As soon as Rimuru had left, Shion and Diablo immediately went into action.
They promptly informed all the Executives to proceed to emergency countermeasures by thought transmission.
For those that were still in the process of evolution, the message to “complete the process as quickly as possible” was left, but the wills of all involved were already in union.
For the glory of Rimuru-sama!
They would finish their evolutions at top speed.
And with the use of 『Food Chain』, they became strength for Rimuru.
But this wasn’t your typical evolution or ascension, the resonance caused the development of aggressive and combat oriented abilities.
And so, preparations began for the orders that would arrive soon, if any of them were ever called upon by Rimuru.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
In my anger, I had teleported to the location where Veldora’s fight had first started.
I had teleported here without any hesitation, but I was presently at a state of anger unimaginable from my usual self.
That time when Shion was killed, I was in a mix of anger and regret, but then the prospects of hope had calmed my state of mind.
But this time was not the same.
Chance of success? Who gives a fuck.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Looking at the enemy’s forces, Wisdom Lord Raphael had advised that it was dangerous, but I shut her up and ordered 「Do something!」.
《Solution. Understood. Commencing implementation of optimal strategy.》
I think I heard something like that, but at the moment, I didn’t care at all.
In my rage, I had resolved to confront two of the “True Dragons”, and appeared in front of the enemy.
Now, I only needed to avenge.
Demon Lord Rimuru had appeared.
Seeing him,
「Oh ho? So you came here noticing your owner was stolen?
Coming here without a single underling, it seems you don’t possess a shred of intelligence.
Make haste, and rid me of this fool!」
Emperor Rudra uninterestedly ridiculed him, but his words did not reach Rimuru.
The tactical conditions for victory.
In this situation, they were:
1. Recover Veldora.
3. Massacre every one of the Imperials.
That was all.
All self-preservation conditions were deemed unnecessary.
Recovering Veldora was the absolute condition, and took the highest priority.
There were very few who were cautious of Rimuru’s sudden appearance.
Currently, with the capture of Veldora, the Empire had a great advantage.
Therefore, a single Demon Lord coming out was nothing in comparison to the threat from the recent appearance of a “True Dragon”. (TN: Talking about people other than the 3.)
A Demon Lord who had only come after they had captured one of the strongest, a “True Dragon”, and in addition, the fact that they now controlled 2 of those “True Dragons” naturally lead to the assumption that they were not in any danger.
Among them, Damrada made a tense face.
But still, he suspected if anyone noticed his anxiety.
The strongest force of the Empire was gathered there.
As a result, The Royal Knights didn’t feel any tension.
It wasn’t based on logic.
Him, and also Yuuki.
Wasn’t there a better way to live, other than a life in sworn fealty to the Emperor? They had something that evoked such a feeling.
That Rimuru had lost his calm in a pit of anger, something was bound to happen.
Damrada remained vigilant, and focused on the Emperor’s protection in case that something did happen.
First Lieutenant Kondo witnessed Demon Lord Rimuru for the first time.
That it was a mistake to prioritize the capture of Veldora.
The plan was to use reconnaissance to gather ways to trap him.
This was a great stroke of luck, Emperor Rudra thought so, and ordered an immediate sortie; but Kondo had a bad premonition. Logically speaking, there was no doubt this was a good opportunity, and he didn’t have a clear reason to oppose those orders.
But, the clarity of the information was negligence on the part of Reconnaissance, and wasn’t reason enough to let go of this chance.
And now.
He shot Veldora with Remove and Necrosis bullets at their highest potency, but felt like Necrosis’ effects were nullified in the middle.
He also felt that his eyes had met those of the Storm Dragon Veldora at that moment.
―― Not only me, but to lay your hands on my sworn friend Rimuru. You shall not be forgiven, human!!――
He seemed to hear a disembodied voice say.
Even the strongest beings, the “True Dragons” couldn’t escape its effects.
It was at a single gap between the time when Veldora’s power rivalled Velgrynd’s.
But still……
Kondo recognized Veldora’s impressive feat, and at the same time, felt the strongest sense of uneasiness.
Killing a “True Dragon” was difficult even with multiple shots of Necrosis.
But, even though Veldora should have known that, ignoring the seal binding his body, he focussed on resisting the destruction of Magic Circuits.
Veldora’s disembodied words supported that line of reasoning.
In that case, the Demon Lord in front of their eyes at that moment, should not be dealt with half-heartedly.
This was the Demon Lord who had become powerless due to Veldora, the source of his power, being stolen?
Ridiculous.
That was more likely the case.
Instead of putting one before the other, shouldn’t they have chosen to try capturing both of them together?
He had arrived at that conclusion, but it was now too late.
Similar to Damrada, Kondo also braced himself to be able to react accordingly to anything that might happen.
“Scorch Dragon” Velgrynd was also on guard following Rimuru’s appearance.
A surge of anger not unlike that that of her younger brother Veldora could be felt from her. (TN: note on gendering at the end.)
Normally, a matter impossible to the point of laughable.
That aura could be called a sign of the danger she represented.
No, it wouldn’t stop at humans, anything that didn’t possess superior strength would die without the slightest of resistance.
(This one’s pretty bad. I see why Veldora was interested in her.)
The growth was probably caused by this Demon Lord.
Or else, she would definitely become a menace. This was what Velgrynd predicted.
And she, once again, calmly returned to a battle-ready state.
The three of them were admirable for not underestimating the Demon Lord Rimuru who had appeared before them.
The correct decision was to take all their forces and gang up on him at full power the moment he appeared.
The conclusion was a result of them not taking that correct decision.
He could be called their greatest threat ever.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
The battle erupted.
And as announced, she had taken the optimum course of action.
It was the same attack used by his Ghost Avatar in the Labyrinth.
Cutting down any enemy within range, it was a magic that manifested itself as many blades of wind.
Several atrociously large Wind Blades that ripped through the atmosphere, cut down several Airships.
Compared to the Energy used, the power of the Tornado Blade was unbelievable.
Moreover, Rimuru’s current circumstances were important to consider.
As more time passed, Rimuru’s power only kept growing larger.
Accordingly, he converted all the abilities received from the subordinates into Energy, and provided it to Rimuru.
By Emperor Rudra’s orders, the Royal Knights began their attacks all at once.
A torrent of attacks with power equaling that of Ultimate Skills rushed towards Rimuru.
Compared to his thoughts that had been accelerated 1,000,000 fold, the enemies’ movements were far too slow.
《Solution. Analysis complete. All attacks have been determined to be of similar output. It is hypothesized that the outputs are degraded. However, the outputs are equivalent to that of Ultimate Skills.》
(Guard.)
《Solution. Understood.》
All attacks reaching for Rimuru were easily nullified by the Absolute Barrier made by Ultimate Skill 『Covenant King Uriel』.
《Alert. Anti-Barrier countermeasures detected…… successfully nullified.
It is hypothesised to belong to Ultimate Skill 『Sandalphon the Executioner』……
Successfully guarded.》
Rimuru slightly shifted his gaze towards the Emperor who hadn’t moved, and the guards by his side.
(Is that all? I don’t need to be careful at all then.
And don’t get killed before I come for you.)
And then, to remove the hindrances between him and Veldora, Rimuru played his next hand.
(Diablo, Testarossa, Ultima, Carrera! Are you ready?)
((There are no problems, master Rimuru!!))
To his summons, the three forcefully evolved Demon Dukes, or rather, the three Devil Lords, along with Diablo, swiftly answered.
This summons was their blessing, they were highly anticipating the voice that had called them out.
「Come forth, my Demons! Call Demon ・ Create Summon Gate!!」
Answering his summons, the 4 Devil Lords manifested.
Bringing along their minions.
The 7 Demon Dukes. (TN: see this for details. )
And in addition, the 100 Demon Chevaliers, and the 600 Greater Demons.
One after another, Rimuru’s servants assembled after passing through the Summon Gate.
To prove the true depth of Rimuru’s rage.
Rimuru delivered his orders to the Demons.
「You are allowed to rampage all you want.
Letting them get in my way is also forbidden.
「How shall we handle Veldora-sama’s elder sister?」
「Ah? I’ll deal with her. Now go. Grind them to dust!」
Truly simple.
The Demons were already provided with all the results of analysis through Thought Linkage.
It was only natural, as, excluding Kondo, any and all skills that the Royal Knights possessed had been exposed to Wisdom Lord Raphael.
「As per your wishes, our lord!!」
These Demons who knew not fear, cast their bodies into battle, solely to be of service to their master.
The Black Corps of Doom were, just now, released into the world.
It was the maiden battle of Tempest’s strongest corps, the Black Numbers.
And so, Rimuru faced Veldora.
He also the red dragon, the ‘Scorch Dragon’ Velgrynd at the same time.
(Just you wait Veldora. I’ll definitely free you!)
And the true battle had finally started.