Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)-Chapter 122 - One Hundred And Twenty Two

Within the contours of Tempest, the nation’s most important were holding a meeting. To be more specific, a war meeting.

Once again, Rimuru stood before his most trusted people. Benimaru sat closest to him on the left of the table. Beside Benimaru was Shuna and to her side was Hakurou, then Gobta, lastly was a Goblina who was in charge of accounting.

Closest to Rimuru but on his right side, was Rigurd, and next to the large Hobgoblin was his son Rigur. Next to Rigurd was Soei, and after him was Kaijin. The last two seats were held by two other Hobgoblins.

The maps spread across the table had been marked and re-marked, annotated in ink that was still fresh in places. No one had touched the refreshments that had been brought in and set to the side.

"Unfortunately, Soei’s report wasn’t documented for this meeting. As there was no time." Rimuru said. "So I’ll just tell you all instead."

Behind Rimuru, Shion stood under the rays of the sun from the top window. However, her facial features were darkened.

"The Holy Church haven’t responded to our repatriation demands, and Falmuth have outright rejected them and declared war." He paused, letting that sit for a moment. "There’s currently over four hundred and fifty thousand soldiers marching through Jura as we speak."

"Now, all of this you already know. However, this morning, a group of twelve riders were spotted moving across the borders of Dwargon by one of Souka’s flyers."

The shadow behind Soei’s chair shifted, a subtle darkening that had no business moving the way it did. Then Souka warped into being, the Dragonewt appearing instantly.

"Souka." Soei said without even glancing back.

"Yes Sir." Souka nodded before she began. "When one of the Kurayami, Nansou, was scouting the path between Tempest and Dwargon, he noticed some riders moving through the border. They looked like mercenaries at first glance so he assumed they were headed into Dwargon. However, they slowly made their way in Jura’s direction, so he messaged me. I arrived swiftly and tried to take stock of the mercenaries. I was almost struck down by a spear of light from one of them, it came without warning, precise enough that I barely cleared it." She paused only briefly. "However, I was able to make out one of them from Lord Rimuru’s description. Hinata Sakaguchi rides at their head."

The name settled over the room like a change in air pressure.

"Hinata Sakaguchi?" Hakurou said as he rubbed his beard. "Then it’s safe to assume, the Great Saints are on their way here then."

Rimuru nodded.

"That also means that they rejected our demands as well." Rigurd added, his deep voice heavy with the weight of it. "This must be the church’s answer."

"Even after we decided to return their Saints back to them, they still decided to go to war." Shuna said sadly.

"Those fools dared to waste Lord Rimuru’s good will." Shion smiled darkly. "They’ll pay for this dearly."

"This is exactly what Lady Kaede said would happen." Rigurd said. "And they call us the monsters."

Rimuru nodded. "They don’t account for all Humans, but I just didn’t think that they would be this stubborn. Can’t they see that I’m trying to work with them?"

He sighed, his golden eyes dropping to the maps on the table for a moment before lifting again. "However, the time for talking is over. An army of humans are marching towards our homes and I don’t plan on letting them get even a meter close."

"Most of their bulk is made up of Rank B and below with maybe a few hundred Rank As." Benimaru reported.

"That’s still a lot of fire power. Ants taking down an elephant kinda thing." Rimuru tilted his head in thought. "I already spoke with Kaede and Kanade and they decided to send some help of their own."

Shion’s growl was low and immediate, a sound that came from somewhere deep in her chest. Rimuru sighed again. "Look Shion, I know you don’t like that we’re asking for help from Maple Tree again. I don’t like it either. We can’t keep being so dependent on them. For our own benefit too, but this is something that concerns all of Jura. Maple Tree is still our sister nation. Besides, we signed a treaty and everything."

"What about the Saints?" Soei asked. His tone was unhurried, but his eyes were sharp.

Rimuru nodded. "Right, them. I’m going to have to confront Hinata myself. I’ll be taking some of you with me to handle the other Saints. Benimaru, you’ll have to stay behind to lead our forces, same as Shuna. Soei, Shion and Hakurou will follow me."

"But that’s only four of you against, what? Twelve of them? Souka counted twelve remember?" Gobta suddenly said.

"As if that changes anything!" Shion barked at him. "We’re more than enough!"

"And we can’t afford to take any more with us. Benimaru and Shuna are needed here." Rimuru explained. "I’d like to take Geld but he’ll also be leading the yellow numbers from the front. There isn’t really anybody else."

The door slammed open. The sound of it hit the room before anyone had time to react, the heavy wood swinging back hard against the wall as two beastmen barged in.

"Then let us help!" Albis, leader of the beastketeers declared.

"Albis." Benimaru said.

"We want to fight too." Suphia stepped up to Rimuru, the tiger beastman only inches taller than the slime ruler. Her arms were crossed, her golden eyes steady.

"You’re already doing so much for us by taking in our people as refugees. If you’re in trouble we want to help too." Albis stared at Benimaru in the eyes.

"Your people should come first." Rimuru placed his hand on his forehead. "We don’t know what might happen while all this is going on. You need to watch over them just in case."

"You already promised us that our people would be safe under your care, and I don’t imagine you’re not a man of your word, so I know that you wouldn’t ever abandon us." Albis said frustratedly. "So let us help you. We have our own soldiers who want to help Tempest in their time of need."

"You’ll have the full force of Eurazania behind you." Suphia smacked her fist into her palm, the sound sharp and deliberate in the quiet room.

Rimuru sighed. "What do you think, Benimaru?"

Benimaru looked surprised to be placed on the spot, but recovered quickly. "Well, their numbers would be good for bolstering our own. And they have flyers as well."

Albis smiled while Suphia grinned, wide and without restraint.

Rimuru nodded. "Alright then. Albis, you’ll help Benimaru out with the troops. Suphia can come with us." He turned toward the window, his golden eyes lifting to the sky. "Looks like Maple Tree’s help has arrived."

Outside, the sky had changed.

A large swarm of Armoured Dragon Flies filled the air above the building, their wings catching the light in shifting iridescent flashes, the collective hum of them deep enough to feel in the chest. From within the swarm, three particularly unique Dragon Flies broke formation and descended, larger than the rest and sleeker, their movements precise and unhurried as they lowered toward the ground where Rimuru and his entourage were walking out to meet them.

Each carried a rider.

The first was a tall Antari with red hair, her frame clad in multiple plates of red armour layered over what remained visible of a dress beneath.

The second was a purple haired Oni in samurai attire, a few white armour plates catching the light at his shoulders and chest, the rest of his silhouette clean and deliberately unencumbered.

The third was a human with orange hair, wearing a black full body suit fitted with strappings and latches across it, practical and close to the body.

Rimuru looked at the newcomers with careful attention, his golden eyes moving from the red-armoured Antari to the Oni in samurai whites, and finally settling on the third figure, his expression shifting into something that wasn’t quite surprise but wasn’t not surprise either.

"General Crimara, Shifu, and..." He blinked. "Is that Glenda Atlee?"

"Sup." Glenda tilted her head back in a nod, her orange hair catching the light, hands tucked casually into the strappings at her sides. "Long time, ain’t it?"

"No, it really isn’t." Rimuru deadpanned. "You’re working for Kaede now?"

"Sure did." Glenda grinned, looking thoroughly unbothered by his tone. "Great working conditions too."

"Lord Rimuru." Crimara stepped forward, inclining her head in a clean, practiced greeting, the red plates of her armour catching the morning light. "We’ve arrived with assistance. Three thousand of our Dragon Riders." She paused, as though letting the weight of the next number settle properly before she released it. "Twenty thousand of my ground troops. Each of them between A- and A+ rank."

’They have that much firepower?’ Rimuru felt something lurch very quietly in his chest, though none of it made it to his face. "That’s good. Tempest is very grateful to Maple Tree for this."

"Please, there is no need for gratitude." Shifu intervened gently. "Lady Kaede considers you one of her close friends. Maple Tree will always stand with Tempest."

"Crimara." Rimuru turned to the General. "I’d like you and Shifu to join our main force. Benimaru will be leading from the front and I want him to have as much behind him as possible." He paused. "I don’t plan on being gone long, but I’d rather leave things in good hands than assume nothing happens while I’m away."

Crimara inclined her head without hesitation, the movement crisp and final. "Understood. Our forces are at General Benimaru’s disposal."

Beside her, Shifu said nothing, only dipping into a short bow, his white armour plates catching the light as he straightened.

Benimaru’s eyes moved to Rimuru, something unreadable in them for just a moment before it settled back into composure. "I’ll make sure nothing gets through."

"I know you will."

He turned then to Glenda, who had been watching the exchange with her hands still tucked into her strappings, leaning back on her heels.

"Glenda."

"Hm?" She tilted her head.

"You’re with me."

Glenda’s brows rose slightly, and then she grinned, slow and unhurried. "Sure."

"Don’t read into it," Rimuru said. "I just need someone who can keep up and won’t require explanation every five minutes. And I don’t quite like the idea of letting you out of my sight."

"High praise." She pressed a hand to her chest in mock solemnity.

Suphia, standing just behind her, let out a short noise that might have been a laugh. Shion, for her part, looked at Glenda with narrowed eyes.

Rimuru turned back to face the rest. "Alright." He rolled his shoulders once, an odd human thing to do considering that he was a slime now. Habits died hard after all. "Let’s get to work."

---

The demon lord Clayman awaited the appointed hour, a glass of wine in his hand. The Walpurgis Council was tonight, and as a mixture of anger and happiness danced across his face, he thought over a few things.

First the bad news.

Ignoring the warnings of his friend Laplace, he had advanced his forces into the Beast Kingdom Of Eurazania. But they had failed to discover even a single citizen left there. The effort had gone to waste.

He had gone into a fit of rage when he received this news from his commander Yamza. He commanded Yamza to lead his forces and scout every single inch of land. He’d even sent his special asset to join the hunt.

It didn’t take long to understand what happened. The reason why there was no one left living in the Beast Kingdom is because they had undergone a massive emigration to Tempest.

Clayman didn’t understand this. This was a rather risky choice as Rimuru himself was in a Precarious position. As the leader of a monster nation that had just conducted hostilities with Falmuth, the eyes of the western nations were on him, and as if that wasn’t enough, Tempest sat between the western nations and Maple Tree, a monster nation that was clearly not interested in any kind of cordiality with humans.

And all of this is before Falmuth fully declared war against Tempest with the church backing them, apparently to cull the monsters that had flooded Jura recently.

Of course, Clayman knew the reason this waste of a war was even happening in the first place, as well as the scheme that caused it. He was in on it after all.

His anger right now was still focused on Eurazania. He had hoped to use the defenseless citizens as fuel for his ascension into a true Demon Lord before he attended the Walpurgis.

But it wasn’t going to happen, he had to admit that now, and it made him deeply unhappy. He still had Millim so he wasn’t really afraid, but he didn’t like the thought of being overly reliant on her power.

Another strange news was the other ruler of Jura, Kaede, Ruler of Maple Tree. She’d apparently proclaimed herself a Demon Lord.

It seemed she was taking advantage of the fact that Carrion had been taken out of the picture and is now going after his empty Demon Lord seat.

It irked him that she would take advantage of his own workings like that. However, she did have enough power to battle Millim and survive, even if Millim had held back considerably. It was no small feat.

What surprised him, was that Demon Lord Guy Crimson had asked for Kaede to be extended an invite to Walpurgis.

It was basically a message to everyone, that he favoured the human. And wasn’t that a treat? Kaede was just a human, leading a nation of monsters and now getting a seat at the highest table.

With Guy backing her, there was really nothing he could do about her. Even he wasn’t that overconfident.

Maybe after he’d ascended. Then it would only be a matter of time before he had control of everyone of the Demon Lords.

As for his original plan for Eurazania’s citizens, he would have to change his approach now, but thankfully the schemes were all converging in his favour.

Tempest had foolishly accepted the Eurazanians into her home while on the brink of a war. It wouldn’t hurt if he threw his hat in the ring right?

Clayman couldn’t help but fantasize about his supposed domination and the power he would someday wield in some far off future.

---

Kaede deactivated the screen in front of her. The battle of Tempest had already begun. The soldiers of Falmuth had already clashed with Rimuru’s orc unit.

Adding Crimara’s twenty thousand, Rimuru had over fifty thousand in his army to go up against Falmuth’s four hundred thousand.

She wasn’t particularly worried as she had quality in spades and Rimuru wasn’t far behind either. However she was getting peeved that Rimuru had allowed things to get this far.

That slime really reminded her of her past self. The only difference being that he didn’t have someone like Sally in his corner, and now he was on the back foot.

The worse part was she couldn’t even bail Tempest out just like that. It wouldn’t look good for Tempest in the least.

No if she was going to help, she had to be like Sally. Aurina was already leading her own units of seventy thousand through the underground of Jura and towards Falmuth.

By the time the humans realized that there was an army behind them, they’d split their focus giving Rimuru and Crimara the chance they needed.

That’s almost one hundred of her soldiers that Kaede had already sent out, each of them her children in all but blood. Maple Tree couldn’t afford to send out anymore without risking its own safety.

Her three daughters sat in the room with her. Acer, Ari, and Hanae. Alongside a certain Demon peer, Wisteria.

"I’ll be leaving Maple Tree’s defense in your care, Ari. We don’t know what might happen. Tempest isn’t the only monster nation in Jura and it’s pretty obvious that they’re gunning for us as well."

Ari scoffed. "Let them try mother. Any of them foolish enough to try will rue the day they were ever conceived into this world."

"I have my verdants all over the forest of Jura, and the dryads stationed in specific locations." Acer added.

"Oh? How did Treyni take it?" Kaede was sure that the Dryad Treyni didn’t really like her much.

"She’s been rather preoccupied since the arrival of The Queen Of Spirits, Ramiris. They fawn over her excessively, it’s exhausting." Hanae said with a small and cute smile.

"You don’t say." Kaede chuckled. ’You have my condolences Ramiris, whoever you are.’

"As it turns out however, Lady Ramiris is also a Demon Lord so she will be attending Walpurgis tonight, and Treyni is one of her attendees."

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "So...?"

"As the strongest Dryad after Treyni, I have been placed in charge of the Dryads till their return."

"Oh? So you’ll be participating in the war efforts?"

"I will, the Dryads have always been protectors of the forest. Especially one under your domain. The humans will not leave alive. What shall I do with their souls mother?" Hanae grinned.

Kaede suppressed a shiver at the grin. "Just... Just, keep them in... Storage? Maybe?"

"It’s Mizeri." Wisteria suddenly spoke up, with perked eyes.

"Huh?" Kaede blinked at the sudden intrusion. She didn’t focus on that however and instead faced the far wall where space was warping as a massive and ornately beautiful gate flashed into existence.

"They’re here." Hanae said as the gate opened and revealed a green haired woman in a dark red maid outfit.

She bowed her head towards Kaede. "I have come to take you, Lady Kaede."

"Well if it isn’t Mizeri?" Wisteria teasingly smirked. "How’s life been treating ya? What about the busybody?"

"It’s not upon me to worry about the condition of my master, Viole." Mizeri replied curtly, although there was a dark undertone in her voice.

"Nuh, uh, uh, that’s not what you call me anymore. I have a name now, and it’s Wisteria." Wisteria smirked all the way to her eyes.

Mizeri’s eyes seemed to widen a fraction. "Oh? Congratulations are due then. But for now, Walpurgis awaits." And then she said nothing as she gestured at the portal.

"Still haven’t changed a bit have you?" Wisteria smiled. "Well whatever, I’ll go rub it in Guy’s face in your stead."

By this time, Mizeri was already about to go through the gate and Kaede, Acer and Wisteria had to hurry or they’d be shut out.