42 41st Move | The Dark Lord Rises
The War Room.
There was a sudden flash from the main monitor that filled up an entire side of the room. The computer automatically adjusted itself and tuned down the brightness to allow those present in the War Room a better look at the pulse of plasma that will raze Corbin and reintegrate the city into the soil.
Everyone's attention was on the screen during the whole hour and almost a half of the operation of that black humanoid monster, with only a few occasions where they had to excuse themselves to go to the washroom.
Everyone in the room was shocked. They really shouldn't be considering the power that the A.A.A. held and the destruction of Charybdis.
Seeing that final flash served as the last reminder that a city had ever existed because after the flash died down, all that was were a large glowing spot.
Even during Relentless' Rampage, there still existed at least some ruins to display the resilience of man's mark upon the world. The remains of Thelium's Capital Andorious still persist in the Western States and were a popular spot for tourists and mages to visit.
The former was to see the largest evidence of an expansionist kingdom that once almost challenged the Eastern Empire in power. The latter, to perform rituals aided by the presence of those anguished souls that endures 400 years after the tragedy.
Everyone continued to silently stare at the cooling, molten surface where the city used to be. Any evidence of civilization, or even life in general, was gone. It was as if someone had transported a piece of the Barren Lands and placed it over what used to be lush grasslands.
The silence was finally broken when one of the younger Officers muttered, "What the hell just happened?"
"That was glassing." Ririna said, glancing across the room to take in the responses, "Glassing, as defined by the Commander herself, is a process of bombarding an area with plasma or lasers to melt the surface and kill off all biological life. Usually, this is only done to extinguish a biological threat or poison gas, and is the most serious Order a General or equivalent can authorize."
The satellite zoomed in on this black dot that was slowly drifting to the ground.
"What is that?" Ririna could help but ask upon seeing how the Commander surrounded herself with a magic circle.
Suddenly, there was another flash of light, and two individuals now appeared next to Scientia.
Despite being able to discern specific humans, the satellites still weren't good enough to figure out all the details about that single human.
Seconds later, there was another explosion several kilometers north of where the Commander lay before the trio all together disappeared.
"What happened to the Commander?"
"I have visual on the Commander!" One of the Officers operating a computer yelled out, causing all heads to look at him.
Ririna quickly ran over to see his screen, looking over his shoulder and asking, "Where?"
"Metropolis, Ma'am. Specifically, the steps of Congress."
"Oh no."
_____________________________________________
Metropolis, the Capital of the Jura Tempest Republic.
There was a rip in the air as Noir teleported to the middle of Central Square that sat in front of the Pyramid. The Black Primordial took a moment to sweep his gaze across this blindspot that avoided his gaze no matter what he tried.
It was truly different.
Tall metal spires covered by glass rose from the ground, so tall and so grand looking that they left Noir almost breathless. These monolithic structures pierce the very clouds with their heights as if declaring to the heavens that their place is no longer sacrosanct. Their scale made them seem like some futuristic cathedral, with each one being a masterpiece of engineering.
Engineering that used no magic.
Noir then focused on their design, finding them to be entirely different from the architecture of any other place in the World. They were sleek and elegant, and pairing that factor with their angular lines and sharp geometry made it seem like they were made by aliens.
While for Noir, building such a thing was easy considering his proficiency with magic, it was almost hard for him to imagine that each was built without any magic.
"A whole city of these monoliths of glass and metal... all built without magic," Noir grinned while still carrying the unconscious Commander.
"Indeed... this is certainly something I've never seen before," Jaune spoke eagerly yet with a hidden core of caution, like how someone would speak when they are put in an entirely new environment, "so unique I must say—"
"Put your hands in the air!"
An orc dressed in heavy black riot gear yelled at the two Primordials. In his hands was a belt-fed electromagnetic machine gun, with a belt of ammo coming from his back.
Aiming the gun at the duo, the orc then placed a hand over the side of his helmet, "We got a double Demonic Intrusion situation here in the front of Congress. At least Greater, possibly an Arch. Deploy everyone, the demons have the Director."
Alarms blared across the city. Every civilian in the square started running as fast as their legs could let them, with some resorting to even climbing over the walls while what few that reminded whipped out their phones and started recording what was happening.
Several ports around the park that surrounds the Capitol building. From those ports came dozens upon dozens of Autonomous Security Drones each packing lasers, containment foam sprayers, and additional anti-magic weapons courtesy of the Ministry of Magic.
These drones rapidly surrounded the Primordials, appearing more as a wall that would cause any normal individuals to feel intimidated and a tad bit claustrophobic.
The Primordials are hardly normal.
Jaune conjured up a chair while Noir gently settled his new Mistress down in a comfortable position. The duo then looked at the heavy response made by the OSS and Congress security.
The Yellow Primordial grinned savagely as the air around her heated up. While she has fought against automatons before, she never fought against such sophisticated magic-less automatons.
The desire to fight is one of the main reasons Jaune continues to live, after all.
"Step away from the Director!" The same orc guard repeated, his voice distorted because of the armor that clad his body, "I will not repeat again, the rest of Metropolitan Police will be here soon, and in about ten minutes, A.A.A.s will be swarming your position before sending you two back to hell. I recommend if you know what's good for you to step away from the Director."
Despite having so many security drones, the orc knew that they were all no match for even a Greater Demon. The most he could hope for is to stall and allow those with the really heavy guns to get here.
Once Noir made sure his Mistress was sitting in a comfortable position and wouldn't fall off by anything short of a strong breeze, he then turned to face the brave long guard.
Staring into his eyes through the graphene faceguard, Noir saw how there was fear in them. And yet, the orc stands his ground even knowing how futile it is.
How fascinating, to inspire such fanaticism comparable only with religions.
Noir then dipped his chin in deep thought. Well, considering all that his Mistress had done, it did make sense that these lower lifeforms saw her as a god, even if she never encouraged it.
A humming sound brought Noir out of his mind and back into the real world. Facing it, the Black Primordial saw multiple metal boxes on wheels bursting through the walls in a tremendous crash before halting. Sounds of heavy footsteps choked the entire square as dozens of heavily armed guards rushed out and took up firing positions in a circle all around the duo.
More than that however was a hatch opening on top of these metal boxes with a single guard taking control of an... object that can mass produce antimatter?!
Noir then noticed some holes in spacetime pricked the edge of his [Magic Sense]. Focusing on those holes, the Primordial found them to be incredibly tiny, so tiny that the smallest atoms would be like a castle compared to a mere human.
Noir narrowed his eyes, "To use such a thing for weapons... to turn those Greater Devourers into an energy source! Ha!"
The Black Primordial was very impressed.
Just as the object that could mass produce antimatter charged up and was ready to fire, Noir raised a hand and forcefully teleported that gun-like object away in the span of milliseconds.
The first to respond were those hovering magic-less automatons. They sent out jets of containment foams that while appearing almost instantaneous to a human, were more like watching a snail's crawl for a Primordial's reaction speed.
After a quick check on those tiny Greater Devourers held within small cylinders, Noir assessed that they would pose no issue and will evaporate away in less than a millisecond after leaving their containment vessel. So the Black Primordial opted not to deal with them at all other than destroying the launcher.
Just as those white ropes of containment foam sprayed by the Autonomous Security Drones neared, Jaune created a spherical magic barrier that stopped those containment foams in their tracks. The building up of those foams created a wall that almost shrouded the barrier in its entirety like a winter coat.
"Be gentle with them, would you?" Noir said to Jaune, "It would not do well to hurt others that also serve our Mistress."
The pings of bullets bouncing off the barrier were persistent despite the futility of the action.
Jaune grinned and slammed her fist together, "Ha, don't worry, I'll keep it on the down-low."
A huge amount of magicule gathered in Jaune's right hand. Bringing the hand up, the magicule seems to reach a crescendo before—
*Snap*
—Jaune snapped her fingers. As the sound wave from that snap traveled, it burned away all the built-up containment foam as if they were a piece of paper. Oddly enough, only those foams were burnt away, the ground, Scientia, Noir, and everything else remained unharmed.
<<The Harvest Festival that will ascend the individual known as Scientia Tempest will quickly begin in 3...>>
Sensing a portal opening, Noir saw how on the steps of this pyramid, overlooking the two Primordials, a massive black rectangle surrounded by purple opened. From that portal came most of those who were in the War Room.
<<2...>>
Rubedo brandished his monomolecular blade, Ririna carried her pistol, and was about to fire on the Primordials before the Voice of the World announced again.
<<1>>
"She... succeeded..." Rubedo breathed in awe and horror.
"The Voice of the World..." One of the younger Officers hesitantly added.
Noticing how the guards were firing, Ririna jumped down from the steps of Congress with superhuman agility and yanked the automatic rifle out of the closest guard's hands before activating a Unique Skill she had earned after being a Field Marshal for so long.
"Cease your attacks at once!" The hobgoblin boomed, and the guards instantly halted their firing.
A dead silence fell on the entire square in front of the Congressional Pyramid like rain in a thunderstorm.
Seeing that the bullet have stopped, Noir forcefully dispelled the barrier much to the annoyance of Jaune, and bowed to the newcomers, "I see you too are servants of my Mistress?"
"Uh... yes," Ririna hesitantly said upon seeing the situation having been defused.
Just as Jaune opened her mouth to talk, the Voice of the World spoke once more.
<<Notice, the Harvest Festival will begin now>>
<<The individual known as Scientia Tempest shall now begin their ascension into Demon Lord status...>>
<<Error>>
<<Evolution into Demon Lord... unsuccessful>>
<Retry>
<<Evolution into Demon Lord... Failed>>
<Retry>
<<Evolution into Demon Lord— Error, evolution impossible>>
<^!@#)$}\>
<<Evolution into D-Error, failure>>
<<Evolution into- Error Error Error>>
<<Error, Mistake, Unable to Comply, Errorrrrrrrrrrrr->>
<<SYSTEM... Oper —F —F —Failure>>
<<SYSTEM Reboot... completed>>
<Retry>
<<Ascension into Demon Lord Successful>>
<<Perfect Homunculus, evolved into- Error>>
<<Unable to evolve, the individual known as Scientia Tempest is already at the peak- Error>>
<$&!@#(>
<<Evolution-!@$+_!/>>
<<Evolution successful, Perfect Homunculus evolved into Perfect Homunculus>>
<<New Skills acquired: [Limitless Regeneration], [Aristocratic Dignity], [Timelessness], [Berserk Mode], [Untained Perfection], [Silenced Emotion], [Conditional Unkillability], [Only One]>>
<<Awaken Demon Lord status: acquired>>
<<All skills previously held by the individual will be reacquired— Error, Skill overlap detected, Skill unable to be reacquired>>
<<The following Skill all overlap and thus, cannot be reacquired: [Limitless Regeneration], [Aristocratic Dignity], [Timelessness], [Berserk Mode], [Untained Perfection], [Silenced Emotion], [Conditional Unkillability], [Only One]>>
<<All Intrinsic Skills will remain>>
<<All other Skills have been reacquired>>
<<True Demon Lord Evolution...complete—>>
<!$!_#(}>
<<Unique Skill [Guide to Victory], combined with Unique Skill [Great Sage] into Ultimate Skill [Contessa, Lord of Victory]... successful>>
[Path to Victory: Path to getting the most out of the weakened World laws]
[Evolve]
<<Unique Skill [Inspired Inventor], evo— Error, Skill not found, unable to evolve>>
[Retry]
[Combine]
<<Unique Skill [Technopathy], combined with Unique Skill— Error, Skill not found unable to combine>>
[Retry]
<<Skill not found>>
[Path to Victory: Path to Evolving [Inspired Inventor]]
[Unable to be pathed]
[Concern]
[Retry]
<<Skill not found, unable to affect>>
[Explain]
<<Unique Skill [Inspired Inventor] does not exist>>
[Elaborate]
<<Does not exist>>
<<Does not exist>>
<<There is no record of Unique Skill [Inspired Inventor] within [Akashic Record]>>
[Disturbing]
[Evolve]
<<Skill [Business Intuition] evolved into Unique Skill [Avarice]>>
[Evolve]
<<Extra Skill [Extreme Pain Resistence] exolved into [Pain Nullification]>>
[Evolve]
<<[Stab Resistance] evolve—>>
[Rejection]
[Suggestion]
<<Due to harvesting of 58,309,405,912 planets, the True Demon Lord known as Scientia Tempest has gained the Ultimate Skill [Nidhogg, the World Eater]>>
[Dissolve]
<<Ultimate Skill [Nidhogg, the World Eater] has been dissolved into energy>>
[Suggestion]
<<Due to harvesting 782 medium stars' worth of material, the True Demon Lord known as Scientia Tempest has gained the Ultimate Skill [D'endrrah, the Devourer of Worlds]>>
[Dissolve]
<<Ultimate Skill [D'endrrah, the Devourer of Worlds] has been dissolved into energy>>
[Supercharge]
<<All energy gathered from the dissolution of [Nidhogg] and [D'endrrah] has supercharged Unique Skill [Technopathy] into Ultimate Skill [Mekhane, God of Machines]. All requirements have been bypassed>>
<<The Harvest Festival is complete>>
Once the glow from the sitting Perfect Homunculus died down, everyone in the square stood completely still. It was as if that glow from the ascension turned them all into stone.
Even the two Primordials whose age almost rivals that of Creation stood still. The normally cool-headed Noir and the loud and abrasive Jaune knew that this particular Harvest Festival was most unusual.
Throughout the history of this planet, there have been more Demon Lords than there are stars in the night sky, and thus, the two have seen and were present at plenty of Harvest Festivals. None of those Festivals had any errors during the ascension.
"Fascinating, perhaps it's..." Perhaps it's because his Mistress is a Perfect Homunculus? Noir pondered.
His mind trailed back to memories of 400 years ago, specifically at that battle at what's now known as El Dorado's hell gate. Chronoa knocked on the hell gate with Jaune in tow and Relentless following closely behind, sinking the 500-kilometer-wide land bridge that once connected the Australia-sized island with the main continent down into the depth of the ocean.
"A Perfect Homunculus...?" Ririna's voice faltered as she took a few steps back. Her face was strung about in disbelief as if her world had just been shattered.
Rubedo was no better. His mind suddenly recalled how Scientia had cut her own throat to prevent her from speaking her true nature.
To be completely honest, Rubedo wouldn't have minded. His village of ogres was once said to have been driven almost to extinction, and it was only due to the appearance of the first Perfect Homunculus and the subsequent effort to rebuild that the hunters stopped coming.
<<Next step, a gift shall be bestowed onto those who are connected to Scientia, be it by contract or otherwise>>
"Wait, what?" Ririna was about to ask before she fell on her knees, a sense of tiredness rocked her body.
Every named monster across the entirety of the Jura Tempest Republic fell from the lowest goblin to the highest Kijin fell to their knees. Tiredness dominates their minds as if they haven't slept for days.
Even if Rimuru is technically dead, the connection he had with those monsters he named was transferred through the [Soul Corridor] between him and Scientia, thereby making the Perfect Homunculus the new nexus point for all of these connections.
Rubedo and Ririna tried their best to fight the unconsciousness that afflicted everyone else.
Every living thing in the square has already fallen over, laying there on the ground while still clad in their heavy riot armor, already unconscious as they could bear the burden no longer.
"Damn it! Grrr!" Ririna tried to push herself to stand up, "Uff!"
She failed. Her knees crumbled to the floor as the Field Marshal mentally apologized to the Commander before falling unconscious.
The scene at the square looked like something straight out of the aftermath of a chemical attack. Bodies lay everywhere on the streets and parks, their simple clothing is evidence of them thinking that it was an average day and thus, didn't prepare anything too out of the ordinary, all of them now frozen in time thanks to a silent killer.
Of course, that's only if it were an actual chemical attack.
Instead of being dead, all monsters named by Rimuru and Scientia fell unconscious everywhere. The entire Republic ground to a screeching halt.
It was fortunate that much of the daily processes like cars, buses, and other utilities are monitored by AIs instead of just individuals.
The remaining guards who were humans all looked at the scene in raw confusion. They were confused about what was happening and had all been trying to communicate with the Overwatch Security System to ask for further instructions.
Their worries were put to rest when the OSS gave a basic reply of 'hostilities cleared, stand by for further instructions'.
Scientia's fingers twitched. The Perfect Homunculus then rose from her seat, her eyes closed, her hands came up as if to declare something, and her shoulder-length hair fluttered about as if today was a windy day.
The nanosuit that surrounded Scientia suddenly came apart. The suit flowed like water. The suit flowed up and down, twisting and twirling about, sometimes exploding into trillions of individual nanites before coming together once more.
One could easily imagine this as a type of mating dance done by a colony of alien Hydrozoas in an attempt to impress another of the same species.
All the while this was happening, Scientia's eyes were closed, and there was a serene expression on her face. The expression was peaceful enough that one can almost ignore how uncannily perfect it looked.
"Scientia?"
The voice sounded like a silver bell. It was choked full of the innocence a child would have before they're tainted by the world.
Noir and Jaune turned their head to face the source of that voice so quickly that had they been a normal human, their necks would've snapped.
"What?"
"Who—!?"
They turned to face the source and found someone completely unexpected: a vampire, the highest rank of vampires, a True Ancestor or as that Demon Lord liked to call her own race; a High Blood.
And yet... not?
It was strange and confusing.
The two Primordials could tell on a surface level that the blonde woman in front of them standing five meters away and seemingly appearing out of thin air was a True Ancestor, but at her core is something that was drastically different. She has several elements synonymous with that race of bloodsuckers yet at her core she's... somehow a spirit?
A basic probe into the Ancestor allowed Noir to determine her power level is easily on par with a Primordial Demon, so a Primordial Spirit then? An active Primordial Spirit?
An impossible notion. To Noir's best knowledge, God only created only Primordial Angels and Demons, and those 'Primordial Spirits' existed even before the Angels and Demons did. They were unbelievably powerful yet nonsapient elemental forces without wills that supposedly make up everything.
Noir then tried to probe deeper into the Primordial Spirit. He tried to extend his senses into that fake vampire, and all he got in return was something huge.
It was a gigantic thing looking back at him. He felt like an ant looking at an elephant. This being in front of him was more like a planet instead of an average spirit.
How fascinating.
When the Black Primordial retracted his senses, his normally calm and collected demeanor was shattered as he took a deep breath. He started down at his gloved hands, finding them to be shaking the tiniest bit.
"Is this... unease? How splendid! Something new..." Despite Noir's confident tone, he was a bit wary of this new individual. A being to rival him in power... the only reason the Demon wasn't teleporting his new Mistress out of here was because of the non-hostile nature of this... pseudo spirit? Primordial Spirit? Whatever it is, Noir knew it doesn't belong in this world, yet the Voice of the World is allowing it.
All the while Noir was having his assessment, Jaune was giving the other blonde a glare that promised hate. Her lips thinned until one could no longer see the pinkness of naked flesh, her head leaned forward only accentuated Jaune's shape features, and her eyes were dilated, making Jaune seem like a predator about to strike.
If one were to take a picture of Jaune right this moment, future generations would say they could almost feel the hatred coming off the Yellow Primordial in droves.
"[Nuclear Cannon]"
Just when Noir was about to open his mouth, he was interrupted by a flash of light, a flare of nuclear magic that Jaune had thrown at the True Ancestor.
"DIE you alien!"
The world darkened with how bright that stream of nuclear magic was. In Jaune's other hand was a [Nuclear Burst] that she was ready to throw the moment after the [Nuclear Cannon] lands.
Just as the ray of nuclear death was about to smash into the blonde woman, the corner of Noir's eyes saw a blur of pitch darkness before the stream from the [Nuclear Cannon] changed direction and gushed into the air like a geyser made out of rapidly decaying degenerate matter.
The geyser of nuclear death exploded high in the atmosphere, showering everywhere below it in colorful lights as if acting as a firework show both heralding and celebrating the coming of a new Demon Lord.
When the light died down, Noir saw that her Mistress had changed.
While he only saw it for a brief moment, the Primordial knew that his Mistress had eyes of the same bright crimson as freshly spilled blood from a human. Now, they're a shade of the same color as the purest gold that magic can conjure. Her hair which was as white as freshly fallen snow now turned ashen blond, and the armor that used to clad her form which was once the very definition of sleekness now looked like something that a fallen knight might wear, only, without the helmet.
Also, something that's unmistakable is that her Mistress now... well... looks more like a female. Whereas before one can confuse her for any gender, now her tenderness and budding chest make it hard to be mistaken. Not impossible though.
The only thing that remained a constant, the only thing that was like laws of physics was her pale skin.
"That was rather unnecessary," Scientia stated, her voice was still that same perfection, every word, every inflection, from the pitch to the volume— all carried that creepy perfection that makes his Mistress seem almost like she was someone from this planet yet still not enough.
Hearing that voice brought Noir back 400 years ago, that roar fell into the uncanny valley.
"I summoned you to help me, not to attack those dear to me."
Arcueid preened at the words Scientia had said while the Perfect Homunculus stood in between her and Jaune.
"Ha! Well, guess what?" There was a grin on the Yellow Primordial's face, "You ain't my master until you prove to me that you're worthy. You may have such good toys that can make even a Primordial Demon like me jealous but really, how do they stand up against my attacks?"
The other blonde challenged while the Perfect Homunculus just raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'Primordial Demon'.
Spreading out her arms, Scientia then asked, "Do you really want to do this? I would much prefer a peaceful way."
In place of a verbal answer, Jaune released some of her aura to show she really is serious.
Scientia then dropped her arms.
"Arcueid, please stay back."
The airhead in question looked confused for a moment before her mind connected the dots. Her face lit up like a child who had just figured out one of the world's biggest mysteries, "Oh! Oh! Is this one of those saving the damsel in distress I read about? Am I the damsel? But I'm not trapped, and if I am, I can easily just break out!"
The space between Scientia's eyes wrinkled as she closed them, willfully skipping over the urge to groan.
Jaune became extra pissy when she got ignored, so her opening move became moving at half the speed of light, fist coated in nuclear fire, the Yellow Primordial moved to slam that attack against the armored Perfect Homunculus—
"Too slow"
Appearing right next to the moving Jaune just as she crossed the five-meter threshold, Scientia grabbed the back of the Demon's head with her left gauntlet. Then, manipulating the Primordial's mass by controlling how much the atoms that make up her physical body interact with the Higgs Field, Scientia lowered Jaune's inertia by an incredible factor.
Jaune now possessed such low inertia that she slowed down from half the speed of light to moving millimeters in the span of a single microsecond and the environments around the two weren't devastated at all. All that was were a gentle breeze.
Before Jaune could react to what had just happened, Scientia pulled out a paper-thin sheet of stabilized nuclear pasta— neutronium— from her pocket dimension and then proceeded to slam the Primordial's face into that wall hard enough to create a small dent upon the sheet.
Slowly, Scientia let go of Jaune's head. The Yellow Primordial slumped to the floor like a doll after it was thrown against a wall.
"Apologies, I had no patience for such activities today."
Scientia's voice was cold, and her expression never moved more than necessary.
Getting up, Jaune's face was all bloodied up, and yet, there was a wide smile on her busted-up lips. She was like a bully who just got beaten up by their victim and now respects the hell out of them.
"Heh. Controlling my mass... somehow extinguishing my nuclear magic— you're truly something aren't cha? All done without magic too."
Cracking her neck and relocating her nose, Jaune continued.
"The force you threw me with... if you threw me into the ground instead of that wall made out of dead star matter this whole city would've shattered. Your mass controlling range is definitely limited then."
By the time she finished speaking, the Yellow Primordial was entirely healed up.
What Scientia wore now was the Block-Form Singularity Mathematics, a type of esoteric armor that mimics the properties of a black hole better than even the Gravastar Armor since it creates an artificial singularity across the wearer's skin via a warp space.
"I have multiple ways of disarming you, both figurative and literally," Scientia said with a dark undertone, "Give up."
Jaune cracked her fingers and thought for a bit. It was only when the neutronium wall dissipated back into the Perfect Homunculus' pocket dimension that Jaune said, "Fine, I recognize you as my new Mistress."
Noir's grin split his face in two. He was ecstatic and impressed. To be able to force the Yellow Primordial, the apparent head of the Yellow bloodline of demons, a bloodline known to be unnegotiable to all summoners... how interesting, how very very interesting!
The ease at which his new Mistress subjugated Jaune was most interesting indeed.
Seeing that she's been pacified, Scientia turned to face Arcueid.
Finally, Scientia's features softened.
With a sheepish look as if she were a friend who's forced to cancel a meet-up at the last second because something came up, "Hey Arcueid... sorry I haven't talked with you in a while, as you can see I was pretty busy."
Scientia gestured around her at all those who lay unconscious.
"What... happened to you?" Arcueid hesitantly asked with a look of concern in her eyes, "The stench of blood on you is... intense."
The True Ancestor stared at the center of her world in a fashion similar to how someone would look at their friends who's gotten into an Emo or Chunni phase.
Scientia's mouth formed a sad smile, "Rimuru... was killed—" Arcueid's head tilted to the side to show confusion before the newly born Demon Lord continued, "— and there was a ritual, a way of reviving him. To do so, I had to kill... a lot of people and use their souls as fuel to weaken the laws of the World."
Scientia's right hand extended outward as much as possible. Palm facing the sky as if to offer something, the Perfect Homunculus then spoke, "[Contessa], tell me the steps of resurrecting Rimuru Tempest!"
At first, there was nothing. Then came everything.
Instantly, Scientia's body went rigid, stilling into a statue-like form before moving as smoothly as a superfluid. Her movements were as efficient as physically possible, possessing an elegance and grace that Noir hasn't seen in anyone short of a True Hero like Chronoa or Leon Cromwell.
With a robotic motion of unnatural perfection, Scientia reached into her Pocket Dimension and pulled out the static remains of Rimuru's Essence, currently held in a cylinder.
Scientia would admit to anyone that Essence is a weird particle. They are massless, yet they don't automatically move at the speed of light as photons do, and they seemingly interact with the Electromagnetic Force yet can pass through normal baryonic matter like it wasn't there. They don't seem to interact at all with electrons yet they can be moved using a magnetic field.
Beyond that, Essence appeared to have this acausal nature, where time-locking barely slows the breakdown and not completely halting it like normal stasis.
Magical circles enveloped Scientia's body like a second suit of armor, so numerous they are that one almost couldn't see the darkness from the Block-Form Singularity Mathematics. Countless more runic symbols displaying strange, eldritch words manifested in the air, frozen there in complete stillness and giving out only light.
Unsealing the jar of Essence, crimson lines blossomed like roses in spring as Scientia took out the clump of Essence. Throwing that clump into the air, the building block of the Soul exploded into tiny specks of light that littered the space above the square in front of the Congressional Pyramid, appearing like stars in the night sky as the world darkened.
"[Chrono-Cognition]"
A sudden explosion of red lines erupted forth from Scientia's chest like the roots of a tree. At the very center of this explosion was a small crimson ovoid almost invisible against the backdrop of pure redness.
A huge clock manifested underneath the Perfect Homunculus, who stood at the epicenter as the three hands spun around it akin to a planet with its parent star. A strand of ever-growing light began to orbit Scientia, sprung around her, weaving a thread.
This was a grand magic spell that was created with nine charges into [Magic] and five into [Temporal Engineering]. It was fueled by enough matter turned magicule to rival the industrial output of a Type III interstellar civilization.
It was a spell that is out of reach for almost everyone in the World. The sheer cost, not to mention the precision required to do such a spell was almost unimaginable. To compare this with normal magic would be like trying to compare a bow and arrow with a nuclear bomb in terms of efficiency at raw destruction.
"That's... that's Time itself..." Noir breathed out in shock, his eyes widening like saucers at the growing thread of light.
The Black Primordial was unique among the other Primordials. Appearing as someone who is whimsical enough to save a man before killing him in the next moment, the truth was that Noir was very interested in knowing the Truth of the World.
He wanted to know the 'how' and 'why of things, he wanted to know the reason for everything, the hidden mechanisms that underpin reality, and why everything behaves the way they do— to know Creation as well as God himself. That is his ultimate goal.
One can even argue that Noir was the most knowledgeable of all the Seven Primordials.
The World 'shuddered' when Scientia merely grazed that strand of Time, the Arrow of Time. Normally, the Voice of the World disallows such actions of interacting with the asymmetric flow of time, even in spite of the weakening of the Absolute Laws of the System, it should not be possible short of anyone other than an Ultimate Skill specific in the manipulation of spacetime or God Himself.
The worldline of every single particle in the entire Universe combined to create this map of the past. The worldlines of an almost unimaginable number of particles weaved together like strings of yarn to form a 'sweatshirt' of that thread. The past of total parts comes together to form a past of the total sum.
It was the ultimate map of existence, certainty actualized, a guide to the past of every single thing from the smallest quarks to the largest galaxy— the Universe. One can imagine this is what God sees.
The specks of light floating aimlessly above the clock started to drift, and then move with an intelligence. As commanded by the new Demon Lord, they began orbiting around a single point in space directly above said Demon Lord.
Spreading her arms out as if to give a big welcome, an accretion disk made up of Essence formed around Scientia.
It was a beautiful scene. The imagery of devotion. Looking a lot like a star being born from a cloud of gas, the rebuilding of Rimuru's Soul to exactly how it was the moment before his death has finally begun.
Sweat poured down Scientia's forehead like melted snow from a mountain in spring. Her mouth changed into a grimace as she struck a delicate balance, a fragile homeostasis between the desire to remain standing up and the enormous concentration required to essentially remake someone who's been molecularly disassembled back how it exactly was with not a single atom or quark out of place.
The Perfect Homunculus gritted her teeth, her body started shaking in agony as the singularity above her ate up all the Essence and grew and grew. All the relevant Specialties of [Inspired Inventor] and Ultimate Skill [Mekhane] doing their damnedest to ensure the Demon Lord's will was fully imprinted into reality.
Finally, Scientia's hands came together in a loud clap and all remaining Essence, all the sparkles of light that were spinning around a single point in space, collapsed inward and caused the singularity to rebound, solidifying and forming into a stable Soul— Rimuru's Soul.
It was shining so bright the sun seemed to retreat.
"To recreate someone exactly how it was from their Essence? In accordance with information acquired from the past, using a magic spell so brimming with the Time element that anyone short of Chronoa may be able to cast?" Noir remarked, acting like a herald to a King, "I can think of no greater act than this— to cement your legend as one of the greatest Demon Lords in history."
The soul came down into Scientia's hand. She gently grabbed the reconstructed soul with her right hand before gazing deeply into it, "It is done, now one final step."
A single black doorway opened up on the left-hand side of the Perfect Homunculus. Reaching in, she pulled out a cylindrical container with blinking lights.
Placing the container upright on the ground, Scientia gently tapped the top of the cylinder.
Several beeps later, the top hatch split into 4 pieces and moved down the sides, opening the container to reveal a blue gelatinous substance.
Rimuru's old body, Scientia's mind told her. The final act of Demon Lord before magicule exhaustion caught up to the perfect being was to place the soul back into the body and stitch the astral body into the material body using [Unlimited Alchemy].
"It is... done."
With the last step complete, the ashen blonde's eyelids came down as she collapsed to the floor, utterly exhausted.
_____________________________________________
I dreamed of war.
I stood on a field littered with the bodies of 450,000 people I killed using Project Behemoth. The ground beneath me was awfully soft, as if I was standing on a trampoline before the realization that I'm stepping on a dead body fully dawned on me.
Looking down, I saw the dead body belonging to that of a bearded man with a hole on the side of his head.
For some odd reason, I didn't step off. I looked up and saw that there was a setting sun. The sun was awfully white and was glaring down painfully onto my skin. The sky around the white orb was dyed a shade of the same crimson as blood as if the sun was bleeding. The sun's blood slowly shifted into an inky blackness as my eyes trailed across the sky until I saw the other side of the world where the sun didn't shine.
There doesn't seem to be an atmosphere here, or at least it's very light.
I should know, I've been to planets who's got their atmosphere stripped away due to their star going into the last stage of its life.
I finally stepped off the body and into the crevasses between those bodies of the people I killed and instead stepped into a pool of blood. The blood was warm as if it was freshly spilled.
Many war veterans reported these episodes of depression, of seeing the worst of what they've done. It's one of the many reasons why they lose the will to live since all they see in their dreams are the faces and screams of those whom they killed.
Yet, for me, I feel nothing but apathy when I saw the twisted state of the bodies, all of them looked burnt while a small percentage are frozen while an even smaller percentage had a pair of holes in their head.
Are... are these recordings of the last moment of those who died?
Project Behemoth's dynakinesis affects seemingly all forms of energy aside from magicules since magicules don't seem to be affected by entropy. One of the most common ways it expresses this ability is through the ignition and the further control of fire in a manner that causes as much damage as possible. So then, most of my victims probably died because of those fires.
As for those who are frozen or with a tunnel through their head? The former probably happened when the Endbringer siphoned away almost all the available kinetic energy in the local area and thus froze the remaining survivors to death while the Pellet Stormers finished off what few stragglers managed to escape the fires of Behemoth.
Do I now carry their souls within me?
But beyond that, I know that all this was a dream. The fact that I couldn't use [Unlimited Alcehmy] to get rid of this unsightly scene and the fact that I can't hear anything from [Inspired Inventor] which would've been blaring at me to use the huge amount of biomass I'm standing on.
So is it a surprise when I didn't scream when a hand reached up to pull me down under?
Despite being pulled under, I was entirely calm. There weren't any blood pools. However, as the white sun disappeared from view and darkness fully consumed me, a sense of claustrophobia made itself known with the grace of a drunk driver as it crashed into my mind.
I started fighting back against the almost innumerable number of hands dragging me down. I would start hyperventilating but I can't seem to get any air into my lungs. I punched, kicked, and bit as I was pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss.
I tried to scream. Only for a hand to grab my throat and clench hard enough that no sound could come out.
I try and see through the darkness with no respite, the force of the hand on my throat increased steadily, causing my fight or flight to trigger as I whip around desperately, to try and find which hand is gripping my throat before the answer came to me.
Tracing my eyes down the forearm, I found the source of the arm.
I am the one choking me.
I woke up with a startled gasp, getting up into a sitting position and breathing in as much as possible before looking around the room.
The place where I'm at was a single-person private hospital room. It was white, sterile, with an enclosed washroom jutting out of the cube-shaped room. On the wall facing the foot of my mind was a graphene monitor and there was plenty of medical equipment right next to my bed, all turned off.
Ah... that's probably because they can't get a good reading on me with their equipment.
[Silenced Emotion: 30%]
Feeling my breathing settling into a comfortable rhythm, I was glad that my mind was calming down from the rather unique nightmare I had.
Immediately, [Psychology] offered me therapies that'll help me deal with the act of killing 450,000 people.
"..."
I killed 450,000 people.
I felt the urge to puke.
I killed 450,000 people.
[Silenced Emotion: 90%]
Turning [Silenced Emotion] up so high threw that urge to puke back into the abyss, allowing me to think clearer.
The suggestion made by [Psychology] is an extremely morbid one now that I reflect on it. I don't think I'll take that therapy. I should at least bear this pain, to feel a tiny fraction of the suffering I brought to others. It was the very least I could do.
Looking down at my body, I noticed how the Block-Form Singularity Mathematics has reformed itself into what appears to be a nightgown.
My hands moved to touch the fabric on my chest, feeling it extremely smooth like silk before [Warp-Space Engineering] told me the reason it was so smooth was that it created a special warp space mere nanometers above the actual physical fabric to give the illusion of smoothness.
Warp spaces are some of the most extreme technologies [Inspired Inventor] could produce. They fall under the classification of 'Field Manipulation' technologies since they can control the very Quantum Strings that serve as the most basic foundation for particles of the expanded Standard Model.
Being held in such an item of smooth clothing gave me an unprecedented amount of comfort.
Although...
I tapped my chest a few more times.
When the hell did my body change to give me breasts?!
I grasped them. These are small, more like a young teen's, but they're still there.
"..."
Eh. My hands fell into my lap. I couldn't care less. Even in my old life, I never really cared. [Psychology] said I saw myself as something more akin to a machine for making money, and that the occasional one-night stands I have is just the 'lubrication' of that machine.
The way I see it, if souls exist, then the physical body becomes secondary. I could be a male or female, I could upload myself into machines— even if my form becomes fluid, my soul remains constant. My soul is the core of my being, the ultimate expression of my identity. My physical body is a simple shell to contain that, a temporary vessel for my unchanging soul.
You know, now that I think about it, undeniable evidence for the existence of the Soul causes major ramifications for a lot of philosophies in my old World. People for one would be far less attached to their physical bodies.
Materialism still exists since Souls have become something tangible.
The sound of teleportation instantly caused the Mathematics on my right forearm to the shape of a knight's gauntlet. Facing the source and expecting potential hostiles, I was greeted by two people kneeling right beside the bed.
""Lady Scientia.""
The two said. One was a blonde female and another was a black-haired male.
I glanced at the two to fully take in their form. They're the demons I summoned, aren't they? So I wasn't able to fully take in their form during and right after my ascension into a Demon Lord.
The male wore a suit that resembled a butler while the female was dressed like one of those super strong bullies you'd find in high school.
Although, being a Demon Lord, I don't really have any compulsion to do evil stuff, fortunately.
I raised my gauntlet hand and stared at it. A sense of pleasingness with the darker colors ran through my veins like drinking a cup of hot coffee right after shoveling the snow outside.
Am I like Sauron then? A Dark Lord? Since this is a Tolkien-esque World?
The dark gauntlet retreated and shifted back into the sleeves of my nightgown as my hands fell back into my lap.
I then decided that it was high time to address those whom I'd summoned.
"I didn't get to hear your introduction right after the summoning," I began, "And the events that happened right after I became a Demon Lord felt more like a fever dream for me than anything real, so introduce yourself to me again, do not leave anything out."
Both of them stood up, the one with the butler clothes was still extremely formal while the blondie adopted a more casual stance.
"We both have no name, for none have given us any, but we adopted the words that the mortals in this realm have called us as titles. I am 'Noir'" he pointed to himself, "and this is 'Jaune'" pointing at the blondie who did a little wave as she was introduced, "We, as you probably are aware, are two of the Seven Primordial Demons, the Black and Yellow Primordial to be exact. We are the highest-ranking and the most ancient of the Demonic Nobility. We are the Progenitors, the Firsts, the Primals, the ones who existed long before even the first proto-demons came into existence, back when the Underworld was a more chaotic place."
Fascinating. The sociology of the Underworld was a topic I haven't touched upon much.
"What makes you different from an average Demon?"
This time, it was Jaune who answered, "An average Demon is made from the Essence of the Underworld itself. We Primordials weren't."
I had a distinct feeling that Jaune wasn't going to elaborate any further like Veldora, so I opted to ask [Great Sage] to confirm whether they were telling the truth.
[Correction]
'What?'
There existed no word for how thankful I was for [Acting]. I would've yelped in surprise at how the special language I made for the Endbringer Initiative was being used by... an Ultimate Skill?
I decided to put this on the mental equivalent of a post-it note and turned my attention back to the Primordials I've summoned.
"Give me a run-down of everything that happened ever since I became a Demon Lord."
I should also probably test my Skills, shouldn't I?
[Correction]
[Contessa] agrees with me.
"Of course, my Lady," Noir bowed and happily complied with my demands, "right after you became a Demon Lord and resurrected President Rimuru, things were rather hectic, for a mortal standard that is. The first thing we did was reinstate public order by reassuring the public and having President Rimuru make several public announcements. Though there were some who tried to coup in far-out villages east of the Ameld, a quick showing of Jaune blasting Nuclear Magic high up into the skies was enough to squash any coup attempts in those local municipal governments.
Jaune had a wide smug grin on her face. The aura that radiated from her made you want to instinctively punch her to wipe that smugness off her face.
"Yeah! A few displays of magic and everyone falls in line.
"Truthfully though, I think the security system you designed, my Lady, was enough to pacify those coups."
"Hey! It was your idea to have me fire off those Nuclear Magic to intimidate everyone!"
"Impossible, I know how humans and other mortals think better than a brute who's spent almost the entirety of written history hidden away inside a volcano, and only comes out to unleash city-destroying nuclear blasts at nearby settlements for, as you called it, 'shits and giggles'."
A blush appeared on Jaune's cheeks, "Why you...! How dare you bring up my black history!"
The air in the room heated up, and just when it looked like a fight was about to happen between the two bickering like old friends, I stopped it.
"Enough, tell me what happened afterward."
Just as Noir was about to speak, Jaune pushed him away and beamed with a bright smile on her face, "It took a little while for everyone to wake up, but once they did we debriefed that purple-haired hobgoblin and the red Kijin on how you've successfully evolved into a True Demon Lord."
"And..." I felt the urge to delay receiving the information, because if it failed, then everything I'd done would've all been for nothing, the sacrifice of almost half a million people gone, "And Rimuru, how was he?"
"The slime?" Jaune puckered her lips, "He's actually the first to wake up. In fact, he's the one who brought you to this place and watched over you the entire time you were asleep. The only reason he's not here right now was because of presidential duties calls."
"..."
The amount of relief I felt at that moment was indescribable. Even with [Silenced Emotion] turned up so high.
I've... succeeded.
The intricate mask crafted by [Acting] cracked as the edge of my mouth curved upward.
I've succeeded!
I've succeeded! I've succeeded! I've succeeded! I've succeeded!
It wasn't all for nothing! It wasn't! It wasn't! It wasn't!
I wanted to scream in joy. I was able to prevent another Kathy situation!
Before I could scream, however, I managed to rein myself in, though there still was a small, almost imperceptible smile on my face.
"I see, and how long have I been asleep?"
Just as Jaune was about to speak, Noir interrupted her by speaking up first, "My Lady, you have been asleep for 55 hours and 54 minutes."
"I see..." I stated, my hands coming together in a business-like fashion as [Plan] begins strategizing what's to come next once more.
Noir looked excited by the fact that I appear to be in deep thought, while Jaune— who's wearing oddly modern clothing which makes me think there's a tiny chance she's a Reincarnator— went and sat on one of the chairs that were placed next to the walls.
For doing so much, I should reward them, shouldn't I? And then later give them full employment?
"You all are loyal to me, correct?"
Noir nodded, and as though it were a competition, Jaune nodded furiously as she got up from her seat and kneeled by my bedside, prompting Noir to do the same.
"I would've sworn my allegiance to you the moment you summoned me, but since you were unconscious because of the Harvest Festival, I shall restate my oaths now; I, as the Black Primordial, hereby swear to be absolutely loyal to you."
"For introducing the biggest change I've ever seen in all my long life, I, the Yellow Primordial, hereby promise absolute loyalty to you. I want to see the kind of changes you bring, Herald of Change."
The Yellow and Black bloodline of demons is infamous for their demons betraying their summoners, so their oaths might be worth either more than their weight in gold or completely worthless.
'Are they being truthful?'
[Correction]
'Path to getting them to become disloyal'
[524,797,299,307,992,770,178 steps in total]
[Step 1: do not name them]
'Holy shit, they are serious! Man, why didn't I summon more demons again?'
My eyes widen a bit at the sheer devotion they are showing me.
[Distain]
Ah, that's right, I'm a person of science. I don't trust magic. So until magic can fully fit the current model of the universe, I'm going to be limiting its use.
"Hmm, loyalty deserves a reward. I presume you all do not have a name?"
"It would be an honor to be named by you, my Lady,"
"Nah. Never had a name."
Three guesses as to who said the more formal one!
Placing a hand on my chin, I pondered at what to name these most powerful demons in the World.
'Diablo' is out. That's boring, generic, and obvious as hell for anyone. I'd like something more unique... so Rose for the female? No, she doesn't wear any red, and Citrinitas is already taken...
The edge of my mouth trailed downward.
Citrinitas would've been perfect for Jaune!
My mind then started working again. My eyes focused on Jaune's vibrant blonde hair and her ocean-blue eyes.
The first female historical figure I imagine when I saw this color palette was Joan of Arc. So how about Jeanne d'Arc?
There's irony in naming a demon— one of the most powerful demons— after one of the greatest Christian Saints in my old World.
Heh.
I like that. The irony.
Pointing at Jaune, "Your name shall be Jeanne." I then pointed at Noir, "Your name..." Is naming a butler Alfred or Jarvis overrated? Yeah probably, but I already have an AI named Alfred and another named Jarvis so those are out.
I froze in place in search of a name, the specialties are not helping by staying silent.
As I was thinking, red lines came out of my body like tree branches and encircled Jeanne before creating a cocoon around her, I can hear her snickering at the fact that Noir still hasn't got his name despite currently undergoing an evolution into...
[Data]
Right, a Demon Peer.
Fuck, this is going to be INCREDIBLY awkward if Noir still doesn't get a name even after Jeanne's evolution.
So without thinking, I blurted out the only thing I could come up with at that moment, "Your name is Diablo!"
Noir looked happy, "what a wonderful name, yes I do enjoy that name," he praised me, not knowing the fact that I ridiculed that name for being too generic.
Red lines sprouted from my armored skin and formed a cocoon around Diablo as well, making him undergo an evolution as well
God damn it!
