The black circle opened in the middle of Leon Cromwell's living room without warning.
One moment the hall was quiet.
The next—
Space bent inward, darkness peeled apart, and two figures stepped out onto the polished floor of El Dorado.
The first was Loki.
Still dressed in that absurd war-god outfit of his, fur mantle hanging from his shoulders, maroon hair tipped with gold.
The second was Rimuru.
Short blue hair.
A freshly made body that still felt slightly too new to belong to him.
For a second, the room just stared.
Everyone was there.
Guy Crimson lounged in Leon's chair like he owned both the chair and the building. Velzard sat nearby looking entirely too comfortable. Rain and Misery stood off to the side. Dino was half-sprawled across a couch. Leon himself sat with his arms crossed, already looking irritated before anyone had even spoken.
Then Guy smiled.
"Well," he said, "you're back."
Loki stepped forward casually.
"Unfortunately."
Leon's eyes moved past him and landed on Rimuru.
Then narrowed slightly.
"…Who is that."
Rimuru felt every eye in the room land on him at once.
His entire soul tightened.
'No.'
'No, this is bad.'
'This is very bad.'
He had known Loki lived with monsters.
Loki had literally told him that.
But hearing it and standing in the middle of it were two very different things.
Because this—
This was insane.
Guy Crimson.
Leon Cromwell.
Velzard.
Rain.
Misery.
Dino.
Even without knowing all their names yet, Rimuru could feel it.
Every single one of them was a catastrophe wearing a human face.
Loki looked around the room and shrugged.
"None of your business where I'm coming from."
Leon's eye twitched immediately.
"I wasn't asking about where you were coming from."
Guy chuckled.
"I was."
Loki glanced at him.
"Then it's still none of your business."
Rain sighed.
"He's in a mood again."
Misery nodded faintly.
"Clearly."
Dino opened one eye and stared at Rimuru.
"…Why is there a slime here?"
Rimuru flinched.
Then realized, belatedly, that he was no longer visibly a slime.
That somehow made it worse.
Loki hooked a thumb toward him.
"This is Rimuru."
There was a beat of silence.
Then he added—
"My subordinate."
Guy raised an eyebrow.
Leon looked genuinely baffled.
Rain blinked twice.
Misery's expression shifted just slightly.
Even Velzard tilted her head with mild curiosity.
Dino sat up a little more.
"You took a slime as a subordinate?"
Loki nodded.
"Yes."
Leon looked at Rimuru again.
Then at Loki.
Then back.
"…Why."
Rimuru appreciated that someone had finally asked the important question.
Loki answered immediately.
"Because I like him."
That explained absolutely nothing.
Rain folded her arms.
"And the body?"
She narrowed her eyes at Rimuru.
"He's got a body."
Loki nodded again.
"Yes."
Rain frowned.
"…How."
"I got him one."
Leon stared at Loki in flat disbelief.
"That is not an answer."
"It's the only answer you're getting."
Rimuru stood there trying very hard not to visibly shake.
'This is absurd.'
'Why am I in a room where the sentence "I got him a body" is somehow the least insane thing said so far?'
Loki, meanwhile, seemed entirely pleased with the situation.
He stepped forward and gestured vaguely around the room like a host introducing honored guests at a party.
"Since you're here," he said to Rimuru, "I might as well introduce everyone."
Rimuru did not want that.
Not because introductions were bad.
Because he was almost certain every name would make this worse.
Loki pointed first.
"That's Guy."
Guy smiled.
"Hello."
Loki continued.
"My elder brother."
Rimuru's eyes widened slightly.
Then Loki pointed toward Dino.
"That's Dino."
Dino lazily raised a hand.
"Yo."
"My elder brother too."
Rimuru's internal thoughts stalled.
'He has brothers.'
'Of course he has brothers.'
'Why wouldn't the final boss have a whole family of disasters.'
Loki moved on.
"That's Rain."
Rain gave him a lazy wave.
"And Misery."
Misery offered a small nod.
"My elder sisters."
Then he gestured toward Leon.
"That's Leon Cromwell."
Leon looked at Rimuru with the same expression a man might reserve for suspicious mud tracked into his house.
"He's a Demon Lord."
Rimuru's entire body went cold.
'What?'
'Another one?!'
Before he could process that, Loki pointed toward Velzard.
"And that's Velzard."
Velzard smiled faintly.
"She's a True Dragon."
Rimuru stood completely still.
Internally, however, he had ceased functioning.
'A True Dragon.'
'A Demon Lord.'
'Multiple Demon Lords.'
'Why are beings that could casually destroy the planet living together in one castle?'
'How is this allowed?'
'Why am I here?'
Guy noticed the look on his face and grinned wider.
"Aw," he said, leaning forward slightly. "He looks terrified."
Rimuru laughed nervously on instinct.
"N-not at all."
Guy's smile deepened.
"Good."
His crimson eyes sharpened just enough to make the joke feel dangerous.
"Because if you disappoint Loki too badly, maybe I'll kill you first."
Rimuru froze.
His face went pale instantly.
'He's joking.'
'He has to be joking.'
'Why does it not sound like a joke?'
Before the fear could fully settle, Loki's own aura shifted.
The room changed.
Just slightly.
He turned toward Guy, smile gone.
"Do not."
Guy's grin remained.
"Oh?"
Loki's voice stayed calm.
"Even as a joke."
He rested Ragnir down against the floor with a heavy THUNK.
"You do not threaten my property."
The room went quiet.
Rimuru's brain short-circuited on a completely different detail.
'Property?!'
'Okay no, focus, not the important part right now!'
Loki took one step toward Guy.
"And I haven't forgotten," he added, "about the battle we're supposed to have."
Guy rose from Leon's chair slowly.
Smiling.
Interested now.
"Neither have I."
Leon pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…Not again."
Rain looked between them.
Then at Misery.
"Do we stop this?"
Misery sighed softly.
"If possible."
Dino slumped back.
"Ugh."
"Can't you two wait until after lunch?"
Neither of them listened.
The pressure in the room deepened by the second.
Loki's eyes gleamed.
Guy's smile sharpened.
Then Velzard stood.
She stepped between them without hurry, pale blue eyes moving first to Guy, then to Loki.
"Enough."
Guy exhaled softly through his nose.
Loki clicked his tongue.
Velzard looked at Loki first.
"If you back down now," she said calmly, "I'll give you a special gift later."
That got his attention immediately.
He narrowed his eyes.
"When we're alone."
That did it.
Rimuru stared in complete confusion as the atmosphere changed again. Not fading entirely, but shifting into something stranger.
Loki looked at Velzard suspiciously.
"What kind of gift?"
Velzard smiled faintly.
"You'll see."
Loki considered it.
Guy looked amused.
Finally Loki sighed.
"Fine."
He gave Guy one last look.
"But this isn't over."
Guy sat back down.
"I'd be disappointed if it was."
The room relaxed.
A little.
Rimuru, on the other hand, felt like he had just survived an earthquake.
Loki turned away from Guy and looked toward the hallway.
"Come on."
Rimuru blinked.
"…Me?"
Loki looked at him as if there had ever been any doubt.
"Yes."
Rimuru straightened immediately.
"Yes, Loki-sama."
He moved after him at once.
Mostly because staying behind with the rest of the monsters somehow felt even worse.
Rain watched them go.
Then her eyes brightened slightly.
"Oh."
She pushed off the wall.
"Are you going to do your art again?"
Loki glanced back over one shoulder.
"Yes."
Rain smiled.
"Then I'm coming."
Misery looked at her.
"Of course you are."
Rain ignored that and followed after Loki and Rimuru.
---
The basement was colder than Rimuru expected.
And more importantly—
It did not feel like a basement.
It felt like a workshop built by someone who thought normal science was for cowards.
Magic circles lined the walls. Tables of black stone stood beneath dim lanterns. Strange half-finished structures sat under sheets or inside containment fields. The air smelled faintly of metal, ozone, and something living.
Rimuru swallowed.
'This is a lab.'
'No, this is a supervillain lab.'
Rain walked in behind them and looked around with genuine anticipation.
Her artist's eyes were already moving from one piece of the room to the next.
"I've been curious about this."
She folded her arms lightly.
"I want to see what your process looks like."
Loki stepped into the center of the room.
Then turned.
His expression had changed completely.
Gone was the playful smirk.
Gone was the casual teasing.
He looked focused.
Sharp.
Serious enough that even Rain immediately straightened.
"We have two hundred and one bodies to prepare," he said.
The words landed heavily in the room.
"Sloppiness will not be tolerated."
Rain's eyes widened.
"…Two hundred and one?"
Rain looked honestly shocked now.
"What do you need that many bodies for?"
Loki held the silence for just long enough to enjoy it.
Then a smug smile slowly spread across his face.
"They're for my army, of course."
---
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