Relieved by their sudden reprieve, Veldora decided to ask a question, one that had been bugging him ever since Rimuru had left them all these years ago.
"Why did you break off our soul corridor? I thought you would treasure our connection. Isn't that why you saved me from Rudra, because he took control of me?"
This statement unknowingly to everyone present delayed their imminent demise, as Rimuru's curiosity toward this statement was increased. The book the demon showed him mentioned his victory over two true dragons, but didn't explain why his previous avoidance of direct advantageous combat was overruled suddenly.
If this soul corridor was so important to his past self, yet it wasn't mentioned in this seemingly complete account of his life, there might be some merit to finding a soul corridor. Rimuru still probably would have ignored Veldora, yet he had said that he destroyed it right before leaving. Could there be a connection between that event, and his loss of his memory?
"How do I create a soul corridor, exactly?"
Veldora was put at a loss. Did this mean Rimuru wanted to recreate their connection?! Put at ease, he attempted to answer the best he knew how.
"Last time, absorbing me into yourself and then releasing me was enough to do the trick"
Curious what Veldora meant by absorb, Rimuru thrust his hand deep into Veldora. As the ancient dragon was screaming in anguish, Guy and Milim looked on in abject terror. It looked like Rimuru was annihilating his oldest friend, and only family member. The hope that they had felt when Rimuru's aura ceased fluctuating morphed into unbridled terror.
Rimuru was quite oblivious to both the agony of his dragon, and the fright of his former friends. He was just searching for Veldora's core, and the easiest way to find it would be reaching deep within his body. He was just totally unaware that this was the first time Veldora had felt pain in years, due to his [Pain Nullification].
In the past, he had always directly struck at the core of the few who challenged them. It was the easiest way to be rid of an annoyance for eternity, so he was quite experienced in finding the core of any being. The only difference between then and now was that instead of breaking the core, he was grasping it with his hand.
To the horror of Guy and Milim, Rimuru yanked out Veldora's core. His body given to him by Rimuru that he had maintained for all these years, was dissolved into nothingness. Rimuru visualized himself absorbing the core, and it was as if it was sucked into him, assimilating Veldora.
Rimuru then tried to bring the core back out. It reformed, sitting warmly in his hand. Rimuru tossed the glowing sphere with a slight throw, then recreated Veldora's outer body around the core when the core fell back to his level. [ Imagine Rimuru being a pokemon trainer, and Veldora as the pokemon in a poke ball, heh ]
Instantaneously, the feeling of connection between Rimuru and Veldora deepened by multitudes. Rimuru gasped, not recalling feeling anything like this before in his countless years of experiences. An unmatched ethereal bliss washed over him. The stronger an individual is, the more powerful the soul corridor's connection will become. If Rimuru had stuck around after Ciel's dissapearance, the flow of energy towards subordinates would have compounded, and returned to him, increasing everybody's strength to an almost unfathomable amount.
"What could I ever have given this up for?", wondered Rimuru.
Veldora's pain disappeared as he reformed. His new body felt exponentially tougher than his previous one, and he was full to the brim of pure energy. His renewed connection with his younger brother shared his happiness with Veldora, and the aged dragon couldn't help but grin, despite the tense situation a few seconds ago.
Veldora clearly heard two words as if they were spoken aloud through the connection.
"Show me."