Chapter 16: Preparations

In the far north of the world, far beyond the norther sea of the Magical Continent, there lies a large landmass of frozen waste. In ancient time, it is said this land held a supremely advanced and powerful magical nation who's very name is now forgotten. In its place resides the Demon Lord who is said to have destroyed that nation, watching the world from his frozen throne. This is the land of Demon Lord Guy Crimson, the oldest of all Demon Lords and their unofficial leader.

Few ever ventured into this place, and even fewer return, but today a man walked into the Frozen Fortress as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Outwardly he looked human, with platinum blonde hair and a fair complexion, but cold, unwavering eyes. This was Demon Lord Leon Cromwell, the Platinum Saber, and he was here because the master of the palace invited him. Walking through the dark, frozen corridor, he arrived at a large, ornate door in front of which stood a maid with blue hair. Though she looked harmless, she was, in fact, one of the seven primordial demons, one of two which served the Lord of Darkness personally. As he approached, she bowed respectfully

-'Lord Leon, welcome.' she said in a monotone voice 'It is a pleasure to meet you. Please follow me.' She turned and telepathically opened the door. On the other side was a large room that seemed to be made entirely of ice, rows of columns on each side and hundreds of demons standing at attention. On the far side of the room was a throne on which stood their master. He had fairly androgynous features and wore nothing but a pair of pants and a loose jacket; his hair was almost as long as he was and a deep blood red. He was Guy Crimson. Leon walked slowly to the throne; not one demon in the room moved a single muscle. Finally, he came right in front of the ancient demon, who smiled widely

-'Ah, Leon, welcome!' he said as he got up and silently moved to Leon. As he got right up in the former hero's face, he licked his lips lasciviously and said 'Thank you for coming...why don't we go to my bed...' and tried to kiss him. With the skill of someone who had to go through the act far to many times, Leon dodge out of the way.

-'I am not interested in men...' Leon said with a tired expression 'I told you a million times already...'

-'Don't be like that.' Guy said teasingly 'You know, I can become a girl if you want...'

-'...You're missing the point.' Leon said with an exasperated sigh 'If all you called me here for is this...'

-'Of course not.' Guy answered, more seriously this time 'I called you here to talk about the oncoming Walpurgis.'

-'Hm?' Leon asked, as if the Banquet was not even on his mind 'I'm not interested...that smallfry Clayman called it, didn't he? I could care less what he has to say.' he dismissed the other Demon Lord

-'Me either.' Guy admitted 'Clayman is a farce, a joke. It's not who called the meeting though...it's about who supports him...' he said with a grin

-'Frey...' Leon said, then added 'And Milim...'

-'Indeed. How about we move somewhere else for now?' Guy offered. Nodding, Leon followed him outside the room. A few moments later, they arrived at a large terrace with a table and two seats prepared. They sat down and another maid with green hair served them tea.

-'So, what's is this about Guy?' Leon asked as he sipped the tea 'Is this about Milim?' he asked

-'Hm, yes. You see, she's an idiot...but she is the next oldest Demon Lords after to me. I heard some suggest that she is being manipulated, but that is ridiculous...' he dismissed

-'Is it?' Leon asked, genuinely curious

-'Yes.' Guy said with no hint of thinking it as anything but the truth 'With her power, especially her eyes, she cannot be tricked. It cannot be done. Anything she dose, she dose because she wants to. Which means...she sees something very, very fun or exiting in this.' he finished with a grin

-'I see.' Leon said as he lowered his cup 'But still, I have no real interest. I have no intention of ending up like Carrion...' he looked at the ancient demon 'You have known her the longest. Can't you tell what that girl is up to?'

-'Ah, while I'm happy you're relying on me, no.' the demon admitted with a shrug 'Sadly, I cannot read the intentions of idiots. Its one of my few weaknesses...'

-'Hmm...yes, I too can't really deal with the other ancient Demon Lord...' he said, referring to Ramiris of course 'How I wanted to strangle her to death many times...'

'Don't say that' Guy laughed 'If you did anything to Ramiris, I'd have to murder you, you know.'

-'I was joking.' Leon said

-'Boooring!' Guy dismissed 'I'll giver Milim that much, she is never so boring as the rest of you lot.' he sighed

-'I have no intention of fighting a losing battle. Only Milim could really put up a fight against you.' Leon dismissed

-'Oh, come on now...' Guy said playfully 'You could win against me, say, one time out of a million...even saying that much is quite something.' he said

-'One in a million is nor worth considering...' Leon dismissed.

-'Ah, whatever. Let's get to the interesting bit...' he said as he leaned forward 'See, a few months ago Milim dropped by, out of the blue. She was saying some nonsense about some slime who founded a nation of monsters out in the Jura Forest...'

-'I heard about that.' Leon said 'I heard his name is Rimuru Tempest. He was even endorsed by the dryads, the protectors of the Forest.' he informed the demon

-'I see. I didn't know that.' Guy said smiling 'So Milim wasn't just making it up or exaggerating. Which makes what comes up next even more interesting...' his smile grew even wider. Leon knew that smile; nothing good ever came out of it, so he steeled himself for whatever insanity came next. 'Apparently, at lest from the way she was talking about this 'Rimuru'...she is completely heads over heals for him!'

Leon had to do a double take. That was not even close to what he was preparing for. Guy chuckled at his dumbfounded expression, clearly enjoying it. 'You're...joking.' Leon finally said.

-'No, I'm serious.' the demon said 'She really- and I mean, really- likes this Rimuru person. The way she went on and on and ON about him...ugh, girls, right?' he grinned. Leon wanted to remind the demon that he had offered to be one not long ago, but a presence disturbed him before he could

-'Hm...' he said as he looked over his shoulder 'Hello...' he greeted to the young looking woman that had appeared out of nowhere behind him 'Ice Dragon Velzard.'

-'Hello, Leon.' the dragon who was more powerful that any of the True Dragons answered back 'As ill tempered as always.' she said as she sauntered over to Guy. 'What were you talking about?' she asked as she sat down on the chair handle. Leon knew for sure that she was just pretending not to have heard.

-'We were just discussing the oncoming Walpurgis.' Guy told her, playing along 'It seems Milim has found something very interesting in the Jura Forests.' he said. 'And it wasn't your younger brother.' She looked somewhat disinterested.

-'Speaking of Veldora, I have heard he was revived.' Leon said; Velzard quickly perked up when she heard that

-'Aha, I though I felt something. But...' she looked distant, as if looking for something 'his aura seems far weaker than before. Hmm...perhaps he is not fully restored...'

-'About that...' Leon said 'It seems that, though he escaped from the Infinite Prison, he was laying dormant for some reason. There was supposedly this large battle between Tempest and the human kingdom of Falmuth in the forest, nearby where he was sleeping. Story goes, all the bloodshed woke him up.' he told the two who were looking at him intently 'Then he went on a rampage, wiping out the human army entirely.'

-'Hmm...sounds like him. He never learns...' Velzard said, disappointed

-'Perhaps if you didn't kill him all the time...'Guy said; she looked over at him with a fake pout

-'In any case...' Leon interrupted their act 'From what I heard, this Rimuru placated him. How, I don't know...'

Velzard looked over at him, curious 'Interesting... still dose not explain why he went missing for two years. If he died inside the Infinite Prison, he should have reformed in a matter of weeks...' she pondered

-'I have a theory.' Leon said, drawing her attention again 'Someone may have transferred Veldora, along with the Infinite Prison, into some sort of subspace...and only recently succeeded in lifting the seal. It makes much more sense than the official story I heard, though it too may be partially true. Perhaps all the bloodshed was used to fuel dispelling the seal...'

Guy looked to contemplate the theory 'I see...' he said 'But if someone broke the Hero's seal, that would make them as powerful as a Demon Lord, no?' he smiled 'Who would that be?'

-'If I would have to gander a guess, I would say it is that majin, Rimuru.' Leon said 'He started making waves in the forests around the same time Veldora vanished. And if even Milim is interested in him...'

Guy looked very exited about the prospect 'Ho ho, interesting...' he said with a grin 'So he may have Veldora on his side? If that's so...this is very exiting!'

-'Yes, quite...' Leon dismissed, then sighed 'I suppose if it true, even I will have to attend Walpurgis...' he said, then got up from his seat

-'Are you leaving already?' Guy called out, disappointed

-'Yes. There's no point in staying.' Leon said, looking over his shoulder 'I will be at the Banquet. It seems we will be in for a spectacle...' he said with a rare smile. Then he teleported away

Guy looked on at the place Leon had been, and smiled 'How exiting!' he said again, this time louder 'Finally, something happening. I really want to meet this Rimuru character...' he looked over at Velzard 'Don't you?'

-'Hm? Not really...' she said, disinterested

-'Oh? I mean, apparently this majin stole the heart of your cute little niece...' he said with a teasing grin 'As her aunt, should you not check him out for yourself?' he asked

Velzard eyes had a look of sadness in them as she looked over in the distance, to the frozen wastes created by her unrestrained aura. Guy could tell she was tensing; finally, she spoke

-'No, I don't have any right to get in her way...' she said in a low voice 'not after...' she didn't need to continue. Guy knew exactly what she meant. Both she and her sister had always held themselves partially responsible for never being there when their older brother was killed. In his opinion, they were a bit to hard on themselves; it was also his opinion that he and Rudra were the ones who were truly responsible for that tragedy...and the one that followed a few years later. He knew for sure that Rudra was far, far worse in the self-blame than the rest of them. Or at least he was; these days, he couldn't tell what his age old nemesis was thinking.

Velzard looked at him with a downtrodden expression 'Guy...I know you care for her a lot more than you want to admit...' she said. He remained silent, face blank, neither denying or confirming her words 'So I know you, at least, will look out for her...' she didn't finish, however. She started walking away and vanished again.

-'Ha ha...' Guy laughed to himself on the empty terrace. He looked up at the night sky, a faint aurora beginning to form. He remembered the old promise he made to the girl's father, so long ago, and wondered what he would say to him right now.

-'And with that, the summit is now concluded.' Shuna said to the assembled dignitaries 'We will distribute transcripts of the meting later, and provide any new information as available.'

After several hours of constant back and forth, the summit was finally over; Rimuru had to breath a sigh of relief as he again addressed his allies 'And so...thank you very much for your support.' he said with a bow. Everyone began to move out and see to their duties. Rimuru made sure to lead Gazel and Elalude as they left, thanking them once more for their support. And so concluded the summit; after leaving the matters of the army to Benimaru, he called Ramiris away to have a chat with her while they waited for Guy's assistant that was meant to take her to Walpurgis. Mostly, he wanted her to tell him all she could about the meeting and the other Demon Lords.

-'Actually, it was originally just a kind of tea party between me, Guy and Milim...' she said while nibbling on some snacks.

-'Ah, Lady Ramiris, do you want some more?' Treyni said cheerfully. To recap, the dryad had fainted when she saw her former (and present) queen appear out of nowhere. Ever since waking up, however, she had constantly been following her around like a lost little puppy, which Ramiris really didn't seem to mind. The dryad even said she wanted to go work for the fairy again; he felt kinda bad for Beretta, having to deal with both of them, but oh well.

-'I'm good, thanks!' Ramiris said 'Anyways, later the other kids became Demon Lords and Guy started to invite them too; since then, it's became a venue where we would solve disputes between us. When the Tenma Wars started, the Walpurgis, as Guy called it, became synonymous with bad things happening as we kept having them to discuss strategy against the angels...so people really starred associating them with bad things...'

-'But you have them for...good things?' Rimuru asked 'And are you planing another Walpurgis for the next Tenam War?'

-'Ah, I guess...' Ramiris said 'Guy usually calls those. Otherwise, they tend to be about really boring or meaningless stuff...' when Rimuru wanted to asked, she quickly interjected 'You don't wanna know...'

-'Okay...' he said 'Anyways, I would like to know more about the other Demon Lords. Anything you can tell me..'

-'Well...I guess I should start with the basics...'

In short, the Demon Lords were ranked by seniority; the older members, while not all powerhouses (Ramiris being the best example), still had quite a bit more prestige and name recognition than the younger ones. In theory, all were equals, but in terms of power and prestige some were just heads above the rest; Rimuru gathered that surviving all three Tenma Wars would be quite the feat, so he understood that. In any case, as Ramiris put it, they could be classed in three groups: the First Generation, the Second and Third. Guy, Milim and Ramiris were the first; Guy and Milim, especially, were basically individually stronger than the rest of them combined, the two who no one of the council wanted to piss off. The others were a mixed bag.

The second generation consisted of Dagruel, the Earthquaker, leader of the giants in the Western Barren Lands; Dino, The Fallen, who according to Ramiris was something of a hermit (and he wasn't quite sure what Fallen meant; he would ask later), and Valentine, a vampire, though the current Valentine was not the original, merely taking over when the other one retired, whatever that meant. The Third Generation were basically everyone younger than a thousand years; according to Ramiris, prior to the last Tenma War some 500 years earlier, the ranks of the Demon Lords numbered nearly 20. Not including the two other generations, they had all risen over time between the last two Wars and were swiftly cut down to a size during the last one five hundred years prior. Apparently, just two of them survived the war, only to end up killed by the newbies. The newbies included, in order of their becoming Demon Lords, Carrion, Frey, Clayman and lastly...

-'Leon Cromwell...' Ramiris spit the name out with venom 'that no good, piss-ant, failed hero CRYBABY THIEF!' she said, getting progressively louder.

-'Okay, okay, calm down.' Rimuru said 'You hate him, I get it...' 'Though I have beef with him too...' he though to himself. 'So basically, the older you are the more your words matter?' he asked

-'Kinda...kinda not.' she said 'Like I said, were all equal at the Council. Issues are usually solved with a majority vote; even just making a proposal requires you to have the support of at least two other Demon Lords.' she said as she got back to eating, but stopped 'Oh, and you can only bring two followers with you, okay?'

-'Ah, I seee...oh no...' Rimuru trailed off as he saw the pleading looks of everyone in the room 'Oh no...better nip this in the bud...' 'I already made up my mind, okay.' he said, shutting them down before Shion and Diablo went to far...again. 'Diablo, you already have your hands full with Falmuth. I'm trusting you, okay?' he said to the demon

-'Of course, My Lord!' the demon said with a bow 'I will do you proud.'

-'Great. The others will be busy with the army, so...Shion and Ranga will be accompany me.' he could see the two's eyes sparkle. 'Benimaru, I will leave the army to you; you have full command over all forces we deploy against Clayman. I trust your judgement.' he told the ogre, who also bowed. 'Announce me when they are prepared, and I will transport them there...but before that, I think we will need some insurance...' he said, stroking his chin

-'Insurance?' Benimaru asked, unsure of his master's intentions.

-'Yes. Even if we get the army in place, we have no guarantees we make it before Clayman's army slaughters thousands. And so...I thing I will try and evacuate as many Eurazania citizens as I can. Phobio...' the beatman in question quickly stepped forward 'I'll be taking you with me to convince people to leave. Do you think you can do that?'

-'Of course, Sir!' he proudly proclaimed 'As a Beastketeer, we have great influence over the common people of Eurazania. If one of us is there, they will obey. But...' he looked unsure 'could you really do that? Evacuate thousands...'

Rimuru smiled 'Piece of cake. Won't even tire me out. Now...' he stood up and turned to face the window 'Let's get this show on the road...'

Over the next day, as Benimaru and the others organized and supplied their forces, Rimuru was in a teleportation frenzy, moving all over the smaller settlements of Eurazania with Phobio in tow. As the beastman said, the common people greatly respected the Beatketeers and so when he said to pack up and prepare to leave, they would do so with frightful speed. As a general rule, it seemed beastmen were light travelers; they did not pack much other than the bare essentials, and so it was usually a quick affair, even for the largest cities, to gather up everyone and get them away.

In this way, almost all of Eurazania was evacuated in advance for the war. When Clayman's army would march in, they would find the cities and villages deserted; Benimaru had already prepared a nasty surprise for them, and hearing it Rimuru had to suppress an evil grin. He almost felt sorry for the bastards.

On the morning Walpurgis was to take place, all their preparations were completed. Arrayed outside the city were ten thousand beastmen warriors, plus his own ten thousand strong forces including the Goblin Riders, Geld's orcs and many more. He didn't feel the need for a big speech or grand sent off; he simply told them that he trusted in them to do their part. With a cheer, he sent them on their way to crush Clayman's ambitions.

Which only left one thing: dealing with Veldora.

-'W..w..what?!' the dragon shouted when he was told to stay in Tempest 'House sitting?! ME?!'

-'Yes.' Rimuru said bluntly.

-'B..but my time to shineeeeee...' Veldora whined, looking not one bit the ancient Dragon he supposedly was

-'Listen...' Rimuru said with a sigh 'Most of our fighting forces are leaving for war, and I'm headed for the Walpurgis. I need you to defend Tempest.' he told the Dragon, deciding to play to his pride 'You're the Guardian of the Jura Forest, aren't you?' hearing that praise, Veldora immediately perked up

-'Kwa ha ha ha ha! Of course, leave it to me!' he boasted 'No one will dare attack while I'm here...' then immediately deflated. 'Pfff...house sitting...' and left, pouting all the way. Rimuru had to let out another sigh. One problem solved. Thankfully, there were no others...well, he did have to agree to helping Ramiris with a little something; namely, making a medium doll for Treyni to inhabit so she can leave the Forests and serve Ramiris again, but that was a much easier task than placating a giant, human form dragon of destruction.

They waited for a few hours. Finally, Ramiris informed him the Banquet would begin in a few minutes. On que, a demon appeared in a swirl of black mist. She had blue hair and was obviously no mere demon, but an archdemon. She bowed to Ramiris, who greeted her casually, and then looked over at him.

-'Master Guy informed me to allow you to join the Banquet. Please, follow me.' she said with a bow, then turned around. Waving her hand, the mist from before appeared again, but this time began taking a specific shape. A large door materialized out of nowhere, opening up to reveal a large, purple portal. 'Please pass through.' she said politely 'to the Walpurgis.'

Looking to make sure Shion was right behind him and Ranga comfortably in his shadow, he took a few steps forward.

'Just a bit longer...' he said to himself 'Just wait a bit longer, okay Milim?' and passed through the door, prepared for anything.

City of the Forgotten Dragon

Despite being the city of the infamous Destroyer, the City of the Forgotten Dragon was usually a peaceful. However, on this day it's boundaries had been overtaken by noise and chaos as a large army, Clayman's army, had camped to regroup before it headed into Eurazania.

-'My deepest apologies.' Middray said to the head of the army, a sadistic man named Yamza, after the majin stormed into the temple demanding more food for his troops and for the followers to join his forces while they marched. Of course, given that Middray had received a letter written by Lady Milim herself telling him to cooperate, he would do as asked, though he really wanted to tear the pathetic man's head off. He very nearly did when the bastard, enraged that Hermes had the audacity to talk back to him, cut off the second ranked priest's arm off. Some quick thinking on his part managed to spare Hermes' life though, and now he was trying to make the idiot Yamza go away. Eventually, the majin turned away

-'Pfff, whatever.' he said as he sauntered back down the stairs 'Just make sure you have our supplies ready.' Once he was out of sight, Middray picked up Hermes' severed arm and walked to where the priest layed down (or rather, where Middray punched him). With some quick healing magic, Hermes' arm was reattached like nothing happened.

-'Thanks...' Hermes said with a hint of sarcasm as he got up 'Though I'm surprised you...' he wanted to say he was impressed how Middray kept himself from flowing into a rage, but cut himself when he saw the head priest's veins bulge

-'That scumbag!' he billowed 'How dare he treat a Follower of Lady Milim like that! Defile her sacred temple with his filth! I SHOULD KILL HIM!' Hermes looked on with a practiced deadpan expression, waiting for him to calm down, which he eventually did. 'Ah, he's lucky Lady Milim gave orders, or else...'

-'Yes, though I still wonder why she would want to work with that Clayman...' Hermes said as he stretched his healed arm a bit 'You know how she hates this kind of underhanded stuff...'

-'Hm, it is not our place to question, Hermes.' the head priest told him 'We simply need to keep faith in our Lady and follow her instructions...' he turned to look in the distance at the thousands of lights speckled outside the city, the camp of Clayman's army. He smiled wickedly 'Just wait...our Lady will surely make him regret this insolence.'