The World's Ego

Rewards

Rimuru POV

It has been a day after the resurrection of the 700,000 Imperial soldiers. In the Colosseum, everyone who played an active role in the defense were all lined up, and the bleachers were filled to the brim with soldiers. Bacchus and the Surmounters under Luminas were all safely revived and were among those in the bleachers as well, and we accepted any apologies since it all happened in our country. In the seats of the guests of honors were guests from foreign countries. Not just Alvis, but Phobio had also participated in the defense as a reinforcement, arriving alongside the Twin Wings, Lucia and Claire, with an elite contingent. (Though I did notice Phobio looking at Alvis strangely, but I decided not to question it for now)

The last guest of honor was Grandma Jane, the Archwizard of Dwargon, and Commander of the Pegasus Knights, Dorf as her guard. She was mostly here to complain, especially about the Primordials (whom I've been blissfully unaware of before). I could only apologize and explain to her, getting her back into a good mood. But there had been another purpose in their visit. It was about Yuuki's troops outside the Eastern city of Dwargon. Since we were in a temporary truce, war hasn't broken out yet over there, but tensions were rising. I wanted to discuss some future plans with Yuuki and left the captured Laplace with a message for him before letting him return to Yuuki, so we just had to wait for Yuuki to contact us. And so, these two were also invited to the guest of honors' table and the victory celebration started.

I was on a podium, sitting on the chair on top of it. Rigurd and Rigur stood side by side behind me with Shuna standing beside me. Lined up below us were the Dungeon's Elite Ten, whose faces were usually not seen since they were the bosses of the labyrinth. But they were the stars of the day, so it was okay to let them out for today since the townspeople and the Volunteer Corps were not invited. Shuna began with a speech prefaced with my words and gave a speech of consolation to the crowd. Though the speech was not exactly mine, she made a great speech and helped me out a lot. In this celebration, I was going to reward everyone and announce their achievements, it was a way to also test their awakening.

Let's see... I would need 100,000 souls to awaken them so that they can become as strong as a True Demon Lord. Twelve were qualified as eligible. Ranga, Beni, Shion, Gabiru, Geld, Diablo, Testarossa, Carrera, Ultima, Kumara, Zegion, and Adalman. They need to have a soul connection with me and they also possess Demon Lord Seeds. I'm curious though, I didn't name Adalman, so how was he qualified?

<Answer. Individual Adalman's faith has broken through a certain threshold and now the connection with Master is established!>

Oh! Through the technique that Luminas taught me! So he got the connection from that! That's good! Now then... Counting the current number of souls I have, I can evolve nine of them in total.

Since this was the first time I was attempting something like this, I asked Ramiris to isolate the labyrinth with her ability in case anything went awry and the damage would not be spread to the outside.

Now the only concerns I have left are the remaining forces of the Empire and... The Might of An-Utu...

Behind everyone's back, Feiyun had personally told me a surprising fact that she had dug out from her regained memories. The remaining Flame-chasers were all in the Empire, which meant that I was right to assume that they were all there, considering that Su's Bodhi was attached to Bonnie and Jiu's Ultimate Skills.

I just don't understand what is causing them to attack us. Hua must know that we were here since she sent Feiyun here for her safety. There is no telling when Kevin will send that strike out, but I'll keep a close eye on the Empire for now with Argos.

So, this time, for the safety of my people and in case of an emergency, I decided to awaken those that may still be overpowered by other forces of the Empire. The first person I nominated for awakening was Beni. Shuna finished her speech and called Beni up. In response, he stepped forward and knelt down in front of me.