Capítulo 71: 66th Move | History is Written by the Victors
AN: The suffering continues. This is not me being edgy, the plot is situated like this because I want to explore what would happen if the antagonist actually wins.
_____________________________________________
The Hexagon, Ministry of Defense, early morning
Diablo appeared at the main entrance to the Hexagon, a massive 5 stories tall building in the shape of a hexagon. This serves as the headquarters of both the Ministry of Defense and Special Circumstances. In a lot of ways, this is like a combination of both the Kremlin and the Pentagon, buildings that Lady Scientia drew inspiration from.
In other words, this building is one of the most secure places in the entire world as not only does it have tinkertech security, but Rimuru also commissioned several magical defenses and alarms from the Ministry of Magic.
It's one of the primary reasons that the Primordial can't just teleport into the building because any displacements of air or weight would result in the alarms being triggered and Rubedo to be on his ass quicker than the average person can blink.
Really, it is such overkill in both his and (regrettably) Jeanne's opinion. After all, who would dare attack the premier Superpower in the world? They have to have a special brand of stupidity to even think about attacking a place that has four Primordials.
Just as he entered the building through one of the three main wooden doors, Diablo quickly exited in favor of watching the sky turn purple as some of the more distant stars were snuffed out.
Conjuring up a chair and a bag of spicy potato chips, the Black Primordial watched the light show of a tiny lance of light going beyond the night sky, dividing it up like an artist cutting a piece of paper in two for their artwork. It looked like a bright needle with how thin it is, becoming barely recognizable to the naked eye.
Like an incandescent light bulb being turned off, even after the ray of light disappeared, the sky was still purple before returning to black in the span of a minute. It was only after Diablo had finished the bag of chips before he dispelled the chair and empty plastic bag, walking into the Hexagon with confidence as he's sure his Mistress could handle herself even if she's in trouble, after all, no one is called the Miracle Maker without some trump cards up their sleeves.
Inside, he found dozens of people of all species running about as though they were late for their work, with some of them talking on their phones. Looking around the main entrance hall, the Black Primordial felt like he could be lost just admiring the architecture since he was still a bit unused to the 'spartan' design.
The entire structure, as its name implies, is shaped like a massive hexagon situated near the edge of Metropolis about a 45-minute drive from the Congressional Pyramid. Just one side length is a quarter of a kilometer. Due to its sheer size being the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense, the Hexagon has its private monorail system, being an offshoot of the main one that passes through the area and into more arcologies.
Inside the entrance hall was a rather spartan reception area measuring 4 stories tall. If the Black Primordial were forced to describe the place in as few words as possible, he would use 'serious' and 'plain'.
Continuing his casual walk, the Demon noted with silent amusement how other people intentionally move out of his way like a school of fish parting for a shark.
As he reached the reception desk that is manned by half a dozen receptionists, Diablo leaned forward onto the marble slab that serves as a secondary tabletop above the primary one currently loaded with multiple holographic displays. Looking down, he saw a human woman currently taking a call— hell, all of them were taking a call as more and more numbers Diablo didn't recognize were coming in and were put on automatic hold, appearing as more holographic displays.
Most of those calls are from the Eastern Theater while the remaining are probably asking why the sky just turned purple, the Black Primordial concluded. Placing a hand on his chin, Diablo decided to stay silent and just see how long it would take for those mortal receptionists to realize that one of Lady Scientia's direct subordinates is here.
Mortals are so interesting, really, it's fascinating how much they give you a wide berth so long as you are in any way, shape, or form related to the Director.
Hell, so long as you are under the umbrella of the Director, even if you're a janitor at the physical Blueprint Auction House, people will still be impressed, that's how much influence his Mistress has.
"To be able to inspire such fear and respect yet to remain so humble nonetheless..." leader of Special Circumstances quietly mumbles to himself, "truly, my Lady is a most interesting individual...
.
.
.
...wouldn't you agree, Rubedo?"
Diablo turned to face the approaching red-haired Kijin in a green military outfit who currently has a tense expression on his face. Well, the Demon can't blame him, after all, being in the presence of a Primordial tends to have that on people, even those who are under the same umbrella as Lady Scientia.
Still, Diablo won't ever hurt them per se, maybe play around but nothing too malicious.
Rubedo stared at the Black Primordial with a serious and unamusing gaze, "Why are you here?"
"I'm here because Director Scientia has told me to tell you to ready the troops and march on the West."
Despite knowing her true nature and having gotten past some of his prejudice against a person that would dare try to break a geas, Rubedo's upbringing still made him unable to properly respect and accept the Perfect Homunculus.
Even after so many things, the modern amenities, the healthcare, the positions, the POWER... Rubedo was raised in a clan that demands death before dishonor, there still persists this small, almost invisible gap between the General and the Director.
If there exists a small gap between him and Scientia, then there exists a canyon of discrete hostility between Rubedo and Diablo, like two enemies forced into being friends by a greater power.
"There are proper diplomatic and bureaucratic procedures for this. You cannot just—"
"You know why the sky turned purple? It'll probably take you a day or two to scramble some recon jets over the position but that was the Director essentially launching a preemptive strike." Diablo said with an overly smug expression, gloating about the fact that there was nothing Rubedo can do other than obey, "as a general, you should've known that war is inevitable."
"... I see."
Rubedo wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible as he felt a surge of anger rising inside his mind. Anger at the sudden war declaration, anger at the apparent disregard for proper channel and procedure, and just general anger at how Diablo is using subterfuge and other less-than-honorable methods to achieve victory.
The red Kijin wanted to punch that smug expression off of the Demon's face, as evidenced by his clenched fist that was shaking ever so slightly.
Delighted by the effect, Diablo continued to push his button, "it should be easy no? Even with the Eastern Theater taking up a large number of resources, with Doormaker it should be easy to Doorway some Tripods into the Siltrosso-Falmuth border and capture the city in..." Using simulation magic, Diablo tried to come up with a semi-accurate time frame, "less than a week?"
Pushing against this surge of rage, Rubedo took several deep breaths and calmed down, causing Diablo to look unamused as the demon realized he can't just play around anymore.
"Very well. But, before I do, has the President been alerted to this fact yet?"
Diablo stilled for an almost insignificant amount of time, yet Rubedo had noticed it, and the edge of his mouth curved upward in satisfaction.
"Well? Has he?"
"...I shall alert him of this fact. But before I go, I suggest you start preparing some tripods as it would only take a single signature on the War Declaration document."
With that, Diablo teleported out and appeared on the roof of the nearest Arcology, a building that's over half a kilometer tall, with a spiraling helical shape that currently housed some 40,000 elves, dwarves, humans, and lizardmen, on the glass sides tall sections of vertical hydroponic farms. Around within walking distance of the main building are the luxury shops and businesses, including smaller skyscrapers.
Diablo fumed. Make no mistake, he does not hate anyone of Lady Scientia's employees, but damn are they sometimes annoying.
"I had thought that by going directly to the Ministry of Defense I could somehow delay the usual bureaucratic nonsense," the Primordial muttered as he thumbed the bridge of his nose, "now I'm forced into interacting with that— that— that figurehead slime!"
Rimuru Tempest. God, are there any individuals in Tempest less worthy than him to run as President? While yes his naivete has been curbed after being the leader for over half a year now, Diablo still doesn't think the slime's got the ruthlessness or shrewdness, or cunningness to be the leader of perhaps the most powerful nation on the planet.
Heck, if anything, Diablo still thinks Rimuru is too merciful and weak-willed. Even after training with Jeanne constantly for over two months, the slime can get a victory ONLY when he uses the tinkertech weapon gifted to him by Director Scientia. What's more, the slime intentionally left reports made by the Special Circumstances Unit unread, meaning that he's essentially letting Diablo reign freely and without oversight.
Diablo's phone rang, but the weak strength of that ringtone told the demon it was something that was 'not important'.
On second thought, perhaps Special Circumstance being under the overview of Lady Scientia had something to do with it? The slime trusts his Mistress.
Still, 'you always keep your dagger close to make sure it's sheathed', that is a lesson Noir instinctively knew long before his first interaction with the human realm millions of years ago.
"It would almost be too easy." He chuckled. Upon sensing that no one is near, Diablo spread his arms wide and looked up towards the sky, letting his mouth lose, "it would be so easy to take control."
There is a reason why any nation with a guild of assassins or spies is kept on a tight lease, one even tighter than the military because the leader of such a guild can discreetly take control of the government. Like placing a frog inside a pot of water that is slowly heating up, once the King realizes it, the noose would've already been too tight to escape.
With one such as Diablo at the helm, if his Lady were to command it, he could easily arrange several accidents to happen to every member of the Senate and take control within a month, in a day if any pretense of 'democratic values' and discretion were to be thrown out the window.
Diablo stilled as he stared at the round moon.
"Democracy... how fascinating, so idealistic yet so flawed." The demon could still vividly remember trying to kill one of these 'internet trolls' for insulting his Lady, only for Scientia to come over and give him the proverbial smackdown on why you can't just murder someone for insulting someone else, even one as perfect as his Mistress... even if sometimes mental stress gets to her sometimes, Diablo reflected.
It's ironic really, despite being a Perfect Homunculus, Lady Scientia is far from perfect, and that's partially why the Demon was so eager to be her subordinate.
The air snapped as a sickeningly sweet voice spoke, interrupting Diablo's thought, "It is, isn't it? The closest to this system I could find was in Ulgrasia."
Violet was wearing a simple white shirt with a red ribbon around her neck. On her lower half was a rather long skirt that reaches down to her knees with sneakers. Overall very conservative and puts more emphasis on comfort rather than looks.
Forcing himself to stay polite, Diablo turned around to face the one who apparently looked so similar to someone from Lady Scientia's past that she had given them a name.
No, he's not jealous, and not even his Lady could change his mind about that fact.
"K...Ka...Kat...Kath..." It hurts his pride having to refer to Violet with a name as sacred as 'Kathy', eons of personal feud do not get resolved so easily, "Violet."
"Does my new name really hurt your pride that much? Maybe [Lucifer] suits you better instead of that." She remarked, before sitting down on the ledge, her feet dangling off of the roof of the arcology like wind chimes.
The silence dragged on, Diablo unwilling to make the first move like two previous friends meeting up again and not knowing what to start with. The Black Primordial is tempted to escape from this situation, yet doing so would hurt his pride even more.
The uncomfortable silence continued until Diablo felt a defect in the fabric of the universe pass through the planet's atmosphere, situated around where the human city of Lura should be.
He waited for Violet to ask him what that was about and start leading the conversation toward a topic he wants to know, but she continued to look with awe in her eyes at the cityscape of Metropolis.
Finally, Diablo couldn't take it anymore, "...Do you know?"
"Hm?"
"Let me be frank; you are a parasite, one that's feeding off of how similar you look to our Lady's past sister. Unlike your contemporaries like Yellow and Blue, your 'work' is hardly beneficial (if at all) and in fact, have been more harmful. You are described as a tyrant and have caused so many internet users to be unsatisfied or downright hateful with your actions."
Diablo turned toward Kathy as he spoke, "I originally questioned your loyalty, but after examining your actions, your 'tyranny' comes more from laziness than any maliciousness. What's more, I couldn't help but feel like whenever you cast your gaze onto our Lady, there's this thin layer of sadness and depression. Sort of like the family member of a dementia patient reminiscing about the past when they gaze upon their grandparents. So let me add an extension to my question;
Are you in any way, shape, or form somehow related to Our Lady's past? To the birth of Relentless?"
Kathy looked at Diablo as she continued to sit on the ledge, on her face was an ever-shifting sea of emotions ranging from shock to fear to anger before eventually, a smirk overtook her mouth as her eyes narrowed in utter hatred and resignation.
The Primordial Demons are an existence almost incomprehensible to mere humans. After all, how does one who lives for less than a century possibly understand those who lived for billions of years? It'll be like a squirrel trying to understand why its trees are being cut down to make way for a shopping mall. Yet nonetheless, Veldanava molded their psyche based on humans, resulting in seven different demons experiencing things like hatred, happiness, love, and even compassion.
"Wow." Kathy started clapping. The first ray of the day's sun had just hit the tip of Diablo's head, slowly, it inched downward to cover his face before the child-like demon continued, "just wow, Noir. Just as Rouge said, you truly are the most intelligent and observant out of us all despite your general apathy." Kathy shivered a bit, hoping in vain that Noir didn't catch that, "Nothing gets past your perception, does it?"
Diablo predicted the reason why the Purple Primordial is acting this way was due to her persistent hatred of him for all the times that he humiliated her in front of the entire Underworld. Yet she is not so unreasonable as to be unable to temporarily displace that hatred for her Onee-sama.
After all—
PAIN.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
Intense pain filled every blood vessel in Kathy's body. It was blinding, deafening, dominating pain that caused her to almost fall off the building. The pain was unlike anything the demon had ever felt in her entire existence, so different was this compared to the pain that she would receive during a duel between Primordials that it was like introducing a drug addict to a new type of harder drug.
It was so painful that she came in and out of consciousness.
Once that has subsided, Kathy found herself lying on the roof and staring at the dawning sky. Diablo was already up and breathing heavily, showing that he too was affected.
*VOOP* *VOOP* *VOOP* *BEEP*
"Your attention please, this is not a test."
*VOOP* *VOOP* *VOOP* *BEEP*
"Your attention please, this is not a test."
Before the two demons could say anything, they were interrupted by the blares of an alarm followed by a mechanical voice. Looking around her, the Purple Primordials saw that it was a city— no, a nationwide alarm. Massive holographic screens each at least a hundred meters across appeared in the dawning sky, all currently displaying a flask with wings on the sides— Lady Scientia's logo— with a rolling bar on the bottom and top displaying the text 'Emergency Alert System'. Right underneath the logo but above the rolling text flashed 'Contingency Plan Z-12-99'
Fortunately, as demons, they recover quickly.
"What?" Diablo sounded confused, taking the words right out of Kathy's mouth, "oh no..."
Before Kathy could ask what was wrong, something inside Diablo's pocket rang, causing the Demon to teleport away.
60 seconds later, the screen was replaced with the international flag of the Jura Tempest Republic; a white geometric eagle spreading its wings out inside a red circle, looking like an eagle flying out of the red sun. Behind both of those is a blue background. Congress had simplified it from the original design since the eagle, the red circle, and the backdrop was the most memorable and striking things.
"This is an automated broadcast alert by the Emergency Alert System. Contingency Plan Z-12-99 has been enacted, all citizens shall be receiving a set of instructions and information pertaining to the nature of Contingency Plan Z-12-99. This message shall repeat until Contingency Plan Z-12-99 has fully come into effect."
And it did repeat. All over the entire Republic, from the mountains down to the lakes, everywhere within the borders of Tempest, it repeated.
Just as the child-like demon was about to teleport to the Citadel, her phone rang, causing the demon to almost jump. It was both vibrating and ringing even when Kathy had set it only to silent, meaning that this is an Executive-level notification, or as Jeanne kindly puts it; the whole fucking nation is gonna die if you don't pick it up.
Using magic, the demon teleported the phone directly into her hands and found the screen completely pitch black save for a chemistry flask with wings off to the side.
It was a personalized message, Kathy's mind deducted and was proven correct when Scientia in her lab coat appeared on the screen, currently sitting in front of what appears to be a desktop.
The Primordial used [Silence] to blot out the sound coming from those screens, "Kathy, if you are receiving this message, then it means that Contingency Plan Z-12-99 has been enacted. It means that I am incapacitated or just generally unable to fulfill my duty during times of war. You are—are—are—are—are—"
The screens then started glitching as the words are being repeated. Kathy watched on in confusion at the interruption, never once has the Minister of Cyberspace ever received a complaint about any governmental sites glitching. In fact, the only reason that the Purple Primordial even knew the word 'glitch' was due to having to resolve an amateur DDoS attack on a certain Video Sharing website two days ago.
"Error—Error—Error—Contingency Plan Z-12-99 deactivated." The screen went black, and her device rebooted.
Looking around, Kathy saw that the screens in the sky has also been overtaken, replaced by a black screen with lines that forms into a structure that resembles Shizue's old mask.
Casting [Clairvoyance], the purple demon discovered that it's everywhere, as in, all over the supercontinent: from the lowest of valleys to the highest of mountains, someone was able to magically duplicate the holographic screens all over the world, BEYOND somehow hacking a governmental broadcast.
Oddly enough, the broadcast was nowhere near Milim's domain.
That realization caused cold sweat to start to form on Kathy's material body. Even bathing in the dawning sun's rays, the demon could not help but utter a phrase that her sister would surely chastise her for:
"Oh fuck."
_____________________________________________
The space right outside of the Citadel, a bit earlier.
Diablo popped into existence right outside the impenetrable Citadel, the sun still a bit underneath the horizon, so everything but the sky was still dark.
*Rumble*
Except for the apparent storm that's overhead.
The Citadel was almost invisible underneath the dark stormy night, blending well into the pitch-black forest and sky.
With a serious expression, the Black Primordial waited for a Doorway to open up, because not only is the inside of the fortress placed within its own pocket dimension, but the entire thing also had some of the stronger st spatial interdiction fields that Noir had ever seen in his entire existence. The demon speculated that only an Ultimate Skill specialized in space manipulation would be able to brute force it, but that's just a hypothesis.
A mere 5 seconds later, a black square with purple outlines opened up into the shape of a door in front of him. Walking through the Doorway, Diablo appeared in the middle of a hallway leading toward the command room.
After the declaration of war and the subsequent meeting, Lady Scientia pestered Rimuru to live and command from the Citadel until the President finally gave in when he realized that the Perfect Homunculus was not going to give in, presumably because she doesn't want to go through 'That' again.
The Presidential War Room is a place similar to the President's old office, except with way more holographic displays, live broadcasts, and other relevant wartime communication technology that would help to get the President up-to-date information. It also contained a variety of different artworks lining the hall.
Opening the door, Diablo saw how Rimuru, in his slime form, was spread across the desk like a puddle with the purple Kijin standing over his body, on her face showing distress. Freezing up for a thousandth of a second in sheer utter surprise, the demon's mind rebooted as he extended his [Magic Sense] to as far away as they can reach in search of threats.
Due to the anti-clairvoyant effect that all technology made by Lady Scientia has, Diablo could only sense up to a kilometer away, anything beyond that was just a blank void.
The voice of an annoying purple Kijin brought Diablo out of his [Magic Sense], "Enough of your babbling. I sensed no threat, meaning that it's most likely internal."
That shut the Kijin up, before she spoke up again in a tone of defiance, "well do you know what's wrong with President Rimuru?"
That caused the demon to look down at the blue puddle on the desk, a single small hologram displaying what appears to be a recording of her lady on the table, standing completely still as though she was frozen in time.
"May I ask what happened before I came?"
He turned to look at the President's Secretary.
"Well..." Citrinitas' face stilled as she tried to recall what exactly happened, except due to the heat of the moment, the memory that the Kijin want just isn't coming up.
Sweat starts to perspire around Citrinitas' back as Diablo continues to stare at her, placing the Kijin on the spot.
"Um... um... umm..." Whatever words were stuck in her throat as panic started to befall her mind.
This is so suspicious! Citrinitas screamed internally, come on brain, work! WORK DAMN IT!
Just as Diablo grew tired of this charade and was about to tell the Kijin to calm down (when his Mistress does return, she probably wouldn't be happy with him for yanking the required memory out of her other employee's mind), the Slime let out a soft rasp.
"President Rimuru!"
The purple Kijin exclaimed as she rushed to his side, leaning over the puddle and clutching the slimy protrusion that Rimuru had used as a hand.
Slowly forming back into a humanoid form, he asked "Wha...what happened? I remember I was talking with this AI assistant that suddenly popped out of nowhere before this... this intense pain overcame me."
Diablo's eyes grew sharp at the mention of 'pain'. Clearing his throat to get Rimuru's attention, "this pain—"
*Crack*
A rift in space formed in the middle of the room as Veldora marched in. A threatening aura surrounded the humanoid True Dragon had caused even Diablo to close his mouth.
*Thump*
Citrinitas fell onto the floor, unconsciousness claimed her as she was overcome with fright.
No one came to help her as both Diablo and Rimuru were reminded very clearly of why Scientia had made sure to give Veldora his own living quarter and that he is a motherfucking True Dragon, the strongest race allowed in the entire System.
Veldora had a pissed-off look as he sat down by a couch, thin lines of blue crawled up his neck as bits of what appeared to be horns jutted out from his blond hair.
"V—Veldora? What's—" Rimuru shut himself like a mouse becoming as still as a statue in the presence of a cat when Veldora's gaze peered into the slime.
"..." Veldora stayed silent, appearing like a far cry from his usual boisterous self that had caused mental whiplash inside Rimuru's mind.
Diablo observed how True Dragon looked ready to explode but was actively trying to avoid it through breathing techniques if the rise and fall of his chest is any indication.
As his Lady would say: such human behavior from a being should have no evolutionary inclination.
It wasn't until one of Shizue's maid chassis came along to take away Citrinitas' unconscious body to the infirmary that Veldora finally spoke up.
"Shizue, you felt that pain as well right?"
"... I cannot say that I have felt any natural stimuli in the past 96 hours."
As a digital lich, her chassis cannot feel any pain since pain itself originated from nerve endings being triggered. Lady Scientia saw no need for her to feel any natural stimulus beyond those that would aid in her serving, so the Perfect Homunculus made sure Shizue's maid chassis can only feel when and how hard she was touching something.
Of course, within the digital space, Shizue found out that she could simulate any form of sensation.
"I see." He let out a deep breath, "Where is Scientia?"
"I... haven't seen Lady Scientia in over an hour. She told me to go home after a botched rescue attempt of my students. Surely Diablo can corroborate my story?"
Seeing that he's been called upon, the demon cleared his throat, "well yes, Lady Scientia said that she's doing a preemptive strike on Lura and asked me to tell you, President Rimuru, to declare war on the West. Apparently, Contingency Plan Z-12-99 has also been enacted, meaning that she has been incapacitated in some form or another. Now, the plan has given each of us a script: a step-by-step process of what to do, thus I think it is best we all do our parts and await Lady Scientia's return." Diablo said confidently, the idea that something could've gone horribly wrong doesn't even exist inside his mind.
"What."
"Now," Diablo conjured up a set of documents, " these are the documents necessary—"
"What."
"—to declare war and sent more troops—"
"What."
"—Towards the West—
Rimuru stopped Diablo before he could go any further, "Hold on, what's this about Scientia doing a preemptive strike?"
As an ex-history buff, Rimuru's mind drew uncomfortable parallels between this and Pearl Harbor.
"Lady Scientia—"
"—is dead." Veldora suddenly spoke, his words caused Diablo to stop as everyone looked towards the True Dragon, "that sudden and extreme pain came from the severing of the [Soul Corridor]."
—
——
————
————————
————————————————
Silence descended like nightfall into the room. It was quiet, only the quiet, soft buzzing of the holograms was still present.
Everyone was looking at Veldora, no one wanted to be the first to speak.
Before finally, a shell-shocked Rimuru broke the delicate silence, "What?"
"Scientia is dead." Veldora repeated solemnly, like a superior reporting to the parents of a deceased soldier, "I felt the same pain when you died Rimuru."
Rimuru's face twisted into disbelief and anger.
"—That... no offense Veldora, but I don't believe you. Scientia can't die, even if her technology somehow gets bypassed, she has [Limitless Regeneration]! An Intrinsic Skill that [Great Sage] analyzed to be the strongest regeneration skill in terms of potency!" The slime quickly said as he drew upon his memory and knowledge of a Perfect Homunculus' physiology to try and defend his worldview, "She more likely regenerating, we'll wait for her return."
"Scientia is gone—"
"No, she's not."
"She is—"
"No, she is NOT DEAD. The [Soul Corridor] is severed because her soul was destroyed. But with [Limitless Regeneration], she would come back in a few days." Rimuru half-yelled as he in his human form pointed at Veldora, causing all present holographic panels to fizzle out like soapy foams.
Veldora let out an exasperated sigh, massaging his forehead in understanding frustration, his mind went into overdrive as the True Dragon realized that Rimuru was in denial.
"—She can't be dead! The skill doesn't allow her to be dead."
It was only now that he saw the parallels between Rimuru and his old self. Looking at the slime's face, the Storm Dragon saw how the humanoid slime is desperately trying to refute the idea that Scientia is gone. And honestly, he couldn't blame him. If this was his old self, he would no doubt explode in utter rage, but after the... disastrous rampage that hurt the other member of the Tempest family— his family— Veldora swore an oath to never go into a blind rage, to temper that fire and use it constructively.
"No— I refuse! I refuse to believe that she's dead!" Rimuru declared to no one, but everyone in the room knew that the blue slime was talking to his Ultimate Skill, "she can't! She just can't! She's so strong! Who the hell could kill her?!"
That's why Veldora is appearing so calm— when he finds the person responsible, he will kill them, mercilessly and efficiently, just as how Scientia usually operates.
"She can't be..." Rimuru wilted like a flower that's gone bad, his hands slowly fell to his side as he can no longer live in denial, "she just can't be..."
Silence once again descended into the room like a guillotine, chopping away any potential refusal made by Rimuru.
"..." Diablo and Shizue both stood wordlessly through the entire exchange. The Digital Lich stood rigid and unbending, her facial expression went still like a robot. Diablo on the other hand stared at a portrait of Scientia in a daze as his entire perception of the world crumbled before his very eyes.
"Is her malfunctioning [Limitless Regeneration] due to the breakdown of the System?" Diablo asked, his eyes never once leaving the portrait.
"It's the only explanation."
The Black Primordial, over the course of a few months, had worked his way up to be one of Scientia's closest employees. Due to this closeness, Scientia had revealed to him the over 500 different Contingency Plans and an additional 150 Orders she has in place in the event of her being MIA. Those plans pertain to everything from 'rapid solar expansion of the local star' to 'false vacuum decay of the quantum scalar field', all the way to something called 'universal replacement due to unraveling of higher space-time'.
But none of them ever contained what to do in the event that she dies, as the idea that she could permanently die is about as out there as True Dragon reincarnating for the last time.
Yet, didn't God die as well?
There is a reason why Diablo chose Her to be his summoner. Not only does she belong to that one race that had beaten Rouge through sheer overwhelming power alone, but Scientia was likely his only ticket to knowing everything there is to know about Reality— everything from the System to the Great Beyond.
The Black Primordial has always embraced chaos and change, as both would bring entertainment. But this change felt like a slap to the face and a stab in the heart.
Is this... despair? The demon questioned as his mouth thinned, is this sadness? Is this pain? The same despair, sadness, and pain I inflicted upon my old summoners for entertainment? His spirit felt like it is being weighed down by a planet as the realization that chaos had caused his summoner's death dawned upon the Primordial.
He looked down at his white-gloved hands and recalled just how stained it is, just how many mortals he killed, just how many people he tormented. In some summons, he would follow the contract exactly to the letter while in others, he would strain against the rules but never break them. All of these are build-up— foreplay if you will— for the rare few summoning where he would betray the summoner in the sweetest way (for him) possible. Noir found utter joy at the sight of how unexpected the betrayal was for those ants, their face as they watch hopelessly as their world crumbles before them is like a drug, it was to Diablo what heroin is to an addict.
In fact, other than knowing the truth of the world, he existed for those sparks, those rare fireworks, those highs within the nihilistic void of eternal life.
Now, the Primordial Demon felt disgusted. Never once has he ever had to empathize with the plights of lowly mortals, it's something he was never prepared for, something he never felt that would afflict him.
'Why...?' He asked himself internally, 'I should've stayed with her. But if I did, I would be disobeying her orders...'
He was torn. He could've probably saved Scientia if he disobeyed her orders, yet disobeying orders from his Mistress is tantamount to treason.
As human-like despair ravages his mind, the demon then remembered something from his past, something said by HER after he had finished savoring one of his betrayals.
'Sadness, fear, despair: such human concepts. Humanity truly is the center point of Veldanava's World, aren't they? As you are modeled after God's greatest creations, you will know exactly how they felt, and when you do, I wonder, would you run back to me hoping I would save them, or would you remember this conversation and try and erase humanity?'
Before it could overwhelm him, Diablo teleported away, leaving the room with a True Dragon, an emotionally mute servant, and a heartbroken slime.
As Diablo was going through his inner turmoil, the slime collapsed back into his seat, his eyes looked dead with not a single spark inside.
"What... are we going to do?" Rimuru finally said after the demon had left, looking up at the ceiling "we need to have a funeral, but the war..."
Rimuru felt extremely overwhelmed and exhausted. The usually comfortable chair he sat on felt like a stab to his heart as he was reminded that it was originally a Tinkertech design.
This entire office was filled to the brim with things that Scientia has built.
"Mr. President, if you would allow it, I could an aura that would suppress the sadness."
Shizue's tone was clinical as if she were discussing the result of an experiment.
Overlooking her tone of voice, Rimuru's eyes widened as he realized something; Shizue had an Ultimate Skill that essentially allowed her to choose what skills she can have!
Hope poured into every part of the slime's body, quickly he jumped up and leaned on the desk, "do you have a resurrection Ultimate or Unique Skill?!"
"Even Ultimate Skills can't resurrect someone from nothingness, Rimuru. It's why Scientia resurrecting you through Essence Reconstruction was so impressive; it's something on par with an Ultimate Skill." Veldora's words felt like a stab in the stomach for Rimuru, then the True Dragon twisted the knife, "in fact, with the breakdown of the System, we should expect more and more Skills to be malfunctioning or just get outright deleted."
"Then what about time travel?! Doesn't Scientia have technology involved in it??"
This time Shizue spoke up, "'Time travel' won't work. The Universe will prune away possibilities to ensure the timeline stays self-consistent and paradoxes are put to rest. The only possible way for us to save Scientia via time travel is if we somehow convince Chronoa to save her."
There wasn't a need to continue that line of thought.
The slime slowly sat back down into the chair for support at the devastating news, his resolve and will to fight crumbled away like a sugar cube within a cup of hot tea.
"...What... what are we going to do?" Rimuru said depressingly, feeling extremely powerless as his hands fell to the sides as though he had no strength left. Rimuru felt like he wanted to just lay down and just cry— except he can't show weakness at a time like this since millions of people are counting on him.
Thus, bleak and gloomy were one way to describe the room.
"Mr. President," Shizue interrupted emotionlessly as she commanded several holographic displays to materialize mid-air, each displaying a bird's eye view of the Metropolis. What caught Rimuru's attention was not the massive black squares in the sky but how Congress had smoke billowing out of it.
"What...? When did this happen?"
"I cannot seem to access public records. The Overwatch Security System is offline, the Internet is offline, the TV network is offline, the entire military communication network is offline; everything that is not part of Lady Scientia's Noosphere is offline. You have also gained access to—"
"How? How did it happen?"
Rimuru's head snapped towards Shizue, his face twisted into horror as he felt anxiety building up, like a high school student being told that a group presentation is due the next day and none of their teammates had done any work.
"It appears someone has attacked Congress and gained access to the Central Mainframe Computer. You have also gained access to my Lady's Pocket Dimension."
Rimuru felt sick, he felt like he wants to vomit when somehow the heart of Tempest have been attacked, the sudden built-up stress was almost too much for the slime as everything after that was drowned out. As an echo of his old self, sweat began to pour down Rimuru's body like raindrops during a light shower.
<You are undergoing an anxiety attack>
"Oh my God..." Rimuru's vision went blurry, he felt lightheaded, and every slime muscle in his body felt weak as he melted into a puddle, losing the humanoid form, he bemoaned "Why is this happening...? How did everything go to shit so quickly?"
"Rimuru," This time, Veldora spoke as he stood up, straightening his posture and causing Rimuru to form his humanoid form, "I am... not the best at everything, nor am I the best at giving a pep talk—"
Veldora was quickly quieted as the colossal black square—screens— lit up, displaying the masked Hero Chronoa of all people. Her face was covered by a white mask with a clock edged onto it and her lower body was cut off by the screen. Behind her was a destroyed flat landscape at dawn with a rising sun on the horizon. The earth was all glowing a deep red as if Chronoa stood in the middle of an active shield volcano.
"Greetings, my fellow citizens of the world, I am Chronoa and I have come to tell you that Relentless has returned." Her voice was smooth, and her cape and the bangs of her hair fluttered in the wind, "It returned with a new face and a new name, but do not be mistaken: it is just putting on a front, as you can see behind me."
She then gestured to the glassed landscape, "Its name is Scientia, and it is a monster like no other. Ultimate Skills are the pinnacle of all Skills, they grant absolute power in whatever field they specialize in, all of the Second Generation Demon Lord has an Ultimate Skill, and so do most of the most powerful beings in the world, and thus, so do I. My Ultimate Skill is called [Yog-Sothoth] and it allows me to control spacetime to an unprecedented level. For example—"
In an instant, the background shifted, now showing the entire planet behind her. Shizue thoughtfully created multiple holographic displays each showing a different screen.
"—Space and time are my domain, thus movement through space is easy, and time—"
The backdrop shifted once more, showing that she was down to earth... behind her was a frozen city. What caught Rimuru's attention was Behemoth glowing a deep red.
"What...?" Confusion painted Rimuru's face.
"—is just as easy as well. What you see behind me is the final hour of Corbin 3 months ago, just as it was being annihilated by a creation of Relentless. And afterward, it'll use the souls for her ascension into a True Demon Lord."
The entire screen went white as Behemoth unleashed his most devastating attack. Once the light died down, the world was glowing a bright yellow.
A black spot in the sky fell to the ground, and Chronoa approached it.
"What the hell?" He turned to Shizue, the video looked almost too real to be faked, "Is this real?"
Shizue searched the Noosphere's archive, and thought of a way to tell a half-truth to Rimuru per the contract, "...it appears in the System Log that Behemoth was activated once three months ago for a testing, the evidence is at best circumstantial as there is nothing concrete other than a video that our enemies could have easily faked with magic and Ultimate Skills."
<Shizue is lying>
Rimuru tried to ignore the information given to him by his Ultimate Skill, as doing so would drag Scientia's name into the dirt. In the past, he was told that the 50,000 deaths of Falmuth's army had fueled Scientia's evolution into Demon Lord status. He felt almost zero guilty since it was an offensive army, and of course, when the destruction of Corbin reached his ear that suspiciously coincided with his Resurrection, well he turned a blind eye to it by telling his conscience that something else must be responsible for it.
The prospect of his resurrection costing a city of hundreds of thousands...
Rimuru decided to not pursue that line of thought for now, instead, he offloaded it to the future as his attention returns to the broadcast.
The black dot was Scientia, her pale skin, snow-white hair, and crimson eyes. Her black armor formed a summoning circle. Seconds later, the circle's brightness blinded the screen.
The world shifted once again, returning to the present, returning to Lura.
"I came from the future, a dark future where Relentless Reborn ruled Supreme. A future where sons are turned into mindless soldiers, where daughters are turned into breeding sows, where Otherworlders are summoned by the millions, where war became a constant of life, where the concept of the individual is thoroughly stamped out, where free will is non-existent, where the briefest life burns the brightest, where the flesh of man and monster are freely manipulated to create new abominations, where minds are controlled so that they are content. In this dark future that I had to prevent, the pathway towards the stars is built upon the blood, sweat, tears, suffering, and corpses of trillions of individuals."
As Chronoa spoke, certain panels around the world changed. Instead of showing the Hero, it displayed what could only come out of a technophobic dystopia novel: large flesh-mechanical hybrids with many limbs each carrying a single weapon, females of all races floated in large vats, their stomachs bloated to a size larger than they are as they are turned into bio-factories, eyes everywhere, massive ground warfare against aliens as boxes filled with hybrids descend from the sky.
It was all so horrible that Rimuru instinctively moved his humanoid body to puke, except nothing came out.
"Eventually, ambition overcame Relentless again as the Monster tried to control the Voice of the World." Chronoa then took off her mask, revealing a girl with blue eyes.
Rimuru felt like he's seen her somewhere.
"Chloe...?" Shizue mumbled, her face stilling.
Before Rimuru could ask who was Chloe, Chronoa continued.
"I was originally an underaged Summoned Otherworlder gifted with a Unique Skill in time travel. Seeing as how I'll be dying, I moved forward in time hoping that they'll have a solution to my problem. However, when I saw what will occur if Scientia is allowed to roam free, I fell into an abyss of despair so deep that I tried to end myself. Except, I failed, but in turn, the Voice of the World gifted me [Yog-Sothoth] to try and prevent this dark timeline from actualizing in reality."
Chronoa's left hand reached to the side, disappearing into a rift in spacetime and—
"NO!" Rimuru screamed in abject horror as his face paled.
—pulled out a decapitated head with short ashen blond hair and a pair of glazed-over golden eyes.
"The final portion of the plan involved luring Relentless out into a vulnerable spot, thus we were forced into the difficult decision of using Lura as bait after King Aegir had agreed to the proposition. We of course had started evacuation but unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough, but, safe to say, we have succeeded." Some of the screens showed clips of the battle, the apparent duel between Scientia and Chronoa, "Those who died will die as heroes, as the Perfect Homunculus has been rendered incapacitated, harmless by all definition!"
Chronoa raised her head like a trophy as the sun rises behind her
She was holding Scientia's head. Her severed head.
Scientia's eyes looked glazed over as she remained unmoving.
_____________________________________________
AN: as the title said: History is written by the Victors.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder