Velgrynd and I faced each other, and unleashed our attacks looking to end this battle.
Our attacks clashed, and I got sent flying while a part of Velgrynd got sliced up.
The battle was turning into a stalemate of sorts.
But, results are starting to show.
At a glance, it looked like a furious exchange between us, but I had a fair amount of breathing room.
Although I got blown away by the clashes, I diverted most of the impact away, taking almost no damage.
Analysis of Velgrynd's abilities was complete, and just looking at the compatibility between us, it was clear that she's not a threat to me.
It's my win.
I am certain of it.
At this point, I received a telepathic message from Diablo.
(Kufufufufu. It looks like a "Rat" has crawled its way into our fight.
It has been cornered onto the flagship, what are your intentions sire?)
From just his tone, it sounded like getting rid of it was easy.
As for the results for the various battles, some were put into tough battles, but no fatalities so far.
The "Rat" was sneaking around among the battles the Devil Lords were in, observing the battle between Carrera and the guy in uniform from the shadows.
He didn't look like he was going to assist his "allies", what a shady fellow.
Also, it seems like he ate one of his dead "comrades", looks like he possesses an ability of the "consumption" type.
So, was his aim the man in uniform?
Up til this point, on my orders, the surrounding space was within a field that interrupted teleportation.
I didn't want any unwanted guests, nor did I want anyone escaping.
If the "Rat" wanted to escape, his only option would be to move outside of the field that was set up.
To break through a hole in the field, and get an Airship out of the field. Then teleporting away from there.
Therefore...… his destination must be a safe spot, which also means that's where his allies would be.
Should I round up all of them, or get rid of the "Rat" now?
Someone who moves around stealthily huh.
Yuuki may be involved.
If I got rid of the "Rat", the link to whoever is behind the scenes would be cut off.
If the Emperor is eliminated, the Empire will fall into chaos. Which also meant, other factions could take advantage of the situation and grow larger.
In any case, I shall set a trap for the "Rat".
It would be best if it takes the bait (Emperor), and I get to reel them all in.
Although I have no way to confirm who is behind all this currently, it's a good idea to cut the threat at it's roots.
(Let the "Rat" scurry for now. It's probably trying to escape via teleportation, so I want to know it's destination.
After we come into contact with whoever is pulling the strings, we eliminate them. Put priority into finding out who is behind this!)
(Understood!)
To get all who are involved, including the "Rat", in one fell swoop.
I gave the orders to Diablo, with such thoughts.
Even as I was communicating with Diablo, the battle with Velgrynd was still going on.
With support from Wisdom Lord Raphael, communication was easily possible as I still had lots of breathing room, even I was impressed at the current situation.
All of Velgrynd's attacks, were nullified with the Absolute Defense of Covenant King Uriel.
In comparison, my attacks using the "Veldora Sword", looked like they were doing damage as though it was ignoring any defenses on Velgrynd's large body.
The situation looked favourable for me, and seemed it would be difficult to overturn.
Velgrynd reverted from dragon, back to her human form.
As expected, it looked like it was hard to fully defend with that large body. If the aim was to improve her defenses, changing to her human form was a good choice.
But, that meant her offense would drop significantly.
Although there was no change in ability, the amount of base Energy that was at her disposal was now limited.
But well.... To me, since all attacks are blocked anyway, there's no doubt that she would be more of a pain to deal with in her human form.
As expected of Veldora's elder sister, she was a beauty with azure blue hair, having difficulty pointing my sword at that was also one of the reasons....
Even so, that fella Raphael, wanted to take Covenant King Uriel away from me in this situation.
It's like telling me to devour her, as Gluttony King Beelzebuth would be the only remaining option.
Velgrynd, after grazing past a few of my "Veldora Sword" attacks, looked exhausted.
If I keep up these attacks, it would result in my victory, but....
「Da-damn you! To do this to us, "True Dragons"....
To not only take away my little brother, but to also get in the way of Rudra and my wishes!!」
Velgrynd spewed another Cardinal Acceleration.
Although it looked like her output has decreased, with the increased focus she was putting into the attack, it was now a pinpoint attack; it could be said to be comparable to when she was in her dragon form.
It looked smaller, but I'm the only target anyway.
――but, this attack has already been analyzed, it won't work on me any more.
「Wasn't it you guys who took the initiative!?
You pit Veldora against me in the first place!」
「Shut up! My younger brother, hasn't fallen that low to be consumed by the likes of you!
Although he was an unreliable boy, to think he would be defeated by a puny Demon Lord....
And then ending up absorbed by that Demon Lord, and used to corner me like this....」
It feels like she's really taking it out on me.
Drowned in anger, Blasts were forcefully released at me.
Too bad, those don't work against me.
But man, I'm stumped. If I continue attacking with this sword she might end up getting "erased", but well, she *is* Veldora's sister....
(Hey, Veldora. Can't you talk to her and get her to calm down?)
(!? Don't ask something so scary! I almost forgot to breathe for a moment.
It's impossible for me to nonchalantly talk to her now, since she's actually angry for me!!
If she found out I was cooperating with you, and am totally alive and all....)
Right.
I finally realised, Veldora can't be relied on, like at all.
But, man, this guy.... He's so unreliable at critical times.
This situation, happened because he ran away, and didn't want to meet his other elder sister....
Huh? Then why am I the one doing all this jack?
I was slowly getting annoyed at something else.
(But, we can't just "erase" her, right?)
(....u, Hmm. That would be bad, yea.
That's it! Let's change the setting to one which I was forcefully consumed by you.
Just devour my sister too!
Then, get her into a position similar to mine.
If it's the current "you", it's definitely possible, even Wisdom Lord Raphael agrees!)
....what is this fella saying?
This guy, just because he doesn't want to get scolded, he's the spoiled type who puts the blame on his buddy!
And from that train of thought, the bad guy is me isn't it!
Also, the plan to only have Gluttony King Beelzebuth remain supports this notion.
Raphael and Veldora are in cahoots! Was, what I have realised.
But, well.
Towards his elder sister who was so aggravated at his "death", just appearing like nothing happened is not a good idea, even I could understand that much.
Even though I understood, it definitely feels like all the troublesome stuff was dumped onto me.
Also.... If Veldora, who merrily put so much power into the sword earlier gets found out and gets chewed out for it, he's not going to put the blame for that on me too, right?
Change the setting to me being forcefully consumed! The moment he said that, he was definitely aiming to push all the blame onto me.
But wait a sec? A similar position....
Against Veldora, there wasn't really anything I can "force" him to do.
I get his consent, then he works accordingly. More like he has a lot of freedom to do whatever he wants, that Veldora.
Basically, once he is "released", there isn't much of anything I can force Veldora to do.
If he wanted to take actions disadvantageous to me, I could just cut the Link; even if Veldora declines, it's not like he gets "erased" if the Link is cut.
If something happens and the "released" Veldora gets destroyed, whether he decides to return to his "real body" which is inside me or not, there's no "real" loss.
To put it simply, there is no restricting force whatsoever.
A position similar to Veldora's.
Simply means to devour Velgrynd, then "release" her.
That also means, the fact that Veldora wasn't forced into anything would be proven, and I don't get blamed at all.
A sibling-squabble? What's that, is it tasty?
That's not something within my "jurisdiction".
I decided to devour Velgrynd, and put her in the same position as Veldora.
But, it's bothersome if she rampaged after getting "released".
Since I can't force Velgrynd, is it even possible to do something like this?
"Solution. There are no problems. As a being similar to a "True Dragon" now, there is room to spare.
Also, it is possible to set conditions for "release".
Regarding that, negotiation with individual: "Scorch Dragon" Velgrynd is required."
Hmm?
So I have to devour first.
Then, set conditions when turning her into another "ability"?
In the worst case, if Velgrynd declines, I could just isolate her inside my『Stomach』without turning her into an "ability".
I could also just let her out after the whole fiasco is over, it's not like she "needs" to become another part of my abilities.
After my ascension into something similar to a "True Dragon", I can feel my stats have definitely increased, there should be no problems isolating a Velgrynd or two inside me.
The objective was decided.
Now to get to work.
「Whatever the case, gotta get rid of the threats! I'm not going to let you do something like this again.
Velgrynd, time for you to repent a little!!」
「Screw you, like hell I'm going down without a fight!」
The fierce battle with Velgrynd continued.
Holy crap she's fast. It's gonna be a real pain to capture her.
She's supposed to have less power in her human form, but the battle isn't getting any easier.
Even then, using Covenant King Uriel, I cut her movements off with『Insulated Prison』.
Through that, I managed to finally capture her.
「You bastard, Fuck you! Let me out, release me!!」
Velgrynd was rampaging.
And the suspicious figure moving towards that pretty lady, was me.
If my appearance was that of a slime, this would totally be a crime. But then again, my current form is that of a 16 year old-ish bishoujo, this set a different kind of mood.
Can't help that.
Gotta get rid of threats.
I put my hand in contact with Velgrynd, and devoured her body all at once.
With the "feel" of isolating the aggressive Energy, it was concluded with no problems.
But, as expected of a "True Dragon".
There was difficulty in fully isolating her, even after fully consuming her "body".
She was rampaging non-stop, even though she was surrounded with『Insulated Prison』, it felt as though my body was going to be burnt asunder.
I had immunity to heat, so being able to feel heat at this point showed how bad this was.
Although there was no damage, if I were to lose mentally now, it feels like I would be utterly fried.
Right now, this was a battle of wills.
「I'm not as naive as my little brother, you dirtbag!
Also, Rudra is going to come to my aid any moment now.
This is the end for you, Demon Lord Rimuru!」
Nope, not happening.
The situation looked like it was checkmate for the Empire, the Airship which Rudra is on was attempting to escape.
「But from what I can tell, the Emperor Rudra you just talked about is leaving you behind and trying to escape.」
「Bullshit! Rudra is invincible as long as I'm still around. There's no way he's running....」
Velgrynd's attempt to belittle me failed terribly.
As she has now noticed the Airship was increasing it's speed and attempting to leave.
「Th-that can't be.... Why? Why are you leaving me behind.... Rudra!?」
And then, she closed her eyes as though she had finally realized something.
Moments later, all resistance against my devouring disappeared.
Velgrynd stopped resisting, and was now motionless inside my『Stomach』.
――I see now.... You, have already broken haven't you.... Rudra――
Only that murmur seeped out.
Velgrynd finally calmed down.
It felt like she had understood and given up on something.
It looked like she had no intention to resist, but I can't just absorb her as she is now.
Gotta negotiate with her first....
But she now looked so despondent, it felt difficult to strike a conversation.
(Oi, do what you want with me. I admit defeat, and will not resist.
But, you better be prepared.
To have killed my little brother, and now me too.
Our elder sister, Velzard will never forgive you.)
(Ahh, right. About that....)
(What? You got something you wanna ask?
But, too bad for you. I have no idea how to stop the impending Angel attack.
Even if I *did* know something, I have no obligation to tell you anything!)
(Well, that's not it....)
To me who was kind of flustered, Velgrynd was rushing me to finish absorbing her.
It seems, she has misunderstood that I have killed Veldora after I consumed him, and looks like she is prepared for the same to happen to herself.
She was totally not listening to what I was saying, which was very troublesome.
(What is it that you want to say, you fiend!
Now that Rudra is "broken", there's no meaning in my existence.
I'm telling you to consume me or do whatever the hell you want to!)
Velgrynd got mad at me, she seems to be fairly short tempered.
Honestly, she's scary. I now kinda understood why Veldora had trouble with her.
(It looks like you are misunderstanding something, Veldora is still alive!
Why would I kill my friend in the first place? You need to listen to what I have to say first!)
(What!?)
After what felt like a long explanation――which in fact only took a few seconds in real time―― Velgrynd finally understood the situation.
By the way, during that period of time, Veldora was completely silent. Looks like he's still pushing all the responsibility onto me.
Feeling exhausted, I continued the negotiation.
And so, if she was cooperative, I intended to let her have the same amount of freedom Veldora has.
If not, then I'll only release her after everything is over.
Velgrynd turned silent for a short while, it looked like she was thinking about it.
Then slowly opening her mouth,
(I have a condition. It's more of a favour than a condition. Mind hearing me out?)
She said to me.
I kind of expected this, looking at the flow of the situation, I decided to listen to what Velgrynd had to say.
Velgrynd's favour was, as expected, related to Emperor Rudra.
After apologizing for making the first move, Velgrynd began her explanation.
Emperor Rudra was slowly deteriorating because of the influence of Ultimate Skill『Justice King Michael』that he wielded, and was reaching his end.
Which is why, he was so fixated on gaining the victory against Guy this final time; it was also why he went to such lengths in preparation.
But that also meant he ended up being lax in his judgement somewhat, as he overlooked my rise to power, which became bad luck, and ended up causing all of his plans to fall apart....
Back to the point, considering the Emperor's abilities, he was invincible as long as Velgrynd was close by, so he had no need to escape.
Seeing that he seemed to have forgotten this fact, proved that Rudra has reached the point of no return.
In addition to his impenetrable barrier, he had the ability to attack by changing the elemental properties of Velgrynd's powers with Justice King Michael, Velgrynd's explanation; his current course of action served to prove the point even more.
Most importantly,
(He can no longer hear my voice. That's why.... Rudra is most likely gone.)
Velgrynd heavy heartedly said. And,
(My favour, is for you to help release Rudra's soul from the shackles of his own fate.
He has, for the longest time, shouldered the wishes of many....)
She made her request.
But that means, even if they did manage to emerge victorious, their future outlook was non-existent.
In any case, if it wasn't possible to stop Justice King Michael from running amok, it was kind of pointless even if they won against Guy.
Just as I was thinking that,
(Well, as long as we got the victory, we were intending to "return" Justice King Michael.
We wouldn't need it after we are victorious against Guy.)
Velgrynd answered my suspicions.
Since she said something about "returning", it seems possible to "erase" that Skill.
Using Justice King Michael, one can travel to the "Heavens" via "Heaven's Gate".
In that place, using the altar for worshipping "Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava, it was possible to seal the skill.
Their plan was to head to the altar to report their victory, and "return" the skill in the process.
Ultimate Skill Justice King Michael belonged to "Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava in the first place.
(No matter how much of a "Saint" Rudra was, there were limits to how much of the skill he could handle.
That was the reason he needed to "reincarnate" countless times, maintaining his ego while continuing to "live".
Having retained control for more than 2000 years, showed just how strong his will was....
But even that has come to it's end.
My wish, is simply to release Rudra from this endless cycle.)
Velgrynd thus ended her explanation.
At that point, Diablo's report came in with impeccable timing.
(Rimuru-sama, one of your acquaintances, Damrada has passed on.
It was the result of his deathmatch, with Ultima as his opponent.
After a magnificent battle, Ultima has emerged victorious.
And Ultima, during Damrada's final moments, accepted his "request"....
I shall send the details over.)
He reported.
Then, a compressed report was sent telepathically.
With that I understood the circumstances.
It seems that there is no other choice but for the Emperor to die.
Although I didn't know the details, I had thought of Damrada to be the loyal type ――well that dandy fella was the mysterious kind. Here I thought his loyalties lied with Yuuki but it seems I was mistaken―― he too wished for the Emperor's death.
Then, there's the stuff I just heard from Velgrynd.
The Emperor who *was* exalted, huh. Compared to his past achievements, I thought his current condition was more important.
While I was musing over such matters,
(Rimuru-sama, the battle between Carrera and the man in uniform has concluded.
Due to my lack of action, the "Rat" managed to butt in.)
(Did it escape?)
(No, I have its whereabouts.
Moss attached a "tracker" onto it, it will not escape even if it teleports.
It is lamentable however, as it spoiled the results of the duel between Carrera and the man in uniform.)
Because of my order to leave the "Rat" be, he was indecisive on whether he should take action against the "Rat".
As a result, Moss managed to neutralize the "Rat's" attack, on the surface it looked like there wasn't much impact on Carrera or the man in uniform.
But, despite both sides being injured all over, their duel was brought to a halt as a result.
This "Rat" is unforgivable.
Plus, Carrera accepted the "request" of the man in uniform too, which was also to end Rudra's life.
Since it has been accepted, it shall be done.
I resolved myself firmly.
(Velgrynd, I hereby swear to release Rudra from his fate. Give me your cooperation!)
I declared.
Velgrynd showed no signs of hesitation, and give me her acknowledgement.
The Contract was now established.
And Velgrynd now began her integration within me, becoming another one of my Powers (Skills).