Shitara Slime Datta Ken (WN)
Those Who Move In The Darkness

After being recognized by another demon lord without any problems, I returned to the Monster Country Storm.

Coming here was one thing, but returning was a quick leap through Spatial Movement.

I came back and the country wasn't there! Scenario didn't happen and seeing everyone's happy face made me calm down.

As I commanded, the various divisions have disbanded in defensive formations.

And thus improve their skills, even contributing to the security of the region.

Really, the defense of our country is so superior to other countries that it can hardly be a threat to us.

After all, our average soldiers are mostly B rank.

So that the magical beast and the youma around him moved away.

And while it's nice that the surroundings become somewhat peaceful, I'm afraid that the monsters that were expelled from here will wreak havoc elsewhere.

I guess we need to investigate it one day.

While thinking about these things, I brought Veldora and Shion into the city.

When I entered the city, the patrolling citizens and soldiers bowed by the side of the road — opened the way.

Maybe they trained when I left at Walpurgis Banquet because they moved in as a unit.

What are they doing, I thought, and then saw the Head of Department coming.

And,

「Here we strive to honor your ascension to the seat of the demon king!

We are filled with endless excitement because you have returned to us! 」

Rigurdo exclaimed as a representative.

Well, this is kind of embarrassing.

Every time, every moment, his appearance grew even more majestic. To be honest, I'm happy, but I'm much more embarrassed than happy.

And because every time we have a banquet, isn't almost every day of the month spent in celebration? At this rate each week will attract tourists.

I guess it's okay?

Our master (well, I.) has officially become the demon lord.

So I understand if they want to celebrate. Although I guess humans don't agree, right ~?

And because of this and that, be it before returning to my house, we held a banquet.

On the day after My return, I decided to hold an urgent meeting with the head of the department.

Meanwhile, I ordered Souei to observe the movements of monsters in the region.

Souei accepts, despite adding that 「Maybe there is no more reason to worry about it」

What does it mean there's no more reason to worry about it? Are they all living happily together now?

Yeah, I'd be happy if they did.

Eliminating brainless monsters might be a good idea. And besides, since so many of us emit powerful auras, the chances of youma's emergence have diminished.

In any case, we need to ensure that human traffickers can cross our path safely.

In addition, weaker monsters could also be a threat to humans. So I guess exterminating the group was our only option.

Responding to my concerns,

「Then, how about we install anti monster barrier along the way?」

More suggested.

And as if planning this beforehand,

「Danna, we did it! A magical tool that creates a barrier! 」

Kaijin exclaimed with a satisfied smile on his face.

Seriously ?!

This old man is too amazing.

I know that they developed this in secret, but it's a pity that it was useless during the previous incident.

But to be able to make a test product in less than a month, weren't they just geniuses?

Kaijin, Bester, and I think Gabil have developed some things.

Currently, Kaijin had fully handed over the workshop to Kurobee and wholeheartedly devoted himself to research.

Well, as someone who represents our entire Development Staff, I don't think he can spend all his time on research.

From what he said, the concentration of magic energy around here can now be accumulated easily. Moreover, superior auras tended to float freely around here.

Even the concentration inside the cave, where B rank + monsters tended to appear, became denser. In other words, our country is a bit abnormal.

As a result, they had analyzed the effects of the change in the concentration of atmospheric magic energy on the demon crystal formation.

It seems that at the same time as the decrease in the concentration of magic, “Devil” crystals tend to appear.

In addition, as concentration decreased, the chances of monsters or youma laying eggs also decreased, thus making my worries meaningless.

It's a truly remarkable discovery.

It is important for our country to release competitive products.

And as a byproduct of their research, we have now obtained a way to obtain the Demon Crystals and also discovered the method of making Magic Stones.

It seems like the Magic Stone I obtained in the Ingracia Kingdom is very useful.

Well, they did tell me that magic stone making involved a variety of large instruments, but it was really a difficult process.

Even if we had found a method to make it, it would take us some time to produce it.

On the other hand, we can easily use demon crystals alone as fuel.

In contrast to a pure concentrated energy source like a Magic Stone, using a Demon Crystal was easy.

Now, what was recently developed was a barrier written on top of Demon Steel.

It uses “Artificial devil” crystal as fuel source.

It is currently a cube with a volume of 1 meter. The thickness of the barrier is 50 cm.

This, it was quite heavy and difficult to carry.

But, once you start it, it will naturally absorb magical energy from the surroundings and continue to function indefinitely.

It would be great if we could reduce it to one piece of demon steel, but at least it was easy to use.

So when we install this simple magic circle – we name it “Barrier-kun” – into a 10 km long operation we will ensure safety along the route.

But I think adjusting it so that walking along the highway route is the most commendable part.

I have been told that it requires a combined knowledge of not only Bester and Kaijin, but also Shuna and Kurobee.

It was not something they had designed over the past month but something they had imagined for so long.

It's a little heartwarming.

I immediately gave my consent and asked them to plan to install it along the highway.

I changed the command I gave Souei to include observing the effect the barrier would have.

Thus, Monsters ’Country Tempest continues to strive to be the center of this world trade.

Next, I heard the current state of affairs.

I really should have heard this first, but the people who spoke inadvertently made us deviant.

Everything became a bit quiet.

There has been no change in the region and no country has taken action in sight.

I also heard about Youmu. The king we released also moved according to our expectations.

It was absolutely impossible for Youmu, who had never been a king, to control the nobles. So, it might be nice to see the old king try to befriend us and use us to his advantage.

If he is indeed friends with us, it might be useful for Youmu later.

When I heard the report, I made this mental note.

Thus the report ceased.

Everyone has been trying very hard to quietly resolve all of My worries, so I just asked if there were any new problems.

「Not a problem, but I want to tell my brothers about Rimuru-sama's ascension as Demon King.

Is it acceptable for me to visit every village as a transportation skill practice? 」

Gerudo raised his hand and asked.

Now that he mentioned it, we were so busy with highway manufacturing that I had no idea how the High Orcs were doing.

I had heard that the food situation was resolved as expected but nothing after that.

I allowed his journey. And,

“Oh talk – talk. I have not mentioned this, but I have given the Jura Forest as my domain.

That's why – and according to me it won't happen – but if anyone comes to attack, we have to expel them.

Oh and how should I declare My rule over the region? Or should I let it be what it is? 」

My words caused everyone to look at me.

Whahuh? Did I do something wrong?

「Umm ... the whole forest? Really?”

Rigurdo asked hesitantly.

「Hey, hey, seriously? This area has been treated as a neutral zone!

Treants are our acquaintances and mostly not moving is not a problem…

But how the secret village of the Elves reacted could be a problem. 」

Benimaru added.

「Well, that shouldn't be a problem.

Unless they decide to fight us.

I mean, all the forest rights have been given to Rimuru-danna by the demon lords.

Justjust wonderful.

Until now, cities and villages have developed into forests by taking resources at will.

We did the same and did not ask for permission. Because we don't have to.

But now, even the Elves had to make sure that they could still continue living in their hidden village.

They had to ask permission from Demon Lord Rimuru.

Kaijin said, full of anticipation.

As he said, no one needed permission to stay around here until now.

「But, will it go as you say? They had lived here for a long time, so wasn't their presence already recognized? 」

I asked.

「No, no, the question is: will they come seeking the protection of the Demon King or choose to live as they please.

Of course, they will decide for themselves.

But that meant they were opening themselves up to the invasion.

If anything, our race will come to greet you. I'll tell my father! 」

Panic, said Gabil.

Somehow, I feel like this might be an important event.

Ignoring the carefree Veldora, Shion for some reason had an extremely proud expression on her face.

If this is important, I hope you tell Me earlier .. It's not because Shion will notice it.

By the way, Shion, this domain was not obtained by any effort, you know.

Seriously, unlike her secretary-like appearance, she could not do the job at all.

I'm desperate.

「Fufu! That was only what was expected of Rimuru-sama! 」

And another similar haughty sentence that Shion spoke with a proud expression.

In short, in order to obtain the protection of the Demon King, you must come to see him first.

From now on we will conduct an investigation in the Jura Forest to find out what kind of intelligent race lives here.

Even though we just finished building the highway, we will be back busy.

Well, we haven't built a single one that leads to the Sorcerers ’Dynasty Sarion, so we have a lot of work left.

As for Rigurdo, making sure that the guests would come soon, he issued an order to our townspeople to begin preparations to welcome them.

Seriously, I wish being a demon lord would be annoying, but to think that I'm right to that extent!

After ending the Head of Department meeting, I remembered the question I forgot to ask.

Right, did we get a response from Hinata?

「By the way, did the messenger we sent to the Church of Western Saints safely deliver the message?

Did we get a response? 」

To my question, I,

「Kufufufufu. My lord, of course it arrived safely. 」

「True, the defense of the region is impenetrable but we do not see anyone approaching.

We have not received a response. 」

Diablo confirmed the arrival of the message and Benimaru noted a lack of response.

They may be busy thinking.

I don't want to fight Hinata, but it depends on her.

I don't think I'm going to lose now, but I won't let my guard down against him.

To be honest, and I know this is impossible, but I'd rather they just apologize.

I want to focus on expanding as a country.

And thus, facing the problem in the same way as I did before I became the demon lord, I ended the department meeting.

＊ ＊ ＊

In the unknown land of eternal night, into the deep burial chamber, a beautiful silver-haired girl wandered.

His name is Ruminas Valentine.

She is the ruler of this land and the demon king known as the Queen of Darkness.

Inside the sealed room behind the powerful barrier of Ruminas, his beloved girl slept inside the holy spirit energy coffin.

There were quite a few people who could venture this far and no one could remove that barrier. Or at least there shouldn't be anyone…

Ruminated

His heart pounded, he walked towards the girl's burial chamber.

And when he came in, he realized something was wrong.

His room had been disturbed, and there was another human smell left along with his beloved girl.

Fainted but his vampire nose could not be tricked.

But that's a trivial fact …

Hidden inside the burial chamber, the coffin of holy spirit energy had been removed.

Confused for the first time in his life, he could not accept what he saw.

As the demon lord, Ruminas found this situation extremely unlikely.

But, the logical part of winning, he was able to recognize the situation at hand.

No matter how much she wanted to emotionally reject what she saw, a calm reason was displayed instead.

That his favorite coffin was stolen.

And immediately his expression turned into one of anger …

Screaming furiously, he released all of his hidden magic energy.

At the same time, the burial chamber collapsed forming a vortex of rampaging magic energy.

One that no creature could enter, the space of death itself.

And other than him showing his anger, he calmly analyzed the situation.

Only he could break the barrier erected here.

No, to be honest. In other words, the Demon King could remove this barrier.

Or perhaps it was indeed so that it could rival the demon lord in power.

And, it must be someone who knows the sacred spirit coffin that is here.

If not, there is no need to enter.

Moreover, they would not be able to achieve their goals when Ruminas was present.

In other words, to take advantage of his absence, they had to know the Walpurgis Banquet.

There was no way they would have invaded when he left.

If so, the culprit is…

Ruminas think.

The other seven demon lords are currently; should he also enter the demon lords no longer …?

But after thinking about each of them, he was unable to find any reason to suspect any of them.

But.

「Wait a minute .. haven't I forgotten someone?」

He muttered.

It was the demon king that was currently dead.

Claymans.

He was so weak that he had forgotten about it.

What did he say before he died?

That ... “Cursed Lord” Gazalim has now been reborn or something?

He was not a demon king but someone who rivaled them.

And if it was Gazalim, then he would probably know about Walpurgis Banquet of Clayman.

And if that's the case .. then the real goal is to get the coffin all this time …

「He ordered Clayman to hold Walpurgis Banquet and tried to get the coffin for a while.?」.

So it doesn't matter who calls Walpurgis Banquet.

He manipulated Clayman into thinking that if he managed to subdue one of the participants then it would be good.

So if that's the real goal, then the rest is just for show?

Ruminas' anger flushed even more as a sense of humiliation filled his heart.

He was sure that his guess was right.

Anger towards the one who stole her lover, anger towards the demon lord who kept her away from home.

He regretted the fact that he did not want anyone to touch his lover and thus kept all the guards away.

But maybe the guards won't change the outcome one bit.

Whatever the problem …

「Cannot be forgiven. I will not forgive you. When I find you, I'll rip you apart! 」

The dark ruins of the burial chamber were filled with the cries of the silver-haired girl and her raging power.

The anger was not at all like when Veldora turned his country to ashes, because this time his own heart had been torn apart.

And his unfulfilled lust causes the Ruminas to change.

?ik?Verifiable. Conditions have been met.

Unique skill 『Lust』 has developed into ultimate ultimate skill Lustful King Asmodeus 』?

The voice of the World was announced to the silent Ruminas.

And,

「I don't care! I don't care about that !!! 」

She screamed.

Awaken one of the skills of ability: Life and Death.

He was lucky because there was no life around him.

In an unknown land of eternal night resounded the never-ending screams of a silver-haired girl.