3rd POV:
"Guess what's going to happen next?" Diablo said with a devious grin towards the King and his bodyguards.
"..."
Not saying a word, Edward trembled in fear from his previous outburst, hiding behind the protection of Saare and Glenda, the two not showing any signs of weakness as they analyzed the situation.
'This demon...' Gritting his teeth in a glare, Saare held tight to his sword and quickly studied his enemy and the current scenario in a brainstorm, with life and death flashing before his eyes.
Knowing that this demon messenger had the guts to intrude on the enemy base camp alone previously is enough to deduce the chances of his power aren't just bluffs. Adding in the previous illusions he gave him that hit him deeply, just made Saare's theory more believable.
The Saint had suspected Diablo's rank amongst the system but had yet to have the final piece of evidence to certify it out of nowhere. If he truly is primordial, then they are done for.
Prideful, but not driven by baseless arrogance. Understanding that if he wanted a way out of this mess, he must think and act carefully. Not to mention the massive warship that managed to warp space to appear above us instantly...
'Never had I expected this shit happening today, I was assigned to be a bodyguard of some slack, not to face something unexplainable!'
Cursing in his mind, he gulped and managed to gauge out a question.
"Hey, demon!" He pointed.
Turning to face Saare, Diablo changed to an interested look directed at the red-haired, displaying a level of curiosity.
"Ah, the human that stood his ground against my little illusions."
"Did you do that on purpose?"
"Hmm, who knows?" Diablo grinned. "But it is reliving to see you not fainting out from it, which had proven your worth."
"Sounds like a test."
"Perhaps, but it is fitting to serve as one." The demon shook his head, placing his hand on his chin as he observed the Saint.
"I presume you still haven't finished your words, correct?" He asked.
"Funny that you guessed correctly, but yeah." Saare rubbed his jaws off the sweat. "Tell me one thing, demon. Are you-"
Before he could finish asking, Diablo instead raised his hand in gesture for him to pause, as he did in time.
"Before answering you..." He closed his eyes for a second before opening it again with a bizarre tone.
"Impress me more, you two."
All of a sudden, Saare and Glenda felt an extreme amount of pressure weighing on their backs, their vision plunged into infinite darkness as manipulative whispers filled their eardrums, trapped in a state of despair and helplessness.
It may even be worse than the true hell, the actual netherworld.
'What in the...' Saare thought as he tried to reach for the boundaries of the dark, yet failed to even grasp the air and space itself. His anxiety growing but calms it down soon.
'This pressure originates from my very mind, that demon sent me another of his terrible realistic dreams!'
Understanding the reality, he quickly calmed down and channeled his will throughout his body and soul, concentrating on one sole thing to keep himself sane from the mad visions he was banished into.
'Remember, this is an illusion, but an illusion happening in my head.' He thought. 'If it's in my head, I must try to control it with my power, no matter how powerful it is!'
That is what a Saint should be focused on.
Determined, he abandoned all the unrelated thoughts and his troubled ideas from his head, focusing himself as the center of his mind. Then, to his surprise, the whispers began to fade, and the darkness engulfing him soon dispersed like blown smoke by a breeze.
Returning to reality, he huffed in exhaustion and took off his gloves, revealing his trembling hand covered in sweat, yet he still stands.
Wanting to know what the fate of his comrade is, he narrowed his eyes to check on Glenda, shocked to find her bow on the ground, fainted as she fell victim to Diablo's illusions.
"Tch." Saare irritatingly gritted his teeth, disappointed that his subordinate failed to handle the illusions cast on her.
Diablo, on the other hand, smiled as he clapped in congratulations of the Saint enduring his second test, stepping forward to face him properly.
"Splendid, it seems that your willpower truly differs from that woman. A shame that she will stay like that for a little longer."
Sighing, he then looked directly at the Saint, finally truly acknowledging his presence, but not before pointing at Edward with his fingertips and releasing a flash, causing the coward to faint and fall asleep.
Saare, while surprised, was more confused about why he silenced Edward instead of the other journalists around them as they were also listening.
'I guess he wanted what he was about to answer to be known across the kingdoms and human society..." He predicted but paid no mind to it as he turned his attention back to the demon, now looking content enough.
"You may ask your question now." He smirked, satisfied.
"Heh, thanks for your display of generosity." Saare joked as he asked.
"Tell me, what rank are you?"
Frowning, Diablo thought for a few seconds before replying.
"I am, again, one of Rimuru Tempest's closest humble servants."
"I don't want that, I want to know your Social class as a demon in the hierarchy."
"Ho?"
Seemingly intrigued, Diablo chuckled as he explained in an indirect way of presentation. Not only did he want to observe the face of Saare as he slowly figured out the truth, but he didn't want to ruin the fun by abruptly announcing his status all over.
"Let's say, that my name and fame were lesser known across other demons or you, the inhabitants of the mortal realm as Diablo, but more as Noir, it seems till now. My class, on another case, isn't your average Archduke."
His words, to the journalists, were strange and they couldn't understand the meaning behind them, and neither did the guards either. But to a more professional one, especially the likes of Saare, this was already enough to prove his theory, but instead, he kept silent as Diablo went on.
"You can guess my class, if you truly had the knowledge a Saint should possess, especially regarding demons. I can add something extra for your estimations, among many of my classes, Rogue or Red you may call although I prefer Rogue to refer, is one of the equals in terms of strength of mine in our full capabilities unleashed in the netherworld."
'Say what?!' Thought Saare as his brain processed every piece of information he just received, organizing the words spoken by Diablo into a full piece.
"Ah, I had almost forgotten about my comrade. Yes, Bleu, or Blue you may be known to, is the other one with capabilities to possibly match me, yet she is still slightly weaker than me to say, but powerful among the class nonetheless. She also served my master well, as expected."
The journalists, on the side, had no idea what the hell Diablo was talking about the entire time, yet for Saare, this news was out of the world to be understood and perceived.
The demon social class is very strict, and there are many rules to follow, low-level demons always show some level of respect to other higher-ranking demons, especially primordials, and they always address them with a level of self-consciousness, and it still must be permitted by the primordial itself.
'He just threw the names of Primordials so casually, Rogue, Bleu, Noir, he must be one of them...'
He thought while taking a glance at his hair color.
'Without mistake, this demon is Noir, Primordial Black himself!'
He finally discerned, but the words of Diablo plagued his head still.
'Hold up, he mentioned Bleu serving the same master as he does...'
Raising his head to meet Diablo's gaze, without even opening his mouth he already received a nod, further solidifying his scary idea.
'I'm in some kind of deep shit right now.' He concluded as he started to get anxious about his current situation.
'I'm facing a primordial, and Glenda is probably still unconscious, Grigori should be pretty busy occupied elsewhere with no news coming from him for a while.' He summarized.
'That said, the so-called evidence of the Archbishop's murder is probably a faked one. With this demon's power, he wouldn't just let himself be recorded in such an obvious way and would've instantly ended the Archbishop's life.'
Looking into Diablo's eyes, Saare could only be forced to accept the dire situation he is in now.
'This demon, Diablo, can easily kill everyone here if he wanted to in just a few seconds, maybe not even that much. His ranking should also be at least of the class of a Demon lord of the demons, not the usual demon lord, but still the second to the supreme class of a Devil lord!'
Understanding his standing, Saare then dropped his weapon to the ground and raised both of his hands in the air, showing his intention to surrender instead of fighting to his death with no possibly achievable results in return for his life.
"What now, the great Three Battle Sages refusing to fight against me, a servant of Rimuru Tempest?" Diablo taunted, turning his right hand into a gigantic demonic claw for combat.
"I know I'm not supposed to do this, especially in front of the Journalists. But I'd rather have my career and name damaged than handing my life to the reaper." Saare explained.
"Hmm, you are not a fool I see."
Diablo commented, turning his claws back to a normal hand, and tidying his glove.
Unbeknownst to Saare, his subordinate had another different idea in her mind to execute.
Jumping suddenly, Glenda dashed towards Diablo while pulling out a dagger from her cloak as she attacked, out of Saare's expectations.
"Die, you demon!" She screamed and stabbed him with the dagger, only to find it to be broken when it touched his face immediately.
"Glenda, wait! He's no small fry, he's a Primordial!" Saare tried to stop Glenda on her way to die only for her to be sent flying at a nearby tent, destroying it in the process as she was impacted by just one flicker from Diablo's hands.
"I guess that she didn't listen to my self-introduction." Diablo mocked as she slowly got back up from the remains of the tent, rubbing off the blood on her face with bruises all over her body.
"Stop your foolishness at once!" Saare ordered her as she recomposed herself, but what he received was a clean taste of betrayal.
"I will, but my survival plan doesn't include you, captain." She let out a mischievous smirk while pulling a smoke grenade out of the many pockets on her belts, throwing it on the ground as the smoke exploded blinding the sight of others.
"Goodbye!" This was the last thing coming from her as she somehow completely disappeared, nowhere to be seen after the smoke dispersed on itself.
"That scum...!" Cursed Saare as he was betrayed by his only help present on the fields, angered by her cowardly nature as a Saint.
"Interesting, using the smokes filled with magicules that interrupt the senses of others and sight, then utilizing a teleportation spell." Diablo analyzed her methods of retreat in amusement, surprising the betrayed captain.
"You let her get away that easily?"
"I have my purposes, she can lead me to something else behind this, one of them at least since the others are on their way." He shrugged.
"Oh, and don't worry, I received word from my other companions elsewhere, that they encountered a small force and defeated them swiftly, capturing a powerful individual called Grigori."
"So he too had..." Grumbling, Saare accepted the defeat of his other subordinate fast enough.
"But do tell, did he put up a good fight?"
"Oh about that, he accidentally came across Gabiru with his Hiryuu team of Dragonewts, Gobta with a few wolf-riders, Ranga and Hakuro. So what his resistance was is already pretty impressive, but not long."
"I see, at least he didn't run."
Saare said dryly, remembering Glenda. "Screw that woman..."
"She ran with her tails between in cowardice to her masters, those behind the entirety of this unnecessary conflict, and they will be here any second now."
"What?"
Sensing the space being trampled with as it starts to connect, Diablo knows the time is now for him to enter the finale of his performance.
"Oh, look, they are here." Diablo laxly pointed behind Saare, as a portal warped the space with three individuals covered in robes exiting.
While all of them covered themselves from head to toe with pale robes, the style of their preference easily differentiates them from the rest of the audience as someone with a great level of status. Not to mention the presence they emit from their existence to lesser, normal beings that is.
The Seven Luminaries finally showed some action in the game they had originally fostered.
"Worry not, Saare." One of them spoke in a deep voice.
"We will defeat that demon together, he will be no match for us." Another said, reassuring the Saint.
Normally, he would've slightly bowed in respect before unsheathing his sword to prepare for a rather 'easy' fight, since the supposed interference.
"Wait a minute there." Saare picked up his sword on the ground, holding it in a defensive stance, smelling something very off of their arrival. "Why are you here, Seven Luminaries?"
"Oh, I thought that was obvious after all the conversations!" Diablo exclaimed as Saare turned to him. "They came for the evidence, there is no way they would let word get out of here."
"E-evidence? That video was damn fake, this entire Archbishop murder tale told by Edward is false, you didn't kill him-"
"You fool of a Saint." Diablo dismissed, as he explained the Luminaries' true intentions.
"It's the witnesses that surround us at this moment of Edward's lies, alongside the crimes of their plot, involving giving you completely wrong orders of truth. They are now too dangerous to be kept alive." Diablo shook his head in disappointment, while still keeping a glance at the intruders.
"Good guess, the demonic servant of Rimuru Tempest.." One of the Luminaries said. "After all, we are the true culprits behind everything. Edward's arrogance was within our predictions and this facilitated conflict was our doing directly and indirectly."
Letting out their sinister, evil cackle. another one of the Luminaries clapped his hands, slowly switching the subject of confession at Saare as the last part before they planned to kill everyone around the proximity.
"Ah, young Saare, you had done your job well enough to this moment, as a pawn." He revealed with a cold tone, yet mixed with venom within to mock him.
Finally completely accepting the fact that his superiors were using him and his comrades in this entire ordeal, Saare understood that he must turn away from the Luminaries. Yet infuriated by the shame of being a mere disposable asset.
"The false orders we Three Battlesages received, the said true murderer of Reyheim, and the framing of Demon lord Rimuru of his message..." Saare accused his bosses in anger, pointing his sword against them of their treachery.
"Worsening the conflict, dirty killings, deception and all, your goal was to frame the Tempest federation, start a war, and ultimately get rid of both Rimuru Tempest and Captain Hinata while chasing your agenda!" He listed their sins out loud and decided to no longer side with his superiors.
"See?" Diablo said behind the Saint. "Thank you for exposing yourself in front of hundreds of Journalists of your evil and stupidity."
"Oh, we don't do it without consideration..." One Luminaries said maliciously, slowly revealing his hands from the back that showed a burning fireball grasped in it, finally showing Saare of their intentions.
"All of you, get out of there now!"
He turned to the spectating journalists and shouted, trying to warn them which the Luminaries targetted and launched the fireball at to destroy all witnesses.
But it was too late, as the flare seemed just to be mere inches away from the vulnerable innocents before it exploded at the radius, flame pillars blazing to the skies where the Journalists were.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
Rimuru's POV:
Watching Hinata's subordinates hurrying to her side, I quickly scanned the nearby surroundings in search of the attacker, only to notice the strange sword nearby on the ground that caught my attention.
"Benimaru!"
"Yes, Rimuru-sama?" Benimaru answered as he rushed to my side.
"I want you to reposition your Shock troopers nearby to form a few teams to hunt down any possible enemies that remain around to be a danger to us, things are getting out of control."
"Understood, my lord"
He nodded before turning away while contacting and arranging missions for his troopers, and I quickly pulled the suspicious sword into my hands with the abyss of Azathoth.
As I examined it, it was revealed that this sword was implemented with the ability to be remotely controlled by the implementer, along with a strange amount of high energy flow even if it wasn't used by Hinata or anyone else.
'Hey, Ciel.' I spoke to my manas within me to seek assistance in this particular instance.
<Yes?>
'I wasn't paying enough attention to the surprise attack at Hinata Sakaguchi earlier, could you determine whether the attack that struck her fatally shares the same energy as this sword flows with?'
<Allow me to examine it myself.>
Being said, Ciel then used my hands to scan the weapon, while quickly deducing the answer in nanoseconds.
<The energies flowing through the sword are indeed identical to the energy being detected in the attack that almost killed Hinata Sakaguchi. Furthermore, I believe that it is the sword that sent out the attack.>
'Remotely?'
<Indeed, the controller interfered with the sword during the midst of your battle and hid itself long enough to the opportunity where it shot out an energy blast that severely injured Hinata Sakaguchi. I detected some kind of curse on it, perhaps it is this.>
That is certainly not Hinata who caused it, as there's no reason for her to pretty much almost kill herself with such an unnecessary move, it couldn't possibly kill me either...
<I apologize for interrupting your deep thinking but do note that Hinata Sakaguchi's injuries are becoming worse every second now.> Ciel suddenly said with a rather monotone voice mixed with annoyance.
The moment I was reminded, Souei exited through a nearby shadow cast on the floor, calling for my assistance.
"Souei? What's going on?" I asked, not yet grasping how things had turned out.
"Although we had given Hinata Sakaguchi recovery potions in time along with the holy healings cast by her comrades, there seem to be no improvements in her condition as it slowly turns unstable."
'But how? It shouldn't be possible, if her magic resistance is strong to resist and disassembles magicules then the potion won't work with many effects, but not even their holy healing magic?'
I reasoned with myself, but Ciel's reminders soon cleared my questions.
<Then it could be the doing of the curse on the sword I mentioned earlier that blocks other means of healing and tending to her wounds.>
Oh, no wonder...
"I will treat her myself then, I have my ways, shouldn't be a big problem for me..." I said as I walked towards the crowd, passing through the Saints and placing my hand above her while opening a portal to the abyss in my palms.
'Remembering the combined capabilities of Azathoth and my knowledge of millions of years, it shouldn't be a problem to simply temporarily neutralize it. I've seen worse that sometimes cannot be saved.'
Deducing, as I started to neutralize any resistance to the process of healing in her body.But not long after, I sensed a sudden ripple of magicules in space.
Then, to others' surprise, rings of light suddenly appeared and bound the Saints which they could not seem to break free in desperation.
"What the hell is this?!" Shouted the Saint with black hair who uses wind-type magic as his specialty.
Noticing something was wrong, I and the others present turned to an opening portal as we heard faint footsteps getting closer and closer to us.
"So, you people came here with a death wish, don't you? Causing this ton of shit inside my territory wasn't nice, you know." I loudly declared towards the shadows inside the portal, knowing too well they were the culprits.
"As expected of the demon lord, wise and perceptive!" A mockery was returned to me, earning my glares at them as they stepped out, revealing their long, white robes, sharp fingernails, and wrinkly, old hands.
"The Seven Luminaries..!" One of the Saints exclaimed the identity of the intruders, who paid no attention to their supposed underlings.
"Greetings, Rimuru Tempest." One of them said, faking a bow.
This is the Seven Luminaries? I heard of them before from Guy and others that they are not equal in strength to how fantasized their name was, but I didn't expect them to be this distasteful.
"Enough of your crap, what do you want?" I asked, even though I understood they were here to kill Hinata and maybe me too, but the latter was simply impossible. I simply wanted to get some intel from them.
"We are here to grant divine punishment to that scum sinner there." One of them pointed at Hinata, still unconscious with blood leaking from her mouth.
"She is an Apostasy that ignored the commands of the Church, and the will of god Luminous." The luminaries continued their ramble as they framed her with made-up crimes.
Even going as far as to use their so-called god Luminous as an excuse? They look more like heretics than Hinata does!
I wasn't bothered enough to pay enough attention to their trash talk, not until I sensed a strange feeling from the four of them.
I slowly started to notice that they were all tainted by dark, evil energy and an aura around them that leaked unending malice and vileness from them, an aura that I couldn't possibly forget from the deepest parts of my soul and existence.
The more I focused on feeling it, the more dread and hostility grew in my mind, for I was too familiar with it, originating from my eternal, ultimate enemy that resides out of proper reach of this world.
Since then, I ultimately decided that I was done being half uncaring of this issue.
As I summarized inside my head, the crowd was never at peace at this point even without my words.
"Please wait! Hinata-sama had her reasons to do this!" The blonde Saint with ponytails tried to plead with the Luminaries but was soon cut off by a new entry from the other side of the forest.
"Shut up with your nonsense, for you dare to deceive us! Seven Luminaries!" An angry Saint with long hairs of blonde walked out of the forests with a few minor bruises, alongside Rain, surprising others who were present.
Observing his current state, he probably got quite a beating from her while we were handling our matters. I see that she did accomplish her mission well to intercept.
"Leonard! You are fine!" The Saint with white hair said in shock, still on the floor under the light binds.
"I have explained everything and heard everything while on my way here with some allies. You forsake your names as ancient heroes!" He shouted in fury, pointing his sword at the three Luminaries present.
The Luminaries, uncaring of his questioning, laughed with their wicked voice while attempting to further taunt Leonard.
"Oh, you are mistaken Leonard. Foolish sheep without noticing yourself being used by the evil heretic, Hinata!" He faked with a dramatic tone, only to anger Leonard even more.
"Shut up! You approached me, and manipulated me in the first place to kill the Captain! How is that justified, instead as an act of treachery?!"
"Leonard, oh poor Leonard. That is why we were sent here, to put an end to your misery..." one of the Luminaries shook his head while talking in a disappointed tone.
Although I'm seemingly missing some pieces of the puzzle, that doesn't mean that I'm not hearing what they are speaking of.
<Wait, the Saint with red hair beside Rain is about to->
'I know.' Reassuring Ciel, my focus switched back to reality as the red-haired Saint was about to swing his spear and decapitate Leonard from behind without notice.
The moment he jumped and was ready to land the slice, I held out my arms and clenched my fists, a portal was open underneath the attacker, and lunged out four void chains to pull him down and restrain him on the floor in time, struggling to break free.
"Argh!" He shouted in pain, as my chains started draining his power and will.
Realizing the danger late, Leonard turned back to see his fellow Saint being locked onto the ground and pulled towards where I stood, his spear falling from his hands.
"Garde?! What are you-"
"Grk, you imbecile...!"
Cursing and raising his head, he glared at Leonard, then at me with a bizarre amount of bloodlust and rage in his eyes, his face, or rather his disguise started to melt and fall off from his face, revealing his identity as another of the Seven Luminaries with their iconic robe and band.
Looking at his face covered by the robes, I can faintly see his old, almost skeletal skin underneath, not to mention the amount of negative emotions directed at me, so much so that I can sense them even without interacting physically.
The main problem is that these emotions and instincts felt ancient and familiar to me, they differ from normal negativity, for it is more powerful, physical, and more brutal. Such levels of negativity only come from someone or something that I gave my life while fighting millions of years ago.
It seems that my worst prediction has come true, that I even temporarily forgot about Hinata's injuries at the moment as I focused on him.
Cursing and raising his head, he glared at Leonard, then at me with a bizarre amount of bloodlust and rage in his eyes, his face, or rather his disguise started to melt and fall off from his face, revealing his identity as another of the Seven Luminaries with their iconic robe and band.
Looking at his face covered by the robes, I can faintly see his old, almost skeletal skin underneath, not to mention the amount of negative emotions directed at me, so much so that I can sense them even without interacting physically.
The main problem is that these emotions and instincts felt ancient and familiar to me, they differ from normal negativity, for it is more powerful, physical, and more brutal. Such levels of negativity only come from someone or something that I gave my life while fighting millions of years ago.
It seems that my worst prediction has come true, that I even temporarily forgot about Hinata's injuries at the moment as I focused on him.
"Talk."
I said, my tone filled with a mixture of coldness and rage as I pointed the tip of my katana at his chest, demanding answers.
The moment I changed my demeanor, unbeknownst to me everyone was stunned by the sudden solemn and coldness of my voice, never been so stern and authoritative before in front of their presence.
Ignoring them, I continued interrogating the Luminary on the floor, having little to no care towards my harshness as my mind couldn't stop flashing the images of a black dragon of destruction, raining death and havoc across the world.
'I need to know so that this doesn't happen again...' I gritted my teeth, increasingly worried about the old enemy's return in such a time of my weakened state.
"Talk? I will not talk, and the other Luminaries will kill you puny demon lord for certain!"
Refusing to submit, the Luminary cockily laughed, feeding my silent anger as I gave out the ultimatum from my final bits of mercy while being in the blink of taking his life.
"Talk, and explain how are you and him related, now."
"What are you going to do? You are soft, filled with weakness, you can do nothing-"
*STAB*
"And my mercy are running dry to you corrupted scumbags."
Fed up of giving him enough time for the last part, I thrust my katana into his chest destroying his soul from within ruthlessly. I pulled my weapon back out, only to see it being tainted in dark blood by its corpse, supposedly being mutated by the evil power that influenced them all.
'His blood, it's not human or even monster-like. It's being corrupted so much to this extent already huh?'
I thought, feeling disappointed about how far they had fallen, yet pleased that I exterminated one minion of his..
'That means the other Luminaries are corrupted by Ivarage somehow, it has to be.'
Straight away, I turned my head around to see the Luminaries charging up a wide magic circle beneath us that was near completion, them already dreaming of their promised victory.
"Now perish, all of you!"
"Take this, you monsters!"
"Too bad a demon lord falls today!"
""" Holy Trinity Disintegration! """
They all shouted in unison, as above us descended the arrows of light in the numbers of thousands targeted at us, ready to pierce us like fragile dummies that can't run away under the brightened skies.
Witnessing this, I decided to put up my defenses. For not only do I have my subordinates here who wouldn't be much bothered by the attack, the bounded Saints are a pain in the ass to protect.
Yet, as I was about to devour all the arrows and light with Azathoth, a cold wave of chilling breeze swirled past my ears, diverting my attention to my back to see nobody there. But when I raised my head again, the thousands of light arrows were all frozen into ice, before exploding into snowflakes that covered the blue sky.
"What?! I-impossible! This is a coordinated attack by the three of us! How could you just-" One of the Luminaries pointed at me, dumbstruck by the fact that their attack was countered so easily.
Yet it was not my doing, since the only one capable of manipulating the element of ice to such precision could only be...
As I vaguely knew the identity of the interferer, her familiar icy voice was heard across everyone's ears, unveiling her hidden presence as she descended elegantly from above with a passionless side eying at the confused Luminaries.
"Who the?!" One of the Luminaries shouted, as the other two slowly backed off.
Their confusion and surprise were also shared by the Saints, staring at the white-haired lady with jarred expressions, not knowing of her identity.
"..."
Uncaring, she stayed silent and took a quick look around the scene, stopping her sights as she saw the fatally wounded Hinata.
"Is she an enemy?" She asked us, as the Saints and my subordinates shook their heads in confirmation.
Affirming, she raised her hands, green light emanating from them as she cast her healing magic, which bypassed the curse and quickly healed her injuries in seconds.
Looking at their doings being undone like child's play, the Luminaries couldn't hide their desperation, demanding an explanation from the savior.
"You bitch! What the hell did you do, and who the hell are you?! We are the Seven Luminaries!" The Luminary ranted at her, as she landed beside me, still holding her impassive look at the three.
At this moment, the tides of the battle have finally turned to our favor on the surface to the Luminaries, for Velzard, the ice queen has graced her presence upon their doom.
"You guys have fought my little brother when he unleashed his rampage on your territory before, right? Then you should've had your guesses instead of complaining about your weakness."
"Why you!"
As the Luminaries were ticked off by their behavior, they tried to launch another one of their meaningless struggles, but it was soon foiled with them being frozen into sculptures by Velzard before they could react.
"Ice blossom."
Creating a small snowflake, she threw it up to the skies as it hovered, before shooting three consecutive beams from its small tips, freezing the Luminaries as they were still busy casting magic.
Sighing, it seems that she is finally satisfied with the results for now, switching her attention from the enemy to me instead, ignoring everyone present as she lapped her hand on my shoulders.
"Was I a bit too late?"
Abandoning her previous cold attitude, she switched to a soft smile, standing beside me as we conversed.
"Well, no. You came exactly with the right timing." I replied with a sniff. "How did you know? We are not in a mental link conversation, and I didn't actively seek assistance."
"We don't have a mental link conversation online, but we still had a link, if I paid a bit more attention I can tap into your emotions and vaguely, your thoughts too. So I came to help to make things easier on your side."
"And?"
I asked, closing my eyes for a brief moment as I waited for her to continue.
"And I can't stand these fools making such disrespect of your mercy and strength, you know?" She said, with a giggle at the end.
"You purposely said the 'And'. Didn't you?" She eyed me, crossing her arms, pouting as I laughed.
"Hahaha! I knew you'd figure the way out. I know you too well, don't I?" I shook my head, feeling amused by her reaction while taking her soft blows on my back.
"You were the only one who knew me from top to bottom, damn it."
She returned, pretending to be mad while tenderly pulling my ears back and forth.
"Ouch."
"That's so fake."
"Yeah, figured."
After a few exchanges, we glanced at each other but eventually, we stopped and shared another good laugh. To be honest, ever since seeing her new full-form made especially for unrestrained combat, her personality seems to shift a bit in this state and I don't see her behave like this that often.
Talking about her full-form...
"I must say, you look so sweet and glorious in this form of yours, Velzard." I studied her, but unknowingly got a bit carried away with saying out my thoughts in my mind.
Realizing this, I quickly shut my mouth and tried to apologize for my carelessness.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention-"
"Wait, keep that."
I had expected something different, but instead, she didn't need my apology and wanted me to keep what I said a few seconds ago with a blush on her face, lowering her head slightly.
"You never really gave me that kind of compliment before ever in such a way, do you..?" She slowly looked at me, a bit uncertain of what she had just heard.
"Well, I meant it. Problems with a sincere opinion?" I sarcastically answered.
"N-no. But I do like it, if you can say it a few more times often from now on..." She said, still blushing while covering her mouth as she muttered the last part in a smaller voice which I couldn't seem to hear.
"What did you just say on the last part?"
"Nothing! You heard nothing, be quiet!"
"Okay okay, I heard nothing." Snickering, I turned back to the frozen Luminaries, studying their still body in the ice.
'Were they killed, or simply trapped?' I thought to myself.
<It seems that Velzard's attack had ceased the functionality of both the body and the soul, so it would be impossible for them to survive.> Ciel's explanations ranged in my head out of nowhere, but I still thanked her for help.
I appreciate that, but next time could you please give me a little warning? I don't have a heart anymore but I almost had a heart attack.'
<Noted.>
'Ugh...'
Rubbing my hair, I finally remembered the presence of others at the scene apart from us, facing back them as I finished my studies on the corpses.
"Ah, I've lost touch with reality for a short moment, forgive my lack of self-awareness."
Turning back, I found that all eyes were on me, both my subordinates and the Saints in different meanings and purposes.
"What, why are you all just locking onto me? We still have a job to do." I retorted to the attention laid on me.
"My lord, what splendid performance you just gave us! But if only you could continue a bit longer with Velzard-sama.." Rain said, trying to hide her mischievous grin with her hands yet failing miserably at the job.
"I agree, Rimuru-sama! Why didn't you do that? We can clear off the enemies on our own anyway."
Benimaru joined, as he wore on his usual taunting smile, obviously enjoying every moment in his head.
Understanding what they meant, I got a bit desperate, which is very unusual for me to act like such in this situation as I defended myself.
"No, if you have that much spare effort, go spend it on cleaning up enemies and contact our other allies!"
"Says the one who just did exactly the polar opposite of that..." Said Benimaru, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Damn it.."
"Wait!"
An unfamiliar voice joined our daily teasings, coming from one of the few Saints who were just freed from their restraints as the Luminaries that cast them died.
"May I ask, is that the real true dragon? The Ice Dragon with her name as one of the strongest in the world now?" The girl with a blonde ponytail said out loud.
"That amount of fearsome power and magic manipulation she displayed, there is no way she isn't one, Litus!" Another silver-haired Saint argued, but both were stopped by their main subject of discussion.
"If you question my identity, you will know the truth if you have the guts to take my magic head-on along with the freezes." She said with a shrug.
"Velzard, for real?" I asked her with a deadpan face, questioning the necessity of her speech.
"Come on, that's just a joke. If they do, they're dead anyway." She shrugged off my concerns without care, to which I simply sighed.
"So the rumors are true! You are a close ally of Rimuru Tempest!" The Saint called Litus exclaimed.
"Hmm, the rumors are very, very true, I agree!" Benimaru jolted into the conversation, receiving an unsatisfied look from the Ice dragon.
"You be quiet."
"What? Come on!"
Ignoring their squabbles, I turned away and decided to contact Diablo about his side's current situation.
'Diablo?'
'Yes, my lord. Your humble servant will always be here."
"Skip that, how's your side doing now? Any updates?'
'Rest assured, Rimuru-sama. I'm handling the situation perfectly under my control.'
(A/N):
I almost forgot how long I was completely inactive since the last chapter update lol, finally I pumped out a new one! I also made it a kinda longer and especially made sure to include some moments of our slime and Velzard as compensation for inactiveness, not forgetting her as the main one among the three.
Balancing the three's screen time at this moment isn't as easy as I thought, ha.Either way, I apologize for my absence and will catch back up with the update more often as best as I can for my busy schoolwork still exists, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
See you on the next one, and I assure you, the next chapter will bring out some faces that you might no expect, and it will be quite exciting!