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WRITTEN BY THE MYSTERIOUS LION MASKSEPTEMBER 11, 2016

177. THE BLACK NUMBERS

When the demons were summoned on Rimuru’s command,even the upper echelons of the Imperial army recognized the bizarreness of the situation.

As the demon Summoning Gate manifested,

「U- Unbelievable…. For the Summon Gate to be that huge….」

He couldn’t help but hear such things muttered by a subordinates Mage.

The demons that had been summoned, each and every one of them were demonic beings that surpassed the rank of Greater Demons.

「Th-That’s just…. Just how much war potential does he have….」

Words of trying not to face the reality before them start leaking out.

There wasn’t much point in hiding it. Xam’d had simply spoken the facts for what they were.

Even if they outnumber them, there wasn’t much that could be done to cover the difference in quality.

Even if the brass, including himself, could survive, all the regular soldiers would get massacred.

(Tsk. We underestimated him because it was only a Demon Lord….)

Now was time to do whatever possible.

Gradim made his decision, activated the teleportation magic circle, went to where his forces were standing by, and took direct command.

The members of the Beast Corps were the cream of the crop, hand picked and trained by Beast King Gradim himself.

And their Demon Beasts partners, were said to be A- rank in terms of power.

And it was obvious that the Corps members who had tamed them, were also ranked above A- in terms of capability.

But currently they were above the sea, which put them at a disadvantage.
That was exactly why, the hastily returned Beast King Gradim issued one specific order.

「Listen up, ladies!! From this point on, i will be issuing the Secret Command.

It is predicted that we will suffer massive losses if nothing is done.

Permission to use Medical Skill『Beast Fusion』is hereby granted.
Make haste. The enemy isn’t going to wait for us!!」

The forbidden order was issued.

This skill, fused the Demon Beast and it’s handler together. (TN: duh)

The reason it was called a forbidden skill, was because it became impossible for the individual who activated it to cancel the effects.

Through the fusion of the handler and his partner, a warrior that surpassed the original concept would be born.

There was another reason why it was “secret”.

Risk of death: 10%

Risk of losing control (applies for both Beastman and Demon Beast): 30%
Risk of side effects resulting from the fusion: 20%

There were many underlying problems.

But like Gradim, there were corps members who successfully fused and completed the process.

These perfectly compatible individuals, made up less than 1% among the entire corps.

The order that Gradim calmly issued, was akin to a death sentence for the Beast Corps troops.

It was a cold, but pragmatic order.

They had prior knowledge to the risks, and knew of the high mortality rate.

The result: out if 30,000 members of the Demon Beast squad….

7,700 turned into berserk Demon Beasts, 5,800 into complete Demon Beasts.

550 turned into Chimera Knights.

It resulted in a fairly large loss in numbers.

That was the job of the Mages, who were standing by around the squad members. This was to prevent being attacked by their former comrades.

The members who turned into Demon Beasts but were still conscious are also counted in, so the drop in numbers was fairly significant.

The number of Chimaera Knights born was higher than expected.

Through strict selection, only individuals with high chances of successfully fusing were chosen, but it was difficult to increase their numbers.

(We can win with this!)
Beast King Gradim was confident, and began reforming the ranks to prepare for battle.

 

 

 

―― grind them to dust!

The Black Numbers released their restraints in elation as they received their orders.

The 100 airships still in the air, were to be food for their masters.

The subordinates of the 3 pillars (EN: note at the end) Testarossa, Ultima and Carrera numbered 600 in total. All of them were beings that easily surpassed Greater Demons.

They now eyed their pitiful prey, with their powers now unconstrained.
But then,

「Wait!」

All of their movements stopped, with that one word from Diablo.

Diablo raised one of his hands, signalling to the demons to be at ease,

「Kufufufufu. Do all of you understand?

If even one of you were to die, it would be a sin so grave that even if us executives offered our heads to atone, it wouldn’t nearly be enough.」

His smile, instilled fear upon his underlings rather than it’s original purpose.

The demons quietly paid heed to Diablo’s orders.

「First, Testarossa. Would you be so kind as to clean up the trash below us?」

「Wait a sec! I wanna do that! I can do that much easily too, you know!?」

Ultima barged in as Diablo was giving the order to Testarossa.
To that, with no displeasure, Diablo answers,

「Kufufufufu. Of course it is possible for you too.

All of those ships, I am thinking of offering them to Rimuru-sama.

For that, Testarossa is the one most suited for this job.」

Unexpectedly, he explained his reasoning.

If there was an interruption while his mood was foul, the life of whoever interrupted would speed towards zero.
Ultima, sounding satisfied,

「Che~. ―― can’t help that I guess. True, it isn’t what I’m good at.」

She seems to have given up her selfish thoughts.

「Ufufu. Well then, I’ll be of―― 」

「Hm, what for?」

None are allowed to escape.

「 ―― understood. They will be of use, as Bloodhounds. I shall borrow them.

As long as you heed the order to not die, you can do as you please.
Cien, you shall take control of the remainder, and sweep up any who intend to escape!」

Testarossa gave out the orders for her minions, and swiftly took action towards her prey.
Venom looked at Diablo, and looked like he wanted to say something for a split second, but only gave a bow seeming like he had given up, and left following behind Testarossa.

「So, are you going to go after the Emperor, Diablo?」

「Hmm? Why’s that?」

Unexpectedly, Carrera replied with interest to what Diablo just said.
Carrera was known to show no interest, and totally ignore anything others said.

「Kufufufufu. The Emperor, has an Absolute Barrier.」

Just as he was saying that, Diablo suddenly shot out a Nuclear Cannon.

And without losing any momentum, made direct contact with the Emperor.
But, the Emperor was uninjured. The Knights protecting the emperor didn’t even move, as if they knew the result.

「Did you see that? The Royal Knights protecting the emperor didn’t even move.

It would seem that the Emperor wields an Ultimate Skill.

The “Angel Series” is known to have high defensive properties, the defenses that the Emperor has are probably the highest of them all.

Using the “loyalty” of the subordinates around him as energy, he is invincible as long as he has loyal retainers nearby.

「Hmmm. Surprising you could tell that much.」(Ultima)

「Kufufufufu. That much was obvious (with the help of a certain someone)!」

Bragged Diablo, while the other two looked at him dubiously.
Clearing his throat to divert their attention, Diablo pushed to finish the conversation.

「Well that’s the gist of it, I would like for you all to clear out the flies around the Emperor.

Ultima, you deal with any remaining distinct individuals.
All other remaining demon nobles besides Moss and Cien are to support Ultima!」

『As you wish!!』

Accepting their orders, the demons flew off.
But right before Ultima and Carrera took off,

「Huh? What are you going to do, Diablo?」

Ultima asked, having finally noticed.

But calmly,

「I have something important to do.」

said Diablo.
The two felt even more suspicious now.

「Wait a minute, Diablo. What are you being so secretive about?」

He reluctantly answers Carrera,

「My role is to watch over our majestic Rimuru-sama!
This is a role so important, that it isn’t something I could task others with!!」

He declared in a fit.

「Wa-wait a sec! What’s with that?
I wanna see Rimuru-sama’s greatness too!!」(Ultima)

「Huh? Are you gonna hog all that fun for yourself?
Even if you’re our superior, that’s power abuse you know?」(Carrera)

The two Devil Lords voiced their objections.

Diablo was their direct superior, if all three of them were together they could have “appealed”, but there was only two of them now so the odds are not in their favor.
In the end they could only accept it, all the while griping about it.

「Hey! I can do whatever the hell I want right?」(Ultima)

「I can destroy everything that’s floating in the sky right?」
「Definitely.」

Diablo was conceding as much as possible, to improve the moods of Ultima and Carrera.
Them being this easy to convince was quite a bargain.

「Alright then. There seems to be some who look very tasty, so I shall give in this time.」(Carrera)
「Yep. I want to rampage around too, to vent off some of this frustration.」(Ultima)

Sounding like they conceded, the two of them flew off.
They also gave orders to the remaining demons who were standing by around them, as though an afterthought,

「You guys, spread out!
Get under Cien’s command, and show no mercy to anyone who tries to leave this airspace!!」

Carrera shrieked ventingly, and the demons moved out in unison.

―― grind them to dust!

Intending to follow their orders to the letter, the demons set up a full perimeter surrounding the Imperial fleet.
Soon, the decisive battles in the air, and on sea level would begin.

 

Diablo smirked, pleased that everything was going just as planned.

And with this battle, to give the remaining demons the opportunity to experience battle in the truest sense, that was the main objective.

The abilities of their corporeal bodies, were the best they could hope to attain.

This applied to Testarossa, Ultima and Carrera too.

Providing them with an “enemy”, and having them break through that obstacle.

While they were weak in their inferior stages when compared to Angels and Spirits, that position was switched the moment they reach the upper classes.

That was why, the brute force approach of the Devil Lords besides himself, was all too understandable.
It will be good experience for them to be thrown into a tough battle.

(Now, for them to survive the ordeal. Hopefully they make it out in one piece. Kufufufufufufu――)

Diablo’s smile widened, as he snickered in anticipation.

– pillars: It’s like a collective noun, a counter one might say. In japanese it’s used for counting nobility, gods etc.

Editor’s Rant:
~ Gao, another week, another 3 chapter. This was one of those cliffhangers lol. It seems all the sunday chapters may be cliffhangers. Maybe you know if you read sushi’s disclaimer…*laughs evilly*.. Anyway. These next few chapters will be flash back to the demons’ actions until Emperor spilled his spaghetti. They’re pretty intense battles so please don’t blow them off! I especially like the aspect of Carrera v Kondo. Instant ship . ahem. Well. See you all next week in yet another chapter!! Gao~!!


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