Risa and I took Ramiris, Beretta, Shion, Diablo, and the dryads who'd wandered in to fawn over Ramiris and headed out. Veldora had already disappeared, citing that he wanted to read manga in my house or something.
According to Ramiris, we could only take two attendants to Walpurgis. Apparently, some new demon lord had once incited the anger of another, older one by bringing a massive army to the council, and a rule had been put into place because nobody wanted to repeat that slaughter if they could avoid it. I'd chosen Shion, so that she could get her revenge on Clayman, and Diablo, on Risa's request. Apparently, he was a really old demon who was well respected by the other demon lords. He'd give me a bit more authority than I'd have otherwise.
But Ramiris wanted to take Beretta and Treyni. I had no problem with that; I knew that it meant that Treyni was probably going to end up leaving the treant village to serve Ramiris, but it was better than the alternative, Treyni moping about it for the next century.
Unfortunately, in order to ensure that Treyni could follow us to Walpurgis, I needed to do a bit of work.
Well, Risa and I, together. Basically, we teleported over to her real body, an unassuming tree in the treant village, and I created a second core for her. A chaos core that would basically allow her to fuse her physical and spiritual bodies together into something semi-physical. Then, Risa took her original tree body and crafted a doll out of it.
"You know, Risa, remember the first time you made a sword and Kaijin called it a piece of garbage?"
She stuck her tongue out at me as she worked. Pretty soon, the doll was complete.
'Isis. What the heck is that?'
'Answer. A doll. A perfect replica of the individual, Treyni. The hairs are made of fine plant fiber, and the skin is made of rougher plant fiber interlaced with processed Elder Dryad bark. Seems to have been painstakingly carved from individual Treyni's original body.'
"You've come a long way. I'm proud of you." I praised Risa, as she placed Treyni's new core inside a hollow spot in the stomach. It fit perfectly, and the doll sparked to life, the shiny brown bark-like skin replaced by good old Treyni spirit-looking smooth, pearly white skin, the hair gaining a bit of a lusher green color.
Wait, did Treyni get stronger, somehow?
'Answer. Yes. Individual Treyni is nearly 2.5 times stronger, with her new form.'
Cool.
…
The next afternoon.
(Phobio POV)
"Wow… I'm so tired." I muttered to myself, "How do you still have so much energy?! You've been setting off that giant legion magic over and over again for like twelve hours straight!?"
The bluish-silver-haired beauty beside me stared me straight in the eye and replied, "I'm Rimuruuuun!"
"...Right."
…
(Suphia POV)
"Dude, how many more of these do we have? I didn't even know there were this many people in Eurazania!" The slime masquerading as an annoyingly beautiful boy(girl?) beside me made eye contact with me, a big smile spread across his face.
"I'm Rimuruuuun!"
"...Okay, then."
…
(Alvis POV)
"I really am in awe. Utilizing such magic over and over again for several hours. It truly is incredible." The demon lord beside me turned to face me with a shrug.
"Well, I'm Rimuru. The amazing Chancellor of the Jura-Tempest Federation!"
"Well put."
…
(Middray POV)
"Hello. My name is Rimuru Tempest, and I'm a friend of Milim's. Sorry for the whole 'breaking in' thing, but we needed to get this message to you in secret, 'cause I don't want to get in Milim's way with this whole 'army on your doorstep' deal." The figure in the crystal ball explained.
I looked at it curiously. This was Rimuru Tempest, huh? I was impressed that he was able to get into my little office here without any of my guards noticing. Amusing.
Seems I'll need to train my guards a bit better.
…
(Dragon Faithful Guard POV)
"GAAAH!" I screamed.
"Okay, what was that?" My buddy beside me asked.
"Sorry. I just felt some inexplicable terror. Like, right in my core."
…
(Middray POV)
The message from Rimuru continued. "Since we don't know each other yet, I'll get right down to business. As you probably already know, Milim has razed Eurazania to the ground, and Demon Lord Carillon is missing. Clayman likely thinks he's dead, but it's not actually that simple. We have reason to believe that Milim and demon lord Frey are working together, in order to deceive Clayman into convening a Walpurgis Council, where they can kill him and end all of his petty schemes." Middray's head was starting to hurt, keeping up, and he still didn't understand what that had to do with Clayman's army being on his doorstep.
Luckily, Rimuru was still getting there. "He's set the Walpurgis for three days from now. Clayman believes that the Walpurgis will keep the other demon lords busy, while his army ransacks Eurazania. That's Clayman's plan. Until the Walpurgis actually goes down, though, Milim's likely being kept under close watch. I'm not entirely sure why she's deceiving Clayman, but Milim can only do it so long as she keeps a perfect guise right up 'till the meeting in three days, where Clayman will die. As such, she's probably sent a message with them, asking you to meet Clayman's army's demands. Tempest and Eurazania have agreed to compensate you for any food supplies lost, feeding Clayman's army.
Because we're going to crush them during the meeting. Do not ally with the Demon Lord Clayman, under any circumstances. I'm asking you to stay as neutral as possible, because whatever Milim has in mind, she's my dear friend, and I don't want to see her people caught up in the crosshairs of this war. Please." The voice paused as Middray considered his plea. Something about it pissed him off, but it was logical. Of course he wouldn't ally with that human trash, Yamza.
"GODDAMMIT!" Middray shouted, launching a chair across the room in a fit of rage. As he calmed down a bit, the crystal ball that the message had been recorded on lit up again, the message continuing.
"In the center of this recording crystal is a Tempest-created magical item. When someone who's had long-term contact with Milim's magicules' aura pours a bit of energy through the ball, the ball will disappear, leaving only the item in question. It's the size of a marble, and carrying it on your person will allow you to directly contact me via telepathic messages, though I may not immediately get them, or respond.
However, allow me to warn you. If anyone under Clayman so much as touches the communication marble, it will react by causing a massive explosion."
Middray waited for the message to finish in its entirety, before placing his hand on the crystal and channeling a miniscule bit of his aura through it. Honestly, he half-expected it to explode in his face, but he was the leader of the Dragon Faithful. He wasn't scared of a little explosion.
Not that one ever happened. This was a Risa-made artifact imbued with the Ultimate skills: Horus, and Aether. Whoever held it gained a miniscule connection to Rimuru's skill Aether, Lord of Bonds, which could be used to create a direct telepathic connection to Isis, which would vet any and all interference before passing the message on to Rimuru.
The moment that it sensed the traces of the Milim aura from Mnemosyne's archives, the communication orb utilized its connection to Rimuru in order to remotely activate Belzebuth to instantly absorb the crystal ball encasing it, falling to the desk as a shiny, silver marble, which Middray picked up between his fingers, analyzing it before slipping it into his pocket.