"The hills..."
Souka's pupils contracted. "They're gone!!"
She had thought that, after receiving Rin's name and completing her dependent transformation, she was already strong enough.
Even if she was slightly weaker than Shion and Hakurou, the gap couldn't be that wide.
However.
Only after Ogerpon's blow landed, did Souka truly realize the distance between them.
"Gulp~"
Souka forcefully swallowed her shock.
She listened to the cheers erupting from the surrounding Onis after the silence and looked at Ogerpon with newfound clarity.
'Strong.'
'Too strong.'
She was clearly just a petite girl, not even 1.5 meters tall.
But that instant explosion of power, even Souka—who stood behind her—had felt the threat of death.
Undoubtedly, if Ogerpon had attacked not the Orc Lord, but her...
Souka figured she would have been crushed just like Gelmud, without a trace left.
"Whoo~"
On the other side, Gelmud, who had taken Ogerpon's strike head-on, was completely stunned.
His entire body throbbed in agony.
His regenerative ability, which normally let him recover from injury instantly, had vanished like mist.
His body wasn't healing.
Even his soul hovered on the verge of collapse after Ogerpon's single strike.
How could this be?
Hadn't he already awakened as a Demon Lord?
Why?
Why couldn't he even defeat such a small girl who didn't look like she had any fighting power?
No, it was more than that. This wasn't just losing.
With one blow. Just one blow. He had been smashed to the brink of death, left unable to even crawl.
"You just said..."
Ogerpon casually leaned on her Ivy Cudgel, walked up to Gelmud, looked down at him, and asked, "What kind of king did you say you wanted to be?"
She, Ogerpon.
The nickname given to her by others—Kitakami's Little Kaido.
What she was best at was curing the 'king addiction' of those who liked to crown themselves as kings.
Regeneration? Strength gained from devouring flesh and blood?
In front of Ogerpon's Ivy Cudgel, it was all nothing but illusions.
Even before awakening, Ogerpon possessed the Unique Skill Destroyer.
And what she feared least were enemies with immortality.
Her attacks carried a passive effect that destroyed everything.
Whether it was abilities, vitality, or object regeneration—
Anyone struck or injured by Ogerpon could only obediently endure the pain. There was no such thing as instant recovery.
And that was before her awakening.
After awakening, Ogerpon acquired two Mid-Tier Ultimate Skills: Izanami and Izanagi.
Of course, against a mere pseudo Demon Lord like Gelmud, there was no need to use Ultimate Skills.
Even so, as a True Demon Lord, Ogerpon now possessed the passive trait to crush all things and unravel all rules.
"Alright, it's your turn, Rimuru!"
"Eh?"
Rimuru was still lost in thought over that completely ordinary-looking blow Ogerpon had just delivered.
Hearing Rin suddenly call out to her, she finally came back to her senses.
"Ah! Coming, coming!!"
Rimuru immediately used Spatial Motion to teleport to Ogerpon's side, standing next to the half-dead Orc Lord Gelmud.
"Thanks, Ogerpon-chan."
Ogerpon gave Rimuru a thumbs up.
She had a good impression of Rimuru as a companion.
Both of them were in pet roles under Rin, so they got along quite well.
Not long ago, Ogerpon even dragged Rimuru to help with harvesting wheat in the fields.
"Hmm. I'll take it from here."
Gelmud, already beaten within an inch of his life by Ogerpon, couldn't possibly resist Rimuru's Predator, no matter how much magical energy he had or what kind of devouring skills he possessed.
That was precisely why Ogerpon had stepped in.
Her role was to completely disable the Orc Lord, turning him into food for Rimuru—allowing her to take that final step and become a True Demon Lord.
"Predator."
With Rimuru's soft call, the blue-haired girl instantly transformed into a Slime dozens of meters tall.
Then came a thunderous crash.
Just like that, the physical bodies of Gelmud and the Orc Lord Geld were swallowed into the Predator space.
Since both enemies had already been crippled, digesting them went smoothly.
Of course, Rimuru still entered the soul space of both.
There was nothing worth saying about Gelmud. He was rotten to the core, so Rimuru devoured his soul energy without hesitation.
As for Geld...
In the Orc Lord's memories, Rimuru saw the sorrow of an entire race.
"Rest easy, Geld."
Rimuru said, "I'll consume your sins, and those of the Orc Tribe, together."
"Ah..."
A low voice echoed as Geld's soul faded, his energy depleted, leaving behind only a final wish:
"Please... don't let our people go hungry again..."
"Buzz!!"
[Individual 'Rimuru' has begun to challenge evolution]
At last, after completely absorbing Geld and transforming his vast soul and magicules into nourishment, a prompt from the Voice of the World echoed in Rin's ear.
[Do you agree to Rimuru's evolution request?]
"Agree."
Rin appeared beside Rimuru, who was starting to dissolve into a puddle of mud, and picked her up.
"Rin-sama!"
"Rin-sama!"
"My Lord!"
Seeing Rin appear in person, Shion, Shuna, the other Onis, and Souka all stepped forward to bow in greeting.
"No need for formalities."
Rin looked down at Rimuru in his arms and said, "Rimuru is currently undergoing a key process to awaken as a True Demon Lord."
The Rin that had arrived was not a projection or parallel consciousness, but his actual body.
"Also, there's the aftermath to deal with regarding the Orc Tribe and the Lizardmen."
Rin glanced around. With the Orc Lord's death, the effects of hunger began to fade from the Orc Tribe.
They collapsed to the ground one by one, no longer berserk but instead hollow and lifeless.
It was like their souls had been sucked dry.
Even the will to live had become faint and uncertain.
"We..."
Among the few surviving Orc Generals, the strongest of the Orc Tribe fell to his knees.
"What have we done..."
He was Geld's eldest son, and second only to the Orc Lord in strength.
Now freed from the torment of hunger, his memories began to return.
But what he remembered—he couldn't bear it.
Devouring their own kind. Consuming innocent lives.
Killing, trampling, and eating everything in sight, until they turned themselves into mindless beasts.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)