Rimuru(POV)
At this moment, she didn't know if she should be crying out in amazement or frustration.
Apparently, while she was lazing about, Athenea did something ridiculous.
Rimuru knew that she was strong, there was no need to remind her of that, but her main specialisation consisted of defence due to Beelzebub.
Sure, her offence is nothing to laugh at and is more powerful than your average Demon Lord using Stardust and Turn : Null, but they weren't Ultimate Skills.
They would never be able to work against an Ultimate Skill user that was actively using it.
Turn : Null might corrode away at the protection of authorities, but the time it would take for it alone to do so in a fight is so much longer, making it not much of use.
If Void was an Ultimate Skill, then it would definitely be possible, but not now.
So her main large scale attacks involved careful use of Beelzebub that was coordinated by Athenea.
Now, after she pawned off the useless skills she got from her subordinates to Athenea so that something useful came out of it. She didn't think that it would be an Ultimate Skill.
Uriel was now her second favourite Ultimate Skill due to its sheer versatility. The first being Athenea.
Honestly, this Ultimate Skill had a defence that was not much lower than Beelzebub, Attack power that was Unrivalled, and was the perfect counter to most active type Ultimate Skills.
' I love you Athenea!!!'
Meanwhile.....
Hearing her master's stray thought filled Athenea with something that she could not describe. [ Satisfaction]
Regardless, it was a nice thing that sent her into a state of bliss.
Back to Rimuru
While she was playing around with her new Skill, she felt a total of 40 presence detected by her universal detect flying towards Tempest.
They were strong enough to give her elite soldiers a good fight.
That didn't mean that they rivaled her own troops. After all, there was just one person that rivaled a general under Beninaru. The other one however, was on a complete different level.
He Rivaled Benimaru as he is now. That is a very surprising thought.
[Notice. Master, the King of the Dwarven Kingdom is the one you detected. They are approximately 665 km away and will arrive in a few minutes.]
Right. She wasn't yet proficient enough with Universal Detect to casually identify a person that far away.
Note to train in it later.
I wonder what the Dwarven King wants with us. Last time i visited, he made a good impression on me. Is he hostile?
[Answer. No. No ill intent detected from the Dwarven King and his escorts.]
Hmmm. So that likely isn't the reason. Then why such a powerful (by the standards of humans) escort guard ?
[Answer. Likely to show our nation that they are not weak and inspire some respect as it is a common fact that that monsters respect strength]
While i understand the tactic, i am not a fan of it. If my nation would have been weaker i would have take it upon myself to eliminate the escort guard, but i will let this slide.
Exiting thought acceleration, i turn to Shizu in front of me and say with a smile," Shizu, we are getting some guest's."
Shizu turns to me, a cup of tea still in her hands, and tenses in a way that would miss most people and speaks," Hostile ?"
Her voice contains something, so i diffuse the situation with a shake of my head and smile," No, it is the Dwarven King, Gazel. I don't know what his intentions are, but they are not malicious."
Shizu relaxes and replies," Want me to notify the rest of them ?"
Rimuru nods and says ," Tell Hakurou, Benimaru and Akamaru along with Shion to gather in the field. Ranga is in my shadow so he is informed already."
Shizu nods and through thought communication all of this is relayed the my subordinates.
I look at her and see that she has now transformed into her battle uniform instead of a kimono that she wore previously.
I didn't make a move to change my Kimono to my battle clothes. I didn't need to after all.
I say to thin air,"Ranga."
Out of her shadow came out a majestic beast resembling a wolf. It was almost as tall as Shizu was and had a terrifying presence to it if it's tail wasn't waggling like a dog.
Ranga cried out," Yes my master !"
Rimuru caresses Ranga behind the ear and says," Who's the good boy? You are, yes, yes you are !!"
Ranga on the other hand was in a constant state of bliss.
Shizu seeing that Rimuru was getting out of hand smacked her head and said with a kind but stern tone she used on kids," Get going Rimuru."
Rimuru looks up at her with puffy cheeks but sighs and decides to heed shizu's advice.
Even if she huffs and puffs, Shizu has a special place in her heart and she will not discard her opinion.
So with that, Rimuru climbs ranga and they start making the trip to the only open field in Tempest.
It was supposed to be used to make more houses for the Orcs, but Rimuru thought that due to the strategic placement of it and being open ground, it would make for and excellent sparring and training area.
Not everyone can practice in the stomach of Beelzebub after all.
As they were going there, they were joined first by Benimaru, then Hakurou and after a while were joined by Akamaru and Shion.
Souei is scouting and collecting information on the western nations as instructed by Rimuru, so he could not join, but his task is more important.
Shion naturally suggests something stupid that was able to get the agreement of the others accept Rimuru and Shizu.
While the were going there, Shion said in a cheerful tone like," We should crush all of them. It is not like they are worthy of meeting Rimuru-sama."
This gets the agreement of Benimaru, Akamaru, Ranga and after some careful thought Hakurou .
Thankfully, Shizu shot them down,"No. The one comming is the King of the Dwarven Kingdom, King Gazel. "
I also decided to hammer the final Nail and said," Yes. If possible, i want an alliance with them."
This naturally shut down all arguments.
Finally we arrived at the open Field that was emptied out of the trainies that wanted to join the army.
I see the Cavalry of the Dwarven Kingdom that would have definitely impressed me had i not seen my own Tempest Wolf corps.
King Gazel steps down from his horse and walks towards Rimuru with a grace of a King.
He stopped ten steps away from Rimuru, eyeing up her and her subordinates. As he does this, he ponders over this ridiculously stupid decision he made.
Flashback
King Gazel (POV)
As Gazel listened to the report of his most trusted spy, Elina, give her report on the most recent event.
The defeat of the Orc Lord.
This is certainly a shocking news as he knows the might of an Orc Lord. He was planning on arranging a platoon to dispose of the Orc Lord himself.
This bit of news also sent ripples of surprise across the table, sending the advisors into a minor panic attack.
The image in front of them was certainly terrifying to them.
Even watching the majin that were fighting the army, they sent chills of shock down his spine.
The red haired one named, Benimaru.
The blue haired one, Souei.
The white haired one, Hakurou.
The purple haired one, Shion.
And the beast in the form of a ferocious wolf.
They all alone are enough of a threat to the Dwarven Kingdom on their own, capable of decimating their Army with only him being able to defeat them.
Then they play to a scene where the blue haired one, Souei, caught Elina snooping around, impressive feat considering who it was that he caught, and was now talking to her.
" W-wh-what!?"
" You are fortunate that my master has deemed you not a threat, otherwise i would have eliminated you."
Then the recording started to fracture and then it turned black.
This line right here caught Gazel's attention.
This Souei implied that him and the others are working under someone.
While this is definately scary, what scared King Gazel even more is the implications of what happened months ago.
Clearly, the master of these majins was probably the apprentice of Lord of Darkness, Rimuru Tempest.
In only a few months, she collected such powerful monsters under her command.
She wasn't kidding when she told that she wanted to build a nation.
And now, in such a short amount of time, she has more military power than the entire Dwarven Kingdom if you don't include her and her own soldiers.
She doesn't seem to be a bad person from what from i have seen of her, no matter how little it had been, but we cannot be sure.
I need to ascertain her myself.
I speak," I shall see what this master of the monsters is made of myself."
One old women stands up and says in disbelief,"You cannot you majesty ! It is too dangerous!"
The head of the secret troops speaks up with calm certainty," She is right you highness. You cannot go in the lion's den without some protection. Let me assemble my men and we shall accompany you !"
Now the old women snaps at the Knight in disbelief," That is not what I meant you oaf !!"
Gazel raises his hand and all the bickering they have been doing stops.
Gazel then speaks up with determination," I need to ascertain the motives of this unknown. If it turns out malicious... "
They knew all too well what the end result would be then.
The old women sighs in resignation and says in a tired voice," It is as you say your majesty. We will support you
all the way."
The rest followed in short order.
With a smile, Gazel reminded himself of his own motivations and how he fights for his citizens.
Then he declares majestically," We will depart tomorrow at dawn. Prepare the men."
He will lead his men into a potential Lion's den and he will keep them safe.
He reaffirms his resolve seeing his subjects in front of him.
Flashback (Over)
Rimuru looks at King Gazel and asks while smiling," Greetings again, King of the Dwarven Kingdom. I, unfortunately, had no idea that you would be coming so I could not greet you properly. I am Rimuru Tempest, the Ruler of Jura Tempest Federation and the channelor of The Jura forest. "
King Gazel's sharp gaze sweeps at the same cute girl that he met only a few months ago and replies," Indeed, greetings to you as well, Rimuru Tempest. There is no need for formal greetings. I have come here for another purpose."
Rimuru raises an eyebrow, smile ever-present, and questions," And what would that be King Gazel ?"
King Gazel narrows his gaze and while looking at her in the eye, and answers," I came here to seek an honour duel of sword with you. Seeing how you hold yourself, you must know how to handle a sword. After i discover what kind of creature you are, i am up for negotiations."
While Rimuru's subordinates like Benimaru, Akamaru, Shion and Ranga were outraged, Rimuru was intrigued.
Gazel still didn't have any ill intent, but his eyes shone with determination.
It would be intresting to battle another sword master like Hakurou to see how far she has come.
She silenced her subordinates with a raised hand and with a smile she answered Gazel," If after this you are open to negotiation, then i won't decline this duel."
Instantly she changed from her kimono to her sparring dress.
Immediately, between them manifested a dryad that bowed towards Rimuru and said," My lady, please let me be the supervisor of this duel.
Exclamation of surprise could be heard from the knights but Rimuru ignored them and said," Permission granted."
King Gazel also showed surprise and exclamed," So you were not boasting about being the ruler of the jura forest."
Rimuru scoffed," As if i will boast about something like that. When i say something, it is always true. Now, don't run your mouth. We can do the talking with our swords."
Gazel reaffirmed himself as replied," Indeed."
Drawing the Legendary Grade sword Kurobee made for her using her knowledge, she gave a signal for her subordinates to back off.
They did with reluctance, back off.
Both Rimuru and Gazel locked eyes.
At an unknown signal, both of them shot off at each other with speeds that only Shizu could follow.
King Gazel took the initiative with his starting chain of attacks of slashing and stabbing. He never once moved from the spot that he met Rimuru at, holding his own against Rimuru's defence that looked like an insurmountable wall to the Dwarven King.
Every attack he made would be countered, every slash parried and every stab hitting nothing but steel. His flurry of blows would be met halfway as if his opponent knew his attack before he even made it.
They disengaged, with King Gazel's eyes showing weariness. This was because while was cautious, his opponent was smiling a rather disturbing smile that put him on edge.
Rimuru, still smiling that disturbing smile of hers, said, " My, My, You are very skilled, aren't you King Gazel ? Then please entertain me and don't lose."
Before Gazel even knew what happened Rimuru launched herself at him with speeds even he has trouble following, and if not for his instinct, gut and experience, he would have lost the duel already.
The next barrage of blows from Rimuru seemed to be little more than blurs to everyone but one in the audience.
If Gazel's barrage of attack looked like it was grace personified, then Rimuru's barrage seemed to throw that out of the window.
The sword of Rimuru shot off at the ferocity of a beast, driven only by the limited amount of experience Rimuru has and pure instinct.
While to the others it looked like the end result was the same, with no swords master giving an inch, to the more experienced eyes like Shizu and Hakurou, it looked like the dismantling of Gazel's defence. Every strike was meant to destroy his defence, and if he did not step back just a bit at the last moment, Gazel was sure he would have lost.
As they disengaged once again, Gazel sighs at the result and then looked towards Rimuru, saying," If you could block this strike, i would declare this to be your win."
Rimuru pouted, much to the surprise of Gazel, and said," I don't know why we can't just continue, but fine. I will block your strike and it will be my win."
Gazel sighed once again and replied," Very well. Brace yourself. This is one of my mightiest strikes."
Rimuru stopped but quickly braced herself with a grin, saying," Give me you best Dwarven King !"
Gazel then settled into a stance very familiar to Rimuru and declared.
" HAZE : THUNDER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"
With that, it seemed that Gazel teleported and delivered two consecutive strikes, one from the earth and another from the heavens.
Both, upon being blocked by Rimuru's sword, let out such a Shockwave that it uprooted the trees in the field.
Gazel was standing behind Rimuru after delivering the two strikes.
For a moment it seems that both ended in a tie and Gazel will declare Rimuru the winner.
But, suddenly the armour of King Gazel had been sliced clean open in some parts.
Not anywhere lethal, but in both of his arms and legs, the parts that protected them were sliced open with a few dozen cuts. It did not reach the skin, but anyone looking at them could tell that it was not meant to be so. Rimuru could have easily taken the arms and legs of King Gazel.
King Gazel laughed, a laugh of satisfaction as he realised that this monster is not malicious. A bit battle hungry perhaps, but not malicious.
Seeing the grin on the face of his opponent he,too, grinned along and they both laughed at a well fought battle.
Both shook hands in respect of each others sword skills, and did not even notice the Dryad declaring Rimuru the winner.