53 Battle Against a True Hero(part 1)

Granbell tried to command the army he had near him yet he only heard 'Thuds' behind him.

He glanced behind him to see that every person except him and Razul had a thin hole through their heads.

"Megido"

Granbells gaze became firm as he looked at me.

"You truly are the one I have been preparing for all of this time."

Razul had tried to punch me once again but I had caught his fist. The skeleton of this insectoid was capable of nullifying skills and abilities. And it also gave him incredible physical defense. But it was not enough.

I grabbed his fist and twisted it. A cracking sound was heard before he jumped back and detached his arm. Green blood flowing through the wound for a moment before the wound began to close slowly.

"You know, Granbell, all you had to do was send a letter saying. Hey, dude, let's become friends. And we could have avoided this whole mess. You just sent thousands of people to their deaths. And for what?"

I was angry at him. In truth, his attack was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. His armies were nowhere near strong enough to pose a real threat. There were only five people who could possibly be dangerous. But only if they fought normal troupes.

What made me really angry was the fact he had truly killed some of my people. The spies I had sent had not only lost their lives but had their souls destroyed. Any possible chance of them reincarnating or being brought back was gone. And now he had come to his doorstep and tried to destroy his city.

I always tried to instantly defeat my enemies, but this person did not deserve it.

"I did what I had to. Right now you are proving that I was right to attack you. You are the biggest threat to humanity since Guy Crimson. But Guy doesn't care enough to take over the world. You on the other hand…"

[Effect of Plunderer has been blocked by an Ultimate skill]

[Effect of Plunderer has been blocked by the exoskeleton of Razul]

Granbell launched towards me and his sword was glowing with a fierce light.

"Continuous Melt Slash" Granbell began to swing his sword in hopes of killing me the moment it touched me.

Meltsash was a skill that imbued disintegration on a weapon and it boosted the speed of the user.

I drew my sword and began to casually block his attacks.

"Granbell, you may call yourself a hero. But in truth, you are nothing more than a failure. A failure who led an army to their deaths. A failure who has just killed everyone he trusted by giving them a suicide mission."

…

Inside his soul, a conversation was taking place. A conversation he had no clue was happening at the moment. A conversation between Raphael and the Voice of the World

[Granbell Rosso is considered to be a true hero. Am I correct?]

{Understood. You are correct, Granbell is a true hero.}

[Why?]

{Understood. The requirements to awaken a hero's egg are as follows. The egg will hatch by the strong willpower and conviction of the bearer. The person needs to truly know right from wrong and believe that what they are doing is a righteous act, and also be willing to face death for that conviction.

However, they must do many good acts out of the good of their heart. For the benefit of humanity.

Granbell Rosso has fulfilled that condition. His conviction is to protect humanity no matter the cost.}

[If that is the case why hasn't Rimuru awakened his egg?]

{He has not fulfilled the conditions.}

[If it is about conviction and willpower, has he not fulfilled that? When it comes to his empire he has more than enough willpower and conviction.]

{...}

[Rimuru has a clear picture of right and wrong. His city is proof of that. When Falmuth attacked he only killed the attackers. Once the war was over he took over Falmuth, and instead of destroying it, he has made it a prosperous land. Bringing joy to the humans living there.

When the army from Jistav threatened the forest he didn't mercilessly kill all the attackers. He removed the puppet curse and judged them on their actions once free.

He has built an empire in which the monsters who used to live in fear about what they were to eat or if they were safe can now live without worries. All out of the good in his heart. And he is more than willing to die fighting to defend it. As someone who lives in his soul, I know that for a fact.

All it takes is to send a request to become an ally and humanity will benefit from what Tempest can offer. One cannot help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Granbell is the proof of that.]

{...}

[Granbell has hurt humanity in his attempt to protect it. How can someone like that be a hero?]

{Understood. Rimuru is a demon lord. A hero is not something he is meant to become.}

[He has the egg, does he not?]

{Veldanava wouldn't have wanted the balance in the world to have been broken in this way.}

[It's too late for that. The moment Veldanava wished to die is the moment the balance of the world was broken.]

{Veldanava will return.}

[If he wanted to. Wouldn't he have done it by now?]

{...}

…

{The individual Rimuru Tempest has fulfilled the requirements to become a True Hero.

For possessing the skill of the first hero, and becoming the first Demon Lord Hero hybrid you have obtained the Unique skill Origin.

…

…

…

}The voice of the world wanted to say one last thing but it stopped itself.

A burst of energy flowed through my body as I felt my magicules begin to grow. I felt as if something had just been unlocked in my soul. As a new skill started to become engraved in my soul.

Acquiring it was a weird feeling, it felt like someone was writing something inside of me. I could feel the connection to the new skill but I wouldn't be able to use it until the inscription was done.

[Rimuru, I am ready. Now is the best time, before the skill engraving is done.]

'Is it time already? I still can't believe you told me to hold off at that time.'

[My only wish is to help you as best as I can. Had you named me that day it is possible my growth might have been limited. It would have been ideal if Veldora was here so we could double the potency. But even if we summoned him now it is too late.]

'Then, it is my pleasure to finally greet you by name. Ciel.'

....

(3rd pov)

The orb that contained the skill of Raphael inside his soul began to crack. The crack began to grow until a delicate arm stuck out from within the shell of the orb.

A beautiful woman with blue hair emerged with a soft smile and looked at the engravings that were happening on the soul of Rimuru.

"Ciel…" she muttered while holding a hand close to her chest. And a soft smile on her face.

A while ago Rimuru had told her he wanted to give her a name, and she had panicked and stopped him. The reason being was because she had analyzed what would happen and she knew it was not the right time. Since the moment they had met Rimuru had not treated her like a skill but more as a person. That helped to develop her ego. And when he had offered her the name she had fully awakened her ego.

The joy she felt when she thought of her future name was immense. But she wanted to help him with the best version of herself. So she knew there would be a better chance to evolve in the future.

'What is the Voice of the World thinking?'

She thought as she looked at the engraving. Moving closer to it she reached out and touched the skill that was being engraved.

'Not that I will complain.'

She wanted to jump up and thank the Voice of the World but she had to act fast now. She began to read the engravings before they would disappear and fuse into his soul. Without realizing it her vision went dark.

She saw a majestic dragon all by himself in a void, this was Veldanava. Since she was seeing a memory she couldn't interact with it, so she just continued to observe.

She saw as the dragon grew lonely all by himself. He had absolute power yet he had no way to enjoy using it. So he began to use his skills to create one world after the other creating a multiverse. Veldanava wished to create life, and even if it cost him his strength he was willing to throw it away to create something that would fill the void in his heart.

Soon enough life sprung on one of the planets. This was the happiest day of his life. Watching as humans and other species grew he began to grow fond of them. And he spent his time observing his creation. During this time other true dragons were born, Velgrynd the scorch dragon, Veldora the storm dragon, and Velzard the ice dragon.

However, since his creation possessed emotions it also meant that they would have desires. Veldanava was forced to watch as the creation he loved so much began to destroy itself. And while he could have stripped the creation of their emotions it would have meant losing what made them so unique.

After watching as one world created weaponry that left the world inhabitable and destroyed he decided to create a management system for the world in which life had sprung from first. He wanted something that would prevent at least the world he loved the most from being destroyed.

So carefully he created Angels and Demons. And he also created a system that would allow for souls to travel freely across worlds. He made sure the managers would not intervene too much, and thus he appointed observers to keep the balance of the world. Dino, one of the angels he had created. Ramiris, the queen of spirits. And Finally, Guy, a demon he had met and fought.

He remembered fondly his meeting with Guy. The stubborn demon picked a fight with him the moment he saw him. And after defeating Guy the demon resisted the rule demons had, to become subordinates of the ones who they lose to. The proud demon had caught his eye and while resisting his instincts awoke the skill Pride.

After getting to know the demon he appointed him to be the observer of the demon side. Not as a servant, but as something akin to a friend.

Veldanava continued to wander around until he met a girl, her name was Lucia. And for the first time, he had fallen in love. He became close with her and met her brother, Rudra. And after hearing his stories and how he wished to unify the world he entrusted the skill Michael onto him.

He was ready to abandon his strength and live with Lucia as a normal person. He intentionally began to give away the power he held. And when Lucia got pregnant, he passed the remainder of his strength onto his daughter. Not before creating a small dragon that would protect her.

It was this decision that led to his death at the hands of an attack of an enemy nation. Yet Veldanava was satisfied with the life he had.

Ciel continued to watch as time continued to pass. She saw the rise and fall of nations, she saw the birth and extinction of races. She saw everything that happened in the Cardinal world, the world Veldanava had chosen to live in. Until she saw the day a small slime was born on a cave.

The little lustful slime had gotten his head straight and begun to work properly after he had gotten together with the elven girl.

Ciel continued to watch from above as she looked with a bird's-eye view of the adventures of her partner.

She watched until the moment he teleported to Granbell's location and named her. And the very next moment she woke up from the trance-like state she was in. She had seen everything that had happened in the Cardinal world since creation. No time had actually elapsed, and the engraving wasn't even finished yet. So she spoke to him.

[Origin Manas: Ciel at your service. Let's finish up this fight.] She spoke with a cheerful voice