"My naughty brother's mistakes should not be borne by Rin."
Velzard looked at Luminous. "One must take responsibility for one's own actions. Whatever anger you have, direct it at him. We will not interfere."
"Oh, this?"
Veldora was indeed unreasonable in the past.
But after this period of self-training, Veldora had come to understand human propriety and shame.
Although Veldora was far more powerful than Luminous, he truly could not shamelessly continue to demand a fight.
Of course, Rimuru and the others would not help Luminous deal with Veldora.
At most, they would prevent Veldora from continuing to bully the weak, allowing Luminous to stand on relatively equal footing with him to resolve the matter.
Rin shared this view as well.
"Veldora is now the Dragon God of my Monster Nation."
"Regarding his past conflict with the Vampire Clan," Rin said, "I will give you an explanation on his behalf."
"However, one thing at a time."
"Now," Rin said, "I need you to tell me whether you are willing to stay as a guest in the Monster Nation."
"A guest?"
Luminous felt as if she had misheard.
Is this how Rin invites guests?
Anyone who did not know the situation would think he intended to place her under house arrest.
"If you are not at ease, I have a second option."
Rin extended his hand toward Luminous. "Become my companion, and from now on, walk with me."
"Huh?"
Luminous was stunned.
No.
Did she miss part of the conversation?
How was she suddenly invited?
"Is there a problem?"
"No, it is completely incomprehensible!"
Luminous could not understand Rin's thought process, only to hear him continue.
"What do you think of my lineup here?"
Lineup?
Luminous looked around.
She saw a group of Demon Lords, nearly all of them stronger than her.
Alright, she probably understood.
She was one of the Ten Great Demon Lords.
If she could join the Ten Great Demon Lords, why could she not join the Monster Nation?
But could these really be compared?
"You are indeed very strong, but…"
Luminous was about to refuse when two new figures appeared in the great hall.
The moment she saw them, her heart trembled. "You two?"
Indeed, the newcomers were none other than Frey and Carrion.
As fellow members of the Ten Great Demon Lords, Luminous had naturally met them before.
"Oh?"
However, Frey and Carrion's impression of Luminous was rather awkward.
In their memories, the one who always attended the Demon Lord Banquet was Demon Lord Valentine, a burly middle-aged man.
So what was this situation?
"Rin-sama?"
Frey looked at Rin, her eyes filled with surprise.
"Aren't you that vampire maid who followed Demon Lord Valentine?" Carrion blurted out, then immediately understood. "I see. So that's how it is."
Demon Lord Valentine was actually Luminous's younger brother.
She had two younger brothers, a pair of twins.
Whenever she attended the Demon Lord Banquet, Luminous would have one of them impersonate her and attend as the Vampire Demon Lord.
This naturally could not fool the veteran Demon Lords.
However, everyone had a tacit understanding and would not expose Luminous's little hobby.
Only the younger ones like Frey and Carrion were truly unaware of Luminous's true identity, believing Demon Lord Valentine to be the real Demon Lord.
"How did you two end up here?"
The appearance of Frey and Carrion genuinely shocked Luminous.
"No, that's not right. How did your strength…"
But very quickly, Luminous noticed something strange.
Their strength.
Compared to their last meeting, they seemed like completely different people.
The Lion King and the Sky Queen, who once had around four hundred thousand magicules, now possessed around three million magicules.
Such a massive leap could not be described as a simple increase in strength.
The only explanation was awakening.
"You two have awakened as True Demon Lords?"
When Luminous said this, she did not look at them, but turned her gaze directly to Rin. "Did you help them break through their limits?"
It was not that Luminous looked down on them.
If Frey and Carrion truly had the potential to become True Demon Lords, Luminous would acknowledge it.
But as Demon Lords of only six hundred and five hundred years, they would need at least another seven or eight hundred years to reach such a realm.
It was absolutely impossible for them to suddenly reach their current height.
Yet Luminous could not imagine it.
What kind of power would be required to help others break through?
Did such an ability truly exist?
"Thanks to Rin-sama, we had the honor of stepping into the Demon Lord Domain."
"So you, along with Harpy Queendom and the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania, have already chosen to submit to him?"
Luminous vaguely realized the terrifying implications of this.
Once Harpy Queendom and the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania joined, three-quarters of the southeastern land of the continent would fall into Rin's hands.
Regardless of Milim's Kingdom of the Dragon, Clayman's Puppet Nation would absolutely be unable to resist Rin's advance.
In this way, the territory of the Monster Nation would expand to one-third of the continent.
Even for Luminous, this proportion was unbelievable.
"Is that strange?"
Indeed, it was not strange at all.
If joining Rin meant increasing magicules from thirty-nine thousand four hundred to three million, along with a Demon Lord awakening and an Ultimate Skill, any monster who desired power would choose to join without hesitation.
"Do you understand?" Rin said.
"One-third of the Cardinal World has already fallen into my hands."
"So who do you think my next target will be?"
"The Eastern Empire?"
Luminous originally wanted to say that Rudra, the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, was very strong, a legendary hero.
But when she looked at the Storm Dragon God and then at the Frost Dragon God, even if Rin's true strength was still unclear, with just these two Dragon Gods, plus more than ten True Demon Lords, could the Eastern Empire and Rudra truly win?
Luminous could only say it was uncertain.
(To be continued.)
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◇ 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.)