61 Ch 59: War Declaration.

A man was walking along well-paved streets. This man was a high-ranking government official and both his look and posture exuded arrogance.

The man entered a large and luxurious structure. This was the headquarters of the religion that ran this country, the "Divine Fragment". He entered and went to the main room, guided by guards.

When he arrived, he saw eight people gathered around a round table. The man knelt down. Even he would not be arrogant enough to act snobbish in front of these people. In fact no one on the continent would act in such a way in front of these people. That was because they were the ones at the top of both the church and the Losukie country. The eight "Celestials"

He greeted each of them in an extremely respectful manner and then reported his information.

"Commander Roy was a resistance infiltrator. When our forces made contact with the other continent, he activated explosives and killed all our soldiers."

He dared not express an opinion on the matter. His duty was to report and only that. Any other action would lead to severe punishment.

"Do you have any more information?" Ivan, the first celestial of the day commented.

The Celestials were divided into two groups, day and night. Of these groups they had ranks based on their power.

"Unfortunately not, your grace. Our magical cameras were destroyed with the explosion, but our spies will soon reach the new continent."

The Celestials dismissed the man who made the report so they could talk about what to do.

"That's a problem, I didn't think the resistance would have a high ranking infiltrator in our armies." Ganacie, the second celestial of the night commented.

"Looks like we underestimated them." Preguius, the third Celestial of the night spoke thoughtfully.

"Heh, of course we underestimated them, after all destroying them would be easy for us." Luzuriu, the second Celestial of the day spoke arrogantly.

"Of course we can! I said we should have done it!" Riva, the first Celestial of the night looked irritated.

But his words were true. Losukie could destroy the resistance whenever they wanted. Even if the Great Yellow Dragon that resided in the mountain range was a problem, there were still ways to get through with an army. One of these methods was space magic. However only those in the high ranks knew about it, as the reason for Losukie not invading was secret.

"Riva, you know why we didn't invade the resistance. Also, the resistance didn't cause such a big problem. Our ships have already arrived on the mainland, so we can use teleportation there and start our invasion."

"Heh, a great idea. Then, then, the world will be ours!"

"All right. First we have to find out which is the most powerful country on that continent and declare war."

"Ouh, I think we could do better than that."

After talking for another hour, the plan was done.

●●●

The sun was setting.

Rimuru was watching this from his bedroom window. His gaze of contemplation on the beautiful Tortus sun. Rimuru had seen many stars from many different universes and every time he saw one he couldn't help but think it was beautiful, even though it wasn't the first time he had seen this sun.

The airship was almost to Faea Baelgen, only a few hours to go.

"Okay, this is it." He said determinedly. Rimuru sent a thought communication to Ciel.

(Ciel-san, can you come here for a while?)

(Sure.)

As usual Ciel accepted Rimuru's request and made his way to the room.

"Yes?" Ciel asked as he entered. "Come here." Rimuru asked and Ciel approached. Rimuru stood looking at the sun and Ciel seemed curious about his actions.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"...I Don't know. Unlike the master, I don't have a sense of beauty. But by the standards of living things I think, yes, it is beautiful."

"Heh, I see." Rimuru smiled upon hearing her reply. Really, Ciel was not human, but that didn't matter to him.

"The only thing I find beautiful is... the Master. The master is the most beautiful in the universe." Ciel said truthfully. This surprised Rimuru a little, but he soon recovered from his surprise and approached Ciel. Rimuru put his hands on her waist and kissed her.

"I also think Ciel-san, beautiful."

"But that body is not mine. I'm just taking on the form of Shizue Izawa."

Ciel looked confused, since she knows how much Rimuru Loved Shizue but Rimuru just smiled.

"I know. Even though I think your form is beautiful, I'm not talking about your body or face. I'm talking about you. You are beautiful."

In other words, Rimuru was referring to his soul. Ciel stared deeply at Rimuru, and she blushed. This was the first time Rimuru had seen Ciel blush. This was because she always kept great control over her own body, but now her nervousness was high and she could not control herself.

"Master this is..."

Ciel for the first time didn't know what to say. Rimuru let go of his waist and took a step back. He put his hand in his pocket and

"!!!"

Ciel saw Rimuru pull out a small black box. Rimuru knelt in front of him and opened the box, revealing a white ring with a light blue jewel.

What is the Master doing? Is that it? What do I do? I don't know what to do in this situation!

This was a surprise for Ciel. When she was inside Rimuru's consciousness, Ciel knew everything he was thinking, but now that she had a human body, Rimuru managed to surprise her.

"Ciel-san, I want to spend my whole life with you. Without growing old, without death separating us." Rimuru said the words she had rehearsed. Everything was true. Rimuru would not age and also had no plans to die, so he planned to live forever alongside his wives, Ciel included in that.

"--- I can't imagine my life without you. I love you."

I love you too! I love you more than anything! Ciel wanted to scream, but this was no time to interrupt Rimuru.

Ciel was already shedding tears of joy. She couldn't control her feelings at this moment. Just these words from Rimuru made her extremely happy.

"Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, as many yeses as Master wants! I love you! I love you with all my being!"

Rimuru placed the ring on her finger. The two embraced and kissed. Ciel wrapped her legs around Rimuru's waist as if she never wanted to let go. She put her arms around his neck and Rimuru held her by her thighs so she wouldn't fall. The two kissed passionately. This kiss lasted so long that they lost count.

Now Ciel was not only Rimuru's girlfriend. She was in the same position as Chloe and Sakura. She was going to marry him and spend eternity by his side. That was all she wanted most of all.

Ciel was in eternal bliss. Her happiness could not be described. She just wanted to hold onto Rimuru and never let go. Still kissing, the two of them lay down on the bed. After a few minutes, they stopped kissing and just lay there, Rimuru stroking her hair while they both watched the sunset.

Come to think of it, when I asked Chloe to marry me, it was also sunset. Rimuru thought.

"Ciel-san..." Rimuru caught his attention "You may not be the only woman I love.... But you are, and always will be one of the women in my life."

Rimuru was being sincere. He already had two other loved ones and nothing guaranteed that this number wouldn't increase, not that he intended to go around hunting down women to form a big harem.

"I know, and I don't care. Being next to Master is the only thing I want, and being married to Master.... It's the best thing in the world."

Ciel smiled and snuggled into Rimuru's arms. Rimuru also smiled upon hearing her answer and hugged her gently.

"Looking at it now, Master is right. The sunset is really beautiful."

Those words were sincere. After all, from today on, every time Ciel saw the sunset, she would remember this moment.

●●●

At night, in a very famous tavern, several people could be seen.

This tavern was the most famous in Tempest, if you didn't count those in the capital. Its name was Horn of the Beetle and almost every night it was full. Tonight was no exception. In fact today it was more crowded than usual.

PA

"One more!"

A regular customer slammed down his glass and asked the waitress for another shot. He was a High-orc who lived in this city. The city of "Rimuru", the capital of Tempest.

The reason that today this place was more crowded than usual was the appearance of a famous figure, who was rarely seen. Everyone looked discreetly at this figure, but no one said

"I would like a sandwich."

"Ye- yes, Zegion-sama!"

The waitress hurried to talk to the cook. She was nervous because the man who just ordered a sandwich was one of the Twelve Patrons of Rimuru, Zegion.

The reason Zegion was here? Simple.

Some time ago Zegion found himself in a dilemma. What to do with his life from now on. Before, Zegion only cared about getting strong and nothing else, but today this was no longer so important. It had been almost thirty years since Yuuki was defeated and the world was at peace. So even though Zegion still continued his training, he wanted to do something more with his life.

Zegion asked his trainer, Veldora, for tips, who replied, "You should get out more, Zegion. Get out of the maze, go have fun, meet new people. Trust me, I am a master at socializing. Kuahahahahah!"

Zegion took these words seriously, he asked Ramiris if he could leave the maze for a while and she easily accepted. Not least because it would be difficult for anyone to get to his floor.

So here he was. Eating in a tavern. He had brought Apito along so the two of them could see how the town they once looked after was doing. Obviously these two were like celebrities all over the country, so all the people in town were excited to see them.

"Fu, what are you thinking, Zegion-sama?"

Apito asked and drank the liquid in his cup. It was a strong, sweet liquor.

"It's fun." Zegion commented after thinking for a while. Apito smiled upon hearing his words. She liked to see Zegion trying new things.

Apito also stayed in the labyrinth, but she often went out to have fun and party. And even in the maze she had her bees to talk to, so she wasn't lonely. Unlike Zegion.

"Here you go." The waitress returned with a sandwich. This waitress was of the lizard man race and appeared to be just over twenty years old. She was like Souka and others who received human form after evolving.

"Thanks, here you go." Zegion took out some silver coins from his space storage. However the waitress did not take the money.

"No-there is no need, Zegion-sama. You ended up bringing us a lot of customers, so this sandwich is on the house."

She seemed quite determined not to take the money. Zegion was about to insist, when....

BOOOOM

A loud bang resounded and a strong wind kicked up the dust in the street. Zegion and Apito quickly glanced at each other and immediately left the tavern to see what was going on.

As they left, the two saw several people running. Some of them looked frightened, but they all calmed down when they saw Zegion and Apito.

"Over there." Zegion pointed to a person. This person was emanating a greater aura than the others. His clothes were white with blue details, he had a staff and gray hair. No matter how one looked at it, this man resembled a priest.

It seemed that this man was the one who caused the bang and scared the people. There were some damaged houses around, so he was probably the one who did it.

The man spotted Zegion and Apito. He slowly approached.

"My name is Ares. I am one of the twelve priests who serve the Celestials."

"I am Zegion, one of the Twelve Patrons who serves the Great Demon Lord, Rimuru."

"Zegion-sama..."

Whistle did not introduce herself. She knew very well about Losukie and the Celestials and that's also why she didn't attack the man the moment she saw him. This situation could be more complex than it seemed.

"What are your intentions?" Zegion questioned in a cold tone. Obviously they would not be good intentions. As they talked, Zegion and Ares gave no opening to be attacked and neither took their eyes off each other. Both were assessing their opponent.

"It's simple. I came here to declare war on this continent. Furthermore I will take the opportunity to cause as much destruction and death as possible. Of course, just for you monsters. And what are you going to do?"

Zegion did not answer the question. He just spoke to Apito.

"Apito, warn the others. There is a very large anti-magic area around us."

Because of this area, Zegion couldn't contact the others with telepathy, so he commanded Apito.

"Yes!"

Apito turned and flew away at high speed. It was then that Zegion decided to answer Ares' question... with a punch.

"Ugh."

Ares put his staff in front of him and shielded himself from the punch. The staff, previously white, took on a metallic gray color. In addition some parts appeared that glowed blue. This was a technological staff.

"You little shit monster."

The moment Zegion came close, he was able to gauge the strength of his enemy. He was a "Saint" who could rival an awakened demon Lord. Zegion was an awakened demon Lord, however....

BOOOM

"Kh!?"

Zegion punched Ares against the ground, causing a thud to resound. His punch was imbued with magical space domain aura. Ares didn't seem to be able to react to it. He just lay on the ground bruised, with a perplexed look on his face.

Zegion raised his arm, preparing to throw another punch.

"Wait!"

Ares died. Zegion used space domination and broke Ares' body into thousands of pieces. Even though Ares was a Saint, it was no problem for him.

"Kufufufufufufufu, it looks like Sir Zegion didn't need our help."

Zegion heard a voice behind and when he looked, he saw Diablo, Benimaru, Shion and Whistle. He didn't answer Diablo, he just gave a slight nod.

"So what was that man doing here? What did he want?"

Benimaru questioned him and Zegion answered with a simple word:

"War."

●●●

The airship arrived at Faea Baelgen.

The news of Ciel and Rimuru's engagement had spread and everyone already knew. They received many congratulations in this time and Ciel would not let go of Rimuru for a second. She was much more loving than usual. But Chloe and Sakura didn't even bother, since it was a special day for her.

The others had mixed reactions. Hajime didn't say anything, but he seemed happy for Rimuru. Yue, Shia, and Tio congratulated them both heartily. Shizuku also congratulated them, but she looked strange when she did so. The others didn't say anything.

At the moment the two were in the main room and Ciel was on Rimuru's lap. He had his hands on his waist and Ciel had her hands around his neck while hugging him tightly.

"Ahh, Ciel-san, we have arrived." Rimuru spoke scratching the back of his neck.

"Yes, I know."

Ciel spoke in her natural tone, she seemed not to have understood what Rimuru was talking about.x

"Soooo... You don't want to get off my lap?" He asked half embarrassed.

"No!" Ciel said tearfully and hugged him tighter.

"But, you know, I have to get up."

"No! I want to stay with Master! I want everyone to know that I will now be his forever!"

Ciel hugged him even tighter. There were tears in the corner of her eyes. She seemed to be serious.

"Easy, easy."

Rimuru stroked her hair and that alone was enough for her to melt like ice cream.

"Look, you and I are going to stay close to each other the whole time, okay? No need to worry."

Rimuru picked her up like a princess and lifted her up. He put her down, and Ciel looked sad. But then Rimuru put his hand around her waist and said, "I won't let go, is that okay?"

Ciel looked happy. She nodded and smiled.

Everyone got out of the airship. The first to come to meet them was Alferick, who was extremely happy to see Altina and thanked her deeply. After that they went after Shia's father, Kam.

"Dad!"

"Shia!"

Shia and her father hugged each other happily for the reunion. After expressing his happiness that Shia was okay, Kam was explained about how the group met up with the Haulia.

"So the boss and the leader are going to help rescue those two?"

Hajime and Rimuru nodded in agreement. Kam looked happy and went to gather the other Haulia.

"Hajime-san, Rimuru-san, thank youooo!" Shia bowed and thanked them. Hajime and Rimuru reassured her by saying, "you are one of us now."

After that, everyone went back to the Empire.