42 Kagali's past, and her future.

Last order of the day. I have to take care of this before there is panic in the Guild with the disappearance of the guild grandmaster. Kagali had been brought onto another special cell that would stop her from escaping. And when I walked in front of her, she didn't look happy at all.

"I hope your stay hasn't been bad, it took me a bit longer than I expected to get here," I said while sitting down on a chair in the room.

"Rimuru Tempest. Of all the people in the world. You have Laplace in here which brings the question. Where is Clayman?" She said, asking the most important question on her mind.

"He is currently unavailable. I am here to make you an offer."

"No, I won't listen to any offers until I know what happened to him. He disappeared the day the Walpurgis happened. And now you have taken over his territory. I need a clear answer." She said with clear worry in her voice. This was the only thing on her mind at the moment. She knew she was in a bad position, Tear and Footman had been captured. Laplace had been captured. But she needed to know what had happened to one of her "Children."

I opened my hand and a small flame-like object appeared, this was Clayman's soul. Back when I had consumed Clayman I hadn't consumed his soul, the reason being Raphael.

[Report. The soul of the person named Clayman is an anomaly. It appears to be constructed by combining thousands of souls. 10,000 souls to be exact. An analysis is recommended. Asmodeus' understanding of souls, life, and death can be enhanced by analyzing it.

Proceed to Analyze?]

I had agreed at the moment, so his soul had been placed in a similar location as where Veldora stayed. Except its consciousness had been suppressed. Forcing him to be in a coma-like state.

"That's… Clayman!" Hope shone in her eyes. As long as the soul was intact she could bring him back. "What do you want? If it is within my reach I will do my best. But please give him back."

"I have two things, but before I tell you the second you have to accept the first. You are proficient in mental magic. I can tell by the defenses you have placed in your mind. So lower them. There is something I want to confirm. I could force my way in but it wouldn't give me the best results."

Kagali hesitated for a moment before looking at Clayman's soul. She gave a sigh before lowering them. And the next moment Rapahel acted.

…

(3rd pov)

Kagali used to be a happy princess. Her father was the king of the high elves, and all the people in the land adored him. The kingdom he had built had made great leaps and bounds when it came to the research of magic. Their kingdom was known as the Ultra-Sorcery Kingdom Soma.

But one day, her father went mad. He began to call himself Jahil, the great magician. And in his desire for knowledge, he began to do horrible experiments. One of the people affected had been Kagali herself.

She had been killed by his hands and brought back as an undead elf. Her once beautiful appearance was replaced with rotten flesh that covered her whole body, and a disfigured face. She had been turned into a man and given a new name, Kazalim. Her shame was so great that she began to cover her face with a mask. And the only reason 'he' had been given by her father was.

"Because it's fun."

She was forced to live a nightmare from that day onward. It was only thanks to her father's arrogance that she had been freed. Jahil had started a fight he could not win. He had killed Milim's only friend. Her pet dragon.

Milim had destroyed Soma and left it in ruins. The survivors fled and eventually created the Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion. Kazalim however stayed behind. She couldn't leave behind the people of her kingdom. These were people she had fought for, she cared for, she loved. People that had done the same and so much more for her. So using the magic she had learned from her father she cast the forbidden spell "Death-man Birthday." A spell that used the lives of 10,000 people to create an undead elf. The same spell her father had used on her after he had killed her.

Three people were born that day. Footman, Tear, and Clayman. These people carried in them the souls of her people. And she vowed that day to protect them.

To her dismay, they looked absolutely normal. In fact, they had good looks. This made her realize she was created the way she was on purpose. Forced to live a life of humiliation. But the newly created undead elves wanted to share her pain, so they too began to wear masks.

Together they traveled until Kazalim became a demon lord and gained power. She had gone back to her kingdom and brought it back from its ruins, creating Jistav.

One day she met up with the dying Sarion. The king and hero of the newly built Elven kingdom. Kagali offered to bring him back to life and he accepted. Even knowing there was a high chance he would lose his memories. This was the day Laplace was born.

The days they had spent together had made her forget all the pain of her past. But one day, Kagali made a foolish decision as well. She had chosen to pick a fight with Leon Cromwell. Someone who used to be a hero but was now claiming to be a demon lord. Wanting to teach him a lesson she went to his territory. Only to be instantly killed and forced to wander around as a soul.

She attempted to summon an otherworlder to possess, as she was losing her strength, but she ended up summoning Yuuki. The only person who had a skill that could stop the control curse she tried to put on him. Yuuki, however, instead of letting her disappear took the soul in.

Eventually, Yuuki stole a homunculus and was able to grant her a body. She had finally gained a normal appearance after all these years. And due to the debt she owed Yuuki, she decided to serve him. She had been finally reunited with her "Clowns" and they were back to being a family.

Since the day Clayman and Laplace had vanished she wasn't able to contain her worries. The happy life they were leaving had suddenly disappeared. She didn't even know what had happened to them. She could only assume they had died. She had failed to protect the only people she cared for. But she couldn't do anything, she was too weak now.

…

[Curse magic has been acquired.

Golem creation has been acquired.

Death-man Birthday has been acquired.

Due to Unique skill Planner having skills that are inferior versions of mine it has not been acquired.]

"I've lowered my mental defenses. What do you want now?" Kagali asked. As only a second had passed in real-time.

"I want you to become my subordinate. Yuuki has placed you as his backup in case he had to go into hiding or died. You are in full control of the Free Guild and of Cerberus now. One of the strongest organizations known to the public. And one of the strongest organizations that work in the shadows."

"What happened to Yuuki?"

"He is dead."

Silence filled the room before a light chuckle left Kagali's lips.

"So I guess this is it now. I have no choice. If I reject, you will kill not only me but also my family. You have every advantage. Am I going to be just a pawn now? Will that be enough for you to let us go? I will give you the Guild and Cerberus, I don't want them. Just let them go." She said with a defeated voice.

"You know," I said as I stood up. "This singular soul is made up of 10,000 elven souls. All bonded together to create a strong person. Laplace himself is strong enough to be considered a demon lord. If he hadn't had bad luck he could escape unscathed without problem from most people. And had Footman and Tear not been caught in a trap they would have put up quite a good fight. Truly a twisted form of magic."

Placing the soul back in Beelzebuth's storage I continued. "However, all the souls are still present inside the deathman. So in theory it is possible to separate them from the vessel that holds them all. The people created by combining those souls, say for example Tear, are an ego created from those souls. An ego that can be separated and granted a new body. So even if all of the souls that created it originally are taken, the person created by them can survive.

This will, of course, weaken the ego and souls to the point they are just normal people, like someone who hasn't trained a day in his life. However, that strength can be recovered with time."

Looking at the shocked and hopeful Kagali I said my final words before leaving.

"The place you have been looking for, where you and your family can live happily for the rest of your immortal lives already exists. It is called Tempest. Your Jesters will be free to leave, but I doubt they will leave without you. Welcome to the team. Someone will drop by to fill you in on the details. And you know what will happen if you try to betray me, so don't. See ya." I said as I closed the door.

After leaving the room I was stopped by Nyx.

"Rimuru-sama. If you will allow me to ask. Why didn't you just use one of your domination skills? I saw you were capable of using them during the Falmuth attack. Even if you didn't want to do it yourself you could have asked Diablo to do it." The demoness who was in charge of looking after the special prisoners while Diablo was not available asked.

"You are not going to get proper loyalty that way. They will either eventually find a way to break out and stab you in the back or they will not do what you ask them properly and it will cause a big hassle in the long run. You would be surprised by how strong the will of the people in this world is. I used it on the king of Falmuth and some of the people who were captured because frankly, I do not care for their lives. If they break out or become an inconvenience they will die.

If you are going to use domination or mind control spells on people it is better to just outright kill them and find a replacement or make it temporary.

Diablo's Tempter skill is mainly used to put the lives of the people affected in your hands. You can kill them at any moment just by thinking of it. While he can also use thought domination he doesn't use it much. He mainly uses the fear created by their knowledge that their life is in his hands to create loyalty.

Kagali and the Jesters may not know it but they are also under its effect. If they try to betray me they will die. Until they prove they can be trusted it will be this way."

Nyx had stars in her eyes after hearing my explanation and was about to begin the praise Diablo had taught her before I stopped her.

"Not today Nyx. It was a busy day and I wanna take a break. Goodnight."

After those words, I teleported away.

...

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