69th Move | Pearly White Gates

"Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, 'he that is not with me is against me'."

-George Orwell, during WWII

_____________________________________________

After the Presidential Address, all opposition to the War practically evaporated. Not only did the protests end throughout Tempest, the most well-known critics now turned into the staunchest supporters for more men to be sent into the Grand Tempest Army. The Address also curbed any justification attempt made by CCTO members in backing out of the agreement.

What few remaining anti-war or anti-Scientia supporters were seen as nutjobs, becoming socially and financially excluded as they were fired from their workplace.

For the first time ever since the Sea of Broken Glass, the Republic truly united.

It took 2 days since S-Day for a proper State Funeral to be held at Metropolis for the late Director of Research and Development. In places other than the Eastern Front, everyone took a minute of silence, a day of mourning as no businesses aside from emergency ones were open.

The empty coffin for the funeral was a length of silver metal with blue shapes all over it. Around the coffin lay white roses while on top of it was Scientia's symbol: a chemical flask with a pair of wings spread out. The coffin was atop an open-top self-driving transport car.

The transport was accompanied by a motorcade. All types of Security trucks, Autonomous Security Drones, and many others were all part of this motorcade. One of the most interesting parts of the motorcade was the fact that the forwardmost car's skylight window was open, with Field Marshal Ririna poking out the top. Ririna looked ahead, wearing a ceremonial Field Marshal uniform, her face was an expression of absolute stillness, unchanging.

People lined the side of the fenced-off road all packed like blades of grass, all paying homage to the late Director. Most people found the death of the Perfect Homunculus to be almost impossible, yet the reality cannot be denied.

The general mood was needless to say, somber and dreary. Some cried as the coffin passed them, while others recorded it. Radio and TV stations were all focused on the motorcade with live broadcasts, allowing the citizens who couldn't make it to view the procession from the comforts of their homes.

An estimated 600,000 people were on the path that the motorcade was expected to take. There were no cars on the road as the path was already posted beforehand, and any car that are still parked on the path was quickly towed away before the Coffin had left its starting position.

The procession lasted for 4 hours, with the motorcade driving from the steps of Congress to the Blueprint Auction House some many kilometers away.

The physical Blueprint Auction House was shaped like the moon when it was undergoing a Waxing Cresent.

The President had wanted the funeral to go on longer, except he can't as there's a war going on.

The coffin was held right above a hole dug in the middle of the moon-shaped building, right in the courtyard. Behind the hole was a stage with a lectern fit for a speech.

"We stand here today to mourn the death of our beloved Commander..."

The first to speak was Field Marshal Ririna. A rousing and emotional speech ensued as the hobgoblin talked about her experience with the Commander and how she had influenced her. Eventually, Ririna turned her speech into one that inspired fear and nationalism, of how it's time for people to pull their belts up since the future will be hard, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Greetings citizens of Tempest. My name is Diablo, a contracted demon of Mistress Scientia when she became a Demon Lord..."

Next came Diablo. The Demon recalled his experience with the Perfect Homunculus, of how much happiness she inspired in him, of how he reminisced of the bye-gone intellectual debates he would sometimes have with Scientia.

"Director Scientia Tempest is my Creator. I am Mobius, a Super Artificial Intelligence made specifically in the unfortunate event that my Creator was to die..."

Then came Mobius. The AI used a more advanced version of Shizue's chassis— she called it an 'Integrated Organic Interface'— and introduced herself to the greater world as the successor to the late Director. She then showed that the body was a biomechanical one by literally opening up her hand to show that underneath its fleshy exterior was full of mechanical muscles.

Thankfully no one in this new world's heard of Terminators.

"Lady Scientia is a conflicting individual, honorless, yet willing to sacrifice..."

"Lady Scientia has a particular dislike of the magical arts of all kinds..."

This speech continued with more people participating. Rubedo said how she saved him from the Orc hoard, while Albedo spoke of her dislike of magic. Kathy didn't say much, beyond how she'll miss the Director. Everyone, except Shizue, who had a connection with Scientia Tempest gave a speech. The last one to go was Rimuru.

The slime wore a suit as white as freshly fallen snow as he walked up to the lectern, an oddity that stood out from the field of black.

As though the sky itself is mourning the death of Scientia, it started raining.

Rimuru looked down from the podium, many umbrellas unfolded themselves in the audience. The slime had a solemn expression on his face, he looked down at the paper on the lectern that was being dyed with rain droplets.

"...As you all know, I am Rimuru Tempest, the first of Scientia's companions and a... family member to Scientia..."

The slime spoke of moderation, emphasizing peace, and how it's the leaders who want this war and that the people are innocent. He then articulated how the System's End is independent of Scientia's technology, and how the late Director has created an Ark before saying the Ark will be activated the moment when they got Veldora back. Rimuru ended his speech by assuring the populace that they will win this war, and will get Veldora back.

Rimuru's speech had the most effect, as it should since it was written by Mobius.

The coffin's sound as it was being entombed felt like the loud horn used to signal the retreat of an attacking army. Once the outermost lid fully covered the hole that is the final resting place of the Commander of the Grand Military of the Republic, it felt like it was sealing away the past, sealing away the golden age of the Tempest, heralding the end of an era.

A stone plaque was placed right in front of the final resting place, on it were the words:

'Scientia Tempest. Demon Lord. Futurist. Commander of the Grand Military of the Republic. Director of Research and Development. Beloved by most, feared by others.'

To say that Scientia Tempest had cast a shadow on the world would be an understatement. The Perfect Homunculus had a massive shadow that can be seen from the lowest of valleys up to the highest of stars, to the very edge of the Observable Universe. In fact, Scientia's bibliography which was made by Mobius had sold over 20 million digital copies in less than a day.

Prior to the funeral, all state-funded TV stations quickly changed their tune and started broadcasting programs that recalled the life and impact of the Director while independent stations pulled comedy and satire programs off-air per the request of the President.

Once the coffin had been fully entombed, bells rang out across Metropolis, all of them coming from electronic speakers.

Prayers were held at the old Church of Technology, now renamed the Church of the Broken God by Pope Adalman. Large masses of people joined the prayer after the motorcade had passed over them, for interesting times were ahead and mortals often wished for uninteresting times.

Before, wars were seen as something glorious. Even with the Sea of Broken Glass, the Director was always there to help the people out.

Any victory was assured by the sheer technological difference between Tempest and her enemies. It was a repeat of how Europeans stomped their way through Africa except somehow worse as there wasn't a single friendly casualty in either of the two wars with Falmuth and Jistav. The sheer magnitude of this cannot be understated, as, throughout history, Jistav and Falmuth were considered to be long-standing Great Powers on the world stage.

The Perfect Homunculus became something akin to a crutch, a pillar of hope, the foundation of the Republic more so than even the first President: she was the center of all.

And now she's dead, just as the largest war in written records was happening. Even the general populace knew that the on-coming war would be one like nothing before; it would truly be a World War, and one that will define what little future was left.

And so, the Tempest War Machine was turned on.

_____________________________________________

16 days after the funeral

It was decided to not tell the general public about the Ark after a meeting right after the Funeral of the Director. It was also decided to halt all non-essential government services and jobs to allow people to grieve.

Everyone grieved differently. The Primordials in particular all went their separate paths, Jeanne went to a bar she often visited and drank their whole cellar dry, Kathy seemingly locked herself in her room to browse the Internet for memes and videos, and Diablo threw himself into his work.

Less than a week after the Funeral, Ingrassia collapsed. The government literally stopped existing as chaos reigned supreme.

The huge land that's the size of Brazil fell into a state of total anarchy despite Chronoa's broadcast pushing for unity against a single threat. Mobius predicted the nation will become a series of warlord states as princes, higher nobility, and regional governors each make their power grab in the resulting vacuum. That is unless Chronoa comes in and fills that vacuum.

Without Ingrassia at the helm and with the other Great Power Falmuth being dismissed, the Western Council became directionless as the two previously stated nations were the main contributors and thus, the heads.

In the emergency meeting that happened just two days after Ingrassia's Fall, the division that once existed only in the shadows came into the light as instead of focusing on Tempest, various factions rose up... until Ruberios came in and took over, or more accurately, the Western Church took over.

Religion is a weapon, and since the Luminous Faith is to the Western States what Christianity is to Medieval Europe, Ruberios is currently in the process of uniting all of the West into a single united coalition. They're having some troubles with Ingrassia simply due to how fractured the old Kingdom was, what with dialogues with the largest proto-warlord states dragging on.

Ironically, it's due to the purges and centralization of power made by King Aegir that resulted in the current state of affairs. The people he had appointed were mostly those who wished for more power, they were with King Aegir during the coup simply because he had promised them more power and influence. In other words, they had no loyalty, and thus, if Ruberios weren't willing to give them something they want—be it gold, power, influence, or legitimate and undeniable proof that the System is ending— the proto-warlords aren't going to participate in the World War.

13 days after the death of Scientia, dialogues between the proto-warlords broke down as the Pope of the Western Holy Church— Pope Louis Valentin— declared a Crusade of Annihilation against the Jura Tempest Republic for its use of heretical technology. The Pope then announced that any who died during the Crusade of Annihilation will see their names forever remembered by future generations and that they shall be pardoned for all past sins.

Apparently, the Holy Knights led by the Clerics of the Seven Luminaries have begun to assemble. They then intend to act like a beacon, traveling slowly towards Tempest while attracting more zealous churchgoers, knights, soldiers, and adventurers from nearby countries to join.

Dwargon, Eurazania, and Blumund joined in on the side of Tempest per Article 5 of the Central Continental Treaty Organization (CCTO). King Gazel Dwargo immediately sent his Pegasus Knight and other forces and laid siege to Stilrosso.

Falmuth's corroboration with the Presidential Address gave it the legitimacy needed in the eyes of the common man. Although the nation still hasn't made a decision yet, under increasing diplomatic pressures from Dwargon and Tempest, the fledging Republic is expected to declare war against the West. Eurazanian stood out from the war since they were too weak after having just finished rebuilding themselves. Fulbrosia is radio silent, with Milim's sudden disappearance, the Dragon's Faithful is currently in chaos.

All other states in the world like El Durado declared war against Tempest. The Non-Aligned Bloc was thankfully silent, yet within the elven nation of Sarion, spearheaded by a certain Prince of the nation, the Nobility is calling for war.

And so, like dominos, the mutual defense pact of the CCTO, the secret coalition, and the looming Sword of Damocles that is the System's End resulted in a true world war where no nation will be left untouched, where neutrality would best be seen as a dream.

In the East, other than dealing with Veldora, the Scorch Dragon seemingly returned to the Imperial Capital. Veldora was nowhere to be found while most of Emperor Rudra's Imperial Knights are now active on the front lines. The Empire's armies are starting to make some headway into Tempest soil, but not enough to be truly worrisome due to the sheer size of the Jura Forest.

"...and we have visual confirmation that the Imperial Knight no-1 First Lieutenant Tatsuya Kondou was leading the new vanguard. Velgrynd and Veldora are nowhere to be seen, fortunately." Mobius concluded her weekly report, reflecting, "It is fortunate that the enemy could not move faster than a horse's run, even if a said horse with cheap enchantments can run as fast as some early cars. I predict it would take the Western forces a while to actually get to Blumund, instead what we should be more worried about are potential forces from Sarion."

Rimuru nodded along as he dodged another nuclear blast from Jeanne. Due to the fact that Doormaker currently could not support instantaneous interstellar travel, the slime was forced to make do with a testing chamber inside the Citadel.

He was training himself to dodge, as well as getting familiar with [Holmes], apparently the sibling equivalent of [Tattletale]. Whereas [Tattletale] focused on the collection of information, [Holmes] focused on connecting different pieces of information together— to be really good at recognizing abstract patterns from seemingly random sets of data, if you will.

Mobius continued, this time her tone had a smidge of smugness, "The Talons has also proven its use; that being much more efficient compared to the Autonomous Marines."

This has resulted in him being far better at intuitively dodging Jeanne's bullet hell of nuclear bolts. Mobius described the Ultimate Skill as a shorter-range version of [Contessa].

"Remind me, who's Kondou again?" Rimuru said as he dodged another three dozen blasts, the current room temperature was at such a level that Mobius had to use liquid helium as a coolant to ensure the hologram projectors wouldn't be damaged.

A holographic panel appeared in front of Rimuru's face as he continued his dodging regiment, his movements not slowed down by a bit as he both dodged and read the file.

Kondou looked like a young man in his 20s, his black hair was trimmed and his eyes were sharp like knives.

"First Lieutenant Tatsuya Kondou. His exact origin is not known, as he was inducted into Emperor Rudra's service over seven decades ago. His ethnicity appears to mirror those of the Eastern Empire, yet the possibility of him being an Otherworlder cannot be neglected." Mobius summarized the most important points, "Recently in the past two decade, he was responsible for murdering the entirety of the Sima Clan. After this massacre, Tatsuya Kondou became the Emperor's Right Hand, a sword compared to Velgrynd's hammer. He is precise, diligent, cold, and fanatically loyal to the point of zealousness..."

As Mobius zoned on, Rimuru's mind was somewhere else, the slime became so familiar with Jeanne's firing pattern that he could instinctively dodge all of her nuclear blasts. His attention was instead on how Kondou's uniform was very different from your standard Imperial outfit. Of course, it could be due to his position as the First of the Imperial Knights but given how it bared a striking resemblance to those of the Imperial Japanese Navy...

Unlike some other Japanese, Satoru Mikami was not nationalistic, he did not crave a return to the past. He was still a pacifist at heart despite all that's happened.

Tatsuya Kondou hits especially close to home since he represented an era in Japan that the former Japanese salary man was particularly ashamed of; fanatical militarism.

The same fanatic militarism that created a war that killed millions, and the many atrocities that happened as a by-product of that war.

If this had been any other time, Rimuru would've liked to show Kondou exactly what happened to Japan after WWII, showing him the post-war economic miracle, similar to what he did with Shizue. He wanted the Otherworlder to give up on militarism, give up on hate, look on toward the future, move past that era in time, to choose a different path.

Just like his old grandparents.

But now's hardly the time, isn't it?

Despite all that's happened, Rimuru could not help but be regretful for what he will have to do.

What a shame... he thought as he sighed.

Just as the slime was deep inside his mind, the Yellow Primordial was starting to get pissed off at how Rimuru wasn't even paying attention anymore.

That slight anger grew very quickly, and irritation took over as the Demon wanted to punch something oh so very much, akin to a person who's already had a bad day and someone just made it worse.

Thus, instead of bolts of degenerating matter, Jeanne shot out beams of it.

In less than a second, the beams passed through his natural barriers and Rimuru was bisected at the hip by two converging beams of nuclear magic that cut like a pair of scissors.

Before his lower and upper half could fall onto the ground, Jeanne blitzed forward with her hand coated in nuclear fire. Appearing before Rimuru, the demon started to just punch, punch, punch, punch, and punch him into the ground.

Her face twisted in an ugly snarl as the Primordial's movement became a blur. With her mind elsewhere, her fists started moving so fast that Rimuru's regeneration is having a hard time catching up. She continued to punch the blue blob in anger, taking out her newly released rage on Rimuru.

It's a testament to just how strong the material that made up the testing chamber is if it's able to stand up to the relentless assault of a Primordial Demon.

"Jeanne, that's enough."

The Primordial couldn't hear anything, all she was focused on, all that she wants to do is just punch—

"Jeanne—"

Punch.

PUNCH.

"I think that's enough."

AND PUNCH.

*DOOM*

With one last mighty blow, Jeanne's shoulder slacked as she started to breathe heavily. Her bountiful chest expanded and contracted in a rhythmic fashion. Once her mind returned, the Yellow Primordial saw how the ground visibly caved in, and Rimuru was painted across the floor around her.

Jeanne's lips thinned. Getting up, the demon adjusted her tie before placing her hands inside her pocket. She felt an instinctive repulsion towards the AI's voice that sounds so similar to her Boss'.

"Call me Jaune, machine intelligence." The Primordial got out of that hole with a single jump and started walking away without looking back. In a formal tone, Jeanne then addressed Rimuru, "You've grown much stronger Mr. President, but you've still got much more to go."

The AI assessed the situation with her psychoanalytic algorithm while reviewing the Creator's notes. 'Demons' according to her Creator's files were a race of spiritual beings that are very adept at using magic. Lower-ranked demons are, just like spirits, barely sapient but higher-ranking demons like Jeanne behave shockingly like humans.

Homo Sapiens behave the way they do because of evolutionary processes. They like to talk to other people simply because of their social nature, and emotions like love, joy, and fear are chemical processes in a person's brain that aids in evolutionary survival. Yet strangely, a spiritual being like Diablo still feels these emotions even without a physical brain.

Her Creator theorized that Homo Sapiens is the basic template that Veldanava used to create all other intelligent lifeforms, and aliens like the Nabarians were those that naturally evolved.

Time grounded to a near halt as Mobius allowed more of her vast intellect to analyze the past few seconds. The AI saw how Jeanne intentionally avoided eye contact, her steps were quick, with minor twitching of the fingers, and bits of sweat can be seen oozing out of the pores on the back of her neck.

Her Creator's notes also contained a specific passage about how Jeanne seemed to almost see promises as sacred.

The psychoanalysis program returned with a diagnosis of long-repressed mental trauma resurfacing. Mobius refocused more of her intellect toward solving Jeanne. Utilizing her Super-intelligent nature and the knowledge inside the Noosphere, Mobius concluded that due to how long Jeanne had lived, what she craved the most when she was summoned by her Creator was entertainment, and she received more than enough in the form of the Internet and technology.

Humans are not built for lasting an eternity, and yet Jeanne would last an eternity.

Truly, what was Veldanava doing when he made immortal beings to be like humans? Does he think these evolved monkeys to be the pinnacle of life?

How... what a ridiculous notion, the Human Emulation program executed a silent scoff.

As Mobius continue to psychoanalyze the Yellow Primordial and question the efficiency of being so human, a near infinitesimal part of her intellect was distracted by the fact that an entity as intelligent as her could easily predict what someone's next moves were, and to such a degree that one would need negative exponents to express the chance of her getting something wrong.

After the analysis was completed, the Super-Intelligent AI thought of over 6 dozen ways of using it to her advantage. Looking over each of the plans, the AI shortened the list of plans to 28, then 9, then 2, before finally: 1.

"Do you truly think taking out your anger on the last family member of Scientia is the right move?"

Jaune whipped her head around to glare at Mobius. Rimuru was slowly, and painfully, piecing himself back together, "I mean, isn't it counterproductive? He is the last connection—"

"Shut the hell up."

"I don't think so. The death of my Creator has clearly shaken you. Despite your history, your demons are just as human, and thus, you feel an exorbitant amount of anger—"

"I said SHUT UP!"

Jeanne let out a bolt of degenerate matter towards the projection of Mobius, only for the blast to harmlessly pass through the green-haired AI.

"Tch." Jeanne groaned out in frustration, her fist clenched as she gritted her teeth, kicking the ground like a sullen child, "I always hated illusion magic, fucking cowards..."

"You loved Scientia didn't you?" That phrase had caused all movement in Jeanne to immediately cease as the demon gawked at Mobius, "no, it's more accurate to say that you loved her as a human would love their pets or toys."

Seeing how Jeanne's eyes were twitching in anger, Mobius pressed on, "you are apathetic to the point of being near sociopathy due to how long you've lived. Your previous summoners were all very boring, and you chose my Creator because she was entertaining—no, the MOST entertaining. It helped that she most likely could not die at all. She was worthy."

"Stop."

The global population count within the past millennium has largely stayed the same, with a 50 million margin of error. Even conflict, the thing that was supposed to advance mortals in her Creator's old world has mostly stagnated into a pissing contest for which despotic dictator/king had the most powerful Skill/Magic.

"As immortal beings, they are very apathetic to the plights of others, even other immortals— why bother with a relationship if it's just going to end? In a world as stagnate as this one, change is rarely present, so it gets unbearably boring as every day is the same as yesterday."

Innovation doesn't exist, and neither does science due to the Great Tenma Wars.

"Like a person locked up in their home all day without relief, it gets incredibly difficult to ascertain the worth of seeing tomorrow's sunrise if you see the same wall every day. Other demons delude themselves with the goal of becoming stronger to stave off this feeling of purposelessness, but you're already the strongest of your race. Without a goal or a purpose, Nihilism would soon come, and Nihilism has consumed you. You tried to find some meaning, like always upholding a promise. You derided your existence from contracts... and for the rare few individuals, promises, but it wasn't enough. No one was worthy even of a contract."

A shadow covered Jeanne's eyes, "Stop..."

"So you decided to randomly blast nuclear magic at El Durado for simply the hell of it... that is until 'boss' came along. You escaped the grasp of Nihilism for the first time in eons. You started to enjoy life since there's more to experience. Your bank account showed how you spend millions on food alone. Scientia— the being who was responsible for these changes— became your most valued toy... and you treat your favorite toy very well."

"Please stop..." Jeanne uncharacteristically plead, causing the now reformed Rimuru to widen his eyes in shock, his jaw dropped at how the Yellow Primordial is behaving.

"Um...Mobius?"

Yet the AI continued her verbal dissection, listing out things that Jeanne does not wish to face, "and now Scientia is gone. You're angry t what you've lost. Like a child angry at losing a contest, you're angry because you could've done better. But you bottled up that anger, and it was released by the smallest infraction: when Rimuru stopped paying attention to his training."

"So I did! What about it huh?! Why are you attacking me?!?"

"Do you think that would bring her back?"

"No, but at least I'll get satisfaction." Jeanne immediately shot back, the area around her eyes was glistening. Her lips quivered, and she stomped her foot hard enough that the entire room trembled.

"Yeah, I was reminded once again that it was pointless. Yeah, it was just all so pointless in the end. Yeah, everything just dies! Everything is just so boring! Everything is just so weak! Everything just stays the same monotone bland. So...AAAAARGH!" Jeanne started violently scratching her head like a student currently in an exam wanting answers yet cannot find them, "Why? Why did I make a contract with her? Why did she die?! She was so powerful! Relentless stood up against fucking True Dragons!! She even had a precognition-based Ultimate Skill for fuck's sake!"

Mobius was satisfied with the result, her emotion emulators were simulating emotions of happiness at how Jeanne's walls were broken... even if the AI had to twist some parts.

If this had been anyone else, Mobius will tell them that Scientia would've wanted them to move on. Except that is obviously not the case since her Creator had resurrected Rimuru.

In a way, her Creator is similar to Jeanne. Both are loners, both have this 'inner court' of exclusive people, both rarely trust anyone, and both see people as tools.

The AI's focus returned to the present issue, with barely a second passing.

A different approach is required. The demon's power is too useful.

"Do you feel better now?"

The Demon stopped, her face turned from stunned confusion to chuckles, which soon devolved into insane laughter. Seconds later, Jeanne smiled, her eyes glinting in a way that screamed danger, "are you sure you're not a demon?"

"I am a super-intelligent artificial intelligence built for the sole purpose of annihilating enemies." Mobius remain unfazed and closed her eyes confidently while playing a hand over her chest. A second of purposeful posing later, the AI opened her eyes to stare at Jeanne, "but back to the point, your usefulness will decrease if your mind isn't... in the game, if you will."

The Yellow Primordial looked disappointed before returning to neutral.

"That reminds me, you'll need a new name now that—"

"Actually I don't."

"What?"

"I don't need a new name. I'm still Jeanne" Placing her hand back into the pockets of her shirt, Jeanne started walking away before suddenly stopping, "I promise I'll fight against the bitch Chronoa, so don't you worry."

"Oh yeah," she then turned to look back at Mobius, "Right before I came here, I saw Kathy drowning out her sorrows but I couldn't find the other Primordial. Where's Diablo? Haven't seen that stuck-up bastard since the funeral and he was in charge of Special Circumstances."

"I'll... look into it," Mobius replied hesitantly, for the first time since her creation sounding unsure of herself. The AI did not expect the name to be still in effect, as by all references, once the namer dies, the name they gave becomes obsolete.

Has the breakdown of the System started affecting names?

Jeanne teleported away with a single snap of air.

Rimuru stared at the back of Mobius' head, much of her long green hair had covered her back.

In a wary tone that someone would use when they just saw something unbelievable, "What the hell just happened?"

"...During your fight, I recognized classic signs of repressed emotions and clinical depression. My Creator said how such responses would put a damper on efficiency, and so, I needed to nip this problem in the bud."

"Right..." the Slime trailed off as he remembered something, "wait, now that Jeanne's mentioned it, why did Scientia fall for that trap when she had [Contessa]?"

"One of Scientia's notes right after the Space Elevator Bombing was how [Contessa]— what's a good word?... It 'broke'. The Ultimate Skill was destroyed by the Breakdown of the System. We should also expect more Skills to break in the near future."

Mobius materialized a holographic post-it note right in front of Rimuru with the time stamp on the top right, silencing any counters.

Thus, Rimuru decided to talk about something else.

"You said how the Imperial Army is making headway into Tempest correct?"

Mobius nodded, "Field Marshal Ririna has also decided to evacuate all civilian personnel within a thousand kilometers of the front lines to Rimuru City. Due to the fact that all tinkertech satellites around the planet have been destroyed, I had to use those further out at interstellar distances, thus, information collection will be somewhat delayed."

Rimuru placed a hand on his chin and began to plan. He recalled a peculiar fact about Endbringers that Scientia had told him, "the Endbringers... 'they are the ultimate planetary invasion force' I remember Scientia once describing them as."

"Indeed, and only you have permission to access them."

A smile formed on the slime's lips, "and we're losing troops against these Imperial Knights yes?" Mobius nodded again, Rimuru then snapped his fingers, "so why don't we send the Endbringers at them!"

The AI frowned, "Mr. President if you wish to neutralize the Eastern Empire for the foreseeable future, might I recommend you take a look at the Preemptive Strike Protocol my Creator has made?"

Rimuru's right eye twitched as his smile became awkward, "A what?"

"The Preemptive Strike Protocol, nicknamed 'DEFCON', was created when my Creator first learned of the threat that the Eastern Empire posed. During that time, a nuclear warhead was the strongest thing within my Creator's perception, and so, she made a contingency plan to launch 3,000 Fallout-Class Cobalt Strategic Nuclear Warheads toward the Eastern Empire's domain. This number was bumped up to 15,000 as of the latest iteration over half a year ago. My Creator then most likely forgot about this protocol while the dumb AIs in the Noosphere started building up the missile stock." Mobius continued her explanation while Rimuru's face became increasingly horrified.

Shaking his head to snap himself out of his horrified state, Rimuru instinctively placed a hand above his stomach and spoke in a nauseous tone as though he was sick, "holy god, what—just... What? Why don't I know about this?!"

"This protocol was under the exclusive preview of Research and Development with Directive-level security. The highest level, one level higher than Executive."

Research and Development is a black box. Even when Congress banned the production of Weapons of Mass Destruction, they don't actually possess the ability to audit or even enforce those bans. Normally, this would've made corruption and embezzlement extremely easy, but since R&D is run by a single person, it doesn't become an issue.

"You must understand how paranoid my Creator was. In all honesty, if it weren't for you Mr. President, then my Creator would've probably stuffed every sentient being on this planet inside gigantic simulations of utopia. It also goes to show just how many resources my Creator must possess if the stockpiling and maintenance of 15,000 Nuclear Warheads each capable of rendering entire jurisdictions uninhabitable due to excessive fallout doesn't even come up on her radar. Oh, how much would our war effort be helped if only I had access to those?" She said the last part like a person performing a eulogy, "The purpose of the protocol was to essentially render the entire Empire uninhabitable via radiation. In fact, the five-fold increase from 3,000 to 15,000 was probably made to accommodate potential magical solutions—"

The green-haired hologram stopped when Rimuru hunched over while clutching his stomach and raised a hand telling her to stop.

As a Japanese person born in the twilight years of the Cold War, Rimuru was intimately familiar with the concept of nuclear weapons. His grandparents lived through the bombing of Nagasaki, and while other grandparents tell their grandchild fairy tales, his grandparents made sure to instill the fear of nuclear weapons into the young Satoru Mikami.

It's also a reason why he was a pacifist at heart.

Seeing how visibly uncomfortable with the protocol Rimuru was, Mobius pressed on regardless with a compromise. "We can change the coordinate to everything east of the Ameld. The smaller area should achieve enough general radioactive material saturation that it would be poisonous for any soldiers to cross, meaning that the Imperials will have to kill themselves as they move across Tempest soil. This would in effect free up the Endbringers—"

"No," Rimuru spoke with a sense of finality. Narrowing his eyes with a scowl on his face, "I'm not going to use nuclear weapons. 15,000 is more than enough to cause a global nuclear winter." The Slime spat out the words as though he was talking about cockroaches, "I'm not going to cause unnecessary casualties."

He raised a finger to point at Mobius.

"In fact, destroy the stockpile. We're not going to be needing it... especially not such dirty bombs." Rimuru's shoulder shuddered like he was cold. Mobius nodded in response.

Rimuru then used Kusanagi to teleport back into the empty command room of the Citadel. A single holographic table displaying the entire world dominated the room, with different displays lining the wall like paintings in an art museum.

Due to how prevalent holographic technology is to Scientia, the Perfect Homunculus had implanted enough projectors to make sure that a hologram can materialize anywhere anytime within the Citadel. Mobius followed Rimuru and quickly projected herself into the command room.

"Tell Ririna to pull back all the troops, send all three Endbringers to the front lines, and stall the Imperial advances while our own soldiers march onward towards the West." He paused for a moment. Over the past week, the Slaughterhouse-Class AI has been exceedingly helpful and very accommodating.

One would be hard-pressed to imagine Mobius as a being made for killing if not for the occasional comment about how to efficiently murder an army, but it was rare enough that Rimuru could overlook it.

Thus, these factors contributed to Rimuru's decision.

"Mobius, I'm making you the vice-commander of the Endbringers."

Mobius froze, before bowing, even if such an act was foreign to the AI, "thank you, Mr. President."

Being a vice-commander, Mobius is like the step-parent of a child; she has some authority, but the biological parent outranks her.

Rimuru crossed his hands and started staring at the war map, a moment later, Mobius spoke up.

"I recommend that we use the newly established Ministry of Truth to create a media blackout of everything east of the Ameld. Industrialized warfare is horrific to the common citizens."

Rimuru pondered Mobius' suggestion, calling back on what he learned in history class, and compared the battles of the Edo era and those of WWII.

He can't disagree.

"Go ahead."

"Right away."

The creation of Doormaker changed warfare forever. 'Free' instantaneous travel across half the globe allowed the quick movements of tens of thousands from one end of the country to the other in less than an hour. The only reason it isn't faster is due to soldiers take time to pack up pieces of equipment.

"By the way... where IS Diablo? I haven't seen him much other than the daily report." Ever since Chronoa's broadcast, Rain had left since Scientia is no longer around, as the conditions of her contract had been completed. The Black Primordial have been weirdly quiet but Rimuru chalked that up to him grieving.

Mobius' holographic avatar froze for several dozen milliseconds before replying, "Diablo is buried inside his work. I determined that he has successfully suppressed his feelings and thus requires no maintenance, unlike Jeanne. As for Kathy, she is working hard."

Rimuru nodded, part of his mind felt wrong with how clinical the terms used by Mobius but that part was quickly ignored. The slime's focus returned to the war map, occasionally playing around with it as Mobius watched.

Ririna went back to the Eastern Theater of Operations. Rubedo became the new Commander-General of the Western Theater. Albedo is now focusing on magical defenses, setting up complicated and efficient circles for the troops. The entire Tempest economy is now focused on the war effort.

There are about 5,000 graduated Officers currently operating as an Army Group east of the Ameld. Ease of transportation through Doormaker and the Hyperloops ensured the rapid deployment of the Marines, Tripods, and a new weapon made by Mobius called 'Talons'.

"My curiosity demands me to ask..." The AI suddenly inquired, causing Rimuru to shift his focus onto her, "I have been barred from the living quarters of the Citadel, and I haven't seen my Creator's partner anywhere including the Funeral... may I ask where is she? Where is Arcueid Brunestud?"

'Where is the person whom my Creator saw good enough to be a partner?'

It's like a child asking their uncle why did their parents marry each other.

The blue-haired humanoid slime froze like a statue. Rimuru's eyes dilated, his lips thinned, and his hands formed into a fist with the thumb on the inside.

———Red.

A color that invokes many things, most commonly blood, the lifestream of organisms.

Music———that haunting music coming from that music box.

——Shredded walls, limbs, organs, and blood spread all over the place——

—And in the middle of it all, on the bed, was... her. She turned to look at Rimuru after he had entered the dilapidated room.

Her eyes... the eyes that cried blood... they were different. They spoke of immeasurable pain, so much pain that Rimuru's skin tingled in visible discomfort. She was surrounded by an aura of oppressive sadness— the room stank of despair, so much so that it was almost infectious, threatening to pull Rimuru down to her level.

Yet——— She nonetheless still exuded innocence. Perhaps it was due to her child-like form, or perhaps it was the fact that she was untouched by any crimson despite lying in the center of that scarlet maelstrom— It didn't matter.

Bodies that looked hauntingly familiar scattered about near the edge of the room.

Flesh dolls.

They looked almost like—

Rimuru took a deep breath and closed his eyes, burying that memory into the deepest recess of his mind once more.

Weakly, "Arcueid is..." He let out his breath, "out of commission for the foreseeable future."

He admitted to Mobius before quickly changing the subject into one that he's more comfortable with, "how goes the reverse-engineering?"

The AI let out a tiring groan that reminds Rimuru of when he was still a student and the professors just assigned a new project. "...I will need more time to reverse-engineer the technologies within my Creator's pocket dimension and within the Citadel. In fact, I can only theorize how my Creator's technology works. For example, the latest iteration of an FTL drive has it... somehow unravel those bundled-up extra dimensions."

Like lost super technologies that one would find in a sci-fi setting that belongs to a long-lost civilization, Rimuru had granted Mobius access to Scientia's personal pocket dimension in hopes of perhaps being able to somehow bring Scientia back, or at least see if there's anything that can be used. Even if it's pointless, there exists a tiny spark of hope inside the slime, after all, her science has surpassed even Rimuru's wildest imaginations.

As he recalled the past, the sides of Rimuru's mouth curved upward.

"That's fine," the slime reassured Mobius, "Just... please make it a secondary focus of yours. I'll probably take a small break tomorrow, haven't hung out with Albedo and Citrinitas for a while now."

A silence fell into the room, it's neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; simply just is, akin to the feelings that two strangers on a bus after work would have as both try to just pass the time alone without bothering the other. Several holographic panels appeared around the AI who then got to work tapping away while Rimuru just stared aimlessly at the current war map.

What if he did resign and Scientia become President, would she still be alive? Rimuru's mind started absent-mindedly pondering. What if he was never resurrected, would she still be alive?

Time continued as periodic alerts would pop up on the war map, whether it was a report of troop transport or otherwise. To Rimuru, time became a blur as each moment blended with the other, the slime was lost in his thought as he leaned on his left hand.

*Beep*

That was until a louder beep came from Mobius, yanking the slime out of his thoughts.

"Mr. President, it appears that pearly white gates have opened up above every city in Tempest."