Chapter 6: Attack and Counterattack (Patreon)

Story 7: Isekai Restaurant Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Attack and Counterattack

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- Silas -

“Hey, what’s this thing? It’s so tasty. Is this what Milim was talking about?” The little fairy was buzzing like a mosquito around my head while I tried to cook for the rest of the group. This fairy/pixie was Ramiris.

Demon Lord Ramiris.

Somehow my impression of Demon Lords is down in the dumps.

Are they really beings who can be tricked by chocolate bars and cupcakes?

“It’s called a cookie.” I answered, cutting the ingredients.

“Cookie? So what was the thing Milim was talking about?”

“I don’t have the ingredients to cook it right now. You will have to visit my restaurant sometime to eat those dishes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hahahaha you are good. If anyone troubles you, tell me. I will beat them up.” And with that she started her fake shadow boxing while I concentrated on my work.

The thing about her is that she is also the Queen of the Spirits.

I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t seen what I saw during the contract ceremony.

The ceremony was an experience worth remembering.

There were many strange things which happened during the ceremony but it was a given due to our strange circumstances and origins.

Ikki was the first one to try his hand at the summoning.

He summoned a Darkness Spirit who made a contract with him.

According to Ramiris, there were Spirits or different ranks. Low, High or Superior, Elemental Lords, etc.

Elemental Lords were spirits who could fight on part with Demon Lords and Light and Darkness Elemental Lords were special as in, the people they bless can be blessed by Ramiris and gain something called a Hero’s Egg. It was a Human’s Version of a Demon Lord Seed.

If he is able to hatch the egg, he will become a Hero or a True Hero, like a True Demon Lord.

The entire fiasco gave him several things, first of which were the Skills.

Extra Skill: Iron Will.

Extra Skill: Blade Steal.

Extra Skill: Mana Manipulation.

Similar things happened with Tanya. She too got a Darkness Spirit.

Her Skills were called Extra Skill: Ruthless and Extra Skill: Merchant. They basically made her a Black Hearted Businesswoman, well more than she already was, if that was even possible somehow.

Brandish got an Earth Spirit.

She got an Extra Skill called Spirit Caller, which increased her affinity with Spirit Magic and Summoning Magic.

Things became weird when Lavinia went for the contract.

She summoned a Light Spirit, which was actually a good thing. The problem was that when she got a blessing from Ramiris, both her Sacred Gears went haywire.

They manifested as two spirits of their own, one a Fire and another of Ice. According to Ramiris, those two Spirits were already almost at the Elemental Lord level more or less when they were unblessed. They became even stronger after the blessing.

Lavinia got a few Skills of her own.

Unique Skill: Magician.

Extra Skill: Ice Manipulation.

Extra Skill: Fire Manipulation.

Extra Skill: Light Manipulation.

The most surprising one was however, Orihime. She didn’t summon any Spirit per say but all her Spirits evolved from Ramiris’ Blessing. All fucking six of them. They weren’t exactly Elemental Lord yet but they were incredibly close.

Shun'ou, Ayame, Tsubaki, Hinagiku, Baigon, and Lily. They were of Six different elements and were somehow already a part of Orihime’s soul. This increased her power by a very large margin.

One of her Spirits was of Light nature and when it evolved to an Elemental Lord, there was a chance that Orihime could get a Hero Egg or even directly become a Pseudo Spirit herself.

It was apparently not unheard of either.

The Elves in this world had originated from a wind spirit who was the ancestor of the Elf Race. According to Ramiris, the woman was still alive to this day.

The mother of the Ruler of the Sarion, Sylvia El Ru, the True Ancestor of the Elven race.

According to Ramiris, if Orihime were to continue to become stronger, she would become something similar to the current Elven Empress.

Actually, even Lavinia had a similar chance but it was much lower than Orihime.

Now wasn’t that a shocker.

But apparently this wasn’t enough.

The skills which she got were even more insane.

Unique Skill: Spiritualist.

It was a buffed version of Brandish’ Skill and allowed her to Summon and control any kind of Spirit, gave her an insane buff when she used Spirit based magic and made her a magnet to all kinds of Spirits.

Ramiris had all but claimed her as her champion because of this. According to her, she wanted a strong lackey because other Demon Lords had strong people with them but she didn’t.

Rimuru had to summon a Demon into a Puppet Body for her while I named it to use as a substitute for her.

She still hadn’t given up on her.

Then came her second Unique Skill: Rejection.

It allowed her to Reject events.

This was apparently the function of her Device as well. This was an ability comparable to my own Masterchef. That’s saying something.

The strangest thing however was Saitama’s contract.

He did summon a spirit. A light Spirit surprisingly. Not an elemental Lord but a Superior Ranked.

That said, nothing happened when he made a contract with it. The funniest thing was that the Spirit fainted as soon as the contract happened and now Saitama was taking care of it. Nothing happened even when he was blessed by Ramiris.

According to her, she felt the Blessing slip away.

Not even Great Sage was able to find any problem with the process so we had to give it up for the time being. It however theorised that he might have gained some kind of Magic Resistance because Ramiris’ blessing slipped away. It must have been something quite potent.

According to Ramiris, he did have a change. He was now a spiritual life form like a Saint of humans but there was no change in his aura or strength at all.

It was a case she hadn’t encountered till now. But then again, she hadn’t encountered several people getting Hero’s Egg at the same time or even someone like Lavinia and Orihime.

The guy himself wasn’t bothered at all. He was even happy because Ramiris told him that Spirits can control how they look to some extent and thus his hair could grow back in the future.

And thus ended the most unusual Spirit contract since the start of time, Ramiris’ words, not mine.

Now, how did this lead to me making food for everyone?

Well, Milim had come to this place and bragged a lot about the food I cook. I was happy on one hand that I was getting more business but on the other hand, I was now stuck with another Demon Lord hounding me for snacks.

“Lavi, Orihime, help me bring the food out to the table.” I asked them as I carried some of the plates myself.

Some other plates were carried by the spirits in the cave.

Rimuru’s students were adorable.

Especially Chloe O’ Bell, the black haired girl who had an obvious crush on Rimuru.

Then there was Alice Rondo, the girl who acted like a princess and was attached to Saitama and liked playing video games with him.

There was a kid called Gale Gibson who had a crush on Tanya.

The other two kids were excited to learn swordsmanship from Ikki who was trying to master his own powers.

Everyone gathered in the room where the table was prepared and we served the food.

“Where will you be going next, Rimuru?”

The guy looked up at me with his mouth full of food. He swallowed it before answering. “We will go back to drop the students first and then return to Tempest.”

“Will me going there cause a problem? I heard that it was a human city of adventurers and they might not appreciate me.”

“Hmm, that might be a problem. They didn’t say anything to me though but we never know. It won’t take much time. You can come with us till the outskirts of the country and then head forward. We will drop the kids back and catch up.”

“Sure. You guys are fine with it, right?” I confirmed with the others and nodded.

Ikki was here on his term's end holidays and he was training for the next year. Those bastards had held him back due to the pressure from his family.

I wonder how their faces will be when Ikki returns back with his new powers. Although, it will take him a bit of time to master them.

Orihime was the same. Kisuke took care of her absence.

“Ramiris-sama, do you mind me asking a question?” Ikki asked Ramiris who was eating her dessert.

“Umm umm ask. I am the most reliable and knowledgeable Ramiris of the Labyrinth hahahaha.”

That doesn’t fill my heart with a lot of confidence.

I heard that Humans have some further evolutions in this world. How does that work and what are those evolutions?”

“Humans? Well they can evolve into Enlightened and then Saints. Rudra even went and became a Divine Human but that’s very hard, you know. Enlightened are strong and Saints are even stronger. Divine Humans are the strongest Humans.”

….

….

“Divine as in Gods?”

“Well, you can call them Gods because of Divinity but they are not exactly Conceptual Gods. They are just beings with Divinity. Every race can become a Divine if they continue evolving further.”

“Even Demons?”

“Hmm. All Races.”

Wow.

I guess we learn something new everyday.

We asked her several things about this world and listened to her stories. They were quite interesting.

- Yuri Alpha -

She kept the paperwork aside as she sensed an intrusion in the barrier around the town. Do these fools never learn?

Silas-sama had given the responsibility of the town to them while he was away and these fools were trying to cause trouble.

“Narberal. There are critters in the town again. Check them out and see if they are here to rescue the previous ones?”

The Manga industry which the Supreme Beings had started had taken the industry by storm.

Each week their sales were increasing. Thankfully, Rimuru-sama had restocked the last time he came in.

They are still purchasing lands and properties to settle the Kijin and establish their bases. This was easier said than done.

Their Gold could not be used as they didn’t have a reliable buyer due to being new in this world. It would attract too much attention and they were not ready for such a thing currently.

Thus, their business was the only source of revenue for them.

The sales were increasing at a frightening pace and they will have to establish a proper printing press soon.

Yuri was managing all the paperwork for the business as well as the town in the absence of Tanya.

The education of the Kijin was going well but they were not quick enough to make them able to manage business this fast. The only ones even remotely good enough to manage the territory were Shuna and her guard Hiro. They were currently visiting Tempest for work.

Also, only two hundred Kijin were not enough to manage a big city. They needed more people.

As she was wondering about these, she sensed her connection with Narberal being interrupted and immediately got up and raced towards the place where she was fighting.

In the place was a child wearing the clothes of an exorcist. He had a wound on his shoulder and looked at her warily.

“Oh, not another one. Just how many scary maids are here in this place? I don’t have time to fight you.”

“What have you done to Narberal?” She asked, her voice cold. She waited for the answer while using her Presence Search to search for Narberal but didn’t find any clue of her.

“Nothing. In fact, she is quite safe, if not a bit pre-indisposed. Let me show you.” She took a stance as he threw pieces of small papers towards her which turned into some kinds of beasts.

She summoned her gauntlet and smacked the beast away towards the exorcist who fell in the air to dodge and she chased with her Fly Pendant.

She punched another puppet but this time around, letters spread from it, binding her hand. She summoned her Ki to break the bindings but the exorcist had completed his spell.

“This will keep you busy for a while. Go meet your colleague.”

She tried to defend herself but found herself in a strange place. The world seemed as if inverted.

“Yuri!” She found Narberal a distance away.

“Narberal. What place is this?”

“It seems like a Pocket Dimension. I was caught in the trap and was locked here. I am sorry.”

“No. This world has different Magic Systems and a lot of things we don’t know of. No need to be down. Find a way out of this place. The exorcist might be attacking the base.” She asked.

“I poisoned him with my attack. He will be weakened severely if he stays there. The Kijin might be able to hold him back. I will be able to break this barrier in a while.” Narberal reassured her.

Yuri hoped that nothing bad happened during that time.

- Hinata Sakaguchi -

She lay in wait, her trap set for the ambush against the monsters who were reported to arrive soon.

“The attack on the Monster Nation has started. The Falmuth Kingdom is leading the attack. They have established a holy field around the area.”

“Monitor them. Only interfere if you see a strong monster. Let them do whatever they want. Our targets are the three Demon Lord Seeds. I will separate them. The two teams will take care of one of them each while I will take on one of them myself. Do we know who the Reinforcements are?” She asked her subordinate.

“We were just informed that only two of the three monsters are coming this way. The third one is missing. So we only need to make two ambush teams. One of them is an Arch Daemon while the other is a monster. We have some reinforcements from the kingdom but they will only interfere when we are in trouble.”

Are they hiding information even now?

She was going to speak but she realised the arrival of the monster and dismissed them. “You all take on the Arch Daemon and I will take on the slime.” It was personal. The Slime was the killer of Shizue-san and she needed to avenge her teacher.

“Yes.”

- Silas -

I returned ahead of others. Lavinia and the rest were coming behind after dropping off the children. I had already closed the restaurant for two weeks and didn’t want to delay more.

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine and jumped to the side.

A slash of light passed through the place I was just standing in, making a large crevice in the ground. A barrier of some kind formed over the place and I suddenly felt my skin tingle. It was uncomfortable, as if someone was trying to suck my energy dry. My body felt quite weak.

Footsteps sounded as six humans surrounded me from all sides.

They were wearing armour and looked like mediaeval soldiers.

“Surround him. Keep the formation intact and don’t let him escape from any sides.” One of them commanded.

I looked at them warily. “Who are you people? I don’t believe I have any enmity with you? Why are you attacking me?”

“Shut up Daemon. Your kind is an abomination in this world. Don’t pretend to be a human. And it is our job to purge you.”

… what the fuck?

“I don’t think I have done anything to harm you or any other human. In fact, I haven’t even entered any human settlements in this world. So, why don’t we all go back and let each other live happily?”

“Happiness? As if a Demon like you would deserve happiness. Dark Beings like you deserve only one fate and that’s to be wiped out so that the world can be at peace.”

These people were too religious for a group of soldiers or mercenaries. No… soldiers was not the word. They looked more religious. Exorcists? Templars? Some kind of Holy Knight or crusader bullshit?

I looked at them and tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

I was however not given enough time to think about anything as a blast of fire from the side made me dodge. The second I dodged, the place was attacked by sword slashes and other elemental attacks.

“Are you really going to force me?” I asked for the last time. I don’t like fighting. It was not a lie.

“Purge him in the name of God Luminous.” One of them shouted and the rest followed.

Ah, Religious Fanatics were just the worst.

I conjured an ice wall in between us but the power behind the magic was extremely low. What would have been an unbreakable bulwark was now barely a thin membrane.

I however didn’t have time to think as a sword cut through the wall. I dodged but it was late.

My wrist fell to the ground as a searing pain engulfed my severed wrist.

I bit my tongue as I willed my body to dodge once more, rage filling me.

These bastards were trying to kill me for no fucking reason other than my race. I had never encountered such a situation before but my survival instincts were able to overcome my hesitation.

I summoned my Black Thorn and parried another swing and kicked the guy in the stomach, tossing him aside but before I could follow up my attack, a hail of light arrows made me dodge back.

I gritted my teeth as one of the attacks had gashed my leg.

I couldn’t afford to hold back against so many of them.

Time to get serious.

My Black Thorn swiped the space and I felt my strength return to me.

I had used my Masterchef Skill to change the properties of the barrier to allow me to be free inside it.

A hail of light arrows came my way again but this time I conjured another ice wall, effectively blocking the entire attack.

“The Daemon was hiding its strength. Quick, strengthen the holy barriers. Surroun– cough” His words couldn’t be completed as he fell down to the ground, spitting blood.

I had manipulated the water in the air to enter his body and form an icicle, piercing his lung.

“Saare!” One of them shouted as two others tried to block my way and one cast another volley of spells on me and the last one tried to feed him with elixirs.

I however didn’t give them any chance.

Ice danced around them, raining down on them from all directions.

These people were much stronger than the enemies I had faced, well except the clown but then again, it was Ainz who finished the clown off.

I was far stronger than I was then but the enemies were more this time.

Six of them attacked me from all sides.

I took to the air and gained an advantage over them. They could only attack me using spells now. Another swipe inside the barrier and the next second, they kneeled to the ground.

I took the opportunity to encase them to their necks inside ice.

The second change I made in the holy field of theirs was that humans will be weakened inside the field instead of the daemons.

With the attackers neutralised, the barrier fell and I got down to the ground, bringing a Restoration Potion from Rimuru to regrow my wrist.

“Now… who told you to come after me?”

The attack was too… organised to have been a coincidence. They knew about me. They prepared to face me and I didn’t want to risk another such attack on myself.

One of them tried to spit but I froze his mouth along with the spit.

“Can we talk like civilised people?”

“As if a Daemon like you would know what civility would mean? You are a Daemon and will always remain one. Don’t pretend to be a human.” another spat.

…

Do these idiots leave their brains in the church?

I was about to question them when my instincts screamed at me. I turned back and saw a mask of a clown. Blue stripes on the dress as it held a sword and was inches away from me.

It snuck up on me.

I didn’t even have the time to react as he was about to touch me.

And then, it happened.

I blinked and in front of me was another figure.

White cape fluttered in the wind and the yellow costume was shining in the sun.

“Consecutive Normal Punches.”

It all happened in a flash.

One second, the clown was about to stab me and the next second, it was blown into pieces, so was the forest behind him and the clouds in the sky. Only one figure alone stood in front of me.

“Saitama?”

“Hmm, are you alright?”

“Eh ah, yes. Thanks.” I replied, still confused.

What just happened here?

Saitama?

“You are Saitama, right?” I asked, slightly unsure.

“Obviously. Who else would I be?” He asked back, his usual deadpan voice springing in.

I mean yes. Why would someone this strong need a reason to lie?

Wait… didn’t that mean Saitama was this strong all along?

What the fuck?

“The fuck, Saitama? You never told us that you were so strong.”

“EH? What do you mean? I told you guys that I was a hero. Ah, a Pro Hero.”

That didn’t say anything about how strong you were.

Did that mean Bang-san and the others were this strong too?

And here we were worrying that Saitama would get hurt due to lack of strength.

….

….

Turns out that the fool was us from the start.

I was however distracted by another thing. A very familiar scene appeared in front of me, same as the last time we killed the clown.

A soul.

But this time it was different.

This soul just drifted in front of me and I could feel it. This soul was calling out to me. The last soul was like a combination of hundreds of thousands of souls, their despair and pain, all merged really tight into a singular entity but this… it was a single soul and I knew it.

I almost in a trance grabbed and swallowed the floating soul in front of me and a face appeared suddenly in my mind.

An elf?

The feeling which came next was something I had been very familiar with.

“Saitama.”

“Hmm.”

“I am going to faint. Help me out.”

And I blacked out.

But this time around, instead of sounds of the world, I saw something else.

I saw the life of a man called Sarion Grimwald, the Chosen Hero of the Elves.

Conditions for Evolution have been met.

Commencing Evolution.

Unique Skill: Falsifier has been gained.

Unique Skill: Seer has been gained.

Extra Skill: Pain Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Pain Resistance has evolved into Extra Skill: Pain Nullification.

Extra Skill: Death Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Spiritual Attack Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Spiritual Attack Resistance has evolved into Extra Skill: Spiritual Attack Nullification.

Extra Skill: Physical Attack Resistance has evolved into Extra Skill: Physical Attack Nullification.

Extra Skill: Fear Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Fear Resistance has evolved into Fear Nullification.

Extra Skill: Light Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Darkness Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Holy Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Holy Demonic Resistance gained.

Extra Skill: Sage has evolved into Unique Skill: Demonic Sage.

Intrinsic Skill: Tempt gained.

Unique Skill: Frost has evolved into Unique Skill: Permafrost.

Unique Skill: Flood has evolved into the Unique Skill: Tsunami.

Evolution to Daemon Duke completed.

I opened my eyes and looked around.

Three times and I still couldn’t get used to this.

The memories of Sarion Grimwald were enlightening to say the least.

The Chosen Hero of the Elves had had a very tragic end and I felt sorry for the guy. I only saw flashes of his life  but it did make me respect the man he was before his death at least.

When he died this time, the last bit of his subconscious called out to me to swallow it so that he isn’t dragged back to servitude again.

No wonder it felt as if it was calling out to me.

In return, I got all his Skills and experiences as well as whatever of his memories he had left.

I checked my body and sure enough, I was stronger than before. Several times even.

I don’t think I am an Arch Daemon anymore.

‘Host is a Daemon Duke.’

I jumped out of my bed in shock. “Who’s there?”

‘I am the Unique Skill: Demonic Sage which evolved from the Extra Skill: Sage.’

A Skill?

Like the Great Sage.

‘Correct.’

Great. Now I have a voice in my head. I deadpanned inside.

“What is a Daemon Duke?”

‘A Daemon Duke or a Daemon Lord is the next Evolution of an Arch Daemon. They are far stronger than normal Arch Daemons and stronger than Demon Lord Seeds and Self Proclaimed Demon Lords.’

No wonder.

Demonic Sage told me about my Skills which was honestly a great help as I didn’ have to waste too much time to try out everything myself.

When I was done, I left the room.

The scene which appeared in front of my eyes however made me freeze.

The entire city of Tempest was turned upside down. Flames covered the leftover buildings as smoke was rising from the destroyed ones.

Everyone was running around. Cries echoed everywhere as injured were being carried to different places by the uninjured members.

… just what the fuck happened?

Someone saw me and came running to me.

“Silas-sama, you are awake. Rimuru-sama and the others are in that direction. I’m…” I think he was the son of the Goblin Head and was called Rigur.

“Rigur.”

“Yes…”

“What happened? I mean how?”

“We were attacked.” he looked to the ground as tears fell from his eyes. His hands were clenched tight. “First those humans. They used a barrier over the town which weakened monsters. But we still drove them away with some casualties. It was later… we were attacked by Demon Lord Clayman’s army…”

Demon Lord Clayman? But why would someone like that attack?

“We were already weakened and… they, Charybdis… we…” He began to sob, unable to continue anymore. I passed the guy one of my restoration potions but he shook his head. “There are more people who need this more.”

I nodded my head, my thoughts in wild disarray.

This place was built by Rimuru but I often spend time here and they treated me as their own. In fact, the Kijin treated me and Ainz almost as well as Rimuru himself.

So, to see this place being destroyed, people injured… It was not a good feeling.

I quickly ran towards the direction which Rigur had pointed me to and found a crowd gathered. Rimuru was kneeling in the front and I didn’t need to ask why.

In front of us, several hundred bodies under white covers.

Was this what a war was like?

I couldn’t find strength in my feet to walk forward and just stood there rooted to my place, looking ahead.

“Silas-sama.” One of the Kijin saw me and called my name bringing the attention of every person towards me.

I forced myself to walk towards Rimuru who was standing in front of a body. As I reached behind him, I saw whose body it was and understood why my friend was like this.

Shion.

She…

I put a hand on his shoulder and he didn’t respond.

“Rimuru.” I called softly.

He turned towards me mechanically. It was as if there was no life in those eyes. I found myself unable to say anything at all.

He turned back towards her body and I stepped back.

I looked towards Hakuryu and asked some questions. “How long was I out for? When did this happen? Where are the others? Who else…?” I couldn’t complete the last question in fear that I might not like the answer.

He just pointed me in another direction. More bodies lay there and I recognised someone kneeling there as well.

Is that Benimaru?

Suddenly a very terrifying thought came to my mind and I flashed towards the place, appearing beside him in a moment. He looked startled but saw me and became quiet. His eyes were misty as he looked at the body in front of him, covered with white cloth.

I felt my breathing pick up, my heartbeat going up as I looked at the body in front of me. Gathering all my courage, I forced my hand to move and remove the cover in front of me.

And then I fell to my knees as the world lost all its colour.

- Hakuryu -

Seeing the loss of life was never a pleasant experience. It was even worse if they were young lives, lost in such an unpleasant manner.

Now seeing their saviours mourning was even more painful.

He had failed his clan once more. The princess…

From what he had heard, she was very close to Silas-sama, perhaps even more. He wasn’t sure of it, at least until now.

Seeing the boy kneel in front of her body, he felt pain and even some pity for him.

Unlike Rimuru-sama, he was quiet. No bursts of power, nothing. He just became still as he held her hand.

He saw a group of adventurers going towards Rimuru-sama and went towards him to assure his safety.

“A fairy tale?” He heard Rimuru-sama speak.

The girl went on to explain the tale of the Dragon Princess and how she resurrected her pet dragon and how, due to the barrier, it could be done in this case too.

“Becoming a Demon Lord… I see.” Rimuru-sama whispered.

Hakuryu sighed to himself. Pushing a pure soul such as Rimuru-sama to make such a decision… those people were guilty of a great crime and he would make them pay for it.

- Silas -

So cold…

Her hands were… so cold.

Why?

I never started a fight.

I didn’t attack Clayman or the humans.

Then why?

“Happiness? As if a Demon like you would deserve happiness.”

The words of those crusaders sounded in my head.

I don’t deserve happiness because I am a Devil?

Why?

Who decided that?

”Dark Beings like you deserve only one fate and that’s to be wiped out so that the world can be at peace.”

Fate… to be wiped out… for the world’s peace.

What bullshit?

“As if a Daemon like you would know what civility would mean? You are a Daemon and will always remain one. Don’t pretend to be a human.”

I see.

So that’s where I was wrong.

Was I trying too hard to be a human? A good Devil?

But these people don’t want a good Devil.

These people want a Daemon.

I looked at Shuna’s cold and lifeless body in front of me.

Good.

So… I will give them a Daemon.

“Who… did this?” I asked.

Benimaru was still beside me.

“It was Demon Lord Clayman. Shuna was trying to evacuate the children to the other side, to your world. For this, she stayed on our side to open the door when needed. One of Clayman’s people found out about it. Clayman tried to control her but couldn’t. She didn’t open the door for him no matter what he did… and Clayman killed her because of this. I…” His words broke.

She didn’t open the door to allow him inside… and chose to die instead.

For me…

“Where are Lavinia and the others?”

“Miss Lavinia, she was the first one to see this and she, her spirits, rampaged, killing hundreds of monsters who were still left attacking after Charybdis’ attack. The monsters under Clayman retreated when Charybdis attacked. She however had lost control and had to be stopped by Saitama-sama from causing destruction. She was knocked out and is resting.”

“I see.”

“Miss Orihime is helping by healing everyone she can now. She opened the door for us and we called for the rest of our clan as backup.”

“I see. Can you… ask Yuri or Narberal to come here?”

He looked towards a Goblin on the side and the guy ran quickly to do as he was told.

“Thank you.”

We didn’t say anything else and just sat there for a while till Yuri and Naberal both arrived kneeling behind me as they saw the body in front of me.

“Our greatest apologies, Silas-sama. We failed the task you had given us. We…”

“Why?”

“We were attacked in our territory by an exorcist. He locked us in a dimension and we couldn’t break out of it soon enough.”

“I see.”

Exorcists.

No matter the world, they don’t want good monsters.

“Where is Ainz?”

“Ainz-sama is coming. He was in a different country and we sent a message. He will be arriving here at any moment.”

“I see.”

A moment later I continued.

“Ask Narberal to bring the rest of the Kijin. Ask Tanya for help if you need.”

She bowed and left while another goblin came running towards us.

“Silas-sama, Rimuru-sama is calling everyone. He said it was very important”

…what?

I got up and so did Benimaru.

Rimuru explained everything. The Ritual to bring back the dead needed one to become a Demon Lord first.

So what?

Didn’t those people want a Daemon? I will give them something better.

“Rimuru?” I called him. “My Sage Skill has evolved too. “Do you think you can increase the probability of success if they work together?”

‘Notice: There should be an increase in probability from 3.14% to 8.12%. Although it will require the host to evolve as well.’

Rimuru got the same answer as well.

We didn’t need any words to communicate what we thought.

“The Falmuth army is still stationed a little distance from us. They fell back when Clayman’s army attacked, not interfering with a Demon Lord.”

Fucking hypocrites.

“Did you find who sent the people who attacked me? And the clown?” I only got the memories of the guy till he was resurrected as a Deathman. I knew nothing before that.

“They were sent by the Western Holy Church to assist Falmuth Kingdom to take down Tempest.”

Over the next hour, a simple plan was made and groups were divided to take care of the enemy.

“As for Clayman's army…”

“Leave it to me.” I interrupted. “Clayman and his army… leave it to me.”

“Sil…”

“Please.”

He sighed but didn’t say anything.

“Let me help too.” Surprisingly Ikki stepped up. I looked at him in surprise. “Blazers are essentially soldiers too. We know that we will have to participate in wars. You all have done more for me than my own family. Please… let me help.”

“Then you can follow Hakuryu.” Rimuru spoke up.

“Thank you.” He bowed lightly.

“I was trained for combat too and was a commanding officer.” Surprisingly Tanya spoke from the corner she was standing, becoming a target of the stares.

“Then I will leave a group of dragonewts to you. You have the experience of aerial combat. They are the only flying units we have. Just… don’t die.”

“Roger.” She saluted.

“Saitama, go with Silas. An army of monsters is a job for a hero. Silas has a personal reason for this fight so let him take the lead. Just back him up in case he needs to. We don’t know how strong this Demon Lord Clayman is. A good backup is for the best for us.” Rimuru suggested.

Apparently I was not the only one who was beyond surprised with Saitama’s strength.

“Clayman has two armies. One consists of Monsters while the other is full of undead. They are difficult to fight.”

“What undead?” A familiar voice came from behind us as Ainz entered the room. His aura was restrained but the glow in his eyes gave away his mood.

“Ainz!”

“Sorry. I was not in Nazarick and came as fast as I could. Tell me everything.”

Rimuru didn’t talk but Great Sage informed him of everything directly through the use of thought transmission.

“I see that you already have a method of resurrecting them. I do have something which can bring them to life but it’s not enough for everyone.”

“You can?” I spoke a bit too loudly.

“They need to accept it and their bodies need to be in a proper condition. There is a chance that it might not work because of the difference in the souls or the laws of different worlds so it’s better if we try your method first and use it only as a last case.”

Rimuru however kept his head down and then shook his head.

“Choosing one would be showing them favouritism. As a leader, I cannot make such a choice.”

I asked something else “Is there a chance that something can go wrong?”

“Depending on the laws of this world, maybe.”

I took a deep breath. “Then I wouldn’t risk it. Not if we have another choice. If this doesn’t work…”

“It will work.” Rimuru said.

And we nodded.

Yes.

It will work.

“Leave the undead to me.”

With everything decided we walked out of the room.

There, Lavinia was standing. She looked healed but her red eyes gave away her condition.

“I will fight too.”

I shook my head. “Shuna will need someone near her when she wakes up. Don’t leave her alone.”

“But I…”

I put a finger on her lips. “Trust me.”

Orihime was standing beside her. I ruffled her hair lightly. “Take care of her, okay.”

She nodded and I left.

There was a war to win and a Demon Lord to kill.

- Tanya -

She wondered why she had taken this job and realised that she was angry.

She wasn’t the type to be sentimental but she had every right to be pissed. She had finally achieved a cushy job in a company which can and would spread over the multiverse. There were some hiccups but everything was going smoothly. The boss was a good guy and didn’t sit on her head for everything. But this…

Some idiotic bastards were trying to throw a wrench in her peaceful life. Safe to say that she was pissed.

And so, she took the stage in front of her and decided to show those bastards just who the fuck they were messing with.

“Listen carefully, my soldiers. Today, we stand here to prepare for war. But we weren’t the ones who started this. NO. It was started by those self-righteous pricks and those who were jealous of us. They raided our homes and they killed our brothers and sisters. Do you hear their cries? Do you see the fire burning your homes?” She shouted.

They clenched their fists while some roared.

“Good. Remember this pain. Remember this suffering they have caused… for today, we are going to return it back to them several folds. We are the citizens of Tempest. Just because we don’t attack first doesn’t mean we are cowards. They might have made the first move, but let’s make this vow to ourselves, for our fallen comrades and family members, that the last attack… will be ours.”

The crowd erupted in roars as their auras flared into the sky.

Even their leader Gabiru, a simpleton, was crying and roaring in the sky while just a moment ago, he was dissatisfied with her leading the team.

Fools.

“Soldiers. Take to the air.”

She got back her own device and took to the air.

She spotted the enemy camp a distance away. Soldiers were guarding a crystal which was used to cast barriers.

“Maintain the aerial advantage and shoot them down. Let them feel despair as none of their attacks reach us. Let no one escape.”

The dragonewts surrounded the camp and started raining fire on the helpless soldiers below.

“Greater Darkness Spirit Summoning: Cerberus.” She called out as she felt her magic drain and a giant three headed dog appeared from a magic circle in the middle of the enemy camp.

The dog shot streams of black fire on the surroundings and within minutes, the entire battalion stationed in the camp was destroyed. She aimed and shot the crystal completing their mission.

- Ikki -

Ikki faced the boy who looked like a japanese youth in front of him.

According to the information, he was a summoned otherworlder.

“Hahahaha a human on the side of monsters? Did they summon you? Sucks to be you.” He laughed.

Ikki merely summoned his Intetsu in front of him.

The last month of his life has been nothing less than a fairy tale for him. Encountering this magical place and meeting these kind people. Getting the opportunity to overcome his weaknesses. He was immensely thankful to Silas and the rest for this chance.

And today, seeing the lifeless look in the eyes of his new friends, he felt rage.

The monsters of Tempest were some of the kindest people he had known and these people…

He took a deep breath.

The goblins had told him about this guy’s ability.

But today Ikki wasn’t going to hold back.

The guy dashed towards him, his sword drawn. Ikki deflected the blow and the guy started slashing furiously towards him. There was no technique in the attacks, only relying on brute force and the use of Skills.

It wasn’t even worthy of his Blade Steal.

The guy jumped back with a growl. “Bastard! How about you catch this?” He pointed his sword at him but Ikki had already begun to move.

Shunpo.

He flashed to a different place.

“That won’t help you against my Thought Acceleration.” He shouted.

Why would you tell others about your skills?

But he didn’t wait for his answer.

In this last week, Ikki had communicated a lot with his Spirit, especially Nia, the spirit which he had made a contract with. She was residing in his Device, Intetsu.

From her, he had learned some Spirit Magic of the Darkness element.

Nothing too big but enough to be used strategically.

“Blackout.”

An area of darkness spread around the two. The guy was blinded while Ikki could see everything clearly.

He waved his sword in random directions but Ikki didn’t want to give him any chances. This was a war.

There was no place for mercies in a war.

The next moment, his head flew into the air.

Ikki felt a rush of information and power flow inside him.

Unique Skill: Severer gained.

Extra Skill: Thought Acceleration gained.

Extra Skill: All-Seeing Eye gained.

- Silas -

I flew towards the camp of Demon Lord Clayman in the distance.

There was thunder and lightning in the sky as dark clouds covered the moon.

A drop of rain fell on my face and rolled down as a teardrop.

I don’t like fighting.

I always say this. And it’s true.

This is the reason why I try to finish any fight in the shortest possible time and with as much efficiency as I can… so that I don’t have to fight more than necessary.

But for the first time today, I wanted to rip and tear everything in front of my eyes.

And it looked like the world was agreeing with me too.

Was this world really happy with me finally acting like a Daemon?

I don’t know and might never know either… but it didn’t matter.

What mattered is the army in front of me and the man controlling all this.

The rain became stronger as little drops changed into a heavy downpour.

“How many monsters are there in the camp?”

‘Scanning. Complete. The army has twenty six thousand six hundred and twenty six demi humans and majin detected.’

“Lock on to every magical signature in the area.”

‘Confirmed.’

I used my new Unique Skill: Tsunami, sensing all the water in the area, every drop of water in the air, on the ground… in the bodies of the creatures below me, everything and then used the second Unique Skill: Permafrost to freeze and control only a single drop of water inside everyone’s brain. The Cerebrospinal Fluid is a liquid which protects the brain and spinal cord but that’s only when it’s a fluid. Once turned into ice, the very thing which protects the most important part of the body becomes its greatest enemy.

And when all this was done, the small piece of ice was changed into a needle, shredding their brains into strings.

The loud camp of monsters became quiet in an instant.

“How many are left?”

‘Forty three left.’

Forty three?

That’s a lot more than I had expected.

‘It was analysed that these people had unique grade equipment or the Extra Skill: Ultraspeed Regeneration or large amounts of magicules to prevent the access of the host's magicules in their body. The ones around them were protected by them. Some of them have mechanical bodies.’

Doesn’t matter.

It was just the first attack.

Keep collecting the souls but do not commence the Harvest Festival.

A barrier sprung up in the area, covering a big area in the middle.

I got down to the ground and was instantly confronted by four people. One looked like a human woman but was a majin. Another was a three tailed fennec fox. The third was a harpy looking majin and the final one was a delinquent looking majin.

“Bastard!” The delinquent looking Majin dashed towards me with his sword drawn but fell to the ground in the very next step. All it took was freezing and shooting an icicle through his eyes and into his head.

The harpy saw this and tried to fly away and was met with the same end.

It was the last two which made me pause a little.

The woman didn’t even try to attack from the very start while the fox had put its head on the ground and I could hear its thoughts.

It was crying for help.

What’s going on?

‘Notice: The Majin is under a spell called the Marionette Heart. The Fox is under a spell Demonic Beast Domination Spell. Does the host want to free them?’

They were being used as puppets.

Free them.

If they try to attack me, put an icicle through their head.

‘Notice: Using the Unique Skill: Masterchef to remove the Spell on their bodies. The host just needs to touch them.’

I did just that.

These two were weak.

They didn’t even know when the spell was broken.

Both of them looked at their bodies in surprise and then bowed to me.

“Where is Clayman?”

“H-he is inside.” The woman pointed towards a tent.

I turned and started walking towards the tent.

“Be careful, benefactor. Clayman… he has put two other Demon Lords under his control and has help. You should run away… you cannot face all of them.” She tried to warn me and I could sense the urgency in her voice.

“It’s fine. I will take care of it.” I replied as I walked towards the said tent just as I felt a figure drop from the sky beside me.

“Leave Clayman for me. The other Demon Lords are under his control. We just need to break the control. No need to kill them all. It will only bring more trouble to Rimuru and Tempest.”

“Alright.” Saitama replied.

- Clayman -

“W-what is happening?” One moment, he was discussing the plans for the attack on the weakened human army and the monsters of the Jura Forest and how to deal with the one who killed Charybdis. There was no information about such a person in the entire monster nation from spies.

He still had his trump card of Milim so he wasn’t afraid of anyone but to reveal her would create some problems for later so he was a bit reluctant. He had summoned her and Frey after the other side destroyed Charybdis just in case.

But he didn’t expect this.

“Put up the barriers. Tear hide and look for an opportunity. Milim stay here till I call for you. Frey, come with me.” He commanded as he walked out.

Outside, only a handful of people were present and two of his five fingers on the other side while two others were laying on the ground with small icicles sticking out from both their eyes.

“You two, what are you doing?”

He shouted but they just turned away and stepped back. It took him only an instant to know why? They had somehow been freed from his control.

How?

His control was unbreakable.

He even had Milim under his control.

On the other side, two people stood. A Daemon with black hair and blue eyes and a bald man who looked like an ordinary human.

“Are you Clayman?” The Daemon asked.

“YOU BASTARD! Are you the one who did this?” he roared. “How dare you? Just a mere Daemon who dares to call himself a Demon Lord and now this…” He summoned a puppet as well as attacked him with his magic puppet strings but the strings and the pupped just froze before they could even reach him.

The ice reached him and he dodged but was late to move as his arm fell off to the ground, completely frozen.

Ice crept towards him and Frey jumped to attack but was simply slapped away by him.

This was not in the information.

He was supposed to be a mere Archdaemon. How was he so strong?

“Milim! Milim, come out! Stop him for me!” He shouted, realising that they had made an error in the information collection.

Milim came out and was walking slowly so he slapped her head, making the Daemon’s eyes widen. “Be quick, you fool! Hurry up and take him down!”

She jumped towards him and he saw the shock on the daemon’s face. He had to pay for Footman’s death.

He will suffer and beg for mercy but will die.

All his thoughts were stopped all of a sudden when the bald guy from before appeared in between and clashed with Milim, sending shockwaves throughout the area.

Each of their clashes was destroying the nearby area but in all of this, the bald guy was still keeping up with her.

“How?! That’s impossible! It’s Milim! One of the ancient Demon Lords! How can a normal human keep up with her? Who is he?!” Clayman roared towards the Daemon who started laughing.

Something about that laughter truly unnerved him.

He had seen many strong people and fought and lived till this day and yet that unhinged laugh of the Daemon truly frightened him to the core.

When he stopped laughing, he spoke. “I truly didn’t think I could get any angrier today. Really, seeing my Shuna’s dead body should have been enough for me but you must be a genius of some kind to really piss me off to this extent. First you attack Shuna and then you go after my Milim. Your death… will not be painless.”

And then a wave of power came out from him, completely drowning everything in the area, making him kneel on the ground.

No.

They couldn’t fight this guy.

Not without Milim.

“Say, if I kill you, the control over Milim will be broken, right?”

Clayman’s eyes widened as he quickly dodged and sent out all his puppets.

Frey tried to block the attack but was barely able to hold it back with the help of Tear.

No, this can’t be happening.

“Clayman run!” Tear shouted and he looked at her in shock. “Run. If your control over Milim and Frey breaks, we will be ruined! Run away, fast!”

Yes.

Yes, he needed to run.

He quickly teleported away but not without giving an order. “Milim, use your Stampede! Crush them all! KILL THEM ALL!”

He would return when everything is destroyed. Milim’s attack will give Tear the cover to run away as well.

- Silas -

My attack was blocked by another one of the clowns.

She attacked me but my Skill already predicted that she was going to run away when I dodged, so… I didn’t dodge at all.

I pushed my power into my Unique Skill and froze her midway, same for the other Demon Lord.

The next second, I was in front of the clown and with a few slashes of my Black Thorn, her arms were gone.

“Tell me, where is Clayman?” I asked her.

“H-he’s in the border town Almec of the Puppet Nation Jistav” She spoke in a trance. When done she froze for a moment and then shouted at me. “You bastard, what did you do to me?”

I ended her shouts with a stab on her forehead as I plucked her soul out and gulped it down.

Unique Skill: Optimist gained.

These Deathmen could escape if their souls were not properly destroyed.

I felt my power rise a bit but the effect was not even close to that of Laplace.

What I did was to use Masterchef on her to make it so that she answers any question asked to her without lies.

The Demon Lord was unconscious.

Demonic Sage couldn’t detect the spell on her so there was a chance that it was something quite strong.

I didn’t waste my time on her and just decided to follow Clayman. Once the user is dead, all the spells break too.

“Benefactor.” I looked back at the two I had freed earlier. “I know where the town is. Clayman uses that town to gather monsters and mercenaries for himself. Many of his reserve forces are stationed in Almec. I can take you there.”

And she did just that.

But I did something before leaving.

"Daemon Summoning. I offer the corpses of the fallen. Come Daemon and serve me." I called.

Thousands of corpses disappeared as three Daemons appeared in front of me.

I did this to get backup in case there were other strong beings with Clayman in the new place.

"Such a bountiful offering. What do you desire, summoner?" The one in the lead asked me.

She was a woman with white hair and red eyes. Along with her were two other Daemons, one looked like a child and the other like a young guy.

“Accompany me to the battle and protect me till I become a Demon Lord.”

“The ascension of a Demon Lord. How rare. We can follow you to battle to watch this wonderful spectacle.” She answered as the ones behind her agreed.

A few minutes later, I stood in the sky over a town controlled by Clayman. I sent the woman, Mjurran, away because I already knew the way back.

It was a big town and I had no idea where Clayman was… this would take a lot of time and currently,  I didn’t have any time.

“I guess there is only one thing left. I tried to be good but you people wanted a Daemon, so… suffer me now.”

- Ainz -

He looked at the hordes of undead in front of him along with the Death Dragon and the one controlling them all.

Behind him stood the guardians of Nazarick as well as the Pleiades. This was war. And Ainz knew from his previous experiences that this world had deeper waters than even Yggdrasil.

Thankfully, they too had gotten power ups.

“Subdue the stronger ones. Their punishment will be eternal servitude to our allies. For the weaker ones, you are permitted to do whatever you want. In the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, no defeat is permitted.” He ordered as the guardians moved in for the attack.

The Pleiades were especially agitated because Yuri and Naberal were held back last time by an exorcist from Silas’ world. He could understand this because that world had literal Gods and Devils but these girls had a completely unreal sense of duty.

In normal times, he would have told them to chill but today was not exactly a normal day.

His friend’s kingdom was attacked by others.

They will pay the price in blood.

“Summon: Primal Elemental. Summon: Doom Lord. Summon: Elemental Skull.” he summoned his High Tier summons one after another. His mana reserves had increased by an insane amount since he got a name. Spells which would have once left him dry, were easy as a cake to cast now.

Finally done with summoning, he focused on the rest.

The reason why he didn’t use a Meteor Spell and just wipe out everything was simple. Why waste these resources?

“Control Undead.” He used the spell boosted by his new Unique Skill: Overlord and cast a spell on the user on the other side.

He received a lot of resistance from the other side but only until he was hit by a Purifying Javelin by Shaltear, making him lose control.

While he was arguing about how an undead could use Holy Magic, Ainz’s spell took effect and he was put under Ainz’ control.

The rest of the Undead kneeled as well.

The battle against Necromancers can either be easy or hard depending on the strategy used… especially if the Necromancer was an undead himself.

The rest of the stragglers were taken down within minutes.

Ainz talked and found out that the undead was called Alderman and was actually controlled by Clayman with a spell which the control undead overwrote.

While he was talking and finding out the information, he noticed a sudden change.

A black wave of light passed over them and into the distance.

Was that?

He looked towards the place where it came from… Rimuru, he learned that spell?

This meant that the battle was already over on that field as well.

He ordered everyone to return back.

The rain had stopped but there was a heavy mist in the area now.

“Did it grow colder suddenly?”

- Rimuru -

He looked down at the camp of the enemy army. They slept peacefully while his people cried in pain. Unforgivable.

“Great Sage. Mark the people in the King’s Tent. I don’t want them to die yet.”

‘Notice: Marked area.’

He remembered the people who attacked Tempest. The people who killed his loved ones and channelled his magic. “I invoke… Spriggan Law.”

‘Notice: The souls for the harvest Festival have been collected. It’s recommended that the host finds a suitable place to undergo the Evolution.’

He felt the world shake and quickly used Daemon Summoning, bringing forth three Daemons and ordering them to clear the field of stragglers and capture them.

He did notice that his breath was misty. The area was much colder than before.

- Silas -

I returned back to Tempest at the scene of everyone kneeling to Rimuru who was undergoing changes.

Ainz came to me first. “Did you finish?”

I brought out Clayman’s head and threw it to the ground.

“Yes.”

“Good. Do you have enough souls to ascend?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“How can you not know the number of souls you have?”

“I don’t know how many people there were in the city.” I replied.

….

….

“Okay.”

A period of quiet settled between us.

“Silas.”

“Hmm.”

“A Demon Lord Evolution can change people’s personality. So when you undergo evolution, remember that the one your loved ones respect and love… is you. Not someone else.”

….

….

“Thank you, Ainz.”

“Hmm.”

I went and sat beside Lavinia and Orihime who were waiting beside Shuna’s body.

“Sil-kun.”

“I am fine.”

Soon enough, he rested for gifting. I held back with the help of Demonic Sage.

I watched as Rimuru became an Awakened Demon Lord and the now named Raphael started the resurrection ritual. The evolution of the Skill made the success rate nearly 100% so I decided to hold off till Shuna was revived.

I only got up when I heard some daemons say that there wasn’t enough power for reviving them all and was about to sacrifice his subordinate.

“Wait.” He turned towards me. “Rimuru doesn’t like seeing his subordinates die. It is one of the reasons this entire thing happened. If you want to serve him, live for him. As for the energy, I have enough souls as a substitute.” I handed over the required souls to Raphael. I still had more than enough souls according to my Skill.

“Thank you for preventing me from angering my Master.” The Daemon in the lead replied as he stepped back.

The ritual completed and Shuna’s body healed in front of me.

I watched with my heart pounding as she took her first breath again.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Welcome back.”

“Silas-sama.”

Sensing that I couldn’t hold back the process of gifting anymore, I did one last thing before my own evolution started. “I name you Shuna.”

And with those words, I lost my consciousness.

_________________________________x__________________________________________________________________x_________________________________

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Beta Reader: @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Authors Note:

The chapter needed several tries to write until I was more or less satisfied with it.

Some might say that Silas was struggling in the fight against the exorcists with Hinata but they were all Enlightened and trained specially to fight against an Arch Daemon specifically. Silas only survived because of the hax known as Masterchef.

Clayman did the absolute last thing he should have done.

As the saying goes, it’s always the quiet ones.

I do agree that Silas went a bit emo for a while but this was his first encounter with a situation like this.

Atleast, Saitama had fun in the meantime.

Next chapter, we will see the birth of Demon Lord Silas.

And remember that when in the Tempest Tournament, sensing that multiple Demon Lords were born, someone came for a surprise visit.

The next chapter is going to be interesting.

By the way, which Snippet do you guys like in what order?

Tell me in the comments.

Just curious.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.