Rimuru was standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the battle between Artoria and her troops and the orcs. He was watching as his army was annihilating the orcs.
Benimaru was unleashing black explosions that expanded into flame domes all throughout the battlefield that literally turned the orcs into ashes. It was like a beautiful fireworks show if the orcs being burned were to be ignored.
Shion was using brute strength and force with her massive blade. She was fighting with a barbaric style. She was sending sword slashes that left deep gashes in the earth. The momentum of her sword took out hundreds of extra orcs.
Hakurou was like an assassin moving fast and eliminating the orcs as fast as possible. Each strike of his was precise and true. No attack was missed or wasted.
The other ogres and goblin riders were not to be underestimated. While not being the star of the show and lacking the overwhelming firepower the Kijin had, they were not to be underestimated. They could take out orcs individually and with teamwork they could fight and defeat a higher-ranking orc.
Rimuru, still observing, was…a little shocked.
'Do I even need to send Ranga out there? Also, were they all always this strong and freakishly coordinated?'
[Answer. It is likely the subject named 'Artoria Pendragon' possesses a skill that influences those she leads into battle.]
'Oh yeah, talking about her, how is the progress on replicating that skill she used?'
[Answer. From the available data and her description, it is likely she is using a more advanced version. At the moment, only a rudimentary version has been developed. It is recommended to use it to make faster progress. Do you wish to get the skill?]
'Yeah.'
[Common Skill: Reinforcement has been acquired.]
'So this is supposed to be the watered-down basic version huh?'
Rimuru focused back on the battlefield focused on one figure that, despite all displays from the Kijin, still stood out. She was on a complete tear through the orcs. She was literally running through them all. With every swing of her sword an orc or two or three or a lot would get sliced cleanly in two. Occasionally, you could see her unleash waves of magicules that would clear out the orcs in an area around her. She was being ruthlessly efficient at eliminating the orcs.
'She looks different when she's in a fight. I'm totally not getting her mad.'
/\\//\\//\
Dun Stallion was galloping across the marshes as if nothing was in his way. Any orc in front of him would simply get eliminated by a wave of magic from Artoria's sword if necessary. Any orc who would get lucky enough to land a hit would find their attack completely ineffective against his armor.
Artoria on the other hand was having the easiest time of her life. No matter where or how she swung her sword, it would always hit an orc. There were so many that it didn't really matter. A target-rich environment to be technical.
'Riding Dun Stallion is so much easier with the saddle and my skill. I don't even have to command him at all with how he's moving throughout this battlefield. His positing is great.' Artoria thought to herself.
While going through and eliminating the orcs, Arotira noticed an orc that was noticeably bigger than the others and had darker armor.
'An orc general.' she thought to herself.
"Dun Stallion turn towards that orc general, we're going to attack it." Arotria quickly ordered Dun Stallion, so they could attack the orc general and take out the high-value target.
"Understood master." Dun Stallion turned and headed straight toward the orc general. It was a straight charge ahead.
Not a single orc was going to stop them. They were being cleared as soon as they could step in. It was more of a routine for Artoria at this point.
The orc general noticed them and prepared himself for the attack. As Artoria got closer, the orc general raised his axe to attack with an overhead strike. He was waiting to strike at the right moment.
Artoria quickly noticed this and prepared herself. "Dun Stallion, when I give you a signal get ready. Got it?"
"Yes, master."
As they got closer, Artoria unleashed a massive amount of magicules. Dun Stallion felt a rush and got faster. The orc general seeing them coming brought down his axe.
"Now, Dun Stallion!" Artoria shouted at Dun Stallion.
Dun Stallion receiving the order did a hard turn resulting in him semi-sliding on the mud in a controlled manner while also kicking up mud all over the place. The orc general, surprised by the sudden movement could not readjust himself in time, but there was no point in it as Artoria's sword, covered in magicules, was stabbed into his body, and with the momentum of Dun Stallion, going around in a tight circle around the orc general, moved along his body before Artoria swung her sword upwards. The orc general was sliced into three pieces instantly. The magic wave resulted in the orcs in the area also meeting their end.
However, this is not what was on Artoria's mind. 'Did I just…Something like that shouldn't happen, but I'm sure it did.' She looked down at Dun Stallion who was rearing up.
"Master, that was an exhilarating maneuver. I didn't know I could do that."
Artoria, still in shock responded to him. "Yeah, I didn't either."
'I can only imagine the amount of competitions he would win with that move.'
"Enough with that, let's keep moving." Artoria and Dun Stallion resumed their onslaught on the orcs.
/\\//\\//\
Rimuru, still observing, felt like he had seen it all. 'I swear she just drifted that horse or something like that.' He continued looking at Artoria, who was somehow stealing the spotlight. She was like a streak running through the orcs that would seek and destroy.
'I don't think I need to go in or anything like that.'
[Notice. A strong presence is approaching rapidly.]
'I just had to say something.'
Rimuru went into the air with his wings to confront whatever was on the way.
Artoria who was on the ground was also heading to the location.
/\\//\\//\
'Looks like this is coming to an end.' I thought to myself.
I made my way to the location of the orc lord. At first glance, from an outside view, he did look…menacing.
I don't want to sound rude, but he didn't matter right now. What matters now is Gelmud and when gets eaten by the orc lord, then he evolves into an orc disaster, then Rimuru eats him, and so on.
A lot of eating when I approach it from that angle.
Gelmud crashed down in front of us and started his childish rambling. "You two are ruining everything! First, it was the ogres, and now you are destroying the orc army! This wasn't supposed to happen!"
While listening to his waffling, I saw Gabiru look at him with an excited look. "Sir Gelmud, are you here to help us against the orcs!"
Come on, man. Just face the reality of the situation. It's clear from how he's acting and what he's saying that he doesn't care.
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"My name is Gabiru! You are the one that gave me my name, Sir Gelmud."
I would say something, but Gelmud is going to do it for me with his rambling.
"You're still alive? I named you so the orc lord could kill you and evolve. You serve no purpose other than food for the orc lord."
And there it is. I could see Gabiru's worldview come shattering down. Gelmud kept adding fuel to the fire. He kept explaining to Gabiru, how he was only just a tool or pawn for his big plan and stuff.
"You, pig, evolve into a demon lord and kill all of them!" Gelmud said as he pointed at us.
"Hey, Gelmud." I spoke out to get his attention.
"You, that stupid pretend knight! I don't know what kingdom or empire you're from, but you should have no business in teaming up with these monsters!"
What he said sounded a bit familiar. Eh, don't care, if I forgot it must not have been important.
That being said though, "pretend knight". Wow man, I honestly don't know what to say at that. Talk about delusional. I know he was observing us as well as those others and even after seeing what I did he calls me a "pretend knight".
"Gelmud, shut up. I literally couldn't care less about what you're saying, but I'll give you one piece of advice. I was teaching a student of mine and one thing I told him was to not show your back to an enemy in a fight." I told Gelmud
"What enemy? These dumb pigs are on my si-" He got interrupted by the orc lord cutting off his head and eating his body. It was…kind of hardcore how it happened but hey, can't say he didn't deserve it. After the orc lord ate Gelmud, he started evolving and started releasing magicules.
"Hey, Rimuru, you're up. Take him down." I told Rimuru
"You got any advice?"
"Don't use fire. Let me rephrase that, only use black fire. You got this."
RImuru took out his sword and started fighting the newly evolved orc disaster. This time he had the freedom to use his skills and abilities. Whenever we train, we only use physical strength and attributes. I'm trying to build him up slowly.
Rimuru was blinking all over the place attacking the orc disaster in any way he could. The orc disaster, due to his size, was moving slower and was a very easy target to hit, but the regeneration he had was making all that almost pointless.
Rimuru realized this though and started using his magic. He coated his sword with dark flames and he started doing actually damage. The orc disaster couldn't keep up with his speed and small frame. The only thing keeping him in their fight was how tough he was and his "tankiness".
Rimuru, with his sword, cut off one of his arms, but even with the dark flames stopping his regeneration, it was going to take a bit more than that and that was when I noticed he started to use magicules to surround his sword.
'This cheeky little slime. It's not to my level, but that should be something equivalent to reinforcement. I highly doubt it's anything like the reinforcement I'm thinking of. In this case, this is more like a mini or baby version of a mana burst.' I thought to myself.
The orc disaster, who was a little stumbled from having his arm cut off and not being able to regenerate it, didn't notice Rimuru blink behind him. Rimuru with both hands stabbed his sword behind the orc disaster, into his neck and reaching down into its spine.
The orc disaster got up rapidly, trying to shake him off, but Rimuru hung on. Rimuru unleashed dark flames through his sword and was trying to burn the orc from the inside.
Despite all the damage he was doing, the orc disaster, being resilient, still put up a fight, but it was easy to see that he was on his last legs.
Rimuru, still on the offensive, tried another method. With him still hanging on on the back of the orc disaster, he unleashed black lightning through his sword. The black lightning was going through the orc disaster's body and I could see it coming out his body.
That attack seemed to end this fight. The orc disaster lay on his knees. He wasn't dead, but he was defeated.
"Rimuru, just end it already, he's already beaten. Use your predator skill." I told him and some of our troops behind us agreed with me. This is a battle, but if we're going to be more violent than necessary, at least end it as fast as possible.
Rimuru nodded at me and turned into his slime form, covering the orc disaster. He didn't put up much of a fight given that he was severely weakened already. Rimuru covered him, but he was taking a bit longer, so I assumed he was having a conversation with the orc disaster and how he would help them out.
Eventually, he absorbed him and the orc disaster was no more. The orcs around us were starting to come back to their senses as well as remembering everything they did.
Rimuru came back and he was looking at me as if he wanted some kind of praise.
"Good job, Rimuru. I see that you've gotten a start on the technique I showed you."
"I know, Great Sage really helped a lot. Talking about that, Great Sage said that the technique you used is a more advanced version. What makes it different?"
"Well, from what I saw when you used it, you used it more like a buff to your sword and you weren't able to send out those 'magic slashes' or whatever you want to call them. You're on track with the ability though, so just keep on the path you're on."
"So what do we do now?" Rimuru said, looking at all the orcs who seemed to be lost, with some just sitting down and contemplating what they did.
"Now, Rimuru, we deal with the aftermath."