Laplace's request was met with nods of approval from Benimaru and the others. His gestures toward us all were so determined, I suppose it tugged at our heartstrings.
"Right. Then we'll head over with the six of us as planned and rescue Yuuki." "Sounds good. Let's save that bum so he can give us a proper apology." Benimaru was certainly motivated.
Of course, this is Yuuki we're talking about. Knowing him, I'm pretty confident he'd beat Damrada and emerge without even a scratch. The real problem is how to deal with Velgrynd, though. But just as I was about to offer some instructions about that, Shion surprised me.
"So this Kondo man is the mastermind behind all this? If he's capable of controlling the likes of Kagali, then perhaps Clayman was being controlled, too."
"""…"""
We all fell silent. Benimaru was frozen in surprise, while Laplace just muttered, "The hell?"
"Keh… Keh-heh-heh… The first secretary says some rather interesting things…"
Diablo could try laughing it off as much as he wanted, but—perhaps remembering how things were back then—realized there was nothing inherently wrong with what she said. "It's possible," Hakuro even added.
No, guys, it's definitely more natural to believe that. According to Laplace, Yuuki had given orders to Clayman to lie low and not cause trouble. The whole bit with the orcs was one thing, but Clayman's descent into insanity after that wasn't at all what Yuuki wanted from him.
Affirmative. Based on the newly obtained information, I have redefined the situation as this: The subject Clayman exhibited some unexplainable behavior, but if he was being influenced by Kondo and other people, it begins to make more sense. The clear answer is that the Empire stood to gain the most from him.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
"…So you're saying that we had to go through that stuff with Clayman because of Kondo's intentions?"
"Shit."
"Watch your mouth, Benimaru, or else I'll tell Shuna."
"I will. So don't, okay?"
Ignoring Benimaru and Shion's back-and-forth…
"I hate to say it, but I have to agree with Shion. I tried to perform an analysis of his criminal psychology, but there was something unclear about Clayman's behavior. I saw signs that he was in a hurry to move his forces for some reason, even though he should have acted more cautiously. I, at first, thought it was
merely his stupidity in action, but it would make sense if there was a third party intervening."
Whoa. Diablo's got the same opinion as Raphael. Guess there's no doubting it now.
"I don't know what the truth is, but let's assume Kondo controlled Clayman and act based on that. If you're paired up with Kondo, be aware of the possibility that he'll try to take over your mind!"
"""Yes, Sir Rimuru!"""
I might be wasting my time with that warning, but it's better than saying nothing.
Anyway, we really do need to watch for this Kondo guy. If we're not careful, he might be an even greater threat than Velgrynd. So I had everyone keep Kondo in mind so we were all prepared.
Now, let's summarize our plan.
"Gabil, I want you and your team to answer King Gazel's request for help. Don't try fighting Velgrynd, though. She's enough of a danger for you and the other leaders, but she'll massacre your soldiers, probably."
"That is very clear to me, my lord. Not even I would ever dare to challenge a True Dragon."
"Hoh-hoh-hoh! No, we're no match for her."
Gabil and Hakuro seemed to understand that well enough. The purpose of sending their reinforcements was mainly to buy time; once we rescued Yuuki, we'd then be handling Velgrynd ourselves.
"But should we leave them to that ceremony?" Ultima asked. She was referring to the Dead Birthday thing Kagali was working on, I supposed.
"I wouldn't worry about that," Diablo informed me. "It takes a great deal of time before that forbidden spell is triggered, at least two hours per walking dead created—and more than that if you are stuffing more energy into it."
It hadn't even been an hour since the ritual began. We'd first have to meet with Yuuki, then beat Emperor Ludora, and then if we hurried back…
"Uh-uh. Diablo's right if we're talkin' about the usual procedure, but Lady Kagali's usin' a kind of workaround."
"A workaround… Wait! Ah, right, Velgrynd is helping her."
Diablo seemed to get what this meant. But no one else did, and we really didn't have time for long-winded explanations any longer.
"Okay, so how much time do we have?"
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… At worst, they could create several walking dead in two hours."
Two hours, huh? Could we defeat Emperor Ludora in just that amount of time? …Ah, no point worrying over it. We just have to do it, and that's that.
I looked toward Laplace.
"And you're the strongest of her creations so far, right? Better than Clayman anyway. And despite the others being geared for strength or whatever, you sure seem stronger than them."
"Well, I was specially made, y'see."
"Okay. Well, my group's ignoring Kagali's spell, then."
"Ah… Are you sure about that?"
Gabil seemed surprised.
"Yeah. Think about it, Gabil. Laplace is pretty strong, but he's not an insurmountable opponent. The other two, I'm sure all of you could beat easily."
That was how I saw it. Laplace may be hiding his strength, but he can't fool my eyes. Basically, it didn't feel to me that he had awakened to an ultimate skill. Gabil would have a tough time, but I think Soei's an even match for him. So if Kagali could create walking dead as good as Laplace, that'd be a drag, but anything less than that seemed pretty manageable to me. We can't just leave them be—they could become a threat if left to grow up—but I don't see this as something I absolutely had to intervene in.
"If Velgrynd is contributing to this spell, then all the better for us. If possible, try to prod her so she can't concentrate on it. If you can't, then you can just
leave her. I mean, no point stirring up that hornet's nest."
Gabil and Hakuro exchanged a glance, then nodded, seemingly convinced. And also, just in case:
"If she decides to turn on you guys or King Gazel, then I want Ultima and Carrera to take her on."
I figured as the most powerful of all my staff, Ultima and Carrera could buy time even against someone like Velgrynd. I could ignore whatever happened with Kagali's ritual, but if Velgrynd makes a move, the whole army would be decimated. I had to avoid that, so that's why I gave the order.
"Aw, thanks for counting on us! Sir Veldora's sister or not, I'm not gonna give her any quarter!"
"Yeah. We'll see if we can win once we feel her out. I got one heck of a winning streak going, you know, so I'm gonna get as much enjoyment out of this as I can."
It sounded like I could count on Ultima and Carrera for this. I'll just pretend that I didn't hear about the loss to Zegion.
So I thought we had a plan, but:
"One moment, please. I think Ultima and Carrera alone will not be enough against Lady Velgrynd. I know this is rude of me after offering to guide you, but I was wondering if I could tackle her as well."
Now Testarossa was throwing her hat into the ring. This was a bit troublesome to me. It was an appealing proposal, but if we were striking the core of the imperial capital, I wanted to attempt it with as much firepower as I could gather. This was an emperor even Guy recognized as a worthy rival, and he had at least four Single Digits guarding him. If we were taking on someone that high up, I really didn't want to lose Testarossa. At the same time, though, if she could buy some time with Velgrynd for us, that'd be pretty helpful as well.
So maybe I should take Gadora, then—
"Allow me to take her place, if you could. It will help us buy at least a little bit of time, and I think it would improve our chances."
That was Soei making the offer, and it sounded like a reasonable one. At the very least, it seemed better than taking Gadora. With Benimaru, Shion, Soei, and Diablo, I felt decently sure we could take on pretty much anybody.
"Okay, let's go with that. Don't disappoint me, Soei."
"Yes, my lord!"
The main purpose of Gabil's team was to buy time and, if possible, eliminate enemy forces, Kondo included. If things went really awry, that was where the demonesses came in. That, I thought, was about the best we could do.
"Right. That settles it, then. And again, Gabil, don't have your team get killed before we get back."
"""Yes, sir!"""
And so our policy was somewhat hurriedly decided upon.
It was at this moment that Vester, who had been watching the screen the whole time, hoarsely shouted out:
"Whoa! King Gazel has arrived, it looks like!"
I looked myself, and there I saw the Pegasus Knights flying in from up high.
"Let's hurry. Rendezvous with Gazel's team before they take damage and tell them about our strategy!"
"Leave it to me! I promise you that I, Gabil, will perform this lofty task with sheerly the utmost of brilliance!!"
"Great. Now, everybody, let's get moving!"
I gave out the order—and then one long, long night began for us.
After teleporting Gabil's group away, we joined Laplace on our way to the imperial capital. I would be taking human form from the start, so I could deal with whatever came our way.
"Okay, we're here. This is our secret base over in— Ah, where's this?"
It was magic that took us here, but Laplace immediately began acting strange. Even at this point, I was having a terribly bad premonition.
Looking around, I found ourselves in a vast hall, like none in my own nation. It was lined with intricately carved columns and covered with expensive-looking carpet. I could almost mistake it for a royal audience chamber in an imperial castle, but there was something not quite right about it.
"Dude…"
"W-wait! No! Usually, when I do this thing, it always takes me to the right place! This ain't never happened before!"
Laplace looked pretty panicky as I glared at him. He didn't seem to be lying, but if he wasn't, what the hell was going on here?
After a few more swivels of my head, I saw a raised platform about fifty yards away. Something resembling a king's throne was on it, so I guessed it really was some royal chamber. An important-looking person was seated on the chair, and next to him was a beautiful blue-haired woman. There was no mistaking the distinctive buns her hair was tied into. It had to be Velgrynd herself.
"Velgrynd?! Wait, wasn't she on the battlefield just now? She can't be here, too, can she?"
"Teleportation could get her here in time, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
Benimaru looked just as confused as I was, and Soei and Shion weren't much different.
"Are we surrounded, then? It appears to be a trap."
Diablo broke the bad news to us. I noticed it about the same time he did— dozens of other people were in this chamber, and they all seemed powerful to me.
"Damn you, Laplace, you were trying ensnare us the whole time—"
Soei wasted no time confronting our would-be traitor, but he was the last thing on Laplace's mind.
"That's loony. You interfered with my spell?! That's… How's that even possible…?"
Laplace was completely befuddled. Guess he wasn't expecting this either; this
didn't strike me as a trap on his part.
As we warily eyed the circumstances we were in, a man approached us.
"Hey, Laplace! Thanks so much for coming. I couldn't be happier to see you tricking the demon lord Rimuru and his friends like this."
It was Yuuki, dressed in his imperial military uniform and smiling. "B-Boss?! Wait, wait, wait. What's goin' on?"
"Ah-ha-ha! You can quit the act now. Once we get rid of the demon lord in here, we win, right?"
Yuuki's words instantly enraged Shion and Soei—but Benimaru, and surprisingly Diablo as well, remained calm as they listened to him and Laplace speak. It was impressive to see, actually.
(You guys believed Laplace, too?)
(Oh, er, no. I was thinking of running him through once those two let their guards down.)
(Hey!)
(Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Well said, Sir Benimaru. Kill before you show any external sign of it. The classic rule.)
What kind of mafia gang am I running here?! There's no "classic rule" like that in my country!
Dumbfounded, I persuaded them to wait and see how things unfolded. At the same time, I tried to appease Soei and Shion, who were practically oozing with murderous rage. In the meantime, the argument between Yuuki and Laplace had grown rather heated. Laplace was all but begging for his life, swearing up and down that he meant none of this.
"Please believe me, guys! This time, I promise, I didn't mean to do nothin' against any of you!"
The more desperate he got, of course, the more suspicious it made him look. Yuuki really painted him into a corner here, I had to admit. Feeling sorry for Laplace, I decided to end this charade.
"Hey, calm down," I said, patting him on the shoulder a couple times. "That guy's Yuuki, but he's also not Yuuki, is he?"
"Huh?"
"Unfortunately, I have to assume that Kondo's controlling him."
Maybe Damrada beat him; maybe Kondo sneaked up on him during the fight. Either way, having a mind-control expert among the enemy was really starting to make things complicated. If I didn't believe that, we would've been stabbing at each other's throats by now.
"Ohhh! Right, yeah! Like, it's fun to fool other folks, but when I'm the fool, man, does it grind my gears!"
Gotta love that personality. Finding out I trusted him pepped him right up, it looked like. But it didn't improve our predicament at all. We were still surrounded, and we were still in crisis mode.
"Tsh… Didn't expect you to see through it that easily. Here I was hoping you'd be so lost and confused that you'd turn your blades on each other."
Brainwashed or not, Yuuki was just as mean-spirited as ever. I'm sure that's how he is at the core, and I like to think I'm mature enough to not let it bother me.
"Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that my strategy has failed."
"Ahhh, it was just a silly sideshow anyway. Very good. Now, before battle begins, I was hoping we could have a little chat."
Once Yuuki addressed the person sitting on the platform, the figure stood up and began to walk. Yuuki meekly moved to the side to clear the way for him— clearly he was now a loyal vassal of Emperor Ludora. I couldn't completely dismiss the idea that it was all an act, but I'd better not be too optimistic about that.
Velgrynd followed Ludora, as if accompanying him. She looked like a normal human being, apart from her sheer beauty, but clearly that was for camouflage purposes. Myself, I could see it. She had encased herself and the man in front of her in a thin barrier that shut off all possible interaction with the other side.
"What intimidation. I highly doubt she's a fake."
"I agree. Up close, it's amazing just looking at her," Benimaru replied, nodding at my words.
But not everyone reacted like us.
"You think so? I've trained with Sir Veldora often, so the feeling's familiar to me. Not that I've ever defeated him…"
Shion… You've been training with him, too? And by "training," she must mean actual battle in the labyrinth. If they were fighting to the death in there, I could only hope she got some good results from it. But if you can't win, it's kind of meaningless, isn't it? It wasn't really a boast, but it wasn't her being a sore loser, either.
"Yes, a very impressive barrier. But like Shion said, I don't see that much of a difference between her and Sir Veldora."
Diablo's opinion seemed closer to Shion's. Did this mean they thought Velgrynd wasn't anything special, or was Veldora actually a lot more impressive than I believed? I wasn't sure, but even the normally confident Diablo couldn't guarantee a victory for us. That was important. Diablo, despite it all, never lied to me, so he wouldn't claim he could do something that he can't—and I knew what that meant.
"I'm sure this wasn't quite in your plans, but I thought a meeting between two heads of state would prove rather interesting."
Ludora smiled as he addressed me. Wow, he really is Masayuki's lost twin. His hair was an almost shining blond, though, and he styled it a bit differently. That —and he had blue eyes versus Masayuki's brown. Actually, there were a lot of little differences, but somehow, the two of them projected the exact same vibe.
And actually, I recalled something odd Masayuki said recently. "I've been worried about my hair lately."
"What, are you balding?"
"Yeah, the stress and all… No, of course not! I've been noticing that my hair's getting lighter in color lately. It's gone from black to more brownish."
"Hmm. Maybe you're losing melanin or something?"
"You think so? I hope I'm not worrying about it too much…"
You know, the sort of self-image problem every young man goes through. Or that was how I saw it, but for some reason, it popped back into my mind right then. It was a concern, but not one I should've been thinking about immediately.
Ludora was now right in front of me.
"You're right. We weren't planning to come out here. But there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Wonderful. Why don't you have a seat?"
Ludora waved his hand. Two chairs appeared before us. Some kind of magic trick? I don't know how it worked, but it didn't seem like a chintzy trap or whatever. Atmosphere was key here, so I sat down without hesitation, Benimaru standing by my right side and Diablo insisting on the left. Shion swiftly took her place right behind me, and Soei was next to her. Laplace, now seeming very out of place, looked around a little before sliding into a spot to Shion's left.
Once everyone took their locations, we were greeted by Velgrynd's teasing voice.
"Oh, you're sitting down first? Rather questionable manners." Manners? I don't know jack about those. He told me to sit down, so I did.
"No need for that, Velgrynd. He didn't do anything wrong. If he's a demon lord, then he, too, has a land he rules over. He and I are equals, I think."
That's a real-life emperor for you. He sounded like he meant it, too. How generous.
"Well, if you're fine with it, I have no complaints."
Velgrynd also seemed rather easily convinced. I guess she didn't really care much. I wish she'd stop threatening me like that.
So Ludora sat on the opposite chair, Velgrynd casually standing to his right. Behind him were four guards lined in a row, armed with God-class gear—the
Four Knights Bernie told me about, I assumed. Finally, standing to Ludora's left was a man dressed in an all-black uniform. He didn't look Japanese to me, so I guessed he was Damrada. Yuuki had the nerve to stand next to him, making his position in this hierarchy clear. I had no hesitation considering him an enemy now.
Still, this meant that all the Empire's top people except Kondo were here. I brought all my high-ranking officials as well, but we were at a serious numerical disadvantage right now. The Empire had several dozen top-ranking members of the Imperial Guardians here, including five Single Digits, and even Velgrynd was on hand. To be honest, I had serious doubts about our chances in a fight. Plus, they even had Yuuki. It's no exaggeration to say this was a crisis like none before.
I guessed from Ludora's words that this state of affairs wasn't Laplace's fault; it had all been a setup from the beginning. Funny to think how unnerving it is to have everything go your enemy's way like this… But I kept up my bold demeanor, not revealing what I felt inside.
"Well, guess you got one up on me today, huh? I considered the possibility that people would be expecting us, but I didn't quite anticipate this."
That was a lie. We were aiming for a surprise attack on their elite forces, so I thought we were about to seize the initiative here.
"Ha-ha-ha! No need to be so modest. It was just as unexpected for me. I thought the Armored Division I sent would be defeated, but the fact that there were no survivors and no awakened stemming from it was beyond any of my estimations."
Well, there was one, but Diablo killed him. I wasn't about to tell him that, but really, whoever devised that plan was a real genius, in my opinion. Pretty inhumane, maybe, but still.
"So who came up with that strategy anyway?" I lightly asked, not expecting an answer. But then, rather surprisingly, Ludora told me everything out of his own mouth.
As he explained, the plan was drawn up by Lieutenant Kondo. That I expected. But it turned out the plan was a lot crazier than I thought:
• First, they'd awaken a few people from the invasion forces; after that, they would pretend to back away in defeat.
• If we gave chase, the Composite Division would intercept us. However, since there was a possibility this division had already turned traitor to the Empire, they would be treated as an enemy force as well.
• Once they were certain about the betrayal, everyone would be eliminated all at once. The Marshal would take on that role.
However, that plan kind of fell apart on step one, so Kondo made some major alterations:
• Ensnare and capture Yuuki's group, after letting them run free for so long. Even based on what they knew from the demon lord Clayman, Yuuki's betrayal was pretty much confirmed by this point.
• Kill off Yuuki's group, confirm what he was scheming to do, and make final adjustments based on that.
• That left sixty thousand people in the gathered Composite Division, who would then be sacrificed to produce magic-born.
• At this point, the Marshal would go into battle and make a flashy display to attract the attention of Guy and the rest.
• Any would-be troublemakers would be rounded up and killed all at once. That's why they needed to concentrate their forces on that one point.
• The advantage of such flashy moves was that it'd make the imperial capital look thinly guarded. Someone was bound to try attacking it, and it'd undoubtedly be an elite force as well. They needed to be hit with maximum strength.
• The most important part: Chances are the monster nation is running short on firepower by now, so the Marshal, the greatest force in the Empire, would take them on. While Guy's eyes were pointed elsewhere, they would take the Storm Dragon, the strongest pawn of all, for themselves.
That was the long and short of it.
If they were gaining intelligence from the demon lord Clayman, it was safe to assume that he was under Kondo's control as well. I only had my suspicions before, but now it was crystal clear.
That wasn't even the important thing, though. I was shocked he revealed all that information, but let's not worry about that. There was a certain point he brought up, one that sent a shiver down my spine. Whoa, I thought, wait a minute. How many Marshals—or Velgrynds—would they need to carry out this plan?
That's right. I always did find it strange that Velgrynd was unleashed on the east city of the Dwarven Kingdom, where the current battle was raging. So who's this woman in front of me…?
…! Detected. Her ultimate skill grants her the ability to create multiple identical existences of herself. It is called…
"…Parallel Existence…?"
I spoke the words Raphael gave me, although I wished they were wrong. But reality was merciless as always.
"Oh, you're aware of it? How clever of you."
Velgrynd's smile was as beautiful as it was terrifying. The more you want to be wrong about something, the more correct you turn out to be, huh?
My unvarnished take on this was: How the hell am I gonna beat that?! No wonder Testarossa was sure she couldn't pull it off. I was so comfortable with this before because I figured I could call on Veldora here to even the odds. Now, though, I understand that I can't even count on that.
According to Raphael, Parallel Existence is an extremely dangerous power. To the uninformed, it may not seem much different from Soei's Replications. In his case, he can control several Replications at the same time. It's impossible to tell who's the "real" one, and no matter how many Replications you beat down, that'll never hurt Soei himself. He could also keep churning them out as long as he had enough magicules, which kind of seemed like cheating to me. That's because there's no difference in physical ability between Soei and his
Replications, so it really is like having multiple Soeis on the field. But let's take a peek behind the curtain.
Controlling multiple Replications at once is actually pretty tricky. The skill doesn't split his consciousness at all; instead, he uses Thought Communication to operate the copies of himself without a time lag. He also uses Mind Accelerate to adjust his reaction times, so it only looks like they're all moving independently without any issues. I don't use Replications too often myself, because this is really an incredibly difficult trick to pull off. Soei, meanwhile, is a true master of his game and one of the most thoughtful people I know; an amateur like me could never handle it as well as him.
And one other thing; the Replications' physical abilities match the caster's body, but their magical abilities always lose out by comparison. The copied bodies don't have full access to the caster's skills. That's why Soei's Replications can only use skills that don't consume much magic power—and that's why, if you knew that little secret, it wasn't too hard to tell which Replication is actually the real thing. If you're defeated, of course, your Replications instantly disappear as well, so it's definitely not an invincibility code or anything.
Meanwhile, with the Parallel Existence skill Velgrynd had, she could divide bits of her consciousness into every copy. "Copy" wasn't even the right term any longer—it was simply like having multiple versions of your "real" self. It meant that even if you killed one of them, as long as there's at least one other "alternate" of hers left, that could serve as her main one. Plus, she didn't have to split up her magic force at all. Every "alternate" was connected with the main body, so she could replenish as much magic power as she wanted on any version of herself.
There's a limit, of course, to how much magic she has overall, so the more bodies she has out, the more that reduces the maximum magic each individual one can tap. Normally, you'd see that as a weakness to leverage, but this was a True Dragon, notorious for having scads of magicules. She could replenish her alternates faster than they could use up magic, so even a modicum of usage wouldn't mean much.
Frankly, I have no idea how to defeat her. I'm not Testarossa, but I can't
blame her for publicly avowing that she couldn't win.
I returned Velgrynd's gaze, giving as arrogant a smile as I could.
"Well, thank you. I've got a really talented partner, you know, and when it comes to smarts, he's tough to beat. So I guess you think you've trapped us, but can you tell us what you want?"
In situations like these, bluffing is about all I got left. I had to make them think I knew exactly what they were up to; if it put them off guard enough to fear me, I had it made. But it was clearly not gonna work out that way.
"Aren't you rather confident? The way you refuse to admit defeat reminds me so much of my brother."
Meaning Veldora, I imagine. Having a sister like this must've been a real pain to him. Do you see now, Rimuru?! I thought I heard him say, but Ludora was talking, so I had to pay attention.
"What I want? Well, if you're that convinced of your intelligence, I don't think I need to tell you, do I?"
That's not really helpful, you know. If they wanted to rub us out, they'd be fighting by now. If they instead set up a roundtable of sorts, that meant there was room for negotiation. I think the answer here might just be that they're trying to win us over to their side?
Affirmative. This is believed to be correct. However, they may also be stalling for time. In that case, they may be attempting to defeat the subject Veldora Tempest and add him to their fold.
Hey, I did pretty good there, didn't I? I'm half right, at least.
Certainly, in Kondo's plans, "Marshal" Velgrynd would be taking control of Veldora. I didn't pay it much attention because I assumed it was impossible at this juncture—but if she had a Parallel Existence running around, was Velgrynd on her way to storm the labyrinth right this minute?
It was now an urgent question, so I contacted Veldora through our soul corridor.
(Hey, how's it going?)
(You fool! Now is not the time for casual greetings! Things are, um, rather hectic in here! My sister… My sister is pursuing me! She is outside the labyrinth right now, but at this rate, she is going to storm inside!!)
Yep. Sounds pretty busy.
(You gonna be okay?)
(I will have to come out for her. That would beat her laying waste to the labyrinth to reach me.)
Parallel Existence or not, I really didn't think Veldora would lose. So I decided to give him permission to exercise his full force.
(All right. I'll take full responsibility for the fallout, so just do something about Velgrynd for me. Can you do that?)
(Oh-ho? Well, in that case, allow me to handle everything for you! Kwah-ha ha-ha!!)
(Great!)
I ended the call, now much relieved. Leave it to Veldora, and I've got nothing to be concerned about. That—and I now understood what Ludora's plan was. Time to return to the bargaining table.
"Your mission right now is to try winning us over. And also, you're trying to buy time with this meeting so we won't interfere with your fight against Veldora, right?"
I tried to look as smug as possible as I laid it on them. Ludora gave this an elated smile.
"Ahhh, you're such an entertaining person. It'd be fun to have you match wits with Tatsuya, but there's no time for more diversions right now. If you already know that much, then I don't need to explain matters further, do I? I want you to join us and serve under me. Do it, and I'll guarantee your sovereignty and grant you the title of archduke."
"Ludora! If you appoint a non–blood relative archduke, you know the nobles will wail over it."
"I'll live. That's how worth it he is to me, if he cooperates."
So not just a duke, but an archduke? I think you're supposed to be in the emperor's bloodline, and the title dies with you, and stuff like that? And Ludora's promised to let me have that. From the Empire's perspective, this must be an unprecedented offer. After all this talk about how they never offered surrender to their foes, too! And how they always subjugated and colonized the nations they conquered! This Empire that's expanded through countless wars of aggression was about to give me one of the best deals possible. Honestly, they were rating me a lot higher than I ever thought they would.
But sadly, I already had my answer.
"Well, I know that's an excellent offer you're giving me, but the answer is no. But here's a proposal for you: How about we just call it quits here? I don't need reparations or anything, but I'd like us to sign a nonaggression treaty with each other."
Judging how nobody here gave a second thought to the sacrifices they demanded from those who served them, it'd be nothing short of suicidal for me to give in. If I kidded myself into thinking I'd be the first exception in the Empire's long history, it'd be my one-way ticket to ruin.
So I firmly refused Ludora's offer. What's more, since I had the chance and all, I expressed my own request to him. Personally, we hadn't suffered any damage, so I wasn't gonna ask for an apology or anything. As long as they swear not to mess with us any longer, I'm willing to just sweep this invasion under the rug. I'm sure some people would complain about that, but if we can settle this without any more bloodshed, I think that's the best approach.
I know I was going too easy on them, and I know I couldn't rely much on promises. If we don't trust each other, they're bound to break the treaty at some point. But the most important thing right now is to buy time. By making peace here, we'd have more time to get to know each other. There was hope, I felt, that more time to deepen our mutual understanding could lead to a future where war could be avoided. If we kept fighting like this, we'd have no choice but to take it all the way to the end—and if that's how it was, I still wanted to take a chance on this possibility, however small.
But Ludora answered with a cold smile.
"Ah, I see you are not so fit to serve as a ruler, after all. You fail to see my mercy for what it is, and you spin a web of nonsense instead."
"So cocky. Ludora's made every possible concession for you, and you've thrown it all away."
They reacted like they had the absolute advantage here, despite having just lost an army of one million. They don't really feel, deep down, that they've lost at all. All the soldiers and officers who perished thanks to his orders were no great shakes. Something about that really frightened me.
"I believe that human beings are creatures who can learn to understand each other. That, over time, they will organize themselves into a single will and work together to create a better world. But to achieve that, it is first essential to unify the world through overwhelming military force."
Ludora's words might seem like the kind of ideals I go on about. But there was a major gap between us, one that would prove hard to fill. It was so frustrating. We both started at the same point, but he reached the exact opposite conclusion—I now had all the proof I needed of that. I wondered for a moment if he was even more of an idealist than I was. But he wasn't. He claims that only his own righteousness can bring about true justice; he's a dictatorial thinker who refuses to accept the ideas of anyone else.
Just as I thought, it's unlikely that we'd ever be compatible. And if we were this far apart in our arguments, it'd likely be impossible to find a compromise through discussion.
"Humans are creatures with free will, you know. There's no such thing as unchanging justice in this world—there are so many ways people can think about matters. And don't you think refusing to acknowledge this will only sow more seeds of conflict?"
"How foolish of you. My way of thinking is supreme—supremely just. If you keep catering to the selfish whims of the idiotic masses, you know you'll never reach that ideal world of yours."
"But people make mistakes, don't they?!"
"That I cannot deny. I do listen to the voices of my most trusted advisers. But I can't listen to all the voices from the people below me. If I did that, we'd be in constant turmoil."
Mmph. He might be right about that, yeah…
I feel like I'm gonna be losing the verbal argument soon, too. I hated to admit it, but Ludora had been pursuing his career as a ruler for far longer than I.
"Well, I don't see the point in further argument. What we want is your loyalty to us. Demon lord Rimuru, abandon your friendship with Guy and come to our side."
There's that offer again. No doubt trying to place the pressure on Guy. If I decided to give in to Ludora, I was sure that was gonna tip the scales. That, I suppose, is why we've been kept alive up to this point. Still, though, my answer was the same as before.
Now that negotiations have broken down, it seemed like a fight was inevitable. Perhaps reading my thoughts, Velgrynd smiled coldly and gracefully waved her index finger at me—two light wags. Then a video image appeared in empty space, the same kind of principle as my Eye of God. It showed the current state of battle.
What I saw there was shocking. Testarossa, Ultima, and Carrera had all fallen in front of Velgrynd. The three demonesses, the best fighting force our nation enjoyed, had just been defeated by one person.
"No way!" I muttered to myself.
In the video, I could see the three of them standing up again. They hadn't lost the will to fight yet, but they were struggling against an insurmountable difference in ability. They couldn't hold out much longer; that much was clear.
"Do you see how your faithful Primals perform before me? I'd suggest you think carefully. Someone as smart as you should understand that I'm still going easy on them."
She didn't need to go into detail. This was a threat. If Velgrynd wanted to, she could easily hurt more than just these three. I don't know what's motivating them, but Ludora's team has made every concession they could for my sake.
Now I could see that Gabil's forces didn't have any time to help the three demonesses. Airships littered the skies above the battlefield, imperial troops swarming down from them. Kondo's forces were on the ground as well. Yuuki's former comrades—with the exception of Kagali, who was continuing on with the ritual—were fighting with them against the Dwarven army.
"Teare?! And Footman, too!"
Laplace's shout made me notice those masked annoyances fighting for the enemy as well. It was a chaotic scene, and it didn't look very good for my side.
We had hit rock bottom. I could feel Benimaru's concern for me. But I just couldn't give in.
"I know what you're trying to do. If you could rope me in, that'd be a much easier way to recruit Veldora, after all. He's a real free spirit, as you know, so no way he'd take orders from higher-ups like you."
He tends to (mostly) listen to me these days, but still, he loses his temper a lot. Maybe he has trouble dealing with me or something; I dunno.
Anyway, that's probably why Ludora wants me so bad. After some consideration, I decided to throw the invitation back in his face. Then I tried to find another way out, but:
"I am not interested in negotiation. Give me a yes or a no."
Now I was confronted with a choice. If I refused, I'd be plunged into a battle I had little chance of winning. But if I accepted, it'd be throwing myself into a fight I didn't want. I'd be following the will of someone else instead of my own, and it could lead to all kinds of losses later.
"You know, you say that we can all unite into one and create a better world that way, but is that a world where everyone can be happy?"
"What?"
"Whether war and hunger are eradicated or not, if your free will's taken from you, then what's the point of living? What you're trying to do is take away the potential of all the world's people! Have you ever thought about that?!"
"Their potential? There's no need for that. Give people freedom, and it could
lead them down the path to ruin. It's not what I want, and it's far from what Guy wants as well. So it's only natural that someone must manage them so they don't stray from the correct path, isn't it?"
"I understand that to a certain extent. I won't deny it at all. But are you going to find happiness there?!"
I suppose that, in the big picture, what I'm trying to do is essentially manage humanity. But I still think that, to some extent, you have to leave things to the will of the people. If you're too overprotective, you'll rob them of any opportunity to grow. People are stronger than we think, and I really don't feel we need to control them every step of the way.
"Happiness? What kind of naive nonsense is that? No matter how much sacrifice it takes, it must be made for the sake of everlasting peace. You don't need the permission of people who fail to understand even that. A little patience is necessary, after all, for the great joy coming for all of us."
I could see his point, but I still couldn't agree with it. Ludora was trying to turn his eyes away from the individuals who make up a society. That just didn't seem right to me at all.
"Well, I can't abide by that. I feel like what you're aiming at will just create more misery for everyone, and I can't accept that."
"Then you are a fool not to take my hand."
"Fine with me. Look, what are you even sitting here being a king for? Is it because you want to act all fancy or have a bunch of toys to play with?"
"What are you talking about? It's for the people, of course."
"Yeah, right! I like to think I became a demon lord for the sake of all my people, too, but I still want more people than that to have a happy life. There's gonna be sacrifices, of course, but I'm working myself hard to keep them to as few as possible. I can't just make myself as cutthroat as you are about it!"
I'd love to make the world a better place without sacrifice, but that's not possible. Look at all the people who died to make me a demon lord, for one. It's not that I regret what I did—I still think they had it coming—but I'm not sure the victims' relatives would be too convinced by my argument. That's the cross I
bear, and at the same time, Ludora has his own crimes he shouldn't take so lightly.
When he heard my words, he stared at me for a moment, eyes burning. But he immediately regained his composure.
"How young," he muttered, "and how naive."
"Ludora?"
"Don't worry, Velgrynd. It's just been so long since I've been so passionate about anything. I've failed to persuade you, perhaps, but you seem far too talented to be destroyed by us."
"That's a bad habit you're developing, Ludora. It was the same with Yuuki over there, wasn't it? Your odd hoarding habit as of late confuses me."
Quit treating us like toys, I wanted to shout, but I stopped myself. Negotiation was a nonstarter now, so it was time to prepare for battle. I looked over at my friends; they all looked ready to go. They had been doing their jobs during our conversation, which I was glad to see.
We had to beat Ludora here. I made up my mind. So I opened my mouth. But:
"But it's too bad we failed to convince the demon lord Rimuru. His friend's getting stronger than I thought, you know. He just refuses to listen to me, though, so I thought I'd punish him a little. I won't strike enough of a presence if I leave Parallel Existence on, so how about I break out my full powers for the first time in a while?"
"Oh? He's not listening either?"
"He never did heed a word I said. That's exactly like him, but…"
I couldn't help but turn my attention back toward Velgrynd. Veldora was on my mind. I didn't think the invincible Storm Dragon could ever be defeated, but this was just an unimaginable monster here. There was no telling what would happen next, and out of nowhere, I was in a state of deep concern.
"Oh, are you worried about him? Then I'd suggest taking Ludora's hand while you can. Then I won't have to torment my little brother any further."
Velgrynd brought up another screen. This showed Veldora in dragon form,
wounded and fighting frantically.
"I've been meaning to ask you, but how did you ever tame him in the first place?"
"What?"
"I said, how did you get Veldora to listen to you?"
I didn't, really.
"Veldora and I are friends. That's all there is to it."
"Oh? So you won't tell me, then? That's too bad." Velgrynd exhaled, visibly disappointed. "In that case, I'm afraid I can't go easy on him. In terms of magicules, at least, he's even above me."
Then Velgrynd disappeared.
This was surprising and upsetting in equal measures. We knew that Ludora's goal was to stall long enough to defeat and subdue Veldora. I went along with that, because we were buying time for ourselves as well. Velgrynd's Parallel Existence might be nearly invincible, but it has one drawback—rapid energy depletion. If you eliminate each individual body, you can also deplete the magicules divided between them. Those can't be recovered immediately, so keep it up, and you can weaken her on an overall basis. The fewer magicules divvied up, the less often she can use her most powerful moves.
That was why I thought Veldora had an advantage… But looking at the screen, even one of Velgrynd's Parallel Existences was a bit too much for Veldora to fully defeat. In fact, I could tell through our soul corridor that Veldora was growing flustered.
On that screen floating in midair, I saw the Velgrynd that was engaged with Testarossa's group disappear. The three demonesses did their best to buy us time, but it was all for nothing. Not good, I thought. Velgrynd's power was even beyond my expectations. So they had seen through our intentions…and just used them to ridicule us instead?
"Curious, I imagine? Well, I'll give you one more chance after this battle is over. Perhaps you'll change your mind once you see the error of your ways."
Ludora's voice seemed far away to me. It was awful, but there was nothing I could do. Now that Velgrynd was gone, I really should've tried defeating Ludora there, but for some reason, I had a bad feeling it wouldn't work out. So I decided to watch Veldora fight.
In the second screen Velgrynd left for us, a crimson dragon roared. It was the clash of the century, a bout between two True Dragons—and it was about to get even more extreme.