Chapter 1 - The Perfect Pair, Rimuru and Ciel! (Ch1 rewrite)

Ciel: <>

Voice of the World: <<>>

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It had been 200 years since the Great War and the fall of the mighty creator, and the hero of that conflict, the Fifth True Dragon, ruler of Tempest, sworn brother of the Storm Dragon, and the so-called omnipotent Rimuru Tempest, now sat in his office glaring at the one and only enemy he had failed to conquer all these years... paperwork.

"I can't take this anymore!" Rimuru exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. In front of him lay an endless mountain of documents. "If I have to read one more report, my brain is going to explode from sheer boredom!" he complained, looking dangerously close to unleashing one of his strongest fire spells just to burn the entire stack to ashes.

Ciel's voice echoed calmly in his mind.

"Oh, come on, you know I wasn't actually going to do that," Rimuru shot back, rolling his eyes. Sometimes he forgot that Ciel had completely stopped bothering to hide her sentience, and she could be quite sarcastic and downright mean when she felt like it.

"Yeah, sure," Rimuru replied dryly. "Still, what's the point of being this strong if I can't even have a little fun anymore?" he muttered, slumping back into his chair with a sulk.

"Hey! You can't call that playing. I was babysitting them," Rimuru shot back, looking away. "You know that whenever Milim shows up, I have to deal with her myself for the sake of Tempest's infrastructure. And the moment that annoying fairy found out Milim was there, she came running because she had to compete with her or Dino over something stupid. And since she showed up, she dragged Veldora along with her, who was already lazing around on the dungeon's last floor. So to keep all that chaos contained in one place, I had to sacrifice my precious time and stay with them," he finished, wearing a completely self-righteous expression.

Ciel replied bluntly, cutting straight through his argument.

"Okay! Stop! Stop! You don't need to go that far back!" Rimuru quickly cut her off, already regretting picking a debate with the equivalent of a supercomputer that no one would ever be able to produce. "Geez, let a man live a little..." he grumbled under his breath, only for his eyes to suddenly light up. "Oh, right! That reminds me, I just had a great idea. Ciel, what if I go back to the past and start over while leaving a parallel existence here to handle everything? Sounds like a perfect plan, doesn't it?"

<...> Ciel did not respond right away, but even without words, Rimuru could practically feel her silent exasperation at his suggestion.

"But wait..." Rimuru suddenly paused, recalling all those paradoxes he had seen in time travel stories back in his previous life. "...if I change the past, it would affect the future too, right? I mean, I don't want to mess everything up here just for my own fun," he said as he turned his gaze toward the window, looking out at the lively, bustling streets of Tempest. "Erasing all of this, everything we built together, would make me worse than that old man who wanted to reset the world."

Rimuru tapped his finger against the desk as he mulled over the dilemma. Of course, he could have just asked Ciel to handle the thinking for him, but over the past few decades, he had been making a conscious effort to reduce how much he relied on her. Whether it was coming up with plans or figuring out new ways to use his own abilities, he wanted to stand on his own instead of depending on her for everything. And with how peaceful things had become lately, he actually had the time to work on that.

Coming back to the present, Rimuru kept thinking it over while absentmindedly continuing his paperwork, and then suddenly, an idea struck him. "Hey, Ciel, what if instead of messing with the past of this timeline, we create a separate, self-contained timeline to play around with? With our powers, that should be possible, right?"

Ciel praised him even though part of her was frustrated by how much less Rimuru relied on her these days, yet at the same time, she could not help but feel pleased watching him grow into someone who truly understood his own strength and place as the strongest being in existence. Because of that, she chose not to mention that even if they had gone back in time, nothing in the present would have changed. She decided she would explain that later and let him enjoy the satisfaction of reaching this solution on his own for now. Then, setting her conflicting thoughts aside, she continued,

"Sweet! In that case, let's do it right now!" Rimuru said excitedly as he leaned back in his chair. "And this time, let's go for a Dominant Run," he added, a faintly sinister smile forming on his lips.

"Yeah, you remember how Diablo once asked me if I was planning world domination, and I turned him down because it would have been a hassle to rule everything. Not to mention Guy would have been on my case nonstop about balance and all that," Rimuru said, his eye twitching slightly in irritation as he recalled a certain red-haired Primordial who loved dumping his problems on others. "But now, since I'm stronger than him and any other threat that could come after me for being too ambitious, I want to see what I can do if I actually control the entire world. Think of it as an experiment," he explained. "Besides, I've got a few other goals in mind too."

Ciel asked, her curiosity clearly growing as she followed along with Rimuru's train of thought.

"First, I want to get back at that annoying Guy Crimson and mess with him as much as I can," Rimuru said, raising a finger as a wicked grin spread across his face. "That bastard dumped all his problems on me and even sent that lazy idiot Dino to spy on me. And back then, I couldn't even do anything about it because I was no match for him. But now... hehehe..." he added, cracking his knuckles with clear anticipation.

Ciel replied without hesitation. Even she remembered how helpless and frustrated her predecessor, Raphael, had felt when dealing with that man who constantly pushed their master around.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the Ice Continent, a certain mediator suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, making him stand up and look around with narrowed eyes. "That bastard Rimuru... he's definitely planning something again," Guy muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Every time Rimuru made a move, it somehow turned into a headache for someone in his position. "Whatever. That's a problem for my future self. For now, I just need to see if Leon accepts my offer this time," he added, a mischievous smile forming on his face.

Back with Rimuru, who now raised a second finger. "Second... Shizu," he said as a distant look settled in his eyes. "How stupid of me... even after all these years, I still can't let her go," he muttered to himself with a self-deprecatory scoff. Meanwhile, Ciel remained silent, already aware of the deep regret that continued to haunt her master.

Shaking his head, Rimuru pushed those thoughts aside and smiled as he raised a third finger. "Third, I want to try being a bit more assertive, I guess," he said while idly spinning the spherical ornament on his desk. "In this timeline, I had to play things safe since we were basically fighting an uphill battle with barely any information about the world or our enemies. But now, with you by my side, I think we can handle anything, even if I decide to mess around a little."

A warm feeling spread through Ciel as she heard those words.

"I know, partner. That's exactly why I rely on you so much," Rimuru replied with a small chuckle, clearly sensing the butterflies in her stomach. Over the years, he had come to realize that she really liked being praised by him, even if she would deny it every single time he brought it up. It was honestly kind of funny how the most knowledgeable entity in existence could act like this sometimes.

"Nope, just your imagination," Rimuru shot back with a smug grin.

Rimuru let out a quiet laugh as he felt Ciel sulking inside his mind.

"Anyway, you still haven't heard my final goal yet," he said, a devilish grin spreading across his face as he already anticipated how his partner would react to his next words. "Well, you see, I'd like to have my libido back in this timeline."

<...>

"Come on, no need to go silent on me. I know you used to suppress those feelings for me," Rimuru said, unable to hide the smirk tugging at his lips at her sudden silence. "I might be a bit oblivious when it comes to women, but I'm not stupid enough to miss the sudden changes in how I felt about them," he added, shaking his head. "Not to mention how often you shut me down whenever I thought someone might actually like me like that, insisting it was all in my head."

"I'm not blaming you, Ciel. In fact, I'm glad you stopped me from acting on impulse and falling into some obvious trap while I was leading the strongest nation in the world," Rimuru said, already aware of just how naive and trusting he had been back then. "Otherwise, I'm sure I would've made a lot of stupid decisions." He let out a small breath before continuing, "But since I'm doing everything differently this time, why not try this too? After all, after living and ruling for so long, I doubt I'd fall for a honey trap now."

Ciel remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking again. <...If this is what Master desires,> she said in a flat, almost mechanical tone, reminding Rimuru of the days when she had still been Great Sage as he let out a quiet sigh. He understood exactly where that sudden shift was coming from, and he also knew it was something he needed to deal with before starting his new game plus. After all, the last thing he wanted was another rogue Manas running around the world, especially one as capable and dangerous as Ciel.

"Ciel, come out," Rimuru said, but all he got in response was cold silence. Letting out a small sigh, he created a clone of himself and used his commanding voice, "I said come out, Ciel."

Obeying his command, Ciel manifested within the clone standing before him. The body shifted as it took on a more feminine form, curves settling naturally into place, and the clearest sign was the change in the clone's eyes, now a deep red instead of their usual gold. However, even after appearing outside of Rimuru's consciousness, she refused to meet his gaze. Instead, she kept her expression blank, looking off to the side.

"Hmm... now that I think about it, Ciel, are you jealous?" Rimuru asked with an amused smile.

Ciel snapped back, puffing out her cheeks as she shot him an indignant glare.

Rimuru laughed at her reaction and stood up, walking around the table toward her. Stopping right in front of her, he met her red eyes and asked, "Ciel, are you upset at the idea of me being with other women?"

Ciel replied as a faint blush spread across her face. But before she could finish, Rimuru suddenly leaned in and captured her lips, making her eyes widen in shock. A moment later, he pulled back with a playful grin. she stammered, her face still flushed.

"Ciel..." Rimuru gently cupped her face in his hands, looking straight into her wide, crimson eyes. "You're the most important person in my life. I'm standing here today because you saved me, supported me, and bailed my ass out more times than I can count. You're not just some skill or a Manas. You're Ciel, my partner. And nothing can change that. Not even Shizu... the one person I truly loved."

Ciel found herself at a complete loss for words. The realization that her master placed her above Shizu, the one person whose death had haunted him for so long, left her shaken to her core. More than anything, she knew he meant it. As a part of his soul, she could feel the truth in every word he had spoken. That was exactly why she wanted to respond, to say something worthy of what he had just given her. But for the first time since her existence began, she simply did not know how.

But unlike her, Rimuru took advantage of the moment and leaned in again, capturing her lips in another tender, lingering kiss. When they finally pulled apart, after what felt like far too long, he smiled softly at her. "So, Ciel, do you need any more proof that we're soulmates and inseparable, no matter what?" he asked with a playful grin.

Ciel replied, a genuine smile replacing her usual icy expression.

Then the clone vanished, and Ciel returned to him.

"Sweet," Rimuru said as he created a parallel existence to remain behind. "Then, Ciel, let's start our journey again, this time together."

Ciel replied. In the very next instant, Rimuru found himself back in the cave where he had first been born, ready to begin everything from the start once more. But this time, he would bring far more chaos and headaches to the world than he ever had before.

To be continued...

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Just a fair warning before we move ahead: This story is going to be a complete power fantasy. It won't be some deep piece of fiction that will leave you pondering deep thoughts late at night. Instead, it's going to be the kind of story that you read with a grin, building your own power fantasies in your mind.

So if you don't mind that kind of story, then come aboard. This is going to be a fun ride.