Eve of War

It was after I just returned from the dwarven kingdom. I decided to slump around as I waited for this Walpurgis to come around. But that had to wait because my girls wanted to spend some time with Ciel and I.

As we were walking around the town, I could hear some wandering whispers.

"Who is that lady next to Rimuru-sama?"

"I don't know, but she is beautiful."

"I'm so jealous of her."

"Is that Rimuru-samas wife?"

"Cant be! Right?"

Those were but a few of the thoughts the citizens voiced out. I turned to look at Ciel as we were walking, but to my surprise her face was bright red.

Which should not be possible.

But it is what I saw.

I'm guessing she might be very embarrassed from what everyone is speculating. But that soon went away when Shalsha flashed her a bright smile. Seems like she is enjoying not just my company, but Shinsha and Shalsha as well.

"Papa! Mama! Lets go there!" Shinsha shouted as she pointed at a ice cream stand. I could almost see the non-existent drool coming from their mouths as they looked at us in anticipation.

But the voices around us changed suddenly. Multiple pairs of eyes were on all four of us.

It seems like with Shinshas words everyones thoughts were confirmed. Ciel was in fact my wife in the eyes of Tempest now.

Not that they were that important, I just decided to ignore the uproar. But in my head I could see two heavily depressed oni women.

{I have an announcement.}

Suddenly the air around Ciel changed from the cute side I was just witnessing to a more serious and threatening one.

'What is it?'

{Would you like to hear the good news or bad news first?}

'I guess I will go with the good news.'

{The good news is, through further skill synthesis and combination. The Ultimate Skill [Anos, Lord of Destruction] has gained 2 more sub-skill. It is called [Tyrant]. The user is capable of destroying even the effects of other ultimate skills and things such as magicules. All depending on how much magicules the user possesses. If the user has infinite magicules, ultimate skills prove useless so I suggest master observes Milim. The second sub-skill is called [Learner]. It allows the user to completely copy a skill by seeing it visually without my assistance. I managed to gain some information surrounding this as Demon Lord Guy tried to copy what any skill you had.}

'....'

I am starstruck.

How is something this powerful?!

With this I could be considered the upper echelons or maybe even the very top of power in this world.

'But wait..... why should I observe Milim?'

{The answer is simple. I took an observation from one of masters previous memories with your fight against Milim. She used an unfamiliar energy source at that time, which I can assume she has a skill for to generate that energy. The energy is magicules in its most condensed state. The energy that fills Masters [Imaginary Space] could be considered the opposite to this energy, so if master manages to make a copy of that skill I can turn it into something more useful!}

'Well..... isn't that just even more shocking? Hah! This crazy manas always finding ways to experiment on me.' I though as I let out a hefty sight.

And wait...

Guy tried to copy something!

'Did he manage to get anything?!'

{No. Fortunately, I felt some sort of interference regarding that demon. So I gave you that suggestion when you fought the golem to prevent that.}

That bastard.

He tried to steal from me at that moment?

'Hah... I'll focus on that later, what is the bad news?'

{The bad news is that I sense thousands of sources radiating hostile intent towards Tempest. While the sources are not on the move yet, they should be attempting to attack us soon.}

'Is that so?'

'Well I get to test out my new skills at least. They want to attack us, then I guess that means they forfeit their lives.'

{Master is okay with this outcome?} Ciel questioned me.

'Of course. It's not like everyone has to live. If you do something bad you have to get punished for it. If that action is as severe as invading us, then death is the only true punishment.'

'About how much sources do you detect?'

{Roughly 150,000.}

(A/N:Yes I know the number is wrong. What harm could more casualties cause?)

Hmmm? I thought I would be more shocked. Milim gave me thousands of souls that I needed to evolve and then I evolved further. Along with Veldoras confirmation that unless it may be someone at the top of power in this world, no one is capable of harming me.

So why should I be shocked or scared at this number. Hell, this can even be a chance for Veldoras secret students to make their debut to the rest.

You know what? Now that I remember Guy said that Walpurgis would take place after something eventful. There was definitely something ominous behind his words. Including the fact when I was treating King Gazel to a drink, he mentioned something about a kingdom called Farmus and how their king is hella greedy.

Time to find out.

'Where are the sources of malice coming from?'

{They are coming from the Kingdom of Farmus. But among those with hostile intent is a relatively strong one, they are a human saint. But even with their power, beating master is not within her range of possibilities.}

'As expecting as ever. Though if it is as you say, then I guess I won't lose. I hate the thought of that highly.'

But in the end I guess it is time to prepare for war.

Instead of holding one big meeting to inform everyone. I decided to contact everyone through thought communication to heighten security. But if they tried any underhanded tactics then let them perform their little show.

Although they seemed a little shocked that I had just dropped such a huge bomb onto them, nonetheless they seemed eager for more people to fight. And Shion and Shuna needed something else to focus on.

This town really is full of battle maniacs.

'Ciel, how long before it looks like they will attack?'

{From my calculations, the main army will arrive in 1 week and an scouting party would arrive in 3 days.}

'So thats all the time we have? No matter. I should be able to rest until then. So lets do that with our daughters, okay?' I said teasingly

{H-Hai.} She sounded nervous

Breaking our communication, I turned back to reality. We used thought acceleration so we had all the time we needed to speak.

In front of me were my excited girls, choosing what kind of ice cream they wanted. But they looked conflicted for what to choose.

There were a lot of options for what to get, so I could see why they had trouble. But it could just be kids being indecisive.

With my assistance they were able to recreate a lot of different flavors like, chocolate, strawberry, mint chocolate chip and much more.

We were standing there for a few minutes, with Shinsha and Shalsha going back and forth on what to get. But they finally made their choice.

"Papa! Can I get Strawberry?" Shinsha asked

"Mama! I want Mint." Shalsha seemed more like a demand, but she was still asking of course.

"Alright, we will get them for you." Their eyes proceeded to sparkle with happiness, similar to Milim when she finds good food.

I approached the shop vendor and requested two ice creams both the flavors that they wanted. They were brought out in a very quickly, but just as I was about to pay, this happened....

"Rimuru-sama! Please its on the house."

Whenever I try to buy something, everyone insists that I don't have to pay.

"No, please I would like to pay." I said with closed eyes and a smile plastered across my face.

"But Rimuru-sama is the King of Tempest, why should you have to pay for anything?"

"Because, when I am walking around this beautiful country that not just I, but everyone else here has created, I am no different from a citizen." I said to the shopkeep honestly. They seemed stunned for a second, most likely not expecting this answer from me. It took a second for them to regain their composure, once that happened they took the coins for payment, so now we were just on our way back home.

To my right was Shinsha holding my hand with her left.

To Ciels left was Shalsha holding her hand with her right.

Ciel and I were walking next to eachother, not holding hands. it is something a virgin like myself has never done before, so in the end I felt a little nervous about doing so.

But we are a family now, that makes Ciel my wife as well as the Queen of Tempest. So it is about time we start acting like a family.

Though I was nervous about it, I grabbed Ciels right hand with my left. She felt the change in my demeanor and actions. This caused her to blush heavily, same as myself.

From that point forward, we walked home in silence with the only sound being the girls eating their ice cream.

'This is the life I wished for in my past. I am glad that I finally have just that.' I though to myself, unbeknownst to Ciel.

In little to no time at all we returned home and what do I see? Some trespassers.

"Yo, Rimuru!"

"Hi there little brother."

"Hello there Rimuru." Sitting on my couch were the crimson demon, the white ice dragon and floating above Guys shoulder was the poverty demon lord.

'How did they get here without me detecting them?'

To that thought of mine, Ciel quickly turned her head away from me. I cant help but think she has something to do with this. Why? Because she made it obvious.

'Ciel, why didn't I detect them?'

{B-Because, I m-may have deactivated [Universal Sense] and only decided to pick up hostile intent.}

'So thats why, I guess thats not a big deal so please just keep an eye out on that nation.' She seemed to brighten up to my words after I stopped accusing her of something.

""Aunt Velzard!" Both Shinsha and Shalsha ran over to Velzard and hugged her. Seems like they love her very much, but I can't help but be jealous of her.

'It looks like they love Velzard more than their own father.' I clutched my chest where my heart should be in pain.

'Hello there, I missed both of you." She said to them both before turning her attention to Ciel and I.

"I missed both of you too don't worry." She said with a bright smile.

"Yes I missed your company too." You thought that came from me didn't you? Wrong! It was Ciel. But I wonder why she said that. Has she grown close to Velzard after I left on their first visit?

'Ciel? Have you grown closer to Velzard?'

{Yes. While I do enjoy her company, there are also skills to be learned and imitated for masters benefit.} I believe I could see imaginary drool coming from her mouth. It was like a kid seeing delicious food for the first time in months.

I proceeded to take a seat in one of the chairs next to the couch. I looked over to Ciel and she seemed to be straight back to blushing for some reason. She didn't sit down anywhere, it looked like she was contemplating something.

"Ciel? Are you gonna take a seat?" She nodded her head to my question and walked over to me, the next thing could only reduce me to a blushing mess as well.

She took a seat on my lap. Arms around my neck and legs over the arm of the chair. Rather than being a blushing mess, now she looked rather satisfied. Because she passed that blushing face off to me.

I looked over to my girls who were sitting next to Velzard, looking at Ciel and I with gaped mouths muttering "Oooo!".

The crimson demon was just over there snickering and trying to hide his laughter, but guess what? It didn't work!

Ramiris wasn't paying attention and was just eating her cookie she got from god knows where.

Lastly Velzard had a few words to say.

"Ara, so this is what my brothers wife is like around him. No need to be embarrassed Rimuru." She said with a closed eyed smile while she covered her mouth with one hand.

"Ahem!" Guy made a noise as an attempt to stop his laughter.

"You are probably wondering why we are here Rimuru. Let me get to the point. I simply wish to see what happens in this event." He said with a devious smirk.

"You mean the nation that dares to attack us?" I questioned with my mood changed to a more serious tone. The blushing mess that was there earlier was now nowhere to be seen.

"Of course, I would just like to see how this will go down. But rest assured, there will be no interference from me." He assured me.

"Thats fine, it's our problem anyways."

And like that, the oldest demon lord, "The Lord of Darkness" Guy Crimson was staying here until Farmus initiated their attack.

(A/N: Due to how I felt about that cosmology thing, I deleted it and decided to create it as I go, so it is no longer applicable to this story.)