The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing.

Chapter 540: Demon King's March

“Waaaaaa——”

Rimuru’s howl echoed within the barrier.

After it turned into slime, it was no different from a ball and was blown around.

In the end, if the magic power had not burst the barrier, and Lan Ya had not jumped out from the shadow space in time to pull him up, he would have been swept into the sky by the excessive magic power and blown away to who knows where.

"Master, are you okay?"

"It's okay..."

Rimuru, still frightened, gasped for breath.

He was fine, but the plain was not. After everything was over, a 100-meter-wide and bottomless tiankeng appeared in front of them.

"So, so scary~~~"

"What a powerful force..."

Rimuru shuddered, and Ranga opened his mouth in surprise, not knowing what to say.

Except for Milim who had never really shown his strength, the rest, including the Storm Demon Whirlpool, could not do this. Even the strongest person in Rimuru's camp, Bai Lao, could not do it.

No, no, no, if Old Bai could achieve this level, the Pig-Head Emperor would have died long ago, right?

This is the Demon King...

Rimuru swallowed.

But he reacted quickly and asked loudly: "Zun Zun, Sakaguchi Hinata...Hinata couldn't have been killed! Didn't I tell you to show mercy! This is too much!"

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. I held back. You're fine, and Sakaguchi Hinata is even fine. She saw that things were not going well, so she took the opportunity to slip away."

Zun Zun waved his hand indifferently.

"Besides, I used this move towards the sky this time, so it doesn't have that much lethality."

“What are you talking about? The sky… the night sky appeared in the sky aaaaaaaa————”

Rimuru is now in slime form, and when he shows surprise, his two eyes bulge out like the exaggerated ones in the comics, which is really funny.

But it's no wonder he was surprised.

Because of the magic explosion just now by Zun Zun, a hole was blown in the ozone layer, so even though it was clearly noon, the sky full of stars still appeared right above them.

This place is not far from the town, and I think everyone in the city can see it.

“Is it a benefit to be able to see such a beautiful view?”

"…If this pit appeared in a town, it would be a natural disaster."

At this moment, Rimuru finally understood why the Demon King was called a natural disaster.

"Speaking of which, Zun Zun, how did you come back?"

“It’s power.”

"The Elven Realm is about three months' carriage ride from here, right?"

“It’s power.”

"But even if I used my power before, it would still take half a day to arrive. So..."

“It’s power.”

He was left speechless by Zun Zun's almost evasive answer.

But this is the effect of Power Wind.

A familiar person can call the user's name, and can also use a pseudonym or alias. As long as the person calling the name is aware of the user's existence, they can instantly move to the other person's location through the wind.

Although the conditions for using it required knowing the appearance of both parties and being within reach of the wind, and the person in danger calling out the user's name, Rimuru just now met all the conditions, so it was successfully activated.

"Stop talking about this."

Zun Zun also looked at Rimuru with some curiosity.

"Why did that man just now come to kill you?"

"She seemed to think I was Jing's murderer, and it seemed like someone else was making up stories behind my back, not giving me a chance to explain. It's really infuriating!"

Rimuru also felt helpless.

Although he was at a disadvantage in the previous battle, he had always wanted to explain the reason. However, the opponent did not listen to him at all and he fell into danger instead.

"Is that really the case?"

"……what?"

"nothing."

Zun Zun shook his head, indicating that it was not a big deal.

He had felt a little bit like it just now, but because he was in the middle of a battle, he didn't think much about it. He just realized it now.

But isn’t it too early?

Logically speaking, something like this should have taken at least half a year to happen. Why...

Yes! It's my fault!

Whether it was the strength equivalent to that of the Demon King, or the teleportation magic, magic items, and novel foods, etc., they all accelerated the development of the forest.

The town developed so rapidly that the human kingdom could not sit still and chose to attack, so they came to attack Rimuru?
Clayman must be behind this.

The fact that he acted so quickly must have something to do with Milim, and Milim went to show off because he had made friends with Zun Zun. If he was a weak person, it would be fine, but he was very strong.

Plus, after meeting Carrion, I felt a sense of crisis...

It was my fault!?
"That's right! We need to go back quickly!"

Rimuru suddenly shouted this when Zun Zun was distracted, but he found that it didn't work when he used teleportation magic.

[Announcement. Unable to lock the teleportation point. Presumed reason is as follows: isolated by some kind of barrier, unable to contact the outside world]

"Oh no! Teleportation magic doesn't work!" Rimuru shouted, "It seems like what Hinata said, someone wants to destroy the forest! I have to go back quickly, otherwise I will be homeless!"

"I remember that teleportation magic can set up three teleportation points, right? Where are the other teleportation points?"

"Yes, that's right! Great Sage!"

Rimuru quickly asked the Great Sage to help search, and the teleportation point they found was in Gaviru's cave, so the two men and the wolf were teleported here.

Gaviru and others gathered here.

After seeing Rimuru and Zun Zun come back, he showed a relieved expression and ran over to quickly explain the situation. According to them, about an hour ago, the town suddenly contacted with the communication crystal. At that time, the communication was normal and there was no problem. But there should be more contact next time, but it was not received.

Not only that, the Missing Network was also ineffective. When everyone gathered together to discuss countermeasures, they just happened to come back.

"My bad premonition has come true."

Rimuru was as anxious as an ant on hot pot.

The human kingdom came to attack, and he was blocked halfway before he even got to the town. This was obviously premeditated. Doesn't that mean the town is in danger now?

"My Lord, please."

"I know."

He casually rolled up his hand, took Gaviru, Souei and the others with him, disappeared into the cave like the wind, and when he reappeared, he had already arrived at the outskirts of the town.

This move made everyone slightly stunned.

But there is no time to talk about this now.

Rimuru stretched out his hand towards the barrier, absorbing the barrier in front of him and analyzing it.

It was quickly concluded that the barrier in front of him was similar to the Holy Purification Barrier just now, but the quality was uneven, the concentration was also biased, and the purification ability was weaker, making it a degraded version.

"Zun Zun, can you destroy this barrier?"

"easy."

"That……!"

"But I don't recommend doing that, not yet."

Seeing Zun Zun's serious look, Rimuru resisted the urge to continue asking questions. He was afraid of getting an answer that would make him lose his humanity. For some reason, his premonitions were particularly accurate after leaving the town.

It did not destroy the barrier, but instead created a gap, allowing Zun Zun and Rimuru to walk in.

There is still some magic power left inside the town, but the concentration is thin. If there is no interference from the magic nullification area, some degree of magic should be able to be cast.

However, it is ineffective against those with divine bodies.

When they arrived at the central thoroughfare, they found a large crowd of people gathered there, and the atmosphere was quite heavy. When they saw the two men coming, the people around them made way for them and kowtowed to them, as if they hoped someone could make a decision for them.

At this time, several people rushed over.

It was Rigurdo, Lilina, and the other goblins.

“Rimuru-sama! Your Excellency! You are finally back. I am so glad to see that you are safe—”

"I'm back. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Don't say that!"

As if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart, Rigurd started to cry as he spoke, and the other goblins also cried softly. Seeing them like this, the level of anxiety was beyond imagination.

"I have something to discuss with you. Please come over here..."

Rigurud wanted to take Rimuru to another place, but his actions were really too obvious, as if he was not letting Rimuru go to the square. Such an abnormal behavior was naturally discovered by Rimuru.

"Ligurd, move aside, what happened?"

"No, nothing, just a little problem."

"Stop talking nonsense and get out of the way!"

The pressure from Rimuru's words seemed to make them give up struggling. Rigurd and the other goblins hung their heads in dejection and slowly tried to move aside.

But at this moment——

There was a violent explosion some distance from the square. Even though the magic power was fading, it was still possible to sense that it was Benimaru. Judging from the loud noise just now, he must be fighting with someone.

Rimuru’s expression changed and he ran towards the place where the battle was taking place.

Zun Zun did not follow.

Unlike Rimuru who tried every means to prevent him from going to the square, Rigurud did not seem to have any intention of restricting Zun Zun's actions. When he arrived at the square, he saw many neatly arranged corpses.

There are people I know and people I don’t know.

Among them was Shion's body.

"...What an idiot! I told you to shout if there's danger."

Zun Zun sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground, reaching out his hand to wipe the blood that remained at the corner of her mouth.

With his eyes closed, he looked like he was asleep. His clothes were a little messy but not damaged. I guess he didn't suffer a large-scale magical attack before he died... That's right, after all, there was a degraded version of the barrier. There was an obvious wound on his waist and abdomen. Although it was covered with white cloth, there were still bloodstains on it. I guess that should be the fatal wound.

Shion has the pride of a demon-human race.

When the Great Storm Vortex struck, Rimuru particularly hoped that Zunzun and Milim could help, but Shion said that this was their business and refused others to lend a helping hand.

Although Zun Zun was her master, he was only her master in cooking. It would be humiliating for her if she cried for help in the middle of a battle.

"I really hope you can learn this from that cheeky slime."

Sighing silently.

Time passes little by little.

After a while, Rimuru came and stood opposite Zun Zun without saying anything.

The square was silent.

"Rimuru, do you blame me?"

“…How could it be? Zun Zun helped me so much. It’s me. I developed too fast and forgot myself. I fantasized that humans and monsters could live in peace. I was too naive…!”

"In fact, I knew something like this would happen, but I kept silent. I did this so that you would not die in the future... If I said this, would you blame me?"

Among Rimuru's many reincarnations, the only world line in which he became the Demon King is the one in which he survived. As a friend, Zun Zun wants to save him.

But this is the same as Misaki Ken'e and the others.

Saying it's for their own good may not necessarily be accepted.

“…Haha, Zun Zun, what you said is very strange.” Rimuru laughed instead, “You haven’t done anything bad. Rather, I have always been indebted to you. Why should I blame you? Who do you think I am?”

There was a click.

A crack appeared on the mask on Rimuru's face. He was not as calm as he appeared.

"Please, Zun Zun, help me."

"Am I Doraemon?... Never mind, there is a way." Doraemon looked at him with burning eyes, "Rimuru, you become the Demon King."

(End of this chapter)