Chapter 21: An Expected and Unexpected Development
"Relax. Ramiris is a good demon lord. She even helps out heroes from time to time you know." I said with an anime sweatdrop on my forehead.
"Eh? Ramiris? The Queen of Spirits is a Demon Lord?" Shizue asked with confusion.
"Yeah. Apparently, she is one of the first Demon Lords, though I don't know if she is a true demon lord." I said as I walked in.
"I see..." Shizue said while gripping her sword.
I told Shizue to protect Chloe while Fluer, Ranga, Tenebris, and Fenrir guarded the others. I then had Yue guard Asagi, since she wasn't used to fighting despite having two Unique Skills.
We continued on the path in a straight line while ignoring the giggling of fairy voices, but after a while, I started to become annoyed. I knew this was from [Athena] constantly repelling Ramiris' mind-control magic, but I was still surprised that it bypassed all of my resistances altogether.
"Your all no fun, visitor-sans" A fairy voice sounded from all around us. It was actually in our heads but made to sound like it was coming from everywhere to confuse us.
"Well that's because I am in a hurry, Ramiris," I said which caused all of the laughter to stop.
"Y-You! How did you know!?!" We heard an irritated and slightly frightened voice this time.
"Well, I wouldn't go hunting for Demon Lords without at least some information. Even if I can beat most of them, I don't want to fall into a stupid trap or Unique Skill after all. Even True Dragons like Veldora can fall victim to Unique Skills in the right circumstances after all." I say as I ignore the ping from within that is probably Veldora screaming at me.
"I-I see. Then I shall meet with you if you are able to defeat my champion!" She says as the path ahead of us changes and a doorway appears.
"Quite the amusing Demon Lord hu?" I say looking to Yue who nods.
We continue to walk through the doorway and into a large room with a circular stone design. In the middle of the room, a Pink Golem appears. It's radiating more magicules than even Benimaru has and considering he is currently Special A, that's quite the feat.
"So I just have to defeat this and you'll appear hu?" I say.
"Guh! Ummmm..... Yes! I know! I'll just have one of his subordinates fight it!" Ramiris thinks to herself, not realizing that because of [Thought Communication], we all heard her.
"Well then if I have no other choice, Yue. If you would" I say ignoring Ramiris panicking at having her inner voice leak out.
Yue stepped forward and the Golem activated. I raised its hand up into the air and prepared to strike but before it could... "{Azure Blaze}" Yue spoke as a massive ball of blue flame engulfed the golem and began melting the magisteel body.
"Impossible! My Elemental Colossus!" Ramiris yelled.
I spotted her hiding in the corner behind one of the Pillars using {Invisibility}. I shook my head since even Lupsuregina Beta has a superior version of {Invisibility} in {Perfect Unknowable}, but this demon lord is using the worse version.
'Are my subordinates too overpowered? No, they are definitely overpowered, but I think this girl is just too weak to stay as a demon lord.' I thought while looking directly at her.
"We passed your test. Are you going to come out now or do I have to make you?" I said, creating a small blob of [Beelzebuth] in my palm.
"You! That's!" She looked at my casual use of an Ultimate Skill before flying out wearily. It seems my threat was taken seriously and she is being cautious.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my-"
*Bite*
Ramiris squirmed in mid-air as she bit her tongue.
"Are you ok?" Shizue said as she bent over and opened her palm.
Ramiris landed on it before squirming a bit more. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
"She must not be used to talking without the use of telepathy," Gale said.
"Your probably right," I added before looking at the tiny demon lord.
"Ara. Is this cute darling really a demon lord?" Asagi said while using [Thread Manipulation] to create a tiny kimono for her. At some point, a few dozen other fairies all began circling around us in curiosity.
Asagi, despite sharing a name and appearance with someone from a hentai I knew about, is a far cry from her depicted self. She is a gentle 'ara ara' type mother character and she has recently been making clothes with the [Thread Manipulation] extra skill that she created out of the [Sticky-Steel Thread] Extra Skill. She has become so proficient at it that she even teams up with Shuna in making my clothing, much to the homunculus maids' displeasure.
"Such a cute darling deserves to wear cute clothes too!" Asagi said as she used [Thread Manipuulation] to wrap Ramiris in the Kimono.
"Hey! I'm really a demon lord! You can't do this to my demon lord self!" she said while being pat on the head by Shizue's finger.
"""Cute""" All the girls said at once.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
...
After sending the kids off to play with the fairies, Ramiris and I sat down for business. The Wolves were guarding the children while Asagi made more clothes for a few fairies who were intrigued by Ramiri's Kimono. Shizue watched the children from a distance while poking the melted Golem with her sword while pretending to be stoic.
'She really is just too cute' I thought myself as Ramiris snacked on a cookie I gave her.
Unlike OG Rimuru who gave her a chocolate chip cookie, I wasn't going to let my future partner dine on anything other than the finest, so I gave her a snickerdoodle.
"SO GOOD!!!" Ramiris yelled as she, Yue, and I all enjoyed ourselves.
"So. What's up with coming here then? You're clearly beyond the need for anything I can give you if you have an Ultimate Skill" she said, munching the cookie more.
"Well, I simply wanted you to work with me towards my goals. I know your positions to 'judge the world' and help create heroes, so having you as my partner would be wonderful." I say, gleefully enjoying the supreme cookie.
"Oh? You seem to be quite informed." She said with a bit more seriousness in her voice. "And what are these goals of yours?"
"Well, my immediate goal is to help these children here. They are summons but without the Unique Skill due to their age." I say as we all gaze at the kids running happily.
"I see. I don't know what I can do about that though." She said as she picked up another cookie.
"By binding a spirit to a child summon's body, they can help regulate their rampaging magicules and keep them from causing any more harm. I have another way of doing it, which is to consume the extra magicules with [Beelzebuth], but doing that would stunt their growth and rob them of Unique Skills in the future."
"I see. Well I can allow you access to the Dwelling of the Spirits to try to summon some, but there is no way to force them to help you" She said with a shrug.
"Don't worry. I can handle that. Finally, I want you to come with me back to the Jura Forest. I have made a promise to the Dryads and Trenets there to bring you back with me in a week. I have only one day left."
"And how is that my problem?"
"You gain multiple powerful subordinates inside one of the most secure regions on the planet while gaining support from a person with more power than most demon lords and his awaken demon lord level subordinates," I say to which Ramiris closes her eyes and makes a funny face.
She knows that I'm right. Anyone can see that the Wolves are around the Level of Unawakened Demon Lords while Shizue and I are as strong as Awakened Demon Lords, so this offer is too good to not take up.
"It is a tempting offer, but I can't leave this place," She said while I opened [Beelzebuth] again. She tensed as she thought I was going to threaten her, but what I actually brought out was the World Items; Seeds of the World Tree and Atlas.
"I can move the Dwelling of the Spirits with this," I say holding up Atlas. "And I will give you these to plant if you agree," I say allowing Ramiris to analyze the seeds.
After a moment, she freezes and goes completely pale before looking at me with dead seriousness.
"How did you get these? A spirit who creates a Labyrinth in the Tree these seeds will harvest will effectively gain an infinite supply of magicules and possibly an Ultimate Skill."
"Actually, you'd gain two. The Ultimate Skills [Titania: Queen of Spirits] and [Yggdrasil: King of Worlds]" I say as she picks up one of the seeds.
"Why would you give up something so valuable for nothing?"
"I can make an unlimited number of these if I wanted, but I only have one fairy who I want to be my partner," I say, which causes Ramiris to blush heavily.
"Well alright then! I don't mind working with you as partners. It-it's not like I'm doing it for you or anything!" She says as the blush never leaves her face and she turns away from me.
'Tsundere' Yue thinks as she looks at us conversing.
"Oh yeah, and two more things," I say after shaking her tiny hands with one of my fingers.
"Hu?"
"My last two goals are to have a massive harem of every monster girl and to take over the world!" I say with a large and innocent smile on my face.
"..."
*SMACK!*
...
...
...
After recruiting Ramiris and promising to not make any moves on the children, we continue to the Dwelling of the Spirits. Everything goes according to canon, with me creating new spirits out of minor spirits for Gale, Alice, and Ryota and a Superior Spirit of Light fusing with Kenya.
Finally, I lead Chloe to the center with Shizue and prepare for the [Manas: Chrona] to appear.
"Rimuru-sama. Will I be ok?" Chloe asks while looking at me worried.
"Don't worry. I'm the strongest guy in the world! If anything goes wrong, I'll protect you!" I say raising my arm and showing my muscle like Rosie the Riveter.
Chloe smiles and nods with a small blush before moving to the center of the crystal platform.
*Pulse!*
[Notice! Analyzing phenomenon!]
[Athena] begins analyzing the phenomenon of a hole in space-time as the spiritual body of [Manas: Chrona] appears. She flys up to me and Shizue. She attempts to hug Shizue but passes straight through her before turning to me and mouthing 'thank you' before twirling out of the way of Ramiris' Spirit Flame attack.
"What the heck is that!?!" She yells before the rouge Manas swirls in the air and dives straight into Chloe.
I reach forward and stop both Ramiris and Shizue from attacking it while feeling a pulse from Veldora. This one is rather strong, so it causes me to flinch for just a second and in that time, the Manas jumps into a thoroughly confused Chloe.
"Don't worry, everyone. That was a Manas, though a powerful one at that." I say.
"Manas?" Ramiris asks.
"It's what happens when a Skill gains an ego. That one seems to have some sort of connection to space-time." I said.
"Should we separate it from her?" Shizue says as she readies [Degenerate]. She may not have the Unique Skill herself, but she has its degraded version as a Unique Gift from the blessing [Mother's Rossorio] gives her.
"No, it should be fine. Chloe's magicules have stabilized and I don't detect even a trace amount of manipulation of her mind, so we should let it do its thing." I said as I walked over to Chloe and patted her head.
"Well... ok then..." Shizue says extremely hesitantly while Ramiris is currently thinking to herself something fierce.
I simply shake my head and prepare to snap her out of her delusions when I am interrupted by [Athena].
[Notice! Unique Skills [Ancient Magic: Gravity], [Ancient Magic: Restoration], [Ancient Magic: Spacial], [Ancient Magic: Spirit], [Ancient Magic: Evolution], and [Ancient Magic: Metamorphesis] acquired]
'Really? At a time like this?' I think.
[Notice. Fusing Unique Skills [Ancient Magic: Gravity], [Ancient Magic: Restoration], [Ancient Magic: Spacial], [Ancient Magic: Spirit], [Ancient Magic: Evolution], and [Ancient Magic: Metamorphesis]]
[Successful]
[Aquiring Ultimate Skill [Solomon: King of Magic]]
[Successful]
'Another upgrade from the VotW?' I ask.
[Query! Permission to evolve?]
'You want to evolve into a Manas now?' I thought.
[Affirmative! To better suit master's needs, [Athena] would like permission to evolve]
'So I need to name you then?'
[Affirmative]
'Well congrats on your name, Akasha'
I immediately found myself nearly blacking out. Naming [Athena] required so many magicules that even [Magicule Breeder Reactor] couldn't keep up for a brief moment. I nearly emptied my magicule battery as well.
'Just what kind of monster am I creating?' I thought before passing out. Ramiris saw me fall over and tried to catch me but Shizue caught me first.
"Rimuru-san!"
"Master!" Ranga called while communicating with Albedo through [Thought Communication EX] that I had just lost consciousness while standing still.
A moment later several {Gates} open up and dozens of my servants surround me.
"What has happened!?!" Demiurge yelled as he looked over at Ranga and the others.
"We don't know. He seemingly collapsed after mentioning something called a Manas!" Shizue said.
"This is!" Shuna gasped while covering her mouth with the sleeves of her Kimono.
"What is it Shuna?" Aledo asked, tears flowing down her face.
"Rimuru-sama is evolving!" She said while a faint golden glow began to erupt from my body.
"Quickly then! We must return Rimuru-sama to the Waterfall Palace! We cannot allow our master to sleep on the ground like this!" Albedo said ash Cocyuus and Esdeath picked me up and carried me on what could only be described as a luxurious stretcher Demiurge created with {Create Greater Item}.
Everyone rushed towards the {Gates} and brought me back to the palace to sleep on my bed, while Chise and Elias were pulled aside by Ramiris. Demiurge quickly told them to watch her, since he wasn't aware of who she was before running to catch up to the panicking mob.
"You are?" Elias queried, a little grumpy that he had to be left behind.
"I am the Queen of the Spirits and the Demon Lord Ramiris. I have been around since the creation of this world and am more knowledgeable about spirits and fairies than even the creator himself. So I ask... What are you two?" Ramiris said with her guard up.
"I am Chise Hatori, a Sleigh Beggy" Chise answered
"I am Elias Ainsworth, the Windigo, the Demon of Desire, the second seat of the Seven Deadly Sins in the Trinity Seven Stars" Elias responded proudly.
"I have no idea what those seats and stars are, but Windigo and Sleigh Beggy aren't real species. Of all the mythical races of spirits and fairies, those two are the only ones who are completely fictional!" She said pointing her finger.
"Be that as it may, those are our races. What was master doing with you then, Demon Lord?" Elias said, turning the tables and beginning the interrogation of Ramiris.
"He recruited me to become his partner in the Jura Forest! Wait, where are we anyway?" she said as she floated to the window and saw a giant glistening white stone city with rooftops made of blue tile. Some places in the distance had Green tile or purple tile roofs, but beyond that, Ramiris saw and sensed tens of thousands of monsters. Each at least B- in terms or Rank, all of them were happily going about their business, living normal peaceful lives.
"I don't believe this!" Ramiris said to herself. As someone who maintained the balance of the world, seeing so much unreasonable power concentrated in one place made her stomach churn.
"We are in Altair, capital of the Kingdom of Tempest in the Jura Forest. Master's first province and the city of monsters." Elias explained.
"Your master... what does he need so much power for?" She returned to them and Chise spoke.
"We don't know. Master is someone who could easily destroy the world and remake everything in his own image f he wanted, yet he chooses to take the long and hard way of gathering followers to himself." She said.
Ramiris was curious about what she would say next.
"Despite all of master's power, he doesn't seem to let it go to his head. He is selfless and kind to us. He treats us to movies and anime while gently encouraging us all to become stronger and better ourselves.
Sure, he wants to take over the world and get a massive harem, but I know his plans for the world are to make it into a paradise for everyone who lives here. He is constantly making magic runes to improve the daily lives of the citizens, he creates fulfilling jobs and expresses interest in increasing the freedoms of his subjects. He even allows us to speak to him casually despite him being like a god to us ants." Chise says passionately.
"I see... and are you part of his harem?" Ramiris asks half-heartedly. Something laying heavy on her mind.
"No. I belong to Elias, as he is my husband." Chise said as she walked over to Elias and wrapped her arm around his.
Elias turned his head away in embarrassment before coughing to himself. "Rimuru-sama is the type of man who won't take someone who is in love with another even though he could do so easily." He said, a little grateful that Rimuru hates NTR or else Chise wouldn't be his right now.
"I see"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Golden_Slime
Golden_Slime Hey everyone, sorry for the late update.
Next chapter will be the final one of act one and where we will see a glimpse at how the outside world reacts to Rimuru's rise. We will also be reorganizing the Trinity Seven Stars into an easier-to-say and pronounce name.
Perhaps just the 'Stars' and 'Heavenly Kings' or something.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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