Shion's charge was catastrophic.
She cleaved through the Orc Captains' formation with brutal efficiency, successfully creating a massive gap and allowing the allied forces a crucial moment to incinerate the fallen.
However, the sheer power of her strike was an existential alarm bell.
Benimaru (Telepathic, panic):
"Arthur-sama! The line is broken—but the Orc Lord is here! He appeared instantly, covered in some kind of black barrier! He's fighting Shion and he's overwhelming her! She can't break his guard!"
Arthur felt the surge of power—a chilling, unique magicule signature that eclipsed the combined strength of his commanders.
The Orc Lord Geld had personally entered the battle, and the endgame had arrived prematurely, while Rimuru was still unconscious.
Arthur's strategic plan was to remain the unmoving shield, ensuring the nation's core survival.
But a quick mental calculation confirmed Benimaru's panic: Shion, despite her raw power, was losing.
Geld's defense, fueled by the Starved skill and the souls he had consumed, was impenetrable to her attacks.
If Shion fell, Benimaru would follow, and the entire army would disintegrate, leading to the inevitable destruction of the village and Rimuru's death.
Arthur cursed the failure of his delegation.
He couldn't permit the death of his commanders and the collapse of the mission.
His position as the unmoving defense was secondary to the immediate survival of the nation's key figures.
"Shuna!"
Arthur commanded, rising from the command chair.
"You are now the sole commander. Maintain the defense and do not, under any circumstances, allow anyone to approach Rimuru! I am going to the front line to end this."
Shuna, her face pale with fear, bowed low.
"Understood, Arthur-sama! May your power be swift!"
Arthur didn't use magic; he used his own devastating speed.
He channeled his power, blurring across the vast distance to the front line, arriving in a localized boom of displaced air that scattered both Orcs and allied monsters.
He found Shion battered but still standing, parrying a titanic blow from the hulking Orc Lord Geld, who was encased in a terrifying black aura of negative energy.
Benimaru was struggling to support Shion against the surrounding Orc Generals.
Arthur appeared directly between Geld and Shion.
The Orc Lord, sensing the arrival of a power that dwarfed anything he had consumed, paused his attack.
"Your hunt ends here, creature,"
Arthur said, his voice calm but resonating with the full, unchecked authority of a Cosmic True Dragon.
Geld roared, recognizing Arthur as the true threat.
He lunged at Arthur, attempting to devour him with a wide-open maw and a swing of his immense greatsword.
Arthur didn't need to engage in a physical battle.
He was not there to fight; he was there to execute.
He unleashed his highest-tier combat power:
Reality Blending (Partial Released): Arthur focused the immense power of his magic, not on destroying Geld, but on manipulating the unique skill Starved.
He targeted the structural flaw of the skill—its link to Geld's spirit and the vast network of consumed souls.
Soul Magic: Simultaneously, Arthur used his Soul Magic to sever Geld's connection to the power source.
He didn't kill the Orc Lord's body; he violently purged the collective spirit of hunger that was possessing Geld and driving the disaster.
There was no grand explosion, only a sudden, absolute stillness.
The black aura and the terrifying barrier around Geld vanished.
The Orc Lord, his eyes cleared of the maddening hunger, collapsed onto the battlefield.
The power of Starved was utterly nullified.
The vast Orc army, which was bound by the Orc Lord's unique skill and the collective hunger, immediately went berserk.
They ceased all organized combat, their hunger returning to a simple, chaotic desperation.
The war was over.
The commanding entity was neutralized, and the massive army immediately dissolved into manageable, uncoordinated, individual threats.
Arthur looked at the defeated Geld, then turned to his shaken commanders.
"Benimaru. Shion,"
Arthur commanded, his voice sharp and definitive.
"The driving force is gone. Take the remaining allied forces and sweep the battlefield. Subdue, do not kill the remaining Orcs. They are mindless now."
Benimaru, recovering from the shock, bowed low.
"Your power... it is overwhelming, Arthur-sama! It shall be done!"
Arthur placed a final seal on the collapsed Orc Lord's forehead to ensure no rebound, then turned his attention back to the silent, unconscious figure he had been protecting from the start.
Rimuru, protected and unconscious, was spared the final, desperate confrontation.
When the Orcs were rounded up and the war was undeniably won, Arthur fulfilled his final duty to the canon:
He brought the subdued and now-conscious Orc Lord Geld back to the village.
The Orc Lord, purged of the Starved influence, expressed remorse for the chaos he caused.
Rimuru, still healing from her magical depletion, was brought to him.
Arthur supervised as Rimuru—still weak, but roused for the moment—formally devoured the Orc Lord Geld.
This canonical act not only absorbed vital information and unique skill but solidified Rimuru's place as the supreme leader who absorbed her greatest enemy.
The war was won, the threat was neutralized, and the nation was saved—all thanks to overwhelming intervention of Arthur Leywin Stark.
....
Little Spoiler: Nero is cute... Umu!
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