Declaration Of War 2

Rimuru thanked his lucky stars that he had always been a somewhat paranoid individual. When Soei's double vanished and he could feel his strength leaving his body as Hinata approached, he began to panic. He could tell she was stronger than him, even without the barrier, and so fighting her would be beyond stupid. And so, an idea came to mind: he formed a double of himself, dumped most of his remaining energy into it, then left it there in his human form as she slithered away in his slime form to a safe place. Unlike Soei's doubles, this was a physical clone, and as such would not vanish from the anti-magic barrier nor could it be distinguished as a copy; he remotely controlled it with the soul corridor that he could naturally form with his clones, which thankfully was not cut by the barrier. And so, he somehow managed to live on. With the barrier gone, he quickly sent a message to Ranga.

The Tempest Wolf jumped out of his shadow almost immediately 'Master!' he shouted 'Are you alright?!'

-'I'm fine.' Rimuru said as he took back his human form 'I somehow managed to make due. How about you?'

-'Truth is Master, I sense something was wrong.' the Wolf said 'I tried sending a message to Sir Benimaru but I could not make contact. Even now...'

-'What?' Rimuru asked concerned 'But the barrier is gone...oh no...' he realized 'She said they want to take out Tempest...which means...' he quickly tried to open a transfer point back to Tempest, but nothing, like before

Response: suspecting that teleportation destination is cut off by a magical barrier. Great Sage responded

'Like the one here?' he though 'Means the attack already started! Great Sage, search for the closest functioning port!' he ordered; after a few agonizingly long seconds, the Sage responded

Notice: the port at the Sealed Cave is still functioning. it replied

-'Ranga, jump into my shadow! We need to hurry!' without a single complaint, the wolf merged into his shadow. A second later, he activated the spell and teleported away.

The pedestal outside Veldora's Cave shimmered to life; a small figure suddenly materialized on it, looking somewhat panicked.

'Good, it worked just fine.' Rimuru said with some relief 'I need to quickly get a picture of what is happening.' He looked over in the direction of the city, and was stunned. Thanks to his magic sense, he could basically see it: a magical dome, shimmering in ethereal colors, large enough to enclose the entire city. 'What is this?' he though, then felt a familial presence behind him

-Lord Rimuru!' Gabiru was running towards him as he exited the cave; Vesta came behind him a moment later

-'Gabiru, Vesta...' he said as calmly as he could 'You're safe. What in the world in going on here?'

-'Sir, we're not sure.' Gabiru quickly said 'There was a commotion in the city some short time ago, but then we heard nothing.'

-'Commotion? Was it an attack?' he asked

-'No, Sir.' Gabiru shaked his head 'From what I heard through though communication, some humans adventurers were making trouble. I don't know anything else on that matter, but...er...' he suddenly got a very hesitant look on his face. He wanted to ask but

-'Sir Rimuru!' he heard Soei's voice coming from the nearby forest. Turning around, he saw the ogre, along with Soka and a few others, landing in front of him 'You are safe. Thank goodness.' he said as he took a knee

-'Enough of that, what do you know?'

-'A number of human soldiers entered the city a few moments ago, shortly after the barrier got erected. They left after about ten minutes; I don't know what happened inside.'

-'Nothing else?' the ogre shook his head 'Then we need to get going...Gabiru, what were you going to say earlier?' he asked as he turned to the dragonnewt, who quickly avoided eye contact

-'It's just...not long before those adventurers showed up, we got an urgent message from Eurazania. It...well, I don't know how to say this...' he looked like he was tasked to tell someone their most important person died. Thankfully, Vesta stepped in, placing a hand on his college shoulder. The dwarf turned to Rimuru and said

-'Miss Albis asked us to help evacuate their civilians. It seems...Demon Lord Milim has declared war on Eurazania.'

His mind stopped working. A deafening silence set in as Vesta's words sunk in, and everyone around looked with great concern at their master, who simply stood there with a blank expression. 'What...did you say?' he said when his mind recovered enough to speak. He didn't say the words with any particular emotion, but it was enough to put everyone on edge. 'Milim...why?' he asked no one in particular.

-'I'm sorry, Sir, but no one knows...' Vesta replied as gently as he could. 'Miss Albis said Lady Milim showed up and...' however, before he could say anything else, Gabiru quickly grabbed his shoulder, signaling him to stop. He looked at Rimuru and quickly shut up.

Rimuru had to stumble a step back as he tried to process everything that he was told. He was already feeling very stressed, but hearing that, his mind turned hazy...he wanted to rush off right that instant to find Milim and see what she was doing. However...'No...I need to figure things out here first...' he though as he managed to clear through the haze and get a grip on his heart. He noticed everyone around him looking in concern.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Vesta 'We can deal with that after we get things here under control...' he said as he resolved his will 'The city...takes priority. Soei, you guys come with me for now. Gabiru...' he turned to the dragonnewt 'I want you and your men to secure the Cave; we may need to fall back to it. Vesta, see if you can contact Gazel. We may need to ask him for assistance. Get going.' 'Yes, Sir!' everyone responded, then quickly turned to see to their duties.

With Soei and his underlings in tow, Rimuru arrived to the edge of the barrier around the city; moving carefully closer to it, he placed a hand on it 'Great Sage, see what you can tell me.' he ordered

Notice: Low magicule density detected inside the barrier; estimated to be the result of an anti-magic field and a secondary barrier. the Sage quickly informed

'Anti-magic field? Like the one during my fight with Hinata?' Rimuru asked

Negative: The proprieties are the same, but this one is a weaker version with a lesser purifying effect. the Sage said, then added Notice: a multi-layered defense barrier should protect against its effects.

'Alright, make it happen.' Rimuru ordered; once he felt the new barrier around him, he turned to Soei 'Okay, looks like I can get inside. I'll deal with whoever placed the secondary field inside. You, Soka and the rest scout the forest and find those who placed the one on the outside. Take them out without killing them if you think you can win; if not, notify me of their location. We can deal with them in force late.' Soei and his people nodded and quickly disappeared from view. He turned to the edge of the barrier, and took a step through.

He could feel the effect of the anti-magic field trying to overcome his new barrier, but thankfully it held, just like the Sage had informed him. Once through, he quickly made a dash through the street to find some answers. As he was moving, he could see that the humans who left did not do so without doing some damage; all kinds of rubble was littered through the street, windows broken and a number of what he hoped were not blood stains; however, there were no bodies, thankfully...

'Were they Hinata's subordinates?' he wondered as he moved 'It's really frustrating that she delayed me as much as she did, but since I lived anyway maybe I can still stop whatever she's planing...' ahead of him, he could see a large crowd of hobgoblins, including a very large and familiar one trying to calm them down. Rigurd immediately sense his master approaching and made a run to great him.

-'Lord Rimuru!' he billowed as he grabbed his shoulders, knelled and started sobbing 'I'm...so glad to see you are well...' he said through tears

-'It's fine, calm down...' he said; he then noticed Kaijin approaching. As the dwarf came closer, Rigurd managed to calm down and began to talk coherently

-'I'm sorry...Lord Rimuru, I have a report. If you would follow me...' however, Rimuru could feel something was wrong;

-'Rigurd, what's wrong?' he asked, but the hobgoblin looked extremely hesitant to say; before he could ask again, a loud boom echoed through the city. He turned in the direction of the explosion and saw a large black cloud erupting skywards from behind some buildings nearby; before Rigurd could protest, he made a run for it. As he turned a corner into the alley the explosion came from, he saw a small crowd gathered, including Geld and Benimaru.

In front of Benimaru was the lycanthrope Grucius, looking like he had barley survived a point blank fire attack from Benimaru; he was wobbling, but alive and defiant. Behind him, he could barley make out the form of Yohm, looking extremely injured as was laid down on the pavement, held by a woman...he searched his memories and remembered she was that new party member that had come with Yohm's group before he left, the majin pretending to be human. As he approached, he could heal Grucius and Benimaru argue

-'I won't let you have her!' Grucius said through gritted teeth, looking ready to die 'You guys are not thinking straight!'

-'She's our main suspect. Move.' Benimaru said calmly but with a clear hint of anger; before he could do anything, Benimaru struck Grucius faster than human eyes could see. The beastman crumbled onto the ground. 'My apologize to you both, but she must answer my questions...' and moved to apprehend the woman

-'Benimaru, stop!' Rimuru wasn't sure what was going on, but he felt that he had to intervene immediately before the ogre did something he would regret. Everyone in the alley quickly turned to look at him

-'Lord Rimuru...' Benimaru said in shock, then approached him

-'Benimaru, what is going on here?' he asked. The ogre turned to look at the woman and Yohm, then with a heavy sigh turned back and began explaining.

-'Sir, this woman, Mjulan...' he said, indicating the majin woman 'we believe responsible for the barrier placed around the city. For some reason, both Yohm and Grucius interfered and defended her when we tried to capture her..' he said. As Rimuru looked at the woman, who was looking at him with a sorrowful gaze, the ogre continued 'There was an attack...a group of about a hundred human knights. It would hardly be a problem, normally, but with the barrier...' he suddenly stopped, looking hesitant and averting his eyes when Rimuru turned at him. Rimuru had enough

-'Why is everyone so hesitant to tell me the bad news?' he said through a sigh 'Just give it to me. Now.' he added a bit more forcefully.

-'Do you really wish to know?' the woman suddenly spoke up; he turned at her and noticed her sorrowful look had turned into one of guilt. He nodded. The woman, Mjulan, gently placed Yohm's head on the ground and got up slowly.

-'Wait...' Yohm said weakly 'Please...' From where he was sitting, Grucius too looked to be in a panic to stop her

-'It's okay.' she said with a small, sad smile 'I will not run away.' and moved away, motioning Rimuru to follow. He too motioned the ogre to bring Yohm and Grucius with them, then began walking behind Mjulan.

After a minute of walking, he realized she had led them into the town square. She stopped and stepped aside, allowing him to get a good look at what she had led them to.

About a hundred of them; bodies. Bloodied, tattered, un-moving bodies. Dead, every last one; including children.

He looked onto the scene, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. 'Are they...' his mind tried to work, but it felt heavy and painful just thinking '...dead?' It hut to even think up the word.

-'The attackers disguised themselves among the merchants...' he heard one of the hobgoblins lords say behind him 'we treated them with respect and fairness, as you instructed us to do to humans and everyone else...but to think...'

-'Be silent.' Rigurd suddenly said; the hobgoblin quickly realized what he said and covered his mouth in shock 'I...I'm so sorry, my Lord...' he tried to say, but Rimuru would not hear it

-'No, it's fine.' he said softly 'It's fine.' he though back to the time he had become the protector of the goblins. 'I want you all to follow three simple rules: no infighting; no looking down on others; and finally, do not attack humans. Understood?' he had told them. 'It's because you obeyed..my rules...' he said aloud, ignoring the protests of the crowd. 'It's my fault.' he said, not wanting to hear anything else.

'I did this...' he thought as he looked over the field of carefully placed bodies of the people who entrusted him with their lives. 'I...did this...'