\u201cSir Diablo has returned, along with several unfamiliar individuals. They wanted to see you\u2014what would you like me to do with them, Sir Rimuru?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That message had been waiting for me for quite a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it were Diablo alone, of course I\u2019d welcome him right in. But he had brought strangers along. It was an annoyance, but with all the people I had around me, we needed to go through this procedure. I decided to get this rolling before Benimaru demanded he sit in on matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll meet in the reception room. Bring them right over!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attendant briskly bowed at me and left. She seemed to move kind of awkwardly\u2014I guess she was nervous around me. Exasperated, I asked another attendant in the next room over to prepare some tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shuna was busy elsewhere with her own work in the daytime, although she always allotted time in the evening to prepare dinner and the like. Shion, for her part, was training Team Reborn in the labyrinth. They were apparently testing out just how immortal they were, pushing the far edges of their endurance. I heard they were going down to some pretty deep levels, so I resolved not to call for her unless needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their place right now were two attendants assigned exclusively to me, a pair of evolved goblinas who pretty much looked human, in my opinion. Some Shuna-developed cosmetics had gained popularity as of late, and I felt like all the women around me had been looking prettier. They were first-class attendants, and I\u2019m sure they\u2019d be at ease around the kings and princes of other nations, although I<\/em> must\u2019ve been a tad intimidating. I couldn\u2019t ask for better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I headed to the next reception chamber over\u2014one of the rooms designed for rustic sturdiness. I figured nothing would go wrong, but no need to go in unprepared. I had zero idea what kind of weirdos Diablo would pick for his crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The moment I stepped in, the attendant brought our tea. Very organized<\/em>, I thought. Then I sensed someone outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSir Rimuru! I have returned!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>With a gregarious smile, Diablo entered the room. Not that I\u2019m one to talk, but a smiling Diablo is about the most evil sight I can think of\u2014and if I<\/em> thought so, I\u2019m sure he was just as sinister a symbol to everyone else. There was just this wicked atmosphere around him, like he was always planning some nefarious deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday, as promised, I have brought along some people I\u2019d like you to extend an audience to. If you could meet them for me, nothing could make me happier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He greeted me respectfully as ever. It was needlessly polite, really, but I had gotten used to it. He saw me as his sole superior, approaching me almost like a god, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Behind Diablo were three women. He had talked about people to work under him; were these the ones? They looked young, but I suppose age didn\u2019t matter to demons. I had no idea how old Diablo was, but he said he\u2019d be tapping old friends, so they must be decently well aged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At his behest, the three girls filed in, bowed to me, and sat down on the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo these are all your acquaintances?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They didn\u2019t look that powerful to me\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Negative. These are Arch Demons, among the most powerful of demonkind. They are fully suppressing their magicules in order to pose as human.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael quickly stepped up to correct my mistake. I thought I had an eye for this by now, but I still had room for improvement. I tried ratcheting up my Magic Sense a little, but they still seemed like normal people to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026Wait. Arch<\/em> Demons?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even among those who could summon higher-level demons, calling for an Arch Demon was well on impossible. Just one of them provided a whole column of tactical strength for any army. You had to be willing to make colossal sacrifices to even have a <\/a>chance at summoning one. If the human race tried it, that\u2019d be a national-level project requiring all kinds of large-scale rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I had three of them on my sofa. And wasn\u2019t Diablo an Arch Demon as well? If these were his friends, maybe I should\u2019ve expected this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. These are the ones I decided were worthy enough to enjoy a personal audience with you, Sir Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see. They certainly camouflage themselves well. I can hardly see a difference between them and regular people. I\u2019m not sure even a paladin could tell these were Arch Demons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo smiled appreciatively. \u201cKeh-heh-heh-heh\u2026 Well spotted, Sir Rimuru. I told them to devote their full force to concealing their race, but you saw through the ruse regardless?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, kinda,\u201d I said, giving Diablo a cool, collected nod. It was all Raphael, to be honest, but still. \u201cSo are there more?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I have seven or so others I think<\/em> would be useful\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He always had this exaggerated way of talking about his business. I had a thousand bodies ready for him, and now we\u2019ll only need, like, one percent of them? Of course, I did<\/em> use a hundred of those bodies for the treants already, so that worked for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Beyond that, I have a number of rank and filers, whom I picture as serving under the people you see before you. I hope you will give them the honor of joining Tempest\u2019s forces, Sir Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, there are<\/em> more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll right. How many of those did you bring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will allow them to brief you on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is good to meet you, Sir Rimuru. I must regretfully say that I lack a name at the moment, but I look forward to hopefully working with you. I understand that Black adores you, which I honestly found hard to believe\u2026but now I see why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was greeted by a beautiful woman with snowy-white hair. She stood before me like a noble heiress, remarkably elegant. There was a fetching, fleeting element to her smile. She seemed so kind and gentle that I could hardly believe she was a demon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>\u201cYes. From the moment I laid eyes upon you, I could not stop my heart from racing. I sincerely hope you will add my two hundred followers and me to your force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a cheerful smile, the white-haired lady pledged her oath. Honestly, it embarrassed me to get complimented like this, but Diablo had already accustomed me to it, so I let it slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMe too\u2014um, I mean, and me as well. I want to offer my two hundred servants and myself to you, Sir Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The energetic young lady who spoke next had purple hair and a ponytail on her side that complemented her naturally cute looks. Despite Diablo\u2019s declaration, I almost doubted whether she was a demon at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo complaints here, either! I\u2019ve brought my own army of two hundred along, and I\u2019m ready to let you have \u2019em all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dazzling, pompous blond spoke up last. Diablo, peeved at her act, was about to stand up before I lifted a hand to stop him. I had the impression she was trying her best to be polite with me. No need to scold her over little things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That rounded out our greetings. I had three girls here, each arriving with two hundred people. So Diablo wanted to add six hundred people to his personal force? I had to hand it to him\u2014this<\/em> was scary. He was seriously trying to form his own army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKeh-heh-heh-heh\u2026 Now, each of these people has two trusted assistants with them. In addition, there is one more whom I thought would make an amusing addition. These seven are accompanied by approximately one hundred servants, making for seven hundred in total. I had hoped to assemble a team of a thousand, but regrettably, I am forced to disappoint you on that front. My mishandling of this affair truly pains me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no, no. Don\u2019t worry about it. Let\u2019s go meet them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So seven hundred, not six? That was almost too<\/em> much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, thank you very much! But before that, I thought I should debrief you in detail on how I came to invite them to my side\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs that gonna take a while?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, Sir Rimuru, I wish to keep you updated on my activities\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so Diablo was already beginning his boastful speech. I needed to stop it at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll pass on that. I\u2019m sure they\u2019re not here to listen to you brag at me, either, so how about we save that for another opportunity?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An opportunity I was pretty<\/em> sure would never come, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo froze, giving me a \u201chuh?\u201d look. The three demon girls snickered. I supposed they<\/em> were worried he\u2019d talk about himself for hours, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Satisfied I was in the right, I grinned. \u201cI don\u2019t want to keep everyone else waiting, either. Introduce them to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026I\u2014I understand. In that case, allow us to relocate\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked disappointed, but I couldn\u2019t spoil him. I\u2019ll admit that Diablo was a talent, but giving him preferential treatment in front of the new staff wasn\u2019t a good idea. I\u2019d never wanna be accused of playing favorites, so he\u2019ll just have to put up with it. (Of course, what I really<\/em> feared was him talking my ear off all day, but that goes without saying.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Diablo, of course, recovered quickly. As a spiritual life-form, he had real backbone. You\u2019d think that meant he wouldn\u2019t be swinging between joy and sadness after everything I said, but he did anyway for some reason. Very strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSummoning them in town may cause trouble, so let\u2019s call for them within the labyrinth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless, Diablo had now matured enough that he actually cared about people and things around him a little. I was impressed\u2026but I shouldn\u2019t have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKeh-heh-heh-heh\u2026 After all, if they appeared within town, they would shatter the barrier over it. You spent a lot of time and trouble on that magic spell, Sir Rimuru, so I must take consideration of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing his slightly askew observation made me realize how wrong I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>But it reminded me of something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here in Rimuru, the capital of Tempest, we already had a barrier deployed on an experimental basis. This was an enhanced version of the Holy Field, suppressing the magicules that leaked out of monsters. We had a lot of human visitors these days, and this was one measure we took for their safety. It was a bit of a burden for our monster residents, but not enough to affect their daily lives at all. Put up with that, and we could retain the city\u2019s magicule counts to a level humans could easily abide by. The barrier also helped enforce our laws against casting certain magic spells in town, and it also kept magical beasts from entering city limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If anyone was big and mean enough to break this barrier, they\u2019d have to be A rank and assigned some kind of disaster level\u2014and even they<\/em> couldn\u2019t smash it with one hit. If anything happened to the barrier, we\u2019d all know at once, so our sentinels would be able to swing into action. Even an A-ranked beast, of course, was nothing to fear without intelligence. With our well-honed soldiers, we\u2019d be able to calmly take care of matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My main concern was whether there were people among these seven hundred who could break down the barrier. It\u2019d be child\u2019s play for the three women behind me, but were there any other menaces among them? Diablo tended to be a harsh critic, so if he described seven demons as useful, they had to be extremely dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside the Dungeon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hereby permit you to show yourselves. Manifest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Diablo\u2019s order, seven demons appeared, seven hundred more kneeling behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I guess\u2026I should have expected this. Six out of the seven were Arch Demons. Magicule flow was regulated within the labyrinth, so it was easier for them to appear here than up on the surface, hence why all of them were their full, ominous selves in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These seven demons who earned Diablo\u2019s trust, though\u2026 Now these<\/em> guys looked like actual demons. One among them was just a Greater Demon, but a special one apparently, and no doubt pretty <\/a>strong, too. Strong enough to pick a fight with Diablo and get smashed up in the process, by the sound of it. He had guts, at least, although clearly he had to be an idiot. Nonetheless, Diablo saw something in this Greater Demon, and if he did, I had no complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But enough about that. My concern was still on the first three. These three Arch Demons each had two Arch Demons of their own, essentially indicating they had some kinda special talent beyond just their magicule count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understood. As demons have no life span, the older they are, the more battle experience they build up. In the demon realm, there are classes of nobility they are categorized into based on that. Those in the ruling classes enjoy exclusive levels of authority and power\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael told me that demons are limited in how far they can grow, Arch Demon being the very top. However, even under these same conditions, they can polish their battle skills and establish themselves as superior over others. Different demons can have different strengths, even with the same magicule count. That difference can come in knowledge, the drive for victory, the strength of their will\u2026 Put it all together, and that\u2019s how a demon built their rep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026Arch Demons are further categorized by the era they were born in.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To be exact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Legends whose names have been known for over three thousand years are classified as Prehistoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Arch Demons at least a millennium old are Ancient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Beings with over four hundred years of accrued knowledge are Medieval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Demons who survived past a hundred years are Pre-Modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Those with more than a human life span\u2019s worth of study are Modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Newborns are called Contemporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And at the far end of time, you had the Origin category, the very first of all demons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strengths of demons are evaluated based on how long they have lived. The ruling classes of demons, the nobility ranked count or higher, are all Ancients.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks for the detailed rundown, Raphael. I appreciated that bullet-point presentation. Now to use this newfound knowledge to examine the demons before me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first three were in the ruling classes, and these<\/em> six were their subjects. I suppose this meant that the trio\u2014and Diablo as well\u2014were all very old demons, ranked count or higher. I may have been oblivious at the time, but I befriended some pretty notorious characters, didn\u2019t I? It made me shiver a bit as Diablo smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis group, I feel, boasts some<\/em> aspects worthy of your attention. When I regaled them with stories of your wondrous deeds, Sir Rimuru, they all broke down and begged for the chance to serve you. Thus, I decided to grant their request and let them join me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It sounded like a very moving tale, although I felt like he was making up aspects of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took a closer look at the seven underling demons. Maybe they had<\/em> wept, but I\u2019m not convinced they were begging to serve under me. My evidence for this was how clearly all of them had been beaten up\u2014with the lower-end Greater Demon in particular, I marveled at how he was even alive. Diablo really was<\/em> making up that story, I thought. All seven of them looked like they had something to say, but none of them spoke in front of their boss. They were very well trained\u2014or I\u2019m sure, Diablo sternly warned them otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom this moment, we shall ever be your faithful servants, Sir Rimuru! Please grant us your orders!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>The seven of them all bowed their heads and swore their fealty, the choir of seven hundred behind them doing the same. Seven hundred demons lying prostrate before you is quite a sight, let me tell you. Diablo observed the spectacle, smiling and nodding. He scares me. The fact that he was my ally made me breathe an internal sigh of relief. I\u2019m so<\/em> glad he\u2019s on my team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n As spiritual life-forms, demons must acquire physical bodies, or else they have to expend tons of magical force to manifest themselves. I didn\u2019t want to subject them to that forever, so it\u2019s time to get this party started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The process was really simple. First, I used Belzebuth to consume the demons. Then I called upon Raphael to Combine each one with the pseudo-soul inside each incubation capsule. It worked great. Before long, all the demons had their bodies, customizing them to their liking. They\u2019d be fully used to them in two or three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did run into some problems with the first three, though. I didn\u2019t want to give them the same treatment as all the demons under them. They were apparently longtime friends with Diablo, so I figured they deserved a few perks. Besides, they were beautiful, and I\u2019m nothing if not a patron of fine beauty. If I wanted to have them drop the demon look and appear more human without affecting their appearance, that much was a snap for me. So I offered my services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you like me to work on your outer appearance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn that case, by all means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The white-haired beauty smiled and accepted the offer, the other two following her lead. With their consent, it was time to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s tough to change someone\u2019s appearance without adjusting their internal bone structure. My fingers were more than nimble enough <\/a>for the effort, and Raphael\u2019s calculations were perfect. Forming and adjusting their looks was a cinch for me\u2014and once their structures were set up, some magicule-flow fine-tuning should perfectly re-create their looks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also gave them a little extra, mixing gold into their magisteel skeletons to make them orichalc. If they\u2019re friends of Diablo\u2019s, they deserved that<\/em> much. In this world, gold was kind of an all-purpose metal, keenly compatible with magicules and providing durability and capabilities that far surpassed magisteel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were literally beautiful down to the bone\u2014and very appreciative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u201c\u201cThank you very much, Sir Rimuru!\u201d\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if they were happy, I was just as happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mission accomplished. Now we just had to wait for everyone to wake up. Oh, and it\u2019ll be an annoyance if they don\u2019t have names\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhoa, whoa, what are you doing in here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey, hey, Rimuru! Did Diablo bring his underlings back? I wanna say hi to them\u2014 Whoa, look at this<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deeno, Ramiris, and Veldora had invited themselves in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYep,\u201d I explained to the ignorant Deeno, \u201cRamiris is right. Diablo\u2019s brought his team over. They\u2019re all demons, so I have a set of bodies for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, I knew that, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If he did, why was he acting so surprised?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell after all, if he\u2019s gathered this<\/em> many demons together, Diablo must be quite formidable, indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, the numbers, huh? Yeah, there\u2019s a lot. Veldora seemed to have a point. If I wasn\u2019t forewarned, I probably would\u2019ve been just as shocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd not just that. I\u2019m<\/em> a little surprised, too. The three leaders over there\u2026 Is it me, or are they really, really<\/em> old?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramiris looked kind of put off. Deeno nodded his agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah,\u201d I said, \u201cthey\u2019re Ancients in the ruling class, so they\u2019ve supposedly been alive at least a thousand years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>\u201cHuh\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s gotta be more than that, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was it? Raphael couldn\u2019t have made a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026Negative. It is a difference of interpretation. With no way of knowing an exact age, estimates given are strictly estimates. If they have lived over a millennium, then it is not out of the question for them to be over 30,000 years old as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I supposed that was true. Being over a thousand could potentially make you three, four, even ten thousand years old. Raphael wasn\u2019t wrong, but it didn\u2019t necessarily have the right estimate, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, but it\u2019s hard to ask a woman for her age\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKwah-ha-ha-ha! I have learned that well. It leads to unwanted anger, to be sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, one\u2019s age isn\u2019t all that important anyway. If I\u2019ve got a trio of ruling-class demons on my side, I\u2019m not gonna ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re<\/em> fine with that, Rimuru, then so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFunny way to think about it. I<\/em> sure couldn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeh-heh-heh-heh\u2026 Well stated, Sir Rimuru. It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years, am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Um, maybe?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo seemed eager to close the book on the subject. As embarrassing as it was for me, I followed his lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deeno and the gang had almost made me forget what I was here for, so I decided to focus on what I\u2019d name these demons. I figured I might as well keep it simple and stick with the exotic-car theme I started with Diablo. It\u2019s not like fighting power should be measured like the price tags of cars, but with the Ancient demons in front of me like this, I think they deserved names like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay,\u201d I boastfully stated at the three body frames in the capsules, \u201cfrom now on, you three can call yourselves Testarossa, Ultima, and Carrera.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first among them had beautiful, shimmering white hair, <\/a>snow-like skin, and\u2014floating amid all that blinding white\u2014elegant, vibrant eyes and soft red lips, which reminded me of the classic Ferrari Testarossa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultima was the perky lady with purple hair and a bubbly personality, and I thought the name perfectly suited her image. Carrera, meanwhile, was every bit a Porsche\u2014blond locks, a cutting stare, a real leader of the pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWh-whoa! You can\u2019t just name them like it\u2019s nothing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only Deeno voiced any concern. But the warning already came too late, so there was no point panicking about it now. Look at Ramiris and Veldora. They<\/em> didn\u2019t freak out about every little thing I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPar for the course for him, I\u2019d say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah! As if Rimuru would act any other way!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There you had it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the three Arch Demons listened on, I worked them through the final stages of the body-claiming process. Muscle covered their golden frames, and in an instant, they were naked personifications of beauty. The magicules kept flowing into them, clothing their bodies. The incubation capsules shattered, unable to withstand their mystical auras. I could see why\u2014thanks to me naming them\u2014they had now evolved into Demon Peers, nothing like they were before. Their power was overwhelming, upgraded to a dimension beyond all common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWow,\u201d muttered Deeno. \u201cNot even old-era demon lords like Carillon could take those guys. I couldn\u2019t even guess how deep they go down, man. Good thing I\u2019m not on hostile terms with Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nobody reacted to him. Only Vester, who showed up later than the others, could be found in the corner whispering \u201cI see nothing, ha-ha-ha, nothing. I know nothing; I\u2019m not involved in this\u2026\u201d The way he was slapping himself on the head and talking incoherently made me feel a little sorry for the guy, but let\u2019s just pretend I didn\u2019t see that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This wrapped up my work for the day. I didn\u2019t want to drain my magicules all at once, so I proceeded with caution, giving names <\/a>only when I was confident I had the wherewithal for it. Three a day seemed like a good limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, the next few days were spent on a naming spree. I gave out the following names, in order of strength:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Moss<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Veyron<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Agera<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Esprit<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Zonda<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Cien<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Venom<\/p>\n\n\n\n Testarossa\u2019s underlings were Moss and Cien, Ultima had Veyron and Zonda, and Agera and Esprit worked for Carrera. Venom, meanwhile, was Diablo\u2019s wild card favorite. Even with Testarossa and the other two alone, I held command over three Demon Peers, which was an insane amount of force. But that was only the start of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All seven evolved immediately after I named them, stepping out of their incubation capsules like everything was normal. Two of them had become Demon Peers; four others remained as Arch Demons but seemed a little different\u2014I can\u2019t explain how too well, but it\u2019s like the blinders had been taken off. Venom also evolved into an Arch Demon, greatly boosting his own fighting power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To me, it was so much of a surprise that my brain just shut off. I mean, Demon Peers aren\u2019t beings you see just pop up all the time. They were legendary figures, more powerful than your average demon lord, and (counting Diablo) I currently had six of them within my borders. Now they weren\u2019t seeming so rare to me. What was I even gonna do<\/em> with all this force? I wanted to procure people strong in things like politics and economics. Could they handle that stuff? I sincerely doubted it, but I guessed we\u2019d have to try it out\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I pondered this, I started thinking up names for the remaining seven hundred. This was my promise to Diablo, and I wanted <\/a>to see it through to the end. I had, as it turned out, made some miscalculations\u2014Raphael informed me that the magicules that had already built up in the incubation capsules would be enough to name them with. That was good news. Just the motivation I needed, in fact, because I whipped through the whole naming process in just two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now these seven hundred were prostrating themselves before me. Most of them were Lesser Demons to start with, but with a name and a physical body, they had evolved into Greater Demons. As expected, they had all gained enough magicules to be firmly A-ranked territory, and now I had seven hundred of them at my beck and call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that I\u2019m one to talk, but something about this screamed \u201cstat inflation\u201d to me. Some of them even looked for all the world like Arch Demons. Did I just have another oops<\/em> moment? It was simply astonishing. I mean, the first three alone\u2014Testarossa, Ultima, and Carrera\u2014were more than enough already. But it was too late to turn back now. Let\u2019s pretend that I didn\u2019t notice anything. That was probably the best way to preserve my sanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSir Rimuru, I cannot contain my joy upon receiving such a wonderful name. And all this force! Please allow me to continue granting you my absolute loyalty!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Testarossa spoke for everyone there when she addressed me. I nodded my approval. Sure, have a blast, guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking about it, this was all Diablo\u2019s fault, wasn\u2019t it? All I<\/em> did was keep my promise. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll educate them for me and stuff.<\/em> As irresponsible as it was, that\u2019s what I wanted to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n As Rimuru was attempting to escape reality\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlack\u2014 Er, Diablo, I think I understand why you are so enamored of Sir Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes! Amazing, isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe saw us for what we really were, and he concluded that we <\/a>were not a threat worth considering. Even that old demon lord Deeno turned white as a sheet when he saw us\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Testarossa and the other two demon leaders were talking among themselves. Rimuru had no way of knowing, but this group had zero intention at all of swearing loyalty to him when they had first showed up. Their old friend Diablo had only convinced them to lend him their powers for a little while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n They had lived a long time, becoming the strongest their world had to offer\u2014as were the demons who served them. Two of them were even defined as Prehistoric by humankind\u2014and over all those years, neither of those demons had tasted defeat even once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was Moss and Veyron. Moss\u2014an archduke in the demon realms, second in power only to the Origin, a spotless battle record for tens of thousands of years. Veyron\u2014an old, crafty marquis-class noble whose life spanned over four thousand years. He had been defeated by Moss several times before, reincarnating himself each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other servants were no pushovers, either. Agera, a viscount and a Pre-Modern demon. Esprit, also a viscount, who boasted a streak of victories dating back over the past five hundred years. Zonda, a baron who\u2019d been undefeated for three hundred years. Cien, another baron with a similarly long record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agera was a special case, a demon who\u2019d been undefeated for three centuries after bowing to the force of Carrera. He preferred fighting with a sword over magic, a rarity among demons. Meanwhile, Esprit, Zonda, and Cien had (like Veyron) repeatedly resurrected themselves. They all got their starts long ago, very close to the Origin\u2019s own family tree. Venom was another special case, a demon born with a unique skill; he hadn\u2019t lived very long, but his growth and maturation were noteworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo had rounded up this band of standout demons for his plan\u2014and Rimuru, oblivious to all this, just casually gave them names after a moment\u2019s thought, an incredibly reckless move. As <\/a>a result, every demon reborn here had obtained power beyond the natural ways of the world. They were now an unimaginable force, a great assemblage of demons feared by all. Despite numbering less than a thousand, they were an army all by themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They would later come to be known as the Black Corps, Tempest\u2019s most powerful military and a horrifying symbol of fear. And the Black Corps was born the moment they were unleashed from their capsules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a slight blush to Testarossa\u2019s lily-white cheeks as she spoke in a low voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, it\u2019s so fascinating. It\u2019s far more exciting to look at him instead of going through this cycle of destroying nations or jostling for territory with both of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultima nodded. \u201cYeah, something tells me it\u2019ll be a lot more entertaining working in this country instead of the old grind of torturing out-of-line demons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d said Carrera. \u201cLike you said, Sir Rimuru is an amazing figure. He just brushed away the Coercion I threw at him, like I was a naughty kitten! Accepting him as my lord was a truly tempting proposal\u2014and now that I\u2019ve accepted his name, he\u2019s got every bit of my loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI almost killed you when you tried that, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo was looking serious but let it slide without major comment, perhaps realizing Carrera wasn\u2019t lying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, right,\u201d interjected Testarossa. \u201cDiablo, I need to thank you. When you spoke to me, I really did think about killing you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m aware. You always were<\/em> that type of woman. But why did you accept my request at all? I thought you would keep challenging me until I convinced you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Original White that Diablo knew had an intense personality. She never accepted what anyone said at face value. Battles between demons tended to focus on the knowledge and technical levels of the fighters involved, and even as a Demon Peer, Diablo <\/a>wasn\u2019t completely sure he could defeat the Original White in battle. That\u2019s why he found her behavior so fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, we are<\/em> strong, as you know. Did you think there was anyone in this world stronger than us demons?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d Diablo replied with a smile. It made Testarossa smile even wider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight? Of course not. And that\u2019s why, Diablo. I\u2019ve taken an interest in this master you cherish so much, someone capable of charming one of my cohorts in strength and power. If he proved a trifle, I would have considered killing him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs would I.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeh. I\u2019m not exactly itching to any longer, but I was planning to pick a fight with him first thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diablo rolled his eyes, a touch irritated. \u201cI appreciate you not causing an embarrassing scene in front of Sir Rimuru for me, but if you were actually intent on trying that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Diablo. You take pride in your name, and just like you, I am tremendously proud of the name Testarossa that Sir Rimuru gave me. By that name, I swear my loyalty to him, and I am sure Ultima and Carrera feel the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, as I said before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three girls nodded in unison. Diablo shook his head, giving them a \u201cWhat will<\/em> I do with you?\u201d look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course, I doubt the other rank and filers besides you three will be of much use to Sir Rimuru\u2026but so be it. I don\u2019t want you to cause me any more trouble, so I will<\/em> expect you to follow Sir Rimuru\u2019s and my orders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo be it, indeed! I must repay you for introducing me to Sir Rimuru.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, uh, I\u2019m in agreement, too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n