"New worlds..."
"Interesting."
"If we wage war, we can surely plunder more souls for our lord."
"Let's conquer them, Lord Damien, and rule all the worlds!"
"..."
The four Primordial Daemons, as Damien expected, had no intention of peaceful exchange.
Conquer or destroy... that was their nature.
Daemons were inherently cruel and cold.
"I object!"
Rimuru didn't hold back, standing firmly against the Primordial Daemons. "I think you're being too extreme!"
"Collecting souls is necessary, sure."
"But with so many worlds out there, and no rush, we can take our time to find suitable targets. Why harm the innocent?"
"Too naive, Lady Rimuru."
Diablo shook his head. "They're just weaklings. Why show pity to irrelevant beings?"
"If you can't bear it, we can handle it for you."
Carrera flashed a slightly cruel smile, unbothered by the thought of slaughtering countless lives.
"That's not what I mean..."
While Rimuru objected, Treyni and Justeaze joined her side, agreeing that wanton killing wasn't right.
The four Primordial Daemons didn't care about Rimuru's opposition.
They knew their own nature.
They wouldn't antagonize others just because of fear or dislike.
Daemons, after all, were the epitome of evil.
For a daemon to act like some goody-two-shoes or adorable mascot... wouldn't that be laughable?!
"What does our lord think?"
Testarossa looked up at Damien, who had been listening to both sides.
No matter what, the good and evil factions could only offer suggestions.
The one with the final say was Damien alone!
"Violet!"
"Yes!"
At Damien's command, Violet said, "There are indeed worlds here that we could directly invade."
Violet's selection criteria were based on Damien's knowledge and values.
She wouldn't make decisions on her own or go against his will.
"But what benefits would invading those worlds really bring us?"
"Obviously, souls!"
Ultima blurted out, only to notice Diablo and Testarossa deep in thought.
"I see..."
The Primordial Black and Primordial White had caught onto Violet's stance.
"We're no longer short on souls?"
"In that case, we do need a different approach."
As the brains of the daemon team, Primordial Black and Primordial White understood.
"No shortage of souls?"
"Then we..."
With enough souls, daemons... experts at soul hunting... lost their purpose.
This instantly dampened the spirits of Carrera, eager to bring death to all, and Ultima, who wanted to curse everything.
Exploring new worlds wasn't about resources but about seeking new laws and power systems.
In terms of resources, Damien could create anything they wanted from the void with a wave of his hand.
New powers, however, were the nourishment for Damien's growth.
"New powers..."
Diablo said, "But do weak worlds really have powers worth plundering?"
Exactly.
What use was conquering such feeble worlds?
They'd gain no new powers and would burden the kinder Demon Lords like Rimuru with guilt.
It wasn't worth it!
"Phew..."
Seeing the Primordial Daemons calm down, Rimuru let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Resolve was one thing.
If possible, Rimuru genuinely didn't want to harm the innocent.
From her understanding of Damien, she knew he shared her sentiments.
'Relax, I don't like pointless killing.'
Sure enough, when Rimuru looked at Damien, he was looking at her too.
Their eyes met, and Rimuru instantly understood his stance.
The four Primordial Daemons were wild beasts.
Rimuru and the other Demon Lords were the ropes binding them.
Their job was to ensure those ropes never broke.
Whether to unleash the beasts depended on Damien, who held the reins.
"The reason I gathered you all today isn't to discuss how to handle these worlds."
"Let me first introduce you to this newly discovered world!"
Violet tapped a light point on the star map, zooming in on a specific universe.
The group then saw the scenes within that world.
"Huh?"
Looking at the blue planet floating before them, Rimuru exclaimed, "Isn't that Earth?!"
The girl leaned closer to the cosmic barrier, scrutinizing the planet.
"No mistake."
Rimuru excitedly turned to Damien. "That's definitely Earth!"
"Calm down, Rimuru."
Damien soothed the blue-haired girl. "It's not your Earth, but the cosmic center of another world."
"..."
Among those present, likely only Rimuru, Damien, and Violet understood the significance of Earth.
"Well, yeah..."
Rimuru recalled Damien mentioning that the Cardinal World itself had a Earth.
And she had come from that planet.
So, this new world's Earth couldn't be her hometown.
"This new world is very similar to the one you were reincarnated from, Rimuru."
"Same geography, same culture, even nearly identical history and nations."
Violet's explorations had uncovered more than one such world.
"So many?"
Rimuru thought of a possibility. "Could it be?!"
"Exactly."
"I call such universes and worlds parallel universes."
Simply put, any world with the concept of Earth and similar cultural backgrounds could be considered a derivative of a parallel universe.
This included the Toaruverse Velzard had previously invaded.
And, of course, the Nasuverse's Earth.
Rimuru hadn't been to the Nasuverse and didn't know its situation.
If she could talk more with Artoria, she'd realize Earth wasn't exclusive to the Cardinal World.
The phrase 'the multiverse's center is Earth' wasn't just a casual saying.
***
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