THE RED PURGE

The Armed Nation of Dwargon’s east city was currently weathering a blockade of up to sixty thousand people. But it was all a cover. Beneath the surface, both sides had made it clear that they were allied, the commanders all taking great pains to ensure that no unfortunate accidents took place.

With that in mind, the mood among the lower-ranked soldiers was light. Camping tents had been set up across the area, each filled with idle chatter—but there was still a modicum of tension shared by everyone, even the rank and file. That indicated the surprisingly high level of training every member of the army had received.

It was no wonder that morale was high. After all, their superiors were currently engaged in their final meeting—one where the dream of overthrowing the Empire and building a new nation would come to a head.

Everyone was looking forward to it, and everyone had their eyes on the capital in anticipation. That was why most of them noticed it at the same time.

“It’s red…”

“Is the capital aflame?”

“What happened? Wait—did they find out?!”

On this most critical of days, something was happening over in the imperial capital, and nobody thought it was a coincidence. Everyone knew that something had happened to their leaders.

“Should we send out a recon team?”

“No, we need to organize our troops and march.”

“Don’t be stupid! If we do that, it’ll completely expose us as traitors!”

Having all their superiors away from the force meant there was no one to take command. The Composite Division, already derided as a motley crew in the best of times, quickly lost cohesion. The one who finally brought them back in order was a person who had silently closed his eyes before then. His name was Zero, a man Yuuki named as corps vice commander, and he was the highest-ranked person on the field.

“Silence! I will not allow anyone to act without permission! We will stay here and wait for Sir Yuuki and the others to return. That will remain our policy.”

With Zero’s declaration, those wavering in their opinions fell back in line. Nobody knew what the right answer was, so for now, they decided to follow orders. But not even that could alleviate the anxiety… And those anxieties came true in the worst possible fashion.

“Good evening, you oblivious fools. I know it’s a lovely night tonight, but that doesn’t mean you should all get too excited.”

The woman walked along the street totally carefree, with the ease of a vacationing tourist. It was Velgrynd, her blue hair as beautiful as always.

“Wha…? Who are you?”

The soldiers on the far edges of the street shouted at her. If she was calling out to uniformed soldiers, she couldn’t have been an innocent civilian—and even before that, anyone who didn’t recognize Velgrynd’s utterly unusual presence could never survive in the Composite Division.

So they began confirming her identity, sending messages out to their superiors, as they moved to surround her. One soldier, a man with decent confidence in his fighting skill, stepped forward.

“Whoa there, lady. I don’t know who you are, but I wouldn’t be picking a fight with this many people if I were you. We may not look all fancy, but we’re in the Composite Division, the strongest army of the Empire—”

“It really is funny, isn’t it, the weak calling themselves the strongest? I was willing to let it slide if it kept morale high, but perhaps we should’ve stopped allowing it at the division level.”

“What?!”

Velgrynd’s words were those of someone at the highest reaches of society—someone giving orders from far above anyone else in the military hierarchy. It was more than enough for even the raw recruits to know they were dealing with someone dangerous. Zero, as vice commander, was no exception. When he heard this intruder was alone, he shipped himself over to see who it was—and once he heard the subsequent reports, he upped his pace toward the scene. Now Velgrynd was before him.

“M-Marshal…”

He had never seen the Marshal’s face, but the presence she exuded was undoubtedly that of the overwhelming figure seated on the other side of the curtain.

“Ah, so there are some more intelligent ones among you as well? Good. I was told not to kill all of you, but just to have some fun until Kondo and the others arrive.”

With that signal, the tragedy began.

Gazel was having a depressing day. The war was still dragging along, which was a headache by itself. But more than that, Jaine’s report made him feel like his stomach was going to rupture.

Making true demon lords out of those serving him… What could possibly have gotten into Rimuru?!

He heaved a heavy sigh.

Calling them true demon lords was something of a misnomer. Demon lord was a title, not a species, and it literally meant a lord who ruled over monsters within a set territory. True demon lord, however, described the status of a monster, one awakened and evolved into that state. The threat they posed would be on the upper end of Disaster class, but it wouldn’t rate a Calamity.

…Not that there are enough Disaster-class threats to merit dividing them into “upper” or “lower” classes…, thought Gazel.

The Disaster class was essentially reserved for demon lords, so right now it consisted of only eight known examples. Now, however, Rimuru had people working for him who were at least as powerful as those high-end menaces. Just thinking about it gave the Heroic King a headache.

For now, Gazel sent a griping missive to Elmesia about it. He couldn’t stand to be the only one suffering, so he decided to have her share in the distress a bit. That—and his government decided to continue observing Rimuru and his band until further problems arose. It was just kicking the ball down the road, he knew, but there was nothing else they could do. If “further problems” ever came up, it’d be the beginning of a war for the survival of humanity.

“And I truly don’t want that.” Gazel sighed.

But the bad news wouldn’t stop coming.

“Urgent news, Your Majesty! The Composite Division is on the move! They’re engaged in battle with an unknown enemy.”

The voice was calm, but Gazel sensed a panic atypical of his dark agents. Before more details came in, he immediately sent out word to assemble Dolph and the rest of his advisers. A few minutes later:

“No doubt about it. That enemy’s nothing regular people can handle. It’s a monster, an unimaginable monster who could even take down demon lords.”

“A True Dragon?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen one before. She took the form of a person, but there’s no doubting her identity as Velgrynd.”

Gazel was on a magical call to Vaughn, admiral paladin and supreme commander of Dwargon’s military, who was currently stationed by the east city. He had him send visuals so everyone could grasp the situation.

The worst-case scenario always happens when you least expect it—a fact Gazel was all too aware of now. The sky was burning. There was a woman, a cold beauty, and crowds of powerful soldiers fallen around her. The flames were mesmerizing but also vigorous enough to awe everyone who saw them.

But the true horror only came after that. Velgrynd, visible through the surveillance crystal ball, looked over at Gazel and his team. He thought it was a coincidence at first, but the moment he did, the crystal ball shattered.

“She was watching us, too…?”

“I—I can’t believe it. How is that possible…?”

“You’re kidding! How far away do you think we are from there?”

“It’s the truth. She must have sensed the magic and traced it back to the caster, but it’s incredible to see her impacting the magic’s destination as well. It’d be impossible for me or any other humanoid.”

Gazel listened to his advisers in silence. Based on this, they were clearly dealing with an enemy. But who? He couldn’t possibly hear her, but it was like she was whispering No, don’t you peep on me into his ear.

A True Dragon? More like true monster.

Now Gazel knew what the word strongest really meant.

He was familiar with the rumors of a connection between the Empire and Velgrynd. They had no way to confirm them, but he had played through a lot of scenarios in his mind so that they’d be able to withstand attack. Now, however, Gazel realized it was all just an illusion.

It was unclear why the Empire had sent Velgrynd on the move at this point. Gazel thought and thought, but he couldn’t understand what Emperor Ludora was thinking. There was only one thing he could do.

“I’m going into battle as well.”

“Your Majesty,” bellowed Dolph, “it’s too unsafe!”

“But there is no other choice,” replied Jaine. “Abandoning Vaughn right now will do nothing to save Dwargon. You will need to prepare yourself, too, Dolph.”

There was little Dolph could say in return. He had no intention of just letting Vaughn die, and as he now realized, admonishing Gazel would do nothing to change the situation.

“I will make preparations to leave as soon as possible,” said Dolph.

“Very good.”

Gazel gravely nodded and closed his eyes. They had a lot of work to do. All their allied nations would need to be informed, and they’d have to give instructions on what to do with the remaining citizens in the area. If Gazel and his men were victorious, then great—but if they were defeated, what then? There was nowhere else for people to run to, no way of survival except to become imperial vassals. It meant the fall of the nation of Dwargon, and if Gazel wanted to avoid that, he couldn’t afford to lose.

“The east city will not have enough room for our entire army, I imagine. I’ll let the old guard handle command while the rest of the army marches on the ground. See to that for me, Jaine.”

“Very well. But what do you intend to do, King Gazel?”

“I’m going on ahead. If you’re late to this, don’t expect a place at the table.”

Gazel revealed a bold smile, playing the role of a strong king to ease everyone’s anxiety. The army was to be mobilized as quickly as possible, but Gazel’s group wouldn’t wait for them. Dolph and his Pegasus Knights would be the king’s only companions.

As Gazel flew across the sky, a thought occurred to him.

Is this why Rimuru gave his underlings all that power? So they could survive this? If so, I have to say he’s as naive as ever.

He laughed at this revelation, thinking about the ex-training partner that couldn’t throw away his ideals. His smile was nothing he could hold back.

“Is something wrong, my lord?”

“No, just a passing fantasy.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Heh-heh! Now, of all times, I started thinking about Rimuru. It made me wonder if things could work out this time, too.”

Gazel laughed. He thought he was being overly optimistic, but it beat the opposite end of the spectrum.

“Indeed.” Dolph smiled back. “It was the case with Charybdis as well. Lord Rimuru can simply boggle the mind at times. I was amazed at the connection he had with the demon lord Milim.”

“Well, if you’re going to bring that up, you should also mention the hardships I’ve faced monitoring him. People assuming that everything I report back to them is a lie is growing tiresome.”

Henrietta usually kept her mouth shut, but even she had some sass in her at times. Gazel and Dolph couldn’t hide their surprise.

“Hee-hee-hee! Sorry. I’ll try to avoid assuming that next time.”

“Even you have some complaints about your job, eh, Henrietta?”

“Of course I do!”

“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! In that case, Henrietta, tell Rimuru that next time you see him. Why, he’s a pain to me as well! I trust you two firmly, but Rimuru’s behavior is simply too asinine to believe. When I heard the report from Jaine, I began to question her sanity.”

“Ha-ha… It was one fearsome report, yes.”

“Normally, I’m the one giving those reports, so it was nice seeing it unfold as a spectator this time.”

The venom Henrietta was spitting made both Gazel and Dolph laugh, their voices echoing through the sky.

“I will mention that I’ve sent a report of our activities to Lord Rimuru…along with some measured complaining.”

“Did you?”

Gazel nodded and turned his head forward. The anxiety was gone now, replaced with his usual heroic flair as he flew toward the battleground.

Going back in time a little bit…

It was the day after Elmesia’s and my little drinking party, and the sun was already way up in the sky.

“Up early, aren’t you, Sir Rimuru?”

“I’m sorry.”

Shuna’s so scary when she’s smiling. I decided to beat her to the punch with an apology. First I get drunk, then I enjoy a little nap—I worked hard to regain those luxuries, so I don’t see why I have to be yelled at about it.

“So did you come to a conclusion?” she asked, staring at me as she sighed.

“Um, about what?”

“You were troubled about it last night as well, weren’t you? I am worried you’re about to do something rash again, and I’m far from the only one.”

When she said that, I couldn’t help but feel a little jittery. Don’t worry. I’m not doing anything rash here. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll run, and then I’ll bitch at Guy and make him do something about it. First, though, I had to try a little.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out, okay? I’ll be safe with it like I always am.”

My cheerful reply didn’t remove Shuna’s anxious expression. It’s hard to fool her, what with her unique skill Parser and all—or maybe it was too obvious to even require that.

I mean, you know, I didn’t really want to do anything dangerous. I was taking a “safety first” approach, but we had no idea about our enemy’s strength. Lieutenant Kondo, Velgrynd, and Emperor Ludora were fearsome opponents, no matter how you sliced it. Winning may not be a possibility—and for all I know, I might even be killed on the spot. I was trying to think of ways to avoid that outcome, but not even Raphael had an answer this time.

If we don’t know, though, we’ll just go for it. My only choice was to throw in the maximum amount of warpower I had and reduce the danger as much as possible. And so…

“You know, I deliberated a lot over who I’d take with me. This time around, I’m going with my A team only. I’m sorry to say this, but if you don’t have enough strength to pitch in, I think you’re just gonna slow us down.”

“…All right. My brother’s been bragging all morning about how he’s going with you.”

I suppose my thoughts were obvious from the start. I had been engaged with Elmesia since the previous morning, so I didn’t tell everyone about my conversation with Guy yet—but Shuna’s smile seemed to indicate that she understood it all. I smiled back, realizing how there was never any tricking her. Then she gave me her report in her usual, natural voice.

“That fishy little sneak Laplace slinked in here last night. He said he had a message for you, but he gave us no advance warning, so we’ve been keeping him waiting for the time being.”

Rather abrupt change of subject there. But it didn’t seem like anything too important to me. If it was a real emergency, Gadora or someone would’ve contacted me. Probably a message from Yuuki, but what could it be?

“I guess I’ll see him, although I’m not crazy about the idea.”

“I’d much prefer to shoo him away, but he is an ally, more or less. I’ll show him to a reception room.”

Shuna wasn’t a fan of Laplace, either, it looked like. That was rare for her; she wasn’t one to be so frank about her likes and dislikes, but clearly those clowns irked her. I guessed she couldn’t ever truly forgive Laplace and his crew for destroying their ogre homeland. He and I were allies, but I’d need to keep that in mind.

“While I’m talking to Laplace,” I ordered Shuna, “I’d like you to summon all the cabinet staff who’re awake to our meeting hall.” I had a lot of things to think about, but I could worry about them all after our war with the Empire was over. Banishing all doubt from my mind, I decided to take care of the immediate problem first.

Twenty people, including myself, were gathered in the meeting hall. There was Rigurd and the four elders beneath him—Rugurd, Regurd, Rogurd, and Lilina. I also had Kaijin, Vester, and Mjöllmile in here. Representing the Twelve Lordly Guardians were Benimaru, Shion, Diablo, Gabil, Testarossa, Ultima, and Carrera. Soei, Hakuro, Gobta, and (for good measure) Gadora rounded out the pack.

I planned to ask Gadora to guide me around the Empire. Even I had to admit it wasn’t gonna be an easy job, but honestly, he’d be the least affected out of us all if something went wrong, so I wanted him to play his part. Speaking of which, Bernie volunteered to guide us as well, but I rejected the offer. He had lost all his powers, and he’d be nothing but a liability to us. Gadora alone would do.

Anyway.

Feels like I was just having meetings all the time, but no point complaining about that now. Our country had grown too big for me to call all the shots myself. Of course, as I say that, this meeting’s mainly about me dictating to everyone what I’ve decided to do, but still.

As usual, Shuna served tea to everyone. Once she quietly left the room, I began speaking.

“I’ve called all of you in today to inform you about my decisions for the final battle against the Empire. Before that, though… Come on in.”

I already decided who I’d be taking with me, so there was no point hurrying this. Instead, I decided to introduce Laplace, our messenger, to everyone.

As expected, Laplace had news concerning our plans to fight together. The army blockading Dwargon’s east city would be attacking the imperial capital soon, and they wanted us to join them, basically. Guy had already told me about that, and I had no objections—but the conclusion I came to was that this would be a war between the elites on both sides, not a war of armies. I didn’t want to see any civilian casualties, so in the end, I decided I had to discuss the details with Yuuki first. That’s why I chose to bring the clown into this meeting on short notice.

I had already spoken with Yuuki via Laplace. The date had been set for the following afternoon. This I explained to everyone in the room—I really wish Laplace could’ve done that for me, but people had a lot of trust problems with him, so I rejected the idea. Trust, I was reminded all over again, really is important.

“Hello, hello! My name’s Laplace, and I’m the vice president of a group of, ah, helpful ladies ’n’ gents we like to call the Moderate Jesters. I’m here today ’cause Yuuki sent me, y’see.”

Oh, man. Is it impossible for him not to act suspicious? And why did he choose this moment to dance a little jig to himself? But he was still here as a messenger, so I couldn’t just boot him out.

I wasn’t the only one annoyed by this, either. Soei looked like he was about to kill him. I know how he feels, but he’ll have to be patient.

“Soei, put that kunai blade away, please.”

“…Yes, sir.”