3rd POV
"Rimuru! Please come to the 100th floor as fast as possible!"
A message from Ramiris woke up Rimuru who was dozing off in the house on the 99th floor.
Rimuru wrinkled his eyes in frustration at first, but then he noticed the urgency in Ramiris's voice and quickly stood up.
Rimuru notifyed Kumara about the message and activated {Spacial travel}, instantly arriving at the round table at the center of the labyrinths' deepest floor.
"Rimuru! You came." Ramiris greeted him with the serious expression different from her usually carefree ones.
Rimuru gave a nod and looked around to see the others. His three siblings, the demon lords, and most of the leaders from other countries were there. They all had grim and serious expressions like Ramiris.
"So what's the matter?" Rimuru asked. He had sensed that there was a serious crisis since otherwise the people here won't have gathered all at once.
"Let me explain the situation. Rimuru-sama." Obera, who was standing behind Ramiris said. She raised her hand and made an image appear at the center of the table.
It was an empty space filled with endless darkness. Oma, Obera's subordinate, was floating around in that space with the other soldiers, fully armed and highly alerted.
<<Analysis completed. It is the realm where cryptids and world destroying dragon Ivaraj reside.>>
But I can't sense anything except the soldiers.
Rimuru looked closely at the image in search of any sign of them but none were found. The only thing there was empty space.
"Three days ago, me and my troops went back to our job. However, when we reached the realm, there was no sign of any cryptids and our base was shattered too." Obera said as the image closed in to the empty space where their base must have been.
"Though it was damaged a lot when Michael attacked before we came here but it wasn't completely erased. But the worst part is that Ivaraj is gone."
"What do you mean 'gone'? Does this mean it died?" Rimuru asked. However he somehow knew it wasn't the case. Something told him that threats are tightening up around them.
"Unfortunately it isn't dead. We just can't find where it is. For now, it appears that it evolved after consuming the souls of our soldiers who died in Michael's ambush."
Rimuru stiffened as he realized what was going on. If the incarnation of destruction consumed souls and evolved, that means-
<<Affirmative. It would have obtained an ego.>>
"This is bad." Rimuru said after hearing Ciel's conclusion.
"Yes. Ivaraj is extremely strong. Even more than Michael since it evolved. No, we don't know how exactly strong it is right now." Velzard said. As one of the eldest one in the place, Velzard saw Ivaraj's strength herself.
"And that thing happens to be the world destroying dragon. So sooner or later it'll come here to destroy everything." Guy said. Even though he appears to be serious, Rimuru could see a hint of excitement from him.
"That's why we are all here. Even though we just finished a huge battle, we still need to remain cautious. It's just like before. The enemy could appear anywhere at anytime. The only difference is wherever or whenever it is, it'll be much worse than before." (Ramiris)
"Tch, How irritating. It's like an invisible hawk is flying above our head, ready to strike at any moment." Luminas clicked her tongue impatiently. Her territory was still recovering from the damage caused by the giants and the existence of another threat wasn't something to be welcomed.
"At least we can assume that it's attack won't be completely random since it obtained an ego." Chloe said.
"So, is it the same as before? We stay put in our place and wait until the enemy strikes?" Milim asked, twirling her hair with her fingers.
"Yes. For now it's the only thing we can do until we find out Ivaraj's whereabouts." Ramiris said.
"Great. Here comes another boring wait." Milim grumbled as she crossed her arms with a dissatisfied pout.
After giving some detailed orders and distribution of force, the meeting ended and the people began to teleport back one by one except the ones who were staying.
Rimuru also stood up from his seat and walked to Kumara who was waiting near one of the stone pillars.
"Another problem again. It's just endless, isn't it?" Rimuru said with a exasperated chuckle.
"Yeah, it seems like the word 'rest' doesn't suit you well." Kumara said jokingly as she patted his back in order to cheer him up.
Rimuru gave a smile and raised a hand to ruffle her hair. However it never reached her as he felt a piercing pain at his chest.
"Dad?! Are you okay?" Kumara asked frantically as Rimuru suddenly staggered and fell on his knees, grabbing his chest tightly. She tried to help him stand up, but the next moment, she was sent flying to the table.
"""""Huh?!""""" Everyone remaining in the room was confused as they never saw Rimuru attacking his family.
"Dad... Why...?!" Kumara, who crashed into the table, asked in confusion as she raised herself up, only to get wide eyed at the sight of Rimuru vomiting out something on the floor with his whole body shaking greatly.
Kumara instantly rushed towards him, but an arm reached out to her and pulled her back. She turned around to see Velzard holding her back.
Kumara resisted fiercely at first. But then, her movement stopped as her gaze met Velzard's. Her eyes were filled with uncertainty and there was, with no doubt, fear.
"Everyone stay away from him!" Velzard shouted, making the others flinch, especially the ones who were trying to get close to him.
"Velzard-nee, what's wrong?!" Velgrynd asked.
Without replying, Velzard materialized a spear at the level of god's class and cautiously approached Rimuru.
Once she got close enough, she touched the black pool with the tip of the spear. Immediately, a crack appeared on the spear and after a second, it crumbled down, turning into a speck of dust.
"What the hell is that? That spear was on god's class. How can it crumble so fast?" Guy's confused voice rang through the silence. Everyone was watching the scene in confusion and anxiety.
"No, just no. It can't be. Just why does it have to be now?" Velzard muttered as she paced around Rimuru anxiously.
"What do you mean aunt Velzard? Do you know something?" Kumara, who was close enough to here what she said, asked desperately.
Instead of replying, Velzard stopped facing around and pointed a finger toward Rimuru and began to draw complex symbols in the air.
Once she finished, three swirls of white flame appeared and circled around Rimuru who was still trembling on the floor.
Rimuru was covered with cold sweats and his breath was coming out shortly. He was trembling hard on the floor and there was a black line made by the liquid near his mouth.
"Aunt Velzard!" Kumara shouted at her. She was too shocked and nervous. Her father, who looked just fine few minutes ago, was now lying on the floor trembling in pain.
"I know how you feel, but calm down. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do for now. What I just did was to prevent collateral damage. Rimuru has to do the rest." Velzard said.
Then she saw Kumara who was on the verge of crying and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's fine. My brother isn't weak. Besides, he has Ciel too, so don't worry about the worst."
After a few minutes which felt like hours, Rimuru stopped trembling and let out a deep sigh. The black liquid didn't come out anymore and Velzard let the flames disappear.
Once she checked that he was still alive, Kumara let out a sigh of relief as she" wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"Let's move him to the house first." Velzard said as she felt numerous questioning gazes directed at her. Everyone was dying to know what happened but nobody objected to her even Guy.
After laying his unconscious body down on the futon, the others set or stood around the room with their gaze directed at Velzard and Rimuru.
Once she was sure that Rimuru won't go into another fit, Velzard let out a deep sigh. Then she raised her head and looked around the people looking at her intently.
"What I'm about to say may not be that informative, but since the situation is like this, it's better to tell."
Velzard paused for a moment as if searching through her mind for distant memory and slowly opened her mouth again.
"It was when we, the true dragons, live in the dragon castle......"
..................
............
......
Past - Dragon castle
"Tell us! How the hell did he get sick? What kind of disease can put a being at our rank to that state?" Velzard said in an accusing voice to Veldanava who was sitting across from her, Velgrynd and Veldora as she slammed her fist down on the poor table.
"She's right. We rarely get illness and even those are minor. But why is Rimuru not coming out of his room for almost two weeks?" Velgrynd also asked Veldanava who didn't reply to any of there questions.
The situation was as she said. Rimuru, there sibling, didn't come out of his room from two weeks ago. The others didn't even notice any weirdness even until the day before he looked himself up in his room.
All that was left was a note on his door saying that he was sick and will stay in the room for a while.
At first, they weren't too worried as most illness they get was minor and would be cured in day or two. Though they rarely get them, but the others just thought he was unlucky.
However, day after day passed until it became two weeks. Velzard, Velgrynd and Veldora was sure that something was wrong and asked Veldanava.
"Aniki, are you hiding something? You know something don't you?" Veldora said in a suspecting tone.
Veldanava didn't say anything and kept on looking at his siblings with uneasy expression, keeping his silence.
"Say something damn it! If you can't tell us, then just find a way to heal him!" Velzard, who couldn't take anymore of his silence, shouted as she slammed her fist down on the table between them, making a crack on its surface.
Veldanava stared at the crack for a moment. He stayed silent for a while thinking then let out a long sigh.
"Haah, I can't tell you the details, but two days. After two days he'll be okay." Veldanava said as he stood up from his chair.
"What do you mean you can't tell the details? You know something, don't you?" Veldora said as he grabbed Veldanava's wrist.
"I will tell you guys one day, but not now." Veldanava said as he gently brushed off his hand and walked out of the room.
The remaining siblings were silent for a moment, confused by their elder brother's unusual behavior.
Then, Velgrynd's eyes caught Lucia's silhouette passing by the door and opened the door with a slam, making Lucia jump in surprise.
"Waaah! Oh gosh, Velgrynd. You startled me." Lucia said as she calmed herself down and looked at her blue-haired sister-in-law who was still sitting on the chair with an apologetic look on her face.
"So, what do you want?" Lucia said as she began to walk toward them.
"Did Veldanava-nii tell you anything about Rimuru's condition?" At Velgrynd's question, Lucia stopped abruptly on her path.
"...You know, don't you?" Velgrynd said. The eyes of other two was also locked on Lucia.
"...Yes, he told me about it." Lucia rereplied after a moment of hesitation. Then, before the siblings ask her any further, she spoke first.
"I know about his illness, but I can't tell you about it." (Lucia)
"Why?" (Velzard)
"Because Veldanava told me not to tell anyone about it and I promised him to do so." Lucia replied with a heavy look to them who has disappointed and slightly angry expressions.
"Can you at least give us little information?" Velzard pleaded.
"...Rimuru, he... has different side unlike you. That's related to his illness." Lucia said reluctantly after a long hesitation.
"This is all I can say. I'm sorry I can't tell anymore. But please don't blame Velda. He has his own reason for keeping it a secret." Lucia said before she left the room with a slight nod, heading to where Veldanava had gone.
"Different side... but aren't we all different? That doesn't explain why Rimuru is the only who fell ill." Velgrynd muttered to herself.
The three siblings stayed still in their seat wondering what Lucia meant, but they couldn't figure anything out as the information given was to small.
"Haah, there's nothing we can do here, isn't it? For now, let's just believe Veldanava-nii." Velzard said with a sigh as she stood up from her chair.
Velzard went out of the room followed by Velgrynd and Veldora. Before heading to her room, she headed to Rimuru's room.
When she arrived at his door, everything was the same as usual. Velzard tried to give a knock on the door just in case he replies, but gave up half a way as not to disturb him.
She was about to leave when she noticed something at her feet. A small pool of black ink like liquid was formed in front of her feet. It was flowing out from under the door in a little stream.
Faint smoke was rising from the pool, but there was no particular smell or movement in it. Its texture looked like poisonous tar leaking out.
Wondering what it was, Velzard bent down and stretched her hand out to touch the liquid, when suddenly a hand appeared and roughly grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Who- Veldanava-nii?" Velzard asked in surprise as she saw her elder brother grabbing her arm with a stiff look on his face.
"Don't ever touch that." Veldanava said as he raised his hand toward the pool. Instantly, azure flame burst out of his palm, evaporating the liquid in a mere second.
"...Is that what makes Rimuru sick?" (Velzard)
"......No. That's what Rimuru produced." Veldanava replied after a moment of hesitation. He let go of her arm and proceeded to draw a complex symbols on the door with his finger.
"And why exactly didn't you let me touch it?" Velzard asked as she watched him finish drawing. Immediately after he stopped moving his fingers, triple swirls of azure flame appeared on the door, eliminating everything coming out of it.
"Because it would have at least pulverized your hand completely." Veldanava said as he looked at Velzard who had a shocked expression.
"What-" Velzard tried to say something but wad stopped by Veldanava who shook his head gently.
"I can't tell you. But know this for now. Rimuru... he gets unstable time to time and needs time to stabilize. I'm helping him with it now and will find a permanent solution someday. I'll tell you the full story that day, so please wait until then. Will you do it for me?" (Veldanava)
Velzard was silent for a while. She was worried about the part of Rimuru being 'unstable' and him producing destructive substance continuously. However at the same time she could tell that Veldanava was also trying hard to help him.
"...Okay. I will tell the others too." Velzard said.
"Thank you." Even though it was a simple expression of gratitude, Velzard could see that he was truly glad that she accepted his request.
'Now that I think about it, he seemed quite tired these days. Was it because of whatever that's going on with Rimuru?' Velzard thought as he watched the back of Veldanava walking away with Lucia at his side.
After standing still in front of the closed door for some minutes, Velzard headed back to her room, with the uneasiness remaining in her mind.
Two days later, Rimuru came out of his room with no sign of illness just as Veldanava said. Rimuru said he didn't really remember anything since he was lying on the bed all the time and his memories were fuzzy.
After that, Rimuru didn't have anymore of the illness, so they slowly forgot about asking Veldanava, until eventually both him and Rimuru were gone.
..................
............
......
Back to present
"And then Rimuru disappeared and soon after we separated from each other. All I heard from Veldanava-nii was basic treatment and now he is gone too."
Silence filled the room once Velzard finished the story. Everyone was shocked to hear that the illness that can make a true dragon sick and the true dragons were shocked to see the forgotten nightmare coming to reality again.
"......Does that mean we don't know what caused the symptoms and how to fix it?" Kumara asked in a trembling voice, breaking the heavy silence that seemed to choke everyone.
"......Yes." Velzard replied with regretfully.
Once again, heavy silence filled the room as the dark reality came right in front of them.
"Maybe it has something to do with the Ivaraj." Guy said, gathering everyone's attention.
"Rimuru's a 'void dragon' right? So somehow, Ivaraj who lived for countless time in a place that's almost the same as the void triggered Rimuru's symptoms. This is what I can think of in this situation." Guy explained.
"Wait a minute, if what Guy said is right, won't Rimuru be Ivaraj's target?" Ramiris exclaimed.
"It is likely that it's true." (Rudra)
As they were discussing about Ivaraj, Rimuru's hand, which was held by Kumara twitched and his eyes flickered open.
"Dad! Are you okay?" Kumara asked frantically as she helped him sit up.
"I'm okay. Ciel and I managed to suppress the symptoms but she won't be able to come out now." Rimuru said.
"I'll explain the situation to Rimuru so the others should reorganize the distribution of force. Ramiris, please help with that." Velzard said as she gave a nod to Ramiris.
Once the others went out of the house, Velzard looked at Rimuru to tell him the situation and their theory.
However, when her eyes met his, Velzard let out a gasp which made him confused.
"Velzard-nee? What's wrong?" (Rimuru)
"Rimuru, your eye..." (Velzard)
Kumara also looked at her father's eye and froze in shock.
His left eye, which had a golden light, was now as black and cold as the dark void itself.
----------------------------------------------
Hi guys. As you can see, another chapter is out.
I know it took much longer than usual and since it's been some time since I started writing again so the chapter is a bit scuft. (sorry)
Anyways, see you in the next chapter.