Author's Note: Point of views from chapter to chapter may change depending on what I feel is best. Do not expect a consistent POV for the entire series. A prime example is this chapter which takes place within Rimuru's perspective to a degree. I'm also aware many of you wanted a funeral/obituaries for the dead, which I had planned (and am doing) in this Chapter, mostly as the last chapter took place over 30 minutes to an hour or two, and because I wanted to do it from Rimuru's perspective. Regardless, that's all, and the Discord is below.
Discord Code: huVWBnR3CG
Fury of Tempest
Chapter Three: Rebuilding What's Left
I'm Rimuru Tempest, former Chairman of the Jura Forest Alliance, and former leader of the Jura Tempest Federation. Currently I stand as the recently proclaimed Storm Emperor of Tempest. The whole scenario was a show of force. Illustrations and news of the crowning would likely be sent to Dwargon and Blumund and from there be sent globally. The world would know the Storm Dragon is back, and that I'm his chosen ruler. Our legitimacy over the Forest would no longer be contested, but our interests beyond it weren't yet secured.
Currently we stand in the aftermath of a great catastrophe, the 'Falmuth Massacre' as it has been dubbed, left over 80% of our military forces entirely eradicated, and left my friends dead. Some funerals were already being held, mostly on personal or small scales. The idea was to allow the relatives of those dead to have their own personal goodbyes rather than one grand funeral. Of course, I did have such a plan, the funerals of my closest friends and subordinates had yet to be held, though I had to give some time for all the personal funerals to take place before I could host the 'grand' one.
For now, there was some reorganization I had to do. Despite the Military's now significantly smaller size, I've wanted to reward those who remain, Primarily Geld's men, who remained in Tempest and protected those who they could hide. If it weren't for them, there wouldn't be a Tempest to rebuild. So I came up with a medals system, similar to countries of my world, and even some of this one, medals would be given out for military achievements and accomplishments. There were four main categories of medals; Sword, Shield, Cross, and Dragon. Sword medals were for grand military accomplishments in battle, things such as achieving a strategic goal or spearheading a charge, or overall just getting a high kill count, really. Those who did well in combat would be awarded a Sword Medal of the fitting rank. Shield was for acts of bravery and protection, oftentimes by putting your own life on the line to protect others. It would be these medals Geld's men would be getting. The Cross medals were medals of overall commitment, loyalty, skill, and expertise within the Military. They were one of the highest medals, and were awarded to those who showed expertise and skill in many categories. Lastly were Dragon medals, these were intended to be the highest rank of medals gainable, and were given to individuals deemed worthy by either me or Veldora if he so chooses to. They don't have any specific requirements, and they can be given to Non-Military personnel as well.
Of the medals, they all had a unified ranking system, Silver - Gold - Mithril - Orichalcum. Silver was fairly easy to obtain, basically granted to those deemed "above average" usually. Gold was meant for higher achievers, which while not necessarily "War Hero" status, were still exceptionally good or brave, often being elites in their own field. Mithril was where you got to being effectively a War Hero, or at least someone of importance. Despite not being the highest one, Mithrils were still treated as effectively the highest. Orichalcum was meant for the best of the best, and only a few would likely ever be handed out, Geld of course was awarded the Orichalcum Shield as well as the Mithril Dragon. Souei, mostly for his previous achievements, and attempts to probe at Falmuth's forces even after the fighting was over was awarded the Mithril Cross and Mithril Dragon. If we wanted to be technical, I was technically awarded the Orichalcum Dragon medal by Veldora, but that was similarly only a ceremonial thing.
With my business handled, next came the hard part; the funerals. A lot of people had died, so many in fact, that there were barely any relatives left to mourn them individually. They had effectively burned their bodies in a mass-grave before I had come in and put an end to their lives, so identifying most on an individual level was difficult, especially with no relatives left to pick them out. With Raphael, it was a breeze, but I certainly didn't enjoy it. The whole ordeal made me pissed, I'm starting to regret giving even just a few of them a merciful death. Whatever, what's in the past is in the past, but you can't ignore what they cut out of the present. It was only as I gazed up on the field of gravestones, taking up the entirety of an area previously cleared out for construction and expansion. The graves of my closest subordinates and friends were placed on the top of the hill, overlooking the town, small statues meant to symbolize them built atop them. The hill itself never had too much sentimental value, however it wasn't uncommon for me to hang around here, especially with some of them. It was here where I first talked with Shizue, and where I met Milim. I never thought of it this way, but this hill with this lone tree, truly meant a lot to me. Now it was here where my friends would get to gaze upon Rimuru City, and it's from there they'll be avenged.
The whole ceremony was a blur to me, in fact, I'm pretty sure Raphael had to take over at one point, my mind was focused on thoughts, I had been pushing the truth to the back of my mind for a while, and since I woke up I've been pushing it back more and more, finding ways to distract myself for the short term like bringing back Veldora. But there was no hiding it anymore, they were dead, and there was no bringing them back. Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, Hakurou, Kurobe, Gobta, Rigurd, everyone except Geld, Gabiru, Souei, and those under them were all gone.
They've made the ultimate sin. It shall not be forgiven.
For now though, I had to compress my anger, as well as I could. Anyone in the audience could've easily seen the small bits of anger-filled aura I let out, throughout the ceremony, everyone knew just how pissed I was. But not now, now was not the time for anger, it was time for reconstruction. Tempest needed a show of force to the outside world. We would get revenge on both the Church and Falmuth. But now was not yet the time. I'm sure I could easily go and collapse Falmuth on my own, but we were at war, the only recognized peace would be one legitimately gained, and I needed to show the world that Tempest was not only as strong as its ruler. I am not the only gear in this machine.
Yes, the time for justice will come, but not yet. I will hide my anger, for now. For the sake of the Empire, our rage will be released on the battlefield.
I eventually wrapped up the ceremonies, Veldora also gave a short speech, though as he wasn't physically here, it was best to keep it shorter. Of course, he seemed to have a similar connection to them as I had, though he seemed to try and lift everyone's spirits with 'the cycle of life and death' or whatever he spoke about, whether or not he personally believed it, I wasn't sure, not that it mattered.
As a show of honor and respect towards the fallen, medals were still given out to them, with most of my closest friends being awarded Orichalcum Dragons and Crosses, some earning Swords or Shields. If I just gave them all the medals, it'd just become worthless, so I opted to give them what fit them best.
It was the next day, most personal ceremonies had ended, and I stood at the top of the hill, gazing at the graves of my friends. Souei wouldn't tell many people, but he was up here frequently, while letting his body doubles do his work. As now the sole survivor of his village, it was likely just as hard, if not harder on him, though he has a tendency to not try and show it. I had no particular reason to be up here, mostly lost in thought, thinking of many things, but the most important one being how to win a war without just completely annihilating them with my skills? Ultimately I sighed, I knew there was only one real way with these numbers. I could always just send them in with their newly-evolved forms and skills, but that's risky, and would likely see at least moderate casualties. Yes, there's only one solution.
"Notice: Through analyzing your memories, I have managed to recreate and modify it to your requests, infusing it with magical offensive and defensive capabilities."
"Alright, here goes nothing." As I say this I enter slime form, expanding as Raphael recreates what is likely the solution to our problems.
"Notice: Creation of the Magi-tank successful."
The pinnacle of weapons of war, the tank. I was hesitant to bring modern technology into this world, however if Raphael has the ability to copy things even without an extensive knowledge on it, well that makes recreating it a hell of a lot easier. I could make the tanks out of three types of materials, Magisteel, the main one, Mithril, used for a few of them, particularly ones leading charges, and Crimson Steel. Due to the power of crimson steel, and how difficult it is to make, the amount of tanks I'll likely make with it is 1 to 3. Even then, they'll be used mostly for ceremonial purposes, or used as the main leader of a charge. Regardless, for now, most tanks are made from Magisteel and Mithril.
The tanks can fire two types of shells, magic shells, which weren't really shells so much as they were just magical blasts, and normal shells. The tank allowed the driver to infuse magical power into the tank and utilize that to fire, aiming to optimize the magical output, and fire a powerful blast while minimizing the magicules used. Normal shells were just recreations of real-life tank shells, a secondary option for if the driver ran out of magicules or their opponent is resistant to it.
The tanks weren't all I could make, but for now they would do. I'd rather not bring about modern-style warfare to this world, even if it means the destruction of my enemies, it'd just bring about heavy casualties later. Of course, we had no means beyond my slimy self to mass-produce these. Without the dwarves here, things were slightly more difficult. Of course, that doesn't mean they're gone. From what I could tell, most non-monsters who couldn't escape like Youm and his party did, were likely all taken as prisoners of war. That means there's still a chance they're alive. Outside of my very obvious desire to not lose any more comrades, it'd also be great if we could keep Kaijin and the other dwarves, especially if I really wish to "modernize" our military. From what I could gather, Mjollmile was also here during the attack too, and since money's about to be tossed around across the city and for the military, having an economic advisor such as him to run the treasury would be optimal.
For now, I must meet with my allies. If what Souei says is true, Fuze should be here soon, with an army of all things for some reason. Did they not get the memo? The war's over. They were late. But I can't particularly blame them, I had provided many loopholes in that treaty, I didn't expect them to join at all. I should at least commemorate their commitment and loyalty if nothing else. I believe a messenger has been sent to Dwargon as well, and they should be arriving soon too. For now all we do is wait.
And we didn't have to wait long.
Fuze arrived shortly afterwards in a panic, nearly breaking down the door as he entered. "I have arrived with the top adventurers and we're ready to help fight! It appears Falmuth's main forces have yet to arrive, so we still have time to-"
"Fuze… The war's over. Did you not see the massive graveyard we had to build?" I replied to him, standing up from the table where I had gathered some of the officials who were left as well as those who had replaced others. It wasn't that empty, a lot of the former tribal leaders weren't particularly fighters so they hid underground with Geld, meaning we at least had competent leaders remaining among the Goblins.
"S-so the war's over? We're late?" Fuze asked, visibly shaken up.
"Yep, but I will give you commemoration for at least trying to help, I honestly didn't expect you to help at all. That's why I left so many loopholes in that treaty, I do understand that it could take a while for a small nation to mobilize and send forces, so I don't blame you. Though I will say, we lost. Well in a way we did. We lost the first attack, then I returned, wiped out their entire army, and evolved into a Demon Lord." I say nonchalantly as Fuze's face shifts from mildly shaken up to confusion, panic, fear, and a mixture of other emotions all at once.
"What- wiped out their entire army? Demon Lord?" Fuze says panicked, his facial expression shifting and cycling through about 5 different emotions in quick succession.
"I'll explain it all later, Dwargon should likely be arriving soon, so we can have a meeting of nations. For now just go send your men to relax in the hot springs." I say nodding, getting up as Raphael informs me of the incoming Dwargon forces.
I head outside to meet with Gazel Dwargo, leader of the Armed Nation of Dwargon. He was sure to have a lot of questions, especially since I outright not only admitted the Storm Dragon was back, but that he had crowned me Emperor of the forest.
"Ah Rimuru, I'm terribly sorry about what happened here, if I had known sooner I would've sent aid. However, about you evolving into a Demon Lord and the Storm Dragon returning, not to mention you being chosen as its 'Emperor,' well needless to say I believe a discussion is in order."
"Agreed, there is a lot to go over. We still are at war with Falmuth after all, and I have no intention of forgiving them for their sins." I reply, before Raphael alerts me of others.
"Notice: A group of individuals approaching."
"As if it isn't the King who likes to live deep underground." The individual says, clearly addressing Gazel.
"Ah it's you, descendant of the elves who like to live in ridiculously high places."
These guys clearly have a history together.
"Anyways, I assume you're the leader who claimed himself a Demon Lord and Storm Emperor?" The man asked, he was likely the representative of some nation, not sure which yet though.
"That I am, I am Rimuru Tempest, leader of the newly-proclaimed Tempest Empire as well as a Demon Lord." I reply, there's nothing to hide. All of this is likely already beginning to spread around the western world, soon most governments would know of the Storm Emperor chosen by Veldora.
"I see… Well I am Erald Grimwald, archduke of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion, and from what I have heard you've gathered quite the praise of my daughter, Eren…"
Wait, Eren's nobility? Her? The one in the party that's on the verge of incompetence? SHE'S nobility?
"You see, I've heard about you before, and while I wasn't fully entrusting, seeing as Dwargo recognizes you, and even if I'm not his biggest fan, his judgement is sound. Therefore I will not blame you for my daughter being taken prisoner. I understand she chose to stay there and fight, and according to Falmuth who we tried to talk with to retrieve her, they see her as 'an enemy of god for fighting with the monsters.' Despite my anger, I'm at least willing to recognize that you're not evil, and even if you sided with the Storm Dragon, you seemed to have tamed it. For now I will make one statement. Thalion will help you in your war, so long as Elen is retrieved from Falmuth's hands. We tried negotiating with them, but they refused, and so Thalion is on the verge of declaring war, however instead we have opted to aid you instead as an indirect measure."
"That would mean recognizing the Empire of Monsters, I hope you know that." I replied to him, though I expected his answer. Me and him were both in the same situation; we were incredibly pissed off. We both had reasons to go against Falmuth, and while he may not be able to rally the whole nation to war, the act of holding nobility from a neutral faction is enough to justify involvement.
"We are fully prepared for the consequences of this action." He nodded.
"Well then would you two like to join in a bit of a meeting, I'm sure you all have questions regarding the Storm Dragon and Demon Lords, and I'll explain all of it if you follow me." I led them all to the outside area in which I planned to have the meeting, with Diablo there to help manage it as my sole secretary, it went smoothly.
As everyone sat down, Diablo spoke; "Representative of the Kingdom of Blumund, Guildmaster Fuze. Representative of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Thalion, Archduke Erald. King of the Armed Nation of Dwargon, Gazel Dwargo. Representatives of the Animal Kingdom of Eurazania, the three Beastketeers, Lady Albis, Lady Suphia, and Sir Phobio. As representatives of the Tempest Empire, Head General of Land Forces, Geld. Caretaker of the Forest of Jura, Dryad Treyni. Head General of Aerial Forces, Gabiru. Head secretary to the Storm Dragon, Charys. Myself, head secretary to the Emperor, Diablo. Storm Dragon, Veldora Tempest. Lastly, the Storm Emperor, Rimuru Tempest."
A lot of the titles used are mostly temporary, especially for Geld in Gabiru, we're still in the process of reorganizing the military, and since I'm gonna become more reliant on the Dragonewt numbers which were in the caves, having someone lead the aerial forces is necessary. Geld mostly has his position as the only major military general I have left for now. Regardless, as introductions finished, I stood up, most people sitting in chairs neatly, except for Veldora, who was reading a manga I gave him so he could behave. "Thank you all for attending. As many of you know I was recently proclaimed the Storm Emperor of Tempest. For all intents and purposes, the title means little to me, but stands as a show of force to other nations. I have a close bond with Veldora, we are sworn friends, and so Tempest holds the support of the Storm Dragon. As many may have detected, the Storm Dragon's aura returned for a short time, though he is currently managing to control it after a bit of training. As for my status as a Demon Lord, while I did not entirely intend to become one, it is a role I now must live up to. Because of that, I decided to announce myself as a Demon Lord. For now our priority is building up military strength and launching a counter offensive against Farmuth."
"Are you sure you can support that? From what I can tell you've taken heavy casualties." Gazel says in questioning. It's not unjustified either, it makes sense, any normal nation would be too weak to launch an offensive, and by all accounts, neither us or Farmuth should have the fighting force to actually invade the other. However, hes forgetting one thing:
"I'm an awakened Demon Lord with the backing of the Storm Dragon. In the worst case scenario, we'll just blow them up ourselves. This invasion is mostly a show of force, to show that this nation is not held up solely by the Dragon and Demon Lord supporting it."
"Well what about after the war? What do you wish to gain? Subjugation? War reparations? Territory?" Gazel asked, and it was a good question, but I already had a whole plan prepared.
"The plan is to offer them two demands; One, become a Tributary State of the Empire and Swear loyalty to me. Two, continue the war." We'll give them a week to respond, and they'll most likely reply with no, believing they've crippled us more than we've crippled them, and thinking they can mobilize an army, even if poorly trained, whereas we cannot. Of course there's also the prospect of us now having an evolved Demon Lord and True Dragon, so they may ultimately submit. Either way, I don't intend, at least not initially, to modify their government structure, or likely even change their leader. The idea is that we'd let them alone outside of demanding occasional tributes, and let them fall to civil war. Once a civil war occurs, Youm will swoop in, become King, and 'abide' by the former agreements and remain a subject of Tempest. Obviously there's the issue of the people still being well aware they're a subject. However, the former rulers were fairly greedy, and even if Falmuth was overall wealthy, even for the middle class, simply treating them fairly and well would likely be enough to soothe any rebellions over time, especially if I take a more hands off approach and simply let Youm lead it with the help of my Ultimate Skill: Lord of Caesar."
"An Ultimate Skill hmm? Not entirely surprising for an awakened Demon Lord to have one, but what's it do?" Erald now spoke, though I couldn't tell him the full answer. Now that I was making such major reforms and changes to Tempest's military and foreign policy, I'm unsure how long these alliances I currently hold will last. My Ultimate Skill will at least alert me beforehand if anyone is planning to betray me, but it's best to be safe regardless.
"The full skill is complicated, but the general gist is that it allows me to give subconscious aid to subordinates in administrative positions, such as someone ruling over a territory like Youm will. The aid is usually like instinctive knowledge and advice on ruling and managing an economy, military, and other governing matters."
"I see, that's an awfully useful skill for a ruler of a nation, you're making me jealous." Gazel said, chuckling. It's good that we're still on friendly terms, however I'm uncertain how long that may last, though I have confidence in my allies, including Dwargon. Either way I'll know if they betray me, I'm not going to be the Joseph Stalin in World War 2 of this world.
That, for the most part, was the majority of the meeting. It continued for some time afterwards, but the matters discussed were fairly insignificant such as changes to our trade, especially since our economy has (realistically so,) taken a massive hit from MORE THAN HALF OUR POPULATION BEING DEAD. So, exports will be slow for a while.
And while it would be great to call it off there and say that's the end of the meeting, one loud-mouthed fairy had to barge in and ruin it.
"Tempest is going to be destroyed!" said you know em', you love em' ("Notice: That is debatable"), Demon Lord Ramiris.
"Hm?" I said, it's not like this was particularly new information, was she late or something? Could she not look around town for like 2 seconds?
"I said Tempest is going to be des-" Ramiris tried blurting out again, but I cut her off.
"You're a bit late there, it's already fucking destroyed. Most of the citizens are dead, just fly around and you'll see how underpopulated it is now, not to mention the massive graveyard we had built."
"Oh.. I-I didn't know. I was referring to uhm… something else.." She said, it had at least shut her up a bit, but she apparently wasn't talking about that. At least it wasn't another Fuze situation.
"What else are you talking about?"
"Walpurgis! The banquet of Demon Lords! Clayman has called a Walpurgis to talk about the 'Rouge Rimuru Tempest who claimed themselves a Demon Lord and the storm dragon's chosen one.'"
"Huh, so Clayman has called a Walpur-whatchamacallit ("Notice: Walpurgis") to try and deal with me?"
"Yes! Did you really claim yourself a Demon Lord? And did you really get chosen by Veldora? It seems kinda far-fetched that he just suddenly returned?"
"Yep. I've already evolved into one, no reason to turn back now. As for Veldora, he's right there." I say as I point towards Veldora who looks up from his Manga, Ramiris nearly fainting on the spot.
"S-so it's true then? Veldora is in fact back… Well I'm glad I chose your side then!"
"About this Walpurgis, as a Demon Lord I should be able to attend right?"
"I believe so, nothing's technically stopping you, especially if you're really claiming yourself a Demon Lord. You could come with me when they open the gate for me. Also you can bring two subordinates of your choosing."
The choice was easy, maybe under different circumstances I would've brought some people who weren't as powerful, but I needed a show of force, and protection, therefore my only options were Diablo and Veldora, however I wanted Diablo to attack Clayman's castle during Walpurgis to perhaps gain some intel. Or anything valuable. Course, since I didn't want to go with only one subordinate, I'll bring Ranga and Veldora instead.
"All right then, is that all Ramiris?"
"Not quite… You see, in order to start a Walpurgis you need 3 people to approve it, Clayman's one, however the other two are Milim and Frey."
"Milim? I doubt Milim would approve of something going against me." My Ultimate Skill Minerva likely doesn't work as well against Demon Lords of Milim's power, not to mention our pact was only of friendship, regardless it should still tell me if she went against me. Of course, that doesn't take in the possibility of mind control, would it count if they were mind controlled?
Notice: You would likely be notified if the individual you have a pact with is under mind control.
That means if she wasn't under mind control, and she hasn't gone against me, she's likely faking it or something. In fact, now that I mention it, the Three Beastketeers mentioned when I talked with them Milim attacked Eurzania and 'killed' Carrion. I had partially forgotten about it with all that's happened recently. Now that I remember, I also talked with Youm, and apparently the one who made one of the barriers over Tempest, Mjurran I think her name was, gave up her life in order to let them escape. How such a powerful Majin could die so easily is beyond me, she likely wanted to die or something. It's a shame really,
I wish I had the chance to kill her myself.
For now though, it was time to discuss strategy, Souei had found out about Clayman's forces marching south, likely into Eurzania as Raphael deduced. Ultimately we thought of a plan, Geld's and Gabiru's forces, along with Eurzania's and the Three Beastketeers would go fight Clayman's forces, Diablo would go to Clayman's castle, and lastly Veldora and Ranga would join me in Walpurgis.
All that was left now was to wait. I didn't send the tanks in with Geld's forces, the strategy was more focused on stealth, and the terrain of the prepared surprise attack wasn't fit for a tank charge, especially if we were making giant holes in the ground. Eventually I received a report that the first combat had begun, and that overall, we were winning. Diablo also said he was ready to strike the defenses around Clayman's castle whenever Walpurgis started. Now all that was left was for it to start. I had made Treyni a physical body to allow her to attend Ramiris alongside Beretta.
Eventually a magical gate appeared and what seemed to be some kind of servant or maid came with it, welcoming them both to come in as the Demon Lord Banquet was about to begin.
This is where it starts.