THE ASSAULT BEGINS

All the monsters on the battlefield accepted the words of their lord and ally Rimuru with their souls, the words of an absolute ruler who accepted all their loyalty and trust. Then another voice commanded them.

“The disguise operation is canceled. Crush the fools bothering Sir Rimuru’s mind until nothing remains of them.”

With this, there was nothing left to bind the monsters. Joy filled their hearts, and they relied upon pure impulse to unleash their magic force. The demonic auras they had suppressed so as not to affect the town they lived in were now fully released, and the concentration of magicules around them shot upward.

There was nothing to be afraid of anymore as they let their deepest impulses drive them across the battlefield…

Gobta, too, heard the order as the shells kept raining down.

“Finally! But it doesn’t look like we’ve achieved our goals yet. Is that okay?”

He was talking to himself, but his second-in-command, Gobchi, responded.

“Well, what’s the problem? The plan was to persevere and make the opponent show off all their latent force, but at this rate, we’re going to dwindle down to nothing. We have to scare them a little, or nobody strong’s going to come out for us.”

“That’s how it is?”

“That’s how it is.”

Gobta and Gobchi were having this conversation in the middle of a battlefield, bombarded by shells and shock waves. Those watching were impressed by their ability to hear, although they were well used to their supremely relaxed attitudes by now.

“If it were us, y’know, the strongest guys would jump out first, but…”

“Well, put it that way, Gobta, and aren’t you one of the Big Four?”

“Hey! All right, maybe, but I’m still the weakest of them. Seriously, stop bringing that up…”

As they conversed, Gobta, Gobchi, and the Goblin Riders under them were seething more than ever before. Everyone was waiting for the order from Gobta to come down.

Shells rained down on regular occasions, deliberately and precisely, as if aimed at a dartboard—and they were throwing a dozen darts at once. From the beginning, the intention wasn’t to score a direct hit, but to wipe them all out with the shock waves.

The Goblin Riders, realizing this, were on the move in search of shelter. A direct hit would kill them instantly, but on the other hand, anything else was survivable. Everyone here was powerful enough to rank as lieutenant in the Tempest force, meaning an A-minus equivalent in rank. Even if they were seriously hurt, a little potion would take care of it.

Based on this, Benimaru’s strategy was to feign defeat. There was no need to actually lose, of course—just pretend to be in a crisis. In the meantime, the remaining troops were to block the imperial army’s retreat and counterattack at once. If they waited until the tanks ran out of ammunition, the strongest people on their side would come to finish them off—Benimaru put it in the simplest terms possible.

Gobta, of course, wanted to voice a few complaints about that, but an order was an order, and he couldn’t disobey it. The imperial army wasn’t nearly as much of a threat as Benimaru in his mind.

I mean, Benimaru’s usually a real nice guy…but when it comes to military stuff, he’s merciless. And this time, even Sir Rimuru’s safety is at stake. There’s no way somebody like me could speak out against it.

Those were Gobta’s memories about when he was told about the plan. Convincing his Goblin Riders to follow it was a pain, but once he mentioned Rimuru’s name, they stopped complaining.

All that was left was to overwhelm the enemy in the first engagement, but as expected, that was asking a bit too much. As soon as their attempted breakthrough was blocked, Gobta’s force decided to stick to their original decoy role. But that’s over now. Rimuru had given his statement—and Benimaru followed it up with new orders. No need to hold back. The time had come for them to unleash all the power they possessed.

(Okay, you now have permission to attack freely. The Green Numbers are Hakuro’s responsibility, so they’re good, but for now, I’m leaving you Riders to Gobchi.)

He sent out a Thought Communication to his squadmates, face stiffened. His tone of voice was as usual, but it had an unmistakable power to it.

(Roger that! So what are you doing, General Gobta?) Gobchi asked, shrugging. Gobta replied with a troubled-looking smile:

(Well, I can’t play around anymore, either, y’know? I don’t care about that Big Four stuff, but it’s an order from Sir Rimuru, and I can’t act like a wimp when he’s watching me! I’m gonna get real serious now!)

Gobchi and the rest of the team looked into Gobta’s eyes. Immediately, they knew he was serious—the kind of seriousness they almost never saw in their boss.

“Heh. I know what you’re capable of. Go ahead. Don’t hesitate to use it.”

(Why are you acting so bossy?)

(Y-you heard that?)

(Well, it’s fine and all, Gobto, but you do your best, too, okay?)

(Heh… Of course.)

Gobta gave this a tired sigh. Gobto had been on the team since its early days; they had known each other a while by now. He was good in his own way, but thanks to absorbing a lot of unnecessary knowledge from Rimuru, he had a tendency to act all cool when it wasn’t called for. Way back when, he had imitated Gobta’s aide Gobchi, but now he had evolved in his own unique way. He was wearing a long black coat with two longswords that he didn’t even know how to use fully. Gobta wondered if he was safe out here, but he figured that with Gobchi around, it’d probably work out.

After making up his mind on that, Gobta turned to the person he had to worry about the most—Testarossa, still sitting behind him.

(So along those lines, Testarossa, I’d like us to go our separate ways from here, if that’s okay?)

Testarossa nodded, smiling. Even in the midst of these flames and concussive impacts, her graceful gestures remained intact, her military uniform still clean. Soot and dust would never stain Testarossa.

(Yes, of course. I feel the same way as you. From now, I will act not as an observer, but as an individual living under Sir Rimuru. Please do your best, all of you.)

So Testarossa got off Ranga, and with a final “Good day to you,” she breezily walked away. Rimuru had attached her to Gobta as an observer, but that role was now over. The lethally dangerous demon was now on the move.

She sure is a free spirit, ain’t she? a dismayed Gobta thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. He had grown up at least enough to know saying that was a bad idea.

After seeing Testarossa off, he decided it was his turn.

(All right, everyone… Begin!)

(((Yeaaahhh!!)))

He gave the order to his troops, finding the response satisfactory enough. Even Gobta wanted Rimuru to see how cool he was. He liked Rimuru. He was selfish and more than a little mean, but at the same time, he was always so kind and worth relying on. He admired her. He was once just this tiny little goblin, but he had grown to a fairly famed warrior. Now it was time for him to repay that favor.

(The Riders are yours, Gobchi!)

He turned toward Ranga.

“Now it’s your turn, Ranga! Transform!!”

The shouted order was answered by Ranga, who had been lying in wait all this time. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, Gobta. Let us show our powers to Sir Rimuru, my master!”

The two fighters’ consciousnesses synched together as they released their inner magic power. The next moment, a black mist enveloped Gobta.

“Come on! Let’s go wild!”

“Yes. I’ve been holding back for so long!”

The mist disappeared as if it had been sucked into Gobta. It revealed a goblin fighter infused with a black wolf—a humanoid wolf with two ominous horns. Gobta and Ranga had Unified, and only now could they be called part of the Big Four without a trace of irony.

The moment they saw him, Gobchi and the rest of the Goblin Riders rushed out of their hiding spot.

(Don’t get in Captain Gobta’s way! He’s fighting serious now!)

Gobchi’s desperate shout expressed just how endangered the goblins were at the moment. The demon wolf’s fists, for example, were literally swatting down flying tank shells from the air. In fact, even a direct hit didn’t singe his reinforced black fur. These massive bullets, running just under six times the speed of sound and boasting incredible destructive energy, couldn’t even dent Gobta now that Ranga’s “armor” was on him. That was a by-product of Ranga’s own Multilayer Barrier, but for the unwitting imperial troops, he was nothing but a walking nightmare.

“Wh-what is that? Am I dreaming, or…?”

“You sure aren’t! It’s a monster! I can’t believe the kinds of freaks that demon lord has working for him!”

Panic was beginning to set in among the lower-ranked privates. Among the troops in the tanks—stuck together and unable to move—the fear was even greater.

With a howl from Gobta, Dark Lightning stormed down from the sky above the tank crews. One thousand tanks had transformed into a fortress, and now they were ripe targets. The dark strikes interfered with the tanks’ defensive barriers, emitting a blinding light as they did. They withstood the barrage for a few moments, but it seemed its resistance to electricity was less than perfect. The crew inside the tanks seemed to be safe, but the infantry nearby, in formation with the tank wall behind them, suffered incalculable damage.

But Dark Lightning was dangerous not just for the shock it carried. The essence of it was even more terrifying than natural lightning.

“Ah! Hot! This has to be seriously damaging the tank’s defensive mechanism…!”

“A-all teams, evacuate! Evacuate your tanks at once!”

Although the crews were saved from being electrocuted, the heat the bolts generated were too much for the tanks to bear. Even after the first cracks appeared, the Dark Lightning wasn’t done yet. Like a living, thinking snake, it continued to bite into the inorganic metal plating, causing serious damage to the mechanical parts inside.

One after another, the tanks exploded in flames. With a thunderous rumble, they breathed their last.

In this situation, the tanks that had been linked together to form a fortress were now nothing more than death traps. The crews desperately abandoned them, scattering to avoid being caught in a lightning strike. Military command was a thing of the past for them, and they felt and acted every bit like a defeated army.

They were sure no big deal…

Gobta smiled as he observed the scene. As he saw it, the power he and his cohort wielded was more than enough to face up to this foe. That, and the enemy’s main force—the original target of this operation—no longer seemed threatening in this demon-wolf form.

He looked at the wall of tanks towering in front of him. The wall that once blocked their way was belching black smoke from Ranga’s lightning. Without hesitation, he let out a roar—a Voice Cannon—and instantly, it shattered the wall.