{Analyzing attributes…. Successful. Searching for an optimized evolution path….. Successful. Death has been confirmed. Rebirth has been confirmed. Soul is currently filled with Life Energy after being allowed to heal from the strain….}
{The process from which the subject was brought back to life has been confirmed. The usage of the old body to create a new body has been confirmed.}
{Confirmed. Evolution from type "Flame Warden" to type "Demi-Phoenix"…successful. All bodily attributes have been greatly enhanced. The Material and Spiritual Bodies are now freely transformable.}
{Reacquiring Intrinsic Skills: Ultraspeed Regeneration, Flame Domination, Flame Transformation, Life Flames, Death Flames, Perfect Memory.}
{Life Flames: Golden flames aligned with the Life and Holy Attribute. They are extremely hot flames capable of healing and imbuing the subject with Regeneration. They can be used to cleanse and purify objects or subjects aligned with the Darkness or Death attribute.
Death Flames: Grey flames aligned with the Death and Demonic Attribute. They are extremely cold flames, capable of burning away the target's Life Force. They can be used to corrupt and damage objects or subjects aligned with the Holy or Life attribute.}
Opening her eyes, Shizue felt a warmth inside her chest unlike any before. It was both reassuring and comforting, the flames of life. Her eyes fluttered open, and she felt like she had the day Rimuru restored her body. She felt alive.
Turning, she saw Hinata sleeping in a chair next to her, her body tense as her hand rested on her sword protectively. As Shizue began to move, her eyes shot open, instinctively gripping the sword before her body relaxed.
Her expression turned cold, but she nonetheless raised her hand to cast a healing spell on Shizue.
"Hinata… thank you." Shizue muttered softly as she saw Hinata's cold expression crack slightly before returning to normal.
"Do you care to explain what happened?" Hinata asked. She had tried to contact the Western Holy Church's members in Falmuth to delay their attack, but she hadn't gotten any answer.
Standing up, Shizue took in a deep breath to gather her thoughts, relaxing her body and giving Hinata a friendly smile.
"Hinata… do you want to take a walk with me? I can explain as we go… I'm sorry, I didn't expect we would have been interrupted."
Hinata stood up, looking at Shizue eye to eye before nodding her head.
"Very well."
— — —
Straining to open his eyes, Razen couldn't help but hold his head in pain. The last thing he remembered was the storm that stopped them from marching, but as he felt the cold floor underneath him, he instantly knew something was wrong.
He tried to use magic, but the magicules moved erratically from Magic Jamming, leaving him powerless. He tried to focus on the spells he had inscribed inside in his body for emergencies. Maybe he could use them to escape if he had enough time to focus and try to control the magicules, but to his surprise, all of them had vanished.
Sitting back down on the floor, he couldn't help but slump his shoulders. His King was dead. His army was probably dead; it was only a matter of time before his kingdom fell if it hadn't already.
He was supposed to be the shield of Falmuth, the one person who could protect it.
"Master Gadra… if only you were here… what would you do?" He muttered to himself, trying to come up with an answer. It was shameful, but he felt like giving up. All of his ideas would be useless.
Rising to his feet, he approached the cell door, peering out for an escape. And to his surprise, there was another prisoner. What he believed to be a bird Lycanthrope was resting in a soft bed, a courtesy that hadn't been extended to his cell.
He looked around the cold cells with uncertain eyes, trying to find anything that would allow him to escape, but his body ached in pain. Even if he managed to somehow break out, he doubted his old body would be strong enough to fight back against any enemies. He would probably be captured once again or, worse, killed.
"Ah… maybe death doesn't sound so bad about now…" He muttered to himself. He wasn't sure why. Out of everyone, he was probably the only one left alive. If anyone else had been spared, they probably would have been in the cells next to him.
As his mind raced for a solution, he heard the faint sounds of footsteps drawing closer to him. Thinking as fast as he could, he quickly ran to the exact spot he had woken from and lay on the ground, pretending to be unconscious. He wanted to buy himself as much time as possible. Even if the situation looked hopeless, he had to try for Falmuth.
Closing his eyes, he relaxed his breath, calming himself so that he wouldn't look out of normal and focusing his ears as much as he could.
From the footsteps, he could tell it was at the very least three people. All soft and elegant.
He heard the footsteps stop in front of his cell and begin to open one of the doors, yet judging by the sound. It was the one with the bird woman.
After a few moments, he heard a warm and genuine voice speak out.
"Pirone… wake up."
The voice called out to her as if they were an old friend. As Razen heard the name, a sudden memory flashed into his mind. Pirone was supposed to be the name of one of Clayman's Five Fingers.
He heard faint groans of discomfort before another voice spoke out.
"Mjurran?" The voice weakly asked, filled with disbelief. "You're alive? I thought…"
There was some more rustling before Mjurran's voice spoke out again.
"Pirone… I'm— no, we are free now. Sir Rimuru has fixed our hearts, so we aren't under Clayman's control anymore. I, honestly, still can't believe it… You should have seen me when I found out. I was so shocked I didn't know how to react, so I just froze. If I hadn't been led to my room so quickly, I probably would have broken down in front of Lord Rimuru…" Mjurran continued, chuckling slightly.
"We… are free?" Pirone asked in confusion before getting agitated. "But— I owe Lord Clayman my life! He saved me. He saved my brothers. I can't betray him! I need to report to… him…"
Her voice drifted off near the end, almost as if falling asleep.
"I apologize, Miss Mjurran. But it appears that Pirone is a bit unstable right now, so we had to put her to sleep again. You will have to ask for permission from a representative before we can allow you to visit Pirone again." A woman's voice echoed, sounding refined and elegant as she spoke.
"I… I understand… I'm sure I can reason with Pirone if I get the chance… Once Clayman has been dealt with, may I get another opportunity?" Mjurran asked.
"I will pass the request along." The woman answered, and after she did, the two of them began to walk away.
Razen didn't move a muscle for a few minutes, keeping his ears as sharp as possible. Yet since he didn't hear anything, he cracked open an eye, only to be greeted by the sight of a man in a butler suit. A man he recognized.
He no longer looked human, his eyes replaced with the signature black sclera of Daemons and the natural aura of evil itself.
"Ah, I was wondering for how long you would keep up the act. I truly do wonder what our Lord saw in you. It's shameful how badly you control your heartbeats." Noir spoke, smiling as he looked down at Razen.
Knowing that the act was done for. Razen stood up, looking at Noir with pure anger in his eyes.
"It was you…" He said with malice. He had warned the King about him, and even though he himself had been suspicious, he had been practically won over near the end. He could only blame himself for allowing Noir to succeed. "If only I had my magic, I could—" Razen began. Before his words could finish, he felt the magicules stabilize.
In the blink of an eye, Razen found himself in the middle of the battlefield his army had been on. Strangely enough, he couldn't see any corpses, but a gigantic chunk of the land was missing.
"This will be easier if I break you first. Though Lord Rimuru wants you alive, he never specified I had to treat you nicely. Though I must warn you, this is your final chance to play nice."
Without wasting a moment, Razen instantly focused and cast as many defensive spells as possible. He was going to try to teleport away. In one swift motion, a gigantic earth wall erupted around him, encasing him entirely as he continued to weave the teleportation spell.
He saw how the wall instantly shattered, revealing the fire surrounding him. And the smiling face of Noir as he vanished in the blink of an eye.
"I thought this was supposed to be a battle. Why are you trying to run?" The words were spoken in a whisper from right behind him.
Razen felt a chill up his spine, and as he turned, he tried to summon the natural enemy of Daemons, Spirits.
Noir stood there, looking with a smile as he saw the Earth Elemental emerge from the ground. He looked like a knight wearing earth as armor, yet the moment the elemental appeared, Noir began to chuckle madly.
"Ah, we work under the same Lord. Could it be that you are rebelling against your King?" Noir asked, chuckling even more loudly as he did. Incredibly sharp blades instantly replaced his fingers as he did.
Razen was confused by Noir's words, but before he could order the Elemental to attack, it instantly collapsed, shattering along with his connection with it.
"Oh, I guess I will forgive you since you didn't attack. You probably didn't know better when he called for you." Noir mused, putting away the blades in his hand as he turned to Razen. "Is that all?"
Razen couldn't help but feel his entire body tremble. The Earth Elemental he had spent so long working with had left him just like that. He had spent years creating the perfect vessel for it to reside in, yet with just a few simple words, it vanished.
"How?" Razen asked, but Noir looked like he was done messing around.
In an instant, Noir appeared in front of Razen, grabbing him by the throat.
"I'm going to have fun taming you." Noir muttered, his face twisting into that only a Daemon could muster.
"No— I— surrender—" Razen gasped out as he felt the light start to leave his eyes.
Noir's smile dropped as he heard the words, looking disappointed as he threw Razen to the ground.
"I should have left this to Blanc…" He muttered to himself with annoyance. He had wanted to impress Rimuru by taming Razen, but it had been so easy that it was hardly anything to brag about.
— — —
As they marched, countless Beastmen moved with different expressions. Anger, fear, confusion, paranoia, sadness, defeat, all kinds of emotions were being carried in their hearts.
They had been forced to run away from their home, escaping without being able to fight back. They had left their possessions, their homes, and their life behind in their escape, and now they were marching without a true purpose.
They had stopped at several different villages and small tribes along the way in search of refuge, but they had been turned around at every location.
The Beastketeers were gone, trying to find help who knew where. Carrion, their King, had stayed behind, hoping to defeat the Demon Lord Milim in order to save their country. They were alone.
Beastmen as a society were strong. Most of them were Lycanthropes, which made them formidable threats even if they weren't experts in battle. The average Lycanthrope was around the B Rank. Strength was a pillar of their society, so having to run with their "tails" between their legs without even attempting to fight only made them more frustrated.
And their mood was only made more complicated by those who had the Extra Skill: Danger Sense. Their instincts were screaming at them that they were in danger, and no matter where they fled, they would be attacked.
As they marched through the rocky terrain, all of the Beastmen became tense and prepared for a fight as they felt the magicules in the air shift and as a gust of wind surged.
Just before they attacked, they saw a group of people arrive, led by both Rimuru and a person they recognized, Albis.
Albis raised her staff into the air, slamming it onto the ground to draw their attention.
"Everyone! Listen up! There's no need to run anymore. We have successfully allied with Sir Rimuru Tempest. Thanks to him, we have a safe place to set up while our King protects our Kingdom."
The Beastmen's anxiety began to dissipate as they began to whisper to each other. One Beastmen in particular, a woman with long red hair and small eyes, moved to the front. She shared some features with Albis, which meant they likely were relatives of some kind.
"Albis… do you have any news about Carrion?" The redheaded snake Lycanthrope asked with some hope in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Miia, nothing much has come up yet. But Carrion should have some help from Demon Lord Frey, which means that Eurazania should be safer."
Miia nodded her head before standing to the side to allow Albis to talk.
"We are going to be staying at Sir Rimuru Tempest's territory. Which means we must follow his laws and not cause any problems. Tempest has shown us kindness, so let us return that kindness with respect. Phobio should be waiting for all of you when you arrive at the safe place, so follow his instructions." Albis announced, earning a round of nods from the Beastmen.
Some of them looked hesitant to follow Rimuru, but Albis's pressure was enough to avoid any complaints.
"Miia, I will trust you to join Phobio and Suphia in the management. We still have to visit some of the other groups." Albis said, after which she raised her staff to gather their attention and began directing them to stand in organized lines for Rimuru.
Once everyone was in place, Rimuru gave the signal to Raphael. In an instant, an incredibly complex magic circle appeared, surrounding all of the Beastmen.
[Notice. Activation of Spatial Domination successful.] Raphael announced in his mind, and the next moment, all of the Beastmen disappeared. They were teleported directly to one of the floors inside of Ramiris' Labyrinth.
After the party, Veldora finally settled into his own room in the Labyrinth. He had full access to all of Tempest's resources to build whatever room he wanted, so right now, he was playing around with building his own perfect room.
Once they had some breathing room after Walpurgis, they would begin to expand and work on the labyrinth properly. Rimuru was really looking forward to this time since it appeared that anything their minds could imagine could be built inside the Labyrinth.
It had practically unlimited uses, but they were building the infrastructure right now. Veldora would release all of his magicules, and Ramiris would use them to feed the Labyrinth and create new floors.
At the moment, the only true finished floor was the one they were sending the Beastmen to. Rimuru and Ramiris recreated the environment near Eurazania to ease the transfer and lower anxiety. It could even mimic the daylight cycle outside, so there would not be any feelings of claustrophobia.
Sumisu, Kaijin's wife, was currently the lead producer of the small temporary houses that had been built in the Labyrinth. So the Beastmen were getting the equivalent of a 5-star treatment.
As they finished teleporting, Rimuru turned to the group behind him. It had people from all of his war departments, with Mamoru, Shuna's father, leading the group. This was one of the most important locations in the upcoming war against Jistav, so he had volunteered himself to lead the group.
Benimaru and Luchia had both discovered that Clayman had laid out traps. Probably noticing that someone was trying to spy on him and attempting to make sure that everything went his way. However, thanks to Raphael, every single trap was twisted and turned into another way to weaken Clayman.
The ambushes had all been discovered, and members of Shadow were currently positioned to monitor the ambushing groups. The current plan was to ambush the ambushers and defeat them all before encircling the main army, leaving no room to escape.
To do so, the Kijin would be the key. Ogre magic was focused mainly on the use of Illusions, so working together, they would create an Illusion over their own army to make themselves look like just another set of Beastmen trying to escape.
Mamoru would lead the army attacking the ambushers, while Benimaru led the main army, attacking most of Clayman's forces.
As soon as the Beastmen vanished, Mamoru began to move, ordering his troops with an ease that showed just how much experience he had as a chief. Not a single one of Rimuru's army had slacked since their recruitment, so they all moved in perfect harmony with each other.
Albis couldn't help but sigh to herself as she saw them, feeling slight shame in her heart since she knew her own army was not as organized as Tempest's. It was hard to find a group with such blind devotion and willingness to follow orders. Though it was mainly since they were all following Rimuru, hoping to serve him as best as they could.
With a smile, Mamoru finished his orders before turning to Rimuru and placing his fist on his chest. It was clear where both Shuna and Benimaru had gotten their leadership skills from. He gave off the pure aura of a commander as he spoke.
He had been weakened to the point where he was unable to fight after having both of his kids, but thanks to the Harvest Festival and being named, he had found in himself a second wind. An urge to fight and try to keep up with his own kids.
"Lord Rimuru, leave this to me. Clayman's army won't even have the chance to know what happened to them. We will not disappoint you."
Rimuru couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he looked at Mamoru. He was the spitting image of Benimaru, and his eyes had the same fire as Shuna's.
"Good. I expect nothing less. Don't disappoint me." Rimuru answered, earning a confident smile from Mamoru.
Turning around, he gave one final look at this segment of is army before activating Spatial Domination and vanishing to pick up the next group of Beastmen.
— — —
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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