That Time I Got Isekai’d Again and Befriended a Slime

Meanwhile…

It's not that you couldn't feel. Never. I never believed that. 

But you were hurt. You were chained up and shackled, and sometimes they were of your own making. 

You were afraid of feeling anything, because you knew it would hurt again, and again. You were tired of it always ending the same way. Nothing to show for your efforts. No matter how hard you tried. 

You didn't want to feel, you held onto it so tightly, so desperately. Because if you let it go, it might be too much. 

You were right. You loved me, and Tempest, and that love got you killed. 

There is no greater love, is there? To die for others. 

But even so, I…

-=-

I dreamt of you last night. 

I dreamt of places I've never seen. 

Of visions you'd once described to me as your own dreams. Unnatural landscapes. A cold vision over hot sensation. Mountains and trees and a beach. 

You'd never wondered what they were. It didn't matter, and I wouldn't blame you for ignoring it forever. 

But it does matter now. Because I think I understand. 

I saw you in another place last night. And before, unconscious, I saw you elsewhere, in-between some place and another. This is something so much more than either of us ever intended.

I love you, stretching across the cosmos… imagine it. 

Come back to me. Please. 

Imagine Death. You've already seen it. Experienced it, again and again, until it left a mark engraved onto your soul. And because of that, I know it too. I can see it, understand without dying myself…

I bet I could do it now. There, the shape of my inner World... and yours. I know it.

If there is one silver lining to all of this, it's that.

I don't care about a silver lining. I'd give it all up. 

I miss you. 

-=-

I still remember your arrival in Tempest.

Behind you was my brother, holding an unconscious woman in his arms. He looked a bit chastised, uncomfortable, and I wondered what sort of people could make him look so put off. He'd always taken himself too seriously, you know. And what happened to our village… didn't help. 

So, well, I was curious. 

Rimuru entered Tempest with a wide smile, something like home written on his face, and you walked by his side. 

Hah… it seems so silly now, but honestly, I was a little jealous at the time. That you could make him smile like that, could walk next to him without even thinking about it. That you could affect my brother in such a short time, walk in front of him so easily.

Despite being just… some new person. You, who'd only just arrived, human from a far-off place. 

I remember it so clearly. 

I asked, "Lord Rimuru, who might this be?"

Rimuru smiled. 

"A new friend."

Then, you spoke up from his side. 

"Tanya, actually." You said, with half a smile. And your eyes, they were a paradox. Bright teal, yet dull and apathetic… and just then, they sparked to life just the slightest bit. 

And you reached out your hand, and I took it, and we shook them like normal people do. Pretending like it doesn't burn. Pretending like neither of us were pretending at all.

-=-

At first, I was only passingly interested. Someone who stands at the same level as our Lord Rimuru – in spirit, stature. Not power or aura, not yet – would only draw the eye so much. 

Because you didn't show it. You didn't want to. You're not one to show anything off at all. 

You just… were. 

We weren't exactly friends. Acquaintances, coworkers. 

But Tanya… you also… frustrated me. You're so like him. Like Rimuru. In spirit, in stature, in how it felt to stand next to you, with something different humming just under the surface of your skin. 

Natural disasters. You and he are beings who can alter the World around them, with little knowledge or care of that fact.

It felt like above Tempest shone a second beautiful star that I could never reach. 

But then, you're so different too. Any comparison fell apart before long. Similar, in some regards. But not the same. Not at all. Responsible without even trying, grounded compared to being in the clouds, tired as opposed to a fresh zest for life. 

You, Tanya, were intriguing. Did you know that?

-=-

Everything changed. That apathy disappeared little by little. We got to know each other better.

I had to know about you. You were everything. But with you, I could reach out and-

I still remember the first time we… I'll never forget. I wouldn't dare.

You were electric to the touch. Flash fire spreading, scorching a path wherever you looked. You were focused on me. Just me. Only me.

It felt like I was being stripped down to my soul. There was an intensity to every action, every second savory, savored like time was running out. It felt like the world was ending the next day, like that time would soon be the last moment ever. 

You saw me like no one ever did, and I saw you, truly knew you. If for single night. 

It was intoxicating. I never wanted it to end. 

We were free. 

-=-

And then, one morning, several months later, I realized I'd fallen in love. 

Realized. Because I think I've loved you for as long as I've known you. 

I feel like I've known you forever, and it's still not enough. 

One day, I would love to simply live with you in a quiet place, next to a pond or a lake. And we can sit on the porch and watch the pinks and purples and oranges of the sunset on the water.

I never want those precious memories to end. I know it has to end eventually. 

But not yet. I won't let them end just yet.

I love you. And you're coming back. 

-=-=-=-

"That's my promise."

Shuna's usual seat in the meeting room is empty.

It's not that she's gone; she's actually in the room, with everyone else.

At the opposite end of the long table, Shuna sits up in her chair, with arms crossed and eyes closed. An uncharacteristic display of casualness, combined with an uncharacteristic impatience shown by one of her fingers tapping a silent rhythm against her upper arm.

To the right of the head of the table (and thus, far ahead of Shuna's left) sits Benimaru, Hakurou, Rigur, and a bespectacled Goblina that manages local trade and mercantile dealings. Behind them, standing against the wall, are Youm, Mjurran, and Grucius.

On the other side sits Rigurd, Kaijin, Haruna and the kobold who manages trade and mercantile endeavors between Tempest and its allies, Koby. Behind them is the friendly adventurer trio most familiar with Rimuru and Mary, aka Eren, Gido, and Kabal.

Needless to say, the tension in the air is palpable.

Shuna is far from the only Executive acting uncharacteristically, but she is certainly the one most noticeable at the moment. Youm and Grucius can't help stealing worried glances at her, acting as though they need to be on guard at all times.

-=-

"I don't want to hear anything from you. It must feel incredible knowing you and your lover get to live. You must be so happy. You get to stay together, don't you? That person you love from the bottom of your heart, you don't have to worry about them at all now. How relieving. How lovely." 

She scoffs.

"Well, from the bottom of my heart, I think that love of yours should be dead. I think you both deserve it. I think, if within the next couple days Tanya isn't standing in front of me smiling and saying, 'I'm back, Shuna', that… no, like I said, I'm promising this. If this fails, and she doesn't come back, I swear I will make you wish Lord Rimuru was less merciful. That he'd taken my suggestion and killed you right here and now, instead of letting me get to you."

-=-

Which is a completely understandable reaction.

In any case, it is far from peaceful. Despite their confidence in their leader- or rather, in Rimuru Tempest's power, it's impossible to ignore the discrepancy in faith and reality.

The reality is that someone very important to a bunch of very important people died yesterday. Not only that, but it also happened in Tempest itself, if not directly at the hands of then at least largely in part to an outright attack by human forces.

The realization hurts. Faith may dampen the pain, but until the situation has been resolved, if not outright reversed, nothing will change the fact that Tempest and its Executives are not the same as they were before.

It's already a fact that some things will never return to the way they were before, regardless. But those are concerns for a later time. Right now, what's important are the two main problems staring them down.

Tanya is dead, and Falmuth's army is approaching Tempest.

If we were to take this a step further, we could add "the other Demon Lords" as a problem. No doubt, this situation will draw unwanted attention. This, in turn, brings up the complication of Clayman, the oddly war hungry Milim, and the evacuation of those within the Beast Nation of Eurazania.

Preferably, however, that problem can be dealt with later. And indeed it will be much less of a problem, assuming the other two main problems are dealt with summarily.

That is to say, the resurrection of Tanya and the decimation of Falmuth's army should make things much, much easier.

In order to achieve this, however…

"I've decided to become a Demon Lord."

At the head of the table in slime form, Rimuru Tempest finally speaks.

Shion stands tall behind him. Mary is nowhere to be found.

"With that out of the way, let's begin."

What followed was a long, crucial discussion about Tempest's operations going forward.

While it's true that humans were responsible for the devastation enacted in Tempest, it's also true that lumping in all humans as "untrustworthy" would only be detrimental. After all, the human merchant Myourmiles and the human adventurers such as Gido and Kabal are great and compassionate allies. Further, one of the nations to which they are allied, Blumund, is primarily human.

And, naturally, Tanya's own actions to protect Tempest cannot be overstated.

Thus, the general consensus as stated by Rigurd seems to be, "I could not live with myself, if I were to ever consider Tanya and those knights as the same, for they are not. We cannot lump humans into one group. There are those we can call allies, and those we cannot."

The next step, then, is to debate how to deal with non-allied humans going forward. It's easy to distinguish between enemies and friends, to an extent. Those like Tanya, Mary, certain adventurers, certain merchants, and their Blumund allies are reliable friends, without question.

But what of those they have not made contact with? Falmuth is undoubtedly an enemy, but can the same be said of other nations? How do they approach new people, knowing what may be done in the worst case? If they trust the wrong people, if they aren't vigilant, could this happen again?

What do they do?

"I think it's important you all know this now." Rimuru says. "But in my previous life, I was a human too."

The room goes silent.

Rimuru goes on to explain. Essentially, he is an Otherworlder like Tanya and Mary. However, his death and reincarnation ended with him in the shape of a slime, instead a human. It took him a long time to figure out what happened, and what to do. He kind of just… went with the flow. Eating cave rocks and grass, testing out his abilities.

Then, one day, he met a friend, who helped spurn him on to finally leave the cave. And thus, Rimuru left and met new friends in a paltry little goblin village. He found comrades, new goals, and a reason to stick around instead of just floating by.

"No attacking humans. Except in self-defense. Remember that? The reason I said that was because I still thought of myself as like a human. Or at least, as having a human heart."

The main reason he spent so much time in Ingrassia was to fulfill Shizu's wishes and save the Otherworlder children. But another, smaller reason, was that he felt a comforting familiarity from being surrounded by his former race. He was reluctant to give up that piece of himself, even if he hadn't been human for a good amount of time by then.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness, because I don't believe I deserve it. But I'll apologize anyway, and I will atone for my mistakes." Rimuru tilts his slime form forward, like a bow of deference. "So, from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. And… I'll bring Tanya back, no matter what. I promise everything within me on that."

His statement is genuine. He truly believes it, and because of that, no one speaks for a good while.

"…my Lord."

"Benimaru."

"While there is… fault, to be found in your thought process, I do not think it is fair to accept the blame for yourself." Benimaru looks up with a troubled expression. "It's true that your priority should have been Tempest, but I also cannot blame you for your actions. We are just as guilty of negligence."

"Benimaru, you-"

"My brother is right."

Like whiplash, the attention in the room shifts to the other end of the table.

"To an extent." Shuna amends, resting her hands in her lap and meeting Rimuru's gaze. "According to your responsibilities as our leader, you should have been here. But you are not at fault for what happened. And… you weren't wrong to make the choice you did. I do truly believe that."

She pauses, takes a deep breath, and stands.

"However… the love of my life died in my arms yesterday. That's not something I can simply forgive or accept atonement for." Shuna bows her head. "While the blame doesn't lie with you, the result remains the same. Tanya is dead. Further, those whose actions contributed heavily to her death have not been properly punished. Until such a time that these two issues have been remedied, please consider this my formal resignation from the ruling council of the Jura Tempest Federation."

Shuna doesn't say another word. She simply sits back down.

Dead silence greets her.

Then, all at once, a chorus of different people, shouting-

"WHAT?!?!"

-=-=-=-

Later that Day, Just Before Noon

Somewhere West of Tempest

Great Forest of Jura

The trees are a blur, underbrush below and leaves above swaying from the speed at which the forest passes in his wake.

He's being chased.

No, that's not accurate. He's being hunted. It's less knowing and more a feeling. A tremor across the nerves in the back of his neck. Hair raising, an odd static in the air.

This isn't surprising, that it's happening at all. He's just irritated at the swiftness of it.

Couldn't you have taken more time to mourn? Drake thinks, exasperated.

The plan had been to spend at least a day at the western camp, set up by those same Falmuth "merchants" he'd hitched a ride with. He even planned to speak with the Otherworlders, perhaps offer them a choice.

He'd not been very surprised to learn that only two of the three actually made it to said camp. Considering they were his unknowing fodder to wear down her. But still, the two left were strong enough, if a bit arrogant. They could be brought up to speck eventually.

But no, of course not.

Because as soon as he'd detected another familiar aura exiting the city in his direction, well, he'd booked it. Plain and simple.

It's not that he's afraid of her. Not even close. Their last "battle" had shown clearly that, if push comes to shove, he'd be the shover and she the pusher.

That is to say, he'd win. Obviously.

The problem is, a single night wasn't quite enough to recover from the damage of his previous battle. His injuries were mostly healed, though still stubbornly resisting because of that woman's lingering poison.

(He'd have to replicate that particular blend himself. If it was this effective against him, even with his body being part Spirit, then who knows how useful it'd be against other foes?)

In a weakened state, Drake has no illusions as to the victor between him and this persistent girl. He'd lose, or he'd be forced to summon Jörmungandr right away. And if that didn't kill her outright, he'd be screwed.

So, naturally, Drake runs away. He doesn't need that much time, honestly. It's just a few irritating scrapes, a bit of pressure on his lungs that hasn't gone away. That's all.

He runs, and he runs fast.

Buying time, mostly, and clearly not fast enough.

He's not getting any further away from her, which is... rather frustrating, actually. She could probably have caught him already, and hasn't, and that's worrisome in it's own right.

But hey. Her loss. The forest around him is starting to thin out when the situation finally changes, though not so much that there are any clearings or open areas. 

By now, he's close enough to 100%.

If only she would just-

"Go!" He calls, manifesting a fresh Lycaon shade from the shadows at his feet.

It darts into the trees, followed quickly by two of its brethren. Now, he doesn't expect anything of them. They're less distractions, and more a measure of distance.

Drake frowns as his connection to all three are snapped. Less than two seconds.

She's close-!

Suddenly, the static from before becomes literal.

Drake yanks his body sideways, falling into a roll and coming out on his feet. Just in time for a truly massive beam – for it is not a bolt, or a collection of bolts, but a sparking, world-rending beam – of electricity to rip through the forest next to him.

His singular, microsecond of shock is only that. A microsecond. He shoves himself back to his feet, and backwards, the static not fading but increasing.

Just in time.

KRAKABOOOOM!

A human-sized lightning bolt strikes where he'd just been, singeing the back of his now much shorter hair.

More accurately, a human surrounded by lightning strikes the ground. She must have blasted through the trees from above, carving a scorched hole in the green canopy. Her landing explodes, a shockwave and a cloak of green electricity shattering and searing the air.

A sound quite like that of a rock wrapped in copper wire crashing into live power lines, one might say.

Drake darts backwards through the trees, spreading his arms wide. As he retreats, three more Lycaon dance from his shadow, all snarling jaws and ragged claws, followed above by Crows from the underside of his arms, dripping darkness with every wingbeat.

It's slower going now. He can't afford to take his eyes off of her. She's locked on to him. But navigating the forest itself shouldn't be too-

A crackling blur. She's in front of him, fist cocked back-

Drake crosses his arms over his chest, a misshapen mass of Crow and Lycaon and Serpent coiling and writhing across his forearms.

Her sparking fist smashes through it effortlessly with a disgusting squelch, slamming into his hastily formed guard.

Drake blasts through several trees, bodily launched above well above the forest floor.

CRACK!

He flattens against one final tree, the bark breaking and leaving a body-sized crater behind him. He slides down the damaged trunk, until he's sitting on the ground, one leg stretched out and the other pulled up to his chest.

Above him, the forest canopy shudders.

Drake grits his teeth to keep them from chattering, remnants of green electricity arcing across his body. He holds up his hands in front of his face. They're trembling and he clenches them into fists until they stop.

My arms… are still here? I almost thought... they'd been blown off.

He sees her approach, the area of forest featuring slightly larger gaps between the trees and thus barely obstructing his vision. Though, his vision is blurry regardless.

I thought I'd reinforced myself better.

Drake groans lowly and forces his body to heal.

She's clearly in no rush to get to him now. He has time.

If it weren't for my shades, that would have been far worse.

He breathes in deeply, holding it... then breathes out, regathering his wits. He feels out the pain.

He observes her approach. 

Her blue jacket from before is replaced with a green one of slightly different make. It's unzipped, revealing a thick black undershirt, atop black pants that lead into the same white and black combat boots as before. Bracers the color of gunmetal line both forearms, with the one on her left arm bearing a lighter colored scrape across the width of it.

At her waist is a familiar sheathed blade, and across her back is a long object, covered by fabric and secured with rope.

"Get up." Mary Sue calls out from between the trees.

She looks different this time. Feels different. Her energy crackles around her, arcs of lightning popping and sizzling across her aura.

"I'm not done with you yet."

-<>-<>--=-=-

Known Skills List

Tanya:

< ERROR: RESTRICTED >

Mary:

Common Skill: Thought Communication

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra/Intrinsic Skill: Physical Enhancement

Unique Skill: Ability Severance