Preliminaries

Rimuru and Veldora had just departed from within his office and entered the streets of Tempest.

The streets have always been lively and full of monsters enjoying their lives under the protection of some of the strongest individuals in the world. Knowing they were fully safe under the protection of these people.

Upon Veldora and him entering into the streets of Tempest, they were being greeted and shown respect by everyone passing by. Children coming up to greet Rimuru and Veldora one after another.

The visitors here from other nations are also here to partake in this Tempest Founding Festival. Naturally, they knew the name of the leader and his appearance. They were fooled when they looked at him and believed he was a harmless woman due to his feminine appearance.

But, even under those circumstances, most felt it was safe to not anger this person. So it was best to show respect towards this king. Such was the air he exuded now after all these years.

Years ago, Rimuru would feel slight discomfort at this due to not being used to his status as a king. But over the years, he has grown into his position and that previous normal salaryman was gone and replaced by a competent and trustworthy king.

A person who could make his own decisions with careful analysis without the help of Ciel but still needing her when he fell short.

Rimuru was enjoying the children coming up to him and greeting them. They merely came up to ask what he was planning to do and if they could play. Unfortunately, Rimuru had to deny them that due to needing to meet Guy Crimson and Masayuki. So the children simply ran back to their parents.

As Rimuru was looking around at the joy everyone was having during this festival, a tinge of sadness could be seen within his gaze. But due to his stoic expression he was showing, it would be damn near impossible to tell. But for Veldora is was fairly easy.

"Something wrong?" Veldora asked, trying to not spoil the mood. When asked, Rimuru simply smiled at his question like he was proud.

"Oh, are you concerned about me?" Rimuru said with a teasing tone while looking Veldora in his eyes.

"As a matter of fact, I am. You looked... sad. May I know why brother?" Rimuru sighed at Veldoras insisting. Shrugging his shoulders thus deciding to tell him.

"Just a tad bit sad. All the people we lost over the years. I am immortal and they were not. People like Gobta, Rigur and Rigurd who have been with me since I founded this place. I wish they could have still been in here." Rimuru spoke in a somber tone, not wanting to spoil the mood as well. As everyone was walking around and enjoying the festivities, no one had heard his words.

"Well, you can always revive them whenever. Their souls are within your Imaginary Space after all."

"Your right. But I prefer for them to have a peaceful rest. Should I desire them to return, I might give into my desires." Rimur spoke, the tinge of sadness fading from his gaze and returning back to his cheerful self.

Such words were exchanged on their way to meet the Lord of Darkness and Reincarnation of the First Hero.

They sensed both individuals within the colosseum. Both were fairly puzzled as to why they might be there. But it shortly hit the both of them as to why.

Through the years, Tempest has always kept the tournament event going after all this time. Everyone enjoys a good fight and they make loads of income due to such things.

With the festival having just begun, the preliminaries were taking place. So, they assumed both Guy and Masayuki/Rudra were there watching the preliminaries.

Shortly upon arriving at the colosseum which had been greatly enhanced since before. The colosseum was now capable of holding up to 400,000 individuals and its defenses were even greater, making it much harder for anyone to effectively deal damage to it.

Upon entering the colosseum, they noticed the hundreds of people taking place in a free for all battle to determine who would be in the actual tournament.

Members from a plethora of races we're participating. Humans, Goblins, Lizardmen, Elves, Orcs and more. Hundreds of them were in this battlefield wanting to be put into the official tournament.

"Well speak of the devil. I didn't think you would come here to greet us."

A voice rang out from the right of Rimuru and Veldora as they were watching the battle for supremacy. The voice was familiar and full of a mocking or teasing tone. As soon as he heard them speak, he instantly knew who it was.

"Sup. Glad you guys stopped by." Rimuru said as he turned towards the voices and saw both Guy and Masayuki.

"Hi, Rimuru-san." Masayuki greeted as he waved towards the duo.

"Well, we wouldn't miss this. Although the tournament is essentially the best part." Guy spoke with a smirk.

"Still a complete battle maniac I see." Rimuru teased. "Anyways, what are the both of you doing watching the preliminaries? You know no one here can fight you."

"Well yeah, but it's somewhat entertaining to see the lesser powerful people fight for supremacy. Like that one for instance." Guy said as he pointed over towards one individual within the arena. Rimuru, Veldora and Masayuki had turned their heads to where Guy was pointing.

In the arena there was a young man doing quite well against the other opponents. He made no unnecessary movements and only attacked whenever he felt necessary. Making no decision to go on the offensive and only attack those who attacked him.

The young man had bright red hair and diamond blue eyes. His attire resembled that of what a high ranked or special type of knight might wear. Including the fact that it was quite flashy only made him stand out amongst the other fighters as well.

"Who is that?" Rimuru had asked. Clearly surprised with the appearance of this boy. He looked no older than about 17 years old. Everything about this boy at his age was impressive.

"That my friend, is a knight of that Kuvia Empire. You know, one of those new places that rose up over the years." Guy explained. It fairly surprised Rimuru. He knew of the Kuvia Empires existence yet he never met their any of their kings over the years. Well, it has been only 500 years since this country rose up.

"His armor looks flashy. Is he perhaps someones personal knight?" Veldora asked for once.

"No, similar to King Gazel of the past, this one is the heir to the throne of the Kuvia Empire. Apparently he wants to be a leader similar to King Gazel. Both a Warrior and a King." Guy explained. Upon hearing the explanation, Rimuru nodded his head in satisfaction. Understanding the reason for wanting to be a king of that caliber.

"I see. Interesting individual we have here." Rimuru muttered aloud.

"Yep, it seems he also has quite the reason for coming here too." Masayuki said as he scratched his head in what can only be said as nervousness.

"Hm, whats his reason?" Veldora asked.

"You won't believe it. He wants to defeat The Demon Lord Rimuru. Hahahaha!" Guy laughed aloud. Unable to control himself.

"Your kidding." Rimuru muttered.

"No. But judging from his power, he is roughly that of a Calamity Level." Masayuki said.

"Well that's certainly impressive. But that still makes him weaker than most opponents we have fought against. Like Kondo for example." Veldora spoke, clearly impressed with the strength a human of a more recently created country could obtain.

"Well.... He certainly has the potential to become much stronger." Guy said, finally calming down from his laughter."

"Indeed." Rimuru said as he continued to observe this kid. Watching his movements. Every few minutes someone would try and attack him but fail in the blink of an eye. They would attempt to strike him, he sidesteps and pierces them with his Unique Grade Sword, rendering them unable to continue thus eliminating them.

It was a crimson red rapier.

Nothing truly special about this blade from Rimurus analysis but it was a weapon that was capable of channeling and discharging flames. It was a fairly good weapon in the hands of this person.

But Rimuru ignored it and focused on the other contenders. There was someone who caught his attention though. It was a woman. She was on the other side of the arena doing just as this person was. Only attacking whenever someone challenged her before swiftly taking them out.

This woman was also fairly unique. Unlike this boy who was human, she was not. Although it looked thag way on the surface. Rimuru could tell she was using some sort of illusion magic to hide them. She had white hair that was tied into a ponytail. Glowing Crimson Red eyes to match and attire that resembles what a samurai might wear. In her hands was a beautiful crimson colored katana.

Rimuru observed her. Not out of caution or concern, he was rather confused by his thoughts. To him this woman seemed familiar to him. But he could not just figure out who she was and where he remembered her from.

"Veldora, any idea who that is?" Rimuru asked as he pointed towards her. Causing all his friends to redirect their attention from the young man over to her.

"Oh her! That girl. She's a member of your army. Though she has not been apart of it for long, she is quite exceptional at her age." Veldora explained. Rimuru face palmed as soon as he heard the explanation. Finally realizing where he saw her from, that being the training grounds.

"Her name is Tomoe Gozen by the way." Veldora added.

"Hoh, she is quite strong as well. I wonder who would win between her and that kid over there." Guy commented. Clearly excited about the competition here.

*BOOM!*

As they were watching her, a loud noise could be heard from the opposite side of the arena. They quickly turned to look and saw a smokescreen overtake the area. Dust built up severely thus blocking nearly anyone's vision. But the four of them could see clearly. What they saw was a large man wearing a type of red cloak. His build was masculine and looked as if he was just some type of berserk brawler.

The smoke started to fade out and reveal his figure to everyone.

"Hahahaha! Weak! You will never get the best of me, but I welcome the attempt!"

Sounding both cocky and arrogant he essentially challenged the rest of the fighters to come and take him on. The cause of that smokescreen was other tried to fight him, but they were all taken out easily. About 20 individuals were taken out and now the competition had dwindled down to only about one hundred individuals left.

"Hahahahaha! Hm?" This persons gaze had directed upon the group of four staring at him with their amused looks. He looked back at them seemingly interested. Mainly due to the blue haired individual. But nonetheless, he didn't do anything further as he knew what that might entail.

"Fairly strong as well." Masayuki said.

"Indeed. And it seems thats the last guy here to be surprised about. Everyone else seems weak." Guy spoke as he finished analyzing the rest of the competition.

"Well, it should be obvious who is going to make it. There will be 10 winners here and two of our own will also participate. That makes for 12 people in the tournament." Rimuru stated.

"Yeah, no one else looks all that great either." Veldora said in boredom. Following that up with an obnoxious yawn.

The group of four proceeded to watch the end of the prelims which took roughly about 20 more minutes. Simply due to the fact that the three of them were not really fighting anyone.

In the end, seven other contestants along with the three they expected to be chosen were the last ten competitors. Along with the randomly chosen two individuals on Tempests side joining.

Following this, Shion was the individual who came out and addressed the winners.

"Listen Up! You ten are the last remaining in the preliminaries! Thus, rendering you as the participants within the main tournament! Your matches will be chosen at random for the primary tournament! You are all dismissed!" Shion shouted while signaling for them to leave by motioning with her hand.

Upon seeing this, Rimuru along with Veldora, Guy and Masayuki had all left. Mostly because Rimuru didn't want to deal with Shions antics.

As the group of four were now walking out of the colosseum, Guy decided to ask Rimuru something.

"By the way Rimuru, I have a request to ask of you." This caught Rimuru by surprise. But he thought he should have expected this, Guy is always wanting requests of him thus annoying him greatly.

"What is it?" Rimuru asked with a cautious expression.

"During the end of your tournament, how about a match between you and I? It would be quite the spectacle for the onlookers. The dreaded Lord of Darkness and The Chaos Creator battling in the arena." Guy suggested. Rimuru brought his hand to his chin and thought about it. He has been feeling bored recently, thus this could solve his problem and fix his boredom. Guy has been getting stronger after all.

"Alright then, at the end will come our battle." Rimuru spoke with an excited smirk.

"Looks like you have become quite the battle maniac as well." Guy said as he noticed Rimurus smirk.

"What can I say, you all have had quite the influence on me."