That day, I tested the completed surveillance magic after finishing its improvements.
The location was the Strategic Military Command Combat Operations Center—known colloquially as the Control Room.
I'd gotten carried away and picked a flashy name, but now I kind of regretted how long it was.
Honestly, everyone just called it "the Control Room," and more people didn't even know its official name.
It was built adjacent to Veldora's private quarters on the 100th floor of the Labyrinth, with access from the Monster Nation's war room.
Basically, any critical stronghold gets installed inside the Labyrinth.
The results were excellent.
Large screens like the ones used during the martial arts tournament had been installed in multiples, each displaying a different location.
Monitoring was now possible across various key points—the Great Forest of Jura, the Dwarf Kingdom's trade routes, and more.
Even sea routes and the Canaat Mountain Range showed up without a hitch.
The principle was simple.
Lens-shaped water droplets, manipulated by spirits—the same technique I'd used for my developed Physical Magic, "Divine Wrath."
It was remarkably cost-effective.
The enlarged scene captured through a giant lens was reflected via mirrors, relayed by similar mirrors deployed near the stratosphere boundary, and the image was transmitted to this location.
At the same time, the captured scene was also directly transmitted via Spatial Domination, achieving a data link with zero time discrepancy.
The images displayed on the monitors were highly accurate footage processed by image enhancement courtesy of the Wisdom King.
Double-layering the image acquisition meant one couldn't be blocked or obscured. That was the idea.
Now, with this surveillance system complete, there was actually one additional benefit.
It had become possible to activate "Divine Wrath" from right here in this command center.
I tested it myself and dropped one right on
The sight of Gobta jumping in shock was unforgettable.
"You idiot! It's because you let your guard down!"
I lectured him in return, though honestly, I didn't think it was Gobta's fault.
Furthermore, "Divine Wrath" had also been upgraded.
Originally, the Great Sage had optimized it, but the current Wisdom King apparently wasn't satisfied…
It made more thorough improvements and even developed a system to keep several satellites floating in the sky at all times.
It apparently couldn't stand that the system was unusable at night.
Using my Magicules as the power source and leveraging large-spirit-class manipulation, geostationary satellites were now permanently stationed near the stratosphere boundary.
All I had to do was supplement whatever was lacking.
Beyond that, it could focus sunlight directly and reflect it from a position unaffected by day or night, allowing energy to be radiated at any time.
Some energy loss was inevitable, but even so, it meant the beam could be used at night with greater power than before.
Naturally, during daytime, the consumption was also lower.
The amount of light handled increased, as did the thermal output.
It was now possible to unleash power rivaling a heat beam cannon.
Against a human army, I could annihilate them without moving a single step. That was the kind of reaction this magical overhaul elicited.
Anyway, with the large screens displaying scenes from across the land, the experiment was a success.
When I confirmed this and returned to my office,
Appearances aside, I actually received quite a lot of guests.
Well, you could say the bulk of my work was dealing with visitors.
The rest consisted of developing magic, coming up with interesting items, and placing orders with the right people for each task.
Play was part of the job too.
So I took visitor接待 seriously.
Led by Shuna to the reception room, I found four people waiting with tense expressions.
Three were a familiar trio, and the fourth was an old man I'd never seen before.
The trio was Shinji and the others—the ones who'd performed well during the recent Labyrinth siege.
I began with greetings and asked them to explain the situation.
Sure enough, they'd been on a covert mission from the Empire, conducting intelligence-gathering operations.
They formally introduced themselves and explained the details.
They said they'd been acting on orders from Yuuki, which made sense—that was exactly the kind of thing he'd pull.
Unfortunately, the Labyrinth had simply been harder than Yuuki had anticipated.
Or rather, it was harder than even I'd estimated, so I couldn't really laugh at anyone about that.
No one would reasonably expect something to have undergone that much growth—or rather, evolution—so it was an understandable outcome.
Well, whatever. Let's forget about it.
So, they reported back to Yuuki, but somehow the information leaked to the heads of other legions…
They'd been captured and interrogated.
They'd been drugged with compliance serum, and bombs had even been implanted in their hearts.
At that point, Goda, the court mage who was also Shinji's teacher—the old man who'd come with them—rescued them, and they'd fled here.
"Wait, is the bomb situation handled?"
When I asked, Shinji answered with a blank expression: "Oh yeah, I already removed that. Bought a new bracelet, went into the Labyrinth, and blew it up!"
Apparently the bomb was the classic type that would detonate if surgically removed, and they couldn't think of a better solution.
They said Goda had helped them escape from the cell, and then Shinji immediately used teleportation magic to come here.
They headed straight for the Labyrinth and detonated the bomb inside before the Empire noticed their escape and triggered it remotely.
Well… technically, dying in the Labyrinth meant you'd be revived, but it was still quite the bold move.
"Didn't you think it would only work inside the Labyrinth or against monsters?"
When I asked that, Shinji went pale and lost his words.
Apparently, in the rush, they hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Hey, Shinji… hey! Don't tell me you didn't even think about that!?"
Mark's retort was met with: "O-of course I thought about it! Obviously!"
Shinji's eyes were darting everywhere as he answered.
Well, he'd insisted he planned to use his own healing ability the whole time, but the fact that the first person to test it was Shinji himself probably wasn't worth dwelling on.
After that, Goda told them not to trust Yuuki, and they decided to defect.
That was when I first turned my attention to Goda.
He was a sharp-eyed old man dressed in what looked like high-quality mage's robes, without any particular flashiness.
"So, Goda—why did you come along with them?"
To my question, Goda suddenly dropped a bombshell: "Actually, I am a Reincarnator."
All three of them were startled, staring at Goda.
According to Goda, he had undergone reincarnation multiple times in his pursuit of mastering high magic.
He'd even participated in the previous Veldora subjugation battle, and had been thoroughly killed…
"Honestly, completing the reincarnation ritual beforehand turned out to be the right call.
I wanted to see it with my own eyes. The extreme limit of demonic power, born naturally."
The Dragon
They stood at the apex of monsters, the strongest species in this entire world.
And based on his firsthand experience of actually fighting one, he didn't believe the Imperial Army could defeat Veldora.
He'd also become interested in the Demon Lord who had become Veldora's ally—that is, me.
"I don't particularly owe the Empire any loyalty.
The legion I'd personally raised was seized from me, so I have no lingering attachment left.
Besides, I heard from my disciple that Adalman had taken up residence in this country's Labyrinth…"
Apparently, Goda had been friends with Adalman over a thousand years ago.
Back then, he'd been in a small kingdom on the western side—closer to our position within the Great Forest of Jura—secretly conducting magical research.
In essence, each time he was reborn, he scoured the secret libraries of various royal palaces and accumulated knowledge.
He declared outright that he was an egotist to the core with no room for loyalty.
Quite the old codger.
I'll keep it a secret that I secretly respected him a little.
He apparently also knew all about
He'd even put on an act of researching things he didn't already know while talking to Shinji and the others, but he said even that pretense had become pointless.
"The weapons and 'magic crystals' that Shinji and the others brought back attracted attention.
Greedy people started loudly clamoring for war.
I thought we still had another ten years left, despite everything…
I had planned to reincarnate before the war started, but I failed.
Well, that failure is thanks to that young upstart Yuuki.
He's been making a name for himself recently, climbing to the rank of legion commander with real ability…
He leaked information to other legion commanders, clearly stoking their interest in war.
But none of that matters to me anymore.
I decided to make a clean break, and rescuing my disciple was just a bonus."
The old man blurted all this out with an offhand air.
But if what he said was true, it actually played right into my plans.
Letting them know that high-quality "magic crystals" and high-performance equipment could be obtained from inside the Labyrinth.
Then what would happen?
I could have predicted that someone on the Empire's side would push for an early declaration of war.
Honestly, waiting just wasn't in my nature. I'd spent this past year being patient, and all it did was make me irritated.
I wanted to settle things quickly—defeat Yuuki and rescue Chloe.
That was exactly why I'd let the three of them go. I wanted the Empire to come attack me.
Otherwise, there would have been no reason to let known spies go free.
"Alright—everything's going according to plan!"
Shinji and the others looked surprised at my words, but Goda simply nodded knowingly with an "I told you so" expression.
He'd figured out my intentions.
Of course, Yuuki had probably seen through my thinking as well, but it seemed he'd decided to play along with the scheme anyway.
According to Goda, the Empire had already begun mobilizing toward war.
Rather than a formal declaration of war, there would be a single demand for surrender.
If accepted, fine—if resisted, it would mean war, with absolutely no quarter given afterward.
In that case, there was no reason for us to hold back either.
I'd settle everything in one fell swoop and cut off the root of this trouble.
The defection of the three was accepted on my sole authority.
Goda was treated as a guest.
Though this old man would later become the new guardian of the 60th floor—a hidden boss separate from the Demon Lord Guardian Colossus…
That was a story for another time.
————— After the war council in the grand assembly hall concluded, the Emperor was relaxing in his private chambers.
By his side stood a beautiful woman with cerulean hair.
Emperor Rudra turned to the beauty beside him and asked warmly: "Well, it seems all the pieces are in place,
How do you think this will turn out? Do you think your brother will show up?"
The beauty addressed as Velgrynd replied to the Emperor naturally.
After all, she was one of the Dragon Species—the Scorch Dragon, Velgrynd.
"Yes, Rudra. He'll show up. That boy simply adores festivals."
"So he does. If my forces can defeat him, all the better. If not…"
"This time, I'd like to put Guy and my sister
"Heh heh. Guy is targeting that as well. If you draw Veldora's attention, he'll try to exploit the opening."
"Yes, how irritating. Otherwise, I would have dealt with that boy long ago."
"Hahaha.
But this time, my ability, the Ultimate Skill 'King of Justice,' grants me the use of the special skill 'Army of Angels.' Guy's allies seem to be expanding their influence as well, but they haven't fully consolidated yet.
This time, we hold an overwhelming advantage."
"Oh my? Then it looks like we might be able to execute the plan to bring that boy into our ranks.
We can't kill him—he'd be no use as a pawn against Guy. I'll weaken him, and you capture him?"
"Hmm. That works. But the Physical Body is such an inconvenient thing…
Each time I'm reborn, I inherit my ego and soul, but my abilities get restricted at inconvenient times.
This time, I waited until I reached a complete state.
My army is prepared, and there are no ability restrictions.
If you can draw Veldora's focus, my 'Sovereign's Dominion' should bring him under my control."
"Oh my, then victory is just around the corner.
But…
That boy hasn't seemed quite himself since his seal was broken.
The violent Magicule storm that once raged around him has completely dissipated.
He might not have fully recovered yet."
"Does it matter?
Guy cast aside humans as weaklings and never took them as pawns.
Yet while he's been nurturing Demon Lords, he still hasn't come to control them.
In fact, this newcomer Rimuru as a Demon Lord seems to have better standing among the others."
"True.
Guy using humans as pawns is a rule violation, but then again, us taking Demon Lords as pawns is also a rule violation—so it evens out.
We should crush that Demon Lord before he grows any stronger.
And what a convenient timing—all those Demon Lords gathered in one place.
Rimuru and Ramiris—we can crush two irritating demons at once."
"Indeed. Well, let them make as grand a spectacle as they wish.
Once Veldora is secured, the rest is of no consequence.
Use your Ultimate Skill, 'King of Mercy,' to rain down a mercy stroke and wipe that city off the map."
"Yes, let's bestow our benevolence after so long. A peaceful death, that is!"
The two conversed for a while longer.
And the next day, from the Empire, a grand army of unprecedented scale in all of history sortied toward the Monster Nation.