Velda listened to the battle reports from every front with an expressionless face.
The results were far from favorable.
More accurately, it was a catastrophe that could only be called a total rout.
In Milim's territory, the defeat of
An army of two hundred thousand had been deployed, but between those absorbed by Vega and those slain by
They were in an overwhelming condition of annihilation.
Victory in this region was no longer possible.
Looking at Leon's domain — "Eldorado" — there was no one to lead the angels and they couldn't breach the city barrier, so the situation remained deadlocked.
The castle was cut off by a spatial disconnection barrier, making it impossible to see inside, but Velda already knew that
He had given "King of Demonic Dragons" to
The fact that the barrier remained in place suggested the battle was still ongoing, but... even that gave Velda a sense of unease.
The most decisive blow was
Dagruel was the strongest among the Four Calamity Heavenly Generals, likely possessing combat ability second only to Velda himself. His defeat was a situation Velda could not ignore.
The giants' Bound Giant God Corps had ceased their advance, apparently accepting defeat.
(To think Veldora would defeat Dagruel... Even cross-referencing combat data from
"I am deeply sorry. In my calculations, the possibility of Vega, Kagali, and even Dagruel of the Four Calamity Heavenly Generals being defeated was simply —"
Lucia began to offer her apologies, but Velda raised a hand to stop her.
"It's fine. Even my own calculations couldn't predict Dagruel's defeat. The real question is — what move do we make next?"
The greatest concentration of military force had been deployed here, precisely because Dino had been running the most cautious combat operations.
Milim's territory could be abandoned without issue. The most critical objective — capturing Demon Lord Milim — had already been achieved.
Leon's "Eldorado" could be left alone as well. The original reason for the attack had been indulging Kazalim's whim of displaying obsession toward Leon; it wasn't a strategically vital position.
Protecting the Sky Gate and, more importantly, severing the foundation of the people's faith — for both these purposes, conquering Holy Empire Lubelius had been critical. But...
By announcing Rimuru's disappearance, hope among the people of the western nations and the Empire was already fading.
Add to that the fall of the Western Holy Church's headquarters, and the people would give up resistance in despair — that had been the calculation.
But — (Veldora's existence, along with the various resistance forces, continued to give people hope.)
That was Velda's analysis.
Even the Holy Church was merely one piece in a larger puzzle.
It seemed the network between nations was more formidable than he had expected.
The irony was that it was his own vessel — Sakaguchi Yuki — who had created the Free Guild, an organization perfectly suited for information transmission.
(That's precisely what makes it interesting. If I were to step in, it would be over in an instant — so let them resist with all their might.)
Velda was satisfied that this was proving more entertaining than expected. He continued to ponder his next move.
Before him stood Lucia.
To her right was Milim.
Kneeling one step below were the last two of the Punishment Seven Angels —
These were all the forces that remained.
He had intended to defeat each Demon Lord one by one, but Rimuru's subordinates had turned the tables and annihilated his forces instead.
In terms of territorial strategy, it was a complete defeat. However, the enemy's primary force — Demon Lord Rimuru — had already been destroyed.
There was nothing to panic about, Velda believed.
Most importantly, the truly critical objective was defeating
Once the strongest beings in this world were eliminated, sweeping up the remaining forces would be trivial.
Currently, Guy and Chloe were locked in battle, and so were Velgrynd and
If Guy were defeated, Chloe would become free, but due to her binding she couldn't turn her blade against Velda. Still, to be safe, it would have been ideal to fight Guy to a mutual kill.
If those two were eliminated, convincing Velgrynd would become possible.
With this in mind, Velda let Lucia voice her opinion.
"It should be soon — Demon Lord Guy Crimson and the True Hero Chloe Aubert should both be significantly depleted by now. I recommend committing our full remaining forces to take them both out."
Without hesitation, Lucia gave her answer.
Satisfied with the response, Velda stood up.
"Good! Then, I shall grant Zero a new power. With this, go to Guy's location and —"
Halfway through his sentence, Velda stopped moving.
(Wait... This is too — yes, far too predictable.
All of Lucia's calculations have ended in failure, and that's troubling.
Even after we destroyed Demon Lord Rimuru, his subordinates are moving without hesitation?
And Veldora's actions as well...
Could he be alive?
If so, then targeting Guy and the others would be an entirely expected move.
In that case... what I should target is the Monster Country.)
Lucia, the finest Wisdom Core, had been wrong about every calculation.
Even without the Ultimate Skill "King of Knowledge," Lucia's intellect was exceptionally sharp.
Yet these results were far too unnatural.
"Change of plans. We strike the Monster Country. Zero, gather all remaining forces and rendezvous with Dino.
The Ultimate Skill I'm granting you — 'King of Demonic Dragons' — has been accumulating combat experience and is approaching its complete form.
Master it. Even
Go! Ravage that land and bring about the birth of a new world!"
"By your will!"
Receiving Velda's command, Zero rose and departed.
Mai followed Zero and left Velda's side.
Only Lucia and Milim remained.
Velda settled leisurely into his chair and smiled softly.
(If Demon Lord Rimuru is alive, he won't sit idle while Ramiris is in danger.
He was probably planning to target the moment I was baited into moving by the sacrifice of his rook and bishop — but how naive.
Instead, I'll lure him out and put him in check in a single move.)
Velda was convinced that Rimuru was still alive.
But since Rimuru hadn't shown himself, Velda predicted he wasn't operating at full capacity.
Or perhaps he was waiting for Velda to move against Guy and Chloe, hoping to exploit the opening.
Either way, Velda had seen through the strategy.
(As long as I remain in this Sky Castle, I cannot lose. Instead, I'll draw you out and deliver the finishing blow.)
That was Velda's thinking.
"Check, Demon Lord Rimuru! Now then — how will you respond?"
The Sky Castle, with only Lucia and Milim inside, showed a vast, empty expanse.
There, Velda's laughter echoed softly.
That laughter became a small signal announcing that the battle had entered its final stage.
--- Tough!!
That giant old man was absurdly strong!!
I never imagined Dagruel had this much power, or that we'd get to see Veldora fight at full strength.
"Kufufufu, as expected of Lord Veldora. Even I wouldn't have been able to defeat Demon Lord Dagruel in his complete form."
His words carried a confident air, so he didn't seem to think he'd lose outright.
But then again, competing with Veldora in strength was abnormal to begin with. Dagruel was simply too strong.
I hadn't noticed at all when we first met just how powerful Dagruel was.
Even in this battle, one wrong step would have meant Veldora's defeat.
《Indeed. Without combat experience against Velgrynd, Veldora would have lost.》
She must have been quite confident in the abilities she'd personally enhanced in Veldora.
But well, that confidence might be justified.
The "Wave of Abundant Holy Mystery" Veldora had unleashed transformed that barren death desert into a vast forest.
Wasn't that a bit too much enhancement?
As always, the magical modifications were so thorough they were refreshing to watch.
This ability was outrageously absurd.
The angel army that had been attacking Luminous's city was used as sacrifices, with the excess energy channeled into the earth — which then achieved a magnificent regeneration.
In an unreasonable twist, the angels had not been permitted to resist.
Their success probability had been manipulated, leaving them unable to fight back.
Truly unreasonable. A terrifying ability.
"Araaaara — hahahaha! And that's how I've used up all my magicules! Please replenish me!"
If he weren't so shamelessly making demands like that of me, it would have been genuinely impressive — but oh well.
I sighed in exasperation and began transferring my energy to Veldora.
"Hey, that's fine, but they haven't figured out our location, right?"
"Of course not. Do I look like the type to make such a blunder?"
Veldora was brimming with confidence.
That's exactly why I asked, but whatever. If we're found, we'll deal with it then.
More importantly, Veldora's performance this time was truly praiseworthy.
He'd repaired the corrupted ley lines and corrected the distortions in that land.
Thanks to that, we now had more options to work with.
And he'd done it naturally, without arousing Velda's suspicion — skillfully.
For that reason, I'd allowed him to drain a large amount of magicules from me.
Well, with this, the battle situation had reached a temporary conclusion.
In Milim's territory, Carrion's army was driving out the angels.
Some of Gobta's subordinates were injured, but the Medium Recovery Potions prepared in large quantities seemed to be healing them quickly.
This region should be fine now.
Even in Leon's "Eldorado," the situation could be described as an effective victory.
They were maintaining the barrier while directing operations on the battlefield.
With their leaders crushed, the angels had no chance of taking this location.
No problems here either.
With this, victory was confirmed in every location except the Monster Country.
But Ciel's strategy was incredible...
The only real concern had been Gobta's battle.
But even that had insurance — the Demon Lords who had defeated the Seraphim were standing by for cleanup.
In the worst case, Diablo had been prepared to head over as backup, so there was no need for excessive worry.
Even the support request from Mitzery to Leon would have carried some risk depending on who was sent.
But — 《Most likely,
There had been various complications that ended with me going personally, but in the end, it played out exactly as Ciel had predicted.
The crowning achievement was Veldora — the moment Dagruel's betrayal was anticipated, she'd stationed Veldora as a precaution against the worst case.
If Veldora hadn't been waiting in the wings,
On that front too, Shion had shown growth, and I almost wondered if that was part of Ciel's plan.
No, surely that wasn't the case.
I had dispatched Masayuki to various locations, and his coinciding with Hinata's crisis was just chance.
But the children going all the way to the Englassia Kingdom was in line with Ciel's intentions. She knew about Alice's danger-sensing ability, so incorporating that into the strategy wouldn't be surprising.
Another thing that caught my attention was Masayuki.
His ability to win people's hearts had been enhanced to a frightening degree.
I was genuinely grateful that Masayuki was on our side.
And that ability was also helping to dispel people's anxiety across various locations.
The results exceeded even my intentions.
Ciel hadn't modified Masayuki's abilities directly, but his acting coaching was based on notes from Ciel's own planning.
Once again, Ciel had played a crucial role.
Looking at it this way, everything appeared to rest in the palm of Ciel's hand, which was terrifying.
But well, I wanted to end this battle quickly too, so it worked in my favor.
As for Velda — my condolences.
There was no other way to say it: he'd picked the wrong opponent.
Now then, time to make the next move.
"So, we've won across all fronts, but where do you think Velda will move next? He won't give up on destroying the world, so where will he aim?"
"That would be where Guy, Miss Chloe, and Lord Veldora's sisters are fighting, wouldn't it?"
When I asked, Diablo gave his answer.
Yeah, same as my thinking.
The whole reason we'd left the battle at that location alone was partly to draw Velda in.
Then I thought we should head there too and wait for Velda to arrive — 《Please wait. We've proceeded according to plan, which should force the enemy to change their thinking.
Velda has questioned your demise and become convinced you're alive.
In other words, Velda's next likely move will be an attack on our capital.》 Ciel offered her opinion.
Right, of course he'd grow suspicious.
My subordinates were performing brilliantly for a supposedly dead man.
If she pointed it out, even I would be suspicious. No, it would be stranger if I weren't.
So that was her intention all along... As expected of Ciel.
Normally, the gap between thinking of something and actually executing it is like heaven and earth...
"So Velda's target is the Monster Country."
《That's correct.》 "And his aim is to lure me out in a panic?"
《Exactly. And most likely, he'll commit his absolute maximum forces — including the anti-labyrinth units.》 Anti-labyrinth forces?
That's impossible.
That labyrinth was an invincible domain granted absolute immortality by Ramiris.
As long as we fought inside it, there was no possibility of our defeat.
The only way to conquer the labyrinth was to destroy its creator, Ramiris.
《Not quite. If one puts roots into the labyrinth, it's possible to rewrite its effects from within. In other words —》 Ah, I see.
After hearing Ciel's explanation, I understood.
Indeed, with that method, it might be possible to neutralize the labyrinth.
If so, the final battle could very well take place inside the labyrinth.
I immediately devised countermeasures and relayed them to Benimaru, who had returned to the Monster Country.
I trusted that Ramiris and the others would handle the rest.
As for us — "So we can't lure Velda out after all."
《Correct, as expected. On the contrary, we've succeeded in trapping him.》 Just as Ciel said, Velda had locked himself inside the Sky Castle.
Until now, the Sky Gate's location had been unknown.
Or rather, in that land where magicules raged wildly, even "Magic Perception" couldn't function properly.
The Sky Gate had remained hidden through the long ages to the present day.
But with Dagruel — the gate's guardian — defeated and the magicule disturbance corrected, only the gate's own defense mechanisms remained...
Until now, targeting the gate would have immediately given away their intentions to Velda.
Before they could pull forces away from its defense, Velda would have formulated countermeasures.
But now.
Thanks to Veldora's exploits, the gate was naturally exposed.
The moment Velda realized their intentions, it would already be too late — they just needed to destroy the gate swiftly and deliver check.
An eye for an eye.
If Velda was going to strike at Rimuru's doorstep to lure him out, then Rimuru could simply turn the tables and attack first.
With Velda's forces diminished, there was no longer a need to defend every stronghold.
If Velda desired the world's destruction, he would learn the hard way that a gradual deployment of forces had been a foolish strategy.
Next, it was Rimuru's turn to attack.
If Velda still believed it was always his turn, Rimuru would teach him otherwise.
『
Through a modified application of my summoning call, the "Thought Communication" link with the three Demon Lords connected.
A secret line established through a direct "Soul Corridor."
『This is Lord Rimuru! So you truly are safe —』
Testarossa responded, deeply moved.
I nodded and issued my orders.
『The three of you — destroy the Sky Gate. Also, keep my survival hidden for now.』
『Even so, everyone already believes in your safety, Lord Rimuru...』
『Benimaru told me, but well, keep it quiet for now. I don't plan to show myself yet, so just frame it as a personal order from me. If anyone else asks you to do something, just don't invoke my name when you refuse, and that'll be fine.』
『In that case, please rest assured. The only one who can give us orders is Lord Rimuru!』
Saying this, Testarossa and the others smiled happily.
Come to think of it, they were my direct subordinates. No one else could issue them orders, so I'd been overthinking it.
Benimaru already knew of my survival, and it was old news anyway.
While I was awkwardly mulling over such things, Testarossa and the others had finished their preparations.
And with gleeful smiles, they set out to execute my order to destroy the Sky Gate.
The remaining problem was — Those causing collateral environmental destruction on the northern continent.
"Well then, it's pointless for Guy and the others to keep fighting. Let's send someone to mediate."
The moment I said that — "Oh, Diab—"
"I have the important duty of serving as Lord Rimuru's bodyguard! I humbly request that Lord Veldora be the one to intervene with his sisters!"
An intense tug-of-war ensued.
The winner was Diablo.
He gracefully sidestepped the role Veldora tried to push onto him.
It was magnificent.
And so, it was decided that Veldora would go mediate his sisters' quarrel.
Veldora's expression was brimming with dread, but he'd just drained a massive amount of magicules from me, so there was no need for sympathy.
I really was counting on him to give it his all.