Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Chapter 199

Rimuru Disappearance[1]

Fumu. If it really is an evolved skill than this isn't all too unbelievable. But if that's the case, the silver haired angel would be the avatar of 『Justice King Michael』's ego. If Rudra losing control really was caused by intervention from Justice King Michael, this might not be impossible after all. The problem now, would be how capable it is. If it had calculation power and freedom that is on par with Ciel, it would make for a pretty nasty opponent to deal with.   (What do you think? Is it an existence on the same level as you?) 《Fu. As if.》

(Does that mean, you know how to neutralize opponents that have "Castle Guard"?)   I tried probing without expectations,   《Of course. Regarding that, I have put together a plan.》   She nonchalantly replies, quite matter of factly. I had no words for how amazing she is. Could it be, that I'm actually kinda unneeded? Though such thoughts ran through the back of my head, that is definitely not the case. This is where I need to protect my dignity, and humbly accept the facts.   (I wouldn't expect any less. I believed! Always believed you'd easily crack this "Castle Guard" problem!)

Regardless of what I "believed", this was an ability that Velda would have had anyway, which we would be able to overcome

by eliminating Velda's underlings. That was what I thought anyway.... At this point, it's not much of an issue now. Since we can neutralize her, it's a good idea to quickly restrain that silver haired angel. Trusting Ciel, I went ahead and landed right in front of the silver haired angel, a.k.a Lucia.   At the moment I stood before her, she turned her attention to me. Showing perfect composure, even while she's being attacked by Milim.   「My my, if it isn't demon lord Rimuru. I have been notified of your existence. The fool who dares oppose Velda-sama. Also, the nuisance of a demon lord, who dares to get in my way.」 「Hmm? That's an honour. Now then, just what are you? An angel, or.... Justice King Michael's ego?」

Ciel mumbled, seemingly in a bad mood. Maybe she is feeling unhappy about the fact that there is another existence which could possibly be equal to herself. But looking at her, she's really starting to understand how emotions work now. I guess this is something amazing, but I don't really get the point. Well, there's no doubt it would be pretty amusing to have a conversation with her now. Just as I was thinking that,

That's what you're concerned about!? I almost took a jab at her out of reflex there. Also, "that lowly Manas", aren't you one yourself!? She seems to be ignoring that fact, and feels like she has passed the point of being displeased to being fairly pissed, at Lucia.

Fumu. So that, really was what they were aiming for. Just as predicted by Ciel. Milim, who was clobbering Lucia's "Castle Guard" with fists enchanted with unreal amounts of magic, took a direct hit from "King's Rule" and froze in place. ――or so that's what it looked like.

Those were my intentions when I began "hostilities" with Milim.... But that Milim, came at me for real. As I could see she was grinning, I knew that she was doing this purposefully. She may have wanted to fight me for real. How "troublesome" this has become. Milim drew her sword, and began her assault unto me, I too drew my katana and received her attack. Sparks flew as we furiously exchanged blows. I couldn't even see her movements in the past, so I was honestly surprised with myself now that I have breathing space. If it was the old me, I would have been left numb from just receiving a single attack, which would have also greatly drained my stamina. Now there was no difference in the level of our weapons, and I have simply powered up physically. As expected of a body that is similar to that of a "True Dragon". I have now become able to battle evenly, even against Milim's absurdly violent strength.

『Are we connected now, I wonder.... Hey Rimuru, can you hear me?』   I received a telepathic message suddenly. Seems like, Milim has been trying to establish a “Secret Telepathy” connection with me, all while still in combat with me. That is another form of telepathic communication, as Milim wasn't connected to me via the "Soul Corridor", she needed to "run a line through" so to speak, if she wanted to use it. It was also possible with the normal directional telepathic messaging, but the danger of the message being heard by unwanted third parties would increase. To summarize, if you wanted to make use of “Secret Telepathy”, it would take some time and preparation. It seems like Milim has been pretty cautious for awhile now, so as not to let her movements be picked up by our enemies. This is all still under the pretext that she was dominated, and also still very enraged.

『That ain't it! Wasn't it really obvious, and very purposeful!?』 『Eh!? Ah, right. That's right, I totally noticed that yea! ――anyways, enough of that. Back to business, I got a favor to ask. Frey and her underlings went and got beaten by Lucia's flunkies earlier. Though I don't think it's anything worrying, can you go tend to them? 』 『Nn? Got it.』

Eh, already? That's way too fast! Aren't those 4 angels, on par with awakened demon lords.... More like, it's somewhat troubling that I could only think of the awakened demon lord class as a comparison. As I am now, any single awakened demon lord isn't even a threat. This might just be what Veldora-san's point of view is like. This almost justifies him letting it get to his head, going around picking fights with any other being. Not like I would go around doing something as childish as that, neither do I need to.

Fumu. Now that I think about it. Seems like Ciel has noticed his presence, but I don't notice him if I don't concentrate on him. Guess I should have Diablo standby in case shit actually happens.

I gave Milim a reply. A report from Testa came in, stating Frey and co. are all fine. As I was communicating with Milim, we were exchanging blows at the same time. Though it was an exchange between a sword and a katana, we were flying around and really shifting the ground around us. As we were moving around with quite a bit of force, to onlookers it was really flashy. And towards me, Lucia has been launching magic attacks every so often. It's obvious she can attack, during the short pauses when "Castle Guard" isn't in use. Would I be able to make a move on her if I manage to work out the timing?

『That angel, she's getting annoying. But, I kinda want to earn her trust somehow.』 『Hah? Why would you need that? She *is* troublesome, but her attacks are being blocked, which is why we're ignoring her right?』 『You know.... She spouted some "Velda is my father, "Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava". I was thinking, I need to dole out some punishment for her insolence.』   Here I was thinking she wanted to get Lucia to lower her guard as she had no means of beating her as is, instead she was thinking of something else altogether. After hearing the details, she intends to work out the unknown location of our enemy, and defeating "him" instead. It's true, that in this great war, there isn't much meaning even if we manage to be victorious on all fronts. We still needed to deal with the root of the problem which is Velda. Even if we did defeat the Four Fiends of the Heaven Commanders and get the strategic victory, it's still defeat for us if Velda manages to get away.

『Wahahahaha! Fret not. You can leave it to me to pinpoint the location. In other words. I'm gonna be a Spy! I have studied, just for a moment like this! Stop worrying!』   Ahh, thinking back a little, she *was* watching a movie that was somewhat relevant.... It was part of an experiment to crystallize the footage from my memories into a "film"; it was that movie from my memories, the one we extracted then. Milim was among them, the ones whose eyes were sparkling, which were also glued to the screen watching the story that was filled with riveting spy action[2]. Ahh, she ended up picking up some fairly unneeded knowledge.   But, if you think about it, this is an unexpectedly good plan for our current situation. It's best to discuss the itty bitty details, and decide on our course of action. But, before that....

As per Ciel's explanation, I pieced together the relevant abilities in my head. And then,   「You've been getting really annoying since earlier on, time for you to learn who's in charge here!!」   I intimidated Lucia with something suitable. Reading the situation, Milim also faked being blown away by a swing from my katana, and entered a state of not getting in my way. She's doing great there.   Looking down upon Lucia, I thrust my right hand forward. There was actually no need for this movement, but theatrics are still important.   「Fufufu. You won't be able to penetrate my defenses no matter what you do. This is where the true worth of "Castle Guard" really lies.」 「Is that so. But, let's see if you can still say the same after receiving this.」   After saying that, I began channeling『Void God Azothoth』's “Turn Null” energies onto my right hand, and maintaining control of it. This was a lot harder to control that what I previously thought it would be. This stuff, would cause a massive explosion if i were to release it as it is. This ain't the kind of stuff that's practically usable without Ciel's support. After seeing the ultra compressed energy mass, there was an obvious change in expression even for Lucia. Even if she would be unharmed, there was no doubt the remainder of the angels army would get annihilated though.

With the channeled energies, I activated a certain spell combination, shutting the screaming Lucia up. As experimented from before, activating magic using this energy instead of the normal elemental magic results in multiple times the usual resulting output. Such a spell, constructed using the ridiculous output of the ‘Turn Null’ energies, headed towards Lucia. As she had utter confidence in her defenses, this was a major blunder for her. The spell successfully made contact with Lucia, without any resistance.   Obviously, explosions or other direct forms of damage would not cause even a scratch whatsoever on Lucia. But.... There was no need to cause damage to Lucia in the first place. As per Ciel, this is what you would call "a change of perspective".

「Fuh! You shall twiddle your thumbs in there alone and in despair, for an eternity!」   I said that, as I struck a cool finishing pose. That was perfect. Lucia was screaming something in anger. But, as she was impeded by the barrier, her voice failed to reach me. My voice too doesn't reach Lucia, so taking advantage of that I taunted her with my pose. Offensive barrier "Eternal Pain", was a spherical shaped growth enchanted barrier. What that means, is that whenever Lucia's "Castle Guard" makes contact with the barrier, small explosions would occur; the energy generated from the explosions is then re-absorbed into the barrier, and is used for the growth of the barrier to increase its strength. This was well thought out, a fearsome combination of nasty properties. Hats off to Ciel there.   《Magnificent! Especially that pose at the end, it was perfect!》

I felt Diablo's praises too telepathically, and he too, had no negative feedback about me. Though I kinda wanted to be praised for succeeding in activating the spell that Ciel came up with on my first attempt, Ciel notwithstanding, getting praises from Diablo felt a little off too. It felt like, getting elated from getting praise from someone who is usually very strict, that kind of feeling. Well, now isn't the time to think of such luxuries. It's not like I know of any such beings who are close to me. I should be happy for now, that nobody made jabs at me for the 8th grader syndrome-ish pose that I did. I discreetly, breathed an empty sigh of relief.   So that was how, I succeeded in handily restraining Lucia. Shortly after, with the addition of Diablo, Milim and the two of us started our discussions. And of course, that was done while we were still in combat. That was done pretty damned skillfully if I were to say so myself. While we were doing that, I received word from Carrera telepathically, reporting that Vega got his ass handed to him by Gobuta. Plus, he did it handily too.   《――! As expected of Gobuta. He really showed his worth as his growth was one of the hardest to predict. Though I did give him the Unique Skill『Genius(False Sage)』, to think he was this capable.》

Now then, we have come to a decision. First, I would take my leave from the battlefield, with my "defeat".   (Rimuru, first up is for you to "disappear"!)   As per Milim's words, our plan was finalized. In other words, a plan where I "play dead".   (Kufufufufu. This is going to cause quite the ruckus!)   Diablo happily snickered. For some reason, Ciel suggested that we do not relay the information regarding my "death" to my remaining followers.   《This is a prime opportunity, to smoke out the remaining problematic elements who are eluding us.》

Diablo's earlier reaction, was the answer to my amazingly "normal" question. A cleansing storm would be whipped up, upon the ones who would plan to rebel.   (Also, I kinda feel bad, as I'll be deceiving the others too.)   I said that as I was thinking how I'll be worrying the others,   (Kufufufufu. There won't be any problems. Their happiness when they find out you are alive would be far greater!)   And, my pleas were declined as such. According to Milim's plan, saving Lucia after dealing with me, would get her the greatest amount of trust. In addition, it would lure Velda into lowering his guard, making him bolder and more complacent in his moves. The plan was gleefully accepted by everyone except me.       And thus, a storm of great confusion would engulf the world. On just the first day of the great war, major changes among the world's factions are about to occur.

Chapter end