Reward and Evolution Part 1: Chapter 162

It's now the second day after I revived the 700,000 soldiers of the Empire's forces.

Since there wasn't sufficient space in the grand hall of Tempest, I gathered my subordinates in the battle arena to test out the evolution ritual.

This will also serve as the rewards for repelling the empire's armies.

It's also a victory celebration of sorts.

Actually, since the war hasn't ceased yet we shouldn't let down our guards, but it'll be an exception this time.

This is also for the sake of improving soldier Morales.

The Ten Lords of the Labyrinth also made their formal appearances, and the battle arena's jam-packed with soldiers.

Oh, for confidentiality, the human volunteers, the adventurers weren't invited..

The city around the Dungeon――the fact it's now named Labyrinth-Gard――hasn't been conveyed into the inside of the dungeon yet.

This is in consideration of the fact we may face surprise attacks during a war, it's for the sake of caution.

The barrier stones haven't been implemented into the surroundings of Labyrinth-Gard. Once the war is over I plan to perform a defensive ritual targeting wide-scale attack spells.

Due to present situations, there isn't enough time to implement any defenses, but it can't be helped.

Although the dungeon can't be explored at the moment, food ingredients can still be traded.

Other than the adventurers, business is going as usual.

The volunteer soldiers have returned to Labyrinth-Gard, currently on standby in their own homes.

Only a section of individuals such as Masayuki and Arnaud were allowed to participate as representatives.

Anyways, rewards and commendations were given.

Incidentally, I also experimented on the Demon Lord Ascension.

My evolution took 2~3 days, my level of activity has dropped due to the effects of Harvest Festival, however at the moment the empire's armies aren't here.

It would seem the airship corps would take 3 days to fly around the back of The Holy Empire Ruberion's territory, but after adjusting their advancement speed, they would hit open seas in 2 days.

When flying near supersonic speeds, they could reduce travel time by 1 day. However, magic consumption was immense, and they could only maintain their top speed for a short amount of time.

In this world, the ability to move at supersonic speeds is quite a threat, so I think a short amount of time is enough.

In any case, since the average speed for an airship is about 400km/h, when compared to a ship or a train this is pretty fast.

That's why, you can say this is good timing.

It was an overwhelming victory this time, but the possibilities of a strong adversary lurking in the midst of the enemies still exist.

If Yuuki appeared, among all of my executives the only ones who could deal with him would probably be either Diablo or Benimaru.

If they messed up badly, there would be the risk of being dominated effect due to the information overwriting over the soul, resulting in the possibility of having a subordinate.

Regarding the information overwrite on the soul, Wisdom King Raphael seem to provide protection against it.

However, I think it's probably only a temporary effect.

I think it's possible to set up a perfect defense against it if I directly saw Yuuki's ability, but at the moment this is only a conjecture so overconfidence is very dangerous.

The improvement of overall abilities through the Demon Lord ascension will serve as insurance for those "oh shit moments".

Perchance, even if my subordinates were still defeated after they ascended and their souls were rewritten, it's still possible for them to stall for time.

The plan is to contact me in the event of a chance encounter, commence a pincer attack with me and finish him off.

According to Wisdom King Raphael's prediction there would be no problems in resisting the rewrite; even so I still want to be extremely cautious though.

Naturally, Benimaru was the first to be nominated.

As supreme commander of the army, he commanded the troops wonderfully.

There was a situation where a demon went wild and wrecked everything, but that's not a problem.

You could probably even call it a job well done.

"Alright then, Benimaru. Do you know as of today you might even become a demon lord?

"What are you saying, Rimuru-sama?"

Shuna is currently giving a speech to all the soldiers with words of appreciation for this battle.

With my words as the introduction, she read a script out loud.

Naturally it wasn't me who came up with the manuscript. It was Shuna, but let's not mind the small details.

Recently, techniques relating to fabrics and sewing have been completely passed down; Shuna herself has been allocating her time for her hobbies.

Even so, she spends a lot of her time as my secretary.

At the moment Shion was listed as my chief bodyguard as well as my chief secretary but is currently busy training her subordinates.

Thus recently it was mainly Shuna who was handling the work of being my secretary.

That's why, while Shuna was giving a speech the conversation between Benimaru and I continued.

"Well, we acquired some souls didn't we? It seems it's possible to ascend to a demon lord using them."

"Why haven't I heard about this?"

"Oh? Didn't I just explained abut it?"

I and Benimaru locked eyes.

I wonder was it distasteful for me to not tell him beforehand?

No, I'm pretty positive I've already told him I would be

granting him new powers.

"For the moment, I did say I'll bestow power to you ?"

No no no, wouldn't one usually think it would be some kind of weapon!?

"Mu mu mu, If you say so it might be but…

But you know, there wouldn't be much change right?"

"there will be!"

We once again locked eyes with each other, the stare was broken this time by Benimaru's sigh as he gave up.

He seems to have decided to prepare himself.

You may have resigned yourself to this, but I'm sure there won't be any significant differences.

"It's not just me right? What are you thinking?"

Good question.

In my case, my magic essence and my magic increased 10 folds, and everyone soul-linked to me was bestowed a blessing.

It's unknown how it will turn out this time, but it's certain that he will drastically increase in power.

But, this guy was stronger than I was before I ascended, if he underwent the same evolution wouldn't he be stronger than I am now?

To be honest I feel a sense of anxiety.

Basically, I don't think my follower will betray me, but the possibility of them unable to control their powers and go berserk couldn't be denied.

Although Veldora is nearby, someone of my level going berserk ――or rather an unreasonable level――would be a serious matter.

Hence I'll start off with performing the evolution ritual on only one individual to make an absolute confirmation.

I explained the circumstances to Benimaru and he seemed to have understood.

And, he boasted he would definitely not go berserk. What a reliable thing to say.

As Shuna's speech ended, I quickly tried to reward him.

"You have done well in this battle! You will be known as

"Wrathful King(Flare Lord)" from today on!"

"Haha! I am thankful for this blessing!!"

The ceremony was performed.

He was usually friendly, but as expected before his soldiers he was their supreme commander.

Benimaru has perfectly differentiated between public and private.

Wrathful, it meant extreme anger.

Benimaru was usually impatient, but now he could calmly control his anger, his nature is like that of a raging fire.

As one of the (demon) lords who serve me, there is no better name than this.

So, would this be a second name, or a rank?

<< Announcement. Using fixed quantity [soul: 100,000], will you evolve individual name: Benimaru YES/NO>>

YES.

When I had commemorated him, I have also simultaneously sent 100,000 souls from the corridor of souls to Benimaru.

Once the souls were awarded, Benimaru's evolution ―――― had not begun.

There was no change.

hmm, did it fail?

"There seems to be another condition….

This problem, seemed to be on my end.

I heard the voice of the world.

It seems, procreation becomes impossible after evolving from an Ogre to a Demon Lord.

Because the concept of life span would disappear, the ability to make a child does not seem necessary."

"Regretfully, until i complete my job as the leader of my species, I cannot complete the evolution…."

"….In other words, you wouldn't evolve unless you bear kin?"

"U,mu…that's how it is."

Benimaru and I locked eyes again.

There were a lot of stare downs today, but my gaze was

overwhelmingly stronger.

Feeling uncomfortable, Benimaru's eyes started to sway.

"You better be resoluted, Benimaru."

I whispered silently,

"Momiji, come forth! I hereby recognize the binding of souls between you and Benimaru!"

I declared with a loud voice.

Benimaru looked down with his bright red face, however, a smile is engraved onto his mouth.

You look pretty happy.

Although he seemed like a hardliner, he was a pure man at heart.

I didn't dislike this, but if I left him alone, he'll end up single till the end.

….We-well, I am in no position to judge others about such things though.

Shuna looking surprised had widened her, but it seems she intends to bless her older brother.

The arena echoed with blessings and outcries of jealosuy, Benimaru and Momiji received congratulatory words.

Well, it is only an announcement now, but after the ascension ceremony that was our victory celebration in name ended, I'm going to have to host Benimaru's marriage.

Benimaru and Momiji seemed happy, After I told them to come off the stage I ordered Shuna to prepare.

Momiji bowed down joyfully to me and left clinging to Benimaru.

The cheers did not stop sounding for a while, once I raised my hand the cheers finally silenced.

When there isn't time later on, I'd like to bless them just as it is, but for now this ceremony takes priority.

It was an unexpected incident, but I had time to spare, so we continued our progress.

Consequently, it was Gobuta.

Gobuta went up onto the platform.

"For you, no reward!"

So it was declared.

"EH!? That's terrible-tsu! Then why did you call me up here?"

"That's a good question. There is no reward for you, but instead I'm going to bestow you a right"

"A right-tsu?"

Gobuta was confused, unable to fully understand the meaning of my words; he had a confused expression on his face.

Does he have no confidence in the words 'right'?

I look at Gobuta's confused expression with a broad grin.

"You are given the right to "converse in a casual tone" with me!

So I declared.

With these words, an even louder outcry of jealously even greater than the previous one towards Benimaru was aimed towards Gobuta.

Even Shion and Shuna, were staring at Gobuta with scary gazes.

They seem to be jealous.

Or rather, I usually told them they could converse with me in a casual tone, but they looked like they were having difficulties.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of complaints given to Gobuta for being given the right to talk casually.

Because it was troublesome, I decided to recognize it as a "right".

After all, this tone is something like a dialect, it doesn't mean they're being disrespect to me.

It's clear when I looked into his eyes.

Gobuta had eyes that didn't even mind death for my sake.

Fundamentally, you wouldn't give medals of honor or money to a general class, they wouldn't need it.

Giving a territory would probably also be meaningless since they can't govern it anyways.

As for weapons and armor, since he had Ranga as well as their union skill it also wasn't necessary, so I was troubled in finding the proper reward.

Well, honor and authority were options, a system of formality wasn't necessary for us monsters though.

I just do what I want to do.

Gobuta seemed joyful,

"Thank you very much-tsu!!!!!"

Afterwards, he bowed to me in a 90 degree angle and waited in line.

It's delightful not having to deal with the formalities.

He was probably also trying to fix his tone. However it didn't seem to work.

That seemed to be the best reward for Gobuta, for that I too am happy.

Finding the appropriate reward was truly difficult.

By the way, speaking of Gobuta, Ranga is next.

As I called for him, he silently emerged from my shadow.

"Ranga, you've been a great help to Gobuta. I give you my thanks.

Well, from today on, you may call yourself "Star Wolf Lord(Star Lord)!"

Ranga gave a bellowing roar, and accepted it.

And then I began the Ascension Ritual. Unlike Benimaru, Ranga immediately began evolving.

Like what happened to me, the Harvest Festival has begun.

Ranga immediately went back into my shadow and fell asleep. Perhaps, his star wolf subordinates will also receive a blessing gift from him.

Whatever happens to him after his evolution is sure to be great.

Ranga running out of control didn't seem like it was something that we needed to worry about.

Safely back in my shadow, Ranga went back to sleep.

I called forth Gabil.

With the third army air corps, he performed an excellent aerial dogfight.

When I gave him my words of appreciation, Gabil meekly,

"There's still a lot to improve upon.

People were injured by my command…."

I still have a lot to improve upon.

For the sake of using 『Dragon warriorization』 freely, we're willing to put in the effort!"

He answered so.

He seems to be determined.

I felt nostalgic, I remembered the time when he got defeated by one of Ranga's subordinates when going with the flow.

His tendencies to get cocky has settled down, he has become an experienced general who can perceive his surroundings.

Through experiencing defeat and communicating with Bester and co, His original prudent quality has surfaced.

He's an existence that can be relied on now.

"I will grant you "power".

You have managed the army wonderfully, "Heavenly Dragon King (Dragon Lord)" awaken and show me your powers."

The souls were given and the ascension has begun.

The evolution of Gabil was dramatic.

His scales turned from blackish purple to reddish purple, magic essence energy wrapped around his body as if he was burning.

However, with the same conviction he used to control 『Dragon warriorization』, he didn't went berserk.

Gabil endured the evolution wonderfully.

"Uooooo~! From today onwards, I will be known as "Heavenly Dragon Lord"!

For that, I will master this level of strength!"

Purple electricity discharged about, Gabil's body appeared as if it was burned by energy.

It seemed to have succeeded.

Ranga went into my shadow and fell asleep immediately, but in his place I got to see Gabil's successful evolution.

As for the blessing gift from Gabil, 100 Hiryuu as well as

The 5 individuals of Souka and co.

The 3,000 lizardman from the Blue Corps were affected by the blessing as well and evolved into Dragonnewts.

The 5 individuals of Souka and co had attained strength equivalent to Arc Demons.

The Hiryuu folks had reached Majin class, and well surpassed A rank.

The skill "Dragon Warriorization" seems to have disappeared since they've evolved into the very thing itself.

In its place, they seem to have acquired the ability 『Dragon Scale Armor』 instead, an ability that turns their scales into armor.

Gabil and the rest already had defenses that were equal to Legendary class, but using this new ability would their defenses jump to be close to god class.

Naturally, not only did their defensive power rise, their offensive power rose as well.

Their race remained as DragonNewts but they received a drastic increase in power.

Souka and co, the females too had defensive power that was higher than usual. They're appearance is usually like a human being's, but if they were their skin would unconsciously change into scales.

Perhaps, when using "Dragon Scale Armor" the distinction between males and females may become impossible.

Through time, the reddish-purple scales had gradually faded back to their original blackish-purple.

But, the brightness as well as depth within the scales have been increased compared to before, it had obsidian-like artistic quality.

Even one piece of the scale seemed to fetch a high price. Well they'll probably dislike it though, so there's no point asking.

However, because I called Gabil a king, splendid horns had protruded from his forehead.

Due to Gabil's conceited air, it complemented him well. But, that's all good.

This was suitable for a "Heavenly Dragon Lord", he had an excellent evolution that united power with dignity.

Unlike my evolution, he completed his evolution without the need to sleep.

He was quite suitable to be the king of my subordinates, "Heavenly Dragon Lord" was born.

Next, the people who participated in the capital defensive battle on the surface.

These three were Gerudo, Shion and Diablo.

There doesn't seem to be any danger of them going berserk, but just to be safe we'll do it one by one.

I will give out my words of appreciation and grant "power" to them.

Starting off with Gerudo.

However,

"I am thankful for the proposal, but isn't there a person more qualified than I am? ...

In this defense, Rimuru-sama assigned Carrera-san as my support.

If she wasn't there, the defensive battle would have been a lot more difficult"

He declined the awakening to Demon Lord with the power of his spirit.

It's just a gest, but the rampage of the Orc demon lord Orc・Disaster was probably another reason.

Gerudo probably wouldn't run out of control. However, I can't clear away his uneasiness.

Besides, this is probably also a form of atonement.

He was a person that once carried the responsibility of spreading calamity within the Great Jura Forest when they were out of control.

His eyes shone with a strong will and unbending determination.

"I understand. Then strive harder, in order to perform a suitably distinguish military service.

However, there is no denying that the defense battle was splendidly executed.

Your work was without a doubt, wonderful. Above all, from now on you will be playing an active role in the construction of the city.

This time, I will grant this to you. From today on, you will be known as "Barrier Lord"!"

After saying so, I took out the remodeled legendary ranked equipment that I attained during the war, and granted it to Gerudo.

There was a mixed response in Gerudo's Youki; this piece of equipment will be Gerudo's private arms.

The difference between Myth class and Legend class is based on the user's own level of skillfulness with the arms.

The arms would constantly evolve over time. However, the speed of the evolution rises incredibly when it's wielded by a skillful owner.

Because Gerudo's ability is specialized in defense, even if it's legendary class equipment, his defensive power will probably rival a god rank, that's what I predicted.

The big shield was prepared for him, I expect defensive power would further increase.

Gerudo received the rewards respectfully and bowed to me.

"I gratefully accept! I'll devote myself to living up to this new title "Barrier Lord"!

Gerudo declared, and went back into line.

Under present conditions, I don't have enough souls to awaken everyone. So I'll accept Gerudo's response this time.

But, you should forgive yourself for going out of control back then; forget all about it during the next opportunity. I want you to ascend magnificently.

Nobody's shunning Gerudo for what happened in the past anymore.

Though the refusal by Gerudo was unexpected, the remaining two people will probably accept it.

After all, it's Diablo and Shion.

You could even call them the evilest Individuals.

If these two people run out of control at the same time, there will be some serious damage.

If it was Benimaru, I would be cautious, but I wasn't worried.

Shion already has some self control now; but Diablo isn't exactly unlinked to rampaging though.

And so, we begin with Shion.

"Shion, I appoint you as "War Lord".

Henceforth, please protect everyone without going berserk."

While saying so, I granted her the souls.

But, huh? There was no change.

Shion was blankly staring at me.

We stared at each other for a while, but there was no indication of change.

A dud?

As a result, it seemed as though as if I didn't reward Shion, well this is awkward.

I have suddenly fallen into quite a pinch. In any case, I haven't prepared anything else

That was what I thought, but something unexpected happened.

Although there were no changes in Shion, the members of Yomigaeri suddenly started to evolve.

Although I don't understand, since these are Shion's subordinates, things like this will probably happen. Because monsters have a lot of strange quirks and features, you shouldn't be surprised by every single one of them.

That's why, leaving Shion alone is a good idea.

Shion seemed to be dissatisfied, but after whispering to her about being taught the recipe for the latest dish, she nodded in satisfaction and went back into line.

She was easy to handle.

However, there's still Shion's subordinates the folks of Yomigaeri.

They seemed to have turned some half-spirit life forms. Rather than calling them a demon, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them a Yoma.

It seems that they've evolved into a kind of unique race that resembles spirits.

They possessed bodies, but their existences were closer to demons.

They had lower magic essence compared to the Hiryuu, they also seemed to have lower defensive power as well.

If you considered their immortality trait, it would be difficult to determine who's the stronger one.

Though they were formerly part of the hobgoblin race, they're completely different now.

Since Shion's ogre traits had greatly surfaced, they also look more becoming than the others.

Nobody would believe that her subordinates were goblins in the past.

It's unexpected that there were no changes in Shion, but evolution has in fact occurred.

In this sense, the victory celebration continued.