However, from Ren Kuroda's point of view, what looked like Rimuru's blatant humblebragging actually came from a place of genuine envy on Rimuru's side.
Yes—Rimuru was the ultimate overachiever among slimes, but he hadn't been born that strong.
His Unique Skill Predator was undeniably broken, but it still required constant predation and accumulation to grow stronger. When Rimuru had first reincarnated into this world, his strength had truly been no different from that of an ordinary slime.
If it hadn't been for Great Sage's assistance, coupled with protagonist-tier luck, then the moment he ran into a slightly stronger monster at the very beginning, he probably would've been instantly wiped out and rolled straight into the credits.
So when Rimuru said he envied Ren, he genuinely meant it.
Putting raw strength aside, just the difference in race alone left Rimuru feeling deeply unbalanced inside.
Slimes possessed physical immunity, along with a mess of other resistances, plus regenerative abilities. At first glance, they looked absurdly powerful.
And yes—objectively speaking, they were powerful.
But they also had a glaring weakness.
Aside from tactile sensation, slimes had no senses whatsoever. Even vision relied entirely on Magic Sense.
It was only after Rimuru devoured Shizu and gained the ability to mimic a human form that he finally acquired proper five senses.
But none of that was the real issue.
The real problem—the fatal one—was this:
Even with a humanoid body… he still had no gender.
This was Rimuru's lifelong wound.
Before reincarnating, he'd been a single office worker in his thirties. And after reincarnating into another world, instead of becoming a legendary winner like in all those novels—
He was still destined to be a lifelong virgin.
Now compare that to Ren.
Just that handsome face alone was enough to make girls throw themselves at him.
And since he wasn't a slime, his… male functions probably hadn't disappeared either, right?
Rimuru wanted to reincarnate as someone cool and handsome like that—not as a rolling, squishy mascot slime whose main talent was being cute.
After the banquet ended, Rimuru finally stopped venting and turned serious about the threat posed by the Orc Clan.
The ogres wanted revenge. Rimuru wanted to protect his village.
So in the end, they decided to form an alliance.
However, when Rimuru suggested naming the ogres—so it would be easier to address them in the future—the ogres hesitated and instinctively looked toward Ren.
In the original course of events, driven by their desperate desire for power to avenge their village, Benimaru and the others had accepted Rimuru's proposal without hesitation.
But now, with Ren's sudden appearance, they faltered.
If they were to pledge loyalty in exchange for power, then as oni themselves, they naturally leaned toward Ren, an upper-tier oni.
Rimuru was strong—but Ren was no weaker.
After all, the sheer destructive force Shion had displayed after being named by Ren was still vividly burned into their memories.
"I admit you all have tremendous potential," Ren said calmly."I'd love to name you—but Shion's case was truly an accident."
"And with my current magicule reserves, it would be difficult for me to name all of you. For that, I apologize."
"That slime named Rimuru is actually a really good guy. I believe you won't regret the choice you make today."
Ren knew very well how terrifying Benimaru and the others would become in the future. If possible, he would've loved to bring such promising assets under his command.
But he wasn't the so-called "Demon Lord Protagonist."
The side effects of naming monsters were far too severe. Not every magicule loss was guaranteed to be recoverable.
"Then let's do this," Rimuru cut in cheerfully."Two of the ogres can be named by Ren, and the remaining three by me. That way, you don't have to worry about running out of magicules."
Seeing the ogres' conflicted expressions, Rimuru delivered the finishing blow with a grin.
Truthfully, he didn't have any deeper plans for them yet—he just wanted more fighting power to deal with the Orcs.
And at this point, he probably hadn't learned from Great Sage that naming monsters could sometimes result in permanent magicule loss.
He believed that at worst, he'd just exhaust himself again and collapse into an immobile puddle.
In the end, unable to refuse any longer, Ren chose the pink-haired girl and the black-haired middle-aged man among the ogres and named them—following the original names:
Shuna and Kurobe.
The reason he didn't choose the others was simple.
Aside from logistics-focused Shuna and Kurobe, Benimaru, Souei, and Hakurou—the future Three Great Pillars under Rimuru—were heavily shaped by Rimuru's abilities.
Benimaru's Black Flame and Souei's Shadow Movement would become the core of their combat styles later on—abilities Ren simply couldn't provide.
By comparison, Shuna—who specialized in magic—was far more compatible with Ren than with Rimuru.
After being named, Shuna not only gained a massive increase in magicules, but also inherited a wealth of curse and spellcraft knowledge from Ren, allowing her to drastically refine her magic.
As for Kurobe…
He was basically a bonus.
The guy barely fought at all and spent most of his time forging weapons in the village.
After the naming ritual, all the ogres evolved into Kijin.
Because Ren and Rimuru were on friendly terms, they were addressed respectfully as Lord Ren and Lord Rimuru.
That said, due to the deeper bond formed between a Named Monster and their namer, Benimaru and the others felt greater reverence toward Rimuru.
Meanwhile, Shion and Shuna felt much closer to Ren.
Since only three ogres were named, Rimuru felt weak afterward—but not to the point of losing consciousness entirely.
Because of his own mission objectives, Ren soon bid farewell to Rimuru and the others.
Shion and Shuna struggled visibly with the decision and initially wanted to leave with Ren—but he ultimately persuaded them to stay.
"You still haven't avenged your people, have you?" Ren said gently."And Benimaru and the others are your only remaining family."
"You don't need to force yourselves to follow me just because I named you. That's not something I want either."
"Do what you want to do."
"And don't worry about my safety. If I ever need help, I'll call for you. When that time comes, I hope you won't hesitate to lend me your strength."
After naming Shion and the others, Ren's Demon King Contract had indeed met the conditions required to summon them.
Benimaru was Shuna's brother—and now her only remaining family. And since they still hadn't taken revenge for their clan, Ren couldn't bring himself to take them away.
Besides, the task he needed to complete next would be far more convenient alone.
Leaving Shuna and the others with Rimuru was the best choice.
The night after naming them, Ren successfully activated the world mission tied to this world.
World Mission:"Become a Demon Lord Candidate!"
In a world overflowing with countless monster races, you vow to let the yokai rise to prominence.Become a Demon Lord.
In this world, "Demon Lord" was more than just a title—it was practically a profession.
Those who held it stood at the absolute pinnacle of all monsters.
At present, there were over ten Demon Lords in the world, spanning vastly different races—giants, elves, humans, dragons, vampires, and more.
Ren's mission was to become a Demon Lord Seed.
A Demon Lord Seed could be called a Demon Lord—but wasn't a true one yet.
Simply put, they were candidates—beings with the potential to become full Demon Lords.
Once you became a Demon Lord Seed, you were allowed to call yourself a Demon Lord. These were known as Title Demon Lords.
The "title" itself wasn't anything official—it simply meant self-proclaimed. Powerful enough, but not universally acknowledged.
That said, anyone bold enough to claim the title was already far above ordinary Demon Lord Seeds.
Above them stood the Awakened Demon Lords, also known as True Demon Lords.
These were genuine calamities—beings whose overwhelming magicules and power, once they completed the required awakening process, required no recognition from anyone.
They were living disasters.
The power hierarchy of this world roughly went like this:
Low-Class Monsters→ Mid-Class Monsters→ High-Class Monsters→ Special A-Class Monsters→ Demon Lord Seed→ Title Demon Lord (Disaster-Class)→ Awakened Demon Lord (Catastrophe-Class)
Ren's mission didn't demand that he immediately become a catastrophe-level existence.
He only needed to reach the stage of Demon Lord Seed.
Of course, not just anyone could qualify.
After all, this was the reserve pool for future Demon Lords.
First, one's magicule capacity had to meet a strict threshold.
Second, race mattered immensely. Those capable of becoming Demon Lord Seeds were almost always high-ranking races. Low-tier monsters stood virtually no chance unless their race mutated.
Even Rimuru, absurd as he was, hadn't originally qualified as a Demon Lord Seed.
He only obtained that status later by devouring the Orc Disaster—a being that already possessed Demon Lord Seed qualities—through Predator.
Ren, on the other hand, met all the requirements.
His magicule reserves were more than sufficient.
And his race—classified in this world as Yōki Oni—was among the highest-tier species.
He fully qualified to become a Demon Lord Seed.
..
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