Chapter 47: Interrogation

Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?

Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.

Chapter 47: Interrogation

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- Felix -

"Just leave that bit to me."

There is an ability I've been wanting to test out for some time now.

Spiritual Domination is an Extra Skill I'd analyzed from Ramiris. I never had a reason to recreate it and try it out, but now I have one.

'Odin.'

'Notice. The Extra Skill: Spiritual Domination has been recreated."

'Thanks.'

Spiritual Domination allows me complete domination over a target's thoughts and emotions. The only way to resist is to have an extraordinarily strong will, or be powerful enough to fight off its effects.

Thought Domination is fairly similar to Spiritual Domination, Thought Domination is better for immediate control, while Spiritual Domination is more all encompassing. With Spiritual Domination I can control a person's entire being, while Thought Domination only controls the thoughts.

From what I know, Mariabell is incapable of fighting Spiritual Domination off. 

"Before I summon Mariabell I'll give you two some information on her I was able to acquire since you two don't seem to know all that much about her."

"According to my sources, Mariabell is basically Granbell's second in command, she has access to basically all his resources, including the Rosso's secret forces, the Blood Shadow." I continued.

"The Blood Shadow?" Asked Rimuru.

"The Blood Shadow is a force under the Rossos that is composed of Otherworlders that have been enslaved with the Locking Curse."

Rimuru's eyes widened. "Then…."

I nodded. "Yes, it is likely that the attackers on Tempest were members of Blood Shadow."

Rimuru sighed but nodded, though I noticed him clenching his fists under the table. I'm sure he doesn't like that many people were killed in an attack they had no choice to participate in.

But the world is cruel.

"Anyways, using her position, Mariabell should easily be capable of mobilizing the Blood Shadow for this attack. Even the Chaos Dragon seemed to have been under her control."

"How did she control the Chaos Dragon?" Asked Rimuru.

Rimuru seriously needs to ask these questions to Raphael, I'm sure his Skill is capable of figuring these kinds of things out.

I did still answer him, though. "Using Greed. The Chaos Dragon didn't have much of an Ego, so Mariabell was able to dominate it fairly easily with Greed. I'm guessing she sent the Chaos Dragon to attack as a distraction. Perhaps to distract us with the big threat while her Blood Shadow quickly caused chaos."

Rimuru nodded.

"Anyways that's about all the information I have on Mariabell, one thing to keep in mind is that we definitely shouldn't kill her in Tempest if you want to build a proper relationship with the Western Nations. Even her public identity as a princess of a small nation could cause Tempest trouble in the future if her death is used against you Rimuru."

"Yeah, I already got that. I'm not that helpless at this whole ruler thing, you know." Rimuru pouted.

I nodded. "I did have an idea of how to take care of her, we could always just have her die in an unfortunate Monster attack, but what I was leaning towards was using her to lure out Yuuki and dealing with both Yuuki and Mariabell in one go. We can make it look like a crazy strong Monster attacked them both causing them both to unfortunately perish."

Rimuru's face cringed hearing me but he did eventually nod.

"Hmm, that plan could work. Perhaps I can lend a hand as well. I can send some members of the Church to investigate and confirm everything. Give the story more legitimacy." Said Luminous.

"That'll help, thanks Luminous."

Luminous looked at me haughtily. "It is no problem Felix."

Ah, what a tsundere. Maybe that's where Hinata got it from.

"Now that we got that out of the way, I'll summon Mariabell."

I got up and went towards an open area of the room and raised my hand.

'Beelzebuth.'

A swirl of darkness formed before my palm, and out came Mariabell.

She was ejected out and was unable to recover leading to her landing face first on the floor.

I smiled at her. "Thank you for joining us today, Mariabell."

Mariabell's gaze snapped to me, and I could see the sheer rage in her eyes, but behind the rage was some healthy fear for me.

"You!" She snarled.

Before she could do anything I crouched down and grabbed her by the face.

"Now, now, don't act like that. We just want some… information from you."

Hearing me Mariabell's gaze wandered to the table I was previously sitting at. Her eyes widened. 

"T-Two more Demon Lords!"

I nodded. "Indeed. Cooperation is in your best interest, you know. I'm sure Granbell has informed you plenty about Luminous."

Mariabell's glare returned in full force. "Never!"

I smirked. "Heh, I was hoping you'd say that."

'Odin.'

"Wha-" Mariabell's resistance immediately faded.

'It is done.'

Ah, it's relatively easy to take control of someone with Spiritual Domination with Odin's assistance, too easy, in fact.

If I was a fat bastard I could totally abuse the shit out of this. But no! I am better than that! NTR is a trash fetish! 

I set Mariabell down on the ground and let go of my grip on her face.

Mariabell had a far more compliant look on her face now.

"Woah! What did you do, Felix?!" Asked Rimuru.

"The most basic explanation is that I mind controlled her."

"Mind control!"

I rolled my eyes. "You've seen me tear Space apart, you've heard about time travel, we've even brought back the dead, but mind control you are surprised about?"

Rimuru rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… when you look at it like that…."

"Anyways, Mariabell should be more cooperative now that she is under my control."

I didn't turn Mariabell into a mindless slave like I could have. No, instead, I just made her give up. I made her give up on resistance entirely and made her realize how futile it is to attempt to fight back against me.

At this point she was willing to basically do anything I said.

Spiritual Domination was a scary ability.

Ramiris was once the mighty Fairy Queen so it doesn't surprise me that she had such a Skill. Even weakened as she is, Ramiris can be a reasonably bothersome foe.

She is the Queen of Fairies so I assume she is able to order the Elementals under her to do various things. She could theoretically order the Elemental Lords, beings on par with Awakened Demon Lords, they could even fight on the Ultimate level.

Ramiris may be a brat with no personal power, but she sure as hell had some strong people she could call upon for aid.

Beretta and Treyni, on their own, are useful subordinates.

"Now, are you willing to answer my questions Mariabell?"

Mariabell sighed but nodded. "Yes, I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge Lord Felix."

I nodded in satisfaction. "Great!"

"I'll leave the juicy questions for last. First off, why don't you give us some backstory about yourself as well as your relationship with Granbell Rosso?"

I already knew that she was his pseudo granddaughter and descendent, but it was always best to make sure my information is correct.

"My name is Mariabell Rosso, I am a descendent of Granbell Rosso's and the Princess of the headquarters of the Five Elders, the Kingdom of Siltrosso."

I nodded. "Continue."

"I was once a Queen, I had complete control over millions and caused much blood to be spilled for my own greed, many wars were waged due to my desire and in the end I always won. I lived a life full of enjoyment and would always receive what I wanted. In the end I died due to old age."

I nodded, I knew this was not Mariabell's first life, and it doesn't surprise me that she cared little for the lives of others, and was a spoiled brat. I could already tell that much.

While I'm not a saint, I'm not one to carelessly throw lives away just because I can. Something like that should always be a last resort.

Mariabell sure as hell is a bad cookie.

If I were to give Mariabell an alignment it would probably be Chaotic-Evil, while my own would probably be Neutral-Chaotic.

"After I was reborn I received the Unique Skill: Greed due to my vast desire to possess everything in the world. In this world I quickly gained influence inside of the royal palace by using my Unique Skill: Greed, I was treated like a Queen until my grandfather showed up." 

Yeah…. I imagine it is relatively easy to dominate a country with Greed alone, it is one hell of an ability. Mariabell was just foolish enough to overstep her bounds, and she got burned for it.

"The moment we met, he knew I was different, it was as if he already knew about my Skill. I imagine that if I dared to try and control him with Greed, he would have killed me right then and there. After that first meeting both Granbell and I began working together, him as my grandfather and I as his granddaughter." Mariabell continued.

"And what did you two work together on exactly?" Asked Rimuru.

I nodded to Mariabell who took that as the que to answer Rimuru.

"Our dream was world domination."

Rimuru sighed. "Of course." He whispered.

Man, that's a really stereotypical bad guy dream, world domination, seriously? 

"How did you plan to go about that? I highly doubt you had the raw power needed for world conquest."

This Granbell was apparently a Hero in the past, he of all people should know that there are some truly strong beings in this world that are not to be messed with.

With Guy and the other Demon Lords around, world conquest was practically impossible unless one was Veldanava himself.

Mariabell nodded. "Indeed, for some reason grandfather was against using all of our vast resources to forcefully take control of the world, and so we came up with another plan. We planned to dominate the world through the economy."

"The economy? How would you manage that when the currency used in this world is Gold? That is unless…."

Mariabell nodded to Rimuru's unasked question. "We planned to convert the global currency to paper, with each Nation having their own unique currency. The value of that currency would be determined by the Nation's power, and the Nat-"

"The Nation's power was determined by the Western Council, which the Rosso controlled." I finished.

Mariabell nodded. "Yes, it was a fairly foolproof plan." Mariabell then looked directly at Rimuru. "It was foolproof until you started making your moves, Demon Lord Rimuru."

"Hehe, well that's good then." Said Rimuru with a nervous chuckle.

"That was what this attack was about then? Dealing a blow to Tempest so that you could continue with your plan with ease?"

Mariabell nodded. "Exactly so."

I nodded. "Tell us more about this plan in detail then." 

Mariabell nodded and continued. "Very well. Thanks to information we received, we were able to realize that Tempest was growing far too fast, too fast for us to counteract and maintain control over the Western Nations, and so we came up with a plan to destabilize that growth. The death of various royals and nobles would cause Tempest to have far far more difficulty expanding their relationship with Human Nations. Even with the support of Dwargon it would be difficult, if not impossible. Such a thing would set back Tempest's progress by decades."

"Hmm, that's true. It would have given me a much harder time with my goals." Commented a ticked off Rimuru.

"Well, at least her plan failed, huh Rimuru?" I taunted.

Mariabell ignored my words while Rimuru laughed along with me. "Yeah, it's good indeed."

Seeing as Rimuru and I were done joking around Mariabell continued. "During the attack it was my hope to gain control over the Demon Lord Felix and then use him to get the jump on Demon Lord Rimuru before finally converging on Veldora with two Demon Lords by my side. With the power of a True Dragon on our side, we would be unstoppable."

I had to hold my laugh in at hearing Mariabell's plan. Even Luminous looked flabbergasted at Mariabell's sheer… idiocy.

It would take a lot to mind control Rimuru or I, and even then we both could probably resist it with our Skill's help, Odin for me and Raphael for Rimuru.

Sure if they gained control over me or Rimuru the Rosso would have an easy time with a lot of things, but that plan of theirs was flawed in the first place.

"I did not think Granbell foolish enough to approve of a plan to take control of Veldora of all people, especially with your meager power." Said Luminous.

Mariabell nodded. "The original plan was to just take control of Demon Lord Felix due to being the easiest target."

"Excuse me?" I'm insulted! Me, the easiest target?

"Fufufu, Felix, the easiest target? Perhaps Granbell's old age is getting to him." Commented Luminous while Rimuru nodded along.

"It was our assumption that Demon Lord Felix was the weakest target due to his incomplete Harvest Festival." Said Mariabell.

"My incomplete Harvest Festival?" What's that all about?

Mariabell nodded. "Indeed, it was thought that since Human Souls were not used for your Harvest Festival, Lord Felix, that your Harvest Festival was incomplete or still in the process of being completed."

Ah, so they were just working off of wrong knowledge then.

They assume that using non Human Souls would affect my Harvest Festival, well I guess they are sort of right, perhaps if I did not have enough Souls I would have gone through an incomplete Harvest Festival.

Thankfully Clayman was more than willing to supply me all the Souls necessary, even his own Soul was used in my Harvest Festival, and as a Deathman his Soul was far more powerful than most Majin.

Granbell likely would have taken different action if he had the correct information. It was still foolish of him to work off assumptions however, I honestly expected more from someone who has been around for so long and basically rules a large portion of the world.

"Alright, continue. Where did the Chaos Dragon come in?" 

"Originally, the Chaos Dragon was not part of the plan, but Yuuki offered up the idea of causing further chaos by usi–"

"You said Yuuki?!" I interrupted.

Mariabell nodded. "Yuuki Kagurazaka is the Guildmaster of the Free Guild and also my thrall."

That didn't sound right. "Your thrall? As in, he is under the control of Greed?"

Mariabell nodded. "Yes, it was fairly easy to control him, using his own Greed against him was child's play."

Both Rimuru and Luminous were staring at me as Mariabell said that she had Yuuki under control.

But… that's not possible.

"How did you get around his Anti-Skill?"

Now it was Mariabell's turn to look at me in confusion. "Anti-Skill? What is that."

I see. Yuuki really played all sides huh?

I sighed. "Do you know of Yuuki's abilities?"

Mariabell nodded. "Yes, I had him tell them to me when I first got him under control."

"And he mentioned nothing about Anti-Skill?"

Mariabell shook her head. "No, he never mentioned such a thing."

"What about his Unique Skill?"

"He said that it was a Skill focused on management and did not have much combat potential."

While that could be true, the fact that he didn't mention Anti-Skill when he is seemingly under Mariabell's control paints quite the clear picture.

"So Mariabell was tricked then?" Asked Luminous.

I nodded. "It seems so. If Mariabell really had Yuuki under control and asked what his abilities were, he 100% would have mentioned Anti-Skill. Not to mention it is impossible to control him in the first place with Greed thanks to Anti-Skill. It would have just negated Greed as long as Yuuki played things right."

"So it was Yuuki's idea for the Chaos Dragon to join in on this attack then?" Asked a resigned Rimuru.

"It seems so Rimuru."

Rimuru sighed. "I knew this meeting would probably involve something like this, but I truly hoped Yuuki wasn't involved."

I didn't know what to say to Rimuru, and so I said nothing.

"What other things has Yuuki been involved in, Mariabell?"

Mariabell looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Many things, he is the one that located the Chaos Dragon in the first place and supplied it to me."

I'm sure if Milim heard any of this she would leave and immediately go and crush Yuuki's head. I guess it's good that I left her out of this then.

"Along with that it was his idea for Clayman to attack the Jura Tempest Foundation as well as Eurazania and eventually even the Harpy Kingdom to allow for easier trade between us and the Eastern Empire. However his plan failed and led to the rise of two new Demon Lords."

I could sense Rimuru's fists clenching under the table, I was pretty damn angry myself. But Yuuki would get what's coming to him, now that I know that he is for sure behind Saeko's death, his death is all but guaranteed.

"I see, is that all?"

Mariabell shook her head. "No, Yuuki has also been using our resources to Summon Otherworlders and sell them to the highest bidder. One of his most frequent customers is the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell."

Rimuru banged his fist on the table, spreading cracks along it. "That damn bastard!"

I sighed, hearing Rimuru. He was really against Otherworlder Summonings, not that I blamed him.

"Let's deal with Yuuki first, then we can think about Leon. He will be far more difficult to deal with, so it's best if we just stay out of each other's way, Rimuru."

"He's the one who Summoned Shizu!" Rimuru retorted.

I nodded. "I know, but realistically what can you do to him? Even if you are more powerful than him, which is doubtful, he has an entire continent at his beck and call, and an extremely well developed Kingdom."

Now it is fairly easy for me to just wipe out El Dorado from the face of the map, but knowing Rimuru, he would be against that.

"Not to mention that Leon seems to have some kind of relationship with Guy, a fairly close one."

Rimuru reluctantly agreed. "Fine, let's focus on Yuuki first, but I'm definitely punching Leon the next time I see him!"

"Feel free to do so."

I doubt a mere punch will escalate much. Plus, it's not like Leon doesn't deserve it.

I looked back at Mariabell. "Do you know how Granbell will react to all this? Your failed attack, as well as your future death?"

Mariabell casually ignored me talking about killing her and answered my question. "He will likely be fairly upset about the wasted resources, while the Rosso still have access to a large amount of Otherworlders, many of them were still wasted in this operation. But it is not a loss that will significantly weaken us for years to come."

I nodded. While Otherworlders were useful for the sheer power they had with minimal training, they still failed to reach the higher levels of this world without training. They were generally around the A Rank, and Special-A Rank for the ones a cut above the rest.

Most Otherworlders see themselves as special and so they assume they are people of significant value in this world, when in reality even the weakest of Saints are capable of mopping the floor with them.

It doesn't help that the vast majority of Otherworlders come from some variant of modern world Earth. With all the Isekai anime in that world as well as the so called "cheats" that those protagonists have, it is easy to understand why Otherworlders tend to get a bit of a big head.

With all of that "culture" from their previous world they probably thought that their Summoning was their chance to live out their isekai dreams.

"As for my death, I am not sure how grandfather will react. He is a hard man to predict, but I would expect him to not let his emotions cloud his judgment, he will likely step back and come up with a new plan for world domination, as in our previous plan my abilities were necessary." Continued Mariabell.

Hmm, perhaps Mariabell and Granbell weren't very close then, maybe their relationship was more transactional, Granbell protected Mariabell and she helped further his goals. Or maybe Granbell did care for Mariabell and was just good about hiding it, there is no way for me to know at this point.

"Very well then. I have no other questions to ask you now." I'll ask her more politically related things later. 

I turned to Rimuru and Luminous and gestured to Mariabell. "You two have anything you want to pick her brain about?"

Luminous shook her head. "No, I see now the reason for Granbell's recent actions. I was surprised when he betrayed our alliance all of a sudden, but I now know that he was feeling threatened by Rimuru and wished to take him off the board so his plans didn't collapse. He was even willing to sacrifice his fellow Luminaries in this pursuit."

"Well they had it coming!" Said Rimuru.

Luminous nodded. "I do not deny that. They had reached too far and so they were dealt with. I have no use for rebellious pawns."

"Woah, that's harsh." Said RImuru.

"That's how things work in this world. Most powerful beings don't care much for their traitorous or subordinates who are not truly loyal. Not like I blame them, why care for them when they don't return that care with loyalty. You're not the standard Rimuru but the exception."

Rimuru blushed under my praise but still nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see where they are coming from. It just doesn't feel right for me to treat my subordinates as lesser than me. As far as I'm concerned they're my friends!"

Luminous and even Mariabell were looking at Rimuru oddly.

"Well you keep doing your own thing, Rimuru. It's clearly working."

Rimuru nodded at me and then looked at Mariabell. "I did have one question. Are you aware of what Leon has been doing with all the Otherworlders he is having Summoned?"

Mariabell shook her head. "No, I am not aware of what Demon Lord Leon could want with such defective products." 

Rimuru's Demon Lord's Haki burst out from within him for a moment, I quickly unleashed my own to contest against it and protect Mariabell, though Rimuru's Haki did reach her for a moment.

Rimuru quickly got his Haki under control and sighed. "Sorry about that, what she said ticked me off."

Yeah, Rimuru really doesn't like that whole slavery thing, Mariabell referring to Otherworlders as property seemed to have ticked him off.

"It's fine, I was able to protect Mariabell from the Haki so no harm no foul."

Since Demon Lord's Haki releases Spiritual Pressure the room itself wasn't damaged.

I looked at Mariabell, who was soaked in sweat and shivering. She was exposed to Rimuru's Demon Lord's Haki after all, if only for a moment.

I heard a loud exaggerated sigh. "How disappointing, I did not expect one such as you to lose control of your Haki Rimuru." Commented Luminous.

"Yeah well give me a break Luminous, I have a lot on my plate right now." Responded an annoyed Rimuru.

Luminous nodded. "Do learn to control your power. Haki is an ability that is highly influenced by one's emotions."

Even Odin isn't able to prevent Haki leakage unless she is actively monitoring my own Haki, which she normally isn't. 

And even if she was she wouldn't suppress it in the first place. In Odin's eyes if I felt the desire to use my Haki, then who was she to stop me?

I imagine Raphael thinks fairly similarly.

Rimuru nodded and looked back at Mariabell. "Well? Do you have an answer to my question?"

Mariabell nodded, even as she continued to shiver. "W-We are not aware of what Demon Lord Leon wants with… th-the Otherworlders. We do know that one of his requirements was for them all to be young, so none of them had de-developed any Unique Skills of their own."

"He wanted children? If he wanted to recruit more forces for his territory why would he want children?" Asked Rimuru.

Mariabell shook her head. "I am not aware of w-why."

"Well, he was a former True Hero. It's safe to say he has an in-depth knowledge of Elementals. Perhaps he knew that Otherworlder children can be saved if they are contracted with a Spirit. That way, he can mold the children's thought process in a way that is beneficial to him while also recruiting someone who has high potential. He wouldn't have to deal with the inevitable thoughts of rebellion older Otherworlders would have that way." I chimed in.

I noticed Rimuru was getting more and more upset as I continued with my hypothesis.

Rimuru finally took a deep breath and sighed. "That would explain why he gave Shizu Ifrit then." 

I nodded. "Perhaps."

"Hmm, Claude and Alrose's existence does give credence to that theory." Added Luminous.

"Claude and Alrose?" Asked Rimuru.

"The Black Knight Claude and the Silver Knight Alrose are Leon's chief subordinates. They are also Summoned Otherworlders." Responded Luminous.

Rimuru nodded. "I see, I don't know much about Leon's subordinates, he didn't even bring anyone with him to the Walpurgis."

"Yes, Leon is quite uncaring like that. He is confident in his power." Said Luminous.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me. He has an Ultimate Skill after all. One needs a specific… character to acquire an Ultimate Skill of their own." 

Both Luminous and Rimuru's gazes snapped to me. 

"Seriously? I didn't know Leon had one." Said Rimuru. He seemed surprised but he was overall pretty nonchalant about it, opposite to Luminous. 

Luminous seemed ticked off. "Leon has an Ultimate Skill, you say?"

It seems hearing that Leon, a Human, or at least a former Human beat her to the race of getting an Ultimate Skill has wounded Luminous pride.

She is a True Ancestor, a being that, by all means, should be above a Human.

I shrugged my shoulders. "What can I say, it's a skill issue. You just hadn't gone through the experience necessary to awaken an Ultimate Skill. They can be kind of finicky like that, who knows what the exact requirements are for such a thing."

All I really knew was that willpower was key.

"I am not in need of your comforting Felix, I am just surprised that someone such as him has an Ultimate Skill." Said Luminous.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure… whatever you say."

Luminous seemed to be fighting down the urge to retort but eventually sighed and gave in. 

"Hmph. On the topic of Ultimate Skills, are you willing to share who else you are aware of with an Ultimate Skill?" Asked Luminous.

I'm surprised she swallowed her pride and asked such a question. I guess she wants to be really careful of Ultimate Skill wielders, now understanding the sheer amount of power such beings wield.

I'm surprised she isn't on a bit of a power high at the moment; all things considered, she is acting relatively normally.

"Hmm, sure. I can consider you a friend so why not."

I could see Luminous suppressing a smile that was fighting to grow on her face, heh I knew she liked me!

I mean it's hard not to like me, I truly have a winning personality.

'....'

'You have something to say, Odin?'

'Negative.'

'Of course….'

"Well don't expect me to give you the details of their Ultimate Skills, but I'll share who I know for a fact possess one. Off the top of my head, for the Demon Lords, there is Guy, Milim, Dino, Leon, and, of course, Rimuru and I. Then Velzard, the Frost Dragon, has one and so does Veldora."

"Even that lizard?" Luminous grit out.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Despite his personality, he is still a True Dragon. Anyways those are all the people I am aware of with Ultimate Skills. Realistically barely anyone has one, we just tend to be in contact with the few who do possess one."

Luminous nodded. "I am surprised that Dino has one, but I suppose with his history it is not too odd. Thank you for sharing this information with me, I will not forget this favor."

"Heh, no problem. What's a little information between friends."

Luminous paused for a moment before nodding. "Indeed, friends."

Heh, I think I just won Luminous over! I'm still going to annoy her, she is just so easy to mess with, it's her own fault honestly.

"Hold on, what do you mean by Dino's history?" Both Luminous and I looked at Rimuru with deadpan expressions on our faces.

He had access to Veldora and Ramiris, and he still doesn't know all of this? He seriously hasn't been using them very well, they have tons of information.

While Ramiris doesn't remember everything perfectly due to her continuous reincarnations, she still knows far more than most.

I sighed and decided to fill the Slime in. "Dino is one of the first beings created by Veldanava, a Primordial Angel."

Rimuru's eyes widened. "Woah! Like Diablo?"

I nodded. "Sort of, their natures are opposite to each other, but they are fairly similar."

"Huh, I didn't know that sleepy-looking guy was such an important person!" Said Rimuru.

Luminous snorted. "Oh please, as if that one is important. After his creator's death he threw a tantrum and fell to this world, and has been leeching off of Dagruel ever since."

"I feel like I'm still missing a lot here…."

I sighed. "Just ask Ramiris or Veldora, you should use them more often, both have a lot of ancient history stored in their heads."

Rimuru nodded. "I'll do that then."

"By the way Luminous, even if one does not have an Ultimate Skills, it is still possible to threaten you, God Grade Equipment and Divinity are capable of bridging the gap, even sheer willpower can be enough in certain scenarios."

Sometimes I feel like this world works on shonen logic. Willpower can literally get you practically anything in this world should one have enough of it.

Luminous scoffed. "I am aware that nothing is absolute in this world, but I thank you for the warning nonetheless."

I nodded and looked back to Mariabell who had just been listening in on our conversation. It's not like I was worried about her knowing anything she shouldn't, she already had an expiration date.

"Now, what to do with you?" 

Mariabell did not respond, she wasn't shivering anymore so she has recovered somewhat from her exposure to Rimuru's Demon Lord's Haki.

"Aha, I know."

I snapped my fingers and took down the Barrier that Rimuru had erected around the room.

"Felix?"

"Don't worry, I'm just going to call someone to take care of Mariabell for me for now."

Rimuru nodded.

"Arcueid, are you available?"

"Ah! My Lord, I am always available for your needs! How may I assist you?" Asked Arcueid.

"I just need you to take care of someone for me while I'm in this meeting with Rimuru and Luminous."

"It will be my pleasure, My Lord! Would you like me to come to your location?" Asked Arcueid.

"Yes, please."

It took mere moments for Arcueid to appear outside the doors to the meeting room.

I heard a knock. "Come in, Arcueid."

And in came my beautiful Demoness.

Arcueid bowed deeply in front of me. "My Lord."

I sighed, seeing that. "No need for that Arcueid."

Hearing me, Arcueid straightened up and greeted Rimuru and Luminous with a short bow. "Lord Rimuru, Lady Luminous."

Rimuru gave Arcueid a wave. "Hi Arcueid."

Luminous also responded. "I had heard that Felix had tamed the Primordial of White. I've even seen you from a distance, but it is quite something to see your devotion to your Lord in person, Blanc."

Arcueid looked at me before responding. "You can talk with her, Arcueid, no need to ask for permission."

That girl prioritizes me above everything else, to the point that she didn't even want to give a fellow Demon Lord any attention without my permission.

Arcueid nodded and then smiled sweetly at Luminous. "My Lord is a man with many talents, though I do prefer being called by the name My Lord had bestowed upon me, Arcueid." Arcueid said with devotion in her tone.

Luminous nodded. "Very well, I will keep that in mind. You seem much more agreeable than your kin."

Arucied tilted her head before nodding in understanding. "Ah, you mean Lalatina? She had told me of her clashes with you in the past, she even mentioned her fight with a Hero, she seemed quite excited to fight the Hero again but she never got the chance."

Luminous grit her teeth at the mention of Lalatina. "Yes… Lalatina, as she is called now, has always been an annoyance, always playing her games with no regard to the issues she causes for others."

Oops? Maybe I'll have to punish her for that, heh. I imagine Luminous will be quite upset if she finds out what exactly "punishment" is, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

"I do recall her various games over the millennia. I can only apologize for the issues my fellow Primordial has caused for you." 

Arcueid seems to be awfully understanding with Luminous, I guess as long as Luminous is respectful, Arcueid will also be respectful.

Luminous shook her head before sighing. "There is no need to apologize. Lalatina is now the subordinate of my… friend. I suppose I can forgive her prior transgressions."

"I was not aware of your relationship with My Lord, I will remember that." Said Arcueid.

I'm pretty sure Luminous's standing just went up in Arcueid's books.

Arcueid then turned to me. "I apologize for getting distracted, My Lord."

I waved her off. "It's fine, you don't have to apologize for having a conversation, you should remember to enjoy your life a bit too."

Arcuied nodded. "If that is what you wish, My Lord."

I nodded. "It is what I wish." I then pointed to Mariabell, who had been staring at Arcueid ever since Luminous called her the Primordial of White. "This is going to be your… companion for the night. I want you to go out with her in public; make sure everyone knows she is alive."

I don't want any doubt when Mariabell's future death comes to light, Tempest can't be implicated in that. Having people see her after this attack will go a long way for that, rather than just keeping her in my Infinity Space until it is time for her final act.

Arcueid nodded. "Very well, My Lord."

"Ah, when you two are in private feel free to ask Mariabell what you wish, she may not look it but she basically rules the Western Nations as long as she does not go against her grandfather. See if you can learn any useful information or anything like that."

Hearing what I said, Arcueid now seemed to be a bit more interested in Mariabell.

"Very well, I shall make sure no information is kept secret. I see you have already brought her under your control, My Lord?"

"Yeah, she will answer whatever questions you ask and do whatever you tell her to."

"That makes things fairly easy then. I will disturb your meeting no longer My Lord, unless you have need of me?"

I shook my head. "No, feel free to leave Arcueid."

Arcueid gave me one more bow and then left with Mariabell in tow. Once she was gone, I replaced the Barrier I took down and then took my seat at the table once again.

"Now we have one last person to interrogate."

Luminous nodded. "The Clown."

"He might be a bit harder to deal with. He was far stronger than Mariabell and had a will to match that. In fact he was abnormally strong for just a Deathman. Those guys are said to be Demon Lord Class, excluding Clayman, even that Clown, Footman, was pretty powerful. For a Deathman to be as strong as the Clown that attacked Hinata…."

Luminous nodded. "Indeed, it does not paint a good picture. Are you capable of keeping him immobile as you had before?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. I'll still try my Spiritual Domination, but I'm not sure that it will work."

All things considered, it should work. Spiritual Domination boosted by Odin is an incredibly powerful ability. But I decided to give a heads-up in case it somehow didn't work.

"Alright, you guys ready?"

Both Rimuru and Luminous nodded, and so I got back up and I summoned the Clown from my Infinity Space.

"Gah!" He, of course, immediately started struggling in my grip.

"Do you seriously have to do that? You should already know that it's hopeless."

My words only made the Clown struggle harder. What a pain.

'Odin.'

The Clown immediately stopped struggling in my grip.

'Both Spiritual Domination and data from Greed were utilized to put the Clown under the Master's complete control.'

'Heh, nice Odin.'

"Well, it seems we had nothing to worry about. The Clown is in the same state as Mariabell, except he is basically just a doll that can only follow orders, rather than Mariabell who just saw no point in resisting."

"Ugh, if it's that easy to mind control someone, I will need to take measures of my own." Said Rimuru.

Luminous nodded. "Indeed, I was aware of such Skills existing, but I did not think that it would work on someone as powerful as this Clown. Even Louis, at his full power is weaker than this Clown."

"Well, not everyone can do it the way I did it, I used multiple Skills to control this Clown, Skills I will be keeping secret." I did not want more people than necessary to be aware of my ability to copy Skills. A trump card is only a trump card if no one knows about it.

I imagine if that information got out, people would stop using their Skills in front of me which would be annoying.

I wanna catch em all! I mean, analyze them all!

Luminous nodded. "Very well then."

I set the Clown who was still in my grip down, the Clown made no movements, he just stood there waiting for orders.

I imagine that this guy would be useful, even in his current mindless state, he was strong and could get my grunt work done. But I agreed to hand him off to Luminous, and I'm not one to break a promise.

"Now, first off, what is your name?"

"Laplace." The Clown mindlessly responded.

"I see, I see. Laplace it is, then. Now, why don't you tell me about why you attacked Hinata Sakaguchi?"

"I was ordered to do so." He responded.

Ugh, one thing about making someone basically a mindless drone is that they were idiots. They didn't elaborate on anything unless asked. They were basically incapable of thinking for themselves.

"Who ordered you to do so?"

Laplace paused for a moment, as if he was resisting the urge to answer. He had an impressive amount of willpower for something deep inside of him to be resisting even in his current state.

Well, one doesn't reach his level of power by being weak-willed. 

He must be incredibly loyal to his master.

"Yuuki Kagurazaka."

And there it is. Not that I needed more proof against Yuuki, but the more the merrier.

Rimuru sighed. "So this guy really is Yuuki's subordinate, huh?" 

I nodded. "It seems so."

However I do wonder how Yuuki got someone like Laplace under his command.

"Well then, at least he wasn't helping with the Falmuth invasion or helping those other Clowns that were trying to unleash Charybdis."

I nodded. "That's true. He would have been an issue at that point." 

I did still have Odin, so I imagine I would have beat this Clown, but it would have taken some effort. While I fought Laplace, his allies would have unleashed Charybdis, and Rimuru just wasn't capable of getting past Charybdis' Magic Jamming at that point.

Laplace may have even been able to get away after all that.

I focused my attention back on Laplace. "Who are your allies, Laplace?" 

Once again, he paused before answering. "The Guildmaster of the Free Guild, Yuuki Kagurazaka, the Former Demon Lord Kazalim, also known as Kagali and the Vice Guildmaster. Tear, a fellow member of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance, the–"

Before Laplace could continue, I interrupted him. "The Moderate Harlequin Alliance? What is that?"

"The Moderate Harlequin Alliance is a group of powerful Majin that was created by our Mistress, Kagali, also known as Kazalim." 

What?! Leon said that the Demon Lord was killed, and even Elmesia confirmed it.

That… that shouldn't be possible.

Maybe someone was just using Kazalim's name?

I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a lot more from Laplace than I did from Mariabell.

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone, we finally get to learn who is behind everything, or at least Felix finally gets to learn for sure.

He now knows for certain that Yuuki was responsible, you can bet Yuuki is not going to have a good time, even Anti-Skill and it's bullshit won't save him.

Hopefully these last few exposition chapters have been enjoyable, they share a bit more about the lore of the world and what kind of schemes have been going on in the background.

Things are going to change a lot from here on. We also get to learn a bit more about the world, and hey look! Felix and Luminous became friends! Who knew it was possible.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, peace.

Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.

Also, you guys should check out @BonVoyage Tensura fic, it's pretty damn good.