Youm POV - Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Universe, Central World, Magic Continent, Great Jura Forest - 2013 AMB
"The thing is, we are heading to a city..."
Hearing the words that the representative of these adventurers just uttered, I couldn't help but become more wary and suspicious about them while thinking, 'There is no city further inside the forest. No doubt about it, they are suspicious... Should I hand them over to the Earl? But I really hate that guy. What to do...?'
While I'm thinking that, I continue to look at them as the three start to bicker among themselves.
"No, really! A kind monster..."
"Hey! What are you doing, revealing this!"
"Don't look at me! If they tell you, 'don't come again,' we'll go on without you, you know?"
As I continue to look at the three bickering, I realize that they are way too suspicious to ignore, so I decide that I have to, at the very least, confirm their words.
Reaching that conclusion, I don't waste any more time and ask in a firm tone, "Where are you adventurers from? Answer! Don't attempt to hide it. These are the lands of the Falmuth Kingdom's Earl Nidol Migam, under the protection of the frontier province of the Migam Earldom. I am their captain, Youmu."
In response to that, the three exchange a glance and seem to have given up.
While apprehending spies is not part of his duties, it is something he can do. I can't leave them alone, after all.
The countries have agreed not to employ spies; however, whether any country has actually kept that promise is a different story.
Who knows what country they've come from, but only an idiot spy would pretend to be an adventurer.
Spies would normally take their lives if cornered, but these guys don't seem to plan on it, making me wonder, 'Are they really adventurers?'
While I'm thinking that, the three adventurers resume their bickering.
"No, honestly! But, it's a monster's city... You wouldn't believe that if we had told you, would you?"
"Besides, we don't want to cause trouble for Rimuru-san..."
"I'm not involved in this. The one who spilled the beans is you, Danna. What would we do if we were banished from there?"
Reaching this point, I can't help but feel a little excited while I wonder, 'Could they perhaps not be lying? If so, I have to check it out!'
After restraining the three and throwing them on a horse, I have them show the way to a city yet unseen.
Jayr POV - Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Universe, Central World, Magic Continent, Great Jura Forest, Tempest - 2013 AMB
After confirming that nothing bad happened to the Kaval's Party when they met with the scouting party from the Falmuth Kingdom and that they are now all advancing toward Tempest together, I continue to calmly wander around the streets of the city while thinking, 'A few months have already passed since I arrived in this universe. Things are progressing quite well at the moment... Rimuru expanded his influence by quite a bit, and some of the major players of this universe already started to notice his presence. The only downside is that the human kingdom completely dismissed our warning about the inevitable invasion of the Champion of Power and his armies.'
At this point, I stop walking for a moment and realize, 'There is no point in waiting any longer... It's time to take matters into my hands and personally get in contact with all the major factions of the Central World. I have to warn them of the approaching universe-ending threat and suggest that they all stop their petty squabbles and join together to repel the malicious invaders.'
Reaching this conclusion, I start to think about my next steps and all the major forces I have the knowledge of, 'The first major power that immediately comes to my mind is the Armed Nation of Dwargon. This should be the easiest one to convince, especially since the King Guran Dwargo is already coming here to know Rimuru better and maybe forge an alliance with the Jura-Tempest Federation.'
The Armed Nation of Dwargon is home to the Dwarves, and it is located north of the Jura Forest inside an underground cavern in the Great Canaat Mountains.
Dwargon is an immensely powerful nation, with its technological might being unmatched in the west, and it's made up of three major cities, with "Central" being its capital.
It was founded roughly a thousand years ago by the Hero King Guran Dwargo, using a naturally occurring hollow at the base of the Canaat Mountains as its foundation.
The gates to the capital are the only point of entry, making it a natural fortress that has survived many enemy attacks.
Being inside a large underground cavern, the environment is naturally a bit chilly, but with the help of magic, that is never a concern, as the temperature can freely be altered to the people's convenience.
Dwargon is a traditional monarchy that is ruled over by a King and a board of ministers.
It has a typical class system with nobility and the upper class, although their status does not prevent them from fulfilling their mandatory military service.
Talking about the military, Dwargon's army is composed of 7 corps, each tasked with different roles.
The three support groups working behind the scenes are the engineer corps, logistics corps, and the first-aid corps.
The three main groups acting on the front lines are the heavy attack corps, the magic attack corps, and the magic support corps.
In addition, there are the royal guards and Pegasus Knights, a secret force under the direct control of the King.
They also have the intelligence service, a team gifted in the art of camouflage and covert missions.
Overall, they are going to be an important ally in the defense of this universe
After briefly going over what I know about the Armed Nation of Dwargon, I move on to the next target, 'The second most obvious choice is without any doubt the Demon Lord Council. After all, just like with the Armed Nation of Dwargon, one of its strongest members is going to visit Tempest very soon.'
The Demon Lord Council is an organization created by Guy Crimson around two thousand years ago as part of his game against Rudra. The Demon Lord Council is something of an international political organization not dissimilar to the Council of the West.
It primarily consists of powerful individuals, Demon Lords, who rule over vast amounts of territory and are at the head of monster society.
The number of members and the name of the council have changed multiple times throughout history.
Originally, there were only three members: Guy, the founder of the council and its indisputable leader throughout its various iterations, along with Milim Nava and Ramiris.
Those three eventually came to be known as the Ancient Demon Lords, the original "generation" of Demon Lords.
Following the last Tenma war five hundred years prior to Rimuru's reincarnation, the maximum number of members was capped at ten, and the name "Ten Great Demon Lords" was tentatively adopted based on its existing common use in human society.
However, the organization was eventually restructured, and the name "Octagram" was ratified as the council's proper name, while also further reducing the maximum members to eight.
In order for an individual to join the council, various conditions have to be met.
Typically, they would require the backing of at least three current members, and their recruitment would be discussed with a Walpurgis.
There are also incidents where someone randomly declares themself a Demon Lord.
In cases like these, the council will typically send a representative to test the strength of the would-be Demon Lord, and their inauguration would then be decided during a Walpurgis.
The bare minimum requirement needed to be recruited via this method is possessing enough strength to qualify as a Demon Lord Seed, and anybody who fails, however, is usually purged by the council and sentenced to death.
The Walpurgis is a special banquet where all of the Demon Lords gather, requiring at least three members to call one into session.
During the banquet, things such as territorial disputes, treaties, and other grievances between members are mediated and decided by a majority vote.
It was given its name by the Western Holy Church around a thousand years ago, after that era's Great Tenma War concluded, being considered a bad omen by the human world ever since.
Participation of all members is considered mandatory, being one of the few iron-clad rules among the Demon Lords.
They are, however, permitted to send a representative in their place for whatever reason.
In addition, they are allowed to bring up to two other people of sufficient strength with them to act as attendants.
The number and strength of guests were originally unregulated, but were agreed upon by the majority to two after an incident where over a hundred subordinates were brought in a display of power that eventually ended in both the Demon Lord and their men being destroyed by a certain annoyed senior member.
The banquet was originally an affair of humble origins, being a mere gathering between members of the council to organize affairs while enjoying fine food.
It was after the numerous skirmishes between two members, the Curse Lord Kazalim and the Bloody Lord Roy Valentin, and the immense collateral damage resulting from them, that the meetings became a more formal affair with established rules.
Even the use of three members to convene a Walpurgis is a vestige from when the council had only seven members, remaining out of date with the current number of Demon Lords.
Because of all that, contacting the Demon Lord Council is actually one of the fastest ways to get in touch with some of the strongest powers of this whole universe.
At this point, after going over what I know of the Armed Nation of Dwargon and the Demon Lord Council, I start to think about my next choice, 'After the Armed Nation of Dwargon and the Demon Lord Council, the most practical choice is without any doubt the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion. After all, a member of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion's royal family regularly visits this city and has a good relationship with Rimuru and the monsters living here.'
The Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion is a nation founded by elves and is composed of 13 kingdoms that all swear absolute fealty to Emperor Elmesia.
Its capital, Elmine Sarion, is built directly into the gigantic Divine Tree, one of the two remaining holy relics created by Veldanava to protect the Central World from being destroyed.
The history of Sarion goes back 2000 years to when Milim Nava destroyed the Ultra-Sorcery Kingdom that housed the elves of that era.
The elves that chose to forsake the Princess followed what remained of the elven nobility and formed thirteen kingdoms that were in a constant contest for superiority.
Eventually, Elmesia, the direct descendant of the ancestor of the elves, came forward to consolidate the various kingdoms into an empire with Elmesia as its Emperor.
The Thirteen Kingdoms remain more or less autonomous and are free to decide their own policies and engage in their own trade, with Ellis Grimwald being appointed as their overseer.
However, they are not allowed to host a military, with all military forces instead being controlled entirely by the emperor.
The kingdoms have no obligation or authority to meddle in each other's affairs and continue to try and one-up each other, with the emperor being the one who has to step in to quell them when their disputes get out of hand.
The Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion does not have a national religion; instead, the Emperor claims to be a descendant of god and forbids all other religions.
Because of this, they were rejected from being a part of the Council of the West, making them an isolated superpower.
However, they maintain commercial relations with other nations, most notably Dwargon, El Dorado, and Ulgracia.
The Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion's military is nothing exceptional compared to that of the other nations, with the sole exception of Magus, the Royal Guard of the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion, which is secretly a force of Sorcerer Chevaliers that control special suits of sentient armor known as Intelligent Weapons.
The Magus' power ranges from individual to individual. While some are only Special A, there are Ace-Class Knights whose Existence value is over half a million EP.
Any Magus can fire a high-power heat ray that is equivalent to the Nuclear magic Nuclear Cannon.
With many Magus working together and focusing every ray on a single point, the focal temperature exceeds one hundred million, making them a quite formidable force that may cause massive damage to the invaders.
After thinking about the major factions that are easiest to get in contact with, I frown as I start to think about what my next best option is, 'Now things become a bit annoying as the major factions that remain are all somewhat problematic in one way or another... The first one that comes to my mind is the Council of the West, a gathering of human nations to the west of the Great Jura Forest, which is likely the easiest one of the annoying major players.'
The Council of the West was originally established as a collaborative initiative aimed at addressing the looming menace of monstrous threats.
Over time, its role evolved into a formidable organization primarily designed to serve as a check on the Eastern Empire's influence.
Gradually, it assumed a central role in arbitrating international affairs among its member nations.
Situated at the very heart of this council was the Kingdom of Englassia.
Geographically, Englassia's location made it the most convenient focal point for council members to convene.
Consequently, it became the natural choice for the headquarters of the Free Guild, an organization closely intertwined with the council.
It is worth noting that while the Kingdom of Falmuth holds considerable power within the council's ranks, a deliberate decision was made to prevent any single nation from wielding excessive influence over the assembly.
Englassia, as the designated headquarters, possessed a unique advantage.
Unlike its fellow council member nations, it does not share a border with the Jura Forest, thus affording it an added layer of stability and protection from the menacing threat posed by monsters.
This advantageous geographic positioning played a pivotal role in Englassia's selection as the headquarters of the Council.
The Council acts as a mediator between nations, weighing each member's interests against the others' and managing them to prevent conflict.
It holds power in both economic and political circles, making it a strikingly influential group in the region.
The council had no standing military force as it didn't need one; that's because, in a way, the Council formed the higher bureaucracy of the Free Guild itself.
The money paid to adventurers for slaying monsters comes from Council funding, and in exchange, the Council has the right to give orders to the guild.
This funding comes from contributions provided by each member nation, which vary depending on how much speaking rights each one has.
Refusing to pay these means leaving the council; it is a way for the council to gain a louder voice in local affairs, using the shield of security it offered members.
Many nations rely almost wholly upon the guild for monster management, and that means there is no choice for them but to support the council.
Within the Western Nations, the member countries of the Council of the West generally maintained a remarkable peace among themselves.
Even in the rare instances where conflicts did arise, they strictly adhered to formal declarations of war and a set of stringent rules governing warfare.
Deviation from these rules would trigger a collective response from the Council, with all member nations rallying against the transgressor.
For situations where non-member nations were engaged in disputes, the Council maintained a policy of non-interference, regardless of the victor or loser.
However, if one of the parties involved in such conflicts engaged in exceptionally cruel and inhumane conduct beyond reason, it would undoubtedly tarnish that nation's standing within the Council's ranks.
The dynamics shifted significantly when a member nation of the Council found itself under invasion by an external force.
In such cases, member nations possessed the right to request assistance and support from the Council.
This principle formed a pivotal rationale behind the Council's inclusion of numerous small kingdoms among its membership, as it ensured collective defense and solidarity in times of peril.
All this seems quite good upfront, and surely gaining the Council's support would help in basically gaining the support of all the kingdoms and countries in the west, but there is one little annoying problem with that, politics.
They are notably quite slow to come to a decision, and like most of the other politicians in the entire Omniverse, quite a few of them are quite selfish and corrupt. It is more likely that the entire invasion ends before they can even reach an agreement.
Luckily, in this particular case, the annoyance is quite minor as the Council of the West is secretly controlled by the Five Elders, a group of humans with four of them being descended from their leader, Granbell Rosso.
This makes things a bit easier since Granbell Rosso is the former head of the Rosso family, the true identity of "Sun Luminary" Gran, and a Former Chosen Hero who is over 2.000 years old, and on top of that, he is the founder of the Council of the West.
Granbell was originally a selfless and noble person who cared only for the welfare and safety of humans.
He could not tolerate the thought of humanity being ruled over by monsters, especially a Demon Lord, but was willing to set aside his prejudices if the benefits outweighed the cons in the long run.
Over the course of millennia, his experiences in the West have left him jaded, and his purpose has changed.
Instead of continuing to simply protect humans, he decided to also rule over them.
During the many years of his secretly ruling the West, which was the veritable garden of the Rosso family, he adhered to the ideology that absolute power was necessary to protect humanity, and for that reason, showed no hesitation in subjecting standout individuals with the potential to become Saints and Chosen heroes to severe and harrowing trials without warning.
He believed that if they could not overcome such trials, the protection of humanity would remain a distant thing.
While he has many flaws, and in the novel, he was even an antagonist at some point when due to the loss of his granddaughter, he quickly came full circle and regained his sanity, remembering his original purpose of protecting humanity to the point of sacrificing his life to facilitate the birth of an Awakened Chosen Hero who could protect humanity in his place.
Because of that, there is no doubt that his wish and will to protect humanity are very, very strong, and he would surely join our side once I display a bit of my power and inform him of the threat of the Champion of Power.
After going over everything I know regarding the Council of West and its leader, I suddenly realize, 'With these, I can already get in touch with almost all the major factions in the Central World... After all, the Western Holy Church is under the control of Luminous Valentine, the ruler of all the vampires and one of the oldest Demon Lords, thus a member of the Demon Lord Council, making it quite easy to gain their support. The remaining Seven Angels of Origin and Primordial Daemons can also be quite troublesome to deal with if one tries to use normal methods, but I can make use of my Authority over the Voice of the World and my overwhelming power to gain their support quite easily. This leaves me with only the most annoying. The Eastern Empire and Yuuki Kagurazaka.'
The Nasca Namrium Ulmeria United Eastern Empire, commonly known as the Eastern Empire, is a large military nation that is currently known as the strongest nation in the entire world.
The history of the Empire is said to be ancient, and its foundations were laid out by a nation as far back as two thousand years ago.
The long-standing minor Kingdom of Nasca gradually absorbed the large nations of the Magic Kingdom of Namrium and the Eastern Union of Ulmeria, thus giving birth to the Empire known today, with its overwhelming military power as its backbone.
During the past two thousand years, under the reign of the uniting emperor Rudra Nam Ul Nasca, the Empire grew immensely powerful, squashing any signs of rebellion from the nations it had absorbed, and it acted as the hegemonic power, dominating these states.
The emperor is described as an absolutist, and was born from a pure bloodline of overlords who all passed down the name Rudra.
It's believed that the only reason the empire has yet to invade the Great Jura Forest is that they are in the middle of preparations.
A few centuries ago, they attempted to subjugate Veldora, but the whimsical dragon destroyed them before they could so much as show regret.
Around a hundred thousand lives were lost that day, and the city, fortified to be the gateway for invading the Jura Forest, was obliterated.
Within the Empire, the political department and the military department were the left and right hands of the emperor; he had both political dominance and military command, holding absolute authority.
This also applied to the nations that had been annexed by the Empire. All of their territories were claimed, and their land now became the property of the emperor, so the defense troops were deployed there, which they were considered a generous gift from the emperor.
If one of them rejected those terms and launched a rebellion, they would be met with a bloody purge.
The Empire did this to deter even the thought of insurrection, cutting off the very roots of rebellion. In that manner, the Empire managed to maintain order. On the one hand, the fear of their tyranny, and on the other, ensuring the livelihoods of its loyal subjects, the quintessential carrot and stick policy.
Through this, the Empire managed to maintain peace and prosperity with its complete authoritarian control.
This policy was effective in completely eliminating any form of rebellion in the provinces. The overwhelming difference in national power was the key to its success.
The main reason why the Eastern Empire is annoying is that the current emperor, Rudra Nam Ul Nasca, is actually a puppet of the will of wayward Ultimate Skill, Michael, Lord of Justice.
Rudra was born millennia ago as a prince of the Kingdom of Nasca, with the naïve ambition to unite the entire world and bring peace to all.
He eventually rose as the first Chosen hero with the backing of his mentor Veldanava and became rivals with the Demon Lord Guy, resulting in the creation of their game to decide who gets to rule the world.
After the deaths of his sister Lucia and Veldanava, Rudra's mental state took a downward spiral and ultimately resulted in the loss of his innocence, leaving only his game with Guy to give him a reason to live.
The will that resided inside of Michael had similarly become distraught, taking advantage of Rudra's compromised mental state to wage war in his psyche.
The end result of this was wear and tear on his body, brought about by the stress of containing Michael's will and its power.
This forced Rudra to repeatedly undergo a special ritual of rebirth to pass his will and abilities into the body of his own offspring on their conception, allowing him to live on and continue the game.
Over time, Rudra's cycle of rebirth continued without stop, resulting in the wearing down of his soul from its frequency.
This ultimately resulted in Rudra losing his sanity and falling under Michael's dominion, turning him into a merciless totalitarian who opposed the concept of free will.
Then Michael finally took complete and total control over his body, resulting in what remained of his soul shattering into pieces and being blown to the interdimensional winds of reincarnation.
Now, I can easily purge the Ultimate Skill from the body thanks to my authority on the Voice of the World, but that will leave behind only an empty husk, and searching, gathering, and fixing the scattered Soul of Rudra is going to be a very annoying chore that almost makes me give up on the idea.