He had been dreaming, dreaming all this ti. It was a world of pitch-black darkness, empty in every direction. And yet, in that world, Rimuru saw light.
Each one was small, but together they shone with dazzling beauty. Light called family.
But that warm light was slowly fading away.
"No!!"
Even when he called out the nas of those vanishing lights, no words ca from Rimuru's mouth.
And even then, one by one, the lights kept disappearing.
I hate this! Don't disappear anymore! Don't let anyone vanish ever again!
And then even the last remaining lights began to grow dim.
I don't want this! No!!
He hated watching those lights leave his side. And so Rimuru wished for it. God or devil, it didn't matter. Please, give enough power that I will never lose anything again. Give the power to save everyone and protect them all.
Perhaps the world understood that desperate prayer.
Rimuru began his evolution into a true demon lord.
From the mont he devoured the Orc Disaster, Rimuru had already fulfilled the conditions needed to evolve into a demon lord species. What he needed was the souls of more than ten thousand humans. But he did not need to kill them with his own hands. As long as the souls were connected to him—more precisely, as long as the will of the individual nad Rimuru was involved—the condition could be t.
And at that sa mont, Rimuru's subordinates were wiping out the Falmuth army across the battlefield.
*
The barrier that weakened monsters and cut off communication with the outside had already been destroyed by Vertis. After that, he simply gathered the souls in one place to keep them from scattering and waited.
He waited for the sacrifices needed to awaken a demon lord.
To the east, where the magic device had been installed.
Benimaru walked forward, proud and head-on.
One of the Temple Knights noticed him and shouted urgently.
"Enemy approaching from the front! Everyone, prepare for battle!!"
They were a Temple Knights company acting under the orders of their high priest, Reyheim, tasked with deploying the Prison Field that weakened monsters.
Each of them was B rank, far from weak.
They were not careless, arrogant, or lazy. They spotted Benimaru quickly, and their response was swift as well. But—
"My apologies. You've had the misfortune of becoming the target of my anger."
Before they could even voice their outrage at Benimaru's haughty tone, they were all slain.
Unlike Shizu, Benimaru's great sword was wrapped in black flas, and the knights were split in two along with their armor more easily than paper being cut.
Like a single flower blooming from black fire, the knights' fresh blood stained the earth.
Among them, one man barely managed to spit out a resentful final word.
"I-I was never told... there was... a mo-monster like this—"
The captain's lant vanished as he was swallowed by black flas that would not go out.
The whole thing took less than thirty seconds.
But at that mont—
Clang!!
With a heavy tallic crash, iron knights revealed themselves. Benimaru nimbly evaded a knight's sword and unleashed Hell Flare once more. But the soldiers were completely unhard by his flas, and not one of them scread. Seeing that, Benimaru tightened his grip on his sword and took a stance.
"So these things are Living Armor..."
Living Armor. So-called living suits of armor. Just as the na suggested, they were armor infused with souls and granted life. The armor itself had been coated with a fairly advanced anti-magic treatnt, giving it resistance to magic as well.
At the sa ti, to the south, where another magic device had been installed, Gabiru and his subordinates were advancing.
"Kuhahaha, at last our turn has co! If we prove in this battle that we can be of use to Lord Rimuru, then our path to becoming executives is practically guaranteed! Let us show them the power of us dragnutes!!"
"Uoooooh!!"
The cheers of his n pierced the sky.
They were the ones who had followed Gabiru when he was exiled. Because of that, they knew him very well.
"This is exactly why Lady Souka always treats him like an idiot."
"Shh, he'll hear you."
"Still, that's the best thing about our captain, isn't it?"
"Yeah. That's true."
His subordinates whispered among themselves in hushed voices.
Then, after waiting in the sky, they launched their attack all at once in coordination with the other fronts. Thanks to the physical advantages of winged dragnutes and the healing effects of recovery potions, even if they were wounded, they could return to the front lines imdiately.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the Temple Knights guarding the south fell into confusion. The aerial ambush and the barrage of breath attacks of various attributes brought down thirty percent of their forces.
"Hold formation! Deploy anti-air defense positions and prepare for magical attacks!"
The Temple Knights moved quickly in response to the shouted orders of a senior knight. But it was already too late to reverse the situation, and soon the second wave from Gabiru's unit ca pouring down.
"Damn it! Dragnutes? Why are there so many of such a rare race?!"
"Do not panic! The enemy is strong, but not unbeatable!"
Just before the third attack ca, they barely managed to restore order. But by then, half of them had already fallen, and those who remained were wounded.
Gabiru landed on the ground, impaling a soldier with his spear just as the man tried to call for reinforcents.
"You bastard!"
The knight captain's sword clashed with Gabiru's spear.
"You seem to be the leader. My na is Gabiru! No, there is no need to rember it. Take it with you as a gift for the road to the afterlife!!"
"Damn it, a nad monster? Fine! I won't lack for a worthy opponent."
While Gabiru occupied the strongest and most capable knight captain in the company, the rest of the soldiers, having lost their commander, fell into disorder.
Seizing that opening, the dragnute warrior corps swiftly and efficiently annihilated the remaining knights.
The losses from the ambush, their perfectly coordinated movents, and the openings created by panic and other emotions all played a major role.
In the south as well, once all the living humans were gone, the Living Armor chose that mont to reveal themselves. The difference was that, unlike the area where Benimaru was, these suits of armor were ard with spears and bows.
On the northern front, where another magic device had been installed, suits of armor wielding shields in both hands were blocking the attacks of Souei and his group.
Souei and his subordinates were assassins. Their primary thod of combat was to take an enemy's life in an instant. But the Living Armor kept moving even when their heads were cut off, simply reattaching them on their own.
Clank clank.
The tallic ringing of tal striking tal echoed throughout the forest.
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