The air is tense and sad as Rimuru looks at Shion's dead body. He looks around to see the rest of the victims. Seemingly trying to accept their deaths he mutters, "l'm sorry but now you can rest inside of me."
Right before he can absorb them however, Eren appears with the rest of her group and yells at Rimuru to stop. Rimuru, in a low voice tells her that now is not the time. Before he can turn around and proceed she yells that she's got something to show him.
She lifts her hair up and lets her ears grow to a point. Revealing that she's an elf to Rimuru she explains that she is royalty from the Sorcerer Dynasty Sarion and that there might be a way to save them. Catching Rimuru's attention she immediately begins talking about the legend of the dragon princess.
Explaining that by evolving into a Demon Lord, revival might be possible. I explain, "Actually, yeah, that might be possible." Rimuru turns to me. "Remember, this is the type of stuff I study. Running through it, the reason why that dragon was born with no soul was because the soul was already long gone but with this barrier the souls are still here, ready to be put back into their bodies. We have a solid chance here."
Rimuru goes quiet as he asks his [Great Sage] about it. Seemingly getting a similar answer his mood goes up by a lot. He comments under his breath, "The same number as pie, eh. Well, as long as the chances aren't zero we still have a chance." I smile a little. He's having a protagonist moment.
With that settled it's time for our retaliation. Walking out to where Souei is, I explain that he has a new mission. He is to scout the enemy and see where the crystals powering the barrier are to locate the smaller parts of their army and eliminate them. After hearing my explanation he immediately vanished into thin air.
With that over with, Rimuru and I group together again and discuss what our chances are. With [Great Sage]'s calculation complete Rimuru is dead set on doing this even if the chances are so low. Of course, with my more analytical and logic based thinking I probably wouldn't be able to keep up with his optimism but little does he know, during this transformation the information I've stored up in [Sage's Link] will finally come into play.
There are several things that will happen with this transformation but among them [Sage's Link]'s inevitable activation during this evolution will cause a sort of skill exchange between the two of us. This will get me [Degenerate] subskills like [Separation], [Synthesis] and [Ravenous] subskills like [Chaos Eater] but from me to Rimuru, skills include [Cremation], [Genius] subskills like [Zero Time] and [Optimize], [Hyper-Regeneration] and [Sage's Link] subskills like [Shared Power] and [Skill Bank]. The reason why some are subskills and some are not is because [Sage's Link] copies the most basic parts of a skill so skills with no subskills like [Cremation] transfer intact while skills with subskills like [Genius] transfer in parts.
Where I'm going with this is when my [Genius] subskills [Zero Time] and [Optimize] are given to Rimuru they will most likely fuse with [Raphael] and when that happens all bets are off because combined Rimuru will gain infinite calculation speeds on top of his Magicule count which together will give him a 100% success rate in the revival ritual. Of course, he doesn't know that and I'm not trying to ruin the surprise.
After grouping up with Rimuru I tell him about Myulan and explain the situation. To avoid an anger explosion I say she was controlled by Clayman first; before I tell him about how she's partially responsible for the number of deaths. After the explanation he says he understands and asks to meet with her.
On the way there I explain my plan on how we'll replace her heart, which is really his plan. We are to act like we are going to kill her and stab her through the chest, then revive her moments after to avoid Clayman's suspicion. There's not much worthy of change in that plan. It's pretty solid. With that cleared up we walk inside the office where Youm, Grucius, Myulan and Benimaru are waiting.
In a cold voice I say, "So, Myulan, it seems you were behind this mess."
She calmly says, "Yes."
"Alright then," I turn to Rimuru and nod, "I'm that case. The decision Rimuru and I made still stands." Everything goes silent. "Myulan has to die."
Grucius and Youm both go crazy and attempt to run away with her but are immediately restrained by Benimaru. They yell at Myulan to run as she accepts her fate. Youm escapes but is restrained by Rimuru's [Sticky Steel Thread].
"You ready Myulan?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Here you go." I reach back and punch forward, stabbing her through the heart. As I pull out my hand however, I replace her old fake heart with a new one I created in my lab. This heart has some special properties magically embedded in it. Among them things like increased magic potency. I'll call it a gift to the future queen of Farmenas.
As she drops to the ground, Grucius and Youm go quiet. They think they just saw the woman they both love drop dead in front of them. Makes sense they would be left speechless. But then she stands up, seemingly completely fine.
She looks at herself making sure she's not dreaming. "What's happening?"
I cross my arms and sit down in Rimuru's chair, "Listen, I knew you were the Ring Finger. What makes you think I didn't know everything else about you?" I smile a little, "Knowing things I shouldn't know is a specialty of mine you know. I know Clayman was holding your heart hostage, forcing you to comply with his every whim. So to fix that Rimuru and I replaced your old fake heart with a new, better one designed by yours truly." I point to myself.
"With that you should be free now. There's no kill switch on that heart. You can do whatever you want now." My smile gets wider, "So, what cha gonna do with your newfound freedom."
She looks at Youm and blushes a little. "Just like I thought. Well, I'll leave you to that. Have fun." I give her a thumbs up and walk away. With that done with its time to announce our decision to become Demon Lords.
Rimuru goes to heal Hakurou and Gobta as I announce a meetup with all big names present in Tempest. With Souei gone for now he isn't going to attend but everyone else is.
After about a half-hour we get everyone in Rimuru's office. From Gobzi to Benimaru, everyone is here to discuss recent events.
As Rimuru announces, "I'm sure you're all anxious right now. Rigurd has probably already informed you about our current situation so skipping ahead. We need to discuss how we are going to deal with the humans as well as the discussion of the possibility of reviving the dead.
However, before we begin Migeru and I have an announcement. We have decided to become Demon Lords. Now with that in mind, let's begin."
The conversation immediately turns to the monster's thoughts on humans after the invasion. With the results of the invasion being so negative and unjustified it makes sense that the first thing Rigurd says when he is the first to speak is, "While this may disappoint Lord Rimuru and Migeru I cannot forgive the humans. They surprise attacked our nation which was a cowardly move. I have no respect for cowards."
Another Goblin Lord chimes in mentioning that there is no guarantee that what happened today is not a one-time deal. He points out that we can never truly be sure an invasion force won't sneak in again. This makes the threat impossible to truly prevent and makes opening up to the humans again risky.
This sentiment continues for another 30 seconds before Rigur breaks the ongoing opinion by stating, "While untrustworthy humans like the knights of the Farmas Kingdom that attacked us today will always exist I believe it is unfair to condemn all humans as untrustworthy." He looks at Cabals group and Youm who have also appeared in this discussion. "Youm has been living here training under Hakurou for months now and even helped in defending Tempest. Cabals group came to help out of concern for the Twin Capital's safety as well. I believe they are our trustworthy friends, not enemies. With their presence you can't say all humans are evil."
Rigurd thinks this through, "You have a point son. Now thinking it over I might agree with you. We can't lump all humans together. There are humans we can call allies but those we can't."
However, another Goblin Lord counters saying, "Even if that's the case, shouldn't we ban human interactions for the time being? With the recent invasion the threat of another human invasion is high at the moment. I believe at least some preventative measures should be placed. At least for now."
This leads to a small argument where it is discussed whether or not these measures should be big or small. It is agreed at least for now, preventative measures against human invasion must be considered, however the opinions on how strict these opinions should be, vary wildly from monster to monster.
There are more emotional monsters that want to make them strict and harsh while the more level-headed monsters like Rigurd want to make them less strict but still in place. Recognizing the possible issues with strict restrictions, like possible diplomatic issues with Blumund for example, they believe slightly more lenient but still effective restrictions would be the better way to go. As this conversation continues, the conversation gets more heated as monsters split into groups and argue as they fail to reach a conclusion. I can see the uncomfortable looks on the human's faces as they see this discussion go down.
As this continues Rimuru does something that came out of nowhere, "I used to be human!" Everyone turns around, "I used to be, I guess I could be considered an otherworlder."
Welp, this is happening. I contemplate whether or not I should reveal that I am also an otherworlder. After a bit of thinking I decide to do it. The reason being that by keeping my status as an otherworlder a secret, this could cause problems in the future. For example, this could affect the loyalty of the monsters and make them sway more in my favor. Finding out Rimuru used to be human could cause a minor controversy, especially with a phobia of humans spreading throughout Tempest at the moment. This could tip the balance of power in my favor. Not what I want to happen.
With that decision we finally decide to explain everything that happened to us excluding two things. Who or what sent me to this world and Veldora. News of meeting Veldora or worse a god powerful enough to interfere with The Voice of the World could cause massive tidal waves across the balance of this world. Not the most ideal situation for me considering that would catch the attention of people like Guy, Michael and Feldway, way too early. Being forced to deal with them now wouldn't be impossible, but not ideal so for now catching too much attention from them is something to avoid.
With the explanation out of the way Rimuru continues, "Despite being a monster I always believed myself to have the heart of a human. Because of that I made the rule to not attack humans and even decided to spend a large amount of time in a human city. That led to this attack. If I had decided to pay more attention to this city this wouldn't have happened. I..."
Interrupting Rimuru I say, "Hold on. If you're gonna blame yourself, then I would also take the blame. It's both our faults because I did the same thing."
This causes Shuna to stand up, "No, this isn't true! It was also our fault. We believed that we could rely on you two to protect us and while that belief still stands we can see that, that burden was way too much for only two monsters to carry. For that I apologize." She bows.
Benimaru chuckles a little and continues the sentiment, "To think my little sister spoke before I did. When I felt my connection to Lord Rimuru and Migeru become severed, I felt a harrowing sensation spread throughout my heart. Even though I was in charge of defending Tempest while you were away, I still depended on you too much. Because of that I was unable to properly defend Tempest from disaster. I would also like to take some of the blame."
This leads to a domino effect where everyone begins putting blame on themselves. This, while nice at first, gets annoying so I yell out, "Stop! It's all our fault. This situation could have been avoided with more caution and foresight from everyone so let's take this as a lesson to be more self aware."
Understanding my point the monsters agree and move on. Rimuru meanwhile looks on in confusion. He asks, "Are you all okay with two former humans leading the city?" They all say the same thing. To them, even with the reveal of our former selves we are still their lords and they understand ultimately everything we do is for their safety.
I smile when I hear that. You have no idea how much that means when it's me you're talking about given the atrocities I'm willing to do for your ultimate safety and security at the end.
After that whole little mess we finally reach the end, and the whole point of this meeting. What do we do about the enemy army?
With Rimuru still calming down and processing what happened when he confessed, I lead the next part of the conversation, "So with that over with let's move on. Earlier we said we are going to become Demon Lords so let me explain.
We want to become Demon Lords because a major problem that our city faces which helped cause this was a lack of respect. While our relations with Blumund and Dwargon are acknowledged, it still doesn't give us a good foothold to defend our position from. Other countries don't respect us very much and underestimate us for being a quote on quote "monster nation." With not only one, but two Demon Lords leading this nation, we could fix that."
Benimaru comments, "That makes sense. By receiving the title of Demon Lord, we could send a message that negotiation by force isn't an option."
Geld adds, "So wise nations would seek more diplomatic relations to gain the trust of multiple Demon Lords."
Gobzi adds more, "And for those that do attack, not only would they be too weak, but they would have trouble finding allies due to the fear of angering multiple Demon Lords."
Suddenly however, Kaijin gives a counterclaim, "While that plan may seem good at first glance, we still have to face the Western Saint's Church. Once they hear about the birth of two Demon Lords, they will not simply stand idle."
I confidently say, "While that may be true, if they dare attack us we will simply fight back and this time, we won't lose."
Before this continues longer, Benimaru jumps in, "I understand that planning for the future is wise but for now we should focus on the current predicament. How do we deal with the allied forces?"
Rimuru finally says, "We'll DEAL with them." He makes a hand motion to show we will kill them.
Everyone looks on in surprise. I explain, "You see, it's one of the requirements to become Demon Lords. We each need to kill 10,000 humans. In all honesty, this invasion is actually pretty convenient for that. We will kill the main force ourselves."
Rigurd, in a worried tone says, "But, even with the two of you, wouldn't going alone be risky?"
Rimuru responds with, "We'll be cautious."
After that statement, Souei appears from thin air with news about the enemy army, interrupting everyone.. Time to move on to the next part of my plan.