Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 62: Brahma
Up to 15 chapters ahead available on p@treon.com/theogbasilisk
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- Felix -
I tagged along with Rimuru as we made our way to the Laboratory in The Dungeon.
According to Diablo, the Daemons he had brought were now fully Incarnated and ready to serve.
I was somewhat curious as to who Diablo recruited. Arcueid, Lalatina, and Megumin recruited most of the notable members of their Lineage that could be useful. I imagine that Diablo also has some useful fellows under him that he makes use of.
I was somewhat interested to meet some other Daemons of the Black Lineage. That was the Lineage I was a part of, after all.
The only Daemons from my Lineage that I had met were Diablo, who was… a bit eccentric, and Berreta, who was a very serious but understanding Daemon.
"So, how many Daemons did Diablo recruit?"
"700." Responded Rimuru.
"That's quite a lot. Do you have any idea what you are going to do with them?"
Rimuru nodded. "Sort of. I was thinking of making an elite unit composed entirely of Daemons, Tempest's most elite attack force, the Black Numbers."
"Other than the chuuni ass name, that sounds like a good idea. You will definitely gain quite a lot of Arch Daemons after naming those Daemons, and each of those is a certified country destroyer. When they all work together in a proper cohesive fashion, it would make for a deadly force."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too. What exactly do you have your Daemons doing?" Asked Rimuru.
"I have them pretty split up. The more combat-oriented ones are under Megumin in the military, there is an elite unit filled with them and then I also have some Daemons as commanders of some squadrons and in other leadership positions in the army. Then the more administrative aligned ones are with Arcueid, and the ones more keen on assassination and information gathering are under Lalatina."
"I see. You got them working to their talents, huh?"
I nodded. "Yeah, though keep in mind that most of the Daemons are working under their respective Primordial; their natures and talents line up with that of their Primordials in a lot of cases. Megumin's dependents are all skilled and prefer direct combat. Arcueid's dependents are good at planning, scheming, and management. Lalatina's dependents are good at information gathering and discrete killings."
Rimuru gave me a look. "Discrete killings? Really?"
"Saying assassination over and over again is lame." I retorted.
"Sure. So how are those Otherworlders that wanted to serve you after you didn't kill them?" Asked Rimuru.
"I think they are doing pretty alright. Most of them joined the military and are currently undergoing Megumin's, let's say, laborious training." That girl's training may as well be considered torture for most, but those Otherwordlers are taking it without complaint. They had a chance to acquire real power, to make sure they weren't stripped of their freedom ever again, so they grabbed that chance with both hands and refused to let go.
"They are already pretty strong as most Otherworlders are, A Rank to Special-A, with some have already broken through into the so-called S Class Rank that Tempest coined."
S Class is what one was called when their EP was between 400,000 and 800,000 range, basically Disaster Class. My Daemon Duke subordinates were in this Rank, excluding Arcueid, Lalatina, and Megumin. Those three were in the Million Class, as well as a few other subordinates of mine.
Though those among the Otherworlders that were in S Class were at the very bottom of it, but Disaster Class is Disaster Class.
It was amusing to see that I had a Rank in Tempest's database. Catastrophe Class, a Ranking based not on just EP, but overall combat power. To be in this rank one needed to have combat power in the domain of the True Dragons, or at least approaching that domain.
It did boost my ego a bit, I was well aware that I was a bit prideful about my strength. Even if I basically cheated my way to my level of strength, I was still proud of what I had attained.
Odin is my power. Plus, if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying.
"I see. Well, it's good to see that those unfortunate souls are doing well." Said Rimuru.
"They are all eagerly training, wanting to create their future with their own hands."
According to Arcueid, none were at risk of turning traitors. All of them were extremely grateful to me for sparing them when I had no reason to, and then on top of that, freeing them from their bindings.
Oftentimes, desperate people latch onto the first hope they have, and they stay latched on. Though Arcueid still had them sign contracts as an extra measure
It didn't help that the benefits I offered were very good. Access to the rewards center where they can exchange points for higher level stuff like Arts, Spells, Sword Arts, and everything else in between. Then there was the good food they could order for a very low amount of points, and the paid vacation and days off they got.
I really was a good boss. Umu.
All of the benefits I offer are easily paid for, too. I wasn't lacking money. The vault I got from Clayman was still very, very full. Then there were the taxes that were collected, the tolls and various fees visitors had to pay, and then of course the trade that my territory partook in.
All in all, my territory was doing damn well for itself. I was even a bit proud, even if I didn't do the majority of the work.
"What about Kenya?" I asked.
"Kenya? What about him?" Rimuru asked, confused.
"Elmesia seemed to want to take him on as a student due to his potential to become a True Hero."
"Ah, that's right. How'd you know about that?"
"Elmesia brought it up to me."
Rimuru nodded. "I see. Well, I asked Kenya for his opinion, and he was eager to learn from Elmesia. It seems that hearing that Chloe had gone on her own adventure made him want to go on one of his own."
"Hmm, learning from Elmesia would do a lot for the kid. For one, he'd likely always have Elmesia and, by extension, Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion in his corner. That's not even mentioned that Elmesia would likely make for a damn good teacher."
"Yeah, I'll have to have him escorted to Sarion sometime soon. He's been bugging me about it nonstop." Said Rimuru.
"I was planning to visit Sarion sometime. I can take him if you want." I offered.
Elmesia owed me multiple favors at this point as well. I wasn't sure what exactly to use them on, but perhaps visiting Sarion would give me some ideas.
"Really?! That would be great, then. Kenya seems to like you quite a bit, you know? Says that seeing a real Demon Lord in person was awesome." Rimuru said with a pout.
I chortled. "Ha! A real Demon Lord, huh?"
The hidden meaning was obvious, Kenya didn't see Rimuru as intimidating or anything that the title of Demon Lord should confer.
"I'll pick him up before I go then. Though I'm not exactly sure when that will be."
"That's fine. I'll keep building up his foundations until you are ready." Rimuru responded.
Before long, we arrived at the Laboratory.
Towards the back, I could see a bunch of Magisteel Golem Skeletons that were not being used. I'm assuming those are the extras.
"Lord Rimuru!" Diablo appeared in front of Rimuru, already kneeling before him.
"Diablo."
"I have taken the initiative to have the Daemons moved into the extra room." Responded Diablo.
Rimuru nodded. "Good, that room should be large enough for them to gather and for me to officially meet them all."
Diablo looked at me and nodded. "Lord Felix."
"Diablo."
I saw Dino working on something with Vesta off in the corner. He spotted me and waved, and I waved back.
"Did you want to come with me, Felix?" Asked Rimuru.
I nodded. "Yeah, not much else to do at the moment."
I also wanted to see if any of the Daemons Diablo recruited had or would develop any interesting Skills which Odin could analyze.
This was the best time to give all of them a scan since they were all together.
"Alright, follow me then."
Rimuru led me to the spare room attached to the Laboratory. When Rimuru was showing us around, he said that the room was created to test any of the larger and more destructive experiments, like massive War Golems and the like, so the room was pretty empty, but it was magically reinforced.
'Odin.'
'Acknowledged.'
I could feel Odin gathering the data for various Skills, various Common and Extra Skills, but none of the Daemons present had any Unique Skills bar one.
A single Daemon had a Unique Skill, which wasn't surprising. Most of Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina's Lieutenants had Unique Skills, but they were either Daemon Dukes or on the cusps of becoming a Daemon Duke. They had powerful Egos.
This Daemon, however, was a mere Greater Daemon from what I sensed. A mere Greater Daemon with a Unique Skill is unheard of in all but two cases, mine and the Old Man's.
The one thing we had in common was that we were reincarnated, and we had powerful Souls.
Could this Greater Daemon also be someone who reincarnated?
How interesting.
I zeroed in on the Greater Daemon with a Unique Skill. He was standing towards the front of the crowd of Daemons and was now looking at Diablo nervously.
If he is an Otherworlder, he may have had a bit of an ego, an ego that Diablo had to beat out of him. In that case, fearing Diablo a healthy amount was normal.
Diablo was a scary guy, after all.
" " "Lord Rimuru!" " " All the Daemons kneeled down at once.
Rimuru looked down at them nervously, while Diablo looked like a proud parent.
I'm sure he made them do that.
I did notice that all of the Daemons here were part of Diablo's Lineage. I guess he didn't want to recruit from other Lineages due to the potential conflicting loyalties.
"Uhhh. Thanks for deciding to serve me, I guess. Seeing as you are all here, I assume you all agree to the terms and conditions Diablo told you about, so I'll be naming you all now." Said Rimuru.
Since none of the Daemons spoke up, Rimuru took that as an agreement.
Rimuru walked to the front and began listing off names left and right.
I walked over to Diablo. "You see that Daemon there?" I pointed to the potential Otherworlder.
Diablo followed my finger and nodded. "Ah, that one? Yes? Is something the matter? If he displeases you, then as my master's best friend, I am more than willing to purge him for you."
"Ah, nothing like that. I was just a bit curious about him. He seems to have a Unique Skill, something definitely abnormal for a mere Greater Daemon."
Diablo nodded. "Indeed. That is what caught my interest in the first place. He was leading a group of 100 Lesser Daemons and Greater Daemons when I came across him. He challenged me to a fight in which he lost. He was arrogant, but when he saw the difference between us, he quickly submitted. He seemed to have potential, so I brought him with me in the hopes that he would be useful to Lord Rimuru."
I nodded. "I see. I'll have to talk to him later."
"It seems he has been named." Voiced out Diablo.
I nodded. "I heard, Venom, huh? Can you ask him to come see me once he wakes up from his Evolution?"
Diablo nodded. "As you wish."
"Tell Rimuru I'm going to hang out with Veldora and Ramiris. I've gotten bored just watching Rimuru name Daemons."
Diablo's lips twitched, but he nodded nonetheless. I took that as my cue to leave.
As I was leaving, I spotted Dino waving me over, and I walked over to him.
"Felix."
I raised a brow. "Dino, what did you need?"
Dino nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I wanted to know how Milim was doing. The two of us aren't close like that so I always used to ask Ramiris about Milim, but from what I've heard, you and Milim are pretty close."
"Milim? Well, she's doing fine, I think. Frey has been making her do work, much to Milim's dismay, but she's getting it done. She may whine about it, but in the end, she will do what is best for her people."
Hearing me, Dino gained a smile on his face and sighed in relief. "I see."
"If you are really that curious, you can ask her yourself, you know. Milim is always open to making new friends. In fact, I'm pretty sure she already sees you as a friend somewhat."
Dino sighed once again. "Well, you're probably right." He muttered, his eyes dulling slightly as he looked down. I could sense numerous emotions in his tone, guilt, sadness, rage, and a bunch of other messy things.
I didn't want to get involved in that at all. Dino and I weren't close whatsoever. We weren't even friends.
The guy is billions of years old. I'm sure he can figure his own things out.
"Anyways, I'll see ya."
Dino nodded. "See you, Felix. Oh, and thanks… I appreciate it."
"No problem."
–
"Lord Felix? Lord Diablo said to visit you." I heard a somewhat hesitant voice call out.
I looked up from the book in front of me to Venom.
He looked down at the book. "Ah, I apologize for interrupting you, Lord Felix."
I waved him off. "No need to apologize, I was just messing around."
I was currently in the Laboratory Lounge, those scientists did need breaks from time to time, and they had pretty good food in the cafeteria.
I looked back down to the book. While I was waiting, I created a few Spells of mass destruction and wrote them down to possibly put into the Rewards Center.
These were Spells that I created entirely on my own without Odin's help, excluding the massive amount of magical knowledge I possessed due to Odin's analysis and understanding of the world.
One of the Spells I created was under the Ice Magic branch, it involved using Ice Magic to imitate a cold fusion reaction, creating a massive explosion of freezing energy that devastates a large area.
This can easily be scaled to continental levels of destruction.
Everyone needs a hobby, and one of mine just happened to be Spell Creation. I felt very accomplishing to create a powerful Spell on my own.
No matter how useful and overpowered Odin is, she did make it feel a bit too easy to do basically anything combat-related. It was hard to feel fulfilled. So, I made up for it with other things since I wasn't willing to risk my combat prowess on something like that. Playing music as well as things like creating Spells and such, made me feel like I did still have some magical know-how and wasn't entirely reliant on Odin's abilities.
I wasn't completely hopeless without her, which was something I could feel satisfaction in.
'Apologies.'
I sighed. 'No need to apologize, Odin. Without you, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't be as happy and satisfied with my life as I am now. Sometimes, it's just nice to relax and create things with my own merit and understanding, to feel like I do deserve all this power I hold. No need to be so serious Odin. No matter what, know that I appreciate you.'
'...Acknowledged.'
'Good. No more pouting, don't deny it! I can hear it in your tone!'
'It is the Master's imagination.'
'Liar!'
Lately, I've felt like Odin has become more and more emotional, more and more expressive. She almost seemed… Human.
Something that terrified me as well as intrigued me. Terrified me due to what sort of connotations there could be when considering that Odin may gain an Ego of her own, and then excitement that maybe, just maybe, Odin could become something more. Who knows, maybe I could get a real partner.
Someone who knew my ins and outs, someone who knew me better than I knew myself. Someone who truly understood me and worked with me in all things.
Ah, that's basically a wife, isn't it?
'!!!!!'
Then there was the fear that what if whatever entity Odin becomes isn't as accommodating and loyal as Odin is, what if she becomes something that is no longer bound to me?
I was honest enough to admit that I was very reliant on Odin and her abilities, if such a thing happened… there would be problems, big problems.
Not to mention my emotional attachment to Odin. It may be stupid but I was emotionally attached to my Skill.
Who's gonna blame me? I'm a big bad Demon Lord. I can feel however I want to.
She was there from the start, as the mere Extra Skill: Sage. She was there at my literal lowest point as a Daemon. She was my constant companion. Any normal person would become attached, even if they were getting attached to an emotionless AI thingy.
But I knew those were just my inner doubts speaking. I find it best when I have these sorts of doubtful thoughts to just process them and debunk them rather than let them fester.
I knew I liked to maintain control and that I hoarded power, and I didn't want that kind of thing to get to my head. I had a lot of knowledge from my previous life. I knew it was a bad idea to let those kinds of things fester and corrupt your mind.
Honestly, if I dwelled on it too much, I might end up becoming a paranoid freak.
After all Odin has done for me, I'd be a damn bastard to doubt her now. She was loyal to me, the least I could do is trust in her at this point.
It may be a risk but sometimes a man just needs to say fuck it, we ball.
Heh, in the end, I guess I still retain some of my Humanity, even after everything I've done.
'Odin will never ever betray the Master.' She said softly.
'Hah, I know, I know, but it is normal to have thoughts like these, you know? But I don't doubt you. I want you to know that.'
'Affirmative. Even if the World stands against the Master, Odin will be by Master's side.'
I felt Odin's sense of satisfaction and affection.
Ah, I think my heart just skipped a beat. I guess Yanderes are my type.
Odin must have acquired my amazing flirting abilities from my memories! Man, I really am too good.
'.....'
'Deny it all you want! You know it to be true!!'
For now, I would leave it at that. I'll have to think more about what's going on with Odin later.
I stored the book in my Infinity Space and looked back up to Venom. Not even a moment passed since I looked back down at my book thanks to Thought Acceleration.
"Now I was interested in something about you. That was the entire reason I had Diablo send you to me."
Venom stood up straighter, in an almost military stance, as he awaited my question.
"Are you a reincarnated Soul?"
Venom's eyes widened.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
I nodded. "That's what I thought. There is no other way a Greater Daemon would have a Unique Skill; their Souls are too weak, and their Egos aren't developed enough."
"Y-You know about my Unique Skill?!"
"Of course I do. It seems fairly useful and can get you far as long as you train well."
Venom nodded. "That is what Lord Diablo said as well."
"Take his word for it. He is very experienced. Now, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? There aren't many chances for me to talk to another reincarnated Daemon."
Venom nodded. "I do not recall much of my memories. I know I was raised in an orphanage and died before turning 16. Other than that, I just recall vague things about my life. I don't even remember how I ended up here."
"Hmm, well, that's unfortunate. That was all I was curious about. You are dismissed."
Venom bowed and then left. He seems like an alright person.
All of a sudden, I felt a Thought Communication coming from Arcueid.
"Sup Arcueid, what's up?"
"My Lord, I have captured an intruder that you may be interested in. He did not go through the proper procedures to enter your territory and made his intentions clear once I confronted him." Arcueid said smugly.
"Oh? Who is it?"
"He is known as Vega of Power, one of the three heads of Cerberus, the secret society from the Eastern Empire."
"Ah, Yuuki's goons then. I remember learning a bit about Vega."
"Indeed."
"Alright, I'll be there shortly. Give me a brief summary of why you think he was in my territory."
"It is my guess that he was there to defeat and kill you, My Lord, no matter how foolish such an attempt would be. He was likely sent by his co-workers to take care of you due to his abnormal abilities and high combat potential. Perhaps to get revenge for Yuuki Kagurazaka." Said Arcueid.
"Hm? That seems extra stupid, even if you think about how emotional they might be right now. Alright, I'll be there in a few moments."
"I shall eagerly await your arrival, My Lord."
Before leaving, I sent a Thought Communication to Rimuru. I had just dumped Velzard on him. The least I could do was say goodbye.
"Hey Rimuru, I'm going to head back. Something came up."
"Did something happen?" Asked Rimuru.
"Sorta, but it's already been handled."
"Got it, see ya, Felix."
"See ya."
With that, I snapped my fingers, bending Space, and appeared sat on my throne in my office.
I made my way down to the dungeons where we kept our prisoners, not that we had many of them in the first place.
Any spies and such were interrogated by Lalatina and her subordinates and then used to send a message, keeping live prisoners was costly after all.
You would need to feed them, make sure they drank water and didn't kill themselves, and all that stuff. Plus, there was even the very unlikely chance they escaped, and that would only make a bigger mess.
It didn't take me long to arrive in the dungeons. I walked past all the empty prison cells and the torture rooms and made my way to where I sensed Arcueid.
I turned the corner, and there she was my beautiful white-haired demoness.
"My Lord!" She said with a bright and proud smile. Ignoring the torso on the other side of the Magisteel bars, I returned the smile.
"Arcueid, good work on catching this guy."
"It was no problem My Lord! Lalatina had informed me about him, I merely had to have Moss locate him and then take care of him myself." Said Arcueid.
I nodded and looked towards Vega. For some reason he had an excited look on his face.
'Notice. The Unique Skill: Scavenger has been analyzed. The Unique Skill: Scavenger has been absorbed into the Ultimate Skill: Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony.'
'Oh? Well, damn.' I thought as I looked over the details of the skill.
The Unique Skill: Scavenger was incredibly busted, if Vega had the right resources he could climb to the peak of this world.
Scavenger allowed Vega to consume anything and gain their properties as well as a portion of their power.
It could even be used to consume weapons.
It was similar to Gluttony, if in a slightly different shade.
Beelzebuth's sub-skills had been upgraded a bit. Predation was strengthened to consume and usurp even more of a target's Energy and add it to my own if I choose to fully consume a target.
As it was, Predation only allowed me to gain a portion of the Energy of any target I consumed. Now, while it still only allowed me to take in a portion of the power, it was a far greater portion.
However, the main thing that I was focused on was how I could feel that Beelzebuth had gained a brand new sub-skill.
Mass Reproduction.
Mass Reproduction allowed me to create powerful biological duplicates of myself. Of course, this needed materials to use, and the quality of the duplicate depended on that, but I had tons of materials to use, and even my flesh could be used.
With this I could quite literally create as many vessels for various Spiritual Lifeforms as I want. The ability to give a body to any Spiritual Lifeform that is easily equal to the God Grade can only be helpful, I don't need it now; Arcueid's body is slowly being upgraded by very, very careful use of Stardust with Odin's help as well as Arcueid's own training. Then Megumin and Lalatina's bodies are naturally evolving and will soon be equivalent to God Grade, but still perhaps Mass Reproduction will come in handy at some point.
'Good work, Odin.'
'Appreciation.'
Heh, Odin has gotten better at accepting my compliments.
Now it's about time to deal with this uppity prisoner.
I walked closer to the Magisteel bars and looked down at Vega as he was chained to the floor. Arcueid stood to the side, content to watch with a gentle smile.
Arcueid had cut off all of his limbs, but I'm sure she had her reasons.
"Now, why did you come to my territory unannounced and without going through the proper procedure, hmm?"
Vega began laughing. "You really are strong, aren't you?! You have to be to have tamed that Demoness!"
I raised a brow but nodded. "I do consider myself as powerful, yes, now enough with dodging my question." I began releasing waves of my Demon Lord's Haki, focused solely on Vega. "Now answer my question."
I'd normally leave these kinds of things like interrogation to Lalatina, but I was personally interested in Vega's reasons, and it was quicker to find out this way.
Vega wasn't able to use his own Aura to attempt to resist my Demon Lord's Haki due to the various Enchantments and such that restricted Vega's use of his own internal Energy.
Arcueid didn't cripple his Magic Circuits like I did to Laplace, but what she did was just short of that.
Vega coughed out blood and fell forward. He had nothing to catch himself with, so he just face-planted, causing a faint thud
"I-I'll talk." He said, turning his head and giving us a good look at how his broken nose fixed itself in a matter of seconds.
I smiled and reigned in my Demon Lord's Haki. "Good, make better choices from now on, and do not test my patience. I'm already fed up with dealing with Yuuki's band of baboons."
Vega laughed, hearing me, before rolling over and coughing out more blood. This was a rather pathetic sight.
It seems even less than 1/100 of my Demon Lord's Haki did a real number on Vega.
"Start with why you came to my territory."
Vega nodded. "Sure. But before that, would you allow me to serve you?" Vega asked with a bloodthirsty smile.
Arcueid was now staring at Vega with unamused eyes. "Oh? Why do you want to serve me?" I asked curiously.
I recall learning from Laplace that Vega was a beast, a man who saw this world as the jungle and enjoyed bullying the weak. I felt like I knew why exactly Vega wanted to serve me.
Laplace also said that Vega was only loyal to the most powerful. The moment someone stronger showed up, he would betray you, he isn't someone I would want as a subordinate. It's not like I'm in desperate need for subordinates either.
"You're strong. You took down Yuuki; he was the biggest predator in this jungle, and you still took him down. That deserves respect and reverence."
"My my, do you mind if I step in, My Lord?" Asked Arcueid.
"Go right ahead."
Arcueid gave me a bow. "Thank you, My Lord." She then turned to look at Vega with a chilling smile.
"I recall you claiming that you would devour My Lord. That does not match what you are currently saying." Said Arcueid.
"Heh, well, I wanted to see if he was really as strong as he seemed. If he was the new king of the jungle. If he was I'd beg to serve under him. If he wasn't I'd devour him and take his power for my own." Said Vega.
Take my power for his own, huh? If he could consume me, that plan of his would probably work. The thing is, he would never be capable of consuming me, not as I am now.
"So you wished to test him then? Determine if he was worthy of your service?" Questioned Arcueid.
Vega nodded. "Exactly."
Arcueid took a deep breath and nodded before stepping aside.
I could tell she was not satisfied with Vega's answer, but knew that it was a bad idea to kill him before we got more information out of him. Arcueid had excellent self-control.
"Now that we know why you are here, why don't you tell me why exactly I should accept your service." I gestured to Arcueid. "As you can tell, I am not lacking when it comes to capable and effective subordinates."
Hearing me, Arcueid smiled smugly.
Vega looked to Arcueid and let out a vulgar laugh. "Ghahaha, yeah. That beautiful lady of yours completely defeated me, leaving me no avenue of attack. Even my regeneration was not very effective against her. I didn't think a Demon Lord would have a subordinate as strong as her. In fact, at first, I thought she was a Demon Lord!"
Well, Arcueid did meet the strength criteria to be a member of the Nine Sovereigns, though she would be at the bottom strength-wise if you ignored Ramiris and perhaps Dino since I'm not sure how strong he is when he is sealed.
But I do know that Dino has an Ultimate Skill, so he's probably pretty strong.
"In exchange for serving under you, I can give you information." Said Vega.
I looked at him curiously. "Oh? What information?" I purposefully did not agree to his terms.
Vega smirked. "I am Vega of Power, of the organization Cerberus. Kagali has assumed a leadership role and, with the help of Granbell Rosso, plans to attack Ruberious."
"Oh? Why is that?"
I was originally not going to go out of my way to eliminate Kagali as long as she didn't fuck around. She is quite pitful, after all.
But if she is getting involved in things she shouldn't be, then she only has herself to blame.
"Kagali wants revenge, Granbell also wants revenge, and both want to claim the Hero that Demon Lord Valentine has sealed."
Now, I was actually interested. "What did you say?" I asked, my tone dangerous.
Vega gulped. "Granbell Rosso was aware of the Masked Hero Chronoa being kept with Demon Lord Valentine. Yuuki also had a suspicion that Demon Lord Valentine was the God Luminous. With the help of one of our contacts, the two were able to arrange a meeting and began cooperating for the purpose of gaining control over the Masked Hero.
"What makes them think they can control Chronoa?" I asked.
"If Demon Lord Valentine can control Chronoa, they believe they can as well." Vega answered.
Ah, so they are working off false information once again huh? I would have thought Granbell would have learned his lesson. I suppose he is getting desperate.
Luminous never controlled Chronoa, but I guess that is a valid line of thought. Demon Lords and Heroes are both antithesis of each other, for them to cooperate is almost unthinkable. In that case it isn't that unbelievable that Luminous found a way to control Chronoa.
So Granbell wants revenge for what? For Mariabell? Mariabell's death did kind of ruin his entire plan for world domination so that makes sense.
"I'm guessing that Kagali wants revenge on me? For killing Footman, Clayman, and now Yuuki?"
Vega let out a guttural laugh. "Yes, her hatred for you rivals, if not surpasses her hatred of Demon Lord Leon now. She wants to see you dead and will stop at nothing to accomplish that goal."
"I see. Do you know their exact plan to extract Chronoa?"
"Partially. Kagali explained the general plan to us, but she is likely keeping some things to herself."
I nodded. "Share what you know then."
"Kagali, along with Granbell have made a plan to steal the Hero from under Demon Lord Valentine's nose." Vega began.
"The plan is for Granbell to serve as a distraction; he will attack the main cathedral and draw most of Ruberious' forces, as well as Demon Lord Valentine. Misha of Love will help during this by having her tamed Monsters rampage around, distracting the Holy Knights of Ruberious. During this, Kagali and Tear would use one of Granbell's secret entrances into Night Garden and discreetly make their way through Demon Lord Valentine's palace, where they will quickly grab the seal the Hero is in and then leave." Vega continued.
I looked at Vega, unimpressed. "How do they plan to get past the defenses to get into Luminous's palace?"
"Luminous? I see that must be Demon Lord Valentine's name, then. As for your question, Kagali believes herself to be very experienced at dismantling Curses, and traps, and so she plans to dismantle them as they move along."
I rolled my eyes. "That's just pure arrogance. Kagali isn't getting through anything."
Those defenses of Luminous were top-notch. It is practically impossible for someone not on the Ultimate Awakened level to get through them, and Kagali is most certainly not at that level.
Vega shrugged. "That's what I know, Boss. As I said, Kagali kept some things to herself."
I nodded. "I see. Is there anything else you want to share?"
Vega shook his head. "That's all I know about the attack, Boss."
I nodded. I wasn't worried about him lying. Thanks to the Soul Corridor that now existed between Milim and me, Odin was able to analyze and Copy Milim's Ear, a Skill that enhanced all of my hearing capabilities many fold. Even discrete conversations would be picked up, such as those that take place through Thought Communication. Only conversations done through a Soul Connection or Soul Corridor are truly private with me around now.
On top of that, it allows me to pick up if something is true or false, though Ruler's Authority also has this feature.
"How will Kagali take your disappearance? I'm sure it did take you quite some time to travel to my territory."
Vega laughed when he heard me. "We don't keep in contact much. She only gives us orders, and we follow them. She likely hasn't checked in with me at all since I left, and likely won't until she finishes fine-tuning her plan."
I nodded. "Alright, tell me about where the secret base Kagali is staying is."
"There are multiple bases that exist. I am only aware of two. The base that I had control over, and then the mutual base, also the headquarters of Cerberus where we met up for meetings and the like."
"So you all had separate bases, basically?"
Vega nodded. "Correct. Kagali, Damrada, Tear, and everyone else all stayed in their own separate bases for safety purposes."
I nodded. "I see." That's unfortunate. If I knew where they all were, I could wipe them out and take care of this problem.
I could probably send Vega back and have a way for him to inform me when they all meet up again so I can just pop in and delete them all, but Granbell may not be part of that meeting. Attacking without him there might only make him hide like a cockroach and pop out when I am not expecting him.
Not to mention, this attack is an opportunity. When you are aware of a trap, you can maneuver around it to make it beneficial to you.
Rimuru already had some plans in order to take advantage of the attack to gain some more political power in the West. Luminous wanted to deal with those conspiring against her personally, and the attack could perhaps be an opportunity for growth for my own subordinates that participated.
Not to mention Vega seems like a dumbass, he probably left a trail Kagali could find to understand what happened. And if I sent him back there, who's to say that Kagali won't win him over again? The dude was a traitor through and through. And I would have just sent back someone who could become troublesome in the future for no reason.
"Tell me where the bases you know of are."
Once Vega told me of their location, I snapped my fingers, unlocking the prison cell that Vega was in. I walked in and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Here's the thing, I don't think I want you as a subordinate. Always make a contract when you are making deals with an unknown, especially with a Daemon like me. Toodles."
Vega's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as he tried to attack with a bite. But in the end, he didn't even get the chance to move.
Beelzebuth.
Before he could do anything, he was consumed by a swirl of darkness.
I didn't think Vega would make for a good subordinate for me. He was powerful and had potential, but he was not loyal, and I don't care nearly enough to have him bound by a Locking Curse or anything like that.
Knowing Kagali, she might even be able to break any curse I place on him. Curses were her whole thing, after all. I didn't think much of Kagali but I didn't want to be an idiot and underestimate her when I really didn't have an idea of what her capabilities might be. I know how strong she was in the past, and Laplace said she wasn't all that strong in the present, but for all I know she has her own cards she kept close to her chest.
Perhaps I was being too paranoid but it's fine.
It's not like I ever agreed to his deal in the first place. He just assumed I did.
In the end, Vega was just not worth the effort.
Arcueid walked up and stood beside me. "What will we do now, My Lord?"
"I'll probably meet up with Rimuru and Luminous and tell them about the planned attack."
When a surprise attack is no longer a surprise attack, the attackers are put in a rather disadvantageous position.
Arcueid nodded and looked down to where Vega used to be. "The man was a brute, but he did have some interesting abilities. His regeneration factor was interesting."
"Oh? For something to interest you it must be special. What was so special about Vega's regenerative abilities?"
He didn't have Self-Regeneration, Ultraspeed Regeneration, or Infinite Regeneration, so it must have something to do with his body.
'What can you tell me about his body Odin?'
'It is highly likely that the individual Vega was modified in some way. Each of his living cells can be considered a type of bacteria capable of being manipulated at will, giving Vega a viscous physiology similar to that of a Slime. His body has powerful regenerative abilities superior to even Ultraspeed Regeneration in some ways. If a significant enough mass of Bacteria is separated from the main body, it will start growing into an entirely new body similar to the fissiparity possessed by creatures like starfish.'
'So he is basically an infinite vessel generator.'
'...Correct.'
That aligns with what Laplace had said, though Laplace also said his cells held a corruptive influence, corrupting anyone who attempted to use one of his bodies as a vessel.
"I had cut off his arm, which he quickly regenerated, which was not odd as I hadn't used any preventive measures to halt regeneration. What I found odd was that the arm I cut off had grown an entire body of its own."
I nodded. "I see, thanks, Arcueid. I'll be going to inform Luminous and Rimuru of the change in situation."
"As you will My Lord."
I snapped my fingers, teleporting to my room to grab a few things before I left.
'Notice. The Unique Skill: Creator has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Brahma, Lord of Creation.'
I felt a change take place in my very Soul.
"Pffft, hahahaha!"
This… this is such a broken Skill.
'Good job, Odin, this is honestly amazing. Though I thought you said that it would take three months to evolve Creator?'
'Odin had said that it may take up to three months.'
'Semantics.'
'However, data from the Unique Skill: Scavenger has been incorporated into the Ultimate Skill: Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony. Thanks to this, the conversion of Yuuki Kagurazaka's Soul had become much more efficient. Odin was able to make use of 100% of Yuuki Kagurazaka's Saint Soul to evolve Creator into an Ultimate Skill, as well as incorporate data from other Skills.'
'Data from other Skills, huh? Yeah, I can see that.'
With Brahma, I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me!
A world of Creation!
Brahma was beyond broken. I was totally on a power high right now.
I held my palm upwards, and crimson red flames flickered above my palm.
I had created fire, and not just that this was a fire at the Ultimate level. Nothing would be able to block or get past this fire unless that was also on the Ultimate level. Even Magic would find itself incinerated by this fire if the Laws behind the Magic weren't well-developed enough.
I had created such powerful flames with minimal effort, I just willed it to exist, and Brahma did the rest of the work. Skills were basically key binds that correlated to certain Laws.
If it weren't for Law Domination, this fire would have already burned my clothes off and burned chunks of my room away, and it wasn't even directly touching anything!
I watched as it burned Space itself before I closed my palm, erasing the fire.
I closed my eyes and focused on Brahma's sub-skills.
The first sub-skill was Skill Creation.
Skill Creation allowed me and, by extension, Odin to create brand new Skills using data, data that Odin has plenty of. With this, she can create completely brand new Skills by using the data from multiple Skills and converging it into one. Odin was already capable of this, however.
This wasn't as crazy as it sounded, though.
'Affirmative. Odin used data from multiple Skills in the creation of the Ultimate Skill: Brahma, Lord of Creation, including data from Odin itself to optimize the process completely.'
'I see.'
The next sub-skill was Skill Duplication, which Odin was already capable of, it basically allows me to recreate Skills that I have the data for.
Next up was Skill Gifting which allowed me to grant any Skills to a target as long as they are compatible with the Skill. I was capable of this beforehand through Beelzebuth, but this allows me to grant Skills to those I don't even have a Soul Connection with, which Beelzebuth did not allow.
Then there were the really interesting sub-skills.
There is Creation, which allows me to Create practically anything as long as I have enough energy.
It was basically my Intrinsic Skill: Material Creation, but on absolute steroids.
I could create top-tier bodies for Spiritual Beings to inhabit. I could even create Equipment that easily reaches God Grade, and unlike those made through Material Creation, the Equipment made through Brahma matches if not surpasses naturally made God Grade Equipment.
If I buff the Equipment with Stardust, well they will be in a whole other league.
And earthly things weren't the only things I could create, I could create stars, solar systems, even galaxies and universes! Though I felt that creating any sort of celestial phenomena would be rather difficult due to the sheer energy cost.
Before I couldn't create an entirely separate Dimension with its own unique Laws of Nature, I had to have those Dimensions connected to another primary Dimension.
But now… now I could theoretically create an entirely new Dimension, one where I govern over and decide the Laws of Nature.
Of course, it was harder to do that in practice. I could feel that I was missing a part of the equation when it came to creating a new universe/dimension from scratch. I had the general picture as to how it could be done, but I knew I was missing something key. So that would be out of my limits for some time.
Souls weren't off limits either. I could theoretically recreate and potentially create Souls as I pleased, though creating Souls from scratch would have to wait until Odin acquires more data and understanding over the concept. For all I know, maybe I can't really create souls. Brahma didn't give me a guide about its limits and whatnot. That was for me to discover.
Then there was Skill Retrieval. This allowed me to use any of the Skills Odin already had complete data on through Brahma itself. I could use any Unique Skill, Extra Skill, or Common Skill through this without having to recreate the Skill itself. Though in theory I could already do this as the way Skil Retrieval works is that it recreates a Skills effect by manipulating the Laws of the World manually. This basically just optimizes that process.
And since all these lesser Skills were being used through Brahma, an Ultimate Skill, they were also buffed to the Ultimate level by default without having to buff anything on my part.
And that wasn't all. I could even use all the Ultimate Skills Odin has analyzed through this sub-skill without recreating them, therefore not straining my Soul.
However, for some reason, this sub-skill only allowed me to make use of Skills that already existed or had been created.
'Affirmative. It was not possible to allow the Master to mix and match data to make use of conflicting Ultimate Skills at this point.'
'Still, you've done great work.'
'Appreciation.'
I could also only wield the Ultimate Skills at 70% of their full power. There had to be some catch after all, even if this was manually creating the effects of an Ultimate Skill, I could only do that to a certain extent. But this was still huge. I'll have much more adaptability in my fights with this. I was already getting excited to surprise Milim with this in our next spar.
My combat potential had quite literally just skyrocketed. My current self would destroy my 5 minutes ago self.
That goes to show how big a single upgrade can be.
This was way too much fucking power. I took a deep breath. I was already able to bend over the Laws of the World. This is no different.
'Notice. The sub-skill Infinity of the Ultimate Skill: Ouroboros, Lord of Infinity, has been modified.'
I could already feel the change. Brahma, Lord of Creation, makes it far easier for Odin to modify Skills now, it basically streamlines the process and has also basically allowed Odin to reach enlightenment.
Before, Infinity wasn't really an absolute defense, but that isn't too big of a deal. I had more defenses layered underneath it, so I don't need to worry if Infinity is ever broken through, which isn't all that hard to do for the top levels of this world.
But it seems Odin took that as a challenge. Now, Spiritrons aren't even capable of bypassing Infinity. Those attacks will now be subject to Infinity's Spatial effects.
I'm seriously loving all these new upgrades.
Now, enough hyping myself up. It's best if Rimuru and Luminous are informed of the situation as soon as possible.
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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
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Author's Note:
Sup guys, in this chapter Rimuru finally gets his legion of Daemons, and Felix meets another reincarnated Daemon.
We see Felix and his doubts about Odin evolving, as is normal. Felix may have more than enough willpower, but even then people still have these kinds of thoughts. They are just far better at dealing with them and moving on.
Vega is finally interrogated and finished off, that guy somehow managed to become one of the most OP mfs around in the LN.
And then Felix gains an absurdly OP Skill, Brahma is actually busted and I'm sure I don't need to explain why.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante, @Bonvoyage and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.