Rimuru looked around; it really did look exactly like Nazarick.
At this moment, everyone was in the central plaza of Nazarick. Even the Eastern Divine Dragon in the center of the plaza, which Draco had personally carved, was lifelike and identical.
If not for the fact that there was no one around, Rimuru would have truly thought he had arrived at Nazarick.
"Wow! What a beautiful city!"
"Where is this? It feels much more beautiful than the Kingdom of Ingracia."
"I've never seen such a large city!"
"Could this be the legendary Eastern Empire?"
Kenya, Ryota, and the others marveled at the surrounding buildings.
Susu rubbed her head. "Am I home?"
"Wahahaha! How about it? I'm amazing, right?"
Ramiris flew in front of Susu and said triumphantly.
"So where exactly is this?"
Susu's little head was a bit dizzy.
"It's my labyrinth, of course. It's just that I can arbitrarily change and create things within the labyrinth, provided they are things within the laws of the world."
After Ramiris's explanation, everyone immediately understood.
Next, Ramiris flew in front of the tall mechanical puppet placed in the plaza.
"Hey, hey, Rimuru, this is a toy I built together with everyone. It's also my Guardian, the Holy Spirit Guardian Statue. Isn't it cool?"
As if having guests over for a rare occasion, Ramiris boasted with some excitement.
Then, she used mental control to activate the pink statue. Although called a statue, its entire body was composed of the world's strongest magic steel blocks.
"Rumble!"
The statue's eyes lit up with red light, and it stood up in the next moment.
"Wow, a Gundam!"
"A robot!"
The children and Susu shouted with excitement.
Rimuru, on the other hand, had a forehead full of black lines. They'd read too many comics; these guys wouldn't end up as chuunibyou as Veldora, would they?
Also, Susu, why are you joining in the commotion?
"Wahahaha, amazing, right!"
"Earth spirits are responsible for controlling weight, water spirits for the movement of various mechanisms, fire spirits generate power, and wind spirits regulate heat."
"It's simply the culmination of elemental mastery, the crystallization of Spirit Engineering!!"
Ramiris proudly introduced her treasure, her face practically screaming 'praise me'.
However, Rimuru instead became interested in a few key words.
"Spirit Engineering? Could it be that Magic Armor Soldier Project?"
"Bingo! Exactly that."
Ramiris explained while flying back and forth around Rimuru.
"That project failed during the production of the heart part, the Spirit Magic Core, leading to the entire project being scrapped. After all, how could ordinary steel withstand the power of spirits?"
"So I conveniently picked up the scrap and restored it."
"How about it? Am I not amazing? Am I not a genius?"
Looking at the self-satisfied Ramiris, Rimuru felt for the first time that this incredibly weak Demon Lord actually had some real skill.
After everyone fooled around for a while longer, Ramiris opened the portal to the 'Spirit's Dwelling'.
High-ranking Spirits possess a sense of self; whether they respond to a summons depends entirely on their mood.
But Rimuru possessed the two abilities, 'Unify' and 'Disintegrate'.
Even if no spirit accepted the summons, Rimuru could directly devour the summoned spirit elements and manually mold a High-ranking Spirit.
So Rimuru wasn't worried about failure at all.
Arriving at the 'Spirit's Dwelling', there was a long path of light leading directly to a five-meter diameter platform in mid-air.
The group stepped onto the path of light and reached the edge of the platform. Rimuru asked,
"How does the summoning ritual work?"
"Hmm... basically, just silently chant things like 'come play with me' or 'help me' in your heart. In short, just pique the interest of a spirit."
"I see. Then, who wants to go first?"
Looking at the somewhat anxious children, Rimuru comforted them.
"Well, it'll be fine with me here. Don't worry."
"Te-Teacher, if anything happens to me, I'll leave them in your care."
Gale stepped forward first, speaking to Rimuru as if he were giving his last words.
"Uh... okay, leave it to me."
Then, accompanied by Rimuru, Gale tremblingly walked to the center of the platform.
He pressed his palms together in a prayer-like gesture and began to call out to the spirits in his heart.
A moment later, a large amount of light particles appeared in the sky, fluttering down like snowflakes.
These were fragments of natural energy; a High-ranking Spirit had not responded to Gale's call.
A group of lesser spirits descended slowly from the sky, and Rimuru knew it was a failure.
But he calmly activated Gluttony King, devouring all the surrounding natural energy.
«Notice. Through King of Wisdom, the Unify of a High-ranking Spirit is complete. Attribute: Earth.»
«Information analysis of the Flame Giant Ifrit... creation of a pseudo-personality... successful.»
«Beginning bestowal... Pseudo-High-ranking Spirit Earth is born. Beginning Unify with Gale Gibson.»
«Unify complete. Individual Gale Gibson has successfully become a host for a High-ranking Spirit.»
Following Raphael's maneuvers, the summoning ritual ended smoothly.
"Next!"
Next was Alice.
Because she was afraid of the transparent heights below, she wanted Rimuru to carry her over.
As a result, Alice and Chloe started arguing.
Rimuru didn't mind and carried Alice directly to the center of the platform.
This made Chloe, who was standing to the side, pout, looking very unhappy.
Soon, a large number of natural energy fragments descended from the sky again. To save trouble, Rimuru devoured them directly.
Using the same procedure as before, a pseudo-spirit with the Space attribute was soon hosted within Alice's body.
Ramiris watched from the side, dumbfounded.
She wanted to say something, but looking at the innocent children, she ultimately swallowed her words.
After all, Rimuru hadn't broken any rules.
"Alice, that's enough. You've succeeded."
Rimuru picked her up and walked toward the edge of the platform.
*Chu~*
Alice gave Rimuru a kiss with a beaming smile.
Rimuru naturally didn't take this kind of childish play to heart, but Chloe stared at Rimuru with an unfriendly gaze upon seeing it.
Next was Kenya.
This time, however, an abnormal phenomenon occurred.
Kenya excitedly went to the center of the platform. Just as he closed his eyes to pray, a pillar of holy light descended from the sky in the next moment.
A boy about half the height of a person stepped out of the light pillar, draped in holy radiance.
"Yo, how have you been lately? Ramiris, I just felt like coming today on a whim."
The boy greeted Ramiris casually.
"Hey!! Why are you barging into my place for no reason!"
Ramiris flew toward the boy, looking a bit annoyed.
The two seemed to be well-acquainted.
"Let's talk about that later."
Ignoring Ramiris's minor outburst, the boy smiled and greeted Kenya below.
"Nice to meet you. I am the Spirit of Light. Unlike this fellow next to me who has fallen into being a fairy, I am a pure Spirit of Light."
Proof of the Hero
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