I was so upset with the situation and mad at that dryad Treyni for following me that I found a lake and sank right to the bottom of it to escape. Hopefully it would stop my aura from going too wild too.
I stayed at the bottom of it for a week or so, not wanting to leave the pleasant coolness and pressure of the water around me.
Treyni had bothered me multiple times while I was down there, but never over anything important. It seemed like she was checking up on me or whatever, but I didn't care and just blocked out her mental messages.
Couldn't she just leave me be unless someone was trying to start another war, or destroy the forest, or something else actually consequential like that? I thought that was what we'd agreed on.
With no good reason to leave this spot, I wasn't going to leave. Plain and simple.
…Moping? I wasn't moping!
I was trying to think up a strategy to get information on where my kids were taken. Although, I was struggling to come up with anything. Even Great Sage wasn't much help in this department, simply telling me not to try and confront Yuuki again.
I still didn't know how he countered me so easily back there, and without learning that very important fact, a fight with him might end with me dying. I couldn't risk that, I had an objective to focus on.
Yet, I had no leads…
Really, my thoughts had been going in circles, a mix of reflection on my mistakes and plans for the future, but I just couldn't move past it all. I had nothing to work with.
I sat there for a while longer, cocooned in the sensation of the lake pressing down on me and quickly falling into the same thought-loop I'd been caught in over and over.
At least Treyni seems to have given up… it's been a few days since she nagged me now, I think. I mused, appreciating the lack of interruption. With enough peace and quiet, I might just come up with a solution.
…!
An aura, a pressure hit me, even from down at the bottom of the lake. The strength of it was obviously larger than my own, and that was after the explosive growth of mine that followed consuming the Orc Disaster.
The worst part was that I could tell it was heading right for me!
Okay, just relax and it'll leave you alone… maybe it's just something that wants to go for a swim too? I hoped so, since there was no way I wanted to get into a fight with whatever that aura was coming from. Don't assume this is going to be another fight with the odds against you. It might not even be hostile…
I sat completely still, doing my very best to hide myself and hoping it would pass.
It didn't end up helping.
It stopped nearby for some time, and I tried even harder to conceal myself, but that did nothing. The presence knew I was there.
Eventually they lost their patience and barreled straight into the lake, sending the water flying into the air, nearly draining the thing from what I could tell. I was exposed to the air, and to the eyes of this person I could now see clearly.
[[Alert: subject's magicule count is estimated to be at a minimum 10 times the individual Rimuru Tempest's maximum capacity.]]
Oh boy… yeah, nope. I don't stand a chance. I can't let this turn into a fight no matter what.
Standing in the middle of this nightmare of an aura was a young girl, looking like she was in her early teens.
Her platinum pink hair was arranged into two long pigtails and she was wearing something that no child should ever wear, which made me think she was likely older than her appearance would make you believe.
She was staring down at me with her vibrant blue eyes, a playful smirk on her lips.
The aura lessened a bit before she finally opened her mouth and introduced herself.
"I am Demon Lord Milim Nava, the Destroyer and the only Dragonoid!" she boisterously declared.
So she's a Demon Lord? Yeah, with that level of force, I can believe that. She made Ramiris look like absolutely nothing. Milim was a true, blue Demon Lord and was definitely not someone I could toy with or make light of.
Part of me wanted to fall into the way I'd treat any kid, but at the same time, my sense of danger was telling me I needed to show her at least some respect.
"Um… welcome, Demon Lord Milim Nava, I'm Rimuru Tempest… do you need something from me or…?"
I hoped not. I really hoped not. Honestly, I wanted nothing to do with her or this whole situation, but I didn't think I could get away from this girl if I tried with how fast she was flying a moment ago.
"No," Milim tilted her head a little, "I just wanted to say hi! Y'know, introduce myself to you."
"Why me?" I'm just a slime!
"You beat the Orc Lord, didn't ya?"
How does she know that? I was a bit too scared to ask at the moment, and felt like lying to her in any way would be a fatal mistake. Best to be honest here.
"Yes…"
"That means you're pretty strong! I like strong things! I look for 'em when I'm bored, and I've been very bored lately!"
The last thing I wanted was her getting interested in me. I wanted her to leave, and if she thought I was going to fix her boredom, she'd never leave!
"No, no I'm not strong! I'm just a little slime!" But this didn't seem to deter her one bit.
She ran over to me and scooped me into her arms at light-speed, or at least something close to that.
"Hmmm…" she held me up, "but you looked kinda human in that crystal ball… is this your true form?"
"Yeah…" I escaped out of her hands and hopped to the ground, taking human form. "I'm guessing this is what you saw?"
Milim gasped in amazement, "That's soooooo cooooooooool! A slime that can talk and look like a person! One that's so strong that it can beat an Orc Lord!" she grabbed me by the shoulders and squeezed me even tighter, "Did'ja eat 'im?! Did you eat the Orc Lord? You look bigger than you did in the crystal and slimes usually eat everything they manage to beat."
"You just seem to know everything… yes, I ate him."
"Wahahaha, of course! I'm the strongest Demon Lord! I'm super smart and super strong!"
"I'm sure you are… well, I should probably get going. You should too, being a Demon Lord and all, you must be very busy, right?"
"Nah. I said I was bored, remember? And do you think I'm gonna let you get away? Not a chance! You're too interesting!" Milim said, grabbing my arm tightly.
Oh no… No, no, no… this is not good!
Now she had a deathgrip on me.
"Could you at least let me go? You're squeezing me pretty hard…"
"If you run away, I'll chase ya! There's no escaping my Milim Eye!"
"I won't run away." Running doesn't seem like it will do me any good, considering how fast she seems.
Milim finally released me and I no longer felt like my arm was going to be pinched off by her.
"Th-thanks…"
I glanced at her for a moment and started walking away at a normal pace, not making an effort to escape her but hoping the Demon Lord would just choose not to follow me.
Fate was not on my side that day.
"Where ya goin'?"
"On a walk."
I'd just picked a random direction and started walking. I quickly ran into a narrow trail that barely even qualified as one, but I was small enough to still use it. So was Milim, since I was just about the same height and size as her while in human form. Well, maybe a bit shorter than her, but the size difference was small enough that didn't matter here.
Milim kept poking and prodding me as she followed. Touching my hair, feeling the sleeve of my shirt, taking a strangely long look at my shoulder for no reason I could gather, and poking me hard in various spots.
"You're just as squishy as you are as a slime."
"Thanks for pointing that out," I flatly replied, "Could you stop poking me, though? I'd appreciate it."
"Only if you let me hold you again!"
"Only if you don't squeeze me so hard." She might split me in half if I'm not careful.
"Deal!"
I'd just have to bide my time and wait for her to lose interest, or for some way to escape to present itself. Either way, I'd make this catastrophe work out.
"Why are those dryads watching us so closely? It's annoying." Milim's eyes shot in the direction of the treeline. I could sense Treyni watching us at a distance too, but I'd chosen to just ignore it.
"They do that. I'm used to it by now. They recently declared me their guardian or whatever and like to stalk me 24/7."
"Huh. If they annoy you too, why don't you just kill 'em?"
"I don't kill people for little things like that."
"Wahahaha, you're a funny monster, Rimuru!"
I don't see what's funny about me not killing people for little things like spying on me.
"So then. Your soul is sorta cool lookin' and all, with all those skills. Do you wanna become a Demon Lord?"
"You can see my ski– Why would I want to become a Demon Lord if I don't need to? That sounds super dangerous."
"A bunch of strong people come to fight you! You'd have home-delivered food!"
"That does not sound like a good thing! I usually pick my targets carefully… Plus, that traitor wants me to become a Demon Lord. I want to get stronger, but I don't want him getting his way."
"Whatever you say, I guess. I'd just kill him if it were me, you only need to get a little bit stronger, right? The guy you want to kill can't be much stronger than you are now. Not many people are like that."
"Well, maybe, but he has some weird ability that stops my skills from working."
"An 'Authority,' huh? Well that ain't too hard to get around. You just need to be stronger than him. Or just figure out what exactly the authority lets 'em do… Either works really."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh! Not supposed to talk about that stuff with people like you, it'd make Guy angry. Not that I care. Just become a Demon Lord! Then it's fine… Well, maybe. Not supposed to talk about it with the newbies either…"
"What would someone even do to you? Stop giving you cookies?" I let my mouth slip, and regretted it instantly.
She tightly gripped me. "If he did that, I'd destroy that shiny palace of his," The tone she put on and the face she made, well… It looked like a Demon Lord, that's for sure.
"Uh… Don't go doing something like that because of something I said, please." I didn't want another Demon Lord coming after me if her going off was my fault.
"Haha! Don't worry about that, Guy wouldn't even consider you a person."
How reassuring…
"Anyway, if you want to get stronger… I could make you stronger! Lots of my subordinates are really strong. No strings attached." Milim winked playfully at me as she said that, but I wasn't stupid enough to buy what she was trying to sell.
"I think you are lying when you say there are no strings attached…"
"Hm… I guess I should make you do something…" She brought her index finger to her chin, before yelling loudly. "I'll train you if you become my subordinate!"
"No." I would not become the subordinate of a Demon Lord at any cost, I didn't even wanna think about what it would entail.
"Awwww… well, I guess that makes sense." She began to hit her head with a half-made fist. "Hm… maybe we could just be friends? I've never really had friends before."
That didn't seem as bad at face value, but it did mean I'd be obligated to spend more time with her. I really didn't want that at all…
Then again, I really needed to get stronger.
[[Rimuru Tempest does not require the presence of another being.]]
Considering what happened recently, making a 'friend' might not be the safest move for me, but I still didn't agree that being alone forever was the best choice either.
Well… That isn't quite true, Great Sage… I could use a friend.
[[...]]
I get it, I'll make sure to come up with ideas so we can try to make a spell together later! Hopefully that would be enough to placate the sage for now, or at least distract it from its overprotective attitude that it seemed to be developing as of late.
[[The creation of a spell is a useful activity for Rimuru Tempest's furthered ends.]]
That's the spirit! Wait… No, it's fun!
"Hey, are you… uh… talking to someone?" Milim was staring at me piercingly.
"No…"
"Huh… must just be my imagination."
"Not you too!"
"What's that?"
"Nothing!"
"Sooo… friends?"
The question was so abrupt that it caught me off guard. Feeling both awkward and surprised, I hesitated for a moment.
"Uh… I–"
"No, BESTIES! We're besties now, Bestie!"
"Wait, I didn't agr–"
"No choice anymore! You took too long, and you're too interesting to give you the chance to run off!"
"Will I survive to see tomorrow if I say no now?" My strained voice came out as more of a squeak than anything.
"Nope!" The girl threw an arm over my shoulder and nearly knocked me over in the process. "Okay! We're besties! We're besties!" Milim cheered, while I sighed, defeated.
After a bit of loud laughing from Milim, she said, "Good! You can just call me Lady Milim! No need for 'Destroyer,' or 'Demon Lord', or anything."
"There's no way I'm calling you that."
"Why not?!"
"It's too much. Why not just Milim? If we're besties, that should be fine, right? And you can just call me Rimuru."
"Tch… I guess that's fine, but only you! And only because we're besties! I normally only allow other Demon Lords to call me by name like that."
"Thanks, Milim."
"Anyway… If you're a slime, why do you go around lookin' human sometimes?"
"Because I like it." It was more complicated than that, but my answer mostly summed it up.
"Sorta weird, but if you like it, that's okay."
I got a moment of silence after that, giving me some time to think about everything that just happened. Then I realized there was still a very big hole I needed to fill. Literally.
"…Oh crap, I need to go back and fix that lake!"
"Oh yeah! I waited next to that lake for like thirty minutes! If you didn't want me to blast it open, you should'a come out when you sensed me."
"I was too comfortable to come out… and the water felt really nice." That was only a partial truth.
"Still your fault."
I sighed internally, knowing this was getting nowhere.
"Well, I need to gather up enough water to fill this back up… maybe from another, bigger lake… ugh, what a pain…"
"Wahaha! Silly, Rimuru! You've got a Demon Lord with you!"
"And…?"
"I'll just make that water for you!"
"Make it…?"
"Yes! Make it. Really easy. You might not have enough magicules for it, but I do!"
"Material Creation is costly, fake water is easy… But even a small boulder is kinda hard…"
"Wahahaha! That's just 'cause you are a little slime! You don't have anything like the stuff I have!"
"I don't get what you mean, but okay…"
"I'm the only dragonoid, so something like that is easy."
"I get it, you don't need to keep rubbing it in…"
"Well, it's important." Milim said, her chin raised. "Actually… you weren't named by any of my relatives, were you?"
"I don't think so." I didn't really know if Veldora had anything to do with her, since I knew that True Dragons and those other dragons flying around are different, somehow. I just wasn't sure how. I didn't even know which one Milim herself was related to either.
"I guess it was just a hunch, your energy seems kinda similar to my aunts'. Maybe a bit more chaotic, though."
"Well then I don't think so." I assume if they were related, Veldora would probably be her uncle. Didn't seem she had one of those though. "I was named by Veldora."
"Veldora, huh? Actually, he's my uncle." She immediately dashed my expectations. "Never met him though. Auntie said he misbehaved too much, and that he'd be a bad influence on me, so I was banned from meeting him."
That set off red flags immediately, as it meant whoever this 'Auntie' of hers was, they were surely a True Dragon. Which immediately meant I couldn't really depend on Veldora as a card against Milim, not at all.
Especially since he's the youngest, according to the dragon himself.
"About that lake…"
"Uh, yeah! I'll take care of it!" Milim didn't wait for me to come up with a plan, instead she just dashed back in the direction we had come. I ran after her in time to see her float into the air over the crater she'd left, and start blasting water.
I had to fly up to her to avoid getting caught in the current myself.
Nearly immediately the lake was replaced… It was actually over-replaced. It was at least a foot above most of the nearby trees. Luckily that area was already a floodplain…
Milim herself seemed satisfied with this, as she stopped. "Alright Rimuru, let's go! You need to get stronger."
"Wait, Uh… There are a lot of dead fish floating up to the top. We shouldn't waste those, wanna eat first?"
"I don't like fish. Too slimy and scaly."
"Slimy…?" Since when is cooked fish slimy? Or scaly? Something is seriously wrong here. Whoever prepared fish for her in the past must have a few screws loose. "Like, raw? And unwashed?" I asked her just to confirm my suspicions.
Milim just shrugged.
"Trust me, there'll be nothing slimy or scaly about these fish once I'm done with them!"
"Promise? You better not be lying to your bestie!"
"I promise."
I went around gathering the usable fish (some were just ripped to shreds, so I had to just leave those), and ended up with a good haul. I doubted I would prep them all today, but since things don't spoil inside my stomach (unless I want them to), that was perfectly fine.
While cooking, I decided to make some small talk. "So uh… that Material Creation was real efficient. It honestly didn't seem you used as many magicules as I would've."
"I just have better skills than you, Bestie."
"Ah… Guess that makes sense. It's a little frightening, though." Just that display alone made me concerned about what else this girl could pull off.
"My skills really aren't what should frighten you, Rimuru. I wouldn't need any of them to beat you."
"You are starting to sound like Chloe, you know that?" The serious tone Milim just put on was reminding me of her… which hurt a little, since I missed Chloe alongside my other kids.
"Chloe? I think I remember that name somewhere… from a long time ago… nah, must be nothing." Milim tapped her fingers together. "So… who's this Chloe? You aren't cheating on me with other best friends, are you?"
"She's… one of my students…"
"You have students? Where?"
I paused what I was doing and internally sighed. This was the last thing I wanted to talk about.
"I don't know where they are. Someone took them from me." My voice came out strained through my gritted teeth.
"Why don'tcha take them back, then?"
"I tried, and I nearly got myself killed. That's why I need to get stronger."
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, before Milim exclaimed "oh! That fish smells soooo good! I didn't know fish could smell that tasty!" I was glad for the topic change.
"That's what happens when you season and cook it properly. Have you really never had cooked fish before?"
"Hm… maybe a long time ago, but I can't remember for sure."
"By a long time, how long do you mean?" I was curious about how old she actually was, but asking outright could turn into a disaster.
"Maybe like 1,500 years ago, at most."
"Wow… uh, have all the Demon Lords lived for that long?"
"Some of them, others not. The youngsters are only a few centuries old, but me… well, I've been around for more than 2,000 years!"
"That's impressive."
Yup. I was right. She's no kid… even if she looks and kinda acts like one.
"Since I've shared mine, how old are you? Can't be more than four, right? Most of your body's magicules haven't gotten all crystally yet."
"I'll be 1 soon, I think. It doesn't really matter to me."
"And before this you were…?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your soul is older than that. I can tell. And it doesn't look like you don't remember either, so you weren't just recycled."
She's able to see that much!? I was starting to feel like I was under a microscope that I couldn't escape. Milim must have some pretty serious analysis skills, ones that put my Great Sage to shame.
"I was… 37."
"Oh… You really are just a baby, huh? Maybe I should call you Little Rimuru."
"Please don't…" Honestly, how much she could apparently 'see' was starting to get creepy.
"Hm, is the food done?"
"Uh, yeah!" I started pulling out the spits and setting them in a picnic basket I still had. "Let's eat before it gets cold..."
Milim started digging into one of the five 20-pound fish I'd cooked, and she seemed to be loving every bite. I also started eating, but got through two of the fish before she made it through half of her one.
It was pretty impressive, considering her small size. Being a slime, of course I was having an easier time getting through the large amount of food.
But then I started noticing a pout on her face while she glared at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin'."
So I just kept eating, and Milim seemed to be slowing down and getting frustrated.
Is she trying to compete with me?
"You don't need to eat a ton right now, I can always catch more fish and cook them for us."
"That's–... that's not… my pride as a Demon Lord…"
"Getting a stomach ache over something as pointless as pride isn't worth it."
"You should tell that to Guy…"
"Isn't that the one you said wouldn't see me as a person?"
"Uh-huh… he's the Lord of Darkness. He's also a big grouch, always talking about dumb rules…"
"I guess that is uh… useful."
"If that's useful we should talk about the other Demon Lords! Oh, but–" Milim pursed her lips, "I'm probably not supposed to talk about them to you."
"What? Why?"
"We have a noninterference thingy! If I break the treaty, that means any of 'em can come and grab you from me!"
"Wait, WHAT?!" I freaked out, "What'dya mean GRAB me?!" .
"Well a few of us saw you in that crystal ball I mentioned earlier! I know Carrion thought you were pretty neat!"
"No, no," I shook my head. "I can't have that, I don't want to be enslaved or, or–!"
"Hey, don't worry!" Milim grabbed me under the armpits and pulled me into her lap, "so long as you're my bestie, they can't touch ya!"
She said this while stroking my hair like some kind of pet. "How reassuring…" I muttered, wondering if it was too late for me to worry about such things.
"Hey," I turned a bit to meet her eyes, "I know you can't talk about all of them, but what about Ramiris? Is she even a Demon Lord?"
"Of course she is!" She paused for a minute. "Even if she's waaaay small, and sorta weak. She used to be a lot stronger though, but then she got really sick or something. That… happened a long time ago, so… I don't really remember why. Wait, you've met her?"
"Uh, yeah." I said.
"Aaargh!" Milim suddenly started shaking me like a kid with a toy, and I switched to slime form to avoid having my limbs torn off by the force. "Why didn't she tell me about you!?" She whined, "she was holding out on me! I knew it!"
"W-well, wait!" I shouted, feeling like a goldfish in a bag and wanting it to stop. "What's, um, what's Ramiris like!? To you!?"
That got Milim to stop.
"She's my friend! Uh, sorta. We have a tea party group."
A tea party group… for Demon Lords.
I decided not to pry further into that odd detail.
"I guess we should see… What's Ramiris like in your eyes?"
Milim went quiet for a few moments. "Well, did she try to bite you?" She asked, "she does that sometimes, but you shouldn't worry about it."
"When I think about it… Maybe once? I don't remember. She was just really haughty and angry."
"Yup, that's Ramiris. She doesn't like it when you touch her stuff, or make a mess of her place." She began laughing loudly. "Only fifty years ago, I destroyed half of her labyrinth by accident! Auntie told me I had to stay with Ramiris to learn to control my aura, but we gave up on that."
"I never want to meet your aunts." I shivered softly.
I had a small soul quake, a noticeable one though. Veldora almost seemed… Frightened?
"Hey, that's rude." Milim huffed. "Now you only get one more… Hm… There's Clayman. He's really weak, and sneaky. And a stick in the mud, but he brings good treats to Walpurgis! I think he even makes them himself!"
"A Demon Lord can cook?" I asked.
"What do you mean?! I cook all the time! I should roast some lesser dragon tails for you sometime. They are really delicious if you grill them at a little over three thousand degrees."
Honestly that sounded really nice, but I had to cut off that thought. I shouldn't be thinking about eating giant lizards! Also it'd wrong Veldora!
"You seem interested!~ Anyway, a Demon Lord can do anything, silly!" Milim giggled. "But talking about Clayman, he usually sends his subordinates to do his dirty work. He's got pretty fun ideas though! It was his idea to use the Orc Lord to make a new Demon Lord, but looks like I got you instead!"
Wait, some random was behind the Orc Disaster? That didn't make sense, I thought Yuuki was the one who set it up. Are they working together?
"Uh… Okay, I think that's enough then. If he isn't that strong, I don't think I need to worry that much. You mean like Ramiris, right?"
"Yeah. Like Ramiris."
"Alright then."
"Shouldn't fight him though. Your skill is pretty good but he's got way more magicules than you, and I'd get really mad if you got yourself killed."
Guess I'll just run under the impression that they're all strong enough to kill me then. Best to be safe.
This definitely dashed any idea about taking on Leon Cromwell for the time being, not that I planned on taking care of punching him any time soon. Still, knowing I stood no chance against any Demon Lord and that Ramiris was an outlier was good to find out this way rather than the more… dangerous way.
I decided not to pry further, not really knowing how much I could get away with now that had a… "protector." But what I did get was really useful, once I figured it out a bit more maybe I could get some more info on the rest of the Demon Lords from her.
I stayed in Milim's lap, not sure what to do, but she made no effort to get up or anything. In fact, she fell asleep.
So I stayed there, falling back into the loop I'd been in while in the lake. Only now things were more complicated, and I wasn't sure I even had my freedom anymore.
And that was scary.
Great Sage… I'd like for you to work on something.
After a few hours, Milim stirred.
"Annoying cat…" She grumbled, setting me aside to rub her eyes.
"Huh? Like a Blade Tiger?"
"No, something more annoying. One of Carrion's; he promised he wouldn't get in my way, that jerk!"
"Carrion? Like, the Demon Lord Carrion?!"
"Yeah, one of his subordinates is here, in this forest. I can sense 'im!"
I couldn't sense a thing that she was talking about, but I took her word for it.
"Rimuru."
"Eh…?"
"Time to defend your territory!"
"Hey, wait, I don't even know this 'cat' you're talking about! What if he's just here to say hi, like you were?"
"No! He's probably here to scope out the forest so Carrion can invade! You need to fight him, c'mon!"
Milim scooped me up and suddenly rocketed off the forest floor.
The speed was intense, almost feeling like it was going to rip parts of me away from the wind resistance alone, but thankfully my barrier was enough to hold me together.
Suddenly Milim's trajectory changed, and we started rocketing toward the ground. We landed with a crash that blew the leaves off nearby trees and almost wound up splattering my slime body!
There was a scattered assortment of surprised shouts as the coals from the firepit blew away, and the group of animal-human-hybrid looking people scattered. Milim lifted me over her head, and with horror I realized what she was doing.
"No, wait–!" It was too late, and I had a feeling my plea would have fallen on deaf ears anyway. She hurled me at a black-haired guy with a cat's tail, wearing some sort of dark-colored armor.
Thinking fast, I opened my wings in slime form to slow down. It was barely enough, I slowed to a halt right in front of the panther-guy and dropped on the ground in human form, still with wings.
"What the heck, Milim!?" I shouted, backpedaling frantically. "Warn me when you're gonna do that!"
I heard someone sputtering "Demon Lord Milim!?" and other similar exclamations from the group, but I focused on the girl in question more than them.
"Well, you want to get stronger, right?" She tilted her head obliviously, "fighting is the best way to do that, I was just gettin' ya warmed up!" She said the last part with a beaming grin and her chest puffed out, all proud at how helpful she thought she was being.
"Ugh!" I seethed, my wings flaring out in anger. I turned back to the animal-people, who were defensively grouped up with the panther-guy in the front.
"Um, sorry about that. I think that's normal for her… What're you all doing here?"
The panther guy smirked, stepping forward and striking a pose, his aura flaring out. "Hmph. I suppose it's not your fault that you can't stand up to Demon Lord Milim. I am Phobio, the Black Leopard Fang." He grinned while thrusting his hand out dramatically.
"Um… right. Yeah, you're all subordinates of Carrion?" I surveyed the group, barely giving a glance to an offended-looking Phobio. "What are you doing here?"
"That's Lord Carrion to you, slime!" Phobio growled. "We have been sent to announce his rule of these lands!" Crossing his arms with a smirk, he said, "you ought to be grateful Lord Carrion has mercifully given you the chance to serve under him, despite your weakness."
"...right." This guy was starting to tick me off, and I couldn't stop the scowl from forming on my face. "Well," I stood up straighter, holding my wings behind my back. "As appointed Guardian of the Forest of Jura, I can't allow that." I said to Phobio sternly.
I really wished I was wearing something more impressive, I definitely didn't look like anything special right now… it could've been handy to get this guy to back down.
"They put a slime in charge of this place?" Phobio laughed scornfully, "wow, you must be really desperate! I suppose all of your stronger residents must have died, though, given recent events."
Something in me snapped, and I barely pulled it back together, holding myself back by a hair's breadth. He insulted all the residents of this forest, but more than that, he insulted the ogres and mocked their deaths!
Phobio's subordinates cringed back as my aura suddenly went wild, sending a sudden surge over them as the wind picked up. Phobio stood unfazed, hands on his hips with a smirk on his face.
"Leave. Now." I ordered, my voice dipping into a snarl.
"Hmph. You don't scare me, slime." Phobio grinned, then suddenly jumped into a new stance. Stepping forward and thrusting his fist out, he shot a blast of fire towards me.
I didn't even bother moving, too ticked off at this fool. I took a step, and began walking towards him.
"Heh," Phobio was already sure of the results of his attack.
"Sir Phobio, look out!" One of the beast-people said at the same time as Milim started shouting, "Go get 'im Rimuru! You got this!"
As the blaze died down I shot towards Phobio's shocked face. I had barely resisted Yuuki for even a minute, and this was a Demon Lord's subordinate, so I wound up a fist and punched with as much force as I thought I could use to get him to back down.
I didn't want to kill the guy, or else I'd have to deal with Carrion… and even with Milim on my side, I couldn't take a real Demon Lord. He was probably stronger than Yuuki.
My hit connected with Phobio's chest, and a strained "oogh" came from his mouth as he bent backwards from the force.
Phobio went flying back, crashing into trees and through brush until hitting the ground… then he kept going, leaving a rut in the earth at least a couple dozen yards long.
Crap, I realized. I killed him, didn't I!?
Then, to my relief (slightly,) he sprung back up and began stomping toward me, seething rage on his face, in his rampaging aura, in his curled fists… everything.
"W-wait, Sir Phobio!" The guy who'd shouted earlier, who looked like some kind of monkey, ran towards him, followed by a couple others. "Please listen, I don't think you should–"
"Shut up!" Phobio snarled, thrusting them all aside.
"Hehee!" Milim was giggling like a kid, "that was a good one, Rimuru!" She cheered, "but you should hit 'im harder than that! He deserves it!"
If I hit him any harder, I'll have a Demon Lord hunting me for revenge!
"Sir Phobio!" The monkey guy shouted after him, "your strongest move did nothing! Even if Lady Milim doesn't get involved, you might not be able to take this majin!"
"We'll see about that," Phobio growled quietly.
Well, I had to give him credit where it's due. He didn't immediately charge for me again, instead circling me in a careful stance, gauging me. My eyes fell to the massive crack in his armor, smack in the center of his chest.
I watched him, not making any move to interfere. Please just give up and go home, I whined internally even as I kept a laser-focused eye on him.
Phobio's tail was bushed up and flicking in annoyance, his clawed gauntlets held up between us, and I thought I saw him bare his fangs a moment. Huh, I mused. I guess the whole animal-person thing isn't just skin deep. I would have to ask Milim what they were.
Neither of us made a move, until I pretended to get distracted by a cracking twig in the forest.
Phobio lunged at me, slashing with his claws as I whipped back around. I retracted my wings, I wouldn't need them for this fight, and his hand passed harmlessly through the space of the one he'd been aiming for.
He kept falling forward and planted his hands on the ground, following up with a sweeping kick aimed at my head. I switched to slime form and dropped to the ground under it, bouncing around him.
Phobio tried to propel himself back to his feet, but I appeared behind him in human form and pinned him to the ground by his head, using [Body Armor] to make clawed gauntlets of my own so I could get a better grip.
"Grrrrh!" Phobio hissed, small scratches from my claws appearing on his face as he twisted. But despite his efforts, he couldn't escape me.
"Listen," I said, looking down at him. "Why don't you just take a walk? Enjoy the scenery or something, and tell Carrion that if he wants to meet me, we can arrange something."
I grabbed his arms and heaved, spinning him around above my head once, before using a little bit of my skills and throwing Phobio above the trees, as far as I could manage. He'd already proven to be made of pretty sturdy stuff, so I was convinced he wouldn't die from it.
Wow. I mused as I watched him disappear from my vision, screaming. That's gotta be a good few miles, right?
"Well," I dusted myself off. "You guys better get walking, huh? Hahaha…" I chuckled nervously to the remaining beast-people.
"O-of course! Please excuse us," the monkey-man bowed hurriedly, and I watched as he and his crew started gathering up the scattered remains of their camp.
"Wahahaha!" Milim ran up to me with a cheerful laugh, "that was pretty funny, Rimuru! I don't think I've ever seen someone just throw their opponent away!"
"Well…" I rubbed my head, "if he has to walk to get back to fighting me, maybe by the time he gets here he'll have cooled off." I laughed.
"Hehee, well, you sure showed him!" Milim slapped my back, and with a shout I was launched forward, face-planting into a tree and losing shape as I slime-ified everywhere.
"Whoops, sorry!" Milim ran up to look at me, "Now then, that was a pretty good start, but you definitely have things to work on! Thanks to this, I think I know exactly where to begin!"
…maybe that wasn't all bad, then. I thought, not bothering to answer Milim as I gathered myself back up in slime form.
I still didn't have a plan to get answers out of Yuuki, but this felt like it was going somewhere.