(Lmao, teh webnovel timer broke again, good thing I checked it.)
Rimuru stood up from his seat, sensing every eye in the room turn toward him. Guy's smile returned as he raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. Even Dino lifted his head slightly from the table, a rare show of attention.
Taking a moment to look at all of them, Rimuru gave them a bright smile.
"Clayman sure has made a lot of claims today, hasn't he? The man can talk. I will give him that much." Rimuru began, using a more casual tone than he had prepared, but he would match the room's energy.
"I'll be honest, I have prepared a lot of different evidence to back up all of my claims, such as how there is no such drug, and how Mjurran is still alive, yet I can see most of you are ready to move on from this issue since it does not affect any of you personally."
With a wave of his hand, stacks of papers appeared, filled with information Raphael had meticulously prepared.
"If any of you is interested, I can give you this, but otherwise. I would like to propose an alternative."
Clayman frowned but stayed silent, expecting another Demon Lord to challenge Rimuru. To his surprise, only Valentine and Leon requested the evidence, skimming through it quickly.
As they read, Guy's voice broke the silence.
"No, yeah, you're right. I don't care." He smiled, making Clayman's eyes widen in shock.
"I fell asleep midway…" Dino muttered, adjusting himself in his seat.
The other Demon Lords shrugged, either in indifference or mild curiosity about Rimuru's next move. They were too preoccupied with their own territories or had lived long enough to see countless Demon Lords rise and fall, often due to reckless decisions.
If Clayman was right, then they might have to deal with a few foolhardy humans who would try to stand up against them, but that was a minor issue, an issue that might not even happen.
Guy Crimson had sent his maids in the past to deal with some of the potential Demon Lords that messed around too much, so for the ones who didn't care, they could simply let him deal with it.
-
In theory, Clayman's presentation should have swayed the council. He had carefully studied Guy, knowing which buttons to push to irritate him: false strength, tarnishing the prestige of the Demon Lord title, Milim's unprovoked attack, and the incident in Falmuth. If Guy had been in a bad mood, any of these might have been enough to turn the council against Rimuru.
Yet he miscalculated because of information he never could have hoped to know.
"So, what kind of alternative did you have in mind?" Dagruel's deep voice broke the tense silence.
"The main source of this issue is a personal disagreement between Clayman and me. And the other issue Walpurgis was called to was to discuss my potential to become a Demon Lord. I propose a fight: me versus Clayman."
"Sure." Guy answered.
"I guess this is how things always turn out." Dino muttered as he yawned and stretched. "Alright, have fun." He muttered as he stood up.
One by one, the Demon Lords began to stand up and move to the side as if they had done it countless times. Mizeri snapped her fingers and the next moment, the table disappeared.
Clayman was left somewhat shocked as he saw things not going as planned, but he was still confident of his victory with Milim by his side.
"Oi, Milim, are you joining Clayman?" Ramiris asked as she fluttered off and sat on Beretta's shoulder.
All eyes turned to Milim, who had been quiet the entire meeting and before Clayman could clear his throat Rimuru spoke up.
"To think that my best friend would betray me so quickly." Rimuru sighed, wiping a fake tear. "I guess I will have to share all my honey and sweet treats with Veldora now instead."
Milim gulped slightly as she heard him, her eyes darting slightly as she debated what to do.
"Ah, Milim won't listen to—" Clayman began before Rimuru interrupted him again.
"Shizue, can you believe my best friend attacked my wife, or well, fiance? That was so uncalled for. I was going to invite her to the wedding as my best friend, but I can't really do that now… It would be a bit awkward."
Shizue looked slightly caught off guard by the question, but noticing his expression, she instantly cleared her throat and played along. Just like they had done when Kenya was complaining about not getting his favorite snack
"Ah, Rimuru… You even had that three-layered cake prepared… It's truly a shame. Perhaps you should stop working on that one bracelet you were going to give her. After all, friends don't hurt friends."
Shaking his head Rimuru was getting ready to continue before Milim finally snapped.
"Alright! I'm sorry!" Milim shouted after spitting out some peppers in her mouth. "I swear I was being helpful! You don't have to get angry at me! I didn't even mean to hurt Frey; she was supposed to run away! We are still besties, okay? Right?"
Instantly appearing next to Rimuru, she grabbed onto his shirt before moving him left and right with some slight desperation. But when she felt Rimuru ruffle her hair and chuckle slightly, she stopped.
"It's not funny…" She muttered before feeling Rimuru give her a soft chop on the top of her head.
"That's for attacking Frey. Honestly, if you had talked to me, we probably could have planned something together." He would have to make sure to 'punish' her properly later, but for now this would have to do.
Milim frowned slightly as she rubbed the top of her head. Yet, as she opened her mouth to complain, she paused. She had a lot of different things to say, but in the end, she simply slumped her shoulders.
"I really did mean to help…" She muttered to herself as she stepped outside of the cleared area and crossed her arms next to Frey and Carrion. "Sorry…"
Frey watched Milim for a few moments, a sigh escaping her lips as she massaged her temples. The formidable image of an unbeatable monster in her mind clashed with the sulking girl before her.
Carrion sighed deeply, his gaze shifting between Rimuru and Clayman. The room's atmosphere grew tense as Clayman stood frozen, eyes fixed on Milim walking away. Laplace's words echoed in his mind, and the indifference from the other Demon Lords only amplified his sense of isolation.
Rimuru was standing in front of Clayman, and judging by his interaction with Milim, he wasn't the slightest bit worried about the fight.
As Clayman looked at Shion and Shizue, radiating strength, drove home the realization of how meticulously Rimuru had orchestrated this moment. Clayman had been outmaneuvered at every turn.
"Ha." A single laugh left his mouth as a large, crazed smile appeared on his face. "Ha… ha ha…"
Moment after moment, his laughter began to build up. And without being able to hold it back at all, the room was instantly filled with his mad laughter. He clutched his chest, struggling to regain composure, but the laughter only grew more intense.
Moments passed as Clayman stumbled across the room, laughing and trying to steady himself. Every single one of his memories was replaying in his head, and he could see exactly all of his missteps. If he had simply had one more chance, he could have made it out. He would have been able to play everyone instead.
Rimuru looked on at Clayman, who was making a fool of himself without saying a word. Strangely, it was almost as if Clayman wasn't even mad. He was in pure, absolute shock.
— — —
As the laughter finally began to slow down, Clayman held onto his head, feeling the slight familiar headache as he turned to look at Rimuru who was smiling slightly as he waited for the signal to attack.
"This is it…" Clayman muttered with a wide smile as he took a mask out of his jacket. "I get it now… I was played from the start."
With a calm, deliberate motion, he placed the mask over his face, straightened his posture, and combed his hair back with his hands. The comforting weight of the mask seemed to ground him as he took a deep breath.
Guy hadn't given the word to start, mainly due to his amusement with the situation. It didn't make sense to him why he was reacting the way he did. But one thing was clear to Clayman, he didn't have a single Demon Lord on his side.
'As long as we are alive, we can rebuild.' Clayman remembered Laplace's words as he looked at Rimuru.
He was angry that his plans had not gone his way. No, miscalculation is one thing, but for him, the Puppeteer, to have been the puppet of a simple Slime all along… It was just absurd.
It was as if everything he had done was to help the Slime grow.
He had spent years building up an army of Orcs, only for the Slime to show up and turn them into his loyal puppets overnight. His boss had helped him organize a war to weaken Tempest, but for all he knew, all he had done was serve souls on a platter for him.
The most embarrassing part was just how confident he had been. Just how easily he had dismissed all of Laplace's concerns. How easily he had promised Tear and Footman that his kingdom would become unstoppable.
'I need to get out of here.' Clayman thought, his mind clearer than ever.
Even if it cost him all of his pawns, even if it cost him his kingdom, as long as he made it out, he would be able to take his revenge. It would take some time, but he would be able to rebuild his strength.
He would destroy the forest.
He would destroy him.
— — —
"Sylphide." Shuna called, and the next moment, a Greater Wind Elemental appeared behind her.
With a playful giggle, Sylphide materialized behind her, twirling her ethereal hair in a dance-like motion. She spun gracefully, the air around her shimmering, before landing softly on the ground and looking at the fog. Twirling her finger in the air, a strong gust of wind emerged, which quickly became a violent tornado that sucked up all of the magical fog, revealing an open path to the castle.
"Soldiers!" Shuna's voice echoed, capturing the unwavering attention of her army. "Full speed ahead!"
At her command, the troops surged forward with resolute determination.
It didn't take long for the army Clayman had left behind to react, with them sending a combination of a barrage of arrows and spells. Yet as they coursed through the air, Shuna called Sylphide again.
The Wind Elemental appeared, and in one swift motion, she twirled her finger once again and called forth a protective wind that covered the entire army and sent all of the arrows spiraling out. The spells managed to break through the winds since they were spread over such a wide area, yet that is when the High Orcs moved.
Raising their shields, they all stood as a protective wall as they tanked the spells without being pushed back in the slightest.
"He's here." Muttered Hakuro as he looked in the distance, hearing the countless rattling of bones approaching. Countless skeletons marched forward through the land being led by the Wight King, Adalmann.
In a way, compared to their fight in the original world, Shuna was at a disadvantage.
Due to Rimuru never crossing paths with Hinata, he never got the chance to analyze Disintegrate. Due to the members of Luminous' Church never making it to Tempest, she never got the chance to study the Holy Field. She wouldn't be able to replicate Holy Magic or manipulate his Disintegrate if Adalmann were to use it.
Yet, she still stood confidently as she looked at the approaching army.
Raising her hand to the sky, she took one deep breath before gently lowering it. The raindrops that had held in the sky all this time slowly began to fall.
As Monsters and Majin named by Rimuru, they all carried with them the blessing of the Storm Dragon. And as the rain began to fall, they all felt revitalized and filled with determination. It was almost entirely a psychological thing, yet the sudden burst of energy from Tempest only made Jistav's army even more wary.
Marching without fear, Souei and his Shadows all vanished, appearing in the middle of Jistav's groups of archers and mages and immediately sowing chaos and disorder in their ranks by dragging them into the shadows.
With the long-distance attacks being dealt with, the main force instantly took an offensive formation against the skeletons. Their weapons were made out of Mithril, a metal that naturally resonated with the light and holy element. Their blades cut through the bones like butter and crushed the skeletons as if they were simple eggs.
A loud roar echoed throughout as the battle began in full force, and a decaying Dragon began to charge in their direction. The rotting skin barely hung onto the decaying bones, yet the Dragon looked as lively as it looked mindless. It had but one thought as it finally arrived at their feet to destroy.
"Geld." Shuna commanded, and without hesitating, Geld stepped forward and blocked the charge of the Skeleton Dragon.
Geld's feet dug into the ground as the Dragon crashed against him, yet with his Queen behind him, he didn't let the Dragon budge him from his spot. The Dragon's entire skull was instantly crushed from the force of the collision, yet even with a destroyed head, it stood firm as it took a step back, preparing itself to attack again.
Readying the gigantic meat cleaver he held in his right hand, he braced for the impact. As the Dragon spun to strike him with its tail, Geld fitted his teeth before stopping the attack and using his cleaver to slice the dragon's tail off.
As he cut the tail off, countless corrosion snakes emerged from his armor, and they began to consume the Dragon's tail.
The Dragon roared in anger as it began to rampage, crushing the Skeletons around it and continuing to wail at Geld. Yet, as if he were an immovable object, Geld blocked all of its attacks.
To Geld's surprise, even after he consumed the tail of the decayed Dragon, the countless bones spread throughout the battlefield all moved to the Dragon, reforming its tail.
"You can't kill it, Geld. As long as Adalmann stands, the Dragon won't stop." Shuna announced, her eyes looking directly at the Wight that was slowly approaching. "Hold it down for me, would you?"
Her voice sounded charming. Even in the middle of a battlefield, she still kept her Royal Charm as she began to move towards Adalmann.
Geld looked at the Dragon, which was ready to rampage again, before nodding.
"As you wish, My Queen." With those words, he put the shield and the cleaver in his Stomach.
Clenching his fists, he widened his stance as he saw the Undead Dragon open its maw and try to bite him. As the Dragon fell onto Geld, he grabbed onto its skull before using all of his strength to twist the head of the Monster.
With one swift motion, Geld yanked the Dragon down, flipping it so that it would fall down. Taking in a deep breath as the Dragon struggled to stand up, Geld spun his body, dragging the Dragon through the floor before lifting it up and slamming it down on the ground, causing the entire arena to shake momentarily.
As the Dragon struggled on the floor, Geld jumped into the air and used his entire weight to land on the Dragon's stomach. The dragon let out a deafening crunch as Geld pulled out a spear from within its Stomach.
Plunging down onto the Dragon's neck, he pierced through and stabbed the spear into the ground. Not wasting a single moment, Geld continued to pull out spear after spear, stabbing the dragon and impaling it onto the ground.
Every time the Dragon broke free of one spear, Geld replaced it with five more. As much as the dragon struggled, it was slowly being immobilized, so no matter how good its regeneration was, it was completely unable to move or fight back.
Once Geld was done with it, the Dragon wasn't even able to open its mouth, with a gigantic spear piercing through the skull and directly onto the ground.
— — —
Special Thanks to my Beta Readers/Editors: The one, the only, the amazing @Basilisk, the Aussie @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord) and @Kiyan Tribe (FF.net/AO3/QQ/WN) | kiyan_tribe( Discord)
Go Check out Basilisk's great story "I'm a Daemon, so what?"
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