"The hills…"
Souka's pupils contracted sharply. "They're gone!!"
She had thought that, after receiving Damien's naming and completing her vassal transformation, she was already powerful enough.
Perhaps she wasn't quite on par with Shion or Benimaru, but the gap wouldn't be vast.
However!
It wasn't until Ogerpon's strike landed that Souka felt the chasm between them and understood what it meant to be a mayfly glimpsing the vast sky!
Gulp~~
Souka forcibly suppressed her shock.
Amid the cheers erupting from the Oni after the stunned silence, her gaze toward Ogerpon grew clear.
'Strong!'
'Too strong!'
She was just a petite girl, barely over one and a half meters tall.
Yet the power that had burst forth in that instant made even Souka, standing behind her, feel the threat of death.
Without a doubt, if Ogerpon's attack had targeted her instead of the Orc Demon Lord, Souka would likely have been crushed just like Gelmud.
"Ugh~~"
On the other side, Gelmud, struck head-on by Ogerpon, was utterly dazed.
His body was wracked with excruciating pain.
The life force that should have instantly healed his wounds had vanished without a trace.
His injuries didn't recover.
Even his soul teetered on the brink of shattering under Ogerpon's single blow.
How could this be?
Hadn't he awakened as a Demon Lord?
Why?
Why couldn't he defeat a little girl who seemed to have no combat prowess?
No, it wasn't just a matter of failing to defeat her!
One strike... just one... had left him on the verge of death, unable to even stand.
"You just said…"
Ogerpon hoisted her thorny vine staff over her shoulder, strolling up to Gelmud and looking down at him. "You wanted to become what kind of king?"
She was Ogerpon the Mini Kaido!
Her specialty? Curing those addicted to calling themselves kings.
Regeneration? Growing stronger by devouring flesh?
Before Ogerpon's thorny vine staff, it was all meaningless!
Even before her awakening, she possessed the unique skill Destroyer.
Her least feared opponents were those with immortal bodies.
Her attacks carried a passive effect that demolished everything... be it abilities, life force, or an object's self-repair.
Anyone struck or injured by Ogerpon had to endure the full brunt of that pain, with no hope of instant recovery!
And that was before her awakening!
Upon awakening, Ogerpon gained two mid-tier Ultimate Skills: Izanami and Izanagi.
Of course, against a mere Demon Lord Seed like Gelmud, she had no need for Ultimate Skills.
Even so, as a true Demon Lord, Ogerpon still possessed the passive ability to crush all things and break rules.
"Alright, it's your turn, Rimuru!"
"Eh?"
Rimuru was still reeling from the impact of Ogerpon's ordinary swing.
Hearing Damien call his name snapped him back to reality.
"Ah! Right, right!!"
Rimuru hurriedly cast spatial magic, appearing beside Ogerpon and the fallen Orc Demon Lord Gelmud.
"Thanks, Ogerpon-chan!"
"Pone!"
Ogerpon gave Rimuru a thumbs-up.
She quite liked this little buddy of hers.
Both were Damien's pets, so they got along famously.
Not long ago, Ogerpon had even dragged Rimuru to the fields to harvest wheat together.
"Mm, leave the rest to me."
Gelmud had already been beaten half to death by Ogerpon.
Even with Starved and his vast magicules, he couldn't possibly overcome Rimuru's Predator.
And that was the reason for Ogerpon's intervention.
By crippling the Orc Demon Lord, she provided Rimuru with the sustenance needed to take the final step toward becoming a true Demon Lord!
"Predator!"
With Rimuru's delicate shout, the blue-haired girl instantly expanded into a slime over ten meters tall.
Then, like a mountain collapsing, she crashed down.
She engulfed Gelmud and the Orc Disaster Geld's body into her Predator space.
Since the enemy was already crippled, Rimuru's digestion of the two was effortless.
Of course, Rimuru still entered their soul worlds.
Gelmud was a lost cause... a rotten soul... and Rimuru devoured his soul energy completely.
As for Geld…
In the Orc Disaster's memories, Rimuru saw the tragedy of a race.
"Rest easy, Geld."
Rimuru said, "I'll consume your sins, and those of the orcs, entirely."
"Ah…"
A low voice faded as Geld's soul energy was depleted, leaving only a hopeful plea: "Please… don't let my people go hungry again…"
Buzz!!
[Individual 'Rimuru' has begun the challenge for evolution]
Finally, after fully absorbing Geld and converting his vast soul and magicule reserves into nourishment, a prompt from the Voice of the World rang in Damien's ears.
[Do you approve Rimuru's evolution request?]
"Approve!"
Damien's figure appeared beside Rimuru, who was starting to melt into a puddle, and he scooped her up.
"Damien!"
"Lord Damien!"
"My lord!"
Seeing Damien appear, Benimaru, Shion, and the other Oni, along with Souka, hurried forward to pay their respects.
"No need for formalities."
Damien looked at Rimuru in his arms. "Rimuru is taking the critical step toward awakening as a true Demon Lord."
It wasn't a parallel consciousness or projection that had arrived... it was Damien's true self.
"Additionally, we need to address the aftermath of the orcs and lizardmen."
Damien surveyed the surroundings. With the Orc Disaster's death, the influence of Starved began to fade.
The orcs, regaining their sanity, collapsed to the ground, weary and distraught.
They seemed soulless.
Even their will to live was starting to blur.
"We…"
Among the surviving orc lords, the strongest... a robust orc and Geld's eldest son... knelt on the ground. "What have we done…?"
Free from the torment of hunger, he recalled the events that had transpired.
For a moment, he could hardly accept those horrific memories.
Eating their own kin, devouring the flesh of the innocent.
Killing, ravaging, and consuming until they became frenzied beasts.
***
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