Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 19 Chapter 2

Chapter 2
The Beginning of the Great War

After the discussion that night, it was decided that Kagali and Teare would remain in my country’s custody.

Teare was still unconscious, and it was safer to take care of her in the labyrinth. We could get detailed information and find out if there was any malicious intent at work.

So, it was only natural that Kagali would come with me. I accepted the two of them without any complaint.

Silvia-san returned to Sarion.

She would’ve been a great help as a warrior, but what was most important to Silvia-san was Sarion, where her daughter was. I couldn’t just force her to do anything I wanted, so we promised to cooperate with each other if anything happened.

I also gave her a cell phone, just in case. El-tan had one, but I decided that it would be better for Silvia-san to have one as a backup.

The communication function of the Demon’s Ring was not universal, and it was best to have as many means of communication as possible.

After this trouble was all over, we could use them for fun.

After exchanging our contact information, I saw Silvia-san off.

And now, I was in my office.

There was so much paperwork that I almost felt as if my daily life had returned to normal.

Just by looking at them, my anger towards Feldway seemed to increase by about 30 percent.

Look, I wasn’t just playing around either. And yet, there were piles upon piles of proposals that needed my approval, and a mountain of meeting notes for various measures that were being taken.

For the time being, I was putting off the meeting notes. I didn’t need to rush to look at them because they had already been done.

I looked through the new projects that needed approval and quickly decided whether they were acceptable or not.

I was busy, but it couldn’t be helped.

After all, the day after tomorrow, the world conference would be held in Kingdom of Ingracia.

That’s right, a world conference.

This would be the first such event in history.

The participation of the Emperor of the Eastern Empire in the Western States Council, which was regularly held in the West, was an unprecedented event.

Actually, I was supposed to meet up with Myourmiles in the Kingdom of Blumund and go with him. But then some idiot decided to invade Leon’s country, and that’s why our plans were thrown off.

It was a mistake that I was now forced to fill in the gaps with these documents.

But that was all over now.

All I had to do now was to sip some tea and relax.

I would try to calm down and collect my thoughts before the show.

“Rimuru-sama, here’s your tea.”

It was Diablo, not Shuna, who brought me the tea. He was working hard as a secretary, probably because Shion was away.

“Thank you. You should take a break with me, too.”

I said as such, encouraging Diablo to sit face-to-face.

Diablo was thrilled and looked at me to say something like, “I’m honored,” but I ignored it and started talking.

“So, what kind of guy is Feldway, from your point of view?”

From my point of view, he seemed to be surprisingly unpopular.

If he wasn’t, Dino wouldn’t have betrayed him so easily.

Anyway, what I needed now was information about the enemy.

If you know what kind of character they have, you will be able to judge to what extent they can bluff or not in case of emergency.

I understood well enough that he was cautious, so I thought I would ask if there was anything else.

Diablo thought for a moment and then answered.

“He’s a serious guy. He is hard-headed, inflexible, or whatever you wish to call it, but once he has made up his mind, he will not ben his will. He has a personality that doesn’t consider other people’s opinions even as a reference, so his peers were divided in their evaluation of him.”

In other words, for a yes-man, he is an easy boss because they only have to do what they are ordered to do, and for a talented and creative person, he is an uninteresting boss who ignores their own opinions.

It can be very stressful if your opinion is not accepted. If there is a good reason that is explained to you, you will be satisfied, but if there is just a rejection, you might be left with a grudge.

“Is there anything else?”

When I asked, Diablo began to worry, muttering, “That’s right…”

Then he responded with an “I’m not certain about this,” and went on to tell me something more important than I had expected.

To put it simply, it was about how to get to and from their base and this world.

They—the Aggressors, were the altered versions of those banished from this world by Veldanava and the angel legions that were their watchers.

Their base, of course, was in the Otherworld.

The connection between the Otherworld and this place, the Cardinal World, was a special force field called the “Underworld Gate,” and there were several of them around the world.

They were guarded, or rather controlled, by the demons. Surprisingly, they were expanding their sphere of influence around the “Underworld Gate.”

The only one known to exist was the “Underworld Gate” guarded by Carrera, not too far from Leon’s territory.

The other gates guarded by Testarossa and Ultima had disappeared due to a major battle.

“We’re better off without them. If you go to the Otherworld with your body, it will be contaminated and transformed. Those who come here from the other side are almost certainly Aggressors.”

He told me bitterly.

In short, it would be easier to destroy the “gate” itself since it only brought chaos in this world.

Testarossa and Ultima didn’t approve of that. They had been guarding the gate for a long time, but when Diablo went to scout for them, the gate was broken, so they had been easy to recruit.

I thought to myself, “That can’t be true, right?” but I didn’t say it. As proof, the gate that Carrera had guarded appeared to be broken.

At present, it seemed that the gates had been left unattended because one could not come and go without great power.

I secretly thought that the correct answer was that it was broken on purpose.

But back to the main topic, what Diablo was wondering about was how Feldway and the others had come to this world.

Diablo speculated that perhaps a new “gate” had appeared somewhere in the Empire.

“Or maybe they’ve restored the gate that Testarossa used to guard?”

“I cannot deny that possibility. However, it doesn’t match the time when Feldway appeared in the Empire, so it is certain that another “gate” exists.”

Well, that made sense.

“So then, you’re assuming that the Aggressor’s base is inside the Empire, right?”

So, I confirmed as such, but Diablo’s concern was something else entirely.

“No, that’s not all. From what I heard of Kagali’s story, there is no doubt that Feldway has opened the gates to the Heavenly Star Palace. One would need a “key” to open it—”

The “Heavenly Star Palace,” also known as the place of beginnings, and the birthplace of Veldanava, I believe. As Kagali had explained, Feldway’s base was adjacent to every world.

In other words, Diablo’s concern was about how to get the key—

“There is no point in worrying about how they got it. What matters is that if you pass through the gates of the Heavenly Star Palace, you can come to the Cardinal World with the body that exists in the Otherworld.”

Oops, I’m glad that I didn’t put that into words because it was way off.

Even so, what did he mean by the body that exists in the Otherworld?

“Of the Primordials, only Feldway was given a body by Veldanava-sama. The current one is only inhabiting a temporary body, so there is no point in killing it.”

“Is this something like Velgrynd’s ‘Parallel Existence?’”

“No, it’s different from that. It’s not like they are connected all the time, but rather they’re splitting their consciousnesses. He’s probably synchronizing his memories periodically, so there are no inconveniences…”

That’s why it was so troublesome, Diablo explained to me.

From what I could understand, Velgrynd was like a set of synchronized computers connected to the internet, and Feldway was like a set of computers disconnected from the internet, with only the data being transferred from the terminals.

«That seems to be the correct understanding. In other words, ‘Spacetime Continuous Attack’ will not be able to reach the main body, so he is a very troublesome opponent.»

I see, very troublesome.

“So then, unless we go to the place where the main body is to defeat Feldway, you can’t defeat him. It’s certainly troublesome…but, huh? If the main body is going to go out of its way, isn’t that convenient for us?”

Rather than searching for someone we don’t know where he is, it would save us a lot of trouble if he came to us. That’s what I thought, but it seems that it was not that simple.

Diablo answered.

“Yes. However, he is simply quite strong. It’s possible that his main body’s fighting ability could surpass that of Guy’s. That is why I wondered if we needed to be prepared for any eventuality.”

The body Veldanava had given him was a treasure to Feldway. That’s why Feldway was always inhabiting a temporary body to avoid damaging it. But we also had to consider the possibility of him reversing that belief.

I think that was correct.

The situation should not be turned upside down by a single idea from the other party. And even more so when it was a force that couldn’t be ignored.

“A serious Guy is on par with Velzard-san. That means that Feldway is also comparable to a True Dragon, right?”

“Kufufufu, that is correct.”

Diablo says that Feldway was pretty bad back in the day. Compared to the “Insect Lord” Zelanus, and the “World-destroying Dragon” Ivarage, he was a bit of a letdown, but in reality, that wasn’t really the case.

Even the existence value measured in the labyrinth was not accurate if it was not the main body. So, Feldway’s true power was unknown…

“I’ll leave it to you, but you’ll be okay, right?”

I planned to leave Feldway to Diablo. I was surprised to hear that Feldway’s true strength was that of a True Dragon, but I knew Diablo would be able to handle—No, isn’t it impossible as expected?

But as soon as Diablo heard my words, he replied with a big smile on his face.

“I am deeply moved, Rimuru-sama. I will continue to strive to live up to your trust!”

Oh, this, it looks like it’s okay.

Diablo may be overconfident, but he does not take on things he cannot do. He may or may not be able to win, but he seems to think it’s possible to deal with Feldway.

If so, it would be foolish for me to worry about it.

It is always better to have a trusted subordinate fight against an opponent who’s fight may turn out to be an indefinite battle. So, I decided to let Diablo to do his best, as I had originally planned.

Now that I understood how bad Feldway was, I was curious about the next target.

“How do you think he’ll make his move?”

“Hmm, that’s right…it’s hard to predict, but based on Feldway’s personality, I’d say he’s most likely planning to go after Masayuki-dono.”

“Eh?”

The unexpected answer took me by surprise.

But it was certainly an opinion I could not ignore.

I thought there was no point in going after Masayuki, but then I reconsidered the possibility.

Why was Masayuki targeted in the first place?

They had probably suspected that he was the reincarnation of Rudra and wanted to kill him. And this was proven by the fact that Velgrynd loves Masayuki.

Feldway was probably more wary of Rudra than Masayuki. The reason for this was unclear, but it was certainly not surprising that Masayuki would be a target.

“In the first place, I don’t think the reason is important. I don’t mean to be insistent, but Feldway is a hard-headed man who won’t admit to his own mistakes. He is not the kind of guy who would give up just because he failed once.”

Diablo said it just like that.

I was even more convinced in that case.

“Then the next meeting might be dangerous. Velgrynd-san will be escorting him, so unless something goes wrong, I think we’ll be fine, but you should be on the lookout as well.”

“Please rest assured. I am always perfectly prepared for anything.”

That’s the kind of thing I can trust in Diablo.

Regardless of his personality, he is an excellent worker. His rival, Shion, was also on a business trip right now, so there was no need to worry about him.

Diablo and I were continuing our detailed conversation, identifying any concerns, when we received some shocking news.

‘There’s been a huge problem, Rimuru!!’

The call came from Milim, full of a hint of trouble.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘Actually, Obera has escaped.’

‘Oh?’

‘She said that she was caught betraying Feldway and got into a fight with Michael.’

This was not something one should talk about on the Telepathy Net via Demon’s Ring. And so, I decided to go to Milim’s place.

Milim’s castle was under construction, but there were still some habitable parts that were already completed.

There was also a medical facility in one such corner, and Obera was lying in one of the rooms there. When she had first escaped to this place, she had been in a serious condition, to the point of unconsciousness, but now she was awake, and her upper body was upright on the bed.

It seems that she had been asleep for a long time, and we hadn’t been able to hear what happened.

Nodding my head, I greeted Obera.

“Hi, I’m Rimuru, Tempest. I’m a demon lord.”

Since it was our first meeting, I started by introducing myself.

Frey-san, who appeared to have grown more attractive, looked at me as if she was taken aback.

“It may be impolite to say this to the Demon Lord Rimuru, but don’t you think you should learn to show a little more dignity? It is one thing to able to do your duty during an emergency, and another to be able to do so duty in your everyday life. The difference is obvious to anyone who sees you.”

I immediately received a complaint, but from Frey-san’s point of view, it was probably because she was worried about the negative influence on Milim.

Because Rimuru was—because Milim was always making excuses.

That was probably it.

It was like a mother worrying about her bad friend.

I couldn’t help but smile because it was so funny.

Seeing me, Karion smirked.

“Hey, it’s tough having Frey on your radar.”

Hey now, don’t say that just because you got a new ally.

Both Karion and Frey-san, while they might say a lot of things, treated me casually when nobody else was watching. I had asked them to do so and was grateful to them because I didn’t have to be so formal that way.

Even so, the atmosphere around the two of them had changed significantly. Benimaru had reported it to me, but now that I was seeing them in person, they were like different people.

“I heard about it, so you’ve taken full ownership of the power you’ve awakened?”

“Oh yeah. Tell Benimaru that I owe him for his help the other day.”

Karion was good friends with Benimaru. He liked Benimaru when he picked a fight with him during their first meeting, and they had been friends ever since.

Even though the power relationship between them was now reversed, the fact that Karion didn’t mind at all, and even boasted that he would soon catch up to overtake him, proved how big of a person he was.

The same was true of Frey-san.

“I’m grateful to you for that. Now I can be of more use to Milim than before.”

She smiled and thanked me, but that didn’t mean that it was easier scold Milim now, did it?

I suspected as much but accepted her words of gratitude as it went without saying that I would need her strength to survive the Great War.

“Even so, Ramiris’ labyrinth is a foul play. I never realized that there was such a use for it, even though we had been together as demon lords for such a long time.”

“That’s for sure. I thought she was just Guy’s favorite, but I’m surprised the little pipsqueak had that kind of power hidden.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t hiding it. It’s just that no one noticed.”

“I knew about it!”

“Knowing about it is useless if you are unable to do anything with it. That labyrinth made me understand that. That’s why, Milim, don’t be a sore loser.”

The know-it-all Milim was being chided by Frey-san.

Laughing at this, Karion expressed his opinion.

“But well, I can’t laugh at Milim. We look like idiots too. But, hey, it makes sense, doesn’t it? When it comes to treating others well, no one can match Rimuru.”

“That’s right. In that sense, we are also the ones being used.”

Frey-san nodded, but I hadn’t expected that about Ramiris’ labyrinth.

I initially thought I would just try and make use of it, and after asking, I couldn’t help going, “What? Is that really possible?!” I was surprised.

And through trial and error, the current labyrinth was born.

Since I had not envisioned it from the beginning, their opinion was an overestimation.

But well, just by the results, the labyrinth really was amazing.

The fact that you can come back to life even if you die in the labyrinth is a foul play, no matter how you look at it. The labyrinth was perfect for training, and from a defensive point of view, it was just too impregnable.

It’s a wonder that Ramiris had been underestimated, and it felt like my own achievements were practically nonexistent.

However, I felt that it was wrong to talk about it, so I just laughed and covered it up.

“Now then, let’s finish our greetings and get down to business, shall we?”

Frey-san’s words changed the atmosphere of the hospital room into a serious one.

At this point, Obera, who had been looking at us with a wide-eyed look, tightened her expression.

Finally, she said a few words of greeting to me.

“Nice to meet you, Demon Lord Rimuru-sama, I am Obera of the former “Three Phantom Commanders” and head of the anti-cryptid forces.”

Obera began by saying so.

She spoke with a mysterious look on her face, but there was no hint of a lie. Just as Milim and the others believed, my intuition was telling me that it was true.

But just in case, I decided to poke my head in.

“Just for the record, you do understand that betrayal on the eve of a major war can lead to suspicion of espionage, right?”

“Of course. I have no way of proving my innocence, but I will tell you everything I know.”

The expression on Obera’s face was sincere, without a single trace of cloudiness. She explained what had happened, even though she wasn’t in the best of shape yet.

After she had finished her discussion with Milim, she returned to Feldway and the others. It was good that she received a physical body there, but at the same time, she also acquired an angelic skill.

Sensing that she could be in trouble, Obera considered the possibility that she might be controlled by this power. She then discarded the Ultimate Skill ‘Salvation King Azrael’ that she had acquired before Feldway could take control of her.

Silvia-san taught me this technique of separating the mind from the Skill. I was impressed by her knowledge, but when I thought more about it, I wondered if her betrayal had been exposed because the enemy had sensed Obera’s abandonment of her Skill.

As a result, Silvia-san and Kagali and the others had a difficult time, but it might be wrong to put the blame on Obera.

I would just dismiss it as an unavoidable situation and pretend that I didn’t notice it.

What was more important was the truth or falsity of Obera’s story.

Quite frankly, I found it credible.

«I agree. The story was coherent, and she even talked about information that normally should have been hidden. If she’s willing to go this far, it’s not worth the price of espionage.»

That’s right.

She spoke fluently to us about being attacked by Michael, and about his power.

She told us that Michael’s “Castle Guard” had not been activated, that he had used both Velgrynd and Velzard powers as a matter of course, that his power had destroyed Obera’s army, and so on.

It was interesting to examine the information from the perspective of whether there would be any merit should it be false. That is why I had always searched for the opposing opinions of information on the Internet and tried to find out whether the information was for or against, and what the source was, and so on.

This method was also effective on Obera.

If Obera had been deceiving us, she would have lied about Michael’s powers, but this information was too true. Even Ciel-san’s verification result showed that it was true.

What’s more, Obera had agreed to accept my ‘Analyze and Assess.’ If I did this, I could almost certainly confirm the existence of her skills.

The result of this also came out clean.

It was determined that Obera did not have the ‘Salvation King Azrael’ and was not being controlled by Michael.

After all this, believing in Obera was the correct answer.

I gave Obera recovery medicine and honey and asked her to try to recover as soon as possible.

It was decided to leave Obera to Milim and the others.

The information obtained from Obera was shared among the demon lords.

This was no longer a time to be afraid of leaking information. We all agreed that it would be too late to explain anything after something had happened to someone.

Two days passed by in a hurry, and just like that, the day of the World Conference had arrived.

Benimaru was staying back home.

As commander-in-chief, I entrusted him with the protection of Tempest.

For my escort, I had Ranga and Souei lurking in the shadows, and Diablo as my secretary. With this group, I was sure to be able to deal with things even if Feldway himself attacked.

“Hey, Boss! I don’t think there’s much I can do for you today for the big event, but please let me know if you need anything.”

Youm greeted me.

Myuran was not in sight, apparently staying at home. Instead, Gadra was there as Youm’s escort.

We greeted each other briefly and promised to meet up later.

After today’s events were over, there would be a buffet party. After that, some of us were planning to go to Ingracia’s capital for a drink in a relaxed atmosphere with people we knew well.

I went to the assembly hall with a bit of excitement and met up with Masayuki at the square in front of the hall.

Since Masayuki was the main character of the day, I welcomed him as an acquaintance and an intermediary.

“Huh, have you grown taller?”

I had grown a bit taller since I became a True Dragon. I used to be able to look Masayuki in the eye, but now we were back to the same height difference as before.

“You can tell? I think I’ve actually grown up a bit.”

Masayuki smiled happily.

Upon closer inspection, his hair was also a bright blonde.

“Your hair too?”

“Yes, it’s completely discolored. I’ve gotten used to it, but it was a bit disconcerting at first.”

At this point, I wondered if it was some kind of anomaly.

I had thought it was an exaggeration, but Rudra might actually be coming back.

But then again, Masayuki was still Masayuki.

I stopped worrying about it, and we went into the chamber together.

In the large circular venue, which I had already visited several times before, the heavyweights from various countries had already arrived.

It was noisy and bustling in its own way, but as soon as they saw us, it all went quiet.

All eyes were focused on us, but we were used to it by now.

Masayuki seemed to be the same, and he didn’t appear to be nervous.

“You’ve become more dignified.”

“That’s true. When I was enthroned in the Empire, there were so many people below me that I could barely see them all.”

The experience of declaring his accession to the throne from the castle balcony to all his subjects seemed to have helped him grow strong.

“It was wonderful, Masayuki.”

Velgrynd-san said as such as she recalled it with a wistful expression on her face. Velgrynd-san had come as Masayuki’s chaperone, but she herself had a powerful presence.

Not to mention her good looks, she looked great in her military uniform. Velgrynd-san must have been the one who drew most of the attention of the attendees.

In the midst of all this attention, Chairman Leicester, with his bushy white beard, came running up to us and led Masayuki and me to our seats.

As befits a leading role, we were in the front row.

I was seated face-to-face with Masayuki.

I could also see Testarossa at the moderator’s table.

With the arrangements in place, the historic reconciliation between the Western Nations and the Eastern Empire would go off without a hitch as long as there were no interruptions.

When thinking about something like that, red flags were bound to appear.

This time as well, that law would come into effect, but I didn’t realize at the time, and simply waited quietly for the meeting to start…

The Kingdom of Ingracia, the Great Underground Maze.

It was a secret passage that had been dug for over hundreds of years. It was a facility prepared in case of the invasion of angels and was widely known as a maze because of its intricate complexity.

There were several large open areas in the levels near the surface which could be used by anyone as a place of refuge in case of emergency.

However, that was only on the surface. At the lower levels, there were secret places that only a few people knew about.

It was the dark side of the Royal Capital, an evil research facility that could never be revealed to the world.

The research there was controlled by magical inquisitors, and the content of their research was the method of incorporating the monster factor into the human body.

The results of their research were still quite impressive, including muscle strength ten times greater than that of normal humans, skin tougher than steel, and skeletons to support those muscles. The result was their own bodies, but the king’s judgment was that it was not enough to face the supernatural existence of the demon lord.

“Another failure. This one’s a little more fragile than I thought.”

“Khihihihihi. If we want to incarnate a greater demon, we have to make a stronger body. I heard that the Empire was developing a weapon called the Battle Chimera, and the concept is similar to ours.”

“Hmm. There’s a difference between modifying the human body directly and using it as a synthetic beast.”

The existence of a drug that could induce medical skills had been a closely guarded secret and was not widely known. Therefore, the researchers here believed that the synthetic beast (Battle Chimera) was the perfect weapon.

However, they believed that strengthening the human body directly was quicker than using synthetic beasts, and that they were superior to them. That is why, without any sense of repulsion, they were repeating experiments that would seem forbidden to ordinary people.

But it was still not enough.

They were not satisfied with the results.

Currently, they had exhausted the factors of capturable monsters, and had succeeded in extracting some factors (essences). The reinforcement rate was steadily increasing, and the model was being upgraded, but this time the vulnerability was not a physical issue but rather a mental issue.

It is said that a sound mind resides in a sound body.

If this is true, then a strong body should be accompanied by a strong mind.

With this in mind, the researchers began to search for a way to fuse spiritual life forms.

The quickest way to do so, they argued, would be to tap into the power of demons. The reason for this was that it was easy to obtain a body.

In the north, there were repeated skirmishes with demons, and lesser demons and greater demons were procured by capturing weaker ones.

Such demons were lodged into dead bodies and incarnated. Thanks to these demons, they had succeeded in analyzing their composition, and discovered some interesting results.

What is the mechanism of demon incarnation?

The answer to this question was that the magicules eroded human cells and transformed them to be compatible with magic.

However, this was only the case when the demon took the initiative, and forcibly taking in the demon’s power was nothing but a poison to the human body.

That was a given.

Energy intake through food, sleep, and even breathing would become unnecessary, and even life span would disappear. It would be like being reborn as a completely different life form, and to control that by human will would be the ultimate form of recklessness.

Besides, the magical inquisitors were mistaken.

They focused only on strengthening the body, while the important thing was the power of the will.

They thought that only the physical body should be trained, because the mental aspect was strengthened by the demon’s power, and so the experiments were repeated in the wrong direction.

And one more thing.

This misunderstanding was fatal.

By cultivating the cells incarnated by the demon, a factor (essence) is extracted. They thought that by injecting it, the subject would also possess the demon’s power.

This was a big mistake.

A demon took the incarnated body as its own with the power of its will. No change would come from a cell without will, only a poison that would consume the subject.

In other words, the torturous experiments were being repeated with no hope of success.

For the subjects, this environment was hell itself.

That is why the subjects selected were not the best people, but rather orphans and slaves who would not cause a fuss if they were disposed of.

And then there were the criminals.

Those who had committed serious crimes were secretly executed and brought to this laboratory—

Reiner was breathing heavily and repeatedly.

Despair and fear occupied his heart.

He had fallen from the honorable position of Commander of the Knight Order of the Kingdom of Ingracia, to the status of a disposable experiment.

Many of Reiner’s beloved subordinates had been killed.

At first, he was angry at the injustice, but soon his heart was broken.

The help he had expected did not come.

Reiner’s family home was destroyed, and the Knight Order abandoned him.

It was only natural.

Reiner had acted outrageously at a previous council meeting.

He used Elric, the first prince of the Kingdom of Ingracia, as a motive and fought against Demon Lord Rimuru and Holy Knight Commander Hinata.

If he had won, he would have been a champion, but he lost easily.

In such a case, Reiner had to be charged with treason.

Naturally, all the people involved in Reiner’s crime were executed. In other words, he was used as an experimental subject in this laboratory.

The help that Reiner hoped for was never going to come.

Reiner understood this, and now he spent his days fearing when he would be used as experimental material.

Damn it! Why, why is this happening?!

The only reason he hadn’t completely gone insane was because his anger came back from time to time when he remembered. It was a complete resentment against Demon Lord Rimuru and against Holy Knight Commander Hinata.

I’ll make you weep! Even if you to beg for your life, I won’t forgive you. I’ll make you accept everything that happened, and then I’ll torture you to death!!

A fierce hatred was holding Reiner’s heart together.

Moreover, there was another reason why Reiner had become that way.

That was because, as of now, Reiner had only undergone physical enhancement surgery.

The plan was to strengthen him as much as possible, and then move on to the experiment of merging with the demon. In particular, Reiner was a precious specimen with an ‘Over A rank’ value, so the researchers treated him with care.

It was doubtful whether one can could it a good fortune or not, but in any case, Reiner was still alive and well, and if one only looked at his power, it had reached Special A rank.

And then, on that day.

A hope that was never meant to come appeared before Reiner.

“Wow, I didn’t expect it to be this easy to break in.”

The one who praised Vega was Feldway, who had half-heartedly entrusted Vega with guiding the way.

There were four of them in the room.

Vega was followed by Arios and Mai, and Feldway was at the back.

After their strategy meeting, each of them made their own preparations.

They all agreed not to start the attack at the same time, but to let the demon lords focus on the first attack and then hit the main target.

This meant that Feldway and the others, who were aiming for Masayuki, would be a step behind.

Fenn, a “Three Star Commander,” was to make the first attack.

He was responsible for attracting the attention of the demon lords with his flamboyant rampage.

He would defeat Dagruel, a member of the Octagram, and take control of his army. The impact would be so great that it would send chills to the hearts of the other demon lords.

Jahil, a “Three Star Commander” was also assigned to assist Fenn. With this, they had assembled enough forces to bring down the west.

Feldway and his group were the main contenders.

Their goal was to go to the world conference in Ingracia’s capital and dispose of Masayuki.

In order to keep others out of the way, Zalario, a “Three Star Commander,” was sent to stand by in the sky to stop the Demon Lord Luminas if she made a move. Or, at Feldway’s signal, he was to launch an all-out attack on Ingracia’s capital.

In addition—

At the same time as Fenn’s attack was to begin, the forces of “Insect Lord” Zelanus were scheduled to attack the Demon Lord Milim’s stronghold in the former Eurazania.

Currently, the six remaining “eight stars” were Guy, Rimuru, Ramiris, Milim, Dagruel, and Luminas. Since they were going to attack two of them at the same time, he hoped that it would upset the other demon lords.

However, the Demon Lord Rimuru, who was as much a target to watch out for as Guy, was reported to be near Masayuki, whom Feldway and the others were targeting. The name had been on the list of participants for today’s meeting, but he could not deny the possibility that this was a trap.

That is why Feldway was thinking of acting cautiously and responding flexibly.

For this reason, he accepted Vega’s advice and made use of the hidden passageways instead of entering the capital by force.

That was a good decision.

Located in the forest on the outskirts of the Royal Capital, was one of the exits to the passageway. By entering through there, it was very easy to get in without being affected by the Barriers that guarded the capital.

And that wasn’t the only fortune.

“So, this laboratory is still active. I missed this place. I remember when they experimented on me here.”

Vega muttered such a thing, and indeed, there was a hint of human presence coming from the end of the passage.

From Feldway’s point of view, these people were all insignificant in power, but by human standards, they had a certain strength.

At first, he thought it would be troublesome to cause a ruckus here, but he soon realized that this was an unexpected blessing.

“Oh, I knew it. The people trapped in this cage are experimental subjects for our research here.”

As Vega explained this, he approached the cage unprotected. He then addressed the person in the cage in a friendly manner.

“Hey, brother. You doing okay?”

The person he was speaking to was Reiner, whose heart was on the verge of breaking.

“What…you…are not those damn researchers…?”

Reiner noticed someone standing in front of the cage and cowered in fear. He looked up to see Vega, confused by the unusual situation.

Vega laughed.

“By the looks of it, you’re pretty messed up.”

“You are…?”

“Heh, I’m Vega. I guess you could say I’m your senior.”

“Senior…you said?”

“Yeah. I’m someone who was once used as a test subject here. I was lucky to escape, but it’s still a bad memory that gives me nightmares.”

Hearing this, Reiner became familiar with Vega.

He felt a sense of camaraderie with Vega as someone who understood the harsh environment.

“You are just like me…”

“Yeah, I am. So, how about I help you out?”

Vega went off on his own.

Feldway, who was listening to it all, didn’t interfere.

The mission was in Vega’s hands, and until now, things had been going well. He thought it would be a good idea to leave things to him, and he would just keep an eye on things.

Besides, there was another reason.

In addition to Reiner, there were many other prisoners here. Other experimental subjects.

There were nearly a hundred of them. Their bodies were similarly enhanced, and they seemed to be in good shape.

So, he wondered if he could use these experimental subjects for Yorishiro, a phantom who had not yet incarnated.

While Feldway was pondering, Vega and Reiner continued their negotiations.

“What?”

Reiner was puzzled by the unexpected news.

If Vega was going to help him, then there was no way he could refuse.

However, Vega and the others were too suspicious. He wondered if he could really trust them, though that was only for a moment.

After all, if he turned down their offer, all that awaited him was destruction. He would lose his mind in fear and despair and die in the not-too-distant future.

It would be better if he could pass away without suffering…when he thought more about it, it was much better to be deceived here.

“Help me. If you ask me to swear allegiance, then I will swear to give you everything I have! So take me out of here!”

Reiner shouted.

Hearing this, Vega grinned and put his hand on the steel cage. Even strengthened by magic, it was easily twisted and torn apart by Vega’s power.

The sheer power destroying the cage made Reiner realize the difference in rank.

But what surprised him more was that there were several dead bodies of the magical inquisitors lying at his feet. They had been disposed of quickly and quietly by Arios.

Reiner, who had been worried about the slow arrival of the patrol, turned pale when he found out the cause of the delay.

I can’t believe that the secret forces of the Kingdom of Ingracia, to whom even I can’t match up, were killed so easily. It’s hard to believe, but these guys are truly monsters!!

Even as he was thinking this, he felt truly relieved.

Reiner knew that he had made the right choice.

“Nice to be working with you, brother. If there’s anyone else you want to help, let me know. I’ll rescue all of them.”

Reiner’s face flushed with joy at this unexpected offer.

“Y-Yes! All of them. All of them are my subordinates!”

Only those who had been deemed to be able to withstand the enhancements were gathered here. The women and children had been sent to other experiments and were already dead. Reiner and the others who were being held here had been told this as part of their punishment. So, they chose to follow Vega without hesitation.

“Okay, from now on, you’re under my command. We’re going to run wild in the capital up there. You’ll follow us even if you don’t want to.”

“Of course. Rather, it’s a good order. We have a grudge against this country, too.”

Vega’s words were met with a happy response from Reiner. The knights under Reiner’s command nodded with the same feeling of regret for their fallen comrades and families.

Now that their lives had been spared, their resentment against being used as test subjects in a horrible experiment had increased. At this moment, their anger was uncontrollable.

And now, Feldway was giving them a boost.

“Then I will give you the power to do the same. Are you ready, Mai?”

“Yes. I have a hundred warriors from Jahil-sama.”

Following Feldway’s wishes, Mai had already taken action. In this short time, she performed an ‘Instantaneous Movement’ and had taken a selection of warriors from Jahil.

Jahil was not happy, but Feldway had given him an order. There was no way he could disobey, so the order was carried out swiftly.

And so, deep underground the Kingdom of Ingracia…

The incarnation ritual was performed on Reiner.

The being with the stronger will would take control of the body. In some cases, the egos would be merged, but Reiner accepted this as better than those inhumane experiments.

And so—

“I am filled with power. Vega-sama, thank you for saving us and giving us the chance to take revenge.”

“No problem. I’ll lend you this thing, so you can go wild!”

Reiner took the weapon from Vega.

It was a knight’s sword embodied by the ‘Multiple Weapons’ ability that Vega had taken from Oria. Needless to say, its performance was equivalent to a mythical-grade weapon, but Reiner, who had the power of a “staff officer”-class phantom, would be able to use it.

The current Reiner’s power was over a million in terms of existence value. With the addition of the mythical-grade weapon, he had been strengthened to the equivalent of two million.

Reiner’s subordinates had also been reborn with existence values ranging from 200,000 to 500,000, equivalent to Special A rank or higher.

Vega was in a good mood, having acquired an unexpected asset.

Feldway was also satisfied.

This was an unexpected pick-up. Now, go wild and do your best to help me.

With a smile on his face, he watched as Reiner and the others left in high spirits.

A huge tremor hit Heaven’s Tower.

On that day, the “Holy Void” Damargania was on the verge of extinction.

“Ahh, that feels pretty dangerous. Could it be the one who ravaged the earth a long time ago?”

Hearing Ultima’s murmur, Veyron and Zonda, who had been recalled, became tense.

“I will go check with Dagruel-sama right away.”

“Right. We have to consider the worst-case scenario, so Zonda should run to Beretta-san’s location now and make sure Shion-san is informed as well.”

As soon as they heard Ultima’s order, Veyron and Zonda moved out.

If this place were to fall, it was obvious that Lubelius with Shion would be the next target. It was natural to contact the headquarters, but it was also safe to inform Shion of the seriousness of the situation.

Perhaps because he understood this, Zonda did not argue with her at all.

The fact that he didn’t say anything unnecessary such as “why?” or “I’ll fight with you” was due to his absolute belief and fear in Ultima.

Unlike the lower demons, those under Ultima’s direct control understood. They understood their master’s character.

Ultima was unforgiving to those who disobeyed her, and she had no mercy for those who did not agree.

And above all, Ultima’s judgment was accurate.

Zonda had tested it and found that the area had already been sealed off from magic. All means of communication had been jammed, and it was impossible to communicate with anyone.

Of course, they were fully prepared for such a situation.

Rimuru had instructed everyone to keep in constant contact with each other, as this was an issue that had come up during the previous attack on Leon. He told them to communicate with each other regularly, once every five minutes.

This way, any point where contact was lost would be considered abnormal. So even if they didn’t panic, others would know within five minutes that there was something going on, but Ultima must have decided that it would be too late.

If that was the case, then all Zonda could do was follow the orders to the best of his ability. Zonda was not so incompetent as to waste his precious time.

Zonda took with the wind and disappeared.

Ultima stood up and bit her nails.

“Now then, if my expectations are correct, should I consider running away?”

Ultima didn’t want to do that, but she was determined to do so in the worst case.

Rimuru-sama also believed in Dagruel. But at the same time, he had his doubts…

Rimuru seemed to be a good-natured person, and it’s true that he was gullible to a fault, but in fact, he was quite cunning.

Even Ultima, a king amongst demons, respected him for his calculating nature.

Back then, Rimuru had muttered something casually.

“It’s a little curious that you’re asking Veldora for support even after explaining the enemy’s purpose.”

At the Walpurgis’ banquet, Dagruel had constantly been asking Veldora to come to his aid.

Michael was after for Veldora’s dragon factor. Dagruel knew this, yet he still wanted Veldora to come instead of Ultima.

It made sense that it was because they knew each other, but he was still curious.

It’s because they were familiar with each other—that was certainly convincing, but it had still bothered him.

As for Ultima, she didn’t think that Rimuru was overthinking it.

After hearing Rimuru’s story, she had finished all her thoughts about Dagruel. As a result, she had come to the same conclusion as Rimuru that the possibility of Dagruel betraying them was not zero.

To begin with, Dagruel was born from the Mad King of the Giants, wasn’t he? He went on a world-destroying rampage, and was sealed up by Veldanava-sama…

She didn’t know the details, but could still guess.

To begin with, this land was adjacent to the area that was Ultima’s territory. Naturally, Ultima knew more about Dagruel than anyone else.

Rimuru must have sent Ultima here in anticipation of this.

It’s easy to get excited when you think of the people who are counting on you.

Ultima thought of this, and upon arriving in Damargania, she had been studying Dagruel, investigating whether or not he had betrayed them.

She found a clue.

Dagruel was said to have three brothers, but only one younger brother was introduced to her.

She thought that the remaining one would be the key, but right now, a powerful presence was attacking.

The presence resembled that of Dagruel and his brother, Glassord—

“The Mad King of the Giants.”

Ultima muttered, a fearless smile on her face.

When Veyron entered the throne room, it was filled with shouts of anger.

It was understandable.

The divine structure known as the “Heaven’s Tower” had been restored to its former function. In other words, a door to the heavens had opened.

Originally, the Heaven’s Tower was a divine fortress that could protect them from any enemy. But this time, the Heaven’s Tower had become a battlefield.

It was inevitable that the people living in this land would be very upset.

What’s more, the presence that came down from there was familiar to the old giants.

Even before they could see the enemy, the giants were disturbed.

There were many individual differences in the lifespan and abilities of giants.

First of all, there was no lifespan for the ancient individuals. They were times when they would be replaced by their successors by entrusting their memories and powers to them, but that was only a measure in case they were killed in battle.

Spares and replacement individuals did have lifespans, but these lifespans grew longer with each generation, and even the most recent generation had lifespans of several hundred years.

And as for their abilities, the ancient individuals had powers worthy of being called gods.

The Giants were huge, ranging from 2 to 2.5 meters at their normal size, but they grew several times larger in battle. The strength of their bodies was the true essence of the Giants.

In the case of Dagruel, the oldest of the Giants, the difference between his normal size and battle size was more than tenfold. In other words, he could grow to over 20 meters in size.

Among the Giants, there was one who was as strong as or even stronger than Dagruel. That was his younger brother, Fenn.

Dagruel had three brothers, but his youngest brother was a tyrant who had lost control of his emotions while maintaining his intellect and reason.

He was sealed away by Veldanava, and since then, Dagruel had kept the seal. That is why he had not been able to move from this land, even though his territory had been turned into a desert.

The place where Fenn was sealed was the Heavenly Star Palace. And there was only one way to get there, through Heaven’s Tower.

There were other ways, but that was reserved for those who possessed the key.

Incidentally, there was only one owner of the key.

Only Veldanava’s sister, Velzard, was allowed to open the gates to the Heavenly Star Palace.

Dagruel knew this, so the situation was not unexpected.

………
……
…

Dagruel glared at the lower levels from the upper floors of the Heaven’s Tower.

It reminded him of the Walpurgis the other day.

Selfish demon lords had been repeatedly asserting themselves while still being considerate of their opponents’ positions. They seemed to have no sense of cooperation, yet their opinions were strangely united.

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Demon Lord Rimuru’s subordinates had been busy coordinating the “magic transfer circle” until just the other day. They had now settled down, just in time for the final battle.

He was impressed at how hard they worked, and they had done a perfect job. Dagruel was also very pleased and held a grand feast to thank the team for their hard work.

Now it felt a little lonely, since there was only Ultima and her friends left as their guests.

The “magic transfer circle,” which looked like an art form depending on one’s point of view, shone brightly and sat in the center of the lower floor. However, it was its performance that was noteworthy.

The purpose of the magic circle was said to be for allowing people to come and go in case of emergency, but in truth, there was no doubt that the creator had their eyes set on the distant future.

Although it was a makeshift project this time, Dagruel believed it to be a great enough achievement. If it could be used to move troops, it could also be used on a large number of merchants.

Demon Lord Rimuru, huh. Someone who cannot be underestimated. By using the magicules in the air, he created such a complex magical device that’s accessible to everyone. There may be a limit to the number of times one can use it but it’s only a matter of refilling the magicule supply. It would be much safer than crossing through that magical desert.

In this abandoned and dying land, it was all they could do to import enough food to satisfy their people.

The Giants could not live by eating nothing. They needed to eat enough food to keep up with their huge bodies, and the younger they were, the more energy they consumed.

It was a sign of life, but in a sense, it was also a curse.

They exported the materials of desert monsters and depended on the food supplies from other countries. To do this, young men and women became travelers, crossing the harsh desert over and over again.

This was the reality of the “Holy Void” Damargania.

However, with this “magic transfer circle,” they would be free from such hardships.

Until now, it had been common knowledge that food and other things could not be teleported. But now, in the future, such problems would be solved.

It’s scary. I never thought I’d be able to find the solution to my problems so easily…if that’s the case, we won’t have to force ourselves on Lubelius.

It was frightening for Dagruel to see how far off the Demon Lord Rimuru was looking.

The demon lord named Rimuru, who possessed ideas that he had never thought of, was honestly amazing. He admired his recklessness and did not want to make an enemy of him.

However, someone had come to interrupt Dagruel’s excitement.

All of a sudden, a voice echoed in his mind.

‘My friend Dagruel, it’s been a long time. I’m glad to hear you’re well. I wanted to get in touch with you as soon as I got back here, but things have been crazy. I’m glad I finally got the chance to speak with you.’

Dagruel did not panic.

This situation had also been expected.

‘Hmm, so it’s you, Feldway. I’m happy that you call me a friend, but you and I are enemies now. I don’t want to talk too long, so tell me what you want.’

Upon hearing his reply, Feldway, the owner of the voice, seemed feel let down.

‘It’s a shame that you’re being so cold. I was hoping to ask you to help me as well, you know?’

Dagruel’s reaction to Feldway’s pompous tone was even colder.

‘The revival of Veldanava? I’m not interested. I don’t hold any grudge against him for sealing Fenn, and I am indebted to him for giving us this land and taking care of us, but that doesn’t mean that I think it’s right for me to help him come back.’

In the first place, Feldway and Dagruel were not on such good terms.

Rather, from Dagruel’s point of view, he was even angry with Feldway when he heard that Michael had mental control over Dino, his true friend.

At the time when he heard that Dino had betrayed them, he had wondered what kind of madness he had gotten into—

To begin with, there was no way that that idiot (Dino) would voluntarily choose to betray us in such a troublesome manner.

And he was deeply convinced when he heard the story.

That’s why Dagruel brusquely turned down Feldway’s offer.

Feldway was not amused by this.

‘Hey now, has Dagruel the “Rebellion” been tamed after becoming a demon lord?’

He tried to use Dagruel’s temper to his advantage in the negotiations.

In ancient times, the ‘Vicious Titans’ had challenged the “Star King Dragon” Veldanava and had been sealed away. That was Dagruel and his two other brothers.

A king of tyranny, spreading destruction across the earth.

His tremendous powers of great destruction had turned many lands into scorched earth.

Dagruel and the others were even called the worst gods of destruction, but they became quiet after obeying Veldanava.

He lived quietly in territory he was given and guarded Heaven’s Tower as his duty.

However, this did not mean that he had become quiet in nature.

Even now, with his power having been sealed away by Veldanava, his rage had earned him the nickname the “Continent’s Wrath.”

Feldway thought it would be easy to provoke him.

However…

‘Sorry. Things are different now. I’ve become more hopeful about the future. Considering that this is all thanks to Rimuru, I can’t betray him.’

The offer was rejected quite easily.

Then, seeing that further negotiations would be meaningless, Dagruel said, ‘The next time we meet will be on the battlefield,’ and unilaterally terminated the ‘telepathic communication.’

………
……
…

‘It’s beyond control’ Dagruel muttered.

“That Feldway, I can’t believe that he unsealed Fenn. Is this because I refused to cooperate?”

“Don’t worry about it, Brother. He is trapped in his obsession. Sooner or later, I’m sure this would have been inevitable.”

Veyron looked at the brother, who was standing at ease, and expressed his displeasure.

“Hey now, I can’t just let that statement go. Has Dagruel-sama been in contact with the enemy?”

This was an order from Lord Ultima. Veyron pursued the matter, determined not to allow any excuses.

However, this ended up as a letdown.

From the very beginning, Dagruel had no intention of hiding anything.

“Now, don’t be so hard on me. I’ll admit you’re a powerful man, but you’re weaker than I am.”

Dagruel replied without panic.

His brother, Glassord, followed suit.

“Calm yourself, Veyron-dono. It is true that my brother received an offer from Feldway. However, he turned him down, and that is why we are here now.”

With that admonition, Veyron nodded with a “Hm.”

He had been aware of the situation to begin with because he had raised his voice to question them.

The attitude of Dagruel and the others did not indicate any signs of lying, and he judged that they were telling the truth.

So then, why did they say something that would benefit the enemy during Walpurgis?

“Our great king was concerned that Dagruel-sama’s actions were questionable. I would like a clear explanation—”

And just as Veyron was about to question him…

“Well, I get it. You wanted to ask Rimuru-sama for help, didn’t you, Uncle? At Walpurgis, you wanted to make a statement that would arouse suspicion and show that you were involved with the enemy, didn’t you?”

Ultima, who had arrived late, asked Dagruel that question.

Or rather, it was not a question but an assertion.

Hearing this, Dagruel smiled broadly and happily.

“Excellent! As expected of my old nemesis. I’m glad you’re here instead of Carrera!”

This was Dagruel’s true opinion.

Carrera was too logical and wasn’t as good at reading in between the lines.

If she had misunderstood that Dagruel was betraying her, it would have been very difficult for her to solve it.

In this respect, Ultima was a relief.

She had been a long-time enemy of Dagruel, and he trusted her intelligence.

With a big smile on his face, Dagruel told Ultima that she was right. By suggesting that he was involved with Feldway, he was suggesting that he and the “Holy Void” might be targeted.

Like Dino, he did not want to be turned into a traitor through no fault of his own. If the possibility of that was not zero, he decided that he should tell them about it.

However, he also felt that saying it as it was would only lead to misunderstandings, so he deliberately left it to a hint.

“Hmm. So that’s what it was after all. Then, it was exactly as Uncle expected, right? Because Rimuru-sama understood exactly what was going on. Rimuru-sama is a cunning and all-seeing person, so this situation was probably part of his calculations. That’s why, I think we can manage without worrying.”

Ultima said with a smile.

Dagruel nodded widely and smiled with relief.

“You hear that, Glassord? My colleague is a remarkable guy. I knew that the man with the eye of god, who took Clayman by a storm, would see what I was up to!”

Ultima and Dagruel shared a heart-to-heart without Rimuru. It must have been a blessing for the both of them that they didn’t realize that the reason for this was a complete misunderstanding.

In any case, the reconciliation between the two was concluded.

“Well then, let’s do our best until Rimuru-sama comes.”

“Ultima-sama, I am at your command. I will destroy your enemies and bring them to your sight!”

Ultima and Veyron believed in Rimuru and went into battle.

“Right, I guess I’ll have a crack at him, too. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge to take on Fenn, but I might be the only one who can stop him.”

“I’ll go with you, Brother.”

The Dagruel brothers were inspired by the spirit of Ultima and the others, who were supposed to be their guests.

Quickly, they all moved to intercept the attackers.

Milim and her group was aware of the horizon beyond.

“Oh, that’s bad.”

Karion was the first to mutter, as everyone’s faces paled in silence.

The earth and sky were filled with swarms of insects. Their ferocity was immeasurable, and the threat was unimaginable.

“Those are eight of the “Insect Lord” Zelanus’ “Twelve Armies”…It’s terrible, even Zelanus’ trusted ‘Twelve Insect Generals’ are here…”

Karion was answered by the recuperating Obera.

Thanks to the care of Milim and the others, she was now fully recovered.

Obera was determined to get revenge on Michael, who had destroyed her beloved subordinates. Even she was at a loss for words in the face of the abominable reality of those horrible insects.

Or perhaps she simply hated insects.

Otherwise, she would not have asked Zalario to come forward to take charge of the more dangerous World-destroying Dragon.

Regardless of such a backstory, now was not the time to be escaping reality.

Milim spoke up.

“Hey, Frey. Is it okay if I blow them up with ‘Drago Nova?’”

Hearing this, Frey pondered, “Well…”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

Obera was looking at Milim expectantly, and it seemed like a good idea to allow it. If Frey had been uneasy with insects, she would have agreed to the idea without a thought.

However, Frey decided to wait.

She had no particular reason to oppose the idea, but she had a bad feeling about it.

“I suppose it is tactically possible to make a maximum attack on the first move. But I think it is also a good idea to expose your opponent’s capabilities while they are still unknown.”

Frey rejected Milim’s idea, saying that it was too uncertain.

With so many enemies, it would be tempting to have Milim wipe them out. However, she decided that the insectars should not be underestimated.

The reason was that she knew Zegion.

Frey had fought “Insect Queen” Apito, but she had also observed Karion and Zegion’s fight.

Apito, whom she had just barely defeated, was a fearsome majin, but to her, Zegion was like something from a whole other dimension.

This time, the enemy was the same species as Zegion.

“Honestly, maybe I’m just overly concerned, but I don’t think we should underestimate our enemy.”

No one laughed at Frey for being soft when she said this.

On the contrary, Karion agreed with her.

“No, I agree with Frey. That kind of intuition is not to be taken lightly, and I myself feel that we should be cautious about what we do. I don’t think Milim has anything to worry about, but let’s go for it.”

And Midley was the same.

“Well, the problem is that there are so many of them, but their individual strengths are closer to B rank. If we destroy the A-ranked insects that appear to be the commanders, the rest will just be a ragtag bunch. Since the commanders’ strengths are distinct, it won’t be difficult to find the targets. It might be easier than we think.”

And so, he was saying something rash, based on his own brainless standards.

‘That is not a strategy’—that’s what Frey thought, but then she remembered that Midley’s subordinates were used to such recklessness and swallowed her words.

“Well then, we’ll take care of the ones flying in the sky and leave the ground-crawling insectars to Midley-dono.”

Frey wrapped up the conversation as if she didn’t care about anything else.

“We can’t just leave it to Midley alone. I’ll have my warriors take care of the commander-level enemies as well. The headless limbs will make a good training ground for the new army.”

“Yes, that would be very helpful. After all, it’s not exactly right for a priest to be on the front lines.”

Karion spoke as if he had no choice, and Midley agreed with a wry smile.

Seeing such an exchange, Obera thought to herself.

It wasn’t just a little off, it was fundamentally wrong. But Obera wisely did not say what she thought, but only said, “I will take care of Milim-sama’s escort.”

And finally, Milim declared with a laugh.

“Wahahahaha! As my Four Heavenly Kings, I expect you all to do your best!”

In a happy manner as always.

And again, the conversation became more relaxed, as if things were back to normal.

“Whoa, whoa, are you seriously saying the ‘Four Heavenly Kings?’”

“Milim, you are influenced too much by Rimuru. Why don’t you use a more normal title instead of the Four Heavenly Kings?”

“No! I like the Four Heavenly Kings! I’ve always thought it was unfair that Rimuru was the only one with Four Heavenly Kings!!”

“Well, I’m fine with it.”

“I am as well. Milim-sama can do as she wants, and I will follow her wishes.”

“As for me, I actually like it. I’m glad it was accepted.”

“…What? Well then, I won’t be the bad guy who objects. That’s fine, then.”

In the end, Frey finally broke from the line of agreements.

In the face of the enemies from the Otherworld, Milim’s forces also deployed and waited.

The total number of them had swelled to the largest in the Octagram, having combined three of the old demon lords.

Karion and Frey had evolved into the Million-class, and a reorganization was underway.

Karion was appointed the General of the General’s Army and was given command of the entire army.

Frey, as Chief of the Guard, oversaw Milim’s personal escort.

Midley, as High Priest, was in charge of logistical support, leading the Warrior Priests.

Obera, who has recently joined the group, became the military advisor and was in charge of strategy planning.

These four were the Four Heavenly Kings of Milim.

The first group to be introduced was the main unit led by Karion—the “Flying Beast Knights.”

The leader was Suphia, and her second-in-command was Phobio.

The former ‘Beast Master’s Warrior Alliance,’ a thousand members strong, was leading the remnants of Clayman’s army and the warriors of the Beast Kingdom. The number of warriors had multiplied by a hundred, creating an army of 100,000.

Add to this Karion’s command, and it made for a fearless army.

Next to be introduced was “Milim’s Guards,” a super-elite unit directly led by Frey.

Lucia and Claire acted as adjutants, providing support to Frey, the commander.

The knights of the skies soared while riding the flying magic beasts (gryphons) that were Frey’s tiger cubs. They numbered a little over 3,000. The team was led by Frey’s close aides, the “Heavenly Flying Group (Tenshōshū)” with each unit consisting of ten to thirty riders.

Although the gryphons were rank one magic beasts, their strength had been raised to rank by being trained by Karion. With the elite warriors of the Beast Kingdom and the “Sky Queen” elite guards from all over the world riding on them, their overall strength exceeded A rank.

In addition, the “Heavenly Flying Group (Tenshōshū)” members were all affected by Frey’s awakening, and their individual strengths were equivalent to the high A ranks. There were some who were comparable to Special A rank, and they were a considerable force to be reckoned with.

In this world, it was the largest army consisting of only those above A rank. Although they were only a little over 3,000 in numbers, they were fierce warriors who could easily fight in the air with high-speed maneuvers as one.

Finally, the last group to be introduced were the logistical support troops that had been gathered in a hurry.

Although Midley was the representative, they were actually commanded by Hermes.

There were stray majins, human mercenaries, and Clayman’s former subordinates. It was a mixed unit consisting of a variety of people, but they had been entrusted to Midley to assist in the battle.

Most of them had been involved in construction work until then, and their individual strengths ranged from D rank to B rank at best. Their temperament was not suited for fighting, and their duties were to carry supplies, procure food, and assist the priests as medics.

However, they were numerous and numbered about 100,000.

This was the entirety of Milim’s force, which totaled over 200,000.

It was a formation in which the combat troops were in the front, protecting the support troops.

In addition to this, there were reinforcements from Tempest.

Most conspicuous was the army led by Geld.

They had been summoned for the construction of Milim’s castle city, but they had gone straight into the defensive battle.

Although not all of them had been sent to support other divisions, the Yellow Numbers and the Orange Numbers totaled to 35,000 people.

They were a force specialized in defense, but the Yellow Numbers were particularly impressive.

With Geld’s evolution, the fighting ability of the high orcs under his command had also greatly increased, and the number of members has risen to 10,000. Some of them had even reached rank A, making them a fearsome army on average.

The Orange Numbers had also gained combat experience and were now an army of warriors. Their average rank was B, and they were as strong as any knightly order. In addition, when combined with Geld’s authority, they would serve as a shield to protect their allies with an ironclad defense.

This time, they would not go to the front lines, but would protect the rear.

And let us not forget the “Hiryuu” led by Gabil.

There were only a hundred of them, but all of them were Special A rank which was a ridiculous force.

They were planning to participate in this battle in a flexible manner, going as wild as they wished.

Lastly, there was Carrera and Esprit.

Even though there were only two of them, they were still considered a formidable force.

With these reinforcements, they were going to fight against the army of “Insect Lord” Zelanus, but it was still going to be a tough battle.

After all, the enemy numbered more than three million, more than ten times their own numbers.

The wriggling insects were coming them like a gush of water.

And so, the dawn of war was about to begin.

First up was Carrera.

“If Milim won’t do it, then I guess it’s my turn.”

And with that said, she happily stepped forward.

“Well, I really wanted to show them what I could do, but Frey didn’t want me to. It can’t be helped, so I’ll let Carrera have this one.”

Milim didn’t stop either.

Before they had realized it, the two had become best friends.

The damage to those around them had not doubled, rather it had become immeasurable due to the synergistic effect, but that was irrelevant to the two of them. As long as they were enjoying themselves, that’s all they cared about, and they only increased each other’s power to do so.

That’s right, power.

Power was strength!

And strength was destructive force.

“Damn insects, I’ll give you annihilation! The ultimate and most powerful—‘Abyss Annihilation!!’”

Carrera was a master at unleashing the most powerful magic from the very first move.

With this, more than two million insects were extinguished.

The gap of more than ten times was now reduced to four times. Seeing this, the faces of the soldiers who had been lamenting the hopeless difference in strength were filled with hope.

At first glance, Carrera’s action may have seemed foolhardy, but it was optimal in terms of boosting morale. By reducing the enemy’s numbers before they could inflict casualties, Carrera had kept her forces strong and increased their will to fight.

With this, it seemed that the battle would suddenly turn in their favor—that’s what they thought, but…

Frey’s bad premonition came true.

“It can’t be?! That one’s channeling my magic to the Otherworld…”

“Carrera-sama’s magic…I can’t believe it, but it’s true. This is why I hate insectars. Some of them can nullify magic, truly, they are our natural enemies.”

It was exactly as Esprit said.

Carrera’s magic had been redirected by a single insectar.

A feminine insectar with beautiful long, slender, iridescent wings.

Her name was Peliod, and she was one of the Twelve Insect Generals who had absolute superiority over magic.

“Well now, this is not the time to be impressed. They’re almost here. Geld-san, please defend the area above with all of your might.”

“Mm, understood.”

Carrera’s smile faded as she instructed Geld.

He had his doubts, but Geld obeyed without question.

As that exchange was going on, Esprit was moving quickly in the background. She sensed the situation with her Unique Skill ‘Discerner,’ and deployed her own defense magic to reinforce the ‘Defense Barrier’ that Geld had put up.

“—What?”

Frey was wondering, and that’s when it opened.

There was a strange distortion in the sky.

“Hm, just as I thought.”

“That’s Carrera-sama for you! She was able to decipher that complicated magic rewrite in one shot.”

“Naturally, or rather, it’s something basic. But more importantly, can we withstand it?”

“Huh, then I’ll help. If this castle is destroyed, Frey will be furious!”

As soon as she said that, Milim also held out her hand to the sky.

Then, Geld’s ‘Barrier,’ Esprit’s defensive magic, and Milim’s protective curtain were activated simultaneously.

Immediately after that, a wave of destruction poured down from the rift in the heavens. It was, as expected, Carrera’s very same “Abyss Annihilation.”

“Wait, could this be—”

“Oh, come on, you mean that…”

Frey used her brain to guess what had happened.

And Karion, with his instincts, also sensed what was going on.

One step behind, Midley muttered.

“I see, so Carrera-dono’s magic was channeled into the Otherworld and its exit was reconnected above our heads. What an absurd thing to do…”

That was the correct answer.

Gabil was the only one who couldn’t see what was going on, but that couldn’t be helped. It was as if Carrera, who excelled in magic, was having her most powerful magic spell being thrown back at her. That was difficult to believe even if it was explained, so it would be unreasonable for one to imagine it.

In the first place, it was hard to believe that such imitation was even possible.

In any case, for now, they had no choice but to let Geld and the others do their best, and they all prepared for the impact with bated breath.

And for a few moments, there was a violent flickering of light and an impact that could turn the world upside down.

It gradually converged and eventually subsided.

After the tremors had died down, Carrera finally spoke up.

“I can’t believe someone would do something like this. If this had been Milim’s magic, I’m not sure what would have happened.”

Carrera had finally calmed down, having somehow managed to erase the ‘Abyss Annihilation’ she had unleashed. She then made a casual remark, but the others paled when they heard it.

This time, the power had been reduced to less than thirty percent, so they were able to endure somehow. Even so, the terrain around the castle was badly damaged and the streets and other parts of the city were no longer visible.

Reconstructing this area would be a headache, but fortunately, no human casualties were reported.

But what if this had been ‘Drago Nova?’

“Wahahahaha! My magic is not so easy to control. It’s possible, but I think that only some of its power would be returned.”

“Even it is only some of it, we might not be able to prevent. What is it called? That magic is based on an unknown theory. It’s impossible to rewrite the laws, and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to defend ourselves.”

Carrera replied honestly.

Carrera was good at magic, but Milim’s magic was on another level. To be honest, the two had always competed in terms of power, so she knew better than anyone else how dangerous it was.

That being the case, Gabil raised a question.

“If so, then wouldn’t the enemy have been able to throw back Milim-sama’s magic?”

That was a very good point.

Gabil was surprisingly smart and had a great sensitivity in this aspect.

It was Milim who replied.

“No, it was returned. That person has mastered ‘Spatial Domination’ to great effect. It seems that she specializes in computing power, but I’m sure that she can change the flow of any directional magic, regardless of its nature.”

Carrera agreed.

“I agree with you. I hate to admit it, but I that think the bigger and more complex the magic, the easier it will be for her to manipulate. Even if this were a base-triggered ‘Nuclear Flame,’ she’d be able to anticipate the point of activation and cut off that space to nullify it.”

If it was a spell that didn’t have a time lag, she wouldn’t have time to pass it off, but that wouldn’t be enough to inflict a fatal blow. Carrera felt as if she had been deprived of the demon’s greatest asset, which was to read and fight with magic.

At any rate, it was annoying to have someone on the enemy side who was good at magic.

“I apologize. If I had known more about the insectars, I could have prevented such a dangerous thing…”

Obera bowed her head in apology, but there was no one who blamed her.

“Well, I guess that’s how it is.”

“That’s right. In fact, we were able to reduce the number of enemies with zero damage, so if you only look at the results, it was a great success!”

“True…since we’re safe, there is no point in complaining, so for now, let us think about our next move.”

Milim and Frey were right.

It was true that Carrera’s blow had greatly reduced the enemy’s strength, and the morale of the uninformed soldiers was high. It would be more meaningful to strike the enemy with this momentum rather than to seek blame.

“From now on, magic is prohibited.”

“No objection!”

Carrera responded to Frey’s decision.

“In that case, let’s go head-to-head in a straightforward manner.”

“Sounds like fun. I don’t see the enemy king, but he has about eight generals. We have exactly the same number of executives as they do, so we should have a quota of one general each.”

When Karion expressed his opinion as a member of the Generals’ Army, Midley started saying something stupid.

Carrera was in on it.

“Hahaha, sounds interesting. Then I’ll take the one who’s slouching over there.”

The one in front of her was Zess, who was sitting on the back of a flying insectar. As the head of Insect Generals, his presence was tremendous.

“That’s not fair! Then I—”

“No, Milim. You are the leader, so you have to stand your ground.”

“That’s right. If we’re in trouble, we’ll need you to come in and help us.”

“H-Hmm, okay, I understand.”

Frey, who had stopped Milim from joining the fight, looked around the battlefield and declared.

“That is why, I will deal with that flying insect.”

Before her gaze was, a flying gold insect?—It was Torun.

As Carrera and Frey took the lead, the rest of the group started to panic.

“In that case, I—”

“I will—”

“I’ll—”

Karion, Gabil, and Midley all opened their mouths at the same time and their eyes crossed.

“Well, first come, first serve, no complaints, right?”

“Hmm, that’s fine. It’s been a while since I’ve had a real fight.”

“The same is true for me! In that case, let’s play this game like normal!!”

There was no time to interrupt.

The three of them ran out of the castle as if to restrain each other.

As if getting caught up in this, the army also began to move. Thus, the curtain of the great war was dropped.

Geld bowed to Milim and left to take command.

The only ones left were Milim, Obera, and Esprit.

“You’re not going?”

When Esprit is asked, she reluctantly spoke her mind.

“To be honest, I am not good enough, so I think it’s safer to watch the battle situation carefully and join someone else’s support. If I overexert myself and end up losing, I’ll only be dragging us down…”

It was a very wise decision.

For once, Esprit was not slacking off.

“You’re right. If you underestimate the Insect Generals, you’ll get hurt. I don’t have much experience in fighting them, but I know that they’re not ones to be taken lightly.”

In fact, many of her friends had been killed by insectars.

In particular, the one named Zess, whom Carrera was headed towards, was said to be a challenge even for Zalario. In all honesty, Obera herself could not be sure that she would win against him.

Therefore, the three remaining members decided to wait and see how the battle would go.

Carrera, who had taken the lead, was the first to meet the enemy.

“A hindrance.”

And with that, she beat up and killed a bunch of enemies at once, running across the battlefield. At the other end of the field, she fired her Golden Gun at Zess, who was standing calmly.

But Zess easily avoided it.

Even a supersonic bullet at close range was nothing more than an insignificant toy to Zess.

“Wow, you’re not bad.”

Carrera was impressed.

She transformed the Golden Gun into a military sword with a golden blade.

“I’m Carrera. The one who will reap your life.”

“Nonsense. Such a joke, you’ll have to wait until I’m on my feet before you can talk like that.”

With those words, the battle had begun.

Frey jumped out at the same time as Carrera, and without waiting for orders, the “Heavenly Flying Group (Tenshōshū)” surrounded her. Naturally, “Milim’s Guards” followed suit.

They were not entirely dedicated to escorting Milim, but this was not a problem because their roles changed in wartime.

In the first place, Milim did not need guards. Now that Obera was still there, Frey could rampage without worry.

So, while kicking flying insects to the curb, Frey made contact with Torun.

Torun was an Insect General with a shiny metallic exoskeleton to protect himself.

He was stocky and not very smart. Looking closer, he was surprisingly large, reaching a height of two meters. However, he was a powerful creature that should not be underestimated. By using his two pairs of wings like a dragonfly, he was able to freely fly in a variety of ways.

Frey realized that Torun was troublesome when he evaded her just as she thought she had struck her first blow.

Torun had dodged her claws from a high-speed flight while still staying in the air. This was due to the difference in the way they flew, and Torun seemed to have the advantage in aerial combat.

Torun’s compound eyes could catch Frey’s movements as if they were in slow motion. Although Torun was inferior to Frey in terms of straight-line speed, he could easily predict where Frey would move, making evasion a simple matter.

Torun did not possess any special skills. His power was divided between the strength of his exoskeleton, predicting the future, and his flight speed. Although simple, Torun had a very strong ability composition.

In particular, the nature of its fists was a special bio-organic steel material called “alionium,” and its strength surpassed even that of adamantite. It was strong enough to reach the mythical-grade level.

Equipped with all the important elements of combat—reaction speed, defense, and offense—Torun was inferior to Frey in terms of existence value, but superior in terms of combat ability.

Frey, who had planned to take out the enemy general at full speed, was about to suffer a major miscalculation.

However, Torun made a mistake at this point.

“Kishi, Kishishishishi. You, slow. Me, fast.”

“Hah?”

With this single comment, Frey lost her temper.

Milim would speak of this later.

Frey was by no means a mild-mannered person. Anyone who made stupid remarks would soon learn firsthand how foolish they were.

Because Milim was always being scolded, her words carried a lot of weight.

And Torun would soon understand the meaning of these words with his own flesh.

Gabil was following Frey with the ‘Hiryuu’ in tow.

“Everyone, the enemy is an insectar, the same species as Zegion-dono and Apito-dono. I think you all understand how strong they are, but you must not let your guard down!”

Gabil’s loud warning was met with wide nods from his subordinates.

They had always been beaten severely during their training in the labyrinth. Everyone was aware of the danger and remained overly vigilant.

Kakushin, Sukerou, and Yashichi followed Gabil as he swept away the swarm of insects that filled the sky with his breath.

“Hey, hey, Gabil-sama! Are you going to help Frey-sama?”

“Hm? If she’s struggling, then I’d be happy to help—”

Gabil seemed uncomfortable with Yashichi’s question. He thought that Frey would not be pleased.

Rather, there was someone else he was worried about.

“Mm, Gabil-sama, there’s someone over there who seems dangerous.”

Sukerou had discovered the person Gabil had been worried about.

“Yes. He looks vaguely like Apito-dono, but I sense a more vicious presence!”

And Kakushin responded with a similar reaction to Gabil’s concern.

That’s right, Gabil had also perceived his existence to be a greater threat than Apito.

Apito’s existence value was lower than Gabil’s, but when it came to combat, they were practically even. His odds of winning were not that high, and he was always forced to fight his hardest.

And yet, the presence of this creature was more frightening than Apito.

Gabil’s instincts told him.

This guy is dangerous.

The creature’s name was Beathop. He was an Insect General with the characteristics of a bee and a grasshopper.

Gabil was at a loss as to what to do.

Even if it was only him, he would still be in a position to take care of the lives of his subordinates.

Because Rimuru had ordered him not to die, he felt that he should not try to fight a battle that he could not win.

Although he had been carried away by Karion’s and Midley’s enthusiasm, Gabil was not that much of a fighter. He wanted to test his skills as a warrior, but he did not want to fight for his life.

Besides, if I were to get seriously injured here, Souka might shut me out. I made her cry the last time, and it is unimaginable how much trouble I had to go through to get her to change her mood…

Gabil wept over the bitter memories.

There was such a thing as battle compatibility, so there was no need to give up the advantage of being able to fly. He didn’t need to go to the trouble of challenging a dangerous opponent here, so he could just find an easier opponent to beat.

Gabil thought as such and went to find another general—However, that was too naive.

“Hey, don’t run away!”

Beathop was a formidable Insect General.

In an instant, he had closed the distance between them and was floating in front of Gabil.

“What?!”

Gabil was able to react to Beathop’s kick a moment later because he was accustomed to Apito’s speed. In addition, the Vortex Spear had been raised to a mythical-grade performance level and was able to withstand the kick.

Beathop, like Torun, also had the exoskeleton of his limbs turned into alionium.

The same was true of the vital parts of his head and torso.

He had a slender body, and his flight speed exceeded that of Torun’s. He was an Insect General with cheat-like combat abilities. While his defense was equal to Torun’s, his attack was greater than his.

Even if they were to simply compare existence values, he was superior to Gabil. Frey would have been a more fitting opponent, and it was a heavy load for Gabil.

However, in this situation, there was no way to escape. The only way to survive was to fight and win, and Gabil had made up his mind.

“There is no shortage of opponents! My name is Gabil! I have been entrusted with the title of “Dragon Lord” by Rimuru-sama!!”

Gabil said as such and confronted Beathop.

Karion ran across the land.

He was followed by an Insect General whose back was covered with spider-like limbs.

“My name is Abart. You, I kill.”

“Spit it out. Don’t talk about things you can’t do!”

As they ran, a battle was raging between them.

The divine Karion’s strength was not half bad. If it had been a one-on-one match without thinking about the future, he would have already unleashed a Burst Roar and defeated Abart long ago.

But that was not the case because this was a battlefield. There were other Insect Generals in the area, and he couldn’t show them his secret moves.

Besides, unlike in the labyrinth, death was the end. The most important thing in a battle was to survive, so he had to find a way to fight without overworking himself while also preserving his strength.

He made this decision because he thought that his opponent was a lower rank than him. In the face of a truly powerful opponent, Karion would have given it his all without thinking about the consequences.

But instinctively, Karion did not doubt his victory.

Abart’s existence value was less than half of Karion’s. Like the other Insect Generals, Abart had a combat-focused ability structure, but so did Karion.

In this battle, Karion had the advantage.

The one Midley encountered was Saril, whose body was drenched in a seemingly poisonous liquid. Needless to say, his reddish-purple exoskeleton was made of alionium. And from his tail oozed a deadly poison that would kill anybody who touched it.

The poisonous scorpion (Sasori), Saril.

It was a difficult opponent for those who excelled in hand-to-hand combat.

But that didn’t apply to Midley.

“Hmm, that’s a problem.”

“Kekeke. You’re one unlucky bastard to be standing before me.”

“Unlucky? You seem to be mistaken, so I’ll tell you, but in a battle, luck is not a factor.”

“Ah?”

“It is true that there are phenomena in the world such as lucky punches and giant killings, with lower-ranked fighters defeating higher-ranked fighters. However, such feats are the result of hard work, and they are achieved by those who have honed their own unique weapons that can be used against their superior. It is not worth the effort if something like that is reduced to mere luck, is it not?”

“What are you trying to say, bastard?”

“Hmm, I’ll put it simply. I am strong.”

And as soon as he said that, Midley disappeared.

No, rather…

With an ‘Instantmove’ that Saril’s perception could not catch, he closed the distance in an instant.

Saril was blown away, the result of Midley’s fist smashing into his face.

“Hmm, it hurts a little, but you get used to it.”

Midley’s fist was smoking purple as he muttered this.

It was Saril’s poison. Midley’s entire body was covered in a protective barrier of energy from the ‹Battlewill›. The poison was so deadly that it could have corroded it, but Midley didn’t care.

“Wh-What the hell is wrong with you?! You’ve been poisoned by me, and you don’t give a damn—”

“It’s my fighting spirit. If I couldn’t do this much, I wouldn’t be Milim-sama’s sparring partner!”

Midley shouted.

Regardless of the logic, it was loud enough to upset Saril.

At first glance, Midley didn’t look very strong.

So Saril was confused.

No, that’s crazy! There’s no way he can hit my exoskeleton with his bare hands and be safe. So then, what the hell is going on?!

Despite his thoughts, Saril still believed his victory to be unwavering.

There was no way that a mere fragile human could harm him, an Insect General.

But that was naive thinking.

Midley.

Although he may look human, his true nature was of a true dragonewt, like Gabil.

Moreover—

Normally, Midley completely concealed his abilities with ‹Battlewill›, but his existence value was actually twice that of Gabil’s.

Now, against Saril, Midley would show his true colors.

Geld returned to the front and spoke to his subordinates.

“Our job is to make sure no enemies get through.”

“““Yes!”””

All the generals responded to Geld’s order with great enthusiasm.

There was no fear on their faces, and they looked coldly at the approaching enemies.

The enemy forces were of various shapes and sizes.

They looked as if they have been transformed into monsters by incorporating the features of large insects.

There were few humanoid forms, but strangely enough, the closer they looked to human form, the stronger they seemed to be.

At that moment, Geld’s gaze settled on a single point.

A figure was sitting on the back of a huge centipede, over thirty meters in length. Judging by the overwhelming presence, he guessed that it was definitely one of the Insect Generals.

“I will deal with him.”

Geld muttered, and several of his subordinates nodded.

“Good luck!”

With those voices at his back, Geld took a step forward.

Esprit picked up her sword.

Milim called out to her as she headed to the window.

“Are you going?”

“Ah, yes. Carrera-sama seems to be struggling, so I thought I’d help out even in a small way.”

Esprit replied in a casual tone, as if she was going for a walk.

As she observed from there, Insect General Zess, who was dealing with Carrera, had a fearsome fighting ability. Moreover, Peliod was blocking Carrera’s magic, and she was on the defensive.

She could no longer stand idly by and watch just because she was weak. Therefore, Esprit took out her hidden sword without hesitation.

It was a sword forged by Kurobee, and it was a legendary-grade weapon.

Esprit, who had always believed that anything other than magic was useless to a demon, was now learning to use a sword in secret.

Esprit’s boss, Carrera, was addicted to this hobby, so she wanted to keep that in mind as a subordinate. And more than that, the experience of fighting with Agera had caught Esprit’s interest.

Esprit thought it would be interesting for a demon to specialize in swordsmanship and began to secretly work on the development of magic swordplay.

It wasn’t really ready for actual use, but now was not the time for that. Peliod’s anti-magic ability was so great that Esprit could not penetrate it. It was a humiliating fact, but it was true.

So, she decided to use her magic sword instead of magic.

“Well, the enemy doesn’t seem to care about one-on-one, so we have to make a move, right? That’s why I’m going to head out for a while!”

Milim smiled as she said so cheerfully.

“Hm, go and do your best!”

And so, with Milim seeing her off, Esprit set off for the battlefield.

Now, only Milim and Obera remained in the castle tower of Frey’s prided skyscraper.

Here, Obera opened her mouth.

“Well then, Milim-sama, I will head on out as well.”

“Hm? You’re not hurt anymore?”

“I am sorry to have caused you concern. I am already healed, so please do not worry.”

“You’re so stubborn.”

Obera chuckled when she heard Milim’s exasperated voice.

“It’s in my nature. And, as you may have already noticed—”

“Mm. It’s the source of that sticky feeling enveloping the battlefield, right?”

“Yes.”

Obera nodded, her expression tightening.

“‘Insect Lord’ Zelanus is incredibly strong. I’m afraid I’m no match for him, so please be very careful.”

In truth, it would be best if Milim never had to come into play. However, Obera guessed that if Zelanus made a move, there would be nothing they could do to stop him.

So, although unwillingly, they had no choice but to rely on Milim.

Therefore, she wanted to reduce the number of the enemy generals as soon as possible.

Just now, Obera’s eyes had caught sight of a single, free-roaming Insect General—It was Tishorn with both hands turned into sharp blades. She thought she should take them out and use the momentum to cover the others.

Now, it was a race against time.

She wanted to take out as many generals as possible before Zelanus could move. However, the enemy’s strength was too unknown for that to be easy.

“From what I can tell, there are some dangerous ones out there. Obera, please help me get them all back safely.”

“By your will!”

Obera was filled with elation.

How pleasant it was to be commanded by her lord.

Unlike the previous battles where she had fought out of a sense of duty, this time she felt as if her strength was swelling from the bottom of her heart.

I see, I wonder if it was the same for all of you? If so, I wish I could have rewarded you with more.

She felt deeply sentimental, but that was only for a moment.

The fact that Obera was alive now was the result of the wishes of her dear subordinates.

If so, she could not stand still.

“I will go.”

“Mm! The results of the battle—I’ll be expecting them!”

With Milim’s encouragement, Obera also headed to the battlefield.

And so, the Great War grew even more fierce—

—

Notes:

Of the Primordials: Primordials, as in the Primordial/Original Angels (Shigen).

I am deeply moved: The word used was “Kangeki (感激)” which can also mean many things like ‘wrought with emotion,’ ‘inspired,’ ‘great impression,’ and ‘thrilled.’ It can even be used to say that something ‘moved you to tears.’

Indefinite battle: Sennichite. See footnote #21

Little pipsqueak: He called her “chibisuke.” It can also mean little runt, or midget/dwarf.

Wide-eyed look: The phrase was “with black and white eyes,” but that didn’t make much sense to me in English unless the author is saying that her eyes are literally black and white, but I have seen this expression being used in other places.

Battle Chimera: “合成獣 (バトルキまい ラ)” 🡪 Synthetic Beast (Battle Chimera)

Eight stars: The word “eight stars (hachi hoshi)” was actually used here instead of the usual “Octagram.”

Brother: To be clear, he is not literally calling him his brother, but more like referring to him as a ‘bro’ (兄弟 “kyōdai”). Vega will continue to do this later as well.

Staff officer: “Sanbō (参謀)” 🡪 Staff officer.

Holy Void: The characters used here were “聖 (せい or ‘sei’) 虚 (きょ or ‘kyo’)” 🡪 “聖” means holy/sacred and “虚” means void/emptiness, so the tentative translation is holy/sacred void. I’ll be using ‘Holy Void’ until the official translation comes out (I did the same in V18).

Mad King: To be clear, I think this Mad King is different from Fenn, who was called the ‘Mad Fist.’

Rebellion: “Hangyaku no Kyoshin” or “反逆之巨神 (リベリオン)” 🡪 Titan of Treason (Rebellion). Also remember that “Titan” can also refer to “giant god” or “divine giant” which was brought up in a previous footnote.

Vicious Titans: “凶悪巨神 (kyōaku kyoshin).” “凶悪” can mean Vicious/evil/heinous, so Evil Titans is another possible translation.

Continent’s Wrath: In the anime, his nickname is the “Earthquake.”

Brother: Glassord calls Dagruel “Anija” which is an older way of saying “Aniki” which means ‘Brother/Elder Brother.’

Lord Ultima: He calls her “shutaru (主たる) Ultima.” Shutaru as in lord, master, chief, king, etc.

Uncle: She calls him “Ojisan” which can mean “uncle,” “old man,” or ‘mister.’ That said, ‘uncle’ is the most common usage, while the others are a little less common.

Swarms of insects: Normally, I would have put ‘insectars’ here, but they actually used the word for insects here (and many other places) instead of ‘insectar.’

Twelve Armies: “Juuni no gunzei (十二の軍勢)” 🡪 Twelve Armies/troops/military forces/etc.

Flying Beast Knights: “Hi-jū kishi-dan (飛獣騎士団)” 🡪 Flying Beast Knights/Knight Order. Can also be called the “Order/Knights of the Flying Beasts”

Heavenly Flying Group (Tenshōshū): “天 (てん) 翔 (しょう) 衆 (しゅう)” 🡪 “Heavenly Flying Group” (reads as Tenshōshū) where “天 (ten)” = heaven, “翔(shō)” = flying/soaring, and “衆(shū)” = group/gathering/crowd. Again, as this is not the real translation, I’ll just be using “Heavenly Flying Group/Tenshoshu” until someone officially translates the series.

Dawn of war: Rather than “dawn of war” the word used was “sentan (戦端)” meaning “opening of hostilities” or even “edge of war”

Best friends: The word used here for best friends is “mabudachi” which is the same word Milim uses for Rimuru. It is kind of an older slang way of saying true/close/best friend.

Insectar: Can also be called ‘insectoids.’

Defend: By ‘defend,’ she means to set up barriers/wards.

I apologize: She says “Mōshiwakegozaimasen” which is a very formal/humbling way to say I’m sorry. It literally means, “I have no excuse” or “There is no excuse.”

Alionium: “生体 異鋼（アリオニウム）” 🡪 Biological/Bio-organic Steel (Alionium)

You’re one unlucky bastard to be standing before me: Saril refers to himself (I, me, my) using “Orecchi.” I believe it’s a unique version of the “Ore” that many men tend to use. Men tend to use either “Ore” or “Boku” and woman tend to use ‘watashi.’ That said, there are other variants other than the common ones.

Giant killings: In sports, ‘giant killing’ is when a weaker team or competitor beats a much stronger well-known team or competitor.

By your will!: Obera uses the word (御意) or ‘Gyoi’ which I believe translates to “by your will” or “as you wish.” Kind of like when a servant says he/she will obey orders.