Screaming echoes across the camp loud and pain filled that completely shatters the silence as soldiers pass by and await orders. The captain named Folgen grits his teeth as yet another scream erupts from his captive that sits chained outside the tent.
"Will someone please shut her up!" he snaps a vein throbbing on his head. The soldiers around the room flinch at his tone while one steps forward.
"She is screaming because she is feeling the pain and suffering of those we killed due to the soulbond. There's nothing we can do."
"Well gag her or something. We don't all need to suffer alongside her" Folgen scoffs and the soldier bows and leaves the tent going towards the source of the screaming. He comes upon Harumi who kneels in front of a tree where her hands are held up above her head by chains from the shackles on her wrists and around her neck.
The man gulps as she lets out another scream, agony etched onto her delicate face. He kneels down and grabs her gently "Miss you need to be quiet. The Commander is getting mad and I don't want you to be hurt" he pleads with her not wanting anything more to befall the girl. Harumi pants opening her eyes to look at the man who tries to hush her.
Her eyes flicker over to his shoulder as a familiar soul enters the vicinity and her tears start to come heavier as Kage walks past the man and sits in front of her.
"No, no no no no no" she murmurs as he smiles at her and passes through her. She wails as she feels his last moments and the absolute love he held for her.
The pain he went through rushed through her veins and the only thing he felt until his last breath had been taken was the complete and utter worry for his master's safety. The pain of this particular soul devistates Harumi as her body starts to shut down from the strain of all of the souls going through her and she starts to fade.
Just as she's about to pass out a tug pulls at her mind and everything goes white. Blinking Harumi looks around as she stands on top of a giant expanse of water that has clouds drifting just above its surface. The sky is made up of brilliant colors ranging from pink and purple to blue and gold with a constellation of stars looking like a picture of the milky way back on earth.
"Welcome Harumi Tempest" a voice sounds and she spins around to see six figures standing there.
A man with pure silver hair, bright green eyes and skin as dark as ebony steps forward smiling at her. "I am Erlan the first of the six great forest nymphs under our king Acatea. It is great to finally meet you my queen" he says and bows to her.
"Am I dead?" Harumi asks, holding her hands to her chest as she gazes at the six nymphs before her.
Erlan laughs as he stands back up and shakes his head "No Harumi-hime. You are not dead"
"Then how am I here seeing you who has been dead for thousands of years?" she asks, tilting her head at him.
"Well you have the soulbond to thank. That and I pulled you here when your body shut down. Regardless of this reason that isn't what I brought you here to discuss" he tells her and walks to her taking her hands in his. "It seems the past is repeating itself and as the six great forest nymphs we cannot allow that to happen. Not this time"
"But what am I supposed to do? I tried to stop everything that happened but no matter what I did it wasnt enough. Now I am trapped and I don't even know if I can be saved" Harumi whimpers and Erlan squeezes her hands.
"That is what you are here for. But first I need to tell you what happened to us so you can finally know the truth. Back about five thousand years ago we were a prominent race of monsters. We had many beings under us that we protected and loved. We were at peace with all the nations of the land and prospered under our King's rule. That was until a kingdom of humans became greedy. You see they wanted to hold the power we as nymphs are only able to hold. The humans thought that if they held the power over the forests that they would be the strongest and no monster or man could beat them. So they came to our domains one by one and took us using the very same method they used against Tempest. But you see back then we as nymphs were a bit different. Since we were not reincarnated like you were if we were removed from nature and those we were soul bonded to we start to fade away. They did not know this so when the first was taken they died"
"The humans tried again and again with each nymph guardian and still they could not figure out why we kept fading. King Acatae knew what was happening and tried to stop it but he was weakened by our deaths and couldn't stop the last nymph under his rule from being taken. He felt when I finally perished and watched as the forests suffered because of it. All of our soul bonded perished from the severed bonds and he could do nothing but watch in agony. Much like what you went through with every soul that died he felt all of ours and the ones under us because he had soul bonded with us and in turn was connected to the ones we were soul bonded to"
Harumi covers her mouth as the nymph in front of her talked her heart twisting as she feels for the man who came before her. To have gone through that with not only his people but theirs as well must have been terrible.
"King Acatae knew what he must do to save the world from perishing due to the actions of the humans. He went deep within the Jura forest and went to the great grove and sacrificed his life for every living thing. He became the spirit of the forests and his power kept it alive all these years. Then after millenniums of waiting he found the perfect soul to give his power to. You Harumi, who was pulled through and reincarnated by your brother. It was a reincarnation like no other ever before and he acted. He read your soul and knew you were perfect to grant his power to. So he pulled your soul to him and halted your original reincarnation to alter it so you would be reborn as a nymph."
"So I am King Acatae's reincarnation?" Harumi asks, her eyes wide as she looks into Erlan's green eyes.
"Not quite. You see, King Acatae can't be reincarnated. His soul yet lives within the grove and a portion of that soul lives within you. reincarnation is a soul being reborn into a new body. Since that piece of his soul is within you it is not complete so it cannot be reincarnated and put into a new body. You are something very unique. When you were brought over you already had a body albeit an incomplete one. He just altered it to be a nymphs and gave you a nymphs power so you could take care of the forest. Without his interference you would have been born as whatever you were originally being created as by your brother's unique skill: Great Sage" He tells her and she nods finally understanding her rebirth and the history of her kind.
"All of that information is appreciated but how does it help me now?" She questions him desperate for answers on how to get out of the situation she is in.
"This is where the reasoning behind you being here comes in. When your brother fought the orc lord he consumed something called a Demon seed. This is the beginning step to evolving into a Demon Lord. I called your spirit here to help you evolve into just that, a demon lord" Erlan tells her and she gasps stepping back.
'Become like Milly? But how can I do that?'
"How does one become a Demon lord?" she asks faintly remembering what Miliim told her about her awakening.
"In order to start the evolution process we must start the harvest festival by feeding the Demon seed at least ten thousand souls" Erlan says and notices her hesitance "You don't have to kill anyone Harumi. That is what we are here for."
Harumi looks up startled and sees him smiling at her "What? You? But I don't understand"
"What is there not to understand? Like our king did we are offering up our souls and those of our soul bonded to feed your demon seed so you may come back as a Demon lord. This is what must be done if you are to survive and be able to prevent this from ever happening again. If you awaken as a demon lord you will be more powerful and can better protect not only the forest and your people but yourself. History will never repeat itself if you do what none of us could do when we were alive" Erlan explains and tears start to stream down Harumi's face.
"But if you give up your souls you will no longer exist" she whispers her heart hurting for the nymphs who have already been through enough and even in death can't seem to be left in peace.
Erlan grabs her face wiping her tears "Your unique skill is currently evolving due to the traumatic event you went through. Soon you will have full control over every aspect of a soul. There is nowhere we would rather be than with you. We will exist as long as you allow us to within your heart Harumi-Hime. But we want you to do this. To save the world we could not before. Please grant us our wish to help and let us do what we can to save you" Erlan tells her and kisses her forehead.
Harumi takes in a shuddering breath and nods, accepting his plea. "Okay. Okay I will do this"
"Thank you Harumi-hime. We will not let you down" Erlan says and steps back;. Harumi opens her watery eyes and watches as he gives her one last smile before he fades into specks of light. She reaches out to them, tears streaming down her face as she watches them disappear.
A pulse goes through the landscape. The image of the once peaceful place starts to crack like broken glass and Harumi stumbles to her knees as it pulses again.
'Now Commencing Harvest Festival. The process of evolution into a demon lord had begun'
"Great sage?" Harumi asks as her head gets light and her vision goes blank.
'Confirmed. Evolution from Royal forest nymph into Royal Demon Nymph...Successful. All physical abilities have been improved. All skills held by original form have been re-aquired. New intrinsic skills: Empath, Infinite regeneration, Aura detect, Aura manipulation, Nature sense, Royal persona, Inviolable Fortitude. New resistances: Ailment nullification, Element Nullification, Spiritual attack resistance, Holy attack nullification, Emotional attack nullification successful. This completes the evolution'
'Notice. Petition to evolve greater sage to spirit of the world. Yes? No?'
'Greater Sage? Is that different from Rimuru's great sage?'
'Notice. Greater sage is a slit part of Great sage. We are but two parts of the same whole'
'Notice. Petition to evolve greater sage to spirit of the world. Yes? No?'
'Okay. As long as it doesn't affect Rimuru'
'Understood. Unique skill will try to evolve... Evolution of unique skill: Greater sage successful. Unique skill: Greater sage evolved into Ultimate skill: Castiel: Lord of Souls'
'Evolution of unique skills: Soulbond, Restoration and Creation desired'
'Successful. Evolution of Unique skill: Soulbond to Ultimate skill: Pneuma complete.'
'Successful. Evolution of Unique skill: Restoration to Ultimate skill: Negate complete.'
'Successful. Evolution of Unique skill: Creation to Ultimate skill: Omnificence complete.'
'Notice. The individual Harumi Tempest's Harvest Festival is complete. Strengthening the bonds with her originally soul bonded now being executed'
'Notice. All soulbonds shared with Harumi Tempest have been strengthened'
'Its time for you to awaken now, Queen Harumi. The world eagerly awaits its new protector along with that of your soulmates' the voice finally whispers and Harumi's eyes flutter open.
(Earlier with Rimuru)
Rimuru hovers far above the army of Falmuth's camp, his cold gaze assessing the situation below. "So these are the ones who killed Shion and the others and took my Imouto. Looks like there is no need to grant them forgiveness. You are all going to be food for me" Rimuru mutters to himself and places the mask upon his neck.
Summoning multiple pools of slime like liquid and preparing to attack. 'This is for Tempest. For Shion and all the others you killed. And this is for Harumi' He thinks and remembers everything Benimaru told him about what happened.
How he promised that he would always be able to find her. How Souei had come to him and told him about the lycanthrope girl Phos who came with a group of children and Harumi's pendant.
How she claimed that Harumi saved her and the children and entrusted her to get them to the caves for protection. She kept saying that she should go back and protect her and became devastated when Souei told her what had happened. How Kage gave his life to protect his master only for her to be taken anyways.
'I'm sorry Imouto. I failed you as your Aniki. But I will make things right and I will find you. No matter what they will pay for what was done to you and our people. I won't let a single one escape'
"Medgido!" he shouts and sends little beams of light directing into the humans killing the ones they hit instantly. As he watches the death he scans the area trying to locate where his sister is being kept.
Come on Harumi. Where are you at?'
'Notice. 4,214 have died. 4,830, 5,575'
Rimuru's eyes narrow in on the tent where he feels the king's presence and sees the knight commander that was last seen near Harumi. He clenches his fists and flies down there, his gaze cold as he bears down on the man.
"Hey you!" Rimuru shouts and the man looks up, his eyes narrowing at Rimuru. "Where did you take my Imouto?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about monster" the man snarls and Rimuru lets out a blast of his aura making him stumble. "The nymph you took after killing her companion. Where is she?" Rimuru demands anger, making his voice shake. The man scoffs and steps out bravely "The nymph? Well you won't be finding her" the man tells him and Rimuru sends a beam at him killing him instantly. Another man runs out catching his attention as he notices the japanese look he has to him. "You look japanese. Are you one of the other worlders that attacked my city?" Rimuru asks, tilting his head. "Maybe on the outside but there is a whole different person inside this body" the man says.
Rimuru shrugs and kills him too with a single beam to the head "well either way you are my enemy" Rimuru murmurs and hears the panicking of the king and the archbishop from inside the tent.
'Notice. Unique skill merciless acquired'
"You are the ruler of the monster nation, are you not? I am Edmarus, king of the kingdom Falmoth. Stand down I wish to speak with you" the king shouts and Rimuru severs his raised hand off with the blade of his own sword.
"Be quiet. I've cauterized the wound while I cut it off so you won't die" Rimuru says and turns to the other man. "You! You were here. Tell me, is this man being truthful about his identity?" Rimuru asks the shaking man dressed in robes.
"Yes. Yes. I can attest to that. He is who he says he is!" the man shouts falling to his knees. Rimuru ignores the pleas for his life deciding to spare him for the time being and crouches down in front of the king as he sits crumpled on the ground.
"Now King Edmarus, You were about to say something to me. I'll hear you out but you better watch what you say to me. Be very careful with your words. I permit you to speak" Rimuru says, grabbing his head by his hair and tilting it up to face him.
"This was all a misunderstanding. I came here to establish friendly relations" the man shouts almost desperately.
"You declared war on my people and took my Imouto. And now you think you can get away with saying that?" Rimuru scoffs "My comrades fell to your people. That makes you my enemies."
"The Western Holy Church sees all monsters as enemies. I only wanted to see for myself if we could establish friendly relations. The declaration of war was just some otherworlders going on a rampage" as he rants Great sage explains his new unique ability and he uses it on the remaining soldiers.
'Notice. Checking the amount of souls needed to evolve. Verified. Starting the harvest festival'
Rimuru stumbles to his knees holding his head as his vision starts to fade. "Ranga" Rimuru shouts and Ranga jumps out of his shadow and runs up to him.
"Yes master?"
"Top priority order. Take me back to the town and keep me safe. And take those two as war prisoners" Rimuru orders and transforms into a slime where Ranga puts him on his head.
Rimuru with the last of his energy removes the magic barrier and uses the summoning spell to summon a demon.
A man with pitch black wings and matching hair appears and opens his eyes revealing piercing golden eyes with a bright red iris. "You demon. There is someone pretending to be dead. Find them and find my Imouto. Do whatever it takes to protect her. My offering is all the dead bodies lying around here. Now go!"
As Harumi opens her eyes she sees the bright blue sky above her and slowly blinks as she watches the clouds drift by.
'What.... What happened? Why do I feel different?' she thinks to her self and moves her fingers slightly.
'Notice. Harumi Tempest had fully evolved into a Royal Demon Nymph' a familiar yet different voice echoes through her mind and her eyes widen as memories start to flood back to her.
'That's right. Erlan and the others sacrificed themselves to help me evolve. How long have I been out?' she pulls herself into a seated position and holds her head as it throbs slightly.
'Notice. The strong presence of an archdemon is nearby. It holds no ill intent towards you'
Harumi looks over and sees a man enter the area she is in and he kneels down next to her bowing his head. "My mistress. Your Aniki sent me to find you and keep you safe but it seems you handled yourself quite well on your own" the man says smirking at her.
Harumi looks around at the many dead bodies lying around her, her eyes wide as she doesn't remember their deaths. "You are an archdemon" she states and the man grins at her.
"Yes. I am"
"You said my Aniki sent you. Where is he? Is he alright?" Harumi asks and the demon walks towards her, picking her up and holding her to his chest.
"He is fine. His wolf took him back to the town to finish his evolution. Then he will perform the resurrection of the fallen" the demon tells her as he starts walking away from the area they were originally in.
Harumi lets out a sigh and lets her head drop against his shoulder 'Then he's safe. That's good'
"We need to get back to him. I am the only one who can revive everyone" Harumi says and tries to get out of his hold.
The man tightens his grip on her not wanting to release her just yet and looks down at her. "Why can't he do that? This is why he became a demon lord like you."
"He could do it. If I wasn't the one who held all of their souls within me. If I wasn't here with him then he would have succeeded in resurrecting everyone. But since I am soul bonded with all of the dead their souls came to me and left that place. Only I can give them their souls back and in turn their lives" Harumi explains and the man feels a sense of greed as he realizes the power the girl in his arms holds.
To be so powerful when just awoken to be able to control souls. I must serve her and her brother'
"Very well. I will take you to the city" He tells her and she smiles at him laying her head back onto his chest her eyes closed.
"Thank you Diablo" she whispers and he stops moving as power races through him. Harumi's form glows as it transfers power over to him and he feels stronger.
'She named me! What a gift to receive by such a powerful being! I am so honored' he thinks, clutching her to his chest and racing off to the city with thoughts of pleasing his new master by getting there quickly running through his head.
Raphiel who has taken over Rimuru's body to complete its masters desired task stands amongst the dead using belzebub to gather all of the magicule particles to him so the resurrection can be done. Grucius and Mjurran stand off to the side watching in awe as the newly awakened demon lord walks around.
"Did he do it? Was he successful in evolving?" Grucius asks Mjurran but she does not answer to focused on the scene before her. Raphiel tries to form the magicules back into souls and frowns when it is unsuccessful.
'I do not understand. All calculations showed it to work after his evolution'
'You don't have the souls to resurrect them" a soft voice says and everyone turns to where it came from to see Harumi standing there cloaked in white and gold. Grucius and Mjurran gasp at her appearance and the male beastkin's eyes bug out of his head.
'She evolved too! But there was no notice from the voice of the world. How?'
Mjurran notices the figure beside her and steps back slightly "That's an Archdemon and I believe with how his aura is he's newly named too" she whispers in shock making Grucius stumble next to her.
"You are Raphiel, aren't you?" Harumi asks as she walks towards her brother. "I am Harumi-Hime" it responds as it gazes at her through her brother's eyes.
"I want to thank you for taking care of him," Harumi whispers, looking down at the bodies of the dead.
"It is my duty to fulfill the wishes of my masters. I am here to serve them so no thanks is needed" Raphael responds monotonously and tries yet again to summon the souls of the dead.
"Like I said you won't be able to gather the souls. They are no longer here" At Harumi's words Mjurran gasps sadly as she gains an understanding of her words.
"I will take care of the rest, Raphiel-san. Just hang back and allow Rimuru to continue resting" Harumi tells it and steps forward, outstretching her hand. Her body takes on an aura of light and the souls of the dead start to appear above their bodies.
"But if the souls were gone how did she...." Mjurran whispers in confusion. She watches as the bodies start to glow while the souls above them let out bursts of power. "The ultimate secret spirit art" she breathes out only to shake her head after a moment "No this is something completely different."
"This is a newborn demon lord? Even lord Carrion couldn't achieve this" Grucius says, an almost envious tone to his voice.
'Magnificent. What an eternally beautiful creature this demon lord is. I will serve her until the end of time if she allows it' Diablo the newly named archdemon vows his eyes alight at the sight of her power.
"Return the souls to which have been lost by the fallen in front of me, Pneuma" Harumi whispers and the souls float into each of the fully restored bodies completing each and every lost souls' resurrection.
(Posted: 10-25-2021)
(Pages: 8 | Words: 4125 | Lightly edited)
Facts:
Ultimate skill: Pneuma is the the ability to control, create, and manipulate souls. It was the evolution of Unique skill: Soulbond. Pneuma Definition: the vital spirit, soul, or creative force of a person.
Unique skill: Negate is the ability to cancel out any ability or effect of an attack, skill or ability that is of the same level or lower than hers. It was the evolution of Unique skill: Restoration, her helaing ability. Negate Definition: nullify; make ineffective.
Ultimate skill: Omnificence is the ablilty to create endlessely without requiring even exchange. It was the evolution of Unique skill: Creation that allowed her to change the properties of one thing turning it into another through an even exchange. Omnificence Definition: unlimited in creative power.
Greater sage or Castiel, after its evolution, is technically great sage after it split itself apart from its main existance when it couldnt help both Rimuru and Harumi at the same time. Its desire to serve both masters made it spilt so the part that wished to serve Harumi became its own entity thus capable of helping her when she needed it.
Harumi started her evolution before Rimuru did. Because she was in the dimension of souls, the place where Erlan brought her to, the voice of the worlds came to her and because of this her evolution wasnt announced to everyone like Rimuru's was.
Conversation key:
'Talking' = Great sage
'Talking' = Castiel talking directly to Harumi
"Talking" = Castiel projecting his voice to others
'Talking' = Voice of the world
'Talking' = Thoughts