earlier esteemed Dryads." I said as I bowed my head. If there was anyone deserving of our respect it was the dryads of the forest, aside from Lady Veredia herself they too played a major role in ensuring the forest was well protected, and their strength was well above our own.

"Do not worry yourself with such small things, if anything we should be the ones apologizing for visiting unannounced." The dryad responded as shook her head sideways, "My name is Treyni, and these are my sisters Trya and Dorris. We've come bearing a message from the young lord of the forest, Rimuru Tempest."

That announcement spurred a lot of talk from my people, but more than anything it confirmed that Rimuru truly is the son of the Storm Dragon.

"So Sir Rimuru truly is the heir of Lady Veredia." one of the ogres murmured in awe.

"Indeed he is, we can personally confirm this, as we dryads had prior knowledge of his existence before he hatched from his egg." Dorris spoke up.

"You see, Lord Rimuru's egg was one that was conceived a long time ago, before we dryads came into the forest of Jura." Trya explained, shocking us as to how long Lord Rimuru's egg had been within the forest.

"If you want more details you will have to ask Lord Rimuru himself. But he is the son of Lady Veredia, and we have been watching him since he left the sealed cave after the…passing of Lady Veredia." Treyni went on to explain, that was another thing confirmed.

The storm dragon truly had passed, and in her place stood her heir. We were extremely fortunate to have come across Lord Rimuru shortly after his awakening, and even more fortunate to have gained his favor. The Dryads acknowledging him as the lord of the forest meant they had most likely already met and given loyalty to him.

Things were changing in Jura, and Rimuru would be at the center of it all.

"I see, so you're aware that he has been a guest of our village for a while now. We only recently learned of his heritage before he left." I told the dryads.

"Yes, we are aware, and are in fact also grateful for the fact that you welcomed him." Treyni said much to my confusion, "As you already know prior to meeting you ogres Lord Rimuru had yet to encounter any other intelligent life within the forest, and before that his only interaction was with Lady Veredia who passed away shortly after naming him. Coming across your village helped rid him of his solitude and you even took it a step further by helping him develop as a warrior. While I have no doubt he would have developed well enough on his own, but through your village he has grown more than we anticipated."

I couldn't help but feel my pride swell and the genuine praise coming from the dryads, not to mention the fact that we had influenced Rimuru so strongly. I had been watching his growth under the elder since they first started training and even I had to admit that I was shocked by how fast he learned our haze sword style. At this point the only one who was above him in terms of skill was the elder himself, but that gap was being closed every time they spared or had a lesson. It would only be a matter of time before he surpassed the elder as well at this rate.

"You honor us with your generous praise." I said as I bowed my head, prompting the rest of my people to do the same.

"Now then onto the matter at hand, Lord Rimuru asked us to deliver a message stating that his return to the village may be delayed by another week or two at the most due to unforeseen results regarding the goblin and wolf crisis." Treyni stated, shocking many of us.

"...I see." I couldn't help but mutter, it was clear to see that many were not pleased, myself included. But I had to remind myself that Lord Rimuru had responsibilities to the forest and thus couldn't always be here. "If I may ask, what is it that happened?" I asked.

With that question the dryads went on to explain everything that had occurred from the moment they met Rimuru. They told us about the goblin village he and Treyni came across, how the goblins swore allegiance to him in exchange for his protection. I was surprised to hear that he accepted, given their small numbers and the fact that goblins were such a weak race that most wouldn't even bother with them.

The Treyni told us of how she and Rimuru subdued the wolves by killing their alpha, making him the only fatality in the entire pack before the rest of the wolves submitted to him and also swore allegiance. The other two dryads had been assigned the task of finding and bringing in the female and young wolves which they did successfully by the next morning. To my surprise Rimuru went on to name all of the wolves and goblins over a period of time.

"Wait, he named all of them?!" I asked in shock, which was reflected by pretty much everyone. We all knew the dangers of naming monsters without giving yourself ample time to rest and recover, one could potentially lose their strength or even their life. And now the dryads were telling us that Rimuru had named nearly six hundred creatures within the span of a few days!

Regardless of how strong he was and how weak the goblins and wolves were, their mere numbers made it such that the risk would be too much even for him.

"Indeed." Treyni said as she and the others giggled at our reactions, "While it cost him a great deal of magicules, he seems to be capable of rapidly recovering those magicules. Perhaps it is the effect of a skill, regardless he named them with no risk to himself."

It made sense if he had a skill that allowed him to replenish his magicules. No monster, regardless of how powerful, would hand out that many names in such a brief period. Truly Lord Rimuru was something else.

"That being said, Lord Rimuru is currently leaving the forest of Jura and making his way towards the Armed Nation of Dwargon, in hopes of acquiring artisans that will help with the development of the named village." Treyni said.

"Artisans?" Could he not have come here if he was looking for people to help with the development of the goblin village?

Or perhaps he felt he couldn't. We ogres had displayed ourselves as a rather prideful race, ones who respected strength and powerful individuals. Lord Rimuru may have assumed we would take offense to being asked to lend a hand in the construction of a weaker races dwelling. Not to mention we had our own to look out for.

"I see." The journey to Dwargon was a long one, so we most likely would not see Lord Rimuru for a while depending on the progress he wanted to make within his new village before returning here, if he was even going to be staying here after all was said and done.

"With that being said, we have delivered the message we were sent to deliver. We will be taking our leave now." The dryad Treyni spoke up.

"Yes, thank you very much." I thanked them with another quick bow, as dryads they more than likely had other tasks to do in the forest, so it wasn't wise to hold them any more than necessary.

With a nod the dryads vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves, within seconds their presence had vanished entirely, leaving only traces of magicules where they previously stood.

"...father." My daughter spoke up pulling me from my thoughts, it was then that I noticed that all my people had turned to me and were waiting for my next words.

"Change is coming to the forest faster than I had anticipated, and it seems Lord Rimuru is at the center of it all. At this point there is still much to consider before I can safely determine the future of our people, but until then let us continue as we always have been." I spoke loudly so I could be heard by all nearby.

The future of this clan was still uncertain, but with the changes of the forest, some changes were bound to affect us and our position in the forest as well.

Rimuru POV:

Getting in the front gates had been a lot easier than I had expected. Rigur and I made it through without too much trouble from the guards or security detail. Something that I was actually glad for given that I thought they would be more guarded seeing a majin and goblin traveling together. Though masking my power with [hideform] probably had something to do with the fact that I didn't set off any alarms.

"I was actually kind of nervous for a while there, but the process turned out to be a lot easier than I thought." I muttered with a sigh as we walked into the city.

"It was as you said Lord Rimuru, our former appearances and state of dress made the humans weary of us when we came to trade, but this time they didn't even look twice before granting us access!" Rigur said in amazement and joy. These guys must have been harassed a lot when coming to trade here.

"Anyways, let's take a look around. It shouldn't take us too long to find a blacksmith or two. Or if we want to be quick about it we could just ask around." I said with a shrug.

It was still morning so we had ample time. We took the time to look around the city, wanting to see the various buildings, products and even the various species living in Dwargon. I doubted I was going to get another chance like this for a while so I soaked it all up while I could.

By the time noon came to pass we decided to ask around for the 'best blacksmith in town', the people were forthcoming and all directed us to one place. Making it clear that this specific individual was renowned for his talents, just the kind of guy I was looking for.

And so…

"I'm afraid I can't be of help to you lads." The dwarven smith, Kaijin, was his name. "Ya see, my blacksmithing license was recently revoked as a result I'm not allowed to craft anymore weapons."

He went on to explain his dilemma to us, apparently Dwargon was preparing for the possibility of going to war with another nation, and so had asked their blacksmiths to produce twenty magisteel weapons each within a short period of time, failure to do so would result in said smiths losing their licenses and being unable to work as blacksmiths.

Due to a lack of necessary resources, the magisteel ore, Kaijin sent three fellow dwarf brothers he had close ties with, into the mines to collect these resources, but unfortunately there was an incident that caused the mine to collapse on itself and as a result the three brothers were critically injured and crippled from the incident.

In the end, Kaijin failed to meet the required target and his smithing license was revoked. Nowadays he sold weapons and armor made by other blacksmiths who wanted to use his former fame to market their products. Most of the money went into getting the three brothers the treatment they needed and taking care of their mother too.

"I see, that's a rather dismal situation you find yourself in." I couldn't help but admit with a frown. I honestly believed that this nation was foolish to let it's most talented smith just sit around just because he failed to meet some quota. Kaijins talents were too great for him to be selling second rate equipment made by other smiths.

"Aye, so I'm afraid I can't help you. If you're looking for custom jobs I can refer you to another skilled smith in town." Kaijin said, clearly trying to divert attention from his story. I understood that a bit, even I wouldn't want to talk about my sap story to every customer that came in, he didn't need the reminder of how far he had fallen.

"I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding, you see I didn't come here for equipment, but rather I came looking for artisans. You see I'm currently in the process of building a town in the Great Forest of Jura, and some skilled artisans would go a long way to seeing its development. I want you to come and work as a blacksmith in our town. Naturally you will also be paid accordingly." I explained with a grin much to the shock of Kaijin, I'd pretty much just laid my offer on the table, but I could tell Kaijin was still hesitant so I went on to sweeten the deal, "Those three brothers you mentioned earlier, were they also artisans before the incident?"

"Yes, they worked in various fields, construction, clothing, armor and accessories. Each skilled in their fields, a shame they can no longer work." Kaijin said as he hung his head, I could feel the guilt rolling off him in waves through [desire, he obviously blames himself for what happened to them and now he had nothing to show for the price they paid.

"Perfect!" I exclaimed with a smile prompting both Kaijin and Rigur to look at me in confusion. "Kaijin, I want you and the dwarf brothers to work in my village. Should you accept I will see to it those three are fully healed and capable of working again by the end of the day."

"W-what? But how, many of the best doctors Dwargon has to offer have tried?" Kaijin asked, wanting to believe that I could do what I was promising but also not wanting to get his hopes up.

I quickly produced a bottle of healing potion from my [Stomach] and showed it to Kaijin.

"Using this. Its a full healing potion, a bit of surgery, magic and this stuff and those three will be as good as new. They'll be able to live out their lives as if this incident never happened." I explained, Kaijin reached out to take the bottle, holding it and looking at it in awe and wonder as if it was the holy grail itself. He then turned towards me skeptically.

"And all you want in exchange is for us to work for you?" He seemed to be having doubts about me specifically now. Which was fair, even I would be cautious around a guy who just showed up and claimed to be able to fix my problems in exchange for being his subordinate.

It sounded a lot like making a deal with a devil.

"Yeah, I'm building a village currently comprised of goblins and wolves within the Great Forest of Jura. But as you'd expect they lack the know-how of building and clothing. Your craftsmanship along with that of the three bothers would be greatly appreciated." I told him, best to lay out the deal as it was.

"I see," Kaijin muttered before turning towards Rigur who had excused himself and was now taking a look at the various weapons and armor in shop, "I take it he's one of yours then?"

"Yes, his name is Rigur, and he's the goblin chiefs son." I told him.

"Hmm…you also mentioned something about pay earlier." Kaijin said as he turned back towards me, it was at this that I grinned. Based on some details I had learned from [Great Sage] I had the perfect way to pay these dwarves.

It was here that I brought out two magic ores with large chucks of 100% magisteel growing out of them. The magistone ores I had stored within me had been further refined into magisteel ore upon being exposed to more magicules. I could tell just by the way that he froze and his eyes widened that I had already gotten him.

"Now this is some high quality stuff!" Kaijin practically yelled as he leaned down to inspect the ores, I ignored Rigur who seemed to jump a bit at the sudden outburst, only to resume whatever he was doing upon seeing there was nothing wrong. "I've never seen magisteel this pure, not to mention such a large amount on one ore. It shouldn't be impossible to make such a find! And you have two of them?! Do you have any idea how valuable these ores are?!"

"I've been told that a magic ore of 50% magisteel is enough for someone to live a noble life for a good twenty years or so but even then it's extremely rare, given that this is 100% and of larger than average size, I'd assume its a lot more valuable. And have a lot more than that actually." I said calmly with a smirk causing him to snap my head towards me. [Great Sage] had been kind enough to fill me in on the details and potential values of the magisteel ores I had in possession.

Magisteel of higher qualities were so rare due to the fact that they could only be found places with high amounts of magicules. But such magic centric areas were usually filled with powerful monsters of high ranks that other nations usually implored the help of the Western Holy Church, an anti-monster religion that specializes in monster subjugation quests and holy magic, to help them make their way through to the ores. But that came with the disadvantage of the Church charging ridiculous prices for the service or demanding a greater share of the loot. And even then, the highest they got was 60% magisteel in those ores if they were extremely lucky, with common finds being 30% magisteel or less.

The value in magisteel weapons and armor came in the fact that they were used to craft unique grade weapons that are very durable and heat resistance, being able to withstand even lava. They possessed a unique trait that allowed them to 'grow' with their user, by absorbing their magicules. The more magisteel a weapon has the more conductive it is to magicules, making it more efficient in battle as well as absorbing magicules faster for its evolution.

"And before you ask, no I won't tell you where I found them. But I am willing to pay you and your friends two ores every four years. Not only that, but you'll be working with these kinds of products regularly as well."

"Aye, you drive a hard bargain Rimuru. I'd be a fool to turn down such a generous offer." Kaijin said as he stood up and stretched his hand out for me to shake, I couldn't help the genuine smile that made its way onto my face as I stretched out my own hand.

"It's only so generous because I pay for high quality work Kaijin, I'm looking forward to working with you Kaijin." I said with a toothy grin as we had a firm handshake to solidify our agreement. Kaijin genuinely seemed like a pretty swell dude, and I could tell we would get along just fine for a long time to come.

What followed after solidifying our deal was Kaijin taking me to the hospital where the three dwarf brothers were. Rigur had to wait out in the lounge as we were taken to the room where the three were. Not wanting to make a big deal out of things until everything was said and done I asked Kaijin to keep a tight lid on why we were here.

Once we were in the room the three brothers were being kept in the extremely hot and sexy elven nurse left us to our business, telling us to call her if we needed anything.

…I could certainly think of a few things in that moment.

《Hmph!》

'Ow!' I mentally yelled with a flinch as I felt a spike of pain from deep within my mind, it felt like my mind had been pricked by a needle, 'Great Sage…did you just sting me or something?'

《Negative: I am here to serve the best interests of my master. Injuring you would be contradictory to my purpose.》

I could have sworn there was a lot of sarcasm behind that statement, but with Great Sage's even tone it was almost impossible to tell, either way the fact that Great Sage hadn't identified a threat mentally attacking me proved that it was the one responsible, even if it wouldn't admit it.

《...》

With a chuckle I brought myself to reality and turned towards Kaijin who was looking at the three beds of unconscious dwarves. I could feel the weight of his guilt through [desire] and man was it a lot. If it wasn't for the skill I wouldn't have been able to tell at all due to how schooled his face was.

Turning to the bedridden dwarves I couldn't help but cringe a bit at the sight. Whatever had happened to them in the mine had really done a number of them. Missing limbs, burns, gashes, large scars and a whole bunch of life support tools connected to them. They looked like they'd seen war didn't come back in one piece.

'Great Sage, not that I doubt you ability or anything, but are you sure we can fix this? It looks pretty heavy?' I asked these weren't simple wounds like the ones one got in a fight, these had scarred over time.

《Affirmative: though the damage is more extensive than we initially assumed it is still within my ability to operate.》

'Alright, in the house!' It was a relief to know I could count on, otherwise I don't know how I would have been able to face Kaijin and tell him I couldn't deliver. I prided myself in being a man of my word, and I promised Kaijin these three would be healed and I have every intention of sticking by that word.

"Alright Kaijin, I'll go ahead and start now, this may get a bit bloody and disturbing so…" I didn't know if he'd be able to stomach watching someone more or less get dissected, but he merely shook his head sideways.

"No, I'll stay. It's the least I can do after they got hurt trying to get me that ore." Kaijin said as he took a seat in a nearby chair. I merely nodded my head, I wasn't gonna tell the guy what he could and couldn't do, especially when it concerned his friends.

I turned back towards the patients, putting on the necessary gear, that we had acquired on the way and stored in my [Stomach].

'Alright Great Sage, do your thing.'

《Understood: Switching over to autopilot mode.》

I felt my consciousness get pulled into the depths of my mind as [Great Sage] took the reigns in controlling my body. It was a strange experience, watching and feeling my body move despite not being in control. I wondered if this was what it felt like to be Great Sage.

And so the operations began, it was a slow and fragile process that took a total of three hours, a lot longer than I had expected given the efficiency of the full healing potion. But Great Sage explained that they had to remove all the damaged tissue and flesh in order to maximize the effect of the healing potion. And removing all that at once could kill the patient if they weren't careful, meaning we had to deal with one injury at a time until we were done with the whole thing.

I spent most of that time browsing through my skills and checking on the progress of the scanning of [Unlimited Imprisonment, which is probably what Great Sage spent most of its free time doing as well, trying to find the best way to optimize my skills. As expected

I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way for me to communicate with my mother? It must get pretty lonely within the empty space of [Stomach]. Then again she had survived three hundred years within the sealed cave, another hundred or so before being finally freed should be nothing to her, I hope.

For now all I could do was protect the land she had entrusted to me and maybe make it better than it was when she got sealed. I wanted her to be proud of my accomplishments by the time I gained the data and power necessary to free her.

I had been reborn into this world from my old one, and as the child of one of the most powerful beings no less. And while the concept of seeking my mothers approval may seem childish given my adult mind, I knew it also had something to do with my nature as a dragon.

In the numerous games and manga I had access to in my previous life, dragons were always portrayed as prideful, greedy and powerful creatures by nature. And I couldn't help but wonder if my draconic nature would affect me in any way, or maybe it already had and I just hadn't realized it.

Either way, I was determined to do my heritage proud as the son of the storm dragon. Though I probably wouldn't go around razing villages as she did.

About three hours later, all three dwarves had been fully healed and restored to health. Though the excessive use of healing potions had sapped a lot of their strength, meaning they were probably going to sleep through the night and then some. According to [Great Sage] they were mostly likely to wake up around noon tomorrow, so that gave us plenty of time.

"Rimuru! I can't thank you enough for what you've done!" Kaijin said as he immediately bowed at a ninety degree angle, "I honestly believed they wouldn't ever be able to walk again, but now…" he stood straight and I could see the tears gathering in the corner of his eyes from gratitude.

"Don't worry about it, I'm a man of my word and I'm glad I could help. The potions heal them but also tax the body, they'll probably come around after some proper rest. They'll probably wake around noon tomorrow." I explained to which Kaijin nodded his head in understanding whilst whipping the tears from his eyes. "With that being said I should probably get looking for an inn or something for Rigur and I since we'll probably be here for another day or two."

"Aye, under normal circumstances I would offer to host you, but my home is in a less than ideal state." Kaijin explained as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

I didn't think much about it, any man in his situation would have spiraled into despair and depression. The guy had lost his job and license to craft, something he was passionate about and an art he spent his whole life honing. He had basically lost three of his friends to a request he made. And now he had been selling third rate gear made by other dwarves of lesser skill.

Even would be depressed if I was in his shoes. So his house being disorganized was no surprise given his situation.

"While I can't host you, I can at the very least do this much." Kaijin said as he pulled out a bag of coins and held them out for me to take. I was actually kinda shocked, "I figured you wouldn't have any money on you given everything you've told me. Am I right?"

"Well…you're not wrong, but-"

"Then take it, about three dozen silver coins. It should be enough for your stay and still have plenty left over to grab two or three meals." Kaijin said with a grin as he pushed the bag into my arms, "Don't worry about me, I've still got plenty saved up from my glory days. Not that I'll be needing it after tomorrow." Kaijin said with a boisterous laugh. Hearing that put me at ease about taking the money.

"Okay then, thanks Kaijin." I said as I nodded my head appreciatively. To be honest I hadn't really considered the fact that we didn't have any money. I guess I may have traded a few pieces of the magisteel I have for some coin, but Kaijin had just saved me the trip. The gesture in itself meant a lot more, as it proved to me that he could be a trusted ally.

"No worries, but I have a question." Kaijin stated as he turned back towards the three unconscious dwarf brothers before turning back towards me, "What should I tell the nurses or doctors who come in and ask about them?"

"Just tell them it was me, though refrain from mentioning our deal. I'm just a majin acquaintance you once sold weapons to who used magic to heal your friends. Don't mention my possession of magisteel or full potions." There was no point in trying to hide that I had healed the two brothers, but hiding my potions and ores was a wise move, as those were more likely to land me in bigger trouble from greedy folks and stuff like that.

"That's probably for the best." Kaijin said as he nodded his head in agreement, good to see that he saw the logic in my words.

"I'll come by your shop tomorrow around sunset, should be enough time for them to not only wake but for you guys to catch up, and fill them in in everything." I said, obviously I was going to talk to them a bit myself regarding how they felt about things. I wasn't one for forced labor so if they weren't up for it then that's that.

It would be a shame, but at least I would have gotten Kaijin. His talents as a blacksmith alone would more than make up the difference.

And so with that my meeting with Kaijin was concluded for the time being, but I left that hospital feeling confident in my alliance with the blacksmith and very hopeful of the other dwarf artisans would also come back to Jura with us.

Time flew fast and before I knew it it was already the following sunset the following day.

Rigur and I had stayed the night in a decent in room, the young goblin heir fretting over the fact that he would be sharing a room with me and offering to sleep outside and something since that would be taboo.

It took me a whole thirty minutes just to convince him to get in, and another twenty just so he would use the other bed in the room rather than sleeping on the floor.

Like I get the whole loyalty and subservient thing but that was a step too far, even for me.

Still we slept had, had breakfast in the morning, and went around town for most of the day. I spent quite a bit getting souvenir for some of the ogres.

I was probably worrying them by staying away to long, the dryads should have delivered my message by now and most likely answered any questions they had. Though they were two ogres in particular I could see fretting about my absence more than the rest.

The childish purple haired ogress, and the ogre princess. I'd grown closer to them than most of the other ogres in my time there, so the least I could do was bring a gift, a peace offering of sorts to save my hide if need be.

Aside from that I bought some other stuff for some of the ogres like the rest of the royal family, annoying redhead included.

I soon found the money Kaijin had given me finished so I went with my initial plan and sold a decent sized magisteel fragment at a blacksmith shop earning me about a bunch of gold coins. With this I was free to splurge and I'd still be left with plenty of change after I was done.

Next on the list was getting essentials for the goblin village, whilst we would be having artisans and stuff to help with the production of clothes, I was expecting a major population boom by the time we got back due to the goblin parties I'd ordered to go and recruit other goblin villages. Meaning it was best to buy some clothes and other basic necessities.

I went over the things with Rigur and we ended up getting basic clothing. It should at least work to properly cover everyone and the possible new additions, at least until we started making our own clothes.

We also got seeds for the goblins to plant and grow their own food outside of meat and fruits, but we also got word that some of the plants wouldn't do well in high magicule areas and that they might mutate. I had a basic ideas on which plants worked and which ones didn't thanks to the ones I saw in the ogre village, but regardless I took all types of seeds I found in the shop. Some plant mutations whilst inedible and even poisonous to humans were tasty and edible for monsters. So it would just have to be trial and error until we figured out what worked and what didn't.

We got a few other stuff too before time seemed to catch up with us and we finally headed for Kaijins workshop.

"Aaahh Rimuru, I've been expecting you for a while now." Kaijin said jovially as he opened the door wide, his mood much brighter than it had been, meaning that everything had turned out well. "Come on in you two!" He said as he cleared the way for Rigur and I.

With thankful nods we made our way into the shop, and I immediately took note of the three dwarf brothers approaching the entrance. They looked as good as new, no scars, blemishes or disfigurement to show any sign of their previous crippled state. I wouldn't even know they had gone through such a horrific incident if I hadn't seen them at the hospital just the other day.

"Hey, you must be Rimuru!" The eldest of the bothers, Garm if I remembered correctly, greeted warmly as they approached us, "Kaijins told us a bit about you, and it seems we have you to thank for healing us!"

"Yeah, you really saved our bacons!" Dord the middle brother added in gratitude.

The last of the three brothers, Myrd, yet surprisingly the tallest, merely nodded his head and hummed in agreement, if it weren't for [Desire] I doubt I would have been able to tell just how grateful he was. It seemed that he wasn't the talkative type, oh well that's fine with me.

"Don't worry too much about it, Kaijin and I had a deal, and I'm a man of my word." I said as I tried to downplay their praise, [Great Sage] was the one who had done all the work anyways. I doubt I would have been been able to do it on my own.

《Hehehe…》

'Hey why are you getting all smug!'

《I was not, it was probably just your imagination.》

'Riiighht' I didn't know [Great Sage] could be sarcastic and sassy too, it seemed Great Sage had the potential to be emotional, but I rarely saw that side of her so it was easy to forget sometimes.

"I told them about our deal Rimuru." Kaijin said as he walked up to the group, "They all agreed that they'd be willing to join in and the contract and come work in your town."

"Really?" I asked as I turned towards the three dwarf brothers, each of them shooting me a grin and a thumbs up, "I was honestly prepared to do some convincing. Don't feel obligated to work for me because I saved your lives though, that was just part of the deal I made with Kaijin." I stated, making it clear they didn't have to work for me, but rather it was just something Kaijin and I had discussed.

"Hahaha, don't worry about it too much Rimuru. While you saving us had some sway in the decision, the main reason is because the three of us want to stick with Kaijin, we've been as close as you can imagine for a long time." Garm reassured.

"Besides the deal you were offering is just to sweet to pass up. Two large ores of Magisteel every four years?! Do you have any idea just how valuable that stuff is?!" Dord asked, looking at me as though I was insane for giving away such valuable stuff, which was probably a bit fair, but given the circumstances it was a bit fair.

"I have a decent idea, I sold a small piece earlier whilst we were out shopping and got about a thousand gold coins or so. I was pretty surprised at how valuable the stuff is all things considered." I said, I had nearly had a heart attack after that exchange, the things we had bought afterwards just didn't compare to that wealth seeing as we only used about 20 gold coins in total.

"Well those larger ores of yours would sell for nearly a hundred times as much! Between the four of us that's fifty thousand gold each, that's more than enough for most people to sit pretty for the rest of their lives if handled well! And you'll be paying us this every four years!" Well when he put it like that it did sound a bit ridiculous.

If I had to give a ruff estimate of the value of gold coins in this world were equivalent to a hundred dollars from my old world, silver coins equivalent to ten dollars and copper coins equivalent to a dollar. 1 gold = 10 silver = 100 copper. That was the basic monetary system of this world. The coins were used universally across the many nations of this world but their exact value depends on which nation you're in.

"Well I'm only paying so much because I'll be counting on you guys for a lot of things. We're building a village from ground up, and as time passes it might even expand into a town depending on how things progress. You won't just be working, but I'll also be counting on you to teach the residence your talents so they are also self sufficient." I explained to them, with these three l teaching the goblins their arts and crafts, things were bound to progress more smoothly as the village grew and expanded.

"Hahahaha, you can count on us Rimuru. We'll make sure to deliver your moneys worth." Kaijin said with a grin and a thumbs up while the dwarf brothers nodded their heads. It was good to know that I would be able to count on them. "Anyways Rimuru I was thinking we should celebrate tonight. The recovery of these three as well as the start of a new friendship!"

"A celebration? What did you have in mind?" I asked rather curious, the lecherous grin that appeared on all for dwarfs faces made me all the more curious.

"You'll totally love it! It's a place filled with lots of cute elf girls!" Garm declared as he suddenly appeared right beside me.

"Elves?!" My interest was suddenly peaked.

"Yeah, its a bar called Butterflies of the Night and its loaded with lots of beautiful women! They'll wait on you hand and foot all night long!" Dord explained with excitement, Myrd appearing beside him also nodding his head frantically in agreement.

"Come on Rimuru, you've gotta come! Think of it as a last hoorah before we leave this kingdom." Kaijin said before a wicked grin suddenly made its way onto his face, "Besides, don't think I didn't see the way you were checking out that cute elf nurse from the hospital."

'-ack! Caught red handed!' I felt some heat rising to my face from being called out like that. I had to admit the idea was extremely enticing. From the moment they mentioned 'elf girls' I knew I was going to go to this bar with them. No way I was going to miss out on such a unique experience.

…which is how I found myself standing outside the elf bar with the four dwarves and Rigur. I had to admit there was a certain excitement that came with the thought of actually seeing and being served by pretty elf ladies, though I had to quickly calm my pubescent hormones before they manifested.

Hold on…

"Kaijin?" I called out as I turned to the blacksmith, "Would a place like this even except someone like me here? I mean, I basically look like an adolescent human child." I pointed out, it was something that I hadn't really thought about before now.

Strangely enough my age hadn't been an issue the whole time I had been in Dwargon, nobody had questioned me about it and the more I thought about the more I realized nobody had treated me like a child either. It was almost bizarre.

"Hehehe, there's no need to worry about that Rimuru. The aura and presence you give of makes it clear that you're not human, and Majins come in all shapes and sizes. You wouldn't be the first young looking lad to visit this place and I doubt you'll be the last!" Kaijin said with a pat to my back, this guy was being way too casual with me.

Then again, I didn't mind it too much. Thus far everyone within the great forest had treated me as either a powerful entity or their lord and master, having a casual friendly relationship with someone was actually quite refreshing.

"If you say so." I said with the shrug of my shoulders, if there wasn't a problem then there was no problem.

It was then a brilliant and perverted idea came to mind. One that would allow me to get physically closer to the elf girls of this establishment!

"Hey guys, I should probably tell you that this body you're seeing is just one of two forms that I have." I said bringing the attention of the four dwarves to me.

"Lord Rimuru?!" Rigur suddenly called out in alarm.

"It's fine Rigur." I said with a nod, calming the panicking goblin, this prompted dwarves to tilt their heads in confusion, "The truth is…"

I promptly shifted from my human form into my dragon hatchling form, flapping my wings to keep myself in mid air.

"...I'm an elemental dragon!" I declared proudly with my head held high.

" Whaaat?!"

---

Authors Notes:

And that's a wrap. The ending may have seemed a bit rushed there but that's honestly because I felt the chapter was becoming too long.

I originally planned to type 5k words per chapter, but now I'm seeing myself getting to about 8k to 10k words. Not that its a bad thing, but I'm just not one for lengthy chapters.

Either way I hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to ask questions, review and comment please!

I'll do my best to make sure this doesn't happen again, and keep my two weeks post time, but I can't make any promises.

Still, one thing I am glad about is that this fic has entered triple digits in terms of likes and follows. I will do my best to make sure you guys have a reason to continue reading this fic and make it worthwhile.

While on the subject I want to once more give a shout out to Omni-Creator Kami of Anime my co-author and the one who reviews my stuff, be sure to give him your thanks as well!

PS: I do not own any of the cannon characters in this fic but OC's are mine!

---

It took about five minutes for me to explain and get the dwarves to calm down after I told them about the fact that I was in fact a dragon hatchling. I held off on telling them about my heritage and connection to my mother, the Storm Dragon, the reason being I didn't feel safe talking about that within the walls of a foreign nation.

Still though, they were pretty accepting of my race after the initial shock and quickly moved past it so we could enjoy the rest of the night celebrating with some pretty elf girls!

Now, you may be wondering why I was willing to risk revealing my dragon form in foreign soil, my reasoning was simple.

My current form was cute as hell! I'd learnt that lesson after getting smothered by the goblina (a stimulating experience given their current clothing situation) and the little goblin kids who wanted to play (but thankfully knew better than to try to pull my tail or something like that).

Needless to say I planned to use this small and adorable form to get up and close with some really hot elves!

Ding Ding!

The doorbell to the bar went off as we entered the elf bar went off as we made our way inside. Immediately we were greeted.

"Welcome Masters!"

'Holy shit!' I could have sworn that in that moment, my heart rate skyrocketed and my body became very warm! I lost sight of everything but the beautiful elves that stood in front of us in different cute and alluring poses that emphasized their attractive and cute features

They were a wide variety of these babes! Hot curvy blondes, small and petite child-like elves, a dark elf with booty and thighs to die for, and even a mature milf like elf! They were all cute, pretty and sexy in their own ways. Dressed in revealing attires and jewelries that were meant to bring out their most desirable and attractive features.

Surely this place was elf paradise!

And I intended to dive right in!

"Oh my gosh!" I was literally pulled out of my thoughts when I was snatched from mid air by one of the elves and pressed into her rather soft and warm bosom, "A baby dragon, you're so cute!" the blonde elf squealed as she squeezed and pet my head, running her hand along the back of my neck in a rather soothing manner that just felt so good.

"No fair, let me hold him too!" Before I could drown myself in the warmth and squishiness of my current position I was snatched away from the elf holding me into the hands of another, before she too pressed me into her larger and squishier bossoms!

'Out of the kiddie pool and into the deep end!' I mentally yelled in victory as my entire head was stuffed between two large mommy milkers!

Nearly forty years, nearly forty years of age, faithfully serving within special forces and CIA in my previous life, and yet this was the most physical contact I had with women. It certainly made the pain of dying and reincarnating certainly worth it.

This warm flesh, this sweet aroma, I was almost tempted to bit the mound of flesh, but that would be outright sexual assault and might land me in trouble if I reveal my human form.

Just as I was about to blissfully pass out from a lack of air, I was pulled away from the rather mature elf and pulled into the arms of the chocolate skinned dark elf! She was dressed in a belly dancer outfit that left her midsection and curves completely open, also revealing those smooth and slim legs and round behind!

"Aaawww, you really are so adorable." The dark elf said as she sensually rubbed my head and neck in a way that actually made me purr!

I quickly found myself being squashed by four sets of breasts as these elf girls each wanted a piece of me.

'I wouldn't mind dying again right now…' I thought as I basked in the warmth of the soft flesh all around me. Truly I'd been blessed to be reborn into this world!

"Hey Rimuru, don't you think you're enjoying yourself a little bit too much right now?" The teasing voice of Kaijin snapped me out of my paradise as my body stiffened like a deer in headlights. Quickly recovering, I turned towards Kaijin.

"I'm pretty sure any straight man would sink into bliss under the attention of such beautiful women! So don't judge me!" I shot back at the blacksmith, still a bit embarrassed at having been seen in such a state by my future subordinates.

"'Beautiful'? My , you really are a flatterer!" The blonde elf in green commented with a squeal and a blush as she and the other three elves began to smother me with affection once more.

I chose to ignore the toothy grins I saw coming from Kaijin and the dwarf brothers through [magic sense]. I also chose to ignore Rigur in that moment who had gone stiff as a board when one of the elves approached him, given that he wasn't responding to anything it's safe to assume that his body had shut down. Hopefully he didn't embarrass me by doing something stupid.

"Alright everybody, who's up for some drinks?!" The eldest of the elves asked.

"Me!"

And so we all sat down and got some drinks, talking about a bunch of stuff along the way. I had the best seat in the entire house, on the soft laps of the blonde elf in green from earlier, and a honey blonde elf on my left side also attending to me.

This was truly paradise my friends.

I talked to Kaijin and the dwarf brothers about my recent birth and adventures, leaving out the part of my mother and reincarnation of course, and they told me a bit more about their lives as well.

I even went on to tell the dwarves a bit about the situation in Jura and my plans for it in the long term.

"You must be pretty strong if you were welcomed into an ogre village, Rimuru." Kaijin said as he downed a drink, "I mean I know you're a dragon and all, but given your age it's a bit unexpected."

"Maybe, I don't think myself as that strong, when compared to the likes of demon lords or even the storm dragon, I'm just a small fry." I said with a shrug.

I knew I was strong, my mother had told me just after she named me that I might just be the strongest creature within the entire Jura forest, and thus far I'd yet to see any creature strong enough to contradict her words. The area where I truly lacked was fighting experience.

While my experiences from my previous life in the military and special forces meant I wasn't starting on ground zero, I was still far behind in terms of what was required to survive in this world.

"Comparing yourself to a demon lord and true dragons is a little unfair. If you're strong enough to earn the respect of an entire ogre village then you have to be at least A-rank or above." Kaijin said as he looked at Rimuru with a knowing grin.

"Maybe. I haven't had the chance to test my strength in full, so I wouldn't really know." I said with a shrug. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.

I truly hadn't fought anyone who could offer me a decent challenge, but I had a feeling that Treyni at the very least would prove to be entertaining. She was by far the strongest individual I'd come across in Jura, even stronger than that majin Gelmud. Still though, that didn't give me a measurement as to how strong I really was, and that was something I needed to fix as soon as possible.

Looks like a training trip may be in order after I settle a few things in Jura. Man, I'm probably gonna get my head chewed off by the princess and purple haired ogress if I leave so soon after coming back.

But I needed to know my limits in order to fight effectively.

Oh well, there were still plenty of other things that needed to be done before I could even consider leaving to train. Like making sure the goblin village was self-sufficient, visiting the Dryad territory, maybe visiting a few of the other monster settlements in Jura and going back to the ogre village.

"Hahaha, so modest! I hope that we work together for a long time Rimuru, I can tell we're gonna be great friends!" Kaijin said as raised his cup, grabbing my own with my small dragon hands I also raised it.

"Same here!" With that we both chugged the alcohol down to the last drop.

In this moment it just felt good to be alive.

"Rigur…"

"Y-Yes sir!"

I couldn't help but sigh at the young goblin heir. The guy had been seated next to a cute honey blonde elf and had been as stiff as a rock the entire time. The poor elf had tried buttering him up with wine and flattery, but the guy just wouldn't budge.

I mean, I knew Rigur had a bit of a serious side that came from more or less being the one that people relied on after his brother died, but we were in a bar filled with cute elf girls, if there was one place he was meant to let go, it was here. Him being all serious or on edge makes it impossible for me to fully relax.

"Try to chill and have fun, dude. We came here to find artisans to help your village and make them feel more secure. And we succeeded in doing just that by getting the cream of the crop." I told Rigur as I gestured towards the dwarves who were chatting and flirting with their respective elf partners. "This is the first step into creating a safe and strong home for your people. For now, though, let's just relax and have some fun okay?" I said with a relaxing smile and a nod.

"Yes sir." Rigur said with a sigh as his muscles relaxed, guess when one lived their entire life at the bottom of the food chain, and had more or less accepted that as their place, they couldn't help but feel stressed out in new environments, "I'll try to enjoy myself a little."

"Good boy." I said with a nod, before looking down at my cup and noting that it was empty once more, "Can I get another refill please!" I called out to the bartending elf.

"My , you really are quite the drinker aren't you?" The elf lady in a slim purple dress commented as she came holding a bottle of wine.

"It's not necessarily the drink, but the one serving it that makes me want to order more. If you're not careful, I might just finish your entire stock." I complimented the elf lady as she poured me another drink, giving me a generous view of her cleavage as she did so. That one was probably a bit too cheesy, but whatever, that's what these kinds of establishments were all about anyways.

"Stop it." She responded with a minor blush, "You must be quite the charmer where you're from, throwing compliments left and right like that." She went on to tease.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm popular, but I do have my fair share of admirers. Nobody can resist my cuteness, after all." I responded with a cheeky grin as the elf lady giggled. I thanked her for the drink before she left for the counters once more.

"Oh hey, Mr. Dragon." A few minutes later, the dark elf seated next to Kaijin, and across me, suddenly called out, catching my attention.

"Yeah, wassup?"

"Would you like to try something… special?" The way she said that last word instantly caught my attention. That and the way she was sensually moving her hands in front actually made me tense at the potential implications. "It's a rare talent of mine, and many people in town have said that I'm the best at it."

'What is this lady saying?!' My cheeks were turning red as I tried to get my head out of the gutter, but it was already too late. My thoughts had already begun to spiral, 'When she says special, does she mean… that kind of special?!'

I didn't know if I was prepared for this, heck I didn't even know this establishment offered those kinds of services! What was I supposed to do?

'Damn it, it's barely been five months since I came into this world, and I might be swiping that V-card?! What kind of cruel joke is fate playing here?'

I'd had more than my fair share of copes and feels, but I wasn't expecting something like this too. Still though, I'd face this hurdle like a man!

"Mr. Dragon!"

"Y-yes!" I snapped out of my fantasies, cheeks still red, as I turned towards the dark elf. Only to see…a crystal ball in her hands, 'Fortune telling, damn it! I should have known it was too good to be true.' I mentally cursed as a wave of disappointment washed over me and put out the fire that had been ignited deep within. I tried not to let it show by putting on a confused act instead, tilting my sideways. "What kind of things can you see with that?" I asked, both genuinely curious whilst also trying to cover my humiliation.

"Well, let's see…anything really." The dark elf responded with a smile. She must be really confident in her abilities. Still though, the fact that she could see anything meant I could more or less ask anything, within a certain moral bound of course.

"Hmmm." I closed my eyes though. What would I want to see? When will my mother be revived? Or maybe the state of Jura in a decade or so? Heck maybe even something to do with my love life, cause there's no way I'm dying single and a virgin this time around.

I got the skill [Predator] by promising myself I would go on the prowl for women in my next life. Though this is not what I imagined it doesn't change anything! I'll find that if it's the last thing I do!

"Oohh I know! Why don't you check who he's destined to be with?!" The green eyed elf whose legs I was on suddenly declared, almost as though she had been reading my mind!

Her sudden declaration caused the chatter on the table to immediately seize as everyone turned to our direction, their curiosities clearly peaked by the topic of my love life! Nosy bastards, the lot of you!

"That's a great idea, I can do that!" The dark elf proudly declared, bringing my attention back to her again.

'Well I suppose it would be rude to chase them out or something of the sort. Not that I'd been considering it.' I jumped off the green eyed elfs legs and onto the table, giving my full attention to the dark elf.

I wouldn't deny that I was also curious about the possibility of a soul mate of mine being out there. After all, I wanted things that any normal man would want. A wife to come home to and children of my own someday. While it may seem like it's too soon to think about such stuff given my child-like human form and infant dragon body, I often reminded myself that I was above 40 years in mentality. For monsters that may not mean much given their long lifespans, but for someone who was once human, that was old enough to experience a lot.

"Alright then, here goes…" The dark elf called out as she began to wave her hands above the crystal ball she had put in her lap. I felt a small amount of magic leave her and enter the ball as she did so. "Ah, I see something!" She called out as all eyes focused on the ball.

The image swirled for a bit like tides of waters sloshing around within the thing, but eventually it cleared up. Six figures were shown within the orb, one woman and five children all of them with rather somber expressions on their faces. I couldn't help but quickly notice that some of them looked Japanese, especially the adult woman, whilst one of the kids looked to be English. Were they all otherworlders like me?

The vision went on to focus on the Japanese woman for a few more seconds, signifying that she had been the person of interest within it…the one who was supposed to be my soul mate. She was indeed beautiful, and she looked kind and gentle too, if the way she was interacting with those kids was any indication. Had it been my old life, I doubt I would have been able to approach her.

"Now that is a beautiful lady." Kaijin suddenly spoke up, pulling me out of the trance I'd entered as I soaked up as much detail as I could about my destined one.

"Oh, , are you per-!" The dark elf, who'd been perhaps about to tease me, was suddenly drawn towards the crystal ball once more when another vision began to surface. "What's this?" It was clear that she was surprised, but her lack of alarm and concern assured me it was nothing to worry about, so probably just something unusual.

When the next vision cleared up, it showed many women standing together all facing towards this way. Most of them were blurry and unidentifiable, but one could make out things like hair color and eye color, and perhaps even clothing. I could count at least fifteen or so women, six of which were fully visible.

The first person I immediately noticed was Treyni, her glowing spiritual body, vibrant green hair and eyes, and the two vines that went around her body were unmistakable.

Next to her were two oni like monsters that greatly resembled the princess and the purple haired ogres from the ogre village, with some minor differences, the main difference being they looked more human skinwise, their bodies less bulkier and more slim than before.

The princess lookalike was slightly taller, more grown and feminine, almost as though she were a young adult of nineteen to twenty years, compared to the current princess, who passed as a sixteen year old by human standards. Her horns narrower and sharper than they previously were. All in all, she looked more beautiful and refined.

As for the purple haired ogress, she looked a lot less wild, and far more refined and elegant in this image than she did at the moment. Her narrowed and slimmed out body made her assets stand out a lot more than they ever did as an ogre. I'm pretty sure by human standards she'd be a J-Cup with jugs that big. That aside, her facial expression seemed to have an almost childlike innocence to it, though I knew that was just her carefree attitude to almost everything.

The next three I didn't know personally.

The fourth girl was a fish girl of some kind. Alluring and beautiful was not enough to describe her. Exotic red hair, hypnotic green eyes, patches of soft shimmering blue scales on various parts of her skin, webbed hands and fish ears. All in all, she was a beauty, and her slim and curvy figure was no joke either, she sorta reminded me of a fairytale mermaid, but without the fishtail.

The fifth girl was one with short black hair and cold violet eyes. She wore a metal breast plate and a white cloak over it. Strapped to her waist was a sword, thinner than most, so most likely a rapier of some kind. She seemed like the type who could fight, a seasoned warrior, but clearly human. She also seemed to be Japanese judging from her facial features. Another otherworlder?

And lastly was a young elf woman who almost seemed like a child in her late teens. She was indeed beautiful like most would expect of her species. Blue-silver hair that went down past her cheeks and jade green eyes. She had a somewhat mischievous and calculating grin. I could tell from first glance that she was trouble.

The other several figures in the crystal were too blurry to make out, for what reason I wasn't quite sure. Though I could definitely tell that they were humanoid in shape, and feminine too.

What this all meant was beyond me, though I had a few guesses.

"Well, isn't this interesting." The dark elf spoke up as she looked up from the crystal ball towards me with a mischievous grin that filled me with dread, "Turns out 's love life is far more interesting than we initially thought."

"What do you mean? Is my destined one among the girls that just appeared?" I asked, everyone else seemed just as interested in the response.

"Well, that's not entirely it. Hmm, how do I put this?" The dark elf deliberately dragged on just to lift the suspense. The playful glare I sent her way caused her to giggle, "Alright, alright, I guess the best answer would be that they're all you destined ones!"

"Eeehhh?!" The collective cry of everyone on the table, myself included, seemed to surprise the dark elf as she jumped a little.

"Wa-wait, you don't actually mean…"

"That's exactly it, it turns out you may have more than one partner in your life, . Though I am rather surprised by the large number of women that will be in your life." The dark elf teased.

'A harem?! There's no way right? This isn't a typical Isekai where the MC gets reborn with OP powers and unknowingly makes a large number of girls fall for him!' I tried to deny as I rapidly shook my head sideways, 'I couldn't get ONE girlfriend in my previous life, just one, and now here you're telling me I might just have many partners!' This was just crazy, and maybe a bit unfair to my old self.

"Ahahahaha!" Kaijins boisterous laugh pulled me out of my thoughts, " You're one lucky man Rimuru! Though maybe a bit greedy too, taking all those beautiful women for yourself!"

"Hey! I'll have you know I don't have any women yet!" I called out defiantly

"Oh? So you and Lady Treyni aren't involved? I assumed it was so after I saw her within the crystal." Rigur admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, are you already familiar with some of those ladies Rimuru?" Kaijin asked teasingly.

"I only recognised three of them, but I'm not involved with any of them." I quickly emphasized before they could get any ideas.

I wouldn't deny that there was probably something there for the princess and purple haired ogress, but I hadn't really thought about it as romantic feelings or whatever.

But now…

"Still though, who would have thought one of your future brides would be none other than Hinata Sakaguchi?" Kaijin said, his expression surprisingly turning serious as everyone else on the table actually looked concerned.

Given the name it was easy to conclude that this person was Japanese, and of the women shown from the crystal only two of them fit the description. The first being the lady who had been with the kids, and the second being the only visible human girl in the crowd of women earlier.

"I know right, given her reputation and status, you'd think she wouldn't want to be involved with monsters at all. Wonder what the Western Holy Church would think?" Garm spoke up.

I was instantly concerned when he mentioned something about a church. Being ex-special forces I didn't really have good memories of anything religious. And if memory called, churches were usually associated with some kind of holy or pure magic which was super effective against monsters. Which meant I potentially had a natural enemy already, even if I hadn't known it yet.

The fact that this Hinata girl may be from there was bound to be problematic. Oh well, no point worrying about it right now, that would be future me's problem.

"Not only that, but the elf lady that appeared in that image, wasn't that…" The green eyed elf spoke up as she turned towards the honey blonde elf next to us. Said elf nodded her head in confirmation, meaning they both knew who the elf lady shown in the crystal was. Turning to the other elves on the table I could tell they all knew who she was.

"Are you going to clue us in?" I asked after a few seconds had passed.

"Sorry but we can't do that." The lavender dressed mature elf responded with a smile, "Besides, isn't it more exciting if you figure out who she is for yourself!" She added as she clasped her hands in front of her.

I wanted to say no, that she might as well just tell me now since I'd had my share of surprises. But I quickly realized that if they wanted to tell me then they would have done so already. I sensed no ill intent so whoever this elf was must not be someone they feel is a danger to me, or at least they don't believe she would do me harm.

"I guess so…" I relented with a sigh.

"Now that I think about it…'' one of the younger elves on the table suddenly spoke up, her appearance was akin to that of a twelve year old but I knew better than to assume that, "...I've heard that it's not all that uncommon for male dragons to claim multiple lovers and spouses, especially those that are sentient and powerful enough to transform into human form! '' She said out loud with the innocence of a child, though the blush on her cheeks was easily visible.

"Oh? Ey, Rimuru." Garm suddenly called out with a mischievous grin on his face, "I'm pretty sure you have a human form yourself don't you?" He called out, my left eyebrow twitching in minor annoyance at his teasing.

'Haven't I been humiliated enough for one day?!'

"Oh yeah, and despite the young body he has quite the looks!" Dord joined in seeing where his brother was taking this, "I bet given time he'll be quite the looker!"

"Hahaha! Given all that, it's no wonder he'll amass such a large number of gorgeous women!" Kaijin said as he downed another cup of wine.

I couldn't help but grumble incoherent words as I turned away from everyone. There was a reason I'd chosen to come in here in my current form, if they revealed I had a human form, the elves may not feel as comfortable with the rather generous amount of physical contact they've been giving me.

If these dwarves ruined this for me…

"I wouldn't worry about it too much ." The dark elf spoke up with a reassuring smile, "No future is set in stone. Fortune telling just shows one of many possible outcomes. The women shown could all be your destined ones, but in the end you may end up with only a few or one of them, or maybe all or none. It's all on you now." She explained.

I took in those words and soaked them up as much as I could. That's right, I was in charge of my own future, the thought of having so many women wasn't something I was against, it had just been an unexpected revelation. Still, I would rather meet these people personally and get to know them before concluding that they were people I'd like to settle down with.

"My, my, now isn't this an interesting sight." A new voice suddenly declared. Turning to my right I saw a man wearing a white cloak held together by two golden brooches. Underneath that he wore a dark brown coat and white shirt.

"Oh great, if it isn't Minister Vesta." Kaijin grumbled, his mood clearly ruined by the presence of this man.

It took a second to connect the dots, but I quickly realized that this was the man responsible for Kaijin more or less losing his job due to the license revoking terms of delivering those magisteel swords.

"To be honest, I'm surprised to see you here, Kaijin. I wasn't sure you could afford such luxuries anymore, given your situation." Vesta said arrogantly as he came closer to our table.

This guy was giving me bad vibes through and through, I just wanted him as far away from me as possible, but I was also curious to see how this would go.

"You know, I recently received word that you had to beg some foreign majin to heal those crippled henchmen of yours. Now I see there was merit to those words." He taunted as he cast a glance towards the three dwarf brothers. I could sense the rage building up on all four dwarves at that, but aside from a tightened fists and minor glares their expressions were schooled, "I wonder what you had to trade in exchange for such a grand favor, you're already a failure and disgrace who isn't allowed to craft weapons within Dwargon's borders and I doubt you had the money to actually pay for said treatment. So pray tell Kaijin, to what devil did you sell your soul?"

Wow…this guy was really laying the asshole attitude real thick. I could tell that Kaijn desperately wanted to sock the guy. He'd not only insulted him, but the dwarf brothers and myself as well. That he hadn't stood up and done so was a testament to his self-control, I doubt I would have been able to do the same. Then again, I most likely would have flared my aura or something, or maybe not…wouldn't want to spook the pretty elves, after all.

"What does it matter to you, Vesta? They're all healed up and better than ever, that's all that matters to me." Kaijin said as he closed his eyes in annoyance and took a sip from his cup, before looking back at the minister with a cheeky smirk, "And as far as jobs go, the four of us are actually set. We found work outside of Dwargon, where I can continue my work with even greater materials and far better pay than what I had here. And it's thanks to Rimuru here!" Kaijin said as he raised his glass to me, prompting me to do the same.

"I'm the lucky one, really. I came to Dwargon looking for artisans for the town I'm building, and everyone in town referred to Kaijin as the best blacksmith that Dwargon had to offer, with some mentioning the talents of the three brothers that worked closely with him. Their talents stand out, which says a lot given that Dwargon is a nation well known for its craftsmanship." I said, the minister looked shocked to see me speaking up. Whether that was because of my current form or something else I didn't care.

He also seemed to be getting annoyed at the generous amount of praise I was giving the dwarves. Which was the effect I had been aiming for, this guy was a classic asshole with a vendetta against Kaijin. I was gonna rub salt in the wound a bit more just for the kicks of it.

"So naturally, when I met Kaijin and he informed me of his circumstances, I had to pitch in and help. Their lives were negatively impacted whilst in service of Dwargon, and in the end, they were more or less left to themselves. I admit that I may have leveraged his situation, but the results made everyone happy. Kaijin gets to continue his works as a blacksmith, getting to work with better materials than are available here, and a much greater salary. Same with the Dwarf brothers, considering that the town I'm building is from the ground up, they'll really get the chance to show their talents. Said payment will be coming in the form of two large 100% magisteel ores every four years, which I heard is very valuable here in Dwargon. And Kaijin will even be working with such materials regularly." I told the shitty minister maybe a bit too proudly, but I really wanted to rub in his face the fact that all his actions had simply put Kaijin and the dwarf brothers in a much better position than they had been in before.

Both Vesta and the elf ladies gasped at the last part, showing various amounts of shock and surprise.

…oops, maybe I should have held the details of my magisteel reserves to myself for a bit longer. Oh well, what's done is done, no use crying over it now.

《...》

It seemed even [Great Sage] wasn't pleased with my slip up.

"Th-that's not possible! You expect me to believe that such a lowly creature, an infant dragon, has access to 100% magisteel in large quantities?! Don't take me for a fool!" Vesta exclaimed in denial, I wasn't sure whether he really was denying it because I was a monster or because Kaijin and the others would be the ones benefiting from the valuable ores. Still though, it was a somewhat pitiful sight.

"Believe what you want, minister, but that is the truth of the matter. I even gave Kaijin a few ingots of pure magisteel as proof and so I could get some local currency." I countered, to which Kaijin nodded his head in confirmation, this only served to upset the minister more as he began to sneer, not a very good look on him by the way. "Anyways, we came here to celebrate our business agreement and the recovery of the three brothers, so I would appreciate it if you would just kindly leave us."

It was probably too late to try the diplomatic route, especially after the jabs that had been thrown around. But I honestly wanted to go back to drinking and enjoying some pretty elf company. Spending the rest of the night dealing with this guy was a big no on my plans.

"So this is what the renowned Kaijin and company have been reduced to." Vesta said with a dramatic sigh of disappointment, the eyes of the dwarves and I narrowed slightly at that, "To think you would sell out your own country just for more money and a prestigious job? To make matters worse, you're entering the services of a monster, a pathetic baby dragon no less! Are you truly that desperate to craft weapons again Kaijin?"

'Okay, this guy is just asking for an ass whooping!' For a split second, my control over my aura and magicules almost slipped due to the anger I felt, but I managed to reign it in. I wasn't the only one angry, though, if the way Kaijin had suddenly stood up was any indication, slamming his hands loudly on the table and shocking a few of the elves. Rigur also seemed ready to jump into action, but a single glare his way was enough to keep him seated.

"You better watch it, Vesta. I won't stand here and let you insult Rimuru any further after everything he's done for us!" Kaijin said as he pointed his hand aggressively at the minister.

Vesta only smirked at this, I knew that he was going to leverage that angle to get under the blacksmith's skin. With guys like these, it was best to give them as little ammo as possible, but Kaijin had just given him an angle to attack by taking offense to the insult at me. Vesta turned towards the lavender dressed elf who was by the counter and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

"This is a nice place you have here, a high-class establishment no doubt. What I can't understand is why you would allow monsters here and serve them as though they were any other guest." The minister said as he cast disgusted glances towards Rigur and I.

"While they are monsters, one is just a baby dragon and the other a Hobgoblin, and as you can see they aren't causing any trouble." The elf responded as she tried to reassure him, though I could tell it wasn't going to work. This guy was looking for a fight, or at least a verbal one, he'd straight up lose in a physical situation.

"And yet you acknowledge that they are in fact monsters, or are you implying their behavior suggests otherwise?" Vesta asked, expectedly not letting the situation go. The way he made the pretty elf lady get all nervous ticked me off too, the number of reasons for me to just kick this guys ass regardless of his status just kept on rising the more he talked.

"N-no. Please, Minister Vesta, let's just calm down and enjoy ourselves." The elf said as she went under the counter and brought Vesta a cup of wine, "Here, please take this drink, it's on the house." She said as she held out the cup for him to take.

Vesta didn't look the least bit pleased by her 'peace offering', instead he looked at the cup before glancing my way. A cruel smirk appearing on his face as he snatched the cup.

"Here, let me show you what I'll do with your drink." He said as he swiftly walked towards me. My [Thought Acceleration] activated right as he began to tilt the cup right above my head.

I'd long since sensed his ill intentions through [Desire] and knew he would try something like this. Jumping out of the way was definitely not an option as that would leave the green dressed elf whose legs I was on to take the full brunt of the wine from this bastard. Meaning there was only one option…

' [Predator]!' I mentally called out as I looked straight up at the incoming liquid. Time resumed normally as a small black vortex of magicules appeared right above my mouth, absorbing all the liquid before it could touch me or the elf lady with me.

"Wh-what the-!" Vesta, too shocked to say anything, took a few steps back.

"Lord Rimuru are you okay?!" Rigur asked both in concern and shock.

"I'm more than fine." I reassured, before turning towards the green dressed elf, "Are you okay? I hope he didn't get anything on you." I'd be kicking his ass regardless if he messed up her clothing.

"No, I'm all good thanks to you ! That was really cool!" She responded as she pulled me into a hug, giving me another taste of hooter heaven.

'Man, that seriously pissed me off! Still though, the guy is a minister. In the end, no harm was done, so best not to get in any unnecessary trouble.' I told myself as I tried to calm down, 'Besides, we'll be gone by tomorrow morning, probably won't see this douchebag for a long time afterwards."

Repeating that a few times to myself, I was able to calm down and keep myself from doing anything rash.

…unfortunately, the same could not be said for Kaijin.

"Vesta!" The blacksmith dwarf was standing in front of the minister before I could even properly process what was going on. His fist, which was reared back, was quickly thrown forward, connecting with Vesta's face with a surprisingly heavy impact. The minister was pushed back a couple of steps from the strike.

Several gasps filled the elf club, from the elves, the dwarf brothers, and even the attendant who had apparently come with Vesta were all surprised to see that someone actually had the audacity to strike Vesta in public, and in front of so many witnesses, given his status.

As for me, I was impressed, jealous, and mildly concerned. I wish I'd been the one to actually sock the jackass, but I had a feeling that for Kaijin, it was a lot more personal than just the events that had transpired tonight, so I was willing to let him have this one.

"Y-You brute! Do you know who I am?!" Vesta cried in shock as he held the rapidly swelling bruise on his right cheek.

"Just shut up already! Haven't you already done enough?! Setting me up for the failure of the Magisteel Soldier Project, giving me an impossible order just so my license would be revoked, the same order that resulted in three of my closest friends being bedridden! And now you're mocking all the suffering we went through these last few months because of you?! You really are an asshole, Vesta!" Kaijin shouted, venting his frustrations as he threw yet another punch and connected with Vesta's other cheek, pushing him back another few steps.

By this point, Vesta was every bit the coward I had imagined him to be. Despite being taller, he made no effort to even protect himself, I doubt he even knew how. As much as I wanted to see the guy get beat up some more, I knew that heavy injuries would only land Kaijin in more trouble.

"Kaijin, aim for the body, not the face!" I called out. Body wounds were far less visible to others.

However, my words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Kaijin's next punch connected with Vesta's nose, and a sickening crunch sound was heard, yeah that nose was definitely broken. The force of the blow pushed Vesta into his attendant and both of them were knocked onto the ground. With the former being unconscious.

We all watched in silence at the scene that had unfolded in front of us. Kaijin must have had a lot of pent up anger if he broke the guy's nose.

Still though, this was bound to get him into a lot of trouble, so it was best I do something to at least cover our hides a little bit.

With that in mind I hopped off the elf lady's legs, much to my internal disappointment, and transformed into my human form. Within a second I stood as an adolescent child within the elf bar, earning multiple gasps and whispers from the elves themselves. Though for the moment I paid them no mind as I walked up to Kaijin.

"Kaijin, are you sure that was wise? He is a minister, after all." I asked as I looked at the downed minister. His face was already getting all swollen and his nose bleeding and clearly bent in a direction it wasn't meant to face.

Kaijin really didn't hold anything back huh.

"Probably not, but he had it coming. After everything he put me through, and the insults he threw around tonight, he actually deserves a lot more than this." Kaijin said unrepentantly, clearly not apologetic for his actions, not that I could blame him for feeling the way he felt.

"Okay then. But still, you broke the guys nose, that's bound to land us in some serious trouble." I said, as much as I didn't want to, it would probably be a good idea if I healed him. Though it still sucked that I had to waste my valuable potions on this jackass.

《Notice: In-depth analysis of the full potion and hipokute herbs has been completed. You have successfully acquired the [Magic Art: Greater Heal].》

'Perfect timing as usual [Great Sage], though when did you start analyzing those?' I didn't remember asking it to do anything like that. Not that I was complaining, I could certainly see the value of having healing magic. It meant I could now also heal others myself in the event that magic potions were unavailable.

《Answer: Analysis began after the successful operation of the three dwarf brothers. Use of healing magic would have been more efficient than potions.》

'Good to know…' I acknowledged with a hum. If this spell really was based on the full potions and hipokute herbs, that meant it was just as effective if not more so.

I shook my head sideways and returned to the task at hand. Healing the jackass of a minister.

" [Greater Heal]!" I called out as I stretched my hand toward the minister, releasing a wave of green energy that washed over Vesta. Within seconds the swelling on his face was gone and his nose was back in place. "There, this way even if the guy does charge us with assault, it won't be as bad as it would have been if the injuries were still there."

"You're too kind Rimuru." Kaijin said with a sigh as he shook his head sideways, though the smile on his face made it clear that he wasn't really upset about me healing Vesta.

"No I'm not, I'd just rather not face heavy punishment for a guy like Vesta, it's just not worth it." I responded.

Leaving things as they were would most definitely have resulted in more than just a fine. Especially with the number of witnesses present, at least this way there would be room for us to wiggle our way out of.

A few moments later, our group stood outside in shackles as the still unconscious Vesta was carried on a stretcher. We were all put into a holding cell for the night, with the prison guard telling us that we'd be facing trial tomorrow. This was not how I imagined the night ending.

Drunk, maybe, but stuck in a prison cell whilst completely . Well, it sucked. But at least I enjoyed the time I'd spent at that elf establishment, and had even learned a few things about my possible future.

The following morning came by faster than I thought. I'd reverted back to my dragon form for a more comfortable sleeping position on the floor. Meaning I didn't face the level of discomfort that the others had felt.

It wasn't long before the palace guards came to get us, and we were taken to the palace to stand trial. I debated turning into my human form, but decided against it since Vesta had only seen me in that form and had most likely mentioned my true form, so there was no point hiding it.

The dwarves and Rigur were all chained together in shackles whilst the guards put a collar around my neck. Now that pissed me off, I wasn't some tame beast! I was a fucking dragon! Even though every fiber of my body was screaming to tear this damn thing off, I just barely managed to contain myself.

When we arrived at the castle, I immediately took note of all the armed knights that stood along the court walls. I also took note of the person that would be defending us, the guy was giving off vibes that were shady as hell. I wouldn't trust this guy with my life, which unfortunately is the situation I found myself in. More than that, however, I was surprised by the mere sight of Vesta. The guy looked like a glorified mummy! The guy had many bandages wrapped around the upper parts of his body. One long one around his forehead, a bandage on both cheeks and a small one on his nose, heck his right arm was in a sling of all things!

'Oh boy, all of a sudden I'm not feeling very confident about this trial.' I thought with a frown. I should have considered the fact that Vesta would play dirty and do something like this, it was a lack of foresight on my part. 'Still though, just how much does this guy want to screw us over?!'

Kaijin had given a summarized version of his history with Vesta. Their time together in the military, the magisteel soldier project and Vesta making Kaijin take the blame for its failure. It was clear this guy was jealous of Kaijin, for what reason it didn't matter. But that vendetta ran deep, and Vesta likely wouldn't stop until Kaijin was six feet under or something. I hated these types of bullies, the kind who wanted to watch their victims suffer for an eternity without any moment of peace or joy.

"His majesty, Gazel Dwargo, will now enter!" One of the knights shouted. Immediately everyone stood up straight and at attention, before they went down on one knee. Rigur was a little lost for a second before just doing what everyone else was doing, I merely lowered my head slightly. I could afford to show respect to the king of the nation at least.

The loud sound of footsteps echoed in the courtroom before the source of it all made an appearance. The king was a large muscular dude of dark skinned color, he wore armor plating that made him look even bigger and more intimidating. His expression and composure certainly didn't give off friendly vibes either. This guy wasn't here to joke around, though what would one expect from the king of a whole nation.

Still, to think that the king would be the one that's presiding over our case, I don't know if I should be more concerned or not. With Vesta as a member of his royal court it may make him more inclined to believe the minister.

With that, the trial began. Dwargon laws explicitly stated that nobody was allowed to speak within the court without the king's permission, hence the reason for our defendant. Unfortunately the guy seems to be in Vesta's pocket.

He did nothing to defend our case, which was his actual job, and instead portrayed us as the villains who disturbed Vesta whilst he was drinking within the establishment.

"Looks like he's been bought. Though I can't say I'm surprised." Kaijin whispered lowly.

'This sucks balls! If we can't even speak, how do we defend ourselves in such cases?!' I wondered, I wasn't going to go to prison for a lie. I'd sooner fight my way out of this place.

"And is that the whole truth?" The judge asked our defendant.

"Yes, without a shadow of a doubt." He responded naturally with a bow. He'd spun that web of lies perfectly, and didn't give away anything. This guy had obviously done this kind of shady business before.

"King Gazel," Vesta called out as he took a few steps forward before going down on one knee, "Having heard this testimony, I ask that you pass your strictest judgment upon these hooligans!" He requested as he gestured towards all of us. I couldn't help the way my eyebrow twitched in annoyance. If I had to fight my way out, that guy was gonna be the first to die, I swear!

The king watched the proceedings without a word, I could feel him carefully eying all of us.

"We have reached a verdict. First of all, Kaijin, the main offender, you will be sentenced to twenty years in the mines!" The judge called out. Damn this wasn't looking good, "And next, his accomplices, they will serve ten years. That is all, the court is now adjourned."

'Oh hell no!' We were totally busting out of here the moment an opportunity rose. I wasn't going to spend the next ten years of my new life doing forced labor!

"Wait." The deep voice of the king suddenly called out, causing all to stop and pay attention, "Kaijin, it's been some time. How have you been doing?" The king asked. Did Kaijin know the king personally? He hadn't mentioned that! There may still be a way out of this, after all!

"I've been doing as well as I could be given the circumstances, my king." Kaijin said as he quickly got down on one knee.

"Hmmm…" was that guilt I felt from the king? [Desire] let me feel his emotions, but his face was so schooled I wouldn't have been able to tell he felt that way without it. "Kaijin, would you be interested in returning to my ranks?"

Oh? Now this was an interesting development. Did the king want Kaijin back as a blacksmith or as a knight, I wasn't sure, but I couldn't help but wonder what Kaijin himself would do.

Seeing Vesta get shocked and jealous was also amusing to see.

This was the chance for Kaijin to regain the reputation that he had lost as a result of losing his license. Not to mention the request was coming from the king himself. I could feel the internal conflict within the blacksmith as he thought it over for a few seconds, before coming to a swift choice.

"While it would be an honor to serve you once again my king, I'm afraid I have already sworn my service and loyalty to another." Kaijin said as he raised his head to meet the king's eye, "My word and my oath are the greatest treasures I own, and that's why I could never forsake them. Even if you ordered me to do so."

"Such insolence!" One of the knights next to the king shouted, the ones on the ground all pointing their weapons at Kaijin. The king and Kaijin still remained in eye contact.

"...I see, very well then." The king said after a few seconds, before lifting his hand. signaling the knights to put away their weapons. The king then turned his eyes towards me, "I took some time to look into this case due to some rumors I heard about the majin involved. Vesta, remove your bandages." The King ordered as he stood up from his seat and turned towards the minister with a glare.

"P-pardon?" The guy was just as confused as we all were, this was not the way I expected things to go.

"I'd like to see the extent of your 'injuries' for myself. The bandages on your head and face should be enough." The king said impatiently.

'Holy shit! The dude knows!' The king clearly knew that Vesta had been trying to play the court and him!

He said he had looked into the case, more than likely he asked someone he trusted to do it, maybe they asked the elf ladies at the establishment what had happened? That was the only possible answer to all this. They had been there when I healed Vesta's wounds, and if the king knew about that, then that meant he also knew that Vesta's bandages were just for show and dramatic purposes.

"Well, Vesta?" Gazel asked impatiently as he cast a glare towards the now shaking minister.

There was no way out of this for the bastard. And if he took too long, the guards were more likely to tear off those bandages themselves.

"M-my king. For wh-what reason cou-"

"Are you questioning my orders, Vesta?" Gazel asked with a glare, his soldiers tightening their grips on their weapons.

At this point, I almost felt sorry for Vesta, almost. The guy was shaking like a leaf, visible for all to see. If they hadn't known he was lying before, then they definitely knew now.

"N-no sir." Vesta responded as he shakily reached for the bandage wrapped around his head and began to unwrap it. Once unraveled he let the bandage fall to the ground, revealing his unharmed forehead. The guy couldn't even bring himself to look up as he undid the bandages on his nose and cheeks, shamefully looking down with tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

I wasn't moved, besides after everything he had done, I wouldn't take pity on this guy.

"Well Vesta, do you have anything to say for yourself?" King Gazel asked the unharmed minister scrutinizingly. Vesta, too ashamed, couldn't even look up at the king.

"No sir…I have nothing to say." He mumbled, looking like a broken man. I could tell that Kaijin was feeling a certain amount of pity for the man. Turns out he's actually the kind one and not me.

"Very well then, I shall pass my judgment." King Gazel said, voice raised to address all present, "I hereby renounce the punishment of Kaijin and his companions. As for Vesta, for attempting to deceive this court, I shall strip you of your status and rank with immediate effect. You are to never show yourself to me again! Court Adjourned!"

And that was how the trial came to an end. I honestly thought that Vesta was let off a bit too easily, but all things considered I'm fine with whatever punishment as long as we're not in any trouble.

Surprisingly the king asked us to stay behind after the trial and the six of us were taken to a waiting room. I had a few ideas as to what he could want judging by what he had said about looking into me during the trial.

I suppose I had made bigger waves than I initially thought with the restoration of the dwarf brothers, and he might have caught wind of the fact that I had access to large amounts of 100% magisteel since I mentioned that in the elf bar. Could that also have played a part in getting out of these trials?

I wasn't sure, but I guess I wasn't against coming to some sort of agreement with him if he wanted my valuable items. It would probably be a good idea to start building some alliances for future purposes.

The forest of Jura wouldn't be as strong and terrifying to the surrounding populace without my mother, and only those within its borders knew of my existence. At this point it was crucial to come together and build as many connections as possible.

But there was no hurry, only foolish people run into agreements without getting a proper measurement of the individual they are dealing with. King Gazel may have seemed pretty cool in the courts, but one action does not reflect his true nature, that is something that I hoped to get a deeper insight to with this meeting.

I was pulled from my thoughts when the door was knocked on twice before opening and in came a middle-aged man with light blonde hair, thick eyebrows, and a sharp nose. He wore standard knights armor.

"Thank you for your patience, the king will see you now." The man said before gesturing for us to follow him. So we did just that, though I did switch into my human form before leaving.

It just felt more proper to have an audience with the king of a nation in this form rather than speaking to him whilst in dragon form.

Along the way Kaijin informed me that this man was one of the king's most trusted soldiers and that his name was Dorf. I filed that information for later.

We were eventually taken to a rather nice and well decorated room, within it the Hero King of the Dwarves stood by the windows at the opposing end of the room, looking out into the city. Dorf announced our presence before King Gazel turned towards us, his eyes quickly settling on me.

"So, you're the majin in possession of those valuable magisteel." The king opened, as I thought, this was the main reason he had asked to speak with me.

"Yes, well, I took as many as I could, mainly as a bargaining chip since we monsters don't really have any money for trading. It wasn't until recently that I learnt their actual value in craftsmanship." A small lie at the end. Then again it was easy to believe considering that monsters mainly used barter trade as a means to get what they want.

"And may I ask where you got them from?" The hero king asked with a minor glare. An attempt at intimidation? Well that wasn't going to work on me, but I had no qualms with sharing the location.

"I got them from my place of birth. The cave of the Storm Dragon Veredia." The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed as all but Rigur suddenly looked at me in shock and surprise, to be honest it completely slipped my mind that I hadn't told the dwarves my heritage. Guess I'd just gotten that friendly with them after everything. "It was a short while after my birth, give or take, three months ago. I found tonnes of magic ores and hipokute herbs in the cave and took as many of them with me as I could." I explained with a shrug of my shoulder as if it was nothing at all,choosing to play it cool.

"That claim is a little…ridiculous. The storm dragon's most well known magical offshoot would be Charybdis. And your level of intelligence suggests you're nothing like any of the other offshoots of the storm dragon." Gazel said as he narrowed his eyes at me, "But your aura and magic, try as you may to suppress and hide them, do feel eerily similar to that of the Storm Dragon. So much so that it's rather uncanny."

Well shit, this guy was onto me, I suppose I had stopped hiding it the moment I told him I was born in the sealed cave.

"Yes, as I mentioned to Kaijin and the dwarf brothers, I am the Elemental Dragon known as Rimuru Tempest." I said before pausing for dramatic effect for a few seconds, "But what I DIDN'T mention is that I am the son and true heir of the Storm Dragon, Veredia Tempest herself. Born of her flesh and blood, not a magic offshoot." I went on to reveal.

Everyone except Rigur was deeply shocked at the revelation. My mother had quite the reputation across the lands as the infamous Evil Dragon, notorious for her destructive rampages. So for them to suddenly get news of her having an offspring must be very worrying indeed.

And unlike the powerful monsters simply born of her Magicules, I was her DIRECT offspring, granting me power, potential, and intelligence FAR exceeding any of them. So they would naturally be wary of me.

"Wait Rimuru are you being serious right now?!" Kaijin asked, breaking into the conversation, the guy had a bead of sweat rolling down the left side of his head.

"Yeah, it's the truth. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier, but I was hoping to keep my existence quiet for a little while longer." I said as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, "The Jura forest is in a rather fragile state at the moment since the disappearance of my mother, and news of my existence would only bring trouble from those who'd view me as a potential threat due to my mothers destructive tendencies."

"Sheesh, that's a lot to process though Rimuru. Son of the Storm Dragon?! Talk about high class employers!" Kaijin muttered as he shook his head sideways while stepping back.

I turned back to the hero king who seemed to have been deep thought yet keenly aware of his surroundings. He was probably thinking about how the rest of this talk would affect things like relations and his kingdom in general.

"I would flare my aura a bit to prove myself, but doing so would more than likely cause the people in this building mass panic." I added, king Gazel had already said something about being about to partially see through my [hideform] technique which I had been using to mask my aura. Meaning he knew I was stronger than I claimed to be, just not how strong.

"That won't be necessary, nobody would be foolish enough to use the name of the storm dragon so casually, let alone claiming to be her direct offspring." King Gazel said with a sigh, before looking at me straight in the eye, "I do have one question however. Rimuru Tempest, what are your intentions?"

"As my mother's heir and the current lord and guardian of the forest, my primary concern is protecting the Great Forest of Jura and all of its inhabitants, along with improving the lives of all the sentient monsters who call it home, or at least those who will follow me, as opposed to picking fights with other nations or conquering others. While I loved my mother, I don't agree with her history of destructive behavior." I said. "With my mother currently gone, tensions will undoubtedly rise and the nations that border the forest, including the Demon Lord territories and the surrounding human nations, are potentially likely to make power plays in the future, and I wish to be ready to defend our home if it comes down to that. I'd rather not fight, but I'd be a fool to expect others not to capitalize on my mother's disappearance." I explained, making sure to point out that I had no ill intentions.

"I see." King Gazel said as he closed his eyes in thought, "Regarding the storm Dragon Veredia, your mother, would you happen to know the cause of her disappearance?"

"Unfortunately no, My egg hatched away from where she was sealed up within the cave, but I did meet and speak with her. She was the one who granted me the name Rimuru, granting me her protection. She told me a bit about this world and what I should expect before telling me to find my way out. By the time I reached the surface of the cave her aura had vanished. Naturally I went back down to check, but she was gone." I explained, this was the story I had come up with and the one I would be sticking to until the day I released my mother from my [Stomach].

《Warning: Attempt of mental intrusion by the individual Gazel Dwargo!

Repelling attempt…

Repelling of the [Unique Skill: Tyrant] successful!

Analysis of the [Unique Skill: Tyrant] successful!

Utilizing [copy] to replicate the sub-skill [Thought Reading]...

Successful, [Thought Reading] has been acquired!》

'What the heck?!' There was a lot to unpackage there, but the first thing on the list was the fact that King Gazel had apparently tried to pry into my head, 'Not cool man, not cool!'

"King Gazel, while I understand your desire for answers. I'd rather you not resort to mental intrusion." I said to the shocked king, more than likely surprised that I had managed to block his attempt at reading my mind.

"heheheHAHAHAHA!" The guy just started laughing in a way that actually spooked me a little bit, "That's the first time somebody has ever detected let alone blocked the effects of my unique skill! Truly you are a fascinating creature Rimuru, allow me to apologize for prying into your mind, or rather attempting to do so."

"It's fine, I can understand wanting to be thorough for the sake of your people." I said with the wave of my hand. He didn't get anything from my mind, so there was no use making a big deal out of things.

"Your goal is an admirable one Rimuru, and I wish you success in your endeavor. When you've successfully established the foundation of your nation I hope you'll reach out to me again, perhaps we could form an alliance." Gazel said with a grin.

'Woah, hold on! Who said anything about forming a nation?!' I was initially shocked by the idea, but then again the more I thought about it the more it made sense that he would think so.

Not to mention it may not actually be a bad idea. Considering that we were surrounded on all sides, and without the protection of a True Dragon, the most logical course of action was for the different tribes of Jura to band together and form a single nation. They would be far stronger together than they would be individually.

The problem was that monsters in general were prideful creatures, and getting them to work together without a powerful figure to lead and control them would be next to impossible.

Which brought about the next question.

Was I really ready to lead an entire nation?

My past life experiences would be of no use to me in such a position. This is different to leading team missions or other military jobs. This would involve lots of politics, and I'd be responsible for millions of lives if all went well.

To be honest I wasn't sure, but the circumstances make the man right?

"Are you sure about that? You do realize you're talking about aligning yourself with monsters right?" I asked King Gazel.

I wasn't foolish enough to believe that forming a nation of monsters would be enough to deter humans, if anything they may feel the need to attack sooner before said nation becomes too big a threat.

"I'm sure. Rimuru, with your heritage and strength it's only a matter of time until you seize control over the entire forest of Jura, and when you do, you'll have access to wealth and power beyond your wildest dreams, having someone to back you up would only serve to benefit you." King Gazel said, to which I nodded my head in understanding. Having Dwargons backing would certainly help with any future relations we may try to build.

"Please give me some time to think about it. As it stands I'm trying to build a single goblin village, that's a far cry from the nation you have in mind." I responded, grateful as I was, I wasn't going to rush into things considering I hadn't even thought about building a nation up until he mentioned it.

It was a pretty big deal to build a nation of monsters, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to unify the races of Jura. I'd rather not force anything with brute force.

《Notice: With your power and heritage as the son and heir of the Storm Dragon, along with the steadfast loyalty of the Dryads, the Hobgoblins, Tempest Wolves, and Ogres as a basis, the odds of succeeding in building a prosperous nation of monsters is approximately 87.3%. The support of the Dwarves and their services increases the odds to 96.91%》

'You make it sound like the ogres are already subordinates of mine or something.' It was good to know that I'd have a good foundation though.

《Likelihood of ogres submitting to you within a short time span of your return is 98%.》

'Yeah, I figured as much. They respect power and strength, and more than that they have a great respect for my mother as their guardian and lady.'

"I appreciate the trust and goodwill you are extending to me, King Gazel. I can tell you have the genuine interests of your people at heart as opposed to your own self-interest, and you show a greater deal of open-mindedness than most leaders would show to a leader of monsters, especially given the infamous reputation of my mother. I'll be sure to keep you and your kingdom in mind as a trustworthy and reliable ally if I do decide to form a nation." I told him. "As a sign of goodwill in regards to future trade between our nations, I would like you to have these."

I pulled out over 100 pounds of large 100% Magisteel ores out of my [Stomach], along with five barrels of Full Potion.

"These ores are made of 100% pure high-grade Magisteel, and within these barrels are Full Potions, capable of healing virtually anything short of death. Those are the ones that I used to heal the dwarf brothers." I said proudly, maybe showing off a little bit as King Gazel, Dorf, Kaijin and the dwarf brothers all looked on in shock at the materials that I was just casually handing out.

"Thank you for this. And about your healing of the dwarf brothers, I actually wanted to ask you about that." King Gazel said, causing me to look at him curiously.

To make a long story short, the king was curious about the methods I'd used when healing the three brothers. And so I gave him a basic rundown of the surgery(translating what Great Sage told me). Asking for a live demonstration King Gazel and Dorm took me to an infirmary that held a knight who'd been brought in for this specific reason.

Apparently the guy was a valued soldier during his glory days, but lost his right arm in battle. Still the king valued him even as an individual so had continued to keep him within his ranks. They were basically taking advantage of this opportunity for me to heal him while their resident doctors took notes on how I healed and restored his arm using the full potion.

The guys surgery was far less complicated than dealing with the Dwarf brothers, something I made sure to tell the doctors, meaning we were done within minutes. Now the guy just needed some sleep to regain the energy used to regrow the new limb.

"Thank you again for doing this Rimuru. I'm sure this knowledge will go a long way into improving medical practices." King Gazel said with an appreciative nod after everything was said and done, "And with the full potions you left with us, others who were affected by the mines collapse that crippled the dwarf brothers will also get a chance to get their lives back."

"No problem glad I could help out."

And thus our trip in Dwargon came to an end…

"That turned out to be quite the adventure huh." I muttered, it was now well past noon with the sun starting to make its descent. Looking back where we came from I could see the gates of Dwargon not too far away.

"Aye, but everything seemed to have worked out just fine. So there's no need for concern." Kaijin responded with a smile of his own as he looked towards his home. I could tell that he was going to miss this place, same with the other dwarves. "Besides this is a new chapter in our lives, and I for one can't wait to get started!"

"Then it's time for us to head home. Ranga, come out." I called out, causing the Tempest Wolf leader to come out of my shadow. Rigur doing the same with the Tempest Wolf in his shadow.

"You called, Master?!" Ranga eagerly asked.

"Whoa, Rimuru! You have Direwolves under your command too?!" Kaijin asked in amazement.

"They're actually Tempest Wolves, the evolved form of Direwolves." I clarified before looking at Ranga and the other wolf. "Can you two give all of us a ride back to the forest?"

"Of course, Master!" Ranga responded eagerly as he and the other tempest wolf grew to their full sizes in order to better accommodate us.

After each wolf took 3 of us, we quickly reunited with the others, and subsequently returned to the Great Forest of Jura. Where new journeys would be awaiting us back home.

---

Authors Note:

Well this was certainly one of the longest chapters I've ever written thus far, but then again a lot of stuff happened in this chapter.

From Rimuru's sinking in hooter heaven, partying with the elves, Vesta ruining the mood, the court session, meeting the hero king and coming to an agreement. Certainly makes for quite a memorable adventure doesn't it.

Now I'll probably get a lot of slander for that harem bit, but rest assured I fully intend to build these relationships, and it won't be stacked quickly. If you can guess who the others are I'll give you props and confirm it in your PM, wouldn't want to spoil it for the rest of the audience. But only if you get all of them correct.

That being said I have two other announcements I want to make.

The first being that I want to introduce a Q system in this fic, where I more or less answer questions that are asked regarding the story, ofc spoilers are not allowed. So feel free to ask, the goal is to create a more interactive environment and perhaps even get an idea or two from my audience in regards to where this stroy should go. I already have a path laid out, but Omni-Creator(my co-author) and I are flexible enough to work around any good ideas.

The second being I want to start posting an update of Rimuru's skills every 5 chapters. The reason is so viewers can also keep a tab on what skills he has since they will be variations from cannon. Since I didn't do this in chapter 10 I'll do the first one now lol!

Rimuru Skill List:

Intrinsic Skills: [Fire Breath, [Dragon Eye, [Dragon Body, [Keen Sense, [Storm Magic, [Dragon Aura, [Rapid Regeneration]

Extra Skills: [Water Manipulation, [Black Lightning, [Black Wind, [Magic Sense, [Shadow Movement, [Sticky-Steel Thread, [Thought Reading, [Shapeshift]

Unique skills:

Great Sage: [Thought Acceleration, [Analytical Appraisal, [Parallel Operation, [Chant Annulment] and [All of Creation]

Apex Predator: [Predation, [Analysis, [Stomach, [Mimicry, [Isolation] and [Assimilation].

Desire: [Copy, [Replication, [Skill Disable] and [Drainage]

Common Skills: [Paralysis Breath, [Poison Breath, [Thought Communication, [Voice Cannon, [Body Armour].

I wont bother will lesser skills that have been absorbed by extra skills or the subskills of unique skills. I'm taking about things like water blade and all that. But this should give you a gist of his skills.

Anyways please feel free to comment, like and I look forward to your questions. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Got a lot of hate from some guy on AO3 and that wasn't fun.

I also took the time to explain a few things to them, such as the fact that I wasn't a permanent resident of the city just yet, and that I was currently living within the ogre village in the forest. They took the news better than the goblins did, accepting that I would be leaving after two weeks or so when they had settled in and I was assured that things would continue to progress well.

When we had arrived back at the Goblin village, I was surprised. I remember telling Rigurd to reach out and recruit Goblins from other villages who were interested in joining them, swearing allegiance to me in the process, but still I was caught a little off-guard by just how many he ended up finding and bringing.

There were hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand! Just how had Rigurd managed to gather so many of these guys in such a short space of time?!

"Welcome back Lord Rimuru!" Everyone, including the new guests, shouted happily in greeting upon our arrival.

"Rimuru-sama!" Rigurd proudly shouted as he stepped forward. "We did as you had told us and sought out additional Goblin villages who were interested in serving you in exchange for shelter and protection! As you can see, our mission was a great success!"

'No, this was more than just a success. You may actually have overdone it Rigurd.' I thought with a sweatdrop. I'm pretty sure that I had mentioned it loud and clear that I wanted more goblins so I could even out the numbers between the wolves and goblins. '[ Great sage] how many goblins am I looking at here?'

《Answer: The estimated number of goblins is roughly a thousand》

'Damn, that's a lot more than I planned for…' I thought as I looked over the small goblin creatures. They looked so small and frail, just as the hobgoblins looked before their own evolution. I could just as easily sense the desperation and fear pouring off them in waves, if I chased and rejected some of them, they would no doubt be preyed upon easily by other powerful creatures within the forest.

Besides, they might have been here for a few days now, chasing them out would be cruel. Oh well, guess I just had to put on my big boy pants and deal with it.

After processing my shock, I immediately spoke to [Great Sage, seeking my trusty skill's council. 'Hey [Great Sage], while I have already named 230 Goblins and hundreds of Direwolves, will I be able to name this many Goblins without issue?'

《Notice: Due to the passive growth from the sub-skill Drainage and the improved efficiency in magicule manipulation, the amount of Magicules needed to evolve the Goblins into mid C-ranked Hobgoblins has been significantly reduced. Total remaining Magicule reserves after naming all 1,000 goblins is estimated to be 61.31%.》

Well that was reassuring, though I'd probably still name them in groups. The rest I would figure out as we went along. This would bring the total goblin population up to approximately 1,230 with the wolves nearing five hundred.

While not quite the balance I was looking for, it may actually be better this way, considering that the tempest wolves were of higher rank than the goblins. So in some way it was balanced.

"Good job Rigurd, I'll admit this is a lot more than I thought you'd achieve before I came back, but regardless I approve." I said as I gave the Goblin Lord a thumbs up.

"Sir!" Rigur said as he stood at attention with tears starting to gather in the corner of her eyes. I quickly turned away from the awkward sight of seeing such a jacked goblin on the verge of tears.

I'd probably have to work on the goblins' timid nature and inferiority complex. I'd forgotten that these guys had been at the bottom of the food chain all their lives. When I initially made the rule of them not growing overconfident, I never actually considered that their vulnerabilities and inferiority would carry on.

These guys glowed at the smallest of praises, quivered like leaves at the slightest of scoldings, and did anything and everything they could earn my favor. It was beyond just loyalty, this was them still being scared of the world despite their growth. And I had a feeling these new goblins would be much the same once they evolved.

I still had time to figure it out, though. I'd do what I could in the two weeks I'd stick around, the rest would just have to come with time as their skills and abilities grew.

"Alright, Rigurd most likely told you but my name is Rimuru Tempest, son of the Storm Dragon Veredia and guardian of the forest!" I shouted as I turned towards my new subordinates. "I'm pretty sure Rigurd has already told you the rules of our little village, correct?"

"Yes sir!" The goblins all responded quickly, most of them a little jumpy.

"I'm adding one more rule to those three. I won't be tolerating any lazy folks in this village. Each and every individual will work for the benefit of everyone, be it gathering and growing food, construction, making clothes and things like security. Everyone will play their part." I said loud enough that everyone could hear, whether they were wolves, goblins, hobgoblins, and even the insectoids Zegion and Apito. "In return, those that work will receive food, shelter, clothing, and protection. Naturally, the only ones that aren't bound by this rule are the young and elderly. Did everyone understand that?"

"Yes Lord Rimuru! We will work hard!" Everyone responded.

"Not too hard, overworking yourself won't benefit anyone." I quickly reminded them. I had a feeling that I'd actually be reminding them of this point regularly.

Monsters were built with more stamina and strength than humans, even creatures like hobgoblins, even if the gap wasn't as huge as say humans and ogres. Still, that didn't mean I should overwork them or anything, it would be counterproductive, both health-wise and in terms of morale and mentality.

"In line with that thought of working hard, I'd like to introduce some new faces." I informed everyone as I gestured towards Kaijin and the three dwarf brothers. "These are my new friends and subordinates Kaijin, Garm, Dord, and Myrd. They are the finest Dwarven blacksmiths and Artisans that Dwargon had to offer prior to them joining me. They will be a big help for this growing town in improving housing, clothing, craftsmanship, forging, and overall construction of this town. I want you and the others to treat them as colleagues and welcome them as fellow citizens. I will be allocating some of you to work and learn from them, their skills will prove invaluable and having more people with said talents will speed up the overall construction of our town." I informed the goblins particularly this time around. They were the only ones that had the necessary features to learn the craftsmanship of the dwarves.

"Yes, Lord Rimuru! We deeply appreciate you bringing us such valued support, and are thankful to the Dwarves for agreeing to help us!" Rigurd said proudly.

"Good, I also brought other valuable necessities from Dwargon, including seeds of certain plants and fruits that can be cultivated to bolster the food supply and medical herbs for need to grow them properly to help ensure a steady supply of food and herbs. Some may not be able to grow properly within the forest due to magicule density, and others may mutate as a result." I warned him, it would be a trial and error for most of these plants. If the mutations turned out to be inconsequential for monsters then good, otherwise we'd have to discard harmful plants. "As for training I'll be handling that for the duration that I'm here. I'll create a proper regime and everything."

As they were right right now, the goblins lacked any form of training and had no fighting instinct. I'd have to start from from ground up, basic drills and all that. By the time I left for the ogre village, I had to have a somewhat capable force for things like hunting, patrolling, and local enforcement. I wasn't much of a teacher, so I'd most likely ask the ogre chief if he could spare some of his own to teach the goblins, especially since weapon variety was important. With the goblin numbers now high, that meant I could pair more wolves with them for proper hunting forces too.

Days passed after our return, I began the process of naming the goblins the following day and finished within three days. That was two days ago, all of those goblins had evolved into beautiful and attractive hobgoblins and goblina's much like the others.

The goblins were quick to get to work, Rigur took to assigning them to the dwarves so as to learn and maximize their talents. Kaijin took in a few apprentices to work with him in his new blacksmith shop. According to him, they were showing a genuine interest and were making the effort to learn, weapon and armor crafting was a delicate art and required time and patience to learn, and Kaijin definitely was a patient teacher.

Garm was teaching his group of goblins the art of making clothes. Particularly with monster materials such as fur and leather, I definitely planned to ask the ogres if they'd be willing to share their silk and weaving techniques with the goblins as well. That would go a long way into improving quality of life.

Dord took to making accessories, something that instantly drew the attention of a couple of goblina that were drawn by the jewlery. It seemed to be the slowest in terms of progression due to the amount of detail that was required when carving out such small items. Still though, I had a feeling that the effort would be worth it once they got the hang of it.

Myrd worked closely with Rigurd and a bunch of other goblins in the actual construction of the village itself. Basic wooden housing and other structures were in the process of being built. The layout and everything looked good from the plans they had showed me earlier.

As for the farming, we'd planted the seeds, but I wasn't expecting it to yield any results for at least another month or two weeks depending on the type of fruit, vegetable, or plant in general. The goblin lords under Rigurd had been left in charge of the various areas we'd planted in, these were the previous village chiefs of the goblin villages Rigurd had recruited.

They had all decided to have Rigurd be in charge of all the goblins, basically passing the responsibility onto him, but they did also take some responsibility within the village itself. I'd told them to keep an eye out for sudden mutations in plants as well as giving them what the expected result should be. I would use [Great Sage] to analyze any mutated plants to see if they were still edible for monsters.

Finally there was my job, aside from overseeing everything that was going on, I was the one training the goblins. I'd started out with some basic early morning drills to help them get into the habit of waking up with the sun and conditioning their bodies. I started with the basics of swordsmanship for some while others took to archery and hand to hand. Those were the areas I felt I could be of some help, other forms of weaponry would have to come later if I could get the ogres to agree with teaching the goblins.

The Tempest Wolves also had their own training sessions. For the most part, I kept most of them separated and had Ranga and Raya practice various hunting maneuvers. The Tempest Wolves were stronger and smarter than they were prior to their evolutions, meaning that they were more capable of working together in the field. Another good surprise was the fact that all the Tempest Wolves gained the skill [Shadow Movement], it's basically teleporting through sinking into and jumping out of shadows, I also acquired that skill through our connection. I had to adjust a bit of their training thanks to that, but it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the wolves' tactics and strategies.

Another aspect I'd wanted to delve into was the elemental affinities. According to [Great Sage, all the tempest wolves had an affinity for lightning and wind. The males had a primary affinity for lightning and a secondary affinity for wind, while for the female wolves it was reversed. Thus far, only Ranga and Ranko had made some progress in that area, and they were currently trying to get the rest of the pack up there as well.

Funny enough, I'd also gained the extra skills [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind]. These two extra skills were under my Intrinsic Skill [Storm Magic]. Apparently, the elemental affinities of the Tempest Wolves had been influenced by the chaotic nature of my Intrinsic Skill, resulting in an evolution of sorts. These two skills were far more powerful and dangerous to their original versions as a result, I'd have to make the time to practice those skills

…preferably in a safe and isolated area, away from any populace.

Aside from all that, I'd also formed a group called the 'Goblin Riders'. If it wasn't obvious, it's a group of paired goblins and wolves. Currently they number about seventy pairs. I was having them get to know their partners and practice working together for the time being, outside of their training with respective species. I hoped to make this group the local law enforcement of the village, as well as the ones responsible for protecting the village from any powerful monsters.

All in all, village production and adaptation were going quite well, it would only be a matter of days before they were more than stable enough for me to leave.

"Lord Rimuru!" I was interrupted from my thoughts by the excited call of none other than Apito who was flying towards me, with Zegion following close behind. Apito appeared to be holding some kind of wooden bucket as she approached, and Zegion also appeared to be holding one too.

Those two had been rather elusive since my return to the village, I hadn't seen as much of them as I had the others. I hadn't really bothered to follow up due to helping everyone else out and trying to get things to a functioning level. Though, maybe I should have at least asked what they were up to, it wasn't wise to just let two monsters as strong as they were roam around aimlessly.

"Apito, Zegion." I greeted as I turned to face them once they were close enough. "Where have the two of you been?" I asked, though judging by the way the two of them froze and started to become nervous it seemed I may have implied they were in some kind of trouble.

"Please forgive our ununannounced leave of absence my lord." Zegion immediately cut in as he bowed his head apologetically, Apito quickly doing the same. I wasn't really mad, but if it kept them from disappearing like that again, then I wouldn't tell them that.

"Can I at least ask what you were doing?" I asked still rather curious as to why they'd been out of the village in the first place.

"O-of course!" Apito responded, stuttering slightly, before hovering closer and gently placing the bucket she'd been holding down on the floor at my feet.

'Wait, is that…?!' There was no denying the sweet scent and that thick yellow liquid structure.

"Zegion and I had left the village for the Dryad territory to collect honey as per the agreement. The honey was useful in helping provide for the goblins in your absence, they all seemed pleased by it!" Apito explained, confirming my thought that this was in fact honey!

'Oh… I did tell them to do that, didn't I? To be honest, I had forgotten about the fact that Apito and Zegion were given this task.' I thought sheepishly, feeling kind of bad for berating(?) them. Still though, it looked as though they were actually doing great. 'But seriously, I'm probably lucky to have run into Apito and Zegion when I did. The fact that she can make honey makes her more invaluable than I had originally thought!'

I immediately manifested a wooden spoon, crouched down and took a scoop of honey. The moment it made contact with my tongue, my mouth exploded with a flavor of sweetness I had yet to taste in this world, nor could it compare to anything from my old world really. It was just that good! It wasn't overly sweet like the honey in my old world either, it was just right.

I wasn't sure whether this was because Apito was the one who made it, and perhaps had a unique method due to her higher level of intelligence compared to regular small bees, or if the source of the nectar being the magical fruits of the Treants actually had something to with it as well. Regardless, this was perfect!

And would probably sell really well if we were able to mass-produce it, and if she couldn't, that means we could charge a higher price for it. That was something I would bring up another time though, for now being able to provide for the village came first.

"Mmhhmm, this is definitely good!" I praised Apito, who glowed from the praise and her cheeks became slightly dusted in pink, Zegion on the other hand while it wasn't as obvious I could still feel the pride he felt. 'Are all my subordinates going to be like this?' I couldn't really say whether that was good or bad. "Do you think you could set aside

some of your daily produce, about a quarter should do fine?" I asked.

I was hoping to bring some honey for the ogres as well. I'm sure it would go really well with the herbal tea that they made and the sweetness of the honey would blend well with the spiciness of the meat they cooked as well.

"Of course, it will be done." Both Apito and Zegion replied as they bowed their heads.

"Good, then keep up the good work." I said with a nod.

These two were fine additions to the village, and that honey from Apito would really help around. I decided to keep the bucket that they'd given to me, storing it within my [Stomach].

After my chat with the Insectoids I went to the fields that were being made in the outskirts of the village being overseen by Rigurd and one of the Goblin lords. All in all, things seemed to be going well so far.

I wasn't a master farmer by any means, meaning that I couldn't be sure of anything. [Great Sage] was a big help in helping with the basic fielding and planting, though I'd need to find some experts. The Dryads would probably be the best ones to turn to, being tree spirits and all, they were bound to know more than I did and be in a better position to teach the goblins than any other monster out there.

"Lord Rimuru, we weren't expecting you!" Rigurd said as he quickly approached me upon spotting me, all the other goblins that were in the fields turned our way upon hearing his outburst and seemed just as surprised.

"It's fine, I just found some free time and decided to check on how things were going with the farming projects. Please continue as you were." I said, the last part loud enough for the rest of the goblins to hear. With a loud cry of 'Yes sir!', they continued their tasks.

Turning to Rigurd, I couldn't help but notice that he seemed to have gotten a bit bigger and muscular compared to before I left the ogre village. He definitely seemed a little bit stronger too.

《Notice: The individual Rigurd further evolved into a Goblin King upon being designated as leader of all the goblins by the other goblin lords.》

'So, he grew stronger in a manner similar to Ranga and Raya due to his position amongst the goblins, that's actually kinda cool. Guess monsters evolve in all kinds of ways.' I thought to myself, before something else registered in what [Great Sage] had just said, 'Still though, to think the other Goblin Lords just dumped this major responsibility, not that I can complain since I did the same when I named them.' There had been no complaints about the hierarchy so far, so why fix something that didn't need fixing. I'd see how things went and adjust as needed.

"So how has the farming been going?" I asked Rigurd as we walked through the field, looking over the sprouting plants.

"There's nothing significant to report as of yet, my lord. As a trial, we've only planted a few of each type of the seeds you gave us. Mainly so we can see which ones are edible and which ones will be negatively impacted by the environment." Rigurd reported.

I couldn't help but agree with his approach. It was best to plant a few of each type and monitor how they grew for now, rather than to plant a bunch of potentially dangerous plants that would do more harm than good.

"Though, there has been one issue, my lord…" Rigurd spoke up hesitantly, almost as though he was afraid of offending me or something. Which given how these goblins tended to act in my presence may not be too far from the truth.

"What is it?" I asked, better he tell me now and we see what could be done, rather than leave it as is and then have bigger problems later.

"Well you see, we goblins have always relied on the bounty of the forest for food and small creatures that we could hunt. Given our previously small sizes, that was enough to get us by. Meaning we have no proper experience when it comes to farming." Rigurd admitted as he lowered his head in shame. I'd already suspected as much when I saw the goblins earlier. "Most of what you see is what we managed to learn from the dwarf brothers, but given their talents lay more with craftsmanship than farming, there was only so much they could teach us."

Yes, I could definitely see where the problem was now. The goblins needed an experienced guide, someone who was well-versed in farming and vegetables. I myself wouldn't be able to help with this one.

Perhaps that visit to the Dryads was going to happen a lot sooner than I had originally assumed.

"Yes, I can see that definitely being a problem. If not shown the proper care, these plants won't grow regardless of their environment. Fortunately, I may have a solution. Ranga!" I called out and almost immediately the Alpha Tempest Wolf jumped out of my shadow and landed right in front of me.

"Yes master, how may I be of service?!" Ranga asked enthusiastically. I wordlessly approached him as he lowered himself, allowing me to climb onto him easily. I turned towards Rigurd.

"Alright, Rigurd, Ranga and I are going on a quick trip. We should be back by sunset at the most, earlier with [Shadow Movement]." I told the goblin king who looked shocked at the sudden announcement. To be fair, I had just decided to leave in the spur of the moment.

"My lord, are you sure it's wise to go alone my lord? I could quickly arrange a small party to go with you!" Rigurd said.

"No, that won't be necessary. I might already be pushing it by bringing Ranga along with me." I immediately said, quashing that idea. The fact that the Dryads rarely showed themselves means they didn't want their domain to be found and preferred their privacy.

"Where will we be going, master?" Ranga asked curiously as he turned his head to glance at me with his left eye.

"To the territory of the Dryads. Their knowledge and expertise in plant life and forestry in general may prove to be invaluable in helping with agricultural growth. You could stand to learn a lot from them." I responded much to the shock of both Rigurd and Ranga. I guess the prospect of seeing the Dryads again so soon was a bit surprising, given how they hadn't been seen in a hundred years.

If all went well, then this village's agricultural techniques and growth would boom within the following weeks. The goblins wouldn't need to worry about food for a very long time and could even stock things up for winter and the like.

Then there was the suggestion made by King Gazel, the creation of a nation. If, and that was a really strong if, I decided to forge my own nation of monsters within the Great Forest of Jura, then things such as farming and agriculture were going to be of extreme importance, so gaining the knowledge and experience to grow a large variety of crops would help with food and even things like materials. I also had a feeling that as managers of the forest, the Dryads would want to be involved with anything that would improve living conditions of all monsters of Jura in the long term.

"Very well, I'll ensure that no problems arise in your absence, so please do not worry." Rigurd reassured firmly as he placed his right hand to his chest.

"Right, I'll leave it to you then." I responded with a nod.

Ranga took that as his que wordlessly took off, dashing out the village, leaving nothing but a trail of dust.

The trip to the Dryads part of the forest actually took us a bit longer than I thought it would, reminding me yet again that the Great Forest of Jura was actually pretty huge, if it weren't for [Shadow Movement], it may have taken us even longer. But thankfully, we got there within 2 hours.

Even as we approached the domain, the very nature of the air around us suddenly changed, the magicules seemingly less potent but much stronger? The air smelt a lot more fresh and free, having some sort of soothing effect on my body and mind.

Honestly speaking, it even felt a little familiar but I was pretty sure that this was my first time coming here. Perhaps it was this calming nature that made it so?

I hopped off Ranga, and landed on his left side, petting the large wolf with my right hand as I walked up and stopped next to his head.

"Treyni." I called out, I didn't bother shouting or anything since I was pretty sure the Dryads were aware of my approach from the moment I left the village. Their ability to see everything in the forest was as useful as it was terrifying, but I was teaching myself not to think about it.

"You called, Lord Rimuru?" Treyni said as she and her sisters appeared before me, despite only the former being called.

'Though to be fair, I did arrive in their territory for the first time unannounced, and I did bring Ranga with me, regardless of their sensory abilities, it was probably a bit thoughtless of me.' I mentally noted before responding. "Sorry for the intrusion, I know you and your sisters are busy with your responsibilities in being the caretakers of the Great Jura Forest, especially with the heightened tensions caused by my mother's disappearance. But I would appreciate it if you and your sisters could lend your assistance in a certain task."

"Of course, Lord Rimuru. We would happily do whatever you would ask of us, so long as it is within our power. We always have time for you," Trya happily answered with a serene smile.

"Thank you, that means a lot," I say with a slight blush before focusing on the matter at hand. "In addition to bringing four Dwarven craftsmen and artisans to aid in the development of the growing town built by the Hobgoblins and Wolves while also training them in said arts, I also brought seeds of different crops that I thought would be invaluable in farming to increase their food supply. Unfortunately, even the expertise the Dwarves and I can offer in Agriculture is ultimately limited. Since you all are experts in plants, I was wondering if you three wouldn't mind lending your expertise to improve their farming techniques? It could go a long way in boosting their food supply, and I also want someone trustworthy to keep an eye on the plants in case they mutate into plant monsters or become an invasive species that threatens the ecology of the forest."

"Of course, Lord Rimuru. We would be honored~," Treyni happily replied with a smile while she and her sisters also bowed in response, happy to be of assistance to Lady Veredia's heir and their new lord. I still found their sense of devotion to be a bit unnerving, or maybe it was the fact that I could actually feel it.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. If need be, you can take a portion of the harvest as compensation for your work, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the village's growth, it should be fine." I stated, wanting to compensate them somehow, though the Dryads only giggled in response which confused me a little.

"While the gesture is appreciated, Lord Rimuru, it is not necessary. For you see, these bodies you see are spiritual in nature, and thus do not need sustenance in the same way that the material bodies of most species within the forest do. For us food is a luxury, not a necessity." Treyni said in an amused tone. "Although, I do believe the additional yield could be used for other things, such as establishing trade with other villages within Jura. It would help word of your presence to finally start spreading in the forest." Treyni suggested, though it was clear she wanted to make my presence known within the forest.

Treyni was both calculative and cunning in various ways, but neither of them were necessarily bad, it just depended if your goals aligned with hers. The best example I could give was the fact that she was loyal to me due to being my mother's son. She wanted all the creatures in the forest to know that the forest wasn't without a guardian and ruler but wouldn't 'advertise' my presence without my permission.

Aside from me and my mother, Treyni also had a strong sense of duty towards the forest in itself. Keeping it safe and flourishing and ensuring that the forest remained untouched by the surrounding threats.

To that end, while she was loyal to me and wouldn't dare question me should I ask her to do something, she also wasn't afraid to make suggestions of her own and maybe push me down a certain path that she felt would be beneficial for me and the forest as a whole.

To be honest, her idea of spreading the word of my awakening made me remember King Gazel's suggestion once more. Maybe it really was best if I thought about the prospect of founding a nation, people often said that leaders weren't born but made. I was currently the strongest monster within this forest, so if monsters truly respected power as much as I'd been led to believe, then it shouldn't take much convincing to persuade them to join me.

"Treyni, what do you think about me forming a nation of monsters within Jura?" I asked the Dryad, she'd been managing for far longer and thus her opinion was important here. She was one of the only people that I could ask for an opinion due to how knowledgeable she and her sisters were.

"Forging a nation of monsters within Jura?" She questioned, wanting to make sure she had heard correctly. I nodded my head in response before speaking.

"Yeah, it's something that King Gazel, the ruler of the Armed Nation of Dwargon, suggested after I told him of my heritage. And it's something that's been on my mind since." I explained.

"I think it's a wondrous idea!" Treyni exclaimed as she clasped her hands in front of her excitedly, much to my surprise, "The notion of uniting the various tribes of Jura would lead to us being collectively stronger than we are right now, not to mention it would make our jobs of maintaining the peace within the forest much easier!"

"Yes, I agree. And with the threats of the surrounding lands wanting to also take advantage of my mother's disappearance, it's important to make a strong front." I said as a frown appeared on my face. "And unfortunately, that's something I can't do on my own. Individually, I'm far weaker than my mother, so my presence, while a potential threat, will not be enough to deter the surrounding nations. Coming together in numbers will be the best way to make ourselves strong."

"That is also a valid concern." Treyni said as she nodded her head, "However, even the respect and authority that we Dryads have in the forest would not be enough to make such a thing possible. Not unless someone strong enough were to stand at the helm of this nation, someone such as Lady Veredia herself, or you, her heir." Treyni added, not bothering with being subtle this time around.

'So she agrees that it's possible, but only if I take the role as the leader of this nation. Not like I was planning to build a nation and then pass the job to someone else. Monsters respect power, and are willing to follow the leadership of someone they view as powerful.' I thought with a sigh. The dryads were powerful, with Treyni being even stronger than her sisters, but their strength wouldn't be enough to get the other stronger species of Jura to follow them.

"I see, thank you for your opinion." I thanked them for their advice.

"Does this mean you're aiming to potentially establish a nation, Lord Rimuru?" Treyni asked, sounding almost excited at the prospect.

"Maybe, to be honest, this was not how I thought things would go." I said with a heavy sigh as I realized that things were starting to turn out far differently than I had envisioned when I first left my mother's cave. "When my mother told me to watch over the forest as the new guardian, I intended to do that. Perhaps whilst being a bit more interactive with those living in the forest, but I never saw myself ruling over anyone. My way would have been similar to my mother's, just without the whole destroying nations thing and being more interactive with the inhabitants of the forest."

But that dream of perhaps living something akin to a shut-in life vanished the moment I left the cave.

"Anyways, I still haven't decided on anything concrete yet. But given the current course of events, it's most likely that I may end up being left with no choice." I responded with a sigh, 'Though I suppose it wouldn't be all that bad. Kaijin and the dwarf brothers are already making large contributions to the town, meaning things such as clothing, construction, and weaponry wouldn't be too much of a problem. Food all depended on how fast our population grew and which species joined, some monsters tend to be more gluttonous than others.'

There was a lot to think about, and that included if this was what the inhabitants of the forest would also want. If I chose to go this route, I'd be bringing a major change to the forest that would make it nothing like it was before. The monsters may follow me as a result of my strength, but may also feel as though I was taking away the freedom they had when my mother was guardian of the forest. I wouldn't force anyone to do anything, but others may feel compelled to do so regardless.

"Well, I appreciate your willingness to assist the developing town with their farming techniques, along with your counsel on this topic." I tell them.

"Of course, Lord Rimuru! We are always happy to help you in any way we can!" Treyni happily says while she and her sisters once again bow out of respect for me.

"With that taken care of, there has been one thing that has been bothering me. This place…it feels familiar in a way that I can't seem to describe, even though I'm pretty sure that this is my first time coming here." I explained, the warmth within me and sense of familiarity hadn't left since I first came here, and while it wasn't a bad feeling it did leave me wondering why. "I don't know, I guess I just get all warm inside and feel kind of relaxed."

The Dryad sisters merely glanced at each other, their emotions almost exploding with positivity and pride. They then nodded towards each other before turning towards me all smiles and excited.

"Lord Rimuru, if you have the time, would you be willing to come would with us for a moment?" Treyni asked as she gestured towards the forest that they called home.

"Are you sure that's okay? I've heard that you don't normally welcome others within your domain." I asked slightly confused as to why they were inviting me deeper into their domain.

"While they are reasons for that, none of those would apply to you, my lord." Dorris spoke up as she stepped beside Treyni.

"Yes, Lady Veredia was the one to grant us refuge within her domain, this territory still falls under that domain. And said domain is now yours." Trya said with a small giggle.

"My sisters are right, as it stands you now have authority over the Great Forest and all its territories. Besides, we're the ones inviting you, and Ranga too." Treyni said as she walked up to the large wolf and began to pet his head.

"I am honoured!" Ranga replied, his tail wagging as he took pleasure in having the back of his ears rubbed.

Well, I suppose there really was no reason not to. In fact, it would be rude of me. Besides, I was getting to see something that many people only ever dreamed of seeing. I couldn't help but wonder if they were more Dryads within their territory, and if so, why had I not yet met them.

Besides, I was curious as to what it was that Treyni and her sisters wanted to show me.

"Alright then, lead the way." I replied with a smile.

The Dryads promptly did so, Ranga and I following them as we ventured deeper in their territory. It was mostly just trees like the rest of the forest, but these trees actually had a faint glow to them, similar to the Dryads and their leaves were vibrant green. The magicules in the air were also higher here than usual, but that was to be expected in a habitat that was occupied with high A-rank monsters/spirits. It was nothing like the sealed cave where my mother had been, but it was the place with the second highest magicule concentration I'd been to since.

As we walked deeper into the woods, the magicules in the air continued to get thicker. Expanding my senses a bit, I was surprised by what I felt.

' The trees here, they're…alive?' I couldn't help but wonder. Whilst they looked like ordinary trees, some of them were filled with not only tons of magicules, but they even had emotions that I could sense! What the heck was up with that?!

From some of them, I could sense curiosity as we passed by, obviously they were sentient enough to be able to acknowledge our presence.

"Are these trees something similar to you Dryads?" I couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"They actually are Treants, our male counterparts, Lord Rimuru," Treyni explained. "Though unlike we Dryads, they rarely leave their host trees, mostly because they are more limited in how far they can move away from their host trees."

'Wow, as interesting as that sounds, it also sounds rough. Not being able to move around with freedom must suck. Assuming they don't genuinely prefer being within their trees, I don't think I would enjoy being stuck in a tree all the time.' I thought.

"So, why exactly have you brought us here? And why does this area seem familiar to me, despite me never being here before?" I couldn't help but ask.

"This, Lord Rimuru, is the part of our territory we used whenever Lady Veredia asked us to watch over you back when you were still in your egg." Treyni revealed, causing my and Ranga's eyes to widen in surprise. "Lady Veredia offered us refuge here in the Great Jura Forest when we were separated from the Queen of Spirits. And in gratitude, we offered our services to her to serve as the forest's caretakers. But in addition to that, Lady Veredia also trusted us to occasionally watch over your egg during occasions when she had to leave the forest."

'That's right, Treyni did mention something like that the day we first met. I can't believe I didn't connect the dots sooner!' I mentally berate myself. It certainly made sense that my mother would bring my egg here. Not only were the Dryads strong and capable enough to protect it from most threats, but the amount of magicules in the air were a good substitute to wherever my mother's nest or dwelling was prior to her sealing. Meaning my body still had plenty of sustenance to both develop and preserve itself.

We kept on going until we reached what I could only assume was the center of the territory due to the enormous tree that stood in front of us. This thing was at least like twenty times thicker than your average tree and nearly fifty times taller. The tree, while huge and flowing with magicules, was not sentient like the rest, and instead seemed to be feeding the land in itself with said magicules being absorbed by the treants and dryads of the forest.

At the base of the tree was a well decorated area, with large roots surrounding it almost as though protecting something. Getting closer it became clear that this was, or rather used to be, a nest of some kind. More than likely where the Dryads used to keep the egg after my mother handed it to them. The layers of leaves and flowers on the floor creating a soft floor, a large bird like nest made out of straw or something which was most definitely where the egg was kept, and the giant roots and vines surrounding the place, most likely to protect the egg from the natural elements.

All in all, this was a well fortified shelter, and it showed that the Dryads had really put a lot of thought into this and were dedicated to paying the trust my mother had given them.

"Man, you guys really did your best huh." It was less of a question and more of an observation.

"Of course, Lady Veredia entrusted us with something that was very precious to her. So much so that no one aside from us and her knew of your existence." Treyni said rather seriously, it was rather uncharacteristic of her. She usually either had a serene and elegant vibe, or she had a mischievous and playful side.

"My mother told me she kept watch over my egg for thousands of years, due to how long it took to hatch. Did no one else really know?" To be honest, my brief encounter with my mother had led me to believe that she wasn't the best at keeping secrets, so I was kind of skeptical.

"Lord Rimuru, honestly we don't have the full story ourselves. But from what Lady Veredia told us she had always wanted an heir, a child of her own. She once spoke about how her sisters had gone their own paths following powerful figures of the world, but she had no desire to go on the same path. While she was elusive to the details of your birth, and who helped father you, we did learn that once she found out she was with child, she took every precaution to ensure your safety." Treyni said as my attention was now fixed on the eldest of the dryad sisters. "She claimed Jura as her domain nearly two thousand years ago. Ensuring that humans wouldn't dare enter, lest they discover you, and knowing that the monsters would never dare approach her nest without permission, all so your egg would have a safe environment to grow."

"Wait, are you saying my mother claimed this entire forest just so my egg would be protected?" That seemed kind of ludicrous, but it also made sense. The egg of a True Dragon was something that adventurers and kingdoms would most likely wage war over.

"Indeed. Though to be honest, it was a fair trade, many of the monsters species that migrated here not only got a place to live, but they all live under the protection of the Storm Dragon. The only cost was that they would be unknowingly serving as layers of defense. Which wasn't really a downside since few people were stupid enough to enter the domain of Lady Veredia." Treyni explained.

"Guess she really wasn't giving up on that egg hatching…" I mumbled more to myself than anyone really. Most monsters would have assumed the child within the egg was dead or was simply too weak to hatch on its own and thus would eventually die.

But she chose to keep faith, that the egg would hatch, regardless of whatever soul inhabited said body. I was still surprised at the fact that she had so willingly accepted me despite knowing I was a human from another world. It was unnatural, then again given the circumstances, I guess I can understand her a little bit.

"Thanks for showing me this…" I said to the Dryads, a smile on my face as I kept my eyes on the nest for a while longer.

A few days passed since I'd managed to convince the Dryads to help with the agricultural development of the town, and I had tto say things were looking up a lot more in that department than they had been before, the goblins were looking forward to a bountiful harvest when the time came.

Now, obviously the dryads had their own duties to the forest, so we agreed that one of them would be checking on the goblins about twice a week, mainly in regards to agriculture, but if the goblins had something important they wanted to share with me while I was away, then the Dryads would deliver.

Speaking of leaving, it was time for me to finally head back to the Ogre village. I'd done enough to jump start this place for the time being and would check up on everyone regularly enough, but otherwise with the Dwarves and Dryads helping out, this village was on its way to becoming one of the most developed settlements in the forest.

Everyone had gathered to see Ranaga and I off. I'd decided to take Ranga with me, the alpha wolf having become something of a partner, familiar, and friend all packed into one. I was confident that Raya would be able to handle things with the rest of the tempest wolves in the meantime.

"Alright everyone, I'm off now!" I called out from on top of Ranga.

"Right, please take care of yourself Lord Rimuru!" Rigurd said as he stood in a straight posture, trying and failing to hold his composure as tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.

"I should be the one saying that, I'll be counting on you to take care of everyone." I responded before turning towards Kaijin and the dwarf brothers. "Thanks again for coming here guys, I get the feeling this town is just going to keep on growing with your help. I'll be popping by often enough to brainstorm ideas for development and the like."

"Don't mention it, compared to what you did for us, this is nothing!" Garm said with a grin and a thumbs up.

"Yeah, you literally saved our lives and gave us high paying jobs! If anything, we should be the ones thanking you!" Dord said with a grateful smile and a nod, one that I returned.

"Mhmmm, mhmmm!" Myrd hummed in agreement as he nodded. I'd get that guy to talk one day, I don't know how or when, but I'd do it.

"They've pretty much said it all, but you don't have to worry, we'll make this village into something great. Just make sure you pop up often enough." Kaijin said with a grin, "Oh and don't worry about the troops and all that, I'll put them through the wringer until you get some proper teachers hehehe." He added with a bit of a sadistic laugh.

That's right, given Kaijin's military background, I'd asked him to fill in for me in training the goblins and wolves. I wasn't expecting much since he was now a full-time blacksmith, but it was better than just having them train blindly. Hopefully the ogre chief would be willing to spare some of his people for the job.

"I can't wait to see the results when I come back then." I said, before looking at everyone gathered once more, "See you guys soon!" I shouted as Ranga and I took off into the forest.

"Good-bye Lord Rimuru!" The loud cries of the goblins echoed throughout the forest, accompanied by the louder howls of the tempest wolves. In a matter of seconds they were out of sight and earshot due to Ranga's speed.

'They'll be fine, besides I'll be checking in often enough.' I told myself.

It wasn't long until we entered the Ogre's territory, with Ranga's speed and stamina we'd been able to make it within the hour, and thanks to [Great Sage] making something akin to a mental map in my head, keeping track of aall the locations I'd been to, we hadn't gotten lost and had found our way pretty easily.

Ranga was moving through the treelines like a hound of hell, to a normal person they either would have fallen off ages ago or they wouldn't be able to see anything due to how fast he was moving.

" [Ogre flame]!" With numerous cries a large torrent of flames suddenly came our way out of the blue, quickly bringing Ranga to a grind halt before he leapt to the right to avoid the attack.

'What the heck?!' I was immediately on guard as I wondered why the heck we were getting attacked out of the blue.

It was then that numerous ogres came out of the bushes, about seven or so, and they all charged towards Ranga weapons hot. Putting the tempest wolf on edge as he growled at the approaching enemies. I recognized one or two of them as part of the Young Master's troop, meaning they really were from the Ogre village. If that was the case then why are they attacking us?!

《Notice: Due to your suppressed aura the ogres did not sense your presence, but the individual Ranga has not suppressed his aura. Thus it can be assumed the Ogres sensed an incoming threat and reacted accordingly.》

'Of course! And given that we were making a beeline for their village at ssuch insane speeds it's only natural that they would react as they did.' I surmised. I quickly jumped off Ranga, landing in front of him, and released a portion of my aura, about 30% give or take. " Stop!" I shouted as my aura flared and actually threw the unexpecting Ogres back a bit. I suppressed my aura just as quickly as it burst out, bringing it down to a level where most would be able to sense my presence but not enough to scare anyone, more than sure that the Ogres would at the very least think twice before attacking again.

Sure enough, as they stood up they seemed to be more on the side of caution, at least until their eyes fell on me. Their eyes widened as they recognized me instantly, and the horrid realization of what they had done crashed down on them like a large boulder. Immediately, the leader of the group went down on one knee and bowed his head.

"Lord Rimuru, please forgive our reckless assault!" The ogre pleaded as he hung his head low, I didn't even need [desire] to see the fear and anxiety that he was feeling in that moment.

' 'Lord Rimuru' huh, guess the rest of the village knows about my heritage then.' I concluded. I wasn't surprised by this really, the Ogres seemed to be the type to respect titles and stature. The chief must have spread word after I left, I just hoped this didn't change their opinions of me too much, I kinda liked where I stood with the ogres before. Not too formal, but not too informal either. There was a chance that progress had been compromised by the revelation of my heritage. I shook my head sideways as I brought myself back to the situation at hand.

By now, the other ogres involved in the attack had also gone down on their knees asking for forgiveness. Did these guys think I was gonna take their lives over a misunderstanding or something? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they did, monsters tended to think differently from humans, and despite being a monster now, I still had a very human mentality.

"Be at ease, I know a misunderstanding when I see one. I shouldn't have hidden my own aura so well, it's only natural you would assume Ranga was an enemy otherwise." I reassured them, I could tell they were more than a little surprised at the fact that Ranga was a named creature, but they didn't say anything about it, probably having heard about it from when I asked the Dryads to deliver a message to the ogre village.

"But…we attacked you and your…companion." The lead ogre responded.

"And I said it's fine. No hard feelings, right Ranga?"

"Right! If the master won't hold it against you, then I have no reason to." Ranga responded with a loud bark.

"Thank you my lord, you are truly kind." The ogre responded, I couldn't help but sigh as it seemed that familiarity truly had vanished, I really hoped it wasn't all the ogres who'd fallen into this sense of formality.

"Right, well we were on our way to the village. I've handled all the affairs I set out to deal with."

"Please allow us to escort you, I'm sure everyone will be pleased by your return." the lead ogre said as he and his party stood.

"Sure, why not." I said with a shrug as I climbed back onto Ranga.

The ogres in the village had more than likely already felt my small display of power just now, so it was either they hadn't sent a party to investigate or they were already preparing for my arrival.

With that, the ogre party led Ranga and I through the forest towards the village. Regardless of whatever changes, I was looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The walk back to the village was about as silent and awkward as I expected it to be. The ogre party was clearly embarrassed over the recent encounter and were still feeling plenty ashamed, but they still did their best to be hospitable.

It didn't take long until the village gates were in sight, and as I'd pretty much expected, most of the village was already gathered by said gates. A pair of ogres had branched from the rest of the troop earlier, probably going on ahead to give the rest of the village a heads up about my approach.

"Lord Rimuru! We are truly honored and overjoyed by your return to our village!" The collective response of all the ogres present at the gate, all of whom were bowing and kneeling on a single knee.

I couldn't help but sigh a little at the over-the-top and zealous reception I got from the Ogre Village, with the feeling of pride and happiness and amazement being felt through [desire].

Though I ultimately wasn't TOO surprised by the reaction I had received, given the revelation of my heritage and subsequent significance to the Jura Forest. The fact that I had asked the Dryads to inform them of the delay of my return likely did not help, due to a mix of anxiety on how to treat me now and the Dryads simply appearing undoubtedly served to confirm my heritage to the Ogres.

I jumped off Ranga, just in time too as the chief and his family approached us. The chief and his wife seemed relieved to see me. The ogre princess was actually happy which made me feel kinda warm on the inside, I hadn't forgotten the fact that she might potentially be one of the women I was destined to be with. Lastly was the young master, the guy couldn't even meet my eyes, though given our last interaction, I didn't blame him.

I'd had plenty of time to think about how I'd handle what happened with him when I got back, because I doubted it was something that would just be swept under the carpet so to speak. And personally, I didn't want to hold a grudge or anything like that. The guy was literally the heir of this village, and I really liked it here, so getting along with him was a must. Besides, I had a feeling that when he wasn't busy being a paranoid, egotistical, and overprotective jerk, he was actually a pretty decent guy. I doubt any child born from the chief and chieftess would be anything less.

"Lord Rimuru, please allow me to welcome you back into our village." The chief said as he and his family gave a quick bow. I was pretty sure they would have been respectful of my return regardless of my heritage being revealed or not, but they were probably taking it up a notch because of it.

"It's good to be back." I said with a nod and a smile. It really was, this place was the closest thing I had to a home in this world, hence the reason I'd been so eager to come back as quickly as possible. I then turned towards Ranga, who was beside me and began to pet him. "I believe introductions are in order, this here is Ranga, my loyal companion and the head of the Tempest Wolf pack."

"It's nice to meet you! Master has spoken highly about this village!" Ranga said with a loud bark, tail wagging in excitement.

"The honor is ours, Sir Ranga." The chief said with a quick bow towards the wolf. He wasn't as surprised as I thought he would be at Ranga being named, then again I'm sure the dryads had filled them in on enough details.

I was a bit surprised that he would actually bow at Ranga, but I quickly remembered two things. Firstly, aside from myself, Ranga was currently the strongest individual in the village in terms of magicules alone. And as usual, the ogres respected sentient and powerful creatures. The second being that I'd introduced him as my familiar/companion, making it clear that I was the one who named him and granted him his power. So out of respect to me, they were also showing some to Ranga.

"It seemed you had quite the adventure upon leaving our walls." The chieftess suddenly said with a bright smile, one that quickly reminded me of Treyni awkwardly enough. I remember thinking vise versa back in the goblin village.

'Those two should really not be allowed to meet.' I thought as I tried to think of ways to prevent the two schemers from directly interacting with each other.

"But it all seemed to have worked out in the end." The princess responded, drawing my attention, "I'm just glad that you returned to us safe and sound, Lord Rimuru." she responded with a giggle.

"My daughter is right, your return and sucess in your endeavors is a cause for celebration, Lord Rimuru. Tonight we will hold an outdoor feast in your honor." The Chief with a nod and a smile, I wanted to refuse, the welcome party had been more than enough. But I would be lying if I said I didn't want to try their cooking again after so long.

Sure enough, night soon came and the celebrations and feastings started. The atmosphere seemed to be good all around, the ogres seemed genuinely happy and festive tonight. Dancing to the music, feasting on the food, and just talking and laughing amongst each other. Feeling the positive energy in the atmosphere through [Desire] was enough to make me not regret speaking against the idea of a celebration.

One ogre in particular caught my attention during all this, it was the purple ogress I was teaching to cook. She turned out to be quite the skilled dancer when it came to festive occasions such as this one. Her moves are traditional as her body would sway and move rhythmically to the music.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on perspective, that resulted in her heavy assets swinging around in a manner that drew the eyes of many ogres, it certainly didn't help that her attire left a certain amount of cleavage for people to see. I tried to ignore the irritation I felt at the others gazing at her.

The ogres had even been kind enough to set a large wooden bowl of meat for Ranga. The tempest wolf happily devours the meat whilst interacting with the ogres that chose to approach him. Many couldn't believe that he was once a direwolf, a C-rank monster, and now he was on the lower spectrum of A-rank.

"I see, so that's what happened." The ogre chief said, I'd been retelling the tales of my adventures to him, his family, the elder, and other notable members of the village. We were all seated on the largest table with lots of food present for us to help ourselves to.

"Yeah, it was a lot more than I originally set out for, but everything seemed to work out in the end." I said as I took a sip of the fruit juice next to me.

"If I may, Lord Rimuru, why did you feel the need to take in the goblins and wolves in the first place?" The chieftess suddenly asked.

"It wasn't that I needed to, but rather things just ended up turning out that way. The initial goblins offered their loyalty in exchange for my aid and protection, as for the wolves, they chose to submit me as a result of sparing the rest of their pack. As for the goblins that followed, as I said earlier that was mainly to even oout the population, or at least make sure the goblins could settle comfortably with the wolves." I said with a shrug, "I didn't deny them that. In the end I'm still guardian to the whole forest but they get more attention from me since their my subordinates."

"Even so, was it necessary to name them? I don't mean to belittle you, but naming a monster is a dangerous task, even to one as powerful as yourself, especially so many monsters." The princess asked in concern.

"Don't worry, I named them in batches so I wouldn't do more harm than good. And I recover magicules faster than the average monster." I reassured the princess, she still looked a bit concerned but didn't say anything more.

The true harm in naming comes from either attempting to name one stronger than yourself or naming too many monsters at once, other than that, one should recover from the process given enough time. Thanks to my sub-skill [Drainage, I could absorb magicules from the environment faster to regain my strength, which was how I recovered quickly. This skill also allowed me to passively grow stronger at a slow rate through absorbing magicules in the air. The higher the magicule density in an area, the more I grew in strength. I grew.

"Besides, I also had other reasons for naming them." I stated, drawing the attention of the ogres present. "The first being to make them stronger and more united. As they were, the goblins were too weak to defend themselves in any manner, they would be too reliant on the wolves for protection in my absence. This would result in the wolves looking down on the goblins and mistreating them."

"I see, so you named them in order to evolve them so they could better defend themselves, which would allow them to also fight alongside the wolves, creating a sense of comradery among them." The chief said with a smirk as he nodded his head, I wasn't surprised to see that he had seen through my trick.

"But wouldn't naming the wolves just increase the gap strength between the wolves and goblins again?" The princess asked, I couldn't help the grin that made its way onto my face.

"The goblins and wolves both grew tremendously as a result of me naming them, the goblins went from E-rank to C-rank turning into hobgoblins and goblina's, while the direwolves went through a unique evolution due to my affinities and became tempest wolves going from D-rank to B-rank monsters with their leaders on the lower end of A-rank." I explained as the ogres eyes widened slightly at the revelation. "At face value, the difference in power may have increased between them, but that's only if you look at it from a magicule perspective. This is where things such as gear, arts, and skills come into play."

"Ah, I understand now. The goblins are a humanoid race, and thus are much more capable of learning than the wolves. That means where they lack in magicules, they can make up with arts and weapons." The elder said as he stroked his beard, "This is part of the reason you sought out artisans in Dwargon, isn't it?" the elder himself was a testament to the fact that magicules weren't everything. Individuals like the young master and princess surpassed him in energy, but his physical prowess, skill, and experience was still far above theirs. And that was enough to almost always guarantee him victory.

"That's part of the reason, the goblins also had no talents in making clothing or constructions at all, watching them attempt to make a house was rather sad." I said with a sigh as I remember the structure they had shown me before I decided to leave for Dwargon. "Things have certainly improved since I got the dwarves to come to the village, and the goblins seem to be learning well under them. They've got clothing and proper shelters, they've even started growing their own food under the guidance of the dryads who have some expertise in agricultural techniques, though they're currently still reliant on the bounty of the forest."

"It seems like things are going well for them then." The chief said with a few nods.

"My lord, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you come to us when searching for artisans?" The chieftess suddenly asked as everyone on the table turned to her with wide eyes. "Our village is plenty capable in craftsmanship."

"I did think of it, but I reconsidered." I answered, drawing the attention back to me. "I simply figured that you wouldn't want to take part in a task that involved weaker races given the pride of the ogres."

"While it's true that we ogres only acknowledge those we view as strong, we still would have aided in your endeavor." The chief spoke up.

"Is that so?" I said as I turned to the chief, his eyes meeting with my own. I'm pretty sure he was saying this because of my heritage, but whether he actually meant was a completely different matter. The chief merely nodded his head without turning his eyes away from my own. "Well, honestly speaking there is still one area they need help in, the goblins in particular, I wasn't willing to entrust this task to foreigners from other nations."

"Oh, and what may that be?" The chieftess asked as she leaned forward a bit.

"Training the goblin forces. I taught them some basics in hand to hand and swordsmanship, and some seem to have a knack for archery, but they still require a lot of guidance." I told the chief with a sigh. I hadn't been planning on talking to the chief about this so soon, but I saw an opportunity to bring it up and I did.

"I see…and you want us to be the ones that teach them?" The chief asked for confirmation.

"To be fair, I don't really have anyone else to ask." I said with a shrug which prompted a scoff from the young master and a giggle from the chieftess and princess, "Like I said, I'd rather not leave this to foreigners and I don't have enough connections in the forest to ask elsewhere. Though the dryads intend to help me fix that. Besides, I'm not asking for a lot, just a few individuals that specialize in different kinds of weapons."

"Yes, that seems to be reasonable." The ogre chief said as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"I'm not asking this free of charge, by the way, I'm sure we can work out some kind of agreement, but not tonight. We can discuss the details another time, there's no need to rush anything." I reassured him, by now I was sure that the chief was willing to help and listen to what I had to say. The specifics could be ironed out on another date, tonight was meant to be a night of celebration.

"Yes, yes, for tonight we feast and celebrate." The chief said with a nod, I could feel a sense of relief from him, more than likely from having more time to think about my proposal rather than being put on the spot. Then again, his wife was the one that brought it up.

"Right, speaking of festivities, I haven't had the chance to dance yet. Wouldn't be a celebration if I didn't indulge in the fun myself now would it?" I asked with a grin as I stood up, the ogres each nodded their heads as I excused myself and began walking towards the festivities.

I then stopped as a thought came to mind, 'This is either very foolish or very bold, hopefully it's the latter because fortune is supposed to favor the bold.' I mentally said before turning back towards the chiefs table, more specifically towards the princess. Everyone on the chief's table had once more turned to me once they noticed my pause. After a few seconds of thinking over my words, I just spoke whatever came to mind.

"Actually princess, would you mind joining me on the dance floor?" I said with a smile as I stretched out my left hand.

"Eehhh?!" I ignored the shocked cries of the ogres on the chief's tables, the raised eyebrows of the elder and chief, the giggling of the chieftess, and the slightly scrutinizing look from the young master. Instead focused on the princess, who's face seemed to be getting redder and redder by the second.

"My, Lord Rimuru, are you not being a bit too forward." The chieftess teased as the princess' face exploded into a deeper shade of red, her mouth opening and closing as she waved her hands in a poor attempt to refute her mother's words. The rest of the table was too shocked to say anything.

"I think you're reading too much into it. I'm just asking her to dance with me. A celebration such as this one is meant to be enjoyed with friends and loved ones, and the princess happens to be one of the ogres with whom I'm closest to." I said with a shrug, that was total bullshit. I knew it, she knew it, hell everyone on the table knew it, but none of them would call me up on it.

"Perhaps I am." The chieftess conceded, though I could tell she wasn't buying my excuse, it didn't matter in the end. While I would rather have their approval when I started pursuing the princess, because I am going to pursue her, I haven't started just yet.

Reason being I still wanted to get to know her a bit more before I did. That dark elf fortune teller's vision had shown that the princess may be one of my future partners, and that she may evolve in the future, but she also said the future was in my hands.

I'd never really thought about having a harem, but then again I also never thought I'd be reincarnated to another world. Whether or not what was in the vision would really happen depended on what I did.

"So, shall we?" I asked the princess once more. Regaining her composure, she then turned towards her father who nodded his head in approval.

Upon having his approval, she stood and joined me as we left the table and joined the other ogres dancing around the huge bonfire. I allowed myself to just relax and have fun that night. I danced, ate and feasted that night.

It was good to be back

3rd P.O.V:

In another part of the Great Forest of Jura, near the border leading to the Kingdom of Blumund, five individuals could be seen entering the forest. Three of them were the adventurers that Rimuru had seen upon reaching the entrance to Veredia's cave: Kaval, Eren, and Gido.

"Man I can't believe the guild master asked us to come back to this place just to investigate the monster's behavior." Kaval whined, the three of them had been hoping to take a few days of vacation after their exploration of the Storm Dragon's cave, but unfortunately their guild master, Fuze, had different ideas.

"Hey, you shouldn't complain too much. Guild master Fuze was kind enough to get us into a party with none other than the rising hero Masayuki!" Eren said as she smacked Kaval with her staff. She was also annoyed by the sudden quest, but she couldn't deny that getting to be in the same party as a hero was a pretty good opportunity, one they may never get again.

Their mission was to investigate monster activities within the forest, more specifically to take note of any changes that may have occurred as a result of the Storm Dragon vanishing. Given how dangerous the monsters within Jura tended to be, the Guild Master managed to convince the rising hero Masayuki, who just happened to be in the area, to also take part in this mission. Offering a sizeable reward in exchange.

"You shouldn't look up to me so highly. I've only recently started my own adventures, so I don't really think I'm deserving of a title such as hero." Masayuki said with a sweatdrop, as he tried to save Kaval from getting smacked again.

"Nonsense!" Gido shouted as he walked up to the blonde otherworlder. "The fact that you've accomplished so much in such a short amount of time says a lot about how strong you are and your potential! Isn't that right Shizu?"

Shizu, the last member of their party, not much was really known about her. She had heard the four of them talking about traveling to Jura, and asked if she could join them. So far, she had been the most quiet, only speaking here and there. Even more confusing was the fact that since they'd met her they'd yet to see her face, since she always seemed to be wearing a mask.

"Indeed, word of your talents reached all the way to Ingrasia, Masayuki. You should take pride in your accomplishments." She encouraged, her voice gentle and reassuring.

"That's right, we're the ones lucky to be in a party with you. So we should make sure to learn as much as we can!" Eren said with a determined look as she held onto her staff tightly with both hands.

As the group continued to move while talking and bickering, mainly Kaval's party, Shizu suddenly stopped and turned to her left side, prompting the others to do the same as they turned to her in confusion.

"Shizu, is something wrong?" Eren asked with a concerned expression. The masked adventurer didn't respond for a few seconds, before turning away from whatever she was looking at and shaking her head sideways.

"No, I just thought I sensed something for a moment. I must have been mistaken." Shizu said, which immediately put Kaval's party at ease.

"You shouldn't scare us like that Shizu! for a moment, I thought a monster was going to jump out of the treelines or something!" Eren said with a nervous laugh.

Shizue couldn't help but sigh, these three were very carefree it seemed, they were walking into a forest filled with monsters, and yet they were now letting their guards down just because she said the coast was clear? It was a miracle they had made it this far on their own.

The group continued on their way, heading deeper into the forest. It was only after five minutes that a figure stepped out of the area that Shizue had been looking at, the individual in question was none other than Gelmude, the majin who had attempted to forcefully recruit Zegion and Apito.

" Fwhew, that was too close." The majin said as he let out a breath of relief. He looked down towards the crystal ball that he was holding in his left hand. "Did you see that, my lord? There's no doubt about it, that mask that name, that woman truly is the hero Shizue Aizawa, the Conqueror of Flames! I thought she was retired! And that blonde one, Masayuki, they said he was a rising hero! What do we do Lord Clayman, this could put a dent in our plans!" Gelmude proclaimed in distress, it was bad enough that he had encountered an unknown majin within the forest that was far stronger than he was, but now there were two heroes surveying the forest?!

*Calm yourself, Gelmude.* A calm and calculating voice spoke out from the crystal, this voice belonged to Gelmude's lord and master, the Demon Lord Clayman. *While the situation does seem to have changed, there is still a way that we can use this to our advantage.*

"My Lord?" Gelmude questioned. He wasn't sure what benefit there was to having two heroes scouring the forest they were in the midst of taking over, but he trusted Lord Clayman to have a plan.

*The flame hero, Shizue Aizawa and the newly rising hero, Masayuki. Hmmm, from what I've heard, the Conqueror of Flames retired due to having issues with her elemental spirit.* Clayman said thoughtfully. *Perhaps we can use that to our advantage. If all goes well I'd gain two powerful puppets, perhaps even replacements for some of my 'fingers'.*

"Yes my lord, those two would make excellent minions!" Gelmude quickly agreed.

*Gelmude, have you heard any word of that majin you encountered?* Clayman asked.

"Yes my lord, the goblin settlement near where I encountered him has begun to rapidly expand and seems to have also tamed direwolves. I can only assume this was his doing." Gelmude responded rather bitterly, he was still sour over being thoroughly humiliated by that stupid majin and being forced to flee, but he knew that he couldn't fight him head on and hope to win.

*Good, then he's still within the forest. Return to Jistav at once, I have a gift for the Conqueror of Flames, hopefully this 'guardian' will also be lured out. I admit he has piqued my curiosity.* Clayman's voice sounded equally amused and cunning. The connection cut before Gelmude could respond, but the majin knew better than to delay any further.

Without another word, he took off into the sky in the direction of Jistav. His master had plans, big plans, for the forest, the heroes and that majin that humiliated him. Gelmude especially wanted to see what would become of that majin, if his master allowed it, Gelmude would gladly make him food for his Orc Lord.

Yes, his power alone would be more than enough to ensure the Orc Lord's evolution into the Orc Disaster.

---

Authors Note:

And that's a wrap for this chapter, finally glad to have that over with. We covered quite a lot of things here from the development of the goblin village and its inhabitants under the dwarves, the dryad visit and some insight into their past with Veredia, and lastly Rimuru's return to the ogre village.

All things considered I like the way this chapter turned out and I can't wait to hear what you all have to say about it!

Please, like, review and comment. I'm accepting of constructive criticism too.

But I will update earlier when the time allows so dont quit on me yet!

Anyways this chapter is more of a in between kind of thing. First time doing one of these so let me know what you all think. As always I welcome constructive criticism!.

Without further delay lets dive in!

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It had been a month since my return to the ogre village, and things seemed to have fallen back into the same old routine as prior to my leave, well for the most part. Wake up early in the morning with the rest of the ogres for their early training session, which was mainly sparring with the elder for me or practicing my kata.

The old man had apparently thought I may have been slacking off in my training during the time that I was gone. He was glad to see me prove him wrong. I had taken every opportunity I could to train my body and mind whilst I was in the goblin village, with [Great Sage] giving me plenty of advice on mental cultivation and meditation techniques.

Aside from sword practice, I'd also been working on my personal martial arts style, the one [Great Sage] had created and optimized using my knowledge on various manga and anime. I'd all but perfected my dragon claw art by now and was now in the process of creating another dragon related art.

I'd also taken this time to also help Ranga train. While non-humanoid monsters tended to be limited in the range of arts they could learn, it didn't mean they couldn't learn any at all. At the moment, I had him trying to gather his aura around his front claws in an attempt to recreate his own version of my dragon claw art, maybe later on I'd have him attempt the same with his fangs. If Ranga could learn these techniques, and even teach Raya and the other tempest wolves, then they would grow that much stronger as a pack.

Aside from that, Ranga had also been practicing his [lightning manipulation] extra skill. Thus far he only had one art under it called [lightning bolt]. It allowed him to summon a bolt of yellow lightning from the sky to strike his target and it definitely seemed strong too, the ogres had been impressed when he vaporized an entire tree and shattered some rocks with this move.

However, I wanted to increase his range of arts he could use under this skill. Which is why I was following a very Pokémon like training regime for Ranga when it came to his overall training. Taking inspiration from electric type Pokémon and seeing if we could perhaps implement similar moves with Ranga. [Great Sage] had already confirmed that the chances for succeeding with this idea were 78%. Meaning it was more than plausible, I had so many ideas of what moves I wanted Ranga and his pack to learn.

I'd also taken the time to start experimenting some with my new skills, namely [Black Lightning, [Black Wind, [Shadow Movement, and [Thought Reading].

The first two I made sure to practice away from the village, mainly due to being unsure as to what would happen if I lost control or simply put in too much power. Which later turned out to be the right choice, as I accidentally lived up to the title, Son of the Storm Dragon.

[Black Lightning] turned out to be a much stronger version of Ranga's [Lightning manipulation] skill, probably due to the storm magic element mixed into it, thus far I only had two arts for it, the first being [lightning bolt] which was identical to Ranga's ability but stronger and larger in size, oh and the lightning was black of course. The second was a sword art called [lighting strike]. The name was basic but that's because it was meant to be self-explanatory, basically I infuse my blade with black lightning and strike at my foe. Its damage output depended on the amount of power put into it and it had a chance of stunning or paralyzing my opponent.

[Black Wind] turned out to be trickier than I thought it would be. Basically, it allowed me to produce and manipulate black currents of wind that I could shape as I pleased given practice and proficiency. The tricky part was that this wind was very corrosive, all living things that seemed to come into contact with it would start to decay, be it trees or wild monsters I tested it against. [Great Sage] assured me that this was something I could control, and that those with my divine protection or similar true dragon magic to my mother's would not be affected by these decaying effects. According to [Great Sage, the decaying effects of black wind were similar to that of the [Rot] skill, only much stronger and more potent, meaning it would be much more painful and harder to heal from. Breathing in this air was a quick way to get yourself killed, and because of that, I had to be extremely careful with this skill so it didn't end up harming my allies.

[Shadow Movement] turned out to be a rather fun skill to have, it basically allowed me to cover large distances instantly, almost like teleportation. However, its range was limited depending on the strength of the user, meaning some would have to be jumping in and out of shadows if they wanted to travel a large distance like say from one from the ogre village to the goblin village. As it stood, the tempest wolves and I could make such a trip with ease and instantly travel between both villages. According to [Great Sage, strength and proficiency were the ones that determined the range of one's 'jump' in a single movement.

Using Dwargon and the goblin village as another example, [Great Sage] explained that I could theoretically make it in a single jump, Ranga and Raya may need three jumps and two 'pit stops' and the other tempest wolves would need double that. Regardless of the pit stops, using [Shadow Movement] cut a great deal of time when it came to traveling, and I could already see the potential trade advantages of having such a skill in the near future. Transportation of goods that would usually take weeks could be done in mere hours with such a skill.

Lastly was the skill [Thought Reading, this was the sub-skill of the [Unique Skill: Tyrant] that I had copied from Gazel Dwargo. I'd been a bit hesitant about using this, especially on the goblins and ogres as it felt immoral, but I quickly let go of such hesitations. I needed to learn to use this skill properly, it would be very useful in future endeavors.

I'd even gotten the idea of using [Thought Reading] alongside [Desire, this allowed me to both read one's thoughts as well as their emotions. If I used the latter skill correctly, I'd even be able to manipulate an individual's emotions, indirectly controlling their thoughts in the process.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to try out this combination as it requires me having a drawn out conversation with people, and I don't feel comfortable using such a skill on the people I'm close with, such as the ogre chief and his family, along with the elder. So thus far, I'd only stuck with reading the minds of those I wasn't quite as close with.

It had been interesting to hear the thoughts of the goblins, wolves, and ogres, especially when pertaining to me.

The wolves naturally saw me as the one true leader and master of their pack, from reading their thoughts, I'd been able to gather that while they would gladly follow Ranga and Raya, their true loyalty lay with me. If ordered, they would gladly turn on the two superior wolves. I didn't know whether I should be happy with that or concerned…

Moving on, reading the minds of the goblins, I wasn't that surprised by their thoughts. For lack of a better term, they revered me, saw me as something akin to a savior. Which made sense, given that they used to be at the bottom of the food chain, they were but mere prey for almost any other creature in the forest, but thanks to me, they had evolved and gotten much stronger and their lives were far better. They weren't the strongest creatures in the forest, far from it, but they were vastly more capable.

Then lastly, there were the ogres, their thoughts of me were just about what I'd expected of them just by studying their culture. They had a great deal of respect for me and the strength that I held. Even though they didn't know the true extent of my power, they knew it was far beyond theirs, meaning I was worthy of their respect. Being the son of Veredia, the young lord of the land, and the new guardian of the forest also seemed to have increased the amount of respect they have for me.

Zegion and Apito had been a bit unique when reading their thoughts. I hadn't interacted with them as much as I should have, given they were among the strongest in the goblin village, something I'd be sure to fix.

I was a bit surprised when Zegion's thoughts mainly consisted of nothing but the desire to grow stronger for my sake of all things. From what I gathered, he felt indebted to me and he wanted to be worthy of my protection by being of more use to me. The level of subservience there was a bit surprising, but if it motivated him to work hard and grow stronger, then I wasn't going to complain.

Apito was more or less the same in her thoughts, she was hard at work both in training and in honey production, due to wanting to contribute more to my goals. Though I was pretty sure I hadn't said anything about having a goal to them. Still though, the amount of honey she was producing by using her drone bees to collect pollen from the Dryad territory was actually surprising, so again there were no complaints.

All in all, [Thought Reading] reading was a pretty neat skill to have, but I made sure not to rely on it too much. I already had that habit with [Desire, so it would be bad if I constantly used both of them.

"I see, so you're taking her fishing?" The ogre chief said as he stroked his beard in thought.

Today was a bit of a breather day for me, I wasn't going to be joining the hunting party or involving myself in any of the village affairs. That said, laying around all day was boring so I decided to go fishing. Ranga apparently knew a good spot, and was more than happy to take me. Seeing the opportunity, I'd also decided to bring the purple ogress along.

She'd made a lot of progress in her culinary skills over the last month. While it still tasted bad, it no longer emitted the aura of an A-rank monster nor did it burn your taste buds on contact, heck even the appearance now resembled that of poorly done food rather than the monstrosity it used to be. It was a sign of progress and good things in the near future.

I wanted to bring her along this trip to introduce the delights of sea food. While the ogres did eat fish from time to time, the goal here was to have her prepare fish she had caught herself. There was nothing more satisfactory than cooking a meal you worked hard to catch yourself.

"Yes, I initially planned to go alone, just to take it easy for the day, but then I figured it'd be a good experience for her. Plus, patience seems to be one of her weakest points from my observations." I said with an amused laugh, the chief joining in before taking a sip from his cup of tea.

"Yes, yes, she has quite the temper. My son has been on the receiving end of it quite a few times. I suppose she takes after her father in that regard." The chief said with a small smile on his face, probably thinking of the purple ogress's father. "Lord Rimuru, would you be so kind as to accept a request of mine?" The ogre chief asked, by now I'd grown used to all this formal talk and had accepted that this is how almost everyone would speak to me.

"It depends on what the favor is." I replied as I drank from my own cup of tea, I wouldn't make any promises, I made it a point to keep my promises so I never took them lightly, lest I dig my own grave.

"Fair enough. Would you be willing to take my son and daughter on this fishing expedition of yours as well?" The chief asked, much to my surprise. That's the request he had? I'd made a bigger deal out of it for no reason, maybe I was just being overly cautious.

"May I ask why?" I wasn't against taking them with me, especially the princess, but was it really a good idea for him to be letting both his children out of the village? They were his only children and were like royalty in this village.

"There's no special reason, I just want them to take a day off from their duties. So I'm seizing the opportunity while it's being presented." The chief said with a fatherly smile, there was no deceit in his words.

To be honest, I have no real reason to refuse, I liked spending time with the princess, about as much as I liked spending time with the purple ogress. Things between the redhead and I had improved a bit since he gave a formal apology to me in front of the chief. I wouldn't call us friends, but there was no more bad blood, if anything this expedition may help close that gap. If nothing else, I'd get to see a bit more of the real him and not the angry asshole he'd been before.

"I have no problem with it, the more the merrier." I replied with a shrug. In the end, bringing them along would only serve to make the day more enjoyable for me, rather than taking this break on my own. I took another sip of tea, enjoying both the warmth and flavor, I couldn't help but also note the sweet flavor of honey within the tea.

'It seems the ogres have really taken a liking to Apito's honey.' I thought to myself with a smile.

It was one of the few things that had been put up for trade when the chief and I sat down and got talking about what relations the ogre and goblin villages would have. To be honest, I had been a bit worried that the ogres would make unreasonable demands, not because I thought little of them, but rather because I was negotiating on behalf of a weaker species. But the chief turned out to be more level headed than I thought.

*Flashback*

"Thank you for taking the time to actually hear me out." I said as I took the seat opposite to the chief. It had been two days since my return, and the chief and I were about to go into detail about the potential trade agreements between the ogre village and the goblin village.

"No,no, I should be the one thanking you lord Rimuru." The chief said as he shook his head sideways. "This is just as much an opportunity for me and my people as it is for the goblins under your protection. I hope we can come to an agreement that is satisfactory for the both of us." I nodded head in agreement, I understood the meaning behind his words clearly.

As much as the chief and his people respected me, they wouldn't simply bend over and supply the goblin village, not unless I was willing to use force. He wanted a mutually beneficial agreement. Which was fine with me since I never had any intention of swindling the ogres, I'd compensate them properly for their efforts.

"So do I, now let's get started." I said as our expressions became slightly more serious. As well acquainted as the two of us were, this was now a discussion between two leaders who were looking out for the interests of their own people. "As I said on the night of my arrival, hiring of the dwarves helped improve a lot of areas within the goblin village such as housing, clothing, and craftsmanship, and the dryads have also started to aid in agricultural production."

"Yes, you've pretty much covered most of the essentials. Food, shelter, clothing, all that is left is security." The chief said to which I nodded my head.

"I'm not worried about the wolves at the current moment. They are natural predators and will grow into their newfound power. The goblins, however…" I trailed off with a frown. "They've been at the bottom of the food chain for as long as they can remember. They have no fighting skill or experience whatsoever, and their confidence is severely lacking. Their recent evolutions can't change those shortcomings."

"Indeed, goblins, despite their large population, have always relied on others for protection and have always been submissive to stronger species, even though they've evolved, you cannot expect them to change their ways so quickly." The chief explained before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh, "That being said I can understand why you'd like us to teach them. They would not only gain the skills to use their newfound strength, but they would also grow more confident in their own power."

"That's the idea." I responded. It was a big ask, I was asking the ogres to share their techniques with goblins, creatures they viewed as beneath them.

"Very well, but if we were to help the goblins, what would we hope to gain in return?" The chief asked. I'd been expecting this question, I would have been more suspicious if they had just accepted and gone along with it.

"Yes, asking you to share your techniques is something that can't be asked without an exchange of equal value." I responded as I nodded my head. I then reached into my [Stomach] and brought forth a magisteel crystal about the size of a person's head using [Apex Predator]. "Tell me chief, do you know what this is?" The shocked expression on his face told me all that I needed to know.

"Th-that's a magistone ore? The amount of magicules in that crystal alone…" the chief whispered in shock.

"Close but not quite, this is magisteel, the refined and much more condensed version of magistone ores." I said as the chief tore his eyes away from the magisteel and turned back to me. "If you're familiar with magistone then I'm sure you know what it is used for. Weapons made from magisteel boast a higher magicule conductivity than those made from magistone and grow with their user. I found a lot of magistone ores in the cave where my mother had been sealed and further refined them into magisteel."

"I see, so you wish to trade the magisteel in exchange for us teaching the goblins?" The chief asked, but I quickly shook my head sideways.

"Not quite, as selfish as it sounds I'd rather keep the production of magisteel weapons exclusive to the goblin village. Instead I'd like to propose the dwarves also manufacturing weapons for the ogres, or at the very least your main forces." The ogre chief seemed to frown slightly at that. I wasn't against the idea of giving the ogres magisteel, but I'd rather not have it spread like a wildfire, plus the goblin village needed a way to stand out even among the stronger villages in Jura. I needed to get the ogre chief to accept this deal. "If you're worried about the quality or craftsmanship of the weaponry, then would you please take a look at this blade first, then tell me your honest thoughts." I added as a sheathed katana appeared in my right hand from my [Stomach].

Holding the blade vertically with both hands on opposing ends, I held it out for the chief to take. The scabbard of the blade was pitch black with red and gold lines drawn out in intricate patterns that made it look amazing, the handle was similarly black with the top have a red and white spherical design. The chief took the blade and slowly began to pull it out of its scabbard. The blade was very well done, shining and brightly reflecting the light that came in from the window, stainless and sharp, ready to tear into the flesh of its foe. Kaijin had really outdone himself with this blade, then again I had told him that I may just give this to the chief should he choose to accept it.

"Try channeling magicules into it." I said with a grin. The ogre chief, who'd been mesmerized by the blade, snapped out of his thoughts and nodded his head. I felt the magicules be channeled into the blade before a split second later, the sword erupted into bright orange flames. The temperature of the room increased and the flames lit up every corner of the room.

"Oh my…" the chief muttered as he quickly stopped channeling energy. Right, for a moment I had forgotten we were in a wooden building. With the amount of wooden furniture in here, things really could have gone bad.

"As I said, magisteel has high magicule conductivity, and that is only a 50% magisteel weapon." I said with a bit of pride. The chief looked at the blade for a little bit longer, before letting out a sigh and sheathing it within its scabbard. Why did I have a feeling I wasn't going to hear the answer I was hoping to hear?

"This is a beautiful blade, Lord Rimuru, very well made. But we ogres have never had our weapons made by outsiders. I mean no disrespect to you or the dwarven blacksmith that made this blade, but I don't think my people and I would feel comfortable wielding a blade that was made by people we don't know or have never met." The chief said with an apologetic bow.

Man, that really threw a dent in things didn't it. I mean I understood where the ogre chief was coming from. The ogres pretty much lived as a tight knit community, it was kind of like those small towns where everybody knew each other. So it made sense that they would all go to one place for weapons and the like. Having someone you're not used to crafting your weapons all of a sudden would make anyone weary. These were tools that you carried with you into battle, a battle which could mean life or death, it made sense you'd want to stick with a reliable blacksmith who'd never let you down before.

…that being said I wasn't willing to give up just yet.

"Then how about this? You can have your top blacksmiths work alongside the dwarves? I'm sure your blacksmiths may have some knowledge and techniques that even the dwarves may not know of in this field. And the Dwarves can share their knowledge too, and given that they are known as the best craftsmen in the world, that would benefit the Ogres in the long-run, too. And them working together could produce more high-quality weapons and gear." I proposed, hoping that this we could reach some kind of middle ground. The chief took a moment to think about it, closing his eyes as if meditating on the issue.

"Yes, I suppose that is the best possible solution given the circumstances. I'd be willing to send two of our blacksmiths to work in the goblin village." The ogre chief said with a nod, I couldn't help the relieved smile that made it's way onto my face.

For a second, I thought the chief was going to turn down that offer, but in the end this was the best possible outcome for me as well. If all went well, Kaijin and the goblins under him would also learn some valuable techniques from the ogre smiths and vice versa.

In the end the ogre chief and I were able to come to an agreement on the matter, he would send two blacksmiths along with two types of instructors for each type of weapon, making for a total of nearly twenty ogres all in all temporarily moving to the ogre village. I had no complaints, this was a better outcome than what I had been hoping for.

Of course the chief and I didn't stop there, we decided to see what else the two villages could exchange and offer one another. In the end I was able to get the ogres to produce and trade clothing with the goblins in exchange for Apito's honey and getting a few magic instructors in exchange for potions.

I wasn't all too sure if goblins had an aptitude for magical skills, but it was worth a shot to have the ogres teach them something.

Aside from that, the ogre chief requested to meet the head of the ogre village, Rigurd, just so he could have a better understanding of who he was dealing with. That arrangement was easily made with the tempest wolves' [Shadow Movement].

*Flashback End*

And now a month later, the trade relations between the ogres and goblins were going well. The goblins being trained were growing into a decent force, doing their best to learn and properly train their bodies into that of warriors. It took some time for them to find the weapons that suited them best, but when they did, they were with their respective instructors.

For those that were learning magic, which mainly consisted of goblinas, it was going a little bit slower, but the progress was visible. As I'd expected, goblins had a lower magicule reserve than ogres simply because they were of lower rank, and as a result weren't able to use magical skills on a scale as large. Still, they were making progress and from what I could tell, they had a higher aptitude than most humans. Which was good enough for the time being.

"Lord Rimuru!" I head the princess call out, I was now by the village gates waiting with Ranga and the purple ogress for the young master and the princess. The three of us had prepared for the trip beforehand, so we just had to wait for the two royals to get ready themselves since they had been given such short notice, and it seemed they were finally ready to go. "I'm sorry, I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long." she added with a bow of her head, her brother also joining in.

"Don't apologize, if anything I should be the one apologizing for giving the two of you such short notice." I said as waved off their apologies. "That being said, I should have invited you myself rather than having your father suggest it." I did kinda feel bad about that, it made me look inconsiderate, but I really had planned to go solo, at least until I invited the purple ogress, so there was no reason to feel guilty.

"Father told us that you intended to take this as a day off from training and your responsibilities." The Young Master said. "Though I still don't understand why you invited her along with you." He added as he turned towards the purple haired ogress. I could tell he hadn't meant anything bad by that last statement, despite how rude it sounded.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" The purple ogress shouted in offense before marching right up to the Young Master with her hands on her hips. "Are you forgetting I'm Lord Rimuru's disciple?!"

'Since when did I ever call you my 'disciple'?' I couldn't help but wonder with a deadpan.

"So of course he would take me with him on this fishing trip!" She said with pride as she stood up straight and placed her hand on her chest.

"But still, for a man and woman to head into the forest… alone. It just seems improper, and scandalous." The princess said as she hid the lower half of her face behind her large sleeves, her voice sickly sweet and yet her eyes glared at the purple ogress.

'Given my current physique, do I even count as a man?' I may have the mind of an adult, but my current body was essentially that of a boy in his early teens.

"There's nothing improper about it, princess! After all, I am his student. It's only natural he would choose to spend a lot of time with me." The purple ogress taunted back, the princess' eyebrows began to twitch, and yet she still maintained her 'sweet' smile, and I say that with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Besides, aren't you too busy with your duties to be bothered by such small things?"

"Ah, but Lord Rimuru is an honored guest of our village. Father has put me in charge of making sure his time with us is as comfortable as possible." the princess said, her smile becoming strained, a pink aura suddenly began to form around her.

'That's news to me.' I thought as I turned to the Young Master for confirmation, to which he nodded his head. Did the chief do this because of how I suggested the princess and I were close friends on the night of my return? 'Not that I'm complaining, that just means I get to spend more time with her.'

"I see…" the purple ogress with an equally strained smile, as a purple aura began to surround her as well. The air around them became thick from the tension that was building up as the two glared at each other, sparks literally shooting out and clashing in a test of will and resolve.

Now, I wasn't some dense manga or anime protagonist. I knew what was going on here, heck I'd been suspecting it for a while now, about a week into my return to be precise.

These two were developing feelings for me.

I knew the signs when I saw them, plus having [Desire] was a bit of a cheat. Though I'd like to think I would have picked up the signs even without it. Still though, this was happening a lot faster than I had anticipated, though I wasn't sure if they themselves were quite sure of how they felt just yet, hopefully this tension didn't build into something negative between them.

Still though, how was I going to handle this? Ever since that fortune telling elf from Dwargon had shown me my potential future, I'd been wondering how I was going to go about all of this. If I was going to be akin to the protagonist of a harem story, then there was one thing I wanted to avoid at all costs.

Not Being Dense. Now this may seem silly, and it kinda was, but as someone who'd read and watched a lot of harem manga and anime, it was always a bit disappointing to see the protagonist not be aware of how those around him felt. Even in the most obvious of scenarios! It always ticked me off, and to some extent, I even pitied the girls, especially those scenarios where they managed to confess, but some trope would make the mc forget or not hear the confession. Those ones were just the worst. So I vowed I would not be that guy, I'd be aware of their feelings, and acknowledge them.

Now like pretty much any normal guy that would be reincarnated into a fantasy world, the objective here was to have a harem on my own. And since I was reborn as a dragon, creatures pretty much known for hording stuff and being horny as shit, I wasn't going to have much of a problem justifying that, if I even needed to. However, I still needed to handle this with care in order to achieve the best outcome possible.

As fun as it would be to just snatch every pretty thing that I crossed paths with, I'd rather build genuine connections with the women in my life, rather than just amassing a harem. Hence the reason I was taking the time to know the princess and purple haired ogress. I had centuries ahead of me if what [Great Sage] told me was true, so there was no real need to hurry things too much.

"Alright you two, cut it out. This trip won't be any fun if you're just going to fight the entire time." I said as I walked up to them, I wouldn't act on my knowledge just yet. Not until they were sure of their feelings, and I was positive of my own.

"Lord Rimuru is right, regardless of the reason, he has invited us with him on his day off. The least we can do is be on our best behavior." The Young Master added, instantly causing the two girls to stop quarreling and bow their heads towards me in guilt.

"Please forgive us, we'll be on our best behavior from here on." They said in unison. It was almost like they had practiced this, because given their almost opposing personalities, it was rather unlikely that they would do so coincidentally.

"Don't worry about it, we're all supposed to be taking this day to have fun and relax. So you don't need to be so uptight." I said to the ogresses before also turning to the Young Master to let him know I was referring to him as well. "That goes for your friend in the trees as well." I said as I turned towards one of the trees to my left.

The ogre had been very well hidden, probably using [hideform] to conceal his presence. But my sensory skills were now at a level where I could even detect the elder whilst he used the same technique. Compared to that, sensing him was easier. Though I did have to admit that he was more skilled with the skill than most in the village.

A few seconds later, the culprit suddenly appeared on the ground before me on one knee, head bowed down. As I suspected, it was the blue haired ogre that I usually saw hanging around the Young Master. From what I had gathered the two were long time friends, in fact all four of the present ogres were quite close and had grown up together from what the princess had told me.

"Forgive my rudeness my lord, I did not mean to conceal my presence from you." The blue haired ogre said with his head down. Honestly, these guys apologized over the most silliest of things.

"It's fine. Are you coming with us as well?" I asked him, I didn't remember the chief saying anything about him tagging along as well. But at this point, it would be pretty rude not to invite him.

"I'm afraid not, I still have duties to attend to within the village." The ogre said responded. Well now that wouldn't do now would it? All his friends were taking a day off and he was stuck at work? Nope, that didn't seem fair at all.

"Well forget that, you might as well come with us now." I said casually causing the blue ogre to raise his head in minor surprise. "Don't worry about the chief, I'll take the fall if anything comes up." I reassured with a grin and a thumbs up.

"But my lord…I couldn't…" He said hesitantly.

"If it bothers you that much, just think of it as escorting the Princess and Young Master. After all, I'm sure the chief would appreciate an extra pair of eyes on them outside the village walls." I reassured him. "If you just happen to be having fun with your friends whilst fulfilling your duty, I don't think he will fault you for it."

The young master then walked up to his friend and put a hand on the blue haired ogre's shoulder. "It would be rude to continuously decline such a generous offer from Lord Rimuru." He said with a grin. "Besides, he said he would speak to father on your behalf, so you shouldn't make him keep repeating himself." That seemed to get the blue haired ogre to actually consider things, before he let out a sigh of resignation before nodding his head as a sign that he would come along.

'This guy takes his job way too seriously…' I couldn't help but think, hopefully the Young Master could get him to relax at some point. Last thing I needed was another stiff guy hanging around much like what had happened with Rigur at the elf club. "Alright then, seems that everyone is here and ready to go. Ranga, do you mind calling in the others now?" The four ogres were confused as to what I meant by that.

"As you wish, master!" The unspoken question was answered as Ranga's shadow lengthened, and not a second later, three tempest wolves leapt out and landed right in front of me, their heads lowered respectfully.

"The place we're going is a bit far from the village, but with the tempest wolves, we should be able to make it there and back whilst still having plenty of time to relax and enjoy ourselves." I explained to the ogres whose interest seemed piqued upon the appearance of the wolves.

"I see, but my lord, I only count three wolves, four including Ranga." The Young Master pointed out.

"Yeah, originally I had planned for the two of us to just to ride Ranga since he can carry two of us when fully grown." I said as I gestured towards the purple haired ogress, her face lighting up at the idea, "But when the chief suggested bringing you two along I had Ranga fetch three wolves from the goblin village. I hadn't accounted for another person." I trailed as I turned towards the blue haired ogre.

"Then perhaps it would be best if I-"

"This shouldn't be an issue though." I cut off the blue haired ogre before he could start again. "As I said Ranga is capable of carrying two of us at full size. So if there are no complaints the Princess can ride with me." I suggested, this time it was the princess' face that lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I don't think anyone here would object to that Lord Rimuru. Right, big brother?" The princess asked with a terrifying smile as she turned towards the Young Master. I didn't envy him at that moment.

"R-right, no arguments here. Ranga and Lord Rimuru are probably the most qualified to protect you." Young Master responded quickly, a bit of sweat dripping down the side of his head. Now I understood what the chieftess meant when she told me the princess was the only one outside of the chief and elder who could keep the redhead in line. She had him whipped good.

Smash!

All heads swiftly turned in the direction the sound had come from, and were surprised to see that the purple ogress had punched one of the nearby tree, leaving a sizeable dent and numerous cracks that seemed to be expanding by the second.

"Are…you okay?" I asked, wondering what had brought this on all of a sudden.

"I…I was supposed to be the one." She stated between breaths, though with her head down I couldn't quite see her expression. Though I could sense the envy and rage bubbling within her. "I was the one who was supposed to ride with Lord Rimuru!" She shouted as her head snapped up and glared at the princess with tears gathering in the corner of her eyes cheeks pouted and puffed like balloons.

"Huh?" I couldn't even find the words. The Young Master and blue haired ogre merely sighed as though they were used to this, which they probably were given that they grew up together. 'Still though, the last thing I expected her to make a fuss about was this.' I thought to myself with a deadpan.

"Earlier you said that I was going to ride with you, but now that the princess is here, you want to go with her?!" The purple ogress shouted as she pointed at the princess with an accusatory finger.

"You're making a bigger deal out of this than it actually is. It's just a small trip, it's not like the princess and I are running away together and Ranga is the noble steed." I said, the princess suddenly blushing at the potential image of the idea. "Besides, it makes sense for the princess to ride with me given her smaller stature, plus Ranga is the only one large enough to carry two of us."

The purple ogress pouted, arms crossed and everything. She really was throwing a tantrum like a child at this point. I knew she wouldn't let this go easily. I had to find a way to placate her quickly so we could go while the sun was still out. Last thing I needed was her knocking down every tree within the surrounding area, that might actually draw the Dryads here.

"Look, for the sake of progress, I'll ride with the princess today. Ranga and I are literally always here so we can ride together anytime." I tried to reassure her, the pouting didn't stop, but she seemed to be contemplating my words. Now I just needed to hammer the point home. "Besides the more time we spend here arguing, the less time we'll have to actually enjoy the day." I added, from the corner of my eye I saw the Young Master approach us with a rather strict expression on his face.

"Lord Rimuru is right. Again, do I need to remind you that this is his day off and he invited all of us to accompany him?" The Young Master added with a disapproving glare that caused the purple ogress to flinch. "Besides, Ranga is the strongest of the Tempest Wolves, it only makes sense that my sister, who is younger and less experienced than the rest of us, sticks with him and Lord Rimuru."

The Purple Ogress still pouted but ultimately relented. She'd get over it quickly enough, her childlike mindset meant she didn't keep grudges for long. Maybe this outing would help her get over it quickly.

With the arrangements set and the purple ogress temporarily placated, we finally set out on the tempest wolves.

Riding on Ranga as he dashed through the trees of the forest was one of the things I found to enjoy, almost as much as I did flying. Just the feeling of the wind rushing against your face, and everything else around you becoming a blur, it was a surreal experience that often got my blood pumping and had me excited. Which is why I was glad I got to share this experience with the ogres.

Despite the tempest wolves not moving at their max speed, I could tell the ogres were actually enjoying the experience, well at least the Young Master and Purple ogress were. The blue haired ogre seemed unfazed both outwardly and emotionally, and the princess seemed to have other things in mind as she clung onto me. I decided that I didn't want to know what it was that had her so flustered and embarrassed, but I could probably guess.

It didn't take us long to arrive at our destination, a wide clearing with a river flowing right through the middle. It was spacious, quiet, and almost tranquil, through [magic sense] I could tell there were no monsters within the nearby area. Which was weird, since animals usually gathered where there was water. There was only one possible explanation.

"Ranga, did you clear the surrounding area of wildlife?" I asked the alpha tempest wolf. The proud bark and wagging of his tail were enough of an answer for me.

"No, though I did send a request to Raya to clear this area so that master would be able to enjoy his day without disturbance." Ranga said proudly. So it was his idea.

"A wise decision. Ensuring that the terrain is secure before bringing your master. Your intelligence continues to astound me, Sir Ranga." The Young Master said to which even the blue haired ogre nodded his head, equally impressed, as we all dismounted from the wolves. I guess having a beast like monster displaying such high levels of intelligence wasn't common. The tempest wolves had really come a long way since I named them.

"Sir Ranga truly is amazing! He's powerful, agile, intelligent, and loyal, a truly remarkable monster! Not to mention his fur is so soft! I can see why the children of our village are so fond of him, with the same extending to your Dragon form!" The Princess exclaims in amazement as she stepped up to the large wolf and began to rub the back of his ears, prompting the wolf to yelp appreciatively as it's tail wagged and it started panting.

Hearing this reminded me of how much attention Ranga and I drew from the Ogre Village after my return. At first, people had been wary of Ranga, even though I vouched for him as my familiar and he had shown his loyalty to me. I suspected it was because Ranga had a powerful presence to him due to being a monster of higher rank and magicules compared to all the ogres.

Surprisingly it had been the ogre children that had warmed up to Ranga first, probably out of curiosity, and most likely against the wishes of their parents. The children would constantly look at Ranga with awe and amazement due to his strength, size, and loving the feeling of his fur. Ranga also enjoyed the attention he received from the children and was more than happy to play with them, allowing them to pet him, much to their happiness. Seeing this, the rest of the ogres were quick to let go of their hesitations and began to treat Ranga well.

Naturally, my dragon form was also another thing that drew the attention of the ogres. Much like with the goblins, it was mainly the female population and children that were drawn in by this form. Though one difference was that the ogres were strong when compared to the goblins and elves. Escaping the grip of the purple haired ogress and chieftess was a battle worth remembering. I didn't even know the chieftess had such a fearsome grip!

I was now very conscious of where I transformed and whose presence I was in because of that.

"Yes, Ranga is indeed a very reliable partner!" The purple haired ogress said with a proud smile.

'Why are you beaming with pride, he's not your partner.' I couldn't help but think with a deadpan. Seriously, it was hard to know how this girl thought at times. Then again, that aloof nature was also one of her charms in a way.

The wind in the area suddenly kicked up as Ranga's tail began to rotate at rapid speeds, comparable to a propeller. The ogres were forced to cover their eyes and hold down their clothing as the torrent of wind continue to increase in pressure and intensity. I quickly stepped in and bopped Ranga on the head, which immediately calmed Ranga down.

"Sorry about that, it seems Ranga got a bit flustered over all the praise and compliments. You should be careful when showering him with so much praise at once." I said with a grin as Ranga turned his head away from the group in embarrassment, prompting a few of us to laugh at seeing the strong alpha wolf get all flustered.

With that, we settled into the clearing. The princess and purple ogress decided to go into the forest to get some herbs and berries to go together with the fish, leaving us guys to do the actual fishing, just in case I had Ranga hide within the princesses shadow.

"Alright then boys, how about we throw in a wager." I said as we each sat by the riverbed, fishing rods in hand. The two ogres looked at each other for a second before turning back to me anxiously. "It's simple, whoever catches the most fish by the time the girls return is the winner." I said with a grin.

"What about the other two?" The blue haired ogre asked cautiously.

"Well the middle man doesn't really get anything, but the guy in last, well…" I couldn't help the sinister chuckle that escaped from my mouth, and the way the two ogres became that much more alert made it worth it. "The person to catch the least fish will have to take a quarter of her food from each of our plates into their own." I said with a sinister laugh as the other two ogres shuddered at the idea, they knew I was referring to the purple ogress.

While her cooking had gotten a lot better to the point of not giving of the aura of a high rank monster, or burning through the ground like acid, she still had some ways to go before it started tasting good or started to look presentable. Still, the good news is I wasn't the only one chipping in to actually try and teach her now. The princess, along with a few other female ogres were also lending a hand, despite the few disasters that had occurred.

It was a good thing, though, the purple ogress was finally getting the guidance she needed from her kin. Me teaching her at this point was just an excuse for us to spend time together at this point, though I'm sure she still believed I had much to teach her, even though my culinary skills were mediocre at best.

"Lord Rimuru, you are evil sir." The Young Master said as a wave of dread washed over him at the implications of eating her food, even the blue haired ogre seemed unnerved by the consequences of loss.

I couldn't help the laughter that roared out of me from that response, "Oh come on, her cooking is nowhere near as bad as it used to be!" I would know, the pain I felt that first experience despite my [Pain Nullification] was something that I wouldn't forget any time soon. "Besides, it keeps things interesting does it not?"

"Still…" It was actually kind of funny to see the Young Master like this. Being his real and genuine self, unlike how he had been towards me before I left.

" To further spice things up, the loser has to give up half of the food they receive from the princess to the winner," I add, which gets their attention since unlike the Purple Ogress, the cooking of the Ogre Princess was among the best in the village.

There was a time where I doubted the two of us would ever be on good terms, the grudge he seemed to hold against me for no apparent reason was something I could feel from a mile away. What happened on the day I left the village was merely an explosion of all that pent up frustration.

But now things had cleared up a bit since my return to the village.

*Flashback*

The atmosphere in the room seemed kind of tense. And that was putting it mildly.

The princess had told me that my presence had been requested by the chief, along with his council. Sure enough upon my arrival I saw both the royal family, the elder and the village council members waiting for me. Everybody seemed nervous and tense for some reason. The princess wordlessly guided me towards the table where the chief was seated, and I sat on the opposing side.

"Lord Rimuru, thank you for gracing us with your presence." The chief said as he bowed his head, an action that was promptly copied by all present within the room.

'What the hell is going on here?' They were laying the whole royal treatment act rather thick right now. Where they going to ask for some kind of favor? "Is something the matter, you all seem rather…tense?"

"Not exactly, we simply wish to address a matter we feel has been left unaddressed since your departure." The chief said as he raised his head. He turned towards his son, seeming to be ashamed and a bit upset at the young redhead. "My son was highly disrespectful towards you on the day that you departed from our village. Going so far as to insult and point his blade towards you, an honored guest of our village."

Ahh, so that's what this was about. It certainly explained why everyone seemed so tense and uncomfortable. They were probably expecting me to be angry with what the Young Master had said and done that day.

To be honest, it did upset me more than I was willing to admit. The Young Master had been a source of frustration for me since the first time we met in the forest when I first encountered the ogres. He had made up his mind about me since before he even laid his eyes on me, and since then, he had been fixated on the idea that I was the bad guy.

And with a skill like [Desire, I'd been able to feel all the anger, spite, and other negative emotions he sent my way. That was honestly what pissed me most about this situation with him. It certainly made it hard for me to feel relaxed at times even within the boundaries of village.

"I see, so that's what this is about." I let out a sigh as I thought about how I was going to handle this. I didn't want the ogres to see me as some kind of pushover, especially now that they knew of my race and heritage. I had to be a bit tough right now, and then balance it out with some compassion to overshadow it.

"Lord Rimuru, please allow me to apologize for my foolish son's behavior. As chief, I am ashamed that I let our honored guest go through something like that in my presence, and as a father I am ashamed by his behavior." The chief said with another bow, "Please rest assured he has been properly punished for his behavior."

The chief seemed genuine, and so did everyone else in the room if their anxiety was anything to go by. But at the end of the day, they weren't the ones that wronged me, and so I turned my attention away from them and instead focused on the Young Master, whose head was also down in shame and regret.

"Please don't take offense to this chief, but you weren't the one that wronged me. An apology from you is pointless." I said, voice even and expression void of any emotion. My eyes met that of the redhead and I raised my hand and pointed it towards him, "If anything I want to hear it from him." I added, the people in the room flinching at the last part. I hadn't meant for it to come out that hard, but it seemed even I had some bottled up stuff when it came to the Young Master of the ogres.

The chief turned to his son and nodded his head, the young master nodding back in return. He seemed a bit hesitant, but more than that he also had a look of resolve in his eyes. The Young Master stood from his seat and made his way towards me before stopping at my right side.

For a moment I thought he was going to try something, but I was quickly proved wrong when the prideful Young Master of the ogres went down on both knees, before leaning forward until his head was on the ground, prostrating himself in front of everyone! I was beyond shocked, even the chief and his family were shocked, meaning they had no idea this is what he would do. They probably assumed he would go down on one knee and bow his head as he apologized.

I wasn't sure if the ogres knew what a Dogeza was, but given how much of their culture seemed similar to that of traditional Japanese then they most likely understood the significance of such an action. In traditional Japanese culture, the act of prostrating yourself as the young master had done was called Dogeza. It was used to show deference to a person of higher status, as a deep apology or to express the desire for a favor from said person.

The fact that the Young Master was going this far…

"Lord Rimuru, I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. Not after how I have wronged you time and time again since you came to our village." The Young Master started, "But allow me to apologize for my foolishness. I won't make excuses for my behavior, and I'm willing to accept any punishment you may have for me." He added.

'He's serious…' I didn't know what had happened in my absence, but for the redhead to be bowing his head to me all of a sudden. It was a complete reverse of the behavior he had shown before I left. The Chief had mentioned something about a punishment earlier, perhaps that had something to do with his rehabilitation. Or maybe he was just changing character because of my heritage.

One thing was for sure though, he was being sincere right now, that much I could tell. I didn't even need to use my skills to confirm that.

"What exactly was his punishment?" I asked the chief, curious as to how harsh they had been.

"We revoked his right to wield the sword for the foreseeable future. We thought it would be best to wait for your return before deciding stricter punishment." The chief responded.

"I see…" They were trying to appease me, that much had become clear to me, maybe they were hoping that I wouldn't hold the Young Masters actions against the entire village or something. If that had been the case I never would have come back.

That aside, the punishment the Young Master got wasn't as severe as I thought it would be. Then again if he wasn't allowed to hold a sword, he couldn't train or improve his swordsmanship. Must've been rough for someone as prideful as him.

"One of the unique skills I possess is called [Desire, it allows me to sense the emotions and intentions of all those around me. It's useful for detecting things such as negative emotions and evil intentions, and also good for getting a general idea about a person" I started as everyone gasped and all eyes in the room widened. The elder seemed intrigued. I ignored all them and kept my eyes on the Young Master who still had his head bowed on the ground. "Lift your head."

The Young Master did so, knowing that I was talking to him. He sat up straight and met my eyes.

"I'll be honest, your attitude towards me irked me, but more than that it was the amount of anger, hatred, and envy that I felt directed towards me that annoyed me. Even when you thought I didn't know, I did. Every glare you shot behind my back and every curse you uttered when you thought I wasn't within earshot." I said voice low as the Young Masters eyes widened before looking down in shame, everyone else seemed equally surprised by my words, "As a dragon, my sense of hearing and smell are far sharper than what you'd normally expect, greater than Ranga's even. I won't ask for your reasoning, it makes little difference now and I doubt it would justify anything. But I want you to know I liked every aspect of this village. From the people, the hospitality and even the connections I built here. The only thing that prevented me from truly feeling at home…was you." I maintained a neutral expression as I spoke, but I'm pretty sure there was some underlying anger in the way that I spoke.

I could see the worried gazes of the Chieftess and princess looking between me and the Young Master. The elder and Chief patiently waiting to hear whatever I had to say, guess they had been expecting me to also air out my grievances. The rest of the council members just looked a bit nervous but they didn't dare speak out.

"As the first son of the chief, you weren't someone I could just ignore, and our paths were bound to cross more often than not the longer I stayed within the village. Meaning as long as things stayed the way they were between us, I would never have been able to find any peace. On the day I left the village, I let you vent because I hoped to actually get to the root of the issue. But I never actually expected you to draw and point your blade at me." I said, as my eyes narrowed and a fraction of my aura began to leak out. Many within the room began to sweat even more. I didn't dare look towards the royal family or elder, instead keeping my eye on the young master, "I may not have voiced my own thoughts that day, given I had more pressing matters. But I want you to know, had your sister not stepped in when she did…I more than likely would have killed you." Most of the ogres in the room tensed up immediately when I said that.

"My lord-" I raised my hand to prevent the chief from speaking further. This was between the Young Master and I for now. They called me here to address the issue cause they felt I'd been wronged, the least they could do was listen.

"While it may have seemed otherwise, my own tolerance was reaching its limit. And with the amount of malice I felt coming from you in that moment, I saw you as nothing more than a threat. I also had doubts about there being a chance of reconciliation." The Young Master kept his eyes on the ground, not daring to meet my gaze once more. Which might actually have been a good thing. "I would have preferred things not come to this. As the next chief of this village I would rather we become friends rather than enemies. A bad relationship between the two of us would ultimately mean severing ties with this place upon you becoming chief." The Young Masters head snapped back up in alarm at my words.

"No! I-I mean s-such drastic measures won't be necessary my lord." The Young Master said as he bowed his head quickly once he realized he had raised his voice.

"I'd hope not. Because as I've said multiple times, I'm rather fond of this place, and its people. Even I would be disappointed if I had to cut ties." I said with a frown, the ogres present letting out breaths of relief upon hearing that.

These people had been the first to welcome me after I left my mothers cave. Since starting my new life in this world, this place was the closest thing I had to a home in this world. It would be a bummer to throw it all away.

"For that reason I'm willing to pardon you, just this once." I said with a grin, much to the shock of everyone in the room.

"What?!" The Young Master shouted as he looked at me just as surprised as everyone else, perhaps even more so seeing as he was the guilty party.

"My lord, are you not being too lenient?" The Chief asked me.

"I'm not, he's still going to get punished, just not as harsh as it would have been." I responded, "The reason being I can tell that he is remorseful, and regrets what he did. I sensed no deceit or malice from him the entire time. If not for that, then I would have been more severe. But it would be wise to remember that not all majin are as tolerant as me. And I won't be generous enough to let something like that go a second time" I added, turning towards the Young Master when I issued that warning.

"Thank you for your kindness, my Lord." He said with the bow of his head.

"Sure." Hopefully with this the relationship between the master and I could change for the better.

"Have you decided on the punishment you're going to give him?" The chief asked.

"Indeed. The Princess and I, along with a few other female ogres, have been assisting the Purple Ogress in improving her cooking skills, and while we still have a long way to go, her food at least isn't as dangerous or poisonous as before. But she will still need someone to taste her food as she gradually improves," I said while looking at the now sweating and horrified Young Master with a devious smirk. "And lucky for her, she now has a new 'volunteer'."

The Chief, the Elder, and his council couldn't help but pity the Young Master due to knowing the infamous nature of her cooking, though they were at least grateful that I wouldn't kill him. But whether or not the Purple Ogress would unintentionally kill him or not was another question.

* End of Flashback *

After that meeting, things were a bit awkward between the Young Master and I for the first few days, but we eventually started getting along just fine. Mostly bonding over how terrible the purple haired ogress's cooking, though we made sure not to talk in her presence.

I managed to convince the Chief to also return the Young Master's sword since eating that food was already punishment in itself. So the Young Master was back to practicing the sword once more under the elder, with the two of us occasionally sparring when the opportunity allowed.

Back to our fishing expedition, time flew by faster than I had thought, the girls and Ranga having returned some time back and were cooking the fish. I would have been there helping watch over the purple ogress as she 'cooked' but the princess insisted that she'd keep an eye on her. Something about me enjoying myself and relaxing. In the end, I merely shrugged and returned to chatting with the Young Master and blue ogre.

The winner of our little bet turned out to be the blue haired ogre, much to my dismay. The guy had the luck and patience of a saint, I probably would have been more lucky if I had [Great Sage] guide me, but I wanted a clean victory. Fortunately I came second, meaning while I had to give away some of my goods, I also had to give away some of my bads. It was the kind of middle ground I was willing to settle for even if I didn't like it that much, it was better than what the Young Master was going to go through.

He showed a surprising amount of self-restraint and patience whilst we were fishing. But still fell a little short of what was required for this activity, and thus caught the least fish and ended up in last place, much to his dismay and my amusement.

"How did it come to this?" The young master asked as he looked at the bowl of 'food' in front. I couldn't help but pity him a bit, his plate a lot more full than mine since the blue haired ogre and I were quick to give him a small portion.

"You lost, now man up." I told him bluntly as I gave him a pet on the back before looking down at my own bowl which, while less, was not appealing.

The purple ogress had improved, but that was only in that her food wasn't monstrous or deadly as it used to be. Heck, what she served back then couldn't be called food. But now, her dishes were just poorly cooked with a bad taste and smell that would have a normal human constantly running to the toilet for weeks.

"Go ahead and eat up before it gets cold!" The purple ogress said with a smile, as the princess looked on with pity from behind her. Given that she was still preparing her own dish, she had been spared from what we were about to suffer.

Our only saving grace in this moment was that the princess had prevented the purple ogress from cooking too much food. Only making just enough for our three bowls. The reason being they wanted to bring most of the fish back to the village to share with others. I suppose we got lucky in that regard, I don't know if I would have been able to take a second helping.

"Down the hatch it goes." I mumbled as I braced myself, as I took the spoon full and shoved it into my mouth.

The taste was not pleasant at all, and I had to resist the urge to spit it out. But compared to the first dish I ate long ago, this meal was a lot more tolerable. All I had to do was chug it down before the taste filled my mouth and the stench went up my nose. Something that the purple ogress apparently mistook for me liking her dish.

'How can she not see my suffering?' Honesty I shouldn't be surprised at this point. This girl had gone her whole life without even realizing people didn't like her cooking until I made her face that harsh reality.

Looking at the blue ogre and the Young Master, I could instantly tell the latter was struggling due to the way his face was turning blue with each spoonful. The blue ogre seemed to be handling himself slightly better, most likely adopting the same strategy I had, but he did wince here and there.

The fact that they could even eat this dish without immediately falling sick was a testament to how far the purple ogress had come. The first time the Young Master ate her dish for the sake of his punishment, he was almost choked to death on the spot. Though he did acquire [Poison Resistance, so I guess something good came out of it.

"Alright everyone, why don't you try mine next!" The princess called out as she came with a wooden tray that had five bowls and cups of tea as well. The male ogres and myself instantly pushed our current plates away, "I even prepared some tea." The princess said as she served the plates and cups for everyone, including the purple ogress and herself.

Just looking at the food and the aroma that filled my sensitive nose were enough to make my mouth get all watery. I knew the princess was a talented cook, but I didn't know she was good with fish as well! I needed to give these ogres more credit. Despite the lack of ingredients here compared to the village, the princess had managed to put together a spectacular meal that I could never hope to create on my own.

Enduring the previous meal may have been worth it for this taste of heaven.

Of course, I didn't forget about the bet. The blue haired ogre being the winner who caught the most fish was supposed to get a quarter from mine and the Young Master's plate. And so, reluctantly, I held up my end of the deal like a man. It was a shame, but in the end it was my loss. Not to mention, I was the one who suggested the bet in the first place.

The girls merely laughed at the interaction, especially at the expense of the young Master and myself. And soon we were all just talking and laughing as we ate. Chatting about pretty much anything that came to mind, whilst making sure to avoid any serious topics.

Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation after all, and I couldn't help but feel we had somewhat succeeded in doing just that.

And yet, even in this moment I couldn't help but feel that this was merely the calm before the storm. That something big was about to happen.

"Lord Rimuru?" I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the Young Master calling me. Actually, it seemed everyone had turned towards me with expressions of minor concern. "Are you alright, my lord?"

"Ah, did I worry you guys?" I asked as I waved my hands dismissively. "I just had something on my mind, so don't worry about me."

The four ogres seemed to accept that answer as they smiled once more and began to converse and eat once more, with me actively participating.

That's right, there was no point in overthinking anything right now. If something happened then I would deal with it. That was my job as guardian.

---

Authors Notes:

Another great chapter, at least I feel it was. And with this I've officially crossed the 100k words milestone of this fic! Woohoo!

There's a bit to unrap in this chapter, but all in all it was just meant to be an in-between kind of thing.

I want to know what you all think of the reconciliation between Benimaru and Rimuru. I felt the need to emphasize that this Rimuru isn't as easy going as his cannon counterpart, and there will be more instances like this in the future.

Then there's the fact that Rimuru has become aware of the feelings Shion and Shuna have towards him, two of the many potential partners he may have in the future. I want to make legit relationships depite this being a harem fic, so don't expect me to rush this too much. Still, let me know what you all think!

All in all I want to hear your thoughts so please like, comment and review! Next chapter comes out in three weeks.

After the interlude we had in the last chapter we are now continuing with the main story! I hope you guys enjoy the direction I've taken and am looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

"Speech"

'Thought'

*Thought Communication*

《Great Sage》

{{Voice of the World}}

---

3rd POV:

Having recently returned from the puppet nation of Jistav at the summons of his lord and master, Gelmude was more than eager to carry out the task he had been assigned.

It had taken him some time to track them down again, the human party that consisted of two Heroes and three adventurers. But after some time, he did indeed find them again. They had entered much deeper into the forest in the four days that he had been gone.

It was surprising that they still seemed to be in one piece. Then again, two of them were of the Hero class, so it made sense that they had managed to make it this far.

Still, for a group that was within the depths of a monster territory, they seemed rather relaxed. Especially those three adventurers, they were being far too carefree in enemy territory.

But Gelmude didn't care about those three, as far as he could tell, there was nothing special about them. No, his targets were the two Heroes in the party, The Rising Hero: Masayuki Honjou, and The Conqueror of Flames: Shizue Aizawa.

He had been given orders by Lord Clayman to keep tabs on this group, and wait for the right opportunity to execute the orders he had been given.

Gelmude took a dark purple orb out of his pocket, an eerie glow coming from it and an aura that would unnerve most people. Lord Clayman had given this to him with simple instructions.

"Wait for the right opportunity, and when it comes, use this item on the Flame Hero, Shizue." Those had been his instructions, but it was the words after that had truly caught his attention. "This will likely attract the attention of the Majin you spoke of. Observe the chaos that unfolds and report back anything of note."

Gelmude didn't understand what his master meant by all that, but one thing was for sure. Once he used this orb, a lot of chaos was going to unfold. Lord Clayman wanted the corpses of the two Heroes to be as undamaged as possible so he could turn them both into his puppets, and if possible, the capture of the Majin as well.

Personally, Gelmude wanted the Majin to die in whatever chaos his master intended to create. He still hadn't gotten over the humiliation he had faced at being forced to flee like some coward. But even if by some miracle the Majin did survive, that would only make him a primary target for when he invaded the forest.

He had far more power than the numerous seeds he had planted throughout the forest, and so would serve as good fodder for the Orc Lord.

But for now, he would focus on the task that he had been assigned.

~~~

Ogre Village, Rimuru POV:

It was early morning in the forest, and as they did everyday, the Ogres were currently training in the clearing not too far from their village.

The Elder and I were standing by the edge of the clearing, watching over one of the sparring sessions that was taking place. It was a three versus one spar between the Young Master along with two other Ogres against Ranga on his own. While it may seem a bit unfair at first glance, Ranga had already proven himself to be stronger than all the ogres, but given that he was A-rank, even if it was on the lower end, the difference in strength wasn't that much of a surprise.

The main reason Ranga had been training with the ogres recently was to practice the arts and skills I had been helping him grasp. Things had been coming along nicely in that regard, but now I was more worried about his application rather than just his arsenal of skills and abilities, hence the reason I was having him spar with the Ogres. It was something Ranga would need to learn in order to fight both effectively and tactically.

The Ogres had been more than willing to agree to be his sparring partners, wanting to test their own strength against Ranga. Though they quickly learned that challenging him one on one was foolish. While Ranga may not be of the same intellectual level as them, he was still stronger than them. His strength reflecting his superior rank.

The three Ogres currently had Ranga surrounded from three angles, forming a triangle, their blades drawn and ready to attack. Ranga stood in the center, standing at full height as he easily towered over the three Ogres, yellow lightning cackling around his body as he snarled at the Young Master, who stood in front of him while keeping his senses aware of the other two.

Without warning, Ranga howled into the sky as lightning erupted around him and shot towards the three ogres. This was one of the new lightning based skills I'd taught him based off the Pokémon anime, [Discharge]. It was a simple yet effective wide area technique that was useful in situations where you were outnumbered such as this. Unfortunately, it's range was still a bit limited, but I figured Ranga would be able to fix that with time and practice.

The Young Master and Ogre1 (AN: because I'm too lazy to describe them all) managed to successfully evade the attack, but Ogre2 took the attack head on. His only saving grace being that due to the dispersing nature of the attack, it lacked offensive ability, besides Ranga was holding back some. Still, the attack was more than enough to make him cook a little, Ogres2's expression being all dopey before he fell and passed out.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Ranga charged towards Ogre1, body surrounded by lightning. It was another skill I'd taught him called [Wild Charge, just like the Pokémon version, Ranga would coat himself in lightning before charging at his opponent and ramming into them. He was also faster and more agile while using this technique.

So imagine my surprise when the Young Master actually managed to intercept Ranga, getting between the Wolf and Ogre1 with his sword blazing with crimson flames, before dashing forward to intercept Ranga.

It was good to see the Ogres making good use of the Magisteel weapons. One such weapon was the one the Young Master was wielding right now. This katana was one of few 100% Magisteel weapons that Kaijin had created, with the assistance of some Ogre blacksmiths, with my own sword being the only other thus far. Most of the weapons he made were 20-50% percent magisteel, with other materials mixed in such as metal, these were the ones that were passed along to the other Ogres.

That was because 100% Magisteel weapons were extremely valuable, due to their potential to grow into Legendary or even God-class weapons in the hands of the right wielder by absorbing Magicules from the user at a faster rate than their lesser counterparts. I'd given the Young Master this sword as a gift, and because I felt he had the most potential in the village.

That being said, they were still a few more notable individuals within the village that I was considering also doing the same for.

Back to the fight, the flaming sword clashed with the lightning-coated form of Ranga. The Young Master surprised me further by actually holding his ground in the face of Ranga's blunt force attack, while his attack had failed to damage the Tempest Wolf, he still managed to make it out with minor burns from the frantic lightning that surrounded Ranga.

"He's actually holding himself quite well. That new sword seems to suit him well too." I commented as I watched the Young Master and Ogre2 clash with Ranga once more.

"Yes, but I fear he may grow a bit complacent with that sword granting him more power than he had access to before." The Elder responded with a thoughtful hum as he stroked his beard.

"I don't think that will be an issue. The weapon grows alongside the user, meaning it's only as strong as he is. Not to mention, even with his weapon, he still can't match you in swordsmanship." I said with a grin at the Elder's concern, I wasn't really worried about the redhead turning back to his old arrogant ways. I'm pretty sure he had already learnt his lesson after what happened with me. "I also think that's why he's been requesting to spar with Ranga lately. He knows he's not as strong as he believed and is looking to improve himself. All this new weapon did is help him channel his inner power."

"Perhaps you're right, Lord Rimuru, maybe this old man really is worrying for no reason." The Elder said as he closed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. "He's changed quite a bit since you left the village. It's something both his father and I noticed, at first we were concerned, but perhaps it was for the best."

"I heard from the princess that he had even lost the trust of the people at some point." The Elder nodded his head in agreement, his face looking solemn.

"Word about his provocations and actions towards you on that day spread around the village despite the Chief ordering otherwise." The Elder said with a sigh. "Once word got around of his insults, and the fact that he pointed his blade at you, many speculated that you had left the village because of him. Others simply started doubting him as they wondered why he would provoke one as powerful as yourself. The news of you being Lady Veredia's heir, which spread around the same time, certainly didn't make things any easier."

"It was that bad, huh?" I said with a sweatdrop at the impact I'd indirectly had. Still, the Young Master had been the one to bring it on himself. Things wouldn't have escalated that far if he had just been willing to talk.

"He lost the faith of the people as the next Chief, as many believed he had cost us a valuable ally and made an enemy out of you." The Elder explained. I guess I could understand the perspective of the other Ogres.

While strength was important to lead, so too was wisdom. In their eyes, the Young Master had done something which could have spelled their doom or cost them greatly, learning of my heritage only made them that much more afraid of how I would retaliate to the offense. It certainly explained the overly warm reception I had gotten upon my arrival.

"But it seems that experience has made him grow. He was humbled more than anything. Now he's trying to both improve himself and regain the trust he lost." The Elder said.

"At the very least he seems to have the trust of your warriors." I pointed out, the few times since my return that I had joined the hunting party I had noticed that they seemed slightly closer than when I had left, the Young Master interacting with them more.

"Yes, as the ones who interact with him most, they are the ones who've witnessed his change the most. That has also helped in improving his image." The Elder said before he turned to me, "The other thing that helped was the rumors of you looking past his deeds as well and having his sword returned."

"Is that so?" At this point I shouldn't even be surprised anymore. But still, I was glad the Young Master wasn't receiving as much lip for something I had even forgotten about whilst I was outside the village.

"Mhm, however I genuinely feel he needed to experience something like this. To help him understand that he can't make light of his actions, especially as the future Village Chief." The Elder said, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

The redhead's words may as well be the words of the village. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to get along with him. My relations with him would determine my relations with this village in the future, heck to some extent even now.

Watching as the sparring session continued for a while longer, the Young Master was eventually left as the last one standing, the other Ogre having been injured to the point of being unable to continue. The Young Master himself was injured and tired, covered in cuts, burns, and bruises, his Magicule levels low, but despite all of that, he was still standing. Holding his blade with both hands as his eyes met Ranga's with a challenging glare. Ranga himself, aside from sporting a few injuries, was mostly unscathed, which didn't come as much of a surprise. Still, it was surprising that they had managed to land a hit on him at all given his superior strength and senses.

"That's enough!" I called out as the Elder and I walked down towards the four of them. Ranga immediately stopped growling, turning towards me and sitting on his hind legs, tail wagging in excitement as I approached. Looking at the three Ogres, the other two having regained consciousness, they really did look beat up. " [Greater Heal]!" I shouted with a stretched out hand, the green glow of my healing magic surrounding the three Ogres before they were fully healed of their injuries.

[Great Sage] had surprised me back in Dwargon when it told me it had fully analyzed the properties of the hipokute herb and the Full Potions it made, and it even managed to replicate those healing abilities into a magic art for me to use! The best part about [Greater Heal] was that despite its powerful healing capabilities, which were similar to that of a full potion, the spell in itself was not very costly on my Magicules, meaning I could cast it consecutively or on a wide scale if need be.

"Thank you, Lord Rimuru!" The Young Master and his comrades shouted in gratitude as they bowed their heads.

"No problem, you guys sparring with Ranga also serves as training and practice for him as well. So this is mutually beneficial." I responded with a nod.

"But Sir Ranga is already powerful, what could he hope to gain by sparring with us?" Ogre1 asked in confusion. He had been the first to get knocked out after getting fried by Ranga's lightning so it was understandable that he was skeptical.

"Ranga?" I turned to the Alpha of the Tempest Wolves with a raised eyebrow. I wanted to hear his response to this question since he was the one sparring with the ogres in the first place. Was he doing it simply because I told him to, or was he learning as much from the experience as he could?

"While it is true that I am indeed strong, that is only because Master gifted me and the rest of my kind with names." Ranga said as he stepped up beside me. "This power I wield is still foreign to me, even though I've already grasped it at an instinctual level. Master has been helping me by helping me unlock skills and create arts, but I still need experience in combat, especially against other intelligent beings. This would help in refining my techniques and tactical awareness, which I hope would also make me a better leader for my people overall."

We all stared wide eyed at Ranga, well the Elder merely opened a single eye with a raised eyebrow, but the point was we were all shocked by how well thought out his response was! I often forgot how the Goblins weren't the only ones whose intelligence had risen since their evolutions. [Great Sage] had definitely mentioned something about the Wolves being more capable of complex thoughts and tactics as a pack, guess that intelligence also translated to other areas of thinking as well.

"Hohoho, well said Sir Ranga." The Elder said with a chuckle, snapping me out of my shock. I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement with the Elder, scratching the Tempest Wolf behind the ear. Much to his joy, if his tail wagged was any indication.

Ranga had not only shown a lot more insight than I had anticipated, but had proved that he was grasping the purpose of his side of the training and was actually doing his best to maximize it. Which was a good thing and made me proud in a way.

"Wow, that is very wise of you, Ranga. To show that type of wisdom speaks volumes of your character, and in regards to being a leader, you're already doing a much better job than your predecessor. I'm proud of you," I said, causing the Tempest Wolf to wag his tail harder at the praise, kicking up some wind, though thankfully not too hard to blow us away.

That's right, Ranga had also been making occasional visits to the goblin village without me, mainly to maintain his position as alpha amongst the Tempest Wolves, but also to oversee their training and development for himself. The Tempest Wolf would never admit it, but I also had the feeling that seeing Raya was another reason he was sometimes eager to go. It wouldn't surprise me if the two were already mates. But that wasn't my business.

What did concern me was the overall progress of the Tempest Wolves, according to Ranga the pack seemed to be developing and integrating well with each other. Raya had proven herself a capable leader to stand by Ranga's side as the head of the pack in his absence. That being said, I occasionally had Ranga switch with Raya when it came to being with me here. The reason being they were the ones who had unlocked their elemental abilities.

According to [Great Sage, the Tempest Wolves had an affinity for wind and lightning. The males leaning more towards lightning and the females towards wind. For that reason, I'd have Ranga return to the goblin village and attempt teaching the males some of the skills I taught him, whilst trying to teach Raya whilst she was here. Then vice-versa when they switched. This had been the routine since my return, and so far the results had been promising.

"It seems this morning's session is over." The Elder said as he turned towards the rest of the Ogre villagers to see them stopping their respective training and preparing to head back to the village.

"Yeah, we were just about done here ourselves." I said before turning to the Young Master and the other two Ogres. "You guys should take it easy for the day. My healing magic heals injuries but does nothing to restore your stamina."

"Right. Though I doubt my father would let me slack off too much." The Young Master said with a sigh, causing me to snort.

As I usually did after the morning session with the village, I did my own training further away from the village. Further refining my arts and exploring some of the more destructive skills I had unlocked upon naming the goblins and wolves such as [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind]. I usually kept this training up for a few hours before heading back to the ogre village. I could feel that I had improved in the time since my return.

I'd also looked into the [Storm Magic] I had inherited from my mother, and boy was it completely different from what I had pictured in mind. I originally thought it would be something like a fusion between [Water Manipulation] and [Wind Manipulation, or maybe even [lightning manipulation]. But noooo, things could not be that simple .

The first time I attempted to use [Storm Magic, a mass of black magicules exploded out of my body in every direction! Destroying everything within my immediate area. Trees, animals, and pretty much anything that wasn't the ground itself, leaving me standing in the middle of a sizable barren wasteland.

Treyni and her siblings made an appearance not too long afterwards, and needless to say, they were not amused about the sudden amount of deforestation and loss of wildlife. I found it even more amusing that she tried to chastise me for being so reckless with my power, but then again when I looked like a child both in dragon and human form it kind of made sense. To make matters worse, it seems the dryads couldn't restore the land at the moment due to the potency of the [Storm Magic] particles in the air. In the end, it was decided that the small barren area I'd created would serve as my training ground.

I was also relieved that nobody from the ogre village had been close enough to get caught in the wave. Good thing I had decided to practice these dangerous techniques far from the village. Raya, who'd been the one with me at the time of the incident, had been in my shadow when it occurred, ensuring that she was safe and unharmed.

After that, I became a lot more careful whenever I practiced [Storm Magic], starting with the smallest amount of magicules and building my way up. I already had a few ideas of how to mix this destructive magic into the fighting style I was building. Most of the techniques I had in mind were based on the 'dragon slayer magic' I had seen in an anime called Fairy Tail. If I could find a way to use my [Storm Magic] in a similar manner, with my original fighting style to boot, then my close and mid-range combat capabilities would skyrocket.

"Lord Rimuru!" I was snapped out of my thoughts by the cheerful call of none other than the Ogre Princess, who was standing by the edge of the wasteland I called my training ground. She was holding in her hands what appeared to be a basket.

'Is it already noon?' I wondered as I looked up into the sky, sure enough the sun had already slightly passed its peak. 'I guess I got so into it that I didn't notice how much time had passed again.'

This has become another common thing. The Ogres tended to bring me lunch whenever I spent too much time training on my own. I normally tried to avoid that, but on days such as today, it was easy to lose track of time once you were into it. It was usually the Purple Ogress or the Princess who brought me this lunch, the latter usually accompanied by one other for protection. Though it seemed she had developed a habit of running off before her protective detail could escort her.

"You know, I somehow get the feeling that you like me more in this form." I muttered with a deadpan, as a few minutes later I found myself in my dragon form on the princess's lap as she fed me a sandwich. The two of us were under the shade of a large tree.

"Nonsense my lord, I adore you regardless of what form you are in." The Princess replied with a giggle, a minor blush adorning her face.

'Am I supposed to take that as a confession?' I couldn't help but wonder. I quickly shook my head sideways, she probably didn't mean it to be a confession either, even if there was some kind of romantic intent behind that statement.

"That being said, I do find your baby dragon form to be adorable." The Princess added with a blinding smile, as she reached for another sandwich before bringing it towards my mouth.

With a sigh I took a bite, the sandwich and juice were great, probably made by the princess herself. She certainly seemed happy and content when I said as much.

"By the way, did you run from your assigned guard again?" I asked in an amused tone as I looked up at her teasingly. Her face instantly went red in embarrassment.

"Ah, w-well, this part of the forest isn't really that dangerous, so I'm more than capable of moving around on my own." The Princess sputtered. "Besides, I'm more than capable of using magic in the event that I come across a monster. And I also wanted to…spend some time with you…alone." I barely managed to hear the last two parts due to her voice lowering and getting fainter and fainter, and her face getting redder by the second. I was pretty sure I could see the steam coming out her ears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that last part?" I said with a grin, deciding to play with her a little. As expected, her face went red as she lost her composure and began sputtering.

"N-nothing! I-I was j-just saying I wish father would stop treating me as a child!" The princess quickly tried to cover up, assuming that I hadn't heard her. She should know better than to underestimate the ears of a Dragon, though.

"Riiiiggghhtt." I said in a disbelieving tone, I wasn't going to call her out on her exact words, but I'm pretty sure she got the message, if the way she turned her gaze away from me in embarrassment was any indication.

The two of us settled into a comfortable silence as a gentle breeze blew past. I got comfortable in the Princess's lap and laid my head down, closing my eyes. I ignored her giggles as she pet my head and brushed her hand along my back in a way that actually made me purr. I didn't even know Dragons could purr!

I couldn't help but wonder how much longer things would remain this peaceful within the forest? I had been pushing myself in training for the inevitable confrontation that would come from one of the surrounding nations that would try and take advantage of my mother's disappearance, but was it even enough?

I still doubted I could compare to Demon Lords, three of which bordered our nation. They were the most likely to try something in order to increase their territories and power. It was typical Demon Lord behavior in pretty much every manga and anime.

Then, there were the prospects of Otherworlders and Heroes from the human nations. Anyone who has read an Isekai manga knows that people summoned or reincarnated into another world usually have some kind of special power and are stronger than the average adventurers. If the surrounding kingdoms had Otherworlders under them, then that might pose a problem as well if they were to attack.

That being said, the thought of meeting other people from my old world was interesting, though I had to remind myself that I was a Dragon now, and revealing myself to humans would more than likely get me attacked.

The air shifted before the Princess and I to reveal Treyni, snapping me out of my thoughts and relaxed state. Before I could ask what the elder Dryad sister needed, my eyes widened in shock as I took in her condition. Treyni was down on one knee sporting multiple burns on her body and attire. She looked tired and beaten up.

"Treyni!" I said as I hopped off the Princess and turned into my human form before running towards the Dryad and kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?! What the heck happened to you?!"

I asked as I immediately began to use [Greater Heal] on her. I wasn't sure how effective it would be on her given that her current body was spiritual in nature, and not physical.

That wasn't my greatest concern, however. Treyni was heavily injured, and from the looks of things, these were battle wounds. I found it hard to believe there was a monster in this forest that could lay a hand on the eldest of the Dryad Sisters. Her strength stood out even amongst her sisters. And all three of them were stronger than the A-rank monsters I'd named thus far, with Treyni being the strongest individual I'd encountered within the forest.

I was relieved to see the healing magic take effect as the burns on her body fade away. Her facial expression also seemed to relax a bit probably from the pain receding. Once she had somewhat steadied her breathing, I spoke once more.

"Treyni, what happened to you?" I asked, still cautious as to what could have caused the powerful Dryad such harm. Treyni's eyes rose to meet my own, her face looking both worried and ashamed.

"A few hours ago, a fire spirit known as Ifrit had been unleashed within the forest. More than that, it seems to have been corrupted by powerful magic, making it even more powerful. My sisters and I attempted to stop its rampage, but we were unable to stop it." Treyni explained before her gaze turned downwards, unable to meet my gaze anymore.

'A corrupted spirit? And a fire elemental one at that. It's no wonder why Treyni and her sisters lost.' I thought with a frown, Dryads were tree spirits with a weakness for fire. Even if they had been evenly matched, just the affinity advantage would have been enough to ensure that this 'Ifrit' had the upper hand.

"Where did this spirit even come from?" I asked, an attack like this just seemed kind of sudden.

"About three weeks ago, a group of five adventurers ventured into the forest from the neighboring Kingdom of Blumund. From what we heard, they had been sent over to investigate any changes that may have occurred within the forest due to the disappearance of Lady Veredia. Three of them were the adventurers you first encountered as you left the Sealed Cave, my lord, while the other two are Heroes from what we heard. I believe that one of the two heroes may have been the host of this spirit." Treyni explained as she stood up once her injuries had been fully treated, but not before bowing her head in gratitude.

"If these people entered the forest three weeks ago, then why am I only hearing about this now?" I asked mildly annoyed that she hadn't reported this to me. She said that two of the humans were Heroes, or at least acknowledged as such by other humans. Could they be Otherworlders? If so, I would have liked to scope out the situation myself before it came down to this.

"Please forgive me for not informing you sooner. However, I felt that you already had a lot on your plate between your training and the development of the Goblin village, not to mention maintaining relations with the ogres." Treyni said as she cast a glance towards the Princess who had been surprisingly quiet this whole time. "We kept an eye on them from the moment they entered our domain, and from what we gathered, they held no ill will towards the forest and its inhabitants, they were merely completing the mission assigned to them. But…it turns out we weren't the only ones watching the humans."

"There was a third party involved." I stated with a frown as I folded my arms over my chest, Treyni nodding her head in confirmation. This situation just kept on getting more and more complicated.

"The third party was none other than the Majin you told us to keep an eye out for, Gelmude." Treyni said to my surprise. I remember asking Treyni and the others to look out for Gelmude after my first encounter with him. I had the feeling that guy wasn't the type to take a warning once and leave.

"That freak show is still in the forest?" I asked both shocked and a little pissed. Even after running away with his tail between his legs, that guy came back and was now causing me trouble.

"Yes, he's the one responsible for corrupting the spirit that was inside one of the Heroes, causing it to break free and rampage." Treyni explained.

"I see." Gelmude was responsible for unleashing this spirit huh? Maybe I should have just killed him that first encounter. After all, he was a spy from a Demon Lord's nation. I shook my head sideways.

'I can deal with Gelmude later, for now there's a rampaging fire spirit burning up parts of the forest.' I then turned towards the Princess who'd been listening attentively and was looking worried by what she heard.

"Princess, I need to go with Treyni to intervene and stop this Fire Spirit before it causes unnecessary death and destruction to the forest. In the meantime, I need you to inform your father of my departure and to warn him to keep the entire village on guard until I send word of its defeat. If this Fire Spirit could cause such trouble for even the Dryads, then they are likely too dangerous for nearly every monster in the forest, including the Ogres. Depending on the situation I may be gone for a few days or be back by sunset." I explained, I didn't want to make it sound like I was looking down on the Ogres, but if the Dryads couldn't stop this spirit, then they were far outclassed.

"Of course, Lord Rimuru! I will let my father know immediately! Please be careful!" The Princess nodded in understanding of the serious urgency of the situation. I quickly had Ranga bring Raya from the goblin village to escort her back, I wasn't going to risk her being in possible danger at a time like this. Once Raya and the princess were out of sight I turned back to Treyni, only to see her pouting on one side of her cheeks.

"What?" I asked, it was weird to see the usually composed and cunning Dryad pouting.

"It's nothing." The Dryad quickly denied, letting me know there was something. "You two seem to be getting along well." She suddenly said, it took me a second to pick up on the envy she was feeling through [Desire].

"Is now really the time to be talking about this?" I asked her with a deadpan. It was easy to forget that Treyni was one of the women I had seen in the dark elf's crystal ball back in Dwargon. She was one of my destined ones. But because I saw her less frequently due to her duties, we hadn't really built any sort of romantic relationship…or so I thought anyway.

"You're right, please forgive me." Treyni said as she shook her head sideways, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. I suppose I really should spend more time with Treyni and get to know her better.

"It's fine, now take me to this fire spirit." I said as my draconic wings sprouted from my back. With a nod, Treyni's body burst into numerous leaves that moved fast as if being carried by the wind. I took off into the skies, staying just above the tree lines so I could follow closely.

'This will be my first actual combat scenario since coming into this world. Time to see if all that training actually paid off.'

At the speed I'd been flying it didn't take long until it came into sight. And by 'it', I'm talking about the massive black smoke that was filling up the skies, and the large sea of flames that was spreading down below. I could vaguely sense some creatures fleeing from the flames, others trapped within as well.

'Damn it all, how could this have happened?' This forest fire was huge and spreading fast in all directions, but turning my attention towards it would only give the perpetrator more time to cause havoc. 'To make it worse, the Goblin village isn't too far from here. I need this fire contained, now!'

*Treyni!* I called out to the Dryad using [Thought Communication, she had been following close behind from below, though I doubt she would be able to do much in the mass of flames that were present.

*Yes, my lord?* She responded, her voice echoing within my mind.

*Leave the flame spirit to me, you and your sisters should focus on containing the fire, and if possible putting it out. Gather as much aid as you can.* I told her urgently. The Dryads could instantly travel to any location within their domain of the forest, and so they may be able to gather monsters that would help contain the fire. *Also, one of your sisters should go and warn the Goblins to evacuate the village. The fire is rapidly spreading.*

Already done, my lord. As soon as the situation was out of our control, Trya went to warn the Goblins of the situation.* Treyni reported much to my relief, that was one less thing I had to worry about.

Good, then focus on containing this wildfire. I'll take care of the enemy.* I said before flying above the flames towards the magical signature I could sense, but not before Treyni delivered one last message.

*Please be careful my lord, Ifrit has summoned four salamanders, minor fire spirits, to fight alongside it!* Treyni warned. I nodded my head, not that she could see that, but I was grateful for the warning.

Flying through a large amount of smoke basically rendered my sense of sight and smell useless. Meaning I had to rely on [Magic Sense] to make my way through this. Fortunately, the skill functioned in a manner similar to echolocation, meaning I could 'see' just fine, and given the large and erratic magical presence of my enemy, I didn't have to waste time looking around and instead made a beeline for his location.

I arrived at the scene within minutes, arriving in time to see a muscular horned humanoid being with brown skin, claws and a tail levitating in the air just below me. Its deep red hair seemingly made out of fire and it was only wearing pants, leaving its upper body fully exposed.

'That must be Ifrit, the greater elemental of fire.' I thought as I decided to take in the situation a bit before diving in.

The Spirit in question had yet to even notice my presence, its gaze focused on the fight taking place on the ground, between a blonde haired human and two lizard like creatures, which I could only assume were the salamanders Treyni had warned me about. Behind the blonde were three human bodies, badly burned and injured. They were alive, but barely, and given the environment they wouldn't last much longer. The blonde himself was in bad condition, and probably exhausted. Given that I couldn't sense any more spirits within the surrounding area, it was safe to assume that either he or his friends had defeated the other two salamanders.

"Shizue, snap out of it!" The blonde yelled as he swung his blade at one of the approaching salamanders, the creature avoided the attack by pulling back at the last second, but not before launching a fireball attack from its mouth.

Given the proximity, the blonde could not dodge, and even if he did, the other three behind him would be the ones to get struck. In the end, he managed to bring his shield up to avoid the brunt of the attack, but the intense heat from it still affected and burned him a bit.

'Looks like I get to play hero for the Hero.' I muttered, having concluded that this blonde must be one of the heroes Treyni spoke about, with the other having been the vessel for Ifrit.

Using [Hideform] to conceal my presence, I dove in from my higher position. Ifrit didn't notice me until I was already flying past him, and as much as I would have liked to kill it, I was more focused on saving those humans at the moment. Drawing my blade, I swiftly cut through the two salamanders before landing in front of the half cooked blonde Hero with my blade back in my sheathe.

'Now that's how you nail a dramatic entrance!' I mentally cheered, as I stood up. My gaze met the cautious and wary eyes of the blonde Hero. "Are you alright?" I asked, obviously he was anything but, it was more out of courtesy than anything else.

"Who are you?" The blonde asked as he raised his blade and pointed it towards me, his body shaking from exhaustion and a pained expression visible on his face. This guy was in no condition to fight, but he was willing to fight because he had something to protect.

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, and I am the guardian of the Great Forest of Jura. There's no need for alarm, as I am here to help you and your friends, and to put a stop to this Fire Spirit's rampage," I told him in a reassuring tone.

"Masayuki, Masayuki Honjou." The blonde says, as his body begins to sway. My eyes widened slightly as that name is definitely Japanese. This guy was an Otherworlder. "Please, save Miss Shizue, it's not her fault." The blonde pleads, barely hanging onto consciousness at this point.

"While I respect you for trying to appeal to your friend to regain control, she is currently under the effects of magic caused by another Majin." I said as I turned away from the blonde. "I will do what I can, but I make no promises." Now I couldn't help but wonder if the other Hero was also Japanese as well. I couldn't just destroy Ifrit without harming the human inside. Damn it all!

《Alert: Incoming Attack!》

The warning from [Great Sage] allowed me to promptly raise my wings and fold them in front of me, blocking the two incoming fireballs that had been aimed at me. Unraveling them, I was surprised to see the two salamanders I'd cut down earlier flapping their wings in mid air once more, being the ones who launched those attacks.

'What the, I thought I split these guys in two?! What the hell?!"

《Answer: As spiritual lifeforms, salamanders and other spirits are immune to physical damage. Use of magic and related arts is recommended.》

'I get the feeling this is one of those things that's common knowledge. Guess I should have been more thorough with my homework.' I thought with a sigh. That's what it meant to lack experience in a world filled with magic and monsters. Even the most basic and simple of things had the utmost importance in a life or death situation. I turned my head slightly towards the blonde Hero, Masayuki, only to see him unconscious along with the other three adventurers. 'Protecting them whilst fighting these three is going to be a pain. Best to get them out of here.'

*Ranga!* I called the Tempest Wolf telepathically, the ever loyal companion heeded my call not a second later, jumping out of my shadow and quickly growing to full size.

"How may I be of assistance, Master?" Ranga asked as he growled at the two salamanders, yellow lightning sparkling across his body ready to be unleashed at my command. As much as I wanted to see the fruits of Ranga's training, I needed him to do something else for the moment.

"Sorry Ranga, I need you to get these four out of harm's way. Take them to the Goblins and tell them to treat these four with potions." I explained, Ranga actually letting out a whining sound at not being able to fight and prove his strength. "Don't worry about it. Your time to prove your strength will come, but for now, I need these four out of here so I can fight without holding back. Think you can do that?"

"Yes Master, leave it to me!" Ranga responded enthusiastically. After securing the four of them on Ranga's back, the Tempest Wolf leapt into the shadows with his cargo, heading towards the Goblin village.

With them gone, I finally turned my attention towards my foes. The two salamanders that seemed to have returned to their master's side, the fire elemental spirit Ifrit. I didn't get why neither of them had attacked this whole time Ranga had been here, but I was glad for it. Now they had my undivided attention.

'The salamanders won't be an issue now that I know how to deal with them, but Ifrit…' With the fire elemental, I had to take into consideration the host's body. Too much damage and this 'Shizue' person could die, so I couldn't just cut into Ifrit like I had done with the salamanders. 'If only there was a way to separate the spirit and the host.'

《Answer: Given the current circumstances, it is possible to separate the spirit from the host using the unique skill [Apex Predator, though results of such an action are unknown.》

'What do you mean 'current circumstances'?' I asked with minor suspicion.

《Separating a spirit dwelling within its host is currently impossible for the user, however given that this spirit has taken over its host and manifested outwards, it's possible to extract its spiritual body and separate from the host.》

'Makes sense…I think.' I wouldn't pretend to grasp the mechanics of what was being explained. One thing was for sure, I trusted [Great Sage]. It had yet to steer me wrong in the months I'd reincarnated into this world. I didn't need to understand everything, as long as it said this plan would work then I had no reason to doubt it.

《...》

'Ah, it seems you still can't properly comprehend emotions.' I thought with a sweatdrop, 'Don't worry, you'll get there eventually. Just know that I trust you, partner.'

Time seemed to flow normally as the [ Thought Acceleration] I'd activated wore off. Ifrit raised its hand and pointed at me, immediately the two salamanders charged at me. With the first one diving straight for me while the other tried to flank me from my right, its mouth glowing bright red from the flames building up within.

'Not on my watch!' I shouted as I swiftly vanished from my position, surprising the two inferior spirits as they stopped in their tracks and began to look around frantically. A second later I appeared behind the one that had been charging straight for me, blade drawn and coated in [Black Lightning]. 'Too slow.' I thought as the salamander noticed my presence a second too late, before I cut it down with numerous slashes that turned it into chopped liver.

《Target 1 eliminated.》

[Great Sage] assuring me that the salamander was down for good this time felt reassuring. But I was kind of disappointed by how weak that salamander was and how easy it was to kill. Turning towards the other salamander, I noticed that it seemed far more cautious than it had been before, not that that was going to help much.

I raised my hands towards the sky, dark clouds quickly forming, before a black bolt of lightning descended, tearing right through the salamander and striking the ground beneath it with an explosion.

"Weak…" I couldn't help but mutter in disappointment. I'd really been expecting a lot more, but that was hardly a warm up. I turned my attention towards Ifrit. His presence was significantly greater than that of the salamanders. And with whatever power Gelmude had used to corrupt him, his power was currently greater than even Treyni's. It was no wonder she had struggled, that and the elemental advantage Ifrit held over her. "Hopefully you can provide a better challenge." I said as Ifrit slowly began to lower himself towards me, moving for the first time since my arrival. Flapping my wings, I slowly rose from the ground, my draconic emerald green eyes fixed on the bright gold ones of the foe before me.

The two of us were eventually at eye level, both hovering above the ground a little. For a moment neither of us moved, our bodies perfectly still as we merely stared at each other. A silent battle of wills taking place as we measured each other's resolve.

That was quickly broken by Ifrit stretching his hand towards me, a large torrent of flames being shot my way. Taking that as the initiation of our battle, I charged forward, evading the jet of fire by tilting my body to the side and continuing my charge. Ifrit merely adjusted its trajectory, the stream of fire following me in the sky as I continued to evade with various maneuvers.

I closed the gap bit by bit before I was suddenly before him, blade drawn and covered in black lightning as I slashed at it, however something peculiar happened. Rather than getting struck by my attack, my sword went right through him, his body seemingly becoming fire itself.

"What the heck was that?" I questioned as I came to a halt and turned back towards the fire elemental. Who seemed unfazed by my attack.

《The individual Ifrit possesses the intrinsic skill [Flame Transformation]. Allowing it to turn its body into flames. Would you like to copy this skill?》

'Nah, I can copy that, and any other skills it has when I devour it.' I thought with a grin. So Ifrit had a few tricks up its sleeve? That was fine. Made things that much more interesting for me in the end.

"Rrraaaaahhhhh!" Ifrit suddenly cried out, to my shock, since this was my first time hearing its voice, or anything close to it. Its Flame hair seemed to grow darker and larger, and the air around us seemed to get hotter. And that was saying something, considering we were already in the middle of a forest fire.

All of a sudden, numerous Ifrit's began to appear in bursts of fire. They kept growing in number until they were about eight of them in total, all looking towards me with that same confident yet emotionless expression as if mocking me.

"Seriously, he can clone himself too?" I asked out loud. I wasn't really worried, with my resistances I could probably handle a hundred of them if I needed to.

《Notice, this is the extra skill [Body Double]. It allows the user to create replicas of themselves that function independently but according to the users wishes.》

'So in other words, it's like the Shadow Clone technique from Naruto. Good to know.' I thought with a smirk. The numerous numbers would be a bit annoying, but in the end, the result would still be the same. If anything, I looked forward to the workout.

Not wanting to give my opponent the chance to go on the offensive, I swiftly flew forward with a mighty flap of my wings, swiftly closing the gap between me and my prey. In an instant, I was before one of the body doubles, I coated my blade with water before slashing right through the first clone, its body bursting into steam upon contact.

[Great Sage] had notified me a while ago that all of my [ water manipulation] techniques were physical abilities since I was using preexisting water stored in my [Stomach]. That being said, I dedicated some time to learning to use magicule based skills for water. I was glad I'd actually decided to do so, otherwise it would have been impossible to use water based skills against Ifrit.

I swiftly flew higher, dodging a torrent of flames aimed for me by an Ifrit further away from me, two more suddenly appearing on either side of me with flaming fists drawn back. I used my wings to block both fists, before forcefully opening them, pushing both spirit doubles away from me.

"[Water Blade]!" I shouted as I swung my sword, launching two sharp arcs of water at both copies on opposing ends. My attacks struck true and the doubles vanished in a burst of steam. 'Like I thought, these doubles aren't that strong endurance wise. A single strong hit and their out. This really is a shadow clone rip-off.'

If that was the case, the best thing to do was to go with a wide range attack that would do enough harm to the body doubles and make them. Fortunately, I had one such technique in my arsenal, the only downside being I hadn't yet mastered it to the point I was aiming for. Still, that imperfection may just be what I needed here.

I suddenly felt an increase in magic around me, as three Ifrits unleashed rather large torrents of flames towards me from three directions. I suppose now was as good a time as any to try out that new skill of mine, and given how the surrounding land was burnt for miles, I didn't have to worry about collateral damage either.

" [Black Wind: Reverse Hurricane]!" I shouted as I brought my wings in close, forming an almost cocoon like shell around my body, before I started spinning to the right rapidly, my body instantly becoming a blur.

The effect was instantaneous, as I released magicules, black wind currents began forming around me, stopping the tri-pronged attack of flames in their tracks. But I didn't stop there, no way in hell I would, with the expenditure of more magicules, the black tornado of wind grew larger and expanded further, the wind currents pulling in everything around me with such force that several trees were instantly uprooted and pulled into the growing black cyclone.

Ifrit and its remaining five body doubles were fairing no better. Since they couldn't be harmed by physical objects, they were unaffected by the large debris being pulled in by the storm, which was a shame but not unexpected. However, the black winds themselves were backed with my magicules, and the force pulling them in was stronger than they could escape from.

One by one, the body doubles began to explode in flames under the pressure of my wind currents, Ifrit looking more and more nervous as it was also being pulled in whilst its doubles vanished. Soon enough, there was only one Ifrit remaining, I was pretty sure this was the real one, given that despite sustaining continuous damage from being so close to my attack it had yet to pop like the rest.

Once I was sure I let up on the storm I'd created, I stopped spinning at its epicenter, as the violent wind currents vanished and all the debris from earlier began falling and crashing down on the ground below us. I didn't pay attention to all this, though, ignoring the falling debris around us as I kept my eye on Ifrit.

"If you have nothing more to offer, then I guess this is it for you." I said unimpressed. To be honest I'd expected more of a workout. Then again, fighting a fire elemental when you have flame resistance just wasn't fair, but I doubt it would have been much of a fight with or without.

" Khhhr!" Ifrit's eyes widened in both shock and slight fear as it backed away slightly. It seemed even it understood that it was no match for me, its only hope at this point was to escape, not that I had any intention of letting it. I still had to save the human it had taken over, after all.

In a desperate attempt, Ifrit launched another torrent of flames towards me, but by now I was getting tired of the same old tricks that were bound to have no effect on me. Before the attack could land, I vanished from its line of sight with my superior agility, bound it with multiple layers of [Sticky-Steel Thread] before appearing behind it, with said threads connected to the tips of my fingers.

"You put up a decent fight, but it's over now." I said calmly as Ifrit turned to face me, struggling against the threads that bound it but it was useless. It tried heating up its body further to burn the threads, but given the threads shared the same resistances as the user, it proved to be pointless. "Sorry, time to give this body back to its owner." With those final words, I channeled [Black Lightning] into the threads on my fingertips. The lightning traveled along the thread, until it struck and shocked the fire spirit.

"Aaarrrggghhh!" Ifrit cried out as the lightning coursed through its body. I had to be careful not to put too much power into the attack, since the body I was actually harming belonged to the host and not the spirit.

But the attack still served its purpose, stunning the spirit and creating the opening I needed to finally end this! I quickly closed the gap between us and slammed the palm of my left hand into the stunned fire spirit's open chest.

"Devour my prey, [Apex Predator]!" I called out as the swirling mass of black magicules surrounded Ifrit's form. I let [Great Sage] handle the process of separating the corrupted spirit Ifrit from its human host, knowing it would do a better job at it than I would.

《Notice: Separation of the corrupted fire elemental spirit Ifrit successful. Initiating analysis and assimilation of the spirit.》

With that, the swirling black magicules receded back into my body, leaving a slightly smaller and slender figure of a human woman in its place. Almost immediately, her body began to fall, no longer levitating, but I swiftly caught the unconscious lady, carrying her bridal style before bringing her to the ground and gently laying her down.

It was only after I placed her on the ground that I got a good and proper look at her. A young woman with a slim figure, black hair and small burn marks on the side of her face. She had a slightly pale complexion, though whether that was her natural skin color or as a result of her current condition I had no idea.

'So this is Shizue.' She certainly looked Japanese judging from her facial features alone, and her name definitely matched too. '[Great Sage] analyze her body for any injuries.' I wasn't quite sure if she had gotten hurt from the attacks I'd done on Ifrit, better to be sure she was okay.

《Analysis Complete: The individual Shizue had sustained no permanent injury.》

I breathed out a sigh of relief at that, but just to be on the safe side, I cast [Greater Heal] to heal the minor injuries she had sustained both from Ifrit taking over and our battle. As I looked at her, I couldn't help but notice that she looked familiar, almost as though I had seen her before. Though I couldn't quite recall from where.

《Answer: The individual Shizue is one of the woman foretold to be your destined one.》

'That's it! She was the first lady that appeared in the crystal ball! The one surrounded by the children!' It all came rushing back to me like a flood at Great Sage's reminder. How could I have forgotten something important like that?! Though, given everything that had just happened recently, perhaps I simply wasn't in my best state of mind.

Still though, what were the chances that I would meet her so soon? Aside from the ones I was aware lived in Jura, namely Treyni, the Princess, and the Purple Ogress, I hadn't really expected to run into any of the other women from the crystal orb so soon. As a Dragon, my lifespan was bound to be longer than that of a human's, I was probably looking at centuries at minimum. So it wasn't that far-fetched for me to assume I would be meeting some of the other girls far down the line rather than any time soon.

"Lord Rimuru!" My attention was drawn to my left as Treyni appeared, looking relieved and happy to see that I was okay and in one piece.

"Hey, I took care of the threat. Ifrit can't do any more harm now." I told her with a nod, though it was obvious given the fire spirit was nowhere in sight. "What about you, aren't you and the others supposed to be putting out the fire?" I asked, as I remembered assigning that task to Treyni. Telling her to get help from other species if need be to contain the rapidly spreading fire.

"The wildfire has been contained, my lord. Thanks in part to your intervention." Treyni responded with a smile.

"Me?" I asked, wondering what she was going on about. I was pretty sure I'd been fighting fire spirits this whole time.

"Yes, the storm that manifested earlier, which I can safely assume was your doing, halted the spreading flames by pulling wind currents towards it." Treyni explained.

Ah, that made more sense. The fight with Ifrit had literally taken place in the center of the spreading flames, and the cyclone was literally sucking a large amount of wind from various directions. So in a way the cyclone had sucked the flames dry rather than fanning them. Making them easier to contain and put out.

"Yes, we enlisted aid from the merfolk, who make their homes in one of the nearby lakes and specialize in water magic and life magic. With their water based skills we were able to quickly put out the flames." Treyni explained.

'Merfolk? Those are like fish people right?' I thought, I couldn't help but wonder if they were humans with fishtails like what I saw in some anime and manga.

《Notice: Merfolk are a humanoid fish like species within Jura that specialize in water manipulation and life magic. They are B-rank monsters and possess high level of intelligence.》

The explanation from [Great Sage] came with a mental image of what the average merfolk looked like in this world, and I had to say that I was disappointed. Covered from head to toe in dull fish scales and having fish heads for…well heads. I wouldn't call them ugly, but they could be far more appealing.

"I'll have to thank them for their aid." But not today, for now I was going to take Shizue back to the goblin village so she could get some proper rest without discomfort.

"I'm sure they'd be honored to receive such praise from you." Treyni responded calmly.

"They know who I am?" I asked as the implications of Treyni's statement became clear to me.

"Of course, as we discussed, my sisters and I have begun to slowly but surely spread word of your presence. However, given your recent display of power, I'm sure many will be well aware within the week." Treyni said with a giggle as I looked at her disbelieving.

"Was it that noticeable?"

"Indeed. A black storm that uprooted trees for miles and pierced the heavens. Even if most didn't see it, they surely would have felt the impact." Treyni reasoned.

I remembered discussing the prospect of spreading word of my existence with Treyni. It was around the time about King Gazel's suggestion of forming a nation. We agreed it was important to get my name out there before doing anything.

"Anyways, I'll handle that later, for now I'll take this woman back to the goblin village. She was Ifrit's host."

"I see…"

"That being said, I do have another job to trouble you with, Treyni." I said as I turned towards her with a serious expression. My emerald eyes glowing green with hidden anger.

"It's no trouble at all my lord, I'm happy to be of use to you." Treyni said in her a slightly chipper tone, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

" Find Gelmude." I said, each syllable coming out with venom and anger. "I want to know what he's doing in this forest if he's still here, and if possible his objective."

I may have made the mistake of letting him go once, but I wouldn't do it again. That bastard had set my mother's forest ablaze, and almost caused me to kill one of my future mates. The way I saw it…

…he was already dead.

"Yes my lord, we'll find and report any activities related to him as soon as we can." Treyni said with a bow, her expression unusually serious, more than likely realizing I wasn't in the mood for games. Without another word, she vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Turning back towards the still unconscious Shizue, I decided it was time to head back to the goblin village. I still had to check on the condition of those other four humans as well. And so I lifted her from the ground bridal style, which was weird considering she looked at least two times older than me if one were to measure our age based on human standards.

Once I was comfortable, and I was sure she wouldn't fall, I took off into the air once more. My draconic wings flapping as we took off.

---

Author's Note:

We're really getting into the thick of things now eh?

Rimuru finally met Shizue, though obviously not under the best circumstances. Then there's the fact that Masayuki was around during Ifrits rampage! Does this change things? What impact will his presence have on Rimuru and perhaps even tempest as a whole?!

Read on and find out!

I look forward to what each of you have to say about these developments in the reviews and comments.

Also please let me know what you thought of the fight in general. I've been trying to improve my combat literacy but I'm not quite there yet. So constructive reviews and advice would be welcome!

The next day came by sooner than I had expected. Perhaps because I had so much on my mind from the events that had occurred yesterday, and so many unanswered questions that I just could not bring myself to sleep properly last night.

By the time I had returned with Shizue to the goblin village, none of the other members of the human party had woken up, despite the treatment they had gotten, most likely a result of the exhaustion even if their bodies had made full recovery. I left Shizue with them as well for treatment, having already used my healing magic to deal with the injuries she sustained from our battle when Ifrit had taken her over, making it a total of five human patients that were under our care.

Night came and passed and they still showed no sign of waking, which vexed and worried me a bit, but I knew it was out of my hands for the time being. I just had to wait for them to recover their strength on their own. So that was how I ended up having a restless night with many thoughts in mind.

There were many things I wanted to ask this group, especially Masayuki and Shizue, who were fellow otherworlders, or at least I assumed they were, I hadn't really confirmed that. For all I know, they could be the children of an otherworlder or some other weird gimmick. Treyni had more or less filled me in on what the five of them had been doing in the forest before the fight with Ifrit, but hearing it from the source would be a bit more reassuring.

I needed an idea of what the surrounding human nations were thinking in regards to the situation in Jura. The fact that these five had come in looking to survey the land and any changes to the monster patterns means the human settlements were at least cautious about wild monsters potentially leaving the forest and attacking their kingdoms.

It was a valid concern, and one I wouldn't refute. Even the sentient monsters of the forest may do the same thing, especially those that were outside the domain of the Dryads. They had no one controlling them since my mother's presence vanished, and according to Treyni, most of the monsters that lived outside the Dryad's domain were of stronger species than even the Ogres, making them at the very least low A-rank, like Ranga and Raya. If they went on to attack human settlements close to Jura's borders, then the humans may very well feel threatened and choose to retaliate.

It was one of the reasons why Treyni had suggested getting my name out into the forest. That way, even the higher ranked monsters would know the forest was not without a Guardian and leader, that my mother had left a successor behind for them. Honestly, I felt she was trying to sell her own glorified image of me, but I didn't try to stop her, because I did hope that it would stop any sentient monsters from doing anything foolish.

"Good morning, Lord Rimuru!" I was suddenly greeted by a female goblin as I stepped out of my house within this village, quickly dropping onto one knee and bowing her head.

It was a nice wooden building, almost like a cottage, with four rooms and a decent amount of space. Honestly, I was surprised the goblins had been able to build something of this caliber with the short amount of time the dwarves had been in the village. Still though, I couldn't complain, this building was easily comparable in comfort to the one from the Ogre village. And I could tell it was well maintained, even when I wasn't here.

"Morning, you're…Gobwa correct?" I asked, having named more than a thousand goblins, it was easy to lose track of who was who sometimes, but they were a particular few that stood out to me. Gobwa was one of them, her amber orange eyes having stood out among the goblins even before her evolution into a Hobgoblin. It was a unique trait I'd yet to see in any of the other goblins.

"Yes my lord, you granted me the name Gobwa!" She responded enthusiastically, seeming genuinely happy that I remembered her name.

"Yes, well what can I do for you, Gobwa?" I asked her, wondering why she had been standing outside my door when I stepped out. Especially so early in the morning, shouldn't she be training with the other goblins right now?

"Ah yes, about that." The goblin said as she stood up straight, looking a bit embarrassed. "I've been assigned to be your escort for the day, my lord. If you have any questions or are in need of anything, please do not hesitate to ask." She added with a quick bow.

"I see…" It seemed the few Ogres that had been sent to this village had also had some level of impact on the goblins level of hospitality. They certainly seemed to be more formally welcoming than they had been in the past, especially if they were now assigning me an escort.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, the escort thing was probably a good idea. With how rapidly this village was growing and expanding under Kaijin and the other dwarves, it was hard to recognize it as the same place my mother could have once toppled with a mere sneeze.

"I want to take a look around the village." I told the goblin escort. "I haven't really taken the time to check its progress and development whenever I visit." Usually it would just be a report from Rigurd and Kaijin about the current affairs, how expansion was going and other minor village affairs. While I did do a bit of sightseeing and speak to the villagers, I hadn't really taken the time to see the village development progress for myself. So I was going to take this opportunity to do so while I waited for our guests to recover. "Let's start with the training grounds, I want to see how everyone is coming along under the Ogres."

"Yes sir!" Gobwa responded enthusiastically. "Please follow me, I'll lead you towards the training grounds." She said, to which I responded with the nod of my head.

She turned on the heel of her foot and began to walk, with me following close behind.

Making our way through the village, I couldn't help but admire how much it had grown in the last month since I returned with the dwarves. The Goblin population had grown by over double its previous amount, their numbers going above three thousand five hundred.

Apparently, the goblin communities within Jura were rather tight-knit due to being the weakest race, so when they heard of a Goblin village under the protection of a powerful individual, with said Goblins having evolved, they started flocking towards the named village in hopes of also currying my favor and protection. As a result, the village's Goblin population kept growing every time I visited from the ogre village.

Still, I welcomed them and named them whenever I could. Making sure they were aware of our rules. In return, they swore loyalty and worked hard alongside everyone else. I'd initially been worried about how we would sustain such a growing population, but thanks in part to the Tempest Wolves, the goblin village wasn't restricted to food from the immediate area.

Through [Shadow Movement, the Goblins and Wolves were able to gather food and resources from various locations within the forest, instead of being limited to their immediate surroundings. Meaning there was no immediate shortage of food. Naturally, they had also expanded their farms to produce more than enough food for everyone.

For housing, they opted to start out with tents for the new residents as the craft of construction was still something not many goblins had talent in. But the increase in population meant Myrd had more hands to work with, so things were progressing well and more Goblins were settling into proper homes.

All in all, the village was growing well, and the Goblins had never been happier, feeling more at peace than they ever had been before. It seemed they were starting to build a bit more self-esteem than when they initially evolved, which was good.

It didn't take us long to arrive at the training grounds that were on the outskirts of the village. There, a clearing had been created for the large number of Goblins and Wolves that were honing their skills and abilities. Compared to the clearing the ogres practiced in, this one was obviously much larger to accommodate the larger force and variety of creatures using it.

I leaned against a tree by the edge of the clearing as I watched them train. They seemed to have made some progress since training under the Ogres, with a wide variety of weapons and fighting styles now being present with the Goblins rather than just bows and swords.

"Everyone seems to be growing faster than I expected." Given their large numbers, I had expected the Ogres sent by the chief to have a more difficult time being progressive in teaching them.

"Yes sir, we're all working hard because they want to be able to protect ourselves as well as be of use to you." Gobwa responded. To be honest, I'd kind of forgotten she was there as I got lost in thought. "Each and every one of us is doing our best to learn from our respective teachers. Be it the Ogres and their combat training, the Dwarves and their craftsmanship and construction, or the Dryads who've been teaching us about agriculture. Everyone has been doing their best to learn and produce results to repay the kindness you've shown us, Lord Rimuru." The Goblina added with a bright smile.

"I don't think I did much. I haven't even been around much. You guys are the ones putting in all the effort and making something of yourselves." I said, feeling she was giving me far too much credit for their own hard work.

"You may not have been around much, my lord, but the times you've visited have left a profound impact on the village each time." Gobwa countered, I was actually a bit surprised by the sincerity in her voice as she said it. "You've been taking in all the Goblin tribes that have been coming in under your protection, granting them names and the power to protect themselves. You went out of your way to find the Dwarves in another nation to help with the construction of our village. You spoke to the Dryads on our behalf to help with our agriculture and food production. You even spoke to the Ogres to help us with our combat training, even though they are known as a prideful race!" Gobwa listed, when she put it like that, it was actually kind of flattering.

"Well…I suppose I did help out a bit." I said as I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

"I'd say it was more than just a bit, Lord Rimuru. Everyone here is grateful for the effort you put into making our lives better than they have ever been. That's why we've all been working hard to produce results that we can show to you!"

When Gobwa put it like that, speaking so passionately, it became easier to understand how the Goblins and Wolves had grown this village to such an extent within a month. While I hadn't been as involved as a leader should be when it came to the village, they had still managed to come this far under the guidance of the teachers I had gathered for them. They were working hard to pay back the kindness I'd shown them.

"I just hope you haven't been overworking yourselves." I said as I turned back towards the training field.

"You don't need to worry about that, my lord. Sir Rigurd, along with the other Goblin Lords, have been making sure we get the proper amount of rest." Gobwa reassured me with a smile. "He warned us that overworking would only prove detrimental to our health and needlessly worry you.

"Of course it would, you're my subordinates, not my slaves. So naturally, your well-being is of concern to me." I said, I was almost surprised by the waves of joy I felt radiating from her through [Desire] a second later, making me turn towards the Goblin.

What I didn't expect to see was her being on the brink of tears. A wobbly smile plastered on her face, cheeks red probably from embarrassment, as she tried not to actually cry in front of me.

'Oh boy, it seems we have a crier here.' I couldn't help but nervously think, I wasn't the best when it came to dealing with emotional women. The only reason I wasn't panicking was because I could tell that these were tears of joy, not because I'd said something stupid.

"Are you okay?" I asked her with an amused smile, that seemed to snap Gobwa out of whatever fantasy her mind had pulled her in.

Her face went red as steam started coming out of her ears. I could literally feel the joy she had been feeling seconds ago give way to humiliation as she turned away from me.

"Please don't look at me!" She said as she frantically began to wipe her face. I couldn't help but laugh at her embarrassment. My gaze then shifted towards the training Goblins once more.

'If all of them really feel that strongly about me, then I have to do my part as well.' They were putting their faith in me, and doing their best to prove themselves to me. It was only fair that I work hard as well, and become strong enough to not only protect them, but this entire forest.

"Knock knock!" I called out as I entered Kaijin's workshop, Gobwa following right behind me. I had decided to make this our next stop. A rather large building from the outside but given how many people were working on the inside, it made sense.

The inside was your typical medieval blacksmith's workshop. Filled with various tools, materials, a large furnace, and even a few partially finished weapons visible. Though I assumed some were just prototypes. There were several tables with Goblins and Ogres working on tools or weapons.

However they all seemed to stop upon hearing my voice, along with the entrance bell ringing when I opened the door.

…

…

There were a few seconds of awkward silence before they all quickly stood from their seats, well those that were seated anyway, and bowed their heads respectfully towards me.

"Lord Rimuru!" They all shouted unanimously in greeting. At this point, I was getting used to this kind of behavior from everyone, and was learning to take it in stride. It was probably for the best too, since if I really did end up forming a nation, I'd pretty much be a king.

It was a weird thought, but one that I was getting more and more used to. Besides, it's not like I'd have to conform to normal standards of what it means to be a ruler or king.

"Hello everyone, don't mind me, please continue as you were." I said as I waved them off. That seemed to do the trick, as bit by bit they all returned to their previous tasks

"Ah, Rimuru!" Kaijin suddenly came out from the crowd and approached me. "Only you could cause such a ruckus around here so early in the morning hahaha!" The dwarf smith said with a loud laugh.

One of the reasons I enjoyed talking with Kaijin a lot was because he actually talked to me like we were casual friends, whilst still keeping it respectful enough that he didn't cross boundaries of employer and employee. It was certainly a breath of fresh air compared to the subservient way that all the monsters in Jura spoke to me. But as I said before, I was getting used to it.

"Sorry for the trouble, just thought I'd pop in and say hi since I passed through town sooner than planned." I said with a grin.

"Right, I heard you were in the village due to the incident that occurred yesterday with the Fire Spirits." Kaijin said with a nod. "Would the humans resting in the nearby tents have anything to do with what happened?"

"Yeah." I responded with a nod and a sigh. "Two of them are Heroes, and the other three are adventurers from Blumund. Or at least that's what Treyni was able to gather, I haven't had the chance to properly speak with them. One of the Heroes was the vessel for the spirit. Due to some outside intervention, the spirit possessed her and went on a rampage, the other four barely made it out alive."

"Sounds problematic." Kaijin said with a chuckle before his expression became serious. "Still, you gotta handle this carefully, two Heroes in a monster village could spell trouble if they decide to become hostile."

"Mhmm." I hummed in agreement. I wasn't naive enough to believe they would trust us simply because we saved them. Masayuki had been desperate at the time he asked for my help, who knows what would happen now. "I know, I'll be careful and keep a close eye on them."

"How are you going to handle this, though? Even if they aren't hostile, are you going to let them leave? Word of you and this village would spread to the neighboring nations fast that way." Kaijin enquired, his concerns valid.

To be honest, no matter how I looked at it we would draw attention to ourselves. Killing them would draw attention to the fact that two heroes died within the forest of Jura, making the western nations more wary of us. Letting them go would give them information, but if handled well, they could present us in a positive light.

"It all depends on them, if I feel they harbor ill will and letting them go would endanger us, then I'll kill them. It may warrant investigations from the surrounding nations, but it's better than them reporting us as a potential threat and facing a potential invasion." I told Kaijin, eyes cold and glowing with a neon emerald color, before swiftly relaxing so as to not concern the others with my killing intent. "However, if they seem decent enough I'll let them go. They may even portray us as a friendly monster village or something, though there's no guarantee we won't be investigated and attacked anyway. Regardless of the outcome, it's best we stay on guard for the foreseeable future."

"Mmmm, it's a tricky situation. And this village is still too young to be involved in any major conflict." Kaijin said as he stroked his beard.

He was right, the Goblins were just starting to build their confidence from being the weakest species. Even as Hobgoblins and Goblinas, they were only C-rank monsters, their average strength was equivalent to that of a well trained soldier, with trained goblins being slightly stronger. What they truly lacked was skill. They had made great improvements with the Ogres, but I doubt war was something they were quite ready for.

…then again, nobody is ever ready for war.

Even with the Tempest Wolves, which were an A-rank threat collectively, we wouldn't be able to fight without significant losses. Losses that would result in a drop in morale.

Maybe I could just wipe out any invading forces myself. According to [Great Sage, my power made me a high Special A-rank threat. And even then, I was just below S-rank. Which was pretty cool by the way. The only problem with that is the world would be aware of my existence. Which would bring about its own set of problems.

"Yeah, you're right. If push comes to shove, I'll handle it myself." I said with a sigh, before switching topics, wanting something a little more light hearted. "All of that aside, the Goblins and Ogres seem to be doing well under you." I said as I looked at all the working personnel. Kaijin noticed my change in topic, but I was glad he didn't comment on it, nothing more needed to be said on that topic.

"Yeah, to be honest having the Ogre blacksmiths come here was a godsend. They've been a great help in not only reducing workload, but also in teaching the goblins about crafts. Because of them, I was even able to take on a few more apprentices." Kaijin said with a grin.

"Well the Ogre chief did say he wanted his own people involved in the production of magisteel weapons for his people, if you found even more use for them being here then that's great."

"Mmhmm, they've even been sharing some of their techniques with us and me with them. It's made a good learning experience for the goblins as well." Kaijin said as he nodded his head in pride. "The goblins have been soaking up whatever we teach them as well. While they still have ways to go, you can tell the effort and hard work they are putting into learning."

I cast a quick glance at Gobwa, who'd gone and started talking with one of the other goblins in the shop, remembering what she had said earlier about the effort everyone was putting in for my sake.

"Have you had them start working with magisteel?" I asked Kaijin curiously.

"The goblins, no, they don't have the necessary experience for that. As for the Ogres, they caught on pretty fast once I showed them the ropes. Though for now I'm only having them craft 40% magisteel weapons and below so they get used to it." Kaijin explained.

"Wait, what about the Young Master's sword, I thought that one was 100% magisteel like mine?" I asked.

"Well I'm the one who did most of the work with the blade, but I had the most experienced of the Ogres help me out a bit." Kaijin explained as he pointed to one of the Ogres. A large figure with ash gray skin and black hair, honestly he had a slightly intimidating appearance, but seeing him interact with the Goblins showed he wasn't as scary as first impression would imply (AN: It's Kurobe).

"I see, makes sense I guess." Perhaps the Ogres had understood mainly because the blade was being forged for the Young Master, and thus were willing to leave most of the work to a skilled blacksmith like Kaijin, who was used to working with magisteel.

It seems bonds were being forged even without my intervention. Perhaps the Ogres would be more willing to directly interact with the goblin village in the near future.

"Lord Rimuru!" The front door suddenly slammed open and rushing in all sweaty and out of breath was none other than Rigur. He looked a little panicked and distressed. Before his eyes landed on me.

"Rigur, what's wrong?" I asked.

"The three humans accompanying the Heroes just woke up!" He said rapidly as he was still trying to gather his breath.

"...I see."

I guess it was time to see just what kind of people we were dealing with.

Walking towards the building where our now awake guests were being kept, a lot of things were running through my mind.

For starters, I was glad that the three adventurers were the first ones to wake up rather than Shizue or Masayuki. I kind of knew what to expect from them since I'd followed them around a bit when they were inspecting the Sealed Cave. The three of them were the ones that unintentionally let me out, though I wouldn't be telling them that.

From what I had gathered when following them that day, they were a bit of a rowdy bunch. They were close, but always seemed to argue over the smallest things. And they seemed to have a knack for getting in trouble. They were more than fortunate that I'd cleared the Sealed Cave on my way out, otherwise their chances of surviving would have been practically zero.

All in all, they seemed like a decent bunch when looking at them from afar, I guess it was time to see their character up close.

"Lord Rimuru!" Rigurd was standing outside the door to the building looking slightly nervous.

"I take it our guests are inside?" I asked the goblin king, prompting him to nod.

"Yes, they woke up not too long ago feeling hungry. And while I was hesitant to do so without your permission, I had some food prepared for them." Rigurd said with a bow of his head.

'His emotions are all over the place, does he think I'll be upset or something?' I decided not to think about it too much and instead soothe his worries. "Good work, offering proper hospitality to our guests is something to be proud of." I said as I gave the large goblin an encouraging tap on the shoulder.

"R-right, thank you, my lord!" Rigurd said as he stood up straight. He then quickly regained his composure before opening the door for me, I nodded my head and walked in, with the Rigurd and Gobwa following close behind.

I don't know what I was expecting when I opened the door, but it certainly wasn't…

…this.

And by 'this', I mean the first thing I see is the sight of these three adventurers stuffing their mouths with food and chewing louder than dogs! Like seriously, who taught these three how to eat?!

They seemed to freeze on the spot upon the door opening and seemed to robotically turn towards me. Unfortunately, freezing like that with their mouths stuffed full did little to improve my impression of them. If anything, my already low impression from their lack of awareness in the sealed cave just sunk a tad bit lower.

"Hey, who's the kid?" One of them whispered after swallowing his food with an incredibly loud gulp, the guy with the lengthy hair, Kaval if I remembered correctly. From what I'd gathered when tailing them in the sealed cave, he was the so-called leader of this group. Though, that didn't seem to mean much when it came to these three.

The other two merely shrugged their shoulders as they also looked at me curiously, still chewing like gluttons. My left eyebrow may have twitched slightly at being called a 'kid'. While I may look like an adolescent in his first year of high-school I had the mind of a man much older than that! Still, I couldn't exactly fault them for that though, they had no way of knowing, and were only speaking based on what they were seeing.

"Please show him proper respect, this is the lord and master of our village. The Great Rimuru!" Rigurd declared as he gestured towards me with his right hand.

You could tell the three of them were surprised when they heard that. Their eyes widened, and the two who had been chewing stopped for a moment before loudly swallowing loudly as well.

"The master?!" All three of them shouted at once as they looked at me in disbelief.

'I mean, I get that it's hard to believe but they shouldn't be that surprised.' In a world filled with magic and monsters of all shapes and sizes, having a fourteen year old looking boy leading a village of Goblins shouldn't be the most surprising thing.

"Yes, Lord Rimuru was also the one who rescued you and your comrades when that Fire Spirit attacked the forest." Rigur added, he could have waited to drop that bomb but whatever.

"Wait, you stopped Ifrit?! But that's a high level Elemental Spirit!" The girl of the group, Eren if I remember well, yelled in shock and surprise. Guess stopping someone of Ifrits caliber was impressive by human standards, though it was understandable why they were impressed, given that it was a powerful spirit used by a Hero.

"You must be crazy strong." The last party member, Gido, said sweat nervously dropping from his head. It seemed he was the most cautious of me between the three of them. That was the most sensible reaction one could have after finding out that a powerful individual was standing before you.

"Is there a problem?" I asked with an amused smirk, eyebrow raised for added effect.

"N-no, it's nothing like that! Please forgive our rudeness." Kaval said frantically, panicking slightly. "If anything we're grateful for your help. If you hadn't interfered, there's a chance none of us would have made it out alive. Shizue and Masayuki included. Thank you for your aid and hospitality." Kaval said as he bowed his head in gratitude, the other two quickly followed suit.

"Yes, thank you for your aid and hospitality." Eren and Gido also said upon bowing their heads.

'Huh, maybe these three aren't as idiotic as I thought they were.' They clearly understood their situation, and were more than grateful for my intervention. My impression of them may have gone up juuuust a bit.

"It's fine, please lift your heads. I'm glad I was able to arrive in time before the worst came to pass." I said as the three of them raised their heads and seemed to relax. "However, I have a few questions that I need to ask you three. Such as why a group of five adventurers, including two Heroes, were traveling through a forest of monsters. And secondly, your account of the events that occurred yesterday. A Fire Spirit of that caliber doesn't just appear out of nowhere."

"Of course, after all the trouble we caused you, the least we can do is provide an explanation and answer what we can." Kaval said with the nod of his head, at least they were being reasonable and understanding about it.

And so the trio of adventurers explained everything to me in detail. From the fact that they had initially been sent as a group of four by the leader of Blumunds guild master, including Masayuki, but encountered Shizue before they left the city for the forest. As Treyni had said, they'd been sent here in order to investigate the forest and any potential changes that may have occurred as a result of my mother's disappearance. Shizue just tagged along as she had been going a similar direction for whatever reason. Though they had been attacked and chased around by a few monsters, it was nothing they hadn't been able to handle, though I get the feeling Shizue and Masayuki were the ones handling it.

Still though, I found myself surprised by how open they were being. Going as far as to tell me their whole plan right off the bat. Clearly, these guys needed to learn not to trust so easily. Still, it worked well for me, so I couldn't really complain.

"I see…and do you think that your guild master will react negatively to our village?" I asked, I wasn't expecting an honest answer, really. Being viewed as a potential threat was reason enough for humans to act.

"To be honest I'm not too sure." Kaval said as he glanced back at his teammates, who shrugged in response, before turning back to me. "Normally, a goblin village wouldn't be worth investigating, given that they are weak, but not only is the village huge, all the goblins here are so many it can be considered a town, even a small city." The group leader responded with a nervous sweatdrop.

I couldn't deny his point. Our overall population was just over three thousand five hundred and rising with each passing day. While hobgoblins weren't a major threat, any kingdom would grow weary if a large number of them started mobilizing like they were doing here. Naturally, the humans would wonder why, and eventually I would be discovered. Not that I intended to remain hidden.

"I see, that is a bit of a tricky situation. But I don't think we have much to worry about in the short-term . Feel free to include our village in your report." I said, I'd keep the fact that I was the Storm Dragon's child under wraps for now. As far as these three were concerned, I was just some Majin that helped them out. "Though do try to paint us positively." I add with a smirk.

"Oh, of course!" Eren suddenly called out with a bright smile on her face. "You guys saved our lives, the last thing we want is to cause you any trouble!"

"She's right, we owe you and the people of this village for saving and taking care of us!" Giddo added, giving a quick brow of gratitude once more. "Thanks to you, even Shizue was able to make it out of the incident relatively unharmed despite being the one that got possessed."

"Hopefully the two of them make a fast recovery, I have a few questions for them as well." I mutter with a small frown, before turning towards the group of three. "But for now, what can you three tell me about the incident that led to Shizue losing control of her spirit?"

The expressions on their faces as soon as I asked that told me they didn't have much to offer in that regard. For a few seconds, they looked at each other multiple times before turning back towards me.

"To be honest we're not quite sure what happened ourselves." Eren spoke up, bringing my attention towards her. "One second we were walking deeper in the forest, chatting like usual, and the next thing we knew there was this explosion of purple mist as we were walking."

My attention was piqued when she said the last part.

"At first, we thought it was some kind of poisonous attack from a monster, and quickly jumped out of it. But out of the five of us, the purple mist followed Shizue." Eren explained as the three of them shuddered at the thought, clearly whatever it was had been creepy. "From the outside, it looked like Shizue absorbed that purple mist, but the way she groaned and cried in pain showed that it was forcing itself into her."

"Naturally we tried to rush in and do whatever we could to help her. But…we were too late." Kaval said, as their expressions turned somber and all three of them looked towards the ground. "Before we could get close enough to touch her, flames erupted around her. The explosion pushed us several feet back and immediately lit the surrounding trees on fire."

"It was terrifying, her hair turned into a mane of fire, her eyes turning red like some sort of demon. Her entire body was then engulfed in flames for a bit, when the flames died down the Fire Spirit, Ifrit, stood in her place." Giddo recounted. "After that, things become a bit of a blur, Ifrit summoned three salamanders and I remember us offering to handle those while Masayuki fought and subdued Ifrit."

"You said they were three salamanders? When I arrived on the scene there were only two left." As much as I didn't want to imply it, I doubt these three could have handled the salamanders in a three on three fight.

"Yeah, one of them got the drop on us and self detonated. It's probably the one that left us out of commission because I don't remember anything after that." Kaval said as he turned to his other party members, who shook their heads sideways, meaning they had also been knocked out by that attack.

"I see. That matches the information I received. Unfortunately, your group chose a bad time to wander into the forest." I said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"Lets just say the humans aren't the only ones that have been investigating the forest of Jura since the Storm Dragon's disappearance. About five weeks ago, I encountered a Majin that claimed to be the subordinate of a Demon Lord snooping around near our village." I stated, three pairs of eyes widening at the sudden revelation. "There's a chance that Majin could have been involved in the attack that caused Shizue to lose control."

"Wait, are you for real?!" Kaval shouted in slight panic as he brought his hands to his head.

As much as I wanted to tell them I was a hundred percent certain of this fact, I wanted to keep my connection to the Dryads a secret as well. The Tree Spirits were well known for being a rare sight, and so they wouldn't suspect I pretty much had eyes on most of the forest through them.

"From what you've told me, that purple mist was drawn towards Shizue, or perhaps the spirit within her. Either way, if the Majin I'm talking about is involved, then this was a targeted attack." The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed that Gelmude would just randomly attack Shizue just to unleash the Fire Spirit. 'He must have known I would intervene…or at the very least taken it into account.'

Gelmude didn't strike me as dumb when I encountered him before. He certainly had human level intelligence that much was for sure. I remember telling him that I am the Guardian of the forest, if he was willing to unleash a Fire Spirit within the forest even after my warning, then he had to have taken my presence into account. Perhaps he had been trying to flush me out? If so, had he been watching the fight?

There were too many questions, but one thing was clear. Whoever Gelmude serves has to be aware of my presence within Jura. There's a chance that they may have been trying to learn more about me by unleashing Ifrit.

'Calm down.' I thought to myself as I shook my head sideways. There was no point in overthinking this, what's happened happened. All I can do is move forward and act with more caution until the current threat is neutralized. I turned towards the trio of adventurers. "You guys are more than welcome to rest here until you've fully recovered, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask Rigurd." I said, gesturing towards the large Goblin King who stood at my left.

"Right, please don't hesitate at all. While our village is still fairly new and doesn't have much to offer, we'll do our best to be hospitable." Rigurd said as he stood straight, looking kind of stiff.

"Thank you very much." The trio said in unison as they bowed their heads. I couldn't help but smile as I nodded my head. I knew the trio would be in good hands with Rigurd handling things.

"I have to go now. Rigurd, I'll leave things here to you." I said as I turned around and started making my way out.

"Right!"

The talk with Kaval's party gave me much to think about, in regards to both the Human Nations and Demon Lord territories. The game of chess had already started, movements were being made to gauge the situation here in Jura, from scouting to antagonizing, all of this was just proof of the wheels starting to turn.

I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen, there were too many unknown variables, and I still knew far too little about this world to even try and make a guess. That was my biggest flaw at this moment, a lack of knowledge. In a world where beings could live for centuries or millennia or even forever in the case of special individuals like the Demon Lords or True Dragons, being unaware of even the most basic things puts you at a severe disadvantage. And considering the endless possibilities of skills and magic, that was more terrifying than I was willing to admit.

I didn't just need more power, but the knowledge to use that power appropriately in any given situation.

But what I didn't have was time.

The surrounding nations weren't going to wait, as proved by Gelmude's actions and the fact that a human party with two Heroes had come into the forest. It was a troublesome situation to say the least, with no clear solution either.

Speaking of Gelmude, Treyni and the others had yet to report anything after I told them to find him. With their abilities, they should have no problem locating him as long as he was within their area of influence. Could he have gone to the other side of the river? The area outside the Dryad's influence? Or perhaps he left the forest altogether. I know I would lay low if I pulled a stunt like the one he did. And if his intention had been to kill me, it meant he failed. Giving him a greater reason to lay low.

I was tempted to just summon Treyni and one of the other Dryads and just ask them, but decided against it for the time being. It had barely been twenty-four hours, the least I could do was give them more time than that.

"Master, I have returned!" I was brought out of my thoughts when Ranga jumped out the shadow of a nearby tree and landed beside me.

"Oh, hey Ranga." I greeted the Tempest Wolf with a smile. Ranga had been leading the Tempest Wolves in their training this morning since Raya was still at the Ogre village after I asked her to escort the Ogre Princess yesterday. I hadn't bothered asking her to return, feeling better knowing that she would be there and be able to alert me in the event that something of note happened there.

I did feel a bit bad though, I wasn't blind to the fact that Ranga and Raya were extremely close. They were probably mates by now if I had to guess, though I had yet to confirm that. The reason I felt bad was because due to the fact that Ranga was usually with me when I was at the Ogre village, the two of them didn't get to spend as much time together as I felt they should. Neither of them ever brought it up or complained, their loyalty to me wouldn't allow them to. Still though, it was something I'd have to fix soon.

"I trust that you had a productive training session with the pack?" I asked as I leaned back against the tree I was seated under, Ranga coming up beside me and laying down as well, head on my laps.

"Yes master, the pack has definitely grown, and their mastery over their elemental affinities grows by the day." Ranga reported as I nodded my head, running my hand over the large wolf's head.

Raya had reported to me about that breakthrough not too long ago. While it was still weak, the fact that the Tempest Wolves were starting to tap into their elemental affinities was a major breakthrough, and would only make them a force to be reckoned with as they grew stronger. I couldn't wait to see that day.

"That's good to hear, I'm expecting great things from all of you." I said, much to Ranga's pride and joy, evident by the way his tail started swishing rapidly. Fortunately, Ranga had started gaining greater control over his powers, and thus didn't stir up a whirlwind this time around.

The two of us just stayed there for a while. Relaxing under the shade of the tree as the gentle breeze blew past us. If only things could remain this peaceful, but I knew better than to make such a naive wish right now.

Tough times were coming, it's what I had been preparing for this whole time. Question is, am I ready? Well, true readiness was a notoriously difficult thing to achieve, all I could do was continue to get stronger and not get complacent regardless of how strong I became.

It wasn't until noon that I felt the presence of none other than Rigur fast approaching our location through [Magic Sense]. Within a minute he had made it where we were, riding atop his Tempest Wolf partner.

"Lord Rimuru!" He called out upon spotting me. Seeing as this was the second time today he had come to find me, I could guess what this was about.

"Have one of the Heroes woken?" I asked as I stood up, unfortunately waking Ranga, who had taken a nap on my lap.

"Both of them have regained consciousness, my lord, though they are still weakened." Rigur explained.

That was good to hear. Not the weakened part, just that they had regained consciousness. I expected both of them to still be out of it for sometime, but it seemed they were a lot tougher than I gave them credit for.

To be honest, I didn't really have any questions regarding their reasons for being here, most of those had already been answered by the trio earlier. My interest in these two was simply in the fact that they may be Otherworlders like me. I had some questions I wanted to ask them, such as how long they had been here, and the circumstances of their arrival. I remember my mother mentioning something about heroes being summoned. Is that how they came into this world? It sounded like something straight out of a manga, but this was my new reality.

I soon arrived at the building where the two had been laid to rest. I opened the door and got inside. Shizue and Masayuki had been laid to rest on beds that were on opposing ends of the room, but given the room wasn't that big they were still close enough.

It turns out I wasn't the first visitor. Eren, Gido and Kaval were already in the room. Eren over at Shizue's side as she talked to the hero with teary eyes, probably happy to see her awake and somewhat okay after everything that had happened, Giddo and Kaval were with Masayuki, also expressing their relief and gratitude for what he had done for them.

All the chatting seemed to come to a stop when I walked in, as five pairs of eyes seemed to turn towards me at once.

"I'm glad to see that both of you are awake and doing better after everything you've been through." I say with an open smile. "My name is Rimuru Tempest, though you've yet to see it, I'm the leader of the monster village you're currently in." I introduced myself as I stepped forward.

"Shizue Aizawa." Shizue greeted with a gentle smile and the nod of her head. She still appeared too weak to move, still laying down on the bed, her complexion slightly paler than it should be. Which kind of worried me.

"Masayuki Honjou, though I'm sure you already knew that." Masayuki responded with his own weak smile, referring to the time he introduced himself during the encounter with Ifrit. Though he currently seemed to be better than Shizue, he was still far too weak to move, and thus was seated on the bed with his back against the wall at its head. "Thank you for helping us yesterday, there's no way we would have made it out without your help." He said as he bowed his head in gratitude.

"Yes, Eren, Gido, and Kaval have already filled us in on some of the things that happened. Thank you for stopping Ifrit, and ridding me of my curse." Shizue said as she attempted to sit up, but she struggled.

"H-hey you shouldn't move too much Shizue!" Eren shouted in panic as she gently pushed the Hero back down onto the bed. Unable to fight back, Shizue relented and lied back down, before turning back to me. Her eyes relayed the gratitude and peace she felt in that moment.

"Eren is right, both of you should take the time to rest. We used full potions to heal you as best as we could, but you may still need to rest before you can regain your strength." I told them.

Oddly enough, my words seemed to make the two of them feel guilt and a strange sense of resignation. Though these feelings were hidden behind smiles and nods I was starting to realize were fake, the only reason I had even picked up on it was because of [Desire]. I immediately knew that there was something wrong, something they weren't saying, or perhaps something they didn't want said in front of the trio, it was the only logical conclusion that I could come to.

"Do you three mind if I talk with Shizue and Masayuki alone for a moment?" I asked, addressing Kaval's party. The three looked at each other shrugging before turning to the Heroes in question who merely nodded their heads.

"Sure, we'll come and check on you guys later." Kaval said, the last part addressed to the heroes, Gido nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, and try to get some rest! Don't move around too much!" Eren shouted as she followed after the boys who had already opened the door and were walking out.

Once the door was closed behind me I turned back towards the two bedridden Otherworlders, with so many questions on my mind, and so many things I wanted to ask. But I was more concerned about what I had sensed earlier, it had been unsettling to feel those kinds of emotions from people.

"Alright, they're gone." I said as I turned to them with a serious expression. "Now why don't you tell me what's really going on?" I didn't elaborate further, since I didn't even know what I was asking about, but the way both Shizue and Masayuki flinched and turned away from me letting me know that whatever it was, I wasn't going to like it.

The heavy guilt and self-blame I felt coming from Shizue wasn't exactly encouraging either.

"Frankly speaking, the events of yesterday were more straining on my body than I had thought." Shizue said as she turned back towards me, her navy blue eyes meeting my emerald ones. "To be honest, I can't be sure what the actual cause is. Be it Ifrit being extracted from me or the substance that was used to corrupt Ifrit damaging me. Either way…it seems as though I don't have much time left in this world." Shizue confessed with a sad smile.

"What?" I couldn't keep the shock out of my voice, nor did I hide it on my face. That revelation felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been splashed on my back without warning. "Are you saying that you're dying? Both of you?" I asked, turning to Masaykui who nodded grimly in confirmation. I took a deep breath to calm myself, trying to wrap my head around it all.

It didn't make sense, these two had been fine when I last checked on them. I even had [Great Sage] run an appraisal on them just to be sure, and she sure as hell hadn't picked up on any of this!

《 ... 》

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, ignoring the silence from [Great Sage] and forcing myself to calm down. I had already used potions and my own healing magic on them, so I doubted there was much else I could do, but if there was, I had to at least try.

"I don't think there is. What's happening to me is a result of me rejecting Ifrit for so long and in turn refusing to become a Majin. My body is merely catching up to its true age." Shizue said as she shook her head. It was only when she said this that I noticed that some of her hair was starting to lose its color at the bottom, her already pale skin seemed to start wrinkling slightly.

"As for me, it seems my fight with Ifrit resulted in me taking a lot of spiritual damage. So despite my body being healed, I doubt I'll make it." Masayuki said as he clutched his chest in pain, he had been doing a good job hiding it when Kaval's party had been here, but it seemed to be getting worse now.

'Spiritual damage?'

《 Answer: Spiritual damage occurs when one's soul is directly attacked by attacks capable of bypassing the physical body altogether. Sustaining enough damage will result in immediate or eventual death. 》

'And Ifrit was able to do this, how?' I asked. The very fact that they were attacks that bypassed the physical body was terrifying in itself. It meant it didn't matter how many other resistances I had if my enemy was targeting my soul. 'Never mind that, is there really nothing we can do for him?'

《 Potions and your [Greater Heal] are not capable of healing damage to the soul nor do you currently have the means to do so. There is nothing that can be done. 》

I had a feeling that was the case, but hearing it from [Great Sage] really nailed it in.

"I'm sorry." To be honest I didn't even know why I was apologizing. I wasn't to blame, and I'd literally done everything I could for them. It's just that their circumstances were beyond what I was capable of handling right now.

"Please don't apologize. If anything I should be the one apologizing for all the trouble I caused." Shizue said.

"It wasn't your fault, given the reports and what the other three told me, it's likely that you were targeted." I told them, my mind flashing towards Gelmude as a new wave of anger began to build inside me.

"Yes, they told us about that. A majin from the demon lord's territory." Masayuki said with a frown.

"There hasn't been any sighting of him since Ifrit was unleashed. But I'm sure he'll be back." I said, my eyes glowing green with hidden anger and rage. The recent revelations had made my anger and hatred towards Gelmude that much stronger. "Like you, he was investigating the forest, though given his activities, I have reason to suspect that he, or his master, have motives within the forest that we are not yet aware of." I told them, it was why I was hoping the Dryads would be able to find some solid leads.

"I see…" Shizue said with a small frown. I could feel the guilt emanating from her. There was nothing I could really do about that though, other than try to take her mind of everything that had happened.

"This may sound strange coming from a monster such as myself, but when I heard they were two Heroes within the forest, I was actually interested in meeting and speaking with the two of you." I told them, earning slightly surprised looks from them, before Shizue's turned slightly cautious, though what could she do even if I was a threat? "Don't worry, it's probably not for any reason that you're thinking of. I was just interested in meeting others like me who weren't originally from this world."

…

…

…

"W-wait, are you saying that y-you're…" Masayuki tried to ask with wide eyes as he pointed at me. For someone on death's door, the look on his face was rather comical in that moment.

"Yeah, I'm from the same world as the two of you." I said with a smile and a nod. "To be honest, I heard that Heroes were summoned from other worlds sometimes, but I wasn't sure that you two were Otherworlders, not until I heard your names at least. Shizue Aizawa, Masayuki Honjou, those are without a doubt Japanese names." I say with a grin at their shocked expressions.

"But you're a monster, aren't you? How is that even possible?" Masayuki asked, still pretty shocked, but Shizue seemed to gather her bearings. I could literally see the gears turning in her head. It was kinda cute.

"Well I wasn't summoned like the two of you. To be honest, I'm not really sure what happened myself." I said with a shrug. "I was a special forces soldier and later a CIA agent in my old life. I remember getting shot in a shootout, and I'm pretty sure I died. Next thing I knew, I was busting myself out of a Dragon egg!" I declared without a care as I transformed into my dragon form, landing at the foot of Shizue's bed.

"You were reincarnated…" Shizue muttered as she looked at me both surprised by my current form and by the way in which I had been brought into this world. Masayuki seemed pretty shocked by that revelation as well.

"Wait, you died and were reincarnated as a Dragon?! That's so awesome!" Masayuki shouted as stars appeared in his eyes, acting like every bit the adolescent he was. Shizue and I gave him strange looks, but I was more understanding since being reborn as a Dragon did sound pretty cool. He had the decency to be embarrassed, though. "Well not the dying part obviously, that had to suck, but you're a Dragon now! How awesome is that?!" Shizue couldn't help but sigh, whilst I just laughed.

I had a feeling Masayuki and I would have gotten along just great had things turned out differently. He seemed like a man of manga and anime culture.

"I'm still getting used to this new life. I only got reincarnated a few months ago, four or five months give or take." I said with a shrug, it was hard to tell sometimes given how long it had taken me to make my way out the Sealed Cave. I noticed Shizue narrowed her eyes at me when I said that.

"Isn't that around the same time the Storm Dragon's presence vanished from Jura?" Shizue asked, it was thanks to years of training from my previous life that I didn't flinch or make any other movement that would have made me look guilty.

'She's sharp.' I couldn't help but compliment. Of course she had managed to connect the dots. Given my current form, of course she had, it was obvious to anyone with a brain cell. No point in hiding now, besides these two were going to die within hours, so it's not like they could use that info to hurt me. 'Okay, harsh, but so very true.'

"It is, the Storm Dragon Veredia is in fact my mother in this new life of mine." I confessed. I watched as Shizue's face went from shocked to worried to troubled. Masayuki as expected seemed wary but amazed by the revelation at the same time.

Honestly, they were taking the news better than I thought they would. I'd been ready for them to start doubting my every word or something, perhaps even claim everything I'd told them was a lie. But instead, they seemed pretty level headed right now.

"I'm not really sure why I was reborn into this body, but I was hatched from an egg within the depths of the sealed cave. I encountered my mother not too long after." I started explaining, catching the attention of the two Heroes. As much as I wanted to tell them everything, I knew I had to withhold some information, in case they decided to tell Eren and her party, whom I also wanted to have some last words with Shizue and Masayuki before they passed.

"So you're a spawn of the Storm Dragon, like Charybdis." Shizue stated. I wasn't surprised that she brought this up. First the Ogres, then King Gazel, and now her, I get the feeling this would be far from the last time people made that comparison.

"No, according to her, I was born of her flesh and blood, whatever that means for a spiritual lifeform." I said with a shrug. "I'm not a spawn of magicules, but her offspring, meaning someone fathered me but I still don't know who. Besides, unlike Charybdis, I have a brain and soul." I added, a bit of my annoyance slipping out. It was getting old having to explain this over and over again.

"I see…" Shizue said, looking even more troubled than before. "Are you aware of the kind of…reputation the Storm Dragon has?" she went on to ask. I couldn't help but scoff at that.

Yeah, my first encounter with my mother had told me a lot about what kind of rep she may have among the human populace. She literally boasted about destroying a town for fun before a Hero came and stopped her, which is how she wound up getting sealed in the first place. Naturally, people would grow weary of me as well if they learned of my heritage.

"Yeah, I met her before her presence vanished, shortly after my rebirth. She was the one who granted me my new name." I told her with a nod. It felt good to know that she was worried about me. "Given her reputation, I've decided it's best to wait on revealing myself to the world. I'm sure my mother had more than her fair share of enemies, and the last thing I need is humans putting a prize on my head." The way both Heroes sweat dropped and turned away from me was not reassuring.

"Hehehe, you may not be that far from the truth. The Storm Dragon is feared across many nations in the Western Provinces, if they heard she had an offspring, they would either attempt to kill you before you became a threat or capture and weaponized you for their own gains." Surprisingly it was Masayuki who spoke up this time, the frown on his face told me that despite being a young Hero, he had already seen a fraction of the worst this world had to offer.

That's the thing about being a Hero, oftentimes it's not just monsters and demons that they deal with, but even the bad people in the world as well. They get to see the worst in people that most people will never see in their lives.

"Yeah, that won't be happening. Either of those two." I had no intention of dying for a very long time to come, nor did I intend to become anyone's pawn. I had my own life to live, and while I hadn't exactly figured out what I was going to do with it, I did know that the path I walked would be one of my choosing. "Besides, they don't need to worry about me going on destructive rampages, if that's what they'd be concerned about. Just because I'm the son of the Storm Dragon in this new life doesn't mean I'm gonna turn out exactly like her or that I agreed with her past choices and behavior." I told them as I lifted my head high with pride.

"I would hope not." Shizue said with a giggle.

"My mother was sealed away 300 years ago by another Hero as a result of her actions, so if I had any intention of following in her footsteps, I wouldn't have bothered to save the two of you. And do you think that as a fellow Otherworlder who was once human, I would suddenly have a blatant disregard for all my former human values and morals?" I asked in a jesting manner. "I may have been a soldier in my old life, so killing humans isn't exactly new territory to me, but I'd never do so on a whim. Only if I had no other choice." I told them, my expression turning serious to convey my sincerity.

I wouldn't shy away from killing if I had to. Monster, human, or otherwise. Though the hands I had now were clean of blood for now, doesn't mean my soul was that clean. I'd killed in my old life, and I'd eventually kill here as well. As long as they were a threat to the things I held dear, I would show no quarter, no mercy.

"That's more than fair I suppose." Shizue said with a sigh, it wasn't what she wanted to hear, but seeing as I was a monster, she understood that I had to look out for me and my own followers.

"Do you guys mind if I ask how you were summoned into this world?" I asked, curious about how others came into this world from mine.

Shizue and Masayuki turned to each other for a moment before nodding their heads towards me. I reverted back to my humanoid form, grabbing a nearby chair and taking a seat as the two recounted how they had been summoned into this world.

Shizue, shockingly enough, had been summoned into this world by a Demon Lord. Something I found strange from the get-go, and made me have so many questions, but I held my tongue as she told her tale. The Demon Lord, named Leon Cromwell, summoned her into this world and had Ifrit forcefully enter into Shizue's body.

From then on, she spent a while in Leon's service, she made a friend once but things didn't end well there due to Ifrit taking over and killing her. It wasn't until years later that she encountered a legendary Hero that she was freed from the shackles that bound her. She spent some time under the tutelage of that Hero, until one day she left her. The only thing Shizue had to remember her mentor by was the mask she carried around.

After that, she went on to become a Hero in name. Doing good deeds all over the western provinces, be it fighting monsters, demons, or even defending people from other bad people. This earned her the moniker 'Conqueror of Flames'. I was surprised to hear that she had been doing this for a good seventy years, she still looked so young. Then again, it did explain why her body seemed to be aging fast right now, with her hair even starting to turn white.

It wasn't until much later that she gave up that life, mainly because it was getting harder to control Ifrit due to her age. While she appeared like a young adult on the outside, unfortunately the same could not be said for the inside. Fighting Ifrit for control had started to take its toll on her body. And so she retired, and settled for teaching. The fact that this world also had schools piqued my interest. I was curious about the kind of stuff schools in magical fantasy worlds learned about. Was it anything like you would see in High school manga or anime?

Anyways, Shizue mainly focused on teaching Otherworlders like herself, mainly children and teenagers who had been summoned or transported into this world that she managed to find. According to her, two of her students were already adults and were doing big for themselves, while five of them were still young. I could only assume those were the kids I'd seen her hugging through the dark elf's crystal ball back at the Butterflies of the Night, they seemed to care for her a lot. They would probably be heartbroken to hear that she died.

"Sounds like you lived a fruitful life, sure it was full of hardships, but you made the most of it." I said with a respectful nod. She'd found her place in the world and found people she cherished.

"Yes, it was quite the adventure, and in my travels I saw and experienced many things. I wouldn't trade that for anything." Shizue said with a smile as she laid on the bed looking up at the rooftop with a small smile.

I turned towards Masayuki with a smile, "What about you Masayuki? What's your story?" The blonde Hero smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I should probably warn you that my story isn't as dramatic as Shizue's." He said with a nervous laugh.

"That's fine. I just wanted to hear your story." I said, the blonde Hero nodding and sighing in resignation before he started talking.

Turns out not all Otherworlders were summoned to this world, as was the case with Masayuki who was suddenly transported from our old world to this one whilst hanging out with some friends in the city. He appeared in the middle of one of the human towns. At first, he struggled due to not understanding the local language, something I hadn't even considered myself, but was able to get by thanks to his Unique Skill awakening and allowing him to understand. Thanks to said skill and some amusing events, he unintentionally went on to become a Hero, he had gathered two party members at this point through his skill, which he had left in Blumund, and was slowly beginning to have his name spread as a Hero despite having been in this world for a little over a year.

It was really impressive that he had managed to do so much in such a short amount of time, and was already making a name for himself. But it also made me concerned about what would happen when news of Masayuki and Shizue's passing went around. One was a retired Hero and the other was an upcoming Hero, the news was bound to spread like a wildfire, that meant more eyes would now be on the forest. I'd count myself as extremely lucky if all they did was keep an eye on us. But I wouldn't put it past a few people to come investigate or even come for revenge.

"You certainly accomplished a lot in such a short amount of time. I can see why you were able to earn the title of Hero." I praised with a thumbs up, prompting the blonde Hero to blush slightly from embarrassment.

"I wish I could say it was all thanks to effort. But some of it was just…circumstantial." Masayuki said with a sheepish laugh.

"It may have boiled down to luck due to your skill, but at the end of the day, that power is yours. You should own those accomplishments." I encouraged, Shizue slowly nodding her head in agreement with my words.

"He's right, you could have done so much good with your power. And with time, you would have gotten stronger and gained more experience." Shizue said weakly with a sad smile, it seemed she was starting to lose more and more of her strength. She didn't have much time left, "But because of me yo-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Masayuki quickly interrupted her. With him, it was harder to tell since there were no visible signs on the outside, but I could almost sense his life-force fading away in a way. "What happened wasn't your fault. While it's true you were slowly losing control over Ifrit as you grew in age, and that something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, yesterday's events in particular had nothing to do with you losing control. You were attacked, and Ifrit was corrupted and empowered to a level beyond your control. I made the choice to fight, to protect Eren, Kaval, and Giddo, but also to try and save you. I don't regret that choice, even now, knowing I'm about to die. So please don't blame yourself."

'Brave words coming from one so young.' I couldn't help but think. He truly did have the heart and mind of a Hero. It was admirable in a way, and foolish in another. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to fault him. I may have done the same in his shoes as well. It was a shame that one with such potential was going to die so soon, but as long as he was content with what he had done, no one else had the right to judge his actions.

"...alright." Shizue said with a sigh, I could still feel the guilt she was carrying, but she knew there was no point in arguing with Masayuki.

The three of us settled into a moment of tense and awkward silence. The atmosphere is heavy with their looming deaths fast approaching. Shizue's body became wrinkly and her hair white, whilst Masayuki seemed as though he was getting tired and sleepy, a sleep from which he would never wake. Knowing they had an hour at most, I stood from my seat.

"You two don't have long, I'll go get Eren and the others so they can say their goodbyes." I said as I made my way toward the door. I turned back in time to see them nod with sad smiles on their faces, I returned it with a nod of my own before stepping outside.

Closing the door behind me, I couldn't help but take in a deep breath of air and let out an exasperated sigh. 'This situation sucks. They both deserve better than this.' I couldn't help but think, as I leaned my back and head against the door, eyes closed. One had been dealt a shitty hand being summoned by a Demon Lord and forced into servitude and the other was a teen Hero that was getting into the height of his power.

"Rimuru?" I opened my eyes to see the people I was just about to look for, Eren having been the one to call my name. She seemed to be carrying a small bouquet of flowers, probably meant as a 'get well soon' gift for Shizue and Masayuki.

"The three of you should head inside, they want to talk to you." I told them. I wasn't sure what Shizue and Masayuki would be willing to divulge, so I left that up to them. I moved away from the door and walked past them.

"Uh…sure." I heard Eren say hesitantly. I heard the door open as they walked in and continued walking away.

I would give them time to talk and everything before coming back for their final moments. I could definitely use the air myself.

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that I returned. Hoping I'd given them enough time to talk, for Eren and her party to process and perhaps even grieve if need be. I knocked on the door, a few seconds later Kaval opened it, and I could tell just from the look in his eyes that they had gotten the news of Shizue and Masayuki's terminal condition. He wordlessly stepped aside and allowed me entry, and I entered the room without saying anything myself.

Scanning the room I could feel the heavy atmosphere. Eren was seated close to the aging Shizue, who now looked like a woman well over fifty years with most of her hair having faded color and become gray. The young girl was holding one of the Hero's wrinkled hands with both of her own, Shizue's other hand holding onto the mask she had been given by her mentor, her eyes red from crying and visible tear stains on her cheeks. On the other bed in the room was Masayuki, with Giddo seated on a chair right next to him. The blonde Hero's physical condition hadn't changed by much, save for the fact that he seemed very tired now. His life energy was almost nonexistent at this point, honestly I was surprised he was still conscious. That just went to show how strong-willed he was, how strong both of them were really.

"Is there really nothing you can do for them?" Kaval asked soberly as he stepped up beside me.

"No, there isn't." I responded as I shook my head sideways. "Both our full potions and my healing magic only work on physical injuries." I told them, Eren's face becoming a bit more anguished while Giddo tightened his fist in anger and frustration.

"R-Rimuru…" Shizue's weakened and now raspy voice called out to me, I walked towards her bed and placed a hand atop the one she was using to hold her mask to her chest.

"I'm here…" I said softly. Seeing her like this…surprisingly…hurt. It felt as though I had been robbed of something important and special in my life. She was supposed to be one of my destined ones, one of my partners, and while I was aware none of what the dark elf had shown me that night in Dwargon was set in stone, but knowing that I was going to miss out on something with someone like Shizue…

"Could you do me a favor…a last request?" She asked.

"Name it."

"Could you…devour me, like you did with my curse?" She asked, shocking not just me but Eren beside me and Kaval and Giddo as well.

"Sh-Shizue, what are you saying?!" Eren asked as tears gathered in the corner of her eyes once more, her grip on the hand she was holding increasing.

"Right now, I feel like it's finally my time to rest. I don't love this world, but I don't hate it either. Kind of like the man who summoned me here." Shizue turned to look towards me, despite her aged and frail form, her navy blue eyes seemed as captivating as ever in that moment. "That's why…I don't want to be absorbed by this world. Knowing what I do about you, I'm reassured of my decision. So would you please, let me rest in the one place I'll feel safe."

Despite the absurdity of that request, I couldn't really deny her when she asked like that. Looking at Eren beside me, the young girl was crying once more. Turning back to Shizue, whose eyes were looking at me hopefully, I knew at that moment I wasn't really going to deny her last wish.

"...If you are truly sure, then very well." The happy and relieved teary smile she gave me in that moment tore at my heartstrings. "Is there anything else you may want?"

"If…if you can, can you visit the Kingdom of Engrassia and save my young Otherworlder students? All of them are experiencing issues due to the actions of the countries that summoned them, and I regret not being able to help them." Shizue says before a guilty look appears on her face. "And…if you cross paths with my former student, Hinata Sakaguchi, tell her I'm sorry I couldn't help her more or be the person she could lean and depend on, but that I am proud of the amazing woman she has become."

"I'll do my best, assuming she doesn't try to kill me for being a monster now." I promised with a sad smile.

"Thank you…" She muttered as she laid back on the bed facing upwards, eyes closed with a content smile on her face as her breathing slowed down little by little…

…until eventually it stopped. With one last exhale her chest stopped moving, and Shizue Aizawa, the Conqueror of Flames, died.

I closed my eyes in a silent respectful prayer before stepping away from Shizue's corpse, giving Eren the space she needed to fully cry her heart out, Kaval coming up next to her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Though I didn't miss the anguish in his own eyes.

I turned towards Masayuki, who looked like a patient on heavy drugs just struggling to stay awake at this point.

"Guess that means it's my turn now?" He said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood, if only slightly. I scoffed, but other than that, my expression remained somber, there was nothing amusing about this situation.

"Do you have any last requests?" I asked, depending on what it was I would do my best to fulfill it as long as it was within reason.

"Other than asking for the same thing as Shizue, only one other thing comes to mind." Masayuki said, I felt the need to ask why he also wanted to be devoured, but decided against questioning a teenage boy on death's door. "I never really told anyone this, but since coming to this world, I've been having an occasional recurring dream."

"Oh? What about?"

"The situations differ, but the person I see within it is always the same. It's always this beautiful woman with blue hair and bright golden eyes." Masayuki says, a whimsical smile plastered on his tired face. "I don't know why, but these dreams always felt so real, so life-like. As if they were memories."

"You think this woman actually exists?" I asked, but it was more rhetorical, the answer was already clear.

"I do, or at least I hope so, those dreams were too real for me. I just figured that if I traveled enough as a Hero, I would eventually meet her one day." Masayuki said with a regretful smile, for something like this to bother him was strange. But it was his regret, and his inner wish.

Using [Thought Reading, I was able to look into his mind and get a clear image of the woman he was talking about. She had azure blue hair kept in twin buns with black ribbons and deep gold eyes. Her attire consists of a dark colored qipao dress with a golden dragon pattern, as well as white long gloves and white thigh length boots both adorned with gold ornaments. Even I had to admit that she was extremely attractive.

"I can't make any promises on whether I'll encounter her or not. But in the event that I do, is there a message I should pass on?" I couldn't go out of my way to look for her or anything, given my responsibilities to the forest and its inhabitants, but something told me I would be seeing that woman one day.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I've never even met her. But for some reason, I feel the right words to say are, 'I'm sorry, and I wish that things could have turned out better. My only wish is that you move forward, and live out your life happily'. Or at least something along those lines." Masayuki said with a weak sheepish laugh.

Those didn't sound like words you would say to someone you didn't know. Heck those sounded like words you would say to an ex-lover or something of the sort, just what was going on here? Either Masayuki was lying about not knowing her, or there was some sort of strange connection between the two of them that was causing these 'dreams' Masayuki had been experiencing. Deciding not to think too much about it, I decided not to think about it too much and just honor my promise.

"You have my word, if I meet her, I'll make sure she hears your last words." I swore to him. Earning a weak grin from the blonde Hero.

"Thanks." Masayuki said, his eyes clearly starting to grow heavy. "I'm feeling really tired now." I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then you should rest…" I said with a sad smile, it would be a slumber from which he would never wake. The blonde barely nodded his head, his eyes closing as he finally gave into the fatigue.

Despite the fact that Masayuki's body was still breathing, his chest moving up and down a clear sign of that, I knew he wasn't alive anymore. His soul was broken from the spiritual damage and all that remained was a living corpse.

"Is he…sleeping?" Giddo asked, naturally he didn't understand. Perhaps Masayuki and Shizue hadn't properly explained it to them.

"No, he's gone. While it may appear like he's sleeping, his soul has been shattered beyond repair. All that remains here is an empty husk." I responded solemnly. I knew it would be hard for them to actually accept the reality of what had happened, especially for Eren who seemed to be the youngest of the group. "You guys may want to leave now…"

"...are you going to…" Eren tried to ask, though she found the words too hard to say. Still, I understood what she meant, and nodded my head solemnly in response.

"Yeah…it was their last wish. So I'll see it through, regardless of how sick in the stomach it makes me feel." I said through grit teeth.

As someone who was once a soldier, I understood the value of having a body to bury, especially for friends and family. Which is why I found it hard to accept this request when Shizue suggested it. They had to have people who cared for them even in this world, and not having a body to bury would be like denying them the closure that came with losing Shizue and Masayuki, and I would be the one who would have denied them that.

But I understood where Shizue was coming from when she made that request. She didn't want to die as part of this world that had caused her much suffering, she neither loved nor hated it, and as a result didn't want her body becoming a part of it. As an Otherworlder, she felt she would be more at peace within me than as a part of this world. It was both an honor and a sad thing to hear. I wasn't sure of Masayuki's reason, but I'm sure he had his own. Either way, I would grant their wishes, even if it went against what I personally believed in.

"Then I'm staying." I turned towards Eren in slight shock, her eyes solid with resolve despite the pain that was buried underneath it.

"Are you sure?" I asked, turning to Giddo and Kaval to see their thoughts. The two moved to stand behind Eren, supportively placing a hand on each of her shoulders before turning to me with a resolved nod of their own.

"It's the least we can do, seeing them off all the way." Kaval spoke up, Eren was sobbing way too much at this point to form any coherent words, but she nodded in agreement with the squad leader.

I nodded my head in respect and understanding of what they were trying to do, and wordlessly turned back towards the two deceased Heroes that were lying on their respective beds.

'I wish I had gotten to know the two of you, especially you, Shizue. But I'm glad I got the chance to meet you at all.' Perhaps it had been fate that allowed me to meet them in their last moments. 'Your wills are gonna live on through me, so may both of you find peace and rest for an eternity within me.'

《 Notice: Would you like to use the Unique Skill [Apex Predator] on the individuals Masayuki and Shizue? 》

《 Y/N 》

'Yes.' My hands stretched out towards the two heroes, a vortex of black magicules coming out and engulfing the two Heroes before returning into me.

And just like that the two heroes were truly gone, without a trace of them left behind but the cries of the trio of adventurers. That was the end of the tales of the Conqueror of Flames and the Lightspeed Hero.

《 Assimilation complete, analyzing acq- 》

'Not now [Great Sage]. Later.'

Hours later, the four of us stood on a hill that allowed one to see the entire goblin village and the vast forest beyond. Close to the very peak of that were two graves that I'd spent the rest of the day building, dedicated to Shizue Aizawa and Masayuki Honjou.

I'd decided on this spot, hoping that the two of them would somehow watch over this place, even from within me. As the one who carried their wills, I could only hope that my actions would do them proud.

Currently, Kaval's party were kneeling before the graves, laying down flowers and giving their own thanks and prayers. After a few moments, they then turned towards me with sad yet content smiles on their faces.

"Thank you for doing this for them, Rimuru." Kaval said with a grateful bow, the other two doing the same. If they knew about me being an Otherworlder they wouldn't be surprised by me doing this much, though.

"Don't thank me, they were honorable individuals, I only wish I could have gotten to know them even more than I currently do." I responded with a genuine smile. "The only thing you can do now is live on, and keep their memories in your hearts. As long as they are remembered, then they will live on."

"Yeah, I'll do my best for Shizue and Masayuki! I want to get stronger and make both of them proud!" Eren declared as she wiped tears from her eyes and gave a strong and resolute expression.

For most people, their strength and courage was only made apparent after a moment of despair and grief. I wasn't sure if the same held true for the trio of adventurers in front of me. They were clumsy, loud, and very danger prone, but at heart they were good people. They made Shizue's last journey worth remembering despite all the hardship she had faced, and so I felt that the very least I could do was show support in some manner and form.

"You're right, you need to do them both proud, and so do I." I said as I turned toward the graves with, before turning back towards the trio with a teasing smile, "To that end, maybe we should do something about that junk that you three call 'gear'."

"Hey!" The three of them shouted in offense as they glared at me. I couldn't help the laughter that came out at their expressions.

The following morning came by sooner than I'd expected. I stood by the village gates along with Kaijin, Rigurd, Ranga, and a few other Goblins, bidding our guests farewell.

"Thank you for everything, Rimuru, what you did for us, as well as Shizue and Masayuki." Eren said with a beautiful smile on her face. It was certainly a breath of fresh air to see her like this rather than what she had been like the previous day. While that loss would no doubt leave its scars, I was confident that these three would be able to overcome that pain and come out stronger.

"Yeah, not to mention this gear that you gave us!" Kaval said as he inspected the new armor Kaijin had made for him and the rest of his team as well.

"Honestly this may have been a bit much, I don't think I could afford something like this even if I saved up for a year!" Giddo said as he pulled on the Direwolf fur that outlined his armor.

After coming back from the graves for Shizue and Masayuki, I'd taken these three to Kaijin's workshop in the hopes that he could get something decent made for them. Nothing too extravagant or powerful, as that would draw unwanted attention on them and us, but something better than what they had. And so Kaijin, the other dwarves, and the Ogres had put some armor and clothing together from various material, including steel-thread imbued with resistances. They even made two swords and a staff each made with 20% magisteel that would not only increase the conductivity of their weapons, but allow said weapons to slowly grow alongside them.

"Just think of them as gifts, you all said you were going to do your best to make Shizue and Masayuki proud, this is just my contribution to that." I said with a nod, these three really were good people. I hoped I'd meet them again one day under better circumstances.

"Well, thank you either way. We'll do our best to represent them well." Kaval said with a nod.

"Yeah, and you can count on us to tell the guild master about how you rescued and took care of us. I'm sure he'll understand about Shizue and Masayuki too, if we explain what happened." Eren said as she nodded her head in determination.

"I'm counting on you, then." I responded with a smile, though this one was more forced. While I was hopeful, I knew I couldn't rely on their words alone.

They may try to paint a good picture of us, but word of two Heroes dying would undoubtedly spread, and the Kingdom of Blumund would no doubt want somebody to blame. Why would they protect a town of monsters at their own risk? It would be naive of me to assume we were safe.

With that, the three adventurers set off, beginning their long trek back to their nation. I watched them go until they were out of sight before letting out a sigh.

"Master?" Ranga called out, sounding slightly concerned. I noticed that Rigur and Kaijin were looking at me similarly.

"Rigur, Ranga, I want you both to intensify the training of the Wolves and Goblins. Kaijin, have a reservoir of fully sharpened weapons ready from this point on." I said as I turned to face them, my expression deadly serious. "Two well-known Heroes died within the borders of our forest, we need to remain cautious for the foreseeable future, lest we perish."

"Yes sir!"

---

Authors Note:

And that's a wrap for this chapter. Tensions seem to be rising within the forest, both on the human and majin side of things. With potential enemies seemingly appearing on all sides one can only wonder how the future will be affected, and how Rimuru will handle it all. Needless to say, Gelmude is fucked as hell no matter how you look at it.

…his death will be swift and painless, NOT!

Now as most of you have clearly noticed Shizue wasn't the only one who died this time around. I saw a few comments after the last chapter asking to spare Shizue this time around, and some even suggesting I have Rimuru just [copy] her unique skill. Sorry but she needed to die for the sake of future plot development, especially Hinata.

Now as for Masayuki, I'm expecting good and bad reviews for what I did here. But aside from Rimuru getting [Chosen One] , which he will have better control of thanks to [Great Sage] , there is another reason for his death. Can't say more than that for now, but it will be worth it, promise.

Lastly, I apologize for my late update. It's been nearly a month, but I had some stuff going on and the chapter was just a bit longer than I thought it would be. I just hope it was worth the wait. I'll try to be more punctual with my three weeks from now on.

'Thought'

*Thought Communication*

《 Great Sage 》

{{Voice of the World}}

---

Three days had passed since Kaval's party left the goblin village. I had Dorris and Trya keep a passive eye on them just to make sure the three of them didn't bite off more than they could chew on the way back, and aside from being chased by a horde of red ants, the three of them were doing just fine on their journey. According to Dorris, there were some notable improvements to their strength since leaving, I had a feeling the equipment crafted for them played a role in that.

In those three days, most of my time was spent helping out with the goblins and wolves' intensified training regime, as well as double checking the village's security and scouting system to ensure they were prepared for the worst and not caught off guard. Fortunately, there were no complaints from anyone, though I had a feeling that word of why the sudden change had already gone around, if anything the goblins trained with more fervance than before, something I was happy to see.

At the current moment, I stood before the entrance of what was once my mother's prison and home for the past three hundred years…the Sealed Cave. Strangely enough, this was my first time coming back here since I left five months ago. With how close the cave was to the Goblin Village, it wouldn't have been a bother for me to take a quick flight here, and yet so much time had passed.

With a sigh, I walked into the cave as I allowed my thoughts to wonder. A lot had happened in the last five months, from meeting and befriending the Ogres, meeting the Dryads, subduing the Wolves and the Goblins submitting to me, traveling to Dwargon and building the Goblin Village to what it is now.

Initially, I was concerned that I wouldn't fit in among the monsters due to my human-like mentality and the fact I assumed that monsters may not possess intellect close to that of humans.

But when I met the Ogres, those fears were immediately thrown out the window. Not only were they intelligent, but they had a culture and manner of doing things that almost seemed Japanese, if a lot more on the traditional side of things. It was truly a stroke of good luck that they were the first intelligent monsters I had encountered upon leaving this cave.

After that came the Dryads, then followed by the Goblins and Direwolves. And while the latter two initially didn't have much in terms of intellect, they'd made a lot of headway since evolving and learning from Ogres and Dwarves.

All in all, I'd managed to fit in despite my initial concerns, I'd made friends and subordinates I could count on to stand behind me. At first, I had planned to protect the forest out of respect for my mother's wishes, but the more time I'm spending here, the more connections I'm making, the more I'm finding my own reasons to want to protect and develop this land.

My mother had left me to act as Guardian in her place, but now more than ever I was sure of what I needed to do. Ever since coming back from Dwargon, I'd been on the fence about actually building a nation of monsters, but now I was sure it was possibly the best way I could not only protect this land, but better the lives of all those in it.

"Alright [Great Sage, lay it on me." I said out loud, since I'd devoured Ifrit, Shizue, and Masayuki, [Great Sage] had been giving me periodic reminders about informing me of the skills I had acquired from them, but I'd been putting it on hold. Mainly because I was busy overseeing things in the village, but also because I wanted to give a brief grieving period in honor of the two Heroes, I didn't want to seem like the bastard who was happy the two died just for some skills.

《 Analysis on the skills acquired from the individuals Ifrit, Shizue, and Masayuki has been completed. 》

'Start with Ifrit.' I had an idea of what to expect here given that I had fought Ifrit. Not to mention it was a Fire Spirit, so most if not all its skills would definitely be fire related. Not that I minded, as it stood I already had water, wind, and lightning elemental magic. If I get spatial and earth magic, I'd pretty much have control over all the primary elements that made the world.

Still, having them and learning to properly use them were two entirely different things. I'd have to set some time aside for that soon, I was acquiring skills faster than I was learning to use them, which wasn't good. I may have [Great Sage] to help me with things like control, but I couldn't rely too heavily on it like that lest I become complacent. Having help was fine, but relying on it too much would only make me weaker without it.

《 Understood: Skills acquired from the individual Ifrit are [Body Double, [Flame Transformation, and [Flame Manipulation]. [Body Double] allows the user to create copies of themselves. The durability, range, and number of copies is dependent on the user's proficiency and the amount of Magicules used. [Flame Transformation] allows the user to transform magic or spiritual bodies into flames. [Flame manipulation] allows user to freely manipulate and shape flames created from Magicules within the surrounding environment. 》

'Just those three?' I thought, but honestly I wasn't really surprised. 'I guess it makes sense though, Ifrit was a Fire Elemental, and all of the skills and abilities it showed in the fight were fire related, even its own body was made out of fire. But [Body Double] sounds really useful! Alright move onto Shizue.' I told [Great Sage, curious as to what skills I'd gotten from my fellow Otherworlder.

《 Understood: [Unique skill: Degenerate] successfully acquired from the individual Shizue Aizawa. This skill has a total of two sub-skills.

[Synthesis] -  allows the user to merge multiple separate objects into one, this includes matter, magic, skills, and even living beings, allowing for the creation of stronger skills with combined effects.

[Separation] -  allows the user to separate the properties of an individual object into multiple objects.

'That was…unexpected.' [Degenerate] was a much more powerful skill than one would initially assume at first glance.

The ability to merge and separate anything I desire was something people could only dream about! In the wrong hands it could be used to create powerful weapons, skills, and magics that could prove detrimental to a lot of people. The fact that it had been put into the hands of someone as kind hearted as Shizue was a blessing in disguise that not many people were even aware of.

《 Notice: Using the [Unique Skill: Degenerate, the skills [Flame Manipulation] and [Flame Transformation] have been merged and influence by [Storm Magic] to create the [Extra Skill: Black Flame]. 》

I couldn't help but sweatdrop at that. 'Why do I get the feeling that you're going to be doing this often?' I asked slightly amused, it seemed [Great Sage] was pretty happy with the acquisition of this skill, and would most likely be putting it to a lot of use in the near future.

《 There is no evidence to confirm this theory. It's all in your head. 》

I couldn't help but snort at its response. 'Riiight, well whatever. At the very least I know you'll have my best interest at heart and use [Degenerate] to optimize my skills.' I said, amused by how [Great Sage] behaved almost humanly in that moment. 'Just let me know whenever you shuffle my skills, wouldn't want to be left in the dark.'

《 ...understood. 》

Knowing that was the only form of confirmation I was going to get about [Great Sage] actually looking forward to experimenting with my skills, I decided to move on. 'Alright, now what did I get from Masayuki?' I asked.

《 Devouring the individual Masayuki has resulted in the acquisition of the [Unique Skill: Chosen One]. This skill has a total of four sub-skills.

[Hero's Action] -  guides the user and their allies down the path of becoming Heroes, inevitably making them famous.

[Hero's Blessing] -  grants the user and their allies an immense amount of luck, which manifests in various forms such as landing critical attacks, avoiding lethal attacks, or perhaps finding valuable items. This skill also results in the actions of the user being viewed in a positive light, no matter what they do.

[Hero's Charisma] -  this skill grants the user the ability to inspire and motivate allies. Granting allies immense courage that enables them to fight, even in the most desperate situations. It also has the effect of turning defeated enemies into allies.

[Banner of the Supreme King] -  allows the user to call upon their fallen allies and replicate their abilities, memories, and experience inside the user.  》

'Wow…' I couldn't help but be surprised by the effects and capabilities of this skill. Once more, this was another easily exploitable skill in the hands of the wrong person. The ability to bolster your allies, boost your luck, and even influence other peoples opinion on you so they remain favorable.

The fact that this skill had been in the hands of Masayuki, someone who seemed genuinely intent on becoming a Hero, even if it was because his skill influenced those around him to that path, was a good thing.

And now that same skill was in my hands, I had to be very careful about how I decided to use this skill. The ability to change the luck factor of myself and my subordinates was no joking matter, use it too much and they may rely on it too much in battle, rather than using their own strength and skill to win fights.

Still though, I couldn't overlook the benefits of having such a skill, the ability to motivate those that I viewed as allies regardless of how dire the situation was a powerful skill. Morale was the key to any fight and war.

《 Notice: The effects of [Chosen One] are automatically applied to those that carry the user's divine protection, utilizing the soul corridor between user and subordinate. 》

Good to know, it meant I wouldn't have to worry about acknowledging everyone as an ally just so the skill could take effect.

'Hey [Great Sage] , is it possible to limit or cancel some of the sub-skills of this skill?'

《 Affirmative: While the skill can be difficult to control, it is not a problem for me. 》

Did [Great Sage] just gloat? Perhaps it was also improving the more it watched me and my interactions with the outside world. 'Then turn off [Hero's Action] and limit the manipulative effects of [Hero's Blessing].' I told it.

If I had been a human then I wouldn't mind the effects of [Hero's Action]. But for a monster to walk down the path of becoming a Hero just seemed counterproductive to me. And if it dragged other monsters into the same path, then that was just as bad. I couldn't imagine all the Goblins under me suddenly walking down the path of becoming Heroes, despite the skill's effects, that would just seem strange to those that weren't affected by [Chosen One].

As for [Hero's Blessing, I didn't mind the increased luck factor, even though I didn't want to become too reliant on it. But what I really wanted to limit for the time being was the fact that it manipulated people's perspective on me. If all my actions were viewed in a positive light by those around me, then nobody would ever tell me when I was wrong or speak out against my decisions. And that was more of a crutch than it was a benefit. It was already bad enough that some of my subordinates would willingly kiss the very ground I walk on, I didn't need this skill adding onto that. So it was best to turn it off for now, and only use that aspect in situations where I felt it was truly necessary.

《 Understood: Shutting down the sub-skills [Hero's Action] and [Hero's Blessing] until further notice.  》

'Glad to know I can count on you partner.'

《 Hmph 》

That time I was pretty sure I heard a sense of pride in the voice of [Great Sage], though I chose to ignore it for the time being, lest my ever trustworthy yet sassy skill tell me it was all in my head again.

With most of my personal business done, I decided to make my way out the cave. Funny enough, there were still plenty of Magistones and Hipokute herbs growing if you looked in the right places. Perhaps they had regrown in the last five months, the place was still loaded with Magicules after all.

The Sealed Cave would make the perfect farm for these rare materials. It was a little degrading to transform the place that once housed my mother into a farm, but I doubt she would care much seeing as she had been alone here for a long time, and thus wouldn't have any fond memories of this place. If anything, she may prefer to stay as far away from the cave as possible. Either way, it was a good place to produce unique materials of the highest quality that could not be mass produced anywhere else, if what I'd gathered from Kaijin and King Gazel held any merit.

I just had to make sure no intruders entered the cave without permission much like Kaval's party had done. I'd probably set a few Goblins and Wolves here, or maybe have them include the cave in their patrols.

Within twenty minutes, I'd left the cave and flown over to the Goblin Village by sprouting Dragon wings out of my back, landing softly within the growing village's center. Everyone seemed busy, but they all seemed to take a second to bow their heads respectfully towards me before continuing with their tasks. I'd told them to do this after they kept stopping whatever they'd been doing every time I visited and would go down and formally greet me.

"You'll never get anything done if you guys stop every time I make an appearance. I don't want to be the reason you don't make any progress in the village's development. So from now on stick to short but respectful greetings that won't impede your duties."

That's what I'd told them, knowing that asking them for anything more would be too much for them. I was glad they were at least taking that much to heart, a brief bow was a good enough show of respect rather than getting down on your knees every time.

"Lord Rimuru." I heard the ever soft and elegant voice of Treyni, someone whose presence was a little overdue by now, turning to my left I saw her approaching me with Rigurd next to her. That most likely meant she arrived whilst I was at the sealed cave.

She most likely knew that I was in the cave, and for whatever reason chose to wait here. Perhaps out of respect, leaving me to the privacy of visiting the place I first met my mother? I couldn't be too sure, regardless she was here now and that was all that mattered to me.

"Treyni." I greeted with a nod, there was a lot more I could have said but I was more eager about what she had to say.

"Forgive my delayed return, Lord Rimuru, the search for the Majin known as Gelmude was not as fruitful as I had hoped." Treyni said as she bowed her head with a regretful expression formed on her face. "Unfortunately, it appeared that Gelmude had already managed to leave the forest as neither I nor my sisters could find any trace of him within the forest. Please forgive our failure."

"I see…don't worry about it. Gelmude is clearly a slippery Majin that's used to running." I reassured Treyni as I thought back to the time when Gelmude had shot into the air as fast as a rocket during our first encounter. If he was capable of flying at such speeds, it's no wonder he was able to leave the Dryad's range of sight. "I only wish the situation with Ifrit hadn't been so dire, or else I would have pursued him myself."

"However, not wanting to return empty handed, we expanded our search for anything connected to Gelmude." Treyni revealed, I had expected as much after a day had passed without any news from them. If Gelmude had been within their domain he would have been easily located, so the alternative was that they were looking into his activities within the forest. "We were able to find a potential lead connected to him. Namely a monster within the forest that he named, a Lizardman that goes by the name Gabiru."

"He named a Lizardman, huh?" I thought out loud, ironically my first encounter with Gelmude was when he was offering Zegion and Apito names in exchange for their loyalty and saving their lives. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Forgive my interruption, but I felt I should also mention that Gelmude was the Majin who named my eldest son prior to his passing." Rigurd informed. I remember him mentioning a named Goblin among them that died at the hands of the Direwolves.

So it wasn't a coincidence, for whatever reason, Gelmude had been going around giving names to monsters, and he'd been active in the forest for longer than I thought. But if what I knew of the process was true, then he was constantly weakening himself in the process. I had no clue as to what he was planning, but if he was willing to weaken his own power, then it had to be something big.

"Where is this Gabiru? We need to pursue this lead immediately while it still has any worth," I asked Treyni. At this point, this Lizardman was our only lead to whatever plans Gelmude had. I'd personally question him, and depending on how cooperative he was, I wouldn't need to take extreme measures.

"He, along with most of the Lizardmen tribes, have made their home at Lake Siss. There is one more detail I feel I should add. " Treyni explained as I turned to her, silently prompting her to continue. "Gabiru is the eldest son of the current Lizardmen Chieftain. I feel Gelmude may have named Gabiru with his heritage in mind. It may be possible he plans to get the support of all the Lizardmen for his plans."

"So naming Gabiru was a political move to get the Lizardmen in his pocket, perhaps Gelmude is a lot smarter than we gave him credit for." It made sense, and made the situation that much more urgent. "Still, the best way to get to the bottom of this would be to question Gabiru himself. I'll be paying a visit to the Lizardmen territory immediately to sort this out. I want to put an end to this mess."

Without waiting for another word, wings sprouted from my back once more, and with a mighty flap I shot into the sky in the direction of Lake Siss. I'd had enough of Gelmude at this point, no since I found out he had been the one responsible for attacking Shizue. The fact that he had been active in the forest for months now made me regret letting him go the first time I met him, because now I was stuck following nothing but breadcrumbs just to find out what his intentions were. Whatever plans he had, whether it was his plan or that of his master, it would not succeed as long as I had a say in it.

In a short amount of time, I made it to the shallow waters of Lake Siss, the large rock structure that the Lizardmen called home quickly coming into view. Narrowing my wings, I rapidly descended towards the ground.

I crash landed onto the ground in front of the Lizardmen entrance, large amounts of water and dirt splashing all over the place. But I didn't really care for that. Instead I focused on the numerous reptilian creatures, which I assumed were the Lizardmen, that stood in various strategic positions. They all held spears and were pointing them at me cautiously, and with good reason. I'd literally crashed into their front gate.

"Who goes there?! Identify yourself!" One of them asked, I could only assume that they were the guards stationed outside.

'I'm not in the mood to try the diplomatic route right now.' I thought to myself. So instead of responding, I unleashed seventy percent of my aura.

Waves of power washed out of me and the effect was instant. Whatever confidence these Lizardmen had before was replaced with unbridled fear, some dropped their weapons in shock and fear. Some tried to back away, stumbling and falling on their asses as they did so. Not wanting them to eventually pass out or something, I toned my aura down to 25%, still more than enough to be considered a threat.

"I won't repeat myself, so listen carefully. I've not come seeking trouble, but I want an audience with your leader. I have an important matter to discuss with him." I decided not to mention Gabiru for the moment, the Chief may attempt to have his son retreat if I did. And that would mean I'd have to get violent just to get the answers, something I wanted to avoid doing if I could.

The Lizardmen were residents of Jura just like any other monster, and thus were under my protection as well. But it just so happened that one of them was working with the enemy, and that was something I couldn't let slide. It was treachery in every sense of the word. However, I couldn't act until I had a full understanding of the situation, hence the reason I wanted to question him. If the Lizardmen decided to try and protect him…well then I'd do what I had to do. Wouldn't be the first time I'd dealt with a betrayal from someone from the same country as me.

The Lizardmen were quick to process my demand, turning to each other with questioning looks as they wondered what to do. One of them then nodded towards me before running into their den, presumably to inform the Chief or something of my presence, not that he hadn't felt my initial burst of power.

According to what [Great Sage] had told me, Lizardmen were C-rank monsters, much like the Hobgoblins, except they were reptilian. Interestingly enough was the fact that they were descendants of Dragons, but the Dragon Factor within them had diminished over time leaving them as they were now. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they regained that Dragon Factor.

Lizardmen Throne Room: Lizardmen Chief POV:

The entire throne room was in panic from the powerful aura that we had all just felt outside. Many were talking about rallying our men and preparing for battle, but I had been quick to put a stop to that. The reason being we stood no chance against whatever monster it was that was unleashing such power. To provoke such a being would be the end of all of us.

And yet, despite the powerful aura that had been recently unleashed, there were no sounds of conflict to be heard outside. So was it foolish of me to assume that perhaps the individual this powerful aura belonged to had come to talk? Perhaps. Worst case scenario was that they had come to subdue us and make the Lizardmen their subordinates.

"Chieftain!" One of the guards that had been stationed outside came running into the throne room. He was clearly frightened, by what I could only assume was the source of the power we'd felt before. "Sir, there's a powerful Majin outside demanding to meet with you!" the guard reported as he fell on one knee in front of me.

"I see…" Many of the gathered elders immediately began to speak amongst themselves, some speaking louder than others. But they were all basically wondering the same thing. Why did this Majin want an audience with me? The possibilities were endless, and attempting to guess without even seeing or knowing the guest would get us nowhere. There was no other option but to let this danger into our home, refusing him may just anger him and bring destruction upon us. "Very well, let them in." I said, much to the shock of my council and personal guards.

"But father, it's too dangerous to let such a Majin into our home." My daughter spoke up from beside me. She was the head of my personal guard, having proven herself strong and reliable, with the maturity and reasoning needed to lead.

The other council members were quick to voice their own agreements to my daughter's words. I understood the fear they felt. But still…

"You all felt that powerful aura just now." I spoke loudly to silence everyone. "If this Majin truly wanted to do harm, he could have easily forced his way inside without making this request. And we'd not have been able to stop him had he tried. If we can end this without angering our guest, then I'd rather do so." I reasoned with them.

Many in the room were still uncomfortable with the idea, and honestly speaking so was I, but this truly was the best possible solution at the current moment. Angering this individual would only be inviting ruin to our doorstep. With the wave of my hand, the guard left to invite our guest, and everyone in the room waited with bated breaths.

"Father, are you sure this is wise?" My daughter asked once more as she leaned in close.

"I don't know, we can only wait to see what it is this Majin wants." I told her, as much as I would have preferred she not be here for this, I knew removing my daughter would be seen as weakness by the other tribe leaders present. Not to mention, I doubt she would willingly leave my side without a fight, she was very loyal and loving like that.

After a moment, the air in the room seemed to change as the sound of footsteps on the moist cavern ground could be heard coming from the entrance of the throne room. Soon after a…child? At least in appearance, he walked into the room, glowing emerald green eyes scanned over all those in the room as he approached its center before coming to a stop.

'There's no doubt that this Majin is the source of that terrifying power. Even if it is currently a fraction of what it was before. I'd best speak up before these elders say something foolish.' I thought to myself as I stood up from my throne, spreading my hands wide apart in a peaceful gesture. "Greetings Strong One, I am the Chief of the Lizardmen tribe. I have been told you wanted to speak to me. What is it I can help you with?" I asked, making sure to be respectful but not submissive.

"My name is Rimuru Tempest." The Majin, Rimuru, responded, immediately letting us all know that he was named. Though unlike my son, I sensed no arrogance when he did so, it was merely a self-introduction. "I apologize for the unannounced welcome, but I've come to address a rather urgent matter that could not wait. So I hope you'll spare me some of your time."

I could tell this much was not a request, and refusing may just cost me my head. Still, what could be so important? "Very well then, what is the matter you wish to discuss?"

"As of late, there's been a Majin named Gelmude from the Demon Lord's domain acting within the forest, and while I cannot be certain, his recent actions have proven that he may become a threat to the forest if allowed to act without supervision." Rimuru said as his eyes bore into mine.

"I see…am I to assume that you're enlisting the aid of the Lizardmen in catching this Majin then?" I asked him, but was surprised when he shook his head sideways.

"No, as it stands, he's already left the forest. Though I have no doubt he will return soon enough to finish whatever he's started." Rimuru responded. "I did, however, find out that Gelmude had been going around the forest, naming various monsters from various tribes and races. One of said monsters was your very own son, 'Gabiru' I believe is the name he was granted."

I couldn't help but feel my own heart rate quicken at that. Just what had my foolish son gotten himself involved in now? "Yes, my son did in fact receive a name from a Majin. It has caused him to become a bit conceited and arrogant, but he is otherwise a good lad." I tried to explain.

"Chief, I'll need to speak to your son. He may have information pertaining to Gelmude's intentions." The Majin said as his eyes looked directly into mine. Once more I could tell that this was not a request, he'd tear through everyone here if it meant finding my son. Beside me, I saw my daughter tighten her hand on her spear, in preparation to act if need be. Unfortunately, our guest noticed this too as his eyes shifted over to her for a split second, before shifting back towards me without a second thought.

'He doesn't even consider any of us to be a threat to him…' I couldn't help but note. It was humiliating to be in a position where we could do nothing due to someone holding such overwhelming power over us, and yet that was the world of monsters, the strong preyed on the weak. With a sigh, I nodded my head towards the Majin before turning towards one of the guards by the exit. "Very well, find my son! Bring him here at once!" I ordered the guard, who swiftly nodded his head and ran out the throne room.

"Chieftain!" My daughter called out from my side, knowing better than to call me father at times like these. I raised my hand to silence her. I understood her concerns, I shared them as well, but if Gabiru truly had agreed to follow an enemy from outside of Jura, then it was best that the truth be revealed now, rather than having it come back to bite us later down the line. At least that is what I was telling myself anyway.

Rimuru POV:

I had managed to calm down somewhat since coming into the throne room, meaning I wasn't being reckless and throwing my aura all over the place, but I still made sure to show a firm hand in front of these people.

This was my first time meeting the Lizardmen, and though I'd yet to tell them of my heritage, which I planned to do, it was still important for them to acknowledge me as not just a powerful Majin but a respectable individual as well. That meant being firm, but reasonable as well. I couldn't just throw my weight around, but they needed to know that I would do that if push came to shove.

Thus far, the Lizardmen Chieftain had been very hospitable, despite the fear and caution that all the others held towards me. Which in itself was understandable. He was also definitely well spoken, almost as much as the Ogre Chief, and definitely showed higher than average intelligence for a monster. Though looking at their home and the way they dressed, you could tell they weren't quite as developed as the Ogres.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the guard that had been sent eventually returned with another Lizardmen right behind him. This guy wore a cape, baggy pants, and a furry neck warmer. I could only assume that this was the Chief's son judging by the way he walked in with his head held high, walking in like he owned the place. I could already tell that he had a less than savourable character.

"Aaahhh there you are, I was beginning to think you had gone out, my son." The Chief said, looking rather relieved to see his son. I guess I'd put a bit too much pressure on him in that regard.

"I am here Father, but please, must you continue to address me in such a boorish manner?" Gabiru said arrogantly despite going down on one knee, it was hard to tell whether the guy was deliberately being disrespectful towards his old man. "In case you may have forgotten, I did receive a name, I'd much appreciate it if you would use it."

"How I address my son should not matter. You would do well to remember that." The Chief said as he glared down at his son. It was becoming more and more clear to me that the level of respect between these two was pretty low, and that mainly stemmed from Gabiru becoming full of himself ever since he got a name.

Gabiru was indeed stronger than the rest of his kind, he certainly had the Magicules to prove it, though that was probably as a result of his naming. And I'd assume as the Chief's son and heir that he had to be a pretty capable warrior as well, though I wasn't too sure. It was easy for someone like him to get full of himself due to the sweet tongue of someone like Gelmude. But that just meant he would be an annoying character to deal with, both now and potentially in the future as well. I'd need to do something about that before I left.

"Fine, but why have you called me here, Father? This better be important, I have more important things to do than listening to another one of your lectures or doing menial tasks." Gabiru said rather arrogantly with the click of his tongue, completely dismissing the previous topic.

Yeah, this guy had no respect for his father whatsoever. I don't think even my own father would have allowed me to get away with that in my old life. Then again, he was a hardcore military dude, the kind of guy who asked his child to address him as 'sir' and all that. Still, this guy was on some kind of major power trip, and if someone didn't knock him down a peg, he would eventually cause the downfall of the Lizardmen.

"Right, about that. I'm sure you felt that overwhelming presence from earlier?" The Chief asked him. Gabiru nodded his head, his face surprisingly becoming serious for someone like him, guess even he knew when to take things seriously.

"It's hard not to have felt such an aura. I was in the midst of preparing the men for battle if needed." Gabiru explained, and I couldn't help but nod in approval at that. So the guy wasn't a total lost cause. An arrogant and self-centered bastard, but at least he showed that some of his father's teachings had gotten through to him.

Still, at the end of the day, he was far from ready to lead. If he were to become chief as is, his arrogance and naivety would be the downfall of his people.

"Yes, well the Majin responsible for such an aura requested to speak with me. And I allowed it." The chief said as he gestured towards me, prompting Gabiru to turn towards me as well. His eyes went wide upon seeing me.

"Wait! Are you telling me that immense aura just now was released by this scrawny little runt?!" Gabiru asked as he pointed his index fingers towards me in disbelief.

The silence that filled the air was palpable, though I could sense the clear fear radiating from all the Lizardmen as they stared at Gabiru in shock before their eyes would shift to me, especially from the Chief and the female guard next to him who was likely his daughter if her resemblance and reaction was any indication.

As for me, well…

'Scrawny little RUNT?!' I couldn't help but mentally scream, but on the outside, the only indicator of my anger was the frantic twitching of my eyebrow. The fact that I'd even managed to keep my aura in check was a testament to my self-control.

…is what I would have liked to say.

Within a split second, I'd vanished from my position, moving faster than the Lizardmen could hope to keep track of, and reappearing in front of Gabiru with my right fist cocked back. Said fist was coated in a bright purple aura. Before any of the Lizardmen could react, my fist buried itself within Gabiru's midsection, the Lizardman completely folding over before the force of the strike sent him flying off and crashing into a nearby wall. Crashing into it with a loud and audible impact.

"Gabiru!" The female Lizardman that had been beside the Chief suddenly cried out in alarm as she ran toward Gabiru. If my earlier assumption was correct, then that meant she was his younger sister.

Fortunately, I held back enough not to do any permanent damage, despite my anger. And so Gabiru hadn't been heavily injured, but I'm sure he would think twice before he said something foolish again.

"Do…you know…who we are…?" Gabiru, who by the way was sporting multiple injuries from my previous attack, asked as he slowly stood up, his sister supporting him by putting one of his arms around her shoulders.

"Brother, that's enough!" His sister tried to hold him back from provoking me further. But it was kinda too late, I was interested in hearing what this half-dead dimwit had to say.

"We are the mighty Lizardmen, descendants of the great Dragons whose blood flows through our veins!" Gabiru declared as he foolishly pushed his sister away and shakily stood on his own two feet.

"Your words would have more credibility if you didn't look like you were about to pass out. Unfortunately I have questions I need to ask you, Gabiru, so I can't afford to knock you out just yet." I said whilst shaking my head sideways. I really wanted to take another swing at him, but he really will get knocked out if he takes another hit from me. He might even die, which was something I wanted to avoid at all costs. "You also chose the wrong person to brag about being a Dragon descendant." I told them as I shifted from my human form into my Dragon form.

Now, I know this may have been more intimidating if I had been some enormous fully grown Dragon, but I wasn't. I was a small hatchling, slightly larger than the average pup. So, to compensate for my small size, I decided to flare my aura once again. Allowing my power to flood the room.

The chief, his daughter, the councilmen, the guards, and even Gabiru were all overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of my aura. The pressure forced those that were standing down onto their knees, and everyone found it hard to even breathe.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am the Elemental Dragon Rimuru Tempest, son and heir of the Storm Dragon, Veredia Tempest." I declared loud for all to hear, still not letting up on the aura. But I was still able to hear the gasps and see the bewildered expressions as my words sunk in. It was then that I let my aura fade, the pressure in the room coming to an immediate stop as everyone took in a deep breath of air that they'd been struggling to take in seconds ago.

I watched everyone catch their breath once more as they slowly stood up, or sat up in the Chief's case. They all either carried expressions of shock, caution, or fear as they looked at me. Which I guess were appropriate reactions given my current form, everything I'd just told them, and the intensity of the aura I had unleashed upon them.

"Are you…" I turned towards the Chief who was still trying to gather his bearings. "...are you truly…the son of the Storm Dragon?" He asked, I assumed that was pretty much the question on all their minds. The way all the Lizardmen turned towards me confirmed that line of thought.

I opened my mouth to respond but was cut off when the familiar scent of fresh air and forest leaves filled the throne room, and not a second later, Treyni made an appearance in a bright green glow that momentarily blinded those not accustomed to it, aka the Lizardmen. It took a moment before they regained their sight, and I was surprised to see their eyes go even wider than they were moments ago upon laying their eyes on Treyni.

"A Dryad?!" The Chief nearly shouted in shock as he stood up from his throne, many similar whispers going around the room as they wondered what Treyni was doing here.

'At this point, I'm not really surprised. The Dryads are pretty much the stuff of legends here in Jura.' I thought as I turned toward the ethereal Dryad.

Treyni's eyes looked over everyone in the room, her face as soft and serene as usual, yet it didn't really give away how she was feeling in that moment. She silently began to walk towards me, much to my confusion, before picking me up from the ground, much to my embarrassment. Once I was securely within her arms, she turned towards the Lizardmen Chieftain with a rather firm look in her eyes, causing the old guy to flinch.

"Lord Rimuru speaks the truth. He is the son and heir of Lady Veredia, and therefore the rightful Lord and Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura." Treyni announced suddenly, confirming my heritage to the surprise of all the Lizardmen. She then turned her sharp gaze towards Gabiru, the young Lizardmen heir gulping nervously under her scrutinizing glare. "We the Dryads will not tolerate any further disrespect towards him." Treyni said, a surprisingly malevolent aura surrounding her body, much to my surprise.

'Remind me never to make Treyni mad.' I mentally noted with a nervous sweatdrop. It wasn't her style, she was the gentle and serene type of individual. Seeing her angry like this was so out of character for her, but at the same time… 'Is it strange that I find this side of her…kinda hot?' I couldn't help but wonder. I quickly shook my head of such thoughts, now wasn't the time.

"P-please forgive our rudeness! We meant no disrespect to Lord Rimuru!" The Lizardmen Chief quickly said as he got down on one knee, much the shock of all the Lizardmen present. To be honest I was kind of surprised myself, I hadn't expected things to come to this nor did I necessarily want it to. But Gabiru ended up being less ideal than planned, and it seemed Treyni had been watching long enough that she had taken offense on my behalf. "We were merely shocked by the news that Lady Veredia had sired an heir. But if even the Dryads are claiming it to be true, then it must be so."

"My existence only became known after my egg hatched not too long ago, moments before my mother vanished." I decided to respond, but I wanted to get back to why I was here. "But that's a story for another time, I came here to ask your son some questions." I said as Treyni turned towards Gabiru, allowing me to be directly facing him.

"Y-yes sir! Please feel free to ask me anything!" Gabiru shouted as he went down on one knee. I could tell that he was frightened. Probably worried that I would off him or something for his earlier disrespect.

"Good, I want you to tell me about the Majin who gave you your name." I enquired.

"Oh, you mean Lord Gelm-!" Gabiru was cut off when I suddenly unleashed a quick burst of my aura, but it vanished just as quickly, lasting for a second.

"Please don't address that Majin as 'lord'. He is not the lord of anything." I emphasized as I glared at Gabiru, the Lizardman swiftly nodded his head multiple times in understanding. "Good, that weakling is merely the subordinate of another, not a lord in himself." I said firmly with a glare towards Gabiru.

"Y-yes Lord Rimuru, I understand." Gabiru shouted apologetically.

"Good. Now, I know that Gelmude has been active within the forest, one of those activities include granting names to various monsters throughout the forest. What I want to know is why has he been doing this? What are his plans?" I asked as I continued to glare at Gabiru.

"He…he already named other monsters?" Gabiru seemed surprised, and even a little bit hurt by that statement, surprisingly. "But he didn't mention that to me, that wasn't part of the plan he told me!"

"What plan?" I asked Gabiru firmly as I glared harder at him. I could deal with him believing he was some kind of 'chosen one' another time. Right now, I was more concerned with the fact that there was a plan. And I needed to know what that was.

"Gelmude was merely looking for promising monsters to work under him to help him control the Great Forest of Jura. H-He claimed that with Lady Veredia gone, the forest would inevitably collapse into anarchy and war, and that those who would serve him would not only gain names and power, but would aid in managing and ruling the forest." Gabiru confessed, I could already see the numerous flaws with this plan.

"Even though the forest was already under the management of the Dryads?" I asked in skepticism, the Dryads were amongst the strongest species within the forest, not to mention they had the respect of many species within the forest. Treyni also looked offended at the notion of being usurped in the authority that she and her sisters had been granted.

"He claimed that the Dryads would inevitably be overwhelmed by the stronger monster races of the forest and would become too busy keeping out human threats, and couldn't be trusted to maintain order forever." Gabiru nervously answers, anxious at Treyni's darkening demeanor, I couldn't blame her for feeling offended though. Gabiru had literally chosen to put his trust in a Majin from outside the forest, rather than the Dryads that had been protecting it for centuries. Even I would take offense to something like that.

"And so you chose to put your trust in Gelmude. The servant of a Demon Lord, simply because he promised names and power within the forest." I said as I shook my head in disappointment. "As a future leader, I'd think you'd have more pride than to bow your head at the servant of another lord. And you have the gall to call yourself a Dragon descendant." I scoffed, as Gabiru lowered his head in shame.

I may have been laying it on a bit thick, but I felt it was necessary if I was going to get my point through his thick skull. And so I continued…

"Tell me, Gabiru. Did it occur to you that Gelmude was only using you since you were next in line to lead the Lizardmen?" I asked him, making his eyes widen. "Also, did it occur to you that Gelmude didn't seek out monsters to maintain order within the Great Forest of Jura, but rather to build loyal forces to help him take control of the Great Forest of Jura by force against those who would oppose him, like the Dryads for example?"

Gabiru looked shocked at the implications of what Gelmude was really after, and many of the other Lizardmen like his father and sister were also realizing why I took the matter so seriously. Treyni seemed even angrier, likely having realized this was an attempted coup towards the authority that she and her sisters had been granted by my mother.

"From what I have heard, the Demon Lords have a non-aggression pact with each other to prevent conflict, but that doesn't mean they aren't seeking more power to boost their standing against each other or accomplish any goals they may have." I told him and the other Lizardmen. "They also had one with the Great Forest of Jura preventing them or their forces from acting here out of concern for my mother's destructive rampages. However, that pact likely doesn't prohibit monsters who already live in the forest to swear allegiance to a Demon Lord or act on their behalf within the forest. Gelmude, who is a servant of a Demon Lord, is likely serving as both an intermediary and a potential scapegoat for his master, trying to gain powerful subordinates within the forest to control it from within, but can also ultimately take the blame in his master's stead if he gets caught by the other Demon Lords."

By this point, the full implications of Gelmude's plot had sunk in to both Gabiru and the other Lizardmen as it was now made clear. It was admittedly ingenious, though it was more likely engineered by Gelmude's master rather than himself given his personality.

"Still though, this is all merely speculation. Regardless of what his true intentions are, I have no intention of sitting idly by as anyone, human or Demon Lord, tries to take over my mother's domain." I said, this was merely what [Great Sage] had been able to deduce with the facts we had, before once more glaring at Gabiru. "That job would be made a lot easier knowing I wouldn't have to worry about potential traitors working with the enemy."

"M-my lord!" Surprisingly it was the Lizardmen Chieftain that spoke up. "While I agree that my son's judgment was poor, wouldn't calling him a traitor be too much of a stretch?!" He called out both in concern and offense. He was probably worried I'd do something to Gabiru. Which was tempting, but I'd already socked and scolded the guy, there wasn't a need for me to do anything more. That being said…

"You think so? Perhaps you are right, after all, Gelmude deceived him as well." I responded with a few nods, the Chief let out a relieved breath, but I wasn't done talking just yet. "But that still doesn't change the fact that your son was so quick to doubt the management of the Dryads despite successfully managing the forest for many centuries, including even after my mother was sealed away 300 years ago, and had instead willingly submitted to a Majin from beyond these lands. Not only that, but the servant of a Demon Lord. Whatever else may have happened, he was fully aware when he made such a choice. And it's for that reason I can't bring myself to trust him."

Gabiru seemed to gulp at that, his eyes going to the ground as he refused to meet mine, while Treyni looked at him in disappointment. I was surprised that he hadn't tried to speak up in self-defense of his own actions. It seemed the gravity of the situation had really hit home for him, he'd nearly brought all of the Lizardmen under the rule of a Demon Lord, just because he had been quickly accepting of the false promises made to him. Hopefully this served as a good lesson for him as a leader and may actually help him grow. But for the time being, he was still a wildcard I wouldn't bet money on.

"Chief, I'd like to make a proposal. One that I hope will be mutually beneficial to not just me but you as well, and depending on how you choose to see it, the Lizardmen as a whole." I said, pausing for dramatic effect as it seemed I had the eyes of everyone in the room. "I'd like to grant you a name, if you will accept it that is." I offered much to the shock of all the Lizardmen.

"Wh-what?" The Chief managed to croak out, surprisingly losing his composure at my offer. It was actually kind of amusing to see.

"I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart mind you." I said, bringing the Chief down to earth. "As it stands, since receiving his name, Gabiru has gotten significantly stronger. From what I can tell, he is the strongest amongst you all. I feel there's much about his character that needs correcting, as while he may be strong, he's not truly ready to lead. Such a task is best left to a parent, but as it stands, you lack the strength to reign him in." I said, it was a cold hearted truth and a bitter pill to swallow, that much I could tell from the way the Chief frowned as he closed his eyes in thought.

What was left unsaid was the fact that accepting a name from me was basically the same as accepting becoming one of my subordinates. But I'm pretty sure that the Chief, as well as everyone present, understood that. I didn't plan to rule or change anything amongst the Lizardmen for the foreseeable future, naming the Chief was just a security measure to avoid Gabiru doing something stupid.

"Very well, Lord Rimuru. As Chieftain of the Lizardmen, I humbly accept your offer of receiving a name from you." The Chief says after some careful consideration, much to the surprise of all of his fellow Lizardmen, including both of his children.

"Very well then," I said as I pondered a name to give him, but thanks to [Thought Acceleration, I was able to come up with a name rather quickly. "As of this day, you shall bear the name 'Abiru'." It admittedly wasn't the most original of names given the similarities it bore to his son's given name, but I figured it would serve as a reminder of why he received the name in the first place and the importance of disciplining his son.

After bestowing said name upon the Lizardmen Chief, a large surge of Magicules had been transferred from myself to the newly named Abiru, according to [Great Sage], my Magicule reserves were still around 87% and should recover in no time. Still though, that was a surprising amount of magicules considering that Lizardmen were C-rank monsters. Everyone watched in surprise as Abiru was enveloped in Magicules as his appearance began to change, a sign of him undergoing immediate evolution. When they eventually dispersed, everyone was shocked to see the Chieftain now resemble a well-built, human-like male in his early to mid 30s, with small horns protruding from his long hair and large draconic wings emerging from his back similar to my own Dragon wings.

'[Great Sage], judging by his new human-like appearance, I'm guessing it's safe to say that Abiru has evolved?' I asked, it was pretty obvious. But unlike the Goblins and Wolves, who'd retained their green skin or canine-like appearance, Abiru seemed to have gone through a more drastic transformation. So I felt the need to be reassured that this was supposed to happen.

《 Answer: That is correct, the individual named Abiru had successfully evolved into a Dragoon, an A-rank monster. 》

'A-rank? I thought the lizardmen were C-rank monsters, how did Abiru jump two ranks as well?" I asked. I wasn't really complaining or anything, but it was a bit concerning. The Goblins and Wolves had all jumped two ranks upon evolving, Ranga and Raya going up three ranks. It was becoming something of a trend, and that would be concerning if I decided to name a powerful monster, like say an A-rank.

《 Affirmative: The individual Abiru received a large amount of Magicules allowing him to swiftly go through the B-rank Lizardmen evolution, known as a Dragonnewt, and become a Dragoon. The user's Dragon Factor also played a role in strengthening the dormant Dragon blood within Abiru, making him stronger than the average Dragoon. 》

'Wow, then I guess there was some truth to Gabiru's words in regards to Lizardmen being Dragon descendants. Still, I didn't expect my Dragon Factor to actually impact Abiru's evolution. I can only hope he doesn't grow arrogant with this newfound power.' I thought, impressed with how compatible my own power had been with Abiru's. I couldn't help but wonder if the same would apply to all of the Lizardmen should I decide to name them.

"F-Father! You've evolved! Your power, your aura, it's incredible!" The Chief's daughter says in amazement at the changes her father underwent, a sentiment shared by all the Lizardmen that are present, with even Gabiru being no exception, as they looked at the Chief in awe and wonder.

I had to agree with her a bit. Taking a moment to gauge his strength, I'd say he was definitely mid A-rank, his aura and magicules definitely greater than that of Ranga, Raya, Apito, and Zegion. Which was saying a lot, considering those four were the strongest subordinates I currently had. And if I had to guess, he was probably more experienced than the four of them as well when it came to combat.

"Indeed. And it seemed being Dragon descendants, as Gabiru boasted earlier, played a crucial role. My Dragon Factor was used to strengthen your own, making you even stronger." I say, drawing attention from everyone present, including from Abiru and even Treyni. "And unlike with Gelmude, it seemed being named by me has allowed you to grow to the point of evolution. To be honest, I wondered why Gabiru hadn't evolved after being named, I suspect he may have been cheated of the process. But Abiru seemed to not only have evolved properly, and gained my divine protection, but it seems he's gone beyond even my expectations, evolving into a Dragoon, an A-rank monster, rather than evolving into a B-rank Dragonnewt as predicted."

This revelation left all the Lizardmen shocked and amazed. Apparently, they hadn't even known that there was an evolution level beyond that of a Dragonnewt. Meaning that Abiru was the first to reach such a level as far back as they could remember. This also meant that Abiru had essentially become one of the strongest monsters in the Great Forest of Jura, aside from the Dryads who were still of a higher level.

"I am truly honored and grateful for this opportunity that you have gifted me Lord Rimuru, you have my eternal thanks. You have my word that I will use this power wisely and lead my people well in service of you as the rightful Lord and Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura." Abiru proclaims while bowing in gratitude, a gesture that was repeated by all of his fellow Lizardmen, his children included. "I will keep an eye out for this Majin, Gelmude, and will inform you immediately if I or my Lizardmen encounter him, along with warning all of my Lizardmen followers to be wary of him and to not accept any offers of power or names he may falsely promise. Should you ever be in need of our strength, please do not hesitate to call on us."

It was good to know that I had the support of the Lizardmen now, and Treyni definitely seemed satisfied with their submission. Still, I had no use of them for the time being, so I'd let them continue with their lives as they did before. With them now aware and on the lookout for Gelmude, I had no reason to be too concerned. I may even come back and name a few more Lizardmen for good measure.

"I am glad to hear that, though make sure not to grow complacent with your newfound strength, and take time to train, refine, and master your newfound power and with the aim to get even stronger." I advised Abiru out of caution, he nodded his head in agreement and understanding of my words. Of course, I didn't need to remind someone of his experience of the importance of continuously refining one's skill. I then gesture towards Gabiru, who flinched in response. "I'll trust that you can discipline your son and educate him to ensure he doesn't repeat this kind of mistakes, and hopefully straighten his behavior?"

"Of course, Lord Rimuru. I will see to it that something like this does NOT happen again, and that he will improve his behavior henceforth." Abiru reassures me before giving his ashamed son a stern glare.

A part of me did feel bad for putting Gabiru in what was obviously a tight and embarrassing spot, but I felt like he needed this. Just like the Young Master of the Ogres had learnt through humility, I hoped Gabiru would learn a thing or two as well. His father was just the insurance to make sure those lessons actually stuck.

"I suppose that concludes the reason for my visit." I spoke up, I'd pretty much gotten all the info I came for, and was leaving with a lot more than I bargained for. This visit had been more productive than I thought, then again maybe I should have expected it to turn out like this. Especially when Treyni made an appearance, she had the habit of wanting to make everyone acknowledge me as the Lord and Guardian of the forest. It wasn't a bad thing, but it felt like she was pressing the issue a bit.

"Actually Lord Rimuru, there may be one more matter to be addressed." Treyni spoke up, prompting to turn and look up at her, since I was still being held in her arms. I probably could have reverted back into my human form a long time ago, I'm pretty sure the Lizardmen wouldn't doubt my words at this point. But I'd remained in my hatchling form for Treyni's sake. She seemed to enjoy holding me in her arms, much like many of the women in my life, and thus I wasn't going to deprive her of that.

"Oh? And what's that?" I asked curiously, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well, I was wondering if you would have the Lizardmen join the trade network that you formed between the Goblins and Ogres?" Treyni asked out loud with an all too innocent smile.

That sly Tree Spirit, she'd deliberately spoken loud enough for everyone to hear so that the interest of the Lizardmen would be piqued! Though to be honest I hadn't even thought about including the Lizardmen in the trade agreement, it probably would have occurred to me later on, but I would have left this place without ever having thought of the idea.

"Trade network? May I ask what this is about Lord Rimuru?" Abiru asked as he stepped forward, the other Lizardmen council members seemed interested as well.

'Might as well…' I thought with a sigh, I'd be having a word with Treyni about putting me in these kinds of situations out of the blue.

And so I began to explain to the Abiru and his council about how I was currently taking residence in the Ogre Village in the southwest region of the forest, as well as how I'd become the ruler of a Goblin Village that was home to Goblins and Wolves, all of whom had been named by me. They all seemed shocked to learn that I had named over three thousand monsters, even if they were Goblins.

It took a while to get them up to speed, but once they were they seemed interested in trading with us as well. Perhaps it was so they could get more involved in my dealings and be closer to me, or maybe they didn't want to miss out on what could be a great opportunity.

To be honest, this was a great opportunity for the Goblins as well. Lake Siss was the largest source of water in the entire forest, so much so that it was surprising the Lizardmen had managed to defend this territory from other more powerful species. Perhaps the Dryads had something to do with it? I'd have to ask Treyni about that another time. Still, having the Goblins trade with them would open many doors for growth and development.

With that, we started discussing what we could possibly want from the other and what we had to offer. I couldn't speak on behalf of the Ogre Chief, but I would pass along Abiru's interest to trade with them as well, for now this would be simply between the Goblins and Lizardmen.

So Abiru and I spent a while talking. I requested access to their fresh water as well as fish for trade, and in return we would give them honey and a wider variety of meat compared to the fish they ate most of the time. Abiru requested that their weapons, namely spears, be produced by the Goblins from now on, this was after I told him about the quality blacksmiths we had thanks to both the Dwarves and Ogres in the Goblin Village. In exchange, he was willing to send some of his own men to train the Goblins not only how to fight with the spear, but also how to fight and move about in various environments such as swamps and the like. I felt like it was a good deal for the time being, the Goblins and Wolves would learn what it was like to fight in different environments, since not all parts of the forest were the same. It would be a good experience, and perhaps they may even learn to use that terrain to their advantage once they have adapted.

There were a few more words exchanged on potential deals, but other than that, things seemed pretty much settled for the time being. I'd leave the adjustments to Rigurd, he'd managed to iron out things pretty well with the Ogre Chief, and make their current trade somewhat equal. I'd leave it to him to do the same this time around.

"I think I'm gonna go on and make my way back to the Ogre Village now." I told Treyni once the two of us were outside the Lizardmen cave. "Can I trust you to share the details of the recent talks with Rigurd, as well as ensuring that the rest of the talks go smoothly?" I asked her as I jumped out of her arms, transforming into my human form and landing on the ground in front of her.

"Of course Lord Rimuru, please leave it to me. I'll make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible." Treyni said with a reassuring smile.

I wasn't really all that worried, Abiru seemed genuinely interested in making things work, and he was a very respectable leader in his own right. The fact that the Goblins were my subordinates assured me that neither Abiru or the other Lizardmen would look down on them. As long as Abiru and Rigurd were able to finalize the details on good terms, then everything should work out on its own. Having Treyni oversee the events was just an insurance, to make sure that the deal wasn't made unfair for one of the sides, despite how low the chances of such a thing happening were.

"Right, then I'll leave it to you then." I said with an appreciative nod as draconic wings sprouted from my back. Treyni gave a nod of her own as she waved goodbye, with the flap of my wings I took off for the Ogre Village.

Within the hour, I arrived at my destination. This time making sure I was emitting enough of my aura for them to identify me, whilst also taking care not to release too much so I didn't scare the surrounding wildlife.

Using [magic sense] to search for specific signatures, it didn't take me long to find the people I was looking for, and fortunately enough they all happened to be together. So I flew over in that direction, waving at the Ogres below me who'd either wave or bow their heads as I flew past them. I soon began my descent, touching down on the ground not too long after.

"Lord Rimuru!" Before I could even turn in the direction I'd been called, I found my face being pulled into, and buried in, the large bosom that could only belong to the Purple Ogress. The scent and magic energy I sensed confirmed it was indeed her. "I'm glad you made it back safely, sir!" The Purple Ogress said happily as she tightened her embrace on me. It was nothing I couldn't handle, but I'm pretty sure she would have snapped the spinal cord of a normal human being with a hug this tight, either that or they would have suffocated being buried between these huge melons.

"You can stop hogging Lord Rimuru to yourself now." As usual it was the Princess who came to my 'rescue' whenever I was in the clutches of the Purple Ogress. And as usual it worked, the Purple Ogress released her grip on me, allowing me to step back and take in some much needed air. I turned to my left to see the Princess approaching with the Young Master next to her, the Blue Haired Ogre was a few steps behind them. "Welcome back Lord Rimuru, I'm glad to see you returned to us unharmed." The Princess greeted with a bright smile.

"Indeed, when my sister returned to the village with Raya and told us of the situation we were slightly concerned." The Young Master added before his eyes widened in alarm, as if realizing he had made a mistake. "N-not that we doubted your strength or anything Lord Rimuru!" he added frantically in alarm.

"Relax, I get it. And your concern means a lot." To be honest, it was almost hard to believe this was the same redhead that drew his blade on me a few weeks ago.

Still, it did mean a lot to know that they were concerned about my wellbeing, despite knowing I was strong enough to handle most threats within the forest. It showed they genuinely cared, that they didn't just see me as their lord or something along those lines, but they also saw me as a companion.

"The Dryads informed us of your victory against the Fire Spirit and that you were attending to other matters, but they didn't go into specifics." The Young Master explained, I remembered asking Doris to explain the situation to the Ogres, but I had asked her to leave out details beyond my victory. I wasn't sure how the Ogres would take the fact that I'd helped humans, if anything I felt that was something they should hear from me directly rather than through messengers.

"Yeah, a lot of stuff happened afterwards, but I hope you don't mind if I speak with the Chief about this first." I said with a slightly apologetic smile. It's not that I didn't want to tell them, but this kind of thing was best discussed with the Chief first before making it public knowledge.

"Of course, that's perfectly reasonable. I'm sure my father has been expecting you as well." The redhead responded.

"I'm sure he already felt my aura, but I wanted to see you guys first before I went and started talking business with him. Nothing I have to say is that urgent." I said with a smile.

To be honest, I hadn't realized how much I needed this. Casual conversation with friends. The Goblins were all good folk, don't get me wrong, but as much as I had bonded with them, all of my stronger connections were here in the Ogre Village. After the passing of Masayuki and Shizue, I hadn't really had the chance to just talk to someone about all that, and honestly I didn't feel close enough to the Goblins to do so. Perhaps there was a bit of favoritism there, but it was the truth. I could have turned to Treyni or one of her sisters, but they had their hands full with their responsibilities along with the tasks I had assigned them. I wasn't looking for pity or anything, I just wanted to talk to someone about everything that had happened.

'I need to get stronger than ever before. Even with the skills I gained from Shizue and Masayuki, along with the training I have undergone under the Ogre Elder, it still isn't enough. I need to properly master the skills I have, with things escalating due to that damn Gelmude and whatever Demon Lord he serves, I need to be ready.' I thought as I looked towards the Ogre Princess and the Purple Ogress, who were also 2 of my 'fated ones'. 'I won't let them, or anyone else I care about suffer the same fate as Shizue, I will grow strong enough to protect them.' I silently swore to myself. Still, there was the problem that exploring the full extent of my skills wasn't something I could do in the forest.

"Lord Rimuru, allow me to take you to my father so you may speak with him." The Ogre Princess said, drawing me away from my thoughts, to which I nod in agreement. As we walked towards the Chief's meeting room, I took time to explain everything that had happened while I was gone, though I made sure to keep the mention of Shizue and Masayuki quiet for the time being. The Princess was shocked that a servant of a Demon Lord was causing trouble in the Great Forest of Jura and had even unleashed a corrupted Fire Spirit upon it, and was greatly surprised when she learned about Abiru. I couldn't blame her, seeing as Elemental Spirits outside of the Dryads and Trents were rare in the forest, and the Lizardmen Chief becoming my subordinate and a powerful A-ranked monster is no small matter.

We soon arrived at our destination, the Princess bowing her head as she gestured for me to enter, it seemed as though she wouldn't be following, which was fine by me since I wanted to talk to the Chief alone anyway. I nodded my head in thanks, before sliding the door open and walking in. As expected, the Chief had been patiently waiting for me, seated as he drank a cup of tea. Sliding the door closed behind me, I walked towards him until I was seated on the opposite side of him.

"Welcome back, Lord Rimuru, please allow me to congratulate you on your victory." The Chief said with a soft smile as he poured me a cup of tea.

"Thank you." I said as I took the cup he poured for me. "As for the Flame Spirit, it wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. But the damage it caused to the forest, along with the three salamanders it summoned, was surprisingly large." I said as I drank a sip of the tea. As usual it was good, it had a calming and clarifying effect on my mind, and put me at ease.

"Maybe so, but at the very least no major settlements were damaged by the attack." The chief said, which was true. Aside from some wildlife and nature, no sentient creatures had been damaged by the forest fire. The closest settlement to the scene had been the Goblin Village, which had been evacuated as soon as the incident started.

"Yes, the Dryads were able to contain the flames, though they enlisted the aid of Merfolk to do so, seeing as they don't do well with fire. I'm ashamed to admit I never actually thanked the Merfolk for their aid, it's just that a lot happened after I stopped the spirit." I explained, leaving out the part where I had unintentionally helped out by literally sucking in some of the flames with my large hurricane.

"I see." The Chief muttered as he rubbed his chin in thought.

The talks between us went on for a while longer. I told him everything that transpired afterwards, from Shizue being the host of Ifrit, trying and failing to save her and Masayuki, though I left out their last requests and how their bodies were taken care of. I felt that was a bit too private and personal. After that I told him about the trip to the Lizardmen's domain and everything that happened there. Making sure to notify him that the Lizardmen were also interested in doing trade with the Ogres if possible. He had been surprised to hear that I named the lizardmen chief, Abiru.

"It seems your influence continues to grow. Though given your strength and lineage, that shouldn't surprise me. The fact that the Dryads have sworn loyalty to you gives you a lot more credibility as well, making things smoother." The Chief said, he didn't seem too happy about that, nor did he seem upset, mind you. He just seemed to be in thought as he spoke, almost as if he was coming to a decision or something.

"Yeah, from what Treyni told me, she and her sisters have been working on spreading word on my existence. They believe all the monsters of Jura should know the forest is not without a Guardian, that my mother sired an heir." I explained with a sigh. I wasn't against it, but the whole thing just seemed to be moving too quickly for my liking. I did plan to eventually unite the tribes of Jura to form a nation, but I would rather it be gradual rather than rushing it.

"It may be for the best, ever since Lady Veredia's presence vanished from the forest, a major shift has occurred." The Chief said, "You already witnessed the small power struggles that started within weeks of her disappearance." He was referring to the Direwolf raid on the Goblins.

"Yeah, I remember." The carnage I'd seen at the destroyed villages hadn't been pretty.

"Then imagine such power struggles happening with stronger species. Such as us the Ogres and perhaps the Merfolk." The chief tried to give an example, "But even then, our power can't compare to the monsters that live on the other side of the Almed River, I'm sure those are the monsters that truly worry the Dryads."

Admittedly I'd never flown beyond the river myself. Which is kind of stupid, but from what I remember, Treyni told me that she and her sisters didn't have any jurisdiction there, and thus didn't manage that side of the forest. The monsters there were apparently strong too, some species even reaching rank A, but according to Treyni, they were an unruly bunch, and refused the protection of the Dryads. Even though my mother had appointed the Dryads managers of the whole forest. Unfortunately, my mother had been too carefree to involve herself in the matters of the monsters in Jura, and thus the Dryads were left with no choice but to leave the monsters of the other side as they were.

"Yes, Treyni told me about that some time ago." I could see why the Dryads would be concerned, given how unruly but powerful these monsters from the other side of the river were, there was a real chance they could cause a lot of damage if they were to start causing trouble. "I suppose them being aware of my existence would help to keep them in check, though maybe going to the other side of the river would be more effective."

"Perhaps, but you must take caution. The Dryads carry no weight to the monsters there. Should they not believe you, they may become hostile." The Chief warned.

"If they do, then I'll simply have to put them in their place." I said with a confident grin. A-rank monsters may be stronger than average, but I could handle many of them no problem. That being said, the Chief did have a point, I wouldn't be able to rely on Treyni and the others if I wanted to get the monsters from the other side to acknowledge or perhaps even follow me. I'd have to rely on my own strength and ability to negotiate.

"Hmm, perhaps a bit of humbling would help." The Chief said with an amused smirk of his own. Looking down at his cup of tea I saw him contemplating something for a few seconds, before he turned to face me once more. "Lord Rimuru, may I ask you something, it's a bit…personal?" The Chief asked cautiously.

I found myself curious as to what he could want to ask me all of a sudden. I'm pretty sure that the Chief knew all there was to know about me by now, at least what I wanted them to know. But if even he was hesitant to ask, then it had to be something that would either offend me or something that I'd keep close to my chest.

"Sure, go ahead." I replied after a moment of thought. Whether I'd answer or not depended on what the question was, then again silence in itself was an answer.

"Right. Please forgive me for assuming, but are you…an Otherworlder?" The Chief asked, his eyes solely focused on my own. It took every ounce of my previous life's training not to give away my shock and nervousness at the completely random and unexpected question.

"You're right, that is rather presumptuous of you." I said calmly as I took a sip from my cup of tea. Though on the inside, I was nervous as hell.

'What brought this on?! Did I somehow give myself away?' I tried to think of anything I may have said or done that may have resulted in the Ogre Chief discovering that I was a reincarnated individual. 'There's no point in trying to deny it, while I'm sure the Chief wouldn't press the matter, the fact that he knows is already a cause for concern.'

"Do you mind if I ask what brought such a question to the table?" I asked in return, I hadn't answered his question directly, but the Chief was smart enough to read between the lines.

"It was just numerous small observations. Like when you initially came to our village, you claimed to have been born a month earlier and yet you showed such high levels of both intelligence and maturity. Then there was the way you offered to teach the Purple Ogress how to cook, now I may not be the smartest individual but even I saw some signs there." The Chief said with an amused stare.

Admittedly, I hadn't thought about that when I offered the Purple Ogress cooking lessons. I just wanted to be spared from the monstrosity that she called cooking back then. I mean, it bypassed my [Pain Nullification] skill, that literally meant her cooking had been strong enough to bend the rules. But looking back on it now, an infant monster having culinary skills was a bit strange…but to be honest, I didn't regret trying to help the Purple Ogress. She was doing a lot better now, her food being edible at the very least. It was only a matter of time before she finally got the hang of it.

"There were other small things that clued me in. But they all led me to the conclusion that you were a reincarnated soul, perhaps Lady Veredia reincarnated. But it wasn't until our most recent conversation that I realized you were an Otherworlder." The Chief said before taking a drink from his own cup. "Earlier, when you spoke of the Otherworlders you encountered, you seemed more upset and grieved than usual. And so I concluded that maybe you weren't just a reincarnated individual, but an Otherworlder."

"I had already pegged you as wise and perceptive from when we first met, Chief, but it appears even I underestimated just how intelligent you were," I said with an amused sigh. His deductive capabilities were greater than I thought, being able to piece all of that together. The Ogres of this village really were something else. "But yes, you are correct, I am a reincarnated Otherworlder. I didn't say anything since I wasn't sure how most monsters would react if they learned I was a former human, even if I was now the son and heir of the Storm Dragon. According to what my mother told me in the brief time we spoke, she had laid an egg without a soul, as a result, even though the body had fully developed, the egg would not hatch as the child within had no consciousness. Regardless, my mother kept and nurtured the egg. The Dryads are the only ones that ever knew of the eggs' existence."

"That…I can't possibly imagine." The Chief said, probably feeling some sympathy for everything that my mother had gone through.

"It was probably hard for her." I said as I nodded my head, as aloof as she seemed when we first met, I can't imagine how she felt when she first found out her child had no soul or consciousness of his own. "But she kept the egg, hoping for a miracle, or perhaps she was counting on a soul reincarnating into this body. All I know for sure is that when I met her, she already knew I was an Otherworlder. But she still welcomed me as her son, and with me having accepted this new life, I accepted her as my mother and then she granted me the name 'Rimuru', whilst I granted us the last name of 'Tempest'."

"An equal naming process, she truly did accept you as her heir. I suppose there's nothing more to be said on the matter, at the end of the day you're still Lady Veredia's flesh and blood." The Chief said with a small smirk. I felt myself relax slightly, I was glad that he had taken the news so well, I was honestly concerned for a whole minute there. But while we were on the topic…

"Actually, there's a question of my own I've been meaning to ask. But couldn't without revealing I was an Otherworlder." I spoke up.

"Oh? Please ask away, I'll gladly answer if it's something that I can."

"This village was influenced by an Otherworlder at some point, right? More specifically, Japanese folk." I said as I looked right in the Chief's eye. "I noticed it from the moment I first encountered the Ogres. Your clothing, armor, weapons, mannerisms, your homes, traditions, and even some of the food you cook. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but that's too many coincidences for me to ignore." I explained, watching the Chief's reaction as I spoke.

"Yes, our village traditions and our current way of life were indeed taught to us by humans." The Chief said, closing his eyes in thought. "It was approximately four hundred years ago that a group of injured humans wandered into our village, we took them in and treated them. It was the first time we welcomed outsiders into our home." The Chief explained before taking another sip of tea.

I wasn't that surprised that the Ogres didn't welcome many people into their home, they'd already proven to be somewhat of a prideful bunch. Guess the only reason they'd let me in was because they had been able to tell how strong I was.

"As thanks for treating them, they taught us their techniques as well as various other things that we have put into practice in our village. The Haze style sword style is actually one of the techniques that was taught to us." The Chief explained. "They showed us many of the things you claimed to have noticed, others we developed on our own as we adapted to this new way of living. It made us stronger and smarter as a people."

It certainly did explain why the Ogres of this village seemed to be of a higher mentality than any other monster I'd encountered in the forest. Save for the Dryads maybe. Still, to think that a group of humans would have such a profound impact on a village of monsters. It was nothing short of incredible.

"The leader of this group was a man who went by the name Byakuya Araki, and is actually the grandfather of the Elder." The Chief revealed.

"Wait what?!" That revelation made me completely lose my composure. The Elder's grandfather was a human?! I was actually trying to wrap my head around the fact that these humans had stuck around long enough to procreate, and the fact that the Ogres had actually done it with a weaker species like humans. These Otherworlders must have been strong and respectable, there's just no other explanation.

Now the Elder, his grandfather being one of the humans that introduced the Haze style to the Ogres may explain why he was so talented with the blade, along with his age and experience. He'd probably been taught by Byakuya himself. Still, it was pretty shocking to find out that the Elder had human blood flowing through his veins. And yet, somehow the old man had managed to live for three hundred years, yeah that was definitely not his human blood at play.

"Indeed, most wouldn't think that looking at him, but it's the truth. The Elder learned all that he could from Byakuya, becoming the most skilled warrior in our village, but still his technique paled in comparison to that of Byakuya himself." The Chief said with closed eyes, more than likely remembering the past.

"Sounds like a truly skilled warrior, I would have loved the chance to meet him myself." I responded, Byakuya really sounded like an amazing dude. If his swordsmanship really outclassed even that of the Elder's then that meant he was beyond a master swordsman. He probably had other arts and techniques he hadn't been able to teach the Elder as well.

"Yes, he was, and so were his comrades. The things they taught us enriched our lives and made us stronger, and for that our people will always be grateful to them." The Chief said with a grateful nod.

"Chief, about me being a reincarnate, is there anyone else who knows besides you?" I asked the Chief seriously as my eyes met his own. I wasn't ready for people to know the truth about my origins just yet, even if the Ogres accepted me regardless. The more of them that knew, the higher the risk of word getting out eventually.

"Aside from myself, only the Elder suspects. To be honest, it was him who picked up most of the out of place things about you." The Chief responded with an amused smile.

"That's to be expected, he has a keen eye, and I've been spending a lot of time around him learning the way of the sword." I said with a sigh, not really surprised that the Elder had been catching on. "But it's manageable, feel free to tell the Elder but I'd like to keep this quiet for the time being, at least until I choose to reveal that part of myself."

"Of course, we had no intention of telling anyone else. I merely wanted to…sate my curiosity." The Chief said with a chuckle, I couldn't help but let out a scoff of my own. "That being said, hearing your answer did put things into perspective for me, and has helped affirm a decision that me and my people came to some time ago."

"Decision? I take it has something to do with me?" I saw no other reason why he would bring it up now if it was something that just involved the Ogres.

"Indeed, my lord, would you join me outside for a moment?" The Chief asked as he stood up, gesturing towards the door in invitation.

I was confused as to what was going on at the moment, regardless I nodded my head in agreement and also stood up. The Chief then walked around the table and towards the entrance without another word, I quietly followed, wondering what it was he was going to show me.

The Chief slid the door open, and gestured for me to walk out first. Okay, a little strange, but regardless I stepped out first without questioning it too much. What I saw upon exiting had greatly surprised me.

Standing before me were hundreds of Ogres, likely the whole village if I had to guess, children and all. The Chief's family was at the front of the rest, with the Ogre Elder also being nearby. They all seemed to be wearing rather serious expressions on their faces.

The Chief stepped out of the meeting room, moving past me, and standing in front of his family, before turning back to face me. To my surprise, he dropped down on one knee, adding to that surprise was that the rest of the Ogres followed suit. All going down on one knee before me.

"Lord Rimuru, we Ogres are a warring clan. We take pride in our strength and skills that we spend our entire lives honing. But even we are not above serving others. If our master is strong and worthy of our respect, we would gladly serve them." The Chief said, voice loud and firm. I could literally tell he was speaking as the Chief, the leader of his people. "After discussing it with my council and family, along with the others in our village, we have decided to swear our allegiance and loyalty to you. Please accept us as your loyal subordinates, our blades will serve as an extension of your will!" The Chief requested, adding even further to my shock. When I came back to the Ogre Village this was the last thing that I had expected to happen.

If anything I never expected this to happen ever! I always assumed the Ogres were too proud of a clan to submit to me on their own, unlike the Goblins who literally threw themselves at my feet. Then again comparing the two wasn't really fair all things considered. Still, for them to be the ones to pledge themselves to me like this…

…it couldn't have been easy.

Perhaps the fault lay with me for taking too long to bring the subject up. I'd grown comfortable with the way things were that I didn't want the Ogres to change and start revering me the same way the Goblins did. Though thinking about it now, I was probably overthinking it, aside from some additional respect I didn't think things would change that much. Or at least I hoped not.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" I asked, using [Desire] to try and get a read on how everyone was feeling about this. It was a major decision, one that would impact the rest of their lives and the future of their people.

"Yes my lord, as I said, it has been thoroughly discussed. Changes have already begun to occur within the forest, with you at the head of it all. We simply wish to walk along the path you will pave for us." The Chief explained.

I reached out my empathy skill, getting a read on how everyone else felt about this. As expected a few were cautious, some anxious, and some seemed against it. But overall I'd say about three quarters of the village fully supported the idea of becoming my subordinates. The Chieftess, Princess and Young Master seemed satisfied and happy and the Elder seemed equally satisfied. The Purple Ogress was radiating such levels of joy that I was surprised she was still kneeling down all prim and proper. The Blue Haired Ogre seemed somewhat neutral but satisfied, if that made any sense. It was hard to read people like him, but guess that was something I was going to have to work on.

"Very well then. I, Rimuru Tempest, Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura, accept your allegiance. From this day onward this village is under my protection, and as long as I'm here no threat shall step foot in this village!" I declared, much to the shock and joy of the Ogres. To be honest, this village was already under my protection the moment I started living here, those closest to me more than likely already knew that. This declaration was just a means to help me earn the trust of those who still had reservation about me becoming their lord and master.

"All hail Lord Rimuru, the rightful Lord and Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura!" The Chief shouted as he rose from his kneeling position, throwing a fist into the air.

"All hail Lord Rimuru!" The Ogre Village responded in kind as they all stood and cheered. The phrase was chanted a few times, and I took a moment to just take in the sight of the merry mood that had suddenly filled the air. I had a feeling that the ogres were going to throw a huge feast tonight. Not that my stomach was complaining, I could do with some delicious food right about now. That being said, there was something else on my mind.

'[Great Sage, how many Ogres could I safely name in one go? Preferably to A-rank.' The last part was said as a precaution since pretty much all the monsters I'd named had skipped at least one rank. If the same happened here then the ogres would jump to Special A-rank, which would put them above the Dryads, save Treyni who I'm pretty sure is on the lower spectrum of Special A-rank. Even evolving them to A-rank was bound to drain my magicules, naming Abiru had taken about 12% of my Magicules, but given that he jumped 2 ranks, I couldn't accurately measure.

《 Answer: Evolution from B-rank to A-rank consumes 9% of total Magicules. Total number of Ogres that can be named whilst ensuring the user has enough Magicules to be operational is 7. However, due to naming the individual Abiru, user's Magicules have yet to fully recover, reducing number of Ogres that can be named to 6. 》

'And how long would it take to recover my Magicules after naming seven Ogres?' I asked.

《 Answer: Estimated recovery time, 16 hours. 》

That was more than I thought, but it wasn't really something I could complain about. It made sense that I could only name a limited number of Ogres at a time. I'd be more shocked by how OP I was if I could name many of them like I had done with the Goblins and Wolves.

Looking on as the Ogres continued chanting, I raised my hand to catch their attention. It seemed to do the trick as they immediately began to quiet down, their attention on me once more. My eyes moved over the Chief and his family, the Elder, the Purple Ogress, and the Blue Haired Ogre. These seven were without a doubt the strongest connections I'd built since coming to this, it only made sense that I'd name them first. Unfortunately though, I could only name six Ogres today, due to having already named Abiru earlier, otherwise I would have done all of them in one go. I guess I'd have to compromise…

"Chief, could you, your family, and the Village Elder step forward please?" I requested. The Chief's eyes seemed to widen momentarily, more than likely having realized what I was about to do, though given what I'd done with the Goblins, Wolves, and now Abiru, It wasn't that hard to reach the conclusion.

The Chief ushered his family forward, the elder stepped up as well, within a few seconds they all stood side by side right in front of me. The Chief, the Chieftess, the Young Master, the Princess, and lastly the Elder. That was the order in which they stood from left to right, meaning I'd probably start with the Chief. The five of them dropped down on one knee, ready for whatever order I had to give them.

"To officially mark this village as under me, and you as my subordinates, I will give you names." I said much to the shock of all the Ogres, the head family included, with the exception of the Chief who merely smiled as he bowed his head.

Many whispers and talks began to go through the large crowd of Ogres, I guess they were surprised and somewhat concerned that I was naming them, it was the same reaction with the Goblins, Wolves, and Lizardmen. But the Ogres are much stronger than all of them had initially been prior to me naming them, so their concern was somewhat valid.

"There's no need to be concerned, I've already run the necessary calculations, and know the magicule cost of naming you Ogres." I said loudly, once more silencing the Ogres and catching their attention. "Ogres are already a powerful species by default, and those of this village are even more so, hence I can't name too many of you. At least not in one sitting, but my goal is to eventually name all the Ogres of this village with time." I explained.

The effect was instant as the Ogres not only calmed down, but began to cheer at the prospect of being named. Given the number of Ogres in this village, it would likely take dozens of days if I followed the safety protocol [Great Sage] had mentioned earlier. The alternative was that I get stronger and increase the max number of Ogres I could name in a single sitting. I'd figure it out as I went along.

I then turned towards the Chief, his family, and the Elder who were still kneeled in front of me. As I moved towards the Chief, the rest of the Ogre Village quieted down. More than likely not wanting to interrupt or miss this moment.

"To the Ogre Chief, leader of this warrior village, I grant the name 'Akatsuki'." I said, the effect was immediate as a large amount of Magicules left my body and entered the now named Chief. "Use the power I've granted you to not only serve me well, but to lead your people towards a brighter future."

"Thank you my lord, I will strive to meet and exceed all your expectations." The Chief said with his head bowed, his body glowing as the evolutionary process began. As much as I wanted to watch, I knew we'd be here all day if I worked like that. And so I moved onto the Chieftess.

"To the Chieftess, who always carries herself with grace and elegance, and yet behind that is just as shrewd and cunning, I'll grant you the name 'Sakura'." I said with a grin, my words earning a giggle from the Chieftess herself as my power entered her. "You once told me you were quite the warrior, and were especially talented in magic. I look forward to seeing you in action one day."

"Yes my lord, thank you for granting me this grand opportunity." The Chieftess, now named Sakura, said happily. The amount of magicules that left me this time were slightly higher than with her husband Akatsuki, but considering I was helping her replenish the power she lost through conception then evolving her further, I guess it made sense.

I moved onto the Young Master.

"To the Young Master, you still have much to learn in the ways of leadership and making decisions with a cool head. That said, your potential may be the greatest within this village. I'll grant you the name 'Benimaru'." I said to the redhead. I didn't hold anything against him anymore, but I felt a good reminder before naming him would do some good. "Grow fast Benimaru, I'll be needing more than just raw strength from you in the near future."

"Yes Lord Rimuru, I shall strive to improve myself not only as a warrior, but as an individual too. This I swear." The Young Master, now Benimaru, said with conviction as my power entered him as well. I had high hopes for him, if all went well, he would be one of my closest subordinates. With a nod, I moved onto the next Ogre, the Princess.

To be honest, ever since that time at the Elf Bar, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about how the princess looked different then, both her and the Purple Ogress. I wonder if her evolution would have something to do with it, it most likely would. If so, then this was literally a prophecy coming true or whatever.

"To the Ogre Princess, your perception and ability to analyze has been something that caught my eye, something that stood out amongst the other Ogres. I'll grant you the name 'Shuna'." I said, Magicules leaving my body once more, the power entering her body. "I hope those talents of yours can be developed further, alongside your talent for magic."

"Thank you Lord Rimuru, I promise I'll do my very best." The Princess said as the Magicules entered her as well.

I took a step back as I watched the leading family of the Ogre Village glow as their names became engraved in their very souls, and their Magicules began to rise. But I felt there was one last thing I needed to do, to make it so they stood out from the rest of the crowd, though I wasn't sure if what I had in mind would consume even more Magicules. It certainly hadn't when I'd done it with my mother in the Sealed Cave, so it shouldn't now.

"As the leading family of this village, and to further distinguish you from your fellow Ogres, I have also decided to bestow upon the four of you a family name, 'Hattori'. From this day forward, you are Akatsuki Hattori, Sakura Hattori, Benimaru Hattori, and Shuna Hattori!" I declared to everyone's surprise and wonder. No Magicules seemed to leave my body, but I did feel a shift in the connection that had been initiated when I named them, the family name 'Hattori' also becoming engraved within them.

I'd chosen the last name 'Hattori' as it came from a legendary Japanese warrior by the name of Hattori Hanzo (AN: Or "Hanzo Hattori" in Western connotation, FYI). A renowned samurai and ninja who was deemed the best of his time and reputed to have supernatural abilities, he led various battles and played a pivotal role in the unification of Japan, and even after his death, he became an inspiration for future generations. I figured it was a good name to give to the leading family of a warrior village who would undoubtedly help a lot in uniting the various monster races of the Great Forest of Jura and forming a monster nation.

I moved on to the Village Elder.

"And lastly the Village Elder, your skill with the blade is second to none, and you have centuries worth of experience to back it up too. I'll grant you the name 'Hakurou'." I said as Magicules left me once more, before a thought suddenly came to mind. "And in honor of your Otherworlder grandfather, the great Byakuya Araki, I have also decided you will inherit his family name, 'Araki'. From this day forward, you are now Hakurou Araki!" I declared. I figured it was only right.

The Ogre Village wouldn't even have the Haze style that they specialized in if it wasn't for Byakuya and the other humans. It was the least I could do to at least honor them in some way.

"Lord Rimuru…you honor this old man with your kindness." The Elder said with gratitude as he bowed his head. I'm sure he had already pieced together how I knew about his grandfather, but I'd still need to talk to him later on.

The evolutionary glow engulfed the five named Ogres, it took a minute or so before the light finally died down to reveal their newly evolved forms.

《 Notice: Evolution to Kijin for the individuals Akatsuki, Sakura, Benimaru, Shuna, and Hakurou was successful. 》

So that was the A-rank evolution of an Ogre, a Kijin. Looking at them now I could tell that they had lost a lot of the muscle mass they had as Ogres, their figures had also become smaller, almost human-like.

Akatsuki looked like a man in his mid forties, with light red hair and amber orange eyes. Though the two white horns coming out his forehead were a clear reminder that he wasn't human. They seemed to have gotten slightly longer and weren't as thick too, they were definitely sharper though.

Sakura had changed into a woman who seemed to be in her early forties, but had aged wonderfully, making her younger than she actually was. Her hair, mostly white with a tinge of pink, seemed to have smoothed out, making her look more elegant and refined.

Benimaru's appearance seemed to be that of a man in his early twenties, which made sense. His blazing red hair and fiery eyes seemed to stand out even more now than before. The markings that had been around his eyes seemed to have also narrowed and become smaller.

Shuna's appearance seemed to be exactly how I had seen it in the crystal ball from the elf bar in Dwargon. Surprisingly, by becoming more human-like, she seemed slightly older, putting her at nineteen or even twenty years old, with a petite figure, adorable pink eyes, and a disarming smile.

Hakurou, who'd been three hundred years old as an Ogre, so it wasn't surprising to see him appear old even as a Kijin. Though he did seem to have regained some of his youth, seeing as he looked like he was in his early fifties when as an Ogre he looked like he was in his late sixties. He also seemed a tad bit taller, and was standing straighter too.

All in all they seemed to have become smaller in stature, becoming human-like and more refined compared to the wild and slightly intimidating appearance they had as Ogres.

Aside from that, their Magicules and aura also seemed to have exploded to that of monsters befitting their new rank, placing all of them firmly at mid A-rank. Though there were obviously slight differences in the strengths they had acquired from their evolution, such as how Benimaru seemed to have the most Magicules and Hakurou regaining his youth, each of them had become more powerful in their own right. Only time would tell just how far they had come and the skills that they had unlocked as a result. I was kind of looking forward to it.

I watched as the rest of the Ogre Village cheered and began to surround the five Kijin, congratulating them on their names, family names, and successful evolution. The atmosphere was definitely jovial and everyone seemed to be looking towards the future with hopeful eyes, a future that I was meant to lead them to.

The Ogres, and Kijin too now, weren't just allies to me now. They were my subordinates, powerful ones at that, should I name more of them. It was a sign that my influence and power within this forest was growing, and with it more would be expected of me. The Dryads were already spreading word of my existence, it was only a matter of time.

It seemed Benimaru wasn't the only one that needed to improve himself. I needed to become better, both as a leader and as a warrior.

---

Authors Notes:

And that's a wrap for chapter 16! Man I don't think I've ever written something this long my life, we're talking 19k words within one chapter people. I tried to shorten it, I really did, but there was just so much I wanted to get through and I didn't want to skip through it or rush it.

All in all I think it turned out well and as usual I'm looking forward to any reviews and insight into what you guys thought about the chapter in general.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the various key scenes that appeared in this chapter, from the introduction of the lizardmen, the manner in which Rimuru handled that issue and their submission. Not to mention the ogres submitting to him as well!

As usual I accept constructive criticism and might answer any questions that you have within the next chapter!

'Thought'

*Thought Communication*

《 Great Sage 》

{{Voice of the World}}

---

I crossed my arms above my head, blocking a heavy punch that came from my assailant. A shockwave went through the field we were clashing in, the ground beneath me giving to the pressure as cracks formed before I was pushed deeper, forming a crater.

I easily stood my ground, my guard unpenetrated. My opponent was strong, stronger than I thought she would be after her evolution. But it should have come as no surprise to me, she was already unparalleled in terms of physical strength, her evolution just boosted those strengths to new heights.

Though the problem now was controlling that strength…

Loosening my guard, I let her fist slip through, her violet eyes widening at the lack of resistance, I couldn't help but grin. I grabbed her wrist, turning around and pulling her over my shoulder before slamming her into the ground. A loud cry was heard from her, as the impact shook the ground and a large amount of dust filled the area. I leapt off the cloud of dust, and waited for my opponent to recover.

It took a minute, but eventually the dust was swept away by a burst of wind emanating from its center. My opponent stood with her hand stretched out, panting and covered in bruises from our long spar.

"I think that's good enough for now, Shion. You've clearly hit your limit." I said with a grin. Indeed, this was the Kijin known as Shion, formerly known as 'the Purple Ogress'.

After receiving her name, she had evolved into a Kijin much like the Hattori family and Hakurou. Losing her large and feral-like figure and becoming more human-like in appearance. She looked like a woman in her early twenties, probably just entering adulthood, but her character was that of someone much younger and livelier.

Unfortunately, or fortunately if you were a normal guy, while her body had slimmed down to a more human figure, the same could not be said for her…ahem…assets. I could have sworn those melons actually got bigger, but that may just be because of her now smaller frame.

"As expected of Lord Rimuru!" Shion said with a wild grin as she wiped some dirt off her robe. "Even after my evolution, your power still far outclasses my own. I can't even land a scratch on you." she admitted as she stood up straight.

'Well, I am the one who named you. It wouldn't make sense for your power to exceed my own.' I wanted to voice that thought, but decided to just let her be. Understanding Shion's way of thinking was not an easy thing for any normal person.

As for how I ended up sparring against this wild Kijin. Well, that all started the day I named Shion, it was the next day after I had named the Hattori Family and the Elder. After her evolution, she was immediately keen on testing her newfound strength.

And so, during the village's daily morning session she decided to challenge five Ogres at the same time. Poor guys never stood a chance, they were absolutely demolished, and the extent of their injuries was so severe, they would have died had they not been treated with healing potions or my [Greater Heal] .

…needless to say, Shion was forbidden from sparring with any of the Ogres.

…the next day, she decided to challenge two Kijin, seeing as I'd named more Ogres. This fight went a bit better than the last. And by better, I mean the two she fought weren't in any critical condition by the time she was done with them. I healed them up more out of pity than necessity, it had pretty much been a one sided fight from the start. Shion's physical prowess was just too unmatched even among her fellow Kijin, and it was made worse by the fact that she could not control said strength completely.

And so I offered to spar with her occasionally, it was mainly as a means to help her grasp her strength so she wouldn't accidentally hurt those who couldn't handle her strength. Of course, she somehow found a way to turn it into a means for her to test the limits of her full strength against me. This was only our third time sparring, but I could tell that we were getting the desired results, she was growing more accustomed to her new power, and was gaining more control.

It had been a week since I gained the Lizardmen as allies and the Ogres/Kijin swore loyalty to me. And with that major increase in influence and power under me, things began to change between the three races that I'd gotten to align under me. Ideally, I would have preferred to have the three communities come together into one as soon as possible, but even I knew rushing such an idea would be detrimental.

So I decided to leave them separate, but have them working as closely together as possible. The first thing was having all the leaders meet. Between Rigurd, Abiru, and Akatsuki, the meeting took place in the Goblin village on day 3. Abiru and Akatsuki were each accompanied by a small group of escorts for security reasons, though given that the two leaders were evolved, I felt it was overkill. But I guess you can't skip formalities.

The meeting in itself wasn't that long, but we did cover some important stuff. First on the agenda was discussing proper trade with all three parties now being present, and how the goods would be transmitted. Naturally, it was agreed that the Tempest Wolves would be the safest and fastest way of transferring goods, with [Shadow Movement] the chances of running into any trouble were almost zero and the goods being transported would be kept fresh and in peak condition. This made it good for things like fish and other perishable goods.

Following that, I decided to bring up a joint military, or at the very least teams that consisted of various races. Goblins, Wolves, Ogres/Kijin and Lizardmen (and their evolutions), all of them working together and sharing their skills and abilities. Naturally, some would be more inclined towards specific areas such as support, assault, defense, infiltration, and the like, but creating specialized teams would take time. Akatsuki, Abiru, and Rigurd seemed to agree with me on this, creating a unified front would be necessary since they all served under me, and hoped to do so for a long time to come.

Though Abiru did bring up the fact that he felt more of his kin should also be named to boost the overall military strength. Which was a fair point, by day 3 I'd already named up to thirty Ogres thanks to finding a loophole to the recovery period explained by [Great Sage]. Rather than naming seven Ogres in one go, I'd name five instead, which would reduce the amount of time needed to refill my magicules to twelve hours, allowing me to name another five within the same day, making it a total of ten. That meant in total, there were thirty five Kijin within the Ogre village if we included the Hattori family and Hakurou.

That seemed like a good place to stop for the time being, as I named the Lizardmen as well as the ever growing number of Goblins in this village. Given that the number of Lizardmen dwarfed that of the Ogres, I didn't see the need to make them all A-rank, that would just take too much time and felt like it would be a disturbance to the natural order of things. Looking at the total population, I'd probably have two to three hundred become Dragoons while the rest became Dragonewts. Given that they were thousands of them, this felt more in line with how things should be for higher tier monsters.

A few other things were discussed, but it was nothing major. The meeting ended around sunset, and I headed for the cliff that oversaw the Goblin village, the same one that I'd built Shizue and Masayuki's grave on. It was there that I got a visit from Treyni…

*Flashback Day 3: *

"Lord Rimuru." Treyni announced her presence as she appeared in a glow of light and swirling leaves. I removed my eyes from the setting sun and turned towards the Dryad who was now down on one knee. "Please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on the powerful alliance you've formed under your name. Earning the loyalty of both the Lizardmen and the Ogres is no small feat." She praised me.

"Oh please, you were there when Abiru pledged allegiance to me, and I bet you've been expecting the Ogres to swear to me for a while now." I said with a scoff. Treyni was a bit shrewd, but at the end of the day, she always acted in my best interests, even when I didn't ask for it. While I doubt Akatsuki could have been coerced into doing it, I do wonder if Treyni played a part in the Ogres submitting to me. I quickly shook that thought out of my mind, there was no point in wondering such things now.

"Perhaps, but that still doesn't make it any less incredible. Ogres, Lizardmen, Goblins, and Direwolves, these are species that wouldn't mix under normal circumstances, and yet here they are." Treyni said as she gazed down towards the Goblin village, my line of sight following hers.

Even from this height and distance, I could see the villagers thanks to my  [Dragon Eye]  intrinsic skill. I could see the Lizardmen and goblins drinking and talking around a fire, Akatsuki talking to the smith Ogres that had staying here along with Kaijin and the Dwarf brothers, heck Abiru seemed to be enjoying petting Ranga's huge mane as he talked with Rigurd.

It was a strange sight of blended nature, and yet it also seemed just right. Like this was just the beginning of something that was meant to be much greater.

"This is the start of seeing your dream realized. Creating a nation of monsters where all species are welcome." Treyni said as she turned towards me with a blinding smile.

"Maybe, but for now, it's too soon to make them leave their homes and their way of life. I'll let them grow more comfortable with one another as the alliance develops, and then bring up the possibility of them coming together into one town." I said with a sigh.

"Will you continue to spread your influence in the meantime?" Treyni asked.

"No…the threat of Gelmude still lingers, our time is better spent empowering the forces we have now…and that includes myself." I said with a frown. "I need to get stronger and learn to properly use the skills I have acquired. But I can't do that here, not without causing too much damage to the forest."

"My lord, are you planning to leave the forest?" Treyni asked, sounding slightly concerned, and rightfully so. The situation in Jura was less than ideal at the moment, even though the Dryads hadn't heard or seen any activity from Gelmude since the Ifrit incident, it doesn't mean we were free from whatever he was plotting.

"To be honest, it's something I've been thinking about for a while now. A while back, Kaijin told me about powerful dragons that live high in the mountains of the Dwarven Kingdom. I've been eager to see how I compare against them." I said with a grin. This may sound weird, but what kind of comic, manga, and anime fan would miss out on the chance to fight a real life dragon if they actually had the power to do so?! Even if they were a dragon themself?! "Besides, it's not like I'm leaving you defenseless. I'm only more confident in this choice because of the Ogres I've named and the Lizardmen I will name. They'll be much stronger and more capable, and you can always call out to me with [Thought Communication] and I'll come rushing back in the case of an emergency."

"I suppose so…but still, the timing of your leave…" Treyni trailed, still looking concerned. I could understand where she was coming from, but I also felt that I needed to do this. I felt I was reaching the limit of what I could do in the forest without causing harm to the surroundings.

In terms of swordsmanship, I was already equally skilled to Hakurou thanks to the fast learning capabilities of my  [Replication]  skill, I'd mastered the Haze Style and its Arts. The Ogres/Kijin had been surprised by how quickly I learnt something that would normally take years, and to be honest so was I. I had no idea  [Replication]  was this efficient as a learning tool.

My own martial arts style, along with its relevant arts, were coming along pretty well. Adjusting it so I could recreate Dragon Slayer techniques with my  [Storm Magic]  hadn't been as hard as I thought, but said magic was still hard to control and so I wasn't confident in using it against a living being and not accidentally killing them. But I did need a target to practice this fighting style on, and ironically it seemed I would be fighting Dragons.

My progress with my other skills was going well as well, especially my Elemental ones. But I felt like the only way I could truly test the limit of these skills was to unleash them at full power. That was the only way I would know my limits and gain better control over the skills I possessed.

In other words, I'd hit a wall that I couldn't overcome by going the way I had been up till now, and there was nothing more I could learn from Hakurou. I needed to step out of Jura for a bit if I wanted to get stronger, but Treyni's concerns were also valid.

There had been no activity from Gelmude or his master since Ifrit, but that didn't mean they weren't lurking and watching. For all I knew, they could be waiting for me to leave before making their plans. But one thing we were sure of is that they were no longer in Jura.

"It's a gamble, but there's no telling when Gelmude will act again. It could be tomorrow or weeks from now. Staying here and just waiting would be a waste of time, time that I could use to improve and better prepare for what's to come and even the troubles that lie beyond that." I explained.

"I understand, I won't try to dissuade you any further." Treyni said with the bow of her head, I could tell she still had many reservations, but was choosing to keep them to herself.

*End of Flashback*

After that, I told the village heads of my decision to leave the forest for the Canaat Mountains found within Dwargon. Like Treyni, they had their reservations about the timing of my leave, and they made sure to tell me as much. Still I explained my reasoning to them, and that I would be spending the next few days naming a few more monsters as well as leaving something of a suitable structure behind in order to keep the peace and help keep an eye out in the event that Gelmude acted. At the first sign of trouble, I would fly back at max speed.

They agreed to this, seeing as not only would I be in a neighboring land, but they would also gain the strength to protect themselves if need be. I told Akatsuki that I would mainly be focusing on the Lizardmen and Goblins in the coming days, and perhaps even the Ogres that were currently in the goblin village. He seemed to be understanding of my reasons and accepted it without issue, the Ogre village already had a little over thirty Kijin, so increasing the strength of the other races made sense as well.

And so, the next few days were spent naming the Lizardmen to Dragonewts or Dragoons, naming new Goblins that were being drawn to the ever growing settlement that was the Goblin Village and as promised I named the few Ogres that were in the Goblin Village making them Kijin as well. That actually made me feel a lot better about the Goblin Village's defense seeing as they now had solid A-ranks with them.

Naming monsters wasn't all I did, though. Treyni, Abiru, and Akatsuki were right to be worried about the timing of my leave. There were still too many unknowns for me to be going on a personal training trip, that being said I had to go. So the very least I could do was leave them stable and somewhat prepared.

The first thing I did was talk to Souei, formerly known as the 'Blue Haired Ogre' who was close friends with Benimaru. Upon his evolution into a Kijin, he had inherited the skills [Body Double] and [Shadow Movement] from me. Skills that greatly enhanced his stealth and ninja-like abilities. As an Ogre, he had been their best scout and information gatherer regarding changes in lands surrounding their home, but with these skills, he was able to cover wider ranges and multiple directions simultaneously.

I asked Souei to form a scouting unit, one that had abilities similar to his own. I was certain that he wasn't the only one to inherit [Body Double] or [Shadow Movement] , I already knew a few Goblins, Dragonewts, and Dragoons that had the skills. His job would be to train them up as best as he could in stealth, recon, and potentially even assassination. But for the time being, I was just looking for eyes and ears to scatter throughout the forest.

To further assist with that, I'd have Apito also work with Souei. Her bee drones were excellent spying tools in a forest such as this, and their ability to transmit what they see and hear to Apito was really useful for info gathering too.

The next step was establishing some kind of order that would keep things going in my absence. While I wanted to believe that the three villages under my rule would continue to operate just fine together even if I was gone, I couldn't rule out the possibility of something going wrong and conflicts rising. And besides, there was still the possibility of humans coming to investigate the recent events or more Demon Lord subordinates coming into the forest. Some kind of leadership was needed.

And so I called in another meeting, inviting Treyni, Abiru, Akatsuki, Rigurd, Kaijin, Ranga, and Raya. We had a lengthy talk about how the alliance should be managed in my absence, and how we should react should foreigners come into the forest.

The one thing that was quickly agreed upon was that the Dryads, who had been the managers and caretakers of the forest, would be the ones to oversee the alliance. They would have full authority regarding matters concerning the alliance as a whole, and Treyni's word was to be taken as my own. The only reason why everyone was able to agree on this was because they knew the Dryads were mostly impartial, they only ever acted on behalf of the forest or on behalf of the one they served. And so the Dryads would oversee the alliance, making sure that everyone kept their end of the deals made and stepping in when necessary.

Next was the scenario in which humans came into the forest for whatever reason. Ideally, everyone wanted to avoid violence being the first thing that occurred, potentially risking more humans invading the forest. And so, it was decided that in the event that humans appeared and ventured too close to one of the domains, Treyni and Kaijin would step in and try the diplomatic route first. According to the two of them, humans didn't discriminate as much against Elemental Spirits such as Dryads or Demi-Humans such as Dwarves, along with Humans generally acknowledging and respecting the Dryads as the managers of the forest. It was a bit stupid but I suppose that's just how humans were, choosing to label one thing 'good' and another 'evil'. Still, there weren't many other options, if it prevented unnecessary fighting, then I'd let Kaijin and Treyni handle the talks with humans whilst I was gone.

Next was the scenario in which Majins from a Demon Lord's domain appeared within the forest. In this case, a show of strength was more important than plain diplomacy. They needed to know that this forest had powerful monsters that called it home. I'd leave that task to Abiru, his [Dragon Aura] should be more than enough to intimidate any Majin of Gelmude's level, add a few more A-rank monsters and the message should be clear to anyone.

Abiru would also be responsible for forming an aerial unit amongst his people who were named. Given that the Dragonewts and Dragoons would be the only monsters capable of flight under me, I felt it was important to get started on that as soon as possible. Depending on how his 'discipline' was going, I may just have Gabiru lead this unit after I rename him, something [Great Sage] had informed me was possible if the connection between master and servant was severed or if the new master was significantly stronger than the last and able to override the current connection.

Lastly was the worst case scenario, an all out war or battle between Jura and any of the surrounding nations. If something of the sort started, naturally I'd already be making my way back at full throttle, but until then someone needed to be leading the allied forces against whatever threat they faced. For this, I chose Akatsuki with Treyni and Kaiijn as his aids. Akatsuki was the obvious choice seeing as he was an experienced leader, and of a warring clan to boot. He had a leader's authority and would no doubt be able to gain the respect of those from other races too. I doubted Treyni had any military experience, but her role as overseer of the alliance and manager of the forest meant her words carried a lot of weight, something Akatsuki could use. As for Kaijin, his prior military experience in Dwargon was bound to come in handy here as well.

The three of them would hold the fort until my arrival should the worst come to pass. The idea was that they would use [Thought Communication] to reach out to me the moment things escalated to the point of violence, and I'd rush back and hopefully make it before too much damage was done to our side. Hopefully it didn't reach this point, because that would mean I gambled wrong and it would cost lives.

With a leadership structure established, all that was pretty much left to do was name a few more monsters and get them used to interacting with one another. Whilst the three villages would more or less be operating as they normally did, they would be a lot more involved with each other as part of the alliance, especially regarding trade and military forces. There wasn't much of a problem in that regard though, after getting through the initial power gaps between them, they actually began to get along pretty well on their own.

Seven days passed like this, meaning it had been ten days since the Ogres and Lizardmen swore loyalty to me. By then, I'd named a total of thirty five Kijin from the Ogre Village, along with two hundred Dragonewts and fifteen Dragoons.

A few more Goblin Tribes had also been assimilated into the continuously growing Village, increasing the overall population by another five hundred in the last week alone and putting the overall population of the Village at four thousand. I had no idea how Rigurd and the others were handling such a massive increase in numbers in such a short span of time, but glad that they were, because I had enough trouble coming up with names for the lot as it is.

Out of the large number of hobgoblins, only slightly over a quarter contributed to military strength. Meaning they were at least a thousand soldiers among them. It wasn't as many as the ten thousand Lizardmen soldiers under Abiru, but the Goblin village was still growing at an unprecedented rate, it was only a matter of time.

The Tempest Wolves were all natural predators, and thus were all easily draftable into a fighting force. For the most part, they were part of the hunting units and local guards, but from what Ranga and Raya had told me, the pack had really grown in terms of skill and strength, their elemental skills being the height of their improvement. It was something I wanted to see in action one of these days. All in all, the number of deployable wolves numbered around three hundred and fifty, the rest of the pack either being young pups or wolves not in condition for combat for one reason or another, e.g. maternity reasons.

All in all, I had a decent force under me for the time being. It would take an army of monsters of incredible strength to defeat them, or at least that was my opinion. There was still a lot of room for improvement, especially when I eventually named more Ogres and Lizardmen, but for the time being, this would have to do.

And that was how my week of preparation was spent. My preparations to leave were set for tomorrow, it had been agreed that I would take Ranga with me since nobody felt comfortable with me leaving Jura alone. I didn't really have any objections to bringing Ranga along, he had been by my side since I named him, only leaving when it was to train his own kin. And besides, it might do him some good to tag along, it might serve as a valuable training experience for him as well. It could help him improve his skill set, and fighting dragons would certainly boost his combat experience.

But surprisingly, Ranga wasn't the only one who ended up wanting to tag along…

*Flashback - Day 8*

The sky was dark in the Goblin Village, many torches lit and monsters eating various foods as they talked and laughed amongst themselves. I was seated on the rooftops of one of the Village houses with my own plate of food. I wasn't really in the mood for casual conversation, but just observing from afar seemed good enough for me.

Looking at the Goblins, it was hard to believe that these were the same fearful lot that had appeared before me, trembling and quivering as they begged for my protection. That's not even mentioning how their numbers had drastically increased over the last few months. To be honest, this place had a population large enough to be called a town rather than a village.

Their lives had drastically changed, and while I may have played a role in it, they took the opportunities I granted them with their own two hands and made their lives better than before.

"Lord Rimuru?" I was brought out of my thoughts upon being called out, it was only then that I also heard the buzzing sound that came from rapid flapping of wings. Looking to my upper left, I was surprised to see none other than Zegion descending towards my position. The large beetle gently touched down on the rooftop. "Please forgive me for interrupting your meal." He said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, I was more or less done anyway." I said, waving him off. It was true, my plate was nearly wiped clean, at this point I'd just been sitting up here letting my thoughts wander. "So, what can I do for you, Zegion?" I figured he'd be with Apito. The large bee having been assigned to help with scouting the forest with her drone bees.

I couldn't sense Apito's presence within the village though, meaning she was at the Dryad territory or something, making me even more curious as to why Zegion was here. The two were usually almost always together.

"My lord…" Zegion trailed, seemingly struggling to find the words to speak his mind. Did he have something he wanted to ask for? Or perhaps he was also concerned with my sudden leave to the Canaat Mountains. It took him a minute but he eventually found his voice again. "...my lord, if it is not too much trouble, would you grant me permission to join you and Ranga on your expedition?"

I was actually surprised by this unexpected request from Zegion. Frankly speaking, that was the last thing I thought we would be speaking about tonight.

Still though…

"May I ask why?" That was the first question that came to mind at his request. Was he that worried about me leaving the forest or something? No, Zegion had yet to show lack of faith in my strength since I named him, there had to be something else.

"As selfish as it may be, I merely wish to seize the opportunity whilst it is there." Zegion stated. "Testing my strength against monsters revered in this world, and the opportunity to train alongside you, both of these are bound to give me valuable experiences that I could learn a lot from in my pursuit for strength."

I was well aware that Zegion had a desire to grow stronger, to be of better use to me. Whether it was because he felt the need to repay me or it was simply because he was that loyal was something I was still figuring out. Perhaps he just had that warrior spirit, or maybe it was due to past experiences. Regardless, his drive was admirable, and I couldn't really think of a valid reason  not  to bring him along.

Besides, now that I thought about it, I'd yet to see how Zegion and Apito fought. I was aware that the two were powerful enough to at least be A-rank, but aside from Apito's Unique Skill, I literally had no idea about their skills and abilities in combat. I guess I was too focused on the Goblins and Wolves, and only thought of Apito and Zegion when it came to getting honey.

…that actually made me feel bad. Not to mention it was a terrible lapse of judgment on my part as a leader. Before naming the Lizardmen and Ogres, these two, along with Ranga and Raya, were the only A-ranks I had under me. I definitely should have looked into their abilities more.

"Alright, you can come along." I told him, though he couldn't quite express it, I could feel the relief and joy coming from Zegion through [Desire] . "Though I would rather you didn't tell anyone else you were coming with us." The last thing I needed was more subordinates asking to tag along.

"Of course, I will not utter a word of it to anyone." Zegion quickly responded firmly, but a second later I felt some hesitation coming from him. It didn't take me long to connect the dots.

"I suppose telling Apito is unavoidable though, given how close the two of you are." I said as I turned back towards the monsters eating and drinking in the streets below. And just like that, I felt the hesitation that Zegion had been feeling give way to relief, proving my assumption correct. The two must be really close if Zegion felt uncomfortable keeping secrets from her, from what I observed, the two had a close sibling-like relationship.

"Thank you, my lord." Zegion said in gratitude, most likely having seen through me. "I'll ensure word of my departure doesn't reach any unwanted ears."

"Good, and you better prepare yourself as well. I don't plan to stay away from the forest long, so I plan to milk this trip for all it's worth." I said as I cast a side eye towards the large beetle. Ranga had been made aware of this as well when he offered to come along, there wouldn't be any room for slacking off.

"I understand, I have resolved myself to grow stronger for your sake, my lord. I will not allow such an opportunity to go to waste." Zegion said seriously, and I could feel that resolve and determination. It looks like I had nothing to worry about in regards to him, if anything he may challenge Ranga to push himself further.

"Great, then there's nothing more to be said on the matter." I said with a smile, feeling confident in the fact that I'd made the right choice in accepting Zegion's request.

* End of Flashback *

True to his word, Zegion had only spoken to Apito of the fact that he would be leaving with me. The Dryads more than likely already knew, but they wouldn't speak on the matter if I didn't want to speak about it. And I had a feeling that Souei also knew, having appointed himself as a bodyguard of sorts to me. I always felt the presence of one of his body doubles hidden in nearby shadows. But he was good with secrets, so there was no need to worry about him talking.

And with all the necessary preparations done within those ten days, the day of my departure finally came. It was decided that I would depart from the Goblin Village and head straight for the Dwarven Kingdom and into the Canaat Mountains. So I made sure to give my final farewells and goodbyes to the Lizardmen and the Ogres threw me a huge feast two nights prior.

"Do make sure to be careful, Rimuru. The Dragons on top of the Dwarf kingdom are both powerful and territorial." Kaijin warned as he escorted me towards the village gates, with us was also Rigurd. "Especially the Dragon Lords, they are said to be Calamity class monsters on par with Demon Lords."

'On par with Demon Lords? They sound super tough, perhaps fighting one of them would be a good way to measure how I compare to an actual Demon Lord.' I thought, my thoughts immediately flying to whichever Demon Lord had been orchestrating Gelmude's movements.

《 Notice: Dragon Lords are monsters ranging from S to Special S rank that have lived for a long time, gaining the power, experience, intelligence, and dragon factor needed to evolve to their current forms from Elemental Dragons. 》

'Wait! Dragon lords evolve from Elemental Dragons?! Does that mean I could evolve into a Dragon Lord one day?!' I asked [Great Sage] in shock, before a bigger revelation hit me like a bomb. 'As it is, I'm at the pinnacle of Special A-rank, I'll probably break into S-rank in the mountains, but will it be enough to evolve?'

《 Answer: Due to the user's heritage, it's likely that the requirements to achieve evolution are drastically higher than would be considered normal. Increase in magicules and absorption of Dragon Factor is recommended. 》

The getting stronger part sounded simple enough, but increasing my Dragon Factor might be more challenging. The way I saw it I had two options, one of which was slow and the other was faster but questionable. The first was absorbing Dragon Factor naturally from the environment, unfortunately they were only two places I could think of that may have them in decent amounts. The first was obviously the Canaat Mountains, which was home to numerous Dragons, and the other was the Sealed Cave which was packed with my Mother's Magicules and most likely her Dragon Factor. The only problem was naturally absorbing would take a very long time.

The other option was to absorb the Dragon Factor of other Dragons by devouring them with [Apex Predator] . This had the added advantage of also absorbing their magicules. The only question was how many Dragons would I end up having to kill to actually reach my goal, and would it actually be worth it? I had to remember that I was also a Dragon now, so I'd more or less be killing my own kind just for more power.

'At the end of the day, I'm just too OP for my own good.' I thought with a sigh. I'd figure it out as we went. I'd already decided to do some Dragon hunting to practice my skills against strong monsters, but excessively hunting them was unnecessary.

"Lord Rimuru?" Rigurd called out, snapping me from my thoughts. I knew it had only been a few seconds thanks to [Thought Acceleration] , but it must have looked like my mind wandered regardless.

"Sorry, just thinking." I said dismissively as I waved him off before turning to Kaijin. "I'll try to avoid stirring up too much trouble."

"Please do, if you did, King Gazel would be forced to investigate." Kaijin revealed.

"Oh? Is Dwargon involved with the Dragons somehow?" I asked

"Not really, but the Dragons act as a natural defense to Dwargon, seeing as it was built within the mountains themselves. Any change in behavior from the Dragons would draw the attention of King Gazel naturally as a result." Kaijin explained, I supposed that made sense. I guess I'd have to be careful, King Gazel and I had a somewhat neutral relationship after our first meeting, but there had been promises of a potential alliance once I formed a nation. It was best not to ruin something good before it even started.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I said as I nodded my head in thanks to Kaijin. The Dwarf smith merely responded with a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

The gate soon came into view. Standing there waiting for us were Ranga, Raya, Rigur, Gobwa, along with numerous other goblins such as Gobwa. Surprisingly Benimaru, Shion, Shuna, and Souei were also here.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked the Kijin, not that I wasn't happy to see them, but we'd already said our goodbyes the day I left the Ogre Village. I didn't think they'd actually be coming to see me off.

"Father granted us leave so we could actually see you off as you left the forest, thanks to Souei we were able to organize transport to make it here in time." Benimaru explained as he stepped up.

Ah, that made sense. With Souei's skills, he could easily move between the Goblin and Ogre villages. They must have requested some Tempest Wolves so they could travel quickly. Which meant that Rigurd had known they were coming. They must have wanted to surprise me or something along those lines.

"We wanted to properly see you off as you departed." Shuna added with a smile, that also prompted me to smile.

"I appreciate it, and I'm glad you guys could make it." I responded with a nod.

If nothing came up in the forest, I may be gone for a while, a month at the most, the last time I'd been away from the Ogre Village that long was when I left to deal with the Goblin Crisis. A lot had changed since then, I'd made more friends and had even more followers. And fortunately, I wasn't leaving things on bad terms like what had happened between Benimaru and I back then.

Now it wasn't just the Goblins and Wolves that were relying on me. The Dryads, Ogre Village, and Lizardmen were all counting on me. So I couldn't let myself become complacent, they were the reason I had to improve myself, and fast too. Evidently time was not on my side.

"Alright, time to get going." I said after talking with everyone a bit more. It would be a while before I saw any of them again, and this trip was more for personal gain than the last. Ranga quickly came to my side and lowered his body, allowing me to climb on his back before he stood up once more.

"Please be safe, Lord Rimuru." Shuna said as she clasped her hands together.

"There's no need to worry, Princess Shuna, Lord Rimuru is more than capable of defeating any Dragon that stands in his way." Shion said with a prideful grin, almost as if she were boasting her own strength. "Though please be sure to bring us souvenirs, like Dragon fangs, claws or something like that, I hear they make good necklaces." She went on to add, I couldn't help but look at her with an amused raised eyebrow.

"As a Dragon myself, I'm not sure if I should take offense to the fact that you're asking me to bring back parts of my species to be used as accessories." I said, I couldn't help but find the way her face shifted to an expression of horror and humiliation to be quite funny.

"No! I-I didn't mean it like that! I hadn't even thought of that!" Shion shouted in panic as she tried to rectify her mistake, frantically waving her hands in front of her.

"Clearly…" Souei responded as he shook his head sideways. The guy was a man of few words, even as an Ogre. But I get the feeling he has become a bit more outspoken since he evolved. Or maybe that was because he reported to me directly now.

"You should try to be a bit more considerate, Shion." Shuna scolded lightly.

"Ehh? B-but…" Shion tried to defend herself.

"To ask such a thing of Lord Rimuru…" Rigurd muttered in disbelief, as if the very thought itself was a crime punishable by death.

"But I wasn't trying to…"

"You're lucky Rimuru is such an easy going guy." Kaijin said, cutting off Shion's attempt of self defense. "Most monster rulers would have severely punished you for such an offense."

"Ehh, but all I wanted was a souvenir!" Shion tried to counter.

By this point, the poor girl looked to be on the verge of tears from the guilt and shame of it all. Though, the worst part was that she couldn't tell that these guys were just messing with her. It seemed at some point they had caught onto my teasing, and decided to take it even further, though I had been surprised to see Rigurd and Kaijin getting in on it too.

"Alright guys that's enough, you've had your fun." I said, and with that the distressed and serious expressions of the four broke into laughter, or an amused expression in Souei's case. Shion looked around in confusion, clearly lost on what was going on. "They were just messing with you Shion, nobody's really upset, myself included."

"Eh?" Was the purple haired Kijin's intelligent reply as she blanked out.

"As for your request. I'm probably going to fight a bunch of Dragons whilst gone, so I might get you some souvenirs. But don't be surprised if I don't skin my own kin." I said to her.

Frankly speaking I didn't even have to physically skin the dragons. I could just have [Great Sage] separate the materials when I devour said Dragons with [Apex Predator] . It would be far more efficient and a lot less awkward for me too. Not to mention, I had a feeling that Kaijin actually wanted me to bring him some dragon materials, but unlike Shion, he was considerate enough not to ask me. If they knew I was an Otherworlder they might have been less reserved about it though, heck it was the reason I wasn't so offended by Shion's request.

"You indulge her too much, my lord." Benimaru spoke up as he shook his head sideways with an amused smile of his own.

"Do I? I just figured since I was probably going to kill a few Dragons I could do this much for her." I said with a shrug. I didn't spoil her as much as Benimaru thought. More often than not, I was strict with her, especially when it came to improving her cooking and lately in helping her manage her newfound strength, it was the only way to get things done with her. "Anyways, Benimaru, I'll be counting on you to help protect the forest whilst I'm gone."

Out of all the Ogres I'd named, Benimaru's Magicule capacity had been the one to skyrocket to astonishing levels, and he had also inherited my [Black Flame] surprisingly. If I had to properly gauge I'd say he was nearing high A-rank whilst most of the Kijin were mid. I told him to make use of the wasteland that was my training ground when practicing with this skill, given its destructive nature. It wasn't something you could use in a sparring session, either.

"Of course my lord, leave it to us." Benimaru said with a smirk, it was then that I noticed that everyone else present was also looking at me with confident expressions.

'That's right, everyone will be playing their part. There's no point in worrying too much, I should focus on my objective, otherwise there'd be no point in me leaving.' I thought, before nodding my head. "I'll leave it to all of you then." I said as I pet Ranga on the neck, a signal that it was time to go.

The giant wolf turned towards the village gates. I turned back towards everyone once more, most of them waving and shouting their goodbyes. Others were silent, read Souei, but I could see the promise to work hard in his eyes. Either way, it felt refreshing to know that I had people waiting for me to come back, which was all the more reason for me to focus on my mission. I'd done what I could to leave Jura protected in the short period of time I had. I could only hope that was enough, and if a crisis came up, that they would be able to handle it or hold it off long enough for me to make it in time.

With that, Ranga took off into a full sprint, the Goblin village and the crowd that had gathered for my leave vanishing in the distance within seconds. Our destination was the Armed Nation of Dwargon, but rather than going to its capital, we'd be entering the Canaat Mountain range. Zegion would be waiting for us a bit deeper within the forest, it was probably best that we didn't leave the village together with him. If Shion had learnt that he was coming with us, she may have thrown an actual fit and demanded to also tag along.

Zegion and Ranga would be doing their own training for the most part, taking advantage of the opportunity while it was there. Of course, I'd still watch over them, these were Dragons we're talking about, and try to teach them a skill or two if I could.

But my primary objective for this trip was to get stronger myself. And absorb as much Dragon Factor as I could from the environment. I'd set my sights on evolving as soon as possible after [Great Sage] informed me it was possible. But like all great things, I had to work for it, and be patient too.

Between Eurazania and Jura:

In this barren land between the Great Forest of Jura and the Animal Kingdom of Eurazania, a single figure could be seen walking under the scorching hot sun, it was an Orc. The ground beneath him was dry and devoid of all life.

Said Orc was tired, hungry and thirsty. It hadn't eaten in days, and there was no water in sight. But it couldn't allow itself to rest, for it was the Orc King of the Orc Kingdom of Orbic. A nation composed entirely of Orcs and one that was close to the Animal Kingdom.

But that was not the destination of this Orc King. No, he was on his way to the Great Forest of Jura, in search of the salvation of his people. For you see, Orbic had been facing a famine for a very long time now, no crops would grow, and water was a very scarce resource. It was becoming hard for the Orcs to feed themselves, especially given their abnormally large population. Life became so difficult that even the royal family of the Orc Kingdom struggled to put food on their table, as a result the Orc King would rip off his own limbs to feed the few people he could, knowing they would regenerate soon enough thanks to his skill.

Still this was not enough, everyday many Orc lives were being lost due to starvation, and he was powerless to stop it. His people resorted to cannibalism just to stay alive, eating the flesh of those that passed in a hope to live a little longer. It was an act that tore at the hearts of many, and cut deep into the Orc King's soul.

…this couldn't continue.

That had been his thought when he left home for the Great Forest of Jura. His kingdom had already been driven to the point of despair, there was no greater suffering than what they were enduring right now. Slowly withering away, devouring each other's flesh and waiting for death so you too could be devoured to sustain others. It was a level of hopelessness he could not stand by and continue to watch as their ruler and king.

And so he set out for Jura in hopes to find food and water for his people, the domain controlled by the Storm Dragon, one of the mightiest beings to ever exist. Under normal circumstances such a plan would have been considered foolish, suicidal even, but the Storm Dragon Veredia had been sealed away for more than three hundred years now, and his people were in a state of hopelessness. He was willing to take this gamble, if it meant his people would have a chance at survival.

…and should the worst come to pass, he was sure that his son would lead them well, and hopefully find the solution that he could not.

But now, after days of walking through this barren land, with no food or water. The Orc King felt tired beyond words, his body ached from head to toe and his hunger was beyond words.

'I'm…so…hungry. I could eat anything.' He thought as he tried to push forward, his steps becoming sluggish as he struggled to remain upright. Eventually his legs gave out, his body falling forward and hitting the ground on his stomach. 'No…I…have to keep…going.' The Orc King willed his body to move, tried to lift himself up, but his body had no strength left. He was tired, hungry, and burning under this scorching heat. 'I failed…I couldn't even make it to the forest. How…pathetic.'

It was then the dying Orc King heard footsteps approaching him. Unfortunately, he lacked the strength to raise his head to see who it was, but regardless he could feel the person's aura. This individual was strong, far stronger than him.

A shadow fell over him as the footsteps came to a stop right in front of him. The Orc King managed to tilt his head just enough that he could see the figure in front of him. It was a Majin, dressed in a white coat and wearing a plague mask. The Majin sighed before lowering himself.

"I think I'll give you a name, and some food." He said, immediately the Orc's senses told him not to trust this Majin. That nothing good would come from accepting whatever he offered.

"Who…are you?" The Orc King asked weakly, his voice hoarse from his dry throat.

"My name is Gelmude, and I'm here to save you, and your people." Gelmude said, adding further to the Orc King's distrust of the Majin. The fact that this Majin knew of his people's plight meant that he had targeted him specifically. It was no coincidence that he appeared just as he was on the verge of death. "Or would you rather die, leaving your people to an unknown fate?"

No, he couldn't die. Not yet, as much as he had faith in his son to lead his people, it wouldn't be right to leave such a heavy burden on him. And, as selfish as it was, he wanted to rest assured that his people were taken care of. If that meant accepting an offer from a Majin, even one as dubious as Gelmude, then so be it.

"Give me a name, I'll take that and the food." The Orc King relented. If it meant the salvation of his people, then he would gladly make a deal with this devil. He could only hope that he wouldn't come to regret this decision.

"A wise choice." Gelmude said, before laying a hand on the Orc King's forehead. "I'll grant you the name Geld, serve me well."

"Geld huh." The Orc King, now named Geld, said as he accepted his new name. Magicules flowed into him as a golden glow surrounded him momentarily.

{{Confirmed. Conditions satisfied. Commencing evolution…}}

{{Evolution to Orc Lord…Successful. Acquisition of the Unique Skill [Starved]...Successful.}}

Geld felt his hunger worsen, becoming something almost insatiable. His mouth watered as he craved to eat something, anything, that would help ease this growing desire.

Gelmude pulled a large piece of raw bloody flesh from his pocket and handed it to the newly evolved Orc Lord. Geld snatched it and immediately began to devour it, taking large bites. Gelmude was a bit annoyed at the rudeness, but decided to overlook it as he knew it was the endless hunger of [Starved] that was taking effect.

"One day you will take over the Great Forest of Jura, devour everything in your path and become the Orc Disaster." Gelmude said, though he wasn't sure if Geld could hear him over the flesh he was devouring. "Only then will your people suffer no more."

And so the final phase of his plan would now begin.

Rimuru POV:

Just like before it took us three days to cross into the Armed Nation of Dwargon, Ranga's speed and Zegion's ability to fly made the trip a breeze. I also occasionally flew myself rather than riding Ranga the whole way, it was just to spread my wings and feel the rush of the wind on my face.

I hadn't realized just how much I'd not been flying around as of late. Ever since the Ifrit incident, I hadn't really had much time to myself. Between naming monsters and setting preparations for my leave, I'd pretty much been occupied with little to no reprieve. So it felt good to take a breath of fresh air as we made our way to Canaat.

After crossing the borders, I once more debated going to Dwargon and visiting King Gazel, maybe even let him know the reason I was here, but [Great Sage] advised against it. Saying that I'd be unnecessarily delayed and might even be denied if Gazel knew what I was doing here. So we skipped the visit to Dwargon and headed into the mountain ranges above the underground capital.

"So this is it, huh…" I muttered as I looked at the mountain ranges ahead of me. I could already feel a shift in the atmosphere from here, and I wasn't even deep yet. "...the Canaat Mountains." The magicule density was definitely higher than what one would find near the mountain base where Dwargon was.

"My lord…" I felt it before Ranga even pointed it out, my head already turning up just in time to see a large Dragon flying above in the distant sky. Even with said distance I could tell it had considerable strength.

"I see it." I said, we were entering the domain of Apex predators. While I was confident in my strength against most of these Dragons I still wasn't sure how I compared to Dragon Lords. They were the only ones I truly needed to be concerned about at the end of the day. I turned my attention from the Dragon, as it flew out of sight, to Ranga and Zegion. "Now remember, our primary objective here is to improve ourselves and grow stronger, Dragon hunting is secondary to that. I'd prefer we find an open area to hone our skills and abilities first."

If I'd been by myself I may have considered fighting and eating as many dragons as possible a way of training, but I had to remember that neither Zegion nor Ranga had a skill like [Apex Predator] , they couldn't get stronger through devouring their foes, which meant practicing and honing their skills the old fashion way. They could then test their abilities against Dragons, which I'd then devour.

It was probably better this way, I'd be more focused on perfecting my existing skills and arts, as well as improving my techniques, rather than increasing my magicules and gaining more skills that I'd still need to practice and perfect. Make no mistake though, I would be doing some hunting, this was an opportunity to push into S-rank instead of staying at top Special A-rank. Not to mention the skills I could obtain, it was probably the only chance I'd get to devour and get as many skills as possible, at least I didn't see another opportunity coming up for a while.

"Let's get going then." I said as I got onto Ranga's back once more.

"Right!"

And with that the three of us made our way deeper into the mountain ranges that were home to Dragons, one of the strongest species of the Central World, in pursuit of greater strength.

---

Author's Notes:

Alright, so this chapter was pretty straight forward. It was pretty much a prelude into Rimuru's training arc within the Canaat Mountains, we can expect a lot of dragon devouring to occur there and a whole lot of skills to be acquired as well!

I debated on whether I should have Zegion tag along for a while and in the end I decided that my boy deserves a lot more screen time than what he was given in canon. Coming up with a combat style for his current form is a challenge I'm looking forward to.

Next we have the birth of the orc lord, which was more or less the same as cannon, only a little more fleshed out from Geld the 1st's perspective.

We're entering some exciting times and I'm looking forward to hearing what each of you thinks, so please comment and review!

Thank you for your support!

It's been six days since Ranga, Zegion, and I arrived in the Canaat Mountains for our training trip. And thus far things had been sailing smoothly. It didn't take us long to find a suitable spot to train within the Canaat Mountain range, so we quickly settled. It was an open plain with a good deal of space that I could use to practice even my more dangerous and destructive abilities.

I was rather surprised at first when no Dragons attacked or approached us despite us being in their territory. That was until [Great Sage] explained that the surrounding Dragons in the area had most likely been driven away by my aura. I was a bit disappointed by that, but it also worked out quite well for us. It meant that we could use this spot for our training and go undisturbed. And so that's what the three of us had been doing over the last few days.

My main focus over the last week has been getting greater control over my [Storm Magic] Intrinsic Skill. When not channeling that affinity into other skills like [black flame] , [Black Lightning] or [Black Wind] , it became a lot more volatile and destructive. As a result, I hadn't really had the chance to practice since the incident that occurred in the forest the first time I attempted to do so.

Even with [Great Sage] helping by analyzing and breaking down this ability, it took me two whole days before I had some semblance of control over [Storm Magic] in its raw form, a testament to just how volatile True Dragon Magic was.

According to the analysis done by [Great Sage] , [Storm Magic] functioned in a manner similar to the black variant of my Elemental Skills in that it functioned purely on my internal Magicules without input from those in the atmosphere. I simply had to convert my Magicules into this form of Magic and release it without channeling it through other skills in order to release [Storm Magic] in its most raw and potent form, and not by diluting it with element based skills. [Great Sage] revealed that the reason I hadn't awakened this skill at birth was because I wasn't strong enough at the time, but upon being named and evolving my body grew strong enough that I could safely channel [Storm Magic] without risking damage to myself.

The problem came with controlling such a powerful ability. When it came to the elemental variants such as [Black Flame] , I had [Flame Manipulation] to help with controlling the more powerful flame. Though it was harder to restrain the black fire when compared to ordinary flames. The same could be said for the lightning and wind variants as well. The ability to manipulate the natural elements also transferred to their stronger variants to some extent.

However, I didn't have a skill that could help me control [Storm Magic] as it was, and as a result I had to practice the old fashion way just to get some results. Even with [Thought Acceleration] and [Great Sage] running multiple calculations to help improve, it still took us two days before we were able to get results. It was far from perfect, but I was able to use [Storm Magic] without blowing up the surrounding area, and so the next four days were spent testing how I could implement this ability in combat, as well as improving my control over it.

At first, I focused on being able to integrate this volatile magic into my fighting style, which I'd finally gotten around to naming. I called it the [Ryujin Style], which translated to 'Dragon God Style'. The name in itself sounded a bit ambitious, but it wasn't like a lot of people in this world understood Japanese anyway, so I felt I could get away with it. Besides, who cares what others think? It was a simple but badass name and I was keeping it.

Back on topic, the first thing I did was try adding [Storm Magic] to my Dragon Claw technique. Said technique was purely physical art due to the fact that it was made entirely out of my aura, but by adding [Storm Magic] , it would become a [Mystic Art] , a technique that dealt both physical and magical damage. This was useful for opponents that may have a resistance to one thing but vulnerable to the other.

Putting the idea into practice was easier said than done. Managing the flow of magic, channeling my aura, condensing it around my hand and shaping it, all of that initially took more time than I was comfortable with. In a real fight, I would have been dead before the attack was ready. And so I practiced, in order to get a better grasp of channeling [Storm Magic] to different parts of my body, I also started working on a variant of Dragon Claw. A technique called Dragon Talon, which was basically the same except I was channeling my aura and magic to my feet. This way, I was practicing with all four of my limbs, basically my whole body.

Aside from that, I was also practicing projecting [Storm Magic] outward, though naturally that was proving to be tougher than I thought. The first technique I came up with was simple enough in practice but harder to control in terms of output. I called it Storm Blast, the idea was to release a condensed beam of [Storm Magic] from the palm of my hand that would strike the target and explode on impact. I got the release part down, but the technique was unrefined, as the beam was not condensed to a satisfactory level and was thus using more magicules than it should.

The second projection technique I was working on was called [Laser Arrows]. It was inspired by the 'Storm Release: Laser Circus' from Naruto. The idea was to release numerous beams of smaller but highly condensed arrow shaped beams of storm magic. The end goal of this technique was to improve its aim and accuracy to the point of being able to change the trajectory mid-attack. This would also serve as a means of measuring my progress with my control over [Storm Magic] .

Aside from that, I did continue to practice and refine my [Ryujin Style], sparring against some body doubles as [Great Sage] continued to analyze it in action. Making sure to detect and correct any flaws that she detected. I also made sure to get some sword practice everyday using the same method, the last thing I needed was to get rusty. I wouldn't hear the end of it from Hakurou if I let my blade skills diminish.

And that was how I spent the first six days of this training trip. Aside from my own training, I also made sure to check up on Ranga and Zegion, occasionally advising them and watching them when they sparred.

For Ranga, I decided to have him focus on his lightning based skills for the time being, improving their efficiency and power output. With any luck, it would also help his Magicule reserves increase through the strain of it all. His efforts definitely paid off, because on the fourth day he managed to get the extra skill [lightning manipulation] , greatly improving his skills. With his new extra skill, I decided that Ranga was just about ready to learn a new pokemon move. Thus far, the skills he had were [Thunderbolt], [Discharge] and [Wild Charge], those were three skills that were merged to form [lightning manipulation]. Next, I decided that Ranga needed a close quarters skill, one that would allow him to deal greater physical damage when fighting up close and personal.

Naturally, if that were the case, then his weapons would be his claws and fangs, meaning whatever skill he learned next would have to involve the use of his natural weapons. So we tried having him channel his lightning to his claws, in a manner similar to my Dragon Claw, and to his fangs. The progress was slower with Ranga, but he had successfully managed to acquire the skill [Thunder Fang]. The claw technique was still a work in progress, but Ranga had made considerable headway so it was just a matter of time.

Zegion had also made a lot of headway in his training. Initially, I was a bit lost as to how I was going to go about his training. At first, I planned to let him do his own thing as he had been doing in the forest, but after some thought, I decided against it. Helping Ranga out and neglecting Zegion would make me a pretty shady master, one could even see it as blatant favoritism.

And so upon our arrival in Canaat, I took the time to have a proper chat with the beetle about what he was hoping to achieve by the time this trip was over. He quickly responded by saying he wanted to be strong enough to be of more use to me, and thus he would grow in whatever way I saw best.

I was a bit stumped when I heard that, I responded by telling him the pursuit for power was an individual journey, I couldn't decide the best way he should grow, otherwise he wouldn't grow. And so I told him to train as he always had for two days, whilst thinking about what he really wanted out of this trip objectively. He had to work with a personal goal in mind, not just to appease me, otherwise he would achieve nothing by the end of it all.

And so, for the next two days Zegion trained on his own, and I couldn't help but notice that his training was purely physical. He wasn't practicing any magic or arts, it was actually kind of surprising. But it did also give me some ideas on how to further improve his training, as well as some potential Pokemon inspired arts that I felt he would benefit from.

To be honest, referencing Pokemon was probably the best option when it came to Zegion. The guy was literally a giant beetle, heck he almost reminded me of the Pokemon Heracross, unfortunately his arms and legs were still too short for hand to hand use unlike the Pokemon itself, meaning we'd have to improvise on that front.

Within two days, Zegion returned and I asked him once more what he was hoping to achieve by the end of this training trip. His answer this time was a lot more satisfactory than the last.

'I wish to use this opportunity to further cultivate my mind and body. To grow stronger physically and use the gifts you gave me to surpass my current limitations.'

Those had been the words Zegion said to me. And given the conviction behind them, I couldn't help but actually be proud, he was driven and his warrior spirit would not allow him to become complacent. I had a feeling that Zegion would grow to become one of my most reliable subjects in the coming future, and the fact that [Great Sage] agreed only solidified that belief.

Fortunately, I had already suspected that Zegion would choose to focus on his already impressive physical abilities. Despite his size and form, Zegion already possessed impressive strength that was second to Shion's when it came to pure might. He could easily topple down many trees in Jura just by flying through them. So I supported his idea of refining his strength, and [Great Sage] devised the optimal training regime that would help him achieve his desired outcome.

Aside from that, I also wanted to help Zegion increase his repertoire of techniques. Given his goal, I decided to focus on increasing his Battlewill capabilities. I had a feeling that Zegion would benefit more from Aura-based training rather than magic or skills. And so, using Pokemon as a reference, I came up with three beginner skills that I felt would suit Zegion and would be easy enough for him to learn. Naturally, [Great Sage] helped me convert these Pokemon moves into a manner that used this world's system.

The first was an Art called [Iron Head] . Much like the Pokemon variant, the goal was to have Zegion focus his Aura into his horn, to the point of it glowing with power. He would then charge forward and bust through whatever stood in his path.

The second was [Agility] , a simple technique in which Zegion would focus on lightening and relaxing his body before using his Aura to propel himself forward, allowing him to significantly boost his speed and evasive capabilities. It was basically similar to [Flash Step] but also usable whilst flying.

The last Art was [Iron Defense] , this skill took advantage of Zegion's exoskeleton which was made of Magisteel. Basically, he channeled his Magicules and Aura to significantly boost his endurance, increasing his resistance to magical and physical attacks.

These three techniques would serve as a good starting place, and so the four days that followed were spent helping Zegion learn those techniques whenever I wasn't doing my own training. I explained the mechanics of what I wanted to teach him and he started putting it into practice. As expected, Zegion was a dedicated individual, and always put heart and soul into training, eager to master these arts. I was surprised when by the fourth day he had fully mastered [Iron Head] and [Agility] . [Iron Defense] wasn't quite up to par yet, but he had made a lot of progress on it as well. It was just a matter of time.

And so here we were on our seventh day, moving deeper into the mountains in search for some Dragons to fight. I was using Shizue's mask to suppress all of my aura since that seemed to scare off the weaker Dragons. While I wouldn't mind fighting the ones that dared approach me, I had to also ensure that Ranga and Zegion got some fighting done too so they could test their strength.

I was confident that Zegion and Ranga could at least handle medium class Dragons, which were of the same rank as them, but Arch Dragons going up would be too much, as those were usually special A-rank monsters. And lastly were the Dragon Lords, that ranged from S-Rank to Special S-rank, making them quite formidable.

With me having just broken through to S-rank, I doubted I could beat a Dragon Lord when it came to raw strength alone. Fortunately, I had a wide range of Skills and Arts at my disposal as well, meaning there was a chance of winning against Dragon Lords of the same rank, but those that had grown to the point of Special S-rank were beyond my ability to match. Hopefully, I wasn't unfortunate enough to encounter one.

'I just jinxed myself, didn't I?' I couldn't help but think with a sweatdrop. I'd just have to be careful on this trip.

《 Notice: Two targets detected. 》

The alert from [Great Sage] caused me to turn my head towards a cave where I could feel two decently strong magical signatures, I could only assume that they were Dragons, and judging by their magical energy, they were mid to high A-rank. What I did find strange though was the cave's close proximity to the lower levels of the mountain range. Aren't Dragons supposed to build their nests on higher ground so they aren't easily accessible?

"Ranga, Zegion, we're going in that cave. There are two potential targets in there so make sure to stay on guard." I warned them.

"Yes master!" Ranga responded passionately while Zegion gave an affirmative nod and hum. With that, we proceeded toward the cave entrance.

The three of us entered the cave, and quickly spotted two relatively large Dragons that had brown earthlike scales sleeping, eyes closed and even breathing. They seemed to be completely unaware of our presence, something which I found hard to believe given that Dragons naturally had keen senses.

'[Great Sage]...'

《 Confirmed: The Dragons may be trying to lay a trap for the three of you. Caution is advised. 》

'I thought so…' I felt like a fool for not realizing it sooner. Just as I was about to warn Ranga and Zegion, the ground beneath us began to shift. The cave exit was suddenly shut as an earth wall rose from the ground and blocked out the exit, also blocking the only source of light. Fortunately, being in the dark didn't render me blind with my Dragon eyes, and I'm pretty sure the same rang true for Ranga whose species preferred to hunt at night, I wasn't sure about Zegion though.

《 Notice: There is no need for concern. The individual Zegion has compound eyes made of thousands of lenses especially suited for detecting the smallest amount of light in dim environments. 》

In simpler terms, Zegion could see just fine. In the end, the only things these Dragons had really achieved by locking us in here was trapping themselves and not the other way around. There'd be no escape for them.

*Foolish Human, entering our den with your pets. You shall suffer the wrath of us Dragons!* One of the dragons said, voice projected in my mind probably telepathy or [Thought Communication] , as they both rose from their previous 'sleeping' positions. Human? Shizue's mask really was effective if these Dragons couldn't even tell I was one of them. The other Dragon merely growled at us, guess it wasn't the chatty type. *Now die!*

The Dragons launched themselves at us, fangs bared and claws prepared to tear through us. As they converged on us, I leapt to the left whilst Ranga and Zegion took the right, the Dragons effectively splitting up and pursuing us.

"Master!" Ranga called out in slight concern.

"I'll be fine Ranga, you and Zegion take care of the other one whilst I play here." While I would have preferred Ranga and Zegion face these Dragons one on one, it appeared that I was the target for their ire. Perhaps they assumed if they split me from the two then I would be disadvantaged, being a 'human' and all.

"Right!" Ranga responded as he turned and joined Zegion, who'd been keeping an eye on their opponent. While it wasn't what I initially hoped for, given the current environment the matchups were probably for the best.

Both Ranga and Zegion worked best in open spaces rather than enclosed spaces like this cave. Zegion's main method of movement was flight, which required space for maneuverability and speed. Ranga wasn't as impaired, but given the size of the Dragons his full size would have been of better use for him, but him growing to full size in this confined space would only serve to restrict his movement. It was a shame, but that was the situation we found ourselves in. For that reason, I was willing to let them fight a Dragon two on one, not to mention this was their first encounter, so I could afford to be a bit lax with them.

*Foolish human, do you truly think you can defeat me?* I turned my attention back towards the Dragon in front of me, it seemed I'd gotten the chatty one of the two. The fact that I could hear his voice directly in my head was pretty annoying, too.

"Perhaps I'm not the one being foolish." I taunted with a grin, despite not being the smartest of creatures, the Dragon was smart enough to know that I was insulting it.

*Why you!* It charged at me once more, slashing at me with its claws, but I easily evaded its attacks. It continued its assault, attempting to bite or tear me apart, but I was too small and nimble for it to land a hit.

I leapt back, avoiding another attempt to bite me, its large jaws snapping shut with a loud snap. Not wasting a moment, I charged back in, my fist being coated in [Storm Magic] before delivering a punch in the beast's nose. The impact pushed the large Dragon back, its claws digging into the ground as it tried to hold its position.

*Damn youuu!*

I felt magic stir in the ground beneath me and swiftly jumped out of the way. And just in time too, as several stone spikes shot out of the ground I'd been standing on.

'That definitely wouldn't have been comfortable.' While I doubt it would have killed me, I'd rather not test the limits of my regeneration. Plus, I may not feel pain, but being impaled was bound to feel all kinds of weird. 'Still, I wonder what other earth related skills it has?'

Given how one of the Dragons had sealed the cave entrance, I could only imagine one of them had [Earth Manipulation] or something similar. Either way I wanted that skill, Earth was the only standard Elemental Manipulation skill I was lacking in my repertoire at the moment, might as well complete the collection.

I brought my hands together in front of me, aimed at the Dragon in front of me, a black halo of [Storm Magic] surrounding my wrists as I focused my energy. Within a second, I unleashed the charged up energy, numerous black arrow shaped beams were unleashed from the halo and fired towards my target. This was my [Laser Arrows] technique, I still had a ways to go before I achieved the desired level of control and flexible accuracy, but for now this would do.

Obviously, I had underestimated my own strength, or maybe overestimated my foe. The Dragon had no idea what hit him, the attack striking him before he could mount a defense, not only that but the dark beams pierced right through the Dragon's scales and going all the way out the the other side, and exploding upon impacting the ground or wall.

It took a few seconds for the dust to clear, when it did what remained in front of me could only be called a gory mess. The now dead Dragon was sporting multiple holes all over its body, its flesh and blood all over the floor around it.

《 ... 》

'...I think I may have overdone it.' To be honest, I thought I'd lowered the power enough that the Earth Dragon would be able to tank it.

《 Notice: the power of True Dragon Magic was simply too much for the target. So despite restraining your power, the potency of the attack still proved too much for the target. 》

Once more, I was reminded just how powerful my Mother's magic was. No wonder it had been so hard to control. If this was what I could do when holding back so I didn't bring the cave down on us, I didn't want to imagine what it would be like if I really let loose. I'd really have to be careful about when and where I used this form of magic.

"Well there's only one thing left to do now." I said with a sigh as I stepped towards the mutilated corpse. "[Apex Predator]!" The gory corpse was devoured by my skill. Quickly being analyzed and assimilated.

《 Analysis complete: You have gained the skills [Earth Spikes] and [Seismic Sense] from the medium class: Earth Dragon. 》

'Two skills only?'

《 Notice: Most skills, such as intrinsic skills, have already been acquired. The target is also of lower tier and thus does not possess many abilities. 》

'Ouch, ruthless much? But I guess it checks out.' Guess that means I'd have to kill more Dragons of the same class or higher if I wanted to get more skills. 'What does [Seismic Sense] do?' I had a rough idea but I decided to double check. [Earth Spikes] was pretty obvious considering I'd been on the receiving end of it.

《 Seismic Sense: This skill enables the to detect vibrations in the ground to perceive objects, people, and other aspects of their environment, essentially acting as sonar, but through earth and metal. 》

'So I was right, another sensory skill.' It was good to know that my perception was only going to get better and better. It meant even if one of my sensory skills failed me, I could always rely on the other ones. Of course, the information overload of dealing with all of them would be rather troublesome.

《 Notice: It is not a problem, I will handle everything. 》

Just like that my worries were eased, sure enough [Magic Sense] was already a skill in which I couldn't process the information on my own and had to rely on [Great Sage] , [Keen Sense] was more connected to my physical body so I could handle that myself, but [Seismic Sense] was similar to [Magic Sense] in that it simultaneously analyzed detailed information over a wide area and transmitted that data back to the user.

Perhaps it was the fact that [Great Sage] was a Unique Skill that specialized in analysis and processing that it was able to take in all this data for me on top of being available for me in every situation. Still, I realized how fortunate I was to have it with me in this new journey of mine.

'Thanks partner, I'll be counting on you.'

《 ...understood. 》

*Brother!* I was brought out of my thoughts when a loud and distraught feminine voice shouted in my head. I traced the origins of the telepathy to the other Earth Dragon that was fighting Ranga and Zegion.

To think it was actually female, this was the first time it had 'spoken' so I'd just assumed. Guess you can't guess the gender of a Dragon based on its appearance.

The remaining Dragon charged towards me in anger and fury, ignoring Ranga who it had been clashing with seconds ago. I suppose that hatred was fair considering I'd just killed and devoured her brother, not even leaving a corpse. I was prepared to retaliate but it seemed my intervention was not even needed.

Just as the Dragon leapt towards me, bearing its claws and fangs to inflict its revenge against me, it was suddenly stuck in the left side with considerable force. The impact was so strong that the giant lizard was launched completely off course and into the sidewall of the cave. When I turned to the one responsible, I was surprised to see none other than Zegion hovering where the Dragon had been a second ago, his horn glowing white, an indicator of the [Iron Head] Art he'd been practicing.

"Nicely done…" I couldn't help but mutter as I turned to Zegion in mild surprise. I knew Zegion was physically capable, despite his appearance seemingly implying otherwise, but to see him literally launch a Dragon several times larger than himself was still surprising. The attack had been well timed and executed in a soft and vulnerable spot, specifically the underside, using the Dragon's distraction and blind rage against it. Since it had been so focused on the death of its brother and avenging him, the Dragon made no effort to block Zegion, taking the full brunt of his attack.

"I'm not worthy of your praise, I still have much room for growth." Zegion responded modestly, though I could feel his elation at the praise. I decided to leave it there, since going back and forth would prove pointless.

"You did a good job as well Ranga, looks like all that training is paying off." I praised the Tempest Wolf leader as he approached me, his tail wagging excitedly at the praise.

"Thank you master! I'll keep working hard and do better next time!" Ranga responded enthusiastically.

One thing I was quickly learning about monsters, or maybe it was just my subordinates, was that they loved to be praised for their deeds and efforts. At first, I thought it was just the goblins and the confidence issues they initially had, and perhaps the Tempest Wolves and their dog-like mentality, but then Zegion and Apito were of the same mentality, and with time I noticed that the Ogres had been the same, even though they were better at hiding it behind their mannerisms.

I wasn't sure why that was, but I had a feeling it had to do with the whole 'might makes right' concept that Monsters had adopted. The strong ruled the weak, and so the weak tried to curry favor with the strong. It had become a natural instinct at this point that I doubt any of them realized it. But that also meant I had to be careful about what I said to them. If they looked up to me that much then my words could either make or break them.

…in other words it was just another layer of pressure as a leader.

Anyways back to the moment, I'd been watching the fight between Ranga, Zegion and the female Dragon with my [Magic Sense] , both of them had handled themselves well given the environment and matchup. Even with the elemental disadvantage, something Ranga discovered mid-battle, Ranga had still performed admirably.

Though both of them had taken a few hits, it was nothing serious, and they were in far better condition than the Earth Dragon. So much so that Zegion's recent attack served as the final nail in the coffin. Not that it killed the Dragon, but in that the large monster no longer had the strength to fight.

I walked up to the downed Dragon, its form limp on the ground as it took labored breaths. It was bleeding from the side where Zegion had struck it, the pool of blood slowly increasing. It obviously didn't have much time left. Still, despite its current state, it managed to fix me with a glare as I approached it.

*What…are you? That magic you used against my brother, no ordinary human could wield such dark powers.* It asked with a glare.

It was only when this question was asked that I realized I was still wearing Shizue's mask. Therefore, these Dragons had still been under the assumption I was human the whole time we fought. It was almost laughable.

I reached up and removed the mask from the side of my head, storing it in my [Stomach] for safekeeping, and almost immediately my aura flowed out like a torrent as the Dragon's eyes widened in alarm, fear, and even a sense of familiarity.

*Y-you're a…* It had more than likely picked up on the Draconic nature of my Aura and deduced my true nature.

"That's right, I'm not Human, but a Dragon like you." I confirmed.

*Why…?*

"'Why?' You and your brother trapped and attacked us first, regardless of your reasons." I answered coldly, deliberately leaving out the fact that we had come here to kill them anyway. She didn't need to know that. "Your lives were forfeit the moment you took action against us. 'Survival of the fittest', the law of monsters, that's the first thing my Mother taught me."

That first lesson was the reason I was willing to go such lengths to get stronger. If it meant killing other Dragons to become stronger then so be it, but I'd do it in moderation. I wasn't looking to wipe out Dragonkind or make enemies of the Dragon Lords, who by the way were said to be on par with Demon Lords.

"Heh…we never…stood a chance." Those were the Dragon's last words before it let out its last breath, its head falling limp with a thud.

"..." I silently walked up to the Dragon corpse, placing my hand on its large nostril. "...no, you didn't." With that I activated [Apex Predator] devouring the Dragon in a matter of seconds. It wasn't long before I got the results.

《 Notice: Analysis and Assimilation, successful. Acquisition of the Common Skills [Earth Wall] and [Burrow] has been confirmed.

[Earth wall] - allows the user to erect a barrier of stone from the ground. The density and durability of this technique depends on the magicules invested.

[Burrow] - allows the user to easily dig through and earth-like material and tunnel underground.》

《 Notice: Through the unification of the skills [Burrow] , [Earth Spikes] and [Earth Wall] , the Extra Skill [Earth Manipulation] has been successfully acquired. 》

And with that I now had five elemental manipulation extra skills. Flame, water, wind, lightning and now earth. While I was comfortable with the fact that I had variety, I knew I'd have to choose some to specialize in and others for secondary. I didn't want to be a jack of all trades but a master of nothing after all.

My Magicules and strength had increased slightly from devouring the Dragons, but given I was low S-rank, their overall power had a minimum effect. I'd told [Great Sage] to notify me if my power increased by 10% or higher as a result of using [Apex Predator], given the amount of hunting we planned to do I felt anything less wasn't worth mentioning. I'm sure the Arch Dragons and Elemental Dragons would provide more power and better skills for me. And if I devoured enough of them, I may become strong enough to even face a Dragon Lord.

I turned around and walked back towards Ranga and Zegion, I wasn't as bothered about killing Dragons as I thought I would be. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me, I'd killed plenty of people in my previous life despite being Human myself. This was no different, besides, in a place like this, I bet Dragons killed each other all the time for one reason or another, I was just another player stepping onto the board.

"Come on, let's go." I said as I made my way between the two and towards the sealed entrance. A burst of magic was all it took to break down the Earth Wall that had been used to trap us here, sunlight bursting in and filling the cave once more.

Ranga and Zegion eagerly followed behind me. These two Dragons would be the first of many kills in the pursuit for greater power. The Dragons that followed would all be stronger and of various elements, and in the days that followed I would devour them all, gaining various skills, mostly Common elemental skills based on the element of the dragon. It seemed I already had any dragon related skills, and if I was hoping for something new I'd have to fight a being higher than my current self…

…in other words if I wanted some powerful skills I'd need to fight a Dragon Lord.

Day - 21: Ogre Village - Shuna's POV:

Three weeks had passed since Lord Rimuru left us to train at the Canaat Mountains, otherwise known as Dragon's Peak. Things in the Ogre Village had gotten a lot more quiet since his leave, but the change in the Ogre Village was still visible when compared to how life was before we met Lord Rimuru. Everyone was quickly settling into the roles they had been assigned.

Souei had been tasked with recruiting and creating a group of individuals with Skills similar to his own, and not just from Kijin and Ogres, but from other races involved within the current alliance. As a result, we rarely saw him at home anymore, he had decided the best place to train those under him would be the Goblin Village, given the larger training fields there and the fact that said village was between the Lizardmen settlement and Ogre Village.

He'd come home once every few days, and share stories of his progress with us. He seemed to be enjoying his new position quite a lot. Most likely because he had been given free reign to train those under him however he saw fit, as long as results were produced.

Next was Shion, she had not been assigned to any task by Lord Rimuru, but she had been investing a large amount into her training as of late. Out of the thirty-five Ogres that Lord Rimuru had named, she and Big Brother had shown the most growth. She had proudly declared that she would become Lord Rimuru's personal bodyguard, and had been training rigorously since then. Nobody had dared to tell her otherwise and for the most part let her be, unless she was needed elsewhere.

Next was Benimaru, my Big Brother, he too had become more dedicated in his training over the last three weeks. Lord Rimuru had granted him permission to use his old training ground, a piece of land which had been corrupted by his Magicules and had yet to recover, it was there that Big Brother would practice and refine his newly acquired skill [Black Flame] , a skill that relied on his internal Magicules to create powerful black flames that burned brighter than anything I'd ever seen. It was highly destructive, I'd seen Lord Rimuru use it a few times when training, so that must mean Big Brother inherited it from him upon being named.

Aside from his prowess, Big Brother was also becoming more involved in the village affairs, taking part in helping manage and oversee the joint military training of all three settlements under Lord Rimuru. It had been agreed by all three chiefs, with Lady Treyni serving as a witness, that Benimaru was most suited for the job. Lord Rimuru had spoken of how he had high hopes for Big Brother when he named him, as a result Big Brother was doing everything he could to improve all aspects of himself and meet our Lord's expectations.

Hakurou had also left for the Goblin Village, helping both Souei and Big Brother as an Instructor. I almost pitied those under his tutelage, ever since evolving and regaining his youth, Hakurou had also become much tougher in his teachings. That much was made apparent when he was helping the newly evolved Kijin adjust to their increase in strength. His training with the other species had been just as brutal and merciless, and yet one couldn't deny the results.

Father and Mother had more or less continued their daily routines. The only differences being that father's duties also involved keeping in touch with the other chiefs for trade as well as security reasons. As for Mother, she had once more started practicing magic since she regained her power and further evolved after being named. Given that she lost her power after bringing me into the world, I'd never gotten the chance to see why she was revered as the 'Flame Empress', thus I was amazed whenever she displayed her talent in spars, her power having grown further than ever due to her evolution. The fact that she had acquired the Extra Skill [Chant Annulment] after evolving, which allowed her to cast spells without need for chanting, meant she could use spells faster and with greater ease, taking her natural talent even further.

Then lastly there was me…Shuna Hattori, formerly known as the 'Ogre Princess'. Honestly speaking, I felt as though not much had changed in my life since Lord Rimuru left. I still practiced my magic, still attended to all the duties I did before, and for the most part, I was still treated the same way despite having grown much stronger. Even though I was the only one to awaken a Unique Skill among the currently named, people still saw me as someone who was fragile and in need of protection.

Just for once, I wish people would view me as something more than someone in need of protection. I also wanted others to rely on me the same way I relied on them. And just like everyone else, I also wanted to be of use to Lord Rimuru.

And so I had spoken to Father, Mother, and Big Brother about my desire to help, I let them know of the feelings that I'd buried deep within me for a long time now and how I couldn't stand idly by while everyone else was stepping into their new roles at Lord Rimuru's side. They were initially shocked, but more than that, they were supportive and proud that I was taking an initiative towards my own future. And so we had a long discussion about what I wanted to pursue and where my talents lied.

In the end I settled for administrative work. The reason being that Father had shared with us the fact that Lord Rimuru eventually plans to establish a nation within Jura, a nation of Monsters from various tribes and races within the forest. If such a thing were to come to fruition, I felt I would be of more use to Lord Rimuru politically than raw strength. Not that I had any intention of letting myself become weak, but this is where I felt my true strength lied.

And so, I began to help my Father with his work as Village Chief. Much of it were things I was already used to, such as tending to the villagers' needs and solving disputes. Then there were other new things like paperwork that involved various aspects of village affairs, such as the recent trade system, level of production and resource acquisition in the village, various reports from our scouts and hunting parties regarding the surrounding landscape and other things that needed tending to. Surprisingly, my Father also allowed me to start attending the council meetings and would even let me have a say in matters! Normally, women weren't allowed to have leadership positions in the village, it was just tradition, so I knew my Father was bending some rules for my sake, so I would be better groomed and prepared.

All this was just for the management of a village, I needed to be able to handle this much if I wanted to be of use to Lord Rimuru as he built his nation.

"Shuna." I hear my Brother call me from behind, bringing me out my thoughts as I turn towards his approaching figure. I was currently taking a break from my duties as I watched some Ogre children playing in the fields. "Mother and Father are calling for us, apparently they have something they wish to discuss with us."

"Did they say what?" I asked as I stood from the spot on the ground I was seated on and dusted myself. Benimaru shook his head sideways in response.

"They only said that it was important." Benimaru said with a shrug. There were many reasons, so wondering why was pointless.

"Then let's not keep them waiting." I said with a nod, one Big Brother returned. With that, the two of us made our way back towards Father's office.

Soon enough we arrived. My Brother announced our presence, our Father called for us to enter from the other side of the door, and thus we entered the room. Mother and Father were waiting for us by the table, Big Brother and I took our seats on the opposite side.

"Thank you for coming on short notice, your Mother and I have something we wish to discuss with the both of you." Father said as he cast a glance towards Mother, who nodded her head in agreement and support. "As you both know, our home has undergone a drastic change since Lord Rimuru started living among us, even before we officially swore our loyalty to him."

"Yes, even before we knew of his lineage, he was quick to earn the respect and admiration of our people. His strength was something to behold and yet he never abused it or tried to take advantage of us. Everyone, from the village children to the elderly, came to hold him in high regard." I said with a small smile on my face as I thought of the numerous ways Lord Rimuru had positively affected our people. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Mother giving Father a knowing look.

"That's right, it's as you said, Shuna. He has impacted many lives in this village in one way or another, but even among us, there are those he has impacted and connected with more than others. Specifically the two of you, Souei, and Shion. Hakurou, your Mother, and I may have connected with him as well, but not as much as the four of you." Father said as he looked at Brother and I with something akin to pride. "And you in turn have given him something valuable without even knowing, companionship." I couldn't help but wonder where it was that Father was going with all this.

"Father, what is it you're trying to say?" Big Brother asked, unknowingly voicing my own thoughts. Father sighed before speaking once more.

"Because we were the first to encounter Lord Rimuru after his awakening, I'm confident in the fact that our people have the strongest ties with him at the current moment. And as I've said, his strongest relationships lay within this village." Father said, his gaze shifting between my Brother and I, though I could have sworn his eyes seemed to linger on me a moment longer before he turned away. "However, even as we speak, the Dryads are spreading word of his existence, and it's only a matter of time before Lord Rimuru leaves our village in pursuit of his own ambitions, to create a nation."

I couldn't help but frown once my Father mentioned that. I hadn't really considered the fact that Lord Rimuru would no longer be staying here once he began to seriously pursue his goals. But it made sense, the most suitable location for him to settle would be the Goblin Village. It was the best place for him to build the capital of his nation.

"It's for that reason that I'm considering further cementing our loyalty and alliance with Lord Rimuru, and relocating our people to the Goblin Village." Father said much to the shock of my Brother and I.

"Father, what are you saying?! This is our ancestral home!" Brother shouted both in shock and slight offense at the idea.

While I wouldn't have been as crude about it, I was rather shocked that Father was willing to leave behind the home we had been building for generations. And to join a village occupied by a weaker race no less. While I was more or less impartial, I didn't think many people in our village would be supportive of the idea, and I could only assume that my Father hadn't brought this topic up with the Council, either.

"I have my reasons. The first being that the two of you have chosen to walk paths that will undoubtedly place you close to Lord Rimuru, seeing the conviction and dedication in which you're doing this, your Mother and I would never dare to stand in your way." Father said with a proud smile, Mother nodding her head with a similar expression. "The same rings true for Souei, Shion, and Hakurou."

"But…"

"The second reason." Father said, silencing me with a raised hand. "As I said earlier, our people share the closest connection with Lord Rimuru due to how long he has stayed in our village, and therefore I feel we should continue to stand by his side as a people, rather than just the few closest to him." He explained. "And lastly is for our people to maintain relations or be as close to him as possible, even as he expands his influence and takes in more tribes and races from all over Jura under his rule. We earned his favor by welcoming him and giving him the closest thing to a home, it wouldn't bode well to lose that connection to other races who will also be seeking his favor."

"Still, it won't be easy to get everyone to agree with such a big decision." Big Brother pointed out. I agreed with him, this decision would change their entire way of life depending on several factors, and not many people were fond of change, especially when it came with uncertainty. People liked knowing what direction their life was headed.

"I don't expect them to agree easily, but we still have some time before Lord Rimuru is scheduled to return, so I can ease them into it." Father said, he sounded confident but I could see a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. He'd be asking his people to leave behind everything they knew, I couldn't imagine being in his position. His eyes then turned towards me. "But before I can do that, there is one more matter to discuss, something that may help convince our people to go along with the idea of relocating."

"Earlier you said something about further cementing our loyalty and alliance with Lord Rimuru, does that have something to do with it?" I asked curiously.

"Correct." Father said before his eyes met mine with reluctance and guilt. "Shuna, I have something important I need to ask of you. Something your Mother and I agreed to never force upon you, but right now I want to keep all my options open."

"O-okay? What is it?" Given how upset he was about whatever he wanted to ask me, I couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous myself. Father took a deep breath as if gathering his own resolve, before finally speaking again.

"My daughter, would you consider marrying Lord Rimuru?" Father asked with a serious expression.

"P-pardon?" I couldn't help but ask, voice tinged with shock as my eyes widened, as I felt my cheeks warm up and my face become red from embarrassment. Surely I hadn't just heard what I think I heard?! I took a moment to digest what my Father had just said, the full weight of his words finally settling down on me.

"In order to properly unite our community with that of the Goblins, who were the first to fall under him, I wanted to extend this offer to Lord Rimuru." Father continued to speak, though his voice was firm but carrying some empathy in it now, probably due to the guilt he felt. "Hakurou, your Mother, and I have judged him to be of good character. While I can't speak for the future, for now his ambitions seem well-placed and level headed, and he is strong as well, with the capability to protect not just our people, but this entire forest."

"Given his status, it's more than likely that he will receive similar proposals from other races or tribes in the future." Mother spoke up for the first time since we came in, a teasing smile on her face. "Who knows, maybe the Lizardmen have already made a move, given that Chief Abiru has a daughter and their kind's pride in their Dragon heritage. Regardless, chances are high that you won't be his only wife, but if you act fast, you may just claim the position of first wife."

"Wait! This is rather sudden, and Shuna is still young." Big Brother argued. Most likely because I was too deep in thought, trying to digest everything that had been said as my Father's proposal to even speak for myself at the moment.

"Technically she's of age, though admittedly on the younger side but she is of age to marry. We've even received a few marriage proposals from other prominent families within the village." Mother responded much to my surprise. Why hadn't I been made aware of that?!

"And why are we only hearing of this now?" Big Brother asked with a slight frown, being curious I also turned to Mother expectantly.

"As your Father said before, we didn't want to force or arrange a marriage for our daughter. We wanted her to meet someone she'd love and marry of her own accord. And so we rejected the proposals that came in." Mother explained. Hearing that explanation calmed me a bit, I was glad to see that they were being respectful of my wishes. "The same rings true in this case as well. Your Father and I won't force anything on you if you don't wish to marry." Mother said as she turned to meet my eyes, her expression gentle and reassuring, it helped calm my frantic heart and helped me properly collect my thoughts.

"I…" With my mind becoming clear and collected, I thought about the words that had been exchanged here.

I understood what my Father was trying to achieve through this union. He wanted our people to remain as close to Lord Rimuru as possible even as his influence grew. And he also hoped to use our union to convince our people to relocate for the same reasons. And if I married Lord Rimuru and became his first wife, I would be the equivalent of a Queen, ruling at his side if he permitted it. Which in turn would serve to boost our people's standing.

Despite the numerous advantages that came with marrying me to Lord Rimuru, he was still willing to give me the choice. Because they valued my own happiness over any political ambition. I could only assume that they hadn't brought this idea to anyone else, deciding to speak with us first in order to avoid outside influence and pressure. While that did make me happy, it also meant that I had a big decision to make, one that would heavily impact my future and that of my people.

All things considered, I wasn't against the idea of being betrothed to Lord Rimuru, if anything the thought made me extremely happy and my heart fluttered.

Lord Rimuru was someone I greatly respected and admired. He was strong, kind, selfless, and protective of the things he held dear. Every moment I'd spent with him had been nothing but joyous for me and always made me look forward to the next time we could spend together. Every time he was away, such as now, I'd always find my thoughts wandering back to him, be it out of concern for his well-being or a longing for his company, I just knew that I wanted to be as close to him as I could.

I wasn't quite sure when it was that I had developed feelings for Lord Rimuru, or when it was that they had developed to this extent, but I did have feelings for him. Was this love? It had to be, there was nothing else that could describe how I felt strongly for him. I found myself wanting to be my best whenever I was around him, be it in appearance or behavior, just so he would notice me more. It was because of him that I was striving to be the best version of myself now. It was thanks to him that I had gained the courage to face my previous insecurities and weakness and was now aiming to be better, stronger. My feelings for him had turned me into a better person, he had turned me into a better person.

How could I not love someone like that? How could I not want to stand by their side and support them? And so when an opportunity such as this presented itself, there was only one answer I could give…

"I'll do it. I will offer myself to Lord Rimuru… And should he accept me, I will do my best to support him as his wife." I declared with a resolute expression, before bowing my head both in respect and acceptance. Mother and Father both smiled in approval before nodding their heads accepting my choice, Big Brother looked like he had something he wanted to say but otherwise wasn't opposed to it.

Despite the suddenness of the proposal, I found myself hopeful and excited about this potential future and what it would hold. I knew I likely wouldn't be the only woman in Lord Rimuru's life, a man of his prowess was inevitably going to attract the attention of many women. But should he accept me, and allow me the position of first wife, then my place beside him would be indisputable. Even if he were to take on other wives, I wanted to be the one he relied upon the most.

Akatsuki's POV:

While I was relieved to hear my daughter agree with the marriage proposal, a part of me couldn't help but also feel guilty for putting her in this kind of position. The only reason I had even brought it up was because my wife assured me that this was something that wouldn't bother Shuna at all, if anything it was something that would make her happy.

And looking at our daughter now, I couldn't help but agree with Sakura's thoughts. Shuna had been shocked by the proposal, yes, but at no point had she been upset. Aside from her earlier embarrassment, she carried herself with grace and dignity befitting the 'Princess' of our village, and yet even I could see the hope, joy, and determination that went through her eyes as she thought it through.

If Shuna truly did have feelings for Lord Rimuru as Sakura said, then this proposal was merely us supporting her and helping her get ahead of the curve. Still, her happiness was all that mattered to me in the end, if she had refused or accepted out of obligation, then I wouldn't have gone through with it. But it seemed Shuna's happiness lay with Lord Rimuru, and she wanted to get closer to him, so there was no conflict of interest.

"I'm glad to-"

"Sir Akatsuki!"

Just as I was about to speak, the door to the office was suddenly slammed open. And a gray skinned Ogre with a single horn on his head came running in, a panicked expression on his face. He was one of the guards for the front gate.

"What is it?" I asked, my annoyance leaking out slightly at such an important discussion being disrupted in such a crude manner. But I knew this Ogre would not have done that unless something serious had happened. The panicked look on his face was evidence that there was something amiss.

"A Majin has appeared at our front gate, sir. He calls himself 'Lord Gelmude' and has come seeking the strongest warrior of our village." Almost immediately, the aura in the room shifted, my expression becoming more serious as my eyes narrowed. I turned to Benimaru, who also nodded his head upon meeting my gaze.

There was no mistaking that name, Lord Rimuru had ensured we were thoroughly warned about Gelmude and what he had done in the Lizardmen territory and how he deceived their heir. Lord Rimuru had warned us that Gelmude may return to the forest in his absence, it was the reason why we had been going to such lengths to strengthen our alliance with the Lizardmen and Goblins. So we could face whatever threat Gelmude brought with him when he planned to take over Jura.

But still, for him to come to our front gate, and alone from the sounds of it. There was only one possible reason he would do that. He might have come to seek our cooperation and loyalty for whatever his ambitions were. The fact that he specifically asked for our strongest warrior meant that he may use the same tactic as he did with the Lizardmen and Goblins, in other words he would use naming and power as a means to bargain. That likely meant he didn't know about our loyalty to Lord Rimuru, and that we had been named.

Perhaps there was a way that we could use this to our advantage? Yes, as long as the fact that we are named hadn't yet been revealed there was a chance at luring this Majin in and dealing with him. Either way, this was an opportunity we could not allow to pass, this Majin was an enemy to our Lord and therefore an enemy to us as well. Letting him slip through our fingers would be to fail Lord Rimuru.

"Father, what should we do?" Benimaru asked as he eagerly awaited my orders.

It seemed my son had also grown somewhat as a result of Lord Rimuru. Had it been before, he would have requested some men and declared that he would take care of the threat, but now he knew better.

"Let's go, I need to see this Majin for myself." I said. Benimaru nodded his head before we both stood up. I turned to my wife and daughter. "For the time being, both of you stay here. Our enemy's strength is unknown, if conflict breaks out, I'll entrust the evacuation and protection of women and children to the two of you."

Sakura frowned a little, ever since she had regained her strength and became even stronger upon evolving into a Kijin, she had also wanted the chance to show it off against an enemy. And given her prowess, I had no reason to stop her, but in this situation where a Majin was entering our gates, even she understood that the safety of our people came first. Which was why she nodded her head reluctantly. I could only nod and give an appreciative smile before Benimaru and I walked out the office, the guard following close behind.

Following the guard to the village gates, I noticed that a lot of our warriors were already gathered by it, mostly Ogres with six Kijin in sight, including Hakurou.

*Where are the other Kijin?* I asked Hakurou through [Thought Communication] as I approached the individual in front of him. The Majin was just as Lord Rimuru had described him. White coat, plague mask, small stature, and a cane. There was no doubt this was the Majin Lord Rimuru and the Dryads had been searching for.

*They left for the forest to train with Shion. I've already sent someone after them. Souei and two others are hidden and ready to act if need be* Hakurou reported back. I had to resist the frown that I was tempted to give. Given the enemy before us, I would have prefered to confront him with our full might. We would just have to do with the manpower that we had at the moment, the Ogres present were not weak either, just because they had not evolved yet didn't mean I could not count on their strength.

"Greetings Majin. I am the Chief of this village, please allow me to welcome you." I said with a short bow. It hurt my pride to bow to this scum, but if it would lure him into a false sense of security and help end him, then I would gladly swallow that pride. "May I ask how I should address you?" I asked.

"I am the great Lord Gelmude, and you… you're a Kijin, are you not?" Gelmude asked in minor shock as he looked at me, before looking at my son, Hakurou, and the few Kijin currently present. "To think there would be many of you, I heard that Kijin were rarely born from Ogres." He spoke with a small amount of awe.

As I suspected, he didn't know that we were named, and that our village is loyal to Lord Rimuru. Otherwise, he would have never come here.

"Compared to the rest of the village, the six you see before you are the only Kijin." I said, concealing our strength and might. "May I ask what it is that brings you to our humble village?"

Gelmude quickly regained his composure as he made eye contact with me. "I have been sent on behalf of my lord and master, a Demon Lord of great strength and influence, and I have come here to make an offer for your people. As I'm sure you're aware, the Storm Dragon has vanished, along with the protection it gave to these lands. There have been many whispers and talks about individuals who want to seize this opportunity to claim this land for themselves. With many nations surrounding this forest, it was an inevitable outcome. But rejoice, for my master has come to offer you salvation!" Gelmude said with a hand pressed to his chest and the other stretched out in an overly dramatic manner. As a leader, I was not impressed.

"And what exactly are you proposing?" I asked, though I could already tell where this conversation was heading, as this was the same proposal this fool made to the Lizardmen heir in his attempt to sway their people to his side. Playing on the uncertainty and tension since Lady Veredia's disappearance to build forces to conquer the forest by promising names, power, glory, and stability to those who would follow him, unaware that Lady Veredia had left Lord Rimuru to rule and protect the forest in her place.

"My master does not wish to see the forest fall into disarray given that it acts as a valued buffer between Human Nations and Demon Lord territories to keep the peace, but the non-aggression pact prevents him and his army from operating here. So he asked me to manage the forest in place of Lady Veredia." Gelmude arrogantly proclaimed, much to our internal disapproval, but we keep our composure. "Pledge yourselves to me and I will offer a name and power to your greatest warrior, so that they can aid me in managing and protecting the forest. With that, the future of your people will also be secured. A great opportunity, yes?"

To be honest, despite his strange behavior, this was a rather compelling argument. Had I not met Lord Rimuru and had it been a less suspicious individual, I may have actually agreed to the terms. But only if it had come from a sensible individual. Gelmude was clearly anything but sensible.

"Indeed, most would be foolish to turn down such a compelling offer." I said, to which Gelmude nodded his head smugly multiple times, probably assuming that I had already agreed. "But I must politely decline. For you see, our people already have a master. One whom we intend to serve for an eternity."

No sooner than I finished speaking, multiple strings of steel threads erupted from the ground around Gelmude and wrapped around the unsuspecting Majin faster than he could react. Before he knew it, his arms were tightly pressed against his body, and he was unable to move. His midsection was wrapped in multiple layers of threads, the threads were anchored to the ground which prevented him from moving around.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!" Gelmude asked as he struggled against the threads. "Do you know who I am?! Who my master is?! If you release me and prostrate yourselves, I may just forgive you!"

"Our village only acknowledges and serves one master." My son, Benimaru said as he stepped up beside me, "We serve the great Rimuru Tempest, ruler and guardian of the Great Forest of Jura."

"Guardian?" Gelmude muttered, there was a hint of recognition in his voice. Unfortunately, I could not see his face due to his mask and thus I was not able to enjoy the look I was sure he was making. "No, no, nononononononoooo! First he ruins my attempts to gather subordinates, then he foils my plan for the two Heroes, and now I find out he has powerful allies in the forest!" Gelmude rambled in distress, as he began to move more frantically in an attempt to escape. His Magicules erupted in that moment, while not extreme, it was still greater than that of anyone present, a significant threat indeed.

"Twice now you've escaped the wrath of our Lord. We will not let you escape a third!" I shouted as I swiftly drew my sword and charged at Gelmude. Intent on ending this with one strike, I'd cut his head right off while he was still vulnerable.

"It's a shame…" Gelmude said faintly as he stopped struggling. It was only thanks to years of experience and honed instincts that I was able to sense the danger before it even came.

I planted my feet firmly into the ground, halting my charge towards Gelmude before swiftly leaping back. And just in time too, a sudden pressure was unleashed by Gelmude, a dark aura unleashed with such force that it pushed back all that were within close proximity of him, forcing many of us to step back.

'As expected of a Majin who serves a Demon Lord…his Aura is quite formidable.' I couldn't help but think. Despite this, I could tell he was only slightly stronger than us Kijin, if we could overwhelm him with numbers then perhaps we could win without casualties. But that was only with Kijin, the Ogres wouldn't match up to this kind of power.

"To think you would dare to defy me! ME! The great Lord Gelmude!" Gelmude shouted as he began to laugh hysterically, the surge of power he was unleashing allowing him to break through the sticky steel thread that bound him with relative ease. A dark magic circle formed on the ground beneath him, an ominous aura emitting from it that instantly put everyone on edge. "You will suffer greatly for your insolence. Every single one of you shall perish, and your corpses shall serve as nourishment in the grand scheme of my plans! Now die, [Demon Summoning] !"

Four smaller magic circles appeared in front of Gelmude and from them rose four Demons. Three Lesser Demons and a single Greater Demon, I could tell this much just by judging their aura alone. The Lesser Demons were stronger than our Ogre brethren but still significantly weaker than us Kijin, while the Greater Demon had a large amount of magicules, perhaps on par with my son, who had the largest magicule capacity of us Kijin.

"My offering to you is the lives and souls of all the monsters present! Kill them all but leave their bodies intact!" Gelmude commanded with the wave of his hand. I couldn't help but be confused with his wording.

This was the second time he had mentioned leaving behind our corpses. What did he intend to do? Was he truly so vile that he would desecrate the dead?! Whatever it was, he couldn't be allowed to achieve his goal!

"Father, look out!" Benimaru came in front of me and blocked the razor sharp and long claws of one of the Lesser Demons that had been aimed for my head. This immediately brought my focus back to the battlefield as I shook my head sideways.

'This is not the time to be distracted, I should know better.' I thought as I held onto my blade with both hands and assessed the situation, my people would be relying on my guidance as a leader.

The Lesser Demons had scattered and began attacking indiscriminately, but it seemed as though they were mainly targeting Ogres. Despite being entities of lesser ego, their natural instincts were still leading them to attack weaker prey. Fortunately, our larger numbers and the supporting groups were enough to hold the Demons back. Unfortunately, upon seeing their disadvantage at close range, those Demons switched to long range attacks, taking to the sky with their wings where they would be out of the reach of our weapons, truly a cowardly tactic.

Though truthfully speaking, I was more concerned with the Greater Demon that stood before me and my son. It hadn't moved an inch since being summoned by Gelmude and remained in front of the Majin the whole time, though from its posture one could surmise it wasn't protecting him. No, rather it was just observing the conflict around it with satisfied glee, something that its summoner didn't seem to appreciate.

"Hey you, what do you think you're standing around for?! Kill those monsters already!" Gelmude shouted at the Greater Demon, the Majin seemed to be a bit out of breath. Though given that he had managed to summon four Demons, it was most likely a case of Magicule deficiency.

'This is our chance to attack while he's weak and vulnerable!' I thought, my eyes locked with that of my son, a silent message passing between us before we nodded our heads and dashed forward, blades drawn.

The Demon turned its attention towards us and smirked, a dark yet excited look in its eye as it stretched its left hand towards us. Black energy condensed around his hand before a dark beam was unleashed towards us. Benimaru and I dodged to opposing sides, the attack slipping between us and causing a sizable explosion behind us, fortunately there had been no one there, otherwise they may have been critically injured or worse.

We pressed forward, eager to close the gap and claim the advantage of close quarter combat, preferably before our opponent decided to fly into the sky like his minions. If this particular Demon was allowed to get an aerial angle then we would be in big trouble, its magic power was far greater and thus would be capable of more destruction.

The Demon launched another beam, except this time it aimed for the ground in front of us, rather than a direct attack. Once more we leapt out of the way, but the blast radius was enough to make me lose my balance, and thus my footing. I fell onto the ground, rolling a few times before rooting myself and turning back to the battle once more. I regained focus just in time to see my son about to throw a small black flame that seemed to be vividly dancing in the palm of his hand.

"Son, no!" He was still learning how to restrain his power, if he unleashed that kind of force here, there was no telling just how much damage he would do.

…unfortunately I was already too late.

"[Hell Flare] !" The black ember was thrown at the Demon without hesitation. Despite the size of the initial flame, even the Demon seemed weary of the attack, or was it perhaps because of my reaction? Regardless, wings quickly sprouted from its back and it flew up to avoid the perceived danger.

"H-hey!" Gelmude shouted in panic as he swiftly followed after the Demon, and not a moment too soon.

Once it reached the area where the two enemies had been before, the black flame erupted into a large explosion that covered a large area. The explosion shook the ground and the intensity of the heat could be felt by all those around its large spherical shape, and yet beside that there was no damage done outside the black eruption of flames. Almost as though the pressure of the explosion was not being released outwards, but being used to further fan the flames within itself. This went on for a few seconds before the black flames vanished almost as quickly as they came, leaving nothing but a large scorching crater in its place.

Unfortunately it had missed its targets, both Gelmude and the Greater Demon hovering in the sky outside the blast range. From what I could tell they were both shocked and weary from Benimaru's display of power, something that brought a smirk to my face.

"Wh-what the heck?! Nobody told me there were monsters this strong within the forest." I heard Gelmude mutter, a hint of fear in his voice. While I would no doubt scold my foolish son for his actions later, I was proud of his ability to instill fear within the enemy. "What kind of flames were those? Even for a Kijin, it was abnormal! Could it be the effect of some special skill?"

"Hehehehe, how interesting…" the Greater Demon suddenly spoke for the first time since its summoning. I had assumed that it couldn't speak, much like the Lesser Demons, so I was shocked when I heard it. "To think there was such a powerful magic user in this pitiful village. I suppose I will be entertained after all." The Demon said as it eyed Benimaru in intrigue, smirking with its sharp crooked teeth, making me step up beside my son.

Numerous dark magical spheres then formed around the Demon as it spread its arms wide, each about the size of a head. My eyes widened in alarm, recognizing the wide range magical attack for what it was, and I turned to the warriors present.

"Everybody get back!" I warned out of panic, but it was already too late. The Demon's smirk grew a fraction wider, the glee and satisfaction in its eyes disgusting, before it launched the dark energy balls towards us.

The effect was instantaneous as numerous explosions erupted throughout our ranks, the energy balls literally raining down on us, the screams and cries of my warriors audible through those explosions. One of the explosions went off near Benimaru and I, but we were able to jump out of the way and avoid being injured. Dust and smoke filled the area and clouded our vision, forcing us to rely on our other senses.

"Look out, the Demons are attacking again!" Someone shouted, what followed was the sound of clashing weapons, pained grunts, and the occasional explosion.

"Protect the injured whilst they heal up, and treat those that cannot tend to themselves!" I commanded in frustration. We were fortunate that we had the Full Potions that we had been trading, I'd made it a point to ensure that each of my warriors carried at least one of these, regardless of their post. After all, they were just as vital as a weapon and could be used to heal even the most crippling of injuries.

"Struggle all you want, but it's useless before my might!" The Greater Demon shouted, with the dust clearing a bit, my eyes narrowed in concern when I saw a much larger sphere of dark magic hovering above the Demon, its hand stretched out towards it. "I'm curious if even you Kijin can survive this next attack!"

That wasn't good, the last attack had sent us into disarray and split us off, this dust cloud was limiting my people's vision and ability to collaborate and now the Lesser Demons had been thrown into the frey to take advantage of all this. An attack of this scale wouldn't be easily avoidable, judging by the energy alone, it would damage a decent portion of the village!

"Not so fast, Demon!" A loud, familiar, feminine voice echoed as a shadowed figure swiftly leapt out the nearby treeline and into the air towards the still-flying Greater Demon and Gelmude. Swiftly closing the gap and appearing between the unexpecting individuals.

"Shion!" My son shouted with a relieved smile. Indeed it was Shion, who had been absent this whole time along with many others. If she was here, then that meant the remaining Kijin were not far behind.

"What th-?!" The Greater Demon wasn't able to turn in time to intercept Shion, the purple haired raised her right leg high and swung it down on the defenseless Demon.

The strike was nothing short of incredible as the Greater Demon shot towards the ground faster than my eyes could see. The impact with the earth's surface was literally ground-shaking as a dust cloud formed on the crash site. Shion fell towards the ground, but not before casting a deadly glare towards Gelmude, who'd hovered away in shock and fear as soon as she struck the Greater Demon. She landed on the ground not too far from the Greater Demon.

"Another powerful Kijin?! What in the world is going on here?!" It seemed Gelmude was starting to panic, it was almost amusing to watch. But he seemed to calm down slightly, rambling to himself in hysteria. "No, no this is good! The stronger they are the stronger Geld will be! Yes, yes, they'll all serve as nothing more than fodder for my plans. But for now I must retreat, I'll have my revenge soon enough, the great Lord Gelmude shall not forget this insult!"

Before I or those present could even utter a word or react to stop him from leaving, the Majin shot into the sky vanishing in mere seconds.

"Curses…we failed." I couldn't help but swear with a scowl. I had hoped to put an end to all this today.

To be able to bring good news to Lord Rimuru and prove our worth to him as a warrior clan. But in the end, Gelmude had escaped us, despite our superior numbers and strength. Him summoning Demons wasn't something I had accounted for, and in the end, he used those Demons to escape whilst keeping us distracted. I shook my head to rid myself of such thoughts, despite the disappointment I couldn't dwell on his retreat, they were currently more pressing matters to be dealt with, namely the Demons still present.

The Greater Demon was still within the large crater that Shion had kicked into, immobilized for the time being, but I wouldn't be able to relax until it was sent back to the Demon Realm. That thing was currently the biggest threat present.

"Benimaru, this is all your fault!" Shion suddenly shouted out of the blue as she pointed her finger at my son, who was as perplexed by the sudden accusation as I was.

"What are you talking about? How did you reach that conclusion?!" Benimaru asked, taking slight offense to the accusation, I knew that he knew better than to take anything Shion said at face value, but even I would have taken some offense to that.

"You took too long to defeat that Demon over there!" Shion shouted as she pointed at the downed Greater Demon. "If you had done so quicker, then that Majin wouldn't have escaped!"

Ah, so that's what this was about. Shion was well aware that Benimaru was just as strong, if not stronger than the Greater Demon. But my son currently doesn't have full control over his power, and in such a crowded battlefield, not to mention within the walls of our own home, his power would have done far more harm than good.

Shion had a similar problem, but her lack of restraint was in her physical abilities. It was something Lord Rimuru had been helping her with before he left. Since evolving, her physical prowess had grown to the point of not being able to restrain herself appropriately. She had improved greatly though, to the point where only her target would suffer the brunt of her power.

For that reason, making a comparison between the two was not fair, especially given the current situation. Benimaru's attacks were wide range and highly destructive, while Shion was to focus on a single target and be equally destructive.

"Shion, Benimaru, enough. This is neither the time nor place." I said sternly after watching them go on for a moment. Honestly, kids these days, arguing in the middle of the battlefield... The two had the decency to at least be ashamed of their actions.

Despite the words exchanged, I could tell there was no real malice behind them, it was more of a squabble between friends and rivals than any true casting of blame. The two of them had been close friends for too long for something like this to break their bond.

Though I would never tell this to my son, Shion's father had once come offering her hand to him, back when they'd both reached the age of marriage. While we denied for the same reason we'd denied Shuna's suitors, I also had the feeling that Benimaru and Shion didn't and wouldn't see each other that way. Plus, I had a feeling pairing them together would not have ended well for the village. At the time, both of them were impulsive and tended to act before thinking. Then there was the fact that Shion's culinary skills back then still left a lot to be desired.

To be honest, I was more concerned about the words Gelmude had said just before he left. He seemed happy to know that there were many strong folk in our village, delighted even. And since the very beginning, he had emphasized leaving our bodies mostly intact, even if we were killed. I had a bad feeling that something terrible was coming our way, something far more dangerous than just Gelmude and these Demons. And the worst part is it was all part of Gelmude's plans. If we had caught him we could have questioned him, but we couldn't even manage that.

There was a storm brewing in the forest…and it wasn't the kind the residents of Jura associated with our guardian.

"Benimaru, look out!" Shion's sudden shout snapped me out of my thoughts as I turned my head just in time to see the Greater Demon from before rapidly charging towards my son who had turned his back to it at some point.

I couldn't help but let out another curse as I immediately ran forward, pushing myself as fast as I could, but I knew I wouldn't make it in time. However, before the Greater Demon could strike him from behind, he was suddenly pushed out of the way by none other than Shion herself. Unfortunately, in doing so she put herself in the Greater Demon's path, and the creature didn't seem to mind at all as it continued to charge towards the purple haired Kijin who was wide open.

"Hahahaha! While I would have preferred the redhead for his magic, your powerful body will do just as fine, girl!" The Greater Demon shouted as its body glowed red as it neared Shion. Its body then transformed into pure energy before engulfing Shion's entire form.

"Aahhh!" Shion screamed in pain as she suddenly clutched her head and fell to her knees, her body twitching slightly as the red aura that had surrounded her form started to turn black and darker in nature.

"Shion!" Benimaru shouted as he tried to approach her, only for Hakurou to suddenly appear in front of him and block his path with an outstretched arm.

"Don't get closer, the Greater Demon is attempting to possess her." Hakurou warned with a concerned expression.

"What?!" Benimaru shouted in alarm as he turned towards Shion, who seemed to be resisting the influence of the Greater Demon's attempts.

I had already figured as much when I saw the Greater Demon's aura suddenly envelope Shion. [Possess] , an Intrinsic Skill that all Demons, maybe all Spiritual-Lifeforms have. It was a skill that allowed a Spiritual Being without a material body to forcefully take over the material body of another being.

Normally, it was done by higher level Demons in an attempt to get bodies that would allow them to dwell in the physical world for longer durations. However, if the body they tried to take over already had a soul, then it basically became a battle of souls for the body. One would win and claim the body, and the other soul would be destroyed and forever lost.

The Greater Demon had been strong, in terms of magic power, but it hadn't expressed a strong ego aside from its desire to fight strong opponents. As for Shion, she may not be the sharpest amongst us but she was still strong, expressive, and very stubborn. Ideally she should be at an advantage.

The possession would most likely fail…

'I sincerely hope it fails.' I couldn't help but think. 'Should the Greater Demon take over… I'll have no other choice…' I'd have to put her down. The amount of power Shion possessed was much too dangerous to allow a Greater Demon to take over her body.

To my knowledge, her strength was surpassed only by Lord Rimuru and Benimaru, though only barely in the case of my son. Should the Demon successfully possess her, then our whole village would be at great risk. Logically speaking, it was better to cut her down now, whilst she was still vulnerable due to warring souls within her body. But…if there was a chance that Shion could prevail over the Greater Demon, then it was worth the risk to wait for the final outcome. Despite her quirks, she was a well loved member of our community, a close friend to both my children and more importantly to Lord Rimuru. For that reason alone, I was willing to gamble, and put my faith in the strength of her spirit.

And so Hakurou, Benimaru, Souei, and I could only watch as Shion writhed on her knees, the malevolent aura surrounding her body flickering on and off occasionally. During this time, the three Lesser Demons had been taken care of by the others, making their bodies vanish as they were forcefully returned to the Demon Realm. At this point, everyone was either watching the situation with Shion or tending to the wounded using potions.

I was glad to see that there had been no actual casualties on our end despite the onslaught of magic attacks from the Demons, most likely it was mainly thanks to the quick use of potions that prevented any injuries from being serious enough to become fatal. Even when he was not here, our Lord was still helping our people.

"Somethings happening." Souei suddenly said, bringing my attention back to Shion.

The black aura which had been surrounding her body vanished, and in its place exploded a dark purple aura. Its very presence was dark and malevolent, and it was slightly stronger than what Shion had beforehand. And yet it carried no hostility? Had she done it, had she managed to actually prevail and prevent the Greater Demon from possessing her?

"Shion?" As leader of the village I stepped up myself and slowly walked towards her, making sure to be cautious and keeping my hand on the hilt of my blade just in case. "Are you alright?" I asked after a few seconds.

She was panting, sweating and looked like she was about to collapse at any second. But this could be the result of Shion and the Greater Demon fighting for control over the body, I still had no idea who the actual winner of that internal conflict was. At least not until she shakily raised her head and her eyes met mine.

"Oh…h-hey Chief." Shion greeted me with an extremely weak and tired smile, and just like that all my worries were soothed. Shion was one of the few people in this village who addressed me so casually, even when using my former title, most likely as a result of her long friendship with my children and her free spirit.

But more than just that, despite the visible fatigue in her eyes, I could still pick out the child-like innocence in them, along with the pride and joy of her accomplishment. This assured me that it was Shion that was currently in control and that she had indeed emerged victorious. I turned towards my son and the others who had been watching nervously and gave them a nod, signaling that it was safe and that Shion was okay.

"You had us worried for a moment there, but I'm glad you managed to come back to us." I told the girl as I placed a hand on her shoulder. It was hard to believe just how fast these kids were growing up, I doubt even I or Hakurou would have had the willpower needed to defeat a Spiritual Lifeform in a battle of souls.

"Hehehe, that Greater Demon…didn't stand a chance. After all, I'm going to be…Lord Rimuru's…bodyguard." Shion said with a weak grin as she struggled to remain conscious.

'I see…so that is what's driving her.' I couldn't help but think with a smile, once more Lord Rimuru seemed to be the reason why my people were pushing themselves further and further.

Shion had mentioned it time and time again that the position of being Lord Rimuru's bodyguard would be hers in the future. Many people hadn't taken it seriously, but I'd seen the way she had been training. She was serious about this, and given her strength and close relationship to Lord Rimuru, she would more than likely get the position.

"I'm sure Lord Rimuru will gladly give you the role." I said with an amused smile, noting her increasing struggle to remain awake, I decided to relieve her. "Why don't you go ahead and rest now, you've done enough, the fight is over."

"I do feel a bit…yyaaaawwwnnn…sleepy." And just like that, she was out. Falling into slumber with a smile on her face.

I couldn't help but let out a sigh as I stood up and stepped back from Shion, allowing my son to pick her up and take her somewhere to rest. There was no doubt that a change had occurred within Shion's body, the Greater Demon had merged its energy with hers and despite the fact that Shion had come out on top, she seemed to have taken on some of its power judging by how much darker her presence seemed compared to before. It would be important to keep a close eye on her for the next few days. Just to ensure she hadn't been negatively impacted by this change.

'I sincerely hope that Lord Rimuru can complete his training and return soon. What Gelmude stated clearly indicates that something is coming, and it won't be good for us or the forest.' I thought in concern, while the rest of my villagers returned to their homes to rest. I would have to share this news with other members of the alliance as soon as possible. Whatever Gelmude was planning, whatever threat was coming, I had a feeling it would take all of us to come out on top.

Day 26: Rimuru POV - Cannat Mountains:

It had been almost four weeks since I left Jura along with Ranga and Zegion, and a little over two weeks since we started fighting and hunting Dragons as means of training and growing stronger. Ever since our first encounter with those medium Earth Dragons, we had encountered dozens more Dragons of various sizes and elements.

Lesser Dragons, Arch Dragons and Elemental Dragons, we'd encountered them all. After they were killed, I would then go on to devour them of course, gaining multiple elemental skills in the process. Fire, earth, water, wind, ice, lightning, etc., the types of Dragons we encountered greatly varied, and the Skills I got from them also varied as a result.

I usually let Ranga and Zegion handle the lesser dragons seeing as they were of similar rank with the two, with some being weaker. With Arch Dragons, which ranged from high A-rank to low Special A-rank, I'd help out whenever I felt it was too much for the two to handle but for the most part I'd let them deal with it for the sake of learning to deal with slightly stronger foes. As for Elemental Dragons, which were the rarest of the lot, I usually handled those ones myself. This was so I would also have a means to test my own progression.

The amount of Magicules I'd gained from devouring all these Dragons was no small amount either. According to [Great Sage] , my total Magicule capacity had increased by 2.36 times of what it was when I first started this training camp. Though surprisingly, I was still on the lower end of S-rank despite my power increasing by over twice as much. This gave me a rough idea of how large the scale of S-rank was, my power would have to multiply several times over just to reach the peak of it.

Overall, I was satisfied with the progress I was making with my training, and felt I was making good use of my time. Using [Apex Predator] to grow swiftly may seem like a cheat, but in a world where the strong rule the weak, one had to play all the cards they had available to quickly rise to the top. So I felt no guilt with the methods I was using.

Aside from me, Zegion and Ranga had also made great strides in their own training, with Ranga having crossed into high A-rank and Zegion was at its peak and territory on the verge of crossing into Special A-Rank soon. Though finding Dragons to fight was getting trickier since it seemed some Dragons may have detected the power I exerted when I defeated those 2 Earth Dragons. I could sense the presence of other Dragons as we continued to explore and train, but even with Shizue's mask to help in suppressing my Magicules and Aura, these Dragons seemed to immediately retreat if I started to walk in their direction. It may be that they were communicating amongst themselves or something, but clearly word of our presence had gone round the area, and now they were avoiding us like the plague.

…which I had to admit was cowardly for Dragon species which were usually portrayed as powerful and prideful creatures.

'I guess we should have been more subtle and killed less Dragons. It's becoming hard to find, let alone approach one since they keep running off on us.' I thought with a sigh as Ranga, Zegion, and I watched three Arch Dragons flying away into the distant mountain range. They'd been flying our way seconds ago but seemed to turn around just as quickly, more than likely sensing Ranga and Zegion, since it was impossible to detect me with Shizue's mask. But if they were aware of my presence even without sensing me, then it made sense they would turn tail.

"What do we do now, my Lord?" Zegion asked, sounding both frustrated and annoyed. It seemed even he had had enough of the cowardice being displayed by these overgrown lizards.

"There's nothing to do but press forward." It was a gamble, the deeper into the mountains, the more dangers that would await us.

And so with that we made our way deeper into the hornet's nest. We kept on going for a few more hours with no Dragons in sight, surprisingly they all seemed to have vacated the current path leading to the mountain's summit, which was strange in itself.

…at least that's what I thought, until the reason why was made clear to me.

《 Alert: Massive Magicule Presence detected. 》

I felt it not a second later, the large and intense aura that was making a beeline right for us. Soon enough the entity responsible came into view, flying right above us and blocking our view of the sun.

It was a Dragon.

A very big dragon. Not as big as my mother of course, but definitely three times larger than the Elemental Dragons I had faced before. The power it was exuding truly was immense, definitely much greater than my own by a large margin.

'[Great Sage] ...is that what I think it is?' I couldn't help but ask as I watched the dragon fly past us before tilting sideways as it turned back towards us and hovered in mid air. Each flap of its wings created a mighty gust of wind that had Ranga digging his claws into the ground and Zegion struggling to stay in the air. Despite the wind, I was finally able to get a much clearer look at the Dragon.

The Dragon's body had lustrous scales that shimmer with various hues of purple, from deep royal tones to lighter lavender, creating an eye-catching palette that glistens in the light. It was no doubt female just by looking at its softer features and slender build.

Around her neck and along her spine, patches of soft, velvety fur add a unique texture, transitioning from a rich plum color at the tips to a lighter shade closer to her scales. This fur enhances her elegant silhouette and provides a striking contrast to her sleek, scaled body.

《 Notice: Judging by the size and Magicule capacity this Dragon is most likely a Dragon Lord. It's magicule capacity is four times greater than your own, extreme caution is advised. 》

"Ranga, take Zegion and hide in my shadow. This foe is too much for the both of you." I said as I steeled myself for the potential battle to come. This truly was the worst case scenario, I probably should have expected to draw the attention of a Dragon Lord with all the Dragon killing I'd done though.

"Master, I've already tried. But something is preventing me from entering the shadows." Ranga explained much to my shock, as I couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

《 Notice: Spatial interference has been detected in the surrounding area. Teleportation or ranged movement techniques have been rendered unusable. Source of origin, the Dragon Lord. 》

'Spatial Interference huh, that's a new one.' I couldn't help but think as I turned to glare at the Dragon, a bit of sweat going down my forehead. That meant we were more or less trapped. The Dragon smirked, almost as though it was picking up on my distress. 'Zegion and Ranga won't be able to touch this Dragon, if they interfere they'll be killed.'

The Dragon suddenly begins to glow, and instinctively I prepare myself for an attack of some kind, but instead I'm surprised when its enormous figure begins to shrink, becoming smaller and smaller and taking a feminine humanoid shape. Her hair bright purple with lavender tips, a reflection of the fur of her dragon form, her eyes violet with slights in the middle of her pupils. Her current form resembled that of a young woman in her mid twenties, with a well-shaped figure and slightly pale skin.

Upon completing her transformation, the now humanoid Dragon Lord turned towards us with a predatory grin, her eyes shining with something akin to predatory excitement.

《 Alert: Hostile intent detected! 》

"I am the Spatial Dragon Lord that rules these parts of the mountains. I hear you've caused quite the ruckus for my horde." Her aura flared and her eyes began to glow ominously. "I hope you don't mind playing with me next?" She said with a large grin on her, right hand on her hip.

'...well shit'

A little into the borders that connected the Great Forest of Jura to the Animal Kingdom of Eurazania. The sounds of bones crunching and flesh being torn apart could be heard in the surrounding area, the ground and grass below painted red with the blood of dozens of creatures.

Standing on the branch of a tall tree and watching what could only be described as a bloody feast was none other than Gelmude. Gelmude was observing the approaching Orc Army with pride as they devoured and grew in strength.

'Ha! This Orc Lord and his army are turning out even better than I had hoped! It's only a matter of time until he evolves into the Orc Disaster and assumes control over the forest, not even that insolent Majin will be able to stop him!' Gelmude arrogantly thought, before his thoughts shifted to the fight with the Kijin. 'Though, the fact that he managed to name so many Ogres and evolve them into Kijin is concerning.'

Gelmude had informed his master, Lord Clayman, of this development. While he was still fairly confident that the Orc Lord could defeat the damn Majin who kept interfering with him once it evolved, Clayman had expressed a desire to take a few precautionary measures, if only to ensure there wouldn't be any surprises left in the forest or possibly even being sent by the other Demon Lords.

"Wow, they sure are a gluttonous lot, aren't they, Lord Gelmude?!"

Gelmude was brought out of his thoughts by his fellow Majin, who was dressed like a clown with a winking clown mask with rabbit-like ears. This was Laplace, who was a trusted comrade of Clayman himself, though he had taken to referring to Gelmude as 'Lord Gelmude' despite being considered an equal to his master. Still, Gelmude's ego appreciated the respect.

"Indeed Sir Laplace, I can't thank you enough for providing the Orc Army this sustenance. It should help deal with the numerous unknown variables that have been popping up in the forest." Gelmude said as he looked at the Orc Army devouring the dozens of monster corpses that had been laid before them.

"Don't worry about it! We're on the same side here, so this is the least I could do! Besides, Tear and Footman are the ones that did the actual hunting, had a blast doing it too! So everybody wins!" Laplace says freely as he too looked down at the Orc Army feeding. Tear and Footman had gathered dozens of corpses belonging to all kinds of monsters found within the forest. From Knight Spiders, Blade Tigers, Black Serpents, Red Ants, lesser dragons and a few other species. While they would greatly boost the Orc Lord's power, the reason there were so many species was because of the various skills and abilities that the Orcs would get as a result of the [Starved] skill.

"It does sound like they had a lot of fun, indeed." Gelmude wasn't really interested in how they acquired the bodies, but he had to admit that the three clowns had to be very powerful. Some of the monsters were at least A-rank, even if they lacked the intelligence for formal training. "If those two did all the hunting, then where were you, Sir Laplace?"

"Ah, about that, Clayman has assigned me on a fun little mission of my own!" Laplace exclaimed excitedly as he hopped from one foot to another. "With all the unknown variables showing up, Clayman figured it would be best to handle one of the biggest threats to his plans, namely the Dryads. I've been assigned to subdue the Dryads and get them under our control!" Laplace shouted as he threw his arms into the air, absolutely thrilled by the task assigned to him.

"Subduing the Dryads? Is such a thing even possible?" Gelmude asked as he turned towards Laplace, the laughing clown was sure the Majin was sporting a confused expression under his plague mask.

"Don't underestimate Clayman, he's the craftiest of us all." Laplace responded as he wagged his index finger in front of Gelmude. "He's given me a foolproof method of subduing them and having them under him. You just worry about the other species throughout the forest and carrying out the rest of the plan."

"While I'm truly grateful for this assistance, Sir Laplace, I can't help but wonder if this is truly necessary? Soon, not even the Dryads will be able to stop the Orc Lord, especially once he evolves into the Orc Disaster, that is assuming he can't beat them already!" Gelmude boasted, though he was caught off-guard when Laplace started laughing.

"Bwahaha! You sound as confident as Clayman! Guess it makes sense, since you're his subordinate. But like I told Clayman, getting overconfident can cost you dearly, especially as far as wildcards like this Majin you mentioned before are concerned." Laplace says in amusement, his eyes taking on a dangerous glint that had shivers crawling through Gelmude. "In any case, monster corpses and the 'extra gift' from Clayman are just in case this Majin or any other hidden monsters in the forest prove more troublesome than anticipated. If nothing else, it will serve to push the Orc Lord closer to evolving. As for the Dryads, Clayman has other plans for them, I'm guessing he wants to add them to his ranks, maybe have a few keep an eye on the Orc Lord within the forest? Who knows what's going on in his head? Buuuut, I heard Dryads are the protectors of this land. That means they're pretty strong. Oh goody…looks like I get to have some fun of my own."

"Right…" Gelmude said, not sure what else to say to the clown. He then let out a sigh. "Well I suppose if that is the will of Lord Clayman, then that's how we will proceed. I'll leave the Dryads to you, Sir Laplace, happy hunting."

"I knew you would understand, Lord Gelmude! No wonder Clayman chose you for this task, such intellect among his ranks is quite rare!" Laplace said in praise as he clapped his hands, before turning back down to the Orcs. "Now then, it looks like this greedy lot is done feeding, best take them to the next feeding spot before they start feeding on each other."

"Right." Gelmude said with a nod as he adjusted his hat, with how insatiable the hunger from [Starved] was, it really wouldn't surprise him if the Orcs started eating each other. But that would be a waste of manpower, and it had taken a lot of time and effort to get weapons and armor for over two hundred thousand Orcs. So if he could avoid any unnecessary casualties, then he would do so.

With that, Gelmude tipped his hat towards Laplace, before taking off into the air once more. The Orc Lord and his army immediately began to follow, having more than likely received orders through [Thought Communication] from Gelmude.

"Trample all, trample all, trample all! The strength of this comrade we eat is now ours! The abilities of this prey are now ours!"

The loud war cry of the Orcs echoed for miles in the forest, as they continued to march into the forest that was home to hundreds of species in order to consume them all. All in an effort to sate their insatiable hunger.

"This is turning out to be a good show." Laplace said to himself, his voice unusually calm and leveled, a big difference from the happy carefree clown Gelmude had been speaking to moments ago. "I think I might stick around long enough to see how it all ends."

~~~

Rimuru POV - Canaat Mountains - Day 26

'...well shit.'

I couldn't help but think as I looked at the entity before me. It currently looked like a young human woman in her mid twenties, with bright purple hair that had lavender colored tips, violet slit eyes, and a slightly pale complexion. But this was not it's true form.

For just moments ago, it had been an enormous Dragon, larger than pretty much any other Dragon we'd come across thus far, but still smaller than the massive figure that was my mother. This being was none other than a Dragon Lord, the strongest Dragon type that existed within the Canaat Mountains.

She had introduced herself as the 'Spatial Dragon Lord'. That meant she was a type of Dragon that could manipulate Space, one of the five basic elements. Surprisingly enough, despite being a basic element, this was my first time encountering someone with that element, even among the dozens of Dragons I had devoured. Still, I had a feeling that this element was slightly more dangerous than the rest. And my situation was one in which I was facing an opponent who was no doubt stronger than me and had an element I wasn't all too familiar with.

"You two need to get back." I said once more to Zegion and Ranga, who were standing behind me ready to attack. But this opponent was far beyond them, if they weren't careful then one strike from this Dragon Lord was all it would take to end their lives. And if she manipulated Space in the way I thought she did, then even I wasn't safe from suffering a similar fate.

"But Master-!"

"My Lord-!"

Both of them were promptly shut up by the glare I sent their way, my eyes glowing with an eerie green. The statement was clear: 'This was NOT up for discussion'. Their heads lowered in submission as they understood I would not budge, and disobedience would result in dire consequences. And so the two moved away reluctantly, making sure to put ample distance between themselves and the Dragon Lord and I.

"What's this? You think you can take me on alone?" The Dragon Lord asked as her grin grew even wider and more wild, but her eyes seemed to carry some anger within them as well, which was reflected by a sharp increase in the amount of killing intent directed my way. "I'll make you regret underestimating me."

And just like that, before I could even say a word to her, she vanished. I barely managed to keep track of her movements as she suddenly appeared in front of me, my body instinctively arching backwards to avoid the high sweep that had no doubt been aimed for my head. She barely missed my face by a few inches, the tip of her foot cleanly cutting off a few strands of hair with terrifying accuracy.

A shockwave followed after the attack, flying over me and into a near by hill, to my shock it cut right through the hill, vertically splitting it in two before top part crashed into the bottom part.

But what truly frightened me was the fact that despite the hill having been split, there was no debris or impact sound, it was as though a large chunk of earth had been removed without a single trace of its previous existence.

'Oi, oi, what the hell?!' I shouted as I quickly leapt back and put some distance between me and the Dragon Lord, a nervous sweat trickling down the side of my head.

《 Warning: The Dragon Lord is imbuing her attacks with the Spatial Element, tearing apart whatever space they come into contact with. Proceed with caution. 》

'If even [Great Sage] is warning me like that…' I'd really gotten the short end of the stick here. Of all the Dragon Lords I had to encounter, why did it have to be one with such a lethal element?! Honestly, a Fire Dragon Lord or something along those lines would have been more preferable!

《 Warning: Spatial distortion detected, evade immediately! 》

I didn't even question it and swiftly leapt away once more, I watched in concern as the area I stood in before warped like a vortex right before my eyes, it seemed to suck in the surrounding air, before shrinking and exploding.

I had a feeling if I had been standing there then that would have quite literally been the end of me, I currently had no resistances for an enemy with the Spatial Element. Had it not been for [Great Sage, then…

"Oh, you actually managed to completely dodge that?" The Dragon Lord asked, sounding mildly surprised and even more excited. "Most can't even sense my attacks, let alone evade them. You must be a lot stronger than you look."

"Does that mean we can talk this out?" I asked with a nervous grin, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of my face. She was stronger than me Magicule-wise, and had an element I had no resistance against, so if I could get out of this without fighting, I'd take the chance.

"Ha! No chance in hell brat!" The Dragon Lord laughed, before her face became surprisingly serious, her eyes piercing into mine. "I don't know why you're here, but you came into my domain and slaughtered dozens of my horde members. Letting you go would be a sign of weakness to the other Dragon Lords, a weakness they may choose to exploit."

"Those Dragons were in your horde? If that's truly the case, then how come you're the first Dragon of the Space element that I've encountered?" I asked in surprise.

"What? Do you think Dragon Hordes are composed exclusively of Dragons of the same element? You truly are naive." The Dragon Lord mocked as she shook her head sideways. "Dragon Hordes prioritize strength, loyalty, and accomplishments in terms of its members, rather than the elements we individually possess. It would be particularly bad in my case, given that Spatial Dragons are rarer than other Elemental Dragons, with me being the only Spatial Dragon Lord in the Canaat Mountains!"

'That…makes sense, I guess. Regardless of the strength and number of the Dragons in these mountains, it wouldn't be too practical if all the Dragon Hordes were exclusively comprised of the same element, even if certain Dragons might prefer certain environments.' I thought before responding. "Well, I didn't know those Dragons were part of your horde. I'm not from these mountains and only came here to train and get stronger myself. I warned the Dragons I fought that I merely wished to train rather than usurp their territory, but they still attacked me without provocation! They chose their fates when they disregarded my warning."

I left out the fact that I devoured the dragons to gain additional power, since that would only make me look like a power-hungry conqueror, but I technically did prioritize training and refining skills and arts over devouring Dragons, and I technically did offer any Dragon we fought the chance to live if they ran away and not seek revenge, even if we were technically the intruders here. Only the moment they disregarded my warnings was when their fates were sealed.

"Oh? So you're an outsider? That explains the unfamiliar aura. A Dragon of your prowess would be known within the region, after all, you've almost broken through." The Dragon Lord notes before shaking her head. I couldn't help but tilt my head slightly in confusion. What did she mean by that last part? "Regardless, it only further proves that you are the invader here and that you killed members of my horde who were defending their territory, even if it was never your intention to kill them or claim my territory! And for that, you will suffer my wrath!"

'Damn it, this will be my toughest fight yet.' I mentally grimaced as I got into a fighting stance and prepared myself for the battle to come. '[Great Sage], does this Dragon Lord have any weaknesses I can exploit?'

《 Answer: While the Dragon Lord's power is at least 4 times greater than your own, it is known that Elemental Magic is strong towards certain elements and weak towards others. The element of Space is strong against Wind but weak against Earth, so Earth Elemental Magic is recommended for best possible odds, with the user's [Storm Magic] also being a viable option due to having traces of the space element. 》

'Got it, and [Great Sage], I need you to reactivate [Chosen One] at full strength and have it work in perfect sync with both you and [Desire] . If I'm gonna have any chance at even surviving this fight, I'll need all the luck and advantages I can get, I'll leave the management of my skills to you.' I thought, with [Great Sage] managing my skills and optimizing them, I could focus entirely on my foe.

《 Understood. [Chosen One] has been fully reactivated till further notice. Assuming control over all skills for maximum efficiency! 》

'Well it was worth giving diplomacy a shot. Besides, I get the feeling that she just wants to kill me for offing a portion of her horde.' I doubt it was anything personal like caring about the individual Dragons I'd killed. It was just a matter of dragon pride. I took a deep breath and spoke one last time. "For what it's worth, I apologize for killing members of your horde, and I will reiterate that I'm not here to take your territory. But if you insist on fighting me, then I'll give you a worthy fight. As you'll soon learn, I'm unlike any Elemental Dragon in the Canaat Mountains." I firmly informed her as I flared my own aura to the max.

"Hahaha, then show me what you can do, runt!" She screamed as her own aura flared once more, much greater than my own. But for some reason, it didn't shake me as much as it did before. It was much more manageable than the first time. Was this the effect of [Chosen One] ?

Regardless, not being heavily affected by her aura meant I could now move more freely without doubts or hesitation, I could act with more confidence than before.

'That's right…I can do this…' She may be more powerful than me, but I was more versatile in terms of Skills. It may not be enough to give me a decisive edge, but as long as I could cover the gap between us and break-even, then that was all I needed.

Between the enhanced luck of [Chosen One] , the high adaptability of [Desire] , and the analytical abilities of [Great Sage] , I had a solid chance.

And a chance is all I needed.

A few seconds of silence passed, the only thing to be heard was the gentle breeze blowing past us. We stared at each other for a moment, and then…she moved.

Just like last time, she vanished right in front of me and made a beeline for me, but this time I was ready and dashed forward myself to intercept her. I threw my fist forward as she did the same, our fists colliding as we met in the center.

A giant shockwave exploded around us as a crater formed right beneath us. She seemed genuinely shocked that I'd managed to block her strike, but it wasn't a mere coincidence. The fist which had collided with her own was imbued with the dark and chaotic energy of [Storm Magic].

This was a form of True Dragon Magic that represented entropy and destruction of the highest level. And while it may not be on par with what my Mother could do, I was at least strong enough to somewhat counter the Space tearing abilities of this Dragon Lord. Making this fight a little more even.

《 Warning: Neither [Rapid Regeneration] or [Greater Heal] can be used to heal damage from Spatial attacks unless interference is removed. Proceed with great caution. 》

'Damn it!' I couldn't help but mentally curse. It was bad enough that she had an element that could potentially cut right through me with one mistake, but to find out I couldn't heal any of the injuries that I received from this Dragon Lord, that only increased the need for me to tread more carefully.

The shock on the Dragon Lord's face quickly transformed into excitement as the two of us resumed our clash. She immediately claimed the offensive ground, her rapid swipes and kicks putting me on the evasive side of the battle. Her attacks were wild and ferocious, but there was technique to them as well. It was hard to believe that a Dragon was capable of such refined technique, but thinking back on our talk she had displayed Human level intelligence. And her Human form meant she had to develop a fighting style of sorts.

Not wanting to remain disadvantaged, I went low as she took another swipe at my neck before charging forward and closing the gap between us. Black Magicules encased both my hands, taking the form of Dragon Claws. I quickly swiped my right hand upwards, only for her to halt and lean backwards. My dark claws missed her skin by a few inches, but I took quiet satisfaction in the few strands of purple hair that I managed to clip from her hair.

'Heh, an eye for an eye.' I couldn't help but grin as I thought back to the hair she more or less destroyed with her kick earlier. It was a bit petty sure, but you can't blame me for having a bit of a competitive streak. 'Now to take the lead!'

I pressed my assault, not wanting to give her the chance to reclaim control. Using my smaller form, which was that of a young adolescent compared to the Dragon Lord's adult Human form, I slipped into her guard. She was taller and had longer reach than me, but I was smaller and harder to hit, it was a small perk, but a perk nonetheless.

I threw various jabs at her with my Dragon Claws, I was more focused on connecting the attacks than putting any real power behind it. Fortunately, she didn't seem to catch on and blocked most of my attacks. She then surprised me by grabbing my left arm and swiftly slamming me into the ground.

Now, it didn't hurt given that I couldn't feel pain at all, but there was a great deal of discomfort that came with being slammed like that. I wasn't given much time to ponder, though, as she raised her right leg and brought it down, intending to crush my skull under the heel of her foot.

I swiftly rolled out of the way before pushing myself off the ground and leaping away. Her foot hit the ground with a force strong enough to deepen the crater, and spiderweb cracks formed all around her.

'Hey, hey, I'm not into that kind of femdom play!' I mentally shouted with a gulp. Some men liked getting crushed under a woman's heel, but that was definitely not my style.

《 Notice: Damage sustained, damage sustained 5%. 》

It was only after [Great Sage] spoke that I realized I had a cut on my upper left arm. The fact that it wasn't closing up meant my healing skills weren't working. Looks like I hadn't completely evaded that heel when I rolled out of the way. The cut in itself wouldn't affect my ability to fight, but what concerned me was my inability to heal. Given that my foe was stronger than I was, she only had to land enough attacks for me to bleed out then I'd be done for.

'[Great Sage] , analyze the wound and try to find a way to regain my regenerative abilities. If you can't, then put all your efforts into analyzing and helping me adapt to her movements.' If I couldn't heal, then my only option was to minimize the amount of damage I took as much as possible.

《 Understood: Beginning analysis in the spatial interference surrounding the wound. 》

I felt I was pushing the processing ability of [Great Sage] with the number of tasks I was giving it, but I'm sure it would be able to handle it. Besides, neither of us could afford to be lax in this moment lest I die, I was relying on my partner for a lot of things so I could focus on fighting the foe in front of me

The Dragon Lord charged towards me once more. I reacted by stretching my right hand towards it, a black halo surrounding my wrist, before firing numerous [Laser Arrows] at her. The Dragon Lord didn't stop her charge even as the attack approached her, no, instead she dodged each black arrow with surprising acrobatic abilities and agility. Seeing as she was quickly closing the gap between us, I fired three more arrows hoping to use her close proximity to catch her off-guard.

Rather than being surprised, she smirked as she pressed forward. The arrows struck true this time, a large dust cloud forming from the impact. But not even a second later, she burst through the dust cloud right in front of me, her arm stretched out towards my face. My body moved before my mind could even process what was happening. Instinctively leaning towards the right as her clawed hand approached.

I barely managed to avoid having my head removed from the rest of my body, instead the Dragon Lord soared past me as I successfully leaned out of the way, though I was not unscathed. My left cheek was now sporting a rather large gash, blood slowly oozing out as the wound didn't close.

'If she lands enough cuts on me she could just wait for me to bleed out or weaken from blood loss.' I thought with a scowl, she was truly a troublesome opponent.

《 Notice: Solution to Spatial Interference found, would you like to use the Unique Skill [Apex Predator] to devour this effect? 》

'Yess!' It wasn't even a question in my opinion. Still, it was a relief to know that I could somewhat counter the effects of her attacks.

Still, it was best to still remain cautious. Having to devour the Interference first meant that my recovery speed was slowed down drastically. It was better than not being able to heal at all, but it meant she could stack up enough attacks for it to become lethal.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I felt the Magicules around me shift, swiftly leaping out of the way as the space distorted and exploded. I kept on moving as the Dragon Lord triggered more Spatial distortions wherever I landed, numerous explosions going off as soon as I evaded.

'Getting caught in any one of those distortions would be enough to sever a limb or worse. Even with [Rapid Regeneration], I wouldn't be able to recover fast enough to keep fighting.' I thought nervously as I turned to the Dragon Lord who was grinning maniacally as she continued to target me with spatial distortions. 'In terms of ranged attacks, she has me beat. The barrier she has around herself minimizes the effects of my attacks and her offense is lethal to me. My odds were better in close quarters.'

With that thought, I used [Flash Step] to quickly close the gap between my opponent and eye, engaging her in close quarters once more. Shockwaves erupted through the area as we clashed, our movements a blur to anyone close enough to see.

I could feel [Desire] working to analyze her movements to copy them and [Great Sage] used that data and provided methods to counter. It was only because of that that I'd managed to avoid any lethal strikes from this superior opponent. [Chosen One] had to be buffing me up and increasing my chances as well, which was why I'd been able to land a few hits in myself.

"You're actually entertaining me, runt!" The Dragon Lord shouted with a feral grin, laughing maniacally as she tilted her head to the left as she avoided a swipe from my [Dragon Claw]. Faster than I could react, she grabbed my wrist and arm, and slammed me into the ground with enough force to literally knock the air out of me.

Despite the fact that I couldn't feel pain, I could still taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth as I coughed and took in deep breaths. This was the first time I had actually bled, let alone tasted my own blood, since coming to this world. Actually scratch that, there was the time Hakurou cut of my arm, so these cuts from the Dragon Lord seemed minor in comparison, the only irritating thing about it was the Spatial interference that drastically reduced how fast I could regenerate.

The ground slam was quickly followed with a powerful kick to the stomach that sent me barreling through a large rock structure. [Pain Nullification] really was a godsend in these kinds of situations, but that didn't mean getting my ass clobbered was comfortable.

'Man, she's tough… And the fact that it hasn't taken effect yet means she has some serious regenerative abilities. Something beyond [Rapid Regeneration] .'

《 Confirmed: It can be surmised that the Spatial Dragon Lord has the Extra Skill [Ultraspeed Regeneration]. 》

'That's just great. But the plan is still plausible…right?' I asked my trusted partner. Honestly, even with the likes of [Chosen One] and [Desire], I had to come up with an actual plan to engage this Dragon Lord.

Almost immediately after the battle started, I quickly learned that despite the effects of my Unique Skills, this Humanoid Dragon was still superior to me in all aspects. At most, my Unique Skills pushed me to barely break-even. Which was why [Great Sage] had provided me with a suitable strategy.

《 Affirmative: The Dragon Lord's movements have already begun to slow down as a result of your continuous attacks. The sub-skill of [Storm Magics] , [Decay] , has already begun to take effect. 》

[Decay], a sub-skill of [Storm Magic] that slowly destroys an opponent from within. It could be considered a far more potent version of the [Rot] skill, one that was capable of bypassing healing and regenerative abilities depending on the gap between the user and opponent. It was even capable of corroding spiritual life-forms. While the Dragon Lord was four times stronger, [Chosen One] worked in my favor to increase the potency skill.

The plan was simple but a lot harder to execute. Avoid getting diced while landing as many hits as possible. The Dragon Lord's [Ultraspeed Regeneration] was greatly reducing the speed at which the [Decay] was spreading. The good news was the more hits I could land, the more I could stack this effect, hence the reason I had been focusing on jabs rather than following all the way through with my punches. [Desire] worked to analyze her style to help avoid and counter her strikes.

But even with all that, she was still giving me such a hard time! Even though I felt no pain, I knew this body couldn't keep going. My Magicules were already starting to get questionably low from constantly devouring and healing Spatial-based wounds and the use of [Storm Magic] , which was still pretty draining in general.

"I'll admit you're far stronger than the average Elemental Dragon. With the power you've displayed, you should have evolved by now." The Dragon Lord said as she approached me while I dusted myself of dust and debris. She then stopped and looked at me curiously, her head tilting slightly to the side. "And then there's that magic you've been using, it's quite interesting. I've never seen anything like it, a Unique Skill perhaps?"

I couldn't help the nervous sweat dripped down my forehead. I still needed to buy a bit more time to allow [Decay] to start eating away at her. No doubt she was already starting to feel its effects, and the constant flow of Magicules towards her regenerative abilities was bound to be taking its toll, at this point a battle of attrition really was the best strategy.

"Who knows." I said with a cheeky grin as I said with a shrug before spitting out some blood to the side before wiping my mouth. "One thing's for sure, you're really strong. You're the strongest individual I've ever had the pleasure of fighting." I said as I got back into a fighting stance.

"Of course I am, I'm a Dragon Lord after all." The Dragon Lord said with a prideful smirk. "You were entertaining yourself, and you must be a real glutton for punishment if you want to keep going despite the gap between us."

"As a Dragon, I'm sure you understand one's desire to prove themself. I came to this mountain to prove my strength and grow stronger. Fighting someone stronger than me and coming out on top is the best way to prove my worth." I say with a feral grin, fangs and all, as my eyes glow with an eerie green, my aura surrounding my body.

"You really are a rebellious runt. Too bad you bit off more than you could chew." The Dragon Lord said, her eyes glowing purple as her own aura enveloped her. "I'll teach you a good lesson before I kill you!" With that, she dashed forward the ground beneath her exploding from the force of her step.

"Bring it!" I said as I also charged forward.

Our fists clashed in the center, a large shockwave exploding from the impact and causing cracks in the surrounding rock formations. I couldn't help but flinch from the force of it all. Our clash continued once more, enhanced fists and kick flying once more, though this time I struggled to slip in counter strikes of my own.

The Dragon Lord's attacks were becoming more erratic and ferocious, it was taking everything I had just to keep up and actually evade them. It seems she was giving up tact and was going full on offensive in order to not give me any breathing room, and unfortunately it was working.

As she brought her left foot to my side, I managed to quickly catch it under my left arm, firmly gripping it with both hands. The force of the impact was still enough to push me back despite my feet being firmly planted in the ground, but despite that, my grip on her leg remained firm.

Raising my left arm, I tried to bring my elbow down on her knee joint, but in a surprising show of flexibility. The Dragon Lord readjusted her position, bending her knee downwards and making me miss my target entirely. Due to my loss of balance, she managed to land a powerful backhand to my head that disoriented me despite not feeling pain. I quickly used [Flash Step] to create some space between us.

'Something is different, her movements have become faster, and she's reading my attacks more clearly than before.' It was almost as if my luck had suddenly shifted in the middle of the battle.

《 Notice: Utilizing the sub-skill [Skill Disable] to suppress the target's extra skills [Ultraspeed Action] and [Predictive Calculation]. 》

I didn't bother questioning [Great Sage] and instead charged forward, black Dragon Claws forming around my hands. Though the drain of my Magicules was quite notable, so I had to end this fast.

Our clash started once more, and immediately I noticed the shift in favor. Where before she had been evading, blocking, and countering my attacks with practiced ease, the Dragon Lord was actually struggling to do so now. She was barely able to follow my attacks, and it seemed her body's physical capabilities were now on par with my own, if not slightly lower. To think two skills had given her such a big advantage…

No wonder Dragon Lords were on the upper end of S-rank or even Special-S rank, they really were on a different level. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a Unique Skill given the range of abilities she displayed. Given her Human level intelligence, it wasn't that far fetched.

"Wait, what's going on?!" The Dragon Lord asked in minor panic as I pressed my advantage. My hands and feet shrouded in [Storm Magic] as I continued my assault.

I ducked under a swing she took at my neck, using my smaller build to enter her personal space, and deliver a solid strike to her mid-section that had her coughing blood as she bent over. I followed that up by jumping as I twisted my body, delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of her head that sent her crashing into the ground head first. Her body rolled on the ground for a bit before she came to a stop in a crouched position.

"Y-you! What did you do?!" She shouted as she glared at me. More than likely coming to the realization that I had tampered with her Skills, well it was [Great Sage] but not like she would be able to tell the difference.

"Nothing much, I just figured you out, and suppressed some of your abilities." I said with a smirk as the black Magicules surrounding my arms grew in size. "This fight is over, without your abilities you can't beat me."

'[Great Sage] suppressing that Skill of hers gave me an advantage but drained a significant amount of Magicules, but I bet she's not faring any better. [Decay] has been eating away at her insides, and the constant use of her regenerative abilities in an attempt to slow it down has to be draining her as well. I still have enough in the tank for one last big move. I'll feint her then finish this once and for all.'

A black halo surrounded my right wrist as I stretched my arm out towards her, firing several [Laser Arrows] towards her.

"Ha! Don't get cocky on me, runt!" She shouted as stretched both hands towards the incoming black arrow shaped beams. Multiple Spatial distortions appeared between her and the incoming attack.

The chaotic beams struck the warped space, the entropic magic colliding against the Spatial distortion caused multiple explosions to go off. Filling the area around the Dragon Lord with a cloud of smoke. Taking the presented chance I leapt into the air, wings sprouting from back as black Magicules erupting encased them, leaving a dissolving trail.

'I only have one shot at this, it's all or nothing with this last attack.' It was a big risk too, I hadn't quite perfected this technique just yet, I was still working out the kinks in it. But, it was the best shot I had at landing a strong enough attack on this opponent. 'Here goes…'

The smoke cleared and the Dragon Lord turned to where I previously had been, she was surprised to see me not there, but that shock quickly vanished as she looked up to where I was descending from above her, most likely having sensed the amount of magic I was pouring into this last attack. But still…

'...You're too late!' I couldn't help but think with glee as I spiraled while increasing the speed of my descent, my wings narrowing around my body. The [Storm Magic] surrounding my wings enveloped my body in a rapid drill-like structure made of black Magicules. "[Storm Surge]!" I proudly called out the name of my latest attack as I crashed into the Dragon Lord at full force.

A large ground-shaking explosion immediately expanded, engulfing the surrounding area and flattening the surrounding rock structures. Ranga and Zegion, who had hidden behind one of the large rocks further away, were struggling to hold their ground from the high pressure winds that followed the large explosion.

It took a few seconds before the explosion died down, with the smoke following a few seconds later. When the smoke cleared, the Spatial Dragon Lord was still alive but likely wouldn't be for much longer. Its injuries were too severe and its healing capabilities too weakened, at this point if I didn't finish it off, then the effects of [Decay] would.

"…How? How did a mere Elemental Dragon defeat me, a Dragon Lord?!" The Spatial Dragon Lord asked in shock and hatred. "You're not a mere Elemental Dragon, are you? I suspected this somewhere during our battle but…you're a Unique Monster…aren't you?"

"Perhaps, it's not the first time I've been called that. My name is Rimuru Tempest, son and heir of the Storm Dragon, Veredia Tempest." I revealed to the Dragon Lord's shock and slight fear, at least that was until she closed her eyes and merely smiled in resignation. "To be fair, I DID give you a chance to walk away with your life. But you refused out of your pride, and this is the consequence. Any last words?"

"Defeated by the Son of the Storm Dragon…I can think of no better ending." She remarked in resigned acceptance. She was a prideful Dragon to the end, and even I could respect that as a Dragon myself.

Within a respectful nod, I placed my hand on her forehead and activated [Apex Predator], within seconds the black Magicules surrounded her being and she was absorbed into my being. Given how powerful this adversary had been, I knew I would be gaining a substantial boost in both raw power and skills.

With the danger finally gone, I allowed myself to collapse onto the ground as the physical and magical exhaustion of this battle settled in. I may not feel pain, but apparently fatigue was still fair game.

'I'll let [Great Sage] handle the assimilation process. After that fight, I could use a nap or two.' I muttered as I looked up at the clear skies. 'But still…it was a great battle, and a good experience.' The greatest takeaway from this battle was that raw strength and the amount of Magicules weren't the most accurate manner to measure one's power or capabilities. It was the Skills and abilities that one had, and the way they were used, that would ultimately decide the winner.

Despite the Dragon Lord being several times stronger than me, I only won because of the various Skills I had and how I used them together. In this instance, if I had been lacking either [Desire], [Chosen One], or [Great Sage] , then this battle would have been nearly impossible to win.

On the other hand, the most troublesome thing about the Dragon Lord was its Spatial based attacks that prevented me from healing and the fact that it constantly blocked my ranged attacks with Spatial barriers.

Being more powerful in terms of Magicules certainly didn't hurt, but having more powerful Skills and being able to effectively use them seemed like the way to go if I wanted to get a lot stronger.

《 Notice: The Spatial Dragon Lord has been fully consumed and assimilated into the user. The user's Magicule capacity is now 5 times greater than before, and the Space Element has now been acquired. In addition, multiple Extra Skills and Intrinsic Skills have now been acquired. Would you wish for them to be listed? 》

'5 times greater?! That's a lot…' I couldn't help but think, though it made sense given that the Dragon Lord's power was at least 4 times greater than mine before consuming her, so adding that power on TOP of what I already had prior would be 5 times greater in the end. I felt some strength return to me as the assimilated power became my own, the wounds I had were now healing up faster too. Despite all this, I didn't think I was quite ready to hear [Great Sage] rattle on about the details of the newly-acquired Skills, which had been confirmed to be quite a few. 'Can the skill listing wait a little bit? That fight was exhausting, not just physically and in terms of Magicule usage, but also mentally.' My Magicule capacity may have increased several times over, and somewhat recovered from devouring the Dragon Lord, but it was still on the lower end of the tank.

《 Understood: Shifting primary focus to assisting master towards full recovery. 》

'Thanks partner…' I thought with a smile. Knowing [Great Sage] was handling and speeding up my recovery allowed my to relax, and this was further cemented by the approaching buzzing sound and rapid footsteps I could hear approaching accompanied by the distressed calls of Ranga and Zegion.

With [Great Sage] handling the internal affairs of my body, and Ranga and Zegion being more than capable of protecting me from external threats, I finally allowed the tension to leave my body. I hadn't even realized how tense and alert I still was after going through my first true life and death battle, where I could have died all over again.

One would think after experiencing death once, you wouldn't be afraid of it anymore. But honestly it didn't change a thing. Still though, there was a certain thrill that came with fighting with your life on the line. And the victory was all the more sweeter, too.

As the tension left it gave way to exhaustion, my eyes becoming heavy as I slowly gave into the slumber. My last thoughts being I would have liked to have another high-stake battle like this one.

~~~

Great Forest of Jura - Goblin Village:

'My name is Rito Honokawa. And until a little over two weeks ago, I was a second year high-school student in the city of Japan. I don't know how I wound up in this world, if I'm being honest my head is still trying to make sense of it all, despite the amount of time that has passed.'

'All I know is that one moment, I was hanging out with my friends at an arcade, making bets and everything, only for my surroundings to shift instantly. I suddenly found myself in a lush green forest with nothing but trees and grass as far as my eyes could see. But almost as soon as I arrived…I was suddenly attacked by what could only be described as a monstrous creature. A large bear-like beast that had multiple metal-like blades sticking out of it! Honestly, I barely survived that encounter with my limbs intact. I would have died that day…if it hadn't been for him.'

'Looking back now, it almost seems funny. Back on earth, Goblins were considered to be among the weakest species to exist in any fantasy world. More often than not, they survived due to their large numbers and tendency to capture and breed any humans they captured, if the various manga and video games I'd seen were any indication. And yet, on that day, I was saved by a Goblin wielding an axe and machete. His name was Kataki, strangely enough. I explained my situation to him and, after some questioning, he took me to a village filled with other Goblins.'

'Now normally when one thought of a Goblin Village they thought of a shaggy place with huts or something like that. Or at least that's how it was portrayed in most fantasy games and anime. But this village was actually far more advanced than that and more akin to a town! While it was clearly still being constructed, they already had dozens of well-built wooden houses and seemed to be somewhat more developed.'

'Kataki took me to his house, which for some reason was built a little outside the village, when I asked him why that was, he didn't answer me, instead he told me to head into the village and seek the Goblin King. That he would be able to help me.'

'Against my own better judgment, I walked into the Goblin village. Surprisingly the goblins here weren't as ugly as most anime and manga portrayed. They looked almost human, with the exception of their green skin and pointed ears. Even more surprising was how welcoming these Goblins were. I was welcomed by a few guards and villagers almost immediately when I approached the gates.'

'To make a long story short, I was taken to see the Goblin King, whose name was Rigurd. I explained my situation to them, and they seemed rather surprised that Kataki had been the one to save me, and after some talk, I was allowed to stay within the village for as long as I wanted. At least until I figured out what I wanted to do with my new life here.'

'Since then, I had been crashing at Kataki's home, even though he was initially against it. I was grateful for him saving my that day, and wanted to find some way to repay that kindness.'

"Morning Rito!" A Goblin called out as he walked through the town's streets, Gobzilla, if he remembered his name correctly. Honestly, the name sounded so ridiculous the first time he heard it that it took a certain amount of willpower not to laugh.

Of course, it wasn't the only strange name around, as there were others like Gobdude, Gobichu, Gobzelle, and so forth. It almost sounded like someone had just smash 'Gob' with whatever else fit in. It wasn't until a while later that he learnt that monsters in this world didn't have names, at least when they were born. And that these Goblins had all recently received their names from their 'lord' which is what allowed them to evolve into Hobgoblins and Goblinas. It was strange, but he just assumed that this world just functioned differently from his home world.

Aside from the Goblins, Rito had been surprised to see a few other species present within the village. First were the wolf creatures known as Tempest Wolves, they were usually paired up with Goblins, especially the local guard and hunters. Next were the four Dwarves that he'd had the pleasure of meeting, Kaijin and the Dwarf brothers, they mainly worked in the various industrial and forging areas of this village. Making weapons, armor, equipment, clothing, and even day to day tools, along with teaching Hobgoblins and building up the village into a town. And lastly were the Kijin, he could tell at first glance that these creatures were strong, they just had that aura to them, most of them help with training the goblins and wolves in the village, but a few of them could also be seen in the blacksmith shops as well.

"Morning!" Rito called out with the wave of his hand. This process was repeated over and over as he walked through the streets. These Goblins were all very kind, he found it hard to believe they were the same horny and greedy little monsters portrayed as evil in his old world.

Rito casually made his way through the village, greeting those he came across. He still hadn't learnt the names of all the goblins, but he was getting there. His target was the blacksmith shop, as today was somewhat of a special day for Rito.

It was the day he would finally be getting his weapons from Kaijin and Kurobe. After spending a few days living in the Goblin Village, Kataki had decided that if Rito was going to stay with him, then he needed to get stronger. Fortunately for him, when his body was transferred between worlds, it was flooded with a large amount of energy, increasing the strength and other capabilities of his body to superhuman levels. He even got something called a Unique Skill named [Supporter]. According to the description, the skill basically allowed him to boost the stats of his allies by a significant degree, including his own.

It wasn't much in the way of combat abilities, but Rito couldn't deny its usefulness when it came to team-related scenarios. He preferred working with others anyway, so it worked all the better for him.

Despite his strength being comparable to that of a low A-rank monster and his Unique Skill, Rito lacked any kind of training, having been a civilian before this. Meaning even opponents weaker than him had an edge and would exploit his flaws. Hence the reason Kataki had started training him not long after he started living with him.

"Morning, Kurobe." Rito greeted as he walked into the blacksmith shop. As expected, the place was filled with various weapons and armor made of iron, with a few of them being partially made out of Magisteel. The place was hot, the heat coming from the furnace spreading throughout the room. 'They really need to make a better ventilation system in this place!'

"Ah Rito, glad you could make it." Kurobe said as he sat up from where he was by the furnace, wiping off some sweat from his forehead. Rito couldn't help but wonder how the guy wasn't absolutely cooked by now. "I take it you're here for your weapons, then?" The Kijin asked as he stood up and approached the black haired human teen, to which Rito nodded his head with an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah! I've been pretty psyched about it since you guys told me they would be ready in a few days." Rito confessed, his voice reflecting his excitement. He had been told that the weapons they were creating would be a 50% Magisteel weapon, and that Magisteel was a highly conductive ore for Magicules and even spiritual essence. Naturally, Rito had been excited about getting such high quality gear.

"Hahahahaha, well then I won't keep you waiting any further then. Come along, follow me." Kurobe said as he beckoned him while walking further into the shop. Rito didn't wait to be told twice, quickly following after the Kijin blacksmith.

Reaching into one of the shelves in the back, Kurobe pulled out a wooden box and placed it on a counter. Rito watched with bated breath as he opened said box, and unraveled the cloth that covered the weapons inside. What he saw inside was beyond what he had been expecting, he could tell just by looking at the weapons that they were of far higher quality than the iron weapons he had been wielding up until now.

Within the box were two weapons, a machete and a battle axe, each designed to his specifications. They were both shiny black in color, with a silver lining along the sharp and pointed edges of each weapon, and had white hilts. Rito lifted the weapons as he looked at them in awe, Kurobe took a few steps back, gesturing for the boy to take a few practice swings. With a nod, Rito swung the axe and machete a few times, getting a feel of them but also making sure not to damage anything within the shop.

He went through a few motions that Kataki had been teaching him, and he was surprised by how much lighter these weapons were compared to the iron weapons he had been using till now. Not only were they lighter, but he could even feel traces of Magic within them. He would have to wait until he got to the training grounds before he could really test what they could do though.

"So? What do you think?" Kurobe asked with a smile as he approached the teen.

"This is great! They are so much lighter and the magic conductivity is far greater than the normal iron weapons I've been using!" Rito responded with a pleased smile as he put the weapons back on the counter. He knew from the folks in town that Kurobe and Kaijin were the best blacksmiths in town, and apparently Kaijin had been the best blacksmith in a nation of Dwarves. If that didn't say something about his talent, then what else would? "I'll have to test them out in training or on the field before I can give any proper feedback, though."

"That's absolutely fine, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. This weapon is made out of 50% Magisteel, I'm sure it will last you a very long time, especially since it will grow as you do." Kurobe said as he wrapped the weapons and gave them to Rito. The teen was surprised to hear the weapons had such an ability.

Kurobe escorted him towards the door of the shop, Rito then turned back towards the Kijin once more and bowed his head in gratitude.

"Thank you again for this! I'll make sure I put it to good use, I'll be sure to drop by and properly thank Kaijin as well." He said before standing up straight. With a wave and one more thanks, the boy made his way into the village streets once more, heading towards the training grounds and eager to try out his new weapons.

~~~

It had been a week since she left her home and had only recently entered the Great Forest of Jura. According to her father's spies, the presence of the Storm Dragon Veredia had disappeared from the forest she had been sealed in centuries ago. Something which her father could not allow, given his plans for the sealed True Dragon. If she had been freed or had somehow broken out of the seal, then that would have been more manageable, though extremely difficult to deal with, but he still claimed he would be able to resolve it.

Unfortunately, the problem was that the Storm Dragon had completely vanished from the forest months ago, and thus far, there hadn't been a single sighting or report of its whereabouts. Which would prove to be rather detrimental to his plans, as the Storm Dragon was the key to her father's goal to become the strongest being in this new world.

'Oh, right. I guess I forgot to properly introduce myself. My name is Sumire Makino, and I'm 16 years old. A few years ago, my father and I were summoned into this world, known as the Cardinal World, a world drastically different from our own. A world filled with monsters, magic, and all kinds of things you would only see in dreams or nightmares.'

'When we first came to we found ourselves in a nation called the Heavenly Kingdom of Angelus. A kingdom in this world that was known for worshipping Angels, which apparently were also a real thing here. They even had the corpse of an Archangel that they revered and worshipped. Apparently, it had perished in something called the Great Tenma War and the people of Angelus had kept it around since, praying to it as though it were a deity or something.'

'I initially struggled in this world, always crying and begging dad to take us back home, especially since I missed mom a lot. But even he didn't know the way back. However, the same could not be said for my father, who took to this world like a sponge in water. Having been a researcher in our old world, he was immediately drawn to the magic and wonder of this world.'

'Unlike me, who was physically transported via summoning from one world to the next, my father went through something called reincarnation. With his soul having been reborn within a golem body made from the corpse of an Angel. For a nation that worshipped Angels, this was a miraculous act. They viewed my father as an incarnated Angel, and he was revered. With that kind of influence and power, it didn't take him long to rise and become the leader of the nation, Taking its name 'Angelus' for himself..'

'But of course that wasn't enough…'

*Booomm!*

Sumire was brought out of her thoughts by a ground shaking explosion occurring further ahead within the forest, instantly putting the young girl on guard. Jura was a forest that was home to various types of monsters, and she had ventured in expecting to come across quite a few. But surprisingly, her journey thus far had been smooth sailing, almost as though someone had cleared the monsters before she even got here.

Which is why the explosion put her on guard, she could even see a cloud of smoke rising into the nearby. Against her better judgement, she rushed towards the scene, sword drawn and shield grasped firmly in preparation for a confrontation.

"Come on ladies, let's calm down and talk about this! I came to you with a pretty sweet deal!"

The scene Sumire arrived at was, as she expected, a battle. A fight between four individuals, three on one by the looks of it. She was quickly able to identify three of the individuals as Dryads by their soft green glow, their spiritual aura, and how they fit the descriptions of the forest managers her father had told her about. They truly were the epitome of grace and beauty, just looking at them filled Sumire with a sense of calm.

The person, or rather the Majin, on the opposing end of these tree spirits was an individual dressed rather strangely for Sumire's taste, with a laughing clown mask on his face. He was also the one responsible for the words just shouted right now.

"I mean, having bodies of your own would mean being free to travel anywhere you please. You wouldn't be bound to this forest anymore! Not that you want to be here when the Orc Lord claims this forest as his own!" The Clown shouted as he dodged another barrage of vines and roots that sprouted from the ground beneath him in an attempt to pierce him. "I mean come on, all you have to do is swear loyalty to a Demon Lord and you can have this sweet body!" He pulled out an artificial body that resembled an androgynous individual. Sumire, who was hiding in the bushes nearby, couldn't help but be disgusted by the sight of it.

"Enough of this!" Treyni shouted in annoyance and disgust of her own as she stepped up in front of her sisters. "As we've already told you, we are not interested in your offer. We Dryads are the managers of this forest, a role entrusted to us by Lady Veredia. We would never abandon our duty to serve some lowly Demon Lord!" She said as she glared at the Majin, the energy around her intensifying as the wind picked up. "Spirit summoning: Sylphide!"

At Treyni's call, the Greater Elemental of Wind manifested beside her, its voice Angelic and its form the very definition of ethereal beauty, Sumire couldn't help but be mesmerized just by looking at it. The gasp she let out in that moment was unknowingly heard by Laplace despite the current turbulence.

'Oh? What do we have here? A spectator?' Laplace ponders before turning his attention back to the Dryads, in particular Treyni.

"For disrupting the peace within this forest and bringing calamity to our doorstep, you shall face divine punishment." Treyni said as dozens of glowing leaves formed around her person. "Ariel Blade!" Treyni shouted as she, along with Sylphide, released multiple blades of compressed air towards Laplace.

"Whoa whoa, hey!" Laplace screamed in panic as he jumped around left and right dodging the wind blades targeted at him, accidentally dropping the Homunculus he had been holding. 'There's just no talking to these girls, sorry Clayman looks like they aren't interested. At this point, it's better to just have them fed to the Orc Lord.' Laplace concluded. Judging by everything he had seen, and what he knew of the Dryads, there was a chance that they were already working alongside the Majin that was going around claiming to be the new guardian of the forest. 'Actually, there's a chance they might even be working under him.'

"Say, you ladies wouldn't happen to know anything about there being a new guardian within the Great Forest of Jura, would you?" Laplace went on to ask, the answer he got to his question was numerous wind blades coming in once more, these ones moving a lot faster than the last.

The blades struck Laplace head on before the clown could properly react, a cloud of dust forming at the point of impact. However, when the dust settled, Laplace himself was nowhere to be seen. Neither the Dryads nor Sumire could tell where the clown faced Majin had disappeared.

"Whoops, seems I touched a soft spot."

"Kyaaa!"

Sumire literally jumped out of her hiding spot when she heard the voice of Laplace whisper against her ear from behind, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. The young girl swiftly turned around to face the clown, blade drawn and pointed at him, and her shield clutched in the other hand as she prepared herself for a potential fight.

'This Majin…he's strong. Not only did he manage to hold his own against three Dryads and even a Greater Elemental Spirit, but he managed to completely get past my guard without me even noticing him.' Sumire thought as she kept her eyes on Laplace, whose posture didn't even seem concerned, almost as though he didn't consider her a viable threat.

"Why are humans so jumpy, I didn't even do anything." Laplace said with a shrug before turning around and starting to walk away from the area. "Well, I suppose my mission ended as a failure anyways, so I might as well get out of here." He added as he threw his hands behind his head. Treyni was just about to prevent him from escaping with another attack, but…

"W-wait!" Sumire suddenly called out, her voice quivering slightly, prompting Laplace to stop. Turning his head back to look at the girl from the corner of his eyes.

"Hmm?" It was only out of mild curiosity that the clown had stopped, and because he didn't consider anyone here to be a threat to his life.

"Earlier on, you mentioned the Orc Lord…" Sumire spoke up, gathering the courage to speak without seeming like a coward. "What do you know about him and the army marching through the forest?" Sumire asked, that was one of the reasons she was here in the first place, to learn about the Orc Army that had been seen entering the Great Forest of Jura from the borders near Eurazania, even Treyni and her sisters stopped and turned to Sumire, now more curious as to who the girl was and how she was aware of what was going on.

"Oh? Are you curious?" Laplace said almost teasingly as he turned to fully face the girl and Dryads once more. "Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to share that information. If you want to find out how this particular story ends, then you're gonna have to stick around and find out! Toodles!"

Before any of them could react, Laplace threw four orange balls that appeared in-between his fingers onto the ground, a burst of orange smoke suddenly blocking their view of the clown. When it cleared he was gone, without a single trace of his presence remaining.

"…He escaped. How disappointing." Treyni said with a sigh as Sylphide vanished from her side, returning to the Spirit Realm.

"There's a chance that this Majin was working alongside Gelmude. Both of them spoke about being in service of a Demon Lord." Doris pointed out, to which Treyni nodded her head in agreement.

"Big sister, what do we do with this thing?" Trya asked her tone carrying hints of displeasure as she walked over to the body that Laplace had left behind in his retreat. Treyni and Doris couldn't help but also frown in disgust at the sight of it.

"Dispose of it." Treyni replied quickly in irritation. "To think that Majin tried to earn our loyalty by offering us a corpse without a soul. The nerve…"

"W-wait! You can't just throw that away!" Sumire suddenly shouted as she held her hands out to stop Trya. Her eyes widened immediately after as she realized what she had just done, shouting at a Dryad.

"And why not?" Treyni asked as she and her sisters turned their attention to Sumire, making the young girl more than a little bit nervous to be under the eyes of not just one, but three Dryads. Regardless, she gathered up the courage to speak, wanting to explain the value of the body they were just going to throw away.

"That body's a Homunculus. An artificial body, or humanoid vessel if you prefer, made for spiritual life-forms or souls to inhabit and gain a material form. It's a very rare and valuable thing that's only commonly found in the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion. But even then, Sarion refuses to share the methods of creating such a body and they most certainly don't trade it." Sumire said as she looked at the artificial body on the ground. "Honestly, I was rather shocked to see that this Majin was just casually carrying one around."

The only reason Sumire knew about this was because she had been looking into acquiring a body for one of her friends back home. The body she had acquired upon being transferred to this world was not suitable for her, and as a result was tearing at her soul. Sumire didn't expect to find one just being dumped right in front of her like this!

"Is that so? If that's the case, then we should at the very least bring this to Lord Rimuru, he may find use for it if it is deemed as something valuable in other nations." Treyni said to Trya, who promptly made the Homunculus disappear with her magic before turning her attention back to Sumire. "Now may I ask who you are? I am the Dryad Treyni, one of the managers of the Great Forest of Jura." She went on to introduce herself.

"Oh uh, my name is Sumire Makino of the Heavenly Kingdom of Angelus. It's nice to meet you." Sumire says with the bow of her head, Treyni and her sisters seemed to relax a bit more around her, as they were able to tell that she meant them no harm.

"I see, may I ask what brings you to this forest? Judging by the fact that you're already aware of the fact that danger lurks within these lands, I can only assume you're here to either observe or intervene?" Treyni asked, referring to the way that Sumire had questioned Laplace about the Orc Lord and his army.

"W-well, yeah! Given that our nation borders the Orc Kingdom, with both of us being between the forest and Demon Lord domains, it's only natural that we would look into why the peaceful Orcs had suddenly become so violent, and if perhaps they would pose a threat to us as well." Sumire explained as best as she could, her eyes shifting to the ground as she failed to meet the questioning gaze of Treyni.

It wasn't a lie by any means, though. With the Orc Kingdom being between Jura and Eurazania, and the Heavenly Kingdom being between Jura and Fulbrosia, the two smaller nations were also bordered with each other. The only reason they never interacted was due to racial differences and beliefs. Plus, neither wanted to earn the ire of the Demon Lords close to them by interacting with those on the other side of the border.

"You must be quite strong if you were sent here all alone, then I suppose we can count on your help when it comes to dealing with the Orc Lord?" Treyni asked with a bright smile as she clasped her hands in front of her. Despite the brilliant smile, Sumire felt that this wasn't the type of request that she could say no to, there was a certain amount of terror and even an ominous aura behind that smile.

"I-I suppose I could lend a hand." Sumire responded as she turned away from Treyni, her face going red with embarrassment from being coerced so easily. 'If father was here, I wouldn't hear the end of it from him.' She thought to herself, already seeing him giving her a stern lecture for not being more forward and easily bending to the will of others.

Well, she did have another reason for agreeing in the first place. Aside from investigating the situation with the Orc Lord, she still had to learn about what had happened with the Storm Dragon, and its whereabouts.

"That's wonderful, I'm sure Lord Rimuru would be very grateful for your aid." Treyni said as the ominous aura from before vanished, as if it had never been there to begin with. Her expression then became serious as she addressed everyone present. "The current situation is a lot more dire than we originally thought, though. If the Orc Lord and his army are truly being instigated by someone, then this means there's most likely a higher power at work. More than likely the Demon Lord that clown Majin was working for, it's also more than likely that it's the same Demon Lord that Gelmude serves."

"If that's true, then shouldn't we reach out to Lord Rimuru? He did tell us to call him immediately in the event of an emergency." Doris pointed out.

"Indeed, that's exactly what you're going to do, Doris." Treyni replied. "Focus all your efforts on trying to reach Lord Rimuru. In the meantime Trya, you will go speak to Souei and Apito about keeping an eye on the Orc Army's movements, they have the best reconnaissance abilities aside from our own abilities in relation to the forest. After that gather our sisters and warn as many tribes and species within the forest of the oncoming threat, as even the strongest species in the forest are potentially vulnerable to the Orc Army." Treyni explained as both Doris and Trya nodded their head in confirmation to their assigned tasks.

"What about you, sister?" Trya asked.

"I'll rally the allied forces under Lord Rimuru and make an appropriate evacuation plan for them, as well as countermeasures against the Orcs." Treyni responded. "The more allies we have in the incoming fight, the greater our chances of survival will be. So I'm counting on you." Treyni said as she placed a hand on Trya's shoulder encouragingly.

"Right, I won't let you down!" Trya said before vanishing in a burst of leaves.

"Doris, I'll leave you to contact Lord Rimuru. There's a chance that even with more numbers, we won't be able to win against the Orc Lord without his aid." Treyni said.

She was well aware of the Orc Lord's Unique Skill [Starved]. It, along with those it commanded, would be able to steal the powers and traits of those they devoured. Having greater numbers was both a boon and a disadvantage in one such situation. If they were able to kill the Orc Lord before it could gain anymore powers, then all the better. Otherwise, the longer the battle dragged out…

"Leave it to me." Doris said before she too vanished. Treyni then turned toward Sumire with a smile.

"Well then, I guess that just leaves us. Please follow me, Sumire." Treyni said as she began walking further into the forest.

"R-right!"

~~~

Canaat Mountains:

"Ugh…" Rimuru groaned as he regained consciousness, sitting up straight as he rubbed the back of his head. The battle with the Spatial Dragon Lord had exhausting and had certainly pushed him in a manner that was beyond anything he had encountered since coming to this world. He could already feel that his strength had already returned, and his physical condition was perfect. In fact, he felt stronger than ever, no doubt due to consuming the Dragon Lord. His overall magicule capacity was several times larger than what it had been before the fight, and he could also feel a drastic increase in his physical strength. He would have to test his new power eventually, but for the time being, he needed to know just how much he had grown.

《 Notice: Would you like me to list the skills acquired from the Dragon Lord? 》

'Uh, sure thing partner. Go ahead.' Rimuru replied, it seemed [Great Sage] was ahead of him as usual. Then again, it tended to always show some kind of excitement when it came to meddling with his skills and abilities.

《 Understood: The following Extra Skills were gained from the consumption of the Spatial Dragon Lord:

[Universal Shapeshift] - Allows the user to freely alter their bodily properties and disguise their appearance however they desire, with hardly any effort.

[Mana Manipulation] - allows the user to better control Mana, allowing for exceptional direct manipulation of Magicules and molecules in the air to manipulate and utilize various elements, while also allowing the user to disrupt the usage of magic by others. Also greatly increases the user's resistance to Magic.

[Predictive Calculation] - Allows the user to calculate something and predict the outcomes based on their calculations depending on the user's ability. Can be used to read the user's flow of power to prevent waste and predict the future of any actions or events with complex calculations.

[Ultraspeed Regeneration] - Grants the user incredible regenerative properties far superior to those afforded by [Rapid Regeneration]. Any injury and damage that doesn't instantaneously kill the user can be regenerated very quickly as long as the user has magicules.]

[Spatial Domination] - Gives the user complete control over the Element of Space. It allows the user to freely switch between spaces, performing teleportation easily, creating or imbuing attacks with the Spatial element, creating pocket dimensions, as well as block or restrict others from using Spatial abilities.

Furthermore, the user has also acquired the Extra Skills [Ultraspeed Action, [Ultraspeed Reaction, [Ultra Sense, and [Ultra Intuition]. Using [Degenerate, the 4 Extra Skills were merged and amplified to form the [Extra Skill: Ultra Instinct, allowing the user to detect and discern anything no matter how abstract and automatically act/react to any situation or threat with the best possible move with near-perfect timing and judgement.

After devouring the Dragon Lord, the Intrinsic Skill [Dragon Scales] has evolved into [Iron Scales] , greatly boosting the user's overall defensive abilities.  》

'Whoa, no wonder this Dragon was so hard to beat! I figured most of its skills were Dragon or Spatial related, but it was actually far more powerful than I gave it credit for. How the hell did we win that fight?' Rimuru couldn't help but think, with all these skills, that Dragon Lord should have been near impossible to touch.

《 Answer: From the beginning of the fight, I was working to analyze and suppress the skills of the Dragon Lord using the sub-skill [Skill Disable] of the [Unique Skill: Desire] while you were focused on the fight. The luck factor of [Chosen One] also played a key role in our victory. 》

'In other words, if I was missing even one of those Unique Skills, I could have died in that fight.' It wasn't a question, but a fact that Rimuru had to acknowledge. Throughout that fight, [Great Sage] had been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to support him, but it was only now that Rimuru realized just how close to death he had been.

《 … That is correct. 》

That pause from [Great Sage] was enough to let Rimuru know that he truly had been lucky in every sense of the word.

'Well, I suppose that means I just need to keep improving. Even with all these new skills, I can't afford to let myself become complacent. I can't always be relying on you to save my ass.' Rimuru thought in determination.

《 … I don't mind. This is my purpose. 》

'…even if you say that…' Rimuru shook his head sideways as he stood up. He knew [Great Sage] meant well. That it liked when he relied on it, but Rimuru wanted to lessen its burden by mastering more of his abilities faster. At least that way, it would have room to focus on the more important stuff.

《 ... 》

Deciding to leave that conversation there, Rimuru looked at his surrounding and realized that he was in a cave. A rather large one for that, it must have been the den of the Dragon Lord, he could feel a faint trace of its aura and scent around the place. More than likely, Ranga and Zegion had brought him here after he passed out from the fight with the Dragon Lord. Walking towards the entrance he saw both Zegion and Ranga by the entrance, keeping guard.

"Ranga, Zegion…" he called out to them, prompting them to swiftly turn their heads towards him.

"Master/Lord Rimuru!" Ranga and Zegion shouted respectively. Ranga quickly crashed his body into Rimuru, nuzzling against him affectionately. Zegion, on the other hand, came close but didn't do anything overly dramatic like that.

"I'm so happy to see that you are awake, master!" Ranga said excitedly.

"Indeed, I'm glad to see you fully recovered, my lord." Zegion said, expressing his own relief at his full recovery.

"Sorry if I worried the two of you, but thank you for keeping watch and making sure I was safe." Rimuru thanked them with a smile as he rubbed the top of their heads.

At this point, he thought it was better for them to just go on back home, this journey had proved to be far more fruitful than he thought it would be. Having grown over several times stronger and significantly improved his technique in the last few weeks, along with acquiring multiple Extra Skills that would be extremely useful in countless ways in the long-run. And not just him, Ranga and Zegion had each grown considerably as well, with [Great Sage] hinting at the possibility of Ranga evolving soon due to having been exposed to Rimuru's Magicules within his shadow in addition to his growth from training.

All in all, the trip was worth it, there was no need to risk their lives further, or disrupt the status quo here within these mountains. He was likely already pushing it with all the Dragons he consumed, especially the Spatial Dragon Lord, and he wasn't eager to fight any other Dragon Lords even with his greater power and new skills. And that wasn't even considering the possibility of stirring up trouble for Dwargon if he tried fighting any more of the stronger Dragons, as Kaijin warned him beforehand.

《 Notice: Strange magical signature has been detected nearby. 》

'Huh?' Rimuru was caught off-guard by the sudden alert from [Great Sage]. 'Is it another hostile?'

《 No, no hostile intent detected. 》

Rimuru took a second to carefully think about it. On one hand, he had just come from a battle that he barely came out alive from. And more than anything, he just wanted to go home. But he couldn't deny that his curiosity had been piqued.

~~~

Rimuru had Ranga and Zegion get in his shadow, following the directions of [Great Sage]. With [Spatial Domination], he could now just vanish in an instant in the event that trouble awaited them at the source of this strange magic energy.

It didn't take him long until he reached two large gates that were built at the base of an enormous rock-like structure, intricate carvings by the pillars near the gates. These things looked to be very old, like thousands of years.

"Why am I getting a strange sense of deja-vu?" Rimuru questioned out loud as he gazed at the large gates. For a moment, he was almost reminded of the Sealed Cave where his mother had been sealed for the last three hundred years. 'Being this close to the gate, I can feel the strange energy that [Great Sage] was talking about…'

Whatever was beyond these gates had a strong presence, far stronger than the power that Rimuru had, even after eating the Spatial Dragon Lord. And he could sense no malice or hostility from whatever it was…in fact he couldn't even sense any emotions at all.

'Well, I won't get anywhere just standing around out here.' He thought to himself, before pushing the large doors apart. A bright light greeted him as he did so, forcing him to close his eyes shut.

…When his eyes adapted to the sudden light, they couldn't help but widen at what he saw.

"Well, what are the odds of that…"

So yeah….I'm not dead, just incase you lot were wondering!

Just had a few things going on that kept me from getting back to my wonderful works. But, hopefully I can get back into the groove of things.

Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter!

---

It had been two days since Sumire came across Treyni and her sisters fighting that strange Majin within the Great Forest of Jura. The two of them had made their way to an Ogre Village that was on the southwestern side of the forest, home to about five hundred ogres, though what surprised Sumire even more was the fact that there were a little over two dozen Kijin currently in this village as well. From what she knew, Kijin were supposed to be rarely born from Ogres, and the chances of this many Ogres evolving naturally was almost zero. It wasn't until she learned that they had been named that things finally made sense.

But that also brought about its own set of questions…

'Who in the world is strong enough to name dozens of monsters and evolve them into A-rank?!'

That had been the first question to pop into her mind, but she decided to hold off on asking any questions.

Another surprise were the Ogres and Kijins themselves, and the village they lived in. Sumire was quick to note many things about them almost instantly, their houses were built far better than what most would expect of monsters, they dressed in Kimonos and Yukatas, their warriors were dressed in armour that greatly resembled those of samurai, and their mannerisms in general displayed a level of culture and intelligence that one normally wouldn't see in monsters.

'This place…almost seems human…and like something from feudal Japan, no less…'

"I see…so that's what happened." Treyni stated as she closed her eyes in thought, bringing Sumire's attention back to the conversation at hand.

Almost immediately after they had arrived, with the Ogres and Kijin respectfully welcoming them, Treyni asked Akatsuki to call forth his council. Which led to her and Sumire being taken for a meeting with the rest of the Ogre Village's council.

Akatsuki had just finished recounting the villages encounter with Gelmude and the attack on the village by the Demons he summoned, as well as the results of it all. Fortunately, there had been no casualties, and any injuries that were sustained were fully recovered thanks to the potions provided by Lord Rimuru, who Sumire learned was a powerful Majin who the Ogres/Kijin served. But unfortunately, Gelmude had managed to escape. Still, without any casualties, there was no reason for them to complain.

"More than anything, it was his wording as he left that concerned me. He almost seemed to rejoice when he saw that many among us were evolved, claiming that we would serve as fodder for his plans. I initially took it as the ramblings of a lunatic, but I still couldn't shake the feeling there was something more to that." Akatsuki said with a small frown. Treyni's gaze shifted to Sumire, who nodded her head with a serious expression as she understood what the Dryad was most likely thinking.

"You should trust your instincts more, Chief Akatsuki." Treyni said with a smile, before her expression became firm once more. "I fear Gelmude was referring to the new threat that has entered the forest recently. An army of over two hundred thousand Orcs…led by an Orc Lord."

"What?!"

"An Orc Lord?!"

"But that's impossible!"

"But if the Dryads say so…then it has to be true…"

Treyni's revelation immediately sent the council room into a sense of panic and denial. Many wanted to deny the fact, but knowing that they couldn't refute the words of one of the managers of the forest. Besides, the threat of an Orc Lord was something that could not be ignored or something to make light of.

"An Orc Lord, eh? No wonder that foolish Majin seemed to get overconfident as he fled." Hakurou said as he stroked his beard in deep contemplation. "A Unique monster born once every few centuries. I've heard it devours the fear and anxiety of its comrades, and that they absorb the strength and abilities of any prey they eat." Sumire couldn't help but gulp, not liking the sound of that, and she wasn't the only one. Many of the council members seemed unnerved.

"Yes, it is the effect of the [Unique Skill: Starved]. A skill designed to bring calamity and ruin to the world. The skill affects all those under the Orc Lord, and gives them an insatiable hunger that cannot be fulfilled. As the Orcs devour more prey, they take on the abilities, skills, and traits of their prey, making that power their own."

The silence that followed Treyni's explanation was suffocating, as everyone took a moment to digest the information. The number of enemies was absurd, and to make things worse, they could grow stronger by eating corpses.

"Our domain was also almost attacked by a powerful Majin." Treyni revealed much to the shock of the Ogres and Kijin. To think that anyone would dare to approach the Dryads with malicious intent, it was almost unheard of. "Fortunately, we managed to intercept him before they could get too close to our home. He came to us Dryads with the offer of submitting to a Demon Lord in exchange for protection from the Orcs, naturally we refused. But unfortunately, he escaped me. Given what you've shared, I can confirm that this Majin and Gelmude may be working together under a single master, and worse they may be the ones that instigated the Orc Lord."

"…I see. This is very troubling indeed, Lady Treyni. It only makes it more regrettable that we failed to subdue Gelmude, despite the warnings given to us by Lord Rimuru." Akatsuki says with a sigh, before looking at Treyni. "We will need to contact Lord Rimuru and make him aware of the situation as soon as possible. We may end up requiring his strength to defeat the Orc Lord."

"I agree, which is why my sister, Doris, is currently trying to contact him as we speak, but she informed me that she is facing some interference, which may delay his return." Treyni says in a troubled tone, drawing anxious looks and murmuring from the Ogre Council. The fact that even the Dryads had difficulty contacting their Lord in such a dire situation only made things look increasingly grim.

Before anyone could continue, Souei suddenly appeared in the middle of the Council room, kneeling in the space between Treyni and Akatsuki.

"Please forgive my intrusion, but I come bearing urgent news related to the Orc Army that demands the immediate attention of both of you." Souei announced addressing both Akatsuki and Treyni, this drew the attention of not only them, but everyone else in the room.

"What is it, Souei?" Akatsuki asked in concern, though he had a bad feeling about the news.

"The Orc army continues to march through the forest, devouring any and all creatures they encounter. Given their current path, they are most likely heading towards Lake Siss, and will arrive within a few days." Souei revealed, causing Akatsuki and Treyni to frown. "There's more, a legion of nearly fifteen thousand Orcs split from the main army. And given their current path, their target is…our village."

"What?!" Akatsuki shouted angrily as he slammed his hands on the table.

"As I thought, Gelmude intends to feed your people to the Orcs in order to further increase the Orc Lord's power." Treyni said with a sigh.

"Those detestable Orcs. They think they can beat us mighty Ogres and Kijin with sheer numbers?!"

"Those damn pigs need to be put in their place!"

"That's right! With the power Lord Rimuru granted us, we can easily deal with those Orcs!"

"We have to defend our home!"

Similar shouts started going through the room, the Ogres and Kijin present angered by the fact that such a weak race like the Orcs would dare to attack them. However, Treyni knew she couldn't allow a battle between them to carry out. Even if they won in the end, there would be numerous casualties and the Orcs would have more than likely grown in strength as well.

"Under normal circumstances I would agree, but as it stands a confrontation with the Orcs is the last thing that we want." Treyni said as she flared her aura for a moment, silencing all those in the room as they turned their attention towards her.

"But we can't just sit and do nothing! The Orcs are marching towards our home! At the very least we have the right to defend ourselves!" One of the Kijin in the room shouted, being able to bare Treyni's aura better than most.

"Souei, what would you estimate the strength of the Orcs to be right now?" Akatsuki asked, he too wanted to defend his home, but he understood that their enemies were not ordinary Orcs that were far weaker than even Ogres. Orcs under the influence of an Orc Lord had the potential to grow far stronger than what was normal for their race.

"The Orcs were all wearing full plate armor and had weapons of various kinds on them. This suggests that they may have the backing of someone higher. Most likely the Demon Lord that Gelmude serves." Souei reported. "Additionally, thanks to Apito, we were able to confirm a wide variety of mutations among the Orc Army, most likely as a result of the different prey they have devoured. Some possessing dragon-like scales, others with metal blades sticking their bodies similar to the Blade Tiger, some with sharp senses that made getting close difficult. All in all, their strength is far greater than what the average Orc should have, and their abilities are just as versatile."

Each word by Souei brought more and more distress to those present. The Ogres and Kijin realized that this battle wouldn't be as cut and dry as they had initially believed it would be. The Orcs' power had greatly risen, and their numbers were overwhelming for their village of five hundred.

"This situation is far more dangerous than I thought. This level of growth…at this rate the Orc Lord might…evolve…" Treyni's eyes widened as she realized the likely goal of Gelmude and the one who commands him. "...The Orc Disaster. Of course, how could I not have seen this?" Treyni suddenly said, suddenly seeming deeply troubled. An expression of horror settled on all those in the room as the gravity of the situation settled in on them.

An Orc Lord was already bad enough, even without the massive Orc Army following it, but an Orc Disaster was an entirely different level. It was said to be a disaster-class monster, one with the potential to grow to the level of a Demon Lord. If such a being was to awaken, there was nothing any of the monsters present in the forest would be able to do against such a force. And if the Orc Lord were to evolve, who knew just how much further his army would grow due to the effects of [Starved].

"You may not want to hear this, but…" Treyni started as all eyes once more turned to her. "But it may be best to abandon this village. We can't afford a direct confrontation with the Orcs."

"Lady Treyni! How can you suggest such a thing?!"

"You're asking us Ogres to run from those pigs?!"

"Never! I would sooner die than run from the likes of them!"

"Quiet!" Benimaru's voice cut through the various offended council members as he flared his aura, his glare leveled at many of the hotheaded individuals. "Remember whom you're speaking to. Lady Treyni is the primary manager of the forest, chosen by Lady Velredia herself and further supported by Lord Rimuru. Show her proper respect." Benimaru declared, as the council members began to calm down and realized just how uncouth and disrespectful their behavior was. "I'm sure she has a perfectly good explanation for her suggestion, but you need to give her the chance to speak." Benimaru added, as the council members bowed their heads apologetically towards Treyni.

"Please forgive our rudeness, we meant no disrespect."

Akatsuki couldn't help but turn to his wife, Sakura, in minor shock at what had just transpired, with her being just as shocked about it as he was. But he quickly schooled his features, though he couldn't help the small proud smile that lingered on his face.

'You've grown…my son.'

Had it been a few months ago, Benimaru would have been the most offended individual in the room. To run from a foe, no matter how strong or weak, went against his principles at the time. But he's learnt from his mistakes after the way he offended Lord Rimuru long ago, and since then has continued to grow in a manner that surprised those closest to him. Not just in strength, but in maturity too. It was something Akatsuki and Sakura took pride in, and were eternally grateful to Rimuru for.

"Thank you, Benimaru." Treyni nodded in thanks towards the Young Master before looking back at the rest of the Ogre Council. Surprisingly her eyes held no anger or ill will, but instead a level of understanding could be seen from them. "Please raise your heads, there is no need to apologize. This is your home, so it is only natural that you would react in this manner to being asked to abandon it." Treyni added as the council members slowly raised their heads, grateful for her forgiveness. "It is true that the Ogres of this village are indeed among the strongest and most skilled monsters in the western side of the forest, with your strength having grown further since some of you were named. But the enemy we face is not a normal one. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't doubt your ability to prevail over the Orcs, but as things stand, it would take only one mistake for the tide of the battle to turn against you."

"You mean because of the Unique Skill [Starved]?" Hakurou spoke up.

"Yes, as it stands, we don't know just how much Gelmude has fed the Orc army, and how much their strength has grown. But from what Souei has described, we can expect their abilities to be diverse and their strength far beyond our normal expectations. All it would take is the death of a single Ogre, or worse a Kijin, and the entire Orc Army would gain their powers and abilities. Worse, the Orc Lord would be that much closer to evolving." Treyni explained her reasoning. "If possible, I'd like to deprive it of as much nourishment as possible, and prevent its evolution so we stand a better chance at defeating it."

"I see…you want to buy time for us to make a last stand where we can fight the Orc Lord directly." Akatsuki said with a frown.

"Exactly. Fighting the Orcs serves no purpose if we cannot get to the Orc Lord. Otherwise, all we would be doing is giving it more power. The best option is to evacuate the village and regroup with the other races of the Alliance at Lake Siss, which is where the main army is heading. My sisters are currently seeking out more allies across the forest, even on the eastern side, and the Goblin Village is being used as a refuge as per Lord Rimuru's orders. The non-combatants will be guided toward the Sealed Cave where they will be protected, while warriors confront the Orc Lord and his army at Lake Siss. The goal is to kill the Orc Lord before he can evolve. We do that, and the rest of the Orcs will lose all the power they gained from the effects of [Starved]."

Nobody in the room could refute Treyni's logic. Not Akatsuki, not Benimaru, not Hakurou, not even the council members that had spoken against her earlier. They prided themselves in being a warrior clan, and as a result understood war tactics. As much as they didn't want to admit it, fighting the approaching fifteen thousand Orcs would serve no purpose. Even if they were to win, the next battle would only be harder due to all the other Orcs having benefited from whatever prey was devoured.

"...I understand." Akatsuki said with a resignatory sigh before turning to face his people. "Spread the word across the village, inform the people of the approaching Orcs and have them prepare for evacuation. Pack only the essentials." He ordered, much to the shock of the council members.

"But Chief-"

"Enough." Akatsuki said as he raised his hand to silence them before they could go on. "I understand where you are coming from. My own pride demands that I meet this threat head on and protect our home, even if it means drawing my last breath." He added. "But you must remember this. Our lives are no longer just our own. We have pledged allegiance to Lord Rimuru, and every action we take reflects on him. We can't afford to act out of pride or selfishness, with disregard to the consequences. If our actions inconvenience our lord and those under him, then that would be a far greater shame." Akatsuki said as he met the eyes of the council members one by one, daring them to say otherwise. "We may not like it, but I believe Lady Treyni is right. Both from a strategic and logical point of view. I also believe Lord Rimuru would have done the same. Prioritizing our lives, and the greater good, over our pride."

All was silent for a few seconds within the council room. There was nothing the council members could say to refute Akatsuki's words, for they were the absolute truth. The truth they didn't want to accept, but one they had to face. Leaving behind one's home was never an easy choice, neither was running from an enemy. But this wasn't the time for pride and arrogance, this wasn't the time to be selfish.

"We'll begin preparations to evacuate…" The council members said in unity as they bowed their heads respectfully.

And so the meeting was adjourned, the council members were each assigned tasks to see to regarding the evacuation preparation. Given the approaching Orc army, time was of the essence, the sooner they left, the less risk there was of being followed or discovered.

Soon enough, the council room was empty save for Benimaru, Akatsuki, Hakurou, Sumire, and Treyni. The Dryad had asked for the three Kijin to stay behind for a moment.

"Was there something else you wanted to inform us of?" Akatsuki asked, once they were finally the only ones in the room.

"Yes, though it's more of a request. One for Hakurou." Treyni said as she turned towards the elderly Kijin whose attention peaked at the mention of his name.

"Oh? A personal request from a Dryad, surely this old man has lived long enough to experience all kinds of things." Hakurou said with an amused smile as he turned his attention to Treyni, eager to hear what it was she had to ask of him.

"As I said earlier, my sisters are currently gathering more allies and spreading word across the forest about the Orc Lord and his army, including races on the Eastern side of the forest that have rejected the rule of the Dryads. However, there is one race in particular that is beyond our reach due to their location and our limitations." Treyni said with a smile. "To be more specific, I'm talking about the Tengu, a powerful race that lives within the Kusha Mountains located further southwest of here. Their home is too high up in the mountains for us Dryads to reach, and thus I'd like to ask for your help in seeking their aid. Especially given your relationship with their leader."

"The Tengu…" Hakurou muttered as his eyes closed in thought, a small reminiscent and endearing smile appearing on his face as old memories flooded his mind.

Memories of the girl with snow hair that had crimson tips, and canine ears above her head. Her mesmerizing golden eyes, that held so much strength and passion in them. Her beautiful swordsmanship that captivated him as they both learnt under his grandfather. The love they shared under that maple tree after they were wed. It all came flooding back as though it happened yesterday.

It had never been forgotten, Hakurou would never allow himself to forget his love. There wasn't a single time he didn't think of her whenever his eyes saw a maple tree. But now they seemed to be surfacing stronger than ever, his old heart seeming to beat faster as centuries worth of yearning and longing seemed to be resurfacing.

"Wait, Hakurou, what does she mean by 'your relationship with their leader'?" Akatsuki asked, voicing the thoughts of Benimaru and Sumire, who were also out of the loop and very curious due to Hakurou's reaction.

"Hohoho, I suppose there is a significant aspect of my past that I haven't told anyone before. Rather, this has been a closely guarded secret of mine." Hakurou bemused, the eyes of Benimaru and Akatsuki flatly trained on him. The elder Kijin let out a sigh as he figured his past was bound to catch-up to him at some point. "It was a long long time ago, three hundred years or so. Back when I was but a young Ogre, much like the Young Master, and I was under the tutelage of my grandfather. But what you perhaps didn't know was that I wasn't the only disciple my grandfather had at the time."

"Wait, Byakuya Araki had another disciple?" Benimaru asked in shock. He was aware that Hakurou had trained under the legendary swordsman of their village, but he was unaware that there had been someone else who learnt directly under him. And judging by his father's reaction, he too seemed just as surprised to learn that.

"Mmmm, she was an outsider of our village, and not an Ogre. Though she did live among us during the time she was under Grandfather's tutelage." Hakurou said, "Her name was Kaede, and she was my junior disciple, and soon after grandfather passed…she was my wife."

"..."

"...I'm sorry, did you just say 'wife'?" Akatsuki asked, just as shocked as his son, maybe more so given he had known Hakurou longer, to learn that he was married of all things.

"Hohoho!" Hakurou laughed casually stroking his beard, as though he hadn't just made such a big revelation to the two other kijin. One of which had known him for nearly a century now.

And yet surprisingly not even Akatsuki had heard about Hakurou having a lover. It had never been mentioned by the old man himself, nor had gone through any grapevine in the village. Had it been some kind of secret affair?

"The look on your faces is quite amusing to see." Hakurou said after a moment. "It comes as no surprise that nobody knew of our affair. After all, we were married in secret. Aside from that, she didn't stay in the village long after grandfather passed. Having learnt all she could, she returned to her people. She had responsibilities waiting for her there…and I couldn't abandon my responsibilities to my own people. So in the end, we were forced to go our separate ways." Hakurou said, his expression somber and forlorn.

"That sounds like a beautiful yet tragic love story." Sumire suddenly said, tearing up a little from Hakurou's tale.

"Indeed, but at this moment, it also presents an opportunity for us to negotiate with the Tengu." Treyni said, she hated to sound like the heartless one. But time was of the essence, and the sooner they got back on track, the better.

"I understand what needs to be done." Hakurou said with the nod of his head. "Though I can't guarantee anything, I will do my best to persuade the Tengu to join us in the coming battle." The elder Kijin added.

His heart beat faster at the prospect of seeing Kaede again after nearly three hundred years. He was both excited and fearful, many questions plaguing his mind regarding the one he once called wife. Did she still feel the same way he did? Had she moved on, started a new life with a family of her own? Did she still think of him the same way he constantly thought of her?

All these questions plagued his mind, making him fearful of the potential answers. But he wouldn't run away from the truth. Regardless of how much it hurt. Just being able to see her again after all these years would be a blessing for him, regardless of the truth.

Goblin Village Outskirt:

"Again!"

The clashing of steel against steel could be heard in a clearing not too far from the Goblin Village. There two individuals could be seen clashing in a heated sparring session. The first person was Rito Hotokawa, an Otherworlder who had been suddenly transported into the Great Forest of Jura a little over three weeks ago. The second individual was a slightly darker than average Goblin, dressed in a dark edgy attire with a cloak, his name was Kataki.

Even amongst his kin, Kataki was a rare individual. Having evolved into a Unique Monster when he was found and saved by Lord Rimuru a long time ago. It was back during the Direwolf raids on the Goblin villages that Kataki had been the only one in his whole village to survive the raids, and he would have followed after his people, had he not encountered Lord Rimuru a few days afterwards while wandering the forest injured.

Lord Rimuru informed Kataki that he had put an end to the Direwolf raids, probably during the time he had been wandering the forest. When offered the chance to join the Goblin Village that was under his protection, Kataki gratefully accepted…

But…

Upon his arrival he was surprised to see Goblins and Wolves co-existing within that village. Just the sight of the Wolves was enough to make his blood boil with rage. In that moment, he lashed out at the closest Wolf to him…only to be swiftly put down by said Wolf. He had still been a weak little Goblin then, and apparently Lord Rimuru had named all the Direwolves, allowing them to evolve and grow much stronger.

"I don't expect you to get over your hatred for the Wolves, not after what you suffered. But they are my subordinates, and are under my protection just as much as the Goblins. So take your anger out on me whenever you need to…okay Kataki?"

That was the instant he had been named by Lord Rimuru, but rather than evolving to a Hobgoblin much like all the Goblins before him, he evolved into a Unique Monster. An 'Evil Goblin'. Lord Rimuru speculated that it was a result of the amount of hatred and grief that he held within his heart. This speculation was further cemented by the acquisition of his [Unique Skill: Avenger]. A skill that allowed him to gain the abilities of his opponents by facing defeat at their hand. It was a manifestation of his desire for power, power to avenge his fallen comrades, to exceed those stronger than him and beat them the next time they fought.

That day, Kataki decided he would live within the outskirts of the Goblin Village rather than within it, never really interacting with the other Goblins. It's not that he had a bad relationship with them, well except maybe the Goblin Riders, but rather he didn't want to go in the village and end up losing his cool when he came across a Tempest Wolf.

"Ahh!" Rito yelled as he fell to the ground on his behind, Kataki's machete was instantly in front of his eyes. "Okay, okay I surrender! You win again, geez." The boy said as raised his hands in defeat.

Kataki took a few seconds, looking at the boy who had suddenly come into his life. When he first found Rito within the woods three weeks ago, Kataki had been out hunting for food. He hadn't even meant to save the boy when he killed the monster that had been attacking him, but it happened anyway. One thing led to another, and eventually the boy chose to stay with him despite Kataki's initial resistance.

"Your movements are still too rigid, and your body's too tight." Kataki lectured Rito as he pulled his machete away from the boy, sheathing both his axe and machete before reaching a hand out to Rito. The boy gladly took it before allowing himself to be pulled up. "You've improved, but it's clear that you still don't use these weapons as an extension of yourself. Wielding different types of weapons will take some getting used to, but you're already making decent grounds."

"Th-thank you Kataki. I've really been trying." Rito said with a smile. Until a few weeks ago, he had never wielded a weapon or gone through any kind of training. But his body had been strengthened upon crossing worlds. Technically speaking, Rito was significantly stronger than Kataki in terms of physical capabilities, but his complete lack of training showed in how Kataki would beat him through sheer skill and ability. In the three weeks since migrating, he had improved significantly, slowly closing the gap as he learned to use his new weapons.

"Mmm, keep it up." The Evil Goblin said with a simple nod. "Anyways, let's take a break for now. We'll go hunting in a little while."

"Right!" Rito said with a sharp nod.

Hunting was something that Rito had only recently started taking part in, specifically when he had finally gotten his weapons from Kurobe last week. Kataki had felt that Rito was finally ready to go out into the field with him. And thus, every other day for the past week, the two of them had been heading out into the woods, hunting and fighting various kinds of monsters.

Kataki did most of the fighting, with Rito lending support through his Unique Skill [Supporter] which, as the name implies, allowed him to support his allies by buffing their physical and magical abilities. He could even heal his allies, depending on the extent of the injury. Though Kataki did let him fight from time to time, claiming that the experience gained from fighting monsters in a real life and death situation would be vital for his growth.

"Wait…" Kataki suddenly said as he raised his right hand and suddenly stood perfectly still, slowly reaching for his axe with the other hand while cautiously looking around, prompting Rito to do the same as he became tense at the prospect of potential enemy attack.

"There you guys are!" A familiar voice suddenly called out, prompting both Rito and Kataki to turn in the direction it came.

From the bushes ahead leapt out two Tempest Wolves, and riding on top of them were none other than Gobta and Rigur. This immediately put Rito at ease as he realized there was no threat, but Kataki on the other hand couldn't help but keep his eyes on the Tempest Wolves for a moment, his guard never truly dropped around them.

"Man, we've been looking for you guys everywhere! Why can't you train in one spot like the rest of us, would make it a lot easier to find you!" Gobta complained as he hopped off his Wolf, with Rigur doing the same.

"What do you want?" Kataki asked with a frown. He had never really gotten along with Gobta, the main reason being that the small Goblin was the head of the Goblin Riders. A unit of paired Goblins and Wolves that worked together, that alone was reason enough for him to dislike them.

"Kataki, we didn't come to fight." Rigur said as he stepped in front of Gobta who looked ready to retort at Kataki's attitude. "In fact it's the opposite, a crisis has emerged in the forest, and everyone is being called in by the Dryad, Lady Treyni. You're the strongest amongst us Goblins, so naturally your presence has also been requested."

"The Dryad huh…" Kataki was well aware of who Treyni was. Though he had never met her directly, he had seen her with Lord Rimuru once. If she was calling for him specifically, then whatever this crisis was had to be serious.

"Kataki, maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least hear them out." Rito said as he approached the Evil Goblin. He happened to get along great with the other Goblins, Gobta and Rigur included, if they really were facing some kind of trouble then he wanted to help.

"…Alright. I'll come with you." Kataki finally said, much to the relief of all present. At the very least, he would hear out the Dryads and the severity of the situation at hand. If this crisis truly was a threat to the Goblins, then he would offer his aid, otherwise it was not his problem. Kataki was the kind of individual that would only take orders from Lord Rimuru himself, aside from that, he would always act to protect the lives of his fellow Goblins.

For that reason, he was willing to put aside his differences and the hatred he felt towards the Tempest Wolves.

Kusha Mountains:

The journey to the Kusha Mountains had been much shorter than one would have expected, though when riding on the backs of Tempest Wolves, it was well within expectations. Benimaru, Hakurou, and 3 ogres had left their village within the hour of Treyni's request, and had made haste towards the Kusha Mountains. Five Tempest wolves had been given to them to make the journey faster, and because of that, it only took a day to arrive at their destination.

The Kusha Mountains were, as one would expect, a mountainous region. Filled with hills, mountains, and various rock structures. Had Treyni not given them the directions to the Tengu dwelling, they would have spent more than a few days going up and down in search of the place.

"Halt!" The group immediately came to a stop at the sudden shout, immediately getting on guard as their hands went to their weapons. Given how high they were, it was natural that their surroundings would be covered in a thick fog, making it difficult to see too far. Still, they were able to see the winged individual that landed in front of them, having jumped down from a rock gate-like structure.

'This one is skilled…I didn't even sense his presence until he revealed himself.' Benimaru thought to himself as a drop of sweat slid down the side of his head. This person was at least as strong as a Kijin, maybe even stronger than Benimaru himself.

"This is the domain of the Tengu, state your purpose!" The Tengu guard called out, confirming to Benimaru and company that they were in the right place.

"We come as envoys of the Dryad Treyni, the primary caretaker of the Great Forest of Jura, to request the aid of the Tengu regarding a matter that threatens all life in the Storm Dragon's domain." Benimaru declares. It had been decided he would introduce them in this manner to avoid any confusion, it was unknown if the Tengu knew anything about Lord Rimuru or the Great Forest Alliance, but by using Treyni's name, they would at least be willing to hear them out.

"...Very well, please follow me." The guard said with a nod after a moment of thought, prompting Benimaru and the others to also nod in understanding.

And so they followed the Tengu guard through the stone gates. Almost immediately after stepping through the gates, their surroundings changed once more. The misty and rocky terrains of the mountains vanished, and were replaced by a lush green plain. Even the air, which had been thick and chilly due to how high up they were, seemed lighter and fresh, like the summer wind. They stood at the entrance of the Tengu village, with wooden buildings scattered around with various trees and pathways. The Tengu folk could also be seen moving about their business.

"W-What is this?" Benimaru couldn't help but wonder in awe as he looked around the Tengu village and the beautiful land surrounding it.

"It seems this village is within an isolated space, or rather a pocket dimension." Hakurou answered. Having lived a long life, he was not unfamiliar with Spatial Magic and skills of similar elements, but this was his first time seeing it used to such an extent. 'To create a pocket dimension of this size would take a being of immense power, Kaede…just how far have you come?' Hakurou thought with a smile.

"Please follow me and don't meander off, otherwise I won't be held accountable for what happens if you do." The guard reminded them before walking forward into the village, prompting the group to follow close behind.

As they made their way through the village, Benimaru couldn't help but note the similarities between this place and his home. From the way the buildings were structured, to the manner in which the Tengu dressed as they went about their business. Naturally they were a few differences, but only if one looked close enough.

The group was taken to a slightly larger central building in the village. The guard went in, asking them to wait outside for a moment, after a few minutes Benimaru and Hakurou were permitted to enter, the other Ogres and the Tempest Wolves were asked to wait outside. They were assigned to sit in front of a table with both being given a cup of tea as a courtesy for guests, and in front of them were seven Tengu Elders.

"Please allow us to formally welcome you to our village. Our Chief regrets that she could not greet you personally, but due to her condition, we thought it would be better to let her rest." The Head Elder in the middle greeted them, Benimaru and Hakurou frowned slightly at the news, the latter's grip on his cup tightening slightly.

"Then please do not trouble her, we are grateful that you would speak to us under such short notice." Benimaru said as he shook his head sideways, although internally he was a bit panicked. As manipulative and opportunistic as it sounded, a huge part of this negotiation hinged on Hakurou's relationship to the Tengu leader Kaede. But if she wasn't going to make an appearance, then that meant they would have to present their case and hope the Tengu Elders would understand the severity of the situation.

"We were told you were an envoy of the Dryads and had come with an urgent message and request. Before you proceed, I would like to remind you that we Tengu are not under the rule of the Dryads and thus are not under any obligation to obey them." The Head Elder added firmly. "That being said, we do acknowledge and respect their position as managers chosen by the Storm Dragon herself. For that reason, we were willing to hear what it is you have to say."

Benimaru nodded curtly, he understood the message clearly. They couldn't force the Tengu to do anything they didn't want to, but out of respect for the Dryads, they were at least willing to listen.

"I understand, then please allow me to get directly to the point." Benimaru said as he placed his cup of tea down, the air around him suddenly becoming heavier. "An army of two hundred thousand Orcs currently marches through our forest, led by an Orc Lord."

"An Orc Lord?!"

"As in the ones from the legends…"

The Tengu Elders began to talk and whisper among themselves. Benimaru couldn't help but smile slightly, at least they acknowledged the potential threat. Left unchecked, the Orc Lord and his army could become a force to be reckoned with, one even the Tengu would have no hope of stopping.

"We also have reason to believe that the awakening of the Orc Lord was instigated by a Majin. One whom we suspect is in service of a Demon Lord." Benimaru explained further, the Tengu Elders growing more nervous at the sudden news.

"I see, then that could mean the Demon Lords have set their sights on the forest. Could this be because of the disappearance of the Storm Dragon?" The main Tengu Elder mumbled to himself in thought, the other Elders whispering among themselves.

"I cannot say for sure, but that is the most likely answer. That being said, Lady Velredia did not leave us unprotected." Benimaru began, the eyes of the Tengu turned towards him. "It has recently come to light that the Storm Dragon…had a child."

"What?!"

"Truly?!"

"How is this possible?!"

All hell seemed to break loose as the Elders began firing questions at Benimaru one after the other, the redheaded Kijin sweatdropping at how their composure had broken down. Then again, anyone would be surprised if they heard that a True Dragon had an offspring. Any entity born of a True Dragon was bound to be a powerful and dangerous being, rightfully warranting their shock and concern.

"The full details are scarce, with only the Dryads having most of the answers." Benimaru stated as the Elders began to calm down. "But from what we were told, Lady Velredia laid an egg thousands of years ago, before even establishing this forest as her domain. For some reason, the egg did not hatch for a very long time, and thus Lady Velredia kept its existence secret from the rest of the world. Aside from the Dryads, whom she would entrust the egg to when she left the forest, no one else knew of the child's existence."

Benimaru then went on to explain everything else regarding Rimuru. How he had recently been born, how he was the last to see Velredia and how he had received the name 'Rimuru Tempest' from the Storm Dragon. He even told them about how Rimuru had been a guest in their village for some time before his people decided to fall under his rule, and the alliance he had formed between the Goblins, Wolves, Ogres, Lizardmen and Dryads.

"I see…to think the Storm Dragon would actually sire an heir, I never dared consider such a possibility." The Elders whispered amongst themselves once more as they digested the news that Benimaru had revealed to them. After a moment they turned back to their guests. "And where is the young Lord now? You've yet to mention him in regards to the matter concerning the Orcs."

"Currently Lord Rimuru is not within the forest, he left for the Canaat Mountains to train and further refine his power. The Dryads are trying to establish communication, but there seems to be some interference." Benimaru explained with a small frown as his head lowered slightly for a moment, but he quickly raised it up once more. "That being said, we will still fight. And the help of the Tengu would be much appreciated in the coming battle."

The Tengu Elders whispered amongst themselves once more, and Benimaru couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. He had done all he could, explained the situation to the best of his ability, and even told them about Lord Rimuru as Treyni had told him to. He could only hope that they would lend their aid, the strength of the Tengu would prove invaluable in the coming battle.

"We have come to a decision." The Head Elder spoke up once more, as Benimaru and Hakurou turned their attention to him. "While we understand the circumstances and the urgency of the situation…I'm afraid that we cannot lend our aid in this battle against the Orcs."

Benimaru felt his stomach drop at their rejection, though outwardly he held his composure, he had been assigned the task of acquiring the aid of a potentially powerful ally, and now he had failed.

"…May I ask why?"

"Earlier, you stated that the Orc Lord was instigated by a Majin in service of a Demon Lord, correct?"

"Yes, we encountered him recently when he attacked our village. He was quite powerful." Benimaru explained, unsure where this was going.

"For us Tengu, this is not our first encounter with a Demon Lord. The Demon Lord 'Sky Queen Frey', Queen of the Harpies, has had her eyes on our people for some time now." The main Tengu Elder revealed as Benimaru and Hakurou's eyes widened at the news. "She has attempted to subjugate us multiple times in the last three hundred years, and we have barely managed to hold our own, thanks in part to the 'Goddess of the Mountains'."

"...I understand. You fear Demon Lord Frey may attempt to take advantage of the situation." Benimaru deducted. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a logical assumption.

"That is assuming she isn't part of this scheme, or the one actually behind it. Regardless, the Demon Lords are only acting because the presence of the Storm Dragon has vanished from the forest. We were already worried this would embolden Demon Lord Frey, and the current situation more than confirms that." The main Tengu Elder said, his voice firm in the finality of their position. "This is why we can't afford to weaken our position at such a crucial time. I'm sorry, but we cannot lend our aid in the coming war."

The words of the main Tengu Elder left the air in the room feeling a bit heavy. Benimaru, in particular, felt as though he had failed in the task that had been assigned to him. But he also understood where the Tengu were coming from. If his people were also under the constant threat of a Demon Lord, he would also prioritize their safety and well-being above all else. He couldn't ask the Tengu to compromise their own safety to help them, not when they may be fighting two completely different enemies.

"I understand, I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I understand your reasoning and your priorities." Benimaru said with a quick bow.

"Thank you for your understanding. You and your companions have travelled far, please feel free to spend the night if you would like." He offered a small compensation.

"Thank you, but we really must be going. We plan to meet up with the rest of the Allied Forces in the Marshlands as soon as possible. Given our current location, it may take us longer to get there even with the Tempest Wolves." Benimaru politely declined with the bow of his head. If the negotiations here had failed, then he'd rather leave as soon as possible and be of use elsewhere.

"Now hold on just a moment, young man." A soft feminine voice suddenly cut through the room, gentle yet carrying a tone of wisdom that spoke of age. In a way it kind of reminded Benimaru of Hakurou.

The wooden door leading deeper into the building slid open and from behind them revealing the owner of the voice. The person in question was a slightly elderly woman with long, wavy white hair that reached up to her shoulders, with bangs framing her forehead. Much like her kin, she also had wolf-like ears on top of her head. Her eyes had an amber color. Like most Tengu, she was dressed in traditional clothing that much resembled the ones worn in the Ogre Village (AN: traditional japanese clothing). She wore a light purple kimono, tied with a dark red obi around her waist, with a white underlayer visible at the collar. On top of that, she wore a white haori that featured light purple geometric patterns along the sleeves.

The Tengu Elders swiftly stood up and bowed as she entered the room. And immediately Benimaru understood that he was in the presence of the Tengu Matriarch, the so-called 'Goddess of the Mountains', Kaede.

"Please forgive my sudden intrusion, but I couldn't help overhear and felt my input may be needed in this discussion." Kaede said as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her as she moved to take a seat in front of the Tengu Elders, a position that directly opposed Benimaru and Hakurou.

"After so many years, I was afraid I would pass away without ever seeing you again, Kaede. But I see you are still as regal as ever." Hakurou says, his calm demeanor not giving away how his heart was beating rapidly at seeing his wife once again.

"Hmm?" Kaede's eyes turned from Benimaru to Hakurou, confused for a brief moment, before her expression turns into one of complete shock, eyes lighting up in recognition. Her calm demeanor faltered for a moment, her eyes glistening with raw emotion. "I…I don't believe it. After so long, I had almost given up hope of ever seeing you again. Are…are you truly the Sword Savant of the Ogres that I knew 300 years ago?"

"Indeed, my love. Though I am now a Kijin instead of an Ogre, having evolved since Lord Rimuru had bestowed upon me my name, Hakurou Araki." Hakurou revealed with a gentle smile that hinted at the great joy he was feeling.

"You received the name 'Hakurou'? And even the family name 'Araki' of Master Byakuya, no less?" Kaede replied, her surprise becoming even more evident to their audience, which was understandable, as not only was it rare for most monsters to obtain names under normal circumstances, but the number to obtain family names was even rarer, and the family name 'Araki' had immediately been recognized by the Tengu Elders given their matriarch's past.

"Lady Kaede, do you recognize this Kijin?" The Head Elder asked in curiosity that was shared with his fellow Elders, though Benimaru looked on with a glint of hope.

"Yes. He is the grandson and senior disciple of my late swordmaster, the Otherworlder Byakuya Araki…and he is also my husband." Kaede revealed, much to the shock of the Elders.

"Husband?!" The Head Elder exclaimed in surprise that was shared by his fellow Elders, which was understandable since none of them knew their Matriarch was married, though they were always curious of who the father of their leader's daughter was.

"Indeed, though even I am surprised by how truly fortunate and blessed I am to have lived long enough for our paths to cross once more. Though I wish it had been under better circumstances…" Hakurou says as he composed himself once more.

"Yes, so I've heard. An Orc Lord, his army, a Majin and the Storm Dragon's heir." Kaede said as her expression became serious and focused, shelving her desires for the time being.

There was much to be said between the estranged lovers, but now was neither the place nor the time. Now there were more important matters to discuss.

"Regarding the Orc Lord and his army, there's no denying that his presence is a danger to all within the Great Forest of Jura. Left unchecked, it could pose a threat to even us Tengu." Kaede says.

"Indeed. And we suspect that the Majin behind this has done so with the intent of evolving the Orc Lord into an Orc Disaster." Benimaru revealed, much to the surprise and horror of Kaede and the Tengu Elders.

"An Orc Disaster?!"

"It cannot be!"

"This is far more dangerous than an Orc Lord!"

The Elders loudly murmured as they discussed the new revelation, while Kaede had looked on in concern. Benimaru understood their reaction, he initially held off mentioning the growing suspicion held by Treyni and his father of the Orc Lord's potential evolution since it was ultimately speculative even if it was highly likely, but with Kaede now present and having almost been rejected by the Tengu Elders, Benimaru felt it prudent to mention it now due to likely being his last chance to convince the Tengu to help.

"If the Orc Lord were to evolve into an Orc Disaster, even we Tengu may inevitably fall to its appetite for power. After all, they rival even Demon Lords in strength." Kaede solemnly states, making the Elders even more nervous.

"Exactly, my love. Which is why the Dryads are gathering warriors of all races across the forest for a last stand to stop it before it can evolve." Hakurou revealed with his eyes closed before making eye contact with his wife. "Kaede, we understand that the well-being of your people is your primary priority and the concerns you may have about the Demon Lord Frey, but if we do not stop the Orc Lord before it can evolve or at least delay its evolution long enough for Lord Rimuru to return, I fear the consequences would be catastrophic for the Forest."

"And do you believe this Rimuru Tempest is capable of stopping both an Orc Disaster AND the Demon Lord Frey if needed?" Kaede asked, wanting to immediately help her husband but needing to ensure the future of her people.

"I believe so. Unlike Charybdis or other monsters spawned from Lady Velredia's power, Lord Rimuru is her direct descendant. His potential is vast, and he will only be even stronger with training." Hakurou firmly replied. "Furthermore, I have been training him in the Haze style over the last few months, and he has progressed at an astonishing rate, attaining a mastery that exceeds even my own. As his teacher in the sword arts, I can vouch for Lord Rimuru's strength and integrity."

"I see. Hearing you speak so highly of him makes me want to meet him." Kaede said with a soft smile as she contemplated before making a decision. "Very well, we Tengu will lend our assistance in stopping the Orc Lord and the majin manipulating it from the shadows."

"L-Lady Kaede! I understand that the Orc Lord becoming an Orc Disaster poses a threat even to us Tengu, but we can't just leave the Kusha Mountains! What if the Sky Queen makes a move while we fight off the Orc Lord?!" The Head Elder exclaimed in concern that was shared by the other Elders.

"I am aware of the potential dangers posed by Frey. But we all knew that change was coming to the forest the moment the presence of the Storm Dragon vanished. And the presence of the Orc Lord proves that. As things stand, the Demon Lords have started making their moves. If we sit idle now, we will simply have to fight at a potential disadvantage in the future." Kaede firmly countered. "Besides, not all of us are leaving the village. I will personally lead 30 of our Tengu warriors in aiding the allied forces in repelling the Orcs, while the rest will stay here under Momoji to protect our village and the Kusha Mountains in the event that Frey attempts to make a move while we are gone."

"Kaede, while it would bring me great joy to fight by your side again after so many centuries, are you sure you can do so? Your Elders implied your health was not in the best condition." Hakurou asked in concern, happy for the support and the desire to fight alongside his wife, but worried about her well-being nonetheless.

"Rest assured, I will be fine, my love. And I will not pass up an opportunity to fight by my husband's side after so long, nor will I turn down an opportunity to earn favor with the new Lord and Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura. My power may have waned greatly over the last three centuries, but my technique with the blade has not." Kaede proudly replied, before her demeanor has softened. "However, before we go, perhaps the 2 of us can discuss more about the current situation and the past 300 years in private?"

"Of course, my love." Hakurou says in a nostalgic tone, before standing up and following Kaede out to another location. Benimaru and the Tengu Elders also stood up and left the building, the former rejoining his Ogres and Tempest Wolves to prepare to leave upon Hakurou and Kaede's return, while the latter went to choose and prepare the 30 Tengu warriors who would accompany their Matriarch in the future battle against the Orcs to decide the fate of the Storm Dragon's domain.

The arrival of the Orc Lord and its army might have been an alarming turn of events since the disappearance of the Storm Dragon, but it ultimately served as the catalyst for the reunion of 2 long-separated lovers, and may prove to be the deciding factor of the Orc Lord's fate.

Whether it would be enough or not, however, remained to be seen.

The trip back to the village was mostly quiet and tense. Kataki had adamantly refused to ride on the Tempest Wolf when Rigur offered him a ride, claiming that he would rather run instead. Rito, who chose to ride with Gobta due to knowing he wouldn't be able to keep up on foot, tried to make some small talk along the way. But tensions were too high between Gobta and Kataki, quickly pouring any water on the conversations before they could even start.

Within the hour, the four of them were walking within the Goblin Village streets, though Rito was able to instantly pick up on the change in atmosphere. What was usually a bustling village full of life, happiness, and excitement changed. The air was thick with apprehension and tension. Everywhere he looked, Goblins were either arming themselves or stocking up necessities.

And it wasn't just Goblins either, they were various other races that Rito had yet to see in the village. He was easily able to identify Elves, any adolescent boy should. There were also people with rabbit ears on their heads, with the puffy tails to match. Then there were the fish people, scaled from head to toe with heads that literally resembled various kinds of fish. And lastly were the short statured creatures that resembled various animals, from cats, dogs, and even mice!

All these were races that hadn't been in the village the last time Rito walked into town, though it had been a few days. Give or take three days, he had been focused on his training lately.

"What's going on here?" Rito finally voiced out, as he watched the monsters from various races being guided by the Village Goblins towards somewhere.

"The village is being evacuated, every non-combatant is being taken to the Sealed Cave where the Storm Dragon was once sealed." Rigur explained somberly. "The Dryads have offered to also shelter various races across the forest under the agreement that they either provide aid in the crisis or they swear loyalty to Lord Rimuru."

"And what exactly is this 'Crisis'?" Kataki asked in annoyance, he also wasn't liking the current state of things. Rigur sighed before talking.

"I'm not too sure of the exact details, but from what I've heard an army of Orcs, led by an Orc Lord, have entered and are invading the forest." Rigur explained.

"An Orc Lord?" Kataki was shocked to hear such news, even he knew the danger of such a monstrous creature. And to think one was leading an army through the forest, no wonder the village was in such a state.

"I see…"

Rito, who didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation, was able to tell that whatever this Orc Lord was wasn't good. If even Kataki seemed nervous just by hearing about it, then it had to be pretty powerful. The boy wanted to ask more questions but decided to hold off for now, he would ask at a later time when they were alone.

…still, he couldn't shake the terrible feeling clawing in his chest. Something horrible was about to go down…

Sumire had been traveling with the Ogres and Kijin over the last two days. The atmosphere was heavy with uncertainty and anxiety, yet Sumire could also see the unity and determination among them. While they were dismayed to leave their home, they wouldn't let something like this destroy them. After all, a village was more than just a place or the buildings that made it, a village could be seen within its people.

Sumire had been asked to escort the Ogres and Kijin to the Goblin Village by Treyni, with the Dryad traveling ahead in order to prepare things for them and meet with the other tribe leaders of various races. At first, Sumire had been a bit nervous being left in the presence of monsters, especially the Kijin who seemed to be mostly of equal or greater power than her. But one of them, a pink haired Kijin by the name of Shuna, had reassured her that they meant no harm.

Her soft and kind hearted personality quickly put the girl at ease, and thus Sumire allowed herself to see the Ogres and Kijin as more than just monsters.

Over the last two days, Sumire observed and interacted with this tribe. And she came to the realization that aside from their appearances, they seemed almost human, especially the Kijin who mostly resembled humans in appearance too, save for some facial markings, slightly longer canine teeth, and most obviously their horns. In that time, she had gotten closer to Shuna than most, mainly due to the Kijin's kind and welcoming nature.

She learned that Shuna was in fact the Village Princess, which helped Sumire relate to her a little, given she was also something of the same ever since her father had managed to fully take control of the Kingdom of Angelus.

When they arrived at the Goblin Village, Sumire was surprised to see that the place was actually comparable to a small town in size, and the roads and buildings were well ahead of what one would expect of a mere Goblin Village. In fact, they may even be better than those at the Ogre Village.

"Miss Sumire." The voice of Akatsuki cut her from her awe and thoughts as she turned to the chief of the Ogres and Kijin. Currently, the two of them were watching as the rest of the tribe entered the village, with Shuna and Sakura leading the group of hundreds. It was sunset, the orange sky slowly darkening, making for an amazing view from where they were standing. "It seems everyone made it safely, thankfully." Akatsuki said as he watched the women of his tribe enter the village, coming up to stand beside Sumire.

"Yeah, the trip was pretty smooth. We didn't encounter any monsters during the move." Sumire said, she had found the absence of wild monsters to be strange while they had been travelling.

"That is thanks to Souei and his unit. They would scout ahead as we moved and cleared the path of any dangerous monsters." Akatsuki said. "Ogres are among the strongest in the western region of the Great Forest of Jura, but since some of us evolved, there are almost no threats we can't handle. That being said, although we are a warring clan, we were moving in a large group and we had children among us, so precautions were a must." Akatsuki said, to which Sumire nodded her head in understanding. Before turning her attention back to the Goblin Village.

"Is this place truly a Goblin Village, it seems large enough to be a town, not to mention the infrastructure…" Sumire trailed as gazed at the Village.

"Under normal circumstances, this would be beyond Goblins. But they are also under the protection of our lord, as a matter of fact, they were the first to fall under Lord Rimuru's protection. It's thanks to him that the Goblins were able to develop to such an extent." Akatsuki explained.

"He must be someone truly amazing then." Sumire said. 'A lot of the Ogres and Kijin look up to this Rimuru a great deal. Even Shuna had nothing but good words to say about him. But if he's truly the one behind the naming of these monsters and the development of this village, that would mean he's not only powerful, but has a level of intelligence that rivals humans.' Sumire concluded, whether that was a bad thing or not was something she wasn't sure of. She would have to risk meeting him to find out.

"Sir Akatsuki! Lady Sumire!" Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of a hobgoblin male running towards them. Once in front of them, he immediately dropped to his knees and bowed. "Lady Treyni has requested your presence at the assembly hall. Our forces are preparing to begin moving towards Lake Siss tomorrow first thing."

"I see…" Akatsuki muttered as he brought his hand to his chin in thought. While he would have liked to give his soldiers more time to rest, he understood that time was of the essence. If the Orc Lord was indeed heading for Lake Siss, then it only made sense to make a united stand there. "Very well, shall we go Miss Sumire?" Akatsuki asked as he turned towards the young girl.

"Y-yes! And please stop with the whole 'Miss' thing, just Sumire is fine." She added with a small blush, Akatsuki looked old enough to be her father, so for him to call her 'Miss' was a bit embarrassing for her.

"I understand." Akatsuki said with a nod, a small smile on his face.

With that, the two of them made their way downhill towards the village.

The eve of war was upon the Great Forest Alliance, and this was the calm before the storm itself. Would the reinforcements they gathered be enough to defeat the Orc Lord and put an end to the evil majin Gelmude?

Only one way to find out!

---

Authors Notes:

So, we're finally getting into the climax of this Arc! Its been a long time coming to. I decided to go broad with the whole war thing since I felt cannon never really brought that out much.

I don't know if I can bring out the visualization the way I imagined it, but I'll do my best.

On a side not, you may have noticed I started calling the storm dragon 'Velredia' instead of 'Veredia. I got some complaints about how True Dragon names all start with 'Vel'. It was a valid arguement, and I felt it was something that needed to be corrected, so I did.

Not sure if it rolls on the tongue quite well though, I'll just have to hear from you guys!

Treyni looked over all those that were gathered today in response to the collective threat of the Orc Lord and his army. A threat that was less than 24 hours away from their current location. Thanks in part to Treyni, her sisters, and the rest of the Dryads, they had managed to gather a sizable force in order to fight against the Orc Army. Each of which were represented by the individuals in this room right now.

The first were the Goblins and Hobgoblins. They were being represented by Rigurd, Kataki, and a few other unnamed Goblin Chiefs. Aside from the Goblins that served under Lord Rimuru, numerous Goblins from dozens of villages had also been enlisted to aid with the upcoming war. This brought their total number to about 15,000. Though the unnamed Goblins may not be able to offer much in terms of raw power, Akatsuki and Abiru believed they could play a role in tactical warfare, and thus Treyni allowed it.

The next were the Ogres and Kijin, represented by Akatsuki, Benimaru, Hakurou, and three Ogre Chiefs from other Ogre villages. Though far and in-between, there were multiple Ogre villages within the forest, the difference was that none of them were quite as civilized or intelligent as the ones from Akatsuki's village. Surprisingly, the Ogre clans they had gathered had all chosen to have Akatsuki be their representative in the war meeting. Most likely as a result of finding out that he had evolved from an Ogre, and had already earned the blessing of Lord Rimuru. Regardless, Treyni could see the other Ogre villages joining under Lord Rimuru after all this. All in all, the Ogres numbered around 3,000, and that included 25 Kijin named by Lord Rimuru. The other 10 Kijin, such as Sakura and Shuna, had been tasked with protecting the refugees at the Sealed Cave, and to evacuate the forest should the worst come to pass and they fail here.

After that, there was the Rabbitfolk. A race of demi-humans with rabbit-like ears and tails on their heads. Some seemed to have ears that went straight up, and others seemed to have ears that looped down towards their front. They lived along the river close to Lake Siss in a village of approximately 1,200. Though they often chose to live in peace and rarely sought conflict with others. Despite this, they still took up arms and decided to contribute to the coming war, a total of 850 choosing to fight in the coming battle.

Then there were the Lizardmen, who ruled the wetlands of the Great forest of Jura, and had control of the largest water source, Lake Siss itself. Long ago, a legendary warrior rose among them that acquired a unique grade weapon, called the Vortex Spear. Said warrior then went on to unite the various Lizardman tribes under him, and together, they managed to acquire Lake Siss as their territory. Their military might number 20,000 strong, the largest well-trained force currently available within the current alliance. Among them, 220 had been named by Lord Rimuru, with 200 becoming Dragonewts and the other 20 becoming Dragoons, greatly contributing to their aerial force. They were being represented by Abiru, Souka, and three others from the Lizardmen council.

After that came the Merfolk, an aquatic humanoid species that dwelled within the waters of the forest. They had a few settlements on land as well, but they spent most of their time in water. The Dryads and Merfolk had some respect for each other that stemmed from the desire of preservation of nature. While the Dryads protected the land, the Merfolk protected the waters from contamination and pollution using their Life Magic. One such example was the water pollution that came from the Armed Nation of Dwargon, the Merfolk often purified those waters before it could spread and reach the depths of the forest, protecting its ecosystem. Their military might number around 2,500. Like the ogres, the Merfolk were B-rank monsters with a speciality in Water based Skills and Life Magic, a rare few even possessed the ability to manipulate sound to a small extent.

Then came the Bovoids and Equinoids. These two species were A-rank monsters that lived in the Eastern side of the forest. The two shared traits in that they were both large humanoids with beastial traits, however the distinction came in that the former had the head of a bull while the latter resembled an anthropomorphic horse. These two species were as stubborn as they were proud, and had long since refused to accept the Dryads' rule, refusing to acknowledge them. The only reason they were here was because they had tried to attack the Orcs head-on, despite the warning of the Dryads, and had faced significant losses as a result.

When Treyni had learned of this, she had been absolutely furious, her aura flared and her anger was felt by all those around her, even the Bovoid and Equinoid were forced to acknowledge her superior strength in that moment. Still, Treyni forced herself to calm down, they still needed more allies for the upcoming battle. The Bovoids and Equinoids totaled 600 in their contributed military might, but it could have been higher had they not been foolish.

Next came the Elves, helping them had been a bit difficult seeing as they lived scattered all over the eastern side in small settlements, but the Dryads had managed to reach out to most of them. Elves were relatively peaceful in nature, and preferred to keep to themselves, enjoying the land as it was. That being said, there were many skilled archers and warriors among them, and even more individuals who were adept in various forms of magic. Their aid would prove to be a great boon in the coming war. Their military might number 500 total, but they also had 25 healers and support casters for additional aid. They were being represented by an elder by the name of Valen, along with three others.

And then came the Tengu, a village of high ranking monsters that had made their home in the Kusha Mountains. Treyni had been relieved to see that the negotiations for their aid had gone well. Having sent a total of 30 men along with the matriarch of the race herself. While the numbers themselves weren't much, the Tengu more than made up for it with quality and strength, and the presence of Kaede was a great sign of things to come. Besides, the Tengu had an overall population of about 350, so sending this many warriors was already a huge contribution given the threat of Frey they worried about. Kaede would be representing them in this meeting, who was currently seated with Hakurou near Akatsuki and Benimaru.

Lastly were the Dryads themselves, aside from Treyni and her sisters, there were 35 others among them. Though they often didn't manifest and chose to lay dormant within their 'Dryas Trees' in their domain. Treyni hated having to wake them, but the situation demanded all the hands they could get. Their strength on average was high A-rank, with a few such as Dorris and Trya being on the low Special A-rank and Treyni herself being a solid Special A-rank. This made them a force comparable to the Tengu.

All in all, their numbers rounded up to around 38.5k against the 200k army of Orcs that was marching to their location. The odds weren't that bad, 1 to 5 was more than manageable enough.

"Now that everyone is present…let us begin the war meeting." Treyni said, her voice echoing in the cave walls as all became silent and turned to her attentively. "From what we have gathered thus far, the Orc Army numbers 200,000. And thanks to Souei and Apito, we were able to confirm that there is indeed an Orc Lord leading them. As it stands, they'll reach the Marshlands within a day, a day and a half at most. Our goal is to intercept them and kill the Orc Lord before it becomes any stronger, before it evolves." Treyni said firmly as she looked at those in attendance with a firm gaze. "Understand that this is not a war to annihilate all the Orcs, but rather a mission to eliminate the Orc Lord before he grows too powerful."

Several individuals in the room nodded their heads in understanding. If they could kill the Orc Lord, the rest of the Orcs would be weakened and reverted back to their natural D-rank strength. At that point, they would have no choice but to surrender or be wiped out completely.

"If that's the case, then I believe only a select team should confront the Orc Lord directly, while the rest of our forces hold back the Orc Army." Akatsuki suggested.

"Yes, that's most likely for the best, swarming the Orc Lord with numbers would only result in unnecessary casualties, which would also serve to feed him and the Orcs surrounding him. We need an assault team." Treyni nodded her head in agreement.

"But the question now is who will confront the Orc Lord?" Abiru asked, as the room became silent once more.

Naturally, only the strongest would be able to confront and possibly defeat the Orc Lord. So choosing a team to move forward was basically claiming those chosen were the strongest among them all.

"Let me go at that pig! As long as I'm on this 'assault team', the Orc Lord will be defeated!" The Chief of the Bovoids said smugly as he stood up puffing his chest.

"As if, you'll probably drag the rest of the team down! Take me instead, I'll ensure our victory before we suffer any heavy losses!" The Equinoid's chief shouted in protest as he stood up, mocking the Body's chief while praising himself.

Before anyone knew it, a full-blown argument had erupted between the two as they butted heads. Though they refrained from an all-out fight, their insults and shouts filled the cavern walls. Many of those present couldn't believe that these two were actually village chiefs, while the Elven Elder could only sigh, his people having long since been victims to the grudge of these two powerful species.

"Enough!" Treyni shouted, her usually calm demeanor breaking, as vines erupted from the ground between the Bovoid and Equinoid leaders, swiftly wrapping around their necks. "Have you two already forgotten that, thanks in part to your foolishness, the Orcs have already gained the powers of the Bovoids and Equinoids?! Pitting you against the Orc Lord would be foolish with that in mind." Treyni said in irritation. She really wished she could unleash divine judgment on these fools, but at the very least their manpower would be enough to hold back the Orcs.

"I-If the Orc Lord hadn't been hiding behind his army, there's no way we Bovoids would have lost to such lowly pigs!" The Bovoid Chief shouted in self-defense, the Equinoid Chief nodding along in agreement. Both were slightly cowed by Treyni's anger and aura, but were still stubborn enough to stand up for themselves.

"Indeed, we mighty Equinoids would have been victorious had the Orc Lord not been a coward, the battle would have been as good as won!" The Equinoid chief also shouted.

The rest of the monster leaders could only look at the two of them with dumbfounded expressions, wondering just how the two tribes had survived this long with leaders this foolish, in the end one could only attribute it to their immense strength. For despite their clear lack of intellect, the Bovoids and Equinoids were among the most physically powerful monsters in all of Jura.

"Fools, this is the exact reason why the Dryads tried to evacuate you. This is war, why would the Orc Lord put itself at risk when it can gain power through its subordinates? It's a rather simple and straightforward strategy." Akatsuki pointed out as he sighed in annoyance.

"What did you say, you damn Ogre?!" The Bovoid and Equinoid chiefs roared simultaneously in anger.

"I am merely pointing out the obvious. These Orcs are beyond reasoning, and the Unique Skill [Starved] is the cause. The Orc Lord will use any and all means necessary to sate its hunger, even through its subordinates. And I am a Kijin thanks to Lord Rimuru, not an Ogre anymore." Akatsuki says coldly as he makes eye contact with both of them without fear, undeterred by their attempts at intimidation due to his strength and the current situation. There were much bigger concerns at the moment rather than dealing with these two fools, not to mention the gap in power between them had been closed since he evolved into a Kijin.

"Akatsuki is correct. My sisters did try to warn you about the Orcs. But out of pride, you still confronted the Orcs, making them stronger. Besides, something tells me you two are not well-suited for teamwork. So no, you two will not be part of the assault team." Treyni sternly scolds both Chiefs. The two Chiefs grumble as they take their seats once more. As much as they wanted to argue, they at least understood that they had made the situation worse due to their selfish acts and thus had no room to bargain. "Now to get back on topic…"

"Lady Treyni, if I may…" Abiru started prompting Treyni to nod, allowing him to speak. "I believe my people would be best put to use on the field rather than confronting the Orc Lord. This is our territory and nobody knows it like we do." Abiru stated.

"Agreed, however, I would recommend keeping almost all the Dragoons and Dragonewts more focused on either fighting the stronger Orcs, like the Orc Generals, or aiding the Tengu in fighting from above. We have to exploit the aerial advantage against these invaders." Akatsuki suggested, his expertise in warfare kicking in.

"I do not mind, and I agree, my Dragonnewts and Dragoons will be best suited in exploiting such a unique and pivotal advantage rather than simply fighting on the ground with the other Lizardmen. Though my daughter Souka and her direct subordinates will likely be better suited in aiding Souei and the rest of his unit in scouting and setting up traps and ambushes." Abiru says while looking at his daughter, since Souka and her direct subordinates in the Lizardmen Elite Guard were among the few to have evolved into Dragoons upon being named, upon which they had joined and trained under Souei. Souka nodded in agreement with her father, knowing her expertise in the terrain and her training under Souei made her better suited for this than simple direct combat or aerial attacks.

"While we Tengu are no less adept on fighting on the ground, our greatest strength would be to attack from the air, especially given our current foes and limited numbers to contribute, though I personally will fight by my husband's side." Kaede agreed while placing a hand on Hakurou's shoulder, drawing a warm smile from him.

"Then we are in agreement. The Lizardmen will be charged in helping fend off the Orc Army and they will lend aid to the rest of the Allied Forces in making use of the terrain." Treyni stated while turning to the other leaders present. "The Goblins will aid in scouting efforts and setting up traps for the approaching Orc Army, and will also act as bait to lure chunks of the Orc Army into ambushes set up by either Souei's unit or our main army. The Rabbitfolk will also assist in said efforts. The Elves who aren't focused on close combat will use their expertise in archery and magic to attack from a distance or using healing and support magic to support our main forces."

Treyni's words draw murmuring and nods in agreement from the aforementioned races.

"Hey, what about us, Dryad?!" The Bovoid Chief yelled in annoyance, with the Equinoid Chief also nodding in agreement, wondering why they weren't mentioned.

"I was getting to you in a moment." Treyni calmly replied, not letting her annoyance and anger at the foolish behavior of the 2 races adversely affect her better judgment. "The Bovoids and Equinoids will work alongside the Lizardmen, Goblin Riders, Elven Warriors, Ogres, merfolk, and Kijin to form the bulk of our offensive force. With the Lizardmen ensuring that they can use the terrain to maximum effectiveness. Chiefs Akatsuki and Abiru will lead the combined forces."

"What?! Why do we need to follow a lowly Ogre and Lizardmen as our leaders?!" The Equinoid Chief angrily complained, drawing glares from Akatsuki and Abiru while an annoyed expression appeared on Treyni's normally serene face.

"Akatsuki and Abiru will lead the main forces for 3 reasons. First, their people form the bulk and most skilled of our combined forces with the Lizardmen being most familiar with the Marshlands due to being their home. Second, both have proven to be extremely competent, wise, experienced, and level headed leaders who can be trusted to lead the forces with their best interests in mind and make best use of them with minimal casualties. And lastly, both of them were specifically chosen by Lord Rimuru himself to lead the Alliance in his place in the off-chance the Great Forest of Jura was attacked while he was gone until his return." Treyni retorted.

"And we are not Ogres or Lizardmen. I am a Kijin, while Chief Abiru is a Dragoon." Akatsuki coldly reminded them while placing a hand on Benimaru's shoulder when he noticed his son getting annoyed, with Abiru doing the same with Souka. He was a little annoyed too, particularly since it was obvious he and Abiru weren't Ogres or Lizardmen anymore, but he knew better than to let his pride or anger adversely affect his better judgment, especially at such a critical time.

"And what about us?" Rito suddenly asked, drawing attention to him and Sumire, which made sense since they were the only humans (and Otherworlders) present. Both were naturally surprised to find each other in the Forest since they weren't expecting to see other humans, let alone Otherworlders since they immediately recognized they were both Japanese by their respective appearances and names, but quickly got along nonetheless.

"Both of you are on par with high A-rank Monsters and clearly possess skills, with Kataki informing me that you in particular have a Unique Skill called [Supporter]." Treyni noted, since Rito made no effort to hide his Unique Skill from the Goblins given how often he used it to help them.

"It's true." Kataki said, speaking up. "While he is still lacking in experience, Rito has learned well and his ability has made him an invaluable ally. I believe it will be of great help in the assault against the Orcs." Kataki said with a nod, as a surprised Rito turned to the Evil Goblin. All he got was a smirk and a nod of acknowledgement as Kataki sat back down, having said his piece.

"And Lady Sumire's strength is truly impressive as well. Having seen her hold her own against Shion in a sparring match, I have no doubt she'll contribute greatly in the coming confrontation." Akatsuki said with a nod, resulting in Sumire's face flushing from embarrassment at the sudden praise and attention from those present.

"Very well, if you two would lend us your strength in the battle against the Orc Lord we would greatly appreciate it." Treyni requested

"Hmm, you can count on me." Rito said with a nod. He was definitely nervous, but Kataki believed in him, that he could contribute greatly in a battle against an opponent as fearsome as the Orc Lord. And so he chose to believe in himself as well, he would make Kataki proud, both as his friend and his student.

"I understand. We will do our best to eliminate the Orc Lord and his Orc Generals." Sumire replied, admittedly feeling rather nervous since she knew how dangerous the Orc Lord could get, especially if it evolved into an Orc Disaster, but knew that if it wasn't dealt with soon, the consequences would be even more severe for both the Great Forest of Jura and the surrounding nations. She was confident in her ability to handle herself thanks to her [Unique Skill: Overcomer] which helped her adapt and gain strength in the face of adversity, but she wasn't sure if that alone would be enough against the Orc Lord.

"So it's decided, the assault team tasked with dealing with the Orc Lord will be Benimaru, Shion, Rito, Sumire, and myself. My sisters and my fellow Dryads will assist Souei's Unit and the rest of our main forces in reducing the numbers of the Orc Army or minimizing casualties on our side, along with protecting and supporting the Elf Healers and Supporters." Treyni stated.

This declaration drew looks of understanding and agreement from those present, though the Bovoid and Equinoid Chiefs still looked rather annoyed, but knew better than to disagree at this point.

The aforementioned team all made eye contact with each other, an unspoken understanding of the responsibility and stakes of the situation at hand.

"With that said, there is one more thing that I wish to add before we conclude this meeting." Treyni said as the air around her grew heavy, catching the attention of those present. "Given the nature of the enemy we face, we must destroy any and all corpses on the field. Be it that of our enemies…or our own. Under no circumstances can we leave nourishment to further strengthen the Orcs." Treyni said, the weight of her words crashing over all the leaders present.

One by one, they slowly nodded their heads in acceptance. Knowing that Treyni was right, even if the thought of not burying their comrades was a very bitter pill to swallow. This was not a normal enemy, nor a normal war, and thus the rules of engagement would obviously be abnormal as well. So each of the leaders knew they needed to inform their kin of not only the need to destroy the bodies of their enemies, but to be prepared to have their own bodies destroyed if they die in battle. And possibly inform family members of such a condition, since it meant they couldn't bury their fallen.

They could not afford to fail, not afford to fall. They had to prevail no matter the cost, or at the very least needed to hold off the Orc Lord, and minimize casualties until Lord Rimuru's return.

Armed Nation of Dwargon - Canaat Mountains:

Rimuru stood in front of the gargantuan gates that had drawn him not long after he recovered from the battle with the Spatial Dragon Lord. He could feel something within pulling at his core, something familiar, yet distant.

'Well, here goes nothing…' Rimuru thought to himself as he pushed the large doors open, with some slight effort.

As soon as the doors parted, a bright light momentarily blinded Rimuru, forcing him to cover his eyes. However, his vision quickly returned, his eyes widening as he looked at the source of the light.

Before Rimuru was a massive dome-shaped magical barrier similar in size to the one that held his mother in the Sealed Cave. And within the barrier was a massive black dragon that was slightly smaller than theStorm Dragon in size and had a powerful magical presence to match. Though this dragon appeared to be asleep or at least unconscious, like it was in a deep hibernating state.

'Woah, this has to be the second largest dragon I've seen since my mother. And its aura is immense too, several times greater than the Dragon Lord or even my own right now.' Rimuru contemplated in concern as he walked into the large chamber where the sleeping Dragon was resting. A part of him couldn't help but wonder if finding powerful sealed Dragons was going to become a trend, but he also couldn't help but be curious about what type of Dragon this was. 'I wonder what you did to warrant being sealed away so high in the mountains, not to mention being put to sleep on top of that. It must have been something pretty bad.'

Rimuru slowly approached the barrier containing the dormant Dragon. Despite its immense aura, it wasn't quite as powerful as his mother, and yet despite that, the restrictions of its sealing implied that it was just as dangerous and destructive as she had been, if not even more so.

And yet, despite its sleep-like state, Rimuru could still feel a myriad of powerful emotions emanating from it through [Desire] . And what he felt was a heavy amount of grief, hatred, longing, loneliness, and an intense anger.

'Is it wrong that I feel bad for this Dragon?' Rimuru thought as he looked at the large beast. While he didn't know the exact details related to the Dragon, his own personal experiences with his mother made him a little sympathetic, since nobody would enjoy being imprisoned for who knows how long and would likely only build up negative emotions like the ones he sensed from this Dragon.

Aside from that, there was also a strange connection that he couldn't help but feel with the Dragon. Not just emotional, but something physical, almost as though some part of him was resonating with the Dragon. Which was strange, since he hadn't felt anything like that while he had been hunting all sorts of Dragons throughout this trip.

《 Answer: Analysis of the target has confirmed that its presence is vastly superior to your own and that of any Dragon Lord. Furthermore, no cognitive functions have been detected, implying the Dragon has a severely damaged soul or lacks a will of its own, the emotions emanating from it are likely instinctive in nature or remnants from its past life. 》

'I see… If it lacks a will, then it's probably not a good idea to try and release it.' Rimuru noted, glad to have gotten the heads-up before he ended up trying to free it only for it to go on a rampage. If it possessed sentience and a stable soul, then he would likely do so, but he realized letting it go when it was being driven by pure instinct would only cause havoc for the Canaat Mountains and the surrounding nations/territories, including Dwargon and the Great Forest of Jura. Though feeling the Magicules, Dragon Aura, and Dragon Factor the sealed Dragon was emitting, Rimuru still couldn't shake that feeling of familiarity that was coming from it. 'Hey [Great Sage] , what about the aura coming from the Dragon? There's something oddly familiar about it.'

《Answer: Analysis of the aura has confirmed that the target's Dragon Factor shares some similarities with that of yours. Suggesting potential familial relations.》 (Not sure how to phrase that last part)

'Wait, wait wait! Are you saying that there could be some kind of connection between me and this Dragon?!' Rimuru asked mentally in shock, his eyes widening as he looked at the large Dragon in a new light.

《 Affirmative: However, as it is, the Dragon's soul has been severely damaged, thus rendering it nothing more than a mindless beast. 》

'Right…' The excitement that came with the prospect of finding a potential relative was snuffed out by the reminder that they were essentially braindead. There was nothing that he could do for the Dragon with his current abilities. That being said, another idea made its way into his mind. 'Hey [Great Sage] , you said its factor was similar to my own, does that mean I can devour it and store it in my [Stomach] like I did with my mother?'

Rimuru would have loved to know this relative had the opportunity allowed it, but it seems fate had other plans. But still, it would be cruel to just leave this Dragon tucked away with its negative emotions festering like this. If a time came when someone released it, then that would be bad news. The best option was to devour it like he had his mother, dismantle the barrier containing it, and make its power his own.

He would lay it to rest within him, just as he had done for Shizue and Masayuki, rather than letting it rot here. It was the least he could do for it.

Rimuru wouldn't deny that the power gain he'd gain was also a perk, he had no doubt devouring this Dragon would not only make him several times stronger, but would also grant him several powerful skills. But it wasn't just about power…

《 Affirmative: There is still a vast amount of storage left within [Stomach]. 》

'Alright then, let's do it…' Rimuru thought, before extending his right hand towards the large dome-shaped barrier. Immediately, a black torrent of energy shot out and began to engulf the barrier, [Apex Predator] began to consume the sealed Dragon and the barrier surrounding it, compressing the large structure until it vanished into Rimuru's [Stomach]. When the power of the Unique Skill dissipated, the sealed Dragon and the barrier were gone, like it never existed in the first place.

《 Beginning analysis of the barrier surrounding the creature identified as the 'Chaos Dragon'. The barrier seems to be efficient for containing monsters…further analysis required. Despite its efficiency, the barrier is far less complex than the [Unlimited Imprisonment] containing the Storm Dragon Velredia. Current estimated time until analysis is complete is 19 months. 》

'That fast, huh? Well it's certainly much better than the analysis of [Unlimited Imprisonment] , which is supposed to take up to a century.' Rimuru thought. It was a much better deal and would give Rimuru time to adapt to the power he had gotten from the Dragon Lord before gaining more strength.

After all, all the power in the world was useless unless one learned to use it properly. That's where things like experience and techniques came in. And considering that beings could live for hundreds to thousands of years or even forever in this world, that already puts Rimuru at a disadvantage against most major powers. His only hope of covering the gap in the short-term was to gain more power and skills, along with some semblance of mastery over them.

Rimuru was just about prepared to leave the cave and return to the Great Forest of Jura. He had spent a large amount of time here already, and was more than satisfied with the progress he had made in his training. His Magicules had drastically increased by almost 12 times the amount he had before arriving at the Canaat Mountains, his proficiency with [Storm Magic] and the development of his Ryujin style arts were also coming along great, with [Great Sage] informing him that the acquisition of [Mana Manipulation] now allowed him to use magic with drastically increased efficiency, control, and overall power, making [Storm Magic] significantly easier to use at full strength with minimum destruction or wasted power, with the Ryujin Style also drastically improving as well. He'd also gained a ton of elemental and dragon based skills from the various types of dragons he had devoured before the Spatial Dragon Lord. All in all, the trip was worth it.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he stopped upon realizing something. Despite the brightness of the barrier that had kept the Dragon vanishing, the chamber was still well-illuminated. Prompting him to look up at the ceiling and along the walls of the chamber, he was surprised to see numerous glowing magic ores along the walls, ceiling, and even on the ground along the caves edges. He was easily able to identify the Magic Ore and Magisteel, which Rimuru already had a large reservoir of in his [Stomach], but aside from those, Rimuru was able to also detect a few ores that were of an even higher quality and higher Magicule concentrations than pure Magisteel, with some of it even generating something akin to Draconic Aura.

'Man, this really is like exploring the Sealed Cave all over again, except on a much smaller scale. Not only did I find a Dragon, but there are tons of ore here as well! Though what's the materials with an even higher Magicule concentration than Magisteel, or the ones generating a Draconic Aura?' Rimuru thought in wonder.

The only difference was that this place wasn't as big as the Sealed Cave, otherwise there might have been a lot more magic ore and potentially magic herbs as well. But unlike the Sealed Cave, this chamber wasn't an intricate network of underground caverns, if Rimuru had to make a comparison, he'd say it was slightly bigger that the very bottom of the Sealed Cave where his mother had been located.

《 Answer: The cave appears to be heavily rich with massive amounts of Magic Ore and Magisteel, likely due to constant and heavy exposure to Magicules from the Chaos Dragon for hundreds or even thousands of years. The time and level of exposure resulted in some of the Magisteel further evolving into a higher grade ore. Further analysis within the [Stomach] will be required to identify its properties. Would you like to use [Apex Predator] to devour the ores?  》

'Uh, yes! No way I'm going to pass up such an amazing jackpot! This is literally a treasure trove of rare goods!' Rimuru thought with glee as he outstretched his hand once more. The iconic black torrent of energy devouring all the ores along the chamber walls, ceiling, and ground. He couldn't help but feel a bit excited and curious about the higher grade ore that [Great Sage] had mentioned, and was more than looking forward to the results of the analysis. He had no doubt that they would be able to create some amazing items and weapons from those materials.

In his past life, Rimuru had attended enough political events, usually as a bodyguard and part of the security, to know the value of rare goods when he saw them. And as proven when he was in Dwargon, Magisteel sold for a very high price. He literally made a small fortune just by selling two ores of pure Magisteel, and to think he had hundreds more in his [Stomach] was just absurd. Adding a little bit more from this chamber would benefit him, especially the higher grade ore he had found.

In his past life, he had seen plenty of delegations or political meetings go down, he didn't have any experience in the field himself. That was something he was going to have to work on if he wanted to be a competent leader for the nation he planned to build. But more than that, he would need money, and unique resources that only his nation could provide.

He already had plenty of Magisteel and healing potions that he could use to initiate trade with nations that were interested, which would go a long way into funding the building and establishment of his nation. And he also planned on arming his own people with high grade weapons and armour, since one never knew when war might come upon them, from either humans or demon lords.

King Gazel had already shown some interest in his vast reservoir of Magisteel and healing potions, which was why Rimuru felt a little guilty about essentially stealing this treasure trove of magical materials from Dwargon since the Canaat Mountains was technically in their territory. But He quickly got over it since King Gazel largely relied on the Canaat Mountains as a defensive structure due to the rugged terrain and the Dragons living here serving as a deterrent against invasions. And he highly doubted King Gazel would go this deep into Dragon territory for these materials no matter how valuable, given the risks and dangers it would pose his people in mining or transporting it.

And let's face it, what King Gazel didn't know wasn't going to hurt him.

'Okay, looks like that's everything.' Rimuru thought to himself as the last of the ore was absorbed. Leaving the cavern as dark as night without the luminous ores. With that, Rimuru began to make his way out the cave where Zegion and Ranga had been waiting for him, the two of them having opted to stay out due to the immense magical energy of the Chaos dragon. 'I should probably head back to Jura now. Any more hunting and I'll bring more attention to myself than necessary, especially since King Gazel might be a potential ally in the future.'

All-in-all, this trip was a huge success, Rimuru had improved in his arts and skills, acquired new skills, gotten several times stronger than before he came to the Mountains and had even acquired some high quality materials. The Chaos Dragon would be a feast for another time, he looked forward to the skills and abilities he would gain from devouring it.

However, the feeling of accomplishment and success was immediately quashed when a [Thought Communication] connection was suddenly established.

*Lord Rimuru, are you there?! Please respond!* The voice that echoed through Rimuru's mind was unmistakably Dorris', and just from the sound of her distress and desperation, he could already feel a pit forming in his stomach.

*Dorris, I'm here. What's wrong?* Rimuru replied urgently, his voice firm with a hint of concern.

*Lord Rimuru, thank goodness! I've been trying to reach you for some time now!* Dorris said in both relief and slight exasperation, though the distress in her voice was still very audible. *Lord Rimuru, we need you to return to the forest immediately. An army of over 200,000 Orcs has entered the forest, and worse their being led by an Orc Lord!*

"An Orc Lord?!" Rimuru asked out loud in alarm. He had heard about this monster from Akatsuki and Hakurou prior to the ogres swearing to him. The topic had come up when they were discussing his [Apex Predator] and they mentioned its similarities to the Orc Lord's [Starved].

The key difference being the scope of the skills. From what Rimuru had been told, all those under the Orc Lord were under the effect of [Starved] , allowing them to gain the abilities of those they devoured. And on top of that, the Orc Lord devoured the fear and anxiety of all those beneath him, making his army even more formidable.

If such a large army of devourers truly was invading the forest, then it was no wonder why Dorris had been desperately trying to reach him. Question was, why had it taken her so long to do so?

《 Answer: It can be surmised the presence of the Chaos Dragon and the vast amount of Magicules and Dragon Factor in the Canaat Mountains caused an interference that made establishing communication difficult. 》

'I guess that explains why she was able to reach me after I dealt with the Dragon Lord and devoured the Chaos Dragon.' Rimuru thought to himself. Before focusing on the link between him and Dorris. *Dorris, what's the situation right now? How is the Alliance?*

*The Alliance is holding up well for the time being. Treyni has taken command and has prevented them from confronting the Orc Army to prevent unnecessary losses and the empowerment of the Orcs. As it stands, the Orcs are marching towards the Marshlands of the Lizardmen, where Treyni is planning for a final confrontation there.* Dorris explained, and Rimuru couldn't help but nod in approval at the plan Treyni had come up with. When it came to an opponent who grew through devouring their foes, it was better to just risk it all in a single battle. *Furthermore, my sister has been enlisting the aid of numerous species across the forest. But there's a chance that may not be enough…*

*What do you mean?* Rimuru asked.

*We have strong evidence suggesting that Gelmude may be the one instigating the Orcs.* Rimuru's eyes narrowed into slits at the mention of Gelmude. He still hadn't forgotten about that Majin, and the role he played in the deaths of Shizue and Masayuki. And now he was causing even more trouble, Rimuru regretted letting him go that first time when he first encountered Zegion and Apito.

*Has he made an appearance?* Rimuru asked, for as much of a clown as Gelmude had been, his power was still above even that of the Kijin and Dragoons. Which made his presence an equally significant threat to the alliance.

*...* For a moment Dorris hesitated before speaking. *...He attacked the Ogre Village a few days ago. But fortunately, they were able to repel him. Not too long after, an army of 15,000 Orcs began marching in the direction of the village. Treyni managed to convince the residents to evacuate, but the Ogre Village was destroyed, burned to the ground…*

For a moment, everything was silent as Rimuru processed this news. Then his aura suddenly exploded in all directions, Ranga and Zegion pushed back by the explosive force and intensity behind it.

"Master!" Ranga called out as the pressure from the oppressive aura grounded him. Just as quickly as it came, the aura vanished as Rimuru reigned it in to avoid hurting them.

"I'll kill him…slowly and painfully." Rimuru muttered lowly, so low the likes of Ranga would have missed it without their sensitive ears. His voice as cold as ice and devoid of all warmth, that even Ranga could not help but pity the individual who had earned his master's wrath. *Dorris, I'll be there shortly, you can fill me in on the rest then.*

*Understood…please hurry.* Dorris said with one last plea before the connection was cut, the gravity of the situation made apparent to Rimuru.

《 Notice: Would you like to use the technique [Spatial Motion] to teleport to the Marshlands? 》

The sudden question dragged Rimuru out of his thoughts. [Spatial Motion] , a technique under his newly acquired [Spatial Domination] Extra Skill, it basically allowed him to teleport to any location he had been to before, as long as he could envision the location or map out the coordinates. Fortunately for Rimuru, he had [Great Sage] for the logistics of it, as long as he had been there, [Great Sage] could take him there.

"Ranga, Zegion, I need the both of you to get into my shadow. We can't get to the forest fast enough by flying or even through [Shadow Movement], but luckily I got a new way for us to get there quickly." Rimuru declared, deciding to put his faith in [Great Sage]'s ability.

Both Ranga and Zegion nodded in understanding, before sinking into my shadow.

'Alright Sage, take me to the Marshlands.' Rimuru commanded his Unique Skill. With time, he hoped to be able to use this skill on his own, but now wasn't the time to be testing out new skills, so instead he would leave it to his trusted partner.

《 Understood: Initiating teleportation to the Lizardmen's Marshlands. 》

A glowing intricate magic circle appeared on the ground directly beneath Rimuru, a bright light erupted from the circle engulfing him. When the light vanished, Rimuru was gone, his presence completely vanished from the Canaat Mountains.

Great Forest of Jura - Lizardmen Marshlands:

The sun had fallen over the horizon, leaving the clear dark sky above the forest, lit by the glow of the full moon and numerous stars. And yet despite the beautiful view above, all was not as peaceful as one would hope for such a night. For beneath that starry sky, a great battle was taking place in the wetlands of the great forest.

"Trample all, trample all! The strength of this comrade we eat is now ours! The strength of our foe is now ours! Trample all, trample!"

The battle cries of nearly two hundred thousand Orcs could be heard all across the wetlands, as they clashed with the Allied Forces that had a lesser number of nearly forty thousand. Overseeing the battle from a vantage point was Treyni and the rest of the assault squad which consisted of Benimaru, Shion, Sumire, and Rito. They were holding back for the time being to preserve their strength for the battle with the Orc Lord once it had been located.

The war had been raging for nearly forty minutes now. When the Orcs initially marched into the Marshlands, the Allied Forces had been prepared, separated into various groups with numerous traps set to displace and disorient the Orcs so they could be handled more easily even by the weaker members of the Alliance.

As soon as the traps set by Souei, his group, the Lizardmen and the Merfolk had been triggered, and the cohesiveness of the orcs had been momentarily disrupted, the Allied Forces charged in at full force. But given the sheer size of the Orc Army, only a third of the army had been directly affected by the traps set.

As Treyni had suspected, the Orc Army had been empowered by the Unique Skill [Starved] to the point were they could even be considered low A-ranked monsters, not to mention they had a variety of skills, abilities, and resistances from the various monsters they had devoured on their way to the Marshlands. Some of them even had their appearances slightly altered to match their acquired skills. The change was significant enough that the Goblins, who normally would have been on the same level as the orcs, were struggling to hold their own. With B-rank monsters, such as the Ogres and Merfolk, having to put in more effort than they would against what was supposed to be a weaker species.

The ranged spells and skills being cast by the Elves and monsters capable of ranged abilities also provided support and helped keep the enemy from overwhelming the Allied Forces to their numbers. But some of their effects were reduced due to the resistances acquired by the Orcs. Still the damage was significant, and the Orcs were cautious of them.

The only ones with a clear advantage were those of A-rank and above. Namely the Kijin, Dragoons, Tengu, and Dryads. They were dealing substantial damage to the enemy ranks, but it wasn't quite enough to turn the tide of the battle, they would sooner tire out before the Orcs were wiped out. Surprisingly, the Bovoids and Equinoids were also holding their own despite their power having been mimicked by the Orcs, but that was mainly due to their experience as warrior species who had been at war with each other.

'As I thought, the only way to truly end this war is to defeat the Orc Lord.' Treyni thought as she surveyed the battlefield. The Allied Forces were fighting strong for now, the higher-tiered monsters tearing through the enemy ranks while the rest of the allied forces took advantage of the chaos. Still, they were severely outnumbered and for the most part outclassed, they wouldn't last in a battle of attrition.

Then, in that moment, as if her very prayers were being answered

*Lady Treyni, we have located the Orc Lord.* Souei's voice suddenly echoed within Treyni's mind, he was communicating through [Thought Communication], an image of the Orc Lord and his location being transmitted into her mind.

It wasn't just her that had received the message though, as all the members of the members of the assault team had received the news.

Benimaru and Shion were naturally excited and determined to face the powerful foe ahead, they had been getting rather impatient watching the ongoing war and wanting to jump into the battle themselves. But they understood their roles and thus had not acted rashly. Sumire and Rito seemed a bit nervous, more so the latter than the former, but they were both just as determined to do their best and contribute to the fight ahead as much as they could.

*It's about time Souei, I was getting rather tired of just waiting.* Benimaru responded with a grin as his hand went to the hilt of his blade, his eyes emitting an ember glow for a brief moment.

"That's quite deep into the enemy lines, getting to the Orc Lord won't be easy." Sumire said out loud, though her words were also communicated through thought for those not physically present.

"Ha! As if that would stop us!" Shion said confidently with a grin on her face. "Our goal is to defeat the Orc Lord no matter what, if any of those pigs get in our way, then we'll just have to tear them apart!"

"Hehehe, well she's certainly excited." Rito said nervously, clearly not sharing in Shion's enthusiasm.

"But she makes a valid point, we don't have any other choice but to go straight ahead, taking a detour around the army would only prolong the conflict. Which is not ideal for our side." Benimaru explained as he turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

"Then it's decided, we'll head right through the Orc Army and straight for the Orc Lord." Treyni said, *Abiru, Akatsuki, Valen, do you think you'll can create a path for us?* This wouldn't be an easy task, she was basically asking them to open a path into the heart of the enemy, but the assault team needed to preserve as much of their strength as possible for the fight ahead.

Abiru was leading the Aerial Division which consisted of Dragonewts, Dragoons, and Tengu (since Kaede was fighting on the ground). Aside from attacking from the sky, they also had a secondary duty of disposing of any corpses on the battlefield before the Orcs could devour them, regardless of whether it was an ally or enemy that had fallen. This was mainly done by bringing them using the [Flame Breath] of the Dragonewts and Dragoons. Akatsuki was leading the main army on the ground against the Orcs. While Valen, the elven elder, led the magic users and archers that were dealing ranged attacks from afar.

*Leave it to us, Lady Treyni!* Akatsuki said firmly, the other two division leaders giving similar responses with equal determination. Everyone understood what needed to be done, what was at stake, and they were all willing to put their lives on the line if it would ensure their victory. That was the life of a warrior, to live and die on the battlefield.

*…Thank you.* Gratitude was the only thing Treyni could offer them at the moment. She then turned towards the rest of the the assault team members, her eyes burning with resolve and fierceness not common in them. "Let's go." She said, getting a firm nod from them all.

Tempest Wolves instantly leapt out of their shadows, these five had been set aside for this exact purpose. In the event that the Orc Lord was at a distant location, they would quickly carry the assault team over to it. With their speed, they would reach the Orc Lord within minutes. The assault squad mounted their respective Wolves, and with a loud howl, the Tempest Wolves leapt towards the war zone.

The final battle was nigh, and the fate of all folk within the Great Forest of Jura would be determined by its outcome.

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, two blades could be seen glinting in the moonlight, moving and slashing through their foes with precision and speed unlike any other, their wielders moving with just as much grace and fluidity.

When one looked upon them, they would never believe that the two had not seen each other in a little over three hundred years. And yet despite this, they still knew each other inside and out, they still moved and fought as one. Blood splashing and enemies falling in what could only be called an artistic display of death.

These two were none other than the 'Sword Savant', Hakurou, and the 'Goddess of the Mountain', Kaede. The only two students of the legendary Byakura Araki, and masters of the Haze Style sword technique.

Many of the surrounding allies had been drawn to a pause as they watched these two master swordsmen cut their way into the enemy lines. Their skills were nothing short of legendary in their eyes, their movements barely visible.

"I see that you have not lost your touch over the years, my love." Hakurou said fondly as he cut down yet another Orc, flicking his blade to the right to rid the blood staining it.

"Hahaha, surely you jest. Even now your technique is vastly superior to mine." Kaede said with a mild laugh. The Ogres and Goblins fighting alongside them could not help but look at the old pair as though they were senile to be having a casual conversation in this scenario.

"Maybe so, but these old bones of mine aren't what they used to be. I just don't have the stamina to keep up with these young fellows anymore. My experience and skill is all I have left to offer." Hakurou said as dashed between another two Orcs, his body and sword as he cut them down instantly.

"I'm not faring much better myself. Almost all my magic power was transferred to Momiji when I birthed and named her. I'm just a shell of the so-called 'Goddess' my people once knew, and my condition will only worsen with time." Kaede said softly. Despite having only a miniscule of the once massive magic energy she once had, Kaede was still a formidable warrior. Though all she had to offer now was her blade and her waning physical strength, but with time that too would vanish as her condition worsened. "I'm glad I got this chance to fight beside you once more. I believed the only thing left for me was to pass on my knowledge to Momiji, and then await my death. How happy I am to have been wrong."

"It is I who is the Blessed one. Living past the natural age of my kin, living long enough not only to see my wife once more, but to meet the daughter I never knew I even had. I could ask for no greater miracle than this." Hakurou said with a smile that held warmth and gratitude, even in the midst of such a bloody war.

Two days ago, during the short time he and Benimaru had been at the Tengu village to enlist their aid, Kaede had introduced Hakurou to his sixteen year old daughter. The child that Kaede had carried within her for the past three hundred years, the fruit of their love from that one fateful night under the maple tree.

Meeting his daughter, Momiji, for the first time had been nothing short of wonderous for the elder Kijin. There were no words to describe it. The girl resembled her mother in so many ways, her white hair that went red at the tips, and her golden eyes that held strength and passion behind them.

Their interaction had been brief but joyful. Momiji had been just as happy to finally meet her father, and in that moment Hakurou found yet another purpose to live, to keep on fighting.

He had lived his entire life by the sword, honing his blade to perfection and passing on the teachings of his grandfather to the rest of his people. After Kaede, he never dreamed of the possibility of finding love again or having a family of his own, nor did he want to, Kaede had been the only one for him.

But it seemed the heavens had yet to abandon him.

He had lived far longer than any other Ogre, he had received a name and even carried the family name of his grandfather, his evolution had helped him regain his youth and extended his lifespan and now…

…Now he was reunited with his wife and met the daughter he never knew he had.

Having lived his life by the sword, Hakurou wanted to experience the joys of being a husband and father. Of living in the same home as his wife and daughter. Helping raise and teach Momiji, and pass on his own experiences.

That was the future he couldn't stop seeing ever since they left the Tengu mountains. A dream he had never dared hope for, and yet now was within his grasp.

They just had to win and survive this war…

"Aahhh!"

Hakurou and Kaede immediately turned their heads towards the source of the anguished screams and saw two Ogres being held by two crimson serpent silhouettes(is that the right word for it), the serpents were originating from a rather large Orc with black armour plating and armed with an axe and shield. The screams of the Ogres grew louder as their skin and flesh began to break down and decompose right before everyone, the two succumbing to a rather gruesome death as they were devoured by the serpents.

The two recognised the Orc as one of the Orc Generals that Souei had spoken of in his report about enemy forces. It was certainly bigger than most of the Orcs and had a much stronger presence, placing it at high A-rank in terms of Magicule capacity alone.

"To think that mere Ogres would be causing us such trouble." The Orc General spoke, his presence making most of the Ogres and Lizardmen present wary. "Once it was we Orcs who feared you due to our weakness, but no longer. Under the guidance of our lord, we have risen above you and your strength will become ours!"

Hakurou could not help but frown at the disgusting sight of the Orcs' arrogance. It seemed as though the Orcs truly were starting to let the power of [Starved] get to their heads. Perhaps it was the effect of the Orc Lord devouring their anxiety and fear.

"Kaede, would you care for one last dance with this old man?" Hakurou said to his wife of three hundred years with a smile. He was very much aware that with Kaede's condition, this may very well be her last time on the battlefield.

Just being here was already straining her body, which barely had the magic power to support her body, but she had chosen to fight today because she wanted to fight by Hakurou's side one last time before she put down the sword for good. It was something Hakurou intended to honor and make memorable for her.

"Nothing would make me happier, my love." Kaede responded with a beaming smile before the two turned towards the Orc General and approached it, blades drawn and ready for action. The Orc General saw their approach and turned to them in intrigue.

"Oh? So you approach me do you? You must covet death badly." It said arrogantly as it readied its weapon and shield.

"I'm afraid we will not be the ones dying today." Hakurou said as he drew his sword. "You and your folk have made a grave mistake in attacking these lands. I would tell you to leave, but I know you are beyond reason."

"Enough of this pointless drivel, your attempts at intimidation won't work on me!" The Orc General yelled as two crimson serpents were released from its backside and launched towards the elderly couple.

Hakurou and Kaede dashed forward, their movements swift and acrobatic as they dodged the serpents attacks and their blades cutting across their ethereal bodies. But the serpents swiftly reformed and attacked them once more. But this didn't stop their advance as they were swiftly approaching the Orc General.

Once they were within a certain range, Hakuro suddenly vanished from his position while Kaede suddenly accelerated, her figure becoming a blur as she swiftly cut through the ethereal serpents of the [Rot] skill and made a beeline for the Orc General.

The Orc General raised its shield blocking Kaede's strike to the left, before sensing a danger coming from the opposing end. It swiftly swung its axe just in time to counter Hakurou's blade, which had been aimed for its neck. Had it been a second later, the Orc General would have died instantly through decapitation.

"Oh? You sensed that, did you?" Hakurou said as a single eye opened. He was truly impressed that an Orc had been able to sense his approach despite him having used [Formhide] to conceal his presence and [Flashstep] to reposition himself. "It seems you're rather perceptive for an Orc, or is it the work of one the many skills you stole from your victims?"

Hakurou and Kaede leapt back, putting some distance between them and the Orc General. They stood side by side, blades drawn, and ready to face this challenge.

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, another Orc General had made an appearance on the battlefield, tearing through Goblins and Lizardmen alike with its vastly superior strength. The Allied Forces on the scene were quickly losing ground to this monstrosity and the surrounding Orcs. Unlike the last Orc General, this one wielded two large machetes. And its body had rock hard, spiky skin which had rendered the attacks of the goblins and Lizardmen useless. It was the [Body Armour] skill of the Amorsaurous that Rimuru had encountered within the Sealed Cave, basically boosting the Orc's resistance to physical attacks.

"Damn it, our attacks aren't doing any damage to that monster!"

"We have to fall back and let one of the stronger species deal with it!"

"I can't believe these filthy Orcs are giving us this much trouble…"

"Aahhh!"

The nervous chatter of the Hobgoblins and Lizardmen were broken by another blood curdling scream as another Hobgoblin was cut down by the large Orc before being devoured by the surrounding Orcs in a gory display.

"To think a bunch of Lizards and Goblins would dare stand in our way. What a pathetic notion. If you surrender now, I can promise you a swift death before we devour your corpses, refuse and we'll eat you alive limb by limb." The Orc General said as it pointed one of its machetes at the opposing forces.

"Tch, this bastard. Does he really thnk we'll roll over and die?!" One of the Lizardmen cried in defiance, several others crying in agreement. They knew they had no hope of winning against this vastly superior opponent, even with their numbers. But they still had their pride as warriors.

"Fools…" the Orc General muttered, as a group of Lizardmen and Hobgoblins charged towards him with their weapons. Three [Chaos Eaters] sprouted from its backside and charged towards the incoming group.

"Hold it!" The sudden war cry was accompanied by the severing of the ethereal serpents by a heavy slash from above. The charging Goblins and Lizardmen slowed their charge as their savior landed on the ground in front of them. The Goblins were especially surprised when they saw who it was. "I'll handle this foe, you guys focus on the rest."

The individual who had intervened in the nick of time was none other than the Evil Goblin…Kataki. His dark eyes focused on the towering Orc General as he readied himself for the difficult fight that was ahead. Even though he was far stronger than the Hobgoblins, he had his doubts on whether or not he could face a monster of this caliber on his own.

Regardless, he could not stand by and let more Goblins die at its hands. During the Direwolf raids, he had been too weak to protect his village, his people, and his family. And as a result, he was the sole survivor of that village. Even though he didn't interact as much with the Hobgoblins of the current Goblin Village, mainly due to the Tempest Wolves that also live there, he had sworn to himself that he would protect them. That he would use the power granted to him by Lord Rimuru to fight for all Goblins within his reach.

Even if it cost him his life.

"I won't let you claim any more Goblin lives, you foul Pig." Kataki spat with venom as he held his weapons in hand, his voice burning with rage. Triggered by his intense hatred and rage, the [Beserk] sub-skill of the [Unique Skill: Avenger] was activated, a dark and ominous aura surrounding Kataki.

The [Unique Skill: Avenger] had a total of four sub-skills that made it. [Analytical Appraisal], which analyzed one's foe and their abilities. [Copy] , which allowed the user to copy the skills and abilities of their foe, though for [Avenger] it could only be triggered in the face of defeat and only one skill could be copied from an individual. [Beserk] , this skill drastically increased the user's power based on the amount of anger and hatred they carried within them, though if not handled with caution, the user could lose themselves in their rage. And lastly [Retaliate] , a skill that increases the user's power when fighting against foes that once defeated them, it also has the added benefit of slightly increasing the user's natural resistance to attacks that caused their defeat.

"So you're my opponent?" The Orc General asked, clearly displeased as he didn't view a single Goblin a threat. "Very well then. Come Goblin…I'll make quick work of you." The Orc said much to Kataki's irritation as a scowl appeared on his face.

"That's what you think!" In an instant, Kataki was upon the Orc General, much to its surprise, swinging his axe down towards its head. But he was forced to reposition when two [Chaos Eaters] sprouted from the Orc's back and lunged towards his airborne form. Kataki clicked his tongue as he swung the machete in his other hand, using the momentum to rotate and slam his foot down one of the ethereal serpents before it could tear into his flesh. Using its form as a stepping stone, he pushed forward, cutting through the other serpent before charging the Orc General once more.

Kataki brought both his weapons down on the Orc General, but this time it was prepared, the Orc crossed its large blades in front of it, and a second later, Kataki's weapons crashed against them. A shockwave emanating from the point of impact.

"Your strength is impressive for a mere Goblin, but…" Kataki's eyes widened as the Orc General pushed him back. "You'll have to do a lot better than that to even have a chancs!" With no ground to hold onto, he was launched and sent soaring through the air. But before he could go far, something grabbed his cloak from the back of his neck, before slowly putting him back down on the ground.

"Thank you." Kataki said in relief as he turned to the person who had caught him. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw that it was none other than the matriarch of the Tempest Wolves, Raya.

"Are you alright?" Raya asked, her voice surprisingly soft and gentle.

But Kataki didn't hear her, instead his vision went red, as the images of his former village appeared in his mind. The screams of his people as the Direwolves tore through them mercilessly. The grip on his weapons tightened considerably, the ominous aura around him thickened as a result of [Beserk] feeding off the negative emotions coming from his heart.

"Kataki, I know I have no right to ask you to forgive the sins of my kin…" Raya started, the females and young hadn't been part of the raids, but that didn't matter. To any outsider, all the Direwolves were somewhat responsible, and Raya understood that much. She only hoped Kataki would consider the current situation before doing something reckless. "…But for now, please channel that hatred towards our common enemy. If not for yourself, then for your fellow Goblins."

"…" For a moment all was silent, and it seemed as though Kataki would lunge at Raya any moment. But then, the Evil Goblin took a deep breath and turned away from Raya, instead focusing his rage at the Orc General before them. "Shut up…don't tell me what to do."

The ominous aura coming from his was a clear sign of the raging inferno within him, made manifest through the [Beserk] skill. Raya understood that Kataki held a deep hatred for all Wolves, but she was glad that in this moment, he had decided against acting rashly. Turning her head to the Orc General the evil goblin had been facing, Raya growled as a soft wind swirled around her feet. Even if Kataki didn't want her help, or to be in the same space with her in general, Raya would still lend her aid in this fight. This foe was too powerful to be left to Kataki alone. Perhaps this was simply Raya trying to atone for the sins of her kin, she wasn't sure, but it was a step towards bridging the gap between Kataki and her kin.

"Goblins and Dogs teaming up, I don't think I've ever seen a more pathetic pairing." The Orc General taunted as it approached them. "Do you honestly think the two of you stand a chance against a superior Majin such as myself?!" The Orc taunted.

"You filthy orc wouldn't even have this power were it not for the Orc Lord, were it not for the countless monsters you slayed! That power is not yours…" Kataki shouted with a snarl, he then cast a glance towards Raya, as much as he hated to admit it, the likelihood of winning this battle on his own was low, and as much as he loathed working with a Wolf, the current situation was beyond personal feelings. "Try to keep up." He muttered, receiving a bark in response from the matriarch of the Tempest Wolves. He had no doubt she could hold her own, Raya's strength was beyond that of the Tempest Wolf pack. Based on magicules alone she certainly had more power than him.

With that, he dashed forward as another clash began…

With the Orc Lord:

Geld, that was the name that the Orc Lord had received from its master. And with it an intense hunger gnawed at its being, its [Stomach] a dark, never-ending abyss that longed to be filled. This was a result of the [Unique Skill: Starved] , a skill that granted Geld the power to consume and absorb the power of others, a power that had been passed down to all that followed him. And because of that, they too felt his endless hunger. They too marched forward with the sole purpose to devour this world.

And yet…Geld knew what they were doing was wrong. Despite Orcs being known as gluttonous creatures, they were rather mild for monsters. What they were doing now, raiding species after species and devouring them, this was not their true nature.

But the endless hunger caused by [Starved] clouded his mind and judgement, there was no other desire other than to consume and devour everything around him. The Orcs themselves had already fallen into the abyss of [Starved] and had no choice but to keep moving forward.

"I'm…so…hungry…" Geld muttered slowly, he was vaguely aware of the current situation. The war in the Marshlands he had led his people into and the resistance of the various species that had joined forces against them. But all of that was overshadowed by this never-ending hunger that demanded he eat something, anything.

"My Lord!" One of the two Orc Generals beside him, his son to be exact, called out to him as the two of them rushed to stand in front of him protectively. It was only as Geld raised his head and looked beyond them that he realized…they had company.

Five individuals, riding atop Wolf-like beasts. Two of them were clearly human. The other two Ogres, no Kijin. And the last was surprisingly a Dryad, one of the Caretakers of the forest appointed by the Storm Dragon Velredia herself. Each of them had considerable power, comparable or higher than Geld's generals.

"So that's the Orc Lord, his presence truly is formidable." Benimaru commented as he eyed Geld, who stood behind the two Orc Generals. He had to admit that the Orc Lord was rather large, and its aura was truly something, the last time he had felt something close to this was when he had earned the ire of Lord Rimuru before he left to end the Direwolf raids.

"Hmph, it's just an overgrown Pig. Nothing to be so overly cautious about, I'll cut him down to size and turn him into a wonderful feast for Lord Rimuru upon his return!" Shion said enthusiastically as she drew her blade. Benimaru and Treyni, knowing of Shion's cooking, couldn't help but sweatdrop at the very thought, while Sumire and Rito wondered if a monster such as the Orc Lord was even edible.

'Even if her cooking skills have improved under the guidance of Shuna and Lord Rimuru…' Benimaru thought as his eyes shifted from her to the Orc Lord. '…Who'd want to eat something like that?' He doubted Lord Rimuru would be all too eager once he knew the source of said feast.

Treyni turned back to the enemy before them, her expression hardening as she stepped forward ahead of the group. She too could feel the power emanating from the Orc Lord, but she believed with the party they had present, they could face this threat and prevent it from becoming something beyond their grasp.

This land had been entrusted to her and her sisters by the great Storm Dragon Velredia herself, and for centuries, they had done their best to protect and oversee it, even if some of the stronger species wouldn't follow their rules. But more than that, this was the land that Lady Velredia had prepared and nurtured her child within, it was the land where Lord Rimuru would establish himself and create a nation unlike any other. A nation where beings of various species could coexist peacefully.

More than anything, Treyni wanted to see that vision realized. To see the future that Lady Velredia's heir envisioned come to fruition. And to one day witness the return of Lady Velredia herself, as she and her child met without boundaries.

But…none of that would be possible if they fell here today. If the foundation Lord Rimuru had worked so hard to established crumbled before it could grow and expand further. That was why failure was not an option. No matter the cost, they had to defeat the Orc Lord here and now before it could grow further.

"Orc Lord!" She called out to the large pig, getting its attention somewhat. It was clear to see that the effects of [Starved] were eating away at its consciousness. This was what happened when one didn't have the spiritual power needed to hold a [Unique Skill], they were slowly consumed by it until they were driven by sheer desire. In this case, it would be an endless hunger. "I am the Dryad Treyni, the primary Caretaker of the Great Forest of Jura. You and your army are trespassing on the domain of the Storm Dragon. Take your people and leave at once, and we may look past the blood you have shed in these lands." At this point in the war, there was no way things could be settled peacefully, but Treyni felt she at least had to try diplomacy as a means to avoid further conflict and losses.

For a solid minute there was no response, the only thing that could be heard were the cries of war around them, and the sounds of steel clashing against steel. And then Geld moved, he took a single ground shaking step forward, and the entire strike team was immediately on guard.

Sumire and Shion immediately took the front position, their blades readied for battle. Benimaru was behind them with his own blade. And Treyni and Rito were at the rear. This formation had been created to maximize their abilities as much as possible.

Shion and Sumire were confirmed to be strong close combatants. Shion with her overwhelming strength and her Hercules Edge were a devastating force that proved unrivaled among her kin in terms of physical prowess. Sumire, with her sword and shield, was a capable close range combatant who had even managed to hold her own against Shion in a sparring match for some time. Benimaru was a close to mid-range combatant, his [Black Flame] skill which he inherited from Lord Rimuru allowed him to produce deadly flames that would vaporize any enemy in its path. Then there was Treyni herself, she mainly specialized in spirit magic, but was not unaccustomed to close combat. Still, she positioned herself in the rear to play to her strengths and support those fighting up close. She also had the secondary task of protecting Rito, the least experienced of the fighters of this assault team.

Then lastly came Rito himself, though one may not expect it, he was quite literally the glue that would be holding this sudden group of fighters together. His [Unique Skill: Supporter] would play a huge role in ensuring their cohesion, not to mention the other supportive capabilities it held.

The [Unique Skill: Supporter] , a skill designed to turn its user into the ultimate team player. It focuses on enhancing the overall capabilities of allies, ensuring seamless coordination and maximizing the overall strength of the party. The skill was comprised of five sub-skills; [Analyze and Assess] which allowed Rito to analyze his target, getting a reading on their abilities skills and combat styles. [Augmentation] allows Rito to channel his own energy to boost the physical or magical abilities of his allies. The type, level, and duration of the enhancement depend on the energy invested into it. [Heal] allows Rito to heal his own injuries or that of others, the greater the wound the higher the energy drain. [Cure] allows Rito to cure negative status effects on himself or allies. And [Synergy], the core ability of [Supporter] , enables seamless coordination and situational awareness between the user and their allies. It allows party members to fight with the synchronization of veteran teams that have fought side by side for decades.

Of the chosen members of the assault team, only Benimaru and Shion knew each other well enough to function as a team. But Rito's Unique Skill not only increased their abilities, but allowed them to make proper use of their strength.

"Im…so…hungry…" Geld said as he continued walking towards them, "Come here…and let me DEVOUR YOU!" The Orc Lord suddenly dashed forward with a shocking amount of speed for a monster its size, vanishing from its position.

It suddenly appeared right above Sumire and Shion, its large cleaver in hand, it shadow covering them. The two girls leapt back as the behemoth descended, swinging its large blade and striking the ground where they had been standing a second ago, a large dust cloud formed at the impact zone, completely covering the Orc Lord.

"Look out!" Benimaru shouted just as Sumire and Shion touch the ground, landing a bit away from the dust cloud. In that moment, two crimson ethereal serpents shot out from the dust cloud and were heading for Shion and Sumire.

Shion grinned at the incoming serpent and charged forward, the ground beneath her cracking from the pressure of her step. Moving with incredible speed, Shion charges for the Orc Lord, cutting through the head of the ethereal serpent with a vertical slash as she continues her charge. Meanwhile, Sumire was approaching from the opposing end, having cut down the serpent that had been launched her way.

Geld momentarily glanced at the charging girls flanking him from both sides, before dashing for Shion. The violet haired Kijin was much more prepared this time around though, she wouldn't underestimate its speed just because of its size.

Greatsword and cleaver clashed as their wielders made contact, a shockwave eminating from the sheer strength of the exchange. The two crossed blades in a surprisingly fast flurry of strikes given the size of their blades, Shion's smaller form allowed for more mobility in her strikes, but the Orc Lord had the strength to properly wield its cleaver to block and counter all of her strikes.

However, as the exchange continued Shion quickly began to lose ground, Geld's strikes proving to be stronger than her own, and his reaction speed much better than one would expect from a monster of his size. Then again, this fight was never meant to be easy…

…that was why Shion had allies.

"I'll help!" Sumire shouted as she suddenly appeared behind in the air behind the Orc Lord, her blade glowing with a blue aura around it. Geld spared her a glance, and Sumire felt her instincts warning her of incoming danger, she quickly released her technique and brought her shield in front of her. "[Aura Guard]!" She shouted as her shield began to glow with a bright green color and a barrier instantly materialized in front of her.

That turned out to be the right choice as the Chaos Eaters erupted from Geld's back and shot towards Sumire, even as he kept his attention on Shion. The crimson serpents crashed into the barrier, and given her position in the air, Sumire was pushed back significantly by the attack. She landed on the ground some distance back, but the ethereal serpents followed, not giving her the time to gather her bearings. However…

Before they could strike at her defenseless form, Benimaru appeared in front of her, and with the single swing of his flaming blade, cut all three Chaos Eaters down.

"Are you alright?" He asked as as he turned back to Sumire, the young girl still surprised by the display of strength from the Red Kijin. Shaking her head sideways, she quickly regained her composure.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the assist." Sumire said as she stood up, ready to jump into the fray once more. Turning her gaze back to the Orc Lord, she noticed that Shion was still engaged in close quarters with the large beast.

Though it seemed Treyni, who had summoned the Wind Spirit Sylphide, was also lending her aid from a distance using wind blades or plant-based attacks to create openings for Shion. The Orc Lord was visibly taking damage, but was healing just as quickly through [Self-Regeneration]. At this rate, it would heal from any damage they did until it ran out of Magicules, which wasn't likely to happen soon given its power.

Their best bet was to create opportunities to land significant strikes and deal considerable damage that would force it to use most of its Magicules for regeneration. Fortunately with Rito's [Supporter] boosting their abilities and providing healing, they would be able to hold their own even in a battle of attrition.

"Think nothing of it." Benimaru said with a nod as he helped her onto her feet. With a wordless nod, the two turned back to the battle and ran towards the Orc Lord.

Shion could feel her arms starting to sting from the relentless strikes of the Orc Lord. She'd managed to avoid taking severe damage, thanks in part to the assistance of Treyni and the healing and buffs provided by Rito, but at the same time, any attacks they managed to land on the Orc Lord were quickly healed. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't hold her position for much longer, it was only a matter of time before the Orc Lord broke through her defenses.

Geld's cleaver swung towards Shion once more, however the Kijin blocked the devastating attack with her own large blade, her feet digging into the ground as she was pushed back a few meters. She felt the impact of that strike deep within her bones despite blocking it. Just as Shion was about to charge in for another clash, numerous vines suddenly shot up from the ground around Geld, binding him and firmly holding him in place.

"Shion get back!" The Kijin heard Treyni shout, she didn't even question it and instantly leapt back.

"[Hell Flare]!" Benimaru yelled as he launched the compressed black flame towards the bound Orc Lord. On contact the attack exploded into a large sphere of explosive black flames that engulfed the Orc Lord, its cries being heard from within. "Do you think that did it?" Benimaru asked, though he already had a feeling as to what the answer would be.

"I doubt it, if it were that easy I would have been able to handle the Orc Lord myself." Treyni responded as the flames subsided, leaving a cloud of smoke and dust.

Through the cloud, the shadowed form of the Orc Lord became visible, immediately putting everyone on guard once more. The cloud eventually faded to reveal Geld's form, burns and injuries on various parts of his body, but the injuries were already beginning to heal and close up.

"We dealt damage, and his regeneration seems to be a bit slower than it was before." Treyni notes, as she notes the decreased recovery rate of Geld. "The constant healing is eating away at his magicules, if we can wear him down some more, all it would take is one major strike to end him."

"Shion, take a break and gather your strength." Benimaru said as he turned to the purple Kijin. He could tell she had pushed herself a bit in the recent confrontation, her breathing was off and her hold on Hercules Edge was a bit shaky. While her body was in fine condition thanks to healing from Rito, her fatigue from defending the onslaught from the Orc Lord was a different matter altogether.

"Right, thank you." As much as Shion wanted to argue that she could still fight, even she knew that she couldn't afford to be reckless in this situation. She would take the small reprieve and jump back into the fight as soon as her body was capable of moving the way she wanted it to. But still, this fight was a major lesson to the kijin.

…She still wasn't strong enough, she had to aim higher. If monsters like the Orc Lord existed, then they were others just as powerful. The Tengu and Dryads were already examples of superior species. If she truly wanted to be Lord Rimuru's bodyguard then she would have to get much, much stronger than she was now. Otherwise she would only be a hindrance.

"Lady Sumire!" Benimaru called out as he charged forward at the Orc Lord, the young girl responded with a firm nod as she quickly followed after the young master. They wouldn't wait for it to fully recover, it was best to strike while the iron was still hot.

Using flash step, Benimaru vanished and appeared right above the Orc Lord, his blade drawn and held above his head, black flames encasing the blade. He swung the blade down, only to be horizontally blocked by Geld. The flaming blade met the cleaver, the intense heat from the black flames making the larger blade red hot, but not quite enough to melt it.

"Your pathetic flames won't work on me!" Geld shouted triumphantly, but was surprised when Benimaru merely grinned in response. The reason was soon made clear when he felt a sharp pain on his backside, and he turned to see Sumire behind him with her glowing blade stabbing him, he could feel the deep gash in his backside, and though the injury was already starting to heal, that didn't take away the pain and irritation of it all.

Two Chaos Eaters sprout from his backside in response to the attack, lashing out at Sumire. The girl leapt back as the first serpent dived towards her, crashing onto the ground she had been standing on. She fluidly sidesteps the second serpent as it lunges at her, twisting her form and bringing her blade down on its body. Severing it and causing it to vanish.

Back with Benimaru, the Kijin had taken advantage of Sumire's attack to create some distance between him and Geld, he gave a glance towards Treyni, who nodded to the unspoken message, before charging back towards the Orc Lord. The two clashed blades as sparks went flying all over. But unfortunately for the young master, who didn't have the same physical prowess as Shion, Geld's strength quickly began to overwhelm him, and he was quickly put on the defensive.

'What a monster, how was Shion able to hold her own against this behemoth?' Benimaru question internally as a vertical swing from the giant pig pushed him a few meters. The injuries he acquired from the brief but brutal exchange were quickly healed by Rito's abilities.

While the exchange had been indeed one-sided, he had more or less achieved his goal of repositioning himself. To be more specific, he was now on the opposite side of Treyni with the Orc Lord right in the middle of them.

With a grin, Benimaru focused his magic power once more and conjured [black flames] into the palm of his right hand. At the same time on the opposing end, Treyni and Sylphide were conjuring a large amount of spirit energy, the area around them becoming a whirlwind of magic energy.

Geld, sensing a spike of energy from two different directions, unleashed four Chaos Eaters from its backside, two each going in opposite directions towards Benimaru and Treyni with surprising speed.

"Not on my watch!" Shion suddenly yelled as she appeared above the crimson serpents heading for Treyni, with a single swing of her Hercules Edge, she decapitates the serpents, dissolving them into energy.

Meanwhile, on the opposing end, Sumire had stepped in on Benimaru's half, severing the approaching serpents with the sharp end of her [Aura Shield] art.

"It seems it's my turn to thank you now, Miss Sumire." Benimaru said with a grin as the black flame above his palm began to radiate an even more intense heat from the compressed flame. He had spent a large amount of time training the volatile power of [Black Flame] skill since acquiring it. Though the progress was small, he had managed to harness and refine this power to an extent, and now it was time to seee the fruits of his labor realized.

"Be gone with you, [Hell Flare]!" Benimaru called out as he unleashed the highly compressed sphere of black fire towards the Orc Lord. Meanwhile on the opposing end, a bright gree aura surrounded Treyni and the wind spirit Sylphide.

" [Vortex Sphere]!" Treyni called out as she thrust both her arms forward, releasing a highly compact orb of rotating wind.

The two attacks struck the Orc Lord simultaneously, the suction force from the [Vortex Sphere] pulling the Orc Lord right into the center of the attack with the force of a vacuum. What followed was a large but intense explosion of black flames that forced everyone to jumpback due to the sheer force and heat of it all. The screams of Geld could be heard from within the attack as the combined attack not only burned but also cut into his flesh.

[Spirit Magic] , unlike most forms of magic, didn't rely on Magicules, but was instead the result of one directly manipulating the physical elements of the world and bending them to their will. That meant any form of [Magic Resistance] was pretty much useless against it.

Meaning even if the Orc Lord possessed [Magic Resistance], it wouldn't help against [Spirit Magic]. And while the same could technically not be said about [Black Flame] due to it being a magic-based attack, the sheer heat of the compressed flames and not to mention their nature made it so [Hell Flare] was effective against even those with [Fire Resistance]. It also helped that any form of wind-based magic tended to amplify the capabilities of fire-based magic, regardless of whether either form of magic was Magicule-based or [Spirit Magic].

As the vortex-based explosion of wind and black flames began to dissipate, the Orc Lord was revealed to be still alive but heavily wounded and burned while crouching on a single knee. Its regenerative capabilities were clearly significantly diminished but still working overtime just to keep the Orc Lord alive with limited success due to the slow regenerating of prior injuries and the [Black Flames].

"Gah! Why…you!" Geld growled as he tried to stand up without success, his injuries leaving him too weakened.

"Now's our chance! Finish this!" Treyni says to the others, drawing nods of agreement as Benimaru, Shion, and Sumire draw their weapons and charged at their weakened foe.

However, before they could reach their target, the three of them sensed a large aura rapidly approaching their location, bringing them to a halt. The three of them looked up into the night sky to see what appeared like a crimson meteor rapidly approaching them. The three were forced to ground to a halt and leap back as the 'meteor' heavily impacted the ground they had just been standing on.

"How dare you? How dare you filthy monsters stand in the way of my grand master plan?!" The cloud of dust from the impact was blown away to reveal the angered form of Gelmude standing before them, an intense aura leaking from him. "You damn fools just keep getting in our way! Why can't you just accept your fate and become food for Geld and his army?! At least then, your meager lives would have served a purpose."

"Gelmude. You have caused too much trouble within these lands. First with the Fire Spirit Ifrit, then by trying to deceive and manipulate the monsters, and now by bringing an Orc Lord and his army into these lands." Treyni stated in cold anger as she stepped forward, Sylphide following close behind. "Surrender now and Lord Rimuru might be willing to grant you a quick and painless death or even show mercy again. However, if you refuse, I'll have no choice but to pass divine judgment upon you as Chancellor of the Forest."

Gelmude, however, merely scoffed at the threat, not even bothering to take it seriously. Despite the unexpected turn of events, he still believed that things were still well within his grasp.

"You Dryads and monsters just don't get it, do you? With the Storm Dragon now gone, there's now an enormous power vacuum within the Great Forest of Jura! Anyone of significant power would want to claim this vast land for themselves." Gelmude said with glee as Treyni's frown deepened. "I'll commend you lot for coming this far, not even I expected you to bring Geld to his knees. I wasn't supposed to interfere, but I can see that I have no choice now."

Gelmude let out a low laugh as he slipped his hand into his coat, the members of the assault team quickly getting into battle stances in preperation for an attack. But to their surprise, Gelmude didn't pull out a weapon, but instead pulled a dark crystalline orb, glowing purple with a large amount of ominous energy condensed within it.

"Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for you, my master provided me with a contingency just in case. It was meant to be used against that Majin, 'Rimuru' was it? But to think I'd have to use it because of the likes of you. Geld! Eat this and get up, you stupid pig!"

Before anyone on the assault team could respond, Gelmude threw the dark orb towards the still smoking Geld. The Orc Lord immediately caught the orb and swallowed it whole in one gulp.

Almost immediately afterwards, a massive spike of magical power surges from Geld as his body is enveloped in a large amount of Magicules. The bursting Magicules surrounded Geld and formed a black cocoon that completely concealed his body from the rest of the world, and yet despite this, they could still feel his power growing astronomically. This immediately alarmed Treyni and the rest of the assault team, as the massive surge in power and the Magicules surrounding the Orc Lord's body only meant one thing.

{{Conditions met. Confirmed. Initiating the individual Geld's evolution.}}

The Orc Lord was evolving, a declaration which had been confirmed by the Words of the World. It was the very scenario they had been trying to avoid! The worst possible outcome. Treyni and the others wanted to stop it, but it was unfortunately obvious that it was too late to stop the evolutionary process now and Gelmude stood between them and the evolving Orc Leader.

Within a minute, the cocoon began to crack, before it shattered with an explosive force that had the assault team grounding their feet. From the cocoon emerged Geld, who was now several times taller and his pot belly had flattened to reveal a chiseled and muscular physique, with an appearance closer to a Giant than an Orc. He let out a loud, ground-shaking roar that was heard all across the battlefield.

{{Confirmed. The individual Geld has successfully evolved into the Orc Disaster.}}

Geld was no longer an Orc Lord, but an Orc Disaster.

"Ahahahaha, Behold! The newly-evolved Orc Disaster and future Demon Lord, Geld! The new ruler of the Great Forest of Jura!" Gelmude proclaimed dramatically as he pointed at Geld, the Orc Disaster.

"Raaahhh!" Geld roared once more as he unleashed a massive surge of aura and magical power that could be felt across the Marshlands, his power now several times greater than before. "My name is Geld, Geld the Demon Lord. The devourer of all things in this world!" Geld proclaimed.

As if Geld's evolution wasn't enough of a nightmare, more bad news kept on coming. As a result of the [Food Chain] sub-skill from the Unique Skill [Starved] , the Orcs under his influence were also affected by his evolution. While the orcs didn't evolve, their magical and physical capabilities were significantly boosted to the point of being twice what they had been before, their bodies glowing with a red aura as they pressed forward with their newfound power. Swiftly changing the tide of the battle.

The allied forces, who were previously holding their own or even gradually pushing back their Orc opponents up until this point, were now being pushed back by the now stronger Orcs. Worse still, it appeared that the Orcs were now better adapting to any attempts to push them back, including developing [Fire Resistance] against the kijin and dragonewts, and [Water Resistance] against the merfolks water based attacks, among other things, meaning not even the magical or aerial support given to the Allied Forces could provide much help as they were being pushed back on the defensive just to survive.

"Quick, everyone! We must do what we can to stop the Orc Disaster!" Treyni shouts while trying to rally the assault team, drawing nods of understanding. They all knew it was unlikely they could beat the Orc Disaster now based on the power it was radiating, but they had to at least try. The gap in strength was immense, and there was no doubt that their odds were significantly lower now, but the fact remained that they needed to fight..

"[Limit Break]!" Sumire declares as she activates the sub-skill of her Unique Skill, [Overcomer].

The [Unique Skill: Overcomer] was the skill that Sumire had awakened upon being brought into this world. The skill had five sub-skills, [Thought Acceleration], [Analytical Appraisal, [Adaptive Evolution, [Danger Sense, and [Limit Break].

[Adaptive Evolution] allowed her body to adapt a lot faster than average to various circumstances or situations that would strain her body and mind. And in some scenarios she could even awaken a new skill or resistance based on the trigger. [Danger Sense] allowed her to detect any ill intent directed towards her, this could be in the form of attacks or mere hostility. Then there was [Limit Break, a skill that allowed her to temporarily surpass all her limitations, be it physical, magical, mental or even spiritual, however it came at the cost of a heavy toll on her body and it wasn't a state she could maintain very long.

[Limit Break] was typically a last resort decision on her part given the extreme physical exhaustion she typically experienced afterwards, but given the dire situation and Rito's support via [Supporter] , it was now or never. "Shion and Benimaru, let's try to stop it!"

Drawing nods from both Kijin, the trio charge towards the Orc Disaster as Treyni tries to help by restraining it with vines erupting from the ground. Gelmude flies a small distance away from Geld and the approaching trio, he wasn't worried about Geld losing the fight. From his perspective it was just a matter of time until Geld devoured these foolish monster and added their power to his own.

His assumptions were proven correct when Geld easily broke the vine restraints holding him in place and swiftly charged at Shion with his machete. His machete clashed with Shion's large blade once more, but unlike before the purple kijin was quickly overpowered by the Orc Disaster. She managed to block the follow up swing by Geld, but the sheer force of the impact lifted her off the ground and sent her several feet back.

"Lady Sumire, together!" Benimaru says while channeling [Black Flames] into his katana, engulfing the blade the unique flames, as he and Sumire attempt to slash the Orc Disaster together.

However, it proved to be for nought due to Geld easily blocking both of their attacks with his own weapon before pushing them back with ease, even with Rito's buffs supporting them. The sheer level of growth since his evolution had drastically increased the gap of strength between them to an overwhelming degree.

"Insolent bugs, you are getting in my way. Hopefully, you can serve as decent appetizers." Geld stated before launching 2 Chaos-Eaters from his back towards them. Benimaru managed to slash through one without issue with his [Black Flames] destroying it, but Sumire only managed to partially block the one aimed at her with her shield before being overwhelmed and blown quite a distance away to the ground . And to her horror, the effects of [Rot] were slowly eating away at the clothes and flesh of her right arm, though a combination of [Rapid Regeneration] and [Adaptive Evolution], coupled with Rito's buffs and passive healing, not only prevented [Rot] from causing any permanent damage but also gradually reversed it, though it would take time to fully recover and it was unlikely she could contribute any further in the fight.

"Lady Sumire!" Treyni says in alarm before using her plant magic to lift the injured Sumire and bring her to Rito and herself.

"I'm fine, or I will be." Sumire said as she grit her teeth at the pain. Her arm was slowly healing but the pain of [Rot] would linger until she was fully cured. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be much use going forward." She added in frustration. With her right arm corrupted, she wouldn't be able to effectively wield her blade. If she got back into the fray, she would only end up being a burden to those on the front line.

"Insolent pig! You'll pay for all of this! Just die already!" Shion angrily yells as she charges at the Orc Disaster before jumping into the air with Hercules Edge being lifted above her head, channeling her aura into the large blade, for a devastating overhead slash.

However, before her blade could even swing her blade down for the devastating strike, Shion was suddenly grabbed mid-air by Geld's left hand, which firmly restrained her in place despite her struggles. For all her incredible strength, Shion found herself unable to break free from Geld's grip on her. Shion's efforts to free herself were further undermined by Geld's usage of [Rot], causing Shion to scream in pain as the skill was slowly eating away at her flesh and clothing.

"Aaaahhhh!" Shion's screams could be heard within the immediate area as the sizzling sound of [Rot] eating away at her flesh and clothes could be hear by those nearby.

"Hmph, maybe you could serve as a decent appetizer, especially given that you wanted to kill and eat me as part of a feast." Geld mocked as he brought Shion closer to his mouth. Shion tried to struggle even harder, but the pain of her flesh being decayed and the superior strength of the Orc Disaster made it all but futile. Benimaru wouldn't make it in time to stop her from being devoured, Treyni couldn't attack or bind Geld without getting Shion caught up in it as well.

'Am I really this weak?' Shion couldn't help but wonder as her head approached the open mouth of the Orc Disaster. She knew there were superior species out there, the tengu and dryads had been a clear sign of that, but to be killed by an overgrown pig…it was beyond humiliating for a warrior such as herself. And yet, that humiliation wasn't what was on her mind at that moment. 'I'm sorry…Lord Rimuru…'

However, before she could be devoured by Geld, the left arm that had been holding Shion was suddenly severed from the rest of Geld's body.

"What?! How?!" Gelmude exclaims in shock due to thinking it would be a one-sided slaughter upon Geld's evolution, before his shock turned into anger at recognizing the familiar figure who caused it. "You!"

Before Shion could fall to the ground, she was caught in someone's arms. When she turned to look at her apparent savior, her expression turned into a mix of shock and joy. After all, her savior was none other than the very individual she had been thinking of in what she had assumed would be her last moments. Her lord and master, Rimuru Tempest.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone." Rimuru's voice says, his black hair with streaks of blue dancing in the wind of the night sky and his emerald green eyes perfectly reflecting the light of the moon. In that moment, the pain from [Rot] was forgotten by Shion due to the sheer joy and relief that she felt at Rimurur's return.

"Lord Rimuru, you've returned!" Shion happily stated upon seeing her master once again, her eyes getting slightly teary in the corners.

"And not a moment too soon, given the current state of the battle or your current condition. Let me fix that for you." Rimuru says before using [Rejuvenation], an Extra Skill he gained by combining [Greater Heal] and the analysis of the status healing effects of Apito's Honey during his month of training, granting it far superior and faster healing capabilities. Which was made apparent by the fact that the injuries and degradation of [Rot] were fully reversed almost instantly.

Rimuru then teleported to the others, who had regrouped upon Benimaru and Sumire being blown back by Geld and the latter still recovering from her injuries, before Rimuru had set Shion down with the others.

"Thank goodness you have returned, Lord Rimuru." Treyni says in relief while Rito and Sumire look in amazement at their savior given that this was their first time seeing the current guardian of the Great Forest of Jura.

"I'm sorry for taking so long. I had gotten held up just before arriving here. But I'm here now to stop this invasion." Rimuru reassured Treyni before looking around to check on those present. Treyni seemed fine for the most part, she specialized more in ranged attacks so it was natural she had the least injuries. Benimaru was a little bruised, but nothing a potion could not fix. Shion was fully recovered thanks to [Rejuvenation]. Lastly, Rimuru turned to the two unknown humans that were with them, they were clearly allies judging by the fact that Treyni had been protecting them. But the more Rimuru looked at them, the more he noticed some Asian features he saw frequently in his past life.

'Are these two Otherworlders? Is this a result of another one of Gelmude's schemes or were they sent here by another nation?' Rimuru couldn't help but wonder, this being the second time he crossed paths with Otherworlders while dealing with Gelmude's schemes. He quickly shook his head sideways, questions could wait until later. Right now, he had to focus more on the situation at hand. The Orc Disaster, its overwhelming army, and Gelmude.

《 Notice: The female Otherworlder is recovering from the effects of [Rot] through a combination of [Rapid Regeneration, [Heal, and an exceptionally rare and useful Extra Skill known as [Adaptive Evolution, which allows the user to adapt to adverse circumstances or challenges by stimulating growth in physical and magical capabilities and overall Magicule reserves, and in some situations allows the user to acquire new skills or resistances. The female Otherworlder appears to possess [Adaptive Evolution] as a sub-skill of a larger Unique Skill. More time and focus is necessary to fully analyze the Unique Skill in question, but the skill [Adaptive Evolution] has already been successfully acquired via [Copy]. 》

'Wow, there is definitely more to these 2 Otherworlders than meets the eye. That skill definitely sounds extremely useful, both for any hidden surprises Gelmude and these Orcs may have and in any long-term growth or challenges. Thanks, [Great Sage].' Rimuru says while thanking his AI-like Unique Skill. He was tempted to use [Rejuvenation] to help the girl fully recover, but Rimuru had a feeling that the effects of [Adaptive Evolution] would allow Sumire to grow even stronger if she recovered via her own [Rapid Regeneration] and the passive healing buff she got from Rito rather than if he instantly healed her with [Rejuvenation] instead.

Rimuru then turned towards Geld and Gelmude. Upon seeing the latter, Rimuru's eyes narrow in rage as his eyes glow an eerie green while he unleashes the full extent of his aura in a massive surge of power. Almost instantly, all fighting across the Marshlands came to a halt as everyone turned in shock at the source of overwhelming power that could be sensed, with the assault team being no less shocked. The amount of power they felt coming of him was nothing like what they had experienced. Though Rimuru had never truly released his aura in front of his subordinates, so even his previous limits were unknown to them.

Even Gelmude and Geld were completely caught off-guard at the power they felt coming off Rimuru, with both actually feeling a sense of concern and foreboding upon sensing Rimuru's power.

'No, it can't be! How can this insolent Majin be this strong?!' Gelmude thought in shock and frustration as he tried to process the current situation. They hadn't planned to face a monster with such an extreme amount of power, even with the additional precautions Clayman insisted on doing.

"Gelmude. I realize now that sparring you that day was the biggest mistake I've made since I came into this world. You've done nothing but cause me trouble since then. Corrupting Shizue and the Fire Spirit Ifrit, manipulating monsters within these lands, and now leading an army of Orcs into these lands. I even heard you destroyed the Ogre Village I was staying at! But no longer, I won't make the same mistake twice. You will die tonight, but not before telling me everything I want to know!" Rimuru coldly declares as his rage can be felt by those who could see or hear him. Gelmude couldn't help but gulp from the immense pressure and killing intent that was being directed towards him.

"A-and who do you think you are, huh?!" Gelmude shouted in anger and a false act of confidence he wasn't sure he really had. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it was to have you foil my plans over and over again?! Do you know how hard I worked to bring this plan to fruition?! How many seeds I sowed, how many beings were manipulated?! Well, do you?! Who do you think you are to stand in my way when my goal is so close?!"

Rimuru eyed Gelmude for a moment after the Majin's rant. His eyes are devoid of emotion. Bringing his hand to the hilt of his blade, he took a step forward, then another, and another, and so forth. As he did so, he opened his mouth to speak once more. His voice level, sound and collected, and yet it carried the tone of finality and death.

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, guardian of the Great Forest of Jura and all who call it home…and you lot are trespassing in my mother's domain."

In the region to the Southeast of Jura was the Puppet Nation of Jistav. It was one of the four southern territories owned by Demon Lords that bordered the Great Forest. This domain belonged to the 'Marionette Master' Clayman.

Among the Demon Lords, Clayman was known to be a rather shrewd and cunning demon lord. One who more than often manipulated events from the shadows. He was the type to not get his hands dirty unless he absolutely had to.

One such plan was the one currently taking place within the Great Forest of Jura.

The plan had been simple but elaborate. The idea had been to create a Demon Lord pawn that he would be able to manipulate to gain more influence within the Demon Lord Council while also acting as a proxy to control the Great Forest of Jura and any surviving monsters on his behalf.

Gelmude, one of his most talented subordinates, had suggested using the Orcs to enact this plan. Their numbers were plenty, they were in a rather vulnerable state given the famine in their land, and the Orc Lord's abilities would make them a formidable force.

Of course, given the boundary agreement not to trespass into Jura, Clayman knew he could not act alone, and so he had involved a few more Demon Lords in his plan. 'Sky Queen' Frey, 'Beast Master' Carrion, and lastly Milim Nava 'The Destroyer'. At the very least, with the backing of these three, he wouldn't get into trouble with the other Demon Lords, especially with Milim's help.

Everything had been going according to plan over the last few days, the Orcs had been fed a large sum of flesh and had grown stronger than they originally were. With their newfound strength, they were marching across the Great Forest of Jura, attacking and devouring various monster species and gaining various abilities from said monsters.

But just when Clayman thought the plan was going well, the Orcs encountered significant resistance within the Marshlands of the Lizardmen. Even more surprising were the wide variety of monster species that were gathered in that location, from weak little Goblins to powerful Dryads. It was a rather absurd gathering for a bunch of monsters, but still they were holding their own against the Orcs through superior strategies and unity.

"Wahahaha! Clayman, it seems your Orcs are being pushed back by a bunch of monsters!" Milim Nava, The Destroyer, laughed as she watched the events through the crystal ball in the center of a table, displaying the events happening in Jura.

Aside from her, Carrion and Frey had also come to Clayman's castle to witness the Demon Lord's plan come to fruition. They too were also impressed by the coordination and unity displayed by the monsters resisting the Orcs.

"To think that they were not only able to gather such a sizable force, but organize it in such a manner that they are even able to hold their own against the Orcs. I'm impressed." Carrion praised as he observed the battle.

"Organized as they are, they won't last at this rate. The Orcs outnumber them five to one, and the longer the battle drags on, the more it will lean in favor of the Orcs." Frey commented with a hand on her chin.

"That's right Frey, it's only a matter of time until these monsters fall. There's no way they could beat an army of over two hundred thousand Orcs!" Clayman quickly agreed with the Harpy Queen, glad that she seemed to be on his side.

"That being said, they don't necessarily have to defeat the Orc Army." Frey quickly corrected with a quick glare towards Clayman.

"Right, it would be smarter to target the source of the Orc Army's strength. The Orc Lord and the Unique Skill [Starved] ." Carrion finished, to which Frey nodded her head in agreement. Clayman, having come to the same conclusion, quickly changed the perception of the Crystal Orb from the surrounding battles in the Marshlands to the Orc Lord's location.

The image changed and revealed Geld, who was currently in the middle of a battle with a small group of monsters and even two humans. To Clayman's surprise, Geld seemed to be struggling against this group of individuals, and seemed to have even taken some damage as well.

"Well Frey, it seems you were right. The main army is holding back the Orc Army, most likely stalling for time, while a select group fights the Orc Lord." Clayman stated as he focused on displaying the assault team battling the Orc Lord.

"And it seems they even have some humans aiding them in the battle. How interesting…." Frey noted with intrigue as she observed Sumire and Rito. Humans were normally weary of monsters, either because of the differences in power, their unpredictable nature, or simply because of religious reasons. The Great Forest of Jura was known for its large populations of a variety of different yet powerful monster races.

Not only that, but the forest had a high concentration of Magicules as a result of the Monsters dwelling within it, though the amount of Magicules had begun to decline since the Storm Dragon vanished. Still, the amount of Magicules in the atmosphere was enough to poison the average human being who had no tolerance to Magicules. As a result, only adventurers, soldiers, or Heroes ventured into this forest. Those with low tolerances would suffer from Demonification or outright die from the constant exposure to Magicules.

"They are most likely not normal humans. Adventurers, perhaps?" Clayman wondered as he eyed the two humans for a moment. From what he was seeing, they were both young by human standards. The boy seemed to be the support of the team facing Geld, healing and offering support when needed. The girl displayed some considerable prowess against Geld, but was ultimately weaker. 'Could they be heroes…?' Clayman wondered with a frown. Their presence and the fact that they were participating in a direct confrontation with Geld meant they were at least somewhat strong.

"There definitely have been quite a few surprises since this invasion started. I for one can't help but take an interest in those Direwolves, assuming they are Direwolves? They certainly seem stronger and smarter than the average ones, not to mention their abilities." Carrion adds, remembering the footage of Kataki and Raya fighting an Orc General, along with the rest of the Tempest Wolves that were fighting alongside the Goblins.

The display of their wind and lightning-based abilities had caught his interest, Direwolves didn't usually have any elemental abilities, meaning these wolves were an evolved variant. But more than that was their strength, unity, and cohesiveness. The pack demonstrated intellect far greater than you'd expect from a bunch of wild dogs, which meant they had a competent leader or had acquired a higher level of intelligence through evolution. Carrion assumed that Raya was the leader due to her larger than average size and her greater display over the wind element. All in all to Carrion, these Wolves were at least B-rank monsters, with Raya being a low A-rank.

…It was such a waste that they would all be dying today.

"I'll say. I certainly didn't expect to see the Tengu participating in the battle against Orcs." Frey agreed with narrowed eyes. She had indeed been surprised to see the presence of the Tengu on the battlefield, and even more to see Kaede, the Tengu Matriarch, on the battlefield.

At first, Frey had assumed that Kaede was the one responsible for rallying such a sizeable force against the Orc Lord. The Tengu matriarch had definitely proven to be her equal in battle during their past encounters. But as she observed the battle, the notion was thrown out the window when Frey noted how much weaker Kaede had gotten since their last encounter. While the Tengu Matriarch was still incredibly skilled, based on what Frey had seen, she no longer had the power to rival her.

This was good though, it meant that the Tengu no longer had the power to resist her, and the next time Frey moved to subjugate them, they would have no choice but to surrender to her rule.

"If I'm lucky, Kaede and her kin will fall in this battle. This could be an opportunity to weaken them enough for me to subjugate them later." Frey muttered, the prospect of claiming the Tengu and Kusha Mountains was enticing to her.

"Ha! I don't think we'll be that lucky, Frey! I mean, look at how the battle with the Orc Lord is going!" Milim laughs in amusement as she redirects their focus to the battle. As she said this, the 4 Demon Lords saw the Orc Lord being engulfed in a powerful vortex-based explosion of wind and black flames, when the explosion dispersed Geld was shown to be down on one knee with various burns and cuts along its body. It was clearly done, and though its wounds were healing, it was dramatically slower. "Looks like your oh-so-perfect plan isn't turning out so well, Clayman!"

Clayman frowned at this, feeling frustrated and humiliated at how the Orc Lord was being pushed back by what he believed to be vastly inferior foes. He already invested quite a bit in this scheme by providing equipment to the Orc Army and even asking his comrades in the Harlequin Alliance to kill off plenty of powerful monsters like Armorsaurus and Blade Tigers as a means of feeding and empowering them all. He couldn't afford to back out now, especially with the benefits of an extremely valuable pawn and his own reputation on the line.

*Gelmude, it appears you will need to interfere and implement our contingency plan much sooner than expected, after all.* Clayman says via [Thought Communication] to his subordinate, who was watching the fight in the forest from a distance.

*Forgive me for questioning your judgment, Lord Clayman, but are you sure? That insolent Majin has yet to show up.* Gelmude replies in concern. He was just as frustrated by how the fight was turning out. He had been in the forest this entire time, but even he had been unaware of the monsters mobilizing at the Lizardmen's territory.

The task of taking over the forest had been left to him. Gelmude had spent months surveying the land, studying the various monsters that dwelled in it and looking out for any notable monsters that may pose a threat to his plans. He had named a few monsters, diminishing his own power, in hopes that they would provide greater power when devoured by the Orcs.

But unfortunately, all of his planning, all of his scheming, was thrown out the window the moment the Orc Army entered the Marshlands. No…it was before all of that, ever since he encountered that Majin, the self-proclaimed guardian of the forest, things started not adding up in the forest. The numerous Kijin he encountered at the Ogre village was a prime example of that. Then there was the way that idiot lizardman Gabiru hadn't contacted him. And now this!

Gelmude knew that he had to fix this, and fast. If this mission failed, Lord Clayman would have his head. Not just for failing him, but for embarrassing him in front of the other Demon Lords. He would be lucky if all he got was a swift and painless death!

*Yes Gelmude, I'm sure. I'm well aware that the Orc Lord won't be as easy to control upon evolving into the Orc Disaster, but it won't matter if it dies in the end!* Clayman responds harshly, his irritation and frustration bleeding through.

*Understood, Lord Clayman!* Gelmude responds hastily in fear, before the [Thought Communication] broke off, immediately setting off towards the Orc Lords location.

Clayman turned back and rejoined the other Demon Lords in watching the events unfolding through the crystal orb. The Orc Lord was still down on one knee, critically injured and vulnerable. Just as the assault team were preparing to finish it off, Gelmude arrives onto the scene and manages to push them back. The masked Majin rants at them before pulling the dark Magic Orb from his coat and feeding it to the Orc Lord, causing it to be enveloped in a cocoon of condensed Magicule energy that eventually shattered to reveal it had evolved into the Orc Disaster.

"Hmph, for all their resistance, it will ultimately amount to nothing, now that the Orc Lord has evolved into an Orc Disaster." Clayman arrogantly proclaimed with a grin at seeing his plans finally coming to fruition.

Though the method had been unorthodox, the desired outcome had been achieved. To create a monster on par with Demon Lords that he would control.

"It appears so. It's a bit of a shame though, since some of those monsters could have proven to be valuable subordinates. But it can't be helped, I suppose." Carrion shrugged. Those wolves had really peaked his interest, he would have loved to add them to his own people, they were certainly strong enough.

"Well, the end result doesn't really concern me. I've already gathered some valuable intel for my own goals." Frey said calmly without a care in the change in tides. Learning that Kaede had been weakened was a boon in itself, it meant the Tengu were vulnerable.

From what she had seen, aside from Kaede, there were about thirty others. Whether they all died or not would be of no consequence, if Kaede had lost her power, then none of the Tengu could match Frey herself, giving the Harpies an immense advantage the next time they attacked.

The Demon Lords watched on as the assault team, in particular, was now effortlessly being pushed back or even incapacitated by the Orc Disaster, with Shion now being trapped in the Orc Disaster's hand. However, just as the Orc Disaster was about to devour the purple Kijin, its left arm was suddenly severed, which caused Shion to fall before being caught by a mysterious Majin before she hit the ground.

"Ooohh! What's this, what's this?! Who's this Majin?!" Milim eagerly asks, her bright blue eyes sparkling out of excitement at the new development. Frey and Carrion also couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the appearance of this Majin. The fact that he had cleanly cut the Orc Disaster's arm so suddenly clearly pointed to him being a rather strong individual.

'Is this the mysterious Majin that Gelmude had reported?' Clayman mentally asked as he studied the new presence. Based on the Majin's appearance matching Gelmude's description and Gelmude's frustrated reaction at his arrival, Clayman was almost certain that this was the powerful Majin that Gelmude spoke of.

They all watched as Rimuru had teleported to the regrouped assault team before placing Shion down and healing her condition, briefly conversing with them before turning to Gelmude and the Orc Disaster. Their interest increased further when Rimuru had apparently released his power and caused all fighting in the Marshlands to halt, with even Gelmude and the Orc Disaster being too stunned to move.

"Gelmude. I realize now that sparring you that day was the biggest mistake I've made since I came into this world. You've done nothing but cause me trouble since then. Corrupting Shizue and the Fire Spirit Ifrit, manipulating monsters within these lands, and now leading an army of Orcs into these lands. I even heard you destroyed the Ogre Village I was staying at! But no longer, I won't make the same mistake twice. You will die tonight, but not before telling me everything I want to know!" Rimuru declares for all of them to hear via the Crystal Orb.

"A-and who do you think you are, huh?!" Gelmude angrily shouted. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it was to have you foil my plans over and over again?! Do you know how hard I worked to bring this plan to fruition?! How many seeds I sowed, how many beings were manipulated?! Well, do you?! Who do you think you are to stand in my way when my goal is so close?!"

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, Guardian of the Great Forest of Jura and all who call it home…and you lot are trespassing in my Mother's domain."

…

…

…

There was a moment of silence within Clayman's castle that followed the declaration of the Majin, now known as Rimuru Tempest. Each of them trying to process the words the Majin just proclaimed. After a few seconds passed, the first to recover and speak was none other than…

"...I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE AN ACTUAL COUSIN! AND HE TALKS, UNLIKE CHARYBDIS!" Milim was completely overjoyed at this point. She was already thinking of so many things she could do once she met that Majin. If he proved to be strong, she might even get a fun sparring partner out of it!

The other Demon Lords stared back at Milim, still kinda processing the news. But then they remembered that Milim was indeed a Dragonoid, meaning that she was born of True Dragons. And if what the Demons Rain and Misery had told them at past meetings held any truth, then she was the daughter of the eldest and greatest of the True Dragons. Milim's father was none other than the Star Dragon King, Veldanava.

Given that they were only four True Dragons in all of existence, the fact that they all recognized each other as akin to siblings, and the implications of this Majin being the child of the Storm Dragon Velredia. Then that certainly meant that this Majin could potentially be the cousin of Milim Nava.

The very thought of another Milim running around caused the other three Demon Lords to collectively shudder in fear.

"I mean…it's not certain, right?" Carrion said nervously as he looked at the other two not-childlike and more reasonable Demon Lords. But even he knew that he was just looking for a reason to not believe what was more or less a stated fact.

"He called the Great Forest of Jura his 'Mother's domain'. That's pretty much a direct confession." Frey stated as a bead of sweat went down the side of her head. Only one individual had claim to the Great Forest of Jura, and that was none other that the Storm Dragon Velredia. No one else would be stupid enough to claim otherwise, even in her absence. If that was the case, and this Rimuru's words were to be believed, then his Mother could only be Velredia. "If his words are the truth, then there's a high possibility that this Majin may be a child of the Storm Dragon." Frey stated.

"If that's true, then this can't be good. Didn't he also claim to be the current Guardian of the Forest?" Carrion states as both Frey and Milim turn to him with wide eyes as they realize what he's trying to say. "If that's the case, then Clayman's plan may very well result in us making a very powerful enemy." Carrion added, as both he and Frey turned towards Clayman with glares for the situation he had dragged them into.

If this Rimuru really was a child of the Storm Dragon, then that meant he had to be on par with the likes of Charybdis, maybe even stronger. But what truly separated this Rimuru from the monster Charybdis was his intellect. On one hand, that meant he could be reasoned with, but on the other hand, that made him even more dangerous than Charybdis.

'Damn it all! Of all the things for this Majin to be, it had to be the Storm Dragon's child?!' Clayman seethed, he tried to maintain his composure, but given how much time and resources had been invested into this plan, he couldn't help but be angry. He forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. 'At this point, the situation is out of my hands. All I can do is watch. Besides, even if this Majin is the spawn of the Storm Dragon, it doesn't mean he's a match for the Orc Disaster.'

With that, the four Demon Lords turned their focus back to the crystal orb. Each interested in the undolding events for various reasons, be it excitement, weariness or frustrations.

Great Forest of Jura - Lizardmen Marshlands:

(Backtracking a bit)

Rimuru was barely listening as Gelmude rambled on and on about how he had interfered with his grand master plan. Instead, he was more focused on spreading out his senses across the war zone to get a better understanding of the situation.

The results weren't good. From what he could tell, the Orcs greatly outnumbered the allied forces, not to mention that the Orcs were also quite strong themselves, their current Magicule level on par with high A-rank monsters.

《 Notice: Orcs are usually D to C-rank monsters, but this army has been greatly empowered through the [Unique Skill: Starved] and the evolution of the Orc Lord into the Orc Disaster. 》

'I see…' Rimuru thought. At the current pace, it would only be a matter of time until the Allied Forces were wiped out. He had to turn the tide of the battle.

At this point Gelmude was done wit his rambling, questioning who Rimuru was to interfere with his plans. As Rimuru began stepping forward, hand on his blade, he decided to take care of Geld and the Orc Disaster directly, but that didn't mean who wouldn't lend aid to the Allied Forces.

'Sage…'

《 Understood: Activating the Unique Skill [Chosen One]. 》

In that moment, Rimuru flared his aura, and all the fighting in the Marshlands came to a halt, as many turned to the source of this incredible power. But Rimuru kept his eyes on Gelmude and the Orc Disaster as he spoke his next words.

"My name is Rimuru Tempest, guardian of the Great Forest of Jura and all who call it home…and you lot are trespassing in my mother's domain."

As Rimuru spoke, [Chosen One] took effect and extended to the Allied Forces. [Hero's Charisma] took effect and replaced the despair and hopelessness that had filled the Allied Forces after Geld's evolution with immense courage and determination, giving them the will to fight on. [Hero's Blessing] empowered them far beyond their normal limitations, enabling the Allied Forces to confront the Orcs head on. More than that, it would also turn fortune in their favor, making their attacks critical hits while lessening the damage received from the Orcs.

"You all heard Lord Rimuru! For the Great Forest of Jura!" Akatsuki yelled, drawing shouts and cheers from the Allied Forces as they re-engaged their Orc opponents, but this time receiving a boost from their Guardian via [Chosen One] . When the Orcs tried to once again overwhelm their opponents, they were caught off-guard when their opponents not only seemed to be at least twice as strong as before, but their attacks struck them with far more devastating effects and precision, while their own attacks against the Allied Forces either kept missing or had only a diminished effect.

'This should be enough to turn the tide of the battle.' Rimuru thought as he observed the resuming war through [Magic Sense] . 'Damn Masayuki, you had one broken skill, you know that?' He couldn't help but think with a smirk. Rimuru then turns his head slightly to look at Treyni and the rest of the assault team from the corner of his eye.

"Treyni, I'll leave the Allied Forces under your leadership. I'll handle Gelmude and the Orc Disaster." Rimuru said before turning his attention back to Gelmude.

"Understood, please leave this to me." Treyni says with a light bow. She then turned to Rito and Sumire before vanishing in a swirl of leaves with the two humans. Benimaru and Shion, who had been provided a cloak from Rimuru's [Stomach] due to her clothes being torn by the Orc Disaster's [Rot] , merely nodded their heads with confident smiles at Rimuru, before leaping off to join their brethren in the battlefield.

"Zegion, go with Benimaru and Shion, and help out members of the Allied Forces where you can." Rimuru ordered as Ranga and Zegion emerged from his shadow. The large beetle had grown well in the month they spent in the Canaat Mountains, according to [Great Sage] he had a threat rank of peak A-rank. But he could easily be higher if not limited by his current body. The arts he had learned helped make up for it somewhat, but he would need to evolve into something capable of using his limbs for combat to reach his true potential.

"Yes sir." Zegion said with a nod, before flying in the direction the two Kijin had gone. Rimuru then turned towards Ranga.

"You too Ranga, I'm sure your kin could use your strength and leadership. Show the enemy the fruits of your training." Rimuru told the Alpha Tempest Wolf.

"As you wish, master!" Ranga barked before turning and dashing into the enemy line, rushing towards the area where the Goblins and Wolves were fighting alongside the rest allied forces.

Rimuru watched as they all left without hesitation. Treyni, Benimaru, Shion, even Ranga and Zegion. They didn't even question his request, or doubt his strength and instead were leaving it all to him. While this should have made him happy, Rimuru couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself instead.

'I should have been here from the start. Maybe then things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.' Rimuru thought as he turned back to Gelmude and Geld.

《 Negative: Master's training was a necessity in order to grow. 》

'I'm not so sure Sage, but either way. What's happened, has happened. It's no use crying over spilled milk.' Rimuru said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were glowing with an eerie green intensity, and focused solely on his prey…

…Geld and Gelmude.

"So Gelmude, are you ready to tell me what I want to know?" Rimuru asked as he stepped forward towards the masked Majin.

"Urk!" Gelmude couldn't help but flinch when he was suddenly addressed. He had been frozen in place by Rimuru's aura and the declaration he had made moments ago, the implications of his statement was not lost on the masked Majin.

As much as Gelmude wanted to doubt those claims, he couldn't deny the weight they held. The fact that Treyni, a Dryad who had been in direct service of the Storm Dragon as manager of the forest, had not refuted Rimuru's claim and even obeyed his orders with a degree of reverence supported his claim.

This Majin…truly was the Storm Dragon's spawn…

"Who is the Demon Lord you serve? Why are they invading my Mother's forest?" Rimuru asked, his tone low yet carrying a sharpness that cut through Gelmude's thoughts. "And, on a more personal note, why did you target Shizue and Masayuki?"

Gelmude couldn't help but quiver in fear. There was no way he could fight this Majin, a significant portion of his power had already been used in naming the various seeds he planted in the forest, and then there was naming Geld.

A portion of that power had been restored when Geld evolved into the Orc Disaster, and Gelmude had even received a Unique Skill called [Mastermind] . But even then, Gelmude understood that would never cover whatever gap existed between him and this Majin…and thus, he did the only thing he could.

"Gahh! Get away from me!" Gelmude yelled in panic as he scrambled back and ran behind the Orc Disaster. "Don't just stand there Geld, get that stupid Majin! Even if he is a spawn of the Storm Dragon, there's no way he can beat you!" Gelmude yelled as he pointed his cane at Rimuru.

While he himself couldn't match Rimuru, he firmly believed that Geld could defeat him. After all, there was no way that this Majin could match the power of a Demon Lord.

Rimuru watched, unimpressed yet not surprised, as Gelmude hid behind the Orc Disaster. At the masked Majin's command, the behemoth of a pig stepped forward, its every step shaking the moist grounds they stood on. A red ominous aura surrounded Geld as he approached Rimuru, their auras clashing in a battle of wills.

'He's certainly big, and his aura is no joke either. I can see how such a monster was able to overwhelm Treyni and the others.' Rimuru mentally praised as he sized up his foe. Aside from the Unique Skill [Starved] that the Orc Disaster was known for, Rimuru didn't know what other abilities the Geld had. But based on Magicules alone, he could tell he had a slight advantage. "And who are you, big guy?" Rimuru asked.

"I am Geld, Geld the Demon Lord! I am the devourer of all things in this world!" Geld declared as he let out a roar. Rimuru couldn't help the way his left eyebrow twitched slightly in offense.

"How cute, a starving pig actually fancies himself a Demon Lord." Rimuru remarked with a smirk as he goaded Geld. It wasn't that he was underestimating him, but rather he was confident in his own ability to win this fight.

"Why you-!" Without another word, Geld charged forward towards Rimuru, lifting his cleaver and bringing it down on Rimuru. Rimuru remained calm even as the large blade approached him.

Through his newly-acquired [Predictive Calculation] , he was able to clearly see the trajectory, speed, and even the force behind Geld's swing. And thus was easily able to sidestep to the left just as the cleaver was about to cut through him. Causing the blade to strike the ground with a large impact that brought up a cloud of dust.

Geld swung his cleaver once more to where Rimuru had evaded, but his blade hit nothing but air. The cloud of dust was dispersed by the force of his swing, and revealed that Rimuru was no longer within his immediate reach, but instead he was standing a few yards to his left.

"Is this really all that a Demon Lord can do? I was expecting a whole lot more. Perhaps it's because you aren't used to your power yet?" Rimuru said unimpressed, which caused Gelmude to growl in anger at the insult.

"Don't you dare look down on me! I don't care if you're the Storm Dragon's spawn, I am the Demon Lord that's going to rule over the Great Forest of Jura!" Geld yelled as he unleashed four [Chaos Eaters] from his back side and had all of them charge for Rimuru.

"Oof, you shouldn't have said that. That just motivates me even more." Rimuru said with a sigh, but the way the air turned cold and the killing intent was unmistakable. It was clear the words from Geld had an effect despite how calm he was on the outside.

Without another word, Rimuru dashed forward towards the incoming ethereal serpents. And thus began the battle between the two devourers, and the battle that would decide the fate of the Great Forest of Jura and its inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the battle against the Orcs had resumed once more in full swing since Rimuru's declaration, with the Allied Forces, now under the effects of [Chosen One] , were fighting the empowered Orcs. The Allied Forces had been boosted to the point where they were now able to hold their own, even against the overwhelming number of Orcs that were attacking them. Where before their attacks had been weakened by the resistances and adaptability of the Orcs, now their attacks were not only bypassing those resistances but doing even more damage than before, allowing even the weaker races such as Goblins to hold their own, while powerful races such as the Kijin and Tengu were dealing with multiple Orcs. And the attacks of the Orcs had been weakened as well, reducing the risks involved in directly confronting the Orcs.

Under normal circumstances, such a substantial boost would have been a guaranteed win for the Allied Forces. But not only had the Allied Forces been fighting for a while now, but they were still outnumbered four to one, they had been strengthened physically but that didn't mean their stamina had been restored.

Still, the fact that Lord Rimuru had returned was enough of a driving force for the monsters that were directly under his rule, and that in turn served to boost the morale of all the races in the Alliance. They would keep on fighting and buy their Lord all the time he needed to defeat the Orc Disaster and secure their victory, that's just how much confidence they had in him.

In one particular area of the field, Ranga could be seen charging through the Orc Army like a hound out of hell, his body shrouded with yellow lightning as he tore through the enemy lines faster than the Orcs could react. All they saw was a yellow flash of light before Ranga literally tore through them with his speed, power, and the ferocious lightning surrounding him.

'Master is fighting for everyone, so I also have to do my best and tear down all his foes!' Ranga thought to himself as he charged through another group of Orcs. Using [Magic Sense] , he'd been able to locate the area where his Raya and the rest of the pack were fighting and was making his way there now at full speed, tearing through all in his path.

But even as he dashed across the war zone, Ranga could feel that there was something amiss within him, he had felt it for a little over a week now, having started while they were in the Canaat Mountains. At first, it started as the same recurring dream whenever he was within Rimuru's shadow. He would always see himself in a larger and more majestic form, with two horns rather than one, and [Black Lightning] surrounding his form. Ranga had no idea what these visions meant, but he recognized [Black Lightning] as one of his master's abilities. He also remembered that Benimaru had inherited [Black Flames] of his master upon receiving a name, and thus Ranga couldn't help but wonder if this vision was a sign of a greater power in store for him.

And thus over the last week, Ranga had been working harder than he had the entire time they were in Cannat, chasing after that dream in order to grow stronger and be a better pack leader and be of better use to his master.

Ranga arrived at the area his pack was fighting, and the scene he arrived at was one of the Goblin fighting alongside the Tempest Wolves, with a few Ogres and Lizardmen also fighting in the area. They seemed to be handling themselves fine due to the effects of [Chosen One] , but the overwhelming number of Orcs still presented a problem for some of the weaker races.

Turning to the left where he sensed a large presence, he noticed Raya and Kataki who were fighting against one of the Orc Generals. A surprising sight given the Evil Goblin's hatred of the Tempest Wolves, but Ranga knew it wasn't the time to think about such things now.

Despite the pack holding their own, he still needed to act and fight. While the Alpha wolf's loyalty was first and foremost to Rimuru, he still had an obligation to his kin, to be a better leader for them than his father had been. The Tempest Wolves were a pack that moved and acted as one, and together all of them would prove their worth to Lord Rimuru.

'I will not fail master or my pack! I will push beyond for all their sakes!' Ranga thought in determination, his mind subconsciously drifting to the powerful form he had envisioned as he was bathed in his master's Magicules within his shadow. This desire, this pursuit for greater power, that had grown deep within him in the last week was finally responded to by the world.

A red aura suddenly surrounded Ranga as he released a loud howl that could be heard throughout the Marshlands. The other Tempest Wolves, having heard the call of their leader, responded in kind as they too released howls into the night sky. Even Raya, who was still clashing with the Orc General alongside Kataki, couldn't help but pull back and release a howl of her own, a similar red aura covering her body.

'What the hell? What's going on here?' Kataki thought in confusion as he wondered why Raya had suddenly pulled back from the fight and left herself in such a vulnerable position. A sentiment that was shared by all those close to the Wolves, especially the Goblin Riders.

Their question, however, was immediately answered by the unlikeliest of sources.

{{Conditions met…Confirmed. Initiating the evolution of the individuals Ranga and Raya, and all connected Wolves}}

The Words of the World could be heard announcing this across the Marshlands, as every Tempest Wolf was now surrounded in a cocoon of Magicules in combination with both lightning and wind that was rapidly turning a shade of black. The Goblins that had been riding Wolves were instantly forced to leap off, lest they be caught in whatever was happening. Soon, the Magicules and elements dissipated to reveal that Ranga and his kin were now at least 3-4 feet bigger than before, making them range from 13-15 ft in height and their bodies being double in length. And their bodies were now generating [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind] , with the male Wolves generating more of the former while the female Wolves did more of the latter. Aside from the increase in size, the male Wolves also had a large white mane growing around their necks charged with black sparks, while the bodies of the female Wolves seemed to have become more lean and smooth, built for speed but still powerful.

Ranga was the most drastic change, now standing at least 20 ft feet in height and possessing 2 horns on his forehead instead of just one. The large white mane around his neck had also grown some, and even darkened along the edges becoming black on the tips. Raya had grown to 18ft in height, a single horn now protruding from her forehead. Like the other female Wolves, her body had taken on a more lean and smoother form, almost as though to make her wind resistant. Both of them had [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind] coming off their bodies in waves.

{{Confirmed. Evolution of the individual Ranga into a Tempest Star Wolf…Successful. Evolution of the individual Raya into a Tempest Storm Wolf…Successful. Evolution of male Tempest Wolves into Star Wolves…successful. Evolution of female Tempest Wolves into Storm Wolves…Successful. This concludes the evolution of the Tempest Wolf pack}}

The announcement by the Words of the World confirmed what the Allied Forces and the Orc Army suspected, and needless to say, it emboldened the former even further while the latter became more weary of the ongoing transformation. The evolution of the Star Wolves and Storm Wolves now made them solid A-rank threats. Raya, as a Tempest Storm Wolf, had now become a low Special A-rank. While Ranga, now a Tempest Star Wolf, was now a solid Special A-rank threat.

As the Tempest Wolves underwent their evolutions, dark clouds formed in the skies above the Marshlands, and turbulent winds began to pick up across the battlefield. Ranga and Raya let out another loud howl as [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind] surrounded their forms, the Wolf pack responding in kind.

Nearly a dozen miniature black hurricanes suddenly manifested all over the warzone, striking the ground where a large amount of Orcs were gathered and instantly pulling them into violent and deadly winds. The sky rang of thunder as numerous bolts of [Black Lightning] struck the ground, vaporizing their targets in an instant.

In that instant, the Marshlands were engulfed in a chaotic storm that targeted all those viewed as enemies by Ranga's pack, over a thousand Orcs either struck down by [Black Lightning] or torn apart in the mini-hurricanes of black wind. And yet despite the chaotic scene, none of the Allied Forces were touched by the chaotic storm, Ranga was using a combination of [Beast Manipulation] , [Magic Sense] , and [Mana Manipulation] to direct the pack's combined power and ensure that the storm was controlled and that their allies didn't get swept up by the hurricanes or get struck by lightning.

Although not intentionally, the chaos of the storm also served to scatter and seperate the Orcs that hadn't been struck down or torn apart into smaller and more manageable groups for the Allied Forces. Preventing them from using their overwhelming numbers to push back the Allied Forces.

Meanwhile, back with Rimuru and the Orc Lord, the confrontation between the two devourers had stopped as they watched the current storm tearing through the Orc Army. Rimuru momentarily surprised by the sight of [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind] until he too heard the voice of the 'Words of the World' declaring the evolution of the Tempest Wolves. He felt the impact of the wolves' evolution across the battlefield, the way the storm divided the Orc Army.

'Man, to think Ranga would be capable of something lie this…I should give him an extra treat just for this.' Rimuru thought with a smirk as he watched the carnage being dealt to the enemy lines.

《 Notice: The individual Ranga is not capable of achieving such a feat alone. This technique is the effect of Ranga using his [Beast Manipulation] and [Mana Manipulation] to align the power of his pack with his own for devastating effects. The technique is called [Death Trident] . 》

'Even so, it's still pretty impressive…' Rimuru marveled, the fact that Ranga and his pack had enough control over the storm to not hit the Allied Forces was not missed by Rimuru. Nor was the fact that the Wolves had acquired his [Black Lightning] and [Black Wind] abilities, making them that much more formidable in the long run.

"Why? Why is this happening?!" Rimuru was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the shouts of Gelmude, who was further back behind the Orc Disaster, also watching the storm Ranga and his pack had wrought on the Orcs. "Everything was going so well, there were no flaws in my plan. But then…everything changed when you appeared." Gelmude shot with venom as he pointed his cane at Rimuru. His voice was laced with hatred and spite at the foiled plans he had spent so long scheming and preparing.

"You're right, had I not been here, your plans would have more than likely succeeded, in fact your success would have been guaranteed." Rimuru admitted. Without his intervention in the forest, the Orcs would have easily overpowered the various tribes and races across the forest with their sheer numbers alone. "But unfortunately for you, I am here. And I won't allow you to claim this land as long as I am." Rimuru said with resolution as he glared at Gelmude, causing the Majin to flinch lightly.

"Damn you, you arrogant bastard!" Gelmude cursed bitterly, Rumuru couldn't help but imagine the Majin's pissed of expression behind the mask.

"'Arrogant'? Says the Majin leading an army of Orcs through the Storm Dragon's domain. I may be the heir to the Storm Dragon, but I'm not one for unnecessary conflict. That being said, don't mistake that for weakness or cowardice, if it comes down to it, I won't hesitate to eliminate all those who threaten me and this land." Rimuru retorted. "You and your master are the ones who came wanting to claim these lands, so you should have been more prepared for a fight. Anyone who threatens me or my Mother's domain is my enemy, whether they are a Demon Lord or a Hero. "

"Why you insolent little…Geld! What are you doing?! Kill him!" Gelmude shouted in rage as he pointed at Rimuru with his cane.

In a surprising display of speed for someone of his size, the Orc Disaster was in front of Rimuru, his cleaver moving for Rimuru's head. Rimuru, having never truly removed his attention from the Orc Disaster, saw the attack coming and leapt back as the blade struck the ground he had been standing on. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he used [Flashstep] to dash forward and reappeared directly in front of Geld before kneeing him in the face.

The force of the impact created a shockwave as Geld was sent rolling several meters back before coming to a grinding halt when he dug his blade firmly into the ground. Four [Chaos Eaters] then sprouted from his backside and lunged at Rimuru once more. Rimuru charged forward as the ethereal serpents came at him, dark energy coating his hands and taking the form of claws, the manifestation of his [Dragon Claw] technique.

Rimuru pressed forward, and in a display of agility and precision, tore through the crimson serpents with his claws as they approached him, using [Flashstep] to evade whenever one of them attacked from a blindspot, only to be cut down a second later. Without a pause in his movements, Rimuru resumed his charge towards the Orc Disaster, and within an instant was before it.

Geld, surprised by the ferocity and speed of the attack, barely had the time to react when Rimuru suddenly launched an upper cut from right beneath him using his [Dragon Claw] . The Orc Disaster barely managed to avoid a fatal strike as Rimuru clawed into its face from the bottom going up, gouging out its left eye in the process.

Geld roared in pain as he took a swing at Rimuru, only for him to sprout draconic wings from his back and flap them, propelling him out of reach, before landing a few yards away. Geld growled in pain and anger as he brought his free hand to his destroyed eye. Surprisingly, the rather large gash was not healing as he had expected it to. If anything, the wound was slowly festering and getting worse.

"What is this?! What did you do to me?!" Geld shouted in rage, Gelmude was equally shocked from behind him that Geld's [Rapid Regeneration] had not healed the wound to his eye.

"You may have the power of [Rot] thanks to your Unique Skill, but it pales in comparison to the [Decay] of my [Storm Magic] , a skill I inherited from my Mother." Rimuru told the wounded Orc Disaster and his master.

Not wanting to excessively prolong the fight with Geld out of concern that the Orc Army could help him regain his strength through [Starved] , Rimuru decided this was a good opportunity to test out his Ryujin Style in conjunction with some of his new Extra Skills, particularly [Mana Manipulation] and [Ultra Instinct] . A combination of his draconic aura mixed with [Storm Magic] began to generate from Rimuru's body.

Sensing the imminent danger, Geld moved as fast as he could with his remaining power by charging with his cleaver brought down in a fast overhead slash, but to his surprise, Rimuru easily dodged and fluidly maneuvered himself around the attack with exceptional speed and dexterity before unleashing a rapid barrage of punches infused with [Storm Magic] directly into Geld's chest, blowing Geld away a considerable distance with a thunderous boom as his chest was now heavily wounded and was festering like his eye. Geld dropped to one knee, coughing out blood as the [Decay] worked its way deeper into his flesh.

"No! How could this be happening?! Child of the Storm Dragon or not, you should be no match for someone with the power of a Demon Lord!" Gelmude stammered in fear at watching the Orc Disaster essentially being toyed with by Rimuru despite the strength at his disposal. "Geld, you stupid pig! Get the hell up! If you lose, this damn Majin will exterminate all of your desperate people, no matter how much they plead for mercy! You think the Storm Dragon's spawn gives a damn about your people's starvation and famine?! He'll kill them all, including your son!"

Geld growled upon hearing Gelmude's reminder, rising to stand on his feet despite the seering pain coursing through his body in that moment. That's right, he couldn't allow himself to fall here, he had already made a choice, and if he were to die now, then all of his sins would fall onto his people. They would be made to pay for his mistakes with their lives. As a leader, that was something he couldn't allow.

'Interesting… Something tells me this isn't a cut-and-dry case of the Orc Disaster being a power-hungry follower of an even more power-hungry Demon Lord. He and the Orcs might just be more pawns who were deceived and manipulated just like Gabiru.' Rimuru thought in interest, the possibility being entirely plausible of there being more to this story than meets the eye. Rimuru then turned to face the wounded Orc Disaster, whose injuries were too severe for it to continue fighting, especially with its [Rapid Regeneration] being weakened and disrupted, and yet despite that it stood tall. But one look and one could tell it was on its last legs. The laboured breath, the festering wounds, and even the weakened grip on its weapon, all these were a sign that Geld would collapse at any moment.

"It's over, Geld. I'm not certain of the circumstances that led to you and your people attacking my home, but the fact remains that you did. You're too much of a threat to just let go, so I'm going to have to end you. Any last words?" Rimuru asks as he approaches the Orc Disaster, offering a small courtesy, both knew Geld wouldn't last much longer, and his fate was already sealed.

Geld tried to focus his remaining Magicules into his [Rapid Regeneration] to try and recover, but with every step closer Rimuru took, Geld increasingly realized it was futile. His death was all but assured at this point. He had made a mistake trusting Gelmude, leading his people into these lands, and attacking the natives of Jura. Because of that, they had incurred the wrath of the Storm Dragon's heir, and had lost many of their own in this war. While his own life may be forfeit, that didn't mean he couldn't make one last attempt to ensure the future of his son and his people.

*Child of the Storm Dragon, if I am to die today, I humbly ask that you please fulfill my last request.* Geld telepathically said via [Thought Communication] to Rimuru, much to his surprise, though he quickly schooled his features, realizing that whatever Geld wanted to say wasn't meant for Gelmude or possibly anyone else to hear if he was using [Thought Communication] with his current adversary. *I know I have no right to ask, especially since we're the ones who brought war to your home, and devoured your people. But still, I must ask…*

*That depends on what it is. Despite everything you've done since coming into the forest, Gelmude's words and actions lead me to believe your actions weren't driven out of greed or loyalty to his master. If it's a reasonable request, I may grant it.* Rimuru replied as he walked towards Geld with his blade drawn while making sure to use both [Thought Acceleration] and [Thought Reading] to ensure they could have a full conversation in a brief moment and to see through any potential deception.

*…As the king of Orbic and the Orc Disaster, I ask that you please grant my people mercy for my sins in exchange for my life. You are correct in that my actions weren't out of self-interest or greed, but out of desperation due to famine and starvation. The Kingdom of Orbic had long been suffering from drought and famine as it slowly withered away from hunger. I desperately tried to save my people, but as I was dying from starvation, Gelmude approached me and promised me a way to save my people by serving him, granting me my name 'Geld' and evolving into an Orc Lord. I knew he had nefarious intentions, but I was too desperate to refuse.* Geld says as he showed RImuru his memories through [Thought Communication] and Rimuru read his emotions through [Desire] to corroborate his claims. Rimuru saw the dire situation his people faced before Gelmude took advantage of him.

The barren land of the Orc Kingdom of Orbic, the starvation the Orcs went through on a daily basis, how infants died days after being born, and how the Orcs were driven to cannibalism just so they could live another day. Rimuru felt the pain and anguish Geld went through at seeing the suffering of his people, and the choice he made to venture to Jura in search for food. He saw how Gelmude manipulated him when he had collapsed of hunger in the scorching sun and granted him a name, and how Gelmude lead the Orc Army into Jura.

Rimuru had seen a lot in his last life, being a soldier did that to a man. It meant you weren't spared from the rather gruesome aspects of the world. But even he had to admit that the situation with the Orcs was among the most disturbing. He tried to wonder what he would have done differently in Geld's shoes, but really his options were limited. If he had refused Gelmude, he would have died alone in that wasteland, and his son may have been the one chosen to become the Orc Lord. Under such desperate circumstances, Geld's only choice had been to make a 'deal with the devil'.

*Very well, Demon Lord Geld. You can rest easy, I will grant your final wish.* Rimuru says to the fading Orc Disaster. *I will devour you and all your sins, so your people may live free of their crimes.*

*Thank you.* Geld replied in resigned relief as their [Thought Communication] came to an end and Rimuru was right in front of him before extending his hand towards Geld. The Orc Disaster didn't even bother trying to fight back, instead he dropped to his knees and lowered his head in defeat, accepting his fate as due punishment for his sins.

"Devour my prey, [Apex Predator] ." Rimuru says softly, his voice lacking the usual enthusiasm that comes with using the skill, his Unique Skill activated and proceeded to consume the Orc Disaster in a black torrent of energy that surrounded his body. The black energy was then reabsorbed by Rimuru's hand, and the Orc Disaster was gone from where it had been. A few seconds of silence followed, given the circumstances, Rimuru could not bring himself to be happy about this victory. Killing Geld was a necessity, but still…

《Notice: The Orc Disaster known as Geld has been successfully consumed. The user's magicule capacity is estimated to grow by at least 80%. Beginning analysis of all acquired skills and abilities.》

'I see…' Rimuru didn't feel the usual joy that came from acquiring a major boost in power or acquiring new skills. In a way, the circumstances with Geld reminded him a lot of how he had devoured Shizue and Masayuki. Looking down at his hand, Rimuru clenched it into a fist. 'Rest easy Demon Lord Geld, I'll use the power you granted me to give your people a future.'

With the defeat of the Orc Disaster, the Orc Army quickly lost their powers and were reverted back to their D-rank strength. More so, with the effects of [Starved] no longer affecting their minds, the Orcs realized the situation they were in, and the horrors they had committed. Seeing as their leader was dead, and they were greatly outmatched in terms of raw power even with greater numbers, the Orcs laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Gelmude, who had been watching as his grand plan was utterly destroyed by the presence of a single Majin, rapidly panicked at the defeat of the Orc Disaster and the surrender of the Orc Army.

'No! This can't be happening! What am I going do?! Surely Lord Clayman will show mercy given that it was the child of the Storm Dragon who defeated Geld, right?!' Gelmude thought as he tried to delude himself. 'But I have to get out of here first and plead for mercy from Lord Clayman!'

Gelmude tried to use [transport magic] to teleport out of the Great Forest of Jura, but to his surprise, it wasn't working. Gelmude then tried to fly away, shooting off the ground like a rocket towards the clear skies, but before he could get far, he suddenly crashed into some kind of invisible wall. The impact was so profound, Gelmude fell back down to the ground with a crash.

"Don't bother trying to flee, Gelmude." Rimuru's voice quickly draws Gelmude's attention as he jumped up and turned to see Rimuru walking towards him with a cold expression on his face, causing Gelmude to panic further. "I've placed a spatial barrier around this entire area, essentially cutting us off from the rest of the world. You can't leave without my permission, and no one can come to your aid. Meaning your only option is to cooperate and hope I'm willing to give you a quick and merciful death."

Gelmude knew he was screwed. If the Orc Disaster, a being on par with a Demon Lord, had been easily defeated by this Majin, then there was no way that he stood a chance. And with all methods of exit blocked, that meant he only had one option. He had to try and bluff his way out.

"Do you think my master will allow you to ruin his plans and go unpunished? I may be your only chance at receiving mercy from-" Gelmude started before he cried in pain as his right arm was suddenly severed from his body. Gelmude clung onto the stump of his right arm, [Black Flames] preventing the limb from healing or regenerating, but it also prevented blood loss.

"I already spared you once as a warning to your master not to interfere in the forest again. You both didn't heed my warning, this is merely the price you have to pay for that. Whatever come afterwards will be of no concern to you." Rimuru coldly told Gelmude. "Now, answer my questions before I make this worse for you. Which Demon Lord do you serve, why did he attack the forest, and why did you go after the 2 Heroes, Shizue Aizawa and Masayuki Honjou?"

Gelmude looked like he was about to refuse despite losing an arm, so Rimuru made sure to release some of his aura as an intimidation technique while using [Desire] to further stimulate fear and desperation within the Majin. And it appeared to have worked.

"Okay, okay! Fine!" Gelmude relented, knowing at least some cooperation would help improve his situation. "The master I serve is the Demon Lord Clayman! He wanted a powerful pawn who could rule the Great Forest of Jura as his proxy while also becoming a Demon Lord that could expand his influence amongst the other Demon Lords. The Great Forest of Jura was meant to serve as the proxy's domain, granting Lord Clayman access to its resources!"

'So it was the "Marionette Master" Clayman who was behind all of this.' Rimuru thought. The plan in itself wasn't that bad, had Rimuru not been here it would have been achieved. But it was also foolish in the long run, assuming his mother died from the depletion of magicules within the sealed cave, she would have eventually revived and reclaimed her territory. With this revelation, it meant Rimuru knew who he needed to watch out for and which Demon Lords he didn't need to unnecessarily provoke, though that raised another question. "Were the other Demon Lords involved in Clayman's scheme?"

"Not directly, Lord Clayman did inform the 'Sky Queen' Frey, the 'Beast Master' Carrion, and 'The Destroyer' Milim Nava of his plans as a means of getting political support to avoid the potential repercussions with the other Demon Lords for violating the non-aggression pact with the Great Forest of Jura in exchange for a portion of the forest's resources, but it was ultimately his plan and decision!" Gelmude admitted. He knew he was essentially digging a deeper grave with his master, but if he could make the other Demon Lords appear innocent, Gelmude vainly hoped they could show a little mercy and protect him from Clayman. Though it was a fool's wish, in hindsight.

"I see. And what about the Heroes, Shizue Aizawa and Masayuki Honjou? I'm guessing that was also Clayman's scheme?" Rimuru coldly asks as he releases more aura, intimidating Gelmude further.

"Y-yes! Lord Clayman ordered me to corrupt the Fire Spirit Ifrit within the 'Conqueror of Flames' in order to kill both Heroes. Given the threat they posed as Heroes, he wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of them! Additionally, he wanted to make use of their corpses and turn them into his puppets, given their reputation and influence in the Western Nations, their bodies would have been invaluable pawns to him!" Gelmude confessed, the words literally flowing out of him at this point. "More than that, he wished to exploit Shizue Aizawa's connection to that damn holy knight, Hinata Sakaguchi! Hehehe, given that Shizue Aizawa was her teacher, Lord Clayman planned to exploit that connection to either kill Hinata or make her bear the grief of killing her teacher as well as another Hero! Her emotional vulnerability would present the perfect opportunity for Lord Clayman to defeat that woman and perhap turn her into a puppet as well!"

"...I see." Rimuru responded after a moment of silence. The more he heard, the better understanding he had about the kind of Demon Lord that Clayman was. He was clearly the kind of person who liked doing things from behind the scenes, and only made a direct appearance when the situation was favorable to him. From what Rimuru had seen of Shizue's memories after devouring her, Hinata was a strong individual, whose strength and skill had risen to surpass Shizue's within weeks after they met, most likely the result of a skill or [Unique Skill]. Though they never met again after parting, Shizue heard of Hinata's accomplishments, how she had risen and became the most powerful knight in the Holy Empire of Lubelius and had also become Captain of the Holy Knights Order. 'So Clayman can't beat Hinata head on and is instead resorting to such disgusting and cowardly measures. So much for being a Demon Lord.' Rimuru couldn't help but think as he shook his head sideways in disappointment.

"There, I told you everything I know! Now let me go!" Gelmude pleaded, though he was promptly shut up when Rimuru flared his aura once more. The immense pressure and killing intent behind it silencing the masked Majin and bringing him down to his knees.

"I never said I would spare your life, only that I would grant you a quick and painless death. I gave you a second chance, I won't give you a third." Rimuru said as he stretched out his hand towards Gelmude. The Majin, having seen what had happened to Geld, knew what was coming.

"No, wait you can't do this to me! I told you everyth-"

"[Apex Predator] !" As Gelmude continued to scream his profanities, Rimuru released the torrent of black energy and it swiftly consumed Gelmude. His screams were the last thing to be heard as he was devoured and the threat he posed finally came to an end. Even if he was just a pawn to a potentially greater threat, it was one problem dealt with, and a war won.

《 Notice: The individual known as Gelmude has been successfully consumed. The user's Magicule capacity has grown by 15%. Beginning analysis of acquired skills and abilities. 》

It was over, with the Orc Disaster gone, Gelmude dead, and the surrender of the rest of the Orcs, the war had been effectively won by the Allied Forces of the Great Forest of Jura. Rimuru let out a sigh as he undid the invisible spatial barrier that had surrounded the area.

He turned his gaze towards the Allied Forces, who were all cheering loudly at their victory, some embracing each other and others crying out of relief. But even then, Rimuru could sense the grief that was in some of them, and knew it was because of the loved ones they had lost in this fight.

The various tribes and races of the Great forest of Jura had fought together as one against a common enemy, and because of that, had emerged victorious in the battle against the Orcs. Rimuru knew that this would be the perfect time to permanently unite these monsters under one banner, a huge step towards the monster nation he envisioned. One where they could live out their lives peacefully while having the strength to defend themselves from any potential dangers.

Puppet Nation of Jistav - Clayman's Castle

Meanwhile, back at the puppet nation of Jistav, a period of silence followed as the four Demon Lords watched the results of the Orc invasion and the defeat of the Orc Disaster. Clayman, Carrion, Frey, and Milim had watched the entire fight between Rimuru, Geld, and Gelmude with varying reactions depending on the Demon Lord in question and their own interests within the forest and the overall Orc Invasion. They were definitely impressed by the strength that the Majin had displayed, and the ease with which he had defeated the Orc Disaster, easily proving that he was on par with Demon Lord entities.

One Demon Lord in particular took the whole event in stride and was more than elated when she witnessed Rimuru's display of strength and dominance when handling both Geld and Gelmude.

"Wow! Not only is he strong enough to easily beat the Orc Disaster, but he even possesses [Storm Magic] ! That's a form of magic unique to the Storm Dragon, not even Charybdis managed to inherit it! He really is my cousin!" Milim excitedly states at the prospect of having a new friend/family member that she could potentially connect with. Not to mention given the strength he had displayed, he might even be a worthy play-mate for her. "I gotta go and meet him right now!"

Milim swiftly jumped off her chair, the wooden furniture shattering against a nearby wall as she quickly made for the open windows of Clayman's castle and attempted to fly away with a single destination in mind. However, before she could, she was stopped in her tracks when Frey called out to her.

"Milim, No!" Frey shouted in slight panic, literally bringing Milim to a grinding halt as she turned to the Harpy in confusion and slight frustration. "I understand your desire to meet your new cousin, but you mustn't forget there's a Treaty that sets the Great Forest of Jura off limits! We were already treading carefully with the Orc Disaster…and now look what happened! We can't just let another Demon Lord go into the forest right now!"

"What?! Why not?! He's my cousin, I want to go and see him!" Milim whined in annoyance and frustration at the thought of not being able to immediately meet her new family member. "The only reason that stupid treaty was there was not to disturb the seal of the Storm Dragon, right?! With the Storm Dragon's presence now gone, doesn't that mean there's no problem with us entering?!"

The other three Demon Lords were surprised by Milim's accurate deduction. They hadn't considered the fact that the absence of the Storm Dragon rendered the treaty not to enter its domain null and void. And to think the one who came to the conclusion was none other than Milim, it was a clear reminder to the three of them that despite her young looks and childish personality, Milim really was among the oldest and most powerful of the current Demon Lords.

"Even if you say that, this Rimuru just fought off Geld, who was both the Orc Disaster and a newborn Demon Lord, and appeared to have already known the Orc Army was being used by another Demon Lord to invade the forest. Given that…I don't think he'll be wanting to see any Demon Lord of any sort in the forest any time soon…after all…we did try to invade his home and killed a lot of monsters in the process." Frey explains to the childlike Dragonoid, she would be equally upset and on guard if anyone attacked and tried to take over her domain. Milim huffed and pouted before slumping forward, as even she couldn't deny the logic behind Frey's words, but the disappointment quickly shifted into anger.

"Damn it Clayman, look what you did! Because of you, I already have a bad relationship with my cousin!" Milim yelled in anger as she shook Clayman around like a ragdoll, the Marionette Master powerless in the face of her overwhelming physical might.

"Wa-wait! W-ith-out m-e, you ne-ver would ha-ve known y-ou have a c-ou-sin!" Clayman shouted as the constant shaking hindered his speech, but he managed to get his point across that Milim stopped shaking him around and adopted a mixed expression between contemplation and disappointment.

As much as Milim wanted to go and see her new family, even she knew that they had wronged him. She couldn't just go to the Great Forest and be like, 'Oh hey Cousin! I'm sorry for nearly destroying your forest and killing a bunch of monsters!'. That would be a terrible start to their relationship. And so with that in mind Milim pouted once more, before grabbing another seat, since she destroyed the last one, and sitting down with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Milim, but Frey is correct. If Gelmude hadn't admitted he was Clayman's subordinate and that the Orc Disaster was his idea, Rimuru could have seen all of us as potential enemies. But given our involvement was minimal at best, I think we are safe for the time being. But still, it's best to wait for now, preferably for a few months at least, then maybe you can try and reach out." Carrion said as he let out a relieved breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Everyone present knew just how powerful Milim was, and the fact that there was another being like her didn't sit well with them. If this Rimuru had the same level of potential as Milim, then any clash between them would be catastrophic. Carrion could definitely hear tales within his head of how more than half the Great Forest of Jura would be reduced to a wasteland desert. Such a high level battle could even destroy agriculture within the surrounding lands! Including his own nation's food production capabilities! He wasn't about to let something like that happen on his watch!

"And don't think we've forgotten about you, Clayman." Frey said as she turned towards the puppeteer with a cold glare, her arms folded beneath her ample bosom. "Clearly, you didn't do enough research before implementing your scheme. When you approached us, you never informed us that there was such a powerful Majin within the Great Forest of Jura, the Son of the Storm Dragon no less!"

"That's right, if we had known about this, we wouldn't have gotten involved! Hell, we would have stopped you from doing something so foolish!" Carrion shouted angrily as he slammed his hand onto the table while glaring at Clayman. "The last thing we need is to make an enemy out of someone with that much power and influence within Jura! If this comes back to bite you, just know you're on your own! Don't expect me or Eurazania to lend you aid."

"The same goes for myself and Fulbrosia. We've learnt first hand what comes from crossing the spawns of the Storm Dragon." Frey said with a frown as she thought of the encounters that she and her people had with the monster known as Charybdis. If Rimuru was anywhere near that creature's level of power, then it was not worth making an enemy out of him. In that moment, any ambition Frey had of invading the Kusha Mountains and subjugating the Tengu was snuffed out, for if they were under Rimuru, then it was not worth the effort. And even if they weren't, it just wasn't worth crossing into the forest and risk angering Rimuru.

"You were all accomplices in this scheme, and now that things went sideways, you're just going to abandon me to take the fall?! Milim is one thing, but are the two of you really gonna side with a spawn of the Storm Dragon over your fellow Demon Lord?!" Clayman growled, angry and humiliated at the disastrous result of this scheme.

"Yes, without hesitation." Frey replied confidently. "Our only role in this scheme of yours was keeping quiet and not telling a soul. All we did was observe while you and your subordinates orchestrated everything. There is no blame for us to take in the first place."

Clayman clenched his fists in anger and spite at how quickly Carrion and Frey had turned against him once things went south, but he forced himself to calm down and maintain composure. As annoying as it was, he couldn't do anything about it…for now anyway. But one day, they would regret crossing him.

But more than that, his spite was directed towards the monster that had brought about this humiliation and destroyed all of his plans, Rimuru Tempest. He did regret enacting the Orc Invasion without having Gelmude investigate the Majin further, if he had done so after Gelmude's first report of him months ago, he would have been more aware and thoroughly prepared of the dangers he posed.

But at the same time, just being aware of such a powerful monster living within the forest was already a great reward within itself. A child…with untapped power…one that might even rival Milim's in the future…

Controlling something with that much power…it'd be far better than a simple puppet…it was something he had to seize control of first…

'Enjoy your victory while you can…Rimuru Tempest. It will make my revenge all the sweeter when I finally turn you into my greatest pawn.'

"First things first, we need to actually assess the situation within the Great Forest of Jura, and see the extent of Rimuru's anger towards us." Carrion stated as the conversation moved away from Clayman, Frey nodded her head in agreement. "We should also conduct investigations within the forest to find out more about Rimuru and the extent of his influence within the forest."

"So you noticed it too." Frey commented with a smirk, approving at Carrion's insight. Most of the time he was just a brute, so it was easy to forget he had his moments.

"Yeah, those monsters, while working together, weren't really in sync, at least not what you'd expect from a unified army." Carrion stated, to which Frey nodded once more.

"There could be many reasons, but the most likely is that they are not united. They were most likely various tribes that gathered to face a common threat." Frey stated.

"What are you guys talking about?" Milim asked, having calmed down a little from her sulking.

"I can't say for sure, but while Rimuru may be the Guardian of the Forest, it doesn't seem like he's ruling it." Carrion explained, if his hunch was correct then that meant he may still have a chance at recruiting those wolves under his banner. "At least not yet."

"As you said, we'll need to conduct investigations to be sure. Until then, let's avoid directly interacting with him or doing anything stupid." Frey said, the last part aimed directly at Clayman.

Clayman frowned slightly at the implication but ultimately didn't say anything, knowing his hands were tied at the moment. It was agreed that the four of them would continue to uphold the treaty of not personally violating The Great Forest of Jura…but Clayman had no intention of keeping that promise…

Even as he watched the other Demon Lords leave his castle for their respective domains, his mind was already calculating his next move.

Great Forest of Jura - Lizardmen Throne Room:

In the morning following the battle with the Orc Army, the leaders of the various races and tribes that had participated in the war had gathered within the throne room of the Lizardmen territory. The reason they were present was because Rimuru had called for a meeting to discuss the aftermath of the war, and the steps they would take moving forward.

Rimuru himself was in his dragon form and was sitting on the lap of Treyni, who insisted that such an important meeting justified him being in his Dragon form as further proof of his heritage, after which she placed him on her lap under the pretense of ensuring everyone would see him and show that he had the unconditional support of the Dryads.

Rimuru, however, knew this was a thinly veiled excuse to hold him in his Dragon form like she did when he first met the Lizardmen, but considering all the support Treyni and the other Dryads had given him and their role in rallying the Allied Forces against the Orcs, he easily let it slide.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Rimuru Tempest, son of the Storm Dragon and guardian deity of the forest, Velredia Tempest." Rimuru says, silencing all the murmuring as everyone gave him their complete attention. "We are gathered here today to discuss the future of the Great Forest of Jura and the fate of the Orcs."