I returned home the day our musical exchange program came to a close. Venom and the rest of the security detail weren’t hurt. Neither were Baton and his orchestra. In fact, everyone was safe.
So I gave the kids, who were under Diablo’s protection, a week off. They weren’t physically injured, but better safe than sorry. The experience certainly taught them the difference between training and real battle, I’m sure, and it definitely seemed to blunt their usual bubbly personalities. There might’ve been some mental trauma involved, so I told them to take a good rest.
As for Luminus and Leon, we all decided to hold a meeting in due time. We had trouble agreeing on a location, but ultimately we settled upon Rimuru, the capital of Tempest. Luminus’s empire of Lubelius would have its hands full rebuilding for a while, and Leon’s domain of El Dorado was apparently dealing with its own heavy stuff at the moment and wasn’t in much shape to accept foreign VIPs. Tempest, for the time being, was in the clear on that count, and I had no reason not to make the offer. Hell, we already had two demon lords living there anyway.
I recalled the winged Ramiris and the freeloader Deeno as I gave the go-ahead to Luminus and Leon, who wound up arriving in Rimuru the next day, leaving me zero time to relax and unwind. Leon made a stop back home to prepare before coming along. I thought this was needlessly quick, but he and Luminus wanted to compare stories and get working on ideas first thing. I had my own questions for them as well, so I indulged them on that.
We met at my most ornate reception hall—Luminus, Leon, and me. Since it was just us three demon lords, I figured it was only appropriate to show off a bit.
Only those involved with the fracas in Lubelius were invited; I wanted to hear everyone’s story, and then I’d decide just how much I’d divulge about Chloe.
Things being what they were, we had a tacit agreement to keep all this secret from the rank and filers in our respective forces. Thus I was accompanied only by Shion, Diablo, and Veldora. I really wanted to keep Veldora out of there—he’d get bored halfway through, I knew, so I just wanted him to hang in his room for me. But for some reason, he was adamant about coming, bellowing “How could I not participate in this?!” and all. If that’s how far he was willing to go, I had little choice but to reluctantly agree. Shion, meanwhile, should have been recuperating from what were demonstrably serious injuries, but she was right as rain in almost no time. Ultraspeed Regeneration really ain’t no joke. Once again, I was reminded of how downright scary it was.
So I was standing side by side with Diablo, Shion right behind me. Hinata was seated next to Luminus, Louis and Gunther accompanying them at the rear. Behind Leon were two knights—Arlos and Claude—standing bolt upright. After that, there was only Chloe, the star of the show. She was back to her usual young self, but I figured we should treat her as a grown-up.
I had a long, rectangular conference table set up in the chamber and six padded seats put in place for us. Veldora and I sat adjacent, directly facing Hinata and Luminus, and Leon and Chloe scored the end spots.
It was time to kick off this impromptu demon lord summit of sorts.
First, I had Chloe explain things, going over what happened in Lubelius while Hinata added the occasional comment or two. The story was, to put it lightly, unbelievable under normal circumstances—but after the metaphysical experience I’d had, I was completely willing to accept it.
“…And so thanks to Hinata and Rimuru’s aid, I managed to escape from my infinite cycle of death and rebirth.”
Once Chloe wrapped things up, everyone looked ready to respond as they gauged one another. Veldora, never one to read a room, kicked off the debate.
“So the Hero who sealed me away back then was—”
That’s not particularly important, is it? I certainly didn’t think so, but then Hinata replied, “That was me. Now we’re tied one-to-one, aren’t we? Isn’t it nice, getting to taste defeat for a change?”
“Wh-whaaaaaaaat?!”
“Oh, do you have a problem with that? Because I’d be happy to play a tiebreaker right now.”
“Gnnnhh… Very well! If you insist, I shall tap upon my true forces—”
Well, this sure wasn’t getting us anywhere. The normally cool-as-a-cucumber Hinata always turned extra petty around Veldora. Guess I’d have to step in.
“Okay, that’s enough!”
You can tackle that question when you’re alone, guys.
“It’s vital that you show that foolish dragon some discipline, Hinata,” Luminus chided. “Should you challenge him, be sure to inform me. I will gladly provide assistance.”
Quit fanning the flames, Luminus.
“Look,” I said, changing the subject, “all’s well that ends well, okay? But what I’m wondering about right now is, um— I got killed, didn’t I? So was someone from the Empire behind that?”
To me anyway, this was a vital question. The Empire was acting as suspicious as ever at that moment; if that was about to become open hostility, we needed to be on our guard.
“Probably,” Chloe replied. “And I think the same person killed Hinata as well. The Empire had a pretty capable fighter on its side, so maybe you guys all took them on at once or something. I didn’t see the light that cut through Hinata, though.”
Ah. Well, if someone out there managed to kill Hinata, then whacking me before I became a demon lord didn’t seem outrageous.
“I’ve evolved into a demon lord, but that’s no reason to let my guard down.”
It may have been a different axis of time, but if someone’s killed me once, then of course I was gonna be on the lookout for ’em. If we wound up facing off against the Empire, I’d have to watch out.
“That’s a good idea,” said Chloe. “The Empire’s a lot more dangerous than you think, Rimuru. Veldora went berserk after you were killed, but the Empire repelled him, too.”
During this Veldora battle, Hinata was murdered—and then Chloe was sent back in time. The memories of what happened after Hinata’s murder existed within Chronoa’s mind—but only in bits and pieces. Chances were, though, the enraged Veldora and Chronoa clashed with each other, and then the Empire made its move in the midst of all that chaos. We all saw what Chronoa could do, so we knew that simply joining a fight with her involved was pretty amazing already.
It could be—was likely, even—that the Empire’s war power was way beyond what we’d assumed. Luminus and Leon seemed to agree with that; we were all starting to see the Empire as a dangerous threat. But as the reception hall began sinking into a gloom, Veldora went off on another wild tangent.
“I find it hard to believe I’d simply go insane,” he said, sneering.
The reaction across the room was unanimous:
Are you kidding me?
Running his mouth in the midst of this weighty discussion, like a golfer teeing up… Well, it had to be Veldora, I suppose—
“Wait, wait! Why are you looking at me like that?! A gentleman like me would hardly lose his temper so catastrophically!”
Um, if I may—you definitely went on an extended rampage long ago, and it’s easy to imagine you in that state.
But—hey—maybe in this other time line, he killed me after I resurrected him, which then set him off in a violent rage. Because honestly, that scenario gave me some warm fuzzies.