"Wait a second!"
Suddenly, Rimuru noticed a shift in the Orc Disaster's soul: "This aura is…"
"Heh heh heh…"
Whoosh!
A blood-red vertical eye appeared above the Orc Disaster's head.
At the same time, Gelmud's magicule aura reemerged in everyone's perception.
"Hahaha!"
"Power!"
"This is the Orc Disaster's power?!"
"Ahh~~ Splendid!!!"
"..."
"Gelmud?!"
Seeing Gelmud revive within the Orc Disaster's body, Shion, Souka, and Rimuru all displayed shocked expressions.
"Not enough!"
"Far from enough!!"
"Roar!!"
In a dramatic turn, Gelmud once again revealed his opportunistic nature.
He gazed at the dense crowd of orcs surrounding him, spread his arms, and viscous, ochre liquid transformed into ravenous dragons, lunging at the bewildered orcs.
"Hahaha!"
"Become my nourishment, my power, you orcs!!"
Of the nearly 500,000 orcs, after the tens of thousands killed by Shion, Benimaru, and others, roughly 400,000 remained.
In mere moments, vast numbers of orcs were devoured by the gastric fluids of Starved.
Magicules, originating from the same source, surged into the Orc Disaster... no, now Gelmud's body.
[450,000 EP]
[500,000 EP]
[600,000 EP]
[800,000 EP]
[990,000 EP!!]
In that moment, Gelmud felt as though he grasped the hazy threshold blocking his path.
"Now's the time!!"
He gathered the vengeful souls of those consumed by the orcs along the way, as well as the freshly dead orc souls, and began challenging a higher realm!
The True Demon Lord awakening had begun!!
"Ugh…"
Witnessing this utterly uncontrollable scene, Rimuru felt his luck was truly rotten: "Great Sage, what are the odds of this guy successfully awakening as a Demon Lord?"
[Report: 0%]
"Eh?"
Rimuru had assumed Gelmud might succeed.
Hearing 0% still shocked him: "Not even a sliver of a chance?"
[Report: Correct]
"Why not?"
[Report: A Harvest Festival initiated through kin devouring is a flawed evolution]
"Ugh…"
Rimuru was at a loss for how to react: "Flawed evolution? That sounds so weird."
[Report: Flawed evolution cannot produce a true Demon Lord but will instead result in something akin to Charybdis]
"Charybdis? What's that?"
"A calamity-class monster formed from the scattered magicules of Veldora."
At some point, Damien's figure had appeared beside Rimuru.
"Whoa! When did you get here?"
"Been here a while."
"So you've been lurking and watching?"
Rimuru blurted out instinctively, and Damien gave him a sidelong glance.
He said nothing, yet it felt like he'd said everything.
"Sorry, I got carried away."
"Please, don't cut my vacation time!"
[Gelmud | Geld]
[Race: Orc Demon Lord]
[Magicules: 1,800,000 EP]
[Unique Skills: Kin Devourer, Starved, Soul Seizer]
"Three unique skills."
"An Orc Demon Lord, huh?"
Looking at Geld, who had been consumed by Gelmud... formerly the Orc Disaster... Damien recalled the original story's plot.
In the original, the Orc Disaster, overwhelmed by consuming too much power, descended into mental chaos, unable to control himself.
After being struck down by Rimuru, Gelmud had said, "Geld, if only you'd become a Demon Lord sooner."
Thus, the deranged Orc Disaster devoured Gelmud, absorbing his magicules.
In the Orc Disaster's logic, it was the fastest shortcut to becoming a Demon Lord.
The Orc Disaster hadn't betrayed Gelmud.
He was earnestly following Gelmud's orders, fulfilling his wish.
But this time, the Orc Disaster hadn't lost his sanity.
With rational judgment, there was no way the Orc Disaster would see Gelmud as an enemy.
He had passively borne the sin of Kin Devourer.
The sin was committed by the orcs, not the Orc Disaster's own desire.
In fact, the Orc Disaster was caught off guard.
Everything happened too fast; he hadn't had time to order the orcs not to devour the critically wounded, near-dead Gelmud.
Yet, it had already happened, and the Orc Disaster was helpless.
This very change caused cracks in the Orc Disaster's soul due to guilt.
But what the Orc Disaster hadn't anticipated...
As his soul fractured, Gelmud's lingering soul found a vulnerability and seized control of the Orc Disaster's body.
"No resistance?"
Damien noticed the Orc Disaster offered no resistance to Gelmud's possession: "The orcs are a loyal race, what a pity…"
"Hahaha~~"
"I did it!"
Gelmud had never imagined his fate would be so tumultuous.
Repeated twists had sent his emotions on a rollercoaster ride!
But the outcome was good.
By a stroke of fortune, he found the flaw in the Orc Disaster's soul and successfully possessed him.
Moreover, the side effects of Kin Devourer were suppressed by devouring over 200,000 orcs, leveraging the Harvest Festival.
"I, Gelmud, have become a true Demon Lord!!!"
Who cares about Clayman or his plans!
None of that mattered anymore!
Now, if he wished, he could devour that useless Clayman too.
With this power...
He could keep growing stronger.
Until he became the supreme Demon Lord, reigning over everything in this world!
"You?"
Shion's figure appeared beside Souka, glaring at the Orc Disaster, her longsword pointed forward: "Just a thief who stole another's power, and you dare call yourself a Demon Lord?"
"You!!"
Gelmud's heart brimmed with savagery.
Almost the instant Shion's words fell, the Orc Disaster's massive frame charged toward Shion and Souka!!!
***
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