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Slime World · Sealed Cave
"HAHAHAHA!!! I, Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest, AM COM-PLETELY RE-VIVED!!!"
A wild man with golden hair and a bare torso bellowed at the top of his lungs inside the Sealed Cave.
"Hey, hey, hey! Veldora, you're way too loud!"
Rimuru clapped her hands over her ears and winced.
Veldora's expression immediately collapsed into something resembling an abandoned kitten.
"I finally get out after all this time, and that's the welcome I get?"
Then just as quickly, his face broke into a wide grin.
"But I have to say, my revival came faster than I expected! I owe you my thanks, Rimuru Tempest!"
He turned to look at Kaito and continued without missing a beat.
"And you, my friend! I know you've been helping Rimuru all this time. Since you are Rimuru's best friend, from this day forward you are also my best friend! HAHAHAHA!"
Kaito watched him laugh with his hands on his hips and smiled.
"Alright, I'll accept that. And since we're friends now, let me give you a gift to celebrate."
He reached into the Conqueror's Banner and drew out three hundred thousand souls, guiding them directly into Veldora's body.
The moment Veldora felt the massive wave of souls pouring in, he began absorbing them immediately. Golden light pulsed from his body in steady, brilliant waves as Kaito felt Veldora's strength climbing rapidly with each passing second.
Bang!
The golden light burst outward and scattered. Kaito opened his [Eye of Identification].
[Eye of Identification]
Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest
Loyalty: 100
Affection: 100
Abilities: [Faust, Lord of Investigation], [King of Magicules], [Thought Acceleration], [Demon Lord's Haki], [Dragonification: Storm]...
Overall Strength Rating: SS- (SS)
Note: The value in parentheses reflects combat power after Dragonification.
"Two Ultimate Skills! The Jura-Tempest Federation just gained another top-tier fighter!"
'And now I can finally take Rimuru to other worlds without having to listen to complaints every single day.'
Veldora, eyes now open, was already bouncing around the cave, throwing out combat moves in every direction.
Rimuru watched him and asked:
"By the way, Veldora, did you receive the [Blessing] from my evolution?"
Veldora stopped mid-move and came to stand before the two of them. His golden eyes lit up, and he announced with great flair:
"What a wonderful question!"
"Thanks to you, my Unique Skill [Investigator] evolved into the Ultimate Skill [Faust, Lord of Investigation], born from my endlessly curious heart!"
"And the souls Kaito gifted me triggered an unprecedented transformation in my magical energy."
"My vast reserves of magic power have now evolved into the Ultimate Skill [King of Magicules]. As long as I draw breath, my magical energy will never run dry!"
Then Veldora straightened up and his expression turned uncharacteristically serious. He changed his clothes and looked at both of them with great solemnity.
"And that is not all! My shogi skill has reached the level of a master. No, since I am a Storm Dragon, it should properly be called Dragon King level!"
Kaito stared at him.
"Hold on. Ifrit wasn't even with you in there, so who exactly were you playing shogi against? And Dragon King level? Are you trying to get yourself arrested?"
"Is that right! It sounds like you had quite the comfortable time inside my stomach!"
Rimuru said with wide eyes.
"Indeed I did. And now I am invincible, so from this point forward, you two can rest easy! HAHAHAHA!"
"Invincible, you say."
Kaito looked at him with a deeply amused expression.
"Alright, now that you're out, let's head back. There's someone there who happens to be a relative of yours. I think you'll be very happy to see her."
The moment those words landed, something changed in Veldora's face. His steps came to an abrupt halt, and he said in a voice that was just slightly unsteady:
"A-actually, I just remembered there's something I need to take care of first. I'll meet up with you two a little later."
Rimuru tilted her head.
"Is it something urgent? Kai-chan said it's a relative. Don't you want to see them?"
A bead of cold sweat rolled down the side of Veldora's face.
"Th-there's no rush! I'll go see them later, really!"
"Heh heh! Cowardly dragon! Whatever happened to being invincible?"
Rimuru was genuinely confused since she didn't know the full story.
What she didn't know was that Kaito did. Veldora was terrified because of his two older sisters, both of them Dragon Lords.
Before he was sealed, Veldora had left a trail of destruction across the world wherever he went. His sisters loved him dearly, but even they had eventually decided something had to be done. They set about educating their younger brother into a dragon worth being proud of.
Their approaches were different, but the result was always the same: Veldora received a thorough beating.
Not a light one either. Both sisters came at him with serious intent.
The second sister, the Blazing Dragon, at least had the courtesy to sit him down for a talk first before the beating began.
The eldest, the White Ice Dragon, dispensed with the formalities entirely. She would simply kill him and let him revive. Over and over. Because Dragon Lords do not stay dead, only come back. Her method was to repeat the cycle until a decent personality emerged.
Kaito: Are you trying to farm traits there!
It was this particular approach that had left Veldora with a deeply ingrained psychological shadow when it came to his older sisters. He had been carefully avoiding them ever since.
"Hahahaha! Relax, Veldora. It's not your sisters. Look at you!"
Kaito burst out laughing at the sight of him.
Veldora let out a long breath of relief, then looked at Kaito with a puzzled expression.
"If it's not my sisters, then who is it?"
"You'll see when you get there."
Kaito took Rimuru by the arm and turned to walk out of the cave. After a few steps, Rimuru leaned in and asked quietly:
"Kai-chan, why is Veldora so scared of his sisters?"
Kaito glanced back at Veldora, then leaned toward Rimuru and lowered his voice.
"Hehe! Well, it's like this..."
"I can hear you, you know!"
Veldora called out from behind them with a pained expression.
Rimuru listened as Kaito laid out the whole story, and despite her best efforts, she couldn't hold it in.
"Pfft! Hahahaha! Veldora, I had no idea you had such a tragic history! Hahaha!"
Veldora looked at her laughing without mercy and sighed.
"I was young and didn't know any better back then! I've changed since then, haven't I?"
He paused, then narrowed his eyes.
"And Kaito, how do you know all of this? I certainly never told anyone."
Kaito gave him a smile full of mystery and said two words.
"Trade secret."