Dark clouds gathered ominously on the horizon as the army of Falmuth advanced. The rhythmic thud of boots against the earth was punctuated by murmurs of discontent among the soldiers.
Kyoya, a brown-haired swordsman with a perpetual look of indifference, glanced up at the sky.
"Hmmm… looks like rain." He muttered, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword.
Beside him, Kirara, a petite Japanese girl with light brown hair cascading to her shoulders, frowned.
"Tsk… I can't believe they're making us march with the entire army." She grumbled, her eyes darting towards the knights leading them. "Even though that new guy is an absolute cutie, I hate how he's pushing for this attack on Tempest. We'd be better off causing some trouble ahead instead of slogging along with these idiots."
Kyoya's gaze followed hers to the figure at the head of the procession. The new leader's presence was undeniable, his commands swift and decisive, leaving no room for dissent. Kyoya sighed.
"He's focused on the bigger picture. Attacking Tempest with full force might be our best shot."
Kirara huffed, kicking a pebble out of her path.
"Still, it's annoying. I'd rather be causing chaos on my own terms. Even Shogo is getting to march."
A scoff interrupted their conversation. Shogo, a young Japanese man with spiky black hair and dark brown eyes, approached them. His face twisted into an arrogant sneer. Despite the rain, he wore his special military uniform with pride, exuding an air of superiority.
"Complaining again, Kirara?" Shogo's voice dripped with disdain. "Typical. If it were up to me, we'd have crushed Tempest already."
Kirara glared at him as she heard him, snapping back at him.
"Oh, please. Not everyone's as eager to show off as you are, Shogo."
"Believe what you want. I know my strength, and I'm not afraid to use it." He answered.
Just as he was about to push more, Kyoya stepped between them, his calm demeanor contrasting with the tension.
"We're all on the same side. Save your energy for the real fight. I hear we are going to be fighting a lot of Kijin, which should be A-Ranked threats. We also have to keep an eye out for the Harpies."
As they talked, the sky darkened further, and the first drops of rain began to fall, merging with the soldiers' sweat and grime. Their leader's commanding voice boomed through the ranks, cutting through the sound of the falling rain.
"Set up shelter! The storm will tire us out. Marching through the mud in full steel armor will sap our energy before the battle begins."
The soldiers moved quickly, setting up tents as the rain intensified. The trio hurried to cover themselves from the downpour, throwing their bags into the center of their tent.
"I hate the stupid rain, and the stupid soldiers, and the stupid cutie with that stupid devilish smile." Kirara grumbled, squeezing water from her clothes.
Kyoya, trying to ignore her complaints, focused on arranging his gear. Shogo, meanwhile, stood at the entrance, glaring out into the storm.
A sudden, uneasy silence fell over the camp, a feeling of wrongness creeping into their bones. Kyoya's hand instinctively moved to his sword, eyes narrowing.
"Do you feel that?" He whispered.
Kirara and Shogo nodded, their expressions tense. As Kirara moved to look outside into the storm, she heard a thud behind them. As she turned, she saw the corpse of Kyoya lying down on the ground. But before she had a chance to scream, her world went dark.
Rimuru stood over the three corpses. He had used Haze, a Battlewill technique, to hide his presence as he snuck into the camp and directly into their tent. With one swift motion, he had killed all three before they had the chance to act.
He only spared the corpses a glance before activating Gluttony and consuming their bodies.
[Notice. The Unique Skill: Severer has been obtained. It allows the user the following subskills.
Sever: It imbues the sword of the user with the space element, allowing it to cut through most objects.
Blade Duplication: It also allows for the creation of several fake blades that are imbued with the space element.]
[Notice. The Unique Skill: Bewilder has been obtained. It allows the user the following subskills.
Thought Domination: to control and dominate the minds of others.
Charm: It increases the natural charisma of the user, which makes it easier to dominate the minds of others.]
[Notice. The Unique Skill: Berserker has been obtained. It allows the user the following subskills.
Diamond Body: Takes in the Magicules from the user's surroundings and uses them to temporarily enhance their physical body and make it as hard as metal.
Weapon Destruction: Applies a special property to all of the user's attacks, destroying any ordinary piece of weaponry or suit of armor with ease.
Death Benefit: It grants the user a significant portion of an enemy's power and energy after killing them.]
Looking outside at the storm, Rimuru used Haze to vanish from his place again.
— — —
Noir had led the army and manipulated his way into setting things in motion, just as his Lord had commanded him to. He had made sure the whole army would march together, all to be eliminated in one go.
Using his knowledge of the world and his devilish charm, Noir had charmed and bribed his way to influence in record speed. He spun tales of being backed by a noble with unimaginable power. Some convinced themselves he was sent by Englassia, while others believed he was with the church. The truth was irrelevant; all that mattered was that they were now his sacrificial lambs.
The only one to be spared would be Razen, the Royal Sorcerer of Falmuth. Convincing Razen had been the most challenging. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he was a Primordial and one of the most knowledgeable people when it came to magic, Razen might have been able to see through his disguise.
But once Razen fell for Noir's deception, the other nobles followed like sheep.
They were all hungry for blood and wealth, and Noir had given them the final push they needed. They wanted to enslave Tempest and use them as free labor to continue building the roads and manufacture their silk clothes.
As the rain began to fall, Noir couldn't help but smile. He glanced back at the tent housing the otherworlders, their fate sealed.
"Ah… it's finally time." He muttered, sending a mental message to Blanc.
Blanc, who had been sent to Jistav to ensure everything went according to Rimuru's plans, had asked to observe this moment. Her curiosity about Rimuru's Awakening had grown since their first walk through Tempest. Noir, however, cared little for her motivations; he was focused solely on witnessing Rimuru's plan come to completion.
As they stood under the pouring rain, Blanc appeared next to him. Her appearance remained perfect even with the rain, the dropless somehow not touching her body.
"Where is your babysitter?" Blanc asked with a smirk.
"She is watching over the king." Noir answered, unbothered by her teasing.
Together, they looked out into the distance as a figure moved with astonishing speed, cutting through the air and slicing down the mages holding the defensive spells.
"He brought the Harpy?" Blanc asked with some surprise. "It seems we will witness the Awakening of two True Demon Lords today."
Noir ignored her words, his eyes focusing instead on a single flying Majin who appeared to be watching over the army.
"Ah. Just as expected, it seems someone else wants to witness our Lord in action. I will capture her before the show begins. It would have been embarrassing if I had overlooked them because of how entranced I was with our Lord."
With those words, Noir vanished, appearing a few seconds later, holding an unconscious woman who resembled a mixture of human and bird. One of "Clayman's Fingers," Pirone.
— — —
Frey moved silently through the storm, her form a blur as she struck down one magician after another. Rimuru was flying up in the air, looking down at the army, his form covered by the storm. His keen eyes tracked the army below, relaying the magicians' locations to Frey through Thought Communication.
One by one, all of the protective spells were being destroyed.
"20,000 people, huh." He muttered as he looked down at all of them hiding from the rain. "I'm actually feeling slightly hesitant, Sage."
He took a deep breath to settle himself.
"It's too late to change my mind."
[Notice. It is estimated that only 4,450 souls are required for your Awakening. A total of 14,450 souls if you wish to awaken yourself and Frey. It is estimated that 5,550 people can be spared.]
Rimuru chuckled slightly, shaking his head.
"Thanks, Sage, but I made a promise to myself. At this point, it would be hypocritical of me to leave the job half-finished. Sage… what was it I told Souei again?"
[Answer. Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.]
Shaking his head one final time, Rimuru took in one final breath. His eyes became focused as he saw the final mage fall and all of the magic shields disappear.
"Then let us be ruthless."
[Activating Gravity Manipulation.]
The knights began to panic on the ground as they saw the magic protection around them vanish. They knew that they were being attacked, but they didn't know from where. The heavy storm was blocking their view, turning the dirt underneath their feet into mud, making their movements difficult.
Their fear deepened as the ground beneath them began to change. Chunks of mud, tents, rocks, and even soldiers began to lift into the air, caught in a sudden reversal of gravity. The chaos was immediate. Knights and mages flailed helplessly as they were pulled to the sky, their screams drowned out by the storm.
Thankfully for most of the knights and mages, the area of reversed gravity was only enough to capture around 5,000 of their soldiers.
Away from the chaos of the reversed gravity, the remaining knights scrambled in search of their commanders. Their shouts for help were lost due to the constant lightning and thunder that began to echo around them. The heavy mud and pounding rain turned their attempts to regroup into a frantic, hopeless struggle.
Frey, who was still connected to Rimuru through Thought Communication, ruthlessly eliminated all of the commanders. Noir had reported their faces and locations, which meant Frey had a hit list of all of them.
Razen, who had instantly felt something was wrong, rushed outside. His eyes widened as he took in the chaotic scene, soldiers panicking, and countless people being dragged into the sky by an invisible force. He stood frozen, his mind struggling to process the calamity. That hesitation was his fatal mistake.
He turned back toward the tent, only to find a masked woman standing over the lifeless bodies of the king and his guards, a bloodied dagger in her hand. Anger coursed through him, but it was quickly replaced by a cold realization as he felt his internal Magicules become unstable.. All his spells had become useless as he fell under the effect of Frey's Magic Jamming.
Without his magic and with his old body, the Guardian of Falmuth had turned from one of the most feared men into a simple yet knowledgeable old man. He could only curse himself for not having stolen Shogo's body sooner.
Turning around, he saw Frey looking down at him, her wings spread open to showcase her dominance. In that instant, he felt her grab him and throw him to the floor.
"Good night." Those were the last words Razen heard as the tent became filled with grayish smoke as Souka used Particle Breath to breathe a sleeping gas.
Outside, the knights' panic intensified. The storm raged, and their movements became more frantic as the mud clung to their boots, dragging them down. As they started to lose hope from the constant assault of Dark Lightning, the clouds above began to part, and radiant rays of sunlight broke through the darkness.
Rimuru's wings, with their silverish-blue and white feathers, resembled those of an Angel, causing the entire army to freeze. The moment he broke through, the lightning stopped, and the rain seemed to calm down. Almost as if just his presence was enough to calm the storm.
The knights looked up, their eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror. The sight of Rimuru illuminated against the dark clouds filled them with a deep sense of dread.
"Angels? But… it's too soon." One of the older knights, an elf who had joined Falmuth, muttered, frozen in shock. He couldn't move his body, no matter how hard he wanted to run.
With a graceful motion, Rimuru raised his hand, and the clouds split further, revealing a colossal meteor suspended in the sky. The meteor was filled with the bodies of the knights and mages who had been dragged into the sky. It was held up with Gravity Manipulation, floating in the sky.
The knights all began to fall to their knees, despair filling their hearts and all hope vanishing from their eyes. They were exhausted from trying to run in the mud, so they doubted they could run away in time.
The mages who tried to cast spells to teleport away were swiftly decapitated by Frey, who moved so fast that the knights simply saw the mages raise their arms and die.
The knights, now leaderless and overwhelmed, could only watch in horror as Rimuru descended further, his expression one of cold determination. With a simple movement of his finger, they all felt the gravity change as it sank them down further in the mud, and with that change of gravity, the meteor began to fall onto them.
All the knights began to bow down, praying and begging for any chance of survival. There was nowhere to run, no one to save them.
The air trembled as the meteor began to fall casting a gigantic shadow over everyone. Time seemed to slow as the gigantic meteor plummeted. The friction of the rock moving up against the air causing it to heat up as it fell.
With a deafening roar, the meteor struck. This created a gigantic explosion, and all the energy contained within it was released. A blinding flash occurred, which was followed by a massive shockwave that rippled outwards, tearing through the ground and destroying everything in its path.
The force of the blast sent debris and bodies flying, the earth itself shattering under the force of the attack.
The massive meteor embedded itself in the ground, exploding and collapsing under its own weight and covering the entire area in rubble. The entire landscape was transformed from a simple field to a crater of destruction. The hot air smelt of nothing but scorched earth and pure destruction.
Frey, who was standing outside, even struggled to keep her standing as she was struck by the shockwave. Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth agape as she witnessed the destruction around her.
Blanc and Noir, for their part. Simply looked as if they had witnessed the most beautiful show of their lives. They had never seen anyone use gravity in such a way, and though the destruction was excessive, they couldn't help but marvel at the fact that Rimuru gently lowered himself closer to the ground.
There were only a few survivors, those who had taken cover under their shields in the furthest points of impact. They were lying down on the ground with broken bones and unable to move.
{Confirmed. The Unique Skill Merciless has been obtained.} The Voice of the World announced inside Rimuru's head. Almost as if to emphasize the destruction he had just brought.
[Do you wish to activate Merciless?] Sage asked, their voice as cold as always.
'Yes.'
Ironically, Merciless served as one final act of mercy on the knights who were too afraid or too hurt to move. A sense of calm washed over them, a peaceful acceptance of their fate as they fell lifeless to the ground.
Without wasting a moment, he instantly activated Gluttony, consuming all of the bodies and destruction. He knew he only had a few moments before he lost consciousness as the Harvest Festival took effect.
[Report. Using the connection through the Skill: Union of Feathers, 10,000 souls have been transferred to Frey.] Sage announced, and moments later, the Voice of the World spoke up.
{Report. Checking the number of souls required for evolution… Confirmed. The required conditions have been met. The Harvest Festival will now begin}
As the voice echoed in both Frey's and Rimuru's minds, they felt almost all of their bodies' power vanish. Frey fell to the ground, her legs giving out, and Souka quickly ran to support her. She picked her up and quickly dashed to Rimuru's location as she saw Ranga jump out of her shadow to grab the unconscious Razen.
Rimuru fought against the wave of exhaustion as he pushed Gluttony to its absolute limit. Only once he had finished did he feel his Mimicry collapse, returning him back into a Slime as he fell from the air, only to be caught by Blanc. Who smiled mischievously as she looked at Noir's jealous expression.
"You should assist Frey and take care of Razen. It is what our lord would have liked, don't you think?" Blanc asked, laughing as she used Spatial Motion to teleport to Tempest.
Noir only looked on in annoyance before heading to grab them to teleport them to Tempest.
— — —
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