Go all out!
I felt like I remembered saying something like that.
Don't worry—I'm not so senile yet. It's only been about three years since I was reincarnated.
No need for those kinds of concerns.
But— Was that really something I said?
An event unfolding before my eyes on the main screen had me questioning whether those words had actually come from my own mouth, and that passing thought just slipped out.
On the screen, the Tempest army's overwhelming victory was being displayed.
That was fine.
There was no problem with that—but the content was just too much.
It was a one-sided rampage so extreme it left you dumbfounded.
And it wasn't just Gabiru— The entire Wyvern Corps had transformed, so there was no laughing that off.
I figured out right away that the gimmick was "Dragon Warrior Transformation," but I hadn't expected them to master it without going berserk.
And the decisive blow was the explosion that occurred in midair.
I don't know what had gone wrong, but a thermonuclear detonation erupted in the sky, engulfing the Empire's airship fleet in flames.
At that point, the Empire's air combat capability had become completely unsustainable.
That marked the beginning of Tempest's full-scale offensive.
Even in modern warfare, helicopters hold an overwhelming advantage against tanks.
Similarly, the Blue Division's Wyverns, conducting breath attacks from above, inflicted devastating damage on the Empire's ground forces.
But there was a reason they were able to carry this out so smoothly.
It was thanks to the intelligence officers' contributions.
Those people had an eye for spotting the strong—ignoring distinctions like squad leaders versus rank-and-file, they singled out anyone who stood out and cut them down.
In fact, even the Wisdom King's analysis confirmed that the officers and soldiers engaged by
They were likely "Otherworlders" or hidden powerful individuals from within the Empire.
They had been identified effortlessly and eliminated before they could make a move.
What was truly fearsome was that discerning eye for the strong.
Amid all this, an anomaly occurred in the operational command center positioned at the rear of the Empire's forces.
When we pulled it up on the main screen,
No other survivors could be confirmed.
The remaining hundreds of tanks had ceased all movement, and every last supply and maintenance soldier at the rear had been incapacitated.
The number was probably somewhere in the tens of thousands.
I didn't know exactly what had happened, but I understood that something dangerous had occurred.
The Wisdom King reported: 《Solution. Large-scale annihilation magic "Blessing of Death" confirmed to have been used.》 When I heard the explanation that it was a type of nuclear strike magic that used a magic death ray to exterminate biological life, I almost shouted, "Don't use such dangerous magic!"—which was probably understandable.
In any case, that single moment decided the outcome of the battle.
I was about to declare the end of combat operations on that battlefield... but!
By that time, there was no longer any need to call things off.
The tens of thousands of Empire soldiers still remaining on the battlefield were annihilated in the next instant.
By the activation of Quadruple Composite Magic: Sanctuary of Monsters.
Moss and the four High-ranking Demon Generals had scattered to the four corners of the battlefield.
And they activated the Quadruple Composite Magic.
The reason they had eliminated the strong first was apparently a precaution—to prevent anyone from interfering with the large-scale magic.
This was probably the difference in caliber compared to someone like Testarossa, who could casually activate large-scale annihilation magic solo.
But that was a poor comparison to make—it didn't mean they were weak.
Sanctuary of Monsters, as the name implied, had absolutely no effect on monsters.
However, for humans unaccustomed to Magicules, it exerted a lethal effect.
In this case, with the magic users who had been maintaining the barrier already defeated, and only Enhanced Humans whose combat power had been boosted remaining, resistance was utterly impossible.
What was truly horrifying was that decomposition of the Physical Body began with those who couldn't resist, and in the blink of an eye, they were converted into Magicules.
In just a few minutes, every last survivor had been transformed into Magicules.
And so, the first encounter battle against the Empire forces came to an end.
Or rather, the Empire forces they had faced in the first encounter were completely wiped out.
In the literal sense—total annihilation. Not in a military interpretation, but actual annihilation. That was the terrifying part.
I thought it was absurd.
I'd just said to go all out, but I never imagined it would result in this.
To me,
What the hell were those women? And those intelligence officers!
They said they were directly under Lord Rimuru's command, so you can explain this to me, right?"
Well, yeah... I mean... you know?
There was no strategy to speak of anymore, was there?
But listen, Benimaru.
You're not the only one who wants an explanation.
If anything, I'm the one who wants an explanation!
I couldn't very well say any of that out loud, given it wouldn't even count as an excuse...
"Those are new subordinates
Well, Diablo will train them properly going forward."
I pushed it off onto Diablo and escaped unscathed.
Though really, I hadn't expected the demons to go that far. They were just too cool about it—wiping out an entire enemy force without a shred of hesitation.
However, "Kufufufu. Going overboard—they may have gotten slightly carried away. I'll make sure to educate them properly later."
When Diablo said this with a smile, I didn't forget to tell him, "Keep it moderate!"
And so, after wrapping up the situation report, we confirmed the damage from the first battle.
The battle had concluded in under two hours from the start.
While there were quite a few wounded, everyone had already recovered.
Since I'd had them each carry ten Intermediate Recovery Potions made in the Monster Country, most injuries were healed immediately.
Also, those I'd initially thought were dead had actually survived thanks to the Full Recovery Potions that squad leaders had been equipped with, which were used immediately.
Under Benimaru's command, they had brilliantly played their role as decoys.
That explained why Benimaru hadn't been particularly shaken.
The result was that while a massive number of Recovery Potions had been consumed, actual casualties were zero.
It was an unbelievable, overwhelming victory.
However, it wasn't entirely without damage.
Gabiru and his subordinate Wyvern Corps.
The special skill "Dragon Warrior Transformation" had inflicted severe damage on their Physical Bodies.
This skill forcibly created a resilient Physical Body comparable to that of a Dragon Man. However, the effect lasted only thirty minutes, and it could only be activated once every two days.
The reason was that the backlash from pushing beyond one's limits kicked in immediately after use, leaving the user in a miserable state where they couldn't move for twenty-four hours.
Well, since they'd won by going all out, it was fine—but it was a skill that would self-destruct if used at the wrong time.
This time, the penalty that came from Gabiru getting carried away was borne not just by Gabiru but by the entire Wyvern Corps.
You'd just have to be grateful it ended at that.
As for the Empire's losses...
There were no prisoners. Because everyone was dead.
The number: two hundred and forty thousand.
Souls had been offered up to me, so I had an exact count.
This sensation—this must be what it felt like to collect souls from subordinates.
Shortly after the battle began, I'd felt souls accumulating at a furious pace.
After gathering ten thousand, I had evolved from a Demon Lord seed to an Awakened Demon Lord—but what would happen with two hundred and forty thousand?
The answer was: no change!
Once I had awakened as a True Demon Lord, my own evolution had reached its maximum.
Of course.
Otherwise, Guy would be going on a killing spree right about now to harvest souls and accelerate humanity's extinction.
The fact that he had refrained from killing since his own awakening meant he had realized through intuition that further evolution was impossible—which was exactly why I had stopped.
However, he could still utilize souls for purposes other than his own evolution.
《Report. Acquired souls have exceeded the specified threshold.
Currently, two subordinates connected to the soul lineage are eligible.
Eligible individuals are the following monsters:
Using the specified amount [Souls: 100,000] to evolve a subordinate. YES/NO?》 The Wisdom King was saying something outrageous.
Apparently, if you gave the specified number of souls to someone eligible for Demon Lord awakening, you could trigger their awakening.
And the amount was ten times what I'd needed to awaken myself.
This was something no one had known until now.
Even if someone did know, it was cheaper to let someone awaken into a Demon Lord on their own and then recruit them afterward.
Guy might have known about this.
That was probably why he held gatherings of superior beings like the Banquet of Demon Lords—to select those worth recruiting.
There might be other reasons as well.
Or perhaps I was overestimating him, and he genuinely didn't know.
A hundred thousand souls—people threw that number around casually, but it was equivalent to slaughtering an entire major city.
That wasn't something you could just do easily.
Another thing that caught my attention was the phrase "connected to the soul lineage."
This was most likely referring to the soul connection established through "Naming."
When you gave a name to a monster, it evolved. I'd been using this ability carelessly, but I'd recently come to understand just how dangerous it was.
It consumed massive amounts of Magicules, which weakened me directly.
So I had taken to storing the surplus Magicules and using those instead.
The only reason that was possible was because I had a convenient skill like the Gluttonous King's Stomach.
Without such a skill, you'd have to dip into your own reserves, and it was understandable that not everyone could casually perform Naming.
That was exactly why so few people had subordinates with soul connections.
It was possible that this was a privilege given only to me.
So, I chose NO.
I had a bad feeling about it, and I couldn't decide who to pick even if I wanted to.
I also had questions about the criteria for eligibility.
Based on Magicules alone,
Since I didn't fully understand it, the safest course of action was to leave it be for now.
But still—over two hundred thousand people had died.
It was a massacre.
And yet, my heart didn't ache.
When I'd become a Demon Lord, I'd killed ten thousand with my own hands, so I was in no position to make excuses.
The dead had families too—once you started down that road, there was no end to it.
But were the families who sent them off without blame? If you thought about it that way, the responsibility lay with those who didn't try to stop it.
War always claimed lives.
If public opinion drove toward war, then those who failed to oppose it bore responsibility too.
Whether it was a nation governed by law or an empire, that didn't change.
Ignorance was no excuse.
"Not knowing" didn't hold up as a justification, and a lack of imagination was equally culpable.
Entering a war without being prepared for the loss of loved ones, then complaining afterward—what sense did that make?
Directing fire at civilians was wrong, both as individuals and as nations, but having annihilated an invading army, we had no obligation to accept complaints.
After all, we ourselves had entered this with the resolve to fight to the total destruction of our enemies.
Coming from the one who had been shaken by a few injured subordinates, that probably sounded rich.
Emotion and reason were separate things—that was all it came down to.
And the war was still far from over.
What appeared to be the Empire's main army—a land force totaling seven hundred thousand—was advancing southward along the border between the Dwarf Kingdom and the Great Forest of Jura, heading toward the Monster Country.
There was no time for sentimentality.
--- One week after the war began, the Empire's main army finally entered my territory.
I had ordered Gobta and the others to recover intact tanks and salvage the wreckage of destroyed airships.
Gabiru, having returned, was assigned to assist Gobta with the work.
Benimaru had given the instruction—there was no need to rush him back.
Indeed, after a victory this decisive...
While complacency was out of the question, we still had the Second Legion stationed here, and Diablo was raring to go.
Geld was assigned Carrera as his intelligence officer.
Testarossa and the others had also returned to the control room.
If the Empire's main army harbored powerful individuals, the situation would determine whether we'd deploy them again.
But the other executives were fired up too.
Shion wanted to take the battlefield as well: "Those demons have been stealing all the spotlight! I need to go out there and show them what true strength looks like!"
She was making indignant statements like that, about to march out— "Isn't it your job to be my bodyguard?"
My question snapped her back to reason.
She was behaving now, but when the time came, I could always issue a deployment order.
With the deepest levels of the Labyrinth at my disposal, it would take time for enemy forces to push this far.
Well, our remaining forces were certainly fewer than the Empire's seven hundred thousand.
But in terms of quality, we were equal—and not just the executives, but even the rank-and-file soldiers were brimming with fighting spirit.
My orders still seemed to be in full effect, and morale was sky-high.
What should I do—that was the question.
I'd already issued a theatrical warning after being ignored, and the declaration of war had been made.
There was nothing dishonorable about launching a surprise attack now.
But with our numbers, a surprise strike would have limited effect. Was this a job for nuclear strike magic?
Or should I go ahead and issue one more warning, fair and square?
Everyone was pumped up and eager to offer me more souls or some such nonsense.
They probably had no idea what collecting souls could accomplish, and I found myself wondering why they were so enthusiastic.
The demons apparently enjoyed the residual emotional imprints etched into souls...
But I didn't particularly want any of that.
Still—seven hundred thousand.
The thought that I could awaken seven of them was frankly terrifying.
For starters, I just hoped we could win the war without suffering any casualties on our side.
The ideal approach was to lure them into the Labyrinth.
Inside the Labyrinth, we could reduce our own losses to zero.
Or rather, the monsters within the Labyrinth could be converted into combat strength, causing our forces to swell dramatically.
In terms of pure numbers, we could go toe-to-toe against seven hundred thousand.
Benimaru's strategy was to deploy the Second Legion along the Monster Country's front line and fortify defenses thoroughly.
In the meantime, they would gather enemy intelligence and identify any powerful individuals.
In modern warfare, sheer numbers decided battles—but in this world, a single powerful individual could turn the tide, as the first encounter had proven.
He'd said that prioritizing the identification of threatening individuals was the textbook approach.
Hmm.
Indeed, even launching a nuclear strike normally would be blocked by magic barriers, making it pointless.
Though I didn't think even the "Blessing of Death" could be defended against.
What if we sent the demons and intelligence officers on a special assault to annihilate the enemy?
The thought crossed my mind for a moment. But doing so would cause catastrophic damage to the forest.
More importantly, if the attack was somehow blocked, we'd waste our most valuable assets.
Against a massive army, ensuring thorough defense was standard practice, and the Empire had individuals who could deploy Holy Barriers in their ranks.
Among the strong ones Moss and the others had taken down initially, there had reportedly been someone who activated such a barrier.
Large-scale annihilation magic was useless unless you first eliminated the means to defend against it.
On matters like these, Benimaru was far more knowledgeable than me, a layman. Since I'd entrusted everything to him, all I needed to do was sit tight.
In the end, we went with no warning.
The Empire's main army had moved through the former Farmus Kingdom territory before advancing south—naturally, their target was the Monster Country.
If they had somehow marched toward the former Farmus Kingdom instead, we had planned to immediately attack from behind—but that worry turned out to be unfounded.
Currently, Farmus was in the process of establishing a new kingdom under Youm's leadership.
We were providing covert support, but they didn't yet have the capacity for war. Even so, they were keeping watch for us.
Since I hadn't wanted to cause any damage there if possible, this was a relief.
Incidentally, the Dwarf King had also sent a request asking whether reinforcements were needed, but we had replied that everything was under control.
We had asked him to leave things be and allow the Empire forces to pass through unimpeded.
The consensus among everyone was that we should settle this ourselves.
The Dwarf King, insisting on at least providing surveillance support, kept feeding us information in real time.
Though frankly, it wasn't strictly necessary—I accepted the gesture graciously.
With surveillance magic, we could observe their movements at all times, which was genuinely convenient in situations like this.
Souei's people were also conducting actual field surveillance, so there was no risk of being misled by illusions or similar deceptions.
Keeping tabs on the situation like this, we prepared for the second battle and waited.
The route the Holy Knights had used to invade would be the same path, with the Labyrinth entrance along the way.
If the Empire ignored the Labyrinth and directed their entire army toward the Monster Country, we could recruit volunteers inside the Labyrinth and strike from behind.
That would come at the cost of heavy casualties, but a pincer attack could partially offset our numerical disadvantage.
At this point, it depended on the enemy.
Ideally, they would split roughly half their forces toward the Labyrinth.
Whether my wish had any influence was unclear, but the outcome matched what I'd hoped for.
Around two hundred thousand troops bypassed the Labyrinth entirely and headed for the Tempest capital.
The enemy's main force, about five hundred thousand strong, set up camp near the Labyrinth.
They were probably monitoring the situation regarding the Tempest capital while progressively sending forces to conquer the Labyrinth.
They seemed surprised that the cities around the Labyrinth had vanished, yet they proceeded with the assault without hesitation.
How greedy.
It would have been far less convenient for us if they'd concentrated entirely on one target.
Well, as long as they were fixated on the Labyrinth, we were fine—but if they'd thrown their entire force at the capital, we'd have been in serious trouble.
The advance guard—the frontal decoy force they'd sent in—had become a meaningless loss of combat strength, given that their intelligence had been completely exposed.
If there was no need to divide their forces, then spreading them out was fundamentally a foolish move.
That was the amateur's way of looking at it, but I figured they were just targets for各个击破.
"We won."
At my murmur, "Yeah... it's our victory."
Benimaru answered with a spirited nod.
In practical and tactical terms, victory was now all but assured.
As long as we didn't lose through brute force alone, our victory was certain.
"Good thing those idiots went toward the Labyrinth."
"Indeed. But that was because Lord Rimuru had laid out the bait.
I'm glad they took it so nicely."
"Yeah.
I don't know what Yuuki's objective is, but scattering bait is the best way to cause infighting.
I figured he was probably aiming for disruption within the Empire anyway.
If you刺激 people's desires, they can't very well ignore the Labyrinth.
Worst case, the capital gets reduced to ashes, and then we have a decisive battle inside the Labyrinth."
"Unless things go really sideways, we should be able to hold the capital without issue. Depending on the situation, I'll go out there too."
Just as Benimaru said that, "There shouldn't be any need for that. Lord Rimuru, before Benimaru goes, may I deploy as well?"
Shion stepped forward.
Well, as my personal guard, bodyguard duty was important—but the control room was the safest place in our entire operation.
She could teleport back in an instant, and Testa and Ult, currently benched for going too far, were standing by at my side.
Besides, Veldora was watching alongside us, so there wasn't really any danger that warranted a standing bodyguard.
It should be fine.
"Geld's unit alone will be stretched thin, and your troops need combat experience too. Permission granted—go. But don't overdo it!"
"Ha ha, thank you so much!"
Shion broke into a radiant smile, gave Benimaru a smug look, and marched out of the control room.
Diablo also bowed to me and departed with a beaming smile.
Stopping Diablo would be difficult.
After all, he was the most motivated of anyone.
Benimaru shrugged and apparently gave up on deploying.
He ended up staying behind with me, joining the observation group.
Having the supreme commander on the front lines would have been absurd, so it was only natural.
And so, the decisive battle against the Empire's main army of seven hundred thousand had begun.