That time I got reincarnated as a slime does not belong to me.
Turn the Clock:
They sat in silence in the conference room. Milim was there, too. She had heard what happened and came right over. She hadn't wanted to believe it but the cold truth was staring her in the face. She started crying. Frey, who had accompanied her, embraced her and tried to calm her down.
The rest were not better. They were either still crying or had the marks of tears left on their face. There was nothing they could do. There was no way to bring him back. The one who had always saved and protected them. Without him, so many of them would have perished long ago.
Veldora was in his cave. Nobody dared go near him. Not even his sisters. They would die from his energy leakage alone. Even now, it was strangling them but not enough to kill them. It was filled with anger. The corpse, he had taken with him.
A Walpurgis was called together in a hurry. The ones who arranged it were Milim, Ramiris and Guy.
Veldora was angry. How long until he blew up?
The eastern Empire was no threat for now but it was in a bad state even with all soldiers and the Emperor returned.
The Great Jura Forest was a mess. What to do with it? Leave it to Veldora?
That was out of the option. Furthermore, the Monsters were not over their leaders death. Until then, Benimaru was in charge. Milim kept arguing to find a way to resurrect her friend. It fell on deaf ears.
[Arcane Soul Recall] was out of the question, there was no soul left. Even if, where would they get the massive amount of energy needed?
The same problem lay with the [Lustful King]. Even if Ruminas somehow managed to evolve her skill into it, there was no soul. It was a truly hopeless situation.
Therefore the official decision was that until the Monsters stopped mourning, the Forest would remain under Benimaru and Veldora. Anything else and the dragon would be all over them.
The meeting was adjourned with this conclusion. They just couldn't continue. Milim and Ramiris were not listening most of the time, lost in their own little world. Ruminas was worrying her head off about Chloe who was devastated by the news, Leon not as much, but he was also worried about her. Dino and Dagrule kept out of it, not wanting to butt into affairs that had nothing to do with it. Guy was absentmindedly thinking about something as well.
Since the beginning, the meeting was only half-hearted.
Somehow, even though he was only in their lives very shortly, Rimuru had wormed his way into all of their hearts. Now that he was gone, something was missing. Seeing everyone like this, it reminded Dino of the time Veldanava died. Except now nobody had something to let their feelings out on.
It was a dreary and bleak scene.
He hated it. And he wasn't the only one. Ramiris was playing with her hair, wondering if she could have done something. Why didn't she just give them a revival bracelet to force on him during the fight. Why hadn't she thought about it? It might have helped Velda, sure, but it might have saved Rimuru's life just as well.
Milim was sitting at the edge Tempest after the Banquet. Had she been there, she could have helped stall for time. With her help, they may have been able to destroy Velda without Rimuru's sacrifice. She was sure of it! She may not know how but she was really, really sure there must have been a way. But she wasn't there.
Leon and Ruminas were comforting Chloe. Chloe was a bit better off than the rest. She has seen many timelines where Rimuru died but this time it was worse. They had won this time but her teacher was gone as well. She wondered what such a victory was worth. Had she been there, could she have sealed Velda in [Infinite Prison] without sealing Rimuru? She wasn't sure and now she would never know. The conditions for a Time leap weren't met and even if they were, she was sure he wouldn't want her to.
Guy was thinking. He had spoken to Rudra before but there was no solution that came to the Human Sage's mind. The two of them were of the same opinion as Dino. It reminded him of when Veldanava died. It wasn't that he could say Rimuru was Veldanava. Their strength was equal, that much was sure and their personality was also very similar. But the child was not the late Dragon. He had no proof at least. Besides, his reincarnation was Milim's pet dragon. Then again… no, he should stop thinking about it.
Veldanava was gone. And just like him, Rimuru has left this world.
Two god-like beings died. Was this world doomed to destroy whoever loved it? To destroy those who created and wished to protect it with all their being? Just like these two? He didn't want to hear the answer to his question, it would only bring about more despair.
Benimaru was distressed about the whole situation. Rimuru was gone and it seemed like there was no way to bring him back. He was given the lead together with Veldora but nobody had seen hide nor hair of the mighty being in a month. He had the others to lean on, he wished he could think that but they were all down and in no way capable of working completely.
He had to keep a cool head, he knew that but how was he supposed to? Lead an army, sure. But the entire Forest? How was he supposed to do that? He wasn't fit for that kind of thing. But he owed his Master at least that much, so he had to get himself together. Just... just let him mourn a little bit longer…
Souei was in no better state. Despite his own condition, he kept searching around. He was good at intelligence gathering. He had to… he just had to find something! Even if there was not a single thing that helped. Every solution was shot down by a single problem. Their Lord's soul was gone, gone forever. It had shattered right before their eyes, they understood that.
He kept trying to find something, anything. At some point, he remembered Benimaru telling, no ordering, him to take a rest. He was aware that he was in a horrible condition but he couldn't help it. He couldn't let his clones rest, every second was precious, no matter what his friend said. They nearly ended up fighting had it not been for Shuna stopping them.
The poor girl absent most of the time, just staring into space. Couldn't concentrate on work for even a few minutes. She was often joined by Shion who usually just smiled for a second before sitting down next to her and joining her in her absent state.
The purple haired Oni still tried her best to help around, taking on tasks here and there but he was sure she was just trying to distract herself.
Testarossa, Ultima and Carrera were loitering around. They were sad and somewhat confused. Just a week after the tragedy, Diablo disappeared. They were desperately trying to find him. He had this weird look in his eyes, it scared the three.
They hoped he wasn't doing anything too foolish. It wouldn't be like Diablo to do something that could be called stupid but nobody was quite alright at the moment. Everyone was down in the dumps and that led people to do stupid things.
Just last week, someone voluntarily ate Shion's cooking. It wasn't bad anymore after she attained the Skill [Cook] at the tournament or so they heard but her cooking in itself was still regarded as horrible and many dishes were horrifying to chew, especially now that she didn't pay much attention into what she doing.
Diablo has isolated and hidden himself away. He couldn't stand being near anyone. Everyone looked the same. Their eyes full of regret and despair, aware of how they failed. He couldn't stand it anymore, those eyes that reflected his own and the very same things he felt. It was selfish, he knew.
Everyone was trying their best to cope, even if there was no progress. And here he was, hidden away because he just couldn't deal with it. The one person, the one life that was far more important than their own was gone. Out of their reach. He would gladly died in his stead, everyone would have. But none of them were able to. The ones destined to die were them and their Lord, their God, traded his place with theirs instead. He would much rather be dead than face this reality but his Master would have never allowed that.
So he had to cope with it somehow. If he died now, it would surely never be forgiven.
Veldora sat in silence. He didn't like it, he didn't like it, not one bit! How could Rimuru just die like that?! Weren't they friends?! Friends didn't just go and die on each other!
…Right?
He didn't know what to do. He was angry, angrier than he had ever been. He should be destroying something! Anything! Who cared what it was! As long as this damned anger went away!
But he couldn't. He couldn't stand up, he couldn't move and destroy something. His own anger prevented him from moving. That's how angry he was. He lifted his head and stared at the cavern ceiling. Why did this world have to be like this? Why did it have to take his best friend away? Why did it have to take away the one monster that was like a younger brother to him?
Why!?
Why did it?! Who decided this?! Who decided that Rimuru should die?! Who could he blame, who could he finally let this anger out on!
He was seething, gritting his teeth as tears welled up in his eyes anew. If it was just going to take his friend, his brother away…
What right did this world have to exist?