Well then, let us now get to Adalman’s team, the last of the Labyrinth group.
However, he was a genius who could use Holy-Demonic Reversal.
It was a power involving Mathematical Circuits imbued onto the soul.
All ordinary physical attacks were nullified, and only Legendary-tier and above weapons could actually harm him.
Albert had been pushed back by such enemies, so it was unreasonable to blame him.
His weapon being broken, compromising the vanguard, was one of the main reasons for their defeat.
“Having been defeated, I cannot possibly accept this reward…….”
Adalman stated in frustration.
No, he was worrying too much.
“Don’t say that. You’ve done well.
I’m saying this, so believe me won’t you?”
To begin with, I had not expected it, but Adalman had beaten Shinji’s team. (TN: When they came as spies.)
His fight up with Krishna, one of the Emperor’s Personal Guard, was just a bad match up.
So I had already pardoned him, and was going to start the Ascension Ritual but……
“Even still Rimuru-sama, I cannot forgive myself.
I would gladly take the opportunity to become one, when I have earned it!”
He resisted my offer thus.
At this point, rather than trying to protect the current capital city of Tempest, it was optimal to transfer all the important facilities into deep inside the Labyrinth.
On that note, the Labyrinth also had its Ten Lords.
The Labyrinth I had built as a playground had turned into a fortress all of a sudden.
I wanted Adalman to attain Demon Lordship, but I shouldn’t ignore his personal wishes.
“I understand.
When there is another chance, be sure to prove the worth of those expectations!”
“Yes. I shall remember those words of yours.
From today onwards, I bestow you with the title ‘Gehenna Lord’.
“As you desire your highness!!”
Fu~. (TN: *breathes out*)
Anyway, Adalman was now also considered among my strongest subordinates, having received a ‘-Lord’ title.
From now on, his authority would increase. That is, if he was willing exercise that privilege.
(TN: Warning, character switching like crazy.)
Albert needed to get his get his broken equipment replaced.
Were the Legendary-tier items taken from the Empire more suited to him?
Who would get to use the only God-tier set?
His skills would be suited to Legendary-tier and advancing to God-tier would be a matter of time.
At a glance, Calgurio was not a weak man.
Even so, he never could bring out the potential of his God-tier set, and only used it as a high defense armour.
I knew this sort of secret info after much analysis. (TN: via Raphael-sensei I guess.)
Equipment crafted from such metals would be extremely underpowered in the hands of the unskilled.
But even becoming a ghost with an unlimited lifespan, he was a soul who had not lost his talents as a Holy Knight.
After all, most of the candidates to evolve into Demon Lordship had no need of new armours as they could make them on their own.
It was a very strong, perhaps even Legendary-tier attire.
It was a backup if the force field they put up was to be broken.
In the first place, ‘Nullify Physical Attacks’ would cause most armours to be useless.
Shion’s Ōdachi, the ‘Improved • Hercules’ Edge’, had somehow even turned into a weapon of Legendary-tier destructive power.
And there was also a matter of compatibility with the armour.
In that case, Albert’s reward would be the God-tier armour confiscated from Calgurio.
It was a Full-plate Armour that came with a Long Sword and Kite Shield in a set.
“Albert, your sword skills are truly masterful.
“Roger!!”
Speaking thus, I handed Albert his reward.
He worried way too much.
“Th-this is!!”
Recognizing the power of what he now held, Albert let out a voice of astonishment.
These items were legacies from the age of gods, even their existence was debated.
For a knight, having permission to use them was the greatest honor.
“Can you make use of it?”
I won’t let him refuse.
Grasping the strength of my intensions,
“Yes sir! I will make the best use of it, to repay you for this honor!!”
Albert replied loudly.
But I had made one miscalculation.
Hey no one told me this! The analysis didn’t show this!!
She knew didn’t she. (TN: I call Raphael-san a she because of certain spoilers.) That was why she advocated for Albert and not Benimaru.
‘Turn a body of flesh into that of a Spirit Form for a certain amount of time’
That was the hidden power of God-tier armour.
Veldora was like that, and speaking of which, I was too.
Eternal youth was guaranteed, along with a strong degree of immortality.
Although temporary, to be able to grant an existence of that scale, this armour was fearsome.
The armour had gone to where it belonged.
Now, that was all of the Ten Lords done with, but we shouldn’t forget Adalman’s pet dragon.
I wonder what could be a good reward.
Sensing my arrival, the Death Dragon bowed its head nervously.
Its fearsome appearance aside, it was pretty cute to be honest.
“I want to give you something too. It is a ‘name’.
From today you are the ‘Gehennic Dragon King’ Wenti!”
I named it thus in front of everyone.
The 20m long beast shrunk in front of our eyes and transformed into a beauty garbed in black. (TN: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
With monsters, anything was possible. Having experienced this so many times, I wouldn’t get worked up so easily.
I am pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
“Ah, benevolent and cherished God!
To give my lowly self such a blessing, I am ecstatic!”
Ah, yeah.
By blessing she means name.
“Ohh, good for you, Death ―― I mean, Wenti!”
“Indeed, this is also for our growth.”
“Yes!”
Such a nice master-pet love. (TN: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
Well, they seem happy, so it’s all good.
I had used 5000 souls for the process.
Clearly, there was a risk considering the amount of Energy possibly necessary to name an elite monster of Dragon-class.
It would be a problem if I went to Sleep Mode, from using up my internal stock.
It was not ok to do get drained like that especially now that we were at war.
At the very least, it was imperative to stop naming things during a war period.
Much thanks to Wisdom Lord Raphael.
Getting a human form would be surprising, but a dragon changing to human was a well known cliché.
Anyway, with that, the commendations and rewards for the Labyrinth group had ended.
On a side note, the 4 Dragon Kings were under Ramiris’ command.
There was a total of 940,000 souls collected, and to revive 700,000 of the Imperial troops, around 10,000 were used.
And then I tried to divide up the 930,000 remaining souls between me and Ramiris but,
“Yeah, I don’t have any way to use souls so no thanks, ‘kay?”
She told me.
It was not a partial revival, but a full-blown resurrection.
I felt that that wasn’t enough to thank Ramiris, so I granted names to the 4 Dragon Kings in a similar way to Wenti.
Dragons who were said to be potentially stronger than Arch Demons, but their natural evolution had limits.
I was again using souls as an alternate to Energy.
The results were splendid and the Dragon Kings had now become true ‘Dragon Kings’.
‘Fire Hell Dragon King’ Zephyrus.
‘Lightning Dragon King’ Notos.
(TN: Anemoi)
They were named according to the floors they governed.
They all attained beautiful humanoid forms.
To be precise, it was only a humanoid form, and they hadn’t become Dragonoids like Milim.
Even if they were powerful Dragon Lords, as they were held in flesh, their power was lower than the ‘Dragons’, a true Spirit Form species.
But, their strength was said to be equivalent.
If you think too hard, you lose.
And so, the process of evolving the Dragon Kings to give thanks to Ramiris went along smoothly.
By the way, the Ten Lords of the Labyrinth were fairly equal in Energy, but there were large differences in actual fighting power.
This was mainly due to overall fighting experience; their levels were just lower.
They had attained humanoid forms, and were also interested in combat styles in their new bodies.
And by learning to fight as humanoids, they would later prove their might in battle.
This would work so well, that their new found strength would grow tremendously, but that was something I’d get to see a lot later.
Now then, the only ones left are the triad of Demon Dukes.
Of the 930,000 souls, I had used up a majority on ascending some to Demon Lordship, and on naming some, and in the end the amount remaining was 210,000.
Was it alright to evolve Carrera as Gerudo suggested?
These 3 were almost equal to Diablo in strength in the first place.
Diablo had to first beat them, and then scout them as my subordinates, so he had to be stronger.
Frankly, it was dangerous.
If it was just Carrera, I don’t think there would be any complaints, but making the strongest one of them even stronger seemed wrong.
After all, if she hadn’t stopped her ―― Gravity Collapse ―― in the nick of time, the resulting mini-supernova tier blast would have decimated Gerudo’s troops along with all of the capital.
I decided to observe whether the ones who had already evolved could control their power before thinking of granting ascension to those girls.
He was able to bring his new power fully under control, and was an all around dependable guy.
“Testarossa, Ultima, Carrera.
However, your ascension shall be granted at a more appropriate time.
You may be dissatisfied, but please understand.”
“Exactly.” (TN: -desuwa)
“It is a non-issue. We are already very strong as it is.”
The three denied any and all possibility of dissatisfaction.
And they were probably stronger than the evolved Gabil even at present.
Its probably better to handle these 3 together.
“I am glad to hear that.
But I cannot let you go without any reward……
I will have you 3 be part of my executives.
‘Killer Lord’ Testarossa. (TN: Kira(Killer) like in Death Note.)
‘Menace Lord’ Carrera.
On this day, I bestow you with these titles.
You are still new to the country of Tempest, but I will entrust its future to you as my loyal confidants!”
“As you desire, my liege!!”
They lowered their heads in unison.
With that, I now had 12 ‘-Lords’ under my wing.
Well, I’m not too finicky about the name, but it should give off a ‘strongest team’ feel.
My power to reward people was actually quite fun.
As I gazed at the Patrons lined up in front of me, I bemused such thoughts.
With this, the Rewards and Evolution Ceremony had finally come to an end.
Perhaps influenced by today’s events, I would later be known as ‘Chaos Creator’ Rimuru.