★ 1o3
THIRD POV
"What, so you're making others do the work for you again? And you're even roping Milim into this after hitting her earlier?"
"Don't be silly. Of course, I'll fight as well. Guy, you have no issues with this, do you?"
"None. If Milim assists you in her own violation, I will not stop her."
'Oops. Should I lend him a hand?'
"OK, fine. I was planning on saving her anyway. I'll break your mind control by force if I have to."
"Don't be a fool! You'll die in utter despair."
"You're the one who's going to die, Clayman. But if I do this, I'll just be bullying the weak. One of my subordinates should be perfect for you."
He growls, his aura radiating.
"What did you..."
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind him giving him a hell of a beating. It was Shion. He got up immediately and flew to stand next to Milim, his wounds regenerating.
"Y—you—you bastard! You bastard!"
"Just as you wish, I'll kill all of you!"
Rimuru's attendants came to his side immediately, the wolf increasing its height. Clayman snapped his fingers and the fox he came with unleashed its real body, its size almost the same as Rimuru's wolf, Ranga.
Then again, from his shadow, a doll dressed in black appeared.
'Is that—'
The fox's tail split, summoning two new monsters. Ranga roared, summoning two smaller wolves. Six to five, Rimuru was outnumbered and outmatched. The presence of Milim in the opposite team alone is overkill.
'So you're the one.'
"Ban."
I summoned.
"Bretta."
Rimuru asked for help but Guy intervened quickly erecting his barrier and expanding the hall to his will. Ban appeared behind me, ready.
"Is that it?"
I asked, pointing at Clayman's doll.
"No, master. But it's so identical, the signature is also the same."
"Which means..."
"It's from the same source, same creator."
"Red, allow me. Personal grudges."
"Not allowed."
"Well, I'll help Rimuru. How about that?"
"Any reason?"
He's purposefully delaying me when the fight has already started.
"It's a long story but Ban here encounters a similar doll."
"So? Who's Ban anyway?"
"He's also a clone of mine."
"How many clones do you have?"
"Si—"
I paused, noticing he's playing games with me
"I won't waste my time. Go, Ban."
Space around the barrier swirled, creating a portal and Ban passed through it immediately charging towards the doll.
"If you could've done that, why talk me out of it?"
"I'll keep that in mind for next time."
My eyes turned towards the battle ahead. With Ban now in the field, he took care of the doll without breaking a sweat and sealed it for later before returning to me like nothing happened.
"Why did you return? I thought you were helping Rimuru?"
Guy asked.
"The doll was my priority. His subs can handle the rest."
Ban replied.
"Get back to the island, I'll call you when I need anything."
"Excuse me then."
He disappeared. I took my seat watching the one-sided match between Rimuru and Clayman.
(The canon thing happened, it turned out Milim was being controlled, Veldora showed up and Rimuru took out the Garbageman, Roy's maid turned out to be the real Demon Lord, Carrion was alive and all etc.
"I'm so proud of you, Rimuru."
I approached him first.
"It's all thanks to you sensei."
"Sensei?"
The Demon Lords asked in unison.
"You inspired me a lot. I'm so grateful we crossed paths."
"It was inevitable so there's nothing much to worry about. Congratulations on fully being a Demon Lord."
"I never knew you were an ex-Demon Lord."
"It's a long story but I'll tell you later. Let's round up Walpurgis shall we?"
"Stop calling off the banquet like you're one of us."
Guy complained, restoring the hall to how it was and we all took our seats and the maid served us.
"Now, the topics of this meeting were to be Carrion's betrayal and the rise of Rimuru here, but these matters are taken care of. Would anyone like to add anything else?"
Everyone was silent for a moment before Frey spoke up.
"May I? This is not something much of a suggestion as a request though."
She requested and Guy permitted her to speak.
"Go on."
"I've just decided that I'm going to serve Milim."
The latter freaked out, not expecting her to say such a thing.
"Huh?!"
"What?"
"Uh, wha?"
Dagruel and Dino were also caught off guard.
"I therefore relinquish my status as Demon Lord."
"Well, this is rather sudden."
"Wait, Frey! This is the first time I've heard of this!"
"Yes, because I didn't tell you. Well, I have several reasons. But the top reason is that I believe I'm too weak to be a Demon Lord.
Watching the battle today convinced me of that. Had I been fighting Clayman, we would have been evenly matched at best. Against an awakened Clayman, I wouldn't have stood a chance."
"But, Frey, aren't high-speed battles in the air your speciality? I see no reason for you to put yourself down so much."
"If I were fighting someone in the air, I would have the advantage. But today I learned that simply having the advantage isn't always enough.
And, Milim, you can't just continue to make selfish demands forever, right? Shouldn't you start thinking about how to manage your own domain? Well? Will you accept my proposal?"
"B—but it's not my style to have people under my rule…I'm not sure that's..w…well"
"Wait a minute."
Carrion intervenes.
"If that's what we're talisman about, there's something I'd like to say, too. I also fought Milim one-on-one and lost. So I believe I should submit to her completely."
He added.
"On that note, I'm your subordinate as of today. Countin' on ya boss!"
"Wait a minute Carrion, I only fought you because I was being controlled. I don't know a thing about it! Not a thing!"
"Don't play dumb. You said it yourself, 'you really thought I could be controlled with a thing like this?' We heard you clearly!"
"Well,"
"Well, I don't care about that musclebrain, but you'll accept me, won't you, Milim?"
"Are you trying to trick me or something?"
"Trick you?"
"I mean, if you were my subordinate, you wouldn't talk to me as a friend anymore, would you? And you won't play me or cook up naughty schemes with me anymore."
She spoke with a saddened face.
"No, I'll be able to stay with you all the time so we can do more fun things together."
"Besides, this is happening because you ruined our kingdom. You're obligated to take care of us now."
Carrion added. After crying like a loli she is, she agreed.
"Are you sure this is what you want?"
Guy asked with a serious tone.
"I put a lot of thought into this. And it's not like I'll no longer be the king of the Animal Kingdom. I just want to come up with a new order that puts her at the top."
"I quite liked you, you know. I had high hopes that, given a few more centuries, you would awaken. I hope you are not doing this to get back at the Misfit Scourge. If you are, I suggest you shouldn't leave anyone to mourn you because that jerk will kill you all.
"Of course not. I'm not stupid enough to antagonise someone like him."
"Very well. As of this moment, Frey and Carrion are no longer Demon Lords. As you wish, the two of you are free to serve Milim."
"Good thing they relinquished their titles before it's too late."
I finally spoke up after listening to their crap.
"You brat. What are you still doing here?"
"I never left. Please, proceed without me."
"That means, the Ten Great Demon Lords are now the Eighth Great Demon Lords, right? Without sensei in the picture of course."
"Don't worry about me, Rimuru."
"How unfortunate. As a matter of dignity, we shall have to come up with a new name."
"Fortunately for us, we are still in the midst of Walpurgis. All Demon Lords are present, so I'm sure we can come up with some good insight."
Dagruel and Valentine spoke up.
"Oh? You're talking about naming? In that case, my friend Rimuru is an expert!"
"That's right! He came up with my Beretta's name in no time!"
"It's true. Great Rimuru is excellent at naming!"
Ramiris and Shion backed up Veldora's initial suggestion.
"Rimuru, you stand before us today as a new Demon Lord. I'd like to grant you this magnificent privilege."
"Hmm, that's all you can do. Dump the load on someone. Poor little slime."
I murmured but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.
"Oh, I don't need it. Thanks anyway."
Rimuru rejected and for a moment, I felt happy about it. With a gentle tap, Guy split the table in two and approached him.
"But of course. I bestow upon you the right to assign us our new name."
"Huh?"
Rimuru flinched but it was already too late, Guy leaned forward for…
'A kiss?'
'No, he's just whispering to him, you evil bastard.'
After the short flirty scene, Guy went back to his seat leaving Rimuru to his thoughts.
"How about Octagram, meaning the Eight-Star Demon Lords?"
The hall went silent before they each began praising Rimuru for bringing up a name.
"Sensei, why didn't you join us?"
"I grew bored and due to some personal reason, I left."
"I knew you left due to pride but we've reduced in numbers and all that's left are the strong ones. You still have the ring, right?"
"Oh, about that."
As usual, I teleported the ring to Guy, throwing it at his face.
(It's up to him to pick it up.)
"I'm out for good. My flawless pupil here was the reason I came. See you—wait a minute."
Just then, something came to my mind.
"So you betrayed me, Ramiris."
I suddenly recall she's been hanging around Rimuru more often lately. She even has a home in Tempest but not in Star Island. I wonder what I was lacking.
"Uhh—it's not that Asta kun. I was just,"
"Don't worry. I'm not angry or envious. Choosing where you want to live is entirely up to you."
She was out of words I guess because she didn't say anything.
"See you later, Lady Milim. Quit playing games you may end up throwing the world into chaos."
"Don't worry Asta kun. I have a lot of friends and now that I have Carrion and Frey, they'll keep me in check."
"Hmm, ok then."
After a short bee buzz, Rain took a step forward and the Demon Lords stood up. Since I was not a Demon Lord, I stayed seated with my eyes closed and my legs crossed.
Following the conclusion, the Demon Lords started making their way out. I waited for everybody to leave. Rimuru was also leaving, so I stood up.
"I guess I should get going."
"So you're going to quit just like that?"
"Rimuru, I'll see you around."
I ignored Guy for the moment.
"Sure. Bye, sensei."
He waved and disappeared into the portal.
"You think just because they left I'll come back? The title has been stained, I don't belong here anymore."
A portal shimmered before me. I opened my mouth to talk but couldn't find anything to say.
"Just—I'll see you around, Guy."
I left.
To be continued...