23 Near Future!!

Lucifer Tempest could be seen sitting in Rimuru's office doing paperwork but it seemed as if he finishing up the last one left.

"Done!" Lucifer exclaimed tiredly, moving the strands of purple hair obscuring his vision.

His hair was currently in a messy bun with two strands hanging out from each side.

It's been a few hours since he started working non-stop.

Swiping his hand across his forehead, cleaning off the imaginary sweat, he smiles in delight.

"I really need that [Parallel Existence] skill." Lucifer muttered.

Reaching into one of the drawers under the desk, Lucifer pulls out a blueprint.

On the blueprint, it showed a generator.

It was one of Lucifer's ideas, he plans to make multiple generators that can emit Magicules into a defensive barrier that can withstand even Nuclear bombs. He plans to spread out these multiple generators around Tempest which will activate if it senses incoming dangers and encompass Tempest in a very powerful barrier.

The only thing he's missing is potent enough Magicules that can continuously power it and he has just the right person for the job but it seems as if he'll have to wait.

If you haven't guessed right, it's the one and only Veldora.

"Yo Lucifer!" Rimuru walked into the office waving, looking rejuvenated and happy with a bag of potato chips in his hands.

"It seems like someone had a good break." Lucifer smiled, raising his head from the blueprint.

"Yeah! I toured around Tempest and relaxed a little with Gobta." Rimuru replied while laying on the couch in front of the desk.

As soon as Rimuru was about to get another piece of chips from his bag, he realized it was missing.

"My chips!" He instantly looked towards Lucifer who seemed to be munching on it without a care in the world.

But soon Lucifer's carefree face turned into disgust.

"Disgusting." Lucifer muttered under his breath, throwing the bag of chips back at Rimuru.

"Disgusting!? Wha-!" Rimuru was about to question which was his favorite but Lucifer cut him off.

"Now! The reason why I called you here was because of the future of our nation!" Lucifer flamboyantly exclaimed with his hands extended outwards.

"What about the future?" Rimuru questioned, already used to his antics.

"I believe our nation will be attacked in the near future!" Lucifer stated.

"What!?" Rimuru questioned baffled, almost choking on his chips.

"It's as I said, in the near future I believe we will be attacked." Lucifer then went on to explain things about the Western Holy Church. How they hold prejudice against monsters and would kill any monsters they deem a threat to humans.

"And where did you get such information?" Rimuru questioned after sitting up straight, seemingly understanding the situation, he seemed calmer than Lucifer expected.

"Let's just say I know the future because of one of my special skills." Lucifer nervously chuckled.

Rimuru narrowed his eyes, he knew Lucifer was lying but he wasn't gonna force him to tell the truth, he'll leave it up to him.

Usually, Rimuru would have deemed knowing the future impossible but after everything he's witnessed here, he wouldn't be surprised if it was real.

"Okay, so in this future, we get attacked? So what happens? Did we win, or lose?" Rimuru questioned.

"Let's just say we lose and win." Lucifer stated.

"What's that mean?" Rimuru seemed confused.

Lucifer then went on to explain what happened in canon, how Rimuru was in another kingdom teaching kids and got caught off guard by Hinata Sakaguchi who was the leader of the Ten Great Saints. How a good amount of people were slaughtered including Shion because of his rules about not hurting humans but he later resurrected them.

"Damn I resurrected them!? I must have gotten pretty powerful!" Rimuru exclaimed with a smile.

Lucifer just raised his eyebrows, surprised at how carefree Rimuru was being about the situation.

Rimuru noticed his gaze and understood it.

"You're probably wondering why I'm being so carefree. Well, I guess your antics are rubbing off on me, hehe. But the reason I'm not as angry is that it hasn't happened yet, which means we can still change the future! I am a bit sad and disappointed that my own rules caused the death of my own citizens but I can still fix that!" Rimuru bitterly smiled but his eyes soon turned determined.

Lucifer was again surprised by Rimuru's actions, he keeps understanding that even though Rimuru can be a bit naive, his strength grows infinitely with his perspicacity which helps him grow into an amazing leader.

'Now that I think about it, Rimuru would commit tons of massacres, either himself or by his subordinates. I think I was wrong in my assumption of thinking he's naive, he just looks for the best in a person but if it comes to it, he will do what needs to be done.' Lucifer pondered.

"I suppose your right, the first thing we should focus on is strength." Lucifer chuckled and told Rimuru the first part.

"Yeah, you said I could resurrect people, how did I gain such a power?" Rimuru questioned.

"By becoming a Demon Lord!" Lucifer stated.

"A Demon Lord? I've heard of them but I thought they were just positions, not powers." Rimuru confusedly asked.

Lucifer then went on to explain how to become a demon lord and how it works.

"I see. So we would need this Demon Lord Seed and after we get the Demon Lord Seed, we need 10,000 souls in order to evolve?" Rimuru questioned while holding his chin in deep contemplation.

"Yeah pretty much." Lucifer confirmed.

"Now that I think about it, how come you never mentioned yourself when talking about the future? Also, where did you get all this other information from?" Rimuru questioned.

"Oh, I was out also, exploring somewhere far, hehe. And to answer your second question, I got it from my time in Ingracia." Lucifer lied while keeping a straight face.

Rimuru didn't believe him but suddenly it hit him.

"The kids! I was supposed to go and find a way to heal them, shit!" Rimuru panicked, he wondered if he was too late.

He promised Shizue he would take care of her students but he had totally forgotten because of all the work.

He was about to leave to head there immediately but Lucifer's voice made him stop in his steps.

"Their fine, since I was there I already figured out a way to heal them, I just forgot to meet them. I'll get someone to bring them here, so it can become their new home." Lucifer explained.

He knew it would be weird if he just took them to Tempest and told them that it was their new home but he really did forget and he didn't wanna waste his or Rimuru's time teaching them.

Rimuru calmed down and sat back down.

"*Sigh* My bad, I was just worried." Rimuru sighed.

"Yeah it's fine, but back on topic, we already have the Demon Lord Seeds, all we need now is the 10,000 souls for each of us."

"Is there really no other way?" Rimuru seemed reluctant about killing so much, just for them to gain power. Unlike in the original, he was driven by anger or desperation to save the ones he care about but in this timeline, no one has died yet.

"No, once we become Demon Lords we can efficiently protect Tempest, Veldora would also be able to help us. I know you might not like the idea but sometimes we just gotta do what we gotta do." Lucifer stated a matter of factly.

"Your right, if it's to protect Tempest then I'll do anything even if that means killing thousands but if there is a better way I want you to try and help me find it." Rimuru stated determinedly.

"Well, there is another way, where we won't have to kill innocents." Lucifer stated but didn't seem too thrilled about the idea.

"What?" Rimuru was down to try anything if he could avoid killing innocents.

"Well, all living beings have souls, which means we could probably use demons as nourishment for us." Lucifer explained his idea.

"Hmm, I would rather kill demons than humans. But why do you seem against the idea?" Rimuru nodded in agreement and questioned, he thought this was a better option rather than killing humans, so he couldn't understand why Lucifer was like this.

"Well, I was planning on recruiting demons into our army in the near future and I would rather avoid killing them." Lucifer explained.

"Really? I mean if you don't want to, we can probably figure out an idea before they attack. Now that I think about it, when is the attack supposed to be?" Rimuru asked.

"I actually don't remember, maybe in a few weeks or a month?" Lucifer questioned himself while chuckling, he truly didn't remember such small details in the anime.

But the real reason Lucifer didn't seem thrilled about the idea was that he didn't wanna accidentally kill important demon figures that he wanted in his army.

Examples could be someone like Moss from the novel, Testarossas subordinate, he doesn't think he would recognize them.

'I guess If we do go with that Idea, we can just bring Diablo and he can sort out the ones with potential.' Lucifer inwardly thought.

"*Yawn*" Rimuru yawned sleepily while stretching out his arms upwards.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes at such a thing.

"Do you usually yawn?" Lucifer questioned.

"What type of question is that?" Rimuru questioned confusedly.

"Just answer." Lucifer replied.

"No, I guess not, jeez are you happy now?" Rimuru replied, seemingly back with energy.

Lucifer knew that someone such as Rimuru doesn't have the physical capabilities to feel tired but he just yawned, Lucifer has a theory but currently has nothing to prove it, so he just stayed silent.

"Mhm, Well, we can hold a meeting and inform the rest about this later today. And also check out my blueprint on the desk, Ima go catch a break for a little, once I come back I'll commence the meeting." Lucifer waved and disappeared.

"Are these chips really disgusting though?" Rimuru seemingly questioned himself while looking down at the bag of chips.

He just shrugged and continue eating them while walking towards the blueprint on the desk.

****

Lucifer seemingly appeared on the outskirts of a lake, it was the lake Rimuru and his subordinates came for vacation in the Slime Diaries side story series.

He went walked towards the lake and pulled his shirt off and took off his socks/slides, only leaving his pants on.

Untying his bun from earlier, he let it fall down and relax.

As soon as he was done preparing, he put a barrier around his pants in order to not allow them to get wet and dived into the water.

*SPLASH!*

Being underwater was one of the places that allowed him to focus and feel more relaxed.

Swimming to the bottom of the lake, he laid down on the ground and just closed his eyes to relax.