If possible, Rimuru would have preferred not to interfere in such a dangerous battle.
But as the leader of the Monster Federation, he had a responsibility to step forward and stop it.
From the very beginning, they had deliberately lured the fight this far away because they feared the battle might reach the town. That was why they had come all the way out here.
Yet judging by the level of power Ren Kuroda and Milim were unleashing now… this distance clearly wasn't nearly enough.
Other concerns aside, if those two fought in the forest, the ones who would suffer first would be the Lizardfolk and the Dryads—both of whom lived in the forest and were on friendly terms with Rimuru's people.
The Lizardfolk could at least flee if disaster struck.
But the Dryads were different.
They were guardians of the forest, and their true bodies were the trees themselves. If calamity fell upon the forest, they would have no way to escape.
After hesitating for only a moment, Rimuru stepped forward.
He believed that since he was the one who had killed the Orc Demon Lord, if Milim had come to settle accounts on Clayman's behalf, then he couldn't allow anyone else to take the blame for him.
Besides, since he had been chosen as the leader of the Monster Federation, protecting everyone in the Great Jura Forest was now part of his duty.
"Revenge?" Milim tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. "Who said I came here for revenge?"
Her answer left both Ren and Rimuru staring blankly.
"I just heard from Clayman that a monster capable of defeating the Orc Demon Lord had appeared in the Great Jura Forest," she continued casually. "So I got curious and came to take a look."
Ren and Rimuru exchanged a look of utter disbelief.
So after all that…
She wasn't here for revenge at all.
She had simply shown up because she was curious and wanted to check things out for fun.
Which made them both silently question the same thing:
Then what the hell was the point of that life-or-death fight just now?!
"So… Miss Milim," Rimuru asked cautiously, "you didn't come here to avenge Clayman or anything like that?"
"Of course not," Milim replied immediately.
"As if someone like Clayman could order me around. Besides, we're not even close. Why would I avenge him?"
The moment she gave that straightforward answer, Rimuru—and everyone behind him, including Benimaru—let out a collective sigh of relief.
There was no denying it.
Demon Lord Milim's reputation was simply too terrifying.
Facing an opponent like that… they truly didn't have even the slightest chance of winning.
With the misunderstanding finally cleared up, the violent aura surrounding Ren Kuroda suddenly calmed—like a raging tsunami instantly receding.
The terrifying demonic energy that had made standing near him feel like brushing against death began rapidly shrinking.
Within a few breaths, the overwhelming power that had filled the air was compressed down to the level of a third-rate monster.
Watching this transformation, Benimaru and the others couldn't help swallowing nervously.
At that moment, they silently made a resolution:
If they ever encountered someone like Ren again…
they would definitely test the other party's strength first before acting cool.
Because right now, Ren looked like nothing more than an ordinary human.
Aside from being annoyingly handsome, he didn't appear particularly remarkable.
And yet that same "ordinary guy" had just unleashed an amount of demonic energy terrifying enough to stand toe-to-toe with Demon Lord Milim.
"Huh?" Milim frowned.
"Our fight isn't finished yet! We haven't decided a winner!"
She looked visibly dissatisfied as Ren reverted from his Half-Oni transformation, calmly sheathing Kamiyori, his divine blade.
Just moments ago, Ren had finally given Milim a battle exciting enough to get her blood pumping after ages of boredom.
But now, before the real fun even began…
the fight had simply ended prematurely.
"No need to keep fighting," Ren said casually. "You can take the win if you want."
"I'm not a pure battle maniac. I have zero interest in fighting a battle I'm obviously going to lose."
He shrugged.
"And like Rimuru said, if we kept going, we'd probably destroy everything around here. There are plenty of monsters in Rimuru's town that I know. I'd rather not drag them into it."
Milim had been about to mock him and proudly declare that, as a Demon Lord, she could do whatever she pleased.
But when she heard what Rimuru said next, the words she had prepared suddenly got stuck in her throat.
"As expected of my best friend!" Rimuru said with a wide grin, casually slapping Ren on the shoulder.
"I knew I wasn't wrong about you, Ren. You're really a man who understands the bigger picture!"
As fellow visitors from another world—and after everything Ren had helped him with—Rimuru truly did consider him a close friend.
"Best friend my ass."
Ren rolled his eyes.
"Flattering me with sweet talk won't work."
"I just came here to ask for directions, okay? Do you know how dangerous that was for me just now? I almost got beaten to death by that violent little loli over there!"
Standing off to the side, Milim watched the interaction between the two of them.
And for once…
the proud Demon Lord felt something unexpected.
Jealousy.
Milim loved new and exciting things more than anything.
But despite her long life, she was also deeply lonely.
Because she carried the title of Demon Lord, ordinary monsters feared her.
Even the other Demon Lords acted cautiously around her, as though walking on thin ice.
Milim did have friends—but very few.
The Labyrinth Fairy Ramiris was one.
Guy Crimson was another.
Frey could also be counted.
And beyond those three… there was practically no one else.
Even then, those friendships were far from perfect.
Guy and Frey tended to treat Milim more like a child who needed supervision than an equal.
Ramiris, on the other hand, was scatterbrained—and whenever the two met, they inevitably ended up arguing and fighting.
So watching Ren and Rimuru casually laugh and bicker with each other like this…
Milim couldn't help feeling envious.
She suddenly looked at Ren and asked:
"One of you is a top-tier high-ranking demon, and the other is the strongest kind of slime."
She pointed at Rimuru.
"And even though this slime is pretty strong, there's still a clear gap between you two."
Milim stared intently at them.
"Even so… you can still become what you call best friends?"
Her eyes didn't blink.
It was obvious she genuinely cared about the answer.
"Huh?"
Ren looked puzzled.
"Well, 'best friend' might be a bit exaggerated coming from Rimuru," he said.
"But yeah, he's definitely my friend."
He scratched his head casually.
"As for strength or race… what does that have to do with friendship?"
"Friends are just people who get along, share the same interests—or, you know, the same kind of weird vibe."
"Different individuals who somehow click together."
Ren's completely matter-of-fact answer made Milim's eyes shine.
A moment later, she looked at both of them and made a grand declaration.
"I've decided!"
"From now on, Ren and Rimuru—you two are my friends!"
She paused.
"No… wait. Just 'friends' doesn't sound as good as 'best friends'…"
Her grin widened.
"Right! From now on, you two are my bosom buddies!"
Rimuru: "(Д)」…Are you sure we didn't accidentally punch her brain loose earlier? Because I have absolutely no idea how she jumped to that conclusion."
Ren: "╮(￣▽￣"")╭ What are you talking about? I was the one getting punched the whole time."
..
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