The open courtyard behind the royal palace was quiet.
The broken kingdom was still trying to understand what had happened to it, and so most of the castle had fallen into a strange state of uneasy obedience. Orders were being followed. Guards were moving. Servants were speaking in hushed voices.
But here—
Only Loki and Rimuru stood beneath the open night sky.
The courtyard was broad, paved with old white stone, and open enough for what Loki intended to do.
Rimuru looked around once.
Then at Loki.
Then at the huge empty space around them again.
"…So."
He hesitated.
"This is where you're doing it?"
Loki nodded.
"Yep."
He looked very pleased with himself.
Rimuru, on the other hand, looked nervous.
Very nervous.
He had followed Loki here without complaint, mostly because at this point opposing him felt like a shortcut to misery. But the moment Loki said he needed "a lot of space," Rimuru had started assuming something terrible was about to happen.
Which, to be fair—
Was usually correct.
Loki walked a few steps into the center of the courtyard and looked back over his shoulder.
"Alright."
He pointed at Rimuru.
"Take them out."
Rimuru blinked.
"…Take what out?"
"The bodies."
Rimuru froze.
Then his entire slime-born soul shuddered.
"Oh."
He knew exactly which bodies Loki meant.
The artificial bodies.
The ones Loki had made in that basement.
The ones Rimuru had helped finish while trying very hard not to think too deeply about how insane the whole thing was.
Rimuru laughed weakly.
"Right."
"Those."
Loki folded his arms.
"Yes."
"Those."
Rimuru sighed internally.
'Of course.'
'Why am I the storage unit in this relationship?'
Still, he did as told.
A moment later, the courtyard began filling with bodies.
One.
Then five.
Then ten.
Then dozens.
Bodies slid out one after another in neat sequence, laid carefully across the wide stone courtyard in rows. Each one looked real. Each one breathed faintly. Each one waited empty, like a vessel pausing at the edge of meaning.
Rimuru stopped after the last one.
There were a lot of them.
A terrifying amount of them.
He looked at the sea of sleeping bodies and then at Loki.
"…Every time I see this, I become a little more concerned."
Loki smiled.
"That's healthy."
Rimuru did not find that reassuring.
Loki stepped forward, stopping in front of the arranged vessels.
His expression shifted.
The playful edge remained, but beneath it something older stirred.
Something heavier.
Magicules rolled off him in thick, deep waves. Not violently. Not wildly.
Controlled.
Ancient.
Kingly.
The air changed around him.
Rimuru straightened slightly.
He had seen Loki frightening before.
He had seen him amused.
He had seen him casual, threatening, mocking.
But this—
This was different.
This was ritual.
Loki raised one hand.
Dark circles spread across the courtyard beneath every vessel at once.
Then more appeared overhead.
Then more still, layered atop them in shifting formations. The entire open space began to glow with a black radiance that turned the night into something holy and cursed at the same time.
Rimuru's body trembled instinctively.
'This is bad.'
'No, not bad.'
'Big.'
'This is really, really big.'
Loki spoke.
Not loudly.
But with the kind of authority that made the world listen anyway.
"Come."
The circles brightened.
"I am calling you."
The air warped.
The courtyard darkened.
A gate began to open.
It unfolded.
Smoothly.
Like darkness itself had simply chosen to part.
And from within that opening came pressure.
Massive.
Layered.
Countless demonic presences.
Rimuru's eyes widened.
'No way.'
'He's really doing it.'
The first figure stepped through.
White.
Elegant.
Beautiful enough to be mistaken for salvation by anyone too foolish to survive near her.
Blanc.
Her eyes found Loki immediately.
Then her smile bloomed.
Not soft.
Not merely pleased.
Ecstatic.
"Little brother."
Her voice came out like a breath she had been holding for centuries.
Behind her came more.
Demons.
Dozens of them.
Then hundreds.
One after another they emerged from the gate, taking form in the open courtyard as summoned spirits standing before the one who had called them across the boundary.
Two hundred.
Plus Blanc.
Exactly as intended.
The pressure became almost unbearable.
Even Rimuru, who had already accepted that Loki was connected to truly absurd things, felt the scale of it slam into him.
Loki looked over the gathered demons calmly.
Then looked at the arranged bodies.
Then smiled.
"Good."
Blanc was the first to speak.
Her gaze never left him.
"You summoned us yourself."
Her voice was full of obvious delight.
"You really did become strong."
Loki grinned.
"I told you I would."
Blanc placed one hand lightly against her chest.
"And now you've called me here."
She looked around at the bodies and then back at him.
"With gifts too."
Rimuru, standing off to the side, did not like the way she said gifts.
Not even slightly.
Loki ignored that and clapped his hands once.
"Alright."
He looked over the assembled demons.
"This will go faster if I stop pretending to be clever."
Rimuru blinked.
"…You were pretending?"
Loki ignored him too.
He looked at Blanc first.
Then smiled.
'It'll be easier if I just use the names they were supposed to have.'
Loki stepped toward Blanc.
Then said it clearly.
"From now on…"
He pointed at her.
"Your name is Testarossa."
The moment the name settled—
The world responded.
The magic circles beneath her exploded into brilliant white and crimson. Blanc's body convulsed once as overwhelming power rushed through her. Her already terrifying presence sharpened instantly, rising to an even higher plane.
Rimuru felt his entire body tense.
'That did something huge.'
Testarossa closed her eyes.
Then opened them.
Her smile had somehow become even more dangerous.
"Testarossa," she repeated softly.
Then she bowed her head toward Loki.
"A beautiful name."
Loki nodded once, pleased.
Then he looked toward the next demon.
Tall.
Calm.
Already carrying the bearing of a loyal administrator.
"You."
He pointed at him.
"Your name is Cien."
Again the power surged.
The demon's body trembled under the force of the name. Magicules exploded around him in deep green-black waves, his form refining, thickening, rising.
Rimuru felt the pressure jump.
Moss fell to one knee as the evolution took hold.
When it settled—
He was no longer merely what he had been.
He had become an Archdemon.
Loki didn't stop there.
He turned toward the female demon beside him.
"And you."
Her eyes were fixed on him in complete focus.
"Your name is Moss."
The third wave hit.
This one was sharper.
Faster.
The demonic aura around him surged violently before settling into something terrifyingly elegant. Like Moss, Cien's very existence evolved upward, crossing that final line into the realm of the Archdemons.
Rimuru stared.
'He just…'
'He just named three monsters into becoming even worse monsters.'
Testarossa, Moss, and Cien all knelt.
The remaining demons stood in complete silence now, watching the one who had named them, summoned them, and brought them into living bodies with an awe that bordered on worship already.
Loki looked over them.
Then, one by one, he continued the process.
Bodies were claimed.
Demons descended into them.
The vessels accepted them with startling smoothness, as if they had always been waiting for these exact souls.
One after another, the dormant bodies opened their eyes.
Breathing deepened.
Hearts began beating properly.
Hands flexed.
Magicules stabilized.
The courtyard slowly filled not with empty shells—
But with a living demonic army.
Rimuru looked around and had the deeply unpleasant realization that he was currently witnessing the birth of a military force that could flatten countries.
And Loki was smiling like a child opening birthday presents.
When the last vessel was claimed, the courtyard finally settled.
The gate to the Underworld closed.
The circles faded.
And two hundred and one manifested demons stood before Loki beneath the stars.
Then—
As one—
They knelt.
Testarossa lowered her head first.
Moss and Cien followed.
Then the rest.
And in one voice they swore themselves to him.
"We offer our loyalty to you, Demon Lord Loki."
The sound rolled through the courtyard like a vow carved into fate.
Loki stood there for a moment.
Taking it in.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
He took one step forward.
Then stopped.
The smile slipped.
His body swayed.
Rimuru's eyes widened.
'Wait.'
Loki blinked once.
Then muttered under his breath—
"…Ah."
That was all the warning anyone got.
He collapsed.
Rimuru moved on instinct.
"Loki-sama!"
He lunged forward and caught him before he hit the stone, arms barely managing to support the weight of the suddenly limp Demon Lord.
Rimuru stared down at him.
"He passed out?"
Testarossa was in front of him instantly.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked between Loki and Rimuru.
"…Who are you?"
Rimuru stiffened.
The pressure coming off her was absurd now.
He laughed nervously.
"Uh…"
He glanced down at Loki, then back at her.
"I'm sort of a subordinate, I guess."
Testarossa held his gaze for a second.
Then her expression softened.
Only slightly.
"I see."
Without another word, she reached down and took Loki from Rimuru's arms.
Completely naturally.
As though that had always been the correct outcome.
She cradled him carefully against her body and looked over the others.
"I will set my brother to bed."
No one objected.
A magic circle opened beneath her feet.
And with Loki in her arms, she vanished.
---
The bedroom was quiet.
Soft moonlight slipped in through the windows. Curtains stirred gently in the night air. The room itself had already been prepared for Loki's use, but now it felt claimed in a more personal way simply because Testarossa stood in it.
She walked to the bed.
Then carefully laid him down atop the sheets.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Her little brother.
Asleep.
Peaceful.
Unaware.
Testarossa's hand rose slowly to her lips.
A flush spread across her cheeks.
"…At last."
Her voice trembled.
A delighted, shivering breath escaped her.
"I'll finally sleep next to my little brother for the first time in so long."
The excitement made her whole body tremble.
She looked positively feverish with joy.
Then, without hesitation, she climbed onto the bed beside him and slipped under the covers as well, pressing close enough to feel his warmth and smiling like she had just been handed paradise itself.
The hours passed quietly.
The moon shifted.
The room remained still.
Then—
Frost spread across the window.
Not slowly.
Instantly.
A white bloom raced over the glass, then across the frame, then onto the walls themselves as the temperature in the room plummeted.
The window opened without a sound.
And through it stepped Velzard.
She moved with the sort of effortless grace only a True Dragon could possess, pale blue eyes calm, expression unreadable.
"So this is where Loki is."
Her voice was quiet.
She looked toward the bed.
"I promised him a reward later tonight…"
A small pause.
"And he didn't even bother showing."
Her gaze narrowed just slightly.
"I may have to punish him for that."
Then she stopped.
Because there was another presence in the bed.
Sleeping beside him.
Velzard's eyes shifted.
At once, Testarossa's eyes snapped open.
The room changed instantly.
Testarossa rose halfway from the bed, gaze locking onto the intruder with lethal intent.
"Who," she asked softly, "dares enter the room of my dear little brother—"
Then she saw her properly.
And froze.
Completely.
Her expression changed at once.
Not into fear, exactly.
Something sharper.
More instinctive.
Recognition.
"Velzard-sama."
---
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