Return

Blades screamed out from the clashing deep from inside the Labyrinth of Ramiris.

Angels and Humans fought against Demons and Monsters in a clash that left the control room nothing but a scattered ruin.

Tatsuya Kondou, First Seat of the Imperial Knights fought against the Primordial of Yellow, Carrera in a battle that pushed both combatants to their breaking point.

Damrade, the Fist Saint fought the Primordial of Violet, Ultima in a battle that tested each other's wills to the maximum.

Granit, Hero of the Empire crossed blades with Flare Lord Benimaru. Two Generals faced off against one another as their loyalties were tested.

Zelario, the Right hand of the Angel King, clashed with Zegion, Strongest in the Labyrinth. Their two absolute defenses tested against one another.

Feldway, Angel King, second in command to God himself, was clashing in a duel of magic with the Primoridal of Black, Diablo in a clash of titanic power that shook the foundations of the Labyrinth.

Pico faced Kurama, Queen of Cryptids, in a legendary harassment battle.

Gracia fought against Barrier Lord Geld in a fight in which no side could decisively defeat the other.

Kornu faced War Lord Shion on the battlefield as the two battle junkies duked it out with their casual blows strong enough to overpower even most Demon Lords.

It was utter chaos. No side was winning. The Tempest Forces had the advantage in power, however, their numbers were relatively equal and Dino was using his newly evolved Ultimate Skill, [Slothful King Belphegor] correctly, buffing his allies while not moving himself, making the playing field more even than it normally would have been.

The only saving grace for the forces of Tempest was that Testarossa had no matchup and was able to swiftly eliminate the other Imperial Guardians in her way before providing support to her allies. Ramiris had also been active, using her powers to protect those who fell asleep earlier due to Dino's betrayal, having already taken Shuna, Apito, the Dryads, and some of the other Labyrinth Lords to safety while Treyni guarded her back.

Feldway, seeing this was a bit annoyed. Who knew that the new Demon Lord Slime would prove to have such competent subordinates? He huffed. Now he knew that it was the right call to go out of his way to eliminate the Demon Lord while he was in the area and not leave him for later. He'd assumed that only Alaster would be a threat to their plans, but this Rimuru had also proven quite capable.

Of course, he was only playing around as he was now. If he truly wanted, he could eliminate everyone here in a heartbeat, but that would require using the pristine body that Veldanava had given to him, and the thought of dirtying it here in the blood of this trash was abhorrent to him, so he had to content himself with his current engagement.

He sighed. The Demon Lord wasn't even here anymore, having run away like a fool to try to retrieve Veldora, though he guessed having the True Dragon helping them WAS the only way to turn the tide against the favor of the Angels, though he also smiled wickedly at the thought that he would despair after going to his friend, only to be stabbed in the back by him due to Michael's domination over him.

He wished he was on the surface to witness it.

...

Rimuru was in a rage and couldn't calm himself down as he floated in front of the two True Dragons who floated before him. Veldora and Velgrynd floated in front of him in their Dragon Transformation, releasing a menacing aura that threatened to create monsters of a far worse genre than even the Charybdis. Their own aura was matched, perhaps not in size, but in intensity by Rimuru's own.

Veldora roared loudly, sending a {|Storm Blast|} his way which was matched by Velgrynd, who fired off a {|Burning Breath|} at her enemy.

Rimuru was quick to evade Veldora's attack and swallowed Velgrynd's with [Beelzebuth] before sending out his own attack. A variant of [Absolute Severence] that contained the properties of [Beelzebuth]. It struck Veldora dead-center, consuming a large quantity of his magicules and filling Rimuru's [Stomach].

<<Notice! Evolving the [Stomach] space using excess amounts of magicules... Successful. [Stomach] has evolved into [Complex Space]>>

[Raphael] informed him, but Rimuru ignored it. He sent out various more {|Preta Blades|} as he called it and continued to shave down Veldora's reserves. He was seemingly completely ignoring Velgrynd's attacks altogether.

Blocking what needed to be blocked using [Uriel] and Consuming what he couldn't with [Beelzebuth]. To Velgrynd, it seemed as though he was completely ignoring her assaults and focusing only on Veldora, which pissed her off. She knew that their compatibility was horrible, but she continued on anyway, as her pride wouldn't allow her to fall to a mere upstart Demon Lord.

<<Notice! Incoming assault fro- Critical Error!>>

[Raphael] had noticed that something about itself was different. Its calculations weren't adding up correctly. 2+2 ≠ 5, and yet that's just what its analysis had told it. had it not caught itself, Rimuru would've been burned to a crisp by Velgrynd's {|Burning Breath|} when it attempted to block it with the [Absolute Defense] of [Uriel] just now. /1\

Rimuru finched, noticing Velgrynd's incoming attack had not been blocked by [Raphael] as usual. He clicked his tongue momentarily before devouring it with [Beelzebuth] just in time to save himself, though he did receive a direct tail-whip from Veldora which sent him flying through the air.

Rimuru tried to accelerate his thoughts to a million times speed to ask what was going on, only to notice that at best it was 1,000 times speed.

'[Raphael]? What is going on?' He asked.

<<Error! Unknown interference... Calculating... Error! Unable to Comprehend!>>

Rimuru steadied himself in the air. '[Raphael] are you alright?' He asked it, genuinely worried.

<<Confusion... Unable to comprehend the change in state of Ultimate Skill [Raphael]. Incorrect data being received from Ultimate Skill [Uriel].>> It reported in seeming distress.

Rimuru was shocked but took a deep breath. 'It's ok, [Raphael]. Don't panic.' He reprimanded.

[Raphael] was taken aback but also realized it was causing its master trouble. Being branded as incompetent by him for not performing in his optimal state during such a critical time would be the same as losing its meaning of existence. Even so, its pride wouldn't allow the reason for this error to go unresolved.

'I don't know what's going on, but I need you here. I can't do this without you, so pull yourself together, partner.' Rimuru's words reached his Skill, soothing its confused mind.

<<'That's right. Master still needs me'>> The skill 'thought' for the first time.

<<Understood>> [Raphael] replied. Even if it couldn't rely entirely on its calculations, there were still things it could do to help its master, and that is what it would do.

'Now that I think of it, 'partner' or [Raphael] is what I've been calling you all this time huh? I think I should give you a proper name... how about Ciel?' Rimuru pondered.

<<Ciel?>>

'Yes, because you are always teaching me things, so 'Ciel' would be a good fit I think.' Rimuru said with a blush. It was a little embarrassing to think about that now.

<<Ahh, I am now, blissfully happy forever!>>

At this point, a change occurred deep from within Rimuru's soul. His Skill [Wisdom Lord Raphael] threw off the shackles of being a mere Ultimate Skill and transformed itself into the Ultimate Digital Lifeform.

<<I, I am Ciel. A Manas, the unifier of Skills. I am with the 'soul' of Rimuru-sama (Master), and the one who provides support to my lord. Rimuru-sama, I look forward to working with you from here on.>> Ciel introduced itself.

Rimuru's thought acceleration picked back up, from previously only 1,000 times as in the days of the Unique Skill [Great Sage], past the limits of the Ultimate Skill [Raphael] at a million times thought acceleration all the way to over a hundred Million times.

Rimuru was taken aback by the sudden increase in efficiency and knew in the depths of his soul that nothing could possibly match the computational power of Ciel.

<< It's good to be back, darling.>>

'Huh?" Rimuru was very confused.

...

(Alaster POV)

"Whaaah! To think I'd still be kicked out from Yumina's place." I moaned.

"It can't be helped. Even though stopping by to have lunch with Yumina isn't a bad thing, you did awaken her while she was in the middle of work this morning. Of course, she would need to get back to it at some point." Velzard, who was wrapped around my arm as we walked through the market district commented.

"Yeah, I know but still..." I moaned.

"Come on, I know something that will cheer you up," Velzard smirked mirthfully.

"Oh?" I asked in a sultry tone. "And what would that be?"

"I'd do that thing you like with my tongue~" She whooed.

"Hell yeah!" I yelled before being so rudely interrupted as time slowed to a crawl around me.

<<Alaster!>> I heard a voice I hadn't heard since...

'Lucia!' I called back.

<<Yes, it's me, Alaster. I'm sorry it took me so long to regain my memories.>>

My mood instantly went from horney to happy as tears welled up in my eyes. 'Took you long enough! Milim is going to be so mad at you!' I quipped.

Velzard smiled and disappeared, transforming back into the Manas state to better communicate.

<<Hello sister in law>> Velzard commented.

<< It's good to speak to you again, Velzard!>> Lucia replied.

<<Where are you? I can't find your name in the log.>> Velzard commented as she was looking through the list of tracked individuals in the world by accessing the World System directly.

<<You probably can't find me anymore because my name isn't 'Lucia' anymore, it's 'Ciel'.>> Lucia commented.

I was stunned. Did that mean that Rimuru had finally named [Raphael] and it evolved into [Manas: Ciel]? It was always implied in the Web Novel that Ciel had the memories of Lucia, but I wasn't sure that it was true, until now.

<<I would love to catch up, but I need your help with various things.>> Ciel pled

'What do you need?' I asked instantly. I wasn't going to not help out my old friend after all this time.

<<Right now Rimuru and I are engaged in a battle against Velgrynd and Veldora.>> She explained.

'I'll be right over.' I explained.

<<No! That isn't necessary!>> Ciel stopped me.

'Then what do you need?' I asked.

<<I need the data on [Metatron] and [Gabriel] to analyze, quickly!>> Ciel asked.

<<I've already sent it over.>> Velzard replied.

<<Thank you. Now we can talk.>> Ciel continued.

'Huh?'

<<Weren't you in an emergency situation just now?>> Velzard was equally confused.

<<Yes but Rimuru and I can handle it. I just wanted the data.>> Ciel commented which caused the two of us to be baffled.

Probably sensing this, Ciel decided to respond to our confusion. << That's for giving me a heart attack when you were messing with Rimuru earlier.>> Ciel commented, reminding me of the time I decided to troll Rimuru for becoming a True Deomn Lord while I was a Hero who'd have to 'slay' him.

My cheeks burned slightly in embarrassment. <<///>> Velzard's did the same.

'Alright, I apologize for that.' I conceded.

<<As you should.>> Ciel mentioned with a huff.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, but then I decided to ask the only question I really wanted to know the answer to.

'What happened to you and Veldanava?' I asked.

Ciel seemed to sigh. << It's a long story, but the long and short of it is this... after Velda's work was finished and the World System was fully repaired, he began the process of reincarnation as was the plan. However, one final error occurred.>> Ciel explained.

<<What was it? I don't see anything on the logs.>> Velzard asked

<<The World System was attempting to 'reset' Velda due to the possibility of more errors occurring due to his actions.>> Ciel commented.

It was a bit hard for me to understand, though Velzard made the analogy that it was like updating a game and having an item removed from it in the latest patch. That item couldn't still exist, as it could cause errors or crashes, so it usually had to have its data reset to fit the newest patch. Velda needed that 'update' due to the changes he'd made when fixing the System but simply assumed his reincarnation would fix it.

'I see, so what happened then? I doubt he'd go down without a fight.' I asked.

<<He didn't. The first thing he did was protect my memories and tie our souls together. The next time he reincarnated into the Cardinal World, the plan was for my memories to awaken and help guide him into regaining his powers.>. Ciel explained.

<<But because of the loss of his Dragon Factor due to the 'reset', he wasn't strong enough to harbor a Manas in his soul, so I was reduced to a Unique Skill.>> Ciel explained.

'That fucking World System. I'm going to reset its logic processes! It's caused nothing but problems!' I growled.

<<That was what Velda did next.>. Ciel interjected.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

<<Come on, Alaster. Did you really think god himself can only do one thing at a time? Even as limited as he was then?>>

'I guess not...' I responded.

<<I've been looking through the logs and haven't found any type of semi-sentience system in it. Did Velda get rid of that?>> Velzard interrupted.

<<Yes he did. He didn't want it going after Alaster next, as his soul was also something that would have needed 'resetting'>> Ciel explained.

I shuttered at the thought and I felt Velzard shake as well, though this time in anger at just imagining it. Ciel must have noticed this and continued on with her explanation to move us along.

<<Thankfully after you updated your soul by receiving your new Skills, you are no longer an error in the system.>> Ciel mentioned.

I breathed out a sigh of relief at that. 'Well I'm sure that's fine but... I do have one more question.' i asked.

<<Is it the 'Inheritor' title?>> Ciel asked.

'Yeah'

<<Velda was incredibly capable and showed some amazing calculative speeds in his final moments, but he wasn't able to preserve his memories. He didn't know how he would turn out in his next life and didn't want control over something as critical to the Multiversal balance as the World System in his hands if things went badly.>> Ciel explained.

That made sense. If he reincarnated into say, an abusive family who assaulted him sexually and physically until it broke his mind, or was forced to live on the streets and become a petty criminal to survive, or was somehow mentally conditioned by some government as a spy or whatever and gave them access to the World System, there would be chaos and the multiverse could collapse.

I couldn't even imagine the amount of suffering something like a Goblin Slayer Goblin could cause by gaining access to the World System through the 'reset' Velda.

Of course, that was the absolute worst-case scenario, and what was more likely to happen would be something more akin to a fanfic of a kid/highschooler suddenly given godlike powers to do whatever he wanted in the Multiverse from creating worlds straight out of anime to get their waifus or go on an adventure until he got bored and started messing with Reality it until he accidentally caused the whole thing to collapse.

<<He wanted someone who he could trust to hold onto the keys to reality for a while.>> Ciel explained. <<You are literally the successor to an Omnipotent God, Alaster>> Ciel explained.

<<So that's why [Abhoth] has the ability to interfere with the World System!?!>> Velzard explained.

'I guess believing that we 'just so happened' to stumble upon the keys to Reality by combining a few Ultimate Skills together was just wishful thinking huh?' I thought with a sigh.

<<///>> Velzard was now blushing wildly in her manas form. She truly believed she'd gotten one-up on her brother by creating [Abhoth], but as it turns out, Alaster was set up to get it from the beginning.

<<Don't feel bad. All of [Abhoth]'s powers ARE created by you, just not the direct link to the World System. Warping Reality was still all you, Velzard, you could only just warp one world at a time rather than change the rules of the entire Multiverse.>> Ciel explained

'Still, why didn't you give this power to Milim?' I asked.

Ciel was silent for a moment. <<We knew you would take care of our little girl as your own and raise her with love. I think he wanted to reward you for that.>> Ciel explained.

'No offense, but as nice as this power is, I already said I didn't want Omnipotence.' I complained.

Ciel laughed. <<Well it's too late now! You've got it, though if you ever want to get rid of it, I don't mind taking it back from you.>> Ciel mentioned

<<Nope! You can't take back gifts!>> Velzard complained, somewhat childishly. She was still embarrassed that her greatest accomplishment was partially a set-up and was now throwing a bit of a tantrum.

Ciel laughed. <<It was nice seeing you again, but it's time to infuse Rimuru.>> Ciel said.

'Enfuse?' I asked him.

<<Yes, he just absorbed Veldora, and using the data on his Dragon Factor and Velgrynds, I'm going to awaken him as a new True Dragon, and Ultimate Slime.>> She said before cutting the connection.

Time resumed flowing at its normal pace and I was left standing in the middle of the street dumbfounded at today's revelations.

I sighed. "I don't want to think about this anymore." I moaned.

<<Want me to do the thing with my tongue?>> Velzard asked.

'Damn it, woman! I do not wish to be horney anymore! I just want to be happy!' I replied.

<<Fine, no blowjob for you.>>

'I've decided to be happy in my horniness' I responded.

I don't know HOW I know this, but Velzard just rolled her eyes as a Manas.

.~.~.~.

/1\:

In the LN, [Raphael] didn't remember about the Probability manipulation of [Faust] but Rimuru did. This was seen as odd and it speculated that something was interfering with it. I'm just playing up that aspect of the fight, as in reality, there is no way Rudra wouldn't have been able to detect Rimuru being the holder of two Angelic Ultimate Skills when he was so close by.

Even Feldway was able to notice it in Chronoa after only clashing with her for a moment, let alone seeing [Uriel] type abilities coming off of Rimuru when he himself once had that very same skill, so he is trying to interfere with Rimuru using Ultimate Dominion but because Rimuru's soul is Veldanavas it is impossible to dominate him and is causing a glitch in all parties involved.