It had been a few months since Rimuru had left Tempest to fulfill Shizue’s lingering regrets. During that time, he had become a teacher, and through some effort and dealing with Tanya’s ‘Murder Machine 9000™’, he had managed to stabilize their formerly soon-to-combust souls, preventing their untimely demise.

 

He enjoyed being their teacher and working in a relatively low-stress (compared to what he usually did) environment, but he was still the ruler of a staggeringly huge nation, a fact that he couldn't just so easily ignore. Sure, Tanya was capable enough to rule Tempest without him, but her Thought Communication messages implied that it wasn’t sustainable for too long. Doing the work for two left some strain on the demon, despite all of her abilities.

 

Besides, he had a lot he needed to catch up on. For one, Tanya seemed to have just created a whole other state in his absence, something he absolutely had to check in on as the person primarily responsible for domestic ruling. The Kusha mountains were a brief topic of concern regarding its potential integration in a previous meeting, but the issue was shoved off, not seen as urgent at the time. But somehow, Tanya had done it within a month, and with virtually zero injuries or casualties.

 

There was also the very realistic concern that Tanya, unrestrained by Rimuru, would go crazy with the TRI and its projects and that he would return to see skyscrapers and an airfield in his fantasy world. He was exaggerating in his own mind, sure, but they weren’t completely out of the realm of possibility, given Tanya’s track record. A quick investigation before he left suggested they were already on the pathway to creating nuclear-powered, anti-everything systems, akin to the anti-air systems a certain gun-heavy nation produced in the early 21st century.

 

When he left, he had given Shizue’s mask to the children as a parting gift, Chloe in particular ending up with it. He felt like it was fitting, considering it was handed down to himself along with Shizue’s wish. Now that it was fulfilled, it felt best if he passed it down as well, Shizue had been given it from the hero, after all. They were her students, they deserved a memento.

 

The path back home would be a fairly quick one, all he needed to do was use Spatial Movement to teleport back to Tempest. Of course, he was walking now to make a bit of distance from the city before he activated the Skill. Someone magically disappearing would cause some concerns, especially considering the rarity of spatial magic in general.

 

«Notice: You have been enclosed within a wide-range barrier.»

 

Rimuru sighed, ‘I didn’t want to go home easily, anyways…’

 

«All spatial interference skills that would permit exit are sealed.»

 

«Spatial Movement cannot be used.»

‘That’s not good…’

 

Rimuru’s attention was quickly brought to the shadow of a nearby tree as Souei manifested below it, an obvious body double, yet one that looked gravely injured. If it was a real kijin, the wounds inflicted would require immediate medical attention to survive, fatal if left unattended.

 

“Souei!” Rimuru was quick to rush over to the injured kijin as he knelt below the tree, the latter dropping his blades from a seeming lack of strength.

 

“Great Rimuru… Please run from here… Enemies… More than-” Souei disappeared in a puff of smoke, the body double unable to maintain itself in the shadow within the barrier. 

 

‘I need to contact Tanya, she might know what’s going on, I just need to use the ri-’

 

«Notice: Communication via the ring has also been cut off.»

 

‘What?! I thought it was supposed to be able to communicate even through Unlimited Imprisonment!

 

«The ring is capable of communication over incredibly long distances and through dimensions, however, the barrier is deliberately cutting off communication through extrication and jamming of magicules. Unlimited Imprisonment does not have anything deliberately preventing communication, and as such the ring can work under normal circumstances.»

 

‘Just great! Wait! Ranga!’ Rimuru called for his direwolf companion, however, just as with the ring, he was unable to do so. Ranga, who normally would come out at even the slightest chance he would be needed or called upon, was unable to hear him or was otherwise unable to help. Whatever the case, it meant whatever he was about to face, he would face it alone, sword in hand.

 

«Notice: You have been enclosed within another wide-range barrier.»

 

‘Another one?!’

 

«The use of skills within the barrier has been sealed.»

 

‘Resist!’

 

«Resist Successful – However, the usage of magicule-based skills has been greatly weakened.»

 

‘It’s better than nothing… Whoever’s after me knows what they’re doing. They’re not preparing for a fight. They’re preparing for an extermination!’

 

As he turned, he noticed a lone woman approaching him. The woman had black hair and a Japanese-like face, wielding a single sword while only being lightly armored around her chest and legs, although more armor could have existed beneath her white cloak.

 

The uniform gave her away as a member of the Holy Knights, an organization of the Western Holy Church that was effectively the sworn enemies of monsters and demihumans. Figuring out how Tempest was going to deal with them in the future was a headache in itself, but it was clear he didn’t have the time to debate his options. The sword - Great Sage identified as a rapier - emanated enough power to put him on the defensive alone, if he wasn’t already after two barriers had been placed around him.

 

Perhaps he could still feign ignorance. He was still human in appearance, after all, since only someone with a skill like Tanya’s could see through his disguise, “H-Hey there. I don’t believe we’ve met before, can I help you with anything? Perhaps you’ve mistaken me for someone else?”

 

“For the ruler of a monster nation, you’re very polite, Rimuru Tempest.”

 

‘Nope, she’s after me.’

 

“What makes you think I rule a nation of monsters? I’m just an ordinary adventurer!” Rimuru continued to try and brush off the accusation, though in hindsight making his false identity as an adventurer also use the name ‘Rimuru’ wasn’t doing him any favors.

 

“I’ve received an anonymous tip. Your tricks won’t help you. There are eyes all over Ingrassia.” The knight responded blankly, continuing her gradual stride toward Rimuru.

 

‘Who sold me out? There’s only a handful of people who know I have a connection to the Federation. Mjollmile is a possibility, and so is Yuuki, perhaps one of Tanya’s contacts, but none of those are a clear answer, and the evidence for any one of them remains rather shallow.’

 

The knight continued, “Your country stands in my way, so I am going to destroy it. No nation ruled by a Demon Lord that encroaches upon humanity’s will and might shall be left to stand. I will not allow that demon’s pet slime to stop me.”

 

‘Now she’s just trying to piss me off!’

 

“Destroy Tempest? Don’t tell me you’ve already attacked?” Rimuru retorted.

 

“Have I? Who's to say? It doesn’t really matter to you regardless.” The knight retorted.

 

“Why do you want to destroy Tempest? Who’s behind this?” Rimuru asked, although the Knight ignored him. He knew the answer, he was just stalling for time.

 

“Are you finished yet?” The knight reached for their blade, placing their hand onto its handle, preparing to unsheathe it.

 

“I’m not, but could you at least tell me your name?”

 

The knight stopped, somewhat surprised, but smiled, “You’re a monster, yet you concern yourself with names. Very well then, I’ll introduce myself. I serve as the right hand of God in the Holy Empire or Ruberios, as Chief Knight of the Imperial Guard and Captain of the Holy Knights. My name is Hinata Sakaguchi.”

 

“Huh? You’re Hinata… Then wait! There is something I wanted to talk to you about!”

 

Hinata simply unsheathed her blade, gazing at Rimuru, “I have no interest in the words of a monster.” Hinata leaped for Rimuru as he narrowly dodged out of the way, barely catching his scarf as he managed to put some distance between them.

 

“I said wait!” Rimuru shouted.

 

“I’m surprised you managed to dodge that. You’re definitely the monster that killed Shizu, and now I’m going to avenge her!”

 

Rimuru shouted in an annoyed tone, “Just wait a minute! You’re Japanese, right? I am too! Shizu wanted me to help you!”

 

Hinata leaped forward once more, slashing at Rimuru and barely cutting his skin as the slime retreated back again, “You insist you’re Japanese, just as my intel told me. But it's pointless to keep up that act.”

 

«Notice: Attacks from Hinata’s sword seem to deal attacks directly to the spiritual body, not the physical body.»

 

‘So that’s why that strike hurts like hell! It seems negotiation isn’t on the table. Fighting’s my only way out of here! But just who gave her the intel? There are only two people in this world who know I’m Japanese aside from the children, and with how Tanya talks about the church, there’s no way in hell it was her!’

 

Hinata launched another attack at Rimuru, blocked by his own sword, once more gaining distance through an elaborate dance of leaps and swings. Though he managed to block the attack, he was unable to find an opening to retaliate. If he was going to win – no, survive – this fight, a more unconventional approach would quickly be needed.

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Tanya readied her rifle as she studied the woman emerging from within the cloud of dust. It didn’t take her long to recognize who it was. The blue military uniform and red beret were a standard issue among the Unified States if her green, heart-shaped computation jewel wasn’t an indication of her nationality already.

 

Her hair was a light brunette in twin tails, and her eyes glowed a bright gold as they stared angrily at the demon before her. Tanya had dealt with her countless times in her previous life, for her she was a rodent that kept showing up again and again. She was Being X’s special toy that he liked to throw at her to make her life difficult, keeping her on her toes at all times. She was just about the only mage in the world with enough raw magical power to keep up with the Type 95, although her sheer incompetence on the battlefield kept it fairly even compared to Tanya’s mastery over flight.

 

As Tanya gradually learned throughout her second life, the woman’s name was Mary Sue, a crazed lunatic who swore to avenge her father whom Tanya had supposedly killed. While Tanya no doubt nearly killed him once, and was certainly trying to kill him the second time, the idea that Tanya was the one that killed him was largely exaggerated compared to her rants and swears. It was her father that had hunted Tanya down, and it was her father that killed himself in trying to kill her. The lie was no doubt facilitated by Being X’s meddling, as she seemed empowered by Being X’s ‘miracles’, just like herself.

 

The girl’s presence here was all the confirmation Tanya needed to know Being X hadn’t given up yet, even after dying once and reincarnating in another world. She had gotten an instinctive feeling that he had died when she was brought here, or at least that he was unable to follow her, but somehow that wasn’t the case. The fact he had taken this long to show did mean that Tanya wasn’t entirely wrong with her instincts. He was likely weakened, but it was obvious now that it wasn’t permanent. He would likely only grow with time.

 

While there may have been some worry on Tanya’s part, had he come at a different time, now she was simply overjoyed. She had felt cheated out of a chance to kill Being X herself last time, so if he wanted to show his face in this world, she would gladly give him what he had coming. It was time to die once more, perhaps forever, at her hands, now that he lacked his seemingly omnipotent abilities and strengths.

 

Studying Being X’s pet rodent that he called a soldier, she could tell that in whatever process she was brought to this world in, it no doubt had greatly amplified her power beyond her previous capabilities. Should Tanya have had to face Mary when she was first born here, Mary may have had a swift victory, but Tanya had grown herself, and she wasn’t too keen on losing. 

 

“You devil… I killed you! You should’ve stayed dead!” Mary spat out in anger, rage filling her eyes as she slowly inched closer, grip tightening on her own rifle. She practically glowed with power, something Tanya counteracted with her aura.

 

Tanya knew just how to deal with her. In her past life, she didn’t have the power to do so easily; she was bound to the skies in a chaotic firefight. But here, it was just her and Mary. There may be a magical field weakening her, but that wouldn’t be enough, especially with her demon peer’s worth of magicules.

 

“Killed me? Hm… I do remember something like that. You did an awful job though, clearly. What kind of soldier survives a war with zero kills? In the Imperial Army, we called those guys cowards or deadweights. Of the two, it sounds like you’re definitely the latter, or perhaps you’re both. Ah, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Tanya had a smug grin on her face as she casually spoke to the girl who seemed like she may just start foaming at the mouth at any moment.

 

“You… You bitch!” Mary aimed her rifle as magicules quickly gathered within the barrel, firing out in a massive beam at Tanya as she simply stepped out of the way. She was used to rifle warfare, unlike much of this world and even Rimuru, having already calculated the pathway Mary would take. 

 

“Be careful with that. You could’ve hit someone.” Tanya teased, holding her hands and rifle behind her back, practically inviting Mary to pursue in anger. Seemingly unarmed and without her characteristic flying equipment, she was right there, ripe for the killing!

 

Predictably, Mary aimed her rifle to the right where Tanya stood and unleashed a barrage of bullets upon her location, something that would terrorize most mages. Before they could reach her, however, Tanya launched up with a twirl, swirling around in twirls in the air, flying like the pixie her codename titled her.

 

Mary pursued, leaping up as she left a small crater where she once stood. She charged at the devil, madly swinging her bayonet, only for the devil to dodge to the side at the last second. Mary, in anger, waved her hand to the side, creating several glowing orbs in the air, which launched at Tanya like bullets.

 

Again, Tanya weaved through them, seemingly untouchable like in her previous life. Tanya didn’t fire back, nor did she so much as even apply her own barrier, taunting the American soldier. Tanya dodged bullets without a care in the world, as if she were dodging bubbles at a kid’s party. No matter how well Mary aimed, no matter how much magic she poured into the bullets, the devil continued to dodge, giggling like a playful fairy as she was toyed with.

 

Each and every passing second of it filled her with more and more rage, her vision going red as the god-damn woman just wouldn’t die! She launched at the demon once more, swinging and slashing with all her might, yet failing to land a single hit. She finally yelled out a cry of anger as her entire eyes went solid gold. There was no longer any white, black, or other colors in her eyes. Just a pure gold color glowing as it stared down its prey, demanding death from its target.

 

With a cry of anger that could only be described as a rabid beast crying out in pain and determination, she fired yet another volley of bullets at Tanya. Despite trying to dodge them, the bullets hit their mark as Mary filled the demon with magical lead. After what was nearly a solid minute of blasting the demon’s body with countless bullets, Mary finally let the demon’s corpse fall to the ground.

 

Still enraged and wanting to ensure the demon stayed dead, Mary aimed her rifle at the corpse and fired a beam of pure magical energy. With each passing second Mary thought of her battle, thought of her past conflicts, and thought of her father. Her anger only grew and grew as she funneled more and more magic into the beam, creating one so large it could easily tear down the walls of a castle.

 

As she finally stopped her spell, there was nothing but a massive crater in the earth below, tens of meters deep. Running low on mana, she finally lowered down next to the crater, looking around as if expecting Tanya to have somehow survived that. Suddenly, she noticed a magical circle at her feet, not dissimilar from the one that brought her into this world in the first place.

 

Suddenly, with a bright dark red flash, her surroundings changed; no longer was she in an open field with mountains in the distance, rather it was a familiar forest from her homeland. Still, there were mountains, but ones that felt familiar and in a world that felt like hers again.

 

Turning, she saw her father standing there, injured, but alive. He opened his arms for her as she was frozen in shock, motioning for her to embrace him. Has she succeeded? Was this God’s reward for slaying that devil? Was it over? Mary burst into tears and ran to her father, dropping her rifle as she went to take him into her arms.

 

Instead, she ran right through, her father still standing there. She froze for a moment, confused, but then she heard a bang from behind her. The forest around her fuzzed out like static on a TV screen, her vision blurring. She glanced down to observe a massive hole in her chest as fragments of her barrier faded away around her. The mana she was using to protect herself had been completely run dry by her excessive attacks, and whatever had caused the hole had torn through the rest still fueling the shield.

 

Mary collapsed to the floor, falling onto her back as her vision began to blur, fading in and out of consciousness. Above her, she looked on in horror to see the demon, fully unharmed and unfazed, staring disappointingly at her. Rolling her eyes, the demon commented, “And this is why I set detecting illusions as a standard for the battalion…”

 

The demon raised her pistol between Mary’s eyes, the pistol she so hated, and with one last flash and bang, it was all over.

 

The demon sighed and returned her pistol to its holster. Muttering to herself, “That was a headache… Good thing she’s still a moron caught up in her own emotions, otherwise I would’ve been fighting her for hours trying to whittle her magicules down enough to break through that barrier,”

 

Her focus was now to find Rimuru. If they coordinated Mary’s attack with the supposed war that was going on in Tempest, if those ‘meteors’ were what Tanya assumed them to be, then it was likely Rimuru was caught up in one as well. If their opponent was anything like Mary, she reckoned Rimuru would have no problem, but if they weren’t, Rimuru would have some trouble, trouble neither of them could afford.

 

After breaking down the barrier weakening her, shattering the nearby crystals, Tanya’s attempts to communicate with Rimuru through their ring failed. Although there was some initial worry after communication with Veldora also failed, Tanya soon realized it was a likely result of some sort of interference, rather than Rimuru’s demise, since she still received traces of the slime’s magicules here and there.

 

If Rimuru was still caught up in such a field, however, that meant he could be in danger. Not wanting to take her chances, Tanya began flying straight to the one place Rimuru could’ve been intercepted at, to the borders of Ingrassia.

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Hinata lowered the barriers and began to trot away from the scene of the battle, satisfied. Defeating the slime had proven harder than she had anticipated, but she should’ve expected as much from the one who managed to kill Shizu. In the end, it turned out that the being had no soul as her spiritual attacks weren’t enough to kill it, forcing her to rely on Disintegration instead. No trace of the damned monster remained, truly gone forever.

 

It was perhaps a bit excessive, but it got the job done quickly and effectively. She had no reason to waste any further time fighting a monster, particularly a strong monster. Not long after she had begun walking away, however, she was quick to notice another powerful presence approaching, flying through the skies at rapid speeds.

 

Unsheathing her sword yet again, she readied herself for combat as she watched a Demon quickly land down in front of her, staring at her with a slight disgust upon its facial expression. Hinata hadn’t been informed of the finer details of the demon’s appearance, but she was quick to put two and two together and assumed this was the Demon Lord who ruled the nation of monsters.

 

They weren’t an awakened Demon Lord, however, so they could still be beaten with her current arsenal. She would’ve preferred to get the jump on the demon with barriers ahead of time, but not all was yet lost. She still had her holy magic and her many years of battle experience, something this Demon Lord possibly lacked due to their relatively new introduction to the Demon Lords' Council.

 

As the demon didn’t immediately initiate combat, choosing to float before her, Hinata spoke to her instead. “Are you looking for that pet of yours? I’ve avenged Shizue and killed that slime, your nation will be the next to fall.”

 

The demon placed her arms behind her back and spoke blankly, “Mikami Satoru.”

 

“Huh?” Hinata muttered, confused.

 

“His name was Mikami Satoru.” Tanya commented.

 

“Who’s-”

 

“The slime you just murdered in your blind belief that monsters are incapable of sentience, emotions, and kindness.” The demon’s tone was blank and emotionless, staring her down with an unblinking stare.

 

“You’re still continuing that act, huh?” Hinata retorted in annoyance, empowering her rapier.

 

“What reason do I have to do so? To make you feel remorse? Empathy? Regret? No, communists like you don’t understand the concept of any of those.”

 

“Communists?! How would you even-”

 

“Oh, were you not told? I’m Japanese as well, though this isn’t my first experience in reincarnation. I will say, dying to a train and then dying to a giant beam of magical energy are both surprisingly painless; Or rather, the pain only lasts a second. So tell me, what brought you to kill Rimuru?”

 

Hinata tightened her grip on her sword, ready to strike at the demon the second she felt it necessary, “He killed Shizu, I simply avenged her. Of course, even if he hadn’t done that, your nation is still in my way, and I shall destroy it.”

 

“I’d explain to you how everything you said is false, but I’d be wasting my time. The Holy Empire is a communist state, and I wouldn’t expect a commie to see reason.” Tanya began slowly stepping forward, moving ever closer to Hinata, “If the church wants to be our enemies, then I shall finish what Veldora started… AND RAZE IT TO THE GROUND, STARTING WITH YOU!!”

 

Hinata barely noticed the magic bullet shot from behind her, only partially dodging it with a sidestep as the bullet tore her cloak and armor, burning through some of the skin on her side. A second later, Tanya was right up in Hinata’s face, slamming her with a direct punch aimed at the kidneys that Hinata barely blocked with her sword, tumbling meters away before stabilizing herself back onto her feet.

 

Glancing forward, she saw two of the demon marching up to each other before one was absorbed into the other. Hinata quickly realized the demon had used some double to attack her from behind, but she was ready now, and such a trick wouldn’t work again. 

 

“I’m surprised you managed to dodge that. You’re definitely the monster that killed Rimuru, and now I’m going to avenge him.” Tanya raised her rifle, firing her gun as several bullets were launched at Hinata in rapid succession, the ratatata something Hinata hadn’t heard since before her transmigration to the Cardinal World. While she succeeded in deflecting those aimed toward her chest, several more grazed and tore her sides, and even a handful made their way into less vital parts of her body, causing immense pain, but not leaving her out of the fight yet.

 

Hinata sped forward at the demon, swinging her sword faster than the demon could reasonably react. As she had planned, the demon didn’t, but however, her sword was blocked by a magical barrier a foot away from the demon’s body. As she tried with all her might to force it through, the demon raised her foot and suddenly punted Hinata in the stomach, sending her flying into a crater.

 

As Hinata neared the ground, feet already lined up to stick the landing and roll into another attack, the demon somehow flew past faster than she had been launched, punting her into the air once more before flying up and launching her into the sky with both of her feet. Hinata was fighting on unfamiliar grounds, or rather, a lack thereof. The demon, on the other hand, was right at home. More bullets flew at Hinata as she struggled to continue blocking.

 

Eventually, she landed on the ground with a thud, stabilizing herself before beginning to pant. She raised her arms to the side, shouting “Spirit summoning!” as five multi-colored spirits manifested behind her, rushing the demon.

 

The spirits were quick to bind Tanya in place as she struggled against them, Hinata placing her hands together and chanting “I lift this prayer up to God. I beg thee, heed my wish…”

 

The spirits vanished as a glowing magical circle appeared below the demon, another one slowly created and rising, connected to the other via the chains that held the demon in place. One by one, more layers of magical circles formed, reaching up into the sky above as Hinata continued. She hadn’t even poured this many magicules into fighting the killer of her teacher, and she would definitely need time to recover before rampaging onward.

 

“Put an end to all! DISINTEGRATION!”

 

The space between each of the circles began to glow as beams of light descended from layer to layer, holy power radiating from each as it rapidly descended upon the demon. Finally, the demon was fully encompassed in the light, the sounds of the attack echoing throughout the valley around them as Hinata made a satisfied smirk, filled with the relief of her own victory. The shrieks of her enemies were always a delightful way to end a battle.

 

Her relief was shattered as through the sounds of pounding light beams tearing through soil and rock, she heard a loud laughter before her. The laughter, she quickly realized, came from the demon, whose silhouette could barely be seen through the light, refusing to fade into magicules.

 

The demon continued maniacally cackling as she raised one hand, snapping her fingers as the holy magic disappeared in a moment, the several magical circles shattering as Hinata stood in shock. One of the strongest holy magic attacks ever created was destroyed in a mere instant, eradicated by the very being it was supposed to defeat.

 

The demon slowly descended onto the ground, approaching Hinata at a gradual pace with a wide grin on her face. “You know, I’m not a fan of self-proclaimed gods… Why don’t you tell me which Demon Lord decided to proclaim themselves as one?”

 

Hinata returned to a battle position, tightening her grip on her sword, “How did you know?!”

 

Tanya laughed, “I didn’t, though I could make an educated guess. I’ve had my fair share of experiences with self-proclaimed gods, so let's just say I’m not too fond of them.”

 

Hinata once again charged at the demon with her sword, again only to have it bounce off its barrier. This time, the demon acted faster, manifesting a blade out of its hand as Hinata’s hand was sliced off, forcing her to drop her sword as the demon seized her by the neck, lifting her into the air.

 

“A-All of this… Because I killed… that damned… slime…” Hinata stuttered out, already gasping for air. Usurper had failed her as the Demon split off parts of her body, lowering her overall magicule count yet still having a wider range of skills capable of overwhelming the knight.

 

Tanya laughed again at Hinata, making a wide grin on her face, “Oh you didn’t kill Rimuru… He took a trick out of my book and used a false illusion to escape. It was quite fun to watch.”

 

“You were… watching?!” Hinata sputtered, still struggling as Tanya took silent enjoyment in spectating the weakened woman.

 

“Of course I was. I managed to get there just in time to see you deal the first strike. Had to fly quite fast to get here in time.”

 

“Then why… do… this…”

 

“We both know you wanted more than just Rimuru dead. You wanted our nation gone. You see, if I had helped Rimuru when he was fighting you, there’s a good chance he would’ve tried to find a diplomatic solution. He would’ve made the foolish decision to spare you. Rimuru, the slime you desperately tried to kill, would’ve been the only reason you survived!”

 

Tanya tightened her grip upon Hinata’s neck as she continued to struggle, cackling, “But… he’s not here. You guys are too blind in your struggle for human supremacy to see the facts. Of course, because the Holy Ruberios Empire that serves as the center of it all is a disgusting combination of communism and theocracy, I’m not all too surprised. Let’s face it, this clash was inevitable, I just wanted to make sure it was over quickly. It's truly a shame, I thought someone from Japan would be more interested in peace.”

 

Tanya finally released Hinata’s neck as her hand, imbued with a blade of magicules, sliced through her neck, slicing her head off instantly as she fell to the grass below in two pieces. The lauded strongest human had fallen, never to rise again.

 

In disgust, Tanya turned away, placing a barrier over her corpse and destroying it with a localized nuclear blast, destroying any evidence that it was there where she died, and ensuring any sort of necromantic magic - things she had only heard rumors of - would fail. Beginning to walk away, she heard a voice echo in her head, one that she had heard only a few times herself.

 

«Notice: The requirements have been met. Sacrifice Unique Skill [Magical Enhancement] to awaken dormant Unique Skill [Mathematician]?»

 

‘I suppose Magical Enhancement hasn’t been all too useful since I made Computation Jewels. It’ll be a small weakening to my power, but not by much. So sure, let's go for it.’

 

«Operation Successful – Unique Skill [Magical Enhancement] has been sacrificed to obtain Unique Skill [Mathematician]»

 

«Notice: The requirements have been met. Beginning the awakening process for the Manas: ‘Athena’ – ETA: 50 Years»

 

‘The hell is a ‘manas?’ Whatever it is, I suppose I have 50 years until it becomes a potential problem or a benefit, far too long for it to be today’s problem. My nation is at war, I can worry about this later.’

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Tanya arrived in a hurry at the large estate that was used for her businesses in Blumund. She was quick to rush inside, almost forgetting to change her appearance to hide her demonic nature. As she entered her office, Mia rushed over with a worried look on her face, “Miss Tanya! Where have you been?! What’s happened?! Kazuma told me Tempest was at war!”

 

“Yes, that’s what I came to talk about…” Tanya muttered, marching past her and pulling out several binders and a large map detailing the western half of the Jura Forest and Falmuth, including other nearby nations like Blumund, Ingrassia, and Dwargon. “If Falmuth is invading, then how the hell were none of our nobles able to know ahead of time!” Tanya shouted in anger, slamming the table.

 

Mia jumped in terror and stuttered, “I-I contacted the nobles after I was told Falmuth had invaded, and none of them were told to mobilize at all. It seems they deliberately avoided mobilizing our nobles.”

 

Mia’s terror turned to confusion as Tanya simply gazed at Mia as if she had just said complete nonsense. With a mixture of shock and confusion on Tanya’s face, she shouted, “What are they? Idiots?!”

 

“Huh? What do you mean, Tanya?”

 

Tanya simply broke out laughing, “These morons don’t even know how to fight a war!”

 

“I’m confused, ma’am,” Mia muttered nervously.

 

Tanya placed her arms behind her back with a grin, “Tell me, Mia, where are the armies of our nobles?”

 

“They’re still at home within their individual domains in Falmuth, Ma’am,” Mia answered.

 

“And tell me, where are the armies of Falmuth’s remaining nobles?” Tanya asked with a growing smirk.

 

“Well, they’re in Tempest I believe.”

 

“So tell me… Who’s guarding Falmuth?” Tanya asked.

 

Two and two finally clicked within Mia’s head, “Oh my… They really are morons. What’s your plan, Miss Tanya?”

 

“You’re going to be informing the King of Blumund what is going on. Within the binder on Falmuth, you’ll find a note of introduction from me. If they doubt you, show them a computation jewel. Tempest has placed a panzer unit within Blumund’s capital. You are to prepare it and have it ready to leave at my command.”

 

“But where is it going?” Mia asked.

 

Tanya’s smirk grew once more, “Why, their capital, of course.”

 

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Guy was left pleasantly surprised as Argent continued her story without much interruption. Normally she would tell him to leave and return later before, but it seemed she was in a particularly good mood that day as she continued her story even longer than usual. Not that the void helped, but he bore the pain to continue listening. He couldn’t afford to ignore her goodwill these days. 

 

“You see, Argent was always a slightly paranoid one, even among the primordial demons. Even if no obvious threats existed to her or her nation, she always wanted to be prepared for every inevitability, every possibility. Unlike others, who sought more power for personal gain, Argent sought it for her own personal and nation’s defense. If she was strong enough, she reckoned, there wouldn’t be any force capable of bringing a viable threat to her kingdom, and even fewer would dare to do so.

 

Of course, shooting for an arbitrary and vague goal would always lead to arbitrary and vague results, something she was keenly aware of. As such, she found a target to strive for, believing that if she could surpass that goal, she would be relatively safe, though I doubt she would’ve even stopped there had she reached it. Only one entity in existence would stand in her way then. Her goal was to rise to, equal, and eventually challenge Veldanava, a being I’m sure you’re quite familiar with. The creator of all living and nonliving beings, the first and strongest True Dragon, the designer of time and space itself. In short, among the strongest beings in all of the universes, and she aimed to parallel him and his near-omnipotent capabilities.

 

She believed that if she could match or even surpass him in power, she would be safe against any threat from the multiverse. He had created them en masse, she would destroy them in turn. She had no intention of challenging, let alone defeating Veldanava, if it wasn’t for that. And even if she could accomplish such a goal, she reckoned that angering the creator of all wasn’t the best for her nation’s stability, hence why she only aimed for the goal. And if she did manage to succeed, well, Veldanava would no longer be a problem.

 

While her search for Ultimate Skills and the creation of more Manas led to many dead ends, she was able to begin propping up her strongest and most loyal subordinates, either through nurturing the populace of her citizens or creating them outright. Before long, she had created an entire battalion of elites who individually could wipe out entire nations, but together as a unit, had the strength to plunge the entire world into turmoil.

 

This wasn’t enough for the primordial. She pushed even further, striving for more power and abilities. As her ability to manifest new skills slowed down over the decades, she peered deeper into the power of magic itself, and before long, she began to discover ways to use magic without the user needing to use any magicules at all. By combining magic and technology, she created powerful machines, some of which rapidly improved the quality of civilian life, and others that served as weapons capable of razing civilizations. If compared to today, they would flatten the Eastern Empire in an instant, capable of decimating most of your frozen continent and Hell itself in mere minutes.

 

During the span of a century, the nation of Demons had gone from a struggling settlement contending against the Storm Dragon to a prosperous kingdom, the first true superpower of nations. Their towers pierced the clouds, their transports soared through the sky, and their weapons leveled mountains. From a nation that could barely survive in its own backyard, Argent built an empire that could contend with the very True Dragons themselves.

 

But I’d be lying if I said that saved them.”

 

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Thanks to various editors and helpers on the Discord who helped with things like plot decisions, grammatical errors, and other aspects of the chapter:

 

Dr. Rx, Dragon1008, Ultra, Terraman60, Dtrackt

 

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

 

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Alphas and Beta Comments Deluge!

 

Ultra - ….Hinata’s dead….. FUCK YEAH

 

Dragon1008 - A communist church with a powerful being claiming to be god? Thats exactly what Tanya loves!

 

Dr. Rx - F#ck I feel tired editing this.

 

Terraman60 - Common C*mmunist L