-"He is truly a sight to behold.. The way he swings his sword so effortlessly...
How experienced can one man be..?"
Those words left Rimuru's words as he saw one man sparring with Benimaru and Shion.
It was Artorias.
This was them preparing for the upcoming battle against the Orcs, as planned.
Shion and Benimaru usually fight each other a lot as tests of strength, but this time, they had asked Artorias to join in.
Artorias by himself could probably take Rimuru in a straight match, and that was no exaggeration.
I shouldn't get on his bad si-
Before he could even finish his thought, a massive sword-clanging sound rung throughout everyone's ears, which made Rimuru jump back a little bit, that took him out of focus.
Woah! That made me move back a little..
Benimaru and Shion both used their swords to block an enormously heavy downwards strike coming from Artorias, normally, this wouldn't be anything of notice, but this was something remarkable for Benimaru and Shion.
Being able to develop synchronization like this is key to winning many future battles.
-"Good job Sh-"
-"Nic-"
And there they go...
A loud crashing sound was the prevalent noise now, as both Benimaru and Shion were sent smashing into the ground, the second they took their focus off of Artorias thinking they had him blocked, he somersaulted and broke through their unfocused guard.
It seemed all so unreal, and way too quick to Rimuru.
Artorias scolded the two for even thinking about talking during a spar, let alone facing each other when the foe is right there in front of them.
The two seemed so surprised to be getting scolded, again, they weren't used to such things.
Looks like he'll make a good counter-balance to my spoiling... Eheh..
Rimuru could only sigh, but, this was still a good moment to keep in mind for the future.
Other people started to come toward Artorias, but he stopped any attempts at getting a spar, as he wanted to finish the preparations for the upcoming battle.
Walking alongside him, Rimuru, Benimaru and Shion moved at equal pace to that of Artorias'.
-"You're harsh.. But.. A good leader is wary for his subordinates..
That is what made you great, I presume..?"
Benimaru asked a very good question about Artorias' past, and he answered truthfully.
-"My men... I wish I had any.
I was known mainly for being a loner, of course, along with my good buddy over here."
Artorias patted Sif before continuing.
"Now that I think of it deeply.. I'm grateful I didn't have any.
I am thankful there weren't any further slaughters in the abyss.. Besides me and.."
He looked at Sif, regretful of what arrogance he had to venture in the heart of enemy territory brimming with confidence..
Rimuru stared at Artorias, although not visible, he can feel the sadness from Artorias' tone, very hidden as it may be.
Shion and Benimaru were also listening closely, but chose to keep quiet instead, which was very rare to see.
Deciding to speak up, Rimuru found it in his heart to try and get closer to Artorias.
-"Listen, after we finish this battle, I want to hear it all, all of your story of that world, I want no details left out no matter what.
You are one of us now, one with my future kingdom!"
To be fair, Rimuru cringed a little on the inside saying this, this was, after all, a knight with no time for child's play, but in reality, that's all he could think of at that moment, which made him wonder,
I should've just stayed silent...
Artorias had a hard time accepting reality, he wanted to cling to being his Lord Gwyn's subordinate, he wanted to eternally cherish the fact he ever served him.. But.. Something inside him was telling him to do the opposite.
Abandon the clinging to the past, because if he sticks to the past for too long..
He might never live to see tomorrow.
He thought and thought and thought about it, but he could not finish his thoughts, as a loud voice came from the far side of the battle field.
-"That's our battle call, Lord Rimuru."
Benimaru affirmed what everyone was thinking, and Shion grabbed her sword tightly.
-"Let's go then, everyone!
Let the battle begin!"
Loud shouts came from everyone in the vicinity, as Rimuru ordered everyone to take positions, and he then looked at Artorias.
"What will you do now, Artorias?"
Artorias needed no time to think about that now.
What needs to be focused on right now, is the present, and at the present, only one thing is clear:
-"I will fight, of course, what am I if I do not repay your acceptance of me."
Artorias didn't even wait for Rimuru's response, and Sif rushed forward before him, joining up with Ranga.
And within a second, Artorias disappeared into the fray.
-"Now what?"
Rimuru looked around, and decided to act like a cool dude, and flew to the air, and observed the battle arms crossed.
"It's better than sitting still.."
He saw the absolute slaughter that was ensuing.
Shion was decimating all the lines, Benimaru was causing literal hellfire to devour his opponents, Hakurou was cutting through all the lines.
But there was one opponent, rather, two, that were of interest.
Is that a fucking plague mask? In this world?!
And from that aura.. I can only assume..
No, both of their auras..
They're the leaders..
AND ARTORIAS IS FACING THEM HIMSELF!?
WHAT HAPPENED TO REGRETTING GOING IN ALONE!??!
Rimuru flew down closer, but still a little bit off.
Artorias was absolutely man-handling the two, a massive beast who Rimuru would guess to be the Orc Lord the Dryads spoke of, and the plague-masked individual.
He was using a tiny bit of a weird untraceable energy, but Rimuru could tell it's an enhancer, but he was curious.
[Great Sage], can you scan that energy? I'm very intrigued by it.
It's not showing up on my radar as a match to any element.
[Great Sage] Immediately responded, it seemed to have given absolute priority for this.
{Searching...
Confirmed, element does not correspond to any element previously registered within currently accessible information.
Register element under custom name?}
Hm...
Please do, and choose the name you deem fit.
Rimuru gave out his word to [Great Sage], who got to doing so, and after a few seconds, it came up with the perfect name.
{Success, new element registered, "Hollow" element has been added to Unique-Skill [Great Sage]'s analysis information base.}
Alright! The more information I have on my allies, the more I can work with them.
Oh an- WOAH!
Rimuru dodged a flying head that was coming towards him at extreme speeds.
It was the detached head of an orc that tried to attack Shion, which only lead to it being annihilated.
The head sprayed blood all throughout the air, and some got on Rimuru's body, however, it didn't matter much to Rimuru, as he continued to observe the battlefield.
Hakurou was slicing and dicing, serving up hundreds of plates worth of Orc bodies, using his extremely refined and potent [Hazy Style], which involves many attacks, the one Hakurou had been using as of now was [Black Flame Slash], an extremely deadly attack that when used with intense speeds, can wipe out entire fields of armies.
Rimuru's gaze was stunned, it was a very mixed and mashed scenery of attacks, but it was beautiful.
Shion's rash cleaving of armies that caused entire tremors to rock the land back and forth, Benimaru's [Hell Flare] incinerating every single body..
Rimuru could also feel Souei cutting up some enemies off near the lands of the Lizardmen.
Oh, the poor Lizardmen, they were about to engage, but Rimuru's subordinates saved their arses before they were encircled.
Shifting his gaze back to Artorias, Rimuru saw one thing:
Blood spread everywhere.
Artorias had absolutely cleaved the plague masked man, his split-in-half body was laying in two neatly equal pieces on the ground, right down the middle.
Rimuru had a chill run down his spine, something he didn't think he had.
God damn! This man is no fucking joke! So coldly splitting him in half!
Gel.. Gelbud..?
{Answer, the name you're thinking of is the name of the individual "Gelmud".}
Yes! That! Thank you, [Great Sage].
Gelmud's blood is staining the ground!
Reminds me of myself.. Bad memories.
Ceasing his thoughts, Rimuru flew even closer to the ground.
-"HYAAH!"
The Orc Lord smashed the ground with intense might, his angry roar reverberated throughout the entire land.
Artorias swiftly jumped to the side, and using his left foot as a launch, he sprung forward, and with a slash, he split the Orc Lord's body in half.
Or that's what he thought.
That's what he thought..
Someone came and kicked Artorias in his side, which sent him a fair distance away, but he managed to stop his flight through the air by thrusting his sword into the ground.
He was split from his friend Sif, as both were on either side of the now new contestant.
-"Gehehehaha! Oh Gelmud, how much you suffered in your final moments, eh?
No matter, I guess I'll have to carry it out myself, hate it as I may!
I'm sorry for this, not!"
A clown-mask wearing individual with an interesting attire.
By now the Orc Lord's army had already been mostly wiped out, and the main focus was on this theater, Artorias and Sif battling against this new enemy and the Orc Lord.
"Big ol' piggy, how 'bout you feast on that body, it's useless to leave free power, ain't it?"
The Orc Lord then immediately partook in devouring Gelmud's dead body, which made him change.
He evolved.
It was turning out to be an extreme battle, and Rimuru had to go down.
{Warning, enemy threat level seems to be much higher than the Orc Lord.
Extreme caution advised.}
Then a loud and clear voice rung through everyone's heads.