I'm going by the Web novel, so no Charybdis.
That time I got reincarnated as a slime does not belong to me.
Turn the Clock:
Yuuki was probably minding his own business at the moment, Rimuru thought. Soon, this would be over. He'd received word from Shizue that they had successfully sneaked into the academy a while ago and that they would send word once they moved.
He was glad about it, if they knew right away then he and Souei could go over there in case they need help while Benimaru prepares for possible invasions. Preparations were already done so that nobody could possibly surprise them. This had to be done in one strike. Disposing of Yuuki and getting the justification for it.
The problem would be Chloe. It wasn't too hard to deal with. Clayman had made no move, at least none he was aware of, so the coffin couldn't have been stolen but he had to be careful just in case it was. Milim was asked to defend Ruminas if it came to a Banquet before the battle so she wouldn't need to go. Nobody would defy her will and he was sure Guy wouldn't care all that much about whether they attended or not.
He took a sip of the tea he was holding. After this, the only thing they would need to keep an eye on was the Eastern Empire. Had to make sure his own would be prepared. Maybe consume [Justice King Michael] and disassemble it to make sure nobody gets hurt by it anymore. He wondered how consumed Rudra's mind was at that point. Definitely much, but how much?
This would take care of the Angels eradicating progressed civilizations, too. The end was in sight but to him, it felt far away somehow. Like an abyss he stared into but couldn't fathom the depth of. A part of him was scared by this.
He would win.
His enemies crushed.
The empire posed no threat.
They would regret the day they heard his name.
Nobody could beat him.
He'd tear them apart.
He would get whatever his heart desired.
No matter the consequences.
Those who dare oppose him will die.
Failure wasn't an option.
They ran. Shizue had tried to no avail to talk with Yuuki but it was futile. The children at their side, they kept running. She was holding Chloe's hand. Rimuru warned her that Chloe must be kept as far away from Yuuki as possible. At this rate, none of them would make it. The communication crystal they had was destroyed by him, so had to keep running, there was no other choice.
They turned around a corner and the exit came into sight. They ran even faster, however that was possible. And then they crashed.
The exit wasn't real, they realized this too late. It was over for them. Hinata shooed the children behind her, taking a protective stance, Shizue did the same. Neither of them noticed the light glowing softly.
The Hero of Flames charged forward in attempt to clear a path but the path left was too narrow for them to slip through. Yuuki was in the way. He struck back, his own swordsmanship no joke. Behind him another figure emerged, an elf? Half-elf? Shizue wasn't sure.
Kazaream, she was warned. A former Demon Lord. What a troublesome person he has as support. The one who defeated Kazaream was Leon. Rimuru had told her what he knew about the man. He was Chloe's childhood friend and the reason she and many others were summoned by the man was his desire to find her. He was the same as the children but he achieved the feat of overcoming the problem by himself. For Chloe. That's how important she was to him.
No matter how much she disliked him, he saved her, even if that wasn't his goal, just to find the one he wished to protect. Deep down, he was a good person, too.
She could respect that and maybe she could reunite them as well. But for that they had to survive this first. She just hoped their lack of a report would make the Slime suspicious. It was their only hope.
Yuuki continued to narrate while defending and attacking. She had asked him about his goal, if it was truly destroying the world. That's when the story started to flow. There was no sliver of goodness in his heart. Only pure desire for destruction and doom. Rimuru had told her:
'He will get his doom, but his alone.'
To these words she desperately clung, as if they alone could save them. There was a power, a wisdom behind Yuuki's words and movement that he could not possibly possess. Yet he did.
"You won't get your wish." She calmly stated, readying her sword.
He laughed "Is that so? I wonder why."
She lunged "It's my duty to protect them and if that means crushing you, then that's what I'll do. And if I can't then the next person will."
"We'll see about that." He brought his sword up, blocking her strike "I'm not exactly weak, as you should know."
She knew that but there was always someone stronger and she could say with certainty that one such person was Rimuru. The wall to her side collapsed, the barrier protecting it and preventing their escape crumbling but it was already too late. Beside her, Hinata fell.
He tapped his foot on the ground, slightly on edge. They had given the signal that they had started to move but it's been an hour with no further report. Milim was beside him, she'd come back half an hour ago. She probably wanted to play or eat something but noticed how tense everyone was and decided to stick around Rimuru after receiving a run down on the situation.
Maybe he should have gone with them to meet the children. That would have been better. It was too late for that now. Should he go now? What if he disturbed their mission and alerted Yuuki to their presence?
He didn't know what to do.
'Just like staring into an abyss.' he thought grumbling 'And there is no way to see anything except a black void.'
He was afraid of asking Ciel about the possibilities of why there was no report. Deep down he knew there was only one answer. He stood up from the stool he was sitting on, surprising Milim who fell back out of her own comically.
He walked out the building, calling Souei and alerting Benimaru and the rest to their leave. He just had to risk it. Worst case he would just use [Time Warp] to before he went out. Easy as that. Everything was simple. Mess up and use the skill to go back to before whatever caused it.
And everyone in their path would be crushed to dust.
There was no room for failure. Failure was to be eradicated. He was an existence equivalent to a God, he can do everything.
Nobody can stop him, whether his desire was the Saving or the Eradication of this World, this Universe. He was an absolute being.
Pressing forward, he continued, not realizing the fading of the voice he trusted.
It was a nice day. Not too hot, not too cold yet she felt so sad. She didn't know why. No, she did.
It was because his expression was so dark, so devoid of emotion. It worried her. Ever since she arrived, he had not smiled even once. She held onto the item that could connect her to everyone else and called out. If she went in his stead, it would probably cause the opposite effect of what he wanted.
The atmosphere was so dark and tense even though they all had fun just a few days ago, goofing off in the Labyrinth with Ramiris and Veldora. Why? She wondered. What worried him so? Who did this to her friend? Who would have to pay?
The one responsible would deeply regret messing with her friend!
But she held herself back as soon as she was told what happened. She understood why nobody was acting on their worry, that they needed to wait. She let Shion guide her to Rimuru and sat on an empty stool, eating snacks that were on the table.
She received a message back.
He felt uneasy as he stood at the giant door. He never felt this before when he went there. Was something going on that he should know about? Dismissing the thought, because even if, why would he have to deal with it? and went through the door and entered the castle.
It was cold, he absentmindedly noted. A stupid realization as this was the continent of Eternal Ice but who would hear his thoughts?
He soon entered a grand room, a fellow Demon Lord before him. This would be fun. If only Dagrule hadn't kicked him out he wouldn't have needed to make the journey and deal with this.
"Hey, can I hang around here for a while?"
For free of course, who in their right mind would expect him to work?
A message from Milim arrived, all hell breaking loose.
Slow, they were too slow. They had teleported right into the Kingdom's walls, leaping towards the Academy as fast as they could. There was smoke and a crowd, were they too late?
He could hear someone cry, no not one, many. Pushing through the crowd, he pressed forward until he could see a giant hole in the wall. Nobody knew what happened but there were sounds of fighting and he knew nobody would go to check.
It was the children, now that he was close he could recognize their voices as the source of the tears he had heard. He rushed in, ignoring all shouts demanding his retreat. He leaped through the smoke, thankful that he didn't need to breathe and emerged on the other side.
He wanted to scream, tear that damn Bastard apart, but he instead rushed to the children and looked them over. They were unharmed. Shizue was holding them close, trying to shield their view from the cruel reality they had to see. She looked up at him tearfully.
"She's gone." She whispered broken, starting to sob now as well "She's gone. They're both gone…"
She cried along with the children and Rimuru looked closer at Hinata. It was not even a clean strike, she must have suffered. He knew why Chloe was gone, too but he dared not voice it.
"I will preserve her body. You will see her again." He would make sure of it one way or another. He could always jump through time "Take the kids and go, I don't care if they are fighting him right now, I'll rip him apart."
Nodding weakly, she scooped up as many as she could and went through the hole with them. Nobody messed with him, nobody took from him. When would these people learn.
He slowly stalked forward, one clashing of swords ceased, the other resumed.
Yuuki smiled "My, if it isn't Satoru? It's been a while."
"Tch, another." The one still fighting complained "How many allies does he have?" He turned to his companion "Can you do anything? I can't active my skill like this."
The other carefully looked at him "You're Milim's friend?"
Rimuru didn't answer, just kept walking, passing the red head. He raised his gaze "Yeah, it's been a while. How's the other you, insane one? Still as stupid as you while thinking to be someone he will never be."
It was a statement, portrayed in a way that would make it nothing other than the absolute truth. An insult and a stab right where it hurts.
Yuuki's eyes narrowed "You look pretty insane yourself right now. Smiling so widely with that look in your eyes…" He chuckled "I'm surprised though, how do you know about him?"
"Who knows, maybe a little bird told me?" He took another step forward "What are you thoughts about being devoured and dying like, right now? I promise it will be painful."
He laughed "I refuse. I'm not dying today, you might though. Kazaream."
The elf changed direction, abandoning her fight and headed straight at him. The sword was at he throat.
He caught it by the tip, stunning her "Haaaaaa, why did you think you had an option? Your fate was already decided by me."
He entrapped them, closing them off from the outside world using multiple barriers and manipulating the Academy walls into a ball of stone, encasing them.
He looked around frantically "What-!"
Rimuru reached out and took his hand into his own, smiling sweetly "Goodbye-"
The world collapsed.
Before them, the Academy twisted and turned. She was thankful nobody was inside for this would have surely killed them because now, floating in the air was the academy, condensed into the shape of a globe.
It had become silent, not a word was uttered for a second then there was a loud shriek of panic and people started fleeing. She dared not move as the children clung to her desperately and watched the ball of stone as people bumped into her again and again.
'What have you done?'
The world went dark and fell apart beneath her feet. Ah, this was surely the end. Yuuki had won.
Bathed in darkness he understood. Yuuki was gone, devoured by his Ultimate Skill. Velda was gone with him. He stared at his hand, darkness oozing out of it slowly. The two behind him observing him.
'Ciel. We did it. We saved them!' Joy bubbled up inside of him, ready to burst 'We really did it!'
He laughed lightly, smiling like a happy child. The burdens now gone.
...
There was no response.
'...Ciel?' No, this couldn't be 'Ciel? Hey, Ciel! Answer!'
He couldn't hear her anymore. He couldn't hear her anymore!
He kept calling out her name, she was still there, he felt that but for some reason, he couldn't hear her.
-Isn't it boring?-
'Ci-!' No, that wasn't his Ciel 'Who are you?'
-Don't know me? Too bad.-
'Who are you? Who do you think you are, talking to me in Ciel's place?'
-I'm you.-
'No, you're not.'
-Yes I am. I am you, the you that feels hate, the other you. But I'm YOU.-
[Time Warp]
He caught his breath. He heard steps behind him, he could smell smoke. Good, he reached the correct point.
'Ciel, can you hear me?'
-Yes, Master.-
'Good, what was that?'
-What was what?-
'That… thing… just now that spoke to me instead of you. Before I used [Time Warp] again.'
-I am truly sorry but I do not know what you speak of, Master. Shall I look into it? Analysis of the weird thought occurrence is at 90%. Shall a connection be searched?-
Hesitated for a moment. I'm you.
'Yes, please do.'
-Then I will begin immediately.-
He looked at Yuuki "Yeah, long time no see. Ready to die?"
The man chuckled "I'm afraid not. I still have things to do."
"Funny, so do I!" He grinned "Sadly, you're in my way."
"Wh-"
And gone. He called Azathoth back. Now to deal with more important matters.
He turned to the red head that had addressed him earlier "I apologize for the holdup. Yes, I'm Milim's friend. Why?"
"She asked Leon here if he wanted to save a friend of his. ...She vanished halfway."
"She did." The blond grumbled "This was mostly useless. The humans will stick this on us."
Rimuru had to raise an amused eyebrow at this "Aren't you human?"
"What is it to you?"
"Nothing, actually. So you're Chloe's friend? I know where she went."
"You do?" Wow, he looked hopeful.
"Well, if someone can convince Vampire Princess Valentine to wake the Hero up that would be a great start." He explained "The Hero is Chloe but also Hinata. I plan on separating them. Hinata's death is the reason Chloe is gone in the first place, they assimilated and became one before jumping to the past and becoming the Nameless Hero. Sounds farfetched, I know but it's the truth."
"So we just need to ask Ruminas?" Ah, that was Milim, seems like she followed him. She looked around "Huh? I felt two bad people! Did you get them both?!"
She looked upset, did she want to beat one of them? "Yeah, got rid of both in an instant."
"So cool~!" She grinned "Let's have a spar later, I'm all fired up but now it's useless…"
"Y-yeah… Sure."
He had gotten himself into a rather stupid situation. Well, Yuuki was gone so everything was good. He was wondering about Kazaream though. He had isolated her for now, he would think about it later.
The red head spoke up again "Calling us was useless if you were coming yourself."
"I never called you! I called Leon and Dino!"
"Did you really think Dino would get involved in a matter that had nothing to do with him? And I only came because Leon was with me when the two received your message." He turned to the Slime "Rimuru, I guess. I sent Dino to your place, I'm not taking care of him."
So he had to deal with it? "Okay." Better not make an enemy of Guy. Not that he couldn't beat him but... He'd rather not.
"Anyway, let's go to Ruminas right away." Milim piped up "She arrived a bit ago, something about the Church. Aren't we lucky?"
Her smile made him wonder if she did something but he brushed it aside. Surely not.
"Then let's go." The response, surprisingly, came from Leon.
"Okay!" Milim exclaimed but didn't move.
The Slime smiled slightly and sighed "You have no idea where the church is."
"Nope!"
So it was on him "I know where, come on." He tapped Milim's shoulder and took off, making sure to use the smoke to hide their departure. He telepathically shot Shizue and Souei a message and contacted Benimaru on the way. No disturbances yet. Good.
[Lustful King Asmodeus] was not a skill he originally had but as with all others, [Creation Lord] took care of that. They arrived at the Church easily and he took out Hinata's body once they were safely inside the Church. Ruminas met them further in, fussing over the demand but eventually relented and got the Hero's sleeping body.
After waking her up, Rimuru started and separated the two. The members of the Church who were assembled started cheering and embraced the woman while Ruminas and Leon glared at each other.
"They seem cheerful." Guy commented.
"I doubt it." One more thing he had now dealt with "I'm just glad this is over."
"Hm? Why the sour face? That Yuuki kid wasn't all that strong."
"Correct. But he would have become strong. Strong and terrifying. Chloe over there knows it too. We avoided something terrible."
"Is that so? I don't really care either way." He glanced at him "I'm surprised though. I've never heard of you until Milim brought you up but you're a True Demon Lord. You could easily kick one of the others out of their seat. Not that it matters to me how many there are."
"I'm not too interested in being Demon Lord. Becoming one was necessary for something I had to do. If I call myself one, then only to protect what I already have even further."
"Well, I have nothing against it if you become one. Not that I could do anything against it."
"Whatever are you talking about?"
"Don't try to fool me. I might not have Milim's [Dragon Eye] but even I can see the difference."
"Eh, sorry then." He shrugged "Who knows, I just might."
"How much support do you have?"
"Milim, you and apparently Dino. He stopped by us before. He said he doesn't like me but... I don't know. He said that I now had the support of two Demon Lords back then."
"Then nobody would have a right to complain. Well, they can but you have three votes. So, will you?"
How annoying "If it makes everyone shut up about it, sure."
"Then I'll get the others to help me organise Walpurgis."
"What? You, personally?"
"Of course. Milim will consent. I only have to stop by at Dino's then. Which means I'll be going with you."
"Great..."
"Something a problem?"
"No, not at all."
Snacks were served as Guy sat with them. Milim and Dino were present, too. The Dragonoid was happily chatting with Shuna and Shion while stuffing her mouth, Dion was sleeping on a couch and Guy just... ate snacks. Thankfully nobody had learned how to make cake yet or they would have the cake problem again.
While fooling around a bit, they casually exchanged stories. It was far more carefree than Rimuru remembered ever talking with any of them. But that was soon to be over. He was sure that as soon as Walpurgis was over there would be movement from the Empire. Yuuki might be gone but his influence sure wasn't. He would surely be given the forest again, so more territory to protect. They needed more forces and he had already sent Diablo out to gather those.
The Demon went to the expected place and if he was right, the same people would be chosen again. It was hard to impress the Demon after all.
After a bit of discussion, Hinata took over Yuuki's job, Chloe at her side. With the recording crystal they had hidden inside Kenya's cloak they were able to blame everything on the former Chairman.
In fact, while this didn't make the news, Leon was easily recognized. But nobody made a fuss. The people who saw the part where Hinata died were quickly shut up by a simple statement of the church that basically said that one of them wouldn't die so easily.
In the end it was a relief that it ended so well. There was only one thing still giving him grief.
The voice.
The voice he heard during Ciel's absence and the distorted thoughts he had from time to time were definitely the same. But it wasn't another him, he knew that much. No, it reminded him of someone, someone he wished to forget.
Anger gushed forth. It was supposed to be over.