So yeah we decided to just teleport. No time skips.

I mean, it took a few days to get from Avalon to Blumund’s Royal Capital and it’ll take about a week to get from there to Ingrassia’s Royal Capital which is long enough.

But from Blumund’s Royal Capital all the way to the entrance of the Dwelling of the Spirits will take three weeks to a month.

Approximately three and a half weeks! What the fuck! And that’s WITH Ranga’s speed.

So yeah, I'm sorry Ranga, but for both Illya and I’s mental stability, we’re teleporting.

*Sad Ranga noises*

Illya, being the person that she is, already knows where the Spirit Dwelling entrance is. Or at least, she knows the general whereabouts. I read about it somewhere in my past life and Illya dug it up from my memories. Of course, the specific location is something we have to look out for ourselves.

Rimuru- “So? Where to?”

I ask my little sister as I prepare to open a portal with [Spatial Ruler].

Illya- “The Republic of Ur-Gracia. The Northern part.”

Rodger that!

But I have no idea where that is!

Well, in the end, Illya gave me the spatial coordinates through her headpats. Yes, I'm still headpatting her.

Where she got that information from is something that will forever elude me. She always pulls information like that from somewhere. It probably comes with her status as a Manas evolved from [Raphael, Lord of Wisdom].

A portal opens in front of Ranga, to which he walks through. We appear in the middle of a large forest. Illya looks around and points in a certain direction to which Ranga starts running in that direction.

Sensing Mikoto and I’s confusion, she thankfully explains.

Illya- “Spirits are made out of Natural Energy, which is a bit different from Magicules. I used [Universal Perception] to find out which direction has more Natural Energy and told Ranga to go in that direction. If we keep doing this, we should find ourselves near the Dwelling of the Spirits soon. Now, praise me Onii-chan!”

Illya informs us while pushing her (lacking) chest out in pride.

Rimuru- “Umu! You’re so smart! I wouldn’t have been able to think of something like that!”

I pat Illya’s head with more intensity.

Illya- “Ehehe…”

Mikoto- “Well, I would’ve, if I had the information.”

Ranga- ‘As would I.’

Random Villager- “*In the distance* Me too!”

Rimuru- “Hey!”

I shout at the Random Villager that somehow heard this conversation several hundred meters away as we’re moving at a few hundred kilometres an hour.

Rimuru- “Shut the fuck up!”

Random Villager- “*In the distance* Make me!”

Rimuru- “*Muttering* Oh you asked for this…”

I prepare to destroy the Random Villager that is now over a kilometre away due to Ranga’s speed.

Rimuru- “I hope you get Ligma and end up in Sugma like Joe did!”

Random Villager- “*In the distance* What’s Ligma!? Where’s Sugma!? Who’s Joe!?”

Rimuru- “*Inhales*”

*The following is not recommended for those with fragile hearts*

Rimuru- “LIGMA BALLS SUGMA DICK JOE MAMA!!!”

The Random Villages proceeds to get a heart attack and fucking dies.

An hour later…

Mikoto- “We got pretty lucky, huh…”

Rimuru- “Thankfully.”

It turns out that our portal destination was decently close to the labyrinth guarding the Dwelling of the Spirits.

Directly in front of us is a giant door 20 meters or so high. The door looks like it’s made out of bronze, but it’s probably not actually made out of that stuff. Maybe an alloy with magisteel or something, I'm not sure.

The location of this door itself is inside a rather spacious ‘cavern’ of sorts. This cavern is embedded in a big mountain. You get here after walking up a rather calming, enchanting path into a cave. That small cave is connected to this large cavern.

Sunlight somehow reaches the cavern from the ceiling, giving the area a calming glow. Green vegetation like vines grows along the walls and rocky terrain. Smaller insects like butterflies calmly mind their own business.

This is a rather beautiful place, probably from the concentration of Natural Energy located here.

This Natural Energy is different from Magicules in the fact that it isn't ‘poisonous’. Magicules can kill someone if the concentration exceeds their tolerance levels.

It’s the reason why only high ranking monsters can be born and found in areas with high magicule concentration like Veldora’s Sealed Cave while Veldora was… well… sealed.

This Natural Energy is different as it seems to promote vegetation growth, if only slightly.

But I digress.

Mikoto- “… So… Why are we just standing here looking at this giant door?”

Rimuru- “… I don’t know… Tradition?”

Mikoto- “Why are you asking me? Oh well, let’s go.”

Mikoto exasperatedly replies before shrugging and pushing on the door. With a loud creaking sound that generically comes from doors that rarely open, the large doors swing open inwards.

Inside, you can see a large corridor shrouded in darkness, tens of meters high and several meters wide. It’s enough that we can all walk side by side, Ranga in his true 5-meter tall form included.

Well, he decides to keep his smaller form anyways, shrinking until he’s barely taller than my hip. He’s content with the small run he had while looking for the entrance.

The whole area seems to be made out of stone. The walls and ceilings are made out of stone bricks that you’d probably see in fantasy dungeons or labyrinths. There are also columns of stone running up along the wall and across the ceiling.

On each of these columns, weird patterns are engraved, softly glowing with light. It’s not much, but it’s enough to show us the path.

We enter and after walking a few steps, the giant door slams shut behind us.

Because of course, it does. Still, we ignore it and continue walking.

Mikoto- “Hey, Rimuru, are these runes?”

Mikoto also seems curious about the glowing patterns as she asks me while pointing to one of them.

I shake my head.

Rimuru- “No, these aren’t runes. If they were, I would know. It’s probably a spirit or fairy thing. Perhaps it’s a unique feature of this labyrinth.”

Illya- “It’s probably the latter. After all, this labyrinth is created through Ramiris’ Intrinsic Skill.”

Mikoto- “This place was created through a skill? Unbelievable…”

Mikoto mutters in shock. I mean, it IS quite amazing.

Rimuru- “Well, there are some drawbacks too. Although while inside the labyrinth, she can be considered a formidable enemy to a degree, she can't do much outside. Her strength is quite weak after all, especially when compared to the other Demon Lords.”

Mikoto’s eyes sparkle with even more curiosity at this Demon lord as she continues to look around when suddenly, she gets a thought.

Mikoto- “Hey, doesn’t that mean she can hear us right now? Are you sure we should be talking about this out loud then?”

Mikoto furrows her brow in worry.

Ranga- ‘Do not worry, Master definitely has already thought of a solution!’

Ranga interjects while wagging his tail and looking at me with an expectant expression.

Huhu, this is one of my smart moments.

I hold up my hand revealing a glowing temporary rune written on it.

Rimuru- “This rune is preventing our conversation from getting out, don’t worry.”

Mikoto visibly relaxes while I wipe some sweat off my brow.

Thank god I thought of this before or else I would look like a fucking dumbass.

Rimuru- “Well, I think this is enough though…”

The rune I wrote on my palm fades away. I stop walking and speak out into the surroundings.

Rimuru- “Is anyone listening!? I wish to speak with Ramiris!”

Ranga, Illya and Mikoto also stop walking as well.

Silence falls between us for several seconds before faint laughter could be ‘heard’. Or rather, this laughter echoes straight into our minds.

???- ‘Huhu… huhuhu…’

More and more laughter from many different sources enters our minds. Probably fairies. It’s not Ramiris though, that much I can tell.

It seems I need to draw her attention.

-----

Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit, Leader of the Monsters, Onii-chan, King of Avalon, Master of Headpats, Procrastinator King, The Nutcracker

Manas: [Manas: Illyasviel]

Ultimate Skills: [Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony] [Ahura Mazda, Lord of Creation] [Scathach, Lord of Runes]

Unique Skills: [Spatial Ruler]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense] [Enhanced Replication] [Universal Thread]

Extra Skills: [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Control Natural Elements] [Control Magic] [Control Gravity]

Resistances: [Cancel Pain] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Natural Elements] [Cancel Ailments] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy/Demonic Attack]

Equipment: Yamato, [Raphael] Skill Orb, Limiter Ring