I watched
He was completely riding high. The whole "thank you so very much!" vibe was laid on thick.
And the poor fat clown he was dealing with—
Though really, the guy's mind had already snapped, and he was running on nothing but the impulse to kill everyone in sight, so it's not like he needed my sympathy.
The one I actually needed to worry about was Leon, who had collapsed right in front of me.
I walked over to his side and placed a hand over the wound in his chest.
His subordinates' eyes went wide with shock, but I held a finger to my lips and silenced them with a gesture. Now was not the time for shouting.
From inside what appeared to be my cloak—but was actually the *Imaginary Space*—I retrieved a Complete Recovery
But the potion's effects ended there. His Physical Body had been fully repaired, yet Leon showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
Still, there was no need to panic.
After all, this place was a closed world, sealed off by
Or rather, Leon was lucky. If I hadn't shown up, he would have been in real danger.
But first, let me explain why we were here in the first place.
I had been hiding my presence from Veldora—letting him believe I was dead—while quietly monitoring the world's movements.
Diablo had secretly planted a
Between my surveillance magic and Moss's reconnaissance, keeping track of things was easy, no matter where anyone was hiding.
Well, transmitting information to my hidden subspace required a bit of ingenuity, but
She worked wonders with magic theory that's beyond my comprehension, creating a comfortable space for us to operate in.
As expected of my mentor. Truly omnipotent.
I'd been collecting information from various locations and relaxing with Diablo when— I detected a trace of Veldora in Leon's territory.
《With a high probability, I believe it is not his true body. However, there may be a lead we could follow—》 I see.
If Ciel says so, then that must be it.
And so, we came here.
Of course, the situations elsewhere couldn't be ignored entirely, but defeating Veldora would bring things to an end, so the priority was clear.
At Guy's location, Chloe and Guy's duel had intensified, but there was no sign of Veldora.
Luminous appeared to be in a tough spot, but with Adalman,
Ideally, we would have caught and finished Veldora here, but that was optimistic thinking.
Veldora's objective, it turned out, was to reclaim the power he had given to Kazalim.
In other words, he possessed an ability akin to *Multiple Existence*—the power to give physical form to images, connecting fragments of information to his true body and controlling them directly.
*Parallel Existence* is the ability to control multiple clones simultaneously, but it requires dividing energy among them.
The ability we were seeing was one step before that—a method of overlapping only the conscious will to retrieve information simultaneously, without splitting energy.
*Parallel Existence* clearly requires the main body, while *Multiple Existence* means every fragment can function as the main body.
Which is more troublesome depends on the user's capabilities.
But in terms of sheer ability rank, *Multiple Existence* is undoubtedly the superior one.
Ciel is currently analyzing it for me, so I can say that with full confidence.
I'm getting off track.
We arrived just after Veldora had finished reclaiming Kazalim's power through *Multiple Existence*.
We missed him by a hair's breadth.
There was nothing to be done about that. The moment I sensed Veldora's presence and teleported, everything was already over.
The instant he's perceived, the information is transmitted. That's the truly troublesome part of *Multiple Existence*.
Unless you can stop time or use some equivalent ability, there's no way to keep up with that transmission speed.
According to Ciel, the speed of information transfer effectively exceeds the speed of light.
In the literal sense—it's simultaneous.
So there was no avoiding the fact that Veldora got away.
Besides, since it was a fragmented information body, we couldn't have finished him off anyway. No point dwelling on it.
The real problem came right after.
A tear in the barrier—caused by the fight between
She'd probably tried to reconstruct the barrier to block Veldora's information transfer, but even with a devil's reaction speed, that was impossible.
If anything, the fact that she reacted at all in this situation was commendable.
We had slipped in through that very tear, but it ended up trapping us inside.
Since we were trying to retreat without being detected by Veldora, we couldn't exactly break through the barrier to leave—that would have given us away immediately.
So it was a slightly embarrassing situation, and Diablo and I decided to suppress our presence completely and observe.
And as we watched, Leon was knocked down almost immediately.
It looked like he was about to die, so I had no choice but to reveal myself and intervene.
Ciel had also determined that Misery's barrier was airtight—nothing from outside could see in.
If there had been even the slightest risk of Veldora spotting us, I would have abandoned Leon.
Sorry, but the priority was defeating Veldora. I'm cold-blooded enough to accept that.
But fortune smiled on Leon. This place was completely isolated.
I quickly reinforced Misery's barrier, then showed myself.
—And that brings us to the treatment of Leon.
From what I could see, his soul was intact, but the core had been damaged.
The core—the foundation of an Awakened Hero's power. When it's damaged, the hero loses control of their abilities.
Ciel calmly examined the situation and reported to me.
Hmm, hmm. Now what to do.
But there was also a commotion outside that demanded attention.
Benimaru had burned through a massive amount of Magicules in his fight against Kazalim, and that fat bastard Footman couldn't be taken out in one hit.
Benimaru seemed to understand that attacking carelessly would be pointless—there was no sign of him launching any wasted strikes.
Misery was pouring all her energy into maintaining the barrier. That was probably the right call.
The strategy seemed to be to wait for Benimaru's Magicules to recover over time, but that meant I couldn't concentrate on healing in peace.
Sorry, Benimaru, but this was Diablo's cue.
"All right, no choice. Go ahead and finish him, Diablo!"
The moment I gave the order, Diablo moved as if he'd been waiting for exactly this.
"*Kufufufu.* Leave it to me, my master!"
Looking absurdly pleased with himself, he appeared in full view, seized Footman by the head, and slammed him into the ground.
That was the scene that greeted the others—the one that prompted my opening remark.
Diablo standing over a horrified audience with a smug grin.
What followed was the one-sided beatdown everyone expected.
I focused on healing Leon while sneaking glances at the fight— "*Kufufufufu.* What's the matter? Is this all the power you have?"
It was the kind of scene that made you want to scream, "What kind of villain are you?!"
Well, I guess my own way of giving orders sounded pretty villainous too, so maybe I had no right to complain. No, no—that can't be right.
Diablo's clawed hands shredded Footman, demonstrating the overwhelming gap in their power. Naturally, every piece he sliced off was annihilated on contact.
He was cutting faster than regeneration could keep up.
Occasionally, an enormous flash of light and shockwave would ripple through the space. Was the barrier going to hold?
I had reinforced it, but I was still worried.
*(Hey, hey—you're not forgetting that we're supposed to be keeping a low profile from Veldora, are you?)* 《No issues detected. Diablo has already taken measures on that front.》 Ciel's response, brimming with confidence.
I see—apparently, without my noticing, Diablo had already activated his *King of Temptation*—the *Temptation World*.
Leave it to Diablo to fight in such an elegant yet brutal manner.
There was no way he'd make the kind of blunder Benimaru had pulled.
*(Well, seems fine. If we leave it to Diablo, there shouldn't be a problem...)* 《It should be fine. There appears to be no risk of failing to acquire the Ultimate Skill *King of Evil Dragons*.》 Huh!?
That was what he was worried about!? I wasn't worried about that at all!!
Apparently, at some point, the prerequisite had become stealing the enemy's abilities.
I left it at that.
Beyond exasperated, I half-heartedly resumed treating Leon.
While I worked on the healing, I could hear the conversation between Benimaru and the others.
"...Um, I'm just saying, but... that demon is insane, right? Why does he fight so recklessly and randomly with pure brute force without showing any signs of tiring?"
"Yeah, well... that's just how he is..."
"As expected of Diablo... Does that mean I still have a long way to go?"
"Don't use him as a benchmark. That's a fighting style none of us could pull off. He's showing off deliberately. Try to copy him and you'll only self-destruct."
Laplace's question met with Benimaru's nonchalant response.
Misery offered straightforward praise, and Souei calmly analyzed and gave a warning.
I thought there was no need to explain all this to people who were only temporary allies, but maybe even Souei was shaken.
Not that any of them could replicate it anyway. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter.
Footman, who had been too stunned by the carnage to even speak, finally seemed to have collected himself.
Despite being in a life-or-death crisis moments ago, he probably felt like he was watching a comedy now.
Accepting reality is hard work.
"*Kufufufufu.* Oh, pardon me. I seem to have used a bit too much force—I appear to have torn off his arm."
The demon sneered as he tossed the enemy around like a bully picking on the weak.
It was too one-sided to even call a fight; the onlookers were starting to feel a certain degree of discomfort.
Diablo was so overwhelmingly dominant that it looked like he was toying with his prey.
But despite his casual tone, Diablo was using extraordinarily advanced techniques to conduct a calculated, efficient battle.
He was systematically destroying body parts while gradually draining Footman's energy.
Wrapped around both hands and maintained in the shape of claws was ultra-compressed *Void Collapse* energy.
He was utilizing the energy I had lent him, concentrated and focused. This was a feat that required an extraordinary battle sense.
Actually, looking at the battle damage—naturally, it was Ciel who made the assessment—it seemed Benimaru had released all the energy he'd borrowed from me in a single burst.
Sure enough, if you could control this fearsome *Void Collapse* and unleash it against an enemy, it would work on just about anyone.
It could annihilate opponents without giving them a chance to resist.
But the cost was steep.
It consumed a massive amount of his own Magicules, making sustained combat difficult—exactly like Benimaru now.
It was fine as a trump card, but not something you could use casually.
Diablo's method, on the other hand, was much more efficient.
It seemed the results of the intensive training he'd done in the subspace over the past couple of days were paying off.
A technique devised by Ciel—how to recycle energy within a closed world.
He called it the "Secret Art of the Circular Flow."
I'm making it sound fancy, but essentially, it involved using space domination abilities to create a state that prevented energy dissipation, then reabsorbing the energy that had been used.
In this case, within Diablo's *Temptation World*, the energy loss from his attacks was virtually zero.
It was a concept as difficult to grasp as magic theory, but Diablo had understood Ciel's explanation perfectly.
The idea was this: within a closed world, suppose there are two different types of energy—one from yourself and one from your enemy.
You would offset them—or rather, annihilate them against each other. More precisely, instead of mutual cancellation, only one side's energy is expelled from the closed world.
Then, your own energy is reabsorerved.
The enemy's energy is used to maintain the state of the world you created.
Through this cycle, you could weaken the enemy unilaterally.
Honestly, I couldn't wrap my head around it, but Diablo pulled it off.
From the outside, he might have looked like he was just brute-forcing his way through the fight, but the reality was quite different.
Looking at their reactions, only Benimaru and Misery seemed to grasp what was happening.
No, even they probably didn't fully understand it—more like they sensed that something theoretically impossible was unfolding and had questions about it.
I should probably explain it to Benimaru later. Though whether he'd actually understand is another matter.
Well, I have Ciel backing me, so it didn't matter if I didn't understand.
I could only tell him to figure it out through sheer willpower.
After all, even within a closed world, a full-powered release of *Void Collapse* like Benimaru's would probably be too much to handle, so some degree of restraint was necessary.
Teaching someone the theory and having them execute it immediately—that was something only Diablo could do.
While I watched Diablo's battle, Leon's treatment finished before I knew it.
From about halfway through, I'd left everything to Ciel.
My motivation, as always, had its limits.
If Leon were a beautiful woman, I might have put in more effort. But a handsome guy? Who cared about another man?
Motivation: plummeting!
So at one point, I even tuned out when Ciel said: 《To fully resurrect him, the flow of Holy Aura needs to be regulated from the normal Awakened state to the Omnipotent State like Hero Chloe, and for that—》 *(You handle it!)* —I just handed everything over to Ciel without even listening.
I'd half-tuned it out, but the gist seemed to be that since Leon's hero core was damaged, they needed to find a substitute.
If he was simply resurrected normally, he would lose his combat ability, so they performed the treatment in a way that preserved it.
Why did I need to listen to every little detail?
Ciel was as cautious as ever! I thought dismissively.
But when I looked at the resurrected Leon, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Wait—had his power actually increased? C-Ciel, what the hell did you do!? I almost shouted it out loud.
When I appraised him, he had become Half-God, Half-Human.
Leon had always carried a massive reservoir of Holy Aura, but now he wasn't just storing it—he had become the Holy Aura itself.
In other words, he'd become something like a spiritual lifeform.
Since his core was gone, she had adjusted the flow of power and modified him to function without one.
That's... not what I had in mind!
He wasn't exactly hostile, but he wasn't a complete ally either—and now we'd powered him up?!
...Well, I was the one who stopped listening. I had no grounds to complain.
Oh well. As long as he didn't turn against us, it was fine.
Besides, since the adjustments had been forced, it would be a while before he could fully control his new power.
By then, we'd have dealt with Veldora.
It would work out. I decided not to worry about it.
Just as I was thinking this, Leon's consciousness returned.
He opened his eyes slightly and looked at me. Then: "...
He was muttering something.
"If you're going to destroy me, then so be it. Go ahead—do as you please."
Leon was spouting this kind of nonsense.
He was clearly confusing me with Shizu.
I was a little irritated, so— "Fly!"
—and I tossed aside the Leon I'd been holding.
The man had fully recovered. There was no need for him to keep snuggling up to me.
"...! Rimuru?"
"Yeah, you're awake? Be grateful, and show some respect!"
"I was... So it was you who resurrected me—"
I pushed my hair back and nodded.
A pose I'd been secretly practicing—one that was supposed to look cool (or so I'd hoped).
"I'm grateful, Demon Lord Rimuru."
"Good. Keep being grateful!"
If he was grateful enough to say that, things should be fine for a while.
The moment Leon regained consciousness, his subordinates rushed over: "Lord Leon!! Thank goodness—you're safe!!!"
Some were sobbing. Not a single one of them was uninjured.
Since I was at it, I might as well finish the job.
I pulled out Complete Recovery Potions in sufficient quantities and slapped one into each person.
"What the—!?"
Some were startled, but in an instant their wounds vanished and they stared in stunned silence.
More effective than healing magic—of course they were surprised.
The moment their wounds disappeared: "Lord Rimuru, Demon Lord—we will never forget this kindness!!!"
Leon's subordinates dropped to their knees in unison and bowed their heads to me.
Well, that was all well and good, but it was a bit embarrassing. I'd appreciate it if they didn't make such a big deal out of it.
With Leon revived and his followers making a scene, it was only natural that Benimaru and the others noticed I was here.
"Lord Rimuru!"
Benimaru and Souei came running over.
"You were safe after all!"
"See? I told you—there was nothing to worry about!"
"That's because
"That's not true. I believed in you from the start!"
It was as I suspected—they'd panicked when they thought I was destroyed.
Apparently Zegion had noticed the blessing almost immediately—or rather, there hadn't been any panic to begin with—and everyone had calmed down.
"O-oh. How's everyone doing? Actually, I was trying to make Veldora let his guard down. And as a bonus, flush out any rebel elements if there were any."
I explained with a composed air.
But that was enough for them.
"I knew it."
"As expected of Lord Rimuru. So what are our next orders?"
Benimaru was satisfied, and Souei was already preparing to act.
Wait, wait, hold on.
People were still fighting Footman. You can't just forget about them.
Because I'd revealed myself, they'd gone from cautious to completely fired up.
"Hold on. Let's finish this fight first. Diablo, are you about done?"
Since everyone had spotted me anyway, there was no need for restraint.
Let's just finish off Footman quickly.
"*Kufufufu.* The cooking is mostly done, Lord Rimuru."
"Good."
I nodded and approached Footman.
"G-Goddammit! What are you—what the hell are you?! You... you people... me, Lord Footman—!!"
Footman's words were slurring, and Diablo punched him one more time.
"You're noisy. Be quiet."
As he said it— Footman's lower jaw was blown away, rendering him unable to speak.
It was getting grotesque. Let's just end this.
"I won't cause you unnecessary suffering. I'll grant you peace within me."
I declared, and devoured him.
Thanks to Diablo having worn him down nicely, the Predation of Footman was completed in an instant.
He didn't even have a chance at a final struggle.
Just as Ciel had planned, the acquisition of the Ultimate Skill *King of Evil Dragons* was a success.
"*Kufufufu.* Splendid work, as expected, Lord Rimuru!"
"No, this time it was because Diablo had weakened him first. And Benimaru, Souei—you both did well."
"Ha ha ha!"
The three of them knelt and acknowledged my words.
It was a hassle every time, but apparently formality mattered.
Just like that, the crisis was resolved without fanfare.
Afterward...
"I can't wrap my head around it. What even are those two...
No, that demon aside—that Demon Lord is seriously unbelievable...
Anyone who picks a fight with *that* guy is out of their mind. No question about it—Kazalim-sama was definitely being brainwashed."
"I think so too. The Kazalim I know would never have openly opposed something like that. If anything, she would have secretly offered cooperation from behind the scenes. That's just how she was."
"Right? That's the kind of person who wouldn't consider it cowardly or anything."
The two of them spoke in a daze, as if coming to a realization.
Laplace, one of these magical beings, seemed like a dangerous person on par with Souei.
Can't leave him loose.
And so— "And so, you two. You're hired by me. Got it?"
I declared unilaterally.
"Hey! What gives you the right to just—"
"*Kufufufu.* Do you have some complaint?"
"E-eh, no... well, you see..."
Laplace tried to protest, but the moment Diablo directed his smile at him, the words died in his throat.
He was fidgeting with his fingers.
The girl beside him was cheering him on—*You can do it!*—but he muttered back, "No way," under his breath.
It was kind of pitiful.
"Um, well... if we're hired, does that mean we get a salary?"
"Oh? A salary!"
"Ah! No, that's not what I meant—"
"Oh? Then what did you mean?"
"Well, that is..."
A salary, huh.
Come to think of it, the Monster Nation paid everything in kind, so there was no salary system.
I'd been meaning to figure something out about that eventually and forgot. I'd need to discuss it with Mjurmal.
"Well, we can sort that out later. So—are you in?"
"Understood! I'd be happy to accept!"
"Me too!"
Laplace and
I hadn't actually paid them anything, so it was less "hiring" and more "coercion." But if I overthought it, I'd lose.
It was Diablo who had done the "convincing" (threatening) with a smile, anyway.
After that, Leon rejoined us, and we held a brief strategy meeting.
First, we would keep my survival hidden.
Obviously. The moment my existence was revealed, the alliance would be over. I made it clear that if anyone leaked it, I would destroy their nation.
Everyone went pale and nodded seriously. We'd be fine.
Diablo and I were going into hiding again, so keeping Veldora unaware was the highest priority.
As for Leon's nation, the battle against the forces Kazalim had led was still ongoing.
But they could handle that themselves. Everyone had been healed, and their commander had been dealt with.
Benimaru would return to the Monster Nation to take charge of command.
Souei would support Benimaru.
Laplace and Tear were ordered to help defend Leon's nation—to make up for the forces they had lost in their own attack. The damage hadn't been as severe as expected, but still.
Their grudge wouldn't disappear overnight, but I ordered them to do everything they could to prevent lasting resentment.
I also pressured Leon to accept Laplace and the others, dangling the favor I'd done him over his head.
Selfish? Absolutely. But that was who I was.
For now, both sides had agreed to cooperate, so that would have to suffice.
What came after could wait until we'd won this war and survived.
Besides, as much as it might seem harsh toward Leon, there was also the element of testing Laplace and the others here.
I didn't want to split the Monster Nation's forces, so this was a win-win.
I wanted them to give it their all and defend this nation.
I also instructed Souei to keep an eye on them, just in case.
Whether to truly trust Laplace and the others would depend on Souei's report.
As long as they didn't betray us during the war, there was no problem.
Laplace had been furious about Veldora's brainwashing—or rather, thought manipulation—of Kazalim, so I doubted there would be any treachery.
With the course of action decided, I forced everyone to accept it.
And so, the commotion in Leon's territory came to an end.