Despair And Hope 1
In the great mountains of Fulbrosia, in the capital of Jia, a great disaster nearly took place one day. Everyone for miles was suddenly onset by a massive, soul crushing pressure; the ones to weak to resist it simply fainted, but those who did resist it wished they did not, for it simply caused them greater discomfort.
The pressure was emanating from within the Royal Palace belonging to Queen Frey, from one of her guests rooms. Inside were two people: one was Frey, trying very hard to stay on her feet so close to the source; the other, from which the pressure was coming from, was Milim Nava, looking like a raging storm, face contorted in indescribable rage
-'I will kill them ALL!' she shouted; her voice reverberated with power unlike anything Frey had ever sensed before in her entire existence. The Sky Queen had always knew, ever since first meeting the seemingly child-like Demon Lord, that she could not ever hope to even compare herself with her; the gap was so ludicrous, so overwhelming, that it was madness to even think she could. Even so, she now realized something far worse: the power she though Milim had was but a drop in the ocean to what she actually had; the gap between them was beyond even what she imagined; incomprehensible. And now, she was staring it right in its face.
She knew when she heard from Clayman that nothing good would happen, but even so she felt it was her duty to tell the girl about the attack on Rimuru and Tempest. The result was now obvious.
Milim was furious; she was waiting in her guest room in Frey's castle and doing her best to fulfill her promise, when Frey came in, looking very, very unnerved. Scared, even. And then she told her that Clayman- or rather, the one they suspected to be working with Clayman- had orchestrated an attack on Rimuru. From what Clayman knew, the slime was already dead. Hearing that, Milim's heart froze over with grief; an image of a dead dragon flashed in her mind, and the ice was replaced with a burning, searing anger. A second later, she could feel herself losing control, but she did not care. She though about the slime in Tempest, all the fun they had, the warm welcoming she was given; how Rimuru had told her that he loved her. In over two thousand years, no one before had ever said that to her. Until that quiet moment on the roof...and now, Frey told her that he was gone.
For two thousand years, she tried very hard to keep her rage in check; despite what some said about her, the fact was she had always held back more than they would ever understand; afraid of what she would do if she didn't. Afraid of herself. And now, hearing what the harpy said, she could feel her control slipping and she just didn't care. She was looking forward to letting go and turning those responsible to ash. She felt as her aura began crushing everything around her, cracking the walls and floor and tears flowing down her cheeks...but as she looked over at Frey, who was barley able to still stay conscious, she felt another distant memory...and began bringing her aura back into her body.
Frey wobbled on her feet as she looked at Milim, who was crying and had a guilty look on her face. Realizing just how much pain she must have been in, she ignored her own body's screams of protest and moved forward until she was right in front of her. Milim, somewhat confused, continued to look at her; suddenly, Frey brought her into a hug. In a flash, the aura and pressure vanished.
-'I'm sorry...' Milim said through sobs 'I didn't...I didn't mean to...' she tried to say but Frey just held her tighter
-'It's okay.' she said softly 'You don't need to be sorry...' hearing that, Milim lost most of what composure she had left and cried into her chest.
-'I...can't loose...him too...' she barley managed to get the words out through her tears. Frey didn't ask what 'too' meant; she didn't want to make her recall even more sad memories up 'I can't...' Milim tried to continue but all she could do was keep crying
-'Milim, listen to me...' Frey said as she grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes 'listen...' Milim seemingly calmed down just enough to listen, so she continued 'Rimuru loves you, right?' she asked. Milim blinked some tears away, thinking
-'That's what he said...' she answered, breathing a bit heavy 'he said...'
-'Then you have to believe in him.' Frey continued with a firm voice 'that he would not die and abandon you so easily.'
Milim listened to what the harpy said, and her heart, though just a bit, stopped hurting; she nodded 'I believe...' she eventually said 'I do...but...' Frey brought her back into a hug
-'I know.' she said to Milim 'but just hold onto that belief.' Milim nodded.
She nodded, and resolved her heart; she would see Rimuru again, she was convinced of that, and she would never let him go, ever. She would hold onto him and together they would be happy. And anyone who got in the way of that would suffer before they died.
'I did this...' was all that could be heard in Rimuru's mind for what felt like an eternity. 'I did this!' he ignored all the calls of the others trying to divert blame from him, but he refused. He decided he would embrace his guilt.
-'This is my doing...' a voice broke through his dazzled, guilt ridden mind. He turned to the source, Mjulan, who continued 'If I had not used my anti-magic field, none of this would have happened.' she said. Hearing that, Rimuru could feel something other than guilt rise up within him: rage. A dark shadow fell over his face and many in the nearby crowd had to take a step back as a surge of magicules erupted around him. Mjulan, however, looked perfectly calm, continuing to look at him; he realized she had resigned herself to whatever fate he had in store for her. He extended his right arm towards her
-'Wait, boss!' he could hear Yohm protest, being held back by one of his men 'Listen, please!' however, as much as he wanted to, he could not listen. His body continued to move. He gathered some magicules in his palm...
Notice... he was suddenly stopped by the Great Sage's voice resounding in his mind Estimated that the barrier placed outside the town had a far greater effect than the one placed inside by individual Mjulan. it said. With a sudden realization, he stopped. The overflowing aura vanished, as did the rage penetrating his mind. 'Calm down. She was trying to goad me into killing her...' he though 'She was trying to prevent blame from landing on Yohm and Grucius for protecting her? Why? Was it...' his own mind suddenly flashed a picture of a certain red-haired girl with a wide smile 'Ah, I see...' he though as he looked between Mjulan, Yohm and Grucius. No way he could be mad now. Annoyed, yes, but now that he had a better grasp on what was going on, he at least could understand where they stood. He sighed.
-'That was close...' he said 'Mjulan, was it? I will deal with you later. I am placing you under house arrest.' he said as he turned to Yohm and Grucius 'You two...I promise to be fair.' he told them. They looked worried, but also trusting. A group of hobgoblin wold riders began escorting the three away to Mjulan's room. As they were leaving, he turned to the councilors present in the square
-'Okay, I want a detailed report. No holding back for my sake, got it?' he said, and they looked only to reluctantly agree.
-'Then, may I join?' a familiar voice said. He turned around and saw that it was Mjollmile, the merchant he had recruited in Brumund and saved in Ingrassia from a dragon.
-'Ah, I see you're here too, Mjollmile?' he told the man through a forced smile 'Bit of a bad time to be doing shopping, I'm afraid...' he tried to joke. For his part, the merchant offered a weak smile
-'Heh, even a dragon could not scare me away from a good deal, Sir Rimuru!' Mjollmile joked back 'But I guess this is different...' he said as he cast a glance at the rows of bodies 'In any case, I had recently been elected to represent the human merchants that you allowed to do busyness here; I would like to be present to your talks, maybe offer a different view on what happened.' hearing that, Rimuru cast his gaze at a number of human assembled some distance behind Mjollmile, a collection of adventurers and merchants.
-'Okay, follow me.' he said.