Archive Of Potentialities.

<<That concludes the evolution>>
Suddenly the slime wrapped in cloth floated up from the pedestal it was previously sitting on, a transformation happened and a figure of immense beauty emerged.
The figure was wrapped in the white cloth in a manner that obscured some ... unnecessary bits not like they exist anyway.
The figure touched down lightly on the ground.
Benimaru looked at the figure, it had bluish silver hair and red eyes that gave off a cold and rational aura, the face was androgynous in nature but still had a bewitching beauty to it, yes this was his master.
"Sleep, leave this to me."
Rimuru(?) said.
Benimaru heard these words through the haze of his already slipping mind. He believed in his master and succumbed to the dark depths of evolutionary sleep.
The entity that spoke to benimaru was in fact not rimuru but the newly evolved Ultimate skill [[Wisdom Lord Raphael]]. A skill with a form of sentience. In its attempts to fulfill its master's wishes the unique skill [[Great Sage]] petitioned the voice of the world and evolved into something greater, an ultimate skill, a thing that grants it's holder freedom from the various cumbersome laws of the world.
This skill now approached the corpses arranged in neat columns, using the body of its beloved master.
It moved with a calculated grace that mesmerised the onlookers, those unrelated to the newborn demon Lord and thus remaining conscious.
It stopped in the centre of all the disguised and long ended carnage. Then the being spoke.
"In the name of Raphael I order you, Beelzebuth. Devour all existing magicules within this barrier, leave not a single one behind!"
In response something awakened, a great power visible to the mortals watching, it gave off an ominous aura, enough to shake them to their core.
This, thing, resembled a black hole. It began to absorb all the magicules available in the barrier and went on to devour the barrier in turn.
The awe inspiring atmosphere was shattered by a sudden exclamation.
"Error!"
The wisdom lord was confounded, what was this?
All the souls that should have been contained within the barrier, there was no trace of them.
This is an unprecedented event. It was as if the souls were stolen away, leaving all the monsters present none the wiser.
'Who is capable of this?'
'Have I failed again?'
It was something it never felt before.
Rage.
'Who dared!?'
The entire square was now quiet. Nobody dared to speak. It was like inevitable calamity hung over their heads.
Raphael began to run millions and millions of calculations, trying, and for a seemingly emotionless being, hoping. Hoping for a solution to be found.
Alas, of all the calculations that was gone through a substantial amount of solutions were found. But all involved the existence of an hypothetical third party who was in possession of the souls. Universal sense was employed but still nothing was found.
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The figure that once represented ephemeral beauty and grace now had a forlorn atmosphere about it, the figure then dropped. Reverting to its original slime form and being caught by the demon lurking among the scanty spectators. It was placed back on it's pedestal and the demon kneeled before it.
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Benimaru POV
After I awoke from my sleep, I looked around, hoping to see the faces of comrades long lost, escaped from the clutches of cold death. I believed in my master's capability to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
Now looking at the scene in front of me, I questioned myself.
'Did Rimuru-sama.... fail?'
My heart denied these thoughts but my rational mind pondered, 'what does this entail for us, for Tempest, for Rimuru-sama?'
I stood there for who knows how long, drowning in grief and self-loathing, then the others who received the gift began to stir.
They woke up one by one and without a doubt went through the same line of thought I passed through at the time of my own awakening.
"Benimaru-nii san, did Rimuru-sama......fail?"
With a voice that belied a will to deny realty, my little sister spoke those words.
I couldn't answer, no I refused to answer and instead turned away from her distraught gaze. Like a spark the question triggered a wave of uncertainty in the power of our master.
This was visible to me from the way they glanced at him with empty eyes.
At the same time, I realised. We were being selfish.
We are not alone in this grief, our master is going through it too. Placing all of this on his shoulders is unfair towards him.
My resolve was steeled and I spoke up.
"Listen, all of you here. I know what you must feel, I know how terrifying this uncertainty is, I know you are wavering. But I say this, our comrades and friends that perished, did they do so because they had no choice? Was there anything stopping them from deserting? No! They fought on for our master, and gave their lives knowing what it would entail. Would you be able to look them in the eye and tell them that you lost faith in their reason for fighting honourably? Would you be able to live with yourselves if you trampled on the beliefs of friends long gone? Our master is now a demon Lord, he did this for the miniscule shred of hope that he might be able to bring them back! Let us not trample on his resolve. He too is with us in our grief. Now! Servants of Rimuru Tempest, are you still ready to stay alongside our master? Are you prepared for the long road ahead of us? I ask you, are you PREPARED!?"
All of them looked at their master, their minds already made up.
I looked at them, prepared to raise my voice again.
"People of Tempest!! Swear your allegiance to our Lord!! For Tempest!!"
"For Tempest!!"
"For Tempest!!"
"For Tempest!!"
"For Tempest!!"
"For Tempest!!"
I looked at all of them, satisfied with the outcome, now time to wait for my master to awaken.
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Rimuru Tempest's POV
My consciousness returned to me.
There was a feeling within me.
I didn't know where it was coming from but somehow I knew.
I had failed.
Contrary to my previous explosive reaction, I felt numb.
All of my efforts, everything I've accomplished till now, now meaningless to me.
"Ideals without power are foolish, power without ideals is empty, huh."
Now that my ideals of keeping all my friends safe has gone up in dust what was all this for?
'Great Sage?'
[[Greetings master, I am no longer 'Great Sage' I am Ultimate skill Wisdom Lord Raphael. I evolved during the harvest festival.]]
Huh. How neat.
'So Raphael, what was the reason for failure?'
[[Answer: I am sorry master, I did not account for the possibility that the souls would be stolen by an unknown entity. As a skill I have failed.]]
Stolen, who would do such a thing?
'Raphael, it's not your fault. Rather it is mine, I have been too naive in my approach to this world. This is a result of my own folly.'
I switched to human form and looked upon the monsters (and demon) kneeling before me.
"We welcome back our master!!"
They shouted in unison.
"You guys... What is wrong with you!? Why are you still here!? I failed you!"
I couldn't comprehend it, my mistakes caused everyone here grief, why do they linger?
"Rimuru-sama, we are your loyal servants, we would rather die than leave you." Benimaru said with steeled resolve evident in his voice. It resonated with the rest of the crowd.
"As he says, I shall never abandon my master who I adore so."
I looked over at the person who said that.
Oh, he was that demon I summoned huh. Why is he still here?
Anyway I shall deal with that later.
"You people, to stay with me. I do not deserve this loyalty, but since you insist I won't bring it up again. Now in regards to our current situation."
I hardened my voice and released my aura.
"The kingdom of Falmuth, no, all the humans. They won't let us live in peace. Humans are inherently greedy creatures, they are a scourge on this world. I am prepared to remove this scourge, permanently."
I paused and surveyed the crowd.
"If you are willing to join me in my mission, I will not stop you. If you want out, you are free to go."
Again I looked at their faces, all of them have given me their answer already.
"If that's the case, I promise to avenge everyone that died just because of the greed of humans!!"
"Yes, Rimuru-sama!!"
I was conflicted, but I pushed those feelings away and asked,
'So Raphael, tell me what I can do.'
[[Confirmed.]]
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A/N : Hah!!
Honestly I didn't plan to do this tonight. And seeing as things are going I still have to write more parts before I can discard this particular what if.
I know my writing needs a lot of work, hopefully it'll improve along the way. Hopefully.
Anyways, bye for now.