The Forest of Jura was screaming. It wasn't a sound audible to the human ear, but to Kaito's Ultimate Skill: Mnemosyne, the atmospheric vibration was deafening. Two hundred thousand Orcs were marching, propelled by a singular, bottomless hunger. The "Starving One," a curse born of desperation, had transformed a peaceful race into a locust-like tide that consumed everything in its path—trees, soil, and even their own fallen comrades.
Kaito stood at the edge of the marshes, the damp air clinging to his silver skin. Behind him stood the Kijin, their newly evolved auras shimmering with anticipation. Rimuru, in his human form, gripped the hilt of his katana, his expression grim.
"They're here," Kaito said. His eyes had shifted from their usual calm silver to a high-intensity sapphire blue as he processed the incoming data. "The Orc Lord is at the center. But he's not just a lord anymore. He's nearing the threshold of a Demon Lord. He's evolved into the 'Orc Disaster,' Geld."
[Notice: Unique Skill: 'Starving One' detected. It is a collective-type skill. The more they eat, the stronger the entire army becomes. Warning: If the Orc Disaster consumes a high-level entity, the evolution will be irreversible.]
"We can't let them reach the village," Rimuru said, his voice firm. "Kaito, what's the strategy? The Lizardmen are already engaged, but they're being pushed back."
Kaito looked at the horizon, where a dark mass of armor and flesh was spilling into the wetlands. "Rimuru, you take the Kijin and strike at the center. Your 'Predator' is the only thing that can truly cancel out Geld's hunger. I'll handle the 200,000."
Benimaru blinked, his hand tightening on his nodachi. "Lord Kaito? With all respect, even for a Primordial Echo, those numbers are..."
"I'm not going to fight them one by one, Benimaru," Kaito interrupted, a cold, metallic resonance entering his tone. "I'm going to use the Archive."
Kaito stepped forward, his feet hovering inches above the swamp water. He extended his arms, and his body began to dissolve—not into nothingness, but into millions of microscopic, silver magisteel needles. This was the ultimate application of his Magisteel-Density Spirit Body.
"Mnemosyne: Accessing Archive," Kaito's voice echoed from every particle in the air. "Replicating Area-of-Effect Magic: 'Icicle Lance', 'Black Flame', and 'Vacuum Wave'. System: Parallel Execution."
In the sky above the Orc army, the clouds turned a shimmering silver. Thousands of magic circles—perfectly replicated from the spells Kaito had archived during his stay in the Sealed Cave and his journey to Dwargon—manifested simultaneously.
"Die," the collective voice of Kaito whispered.
A literal rain of destruction fell. Icicles the size of trees impaled the front ranks, while pillars of black flame incinerated the flanks. Vacuum blades, invisible and silent, tore through the middle of the formation. It wasn't a battle; it was a systemic deletion.
[Notice: 12,000 targets neutralized. 34,000 targets neutralized. Energy consumption is being offset by atmospheric magicule absorption.]
Rimuru stared at the carnage. 'Whoa... Kaito really isn't holding back. I guess being an 'Archivist' means you're a one-man artillery battery.'
"Don't get distracted, Rimuru!" Kaito's voice rang out as his body reformed into a humanoid shape next to his brother. He was slightly paler, his glow flickering. "The Orc Disaster is moving. He's used the deaths of his soldiers to fuel a burst of speed. He's coming for you!"
A massive roar shook the marsh. Geld, the Orc Disaster, burst through the smoke of Kaito's bombardment. He was ten feet of pure muscle and malice, clad in black plate armor, wielding a meat cleaver that hummed with the souls of the consumed.
"Hungry..." Geld groaned, his eyes bloodshot and wide. "So... hungry..."
Rimuru stepped forward. "I'll take it from here, Kaito. Rest for a second. You just wiped out a quarter of an army in ten seconds."
"I'm not resting," Kaito said, his eyes scanning Geld. "I'm analyzing his core. Rimuru, he has a fragment of a 'Demon Lord Seed'. If you consume him, you'll trigger your own harvest. But be careful—his hunger is a spiritual poison."
The battle between Rimuru and Geld was a clash of two infinite voids. One was a hunger born of greed and sorrow, the other a void that sought to protect. Kaito watched, his Mnemosyne recording every movement, every flickering skill. He saw the moment Rimuru switched from physical combat to a pure battle of wills—the 'Predator' versus the 'Starving One'.
As Rimuru enveloped the Orc Disaster in his slime form, the spiritual pressure became so intense that the ground cracked for a hundred yards.
"Mnemosyne," Kaito commanded. "Assist the integration. Filter the 'Starving One's' malice and archive the sorrowful memories. Don't let the poison touch Rimuru's core."
[Notice: Initiating 'Memory Archive' transfer. Relieving Individual 'Rimuru' of emotional processing load. Success. The Orc Disaster's sins have been cataloged. The hunger is satiated.]
With a final, shimmering pulse of light, the Orc Disaster was gone. The remaining Orcs, suddenly freed from the madness of the curse, fell to their knees. Silence returned to the marsh, broken only by the soft splashing of water.
Rimuru stood where Geld had been, looking down at his hands. He looked the same, but his aura had shifted. It was deeper, more profound.
"He just wanted to save them," Rimuru whispered, referring to the memories of the famine that had driven the Orcs to madness. "He took all their sins onto himself."
Kaito walked over, placing a hand on Rimuru's shoulder. His silver touch was cool and grounding. "And you saved him from that burden. You're a good person, Rimuru. Or a good slime. Either way, the forest is yours now."
[Notice: Battle concluded. Total casualties: Significant. Status: The Jura Forest Alliance has been unofficially formed. Total subordinates increased by 150,000.]
Rimuru looked up, his eyes wide. "150,000?! Kaito, how are we going to feed them all?!"
Kaito laughed, the blue light in his eyes fading back to a warm silver. "Well, with your 'Great Sage' and my 'Mnemosyne', I'm sure we can calculate a crop rotation and some infrastructure plans. But first..."
Kaito pointed to the horizon where a small, winged figure was approaching at incredible speed. "I think we have a visitor. And she looks like she's looking for a playmate."
"Is that... a person with wings?" Rimuru asked.
"That," Kaito said, his Mnemosyne sounding a high-level alarm, "is the Demon Lord Milim Nava. And I think she's bored."