It no longer seemed like an issue, so I nodded. Ciel informed me that since Velgrynd now had Uriel, she would be able to pick up on and react to Ludora’s soul, allowing her to potentially find and retrieve the fragment she saw. Hearing that, I began to wonder if the “remnant” Ciel mentioned was the “core” of Uriel, which took the shape of Ludora’s own heart. It’d mean that Velgrynd would always be with Ludora. If his soul was now scattered all over the world, I’m not sure she’d ever truly find it, but something told me that she might just pull it off. “Okay, now… Release!” So the three of us returned from the spiritual world to the real one. Time was still stretched out for us as we said our goodbyes. “Thank you, Rimuru. I’m sorry for all the trouble.” Yeah, I hope so. I got a lot of complaints about you too, y’know! But I kept my mouth shut, since I didn’t want her to get angry. “I’m sure you can connect with your Parallel Existence now, so I don’t think you need to worry about getting lost. After that, I know things are gonna be tough for you…but good luck!” I tried to be as safe as possible with my support. But: “My sister, please don’t forget—if things don’t work out, I’ll always be here! So don’t wail in despair. Just do the best you can!” Veldora had a big smile on his face. I can’t believe how terrible he is at reading people’s moods. Velgrynd seemed at a loss for how to respond. “You really are stupid, aren’t you? Ah, my stupid, stupid, cute little brother. I’m glad you’re all right.” She smiled shyly. Then she stared back at me again; don’t ask me why. When someone that beautiful looks at me up close, I get so nervous that I can’t even move. She just shook her head in exasperation as my heart raced. “Well, see you later.” And with that, Velgrynd elegantly teleported away. Okay. Next up was giving some support to Benimaru and the gang. “You’re going, too?” “But of course.”
Less than a minute had passed. The attack on Michael was still in progress, with nothing working against Castle Guard—but they were still doing the right thing. The moment they stopped attacking, the enemy would fire back. That’s why Benimaru and Diablo were dutifully watching from the sidelines without stopping Shion and the rest. We had only two enemies left and I sure wanted to defeat them here, but unfortunately, that was impossible. As long as Castle Guard was in place, nothing would work against Michael. But then, the same was true for us— “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! How weak of you. None of your attacks will work on Sir Michael!” Feldway, laughing loudly, was about to take advantage of the time between attacks to activate his skill. A “mystic lord” is more than just a fancy name, apparently—he was trying to throw all of my friends into an alternate dimension. “Good-bye, everyone. I’m sure we won’t meet again, but—what?!” But I was waiting for my moment to strike, too. I chose that moment to appear over there, blocking Feldway’s move. “Demon lord Rimuru…” “Hello, mystic lord Feldway. Good to meet you.” The smile disappeared from his face at my sarcastic response. “Some country hick with no understanding of etiquette?” “Huh? I don’t need to be told that by an Aggressor who’s dying to live in the big city.” My continued provocation made his face freeze up. I guess he’s the type who likes to keep letting his anger build without ever snapping—the worst type of guy to deal with. At that moment, Michael—silently listening on so far—interrupted us, looking as composed as usual. “Heh-heh-heh… Weren’t you hiding and observing me? I thought you were sacrificing your friends in order to find a way to attack us.” He was more than half right, except for the “sacrifice” part. Not that I cared. “Think whatever you want about me. You wanna settle this here?” “Heh. Bold of you. But do you really think you can beat me?”
“I dunno. But I’ll give you a warning. I know that your ability gives you absolute control over angelic skills, and that there’s no breaking Castle Guard as long as someone believes in you. Along those lines, couldn’t we take away that advantage if I burned your Empire to the ground and killed every living thing inside it?” That was a total bluff. Not even I had any intention of going that far. But if I put that on the scales with having my friends be sacrificed, I’d do it without hesitation. That much cruelty I had resigned myself to long ago. “…I suppose I’ve underestimated you as well. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been hostile to you after all.” “Maybe not, no. Your lofty ideals and noble missions weren’t any of my business. I sympathize with some of your goals, too. So, you know, as long as you didn’t bother me, you could’ve done whatever you wanted.” But it’s too late now. Now that Michael was running amok, he was definitely a potential disaster for us. We were good for now, but Ciel was already predicting an unavoidable conflict of interest in the future. It was my job to believe it and act accordingly. “…” Michael fell silent, thinking over something. So I decided to spell out my intentions. “If you try to touch me or any of my people, I’ll crush you so thoroughly that you’ll never be able to try anything so stupid again.” That, and I wanted to strike some fear into him. No, I had no way to break his Castle Guard right now. But I had my trusty partner Ciel helping out, and I was sure it’d figure out a way. Besides, if he touched any of my precious friends, I’d show him no mercy. No matter what it took, I swore I would defeat Michael. “All right. I see. Then let’s retreat for now.” “…?! Are you sure, Sir Michael?” Feldway looked surprised, but Michael placidly nodded his head, indicating his intention to retreat. “It is too early for us as well, after all. If we fight here, it will end badly for both of us.” I agreed with that. If I followed through on my earlier threat, maybe we’d have a chance of winning. But that’s against my principles. I know I was just kicking the can into the future, but I really wanted some more time to work
with. “Okay… Well, shall we all leave, then?” “Very well. Still… Today is the day of my full revival, a day to be celebrated, and instead we’re given this unexpected ordeal. I thought Guy Crimson would be our biggest barrier, but instead it’s slime we dismissed as insignificant…?” With those words, Michael and Feldway left. And I assumed they weren’t going back to the Empire, either. My observation magic Argos, the Eye of God, wasn’t picking anything up over there, and Moss reported nothing unusual. “Damn, this is annoying, though. I don’t even know where they went.” Benimaru smiled at my offhand remark. “But as you ordered, Sir Rimuru, all of us are safe. Why don’t we celebrate that for now and return home?” Good idea. “Right! Home it is, then! I’m tired out today, and I’m feeling kinda hungry, too. Why don’t we ask Shuna to prepare something nice for us all?” “A feast, then?” Also a good idea. I nodded back at Veldora. “Okay! Let’s go back and have a blast!” My words brought smiles to everyone’s faces. We had some work left to do, but at least we were all here, and well enough to celebrate our survival. Velgrynd continued her journey. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, she walks on, never stopping. ……… …… … The place she flew to after leaving Rimuru was another world, in another time. Feldway had sent her Parallel Existence to the rift between this world and that one, and she safely reintegrated herself with it right there. This was a planet without any land, much less an atmosphere, and Velgrynd was stranded on it without any sense of time at all. She would have died instantly if she wasn’t a True Dragon, but she had both Dominate Space
and an infinite lifespan. She had time to think before she found refuge. Her thinking had almost stopped entirely after all the unbelievable events that occurred to her; there was just too much information to process. But being adrift in another dimension helped her regain her composure, too. So Velgrynd thought. The sheer volume of mind-blowing data had made her abandon thinking at one point, but now she thought as long as time allowed her to. Then she arrived at the most important fact of all. How did she gain her freedom against the system her brother created? That was the question, and there was only one person she could think of who could’ve made that happen. Yes—that easy-going slime. The demon lord Rimuru, her foolish brother’s ally… No! No, it can’t be! That slime is… …someone who freely tinkered with ultimate skills, gave Velgrynd her freedom, and massively improved her own powers, evolving them to greater heights. No regular human could possibly have done any of that. Only my brother Veldanava could do anything so outlandish. If it were possible for anyone else at all… Velgrynd shuddered at the impossible thought. When she turned her attention to it, her ultimate skill Cthugha, Lord of the Fire God reacted: power on an incomparable level from Raguel. But most of all, the fragments she had been taking in reacted, as if linked to Ludora’s heartbeat. Hee-hee! Well, I don’t care what that slime really is. He’s just Rimuru. Veldora’s ally and the one I owe my life to.
That was the conclusion she arrived at—and with that, Velgrynd broke out of her thought loop and turned her attention back to reality. ……… …… … So Velgrynd continued collecting pieces of his soul as she traveled through worlds and eras. I love you. I love you… Ludora!! That all-consuming desire to see Ludora drove her to overcome a cavalcade of obstacles. And then, finally, in a big city lined with skyscrapers, she found the boy. Joy…and determination. The boy was everything she lacked. And if Velgrynd gave him the rest of the pieces she had… But was this really okay to do? She agonized over the question. If she did it, it’d drastically change the boy’s destiny. Her lifespan was infinite; she could continue to watch over him until he lived out his own life. Yes… No reason to panic. I can’t wait to see you, but it won’t help me to hurry things along. But then, a shining piece of his soul flew over to the boy. This fragment, noticed by nobody, fused itself within him, as if sucked inside—and with that shock, the boy disappeared from the world. All that remained in Velgrynd’s hand was the very first fragment she found. “Were you one of them, too? Did you want to see me?” Velgrynd spoke to the fragment, wishing it were true. Then she activated Cthugha to pursue the boy.
AFTERWORD Once again I was able to deliver Volume 15 to you without any trip-ups. When I went over the deadline last volume, I might’ve said to myself something like “better be a little more careful next time,” but unfortunately, I was late by around ten days this time as well. I really want to reflect more on that—and next time, I’ll try to be just a little bit more careful than that! In fact, however, I had actually discussed this issue with my editor, I, from pretty early on. “I think it might be a little tight.” “Well, let’s do our best!” “We can’t make it a ‘to be continued’ thing?” “That’s pretty much how the last volume was, so I’d like things to wrap up more nicely this time.” “True. But the page count is kind of…” “That’s all right! I’ve decided that I no longer care how many pages it is!” That’s not what I meant! I said to myself at the time, inwardly shrugging. This volume has the largest cast of characters yet, several of whom are making their first appearance. I know I’m bucking the rules of good storytelling, but I can’t help it, so I just let it slide. That’s why I had to write so much more text for each scene, so I really wanted to break it up in the middle and end it in the next volume…but that got rejected. “All right. Well, if that’s the case, would you mind considering delaying the release date by a month?” “Hmm… Well, let’s keep plugging away till the last minute!”
So neither side gave any concessions, and time continued to pass by. I was writing with a lot of energy now, and the word count was already past Volume 14’s. “How’s it going?” “Mmm, it really is gonna be tight. At the rate I’m going, I’m probably gonna overshoot the deadline by around ten days.” “All right. In that case, I’ve made up my mind here.” “Oh, you mean you’ll delay it to October?” “No. If we can keep it to ten days, we’ll work it out somehow, so it’ll be released in September still!” Are you serious? I honestly thought. Like, that’s what you made up your mind about? There was no guarantee that even ten days were enough, but I’s determination was unwavering. “I think the page count’s going to set another new record…” “No need to worry about that! Just do your best to make the deadline!” “…Roger.” And so, fully defeated, I somehow managed to make it on time. Thanks to that, this is the largest volume yet. So that’s how we were able to get this out, but I’m anxious to see how people react to it. If you like it, nothing could make me happier. The content of this book series has now diverged so drastically from the original web novel that it’s no longer an exaggeration to call it a separate work. I’m busy brainstorming for the next volume right now, so keep an eye out for it! I’d like to express my utmost gratitude to everybody who’s supported and been involved with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. I hope that I’ll get to see you all again in the next volume!
Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On. To get news about the latest manga, graphic novels, and light novels from Yen Press, along with special offers and exclusive content, sign up for the Yen Press newsletter. Sign Up Or visit us at www.yenpress.com/booklink
CONTENTS | THE ABYSS UNLEASHED Cover Insert Title Page Copyright Prologue: Flame Dragon Against Storm Dragon Chapter 1: The Moment of Despair Chapter 2: Power Unbound Chapter 3: The Battlefield Rages Chapter 4: The Eight Impervious Gates Chapter 5: The Truth Behind the Emperor Epilogue: Sister And Brother Afterword Yen Newsletter