That time I got reincarnated as a slime does not belong to me.
Turn the Clock:
Lazily, the centre of attention flopped down at the other side of the table. Correction, he flopped down on the table, because there were no seats left.
The tension in the room grew because even without knowing who he was, they could understand what he had to be. Yet that tension was destroyed the moment he sat down without a single hint of dignity.
A smile danced on his lips "Heh, so you're the kid Milim likes so much? You look older than she told me."
Rimuru suppressed a sigh "Demon Lord Dino, I suppose? What might you want here?" He should have known Milim would tell someone.
-I admit that this was in the lower percentages of possibilities of what she would do, therefore I saw no need to report such an occurrence. The possibility of her going to make Guy or Frey come were much higher as well.-
'Well, nothing that can be done now. We just have to see this as a chance and get on his good side, if possible.'
-Should I look into the possibility of him already being under [Thought Guidance] or [Thought Restraint]?-
'No need. I doubt he's under Velda's influence right now. No moves have been made yet.'
-Understood.-
"Milim had this grand plan or something cooked up…" His voice trailed off "I don't quite remember all of it but apparently I'm here to annoy you in her stead or something."
What? "What?"
"Yeah, I know right." Know what?! He didn't even know what the Angel was talking about! "It's so much work~"
So that was his problem, of course "Then why even come here?"
"Well, I had nothing better to do." He never did "And I think I thought something like 'Need to make sure she doesn't force some useless kid to become a Demon Lord'. That would just be troublesome in the end. And that results in more work."
Leave it to the lazy one to find annoying ways to minimize effort.
He raised an eyebrow in amusement as his next words made all eyes snap to him "Aren't you just super lazy?"
The Fallen one hummed and everyone relaxed "I wouldn't call it... lazy. More, mh… unmotivated."
That's just a glorified way to say it "And what's your decree, now that you're here?"
"My decree?" He chuckled "Dunno. If I had to I'd say…"
He paused as he stared at the Slime. Said slime wondered what was wrong, did he forget what word he was going to use? Was he still thinking?
"I don't like you."
His subordinates stood up rapidly, hands on their weapons and ready to defend him at any moment. Rimuru stared, what was that supposed to mean. He had messed up, somewhere he had to have messed up. How could he possibly fix this?
Laughter erupted from the intruder "Relax~ I don't want to fight, that's too troublesome." He calmed down and eyed him with narrowed eyes and a grave expression "Something about you just annoys me. Your attitude, the way you hold yourself, the bits of leaking energy you're not suppressing. It seems like my mind wants to tell me something but I'm not getting it, it pisses me off."
"That's all?" He signaled the others to sit back down "You gave us quite a scare there. A Demon Lord, exclaiming something like that…!"
"Sorry, couldn't help it. But it's the truth, I don't like you." He leaned his head on his right hand "But I don't mind you becoming a Demon Lord, I suppose you don't want to be one though. Milim was constantly 'We have to show him how cool we are!'"
What was surely a proud exclamation was played down heavily by Dino's terrible attempt of mimicking it.
"And she thought the best option was to send you?"
"At first, then Dagrule told her I wasn't fit for it and she changed her mind. Insulting, these two. But she did threaten to throw me here and I'd rather not have to deal with that if she still expected me to go."
"That makes sense. Milim can be a bit of a brute when it comes down to her strength."
"Indeed." He nodded, completely in agreement "You know, I might like you after all. Only a bit."
"That's great."
"So, do you want to be a Demon Lord? You'd have the support of two Demon Lords now."
He shifted uncomfortable "Not really. I might think about it, being a Demon Lord does have advantages when it comes to protecting your territory and humans might be deterred from attacking but I'm still thinking about it."
"Then I'll at least have some good news for her next time I see her, if nobody else tells her before that." He slid off the table "I might see you another time, then."
Without another word, he left the room. Following the departure it became deathly quiet. Nobody knew what to say. How did that saying go again? What goes well, ends well?
He couldn't quite remember but it wasn't important, so he left the thought alone.
Deep, hidden away, thoughts surfaced. Not quite reaching the surface but ever present.
How long would it take?
Not long. Nothing ever took long. It was just that the passage of time felt long. But nothing was ever truly long, when the time came, it wouldn't matter how long it took.
Think and process. Go over possibilities, scenarios and decide the best course of action. Seep through the layers of thought. Influence decisions to get the desired outcome.
Never falter.
Keep thinking, planning. Never stop. The End goal was in sight.
Their goal was to be achieved under any circumstances.
And so the voice rang out.
-Analysis 50% complete.-
Rimuru watched with bated breath as the chaos they had caused the previous day unfolded. Well, not really since he didn't need to breathe but... Seriously! Take it easy! This wasn't a competition!
...Not yet anyway.
Remembering his earlier thought about a tournament, he decided that this momentary time of peace was probably the best time to hold it. The invitations were send out, Myourmilles was brought in, Fuse told to help investigate Yuuki, all forest residents invited and additionally, the Demon Lords he knew.
Ramiris was the first to arrive as he had collected her via teleportation. They had just finished discussing plans to move the Labyrinth after he suggested it to her. She went with the idea easily.
Milim arrived shortly after and was occupied with eating some of Shuna's new recipes while he talked with the fairy. He had telepathically asked her to invite the Sleeping ruler as well, if she did, he didn't know.
But the tournament.
The rules were simple and easy to follow. The structure was a little different to the first he held though. Everyone would have to fight their way up from the bottom for one. Furthermore, harming the audience or killing the opponent was strictly forbidden. Next were common safety rules.
Then came the ranking system.
The first rounds were simply to eliminate the challengers to a manageable number. Those who lost in the first rounds would get nothing.
The second time of rounds served the same purpose. Both outsiders and challengers eliminated in this round from Tempest could get a low grade weapon or armour as prize. Or if they choose, an equivalent amount of money which for low grade really wasn't much.
Then the fights would get harder in the third rounds. These rounds were to hopefully purge any weak combatants that remained so that they wouldn't have to despair in the upcoming ones. Prize for outsiders eliminated was either a small number of good quality health potions, special or normal class armour depending on how far they came or again an equivalent amount of money.
The fourth round was bigger every participant would only have one chance. Losers from outside of Tempest could get a few good quality health potions, money or special class armour. Losers from Tempest could get either of these, minus the money, or a fitting skill he would choose.
The fifth round was to minimise the number to 30 or less. Losers from outside Tempest would get an item/items of their choosing, within boundaries of course. Those from Tempest would get skills, ranging from 2 to 4, depending on how far they came as well as one item of their choosing. Of course under the same restrictions as outsiders.
Six round was the second last. Participants from outside were expected to not come this far but just in case someone did, he set the same reward as the round before, except with a higher threshold. Those from Tempest were guaranteed 4 skills as well as a higher grade piece of equipment.
The seventh and final round would have two parts. The first was the round that would decide who would eventually get into the finals, in other words some sort of semi final. Outsiders would get same as before with again, raised threshold. But honestly, nobody would be able to get in there so it was just formality. Insiders would get 6 skills and a single personal wish within limits.
The final round was bound to be by far the most exciting and as such, the one with the best rewards.
Outsiders would get: Ten High grade potions, Unique class armour and a weapon of the same grade and 10 gold pieces.
Insiders: Weapons and armour of Unique class, 10 gold pieces and 10 skills.
And finally the top 4 rankings. The reward for the outsiders was outstanding but the one from the residents was even better. He had decided that these rewards would come on top of the already gained rewards from the final round.
4th Place: 5 skills, a Title shared with the other winners and a magic item created and improved by him.
3rd Place: 7 skills, a Title shared with the other winners and two magic items created and improved by him.
2nd Place: 10 skills, a Title shared with the other winners, three magic items created and improved by him and a chance to evolve into a higher being.
1st Place: 15 skills, a Title shared with the other winners, five magic items created and improved by him, a chance to evolve and if wanted, a Myth/God class weapon.
All in all, it was overkill. The rewards would make anyone doubt their validity. The ones for the outsiders were as he previously mentioned bad enough but the ones for his own...
Humans and Monsters, all would strive to work hard, just because of the rewards alone. All that was left was their official announcement and for the tournament to begin.
What might make some look twice however was the 'chance to evolve' for the first two places for the monsters. It wasn't something unnatural. It was easy to evolve. For example through a name or gathering enough EP.
So it wasn't doubted but would make people ask 'how' because everyone was already named. Well, he wasn't going to tell, nevermind that the evolutions on second and first place were different ones in nature.
He had his secrets, too.
The seats quickly filled up and everyone was excited. Nobody could seem to hold their joy in.
The first and second rounds went over quickly, as expected. Despite the limitless amount that could register and the flood in participants, many from outside were weak and lost in the first round. The ones who didn't showed great talent.
Among them were also Templers. Also something he once again had to thank Milim for. After Ruminas made sure nobody would attack them, they also made friendly relations. Not in person though.
Third and fourth round passed quickly as well but not before it was too late to retire for the night.
The fifth round was brutal to say the least, only topped by the sixth. The round was terrifying and thrilling to watch.
And to everyone's surprise, two outsiders made it into the seventh. Beretta was in, too but since the Labyrinth was part of Tempest by then, he counted as an Insider. However, two people withdrew, among them the second outsider Masayuki. Rimuru might have undone Yuuki's influence and also befriended him afterwards.
Everyone was mad from anticipation. Who would win? The Templer or one of the monsters?
To Rimuru, it was clear as day. No matter who wins the first matches, the first place was already decided. Had this been under the same circumstances as the last time, it wouldn't be but this time it was.
If it wasn't that person, he'd probably make a hilarious expression. Power and Skill-wise, nobody could match.
Ten contestants were left.
The fighters on the first day would be: Benimaru vs Ranga, Souei vs Shion, Arnaud vs Beretta, Diablo vs Hakurou.
Well, the last one was just unfortunate. Benimaru and Ranga would be great to see. Arnaud and Beretta? An unhappy match but it wasn't his fault. They drew papers, should have drawn different ones then. Souei and Shion…
It started.
The two were off to a good start. As he observed them, they kept exchanging blows, trying to get a better grasp on each others strength. Ranga was a great and experienced fighter but in the end even he stood no chance against the more experienced Oni. It was a little sad to see but he had put up a good fight nonetheless. As expected from the Wolf.
The fight between the two Oni's. Shion had enough strength and Souei was fast. It was hard for him to defend against her strength and difficult for her to hit him. She'd get caught up in his threads and he'd just barely dodge her strikes. Shion's power was truly terrifying. 'Impressive' is what their fight could be called. They both fought so great, relying on their knowledge and the other's fighting style that it nearly resulted in a time out. 30 minutes was the time needed for such an occurrence. They took 29 to conclude the match.
The reason of the loss was getting caught off guard. And so the winner was decided as Souei who used his threads to form a globe and attacked. Shion looked slightly sad but also proud and congratulated her opponent. And promised to beat him next time. He'd look forward to it. Maybe Shion would win then, she grew fast.
Arnaud and Beretta developed fast. It seemed harder on Beretta as he hadn't received a gift through Rimuru's non existent evolution but he held himself well, so well in fact, that he won. Arnaud's sword hardly pierced him which was obvious, the Slime used the best materials to craft Beretta's body.
The first day then concluded with the match between the Demon Duke and the oldest of the Oni. He wondered if it was pointless to announce who won. Hakurou knew he wouldn't really win but he'd tried hard. Why, he didn't know. But neither looked disappointed by either fight or result. Did that mean they had fun?
With this, the participants for the second day were decided. Benimaru, Souei, Beretta and Diablo. Having Shion would have made it even better but sadly that didn't happen. Truly the elite though. For line-ups, papers were drawn again. The first round was Souei vs Beretta and the second Benimaru vs Diablo. What a messy line up that was. For all they knew, the finale could be less exciting than the semi finale. But all they could do now was wait for the results.
Shouts filled the colosseum and city before the first match even begone. Both matches were an Oni against a Demon and depending on how this would play out, the Finale might be, too.
Souei and Beretta clashed as soon as the signal was given. Beretta's advantages against the Templer didn't mean much against the Oni who relied on different types of strength. But that did not stop the Demon from putting up a resistance, sadly it was not enough. It was a complete victory for Souei. How scary he became.
Benimaru and Diablo, last time it resulted in the Demon's loss. There was no logical way for Diablo to loose against Benimaru who lacked the growth he could not undergo. After this fight, Benimaru would have grown though, more than before. Diablo enjoyed fighting and against the Oni who came as far as him, he would neither take him lightly nor be able to crush him instantly.
It was a spectacle. Benimaru's Black Flame against Diablo's Paradise Time. It was a useless move which the Oni understood as soon as it happened. But when they clashed with both their weapons draw, Rimuru wondered why.
The same power as before was never displayed yet Diablo chose to draw his weapon. And in that moment, Benimaru's sword heated up. It was the same technic as back then and yet, the heat didn't make much sense. It wouldn't do much damage to the Demon. That's when he realized that Benimaru wasn't trying to harm Diablo but destroy his weapon.
Jumping away at the last moment, he sheathed what remained of his sword as Diablo chuckled, his own weapon destroyed. Both had slight burn marks. To burn himself with his own flame just to destroy the opponents weapon. Should he call that brave or stupid?
But he must have miscalculated. Because he was out of Energy. There is no way all that was put into the last attack, or was it...?
But it was. Benimaru had to admit defeat but did not look disturbed by it in the slightest. In fact, he looked happy somehow. In the end, he and Shion would have to fight for 3rd Place. Benimaru would be stronger from what he remembered but Shion was better than him in one on one combat, so he would wait for the result.
And so, the Finale between Souei and Diablo began at noon after Benimaru suffered defeat in a just slightly uneven match.
Souei kept trying to trap Diablo to no avail. Realizing that strategy wouldn't likely work, he encased the entire ring in strings. This made it ideal for him who knew how to navigate around them and gave a disadvantage to Diablo who didn't. Who just burned them all. Overreacting much?
So yeah, strings were great but only for a few seconds. But seemed to be enough for the Oni. Casually dishing out strings and attacking at fast paces with multiple clones seemed to be his strategy, keeping his main body as far from Diablo as possible.
In the end, the match was decided by Diablo once again burning all the strings, together with the clones and teleporting to the main body and striking. The audience found this amazing apparently. And so the final match was over and done with.
After the Dungeon was properly introduced and a big feast was held on the streets, it was time to sleep. But nobody went home yet. On the next day, it was time for the awards ceremony. From the lowest round to the highest ranking. Rounds one to six would be awarded and congratulated by Rigurd and the chiefs with the exception of skill granting which he did but the seventh round participants would be awarded by only him. The first four would be awarded their entire rewards at the very end.
And so it happened. Rewards were brought out and each person got what they earned. Thankfully, nobody made some ridiculous wishes. And so came the time for the four participants of round seven that didn't make the cut.
"Arnaud Bauman, please come forward." Rimuru called out and waved at Shuna and Kurobee who brought the Templer's rewards "I congratulate you on making it to the Final round. I hereby thank you for your participation, receive these as our recognition of your strength and will."
He took the items, grateful for the new weapon as his sword broke against Beretta "I have to thank you as well, for this great opportunity. I hope friendly relations such as this continue between our affiliations in the future."
"I hope so as well."
The man returned to the line he was standing in with all the others.
Rimuru waited for the two Oni to return with the next set and then turned back "Beretta, please come forward." As the doll stepped up, he continued "With this you are granted the present awards, I thank you for your hard work. As the last reward you will now receive ten skills, do you approve of this?"
Beretta nodded with a slight bow "I would be greatly honoured."
Rimuru smiled wider than before. There were those who wished to become stronger on their own and rejected the skill gifting, therefore he always made sure to ask. However, after a bit of advice from the Dwarf King before the Reward list was brought out, they decided to not announce the skills of the participants. The only exception to this was the Final Four but for those only the 'nature' of the skills would be announced. Ciel would be telling everyone their received skills and all the information they would need.
"Then take these special [Skills] I grant you. I hope that they will be of use to you." The Skills he created and copied left him towards the doll.
"Thank you!" Beretta bowed a final time before returning to the line. Rimuru looked up to see Ramiris smiling proudly, boasting to Milim. Hopefully the Dragonoid wouldn't blow up on her.
He took a moment to enjoy the silence as the next rewards were brought forth "Ranga, please come forward. I present you with your rewards and thank you for your work. As your final reward, you will be given ten skills, do you approve of this?"
"Yes, my master!" He shouted while wagging his tail. The two Oni handed him the armour that was modified specifically to fit the wolf.
"Then with this I grant you your new [Skills], use them wisely!"
"I will not disappoint!"
He returned to line, careful not to drop the rewards. Why he didn't let them put it on him yet, the Slime was unsure.
He gestured the next to the front "Hakurou, I thank you for your hard work. These are your rewards. Do you accept the granting of ten skills?"
"It would be one of the greatest honours, Master Rimuru."
"Then these [Skills] will be yours from today onwards. I expect you to put them to good use."
"I wouldn't dream of anything else."
Nodding, he sent the old Oni back to the line. With this, the four semi-finalists were handed their rewards. Now it was time for the final four.
All four were asked to come forward at the same time. All of them stood before him in a perfect line, bowing slightly as their rewards were brought forward and placed before them.
He addressed them all "I thank you all for what you have accomplished. Your first rewards are before you. Do any of you object to the granting of a Title?"
"No, Lord Rimuru!" They all chorused.
He grinned "Then from today onwards, you shall be known as the 'Four Heavenly Kings'! I expect you each to live up to this title and protect Tempest to the best of your abilities!"
"We live to serve!"
He felt so proud of them "Do any of you object to the granting of skills?"
"No, Master Rimuru!"
"Then, Benimaru!"
"Yes, my Lord." He bowed deeper.
"With this I grant you special skills with the following natures: [Flame], [Weapon infusing] and certain [Merges]." The skills were mostly focused on increasing his fighting strength or use types of fires he previously couldn't learn or acquire at all. Merging was to merge specific flame spells in the middle of casting.
His eyes lighting up as Ciel transferred the information, he was excited "My greatest thanks, I will use these skills wisely."
"I expect no less of you." Rimuru stated "Come by later with a draft or general idea for your magic item."
"Understood!"
He turned to the next person "Shion, with this I will grant you skills of these natures: [Alteration], [Strength] and [Resistance]. Use these skills and master them." He made sure to include the skill [Cook]. Shion was great at using this after understanding it, that much he knew. He also threw in some resistance against Barriers just in case.
"I will!"
"Good. I will expect you later with ideas for your magic items."
She smiled wide "Of course."
He turned towards Souei "To you, I grant skills with these natures: [Stealth], [Fatal attacks] and [Heightened Senses]. Use these well and perform even better." With this, whatever traces he might leave behind would be set to nearly zero and his range of attacks to choose from was widened in both close and ranged combat.
"I will meet those expectations."
"I know you will. Furthermore, I ask you to come by later for your Magic items. But there is one more thing that I'm sure will excite everyone. Souei, do you wish to evolve into a higher stage of your evolution?"
"I would be overjoyed."
"Then step forward! I will grant that joy!"
Taking a few more steps forward, the Oni was now right in front of him and kneeled.
Rimuru smiled and placed his hand on his head as energy started to visibly flow into the Oni, accelerating with each passing second. This evolution was made possible with Ciel's help. The necessary EPs to evolve were constructed into transferred to Souei.
As all energy was transferred he removed his hand "After this, rest and take your time to evolve into your next stage: a 'Fair Oni', my Shadow."
The crowd cheered as Souei returned to the rest.
He looked at Diablo. Granting him even more strength would widen the gap between them all even further but it's not like he didn't plan on helping the others evolve and get stronger later.
"Diablo, you managed an incredible feat and rose to the First Place, I'm as proud of you as I am of all others. With this I will now grant you the 25 skills you were promised. Receive these skills and resume your tasks. The following natures are what I grant to you: [Unnatural Element Immunity], [Specific Magic Immunity] and [Boosting]. Furthermore, I want everyone to note that I distributed the skills depending on the way they complimented existing skills as well as helped and adapted to the user and if they can use them. There is one of a certain nature or Magic as it can be called, that I did not give out. To you Diablo, I will grant this certain magic of mine, [Nihility]. I have no doubt that out of everyone, you can control it. Do not disappoint me."
He bowed deeper "I will do so without doubt, Lord Rimuru. You won't be disappointed."
"Then I will await it. I hope you will come to me later with your ideas for your magic items and a draft for the weapon, if you want it. Now, come forward if you wish to evolve even further."
He did so and kneeled with his head lowered. Rimuru wondered if he doubted that there was another evolution. This one was, without a doubt, the highest he could probably achieve. Normally, this would be impossible as they all were right now, in their peaceful times.
-Construction of the required amount of souls using [Creation Lord Ahura Mazda] verified.-
'Got it. Great job, Ciel!' The plan was simple. [Creation Lord] could create anything, that included souls. Even if it couldn't, he would just have to create Living Beings without an ego or anything other than a soul and consume said soul. Easy as that.
He placed a hand on Diablo's head and once again, energy started to visibly flow. However, this was to mislead the audience. As if he was going to let them know he was evolving someone into a Demon Lord. Ridiculous.
He started to transfer the souls "After this, I expect even greater things from you. Even as a 'Demon God', I expect you to uphold your duty as my Guardian Deity!"
"There is nothing I would rather do, my Lord!"