Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 2.1

After Rimuru flew away, those who remained on the scene swiftly moved into action.

Benimaru began handing out appropriate instructions, leveraging his grasp of the battlefield. At the same time, he sent out Thought Communications to the top brass over in the city, asking them to go into emergency mode at once. Soei dispatched his Replications far and wide to gather information. And Diablo, most of all, was absolutely beside himself with excitement.

“Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh! Did you see it, everyone? Sir Rimuru is finally going to show us his true colors!”

Shion rolled her eyes at him. “You fool! Sir Rimuru is always showing his true colors, no matter the situation. Leave the excitement for later! We must concentrate on crushing our enemies!”

It was an odd way of putting it, but Shion was right on the money. Diablo was understandably surprised to see Rimuru on the rampage for the first time, but now was not the time for that. As Benimaru declared, it was their role as Rimuru’s top soldiers to handle the extraneous distractions. That was the edict from Rimuru, and for his underlings, his word was gospel.

For the demons summoned by Rimuru, this was a supreme pleasure. Their faces were full of joy, and they all bristled with strength, as if answering the call for service. It was obvious from their demeanor how eagerly they had been waiting for the call to come.

Rimuru, demonstrating the sheer depth of his anger, was about to unleash his fearsome powers of destruction. The order he gave was simple enough.

Kill all our enemies!

With this command, the demons were burning to set off on their mission.

“As our lord wishes!”

The fearless demons were now ready to throw themselves into battle for the sake of their lord. But:

“Wait!”

A single word from Diablo made all the demons focus their attention on him. He raised one hand to put them at ease.

“Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh. Do you understand Sir Rimuru’s order? He stated that not even one of you may die. Know that death would be a mortal sin, one that would be unforgivable even if we all offered our heads to him.”

Diablo’s resonant declaration silenced the demons. His smile instilled more fear than reassurance in them. And again, it was totally irrefutable.

Silently, the demons waited for further instructions. It was Benimaru who spoke first.

“I’d say Diablo is right. You may be immortal, but don’t you dare take solace in that. Such hair-splitting is no excuse against Sir Rimuru!”

Just because they could be resurrected after some time was no reason for them to die. Benimaru wanted to make sure that was clear to the demons. They grew quiet, realizing the error in their assumptions.

“So,” Diablo said, “we are going to assign you your roles. Sir Benimaru, can you handle that for me?”

“What about you?” Benimaru asked, wondering if Diablo would be willing to do what he asked of him.

“Oh, leave me out of it, if you could. There’s a certain rat I’m interested in, so I’m going to deal with him first.”

Benimaru shrugged at the reply. He figured Diablo would say something like that, and he was right.

“…I see. Well, do whatever you like, then.”

Diablo, the way Benimaru understood it, was not to be bothered. The demon answered directly to Rimuru, so not even Benimaru had the authority to order him around. But Diablo had entrusted him with a job, so Benimaru began giving out orders.

“All right. Diablo, you are hereby free to go. Moss will continue to send me information from the battlefield, as before. You may travel anywhere on the battlefield you like, as long as you keep Sir Rimuru’s order in mind.”

Diablo nodded, smiling, as Moss voiced his agreement. His replications were already scattered across the field, and his Thought Communication gave him a live, real-time connection to Benimaru’s mind.

“You better not exclude me,” Shion indignantly stated. She had access to Spatial Transport but could only teleport to locations she could physically see; she wasn’t very good at calculating the required coordinates otherwise.

Benimaru gave this a small chuckle as he nodded. “Of course not. We’ll be counting on your strength in battle. I sense eight notable presences on the airship, not including Emperor Ludora. They might be a little tough, but it won’t be as reckless a battle as Sir Rimuru’s. Even without Diablo, we should be able to hold our own.”

“The battlefield will be rather tricky as well,” warned Soei. “Thirty thousand enemy reinforcements are streaming onto the scene.”

Benimaru was aware of this, of course.

“I know. That’s why it’s a race against time. I’ve ordered Gabil to stall for as long as he can, so we have to bring the emperor into custody before anyone gets killed.”

Soei and Shion nodded at Benimaru’s bold words. These were Rimuru’s orders, and Benimaru had no other choice. He needed to fulfill his wishes with all his might, and so he had drawn up a plan he believed was the best. On the battlefield, their primary objective was to buy time as they struck at the airship, the biggest menace here. This, they decided, would help prevent an attack on the city.

(Incidentally, the eight presences mentioned by Benimaru consisted of a Velgrynd replication left as insurance and the Single Digits gathered on the airship. These were Lieutenant Kondo, Damrada, the Four Knights guarding the emperor, and finally Marco. None of them were hiding their presence, so Benimaru’s unique skill Born Leader was able to detect them.)

Suddenly, Benimaru received some good news.

“…Geld just contacted me. His evolution is complete, so he’s woken up.”

Geld the Barrier Lord had awakened—and in response, all of his men were beginning to open their eyes as well. Soon, they would join the defense of the city.

“That’s very good news. If Sir Geld is joining the city defense, we should be able to relieve the Diable Chevaliers of that duty.”

“Can I put them under my command?”

“We don’t have access to Venom, so we can’t engage in any full-group maneuvers. I will let each of you make your own decisions, depending on the war situation.”

“Understood.”

So, after a brief exchange, everyone had their roles. All that remained now was to trust in their victory, but there was one more thing to consider.

“Now, are you all able to fight?”

Benimaru was addressing Testarossa and her friends. He wasn’t going to quibble about this. He just needed to know whether they could be expected to serve in battle.

“Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… No need to ask them. If anyone answered ‘no’ to that question, I would kick them out of the force.”

Diablo turned his attention to the demonesses. They stood up, not requiring any further pressure from him.

“What a foolish question. There is nothing Diablo can do that I can’t.”

“It sounds a little harsh, but I don’t have a problem with it. I like to fight, after all!”

“If I’m gonna live up to your expectations, I can’t afford to make another mistake. Now is no time for rest.”

The trio was united in their desire to serve Sir Rimuru. The same went for their own servants. All the demons were rapidly completing their evolution, and it was with the greatest of joy that they received the orders they were waiting for.

………

……

…

As of that moment, Testarossa, Ultima, and Carrera, like Diablo, had evolved into Devil Lords. This made them virtual demigods, among the strongest in the world, capable of defeating even a Demon Peer without much fuss. This meant that all seven Primals had become the same rank of being, with no restrictions placed upon them.

Just as Diablo’s servant Venom became a Demon Peer, those serving under the three demonesses received similar evolutions. Moss and Veyron remained Demon Peers, but their magicule count increased to the point where they were comparable to awakened demon lords. The other four—Agera, Esprit, Zonda, and Cien—had reached a level as Demon Peers that surpassed even budding demon lords. In both name and reality, they had evolved to the highest level of demon-dom.

They were all the same rank now, but there were clear differences in their abilities. These differences were reflected in the noble titles they were given. Moss was now a grand duke, comparable to a king; Veyron was classified as a duke, Agera as a marquis, Esprit as a count, and Cien and Zonda as viscounts. Venom was also recognized as a baron.

Among the others, there were several brand-new Arch Demons post-evolution. They would serve as commanders, the equivalent of knights, and they would need to spend many more years working to attain a noble rank. The remainder of the group, nearly six hundred strong, would become Diable Chevaliers, comparable to high-level magic-born. They were stronger, they were evolved…and thus they could be more helpful to Rimuru than ever.

………

……

…

The demons demonstrated their willingness to join the battle. Benimaru nodded at them, satisfied.

“Very good. Let’s see what you can do, then.”

The three demonesses and their armies were hurriedly asked to join the airship assault. It was an order Benimaru gave without hesitation, as if he meant to do so from the beginning.

“Well then, Lady Testarossa… I need you to clean up the trash for me. Can you do it?”

“Yes, of course. A simple task.”

“Wait a minute! I wanna do that! I can handle it too, you know.”

Benimaru had given Testarossa the order, but Ultima intervened. He didn’t let it faze him.

“I don’t care which of you does it, but please keep the airship intact. It needs to serve as the battlefield where we’ll settle our differences with Emperor Ludora.”

“Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Ultima, I asked Sir Benimaru to assign you your roles. If you disagree with them, you are going against my will. Consider that before you speak.”

Ultima was lucky that Diablo was in an excellent mood. Normally, that comment would have merited punishment for her. This time, all he gave was a little admonishment.

“Tsk… Well, too bad. I guess I’m not all that suited for it anyway. I’ll follow Sir Benimaru’s instructions.”

Ultima realized immediately after she said it that her mouth was getting her in trouble. So, relieved that there were no further consequences, she gladly put the matter behind her. Her youthful innocence occasionally led to mistakes like this, but even she had a good knack for reading the situation.

“Let’s continue,” Benimaru said, handing out roles to the remaining members.

First, Testarossa took over the task of eliminating the knights guarding the emperor’s flagship. Following that, Benimaru went over who would charge in behind her. He mentioned four names—Shion, Soei, Ultima, and Carrera—and he would naturally be joining them as well.

“Emperor Ludora is unlikely to make any moves. If he does, all we have to do is hit him hard. Instead, we must focus on defeating Velgrynd’s Separate Body and the other seven Single Digits.”

“Hmm… If so, we’re going to be outnumbered. But oh well… I will take care of two of them. Or three, even.”

Benimaru quieted Shion down before she took on any more tasks.

“Wait a minute, Shion. You’re right, but it’s not a good idea to take work away from other people.”

He then turned his attention to Veyron and the others, waiting for assignments with hopeful expressions on their faces.

“Listen,” he said, “you can never let your guard down. We will attack with maximum force, using only the numbers we need. You can expect to be put to work, Lady Testarossa.”

“I should hope so.”

Testarossa smiled. She didn’t say it out loud like Ultima, but if Benimaru ordered her to stay back, she would have been extremely unhappy.

“Let’s keep a hundred guards on duty to make sure no one escapes the airship. I want the remaining five hundred Diable Chevaliers to support Gabil and his team. But who should command them…?”

“I think Cien would be the right person for the job. He knows Moss well and is gifted at handling such chores.”

Cien looked up when his name was called. His eyes teared up a bit, perhaps out of joy at Testarossa deigning to remember he existed.

“All right. Cien, get moving at once.”

“Yes, sir!”

He immediately sprang into action, leaving his own army of a hundred and flying off with everyone else in tow. It was thanks to his quick action that Gabil and his army would later be spared total destruction.

So their direction was decided. Testarossa would stage the initial attack, with their top elites storming the airship behind her. A hundred Diable Chevaliers would blockade the emperor’s airship as Benimaru, Shion, Soei, and the others performed the raid. Three Devil Lords and four Demon Peers would also be heading into battle.

“Veyron, Agera, Esprit, Zonda—you should be thankful you were chosen,” said Carrera…but she was likely the happiest out of all of them.

“Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Well, good luck to you all.”

With the conversation settled, Diablo sent them off with a smile. Testarossa was the first to respond.

“Hee-hee-hee! Well, if any of them survive what I have for them, make sure you mop them up for me. Can’t have any of those filthy beasts escaping!”

Testarossa turned to her servant demons, ordering them to serve as her pack of hunting dogs. They didn’t need to be told to, but nobody voiced that complaint. Besides, they weren’t sure whether anyone could survive against her right now.

Once the order was made, Testarossa quickly set off, turning her attention toward her prey. Benimaru and the others followed suit and took flight, with Veyron and his kind coming right behind them. The other demons spread themselves wide, positioning themselves to surround the single airship.

Soon, the decisive air battle was ready to begin.

Before they got started, however, a thought occurred to Ultima.

“So what’re you up to, anyway, Diablo?” asked Ultima.

Carrera turned toward Diablo, curious. He looked a little surprised, but then smiled serenely at the duo.

“As I intimated to you, I have an important role to play.”

That smile made them increasingly suspicious.

“You said something about a rat,” Carrera added. “Who is it?”

“That’s nothing you need to know—”

“Whoa, hang on, Diablo. It’s not a good idea to keep secrets, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” agreed Ultima. “Sir Rimuru always talks about how important it is to share information.”

Diablo had no other choice.

“I have the noble mission of watching over the glorious Sir Rimuru in combat! It is a vital role to take, and I cannot leave it to any of you!”

It was an outrageous thing to say, and he shamelessly came out with it. Lucky for him that Benimaru wasn’t here—but then again, if he was, he would probably just roll his eyes and sigh at him. Either way, it went without saying that Ultima and Carrera were less than convinced.

“What?! Oh, come on! I want to see Sir Rimuru in action, too!”

“Wait a minute. Let me ask you something—are you alone going to enjoy that perk? Because even if you are our boss, that doesn’t excuse you acting like a tyrant.”

It was a perfectly natural reaction to have. Ultima wondered why nobody asked this question when Benimaru was around…but Carrera knew well that the odds were stacked against them. If Testarossa were here, it’d be a different story, but with just Ultima and herself, there was simply no wrangling Diablo.

“Oh? Do we have a problem with this?”

“Of course we do!” Ultima protested.

“I’ll follow your orders,” said Carrera, “but I can’t say I like them much.”

Diablo pondered a moment. “Well, all right. I will tell you the truth, then. You see, there is someone on the enemy side capable of controlling and manipulating alternate dimensions. I think it is likely Lady Velgrynd, but if you get caught in her trap, you may have all connections to this world taken away from you…”

“…!”

“I see… It would be a good idea to leave someone behind, then.”

Diablo solemnly nodded. “Exactly. I would like to be part of the fight, but sadly, it is not meant to be.”

He chuckled inwardly at himself. Already, he was nimbly talking his way out of this. His brain had the fairly useless talent of coming up with the best excuses in the world—a knack Rimuru took advantage of at times, too. Truly a demon to the core.

Ultima, however, was sharper than him.

“So who’s the rat?”

Diablo sneered without showing it on the surface. The idea of having a front-row seat for the battle between Rimuru and Velgrynd put him in a good mood, but having these pests refuse to go away for him was getting frustrating.

“It’s a pity, Ultima. I would’ve thought you’d know without me telling you.”

The sarcasm was his way of fighting back—but there was no practical reason for hiding it.

“It’s Yuuki Kagurazaka. I had my feelers out, but I’m afraid I’ve seen no sign of Yuuki so far. If he’s hiding somewhere on the airship, that would be ideal…but if he wants to mess with Sir Rimuru, we can’t just leave him there, can we?”

“True. That would go against Sir Rimuru’s orders.”

“Right. We can’t let him get in our way!”

“Exactly. I don’t know what this rat’s objective is yet, but at the very least, one of us needs to stay here and watch over Sir Rimuru.”

Half of this was Diablo’s selfish desire to watch Rimuru fight; the other half was pretending he had a proper role to play here. To Diablo, the former was much more important…but either way, Ultima and Carrera accepted his argument, miffed as they were by it.

“Well, all right,” said Carrera. “I’ll just take my frustration out on their side.”

“Yes, by all means.”

“And you don’t have any objection to us going on a rampage, do you?” asked Ultima.

“Of course not. In fact, you can even dispatch Ludora if you like.”

“Hmm, that sounds fun. We’ll take you up on it, then.”

“Totally. Okay, I’m gonna go work out some of my frustrations on those guys!”

Diablo nodded vigorously. If that was all it took to convince them, it was a small price to pay. Carrera and Ultima took off in a hurry, not wanting to miss out on any of the good stuff, and Diablo sent them off with a smile and a “good luck” before he headed to Rimuru.

There, after everyone went away, Laplace was alone with his thoughts.

Nobody even cares about me, huh…?

Being left behind like this made him feel a little sorry for himself.

“W-well, I guess I’ll go help out Lady Kagali, then…”

Reporting on his plans to no one in particular, Laplace went on his way.

And then, before anyone knew it, things began changing.

The monsters were resonating with Rimuru’s anger, using it to evolve themselves.

Before anyone knew it, the situation had moved on. At a tremendous rate, they fully rebuilt their bodies, acquiring new abilities—all of which, via the skill Food Chain, added to Rimuru’s own power stores without him even realizing it. It happened with Geld, who was awake and responsive again, and it was happening with all the eerie and unexpected evolutions seen among the monsters. Others, still asleep, would follow in their footsteps.

And this was about more than just awakenings and evolutions. Everything was managed with top efficiency, becoming a major factor in boosting Rimuru’s power. It would be more effective, more practical—and in time, Rimuru’s full force would be released, surpassing limits that no one was even aware of yet.