Chapter 128 - War

Months passed since then, and everyone in the world grew vigilant as the word of the East Empire's movement became factual and no longer a rumor. Many had feared and dreaded that this day would come, and now that it had, many flocked to Luminism and the Holy Knights, who were managing the people in the West.

Rimuru watched, bored, as he stared at the Eastern plains where the Empire would march through. Beside him were the most powerful beings in the Capital: the two True Dragons, Velgrynd and Veldora; Ciel; Ultima and Carrera; Benimaru and the Fair Onis; as well as Ramiris and her Dryads.

Shizu was currently at El Dorado. Rimuru had asked her to bring the children, keeping them away from the battle. Chloe had come with them, making sure Leon would be motivated to protect the children.

"They sure are taking their time," Rimuru yawned as he sat in the control room of the castle. With surveillance using the eyes of the scouts at the borders in the east, everyone watched the plains silently.

"They should be appearing anytime now, Master," Ciel reassured, having been informed by Yuuki and the other informants about their movements.

"Maybe we should meet with them instead of waiting?" Carrera suggested with a grin, cracking her knuckles, growing impatient like Rimuru.

"Should we, Rimuru-sama?" Ultima asked expectantly, though she waited for confirmation.

Rimuru shook his head, waving his hand. "No, let's wait for them to appear. The fun would be gone if they can't even step on our territory."

"Can I wipe them out again like last time?" Veldora asked, patting his chest with confidence. "I'm sure those insects will run away just like last time."

The people in the room continued to chat and joke about who would wipe out the army while they waited. Benimaru felt a little weirded out. While it was true that everyone in that room had the capability of doing just that, hearing their casualness about it made it surreal, even for him.

Then, the army began to present itself, their movement seen on the horizon.

The loud steps of the soldiers, as well as the rumbling of machine vehicles, echoed through the land. Hundreds of metal vehicles, tanks, were driven slowly, marching in unison with the common soldiers, each carrying guns instead of swords or other melee weapons.

Their advanced technology was fully displayed to the world. Their expressions were serious, yet filled with confidence as they held their superior weaponry, moving through the plains.

"They really did make modern weapons here using the otherworlders," Rimuru yawned as he observed the weapons they carried. He wasn't really into that kind of advanced technology; he much preferred using magic and his physical body to wield a sword rather than carrying something like a gun.

"But you have planes and trains," Velgrynd argued, reading Rimuru's thoughts and opinions about the weaponry. She recalled the time Rimuru and Elmesia, who were both capable of flight, had used planes, chasing each other down. Each plane had its own personal modifications, based on the owner's taste and aesthetics. In the end, the two had managed to create and destroy many planes during their dogfights in the air.

"Let's start then, shall we?" Rimuru said, standing up and stretching his arms before disappearing. The others watched from their position and saw Rimuru standing near the edge of the border, casually leaning on a tree, waiting for his presence to be noticed.

Lieutenant General Gaster was smirking as he rode one of the armored vehicles near the center of the group. He was confident that their advancement through the forest would barely be a stroll.

At most, the things they would need to be careful of would be the kijins and Onis that Yuuki and the other scouts had informed them about, who resided in the Forest. But even that wasn't much of a threat for people like them.

Because of the existence of the Onis, they had been implicitly told that many imperial guards were hidden in the army, tasked with dealing with any strong individuals too much for the common East Empire soldier.

Even so, they had their own elites, and the airships flying above them carried the Magic Beast corps, with every single member prepared for battle. They would be dropped down as soon as the battle began in the West, as soon as the armored corps swept through the forest.

Gaster frowned as he began to feel a presence. It was a surreal feeling, as if the presence wanted to be seen, like someone like him would never have noticed it had they not wanted him to. Even his unique skill, Musician, couldn't detect anything from the presence. It was like a silent void had been placed in the space they were located in. The ground, the trees, even the grass nearby were all making sounds and frequencies he could hear.

Yet, the being in that spot was eerily silent.

He gulped as he began to see the anomalous being. It was a man with silver short hair, leaning on a tree, his eyes lazily watching their movement, as if it were an everyday occurrence and just another task to get through.

"Halt!" Gaster raised his hand, signaling the army to stop their advancement. Some were confused, but others noticed the person observing them.

As if on cue with his order, a voice echoed in everyone's minds.

"So, uh, don't go past where you currently stand, or else we will wipe you all out with no mercy."

The voice's tone was neither threatening nor menacing. It was a line that was half-hearted, with no true desire to push them away.

Gaster and the others felt insulted by this. The desire to kill the person claiming such things rose within the army. Gaster, for one, threw away the eerie feeling he had earlier and glared at the silver-haired majin.

"Shoot him," Gaster ordered, turning to one of the snipers nearby. The gun was not one similar to modern ones on Earth that would only work on physical beings. The special guns they used were able to even harm pseudo-spiritual beings and pure spiritual beings.

As the sniper aimed his gun at the majin's head, he fired, and the bullet left the chamber.

As the bullet traveled a meter from the gun, a small manipulation in space occurred, and the bullet disappeared. No one saw what happened. No one saw how the bullet disappeared.

And no one saw how the sniper's head was struck by a precise shot from behind him. Gaster and the soldiers near the man all stared in shock as his body crumpled in front of them. Their uniforms and the nearby tanks were stained with blood as the body collapsed to the ground.

Rimuru smirked as the body made a loud thud, breaking the silence. Everyone was silently staring at either the sniper's body or at him, now wearing a very malicious smile on his face.

"Frankly, I don't want to bother with you small fries." Rimuru laughed, then, with a raised hand, several beings began to appear beside him.

"P-prepare for battle!" Gaster shouted as he sensed the strength of the beings near the enemy. They were powerful, hard to admit, but probably stronger than him, at least twice over, if not more.

"You guys can take care of them. Leave some for the others, though." Rimuru turned, casually waving his hand at the Dryads.

"Of course, Rimuru-sama!" Treyni smiled as she disappeared with the wind. The ground began to shake as the Empire soldiers prepared for battle.

The tremors grew stronger and stronger, many of the soldiers falling as their balance was broken by the sudden shift in the ground. Then, they felt it.

"Ow!" One soldier shouted as he placed his hand on the ground, looking at his palm, which was covered in blood, as though he'd been pricked by a thousand needles.

He looked at the ground and saw nothing but grass, then, upon closer inspection, noticed that the grass was unnaturally still, not moving in the wind. It was far too still to be natural.

As he leaned in closer, he saw that the grass was hard and sharp, almost resembling fake grass. Then, it began to move, extending toward his face, barely a foot away, piercing his skin.

"Hahh! It hurts, !" His screams began.

"Someone, get me out, !" Another soldier shouted as the grass pierced through his boots, anchoring him to the ground. The grass twisted in a way that made simply lifting their feet impossible, trapping them in place.

"AHHH!!" An unnaturally loud scream drew the attention of many. A massive tree root, unnaturally large, rose ten feet into the air. A soldier's body dangled at the very tip, his stomach impaled, as he screamed through the pain.

Large tree roots began emerging from the ground, seeking their targets, the metallic vehicles that dared to stand in their domain. They latched onto them like snakes, coiling around their prey. The tanks groaned and creaked as the roots crushed and threw them about.

Panicked screams echoed as the tanks deformed. The metal walls began to collapse inward, growing closer to the soldiers trapped inside. Their movements slowed, and they struggled helplessly within their vehicles. The tanks collapsed, twisted into warped heaps of metal, with the soldiers trapped inside.

Those outside, the foot soldiers, could consider themselves the lucky ones. They were quickly overwhelmed by the roots, their bodies lifted high for all to see. Their lives were snuffed out before they could even scream.

A trail of crushed tanks and impaled soldiers was left in the wake of a Dryad's wrath.

"Go." With a single word from Treyni, all 100 Dryads, each having lived as a being of the forest, surged onto the battlefield.

It wasn't so much a battle as it was a one-sided massacre. It was very different from the encounter with the two primordial demonesses, who had enjoyed tormenting their enemies and giving them false hope of salvation.

This time was more direct. There was no pleasure or malice in their actions. They were simply carrying out the task given to them, as they had done countless times before. The command was simple: engage with the enemy and leave some for the others.

They were the vanguard, tasked with neutralizing the majority of the threat. They weren't only there to deal with the tanks but also to force the hidden strong ones to reveal themselves.

"What should we do?" whispered Balt, one of the hidden imperial guards tasked with eliminating Onis. "They're moving in groups. Even with all three of us, I don't know if we can defeat them easily and swiftly."

"Should we regroup with the others?" Reiha asked as they huddled near the back. They had a good view of the fighting, though it could hardly be called a fight.

"The chances of finding them in this chaos are low," Krishna sighed, silently contemplating a plan.

All that could be seen were crushed tanks flying through the air, and soldiers being raised high from certain directions. Amidst the chaos, soldiers were falling, victims of swift, unseen movements. The Dryads were so efficient that even high-level individuals could barely keep up.

The battlefield was a scene of utter chaos. The Empire's soldiers could only hear the commotion. They couldn't even see the enemies they were supposed to be fighting. The moment they saw them, it was often the last moment of their lives.

"We have to find the others. Arios should be to the east of the formation." They prepared to move, taking up arms.

"That won't be necessary." Carrera's voice stopped them in their tracks. Then, with a thud on the ground, something vaguely circular fell in front of them.

It was a head.

"A-Arios!" Bazan shouted, staring at the blonde woman who was amused by their reaction. "You, "

"Oh, you're already here." Ultima clicked her tongue as she casually perched on one of the tanks. She leaned back and looked at them, not at all bothered by their stares. "How many did you get?"

Ignoring the two imperial knights, Ultima turned to Carrera and smirked at the purple demon. "I got five, including these three."

Ultima frowned and then glanced at the two imperial guards. "I got three too. I should've come here faster." She then vanished, leaving them wondering where she had gone.

"Now that that's over," Carrera cracked her neck, and suddenly, she appeared behind Reiha, Imperial Guard 94, grabbing her by the neck. "You get to go first."

Carrera smiled as Reiha stiffened, feeling an intense pressure on her neck. "H-help me, !"

Before she could finish, Reiha's body crumpled, and the rest of the imperial guards rushed forward, but they were halted by the unexpected turn of events.

Carrera casually observed the scene before grabbing the remains of Reiha and tossing them toward Krishna, forcing him to stop his advance.

Krishna's attention snapped to his side as he saw Balt struck down by a swift, powerful movement. Without warning, he could see that Balt's heart was in Carrera's palm casually thrown to the ground. Then with a swift kick, she decapitated him.

Krishna clenched his fists. They were Imperial Guards, the most elite of the Empire's forces. Not even the corps commanders could underestimate them. "You... you bitch!"

Gripping his sword tightly, Krishna charged at Carrera, his determination clear. She merely grinned, forming a makeshift sword of her own. "I've been curious about swordplay for a long time. Shall we see how it goes?"

....

Benimaru sheathe his sword as he sat on the tank that was much more bigger and grander than the rest. From what he could see, it was the vehicle that was where the general would be to bark orders from.

And from what he could tell, it was the right deduction.

"Gahh.." Gaster coughed blood as he laid on the ground, his hands severed as the Oni Chief stared down on him. It wasn't even a fight; Gaster did not even manage to make a deceive move to counter Benimaru's swift slice.

Even the imperial guard who was beside him was no match. His cold body laying on the ground, his blood sweeping into the dirt dying the grass red.

"I guess this is a good enough sweep," Benimaru cracked his neck as he watched the chaos continued on the background. From what he could sense, more than 30% of the soldiers and tanks were killed and destroyed. The rest are in disarray, as their commanding officers were missing or dead.

"Let's leave this to the Gozu and Mezu," With his announcement, a rumbling sound can be heard from the forest. The soldiers who were running around in hysteria began to halt and looked at what the sudden commotion was.

In a flash, thousands upon thousands of monsters began flooding the battlefield. With the Bovoids, Equinoids, and Kijins leading the charge they quickly added into the battle.

Due to the disarray of the Empire's soldiers, the added suddenness of new elements and enemies caused even more problems far beyond their mental capacity.

Some weren't even able to react as they were cleaved and mowed down by the stamped of monsters.

Their numbers quickly flooded the place, moving pass the tanks and taking care of the foot soldiers. With the Bovoids and Equinoids carrying Mithril shields, they made quick work of the gunmen.

The kijins began taking care of the tanks that managed to find some reasoning an fire at them. Not even care one bit of friendly fire due to the already losing battle. With the Kijins' strength and magic, even tanks couldn't handle such force.

They even had elite members like Gozu and Mezu who were rushing through the tanks, sending them flying and pushing forward. The tanks that made contact with them flew several meters away with large dents showing the brute force behind them.

"I wonder how the airships are doing." Rimuru muttered as he looked to the sky.

Coincidentally, several airships were falling from the sky as their inside burn and explode from the forces intercepting them.

A/N: