Deep within the Jura Forest, a large group of Lycanthropes strode through the trees. The refugees fled their homeland, fearing its imminent destruction at the hands of Milim Nava, the Destroyer. Milim’s declaration of war came not long before, with their master, the Demon Lord Carrion, insisting on fighting her alone. It was a fight he was doomed to lose, but in fighting her alone, he could guarantee that his citizens could flee safely.
There was only one place to go for the Beast Kingdom’s citizens; a nation that accepted all races without question, and whose leader would undeniably support them in whatever came next: the Jura-Tempest Federation. While they expected that Rimuru would be merciful enough to grant them residence as refugees, they could only pray that he may help them against Milim. Whatever the outcome, the protection of their citizens came first, and it was essential that they made it to Rimuru City.
The journey to Tempest wasn’t as hard as they initially worried, the paved path between their nations contributed greatly to making it much faster. However, the constant threat of monsters kept their forces spread thin, trying to guard against the entire column of refugees walking the path. The Three Beastketeers could only do so much in guarding against such a large group, and inevitably the occasional casualty was taken.
As they neared Tempest, the citizens and soldiers were told to settle and wait as the Three Beastketeers, the strongest of the nation and now its de-facto leaders, gathered to prepare to greet Rimuru themselves. As they gathered though, each of them felt that there was something wrong. They had felt it for a while since they entered the forest. The Jura Tempest Federation, and more so Rimuru himself, all were more than capable of exerting at least some presence throughout much of the forest, especially on their paved paths.
Had such a large group entered their territory in the Jura Forest before, whether friend or foe, they would’ve been spotted and greeted appropriately within an hour. In this case, they had yet to meet a single monster on their path to the city. What was normally a path with a significant number of patrols was now barren.
The three worried that Tempest may have seen the same fate as the Beast Kingdom. If Milim had truly gone mad or perhaps had been controlled in some way, there was a possibility of her turning on her friend Rimuru. Phobio in particular had seen what Milim was capable of, having completely incinerated the capital, leaving him barely alive. He had managed to crawl back to the border of Tempest’s territory where he was able to meet up with the others who managed to treat him. What he saw in that fight was nothing short of terrifying, Tempest, despite the power it had, would not survive against Milim.
As the three walked up the hill, now getting a full view of the village below they saw the truth: Tempest was in ruin. But there was still hope, the city, while damaged, still remained. Had they faced Milim, not a single piece of rubble would be left standing. What's more, monsters still roamed the streets of the city, and while it was far less lively and populated than it had been when they last visited, the mere presence of people rebuilding meant Tempest was not gone yet.
The three nodded amongst each other and headed down, following the trail until they reached the outskirts of the city before being suddenly stopped. In front of them stood a tall man, hair and eyes as dark as night aside from a single red streak of hair, his pupils crimson red and his iris a golden hue. The man wore an outfit that one would expect from some sort of nobility, posturing himself in a matter that fit such a role.
None of the three had ever seen such a man in their prior visits, however, each of them could tell just how powerful he was. The instincts of all three were unified in their suspicion of what the entity was: a demon.
The suspected demon bowed politely in front of them, speaking gently yet with a commanding aura, “May I ask what business brings you here today? If I can tell correctly, you three are not my master’s subordinates.”
The leader of the three, Albis, stepped forwards, holding her staff in one hand as she made a polite gesture to the demon, “We are from the Beast Kingdom of Eurzania, we seek an audience with Rimuru Tempest. I assume he is your master?”
The demon raised his head and nodded, his hand still positioned on his chest, “Correct, Lord Rimuru is the one who summoned me and has tasked me with protecting this village while he undergoes evolution.”
“Evolution?” Albis was confused; What sort of evolution would require one to be away for long enough that the village needed protection? Besides, even if they were away for a while, Tempest should have more than enough power to defend itself with some of the Majin they had recruited.
The demon nodded again, “Yes, I’m afraid Lord Rimuru cannot see you right now as he is currently undergoing an evolution into a Demon Lord. I can perhaps see about getting you an audience with one of the current leaders of the village to handle the matter of all those beastmen you have brought with you.”
“You noticed them?” Albis asked, though considering the power the demon seemed to hold, she wasn’t too surprised that he did.
“Correct, I noticed them a good bit ago, but I was tasked to protect the city and as such I could not leave to greet you ahead of time. If you’ll pardon me, I will see if Benimaru will be able to see you.”
With that the demon disappeared, leaving the three startled beastmen to stand and gaze upon the sight in front of them, The city was significantly destroyed, many people were missing, and the entire aura of the city seemed to be that of sorrow and mourning. To top it all off, the leader of it all, a being that they considered greatly powerful yet incredibly peaceful was now evolving into a True Demon Lord, a feat not even their master Carrion had yet to pull off.
One question filled all of their heads at that moment: What the hell happened?
«Confirmed – Super-Evolving from Slime Race to Demon Slime Race – Successful»
«Physical capabilities have significantly improved. The Individual can now freely change his physical and spiritual bodies at will.»
«Re-acquiring all skills obtained in the previous form – Successful»
«Acquiring new Intrinsic Skills – {Infinite Regeneration}, {Universal Detect}, {Lord’s Ambition}, {Enhanced Replication}, and {Universal Thread} – Successful»
«Acquiring new Resistances – {Natural Element Nullification}, {Ailment Nullification}, {Spiritual Attack Resistance}, and {Holy Attack Resistance} – Successful»
«Evolution Concluded»
«Notice – Petition to evolve the Unique Skill {Great Sage} to {Words of the World} – Attempting Evolution of {Great Sage} – Obtaining of the Unique Skill {Wise One} Successful»
«Attempting to evolve Unique Skill {Wise One} – Successful»
«Unique Skill {Wise One} has evolved into the Ultimate Skill {Lord of Wisdom: Raphael}»
«Evolution of {Gluttony} Desired – Sacrificing {Degenerate} to execute»
«Attempting Evolution – Successful»
«Unique Skill {Gluttony} has evolved into the Ultimate Skill {Lord of Gluttony: Beelzebuth}»
«Further power desired – Searching for potential evolutions – Successful»
«Sacrificing excess skills acquired through recently deceased to execute»
«Operation Successful – Ultimate Skill {Lord of Grief: Miseria} acquired»
«The individual Rimuru Tempest’s Harvest Festival is complete. Now beginning the bestowing of gifts upon those connected to him…»
Rimuru sat isolated in his room, sitting silently in a chair in his human form. It had grown a bit more mature when he evolved, but he frankly couldn’t find it in him to care about something like that in a time like this. When he had undergone the Harvest Festival, a process he didn’t even know existed, he fell asleep for three days as he often did when overexerting his magicules.
He had been awake now for a few days, but he hadn’t left this spot. He sat leaning against a wooden desk, a broken mask on the other end of it, directly in his view. He had repaired its functionality but didn’t bother to repair the physical damage it took.
Prior to his Harvest Festival, he had devoured the many corpses dumped all so disrespectfully into a hole by the invading army. Thanks to that, he had a list of almost every single casualty from the invasion. While it appeared some of Tempest’s strongest survived, over two-thirds of everyone else did not.
Rimuru had spent the last few days reading that list, repeating the names over and over again to the point he had practically all of them memorized.
“...Gobto, Gobchi, Ririna, Gobzo, Gobta,…”
Nobody had been let inside to see him, he didn’t want to face them, he couldn’t bring himself to. The only one he had interacted with was the demon, supposedly going by Noir, not that Rimuru paid much attention at the time. The demon, it appeared, had no problem catering to his every wish, specifically to keep everyone else out and let him remain alone. Considering the demon’s strength, none dared to oppose him anyways.
“...Rogurd, Regurd, Rugurd, Rigur…”
To Rimuru, all of their deaths were his fault. It was his rule to welcome all humans and it was his absence that led to their downfall. If he was there, he could’ve taken down the barrier, he could’ve single-handedly wiped out their army, he could’ve done so many things to stop what happened.
“...Gob’ichi, Kakushin, Sukerou, Yashichi,...”
But he wasn’t there, he was off fulfilling the wish of a woman who was supposed to be his special one, but part of him felt like that was a fabrication made in his head. Whatever the case, the worst part isn’t that he was trying to save the children when it happened, but that he had already saved them long prior. He spent longer than he needed to with the children, teaching them, playing with them, and doing what Shizue ran out of time to do.
If he had not wasted his time, if he had just left a week earlier, if he…
“...Shion…”
It was the name he skipped every time he read through the list. Every time out of the hundreds of times he read the list to himself, he always skipped over her name. He felt a bond with each and every one of his subordinates, each and every one was a friend. But even still, there were those he spent the most of his time with, those he was closest to, those whose loss he couldn’t handle the most.
He couldn’t bring himself to say her name all those times he read the list. So much so that when he finally did, he could no longer hold back the tears in his eyes as they welled up, blurring his vision. His hands trembled as he brought them to his face, covering it as the tears escaped his eyes and ran down his face. He leaned his arms against the table as his head was held in his hands.
He sat like that for longer than he could bother to keep track of until eventually his fist clenched and he slammed it against the table, still somewhat shaking as his tears finally dried. This wasn’t getting him anywhere. He had been given this power, far more than he had before, the power to protect who was left… and avenge who was gone.
His sadness remained in his heart, but he suppressed it, even if forcefully. He would push forwards for everyone that was left, even if it meant suppressing every emotion he had.
He picked up the mask, gazing down at it in silence, through the help of his new Ultimate Skill {Raphael}, he was able to add yet another ability to the mask: Emotional Suppression.
Satisfied, he placed on the mask to test its effects. To his expectations, the mask worked. While his emotions were still there, they failed to surface, allowing him to think clearly and begin work again without worrying about being dragged down.
As he finally prepared to set out on the monumental task of rebuilding his nation, a voice rang out in his head yet again. The voice was something he was used to, but it had gotten clearer since his evolution, not that it mattered. Speaking clearly, the voice stated «Notice: It is ill-advised to suppres-»
(‘I don’t care. I don’t have time for mourning. They need me, I cannot fail them again’)
«It is recco-»
(‘It won’t be necessary, Raphael. I’m fine.’)
The skill, {Raphael}, was supposed to lack any sort of ego or emotion, but despite that, even it felt a hint of the sadness its user felt. The anger and sorrow in its user’s heart had bled through to the skill, and while it still was hardly alive, it felt for once a slight presence of emotion, sorrow, rage, and now worry. None of these emotions made it to the surface, none could even be comprehended, but they were there, slowly building up as the skill became more and more aware each day.
Rimuru’s other skills, meanwhile, he needed to investigate. While his {Great Sage} evolved into {Lord of Wisdom: Raphael}, his Unique Skill {Gluttony} had evolved into {Lord of Gluttony: Beelzebuth}. Both seemed to just be more or less upgraded versions of each skill. {Raphael} seemed to have a computing power greater than a supercomputer, and {Beelzebuth} seemed to just be incredibly effective at devouring just about anything.
Next, however, was a Skill that manifested seemingly out of nowhere, {Lord of Grief: Miseria}. According to {Raphael}, the skill was created by sacrificing all the skills and magicules he had obtained when he devoured the bodies of all the dead. While their souls were mostly gone, a large number of the more powerful among them still had small fragments of their souls left, enough to salvage their skills, though their souls were too long gone to salvage in whole. Those skills, mixed with other factors such as his Unique Skill {Merciless} culminated in the creation of {Miseria}.
{Miseria} has numerous sub-skills which make up its actual capabilities. These skills are; {Merciless}, {Mortal Fear}, {Hellscape}, and {Eternal Bind}. Looking over at the subskills, Rimuru had {Raphael} explain each one.
«{Merciless} functions as it did prior to the Harvest Festival, allowing the seizing of souls from those who lose the will to fight. Even in the event that their will to fight is recovered, their soul can still be seized. Furthermore, any malicious thoughts against the user by targets of {Merciless} will be conveyed to the user, informing them of any intent to oppose the user.»
«{Mortal Fear} is a skill that allows the user to exert their Aura in such a way that incites fear in the enemy, causing them to lose their will to fight. The effectiveness of this skill scales based on the aura and power of the user, making it also highly effective to use with {Merciless}.»
«{Hellscape} is similar to the {Stomach} and {Isolation} of the Ultimate Skill {Beelzebuth}. Contrary to these spaces, {Hellscape} is specialized solely for the containing of souls in personalized prisons of agony and suffering. Here the target souls can experience any sort of suffering from altered realities to direct unyielding pain depending on the desire of the user. Through the aid of {Raphael}, each soul can experience a personalized ‘Hell’ based on their own personal experiences, fears, and desires. Through other skills, time can also be manipulated and slowed, allowing for a few seconds of real-time being days, weeks, or even years in {Hellscape}.»
«{Eternal Bind} allows the user to have a direct and strong connection to all those attached to the skill. Aside from having an increased knowledge of their status at all times, in the event that a target attached to this skill should perish, they can be restored at the user’s will at the cost of magicules. This comes with the primary downside of the target potentially seeing aspects of their personality or portions of their memory altered in the process. Targets of {Merciless} can also be connected via {Eternal Bind}, and similarly, any target of {Eternal Bind} can have their souls terminated or absorbed at the will of the user.»
«Notice: Further investigation into the skill reveals a potentially dangerous hidden passive effect. The use of this skill may impact the mind and soul of the user. It is currently unclear how, why, or what this changes, however, it is ill-advised to use the skill until the true nature of this passive can be examined.»
Rimuru nodded along as the sub-skills were read off to him. Of his three Ultimate Skills, there was no doubt that this was the most powerful in terms of sheer offensive potential. The last part was concerning, but not enough to necessarily deter him, (‘Can the passive be cut out of the skill?’)
«Doing so will likely tear apart the skill, causing the Ultimate Skill to break up, likely seeing the destruction of {Eternal Bind} and {Hellscape}, though {Mortal Fear} and {Merciless} could be salvaged.»
(‘Then don’t bother with it. I need as much as I can get to protect everyone. If it means dealing with some strange passive, then so be it.’)
«It is advised to at least investigate»
(‘There’s no need to waste your time. If you haven’t already figured it out, it must be too complicated to get done quickly. Focus your energy on getting Veldora out. With your increased capacity, it may be possible to get him out earlier.’)
«Veldora’s seal is already fully analyzed and ready to be removed»
(‘Well… That works.’)
“Noir!” Rimuru called out in his room, preparing himself to finally leave his room for the first time in days.
Not a moment later the tall black-haired demon opened the door and stepped inside with a bow. “It is good to see that you are up, my Lord.”
Part of Rimuru wanted to make the demon not refer to himself in such a way, but he honestly didn’t care at that moment. “Yes, you mentioned wanting to stay in my service, correct?”
“As long as you will permit me, my Lord, I would like to remain as your servant.” The demon knelt down, lowering his head again towards Rimuru.
Rimuru, satisfied at the fact such a powerful demon was willing to aid him, even if he was a bit confused as to why, continued, “In that case, I will give you a name. In doing so, you will be attached to my Ultimate Skill, {Miseria}. If you do not wish for that, then you will have to leave.”
Rimuru wasn’t sure whether or not to trust such a powerful demon who randomly appeared, but if he willingly attached himself to his skill, then he knew for sure that the demon was loyal. Even in the event he wasn’t, Rimuru could always just destroy his soul anyways so long as he agreed to become attached to {Miseria}.
The demon made a wide smile, “It would bring me the utmost joy to be given a name and become one with your skill, my Lord!”
The demon now looked up to Rimuru with a face filled with joy. Rimuru was now more confused than he was before, but the demon appeared to be loyal, so he had no reason to question it. “Then your name is Diablo, serve me well.”
The demon slowly raised off the ground, his magical energy surging as he was briefly engulfed by a cocoon of darkness, quickly emerging with a new appearance. Formerly appearing like a more ragged-looking noble, the demon now took the appearance of a neat and professional butler, even despite his absurd magicule count.
The demon gently landed on the ground and bowed once again, “I thank you greatly for the name, Lord Rimuru. If you would permit it, I would like to serve you directly as your assistant and butler.”
(‘I suppose there’s no harm in it. All of this is a bit weird, but I suppose an ally is an ally. Just to double check, everything went through well enough?’)
«Confirmed – The Individual ‘Diablo’ is now fully attached to the Ultimate Skill {Miseria} through the sub-skill {Eternal Bind}»
(‘Good. That means we don’t have to worry about him.’)
“I suppose that could work. The position has recently seen a… vacancy, so it's open if you want it. Though considering your power, do be prepared if I request your assistance in matters beyond being a simple butler.”
Diablo finally raised his head and made a gentle nod, his hand still gently placed on his chest, “I fully understand, Lord Rimuru. I will serve you to the best of my abilities. What would you like me to do now?”
Rimuru looked downwards in thought for a moment before looking up at the demon again, “Gather everyone in the center of town. Tell them I’m awakening Veldora.”
The demon made a slight smirk as he politely bowed, “I will do so with haste.” The demon quickly turned and left as the slime teleported away. To the demon, this was further proof of the fact that this slime was an extraordinary being, to simply awaken a True Dragon at will was a feat in itself. Nevertheless, the demon had been given a task as well as a new name, Diablo. He would make certain that his master did not regret his recruitment.
Rimuru appeared in the empty cave, various clusters of magic ores glowing a wide range of colors, filling the otherwise bland cave with light of all types of colors. Rimuru didn’t spend too long looking around as he created a body double of himself for Veldora to inhabit.
He was somewhat shocked at the appearance, his human form having changed into a much more beautiful appearance, though still rather androgynous. He didn’t spend too much time looking into it as he spoke to {Raphael}, (‘Alright, Veldora can inhabit this body, let him out. Let's hope this works’)
As he said this, magicules began to swirl around rapidly, filling up the cave as they once more concentrated into the body double that had been created. The body quickly began to grow, becoming taller and bulkier. The long blue hair turned short and blonde, the entire body going from androgynous to masculine. The shirt quickly transformed into a long cape, leaving him shirtless apart from the cape and a pair of gloves.
As the transformation finally concluded, the body sprung to life, “Kyahahahaha! I am the Storm Dragon, Veldora Tempest! All who defy me shall be slaughtered! Kyahahahahaha!”
“Where did you learn that line, old man?” Rimuru uttered, looking up towards the dragon as he took off his mask, knowing it would be best to deal with the draconic calamity face to face.
Veldora energetically lowered to the ground before declaring, “I got bored, so I looked through your memories! I read all that ‘manga’ you had. I’ve also become a master shogi player! Kyahaha!”
‘Shogi? Who the hell could he have possibly played Shogi with?’
«Notice: The Individual Veldora Tempest previously removed Ifrit from isolation and has since been interacting with him»
‘Ah I see… How and why he did that, I don’t think I really should bother getting into. Perhaps Ifrit isn’t entirely a lost cause. It might be worth experimenting with giving organic bodies to elementals. Whatever, that can come later.’
Veldora continued, “Well that ended up taking far less time than I expected, so I thank you Rimuru Tempest, my BFF!”
Veldora held out his fist in front of it as Rimuru’s fist met his own, a small smirk appearing on his face as Veldora laughed again.
“Now then! Where’s the bastard nation that dared upset my BFF! Send me at 'em and I’ll reduce them to ash! KYAHAHAHAHA!”
Rimuru smiled and shook his head, “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself there. Despite how much easier it would probably be to send you out there, I think this is a fight Tempest should win on its own. Though I do have a role I want you to play for now.”
“Then I shall play it to the utmost perfection!” Veldora again burst out laughing with his proud proclamation.
“Now then, did you receive my gift from evolution?” Rimuru asked, not sure if someone like Veldora would obtain it.
“Ah yes! I’m glad you asked! My Unique Skill {Inquirer}, has evolved into the Ultimate Skill {Faust}! It is the power to reach the ultimate truth!”
Veldora began to proudly ramble on about his new Ultimate Skill, Rimuru simply standing by and listening as he mused to himself, ‘Seems he also got an Ultimate Skill, I already have three of my own, so it makes sense that someone of his power would get one.’
«That is not all. Through analyzing the remains of Veldora, you have obtained the Ultimate Skill {Veldora}. In addition, using the Unique Skill {Unlimited Imprisonment} as a basis to consolidate all of your abilities, you have successfully acquired the Ultimate Skill {Uriel}»
‘Wait, so I have five Ultimate Skills now?! Just how easy are these things to obtain?!’
«The likelihood of obtaining an Ultimate Skill is incredibly low»
Veldora, having eavesdropped on his conversation with his skill, interrupted, wrapping his arm around his neck and proclaiming, “That means you and I are invincible now! Just go with it!”
“Right…” Rimuru finally shrugged off Veldora and teleported them outside, beginning to walk towards the village slowly as he spoke, “Mind toning down your aura a bit? You’re probably gonna end up killing someone with it.”
‘Wait… Can we weaponize his aura?’
«It is possible»
‘Let's… worry about that later.’
“Ah I suppose you’re right. I’ll try.” Veldora immediately crouched down, becoming engulfed in light as he began to condense his aura “KYRUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
‘THAT'S EVEN MORE AURA THAN HE HAD BEFORE!’ Rimuru looked as Veldora continued his obvious mimicry of something he read in a manga as strangely enough his aura was decreasing, ‘Huh? Is it actually working? Well I’ll be damned. Good work, I suppose.’
“How is this?!” Veldora shouted as the glow around him finally faded and he stood up firmly once again.
“That works, your aura’s a lot smaller now!”
“The sacred texts contain all the wisdom in the world! KYAHAHAHA!”
‘Yep… Definitely got it from a Manga… What the hell am I going to do with this dragon?’
Regardless of the unexpected strangeness of the Dragon, the entire interaction had been fairly useful. After having spent so long in his self-imposed isolation, interacting with someone as energetic as Veldora had certainly helped him cool off, even if it was only kicking the can that was his grief down the road.
Turning towards Veldora as they began to walk, Rimuru stated, “I have a plan I want you to do. It’s a bit complicated, and I wanted your thoughts on it. It’ll take a bit of acting from you, though.”
“Whatever it is, I’m up for the task!” Veldora proudly proclaimed with yet another hearty laugh.
Rimuru smiled. ‘Then let us start this new era off right!’
The villagers muttered nervously amongst themselves. They had been told to gather here by the strange demon their master had summoned, and now had named. Most had grown to trust the demon as a loyal subordinate of their master, but most now were nervous about what he had told them the meeting was about.
The demon proclaimed that their master, Rimuru, was about to awaken the Storm Dragon, Veldora. The Storm Dragon had been a protective guardian of the forest for many years, and even in imprisonment it was his aura which prevented others from invading his domain.
Veldora’s disappearance had brought about mass instability in the forest, an instability only calmed through the rise of Rimuru and the Jura Forest Alliance, later evolving into the Jura Tempest Federation. The fact that Rimuru could just awaken the Storm Dragon out of nowhere seemed outrageous, but for some, the pieces started coming into place.
Rigurd was the one who realized this most clearly. He was one of the few surviving goblins of the first village, the one which became the basis of this once thriving city they resided in. Back then, they were on the verge of being wiped out as the disappearance of Veldora led to monsters like Direwolves becoming more invigorated to attack. Rimuru appeared and saved them, yet now that he realizes it, Rimuru’s appearance not long after Lord Veldora’s disappearance perhaps wasn’t a coincidence after all.
If Rimuru was somehow responsible for Veldora’s disappearance, it would make sense how he could suddenly bring Veldora back. It still seemed far-fetched, but their master was capable of great things, bringing back Veldora was simply another accomplishment on that long list.
While many were still somewhat skeptical that it was even possible, the sudden presence of Veldora became obvious near sundown as his aura once more filled the forest. While his presence eventually toned down and disappeared, there was no doubt that what they felt was Veldora.
A little while later, their master returned. Rimuru was in his human form, holding the appearance of a beautiful blue-haired human, and though the form was fairly androgynous, it did seem to have a slight feminine lean due to its longer hair. It had been a while since they had seen their master, and now he seemed to look more mature in appearance than before, perhaps as a result of his evolution.
Rimuru stepped up onto the stage which was set up in the center of town, the many monster residents that were left standing in front of it, looking on in awe at the elegance he seemed to be giving out at that moment. Rimuru stood front and center, beginning to speak with a loud, yet calm tone, “What happened a few days ago was a tragedy. The deaths of so many cannot be so easily forgotten… Or forgiven. I ask that you not blame yourselves, it was my mistake which led to this.”
Voices in the crowd seemed to want to voice objections, but he simply raised his hand to silence them, “This burden is my own. This defeat is my own. This fault is my own. Their deaths are on me, and me alone, this is my sin to carry. Instead, we must move forwards. The truth of the matter is, I was once human, I was an otherworlder who died and was reincarnated as a slime. It was because of that fact that I turned a blind eye to the sins of humanity in this world. I had blindly hoped for co-existence through peace, but that was not to be.”
Rimuru was silent for a moment, clenching his fist in silence before continuing, “Humanity has cast us out, declared us their enemies. They care little of the families and friends that monsters have. They care not for the fact that we think, love, care, and speak just like they do. If this war has shown me anything, there are many among humanity that do not want coexistence… They want genocide.”
Veldora silently stepped onto the stage from behind, standing slightly to the side of Rimuru as he held a sword in both of his hands. Turning to face him briefly before turning back to the crowd, Rimuru continued, “This here is Veldora Tempest. When I was reborn into this world, he was the first one I met. I made a promise to him to release him from his imprisonment and he gave me the name ‘Rimuru.’ In return, I granted us the last name ‘Tempest’. There are those which seek to take this forest from us, but let us prove to them that we are the rightful rulers of Jura!”
Rimuru turned to Veldora as the crowd looked on in shock, Veldora making a wide grin as he proudly proclaimed, “I am Veldora Tempest! Under my authority as the Storm Dragon and as the rightful protector of the Jura Forest, I hereby proclaim Rimuru Tempest as the Storm Emperor of Jura!” Veldora handed the sword to Rimuru who took it from his hands with a nod, unsheathing it and holding the blade high in the air, a burst of {Black Lightning} shooting up from the blade into the sky.
The dryads suddenly appeared before the stage, kneeling before Rimuru and Veldora as Treyni spoke gently, “We have heard your proclamation, Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest, and hereby recognize Rimuru Tempest as the rightful Emperor of the Jura Forest.”
The crowd was initially silent for a moment before erupting into a cheer, eventually calming down as Rimuru spoke again, “I still desire coexistence with humanity, but this event has proven something to me. So long as there are certain factions among humanity which seek our destruction, coexistence is not possible. Those factions must be ripped from their roots and destroyed. If we want a world of co-prosperity, then these institutions, nations, and religions cannot be permitted to stand. Those who have wronged us will no longer be forgiven so easily. I swear on the name of all those who were lost… I swear that I will find those responsible… and we will reduce them to ash.”
The crowd again erupted into cheering and celebration, Rimuru making a slight smile as he turned to Veldora who responded with a smug grin and a thumbs up. Rimuru shook his head with a smile and turned back to the celebrating crowd. It was good that they were happy, he took the burden of their loss upon himself for their sake, after all. For now though, there were other matters at hand.
The Federation had fallen… And an Empire had taken its place.
Thanks to various editors and helpers on the Discord who helped with things like plot decisions, grammatical errors, and other aspects of the chapter:
Kyzershlact, Ra2griz, Hoshi, Informer, RoboShark1019, Terraman60, Zirmeister, and ケン
To join the discord for chatting, discussion, updates, or to apply to be one of the credited helpers, join the link below:
https://discord.gg/xcCvpSxmA7
