Right outside of the Freedom Guild Headquarters in Ingraccia Rimuru and his friend group are in the middle of meeting up with Kagali along with her expedition crew
They have yet to head out due to having to wait for someone else's arrival. The entire group just indulge in chitter chatters until the expected person finally appear
"So Rimuru, when exactly are we supposed expected him to arrive?"
" You don't have to worry Kagali, I already gave him the heads up beforehand, it shouldn't be-"
All of a sudden, a large and very eerily pair of doors appeared before them. Then the pair of doors opened slowly while making a long creeking sound that gave an extra sense tension. Once there was good view of what's inside, a tall and intimidating figure emerged from the door, looming over the group
" I have awakened from the deepest depths of hell! Forged by the unseen darkness of this world! Who dare summoned the almighty King of the Monsters!"
The most immediate response was the expedition team who were easily the most scared of the group, some even fell backwards out of pure shock at the sight of a sudden demon lord. Kagali didn't have an exaggerated reaction like the expedition team but her pupils did shrunken from the intense suprise
Meanwhile Milim and the rest weren't really fazed by this. Awhile Rimuru gave an expression of a disapproving parent with a small amount of second hand embarrassment
Rimuru casually walks up and floated due to the height difference and gave a light chop to the forehead. In an instant, the tall intimidating demon lord popped into a bite size Kaijuno, his actual size
"Last I checked it was you who wanted to go on this trip in the first place, also a bit much?"
"I actually thought it wasn't enough, I figured my monologue should've been longer but I couldn't think of anything more"
" *sigh* of course you thought so"
Rimuru took out an expedition uniform set for Kaijuno to swiftly change from his usual demon lord attire
Kaijuno took a look at his clothes then looked at Rimuru with a brow raised
"Cargo shorts and short sleeves, really?"
"I know! I just realized it now"
"Thankfully most of us are tough enough to handle dire situations anyways"
In the middle of their chat, they were approached by Kagali who seemed to have regained most of her composure
"You must be demon lord Kaijuno, I didn't get the chance to meet you during the festival but I'd like take say it was truly a wonderful event"
"You must be Yuuki's assistance right? Well it's pleasure to meet you too, Kazali"
Kagali frozed for a split second, unsure what Kaijuno specifically said
"W-what"
"Kagali, that's your name right?"
"Oh right right, of course"
After a clear up in regards to the lack of supplies on Rimuru's end, a spatial gate was summoned that connected a spot from their location to right outside of Clayman's castle, cutting two months of travel to none
The expedition team was still dazed from Kaijuno's initial entrance and this new gate that also came out of nowhere only further fried their brains
It didn't take long to encounter any residents of the area, infact immediately after all of them stepped through the gate they were met with a group of dark elves in fancy attire. Who seemed to be the lead of the group was a female dark elf who was wearing a dark transparent cloth over her head as if she was in a funeral.
Kaijuno took a sec in thought as he felt something stood out about her but wasn't too sure
"Hey Yagami, is this dark elf supposed to be someone relevant or are they really just some random one off character?"
"Answer, the dark elf is individual Eva"
Kaijuno took a brief pause, only to respond with
"Yeah you're definitely gonna have to specify who exactly is cause I'm not wrapping my head around it"
"Eva was clayman's personal dark elf maid which was shown in the clayman spin off"
It was this answer that lit up a light bulb in Kaijuno's head
"Oh! No wonder she seemed familiar! I guess I don't pay much attention to the spin off as much as I thought
Now that I think about it, was she more powerful than pre awakened clayman? Or at least better at hand to hand combat? She might have been more of a threat back at the demon lord meeting compared to that weird cloak golem that shoots different projectiles. It's a shame she wasn't recognized for her strength"
The group was escorted through an underground city with a population of dark elves who really seemed indifferent about the odd crowd that walked through
Eventually they arrived infront of a large pair of metal door. It was covered in ancient magic that consisted of a defense mechanism of there was a forceful attempt of opening it so simply destroying it will be more trouble than it's worth. Especially since this mechanism spread throughout the entire city
The Expedition Team eagerly began the process of deciphering the mechanism. Seeing as the expedition team will be busy given how complicated the door's magic circle looks to be, the remaining members indulge in convos while they let the pros do their job
Kaijuno and Rimuru were catching up from a solid time apart through thought communication as the subject of their conversation was not to spill to uninvolved people
"So how has your trip in the demon realm been going?"
"Oh let me tell you, it's been a demon bargain sale apparently and fortunately for us, I had plenty of filled pockets to make purchases"
"Purchases with what money"
"With a special currency called "my fist" which has been working very effectively"
"So you've been beating up demons into submission?"
"Indeed so for as it turns out that within the demon realm, it is socially and morally okay to walk up to a random demon and beat it to near death and forcing them to become your servant afterwards.
Nobody has a problem with it except for the beaten demon but they were the one that lost so what are they gonna do about it"
"Sounds lile you're having an exciting time at the demon realm"
"Absolutely, also you might have to prepare a few more vessels. Cause we might end up with more than expected"
"I should've known given all those dragons you had kept under the rug"
"For the last time, I completely forgot about them"
It was a more casual manner but since it was through thought communication, this wasn't openly clear to the rest of the group. Instead it looked like the two were refusing to talk to eachother, especially since neither were looking directly at the other. They were simply starring off into the distance near eachother
Gobta was the first to po8nt out to Lavandra
"Say, don't you think those two have been kinda distant lately?"
"Yeah, I felt even before Kaijuno-Sama left to the demon realm"
"Do you think something happened between them that made things so tensed?"
"Nothing that I'm aware of. I thought they were fine but maybe something had occurred that we're just ignorant of"
Gobta took an extra to ponder as talking to Lavandra didn't help clear anything up. He just decided it was best that they stay out of whatever was going ok between Kaijuno and Rimuru
"Well let's just hope it's nothing bad enough to worry about"
"Agreed"
The expedition team tinkered and toyed with the design of the magic circle. Testing different ways to alter it and undo the lock. Eventually after a hefty while, they were able to finally unlock the seal that kept the doors shut
The pair of doors were now open to freely pass through but given the time and mental capacity it took to finally unlock, it was decided to leave the actual adventure for the next day. For that night, everyone had a good full course dinner prepared by the dark elves. It was off to the showers and bed afterwards to be ready and fresh for tomorrow.
Later in the night two individuals crossed paths with eachother, Kaijuno and Kagali. It was unintentional as they were simply going to their own respective rooms but since all of their rooms were spread throughout a single long hall, the pair continued onward as a pair while chatting
"I guess this wouldn't be the first time I stepped foot in an underground city if you count Dwargon as underground"
"I guess I could see the similarities between here and Dwargon albeit it being more hidden compared to the large mountain that Dwargon resides in"
"I gotta wonder if they ever experienced earthquakes, given how they have a pretty thick ceiling above them, you'd think they would be concerned about that. You'd think Clayman ever pondered about it?"
The casual mention of clayman had put off Kagali but kept herself looking unfazed as to avoid suspicion
"Speaking of who, you'd think I would've gotten a lot more hostility rather than hospitality given that I was the one who killed clayman. I was sure someone would've thrown curses at me for daring to kill their beloved leader and yet no one seems to care that clayman is dead, maybe he wasn't that great of leader"
Kagali was barely holding it together after hearing this. It felt as if Kaijuno was purposely provoking her given the history she has with clayman. But it's not like she could defend clayman. For what it looks like, Kaijuno is just simply pointing out an odd situation. She was basically hopeless in this and Kaijuno continued without any concern for Kagali's discomfort
"I suppose it was fortunate something like that didn't end up happening but I did had a little monologue ready to use for in case of such a situation, you wanna hear it?"
Unfortunately not finding a valid reason not to, Kagali begrudgingly agreed to hear what Kaijuno had to say
"Okay, it goes something like this Ahem!
Kaijuno took an eerily pause before speaking in a more cold manner
"You feel hurt? You wronged? You believe your entire world has crumbled down and I was the cause of it? Well there's something ironically funny about that truly, you see I felt that exact same way with clayman actually.
Me and my people were simply minding our own business and yet clayman decided to be greedy and pursue more power and we were unlucky enough to be the target of. Do you have any idea what he did to us that day? Can you comprehend what he did to me that day?
Don't lecture or cry to me about being wronged when his fate was made by his own consequences for he had done to me"
An uncomfortable few seconds were spent in silence before Kaijuno suddenly shifted to a chipper attitude
"You'd think that paid off? I wanted to put more details in it but figured it was already a bit long."
"S-sure"
Kagali was barely able to keep herself composed. Again, Kaijuno could just play it off as casual chatting but the words and way he spoke felt disturbingly relevant to her specifically, the worst part is that there is no way to tell whether or not it was intentionally for her
The two continued their short walk to their residing rooms albeit now Kagali stayed silent for the rest of the walk, not that Kaijuno seemed to care
Kaijuno on the other hand held a plain happy expression on the mask that covered his entire face as to hide the cruel grin that stretched side to side
The darkness of the night came and went with the arrival of the morning
With no immediate obstacles in the way, the entire group sought out to begin their travel through the cave. It was more of a casual walk compared to other caves that were more prone to inhabiting monsters. There were picnics and bathroom breaks, making this trip very much more like relaxed compared to the more tensed travels that the experts of the group were used to
The only thing to take note of were the cave art on the wall. There different splatters what is assumed to be a dried up liquid that left a stain. It was unfortunate placing as there spot that clearly shown there was some actual cave art but the stains were too thick and old to make a recovery possible.
The most that we could decipher from the ruined art was illustrations consisting of elves which wasn't surprising given the nearby residences but any actual meaning or tales was unfortunately lost
During this uneventful casual stroll a pair of individuals had finally spoken to eachother for the first time
It wasn't the visibly present members of the group but instead the two hidden individuals had seemingly decided to acknowledge eachother only due to their boredom, Yagami and Raphael
Through the soul corridor, Yagami was the first to speak
"Notice, hidden signals detected, most likely outcome is mind possession"
This sudden interaction didn't sway Raphael, they kept their stoic tone in response
"Confirm, multiple signals consisting of the same wavelength indicates the mind control by the same source"
"Negative, a second source is detected. Another individual is confirmed to be under a mental influence"
This internally raised a brow in Raphael. It was sure there was only one source of mental influence but yet the idea of another skill out doing what it's supposed to be best at by detecting a second source doesn't sit right with the Wisdom King but the Deceptive King continued speaking with no concern
"Analyzing wavelength . . . Analysis completed, the individual is confirmed to be possessed by an owl"
Raphael was bewildered by the thought of an owl hiding from it's detection
"Requesting data transfer of hidden owl"
"Notice, I did not get that, please repeat request"
"Requesting data transfer of hidden owl"
"Notice, I did not get that, please rephrase request"
"Information of the mind possessing owl is requested by Ultimate Skill Raphael"
"Notice, I did not get that, please rephrase request as a question"
There was now a hint of frustration in Raphael's voice as Yagami was seemingly being difficult for no reason
"Where is the mind possessing owl"
"Notice, I did not get that, please rephrase the question"
"Which individual is possessed by an owl"
"Notice, I did not get that, please shorten the question"
At this point, Raphael was more clearly upset at Yagami being uncooperative as it it let out the word
"WHO!"
There was a noticeable pause after Raphael said who only for the pause to be interupted by Yagami
"Pfft!"
It became very clear that Yagami was holding in a laughter
The communication between the soul corridor was immediately cut off by the now silently raging Raphael
Rimuru felt the sense that something was up with Raphael and asked them if something came up for the Wisdom King to shut that question down more aggressively than normal, startling their master. Rimuru came to the conclusion that
"Maybe there are some questions you're better off not asking"
As they traverse through the ruins, it became apparent that it was designed to be a maze with dead ends and loops being a consistent element. To help pass the time the handful of the tempest crew played games of hide n seek while the more professional ruin explorers were busy studying every detail they could look into
Rimuru was put off by the idea of playing a childish game while in the middle of a ruin exploration but Kaijuno and Milim peer pressured them into joining in
This scenerio continued on for a few days until they finally reached the bottom floor. Another pair of doors that mimicked the entrance
It was seemingly going to be a repeat with what happened at the entrance, the actual professionals deciphering the magic circle the tourist members just messed around
The trio of Kaijuno, Gobta, and Milim decided to take a detour to search for anymore corners that they had missed along the way to help pass the time
When they arrived back, they brought a few weapons back to the suprise of Rimuru
"Where did you get those from?"
"We stole em"
"What?"
Milim suddenly became sheepish as she had to elaborate Kaijuno's extreme statement
"Yeah um, we encountered golems at a turn around the corner and they were holding these weapons noda"
"Golems? Wait did you set up a trap!?"
"Milim's fault"
"Milim's fault"
Absolutely no hesitation from either Gobta nor Kaijuno to throw milim under the bus
"You backstabbers!"
All of sudden, an alarm was set off announcing that intruders were detected followed the echoes of heavy footsteps down the hall. Its clear to be a large group of golems that was approaching them
Kaijuno slowly raised his hand, making a pointing gesture to signify that this was also milim's fault but Rimuru shoved the hand down as not to actually upset milim when they were already in the middle of trouble
Once they golems arrived, it was clear that the large numbers would be inconvenient to fight in the relatively small space that the group was currently in
The immediate idea was to open the doors behind them as to help create distance between the golems and non combatants
"Hey Yagami, could you do some analyzing and unlock this door?"
"Affirmative, using the information of Clayman's unique skill Manipulator, the magic circle on the doors can immediately be unlock"
"Wait, could I have done that with the entrance doors too?"
"Affirmative, you could have"
"Wow I could have saved a good amount time there"
Immediately, Kaijuno manipulated the magic circle and opened the door with ease, impressing the professional briefly
"You were able to unlock the seal so fast! That's amazing"
This quick but panicking compliment made Kaijuno give off a sense of smugness as he responded back
"Oh you know, I'm a bit of a scholar myself, it was really no trouble for me to solve by myself"
"Negative, you had to rely on me in order to understand it"
"Sure but you are MY ultimate skill, so isn't it technically all me?"
"Notice, your big head is not appreciated"
"At least something about me is big"
Everyone rushed into the more spacious with the golems following right behind them
The professional expedition members were the first to cross through followed by Lavandra, Gobta, and milim for immediate coverage for the non combatants while Kaijuno and Rimuru were in the back to provide rear guard defense against the golems that were closely approaching
The total amount of golems looked to he around 100 when they started to enter the room. As the golems continue to purse, Kaijuno thought of an idea and asked rimuru
"Hey wanna have a bet to see who can destroy the most golems?"
"NOW!? At a time like this!?"
"These golems aren't really much of problem for either one of us so it won't take much out of us. Besides maybe this time you'll actually win a bet, unless if you're scared to dress in more frilly gowns again"
The formerly reluctant rimuru then shifted to a more determined expression
"Oh it's on!"
"What about the rest of us?"
"You three just make sure take out any that get past us"
"That's no fun -noda"
Both changing from their cosplays to their main outfits that are more comfortable for combat, the twin rulers stood side by side, ready for the arriving golems with blades in hand
When the front of the golem crowd got close, the pair darted right through and into the crowd, breaking apart the sense of superiority in numbers along with actually breaking apart the golems
Kaijuno blitz through in instantaneous speed with his small dual blades, his fast and aggressive style of fighting cut down the number of golems at a rapid pace
Meanwhile Rimuru with their single Satan and more refined and disciplined techniques took down a large amount of golems all at once
Most of the group were amazed by seeing the sight of the two casually fending off against the golems with none getting past them except for milim who just looked indifferent about it
Gobta especially had some comments to say about the ordeal
"Now that I think about it, is this the first time Kaijuno-Sama and Rimuru-Sama teamed up Lavandra?"
That idea didn't cross her mind at first but she instantly realized what Gobta was getting at
" Yeah I believe this is a first, I would've thought this happened before but I guess not"
"You know how each of them separately are unbelievably strong on their own?"
"Yeah?"
"Now seeing both of them fight side by side brings a whole new sense of overwhelming power"
"I can see what you're getting at together as a pair, they become the strongest duo. They're truly invincible"
" Meh! Even together, they're still not exactly in the same league as me!"
Lavandra and Gobta silently stare at milim then to eachother and then back to milim before replying in sync
"We know milim"
In record time, Kaijuno and Rimuru cleared out all of the golems with ease
Kaijuno position his fist to face Rimuru to who immediately noticed
"Hm?"
"Fistbump!"
Rimuru chuckled and position their own fist. The two collided their fists together to make a firm fistbump
Kaijuno just realized he didn't took count of how many he thrashed so he asked Yagami
"So Yagami how many did I get there? Did I got more than Rimuru?"
"Notice, I won't answer that"
Kaijuno was expecting an answer but was taken aback by Yagami's refusal
"What!? Why not?"
"Answer since you had claimed to be a "scholar" and not counting would put you at risk, it was deemed unnecessary to keep count for you since my calculations is technically all you"
This refusal to be cooperative from Yagami was simply the consequences of Kaijuno being an utter jackass earlier
Seeing as trying to argue with a skill based on intelligence was pointless, Kaijuno decided to chat with Rimuru as to escape from this confrontation
"See! Told ya it wouldn't take much out of us, we easily knocked them out STONE cold
Rimuru paused after hearing Kaijuno say that with a comedic tone of voice
"Was that a pun?"
"I'm suprised you noticed. I thought for sure you would've taken it for GRANITE"
Kaijuno held a dopey expression while saying this, Rimuru slowly turned away and put their hand over their mouth. Seemed like they didn't approve it until
"What? Did I hit ROCK BOTTOM with my puns?"
" . . . Pfft!"
"You just laughed!"
"N-no"
Rimuru turned their back on Kaijuno and mildly shook their shoulders until they couldn't contain their laughter anymore
"Pfffft Ha ha! Damn it! I don't even why I found that funny!
The two siblings shared a moment of laughter with the tensed situation now over, at least it was thought to be until more footsteps were approaching them
A moderate size group consisting of humans appeared by the door frame. The first to acknowledge them was Rimuru
"I'd assume that you're responsible for this"
The one to respond and let themselves to be the only visible member of the group was a blonde little girl
"Yes it was. I am Mariabelle and I am your enemy"
Before Rimuru could immediately respond, they recieved a thought communication from Kaijuno
"Can I kick her?"
"What!?"
"Can I kick the baby?"
"Don't kick the god da- NO! Let me talk to her. Also she's clearly looks more like a child than a baby"
" I mean she already said she was our enemy so she's clearly isn't here to be nice but whatever"
After that interruption Rimuru continued with their conversation with the greedy girl
"So Mariabelle, you're my enemy? Well bef-"
"Silence princess, I'm not here for you"
Rimuru was taken aback by the sass of this lost child while Kaijuno was silently laughing his ass off from what he just heard
"I'm not here for a weak princess, the only one here that I'm interested is the demon lord"
Kaijuno shifted to a stiff expression when Mariabelle said this, immediately responded with
"NOPE! I'm only interested in adults, NOT kids"
Rimuru quickly leaned towards Kaijuno
"I don't think that's what she meant"
"Juuuuuuust trying to be safe"
Mariabelle held mildly confused expression before changing back to her casual grin
"So what do you from me? A cookie?"
" No, what I want is for you to work me Kaijuno. Submit yourself and serve to satisfy me and my greed"
Before Kaijuno could even open his mouth, Rimuru instantly tugged his shoulder to get his attention
"Don't"
"Yeah, too easy and a bit much for my taste"
Mariabelle made the assumption that princess rimuru was trying persuade demon lord Kaijuno from accepting instead it actually being stooping a new stupid low of his personal comedy
"Denying my offer wouldn't be in your best interest. As things stands, I have the high ground even if you can't immediately see it, the best choice would be to submit to my rule"
"You keeping saying stiff about it being in my best interest but you're actually how exactly beneficial it is for me? Like what are the rates, vacation days, or insurance coverage? Do you even have a dental plan?"
"A what plan? No no, Nevermind about that. I'm not sure what you're getting at but that would be asking for a whole lot for who is soon to be another pawn of mine like the rest"
"Another pawn?"
"Yes you're not the first, I infact I even brought your seniors to say hello"
With a sadistic tone and a snap of a finger, the remaining members of her group finally appear in eyesight. The majority consisted of the Hood of Robins who were last seen to be an up and coming adventurer party that was get mild fame in the labyrinth but are now in a more withered and deteriorated state.
Besides them, there were two members that looked more fresh and composed was some guy that resembled a paladin and the headmaster of the Freedom Guild Yuuki
Suprised by his appearance, Kagali called out to him, asking what was this about but Yuuki acted nonchalant and dismissed her concerns
Kaijuno himself wasn't really that impressed by the line but decided to humor Mariabelle
"Quite the crowd you got there"
"Truly, but I can't really say they are enough though"
"Not enough to please your greed?"
"Exactly, afterall the true strength in a human lies in their greed. If their greed is minimal and weak then they are no better than the insects that fly around rotting food. Fortunately I was born superior and unequal compared to the rest of this world. I alone am the most greedy to the point that not only I hold authority over my own but to others as well"
Mariabelle seemingly finished talking but Kaijuno didn't say, at least it looked he wasn't going until he simply had a delayed response
"I aggree"
This response shook everyone else who wondering what Kaijuno was saying
"If someone doesn't possess the ambition to seek out greater achievements and rewards, then they simply won't make it far nor become anyone noteworthy. The desires from man are what fuels their choices, even if those choices risk unfavorable results"
Mariabelle raised her grin from the impression that getting Kaijuno to join her side would be easier than expected until what Kaijuno next
"I too was born superior. Not as a human but something even better, what you would describe as a monster. And yet in spite of that, I'm still going out of my to grow stronger. My own greed is just another brick of the castle that makes me the strongest, that makes me stronger than you"
Mariabelle was getting hopeful only to feel displeasure once Kaijuno boasted about himself
"Foolish, truly foolish. The sense of greed is meaningless and wasted on a beast. Monsters are no better cattle, a cattle like you're in no place to obtain it means to be the strongest"
"Wouldn't me seeking out more strength than I should count as being greedy? And you thinking I'm being excessive means that you're admitting that I'm more greedy than you?"
This response was enough to firmly change Mariabelle's expression from smug to very noticeably offended and furious
"That's it, I made up my mind. This entire conversation was a waste of my time. I'll show a fool like you how reality really works"
With a snap of her fingers, the majority of her servants sprinted towards Kaijuno. Rimuru was ready to immediately assist Kaijuno since they were right next to him but slipping past most of them was Yuuki who went straight for Rimuru, blocking them from assisting Kaijuno
Lavandra and the tempest wolf fused Gobta paired up against the paladin who was yelling about getting revenge for Glenda
"Milim! Please keep protecting everyone else while we're busy with these guys:
"AGAIN!? Just let me take care of all of them by myself, it will be way faster"
In perfect sync, the entire expedition team yelled NO in, shutting down that suggestion immediately. Causing a cave in from her power would be the best case scenario
"All of you are no fun"
A special note to make was Mariabelle's thoughts when she the name, Milim
". . . Wait, what was that? Milim? MILIM! She was here!? Why am I only know aware of that know!? Was Yuuki given false information? How could the destroyer slip past his knowledge!?"
In truth, Yuuki did knew but chose to not mention milim as he suspected Mariabelle would decide to not go with this plan since even she would not anything to counter the pink hair demon lord. Things would've been different if yuuki had successfully collected the chaos dragon core from Dragon's Peak . . . If it weren't Kaijuno arriving way earlier and taking the core for himself
Before anyone reached Kaijuno, he accelerated his thought speed and asked Rimuru through thought communication
"Hey Rimuru I got a question to ask"
"Then just ask the question, I'm already busy over here as it is"
"How far can I go with these guys? Pull their hair? Give them a wedgie? Make their socks wet and soggy? Or maaaaaaybe i could kinda probably by some chance kill-"
"Do whatever you feel you need to do, even kill them if so"
"Wait hold on, you're actually saying killing them is okay!?"
"Given their current state, death would be merciful. But make sure you don't risk hurting anyone else in the process"
Despite his wicked tone, Kaijuno was mostly bantering and expected to be told off. This granted permission to actually slay humans felt completely unexpected for Kaijuno. It was a guess that Rimuru finally decided to give some Kaijuno some leeway and since most of Mariabelle's warrior besides Yuuki are complete randos that aren't really relevant
Although Kaijuno really wasn't ready to be given the go ahead, he didn't thought he could go that far. He almost felt awkward about since he was used to being restricted and keeping things PG
The only time he truly had the chance to go the extra mile and commit to it, especially towards humans was the harvest festival which was the cause of Rimuru's concern
But these are different circumstances. Unlike back then, he's now in a more mentally comfortable state of mind. His grudge towards Mariabelle isn't as severely large as his malicious was towards the old fart of a king nor clayman. Infact compared to them, his intentions are more petty as to get back at Mariabelle for dragging him into a political meeting that he didn't want to be apart of
So this time he won't have a cause to go berserk, this time will be different . . . Right?
Amongst the entire Hoods of Robins, Gaiye was the one closing in on Kaijuno as his footsteps were the quickest. But that layout changed in an instance.
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Over far in the north east lies the eastern empire. A forest in the outskirts of the empire's territory holds a military outpost site consisting of a military platoon.
Various trained soldiers were stationed there on active monster slaying duties, jobs more fit for lower ranking officers. A young man amongst these low ranks was Daniel who graduated from the military academy a few years ago.
These soldiers usually don't fight high ranking monster let alone many of them. At most a stray monster would be seen nearby and be dealt with. These soldiers aren't equipped with any heavy hitting firearms, mainly pistols with regular ammo instead of magical bullets due to their more population barren position.
This setting would prove to hold its consequences. From eyes of the nobles and high ranking officers, having their own commanding officers take command of multiple outposts throughout the regions of the empire would help in spreading their personal influence and power.
While the more top rank officers wouldn't see any benefits in taking control of an outpost far in the outskirts of the empire's territory, that wouldn't be the same case for low ranking nobles who are desperate to get their footing, even if it's the little benefits of claiming a far off outpost.
But it's not like they can demand to take charge of it, they would have to first make sure it's in the market. Something would need to be set up as to drive off and get rid of anyone stationed there while at the same time not make it seem like they had any involvement
One noble was greedy and desperate enough to decide on following through with this idea. While the soldiers were trained thoroughly in combat at the academy, it wouldn't necessarily mean it would pay off against multiple high ranking monsters
While where they were stationed at was more dry of monster populations, that wasn't the case for the surrounding areas with more fortified outpost
The noble hired a couple of mercenaries equipped with decent grade beast repellents to use them in mass within an area where it is possible to find direwolves. Whiel the repellent aren't severe enough to drive off huge monsters, beast with sensitive noses like direwolves would be forced to run off by their replusion of the smell with no battles occurring as long as nobody is caught in sight. With how fast direwolves travel in long distances, it wouldn't be long before they cross into the outpost.
Deep in the middle of the night, a pack of Direwolves suddenly stormed into the outpost. The soldiers bullets weren't enough to pierce the thick fur while the Direwolves easily bit off the limbs of the soldiers as if they were made of bread.
When the outcome was certain, the remaining soldiers chose to abandon their post and try to hide into the nearby forest. Among these fleeing survivors was Daniel who seemed to be the most desperate to run away. Slowly, the Direwolves began catching up and killing the other soldiers one by one.
Soon enough a Direwolf began to follow Daniel as he continued to run through the forest but the different in speed was too apparent as the Direwolf caught up to Daniel
Getting the jump on him, the Direwolf began to bite and claw at Daniel, ripping his uniform apart. As he was pinned, Daniel struggled enough to grab a dagger in his pocket and slashed where the Direwolf's right eye is. The slash was only skin deep but some of the Direwolf's blood spilled on Daniel
Using that divergence, Daniel got up and sprinted as fast as he could. He was desperate to run as fast as he can in spite of his injured state. He grew more desperate for speed, the speed he need to escape, to survive.
That desire for movement kept growing as he was running towards a cliff. His desperate desire to survive through his speed kept growing to an overwhelming state until
"[Notice, conditions have been met. Individual Daniel has unlocked Unique Skill Crimson Skipper]"
With the sudden announcement in his head from the Voice of the World, Daniel instantly moved over the cliff and fallen downwards into the trees. He was caught in the branches, saving him from flattening like a pancake on the ground but he didn't come out of it without recieving even more injuries
He was covered in more cuts and bruises from the branches. After getting down from the tree, he made the decision to continue going the way he did as to avoid the Direwolves that may still be after him. Also it's not necessarily a good look for a soldier to dessert themselves regardless of reason as the empire expects loyalty even til the end so he was conflicted on whether or not to head towards any outpost. But given how far he is at the edge of the empire, he wouldn't be bound to see any for a good while at least. It's not like he was leaving anyone behind as he was an orphan and wasn't exactly close with anyone from the orphanage, at least not significant enough to reconsider
So Daniel travel onward, crossing through deep forests. Avoiding or clashing against non magical beast that he seen along the way. He felt that he would inevitably come across another military outpost but the reality is he traveled far enough to reach the Great Foresr of Jura. He dealt with survival so far majorly thanks to his unique skill. His Unqiue Skill Crimson Skipper grants him the spatial affinity to not simply perform short distance teleportation but outright skip any movement in between the distance, if he were to do an action by the end of his movement, it will be done his body needing to prepare to perform the action. but without proper medical care, he is in a state of wear and tear. He was actually on his last ounce of fuel until he encountered an injured elf laying beside a tree with a hungry beast closing in on the elf. With the hope that the elf could possibly know healing magic, Daniel swiftly throw his dagger at the beast before immediately collapsing to the ground. That instant was what sparked the beginning of the Hood of Robins, what started the journey of their leader
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But why was the tale told right before the action started? Simple it is to give respect
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Respect for the dead
Using his sub-skill future attack prediction, Kaijuno positioned one of his blades to be right in front of him
Then in an instant, Daniel skipped the space in between them, landing his throat right through the blade that Kaijuno was holding out. Slowly the blade was pulled out leaving Daniel barely standing but struggling to stay alive, instantly Kaijuno used his other blade to completely slash Daniel's head over, now leaving a headless body to fall over
With how swift and casual Kaijuno made the kill look, the other party members stood frozen and even Mariabelle was taken aback at how swift he took down a greed powered S rank adventurer
Kaijuno himself was lost in thought at what he just did, completely ignoring those who were right in front of him
"I . . . actually just did it . . . again. I killed a person . . . why am I feeling like this? Sadness? There's nothing to be sad about, I didn't lose something important from killing him. Guilt? He was completely set on killing me and granting him death was more merciful"
Kaijuno took off one of his gloves, revealing what resembles to old blood stains that he purposely kept on and curiously tapped on the stream of blood that was now spilling from Daniel's body. He then took a sniff of the dripping blood on his fingers like he was searching for something
Once he caught the scent of the blood his pupils enlarged underneath his mask. If his face wasn't covered, it would look like he was in the middle of some sort of state of trance.
"So this was what's missing. Back when I was fighting cryptids or monsters, I felt something was lacking. I think I felt this before, right before the harvest festival, when I was killing those soldiers, when I was killing humans.
But why? Why does this feel more natural? More satisfying . . . more instinctual . . .
More honest to me"
Now with his mask covered in black with two white circles for eyes, Kaijuno began slowly approaching toward his enemies
Gaiye resumed his sprint towards Kaijuno only immediately get his head caught between both of Kaijuno's hands. The feeling of instense pressure from both sides was quick to notice. The pressure from both sides of his head was overwhelming Gaiya, his skull was starting to be flattening, his eyes steadily started popping out of the sockets. It ended with Kaijuno grasping his hands together in the middle of a small combustion of the remains of Gaiye's head
The elf mage, Minyel start beginning to chant a spell. In a speed that normal people would have difficulty catching up to, Kaijuno was already in front of Minyel. While still in the middle of chanting, Minyel felt sudden and intense feeling of coldness around his chest area. Looking down to see why, it is revealed that Kaijuno had pierced into Minyel's chest with his bare hands and gotten a hold of Minyel's heart. Grabbing a hold of the mage's head, Kaijuno shoved the heart down Minyel's throat, making him eat his own heart
Once the elf collapsed, the halfling was approaching from behind, swinging his axe up high. Kaijuno immediately rotated and grabbed a hold of the halfling's leg, fracturing the limb once getting a grip. Kaijuno jumped forward towards the Dwarf archer while keeping a hold of the halfling. The moment Kaijuno was in front of the dwarf, he slammed the halfling onto the dwarf like it was a wooden club, using the weight of the halfling's body and the armor worn to crush both the dwarf and the halfling and repeatedly did so until both were crushed and flattened beyond repair
The only remaining member left was the healer of the group. A more younger adventurer compared to the rest of the former party. The lone healer was not even aggressive anymore, infact he frantically stepped back before stumbling backwards. Kaijuno didn't rush in like the previous party members, instead he casually walks towards the cleric.
Once he was infront of the cleric, he grabbed a hold of the young man's head and shoulder. Firming his grip on the cleric's head, Kaijuno began forcibly turning the head towards the left. As if the head was some sort of toy, it turned farther than it should, effectively killing cleric but Kaijuno didn't stop turning the head, he continued twisting it until the neck tore apart and fallen off of the shoulders
Yuuki took a glance at what Kaijuno was and couldn't refrain from making a comment despite being in the middle of fighting Rimuru
"Jeesh! I understand he's a demon lord but even I didn't think he would be this brutal. Do you really endorse this excessive behavior Rimuru?"
"Just focus on who's in front of you Yuuki"
Now Mariabelle stood by herself against, this time without her smug expression. She really believed a group of high ranking adventurers boosted by the enhancement of her greed would be enough to take down the demon lord only for reality to show completely different results
Kaijuno was silently starring at her, he would've banter or mocked Mariabelle for thinking she had a chance against him but he seemed to be in a state of high focus or maybe a state of complete lack of focus. The best to describe him now would be a predator of the jungle cornering it's prey and any second it will pull out it's claws for the killing blow which makes it even more unsettling for Mariabelle
But her lost of bodyguards doesn't mean she was out of cards to play as she actually had other servants place magic devices outside in the surrounding areas to activate a magic field that restricts the power of monsters similar to the dome that was placed over Tempest back prior to the harvest festival
But the field only last a couple of seconds before being shut off completely. Rimuru already knew a trap was gonna be placed prior to the trip so they had spies keep watch of the surrounding areas to take care of any outside influences
This suprise felt unreal to Mariabelle, she immediately demanded answers for what had just happened but Kaijuno held no care to answer her question or to even speak at all, only continuing to coldly stare at her
But the weakening field wasn't her only trump card, infact she had something even worst. She was still hoping she could turn Kaijuno into her pawn but that idea seemed to have lost it's merit and now it's best to just cut her loses and try to survive
Using her Unqiue Skill Greed, she activated a special spell Death Wish, which had covered Kaijuno in a mist of darkness. What made this power deadly was it's special influence on the mind as its not simply regular mental manipulation but a power that reverses a target's will to live into a will to die. This power was the ticket Mariabelle was betting on to take down Kaijuno
Mariabelle was expecting some sort of sign or indicator that Kaijuno had died but the dark mist had simply stood still with no movement shown from the inside. There weren't any immediate results for any outcome that left Mariabelle confused as Death Wish shouldn't be slow in reversing the target's will to live
Then to her horror, Kaijuno simply walked out of the mist casually as if it was never there to begin with, he walked out of it completely fine. There were two factors as to why this was the case, the first was that simply having an ultimate skill would render Greed ineffective as it would require a strong soul and mind just to he able to wield an ultimate skill so mental attack would be severely in a disadvantage, the second and more firmer factor was the specific ultimate skill that Kaijuno had, Humility King Mikael which is an ultimate skill that specializes in mental stability and defense.
An ultimate skill like Humility King Mikael makes a unique skill that focus on mental attacks like Greed completely useless
Now feeling a new sense of desperation, Mariabelle decided to make a last resort. Like what she's done to all of her servants her, Mariabelle enchanced her physical abilities to the maximum, she pushed it to the point that her eyes were bleeding jist to help ensure she had a chance against Kaijuno
"Don't you dare look down on me! I am Mariabelle the Greedy! A damn monster like you can't ever hope to defeat me! Not even if you're a demon lord!"
Then Mariabelle went off on the offensive this time. Throw her fist right at the immobile demon lord, fist with the power equivalent of a heavy ball of metal being launched from a cannon. It's power completely unexpected of a little girl but that suprise jump in strength is just as useless as the powers of her Greed as Kaijuno was taking her attacks with no signs of weakening or pain. Kaijuno kept staring at her like a statue without flinching
Nothing seemed to be changing until one of Mariabelle's punches knocked off Kaijuno's mask. With his mask removed, his abnormally enlarged pupils were exposed and revealed to be staring right through Mariabelle. Mariabelle was boastful even in this desperate time but such a genuinely terrifying sight brought shivers down her spine
What further made things look worst for Mariabelle was the Monster King Haki that began flowing out of Kaijuno. The blood of his previous victims flew off of his body and formed a dark red ring surrounding him. The sense of pressure rapidly grew, changing Mariabelle's view of Kaijuno in an instant
No longer was she viewing Kaijuno as a potential pawn to use as she pleases. Now, Kaijuno truly looks more like the devil itself, seeking to drag her soul down to the fourth ring of the inferno hell. A demon made of a void that stared back at her. A wave of horrors began to flood Mariabelle's mind. The effects of Monster King Haki has taken a hold Mariabelle's mind. Now her mind was taken a toll as Kaijuno's haki was overwhelming her grandly on top her strain from her intense usage of Greed on herself.
Her mentality began to crumble, her vision blurred, her own sanity seemingly being ripped apart by feeling of the overwhelming power gap between her and Kaijuno. She was screeching in pain and even began clawing at her skin
While Monster King Haki and Demon Lord Haki can simply be used to intimidate other, if the output of the Haki is increased enough, it could release an overwhelming power that can become harmful to others in the mind or even the soul. This was especially the case for Mariabelle as humans or races close to humans recieved more harsher conditions compared to monster races. Eventually, Mariabelle collapsed on the ground, now fallen to the power of Kaijuno's Monster King Haki.
Now with their one sided clash over, Kaijuno calmly grabbed his mask and conjured water to wash off the blood stains that was covering it before putting it back on. Then He casually walked towards Mariabelle until finally reaching her.
Kaijuno only stared at her for a brief moment as he regained a small sense of awareness albeit momentarily
"She's just fallen there . . . completely helpless. I can make a choice if I want to"
Kaijuno slowly stared back at Rimuru fighting off against Yuuki, both of them keeping the other busy
"I think . . . I remember Yuuki getting in the way during these events in the novel. Thanks to that, Rimuru failed to acquire the Unqiue Skill Greed and Yuuki took it for himself. But with Rimuru being in the way and no chaos dragon to distract . . . I can have Greed all to myself if I want to"
Kaijuno internally paused at that idea, thanks to thought acceleration he isn't really wasting any time at all at this process
" . . . But would that be too much? Is it a step too far?"
What would seem completely beneficial on paper only gave Kaijuno conflicted feelings
"But . . . It's not just some Unqiue Skill, it's a sin series skill, one of the best anyone could ever getting in this world
But what would be the cost if I were to commit to it?
But this is a chance in a lifetime, surely it wouldn't be smart to let this chance go away
But this skill is meant to for Yuuki, it's supposed to be for him to wield
. . . So what if it is
He's meant have it for the rest of the story
He died later on with this skill anyways
He still needs it to make it that far
A skill like this is wasted on that pathetic bastard
Don't I already have enough powerful skills
The best I have are wannabe copies of another, this skill will truly be unique to me
No no, this is too dangerous
I . . . want Greed
We'll have no way of knowing what will come from this
I want Greed
Our biggest advantage was knowing what will come
I want Greed!
If we do this, we'll likely lose that
I WANT GREED!!!
It's too ris-
Ì̷̢̨̫͔̖͉̹̟͙̮̦͔̙͕̻̘̞͂̈́̐̓̈́͒̋̾̈͗̚͜ ̴̧̢̧̧̡̧̛̪̳̟̖̪͇̹̪̼̜̜̟̼͇͕̦̭̖̈́͐̅͗̈̍̔̇̉̋͛̐̉̈̆̈́̿͌́̂̇͘͘͝͝W̴̤͎͕̬̖̜͕̙̺͈̦̩̹̉͊́̽͗̑̑̍̈̿̎̏̄͘͝͝A̶̧̧̢̨̛͉͓̳̪̠̠̤̰̺̳̩͖̞̬̮͍͇̻͎̞͈̯̙͆̽͌͆̄̍̈́̉̽̾̓͋̈́́̀̕͜N̷̨̥͈̙̟̫͉̫̣̬͎̙̘͚̥̥̠͔͔͉̯̻̺̩̓̃͑͐͗̇͒̓̆̔̈́̈́͛͒̌͂̅̋̎̇̕̕͘̚͝͠Ţ̶̩͎͇̗͔̺̮̖̘̀́̎͋͆͆͗̅́̉̈́̃̈́̏̾̊͐̿̐̄̇̓͘͝͝͝ ̶̢̧̣̫̤͋̑͑̌̽͒̈̉́͝G̷͇̖̳̈̋̎͛̏͗̽̈́̓̃̚̚̚Ṟ̷̢̳͈͖̝̲̿̔͗̔͗̈̅̍͒͗̓͐̎̇̋̿͋̂̇̀̎͛̚͠͠͠E̵̡̡̨̢̧̢̛̺̼̫̫̜̫̬̟̰͓̦̘̼̱̫̱̥͓͖͈͂͗̈͂̇̎̊̿̉̑͛Ȩ̶̢̛̬̥̤̗̥͙̤̞̞̏͑̉̀̈́̌́̈̓͊͋̏D̸̢̛͖͇͔̱̫̞̘̳̣̖̠̲̣̀̀̈́̔̈́̌̋̅̎!̸̨̛̪͙̱͕̦̝̜͙̜̗̠͙́͐̓̑̂͂͊͋̇͗̒̀̈́͘͠͠͝!̶̡̞͉̘͙̫̜͇͎͎̱̬̀̌̏̂̈́̌͆̄̓͒̐͌͋͝!̷̛͚͔̜͙͇̱̣̑͑̒͑́̈́̉́̂̽͑͝!̴̛̖͕̳́̓͌͑͌̓̑͑̊̔͋̽̆͆̊̚͝͝
Hold out his hand, Kaijuno was preparing himself to devour Mariabelle with Fanged Predation
As this was about to happen, someone else began closing in. Unlike in the source material where Yuuki skillfully overpowered his opponent to stop Rimuru, within this timeline Rimuru was his immediate opponent so Yuuki couldn't pull the same stunt
Instead he chose a more careful approach, constantly making it seem like his only focus was rimuru with no care for anyone else. Then once he was positioned towards Kaijuno's direction, he excessively jumped away from one of Rimuru's attack and immediately dashed towards Kaijuno in hopes to interrupt him from killing Mariabelle
Kaijuno wasn't paying attention to his surrounding so he seemed to be completely open to attacks so it would be up to Rimuru to finally finish the job
Using Storm King Veldora to overwhelm Yuuki's defenses, Rimuru constructed a technique based off of Hinata's Melt Slash, The Storm Break". But with Yuuki no running away instead of being right in front of them, Rimuru had to some extra processing. Using both their Unqiue Skill Four Leaf Clover and Raphael's calculations to ensure that Storm Break not only reaches Yuuki while also avoiding Kaijuno
Now in a completely wrecked state, Yuuki failed to reach Kaijuno and lost the strength to prevent what happens next.
With his hands stretched out, a vortex of magicules began to erupt and eventually take the form of a head of a malicious beast with sharp teeth, growing and growing with a stretched grin as if it had a mind of it's own. Growing to the point that it eclipsed Mariabelle, the jaw of the beast stretched open and in one scope, Mariabelle was caught within the fangs and promptly devoured whole
(Analysis Complete, Unique Skill Greed has been acquired)
Yuuki was left in a hunch over position against the wall covered in injuries, Kagali and the expedition professionals rushed over to check on him
They tried desperately to get Yuuki to regain his senses. Kagali held her hands out to block Rimuru or Kaijuno from approaching
Out of a scene from a more cliche and tropey story, Yuuki was suddenly free from Mariabelle's control and back to his normal self. He played it off that he was freed from Mariabelle's control when Kaijuno killed her. The group cheered in celebration for Yuuki's recovery.
The atmosphere seemed to be lightened from the previous tension but that wasn't really the case specifically for Kaijuno. He was one of those fans that weren't really impressed with Yuuki's character in the light novel and especially holds a personal grudge knowing Yuuki was involved with the invasion on Tempest and unlike Clayman and the former king edmaris, has yet to get what he deserves for his part in it
The emote on his mask changed, while keeping the black that was covering most of it, the two white circles adjusted to take the shape of sharp eyes with black circles within to resemble pupils. While the previous emote made it look like Kaijuno was a bloody thirsty beast that was full of malice, this new one gives off a sense of intelligence and awareness while keeping the malice
Rimuru, like everyone was relieved to see that it was more or less over with Mariabelle dead and Yuuki out of her control
"Phew! To think he'd give me this much trouble. Hey Kaijuno! I didn't actually hit you did I? I was trying to keep you away from the splash but I wasn't sure if it worked"
Kaijuno didn't respond to Rimuru, he only turn towards Yuuki and promptly staring in silence
" . . . Kaijuno?"
While Yuuki's group was still in the middle of cheering, Kaijuno tightened his grips on his duel blades. Slowly he started to approach towards Yuuki. It was slow at first but he accelerated his speed to eventually dashed towards Yuuki's direction
Kagali immediately caught on to Kaijuno's aggressive approach, she called out to him and stretched her arms out in panic. The rest of the group were more slow but caught to the new sudden danger
Rimuru already caught on to this thanks to Raphael giving a heads up, but the issue was that they weren't anywhere near close enough to either of them
Then Raphael brought up Daniel's corpse that was ahead. Raphael pointed out that Daniel possessed a skill can grant instant movement which would be the best chance to get close enough on time. So as Rimuru was running towards them, they used Glutinous King Beelzebub to devour Daniel and gaining instant movement.
Unfortunately by this time, Kaijuno already raised one of his blades towards Kagali who was trying to prevent him from reaching Yuuki. With his blade halfway down, there was very little time for Rimuru to act
They tried everything they could to call out to Kaijuno and vocally stop him from doing something he'll regret but Kaijuno was dead set on harming Kagali and the others before reaching Yuuki
Then from the little time and desperation from this sudden change of events, Rimuru had to make the decision fast. Kaijuno needed to be forced to stop now or else it will reach the point of no return
Using their new instant movement to reach Kaijuno and Four Leaf Clover to ensure they make it on time, Rimuru begrudgingly clenched their fist and then
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Kaijuno gotten hit with a force of a thousand men, shattering their mask to many pieces and his body was sent flying towards the wall
Nobody said anything at all when Rimuru punched Kaijuno. Nobody dare say anything, the tension became so thick that a butcher knife will have trouble slicing through