In the world of Moe King, I became the ruler of ice.

"Haha, actually I am too..."

Benimaru awkwardly tried to explain, but then his expression changed, and the expressions of everyone in the meeting changed instantly.

brush brush --

All members stood up in unison, looking at the two seats at the far end of the conference table, their surprise and delight evident.

In one of the spots, a soft and adorable slime is currently lying down, while Souei stands behind it with his arms crossed.

"Everyone, I'm not too late, am I?" Rimuru's voice came from the head of the table. Seeing the serious and somewhat restrained expressions of everyone he hadn't seen in so long, he waved casually and said:

"Ahem... Everyone, please sit down."

"Lord Rimuru?" "Lord Rimuru, you're finally back."

The anxiety that had been building up for everyone finally subsided, as someone who could make the decisions had finally returned.

"Yes, thank you everyone for your concern. I encountered a few minor issues on the way back."

Rimuru smiled and continued to wave, gesturing for Benimaru and the others to sit down first.

"I understand the situation in Tempest, and now is the time for us to unite. Trust me, I will get through this."

Rimuru first encouraged everyone, saying that as a leader, one must first have absolute confidence in order to ensure that subordinates steadfastly carry out one's decisions.

Of course... all of this was taught to him by Gransta. That guy even gave him a leader's guide to look at, which he secretly read carefully.

Ahem... Getting back to the main topic, after a few pleasantries, the meeting continued.

"Yes, we trust both of you." Benimaru nodded to Rimuru, sat back down, and began to give his prepared report.

"Lord Rimuru, regarding the assassination attempt in the Demon Capital and the Holy War launched against us by the Kingdom of Falmus, I believe there seems to be someone pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"The target is most likely Tempest, or perhaps more of a test of us."

"Oh? So, have you found out who it is?" Rimuru looked over curiously upon hearing Benimaru's guess.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything." Benimaru shook her head apologetically, but after a short silence, she added:

"When Lord Gransta left, he told me to keep an eye on the Kingdom of Falmus. I secretly infiltrated this human country and learned that its king is somewhat incompetent."

"Hey, you even sneaked into that country? Did you find anything strange?"

Rimuru was slightly shocked by Benimaru's actions, and also wondered how Gransta knew in advance that this human nation would take action. He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Yes, Rimuru-sama's country is inferior to the Monster Holy City in terms of environment, food, and economy."

Benimaru shook her head as she spoke, then frowned and thought carefully for a moment, "If I had to name something strange..."

His eyes narrowed slightly as if he had remembered something, and he said, "When I used my magic to investigate the Holy Church, I discovered something was wrong and met an unexpected acquaintance."

"An acquaintance? Who is it?" Rimuru was a little confused and gestured for Benimaru to continue.

"The demon wearing a clown mask."

Benimaru calmly recounted the scene she witnessed that day.

"It's the Mediocre Clown Gang—"

The others, including Rimuru, immediately thought of the few guys wearing clown masks, whom they had given a good beating when dealing with the Storm Demon Vortex last time.

However, they were eventually rescued by a mysterious "Awakened Demon King," and unexpectedly, they were involved in these events again.

"Hmm...this matter is a bit complicated. The headquarters of the Holy Church is in the Western Empire, as well as the Kingdom of Falmus. There may also be an awakened demon king behind it."

Rimuru was a bit of a headache. He thought of Hinata Itaguchi, whom he had encountered before. It seemed that the Holy Church of the West had long regarded Tempest as a country formed by evil monsters, and that they would inevitably become enemies sooner or later.

Rimuru rubbed his non-existent temples, seemingly having made up his mind, and looked up at the people at the conference table again.

"The Kingdom of Falmus has now declared a holy war against Tempest, which is an open conflict. The real enemy is still hiding in the shadows. We are in the open while the enemy is in the dark, putting us in a very passive position."

"My overall plan is to deal with the Kingdom of Falmus first, and then adapt to the enemy's actions."

After listening to Rimuru's explanation, everyone nodded in agreement with Lord Rimuru's decision.

"I agree."

I agree.

"The Kingdom of Falmus really needs some serious tidying up."

...

"Let's just carry out the decapitation strike proposed by Old Bai! It's quick and easy!"

Ziyuan couldn't wait to stand up, put one foot on the conference table, carry the blood-stained machete, and was eager to try.

Zhu Lai and Long Xueqing were startled by Zi Yuan's rude behavior and rolled their eyes.

Hongwan put her hand to her forehead, indicating that she couldn't bear to watch.

"Uh..." Rimuru looked at Shion's wild posture and her sparkling eyes, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. He could only swallow a few times.

"Shion, listen to me first..." Rimuru could only say helplessly, "Even if we were to carry out a decapitation operation, we wouldn't send you!"

"Why is Lord Rimuru asking?" Shion asked, puzzled.

"Uh..." Rimuru was speechless for a moment. Of course he wouldn't send Shion. Sending Shion to carry out an assassination mission? What a joke! What's the difference between that and attacking directly?

I'm afraid that when the time comes, he'll only want to fight his way through the human army, carrying a big cleaver and rushing to the king to 'assassinate' him.

"Of course, I have an even more important task for you, and that task belongs to Shion."

"Really? That's great!"

Rimuru subtly diverted Shion's attention, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"The assassination plan will be put on hold for now. The Kingdom of Falmus will definitely send more troops when they learn that the 10,000-strong vanguard has disappeared. We will then use another excuse to retaliate."

Rimuru considered that the assassination plan had indeed been effective, but it was ultimately just a delaying tactic and couldn't solve the problem at its root. It seemed that in the end, he would still have to rely on force...

"Yes, Lord Rimuru!"

Benimaru and the others received Rimuru's orders and began to assemble the Fire Lotus Legion, the ground strike legion led by Kruto, and the dragon force commanded by Gabiru.

Just as Rimuru finished the meeting, he made an announcement to everyone.

"I've made up my mind."

"Promoted to Demon King!"

...

...