Arriving at the entrance of the Labyrinth, Blanc moved with graceful steps, holding Rimuru carefully. The citizens of Tempest, recognizing the significance of the moment, knelt in reverence as she passed. Their eyes filled with hope and anticipation.
Originally, Tempest had planned to use a combination of the Labyrinth and secret tunnels to safeguard the citizens. However, Ramiris had insisted she could ensure everyone's safety inside the Labyrinth, guaranteeing that no one could reach them without her permission.
After a thorough discussion with the representatives and Great Sage, Rimuru had agreed to the plan. Now, Blanc marched through the massive chamber, filled with rows of people from every race. Even the Harpies had left Fulbrosia to witness their Queen and King Awaken, their wings fluttering in respectful silence.
The chamber extended for miles, housing every single citizen of Tempest.
In the center, four ornate thrones stood ready: one for Frey, one for Shuna, a small one for Ramiris, and one for Rimuru. Behind them, Shion stood vigilant, her eyes scanning the crowd, ready to protect at a moment's notice.
As Blanc reached the thrones, she gently passed him to Shuna, who held him with a smile before softly placing him on the throne in the middle and sitting on the throne to his right.
Diablo followed close behind, placing the unconscious Frey on the throne to Rimuru's left before gracefully standing to the side, ready to witness his Awakening with Blanc next to him.
Ramiris fluttered about with excitement and nervousness before quickly flying over to her throne, which was so small that it had been built on the armrest of Rimuru's throne. Looking over at the Spirits and Elementals who had come out of hiding. She wanted to say something, but she was afraid to mess it up since everyone was acting so formal, so she simply kept quiet.
As everyone knelt in preparation, the air in the room became heavy with anticipation.
{Report. The individual Rimuru Tempest's Harvest Festival is about to begin. Upon its completion, all individuals in his genealogy will receive their due gifts.}
{Report. The individual Frey Harvest Festival is about to begin. Upon its completion, all individuals in her genealogy will receive their due gifts.}
The Voice of the World echoed in the hearts of everyone present, causing everyone to take a deep breath as they felt the excitement coursing through them. The most surprised of them all was Ramiris, who, as she sat next to Rimuru, heard the Voice speak to her, too. In fact, all of the Spirits and Elementals heard the voice.
Back in Englassia, the Elementals Rimuru had created also heard the Voice echo in their mind, though the kids did not.
{Report. The Harvest Festival has begun. Your bodily structure will be reconstructed in order to evolve you into a new species.}
{Confirmed. Super-evolution from type "Slime" to type "Demon Slime"…successful. All bodily attributes have been greatly enhanced. The Material and Spiritual Bodies are now freely transformable.}
{Reacquiring Intrinsic Skills: Infinite Regeneration, Control Magic, Multilayer Barrier, Universal Detect, Universal Shapeshift, Demon Lord's Haki, Enhanced Replication, Spatial Motion, Black Flame-Lightning, and reacquired.}
{Reacquiring and Evolving Resistances…completed. Pain Nullification, Physical Attack Nullification, Natural Effects Nullification, Abnormal Condition Nullification, Spiritual Attack Resistance, and Holy-Demonic Resistance acquired. Evolution is now complete. }
Under everyone's eyes, Rimuru began to glow, repeatedly transforming and flickering on and off. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Violet, White, and then Black. Over and over in an almost hypnotic display of colors.
Seeing him, Blanc and Diablo both looked at each other with surprise, recognizing the familiar color scheme. During this strange transformation, the Unique Skill: Great Sage acted.
[Report. Re-executing skill acquisition requested earlier. Unique skill Great Sage attempting evolution… Failed.] Just as Sage had expected, the attempt failed. However, they knew what had to be done.
[Report. Offering the Unique Skill: Degenerate as a sacrifice in order to evolve.]
{Acknowledged…. Attempt Successful. Unique Skill: Great Sage has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Raphael, Lord of Wisdom}
At that moment, Sage felt as if it had been splashed with cold water, her processing power increasing to the point that Raphael felt almost awake.
[Offering the Unique Skill: Bewilder and the Extra Skill: Libido to Eros.] Raphael began, almost as if having a conversation with the Voice of the World.
{Acknowledged…. Attempt Successful. Unique Skill: Eros has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Asmodeus, Lord of Lust}
[Offering the Unique Skill: Merciless to Gluttony.]
{Acknowledged…. Attempt Successful. Unique Skill: Gluttony has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony}
[Attempting to generate a completed Hero's Egg. Using the inert Light Elemental] Raphael spoke as they took the Light Elemental and imbued it with a pseudo-personality. One that would be forever devoted to Rimuru.
[Error…. Hero's egg is still inert.]
[Requesting information.] While Raphael still had the channel with the Voice of the World, they attempted to speak to it directly once again.
{Error. The following requirements have not been fulfilled: Be a Human or Demi-Human and obtain the Blessing of the Queen of Spirits.}
[Question. Can the Human or Demi-Human requirement be altered?]
{Negative. Heroes and Demon Lords are diametrically opposed attributes.}
[Understood…] Raphael answered, going deep in thought as it began to run through all possibilities. Then, as if finding the answer they were looking for, they spoke up again. [Continue with the Harvest Festival.]
{Understood.}
As Rimuru continued to evolve, Frey, next to him, also experienced changes. Her once-white feathers turned into a warm brown color, the lesser coverts of her wing turning into a pure black color. The crystal in her forehead glowed brightly before the crimson color deepened.
Her skin became softer and smoother as she slept, yet even as she slept, the silverish-blue in her wings began to glow. She gained an ethereal quality as her body was further perfected.
[Attempting to assist the Harpy Queen Frey in her evolution through the connection between the Union of Feathers.] Raphael continued, focusing on the Soul Corridor between Rimuru and Frey and noticing how wildly and unorganized her evolution was advancing.
Through the eyes of many, there would have been nothing wrong, but Raphael was a perfectionist, and seeing the gift she was being given go to waste, they took action.
[Attempting to evolve the Unique Skill: Reflector.]
{Error. Action cannot be completed.}
[Optimizing flow of magicules from evolution…. Analyzing Unique Skill: Reflector….]
Suddenly, Frey twitched in discomfort, her body twisting in pain.
[Optimizing evolution into Divine Harpy. Forcefully adapting the body to suit the Skill better…. Activating Asmodeus, Lord of Lust, to influence the soul…. Activating Invigorate…. Using the magicules from the Awakening and Harvest Festival….]
Even in her sleeping state, Frey began to move around, her feathers glowing and fluttering slightly as she struggled. Yet after a few moments, she became still once again. Her face returned to the quiet comfort as the evolution continued.
{Acknowledged…. Attempt Successful. Unique Skill: Reflector has evolved into the Ultimate Skill: Tezcatlipoca, Lord of Reflection.}
Raphael approved of their work. However, the creation of the Ultimate Skill had left Frey drained of most of her power. So, taking one final look at Frey through the soul corridor, they spoke up again.
[Utilize the Harvest Festival Gift from Rimuru's connection to her to gift her with magicules to compensate for the ones lost when evolving her skill.]
{Understood.}
{Report. The individual Rimuru Tempest's festival is now complete. Individuals in his genealogy will now begin to receive their gifts.}
{Report. The individual Frey's festival is now complete. Individuals in her genealogy will now begin to receive their gifts.}
As Raphael finished their work, the Harvest Festival continued in full force. Every single person connected to either Rimuru or Frey heard the Voice of the World as they felt their energy begin to sap away. Slowly but surely, the countless people in the Labyrinth began to fall unconscious.
Even Ramiris began to feel her consciousness fade away, but as she did, she saw Rimuru open his eyes and look at her. The moment he did, an explosion of power followed, wild and uncontrolled. His usually golden eyes were now a crimson color, but she simply shrugged it off as an effect of his evolution.
"Request. Grant us your blessing to become a Hero." His voice left his mouth, sounding more robotic and monotone than ever.
Ramiris looked at him, somewhat confused, but she simply nodded as exhaustion took over her body.
"Huh? Sure, do whatever you want. You have my blessing." She muttered, her eyes closing as she fell asleep.
Standing up from their seat, Raphael looked on at Noir and Blanc for a moment, allowing their magicules to fully go wild before turning to the citizens of Tempest, who were starting to shift in discomfort from the pressure.
A small, almost imperceptible smile appeared on Raphael's face as they made a mask appear in their hand, Shizue's mask. Rimuru had promised the mask to Chloe, but he had told her to wait until he went back to visit her to give her the gift, so he held the true mask in his hands.
Looking at the two primordials for a moment, Raphael placed the mask on their face, the wild and unbridled magicules disappearing instantly. However, something that they had not accounted for happened.
As the mask cracked, unable to contain the magicules, the Voice of the World spoke again.
{Report. The Extra Skill: Clairvoyant is evolving. The Crest of Time is reacting due to conditions being fulfilled.}
The cracked mask was unable to contain all of the energy. And Noir's eyes turned almost fanatic as he recognized the energy being released. It was Time.
{The Extra Skill: Clairvoyant has evolved into the Unique Skill: Prophet.}
The mask cracked even more, but now Raphael put in an actual effort to contain their magicules, stopping the mask from fully collapsing. Looking at the fanatic expression on Noir's face, Raphael turned back to sit on the throne. Sitting patiently for the people under their Master to finish awakening their skills.
{Report. The individual Rimuru Tempest's Harvest Festival has reached its conclusion.}
[I wish to use our gift from the Harvest Festival of Frey.] Raphael announced. Due to their connection through the Union of Feathers, they could both partake in each other's Festival, and now Raphael was using that to fulfill their goal.
{Understood. What do you desire?}
[Answer. To awaken a Hero's Egg.]
{Error. It cannot be completed. Heroes and Demon Lords are diametrically opposed attributes. The requirement of Human or Demi-Human has also not been fulfilled.}
[Understood.] Raphael answered as they activated Beelzebuth, searching for their connection with Beretta and using the food chain to obtain the Unique Skill: Reverser.
[Activating Reverser to create and fuse opposing natures into a new and contradictory form.]
{Error. The process cannot be completed. It would result in a corrupt Hero's Egg. The requirement of Human or Demi-Human has also not been fulfilled.}
Raphael felt annoyance rise inside them before going silent again and activating Asmodeus to look into Rimuru's soul.
[Notice. Though the Soul of Rimuru Tempest has mutated into a Monster, the soul's core is Human.]
[Activating Reverser and Synthesizing Human soul core with the rest of Rimuru's soul.]
[Synthesizing the opposing force of Human and Monster to create a contradictory form capable of holding both a Hero's Egg and Demon Lord Seed…. Failure….]
[Sacrificing the Unique Skills: Severer and Berserker….]
[Attempting to synthesize the new contradictory form…. Success]
Once again, Rimuru's Mimicry collapsed, the mask lying limply on his body as he returned into a slime.
{Confirmed. Super-Evolution from type "Demon Slime" to type "Paradox Slime"…successful. All bodily attributes have been greatly enhanced. The Material, Spiritual, Monster, and Human bodies are now freely transformable.}
{Intrinsic Skill: Death Benefit has been acquired.}
{Error. The Unique Skill: Chosen One cannot be acquired as it is already in use.}
{Error. Attempting to fix the error…. The process cannot be completed.}
{The evolution process has been completed.}
[Attempting to form a Hero's Egg…. successful.]
[Attempting to awaken the Hero's Egg forcefully…. Error. The process cannot be completed.]
Raphael tried repeatedly, but in the end, their efforts were for nothing. As the Harvest Festival from Frey and Rimuru finished, the Labyrinth went quiet.
— — —
As the entire Labyrinth and the entirety of Tempest went into a quiet sleep, Ellen and her team couldn't help but wander in. Rimuru had welcomed their team with open arms, and she appreciated him for that, but as she looked around at the sleeping citizens, she couldn't help but look slightly worried.
"Hey, ummm…. Guys….. This is not good, right?" She asked, turning to her team and getting worried nods.
She heard the rumors that Falmuth was going to attack Tempest. In fact, she was preparing to defend the city with her team. However, things had not gone as she expected.
Since she planned on staying in Tempest, she was sent to the evacuation along with everyone else, and she was in the underground tunnels along with some of the kids and citizens who needed to be protected the most.
She really liked Tempest, the citizens, and even Rimuru himself. The town was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and she felt welcomed and cared for by everyone. Kurobe and his team had even gifted them new weapons and armor.
She had even been given access to the hot springs and countless food innovations that happened every day. By this point, she was practically a citizen of Tempest, much to Fuse's dismay. She had even been given the chance to carry and hug Rimuru, which felt like what she imagined hugging a cloud would feel like.
She even considered calling her dad for help since he could sort something out to stop Falmuth and protect Tempest. Hell, she even hoped to call her best friend. She definitely could put a stop to everything. However, before she even got the chance to act, it was all over.
Some of the citizens got called to relocate, and that had left her team waiting in the tunnels next to the teleportation circle. And soon enough, they couldn't hold back their nervousness and snuck out.
All the ants guarding them were asleep. In fact, everything had been eerily quiet, and as they ran to the Labyrinth entrance, they saw all of the citizens sleeping in the gigantic chamber, with Rimuru, Shuna, Frey, and Ramiris all in thrones in the middle.
And that's when she realized what had happened. Rimuru had probably gone out to kill the army and had accidentally awakened as a Demon Lord. She didn't believe such a kind Slime would go out of his way to kill people if he didn't have to.
She had even heard from Shizue how he had tried to spare as many Orcs as possible during the fight with the Orc Lord.
"Elyun… we need to report this…" Kaval muttered, looking at the people sleeping in the chamber. "Erald and Sylvia definitely need to know if there is a new Awakened Demon Lord. Hell, there might even be two since the report said there were 20,000 soldiers."
Before they could act, they saw a beautiful girl with pure white hair appear in front of them.
"Ah, you must be Ellen, Kaval, and Gido. Lord Rimuru asked me to watch over all of you and make sure you were well taken care of… But what's this about a report, I hear?" Blanc asked, her smiling, causing them to feel a chill up their spine.
"That is… we were just simply-" Kaval tried to speak, but he could feel the danger in the air. He was even ready to break the seal, suppressing his power at a moment's notice. However, before he could act, it all vanished.
"Sorry, it seems I got a bit excited. Lord Rimuru would punish me if anything were to happen to any of you." Blanc said, smiling brightly, though her point had been clear.
Ellen was actually the first one to step forward.
"Miss, we didn't mean to report it in a bad way… we just wanted to make sure that no one saw Rimuru as a threat. I am sure the news will spread pretty quickly, so I would like to reach out to my dad and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid… he can be a bit… overprotective."
She looked a bit unsure of what to say, but she was genuine in her wish to help Tempest. She didn't enjoy knowing that 20,000 people had probably died, but she also understood that it was a part of life. She knew her father would do the same if he was in Rimuru's situation, though thankfully, Sarion was strong enough that no one had dared to mess with them.
"Your father? Who is he?" Blanc asked, tilting her head curiously in a perfect act.
Ellen made a strange expression, almost as if regretting her words, but the cat was out of the bag by now. So she opened up with the truth.
"My father is Erald Grimwald, one of the highest representatives for Emperess Elmisia El Ru Sarion. I am sure my dad can help sort everything out."
Blanc pretended to be surprised once again before nodding wisely.
"I see… if that is how things are, I want to apologize. I thought you were going to try to betray Lord Rimuru while he recovered." Blanc muttered, giving them a small bow. "I see now why Lord Rimuru trusts in all of you so much. Though I must ask, could you hold off on contacting them until at least Lady Shuna has awoken? I am not sure how long our Lord will need, but the Queen should be able to awaken from her sleep soon."
Ellen looked at the throne, in which Shuna slept soundly. She had gotten countless treats and snacks directly from her, so she had a soft spot for Shuna. In fact, the very dress she wore was crafted by Shuna in her spare time.
"I… ok. I will wait."
— — —
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)
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