Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)-Chapter 124 - One Hundred And Twenty Four

The impossibly ornate door led to the meeting room.

A large round table was positioned in the centre, with twelve evenly spaced chairs surrounding it.

Kaede did a head count, there were supposedly Ten Great Demon Lords. With her declaration as a Demon Lord herself, that would make them eleven.

’So who’s the last seat for?’

Kaede’s gaze finally settled on the figures seated on each of the chairs. Of the twelve seats, nine were already occupied.

Apparently, the Demon Lords practically arrived in order of their membership, meaning that the older Demon Lords arrived first, and as Kaede was practically the newest to the title, she was guided to the meeting room last.

The three free seats were closer to the door which also gave Kaede an Idea of how the seating arrangements related to the members.

She sat next to Frey who only gave her a cursory glance. ’Ah, Frey must be in her Demon Lord mode. Alright game face on Kaede.’

On Frey’s other side sat a somewhat handsome man with silver hair and a white tuxedo like dress. Kaede noticed that the material of his tuxedo looked familiar. ’Did he buy them from us? When did we start doing trade with Clayman’s territory?’

"I will now introduce the participants." A blue haired woman dressed in a similar maid dress to Mizeri said softly although her voice reached everyone in the room.

’That should be Raine.’ Kaede thought. ’Wisteria was right, her power is pretty high, almost as high as Wisteria even.’

"Demon. The Lord Of Darkness, Guy Crimson." Guy has his arms crossed and his eyes closed, but Kaede could somehow still feel his gaze on her.

’Ah, here we go again.’ She sighed internally.

"Pixie. The Labyrinth, Ramiris." At the introduction, the tiny pixie that was seated next to Guy yawned as if bored, but once she heard her name she stood up on her chair, literally and grinned. Behind her, Kaede saw her attendees.

’Treyni Is really devoted to Ramiris huh?.’ She thought. ’The Queen Of Spirits, Ramiris. After Guy, she’s the oldest Demon Lord here.’

"Dragonoid. The Destroyer, Millim Nava."

Kaede frowned at the dull look on Millim’s face. The Dragonoid looked like she was in a trance with her eyes having lost their light and her face completely impassive. ’She supposedly went to Clayman’s territory after our fight. Did something happen?’

"Giant. The Earthquake, Daggrul."

Kaede acknowledged the massive man seated next to Millim. ’Hmmm, seems strong. Although lower than Guy or Millim. Why the hell is Ramiris’ power so tiny in comparison to these guys?’

"Vampire. The Bloody Lord. Roy Valentine."

Kaede raised an eyebrow. ’He has just as much power as Frey, but that maid behind him. Her power is almost a hundred times higher than his.’

Behind Roy Valentine, the maid who previously kept her head bowed, raised it slightly and gave a glance to Kaede.

Kaede blinked. ’Did she notice? She’s perceptive.’

"Fallen. Sleeping Ruler, Deeno."

’A fallen Angel?’ Kaede thought. ’Like Kaori, but Kaori became a Tengu, meanwhile Deeno stayed a Fallen Angel. I might have to speak with him later.’

"Harpy. The Sky Queen, Frey."

’I didn’t know Harpies like that existed.’ Kaede focused on the make attendant behind Frey. He seemed to have a lion’s head. ’Weird.’

"DeathMan. The Marionette Master, Clayman."

’So this is the Clayman that Frey has been not so subtly warning me about.’ Kaede noted. ’He also had a hand in trying to destroy Tempest, and God knows whatever plans he has for Maple Tree. Then there’s the whole Millim debacle. A scheming man through and through. Sally was never this twisted.’

His attendees also caught her attention. A small five tailed fox that Clayman had on his lap, and a masked cloaked figure that stood behind him.

What was interesting was the amount of power both of them had. The five tailed fox seemed to have power on par with Clayman himself, which was no small feat as Clayman was on par with Frey and Roy. As for the masked cloaked figure, her power is non existent. No matter how much Kaede focused, she couldn’t sense this majin’s power even with the help of [Artificia]

"Demonoid. Platinum Saber, Leon Cromwell."

Kaede turned to Leon. ’Ah. So he must have been a human who got mutated by magicules into a Majin. Like that Mjulan lady.’

"And finally. Human..." Everyone seemed to shift skeptically at that introduction.

"Mother Of Monsters, Kaede Honjou."

"Did I hear that right?" Deeno said sleepily as he raised his head from the table. "Is it just me or did Raine just call her a..."

"What part of that is human!!?" Ramiris shot up into the air yelling. "She’s like some kind of chimera... thing."

"That’s not very nice, you know." Kaede rebutted, a small flush of red from being called out so suddenly.

"No really, it’s weird." Ramiris replied. "Not only do you smell like a Dragon."

"You have the essence of a Demon." Guy added with a small grin. He seemed to be enjoying this.

"The light of an angel... Somehow." Deeno frowned.

"And your body has been irrefutably mutated by magicules into that of a Demonoid." Leon added his two cents.

"What even are you?" Ramiris asked.

"Raine?" Guy glanced at his subordinate.

"She’s human." Raine replied with a bow.

"And that’s that." Guy chuckled.

"And that concludes the introduction." Raine finally ended.

After the introduction ended, Clayman stood up as the host.

"All right, first, thanks to all of you for answering my invitation and coming here. It is now time to begin our festival! I hereby declare this Walpurgis council, convened!"

"Hang on a moment, before we start anything..." Kaede suddenly interjected, waving her hand casually.

Clayman grit his teeth, but held his smile. "Yes?"

"What’s with Millim?" Kaede pointed at the Dragonoid. "Her eyes look all dead inside. Is she alright?"

Clayman exhaled forcefully. "Yes, Millim is alright, as you can see..."

"What are you, stupid?" Kaede side eyed him. "It’s obvious something is up here. Just a month ago, Millim was rearing up to go. You should have seen her in our fight. She was grinning the whole time."

"This is obviously not a ’fight’ like situation is it? Now stop your foolishness and..." Clayman looked to be holding it in.

Kaede didn’t care though. "Well yeah, but anyone who knows, or has ever seen Millim can tell she’s not right. Hey Millim!" She snapped her fingers in Millim’s direction. "Where’d all that bravado go huh? You attacked me remember. I still have that scar. Why are you suddenly looking like someone said you could never have desert again."

Millim didn’t answer, simply staring ahead.

Kaede was suddenly holding a really long pole and then with that pole, poked Millim in the forehead with it.

"Poke." She said. "Anyone in there?"

Still, Millim didn’t reply, not even a flinch or a blink, not even her breathing changed its rhythm.

"Wow." Kaede poked Millim’s nose. "You actually got had by someone. They really did a number on you. Aren’t you supposed to be one of the strongest?"

Millim’s left brow twitched by just a fraction of a fraction, however, four of the Demon Lords spotted it instantly.

Guy Crimson, Leon Cromwell, Daggrul, and Deeno.

Surprisingly, another person who caught it was Roy Valentine’s maid who narrowed her eyes slightly.

Before any of them could speak however, Clayman slammed his hand on the table. "Cease your incessant childishness! Enough of your foolish behaviour!"

Kaede however, ignored him, still poking Millim. "Hurry up and tell me who did this Millim, so I can kill them."

Clayman grit his teeth. "You!!!"

"Was it you Clayman?"

The room suddenly dropped its temperature, the air growing cold, then chilly, and the freezing in an instant.

Kaede’s voice was as low as possible when she asked that question, but at that moment she might as well have used a voice enhancing skill because the question echoes off the walls of the room and straight into Clayman’s soul.

Guy Crimson grinned. ’Well, the council hasn’t even fully begun and it’s already gotten this interesting."

---

Yamza could already taste victory in his tongue. It was moments like these that genuinely made him look up to Lord Clayman over and over again.

He led his troops, seventy thousand strong under the cover of night, and under the cover of various stealth skills.

Their location? Tempest itself.

As of right now, the slime ruler was out in a duel against Hinata Sakaguchi. A duel he would surely lose.

Tempest’s military forces were also not around right now as they were currently at the edge of the Jura Forest trying to fend off Falmuth’s forces.

Tempest was completely vulnerable.

Even the Eurazanian armies had left their citizens unprotected in another country while they fought a battle that did not even concern them.

Truly, Lord Clayman was a genius. Yamza was certain that all of this was a result of his involvement in one way or the other.

Tempest came into view and Yamza frowned slightly. It seemed that Tempest lit up at night. There were several lights that kept the entire region lit up be it from rooms or the street lights.

Why did the streets even have lights?

"A minor inconvenience." Yamza murmured as he settled on the tree he was standing on. He sent a message to the captains he’d picked. "Send our scouts to locate the Eurazanians first. As refugees, it’s highly likely that they’ll be gathered in one location."

-No need-

"!!!" Yamza immediately bristled as he drew his sword, and swung at the space next to him.

Thud!

His sword stabbed into the tree three trees away with a thunk, while Yamza was in the position of swinging his hand while holding on to air.

Before his sword had even been drawn, she’d already smacked it away from behind him even though she’d ’spoken’ to him from in front of him.

She was just as fast as ever it seemed.

"Tch!" Yamza frowned at the newcomer, but he held himself from making his displeasure known. The girl standing before him wearing a mask and cloak was the strongest asset in Clayman’s forces.

No one knew her name. Clayman hadn’t even given her a handle, or a title in the year that she’d been in his service.

However, of all of Clayman’s pawns and pieces, this girl could be said to have his favour.

When she’d arrived a year ago, from somewhere, Clayman had all of the five fingers face hee by herself all at once.

She’d won, effortlessly. Yamza, Mjullan, Adalman, even the fox. They’d all been taken out with laughable ease.

Since then, she’d been his most useful asset. Something that rankled Yamza to this day.

’If she was sent here, then it means that Lord Clayman isn’t leaving anything to chance.’ He thought grimly. ’As much as I hate to say it. With her here, this mission just got a whole lot easier.’

-I already know where the Eurazanians are being kept-

Yamza winced at the feeling whenever she ’spoke’ to him. He just couldn’t get used to the way her words were just transferred into his mind like that.

She never spoke. Instead she transmitted her words like information directly into the minds of her recipients. It was far from telepathy and more forceful.

He wasn’t hearing her words, rather he was receiving it, like forcefully swallowing a large meal. He hated it. "Really?"

Suddenly, he instantly knew the layout of Tempest as if he’d personally gone through each and everyone of those streets.

He paused, letting the information settle. She’d just send the entire memory of her scouting out the entire nation directly into his mind. He now knew exactly where the Eurazanians were kept and a whole lot more.

Like the fact that Mjullan was alive and well, and apparently was with a human man right this instant. Or the fact that one of the ogres that was closest to Rimuru Tempest was still inside.

-Walpurgis has begun. Lord Clayman wants those souls as soon as possible. Lead our forces and wipe out the Eurazanians. Let me deal with the Kijin and Hobgoblins.-

Then she vanished.

Yamza couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped him the moment she did. She was just that terrifying. It felt like Clayman himself was looking at him.

And worst of all, he was certain that that was just one of her clones.

He looked back at Tempest one last time.

It was lit up like a celebration, warm light spilling from windows and climbing up into the dark from the street lamps that lined every road.

It made the nation look so safe, so peaceful. Like nothing could ever go wrong.

It made Yamza smile. ’it won’t be so bright in a little while.’

---

Shuna was in the middle of reviewing the reserve deployment records when the first alarm reached her.

It came through one of Soei’s shadow communication channels, "Lady Shuna please hurry, we’re under attack!"

"What?" The window of her office faced east and she crossed to it in three steps, pushing it open and letting the night air hit her face, and what she heard made something go very cold and very focused in the centre of her chest.

She reached for her communication link. "Rigurd."

"Lady Shuna." His voice came back immediately, which meant he was already awake, which meant he’d heard something too. "The eastern district..."

"I know. Wake Rigur. Get the reserve Hobgoblins moving toward both refugee locations. I want the civilians moving to the inner buildings now, not when the fighting reaches them." She was already pulling her outer robe on, already moving toward the door. "Tell Rigur to coordinate the guard response. I’ll handle whatever’s leading this."

"Lady Shuna, we don’t know how many..."

"It doesn’t matter how many!" She said, and meant it, and stepped out into the corridor.

The very first thing she did was expand a barrier that encompassed all of Tempest. It wasn’t a powerful barrier, exchanging power for a wider area. This way she could basically sense all of Tempest at once.

What she sensed brought a stray tear to her eye that she didn’t immediately notice. "How did this happen?"

There was an unknown force within Tempest, slaughtering her citizens in the chaos. "There’s so many!"

She immediately constructed a message channel. "Brother! It’s horrible! We’re under attack!"

’What? What’s happening over there?’

"I don’t know how, but there’s a force that I don’t recognise..." She came around the corner and stopped.

The street was barely recognizable. Listless eyes staring at her accusingly.

’Shuna! Shuna! What’s happening? Damnit, Soei get over there!!!’

Shuna finally regained her nerve. "Don’t worry brother, I’ll be..." Just then, the air behind her changed, and Shuna had less than a fraction of a second to react.

Clang!

A black veiny dagger slammed into the surface of a barrier.

Shuna slid back three full metres across the cobblestones before her feet found purchase, the impact radiating up through her arms from the barrier’s surface.

She stared at the masked figure standing where she had been standing a breath ago.

’Fast.’ She thought. And then, because Shuna was honest with herself even when honesty was uncomfortable, ’Very fast.’

"You’re the one leading this."

The masked girl said nothing. She simply moved again.

Shuna didn’t hesitate this time, bringing up her hands to erect a much more powerful barrier.

Both hands.

She caught herself.

Not both. One. Her left arm came up alone, the barrier snapping into place around her on instinct while her eyes dropped to where her right should have been and found instead an elbow, and below that elbow, nothing. The stump was already dark with blood, soaking through the fabric of her sleeve in a spreading bloom that she hadn’t felt until this exact moment because her body had been too busy surviving to inform her of it.

She hadn’t escaped the first strike unscathed. She understood that now, a beat too late.

That small opening was all the masked girl needed. Shuna’s attention had fractured for less than a second, less than half a second, less than that, and by the time her eyes came back up the dagger was already there, inches from her neck.

There was no gap. No angle. No move left to make.

’Lord Rimuru.’

Schlick.