In Clayman's eyes, neither Ren Kuroda nor Rimuru had ever been anything worth worrying about.
To him, they were nothing more than insignificant, low-tier monsters who had simply gotten lucky by joining forces and defeating the Orc Lord. What kind of waves could creatures like that possibly stir up?
Now that Milim was already under his control, Clayman's real objective lay elsewhere. What he truly wanted was to secure greater influence at the next Walpurga, the Demon Lords' banquet.
"Clayman, I think it would be wiser not to underestimate that Majin and the slime," said Footman, unable to hold back any longer. Tear nodded beside him.
"Don't forget—the 'Storm Calamity' that was summoned earlier was defeated by them as well. And even if we ignore the slime for a moment, we've personally fought that Majin before. There's no way he's the kind of 'low-level monster' you're making him out to be."
Seeing Clayman so arrogantly dismissive made both members of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance feel uneasy.
Ever since becoming a Demon Lord, Clayman had started to drift—growing more conceited by the day. In his attempt to draw closer to that person, he had begun imitating them constantly.
His pride and arrogance were indeed becoming quite convincing.
Unfortunately, when it came to strength and intelligence, Clayman couldn't even begin to compare.
Interestingly enough, Clayman treated most people—including other Demon Lords—with overbearing arrogance. Yet toward his own comrades, he showed an unexpected degree of tolerance.
"You do have a point," Clayman admitted with a faint smile."Even rats can become troublesome if there are enough of them."
"The Kingdom of Falmuth is a human nation, so manipulating the human church there might prove difficult. But that Monster Federation… for the Church, it's practically a thorn in their side."
His smile deepened.
"Tear. Footman. Could I trouble you with a task?"
"Pay a visit to the Church and spread a little information. Let them know what's happening in the Great Forest of Jura. And more importantly—frame the monsters gathering there as a confirmed attempt to launch an invasion against human society."
For members of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance, this sort of manipulation was practically routine.
Entrusting the job to Footman and Tear made Clayman completely at ease.
After all, Rimuru really was gathering every possible force in preparation to move against Clayman. Calling it a concentration of monsters wasn't exactly wrong.
Soon after, the two set off in separate directions.
One headed straight for the Church to leak intelligence.
The other approached a small kingdom, where he used spiritual magic to seize control of the country's ruler. Under the spell's influence, the king urgently petitioned the Church for assistance.
His report claimed that the monsters of the Great Forest of Jura were amassing forces and preparing to conquer their nation.
On one side stood the Monster Federation, visibly gathering enormous numbers of monsters.
On the other stood a small human kingdom begging for help.
After a period of hesitation, the Church finally decided to deploy its forces against the Great Forest of Jura.
Regardless of whether the small kingdom was truly under threat, one fact remained undeniable:
A massive concentration of monsters was gathering in the forest.
In the past, the Great Forest of Jura had been considered forbidden territory—after all, the legendary Storm Dragon Veldora had been sealed there.
But now?
The Storm Dragon had vanished.
And with such an overwhelming number of monsters gathering in one place, the forest had become a genuine threat in the eyes of humanity.
Thus the Church mobilized.
Leading the expedition was none other than the chief knight of the Holy Empire's direct imperial guard, commander of the Holy Knights, the Right Hand of God, and widely recognized as the strongest human among the Western Nations—
Hinata Sakaguchi.
Hinata Sakaguchi intercepted Rimuru on his return journey from the Dwarven Kingdom.
She sealed the surrounding space and launched an ambush.
At the same time, the Western Nations began their assault on Rimuru's city just as Benimaru and the others were gathering forces—catching them completely off guard.
Under normal circumstances, Rimuru's town possessed incredibly powerful defensive systems.
But Clayman had already anticipated that.
A Majin named Myulan, whom he had planted in advance, secretly sabotaged the defenses from within.
Not only that—she also established a barrier designed to suppress the magicule output of monsters.
The Western Nations were far from weak opponents. Many powerful figures from the Church had joined the assault as well—individuals who specialized in fighting monsters and possessed abilities that naturally countered them.
First, Benimaru's forces were taken by surprise.
Then their magicules were suppressed by the barrier.
On top of that, they were unable to contact Rimuru.
Under such relentless disadvantages, the outcome was almost inevitable.
To make matters worse, the battlefield was their own town.
There were countless women and children nearby.
Afraid of harming innocent civilians, Benimaru and the others had to hold back in battle, severely limiting their ability to fight freely.
After a fierce and chaotic clash, the situation for Rimuru's side deteriorated rapidly.
When Rimuru finally broke free from Hinata Sakaguchi and rushed back to town…
The sight before him made him freeze in place.
The city lay in ruins.
Buildings had collapsed into broken rubble.
The streets were littered with bodies—children, subordinates, and loyal companions.
Among them was Ranga, the wolf who had always followed him faithfully.
At that moment, something inside Rimuru snapped.
Ever since his reincarnation, he had retained the mindset of a human. Because of that, he had always felt a certain closeness toward humanity.
In many situations, he even tried to view things from the human perspective.
But now…
Looking at the corpses of Ranga and the others, Rimuru realized just how wrong he had been.
Painfully wrong.
He might have wanted peaceful coexistence with humans.
But they were monsters.
And not every human shared his ideals.
Not everyone would see monsters as equals instead of threats.
In the original course of events, the one who died had been Shion, whose power had skyrocketed.
But here, it was Ranga.
Yet the result was the same.
Rimuru fell completely into darkness.
Consumed by rage, he slaughtered the soldiers of the Western Nations and the Church alike.
Using their corpses as sacrifices, he summoned the Primordial Black Demon—Diablo.
With the immense number of souls offered as tribute, the Demon Lord Seed within Rimuru finally awakened.
He ascended into a true Awakened Demon Lord.
The skill Great Sage evolved into Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.
The skill Gluttony evolved into Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony.
His magicule reserves exploded to unimaginable levels.
The fallen—Ranga and the others—were resurrected.
Benimaru and the rest received powerful blessings in return.
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Falmuth…
Ren Kuroda had no idea that Rimuru had already completed his awakening.
Because on his side, a problem of his own had emerged.
Previously, with the help of the Spider Princess and the Spirit of the Samurai, the kingdom had been managed smoothly and efficiently.
But after Ren and the Spider Princess departed, things gradually began to change.
At first, the nobles of the kingdom behaved themselves.
However, as more days passed without any sign of Ren's return, certain nobles—who clearly hadn't learned their lesson—started stirring up trouble again.
Some even began openly shouting slogans about supporting a new king.
Ironically, the nobles making the biggest fuss were the very same ones who had opposed Ren's road-building project earlier.
Back then, when Ren issued shares to fund construction, they believed he was extorting them and tore up their stock certificates in anger.
Now the roads had been completed.
Trade routes between Falmuth, the Dwarven Kingdom Dwargon, and the Great Forest of Jura had become a golden highway for merchants.
Every day, commercial taxes poured into the kingdom's treasury.
According to the earlier agreement, the nobles who had invested money were entitled to dividends based on their shares.
When the first wave of profits arrived, those nobles were practically grinning from ear to ear.
Meanwhile…
The nobles who had torn up their shares could only watch others feast while they themselves couldn't even drink the soup.
Naturally—
They were furious.