Chapter 18 - 4

CHAPTER 4

UPHEAVAL IN THE WEST

The demon lord Leon was in an audience with someone he had trouble dealing with—a woman with long silvery hair and uniquely long ears. She was sunk deep into an ornate chair, like a dazzling portrait come to life. It was Elmesia El-Ru Thalion, emperor of the land of Thalion, and the two of them were seated facing each other in a gazebo overlooking an elegant garden.

A bit of steam wafted out from the kettle on the table, the lady attendant serving them making sure to replace the water before it cooled. A sweetsmelling aroma filled the air, creating a relaxed atmosphere. The two of them watched each other for a moment, but it was Elmesia who spoke first.

"Taciturn as always, Leon? You have come to see me for the first time in ages, and you're that bored already?"

Her tone of voice was kind—as it should be. Elmesia and Leon knew each other, not just as the leaders of two important trading partners but as close personal acquaintances. One could tell this from the simple fact she granted Leon this kind of audience. They had known each other since before Leon was a demon lord—back in his Hero days, when his exploits took him to Thalion. They had been friends ever since.

"I'm afraid now is not the time for idle laughter."

"I can't say I've ever seen you laugh a great deal."

"Well, that doesn't matter very much, does it? Time is of the essence right now, so let's get down to business—"

"Ahhh, yes, yes. I have some pastries from Mr. Yoshida's boutique. Would you care for a bite or two?"

Elmesia's interruption stirred the attendant into action. She pushed a cart

up to the table, cutting a couple slices of cake.

"I don't have much of a sweet tooth."

"Oh? It's good, you know. Ah, but these cookies are made with tea leaves baked in, so they aren't quite so sweet. Matcha cookies, I believe they're called."

"…I'll have that, then."

From past experience, Leon knew there was no talking over her. It was the same way with the demon lord Ramiris—everyone he had trouble with shared the common trait of never really listening to him in conversation. He calmed himself, already resigned to not having his way here, as he reached for a cookie.

"Too sweet…"

"Oh, you can't even take that?"

"No. It's not bad."

"Hmm. You never were very honest with your feelings, were you? Ah well. So what brought you here today, if I may ask? Are you about to ask whether I've seen the children in the demon lord Rimuru's nation?"

Leon sighed. I can never relax around her. She's already picked up on matters? In that case, he felt, at least this would save him some time. He mentally switched gears.

"That's right. I believe Rimuru has it out for me. One of my previous underlings made contact with him, filling his mind with all sorts of ideas."

"Yes, Shizue Izawa, right? The Conqueror of Flames, was it? She's a household name in this empire as well."

"Why do you know her? Our relationship was supposed to be a well-kept secret—"

"Ah, how about we continue with the conversation? Time was of the essence for you, wasn't it?"

Leon was growing irritated. He wanted to raise his voice, shouting "Who do you think is wasting my valuable time right now?!" but he suppressed the urge.

"Yes… Well, I was thinking about extending an invitation to Rimuru sooner or later. I had wanted to clear up our misunderstandings, and I find him too dangerous as an enemy anyway."

Letting himself be toyed with by someone was not an experience Leon relished very much. Even dealing with Guy, he could maintain his own pace well enough, but Elmesia was simply too much for him.

"Oh? Don't you think you could beat Rimuru?"

Elmesia seemed to take an interest. But Leon wasn't going to accept the challenge.

"Whether I can beat him isn't the issue. There's no point in antagonizing him. I gain nothing from it and stand to lose a great deal, don't I?"

Leon's eyes said it all. You made the same conclusion, didn't you? And Elmesia agreed.

"Indeed, indeed. And if you build a friendship, you could gain a lot from it. A change of heart in Rimuru could have some very disquieting results, but any leap forward comes with risk."

That made sense to Leon, who all but assumed Elmesia shared his thoughts.

"Exactly. Personally, I'd welcome any demon lord who's open to reason.

I think Rimuru was smart to join hands with the demon—er, ex–demon lords

Carillon and Frey. The only problem with that is—"

"Is the way you've been acting?"

"…"

He wanted to deny it but was in no position to. The whole reason Leon and Rimuru weren't on good terms came down to Leon's mishandling of Shizu.

"But very well. I will make some overtures along those lines for you shortly. If Tempest and El Dorado start taking potshots at each other, it would be highly annoying for us as well. But ah yes, the children. I did see them, actually. They seemed to enjoy the festival very much."

"They did? So—"

"Now, now, not so fast. Ah, this cake is so lovely!"

Leon was normally the epitome of calmness, but he was reaching the end of his rope. This, he bitterly thought, was exactly why I didn't want to come here. But now was no time for complaints.

"Among those children, was there a little girl by the name of Chloe?"

Asking so directly like this came with risks. There was no guarantee Elmesia wouldn't try to deceive him, and Leon always endeavored to keep Chloe herself away from danger. But he accepted Elmesia as a friend, and in these urgent times, he didn't want to withhold secrets from her. It was with all that in mind that Leon decided to come out with it.

"Ah, so you finally see fit to believe me? Very well, demon lord Leon. If you trust in me, I won't hesitate to cooperate with you."

Elmesia was signaling a change in atmosphere. She turned toward Leon. Now they were both ready to compare notes. The demon lord Rimuru was in custody of five children—Kenya Misaki, Ryota Sekiguchi, Gail Gibson, Alice Rondo, and…Chloe Aubert. The name of the girl Leon had spent his whole life searching for.

"…Did you know that from the start?"

"You know, you are far too silent for your own good. You don't care if people misunderstand you, you never reveal your true feelings to anyone, and you try to handle everything by yourself. That is precisely why the champion Shizue Izawa never trusted you. Isn't it, ex-Hero?"

If Leon had ever spoken honestly with Shizu, maybe their relationship could have turned out differently. Elmesia was teasing him about that. She knew Leon was a nice person, deep down—and that was why she couldn't put up with him being reviled and feared as a demon lord now.

"Hmph," he replied. "Enough with your silly suspicions. I… I've sacrificed a great many things. I'm willing to do anything to rescue her. No

matter how bad a reputation it gives me, I'll gladly accept it all."

This was the truth. As a former Hero and protector of humankind, he realized one day that strictly doing good wouldn't be enough to reach his goals. Ever since then, he never recoiled from getting his hands dirty as he dauntlessly pursued his desires. It was too late to pretend otherwise. He wouldn't attempt to justify his actions. That was the rule, and the faith, that he lived by.

"Ah, you always were rather inflexible. Do you want Chloe to hate your guts as well?"

"Silence. So Rimuru is taking good care of these children, is he? Then he must be trying to lure me into some scheme of his."

"You have so far failed to eliminate the Rozzos, or Cerberus, or even the demon lord Luminus. And it's troubling you, isn't it, Leon?"

"You really know everything, don't you?" he whispered, the strength drained from his body. It was a reminder of how extensive Elmesia's intelligence network was and how right he was to enlist her assistance. At the same time, it also struck him with fear. He was afraid of her—not militarily, but politically—and that certainly didn't make it any easier to deal with her.

"Right, well, enough picking on you for now, Leon. Based on our investigation, Tempest and Lubelius are in the clear. The demon lord Luminus truly intends to stick to her treaty with the demon lord Rimuru. That much, you know, is obvious enough from the actions of Hinata, their paladin captain. As for Cerberus, it's a bit harder to judge them. Much about them remains a mystery, and their bosses do a poor job of working with each other —perhaps on purpose, it seems. So there's only so much we can learn about their internals from the outside. Let me move on to the Rozzos for now. They are bad news. They're doing away with all their protections in the north in order to attack Lubelius, according to my sources. Every agent in the Selt Foreign Information Bureau is being deployed, apparently, and it's currently quite a mess over there."

The northern nations to the East were lightly guarded, and battle was about to erupt in Lubelius. The news presented a serious problem to Leon.

"Then Guy must be making a move."

And this was it. To be exact, the demon lord Guy wouldn't lift a finger— but the demons under him were bound to kick up some dirt. If Guy himself decided to join in, nobody could stop the world from being destroyed then. Even Elmesia understood that, but that didn't make the situation any less dangerous for humankind. Certain demons in Guy's stable—Vert and Bleu— made certain of that.

"Yes, that's what I'm afraid of. It'd present a serious problem for us all.

Unless someone stops his underlings, that might spell the end of the Western

Nations…"

Elmesia glanced at Leon, who appeared genuinely concerned.

"D-don't look at me like that! I'm just—!!"

"You're starting to sound like your old self again, Leon."

"N-no, I…"

"No need to torture yourself. You don't need to put on airs around me. It is cute, but now is no time to play with you."

Even in an emergency like this, Elmesia never changed. It honestly impressed Leon.

"Well," he replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to work toward my own goals. I'd like to make some overtures with Guy, but he's such a contrarian. Negotiating poorly with him would have the opposite effect."

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that. We need to show we're making an honest effort, or that demon lord might lose all interest in the human race. If the Crusaders aren't able to move right now, our only choice might be to deploy the Magus to the northern regions. I'll organize a dragon transport to take you partway there."

"…Are you sure?"

"I told you, there's no need for panic. But time is of the essence, isn't it? You'd better get going soon."

Events were proceeding faster than Leon thought. Not even he could teleport someplace he hadn't been before—and Lubelius was protected by a barrier anyway. If he was headed there now, air travel was the fastest way.

He appreciated Elmesia's offer a great deal.

"Thank you, then."

"I wish you'd be that thankful more often. Oh, and I'm sure this goes without saying, but Cerberus absolutely wants to ensnare you. It's a blatant trap; do you understand me?"

"I know," came the terse reply.

"I'm sure you do," she said with a slightly sad smile. Leon had always been that way—never showing any external sign of weakness, never giving up on his mission, no matter the danger. He never lost heart that way; a boy living like a true Hero. Even as demon lord, that still held true.

But he's still as clumsy as always. He hasn't changed a bit from back then…

It made Elmesia happy and sad in equal measures.

A little while later, as he boarded the dragon ship, Leon suddenly turned back toward Elmesia, as if remembering something.

"To repay you for your advice, I should probably tell you that Jaune has disappeared. You should be careful, too." "What?!"

She reared back in genuine surprise. It made Leon chuckle a bit.

"Intelligence is practically your hobby, and you didn't know that? Glad I could help, then."

Then he turned back around and left, the thrill of victory echoing in his heart.

After he was gone:

"You're kidding me. Three of the Primal Demons, while I have half of the Magus deployed? What kind of sick joke is this…? But I suppose it would require that much to make Leon take action, wouldn't it? I misread him again…"

Thus, Elmesia was left behind, hand on her forehead, muttering about all these people selfishly ruining her plans.

We had a clear sky from daybreak, a pleasant breeze heralding the start of a wonderful day. That, at least, was my expectation…

"R-reporting in! A group has penetrated the cathedral grounds! There's talk of battle on the site!"

…but the paladin apprentice who came storming in told me just how wrong I was.

"Calm down. What's their size and how much damage is there?"

Hinata, enjoying breakfast with me, kept a cool head. Again, whenever I see her like that, I feel so glad I'm not her enemy.

"Their numbers are unknown, my lord, but we've confirmed close to a hundred hostiles. Their strength is at least B-plus in rank, and they're

demonstrating a knowledge of our nation's internal layout."

Nearly a hundred B-plus fighters made for a pretty formidable force. And if they knew the city's layout, I'd have to assume they were with Granville.

"…As of now, our apprentice knights have suffered extensive casualties.

We have several members of the Master Rooks downed in action as well.

Fortunately, no civilians have been harmed."

The messenger was giving us the news straight, and it wasn't rosy. I'd normally be losing my temper right about now, but I was a guest here, so I resisted the urge to butt in and just sat there quietly. Maybe that sounds cruel of me, but this just isn't my turf.

"I see. Then I will assume our enemy is Gren, leader of the Seven Days Clergy, and the Rozzo family under him. They're no doubt packing more force than they're letting on right now. Send out the deployment order for all garrisoned Crusaders!"

It sounded like the enemy had taken even more casualties than our side, but Hinata wasn't going to let up. I knew she wouldn't. But something still worried me.

"By the way, this isn't the same cathedral that we left our instruments in yesterday, is it?"

If so, that was trouble. Baton and the rest of the orchestra installed their kit there for an acoustics check. I doubted there were that many cathedrals in this nation, so I had a very bad feeling about this. And whenever I had a feeling like that…

"That's the only cathedral in the country."

…Yes, it usually turned out to be right. In fact, it had yet to be wrong. Already dreading what was to come, I turned toward Diablo.

He just smiled back and said "Not a problem." Apparently, he opened up a Thought Communication with Venom the moment the messenger arrived— capable as always, I see. And Venom's response was just as commendable. Baton and the orchestra were already in the cathedral for the day, but he made sure they were kept under careful guard, not letting anyone suspicious come near them. They were still making final instrument adjustments, even.

"They're still at it with an army advancing on them? Man, oh man."

"Heh-heh-heh-heh… Of course they are. If Venom couldn't handle this much of a crisis, I would never have brought him in to assist." I could learn from that confidence.

"Well, we can't sit around, either. Let's go."

Trying to hide my feelings of inadequacy, I used Dominate Space to open a portal to the cathedral. I had begun to master this a little more; even within Lubelius, protected by its holy barrier, I had no problem launching it. I suppose that barrier didn't interfere with internal teleportation or the like.

"…Phew. I can't even give you snide comments about that anymore. I'll join you through there."

Hinata looked a tad fatigued. I was about to ask why she wasn't looking so hot this morning but stopped myself, not wanting it to be misconstrued. See? I can learn from my mistakes. I don't want anyone calling me inconsiderate again.

We were also joined by a man named Nicolaus. I thought he was a servant since he brought us breakfast, but it turns out he was a cardinal and chief counsel for the Western Holy Church. He had a fancy theologian's robe on beneath his apron, so I guess he wasn't lying, but why was someone that high up tending to Hinata's meals? The plot thickens, I suppose…but that didn't matter right now.

Our kids were in the cathedral as well. They were all up bright and early, so I sent them over a little while ago. Diablo said they were under full protection, but you never knew what could happen in this world. Taking a deep breath, I quickly transported myself over to the cathedral.

Once I was inside, I could hear the sounds of intense battle beyond the walls. Baton and the rest were there, looking understandably frightened, but then I heard Shion's booming voice.

"Do not lose your composure! Have you forgotten what Sir Rimuru said? He himself told you to concentrate on your music, for you are guaranteed to be safe. So why have you stopped practicing?!"

Um… That's kind of an insane thing to say, isn't it? We're in the middle of a battlefield, Shion. Ordering noncombatants not to be frightened right now was really a big ask, I thought…

"My apologies, Lady Shion. I think we were all just a little caught in the moment."

…Huh? Did Shion's scolding actually restore the focus to Baton's eyes? And now here he was, turning back toward the performers and lifting his arms up high. They must've noticed me by this point, because I could feel their eyes on me. I don't know if that was the cause, but now everyone seemed more relaxed, their tension draining. They were even smiling.

"Let's continue our rehearsal!"

Nobody voiced any dissent. Baton, seemingly taking the orchestra's agreement as a given, began conducting—and beautiful music filled the room, not a single note out of place. It almost seemed powerful enough to drown out the war going on outside. Listening on, I couldn't help but be proud of everyone I brought along.

Having this battle gain a sudden musical accompaniment made it almost seem like a stage show—but of course, this was no production.

In another moment, I found the kids and ordered them to stay where they were. "But I wanna—" began Kumara before I shut her down. Right now, she was by herself—only one tail—and just like the other children, she was too young for actual battle yet. Calling Shion over, I ordered her to protect them with Diablo.

"What are you going to do, Sir Rimuru?"

"Me? I'm gonna squish these roaches. Whoever's facing off against

Hinata's forces is the cause of this, and it's time to kick 'em outta here."

Normally, it'd be ill-advised for a guest like me to step into the fray. But watching Baton's orchestra give their all like this, I wanted to do whatever I could to make tomorrow's concert a success.

"…Very well," Diablo said.

"Hmm? What's the matter, Vice Secretary? It's rare for you to actually accept an order from Sir Rimuru."

Shion gave Diablo a surprised look. Yeah, I was kind of floored by that, too. I all but assumed Diablo would volunteer to join me, but if I wanted to keep this scene from growing any bigger, this was probably best.

"All right. The chamber is yours!"

"Best of luck to you."

"Ah…"

Shion seemed to have her concerns, but given what she just told Diablo, she was in no position to protest now. That suited me just fine, so I flung myself outside and into battle.

Enemies and allies were scattered across the cathedral entrance. The main door was battered down, not a trace of it left, and over a hundred people were currently engaged in battle.

Among the standouts, certainly, was the figure Hinata was up against. He was an old man, but his back was straight as a fence post, his moves nimble and artistic. He was dressed in a fancy-looking suit, and his sharpened eyes indicated he was no one to be trifled with. He wasn't a monster but likely not human, either—and looking at the aura around him, I could tell he was packing a formidable amount of force.

"Who's that?"

"Granville Rozzo. Leader of the Five Elders and head of the Rozzo family."

"Him…?"

That made sense to me.

"Maria," the man said, "find Lady Luminus and bring her here. If she resists, kill her if you must."

At his summons, a woman stepped in front of me. Her features reminded me of Maribel, but she was a young adult in age. I wouldn't be surprised if they were blood relatives, but I couldn't say if she was Maribel's mother.

Understood. Failed to confirm blood relation with genetic evidence.

Whoa, you can tell just by visuals? Cool, I guess.

So if it was no coincidence that Maria looked like Maribel, that made me wonder what her strength was like. She sure didn't look like she'd hold her own against Luminus. Was Granville seriously ordering her to seize that woman—a demon lord?

"Very well. I will begin immediately."

The woman called Maria walked off, never looking my way. It was all so mechanical—all I could say was that it wasn't like any regular human being. I couldn't gauge her strength, but I guessed Luminus would before too much longer.

Me, I needed to get Granville out of here. If we could talk this over, then great. If not, I was prepared to end this quickly.

"Nice to meet you, Granville. I'm the demon lord Rimuru."

Any decent conversation needed to begin with a greeting. I had a hunch our relationship wasn't going to be too friendly, but we might as well start on the right foot, at least.

"You're Rimuru? How dare you take my Maribel from me…" "Whoa, whoa, she started it—"

Yeahhhh, I guess he's got it in for me.

But Maribel's death was an accident. It seemed unreasonable to blame me for it. I know telling him "I didn't mean to kill her" would be a dumb excuse…but really, if Maribel didn't start gunning for me, none of that would've happened. Not that I expected Granville to accept it. Yuuki said he'd try reasoning with him, but now that I no longer trusted Yuuki, I could kind of imagine what he had said about me. I doubted this was something we could iron out with words any longer.

Report. Regardless of what was said, you would likely have been in conflict with him.

Yeah, I was sure. Something told me it would be just as hard to coexist with Granville as it was with Maribel. In which case, I'd just have to overpower him.

"…But I guess it's pointless to say that, isn't it? Then let's prove to each other who's in the right."

"Heh-heh-heh… Say what you will. You think a demon lord upstart like you could defeat me? I'll fight you later, so just stay there and watch as your allies are picked off, one by one."

A demon lord upstart like me? Given that he used to be Luminus's servant, this guy sure seemed to like his chances. I mean, yeah, the power of a monster depended a great deal on how old they were…but any demon lord, no matter how young, should've at least given him pause.

Guess this guy's more confident than I thought. But now someone else was here to challenge him.

"There is no need for Lady Hinata or Sir Rimuru to step up. Gren of the

Seven Days Clergy, your fight begins with us!"

It was Nicolaus who shouted this. Isn't he way too up there in the hierarchy for this stuff? Then I remembered—Cardinal Nicolaus was the guy who set a trap and cast Disintegration on Granville. Gutsy move, definitely. He was currently accompanied by three Crusader captains—the subleader Renard, along with Arnaud and Litus. Fritz and Bacchus would've been training at the labyrinth right now, so they weren't here. If this was gonna happen… But again, that's not for me to judge.

"Behold, Lady Hinata! Watch us in action!"

At Nicolaus's orders, Renard propelled himself forward. Not just him, actually—Arnaud and Litus as well, all rushing Granville at the same time. These three captains were attempting to buy enough time for Nicolaus to cast Disintegration again, I figured. A pretty grandiose strategy, but that must be how wary Nicolaus was of his foe.

Renard used his magnificent sword moves to keep his foe at bay. Arnaud's keen perception let him match every move of Renard's, as Litus provided handy backup for them both. Normally, an attack from this trio would end the battle right then—but it was well within Granville's capabilities. Like a picture from a textbook, he engaged all three of them at once, wholly ignoring Nicolaus's spellcasting. That creeped me out a bit, as did the serene look on his face, not a single bead of sweat on his forehead. He, I felt, was simply on a different tier from them.

Nicolaus had only one verse left in the spell. Its effects would summon a layered magical circle, with Granville standing in the middle of its lightinfused dungeon. Once the Disintegration was complete, there was no way to block its dazzling rays, as it dismantled the soul of its target at the speed of light.

That's what should have happened. But now, all common sense was thrown out the window.

"Mm… A fine spell, there. No better way to read the flow of your magic."

Granville's voice sounded frightfully cold as he spoke, like a teacher commanding his student from high above. Hinata, hearing it, muttered a soft "No…" as the blood drained from her face. She must've noticed something, but there was no time to inform Nicolaus.

"Time to die! Disintegration!!"

The rays of light were cast, heading straight for Granville—and suddenly, they switched paths and were sucked straight into the sword in his hand. It happened in an instant. Even with my perception accelerated a million times over, it was difficult to pinpoint. But I recognized exactly what happened— because I had witnessed it before. It was Overblade: Meltslash, the most powerful of sword skills, just like what I saw from Hinata.

"…Spread out!"

Renard and the others instantly heeded Hinata's order. They worked fast, true to their military precision, but not fast enough. Once Granville threw out his Meltslash, it immediately generated a fan-shaped shock wave—and in that single moment, Hinata pushed forward, came in front of Nicolaus, and stopped Granville's sword.

The frontal force of the Meltslash sent Hinata flying. She bashed against Nicolaus—which kept her safe, but I'm sure Nicolaus was out of the battle. If she wasn't wielding the Legend-class Moonlight right now, they'd both be a pile of ash. That—and even the secondary shock wave blew Renard and the other captains away. They were all on the ground, knocked out by that single blast.

"A-are you all right?!" Nobody answered.

I could detect a twinge of panic in Hinata's face as she glared at Granville. Even someone as cold as her didn't expect this level of force— and now it was Granville doing the talking.

"Mmm, I couldn't kill a single one of you? I must be getting rusty. You have that demon lord over there to thank."

"Huh? What do you…?"

Hinata took a glance at me, growing calmer. Now she seemed to understand.

"Oh. You saved them? Thanks, Rimuru." You're welcome.

I gave Hinata a light nod. Yes, Renard and the others were merely knocked out because I lent them a hand. The moment I realized this was trouble, I launched Absolute Defense—otherwise, they'd have vanished without a trace.

The wall that skill built was perfect, I thought, but I guess I expected too much from it. Absolute Defense—part of the ultimate skill Uriel, Lord of Vows—could block any sort of attack. There were some exceptions, such as Yuuki's Anti-Skill, so I couldn't rely too much on it, but it was always a helpful arrow in my quiver.

However, although it was perfect for self-defense, trying to deploy it on someone else (multiple targets, even) blunted its effects. Even if a little force got through, I could always count on Infinite Regeneration to wipe up any problems—that's why it so perfectly defended me. But not the paladin captains. The little bit of the shock wave that penetrated the Absolute Defense pushed them to the brink of death. They really escaped disaster by a hair's breadth.

"I had no idea someone besides me learned Meltslash. Color me just a little bit surprised."

"Mmm… An arrogant thought, Hinata. With all the years that have passed, some have reached your level, you know."

Yeah. I mean, I could use it, so… (Although, admittedly, that was just

Raphael doing its usual Analyze and Assess job on it.)

Still, to completely leverage Meltslash, you needed full, intimate knowledge of how Disintegration worked. If there was a handful of people wielding that now, I guess the human race was a lot more capable than I thought. It did make sense, though—a human Hero once sealed Veldora away, so at least some of them had to be that strong. Even being a demon lord, I really couldn't rest on my laurels.

But look at me. My mind was wandering, and I really couldn't afford that.

"So what is this I see? High officers in the paladins, almost killed by something of this level? How worthlessly pathetic. You couldn't even begin to compare with the sword masters of the past, to say nothing of myself."

Granville seemed to believe his own claims. He honestly didn't think Hinata would pose a challenge.

"That's a funny thing to say. Care to test that out?"

Hinata flashed a cold smile. She was just as serious, it seemed, and I had no room to interfere…

Then a sudden thundering explosion by the cathedral told me how incorrect I was.

"Ah, Razul? I ordered him to destroy the cathedral, and it seems he's doing a thorough job."

"What did you…?"

The kids and the orchestra were still in there. Shion and Diablo were charged with protecting them, but if all-out war was erupting, they were bound to be caught in it. I was hoping to make short work of Granville, but at this point, maybe it was best to eliminate this uninvited guest first.

With that in mind, I attempted to teleport myself to the cathedral. But Granville stopped me.

"Demon lord Rimuru, I will let this group entertain you. Enjoy! You may even find some of your own kind among them!"

Several people stepped up at his order. Immediately, I understood what he meant. The group consisted of many races and many ages, no real theme to them, but they each had something in common—more magicules than any regular person would possess.

"Otherworlders? Ah. Yeah, maybe there's one or two Japanese people in here."

Now was not the time to act all casual about this. I had ten or so otherworlders attacking me at once. Like Glenda from the past, they seemed to be under the effects of a locking curse, robbed of their freedom of movement—and unlocking that curse wouldn't stop them, by the looks of it.

Still…

"Heh-heh-heh. You intend to fight? You realize they're only doing this because I've enthralled them, do you not?"

How treacherous of him. I'm sure he said that to make me hesitate…and I hate to admit it, but it worked.

"I heard how soft and weak-minded you were. Can you kill innocent human beings? Can you tell yourself this is war and step up to defend

yourself? Not that I mind either way, of course."

Granville only saw the summoned otherworlders as weapons, nothing more. To him, they only had value as throwaway pawns. And he was right— killing them shouldn't make any difference to me. He really was a menace. Clearly, he had done his research. If Diablo or Shion were taking these guys on, they'd show absolutely no mercy, I'm sure. But did that make it okay, or not okay, for me…?

"Ah, dammit! What a pain in the ass!"

I had no time to agonize over this. The children were in danger if I didn't do something fast, and now the damage was just gonna get worse. At this point, there was just one option to take. As annoying as it was, I'd have to unlock the curses of every one of these guys and knock them out nonlethally. Thus, I was now an active participant in this battle.

My fellow humans were closing in on me. For all I knew, maybe they were from some other planet (or dimension) besides Earth—but now my mind was wandering again. Guess I was back in my element.

Otherworlders were blessed with extraordinary physical skills, as well as a variety of special skills that were impossible to predict. That made them dangerous, of course, but they weren't a threat to me. Not even Glenda could hurt me, whether I put up a defense or not. That's how all-powerful the combo of Absolute Defense and Infinite Regeneration was.

These foes were still a handful, but not much more than that. With enough time, I could safely neutralize all of them. I wasn't about to go easy on them, but that was my honest assessment. Besides, I had Raphael, which meant that going easy wasn't an option to start with.

So I used part of my vast computational skills to begin surveying the situation.

First, I looked at Hinata, fighting right next to me. Granville, who had mercifully shut up for me, was gracefully clashing swords with her, both of them equipped with nothing but their rapiers. They held them in their right hands, their left kept behind their backs for magic-casting purposes.

"Tch! So when you posed as Gren, you were hiding your full powers? I recall that you specialize in bare-handed close-range combat, but you're rather handy with a sword as well."

"Heh-heh! I have experience with all weapons. I just never needed to use it before now."

"Oh, no? Then let me strip you of your mistaken confidence."

Hinata was leaving nothing on the table. That much was clear from how she used Moonlight, her sword. What I wondered about was Granville's blade. If he could use it to keep Hinata's at bay, it couldn't have been any normal weapon.

Understood. Unable to determine weapon class due to interference. It is believed to be classed at Legend or higher.

Hmm. A surprising appraisal. Raphael hadn't made any mistakes as of late, but here you go. Perhaps I underestimated Granville quite a bit.

I doubted it, but was Hinata in, you know, big trouble here? I mean, I didn't think she'd lose or anything…but I couldn't dismiss the possibility, and that unnerved me. Not even Raphael had a bead on his skill level.

So Hinata and Granville's duel piqued my interest, but I had even bigger fish to fry—namely, the intense battle I was sensing from the direction of the cathedral. I honed the accuracy of my Magic Sense, turning my eyes toward the fray.

There, I saw a man in a suit of dark armor. Amazingly, he was fighting against Shion and Diablo at once—and not giving an inch of ground. I suppose he wouldn't. His magicule level was higher than both of them combined.

"Damn, you're kidding me. You were hiding someone with power beyond a demon lord's?"

"Of course. When facing the demon lords or other monsters who threaten humankind, you can never have too many aces up your sleeve."

Granville must've picked up on my muttering if he replied to it. He was in the middle of fighting Hinata and still had the time to answer me. Wow. But hey, if he was open to chatting, we'd get some more info from him—and if it distracted him along the way, that was two birds with one stone.

"He has to outclass Roy, right? That demon lord stand-in? Maybe stronger than you?"

I worked a bit of a taunt into my question.

"His name is Razul. My friend for the past millennium."

Glad he was nice enough to reply. Hinata was still silent; I suppose she understood my aims and chose not to interfere. So I continued. "Your friend, huh? But Razul doesn't seem human to me."

"What of it?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I just wanted to find out what he really was. Now I knew he wasn't human, at least, and that was a step forward, but…

"Well, nothing…"

I felt talked down to a bit, which was annoying.

"He comes from a long-lived race, you see. My partner during my glory years. Given how he's got far more power than a paladin captain, I'm sure your underlings must feel overwhelmed right now."

Granville was right. Shion and Diablo were having a hard time of it. I thought having Diablo around kept us safe, but maybe that was too optimistic?

…Hang on. Actually, here was something weird. It was like Diablo's having trouble focusing or something.

Report. Unusual rifts in space detected. It is a sign of someone using Spatial Transport to appear.

The warning from Raphael came all too suddenly. It almost never gave me alerts like that unless things were really serious, so I had to treat it as an emergency. No need to go easy any longer. Diablo must've been picking up on this anomaly, and it was keeping him from concentrating.

(Ranga, you there?)

(Yes, my master!)

Ah, good! He was usually curled up in my shadow these days.

(Back up Shion, but keep yourself concealed!)

(Right away!)

At once, he used Shadow Motion to dive into Shion's shadow. When I saw he was ready, I gave out my next order.

(Diablo, is something bothering you?)

(My pardons, Sir Rimuru. I know my difficulties in this battle are unforgivable, but the fact is that this adversary is more powerful than I anticipated. He is a highly evolved example of the uncommon insectoid race, and to demons, they are a kind of natural enemy.)

Diablo described insectoids as cross-dimensional magic beasts with elemental powers. They appeared now and then in this world, but it was extremely uncommon for them to evolve into humanoid creatures. I figured Diablo could still win against him, but he wasn't. Something far worse was troubling him—and now that this something was incoming, I wanted Diablo to address it first.

(Shion, you heard him. If Diablo's making excuses, it must be something really serious.)

The moment I said that, I could practically feel Diablo's discomfort from over here. He'd never resort to excuses like this usually, so I immediately knew he was hiding something. And if I wanted him to retain full freedom in this battle, I needed Shion's and Ranga's help.

(Shion, I just planted Ranga in your shadow. Both of you work together to defeat Razul, that insectoid.)

(No need to order us!)

(I will live up to your expectations, Master!)

Looks like Shion picked up on Diablo's difficulties as well. I'm sure she would've taken measures even without an order. But if she did, it would've been Shion alone against the mighty Razul, which would only be more dangerous. Not that I didn't trust her, but I wanted our plans to remain as safe as possible. Maybe setting two allies against him was a cowardly move, but in an actual battle like this, guaranteed victory was always your final goal.

(Diablo, go take care of whatever's bothering you. Also, try to trust and rely on your allies more.)

(…!! Keh-heh-heh-heh… Very well. I suppose I thought a little too much of myself today. Allow me to take care of this problem at once!)

Not just a "little," I'd say. But at least he sounded a bit more like himself again.

(Right, everyone… Begin!)

(((Yes, my lord!)))

I wasn't used to giving out orders like these, but all three gladly accepted them. Now I just had to hope for the best, as I brought my full focus back to neutralizing the otherworlders.

"Keh-heh-heh-heh… Sir Rimuru sees everything, I suppose. I would be a fool to think otherwise."

"Of course he does, Vice Secretary. Just go and deal with your problem already!"

"You don't have to remind me. As I think you've noticed, Razul is more powerful than you. Are you sure you'll be fine, Secretary?"

"Hee-hee-hee! I never thought you'd worry for me, Vice Secretary…or Diablo, I should say. You're strong, I'll admit. Stronger than me, even. So go defeat that foe so Sir Rimuru has nothing to worry about! That's your job, isn't it?"

"…!! Keh…heh-heh-heh. You called me by name…"

"Just go! Leave this fight to me!"

"I believe in you, Lady Shion. Not because Sir Rimuru ordered me to—

the feeling is genuine."

"Just Shion is fine. It's weird, you showing me proper respect. There's no heart in it."

"Keh-heh-heh-heh… Best of luck to you, Shion."

"You too, Diablo."

In that short conversation, conducted without any eye contact, Shion and Diablo finally accepted each other. They both had overinflated senses of pride, perhaps, but deep down, both of them knew the extent of each other's power.

Diablo walked off, not looking back as he gave orders to his staff.

"Venom, protect those children like your life depends on it. Or sacrifice your life for it—either way, just do it."

Rimuru had given no orders for Diablo's own forces. He thus saw no need to consider their feelings. All that really mattered here, he coldly reasoned, were the children and the orchestra.

"Oh, um, all right."

Wish he could've considered us a bit more, Venom thought—but he wasn't foolish enough to say it. If he did, Diablo would've ended his life before any foe could.

Besides:

Well, looks like Lady Shion and Sir Ranga are handling the major threat. With all of us, protecting this area should be doable enough. It beats fighting Sir Diablo, at least…

That summed up Venom's feelings on the subject.

"May victory be yours, Sir Diablo!"

"Silence. I have no interest in you worrying over me."

Diablo wasted no time coldly brushing off Venom's encouragement.

There's the Diablo I know…

Venom's memories of being forcibly pressed into service by him flashed through his mind. He banished them as quickly as he could. If Diablo ever saw him looking disgruntled, there was no telling how he'd react.

As he mentally refocused on his mission, Diablo left the scene to his friends and strode off the battlefield.

He teleported to his destination, reappearing in a spot removed from the cathedral, and outside of Lubelius itself—a corner of a vast, vegetation-free plain. Awaiting him was a beautiful blue-haired woman in a dark-red maid outfit. Several paladins were on the ground at her feet—even these guardians of humanity, each one boasting the power of a thousand, were helpless against her.

"How nice to see you again, Noir. I was growing impatient with your lateness."

"Indeed, I could feel your murderous rage from miles away, but I had some business I couldn't extract myself from. But I'd really prefer if you called me Diablo, Bleu…or I suppose you had a name, too, didn't you,

Raine?"

Raine, the blue-haired beauty, gave this response a satisfied smile. "That's right. The name Raine was granted to me by Rouge, the Original Red, the great Sir Guy himself, strongest of the Primal Demons. It's not at all like

being named by some mutt of a demon lord like you were."

"Huh? Are you looking to die? Or maybe you want to be detached from this world entirely. Keh-heh-heh-heh… I'll be happy to oblige."

Diablo's smile remained, but his gold eyes were no longer friendly. The red pupils within them narrowed as he eyed his prey.

"Let us battle, Diablo! Ah, I cannot wait for this. Ever since I detected you fighting Blanc over to the east, I've always wanted a chance at you."

"Ridiculous. If you think this will be any fight at all, you are sorely mistaken."

"Well, why don't we begin and find out?!"

With that signal, Raine made good her question and went on the move, dropping a chop with her hand that moved beyond the speed of sound. A casual wave of Diablo's arm deflected it. It delighted Raine. The wish she kindled for many long years was finally happening.

Yes… Yes, this is it. I can't have this end that quickly. We are both Primal, and yet you enjoy all of this freedom. No building your own factions, no undertaking someone else's mission… All demons want

nothing more than a physical body, and you laughed that off…

It was fair to say that Raine was jealous of Diablo. For someone like her, who followed the rules by the book, his behavior was inexcusable.

He fought Sir Guy to a draw, as loath as I am to admit it…and here he is now, blithely wandering around, no desire for more strength. As a demon, he needs to gain a body the right way! He needs to strive for what lies beyond his evolution!

All of Raine's power was being thrown Diablo's way. After stewing over these emotions for years, she was now acting on them.

Diablo—Noir, the Original Black—was a unique demon. Long, long ago, he and Rouge fought to be crowned the strongest of their kind. The match, while ending in a tie, wound up sealing both of their respective fates. Rouge manifested in the physical world, gaining untold powers, but Noir refused to change, turning down his chance at evolution.

The cases of Blanc, Jaune, and Violet could be understood—those three colors were all meddling with one another, preventing any evolution, creating a sort of balanced rivalry that remained to this day. But Noir, despite having no such restriction, simply remained his natural self and enjoyed life, as if he thought the other six shades were all fools. That is how things had been for tens of thousands of years.

And it was exactly why Raine could never forgive Diablo. He was so selfish, going wherever his whims took him, living in perfect freedom—and Guy, the strongest of all, recognized him as an equal.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You're right. All this dodging can hardly count as a battle. You always were good at evading things, if nothing else."

"Keh-heh-heh-heh… I told you: Don't get the wrong idea. I simply have no need to tap my full force against the likes of you. Also, I should note that I have zero intention of avoiding you."

"Making apologies already? I'm sure you're still too new in your body to tap its full potential, but don't expect me to accept your pathetic excuses."

Raine fired a bolt of magic from her fist. Exposed to the laws of nature, it transformed into a Nuclear Cannon blast—one Raine called for with no casting time. But Diablo, naturally, had expected this, not demonstrating a moment of concern as he cast dispulsion magic to make the nuclear blast vanish. This is what battle between high-level demons is about: breaking through one another's layers of magical barriers and counterattack spells to land a lethal blow on your enemy. Neither side had any need for timeconsuming spellcasting as they threw supercharged blasts of magic at each other.

And as more and more time passed…

"I—I can't believe it! You were drawing this while you were fighting?!"

"That's right, Raine. To me, fighting you was merely busywork. One can hardly call it an engaging game if you can already see the ending." Raine was in shock. The outcome was already set in stone.

Surrounding Raine was a layered circle, alive and glowing with magical runes. It had appeared in the air just now at Diablo's signal, and now that she was in it, Raine could no longer move. Whenever she tried to, even a little, Diablo could summon any magic she wanted against her.

It was called:

"A… A multilayered Disintegration…? The antithesis to all demons, a magic dangerous enough to crush us all… Why do you…?!"

Diablo looked coldly down upon her, a slight sense of pity in his otherwise-frozen mind, as if he couldn't understand why she wouldn't know.

"Ridiculous. As long as my faith in my master is deep enough, I can even hold sway over spiritual particles. Common sense, don't you see?"

"Are you insane?! How could that ever be common sense…?!"

"But let me extend you the courtesy of ending this. You have insulted my wondrous master Sir Rimuru, and soon you will burn with regret."

Seven rays of light were released. Even one of these deadly arrows held the power of absolute destruction, and now they came crashing down upon

Raine…

From the bottom of her heart, Luminus was irritated.

Right here, in the midst of the concert she invited the demon lord Rimuru to stage, she had allowed Granville to arrange an all-out rebellion. Such a dreadful error was unheard of in the history of her nation. She was taken by an urge to run to the cathedral and massacre everyone inside herself, but her sense of reason (and her instincts) restrained her. She realized that, as public of an attack as this was, it was undoubtedly a diversion.

Louis and Gunther, stationed by Luminus's side, stayed silent, not willing to set her off. They said nothing—like Luminus, they were greatly disturbed but not stupid enough to prioritize the wrong thing here.

If Granville's blitz was a diversion, what purpose was there to it?

I'm sure he knows about my cherished ark. That means there's a nonzero chance he's thinking about releasing the girl inside…

The ark was the greatest of Luminus's secret treasures. But she had an even bigger reason to keep it absolutely safe—and she knew Granville was aware of that reason. This is why it was hard to imagine him gunning for the ark—but still, she trusted her instincts. And she was correct to do so.

Here she was, inside her innermost chamber—a burial room, one nobody was supposed to know about. It was currently playing host to an uninvited guest.

"Well now, guess our little home invasion got spotted, eh? Or were you just beefin' up the security around here?"

"Hoh-hoh-hoh! A pity. But here's a bit of prey we can have some fun with. Think it's all right for us to raise a little hell?"

"Fine by me, but you better be careful. That li'l beauty over there's a menace, through and through. You're the demon lord Luminus, ain't you?"

The two home invaders—Laplace and Footman—stepped in, acting less than polite to their host. Luminus watched them as she elegantly relaxed on a couch in front of the ark she absolutely had to protect.

To her, this pair didn't even remotely seem like a challenge. But something about the atmosphere kept her on close guard.

Luminus took care to conceal her rage as she spoke.

"…I will ignore your attitudes for the moment. State your names."

Laplace was the first to react. He was a bit surprised that someone expected their break-in, but Granville had mentioned the possibility. To address it, he had provided them with a guide, someone to help them traverse the multiple defense lines blocking access to the chamber.

"It is an honor to meet you. I am Laplace, the Wonder Jester and vice president of the Moderate Jesters—a kind of handyman outfit, know what I mean? And this here's Footman."

He deliberately took a less-than-serious approach to the greeting as he motioned toward Footman.

"Hoh-hoh-hoh! I am Footman, the Angry Jester. Glad to meet you… although I don't think we'll be staying long."

Footman, to his credit, was standing strong against this demon lord. His mind worked on simple terms—if there's an enemy, he'd crush it. Now he was just waiting for Laplace's signal to begin.

"That—and we've got one more person here. C'mon in!"

Another figure emerged through the door, a blond-haired beauty.

"…"

"She's not too talkative, mind you. I think her name was—"

"No. I remember her… Yes, yes. Maria Rozzo? The woman Granville loved?"

"Yeah! Maria! That's the name! Wow, Lady Luminus, you two knew each other?"

Luminus winced. "I'm not your friend, you know. We are done greeting each other, and thus there's nothing left to discuss. Going forward, we will discuss matters not with words but with fists."

Her patience was reaching its limit. She had detected this person hiding and decided to put up with it, but with Maria now introduced, she could endure this no longer.

"Eesh, no need to be so hasty. And yeah, we all know one another now, but I got a message from Granville, too."

"Oh?"

"Right, so listen to this: 'I await you up above. Let us settle this, demon lord Luminus. Come soon, or else those you hold dear will die.' So there ya go! And I think that monster oughtta be in combat with the paladin captain,

Hinata, by now, so who knows how that's gonna turn out—"

Laplace was interrupted by a strike from the lunging Louis. Luminus had lowered her hand—her signal to commence the attack.

"It's you, isn't it? The man who killed my brother?"

"Tchh… Can't you at least let me finish?! Ah well. I'll spot you an answer to that one: Yes! I killed yer body double, Roy, sure enough!"

"Hmm. I have no interest in petty revenge, but since you're here, perhaps I can prove to you that I am far more talented than he was." With that, Louis began stalking his prey.

"So I'm fightin' you, then? Better not bore me, man!"

"Hohhh-hoh-hoh-hoh! I'd ask the same of you!"

Gunther and Footman eyed each other—and in the next moment, they flew out of the burial chamber. They had their own battle to fight, and collateral damage wasn't remotely a concern to them.

"Louis and Gunther can be so annoying. They're normally so calm and composed, but when the time comes to battle, they simply cannot hold back their thirst for blood. But I suppose the same can be said of me. Granville, just you wait. Even with your stout ally, you'll find it impossible to stop me!"

Luminus, too, had her eyes sharpened upon Maria, the fleeting, silent figure.

"A corpse? It couldn't be," she continued, almost whispering to herself. "I see Granville still hasn't given up. Maria is dead. Even with Resurrection, the miracle of my god, nothing can be done for a soul already lost. And now look…"

The figure before her wasn't Maria at all. It was something in the shape of her.

"But very well. Allow me to perform your last rites!"

Her aura blazing around her, Luminus stood up—and with that, she and Maria began fighting at a level beyond what a normal person could even observe. Would the winner be Luminus or this thing taking the shape of Maria?

And then…the ark was left behind in the chamber.

Everyone had left the room, not wanting to damage it. And as if waiting for that exact moment, a lone boy appeared in the darkness.

"Ha-ha-ha! I didn't think it'd go this much to plan. Granville was absolutely right."

It was Yuuki laughing.

Never accepting Granville's information at face value, he had remained in the shadows as he followed the intruders in. He had successfully shrouded his presence to all, even deceiving Luminus. He usually kept himself at least a little bit detectable, so he'd be ready if things ever went south. A lot of people could detect his presence that way, and once those adversaries presumed they had the upper hand, that made it easy to put them off their guard. Yuuki was always pursuing that strategy. His accumulated experiences were paying off in vital situations, including this very one—and now they let him obtain what he wanted with practically no work at all.

"So this is the ark?"

He reached out, touching that beautiful coffin of ice.

"Whoa. So that's what makes it a holy coffin? Matter made out of pure spiritual particles… I didn't know you could do that."

Now he was glad he came. He wasn't sure anyone besides him could even lay a hand on this thing. Even a magic-burning coffin couldn't affect Anti-Skill, and that made it perfectly possible for Yuuki to make off with this ark.

Then, without another moment of hesitation, he smashed it open. The hidden treasure Luminus worked so hard to protect shattered all too easily.

Slumbering inside it was a beautiful young woman—the Hero everyone was after, no doubt.

"Ooh, there's a seal on this girl's body as well? Not that it'll work on me…but I can deactivate it later, I guess."

Yuuki chuckled. They certainly tried to be careful. A barrier more powerful than the ark itself covered the girl's skin from head to toe. He could take his time removing it once he was back to safety.

As he made this decision, Yuuki's eyes turned toward the girl's face.

"Who is this girl anyway? She seems vaguely familiar…but nah. It can't be that."

She looked to be around sixteen, and while her long dark-silver hair hid her privates, she didn't have a stitch of clothing on her.

"Hmm… I guess this is technically assault or something like that, but not much I can do there…"

With that whisper, Yuuki hefted the girl's body up. "Well, I've got my Hero. Now to flee the scene." With one more sly grin, Yuuki quickly left the chamber.

…Why is there a Hero sleeping in an ark anyway? Is she really the ultimate weapon Granville called her? And what does Granville even want?

Yuuki was a skeptical young man by nature, but given his rash opinion of his almost excessive talents, he often figured things would work out in the end. That was what his pride did for him, and thus, despite his doubts, he signed on for Granville's operation…but at this point in time, he had no idea what kind of situation his actions were about to cause.

The otherworlders lurched upon me like zombies. Carefully, I neutralized them one by one, making sure not to kill any. With my powers, not even a hundred of these at once would give me a challenge…but undoing the locking curses on them all was a pain.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder about these otherworlders. I focused my mind upon them for a bit, and yes, they definitely packed a lot of magicules. They had real physical skill, too; some of them could even manage an A rank.

But for some reason, they didn't seem particularly strong to me. I thought that was just the difference in talent at first, but something told me that wasn't the whole story. I was sure Granville's robbing their freedom was one other reason, but was there something else?

Understood. In this battle, no adversary has used any unique skill so far.

Aha! That was it! And it made sense to me. None of these guys were using any kind of special attack, and that made neutralizing them pretty straightforward work. But would a group of otherworlders this big really have no uniques at all? Or were they going easy on me? Either way, it was kind of creepy.

Of course, no matter what Granville was planning, I'd just beat him, and we'd be done with it. That was the plan I had in mind as I turned my attention toward the last one of them.

She still looked like a young girl to me, maybe a bit past ten—her power would've just barely stabilized by that age. Like the others, she was intensely powerful, but that was it. With a now-practiced hand, I undid the lock on her —no problems there. She was conscious again and looking thoroughly confused, but there was no time to explain matters. Putting her to sleep for the time being, I laid her down where I had placed the others.

There were a few kids like her in the group, which made things seriously difficult for me. Granville didn't seem to care much about how he looked in the midst of this, but regardless, I managed to take care of them all. I'm assuming he was just looking to buy some time; if I wanted to, it would've been quicker and easier to just kill 'em all. Along those lines, I guess it's mission accomplished for him.

Still, the otherworlders attacking me were now neutralized. I don't know what he wanted to do with the time he earned, but once I ended this battle, it wouldn't matter anyway. I glanced across the battlefield to see how things were going.

The children were safe, which was a relief. Meanwhile, despite it all,

Baton and his orchestra were still starting to practice their music. They had nerves of steel, I guess—or something of steel. I suppose focusing on something is a good way to calm your anxieties, though, so maybe it wasn't that crazy after all.

Hinata, meanwhile, was fighting on an even keel with Granville. I had to hand it to her. It was literally a supersonic contest, an advanced back-andforth where no one could afford a single mistake. If I stepped in without a plan, I could destroy the balance and inadvertently turn the tide of the battle. Better save that for later.

Shion and Ranga were being pushed back by Razul, but it didn't look like they were that badly outclassed. Shion was taking Razul's attacks, but as she did, she was swiftly healing herself each time. Ultraspeed Regeneration really was like cheating—it was easily enough to make up a difference like this one. Ranga, meanwhile, was concentrating on offense, diving into Shion's shadow and sniping away when he found a blind spot, throwing in magic like Death-Calling Wind and Dark Lightning. I was impressed with his nimble performance—the only problem was that none of it worked on Razul.

I mean, Razul's just insane. I recalled that if he's an insectoid, that put him in the same family as Apito and Zegion. Their segmented eyes meant they had no blind spots, making it easy for him to dodge Ranga's surprise attacks— and besides, most regular attacks didn't faze him at all. What I thought was black armor was actually an exoskeleton harder than steel. He could simply lift up his left arm and stop Shion's large sword in its tracks. Unless you aimed for his joints, you likely had no chance of damaging him. Even worse, judging by the way Ranga's magic bounced off him, his surface must've had a Magic Interference–style effect applied.

No wonder he gave Diablo trouble. Magic was Diablo's main thing, so I could see why he wasn't the greatest matchup for Razul, although I think he'd still manage a win.

Given his edge against both physical and magic attacks, Razul was a serious threat. And someone this amazing was just meekly serving Granville, with no ambitions of his own…?

Well, as much of a challenge as he posed to Shion and Ranga, I figured I could handle him.

So I was about to head over there…and then I steeled myself as I turned toward the cathedral. I wasn't alone—Hinata, Shion, and the others did the same, looking nervous. I think we were all justified. After all, the demon lord Leon—a guy who should never have been here—was standing in front of it.

He wore a white robe, a nice-looking, knightly suit of golden armor underneath. Handsome as always, to be sure, but he looked very peeved at the moment. And he wasn't alone—several knights were stationed behind him, and by the looks of it, they were handpicked from his top officials. What's he doing here? Is he friend or foe? I found it hard to picture him as an ally, but I really hoped he wouldn't decide to fight us.

"Ah, you're here, demon lord Leon? And, Hinata, you must be finding this terribly boring if you're turning away from our battle."

Granville sounded more like the bored one. He seemed totally unfazed, standing composed and not trying to sneak an attack on Hinata right now— although, of course, if he tried something so underhanded, he could've been walking right into her trap anyway. With this high-level a battle, you'd never be crowned the victor unless you overpowered your foe with a frontal attack. Either way, though, Granville clearly knew Leon was coming—his casual tone proved it. They had to be in cahoots.

"Aren't you being a little too friendly with me? Who are you?"

"Ah yes, we haven't met in person before. You've been very good to the children I've collected. I'm sorry to make you take time out to come here."

"…"

Wait, they're not in cahoots? Because it sounded like this was Leon and Granville's first meeting. It could be an act, but… Oh, and speaking of which, a lot of the otherworlders I just fought against looked no older than middle schoolers. Was that what Granville was talking about…?

"What do you mean by that? I have no business with you. I came here to

—"

"Hmm? I'm the one who summoned the children with the spells you taught me, you realize. Are you going to claim ignorance? Aren't you using unstable otherworlder children to bring yourself more elementalists? Warriors as powerful as Shizue Izawa herself?"

It was like someone punched me in the head. Hinata lowered her own sword, eyes darting between Granville and Leon.

Report. Danger. The subject Granville Rozzo is using wordplay in an attempt to pit you against the demon lord Leon.

I had a hunch. Clearly Granville's plan, however misguided, was to antagonize Leon as much as possible. It'd be a terrible idea to lend much credence to anything he said. And yet:

"How many failures do you think we had to endure to call over all the people you wanted? That's what those people are. The castoffs."

And yet, I just couldn't ignore that. Shizu was summoned by Leon, then cast aside by him. And she wasn't alone—Leon had reportedly summoned many other children. That was an unforgivable crime.

"Is that true?"

"Very true, indeed, demon lord Rimuru! As merchants, it's our job to provide whatever merchandise our customers demand!"

Granville's manner of speech irritated me. I wasn't even asking him.

The providers need to have ethics, too. Throwing all the blame on the consumer went against my creed. But even ahead of that, there was something else I wanted to confirm.

"So…you summoned other people, too? Not just Shizu?"

"Yes."

"Even when you knew that children subjected to unstable summonings have drastically shortened life spans?"

"That was—"

Leon was about to say something, only to be interrupted by a roaring, echoing laugh. Granville was the source of it.

"Heh-heh-heh… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Don't make me laugh, Leon. Aren't you the one who explicitly asked me to provide 'otherworlder children no older than ten years'? Instead of attempting to subjugate the stable summons, you found it easier to make the unstable ones feel they owed you their lives, didn't you? And you used them as weapons!"

Through the taunts, Granville's goals were clear. He knew I could be a softhearted pushover, and he was attempting to milk that as much as he could, fanning my do-gooder attitude and trying to make me despise Leon. The thing was…his words were convincing. If Leon's aim was to implant elemental spirits into children, then Granville was right—they needed to be "unstable." And maybe that was why I detected exactly those sorts of elementals within Leon's underlings here.

"…Is that true?"

"Yes. But there's a reason for—"

"Shut up! You're the cause of all this!"

With that shout, I started running toward Leon. I just had to go and give him a wallop, or I wouldn't be able to contain myself. I knew full well I was playing into Granville's hands, but I just couldn't contain my rage for Leon any longer. I can hear his reasons later. First things first—I had to vent my anger.

So with everything I had, I struck at Leon. He didn't move. All he did was raise a hand to keep his troops at bay, staring directly at me. Was he that confident, or…?

Leaving my accelerating thoughts in the dust, my fist drew closer and closer to him. He didn't move.

…Target shows no signs of countering you. It will be a direct strike.

There was no trap in the end. My punch thundered against Leon's right cheek.

"…Happy now?"

My full power was in that, but apparently it didn't damage Leon much. I must have cut his lip, because he felt obliged to take out a handkerchief to wipe up some blood, but his composure was fully retained. Pfft. I know I wasn't using any skill there, but maybe I underestimated him a little.

Still, that punch taught me one thing. This guy, the demon lord Leon, was more good-natured than I thought. He had no obligation to take that punch, but he shed all his defenses and took it anyway—and that proved it.

He came across as cold and unfeeling, but maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, actually. Shizu didn't hate him, after all. She tried to, but as she put it, she just couldn't—and it was her final desire in life to figure out what Leon's motivations were. Of course, I didn't need Raphael's warning. I was calm from the beginning. I made a promise with Shizu—a promise that I'd take the feelings she left behind and shove them in Leon's face. And I was fully ready to take advantage of today for that.

Leon had to have some reason for what he did. I could decide later whether to forgive him. As entangled as things were today, making a foe out of Leon as well would be suicidal. Getting emotional like this wasn't the shrewdest plan. He was no ally of mine, but he was no enemy, either—and now that I knew that, I had to speak up.

"Not yet, no. That was my way of expressing Shizu's feelings, but I still need to show you mine. Let's talk about things in depth right now!"

So will he pick up on my intention here? I noticed an eyebrow twitch up. That's a relief. He's not such a fool after all. So…great. Let's talk it out, then —our plans for how to deal with Granville.

With that in mind, I readied my sword in Leon's direction.

He was a dead ringer for Shizu in her youth. There was no pigmentation; his skin was smooth, his hair shining like each individual strand had its own glow. He couldn't be described as looking Asian now, but he still retained Shizu's core features, making them all the more beautiful. Now his golden eyes were trained upon Leon, his pink lips speaking to him.

"Not yet, no. That was my way of expressing Shizu's feelings, but I still need to show you mine. Let's talk about things in depth right now!"

Such were the words of Rimuru, and Leon immediately understood.

I see… He wants to take advantage of this situation. We barely know each other, and he's decided to trust me without a moment's doubt? He's more stout-hearted than I expected.

But, Leon thought, he liked that. Rimuru seemed to be driven by emotion right now, but apparently that was all part of his calculations—his way of determining, in this chaotic battlefield, exactly who was friend and who was foe.

I always knew I couldn't let my guard down around him…but at times like these, I'm glad he's around.

He took his own blade up from his hip, holding it forward.

As he took the dragon airship here, Leon was briefed about an emergency magical call from Cerberus. It seemed one of his agents had fallen out of contact, and there was a chance someone had blown their cover. Exactly who found this agent out, they didn't know—maybe it was the demon lord Rimuru, maybe one of the Five Elders. Maybe even the Crusaders, for all he knew. With the agent captured, and no further information available, nearly everyone was a suspect.

Of course, Leon wasn't gullible enough to fully trust Cerberus. There was a plausible chance they were hatching an elaborate scheme to deceive him. But one thing was certain: Being here right now, in this holy space, was akin to walking into a trap. And yet Leon couldn't stay away.

Even if this is a trap, if I find Chloe here…

No matter how much danger it entailed, Leon would never care. And now, crossing swords with Rimuru, Leon was finally serene again.

He looked around, surveying the area. The scene was shockingly chaotic. It was difficult to determine who was on which side. The elite magic knights guarding him had been dragged into the fray while he wasn't paying attention. They had been lured into opening hostilities with some of the local defense forces.

(Keep yourselves defended! Do not kill the enemy!)

(Yes, sir!)

Now seemed like an opportune time to give Arlos the Silver Knight some orders. He did so via an anonymous magical call, but there was every chance someone would eavesdrop on it. That's why he kept the order to something that wouldn't cause problems later.

Regardless, Leon was the intruder here. To the demon lord Luminus, he was an uninvited guest, and it wouldn't surprise him if she decided to retaliate. If she did, he wanted to retain as much of an advantage as possible while keeping the dead to a minimum.

But where is Luminus…?

Leon and Rimuru were fighting near the cathedral entrance while the paladin captain, Hinata, and Granville were a short distance away. Farther afield, Shion and Ranga—both present at the last Walpurgis—were in pitched combat against the insectoid Razul. Luminus, the master of these sacred lands, would never allow open warfare here…and yet, she was missing. And if someone like Luminus were pinned down elsewhere, that was seriously bad news.

To Leon, this entire situation was nothing short of nonsensical—but as he looked over matters, he could see where the trap was. Someone—he didn't know who—was trying to goad him into fighting the demon lord Rimuru.

What this someone didn't expect, and what Leon was lucky enough to see, is that Rimuru wasn't so easily hoodwinked. Now Rimuru was attempting to take advantage of that to gain control of things.

I see… So he's the one behind all this? Very well. Might as well try trusting you.

It was a rarity for someone as wary as him, but for once in his life, Leon decided to meekly trust in Rimuru.

Leon wasn't the only one thoroughly confused. Hinata was having similar trouble dealing with this rapidly changing battlefield. But even worse than that, her opponent Granville was starting to seem eerily different. "Finding it odd that you can't steal my skills?"

"…?!"

He had guessed right. It made Hinata nervous, despite herself.

"Hmph. Why the surprise? Did you think I never picked up on your secret? A little observation, and it was easy enough to surmise. Why do you think I had the other six fighting in front of me?"

"Ah… I see."

Hinata's unique skill Usurper gave her a decisive advantage against the most powerful of foes…and yet it assessed Granville as "inapplicable." Previously, Granville definitely was above her, and whenever they trained, she constantly used Usurper until it succeeded, seizing—or more accurately at the time, copying—his skills.

"You have some way of taking skills and arts from opponents, do you not? But I imagine that only works once on the same foe…and you've already

taken from me, haven't you? So it won't work twice."

"That couldn't be…"

Hinata found herself reacting to Granville's statement—and then she realized her mistake.

"Heh-heh-heh… So I was right? Hinata, you are a calculating woman, one of the greatest talents among all my apprentices. You are careful and cunning. Out of all the paladins of the past, nobody has ever reached your level. You should take pride in that, but you are still young. You're far too unfamiliar with opponents of your own level."

"Enough!!" the clearly provoked Hinata shouted back. But she understood Granville was egging her on. Thanks to her reflexive reaction, she had inadvertently admitted that her skill was stealing other people's powers. Granville had his hunches about it before, no doubt, but couldn't be sure about it. Now, with his social engineering skills, he knew it for a fact.

Who's the cunning one here?!

Despite being wholly devoted to battle at the moment, Granville kept talking to Hinata. The carefree ease he exuded made her resent him even more.

"Even if I only took you once, that's all I need. I wouldn't look down on me that much."

She made no secret of her hostility. After all, she had one more trick up her sleeve—Force Takeover. Now she was doing more than just copying someone else's skill. She was forcibly wresting it away from them, for good. It would let her strip away one of Granville's cards, and it all but guaranteed her victory.

To Hinata, the preliminaries were over. She began a relentless attack, each sword strike a potentially lethal blow. At the same time, she continually activated Usurper, attempting to sap Granville's power. But:

No… My skill has to work against him! But…?!

The results: inapplicable. Proof that Granville's actual power was below Hinata's. Right now, she had grown far more powerful than before. It wouldn't be strange for her to surpass Granville, so these results were understandable. The only problem was that even when she seized a skill with Force Takeover—her final lifeline—Granville would just use that skill again the next instant. It happened over and over, no matter how many times she tried it.

It was now impossible to hide her panic. She was definitely capable of taking Granville's skills and arts—but to Hinata, they were useless. She had already taken them once, and thus she gained nothing from them. If she could at least take away some of Granville's skills, there'd be a point to it, but…

Why? Did Granville anticipate this and set up some kind of backup system?

It wasn't out of the question. No regular person could do it, but she could picture an ex-hero like Granville pulling something like that off.

"What's wrong, Hinata? You look unwell."

Granville, a sneering grin on her face, seemed to read Hinata's mind. It irritated her to no end.

"Hmm… It seems you don't understand what I'm doing. The most important thing in battle is to carefully observe your opponent. Did you expect me to not take any sort of measures against you? If so, you sorely underestimated me, Hinata."

"Geh! Enough from you."

"I can see from your fighting style that you retain an advantage against foes stronger than you. Meanwhile, there are few examples of you seizing skills from weaker opponents. I say few and not zero, however, so you must have some kind of method for that. But the effort must exhaust you, does it not?"

"…"

"You don't have to answer me. Looking at you, I'm now convinced my suppositions are correct."

Being so completely seen through was a shock to Hinata. Somewhere in her mind, she was looking down upon Granville as a relic from the past— and now she wanted to punch herself over it.

"Ngh… No, I doubt there's any point in continuing this."

There was no reason to keep up her attempts at Force Takeover. With that decision made, Hinata retreated a distance away from Granville. Gathering her breath, she looked for a suitable opportunity. Her heart rate was setting a new record, the sweat from her brow pouring down. Then, with a thump, she could sense a small throbbing inside her, deep within her chest.

…What was that? I've tired myself out more than I thought. But not because I miscalculated this. Maybe I'm being attacked…

Impartially observing herself, she realized that her exhaustion was stacking up more quickly than usual. Even all the Force Takeover attempts wouldn't have gassed her this much—but as Granville pointed out, her fatigue could no longer be ignored.

"You seem confused. You are powerful, Hinata, very powerful. That must be why you have so little experience with underhanded combat techniques such as this."

"What was that?"

"It's simple. My actions are designed to make you overwork yourself.

Little by little, I made you wear yourself down, believing that your attacks would succeed if you just pushed a little more, a little more. Listen to me. If you confront someone on the same level as you, whichever side tires the other out first wins. The more fatigued you are, the slower your decisions, and the wider you leave yourself open…just as you are personally experiencing right now." "…!!"

She wanted to deny Granville's claims, but she couldn't.

Hinata had used her unique skill Measurer to calmly analyze the battle situation…or so she thought. But Granville went one step beyond. She thought she was overly on her guard. Yes, she underestimated him a little, but she didn't let her guard down at all.

So does it mean this man's stronger than me? That… That must be the case. It's the difference in level here, brought on by experience.

She was now convinced—convinced and ready to admit to it. Even with Usurper, she couldn't take Granville's expertise.

"Now I understand. I see I'll have to get serious if I want to defeat you."

"That's right. Give me all you've got. Otherwise, trying to outclass me will be a dream beyond a dream for you."

Hinata banished the ambient noise from her mind, focusing squarely on Granville. The sound disappeared. They were the only people present in the world.

"Here I come, Granville!"

"I hope you learn from this, Hinata!"

Thus, Hinata and Granville's battle grew even more heated as time went on.

The multilayered Disintegration unleashed by Diablo smashed into Raine's defense barrier, destroying pieces of it in succession…and then, the final ray pierced through her chest. Everything had gone the way he had calculated it, including the fact that Raine was still breathing.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh… How weak. You were even less competition for me than Testarossa before her evolution."

"T-Testarossa?"

"Never mind. It has nothing to do with you. But explain to me why you came here."

"Who would ever—?!"

Diablo was barking orders from high above, but Raine saw no reason to oblige him. Her predictable refusal irked him a little.

He had clearly beaten Raine, but that didn't mean it was smooth sailing from now on. The perfectly formed insectoid he was having Shion and Ranga deal with really was the nemesis of all the demons. He was an unusual creature, one who lived in the space between the material and spiritual world. As a half-spiritual life-form, whenever he slipped into the physical realm, he'd naturally assume a palpable form and become a burdensome invader. A group of them was extremely dangerous, requiring quick detection and extermination.

Even worse, an insectoid attaining humanoid form was quite rare. Most examples settled into some more primitive form, finding themselves not quite suited for life in the material realm. But Razul, this insectoid here, was in his final and complete state—and Diablo could see why even Shion and Ranga would find him a handful.

Of course, Lady Shion works under Sir Rimuru. She has the potential to do well near anything to overcome her foes' strength. And with Sir Ranga around, there's no need to assume they'd lose. Still, though…

Diablo could win. It would suit Rimuru more, he knew, if he eliminated all the question marks from the battle. Right now, going back and taking care of Razul would be the right thing to do…

…But then another thought crossed his mind. What, he reasoned, if Rimuru deliberately left Razul to Shion and Ranga? Diablo was flustered earlier, true. He detected Raine's arrival and didn't want her (or her cohorts) joining the fray, and the distraction had kept him from focusing on the battle. I thought it best at the time to drive her away as soon as possible, but… But was it, really?

Perhaps Sir Rimuru wanted Lady Shion and Sir Ranga to experience battle against someone stronger than them? In that case, it wouldn't be right to intrude…

That seemed plausible to Diablo. Truly, these were the thoughts of someone crazed for battle, a nonsensical conclusion that no regular person could ever imagine. But to Diablo, who placed Rimuru above all else, doing anything that went against Rimuru's intentions was a gross error. He wasn't some simple creature who assumed that fighting, and winning, was all that mattered. He could see that if Rimuru wanted to give them such a powerful foe, he truly wanted them to win—and learn from it.

A difficult decision. This will require careful consideration on my part.

Now Diablo's thoughts were starting to spiral in a pretty wrong direction. In front of Raine, the highest level of fighting force in the world, Diablo was thoroughly confused.

Rimuru, of course, was thinking of nothing so idiotic. What he cared about was putting an end to this fracas, while keeping the children and orchestra safe. He had no obligation at all to see this as some kind of training situation for Shion and Ranga.

So Diablo was wrong. But with that wrong idea in mind, he now had a new path to take.

"I was going to kill you, but I decided against it."

"What are you talking about…? Threats won't work on me—"

"No need for that, thank you. I don't need your act any longer, so come on out," he told the demon with a large hole in her chest.

Raine didn't seem to understand this. In short time, however, her expression turned to panic. It wasn't the pale face from before as she faced defeat, but something rather more complex—a mixture of frustration and hatred.

"Noir… You only just evolved into a Demon Peer after all this time, and look at you…"

"Just as set in your ways as always, I see. The true essence of strength does not lie in magicule counts. What's important is your level. I was taught

to believe that differences in magicule energy do not make a decisive difference in battle ability."

"Ridiculous," replied Raine, her voice raspy as her body began to fade away. By the time she was fully gone, nothing but dust in the wind, a ray of light shot out from beyond the heavens, only to disappear and reveal two people—blue and red. Raine was the blue one, and she was kneeling before Guy Crimson, the strongest of demons, who had just entered the scene.

"Hey, Noir! It's been a while."

"Mm… Rouge—or Guy Crimson now, I believe? So you were here, too, then?"

Diablo was wary of Guy from the start, even as Guy seemed to view him with nostalgia.

"So you noticed Raine's Ubiquital Mist from the start? So why did you execute such a large-scale skill on her?"

Diablo scowled, dreading this question. He had intended to feign ignorance of this skill, allowing her to divide up and regenerate her body with a second copy. His original plan was to make Guy and Raine (in her original body) believe that here was a man who wouldn't give them great trouble. If Diablo destroyed Raine's Ubiquital Mist body, got all cocky, and left the scene, Guy would no doubt lose hope in him, as well as lose interest in this whole battle. He'd leave on the spot, and thus Diablo could buy more time while hiding his full powers from him. Then he could go support Shion and the rest.

That plan was now mothballed, thanks to Diablo's own desires. Even he could admit to it—now was no time to stage an act.

"Disintegration wouldn't be enough to defeat Primal Demons like us, would it? This parlor trick doesn't even qualify as a secret trump card."

"Wow, is that what you have to say? If I took a direct hit of that, not even

I would survive unscathed."

"Indeed. The same is true for me…if it were a direct hit."

"Heh-heh… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Keh-heh-heh-heh…"

Diablo's answer made Guy burst into self-satisfied laughter. Diablo did the same, still hoping to look unfazed. At this point, Raine was all but invisible to them.

"So why didn't you evolve until this point in time? You had no interest in dragging others down, unlike the other three."

"Mm… You could say they're dragging one another down, yes, but really, it's just a game they enjoy. You're right, though, that I have no part in it. As for myself, Guy, let me ask you—is there anyone in this world stronger than us?"

The question was similar to what Testarossa asked. It was a view shared across all the Primal Demons, Guy included. Bringing up common ground like this made it easier to stoke kinship with each other.

"No, there sure isn't. Maybe the True Dragon, if I had to bring up a name,

but that's more of a phenomenon of nature, y'know?"

Even the True Dragon wasn't a threat before Guy. If Veldanava, the StarKing Dragon, was ever revived, that'd be another story, but as of right now, Guy was telling the truth.

Diablo nodded. "Precisely. So if I evolved while knowing that, any battle afterward would seem so boring. So one-sided, wouldn't you agree?"

He grinned at Guy. His battle-obsessed brain was working hard as usual.

"Hmm… I see."

Guy, for his part, seemed convinced. Maybe he would deny it, but the two of them were actually fairly alike—two kindred spirits, when it came to this topic.

"So did the slime give you a change of heart?"

"Sir Rimuru. I'll ask you to not refer to him as slime, please."

"…All right. So is that Rimuru guy the reason you evolved?"

Diablo's adjusting the pace of this conversation to suit his tastes irked Guy, but complaining wouldn't help advance things. He hated playing by the beat of a different drummer, but this time, he chose to make an exception.

"Very good," muttered Diablo. "The growth of Sir Rimuru, you see, is a constant surprise to me. I wouldn't be afraid to call it evolution in action. His looks are charming; his soul brimming with refinement. And what's more—"

"Is this going to go on for a while?"

"…?"

Diablo met Guy's stare, as if to say What did you expect?

"I don't need to hear about Rimuru. Let's talk about you, all right?"

This annoyed Diablo a bit—but perhaps remembering the urgency of the situation around them, he acquiesced.

"Tch… Well, all right. Let us return to the topic at hand. Sir Rimuru's compatriots, as well, are changing rapidly from day to day…and I think seeing that has influenced me."

"…Hmm. That much?"

This chat seemed to be tiring Guy out, but he still had the wherewithal to scrutinize what Diablo just said.

"Indeed. I fear that if I do not make an effort of my own, even I might be left in the dust. And in that sort of environment, there is no longer any reason to set limits to my growth."

A fascinated Guy nodded. Now things were going at his pace again. He unleashed an evil grin.

"It does sound like Rimuru's got the nations to the West under his control now, yeah. But I'm sorry to say, my own people are wreckin' the place right now, I think."

To Guy, this was just some playful harassment of the human race. That was his intention, at least—but to Rimuru, so driven to play nice with humanity, it must've been a serious crisis. That's what made Guy mention it. He could see that none of this surly behavior would work on Diablo, but if he could get under Rimuru's skin, he knew that'd have its effect on Diablo as well. Thus, if his minions happened to be messing around in the Western Nations at the moment, he thought he could take advantage.

The sight of Diablo—someone who fought evenly with Guy in the past— calling someone his master put Guy off a bit. So he wanted to mess with him, stir him up. With Razul gone from his usual post up north, the Western Nations were vulnerable. Much of it, like Guy warned, was no doubt looking like hell on earth by now. Diablo wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and as Guy saw it, not even Rimuru could take action.

But Diablo just gave him his trademark snicker instead.

"Keh-heh-heh… You thought Sir Rimuru didn't see it coming? It has all been taken care of. His wisdom, you see, is deeper than the ocean, his

perception giving him insight into all things—"

Guy thought that would agitate Diablo at least a little. It didn't. In fact, he chose this moment in time to revert back to praising Rimuru. He must be sick in the head, he thought, facing no choice but to accept it.

"…Ah. Yes, very interesting. You think he's surpassing even my expectations?"

"Yes, of course. For Sir Rimuru, that is a given."

Diablo continued to verbally taunt Guy about Rimuru for a while, despite Rimuru not actually being there. If he was, he would no doubt shout, What the hell are you doing?! Only Raine was listening, biting her lip—but Guy and Diablo were wholly ignoring her as they continued.