A lightly armored young man came into a tent holding a paper, sitting inside the tent was a man wearing much heavier armor, decorated with various rewards obtained from battles, some recent, others from long prior. The young man spoke up as he saluted the older man, who was sitting at the edge of the tent, looking over a desk with a map on it,“Sir, I’ve come with the report you requested!”
The man looked up from the map and nodded, leaning back in his chair and drinking out of a tall beer cup, “Alright, give the report.”
The young man nodded, “We believe we’ve successfully cleared out the last of the monsters within the city itself and stopped most hiding within it from escaping. Since the barrier was lowered this morning the last few dozen have tried to flee the city, none of them standing much of a chance despite the barrier’s removal.”
“That’s good. Any casualties?”
“No sir, some were injured, but nothing too severe. Few of the remaining monsters were in any significant sized groups, at most in small huddles of two or three. We were generally able to overwhelm and surround them quite easily.”
“I believe the last of the forces left today, correct? How many have been stationed to remain here and for how long?”
“I’ll explain our numbers in each group. Firstly, for the Noble Knight Federation of our army, 5,000 members have for the most part remained in full. With our armies still securing order in the former city and the surrounding forest, many of the nobles hope to gain some concessions or land out of the potential new territory, and as such have committed fully to the subjugation efforts.”
“I hope the Royal Knights are still here, of course?”
The young man looked at his paper for a few moments before nodding in confirmation, “Correct, even after cleansing out the city, the Jura Forest is still filled with numerous monsters kept out of line due to the absence of Veldora. The King saw it fit to leave the experienced fighters to remain at least for the next few weeks or months to help secure a stable permanent hold here.”
The older man chuckled to himself, “He’s probably also looking to make sure the Nobles have less of a claim to the land for their efforts by making sure his own army is doing equal or greater work. Whatever’s the case, it’s not my place to question it. What of the Sorcerers and Mercenaries?”
“While some of the mercenaries have been demobilized, about half have been sent back to Falmuth to function as a de-facto reserve force in case anyone tried to take advantage of this moment and launch an attack. The assumption is that they’d probably do very little to actually stop an invasion, but they would buy us time if one came. The Kingdom is particularly worried about Dwargon, who supposedly had an alliance with this ‘nation.’ As for the Sorcerers, for much the same reason as the Royal Knights, they have remained for the most part as well, however their leader, Razen, along with the Royal Knight’s leader, Folgen, have both returned to the capital with the King and his personal guard, leaving local commanders in charge, including yourself.”
“Seems fair enough, I expected more of our forces to pull out of here, but I suppose the Kingdom’s cautious and doesn’t want to withdraw until we can establish a fort here or something. Do we have any word on what to do with any of these buildings? Half of them are burnt and unusable, but we could salvage what's left and make a decent sized fort-city here.”
The young man flipped through some papers, reading over them for a few moments more before responding, “It appears the King and the nobles are planning to discuss this matter over the next few days. I’d imagine we’ll have a response in a few weeks.”
“Alright, thank you, you’re dismissed. Oh right, one last thing, what about that big pile of corpses we got? We were supposed to get rid of em’ right? Who was assigned to that again…?”
“That’s already been decided sir. Now that we believe we’ve gotten all the monsters here, we’ve gathered them all into the large pit and we plan to burn them at midnight tonight. It might smell horrid, but the wind should blow it in the opposite direction. We just got an abundance of rations and alcohol, so many commanders were thinking of hosting a small celebration under the light of the fire.”
“I see, that’ll be an entertaining spectacle. I suppose I should get wrapped up then. Got some last business I need to finish up. You’re dismissed.”
The younger man saluted once more and pivoted to leave the tent, the older man once more looking down at a map of the Jura forest they were now in, a single knife planted into the table located right where they were now, the ruins of the Jura Tempest Federation, the former capital of Rimuru City.
A small group of orcs, each heavily armored with weapons shoved into the ground sat in a circle in a silent cave-like structure. Above them was Rimuru City, or rather, what was left of it. Just a bit over a week prior the Kingdom of Falmuth had sent a force to attack. The force was small, however with the placement of barriers over the city, the monsters defending it were weakened and unable to fight properly. As such they managed to kill a large number of people, and injure many more. Despite their best efforts, they failed to communicate with their leader, Rimuru Tempest through the barrier, and Souei, who had been inside the barrier, was unable to send body doubles beyond it. Due to this fact, when the full army of Falmuth came a week later, they were almost entirely destroyed.
Fortunately, they had foreseen this as a likely outcome, and all of the Orcs worked together to establish numerous underground caves where they hid whoever they could fit; women, children, the sick and the elderly, anyone who couldn’t fight. Also within these makeshift caves were much of the Orc portions of Tempest’s former army, with them being assigned to defend the few entrances to these caves in case they were ever discovered. Being the best at defense, they were deemed the best for the job. Among them were also a number of goblin forces, though few in number, they were more agile than the Orcs and could potentially come in useful for their inevitable retreat out to the forest.
Now, however, this group of Orcs had to discuss just that. The barrier which had weakened them, even while underground, was now gone. Their strength had gradually returned throughout the day, and by now most were at their full strength. The argument being made now was whether or not to attempt a retreat into the forest.
With a heavy sigh, the leader of all the Orcs, and now the de-facto leader of what was left of Tempest spoke first, “We cannot stay here forever.”
One orc, looking down at the ground, clenched his fist tightly as he responded, “Nonsense, Rimuru will save us eventually…”
Another orc looked down, though in shame rather than anger, “No, why would he? We have failed him. He granted us his mercy after he killed the Orc Lord, yet we have failed to protect the nation he and his friends worked to build. I fear we have lost his trust.”
“Then you do not know Master Rimuru.” Geld muttered firmly, causing the other Orcs to turn his way, “There is nothing more we could have done. I recognize the mistakes we have made, for we should have prevented this in some way. But we did not. Regardless, there will be no end to our master’s rage. He is merciful, and because of that we are lucky, as his rage will not fall upon us.”
“Well then who will it fall upon?” Another Orc asked.
Geld simply raised his hand and pointed with one finger to the city above them, the occasional shouting of orders by the soldiers above being occasionally heard.
“Even still, who knows how long it’ll be till he gets here. We’ve been prevented from communicating with him, and Souei has been too busy hunting down and sneaking out any remaining survivors hiding on the surface since the barrier went down this morning.” One orc spoke as he folded his arms.
One of the orcs looked over as they spoke, nodding, “If I had to guess, he’s stalling. He probably doesn’t want to be the one to tell Rimuru that everyone’s dead. I can’t say I necessarily blame him either, I wouldn’t want to be the one to say that.”
Geld nodded, “You’re all correct, while I am certain Rimuru will inevitably return and bring about his own revenge on those troops, we cannot wait for him to free us. We do not know when he will arrive as he may not have even yet been informed. We’ll leave tonight, a bit past midnight, early in the morning under the cover of night. I’m certain there will be night patrols, and while I doubt we can go undetected, the darkness will buy us time, and their drowsiness will grant us an advantage. We aren’t trying to win either, our goal is to retreat into the forest.”
“But where would we go?” Another Orc asked.
“We shall head to the sealed cave. The lizardmen like Gabiru should still be there. From there we’ll try to get in contact with Rimuru and decide where to go from there.”
The Orcs all nodded in agreement as they one by one stood up and went around to relay the information to everyone while Geld communicated to the other hidden underground bunkers.
Benimaru looked on from the treeline at the smoldering ruins of Tempest below. He looked down in shame at his failed promise to himself and his brethren. The promise that he would never let his home fall again, but once more he was not strong enough to save it, he was barely strong enough to save himself. Across his body were numerous scars and wounds, most of which had healed by now, especially now that he was freed from the barrier, leaving only scars in their place. His eye too had been nearly blinded for a bit, however it too had healed, though a scar remained there too.
He didn’t mind the scars, in his eyes they were punishment for failing once again, this failure being worse than his last. Many people died when the Orc Lord attacked his villiage, leaving only a few Orcs in scattered groups roaming the forest. Rimuru had given them refuge and a chance to obtain revenge. From there he granted them a new home and a new people to protect. This time when he failed, the cost was much greater. Not only was his own people slaughtered, but the people of the entire city: Goblins, Orcs, Dragonewts, many others. The death toll was several times that of his old village, and despite being several times stronger than he was then, he still failed in the end.
Despite that, he was still alive. That in of itself was a miracle, he had hidden out successfully, killing the occasional soldier which may have seen him despite his weakened state under the barrier. When the barrier was lifted earlier that morning he managed to flee into the forest and meet up with Souei. From what he could tell, they were some of the few Kijin left from the city. Shion died in the first attack, Hakurou was still possibly alive, however he was in critical condition when he was placed under the city, and who knows whether or not all the Orcs’ bunkers were still held. Kurobe was supposedly still in one of the Orcs’ bunkers, having lacked the same martial skill that the others had. Shuna was an unknown to Benimaru, he had seen her be taken away by an otherworlder, but he knew little of whether she was alive or dead, but it was almost certain she was no longer in the vicinity of the city. As for the rest of the Kijin, most had died in the battle, though some remained in the bunkers, they were still a fraction of their former population like the Goblins.
For now, Benimaru needed to decide what to do next. He had much of his strength back now, and if he went in, he was confident he could probably destroy much if not all of their army in a matter of just about an hour. Unfortunately, he was still injured, and he was hardly at full strength. If they had any powerful spellcasters or otherworlders there, he may certainly stand less of a chance. Ultimately he decided that for now he would wait and regroup with those who remained, the least they could do for their master Rimuru, who he had failed deeply was to reclaim the city… Or die trying.
As the sun began to lower beyond the horizon, the soldiers of Falmuth began their final preparations for their upcoming celebration. The war, if one could call it that, had been one, the nation of monsters was crushed, and in just a few weeks time, the Jura Forest would be the rightful domain of the Kingdom of Falmuth.
Unfortunately for them, their fate was sealed the moment they stepped into the slime’s domain.
As the soldiers moved around the city, one suddenly noticed a small ring of black-colored flames circling around the entire city. Before he could comment on or examine it, the flames erupted into a towering cylinder surrounding the town the soldiers occupied, creating massive towering walls stretching to the sky. Within these flaming walls black lightning thundered like it was moving through a storm cloud, sparking and lighting up portions of the sky.
The forces of Falmuth all looked up in shock and terror as their commanders ordered them into formation. Before them descended what could only be described by the soldiers as an angel of death, an intricately detailed mask covering their face with a large crack from one edge to the center. Their blue hair swayed in the breeze caused by the swirling flames behind them as the Falmuth army moved to surround this individual. They spoke no words, and they emitted no aura, however their fist clenched onto their sword tightly as their mask cracked further. Inch by inch the crack grew larger until eventually a portion broke off, revealing their left eye, glowing a deep, intimidating golden color. Just one glance at this eye could guess the emotion emitting from it: Rage.
Right as their mask cracked, their aura poured out like a tsunami crashing onto land. Some soldiers outright passed out, others grew nauseous and those who did not saw fear develop in their faces as their grip on their weapons became shaky.
One commander launched forwards first, raising his sword high up to crash down onto them. Whether stupid or brave, their fate was the same regardless as the figure dashed forwards in a blink of an eye, sword now unsheathed as suddenly the commander’s right arm fell off, blood gushing from the wound where it had been cut. The commander screamed out as the figure turned around and waved their right hand to the side, a blade of water shooting out and cutting off their left arm as well. One by one each limb of theirs was removed before the figure walked up to the bleeding body of the commander and sliced off their head slowly with their sword.
As this happened, none dared to move, the aura emitted by the figure causing many to be frozen in fear. Some contemplated fleeing, however with towering walls of flame, few were willing to take the chance of being burned. Some of course, began to try anyways, only to be completely engulfed in flames that would not go out, enjoying their last moments of life just beyond the border of the flames, yet dying in agony as their bodies were slowly burnt away.
The figure looked towards the wall where the screams of the dying soldiers could be heard faintly through the flames. Their expression did not change as they spoke, their voice both angelic and terrifying as it muttered “You didn’t give them a chance to escape, so why should I give you that mercy?”
They raised their empty hand, pointing their open hand towards one of the army groups as black lightning erupted from it, striking the front soldiers before electrocuting all of them to death as they all suddenly collapsed to the ground, bodies scorched.
One of the leading officers ran up and pointed at the figure, shouting “What the hell are you morons doing?! Attack!”
Suddenly the soldiers began to charge at the figure, even those formerly terrified joining in the charge, now understanding that killing this thing was their only way to live. The figure, however, simply dashed forwards, sword now pointed straight as they appeared behind the army charging them. Almost instantly screams of agony were heard as the soldiers he had passed each either had limbs chopped off, or severe wounds created, all of which quickly went ablaze with black flames as they were then burnt to death.
The figure turned back and sighed, muttering “That’s enough of this…” before engulfing their sword in black flames and launching towards the soldiers. In a matter of just minutes, the entire Falmuth army hidden within the flames were torn apart and destroyed. Some tried to flee and hide, but any time one attempted this, they were struck down by lightning from afar. Even those who didn’t join the battle in the first place, staying behind and then hiding as they learned of the danger they were in were not safe, even those suddenly combusting as every last soldier of Falmuth was killed, leaving only their corpses, often scorched or in pieces left.
The flames began to die down as the wall of fire disappeared. The figure began to shake in their walking, swaying from side to side as they gripped their head. The figure collapsed onto their knees as they created a demon summoning ritual, muttering, “I offer all of the bodies here as tribute… Get out here demon… I’ve got food for you…”
Suddenly the summoning circle glowed as the various corpses across the city suddenly vanished and on the circle appeared a tall, dark haired demon dressed neatly in a ragged suit, adjusting it as the large, slightly torn wings on his back adjusted.
The figure suddenly collapsed again, taking its natural form of a slime as it slouched down, waving a little blob as a hand, muttering “Defend the remnants of the city. There’s probably some monster survivors. Kill any remaining Falmuth forces.”
The demon smiled, “My, what a familiar presence… The birth of a demon lord… A wonderful offering, my first job… I’ve awaited this day for so long…” Suddenly magical power seemed to resonate with the demon, absorbing it from the corpses in the surroundings, his wings then disappearing as he lowered down to the ground, “May I serve you from this day forward.”
The slime simply slouched, mumbling “We can talk later… First prove that you can be of use to me… Go.”
The slime finally passed out completely as the demon picked him up and placed him in the center of town, wrapping him in some cloth before stepping back.
Throughout the city, the Orcs hiding beneath began to one by one stumble out as they looked at the various empty suits of armor the Falmuth forces wore, and a demon standing politely nearby their leader, asleep on a podium. Many were confused, however their questions would be answered as words echoed through the sky.
“Notice: The Harvest Festival to Evolve the Individual called Rimuru Tempest into a Demon Lord will now begin.”
The slime then began to glow as light radiated from its body, the voice once more speaking:
“Notice: The Harvest Festival has begun. The individual’s physical constitution will be rebuilt, and he will evolve into a new race.”
After a few minutes, the light would fade as the slime’s body would finally settle down to its normal state, albeit still asleep as the voice spoke again:
“The individual Rimuru Tempest’s Harvest Festival is complete. Now beginning the bestowing of gifts upon those connected to him.”
Immediately, the monsters which had begun to surround their leader began to collapse, each of them passing out as the slime bounced up, transforming into its human form, albeit more feminine and wearing the cloth as clothing. Its eyes were now a deep crimson red as it began to walk past the sleeping monsters and the watching demon and over to the hole where the dead monsters had been dumped by Falmuth. If there was any chance they could somehow be revived, it was long gone. Every possibility had been calculated, and their deaths were undoable. Looking down at the pile of corpses, its very existence a disgrace to those who had lived and deserved a proper resting place, the being held out its hand, speaking silently “Notice: You shall all rest.”
Purple smoke emerged from the outreached hand, engulfing all of the dead and devouring them, letting them seek peace within the being as it had done for a close friend in the past. The being them once more collapsed into an unconscious slime, the Demon, having followed a good bit behind quickly moved to pick up the slime, wrapping him back up before once more placing him back on the pedestal.
The demon stood back, watching the slime rest, looking around at the destroyed town which caused the rage that would lead to his evolution, or rather would lead to the massacre that caused it. The demon already had his own reasons for wanting to serve the slime, however with the slime’s fate changed so suddenly…
Well he would become an interesting Demon Lord indeed…
Shion and gobta