DISCLAIMER

Apart from the plot and unknown characters, nothing is mine.

SUMMARY

It was never easy to fall in love with the Creator of this reality.

MY BEGINNING AND END

… "A soulmate's unconditional love"…

a THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME fanfiction

M.B.E © SAPHIRA-HIME

T.T.I.G.R.A.A.S © FUSE

CHAPTER ONE:

An Unwanted Meeting

Three millennia had passed since he came into this world and reincarnated as a slime.

Tempest Rimuru, founder and ruler of the Jura Tempest Federation, thought with a frown on his face. He made a graceful leap in the middle of the Jura Forest before looking up in the sky to find his closest friend, Tempest Veldora, flying ahead of him.

"It has been three thousand years since the Tenma Great War, Ciel," Rimuru spoke to his intelligent core. "You're telling me someone worse than Yuuki Kagurazaka or any of the demon lords is trespassing our home?"

Rimuru's frown deepened when he heard no response in his head. His most trusted partner had been unusually quiet from the moment a new source of power emerged in his Jura.

"Why is it always our home targeted by this world? Is this punishment? To think I have never tried to conquer a single country." He spoke out loud to show his annoyance to the Voice of the World. He hoped the system that governed this world could hear his complaints. "Is this a way to tell me to live a life? Well, I'm satisfied with the peace that we have."

He liked his lazy bum life.

"I slowed down the progress of this world as much as possible because I was made aware that I was too eager to make my Jura like Japan." An army of rebellious angels stormed his Jura without warning, which destroyed the cornerstone of his plans thousands of years ago. It seemed that he was not meant to make his new home a place that relied purely on machines and technology. "I get it. This is not the country of the rising sun. So now, I am improving the lives of people here painstakingly by advancing magic."

He had become the strongest entity in the universe, but he could not lift his finger against the Voice of the World. According to Ciel, harming it was the same as the destruction of this reality. If he disrupted the Voice of the World system, there was a huge possibility that his partner would disappear.

He would never risk it.

"So why not give me a break for a moment? I begrudgingly stopped my internet dream because you said so!" He had more to worry about than this new unknown power that threatened his Jura. It was only a matter of time before he lost everything he cared for. "You kept throwing me problems while the rest of the world live just as they pleased!"

Rimuru Tempest was far from a lazy person. He had run through every corner of the universe to find a solution to his inevitable life of despair.

"I can't waste my time with these problems at the moment!" He had worked tirelessly to save his people from their deaths. "Give me a break for once!"

Rimuru's shoulders twitched as he heard a loud thunderous crash ahead of him. He did not miss the black lighting that struck before Veldora's mana disappeared. He rushed towards his best friend and became more anxious. It was almost impossible for someone to exist who could compete with the enormous power of the Storm Dragon. The fight also ended too early.

"Veldora?"

No response.

"Veldora! Answer me!" He exclaimed. "Are you okay?!"

Still no response from his friend.

"Damn it! He shouldn't have run off like that!" It didn't help that his partner didn't give him a stat report. "I don't have time for this!"

"Rimuru-sama, my humble apology, but I think I have to be by your side." He heard Diablo's concerned voice in his head. "Please let me help you."

"Remain in the capital, Diablo," Rimuru firmly ordered. "I need you there more than I ever have. If Veldora was unable to contain this new power, there is no telling what might happen to our citizens if I fall down too."

"I-I understand," Diablo replied hesitantly. "Please be careful."

Rimuru focused his attention on the unknown power he was about to face. He had no idea what was waiting for him near the lake where it suddenly appeared. He may be the strongest living being to exist, but he was not naive to believe that there would be no other entity that could be born stronger than him.

He was the perfect example when he first came to this world. Nobody would have imagined that the weakest monster of the slime race would become the most feared ruler of this world.

"Most powerful? Without Ciel, I'm a nobody." He muttered under his breath. Everyone, except him, considered himself the strongest. "I can die sooner than the rest if my partner doesn't help."

After a thousand years, the ruler of the Jura Tempest Federation lost confidence in himself. The strongest being in this world was on the verge of losing his people at any time. Rimuru frustratedly gritted his teeth. Worse of all, he was wasting time when he needed it most.

The moment he saw Veldora lying unconsciously in the middle of the large crater he probably caused, he walked cautiously through the now empty Great Lake of Jura.

"What happened? To think someone could put Veldora in that state." No race could intercept his Jura's barrier without alarming him in advance. He looked around carefully. "And where is the enemy?"

He searched for any source of life as far as his mana radar could reach, but he could not detect anything unfamiliar.

"'I'll protect you..." He heard his friend whisper. "…no matter what."

"Protect wh-" Rimuru confusedly blinked his eyes when he noticed there was something, or rather, someone underneath Veldora's body. "What's this?"

He kneeled down and tilted his head to check whether his friend had restrained or killed the person in his arms.

"H-Heavy, s-silly boy." His eyes narrowed when the woman spoke as she tried to free herself from Veldora's hold. "G-get off me.

She didn't feel like an enemy to him and Veldora was holding her protectively in his arms, like his life depended on it.

"Who are you?" He knew it was a typical cliché line, but he couldn't help but asked. "Do you know who hurt my friend?"

"I-I did this to him." Rimuru raised his perfectly arched eyebrow. She did not hesitate to admit that it was her who made the Storm Dragon unconscious. "I-I had no choice."

He observed the woman carefully.

She had long platinum silver-red hair reaching her waist and red ruby eyes. She looked like she was in her late teenage years.

"You did this to Veldora?" Rimuru's eyes returned to his friend's arms. He could not understand why he was desperately holding on to the woman's waist. "Is he trying to stop you from escaping?"

At the moment, his priority was to determine whether the woman was an enemy of the Jura Tempest Federation. He would later figure out how she managed to knock down his Catastrophe Class, Storm Dragon.

"W-We finally meet." He could tell she was struggling to speak, "I-It's been a while."

"I don't remember meeting you before." He waited for Ciel to inform him of any memories of his thousand years worth of memory, but it still did not give him a report. "Do we know each other?"

"I've been waiting for a long time," she tried to extend her arm to him. "…m-my h-husband…"

"H-Husband?" He was speechless for a moment. A thirty-nine-year-old man turned to an androgynous slime was called a husband for the first time in his very long life, even though he never dated once. "I think you have the wrong person."

Before she could answer him, she fell unconscious in Veldora's arms.

"What a typical turn of events," he muttered, "I knew she was about to collapse soon."

Rimuru heaved a deep sigh.

A stranger calling him her husband was the last thing he needed at the moment. He frowned when the unconscious Veldora held on to the woman even more as he tried to separate the two with his telekinesis.

"You're not helping me here, Veldora." He couldn't help but chuckle when he mumbled something heroic. "After all these years, you still love mangas. Well, the industry is still strong in the human world."

Veldora had never missed the opportunity to ask him to update his monthly manga releases. Not that he minded. It was one of their ways to bond together.

"You leave me no choice but to teleport you back to the main city." He still refused to call the capital of the Jura Tempest Federation, Rimuru City. It still embarrassed him to no end. "I'll bring you where everyone is. They are probably worried after I ordered them not to follow me."

His people.

Aubert Chloe's time magic had reached its limit. The gift of time still to his people would soon disappear. Every Tempest citizen would turn to dust without warning.

He would be left alone.

"I was afraid to lose someone again, that I ended asking Chloe for this burdensome favor," Rimuru mumbled dejectedly. "If only I can extend their lives eternally like mine."

He was about to carry the two, but suddenly fell on his back when he heard it for the second time. He could only stare at the unconscious stranger in front of him.

Again, he didn't have time for this absurdity.

"…f-found you my husband."

THE END

SAPPHIRA-HIME

For those who wondered why I made a fanfic for this pairing, I just thought no one among the female characters could match Rimuru's standing at the finale. I have read both the WN and LN versions and am currently updated in the manga and anime series. I thought hard about it because I had to invest time, but until the last minute I still came to the same conclusion. LOL. Hopefully, you will enjoy a fresh pairing through this story. Let me know what you think.

P.S I know that you have many questions about Rimuru and his true abilities after the end of the series. Please give this author-sama the chance to explain it in the following chapters.