Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 94: Attack on Ruberious Part 1
There are up to 15 chapters ahead at p@treon.com/theogbasilisk
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- Rimuru Tempest -
He smiled as he greeted the envoy of the Western Council. The long awaited meeting would finally be taking place. It felt like it had been quite some time since the attack on the Founding Festival, yet in reality it hadn't been long at all. Tempest was recovering well, the streets that were damaged were already being rebuilt, the buildings Felix destroyed were rebuilt, everything was almost good as new.
Kenya had gone with Felix to Sarion, he hadn't heard much from Kenya since then but according to Felix, Kenya seemed to be having a good time. He told the brat to write him letters, yet he hadn't received any. He'd have to give Kenya a piece of his mind when they saw each other next.
"Greetings, Lord Rimuru." Saare said with a light bow. He was notified some time ago that the Western Holy Church would be sending a representative to act as a witness.
He was pretty surprised that Saare was the one that would be his escort though, he was originally expecting Hinata but she was probably busy with something.
"Hello Saare." He responded.
Saare looked behind him where his two "attendants" were. The Council allowed each member to bring up to two attendants similar to the Demon Lord Council. "Will they be accompanying us?" Saare questioned.
He nodded. "They will. Let me introduce you." Rimuru said as he turned around. "The guy with red hair is Benimaru, one of my closest subordinates, and the man with blue hair is Souei, another one of my closest subordinates."
Saare nodded. "Well met you two."
Both Benimaru and Souei greeted Saare back.
This was going better than he thought it would. Back when he first met Hinata she had talked a bit about the Ten Great Saints, though it had turned into the Nine Great Saints since Felix poached one of them.
She had said Saare was rather difficult to get along with, he was headstrong in his beliefs and thought that he was always right. Basically he was full of himself, but Rimuru wasn't seeing any of what Hinata described. Maybe she was just biased, or the more likely thing was that Saare had changed.
"Are you ready to leave? I have already prepared a teleportation spell." Saare said. He originally planned to offer to teleport everyone himself with Uriel, but he didn't know if Saare would be offended by his offer.
He looked to Benimaru and Souei who nodded. "We are."
Saare nodded before turning around. A portal appeared in front of Saare. "Come, this will lead us to the Kingdom of Ingrassia where the meeting is being held." Saare said before walking through.
The three of them followed Saare, and as they he asked Raphael a question he already knew the answer to.
'What are the chances that Granbell will use this time to attack Ruberious like he planned?'
'86.12434523%'
He sighed at Raphael's answer. It was a good thing Felix was ready then, he would be routinely checking in on Ruberious. He did not want to stay there himself as he did not know if Granbell and his compatriots could somehow detect Felix and decide to have their attack on another day.
Rimuru thought that Felix was being too cautious, he himself knew how well Felix could suppress his presence, it was as good as his own method, and he literally shoved all his Aura into his Stomach not even giving it a chance to leak, but Felix was always like that. Too cautious until he got all the information he needed. At least he was like that most of the time.
Still, despite the impending attack he still needed to focus on the Council meeting, which would determine the course of how easy Tempest could expand in the West. Felix had said to rely on him to at the very least stall out the attack. Veldora and Chloe would remain behind in Tempest to serve as protection in case something happened, while Felix would leave Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina behind to protect his territory for the most part. Felix said those three might go and take their own actions if they thought it wise since he told them to do as they pleased for the most part.
Rimuru had also told Chloe to go help Azeroth out if it was under attack, he wanted to repay his friend in some way since he was already doing a lot for him.
He went over all the information about the council he possessed. The council, the Western States Council, was made up of different nations surrounding the Great Jura Forest. The councilors elected by each nation would attend the meeting in Ingrassia every month.
Strictly speaking, unlike councils run by nations, the main goal of the council is to maintain everyone's financial interests. They may have tried to play it off as protecting the West or whatnot, but he could see through the red tape. Everyone in the council was out for their own interests. So he would just have to make Tempest appetizing enough that they couldn't refuse. And he had a few ideas about how to do that.
On the surface they wouldn't put smaller nations on lower priority, and instead start off from the point of equality. People would cooperate with each other. All of the members aimed to uphold the idea of defending the good of all humanity or something.
The Council of the West was responsible for dealing with any Monsters attacks as well as natural disasters such as draughts, tornados, earthquakes and the like. The Council of the West basically single handedly made all the big decisions for Humanity in the West and was responsible for preserving Humanity.
The way the Council of the West maintained its control was due to the sheer financial power they had. The council was funded by each nation, with some nations providing more gold than others. The fund would fluctuate depending on the size and scale of the nations, yet at the same time, all nations shared the same privileges which could be problematic.
Due to some nations providing more money, those nations were afforded more counselors which meant more soft power over the council itself. Falmuth, now Farmenas, was one of the Kingdoms that provided the most amount of gold to the Council of the West.
However due to this distinction Kingdoms could no longer be considered equal among the council. Some Kingdoms realized money was an easy way to seize some power over the council, and so they gave several times the gold that was required. In the end while the Council of the West had a good foundation and seemed good on paper, it was still fairly corrupt. Counselors would prioritize their own Kingdoms despite swearing oaths saying they would not do so. Counselors would embezzle money, blackmail others and other less savory sorts of things.
As Saare led them through the streets of Ingrassia towards the meeting point he spoke up. "Hinata asked me to give you some advice." He began.
Rimuru's brows furrowed. "Did she? Give her my thanks then when you see her next please."
Saare nodded. "Sure, sure. I'll give you a bit of a heads up on what to expect. Some are against you while others are hesitantly hopeful. Your declaration that you would keep the Monsters of the Great Jura Forest under control is one of your biggest weapons. Many Kingdoms can save an astronomical amount of money if they no longer have to worry about an invasion from Jura, they do not need to hire Adventurers or pay their soldiers to patrol the borders of their Kingdoms facing Jura and whatnot. Ever since your declaration of being a Demon Lord, the amount of Monster attacks has decreased substantially, almost completely, this has won you some good will with the council."
Rimuru nodded. "I see."
"There is more. The Kingdoms that are closer to Tempest are more supportive, while the ones under the protection of the Western Holy Church and Freedom Guild are more hesitant due to lacking military power. Even then the situation with the Freedom Guild has been changing causing many to be unnerved." Saare continued.
Rimuru nodded. He already knew what was going on with the Freedom Guild since Arcueid had reached out to him to help her take it over. Now it was practically fully under Arcueid's control who had made it clear that he could make use of the Guild as he pleased, which was nice.
"In the end, more support Tempest's addition to the council rather than oppose. Tempest brings a lot more than it has the potential to take, especially since those cowardly counselors are worrying about the East. They will likely want to use Tempest as a first line of defense. Though they will demand some gifts of sorts for your approval, so be ready for that." Saare finished.
Rimuru nodded. "I see, thank you Saare." He already expected the council to want to make use of Tempest's resources, but he wouldn't bend over and allow them whatever they wished.
Saare was now firmly in his good books. "You can stop by to relax at Tempest some time you know." He offered.
Saare paused mid step before continuing. "Perhaps I will then after Hinata finishes with her daily trainings. Now we are here."
Rimuru blinked as he noticed they had arrived in front of a rather grand building. "After the meeting a small party will be held in Tempest's honor if all goes well." Saare shared as they walked through the doors unimpeded. The guards merely nodded towards Saare before giving him, Benimaru, and Souei suspicious looks which he didn't blame them for. The distrust of anything not Human was ingrained deeply, and for mostly good reason too.
Souei looked around with suspicion, he glanced at every shadow they passed by while Benimaru left no blind spot uncovered. It seems his two attendants were rather wary of his meeting as well.
Their weapons were all stored in his Stomach, meaning the three of them were unarmed, he could understand why Benimaru and Souei were both more jittery than usual. Some warriors were simply not at ease without their weapons by their side.
Personally he didn't feel any unease at all, but perhaps that was the confidence his own strength had granted him. None of the information Saare provided was particularly surprising to him, the council wanted to exploit Tempest, so he would exploit them right back.
Joining the Council of the West would be an acknowledgment that Tempest was part of Humanity, one step closer to seeing his dream come true.
But he did not have high hopes for everything to go quite as planned. On his own side, the Monster side things were going rather well. Cooperation was already present among Majins, Dwarves, Elves and many other races. Humanity was the main issue. Humans were greedy, he would know. Yet it was due to this greed that Humanity had advanced in countless worlds.
Saare led them through a short hallway before stopping at a large set of double doors. He turned around. Rimuru nodded back at him causing Saare to turn around and open the doors for them.
Saare walked in first, Rimuru followed closely behind as Benimaru and Souei flanked his sides. All of the counselors he knew of were already present and sitting.
Saare was standing to the side of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in a typical; "I'm cool and you're not" fashion.
"Greetings Rimuru Tempest. Why do we not begin immediately?" One of the counselors said.
He nodded as he took his seat. Despite knowing that Granbell would likely be using this distraction to finally begin his plan, Rimuru couldn't help but feel hopeful. All of his efforts till this point had led up to this moment.
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They ended up discussing everything through, the counselors seemed rather happy that he was willing to offer up some of Tempest's services, little did they know that the trains they wanted built, the roads they wanted made, the protection they wanted, all of it would give Tempest more soft power over the Western Nations. Or perhaps they did know and were merely underestimating him.
Still it all worked out for him.
"Wahahaha, I've heard that Your Majesty Rimuru is a Demon Lord, I never imagined you were so easy-going!" One of the counselors laughed.
"Let us continue our friendship in the future!" Another added.
He put on his best smile. "Thank you all, I look forward to cooperating with you all as well"
They had established a basic agreement, there would be more meetings to come to firmly iron things out. They were just taking a bit of a snack break now.
There were three general conditions that were proposed though. First was to abide by international law. Second was to create an economic zone.Third was to provide military force.
The first condition was easily agreed to, it makes sense that every nation part of the Western Council would have to abide by its laws. The second condition was rather annoying as Tempest's advancements could easily be stolen due to patents not existing in this world. It was something he was reluctant to agree with but he was considering it. If any nation advanced too much the Angels would attack so that would prevent any Western Nation from advancing too much to the point they could challenge Tempest in its advancements.
There was a reason that there was no gas, electricity, or even steam-powered machines in the Western Nations. The Angels would destroy any Kingdoms that were too advanced. Though Magic could compensate for the lack of technology.
In the end he decided to help some of the other Kingdoms out by creating the things they wanted for them, this way Tempest wouldn't have to share the designs and it would take ages for each nation to puzzle it out for themselves. But he would be careful, he wouldn't do anything like that for free or else the other nations would look down on Tempest.
Being a ruler was hard.
As for the last requirement of providing some military force, that was something he had to seriously consider. He didn't want his own military to be taken advantage of so some slimy nations could save some money.
In the end it was decided that Tempest would have full authority over the Great Jura Forest, which is something he already had since it was granted to him by the Demon Lord Council. The council never contested any of the other Demon Lord's ownership over their territories, which made it obvious they were doing so to him as a power play.
The council wanted Tempest to act as a deterrent against monsters, which was fine, they were already going to do that.
Rimuru could also tell there was another silver lining for the council that they were keeping to themselves. Tempest was in between the Eastern Empire and the Western Nations. Tempest would be the first to be attacked if the Empire were to invade, and that was something that the councilors feared greatly according to the information that Souei had gathered.
There still had to be a lot to consider, for one the salary for the military that was dispatched to the West as well as other various things.
As he was chatting with a counselor that wanted to bargain for some of Tempest's resources Rimuru froze.
"Sir Rimuru?" The counselor called out.
His head snapped to the direction of the double doors, his senses expanded.
"Lord Rimuru!" Benimaru called out.
He nodded. "I feel it."
"Wh-What's happening?!" One of the counselors yelled as an ominous Aura began to envelop the room.
One of the counselors pointed at him. "It must be the Demon Lord! He is an enemy to us Humans!"
Souei's eyes narrowed at the counselor. Rimuru could see strings unseen to the naked eye wrap around that same counselor's neck.
"Not now Souei." He said.
Souei nodded and withdrew the strings, the counselor hadn't even known that he was on the verge of death or at least quite a bit of pain due to his words.
He stood up from his chair and looked to the counselors. "It seems that we have some guests. Are any of you responsible for inviting them?"
Saare was already stationed at the door as the powerful presences got closer and closer. Currently they were walking through the halls that Saare had originally led them through.
"O-Of course not!" One of the counselors yelled. Rimuru shrugged his shoulders. He didn't think the person behind this would have fessed up anyway.
Rimuru turned to Saare. "Do you think you can take them?"
From what he was sensing there were six of them. Five of them were in the 200,000 - 300,000 EP range. While the last one was in the 450,000 range. That was strong, stronger than what Felix said Clayman had. Easily in the realm of Demon Lords.
Saare looked back at him with a determined expression on his face. "I could take them, not without collateral damage however…." Saare trailed off.
Rimuru nodded and turned to the council. "It seems we are at an impasse, I would be doing you all a favor if I assisted Saare here now wouldn't I?" He asked rhetorically.
Normally he wouldn't have hesitated to offer his help, but this was politics, being a nice person was a weakness.
One of the counselors pointed an accusing finger at him. "Y-You!"
He raised a brow. "You don't expect me to put myself and my subordinates in danger for nothing, do you? Tempest is not yet part of the Council of the West due to your own actions. Are you looking down on me, counselor?" He asked with narrowed eyes. He hadn't invoked his Demon Lord's Haki, yet it seemed like the counselor had wet himself.
Another counselor finally spoke up. "We would be very grateful if you would assist Saare." The other counselors quickly nodded along, they weren't used to any actual danger, the moment they felt threatened they would give in easily. Now he had the upper hand in any future negotiations which he could use to get better terms for joining the Western Council.
He smiled. "Excellent!" He turned to Benimaru and Souei as he sat back down much to the shock of the counselors. "Help Saare out would you?"
Both Benimaru and Souei had matching grins.
"A-Are you sure your subordinates can handle that?" One of the counselors spoke up.
He spun his chair around to face the counselor which only seemed to scare the man. "No need to be scared." Rimuru said, raising both his hands up. "Benimaru and Souei are two of my most elite subordinates, they can be considered Disaster Class threats going by the Free Guild Ranking."
The counselor's eyes widened, as did the eyes of the other counselors. "D-D-Disaster Class?!" The counselor looked to be on the verge of fainting. Disaster Class threats were a big deal in the West, powerful ones of that level could wipe a great nation like Falmuth off the face of the map, so that fear was well earned.
It was a calculated risk showing off the strength of some of his subordinates. It would cause the council to consider Tempest as an even greater threat than before, they didn't have just a True Dragon but they also had other Disaster Class Majin. They would also consider if he had Disaster Class Majin serving him, then just how strong was he?
They would be more wary of him and Tempest, but their greed would call to them to continue trading with Tempest nonetheless, such was the nature of Humanity.
He was broken out of his thoughts when the double doors were blasted open, six figures entered with one clearly more powerful than the rest.
The Aura they were emanating was extremely demonic, to the point that it felt like the Aura of a Daemon.
'Are those Daemons?'
'Negative. However it has been detected that they have taken in the power of a Daemon increasing their power at the cost of their sanity. These six also seem to be under someone's control.'
He could break the control over them with ease, but he wanted to let Benimaru and Souei show off a bit, to get the council to understand that he meant business.
"Try not to kill them!" He yelled towards Benimaru and Souei before he snapped his fingers placing a barrier around Benimaru, Souei, Saare, and the six invaders. He expanded the Space within the barrier giving the fighters even more room to maneuver.
Though one thing on his mind was that this was a rather convenient time for an attack. It was almost as if it was meant to keep him busy while something else happened.
'Affirmative. The odds of Granbell Rosso staging his attack on Ruberious is now 98.12343241%.'
Well Felix would be able to handle it, and if he needs help he can always send him a message.
Now if only he had a bowl of popcorn.
- Felix -
I spun in my rolly chair, waiting for time to pass. It had been a few days since the whole thing with Evelyn, and with some hindsight, I could admit I went overboard. It ended up fine though. I didn't spend much time thinking about Elmesia, I had bigger things to worry about.
Othinus had predicted that when Rimuru would be meeting with the Western Council would likely be when Granbell attacked. I had already discussed everything with Rimuru and Luminous. It was decided that Rimuru would proceed as normal, because despite everything the meeting with the Council of the West was important for Tempest's future.
I would be responsible for serving as backup for Ruberious in case Granbell does attack. I didn't bother hanging out in Ruberious itself, no reason to risk tipping off Granbell or Kagali. Unlikely, sure, even Othinus thought so, but why take that chance when I could just teleport at the last minute?
One final spin of the chair and I decided to get things moving. I planned to have Raiden, Sukuna, Saeko, and Kurumi come with me so they could get some experience. They would be the ones I would take along to Ruberious to help fight off the attack since Luminous insisted that I don't solo the attack if I can. Something about her people needing a chance to grow, to fight for their home. She said nothing untied Humanity than a threat to their existence.
She also said she wanted to stretch her feet a bit. She was open to relying on me but didn't wish to rely on me for everything which I could respect.
"Evelyn!" I called out.
The door to my office slowly opened as a stone faced Evelyn entered. She bowed in front of me. "What did you desire, master?" She seemed ready to expect anything.
"Could you call Raiden, Sukuna, Kurumi, and Saeko for me."
Evelyn's brows furrowed. "That's it?"
I smirked. "Oh? Did you want something more?"
"N-Nothing like that! I will bring the 4 of them here, master!" Evelyn sputtered before she quickly left.
Heh, messing with her was too much fun.
I didn't have to wait long for Evelyn to return, it was 10 minutes at most, mostly due to Evelyn's own travel time. "Come in." I said even before Evelyn knocked. The door opened, Raiden came in first followed by Saeko, then Kurumi, then Sukuna. Evelyn remained at the door. I turned to address her first. "You can leave now, we will be talking about something private." Evelyn bowed before leaving.
Saeko was quick to salute me. "I'm ready to serve, Felix-sama!"
I raised an eyebrow. "You don't even know why I called you yet."
Perhaps I should have told them earlier that I planned to take them with me to help with Granbell's attack, it would give them all more time to prepare, but I don't think they would have refused either way.
Saeko nodded. "I have a feeling that you wish for me to take care of your enemies." Saeko said confidently.
Well I suppose at a certain point individuals do begin developing instincts for combat.
I chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong."
Kurumi leaped onto my lap, curling up comfortably, her little fox nose nuzzling against my hand. Sukuna crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Who dares oppose you, my lord?" He asked.
I had noticed some changes in Sukuna as time went on. His personality was going in a bit of a different direction than the original Sukuna's. They had the same "core" if you will, but they had gone through separate experiences by now, not to mention the original Sukuna's memories were somewhat separated from the Sukuna in front of me, most of the emotions behind those memories were suppressed.
I shrugged my shoulders. "That doesn't matter, you don't need to take care of the guy responsible for the mess I'm going to intervene in. Let me summarize everything for you. A man and his companions will be attacking Ruberious. They will not be alone, one of them is a Monster tamer so I expect some monsters. Not to mention they have some resources to call upon so there may be more fighters than expected. I want you 4 to deal with the supporters, the rest will be taken care of by others."
Raiden nodded. "Very well, your will shall be done, Master."
Kurumi licked my hand, which I figured was her way of saying 'I'm in.'
"Great, stick around and I'll teleport you all to Luminous when the time comes. She'll have a better overview of the situation so just do what she tells you to within limits."
They all nodded, and so the wait began. It would be super awkward if after all this Granbell didn't even attack.
"How is everything?" I asked Luminous through our Soul Corridor. I felt Luminous' presence immediately focus on our Soul Corridor and got the feeling of exasperation and fondness from the other end.
"The same as it was the last 5 times you have asked me, Felix." Luminous responded dryly.
"Hey! Things can change drastically in even just 30 seconds." I retorted.
"I suppose you are right. I will let you know the moment I feel something off." Luminous said.
"Got it."
Communication through Soul Corridors could bypass almost any kind of barrier to my knowledge, even if two people were in entirely different dimensions if they have a Soul Corridor they could communicate, so even if Granbell places a barrier meant to isolate Lune from the rest of the world I'll still know what's going on.
I closed my eyes as I considered everything. We had already found some of the hidden entrances and what not that Granbell had made, there were a lot, hundreds in fact but I'm not sure if we found everything. All it would take is us missing a single hidden entrance and Granbell would have an in.
I have no idea how Granbell plans to get into Lune other than using some secret entrance since the barriers preventing free teleportation are fairly powerful. You would need something like Spatial Domination as well as sufficient understanding of the Space element to get through the barriers, something not many had.
I held off on reinforcing the barriers myself since if I made it too hard they may just give up on the initial plan and try something else which could be problematic. We knew the general gist of their current plan so it was easiest if they stuck to it.
"Why don't we play a game while we wait?" I said. Everyone looked at me with interest.
"Which game, Master?" Raiden asked with interest.
"It's called… monopoly."
–
"It looks like you need to pay me rent, Saeko." I said, smirking as I leaned back in my seat.
Saeko frowned as she looked down at her dwindling pile of bills. "B-But I'll go broke!" She protested, her voice carrying a hint of desperation. Her eyes flicked up at me, wide and teary, though I knew better than to be fooled. She could be a big drama queen one moment and then look perfectly pristine the next, she had mastered the art of crying to get what she wanted to perfection.
"H-How much do I owe you for rent?" Saeko asked tearfully.
I leaned forward, looking at my cards. "Uhh, $800."
Saeko cutely lowered her head slightly and raised both her hands in front of her, fidgeting shyly with her fingers in a way that made her look unexpectedly timid which she most definitely was not. "I-I just don't have a lot of money at the moment."
I eyed her meager stack of bills. "I'm aware." I was totally playing up the douche landlord right now.
"Is there something else I can pay you with?" Saeko asked hopefully.
My brows furrowed. What would she pay me with, she didn't have any cards that I wanted, nor did she own any property, she was at the bottom of this game financially, she was straight broke due to a series of poor financial decisions. "No, not really, I'd rather have money to be honest." I responded.
All of a sudden a sly smile crept onto her face. She leaned back slightly, catching the attention of the others, Kurumi, Raiden, and Sukuna, who all watched the exchange with curiosity. It seemed they, too, were wondering what she might do next.
"Are you sure there isn't something else I can do?" She murmured, her voice low and suggestive. Slowly, deliberately, Saeko reached up and began unbuttoning her top, revealing even more of her already prominent cleavage. The tightness of her suit did little to hide her figure, and with each undone button, her ample chest became more and more pronounced.
"Maybe... I can pay in a different way." She purred, her violet eyes locking with mine as she gave a teasing smile. Her confidence was undeniable, and it left the room in a stunned silence. Even her large weapon, casually resting against her shoulder, seemed less intimidating than the seductive power she was now wielding.
That had to be against the rules!
"Monopoly is modeled on real life, Saeko is using a valid tactic." Othinus chimed in with amusement.
Kurumi raised an eyebrow in amusement, while Raiden and Sukuna exchanged glances, clearly intrigued. The room seemed to hold its breath, and I found myself caught off guard by Saeko's sudden shift in tactics.
I pointed an accusing finger up at her. "Th-That's forbidden!"
Saeko smirked. "I do not believe that was in the rules you spoke about, Felix-sama~"
"Saeko…" I began, but my voice trailed off, uncertain of how to react as she paused, her smirk growing.
"Is this... enough for rent?" She asked innocently, as she let her hand linger on the next button, taunting me and everyone else in the room with her playful defiance.
I was in a true conundrum at this moment, Saeko was seriously not playing fair.
"Felix! It's time!"
I let out a sigh of relief as Luminous's voice was transferred through our Soul Corridor.
"Arcueid, Megumin, Lalatina. You all know your roles." I said in a Thought Communication
"Yes, My Lord. I will use the resources the Free Guild affords me to prevent the chaos from spreading beyond Ruberious' borders, as well as deal with various sources of chaos that may spring up within the West." Arcueid said.
"I'll just be hanging around protecting your territory, Milord!" Megumin said.
"I'll be Megumin's backup!" Lalatina added.
I didn't want the three of them coming with me, they would just be overkill. If they were there Raiden, Saeko, Kurumi, and Sukuna wouldn't really have a chance to shine.
"Good, I'll be counting on you then." I said as I ended the Thought Communication.
"Well, it's game time everyone, we can finish this game later. Maybe." I added on as an afterthought as I teleported us to Luminous.
In the blink of an eye we appeared in Night Garden. Luminous immediately turned around. "Felix." She nodded. She raised a brow as she spotted Saeko, Raiden, Sukuna, and Kurumi. She looked at me with an unasked question in her eyes.
I shrugged. "I want them to get some more experience, just have them take care of the stronger enemies that your people might have trouble with or might lose against."
Luminous nodded. "Very well." She turned to the four of them. "Saeko and Raiden, could the two of you take care of the group of otherworlders?"
Saeko and Raiden looked to me. "Do what she says. Feel free to show mercy though, chances are they are being controlled." I said. The two of them nodded.
Luminous snapped her fingers teleporting Saeko and Raiden out. She then looked to Kurumi and Sukuna. "I am less aware of your skillset, so I suppose it would be easiest if you merely helped my own subordinates take care of the Monsters that have begun rampaging around the city."
Sukuna and Kurumi nodded before being similarly teleported out.
"You know I can take care of all this in an instant."
Time Stop is handy like that.
Luminous rolled her eyes. "Then my subordinates will never grow."
I shrugged. "Your choice. Is Hinata already out there?"
Luminous nodded. "She is, the Grand Cathedral was destroyed, Hinata left a moment before you appeared to check it."
I originally wanted to try and use Small World to basically create a dimension around Lune and Night Garden, but that wasn't really possible, I could create a dimension with Small World and suck Lune and Night Garden into it, but overlaying a dimension over something else with Small World wasn't really possible at this point. Othinus had guessed that the Small World Ramiris had was a nerfed down version of what she theorized Veldanava once had, so the Authority I had wasn't quite as overpowered as what Veldanava had, it was still overpowered though.
I closed my eyes and expanded my senses. I could sense Hinata making her way towards the Grand Cathedral, she'd be there in a few seconds.
"With my senses expanded over Lune I can transport the civilians out of harm's way as we planned. Where did you want me to send them?" I asked Luminous.
Luminous quickly gave me the coordinates of some place a little ways away from Lune. A moment later I teleported all of the civilians away from Lune and to the area that Luminous arranged.
"Louis is already there, he will be able to control the Humans." Luminous said calmly.
"Hmm. It seems Hinata is confronting Granbell, you can probably leave that to her then." I said.
"Saeko, and Raiden just appeared on the battlefield." They were mowing through the otherworlders that had been scattered around the Grand Cathedral. The otherworlders didn't even have a chance to fight back as they were blitzed, though I did notice that Saeko and Raiden hadn't killed them.
Sukuna and Kurumi were mowing through some Monsters, though there was a stronger one that was heading towards Sukuna, a Dragon. He should be able to handle it.
My eyes narrowed as I felt the presence of a being far more powerful than I expected unveil. "It seems Granbell has recruited the help of the Guardian of the West. I can sense him hiding in the shadows near Granbell. He is moving towards Raiden and Saeko's location."
The Guardian of the West was fairly powerful, stronger than most Saints going by sheer energy alone. I didn't know much about him either, so this was a good chance to observe him a bit.
Luminous looked at me with worry. "Will Saeko and Raiden be able to handle him?" She asked.
Well I did want them to face a challenge and grow.
"If they can surpass their limits then yes." I said as I created a Body Double. Luminous looked at my Body Double with a raised brow. The Body Double opened its glowing crimson eyes.
"Can you watch over all of them?"
Othinus, who was possessing my Body Double nodded. "Consider it done." Before Othinus left though she began messing with the Body Double. I could feel my jaw drop as Othinus changed the Body Double to her preferences.
The transformation began immediately. The Body Double's form glowed with a soft, ethereal light as its shape started to shift. Muscles subtly contracted and smoothed out, giving way to a more delicate and slender frame. The shoulders narrowed, while the waist curved inward, giving rise to a feminine silhouette.
Bones gently restructured themselves, the jawline softening as the face took on rounder, more graceful features. Hair grew rapidly, cascading down in waves, as the hands and fingers slimmed, becoming more elegant. The chest expanded, and the body's proportions shifted, with hips widening and legs elongating slightly to match a balanced female physique.
The skin looked flawless, just like my own did, and it was glowing faintly, as it took on a softer, smoother texture. It didn't look like my own female form, I'd say it was very, very similar to that of Othinus from To Aru. It was practically the same, well it was as close as a real life model could get to an anime character. I suppose I did use that Othinus as a reference for her name.
Othinus' hair was blonde, her curves were slim, matching that of Othinus from To Aru. Despite what it may seem like, I was an enthusiast of all body types, not just busty ones! The outfit had changed as well, she was now wearing a coat and a collared t-shirt that showed off plenty of cleavage.
Luminous had a smile on her face as she looked at Othinus' body. "Ara, who is this friend of yours, Felix."
I sighed. "Not now you horny Vampire."
Othinus looked at me with a saucy smirk. "Do you like it, Master?"
I gave her body a once over. "Looks good!" I couldn't deny that Othinus looked like a total hotty, as expected of someone who inherited my taste.
Othinus pouted as if she wanted something more before sighing. "I suppose we can discuss it later." She mumbled. "I will be going to watch over those four." She told me before vanishing.
Othinus was basically piloting the Body Double from inside me, so I still had my Othinus.
Luminous looked to me with an amused smile. "What an interesting individual."
I sighed at Luminous' clear interest. I blinked as I felt three, no four individuals appear close to our current location. "It seems Kagali has made her move."
Luminous' eyes narrowed. "Did she now? It seems she does not know when to stay away. I will take care of her." Luminous said.
I nodded. "Sure. I want the fourth person though, they are concealing themselves rather well and seem to be following behind Kagali and her two helpers."
Luminous shrugged. "Do what you wish, as long as you do not handle this entire mess. My people need their own opportunities to grow."
I nodded. "I'll leave it to you then." I said as I teleported to where I felt the fourth presence. They were concealing themselves incredibly well, to the point that I would say their stealth was on the Ultimate level. Even I had trouble sensing them unless I deliberately focused.
I appeared behind the individual in question with my hands tucked in my pockets. My presence was equally concealed, to the point that even magicules were passing through me due to sheer stealth alone. We were in a cavern of some kind, one of Granbell's hidden entrances to Night Garden no doubt.
I looked at the man, before I investigated further I placed multiple barriers around us preventing escape.
I heard a loud sigh as the man stopped concealing himself, allowing me to feel his presence in full.
"Wow, you're pretty strong." I whistled from behind him.
He turned around to face me. He had the appearance of an aged man with blond hair and a goatee. His long hair was tied into a single low ponytail draped down his back. And he was wearing a black eastern-style suit with gold embroideries that depicted 3 tiger heads. He seemed to be someone important going by his strength alone, he was clearly a Saint.
Through Milim Eye I could see he had an Ultimate Skill of some kind, but it seemed different than what I was used to, it was more… detached from his soul than an Ultimate Skill should be.
"It is likely an Ultimate Skill that has been granted to him, not one he awakened on its own and so it is not closely bonded with his soul."
"Was it Vega?" He asked.
I raised a brow. So he already knew?
I nodded. "It was Vega."
The man sighed. "And I told Kagali to be careful of that mutt." He sighed once more before giving me a gentlemanly bow. "My name is Damrada, it is an honor to meet a distinguished figure such as yourself, Demon Lord Felix."
"Indeed, the pleasure is all yours." I said with some amusement. His lips twitched but his facial features didn't change other than that.
Damrada straight up as he looked into my eyes. "I am afraid that I must cut this meeting short. I do have an objective to accomplish."
I tilted my head. "I'm afraid that you won't be able to help Kagali, Luminous already has her eyes set on her."
Damrada scoffed. "As if I was going to help her, she has outgrown her purpose." Damrada raised his hands into a combat stance. "No, my purpose is far more necessary, and far more… noble."
Damrada eyed my hands that were still in my pockets. "Will you assume your stance?"
I shook my head. "Maybe later, if I need to." I said with a taunting smile.
Damrada nodded as if he wasn't affected and was used to it. "Very well." He said, before a blazing Aura of Fighting Spirit surged around him, crackling with raw power.
I jumped slightly, mimicking Goku's warm-up, my hands tucked casually in my pockets. Feet barely leaving the ground, I bounced in place, my Fighting Spirit and Divinity rippling with each light hop. My Aura flickered in sync with the rhythm, focus sharpening with every movement.
"Maximum effort." I muttered under my breath, quoting a certain Rated R Hero. I'm sure Deadpool would be proud.
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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
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Author's Note:
Hello everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. We get to have a little bit more politicking from Rimuru's pov, he isn't the main character but I still want other events to be covered in the world, the world doesn't revolve around Felix after all.
I know there weren't any crazy fight scenes yet, that'll happen next chapter. This one was more about establishing the various povs that'll be covered since the attack is taking place on multiple fronts. There is some important character development in some of these povs so they'll be covered no matter what but I'll summarize what I can so you lot don't get bored.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.