[Book 3] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

3rd Person POV

"... So you are planning to give us Lucia's soul core in return for us joining you?" Veldanava asked.

"Sort of. I want you to join, true. But, even you should know that this soul core is quite important. Giving this up, just to get you in my side won't exactly be worthwhile for me, would it?" Rimuru spoke with a grin. Now, he was the one who held the power. He was the one who could set the demands.

"So? What else do you want?" Veldanava asked.

"Dear... You don't need to this." Lucia said with concern apparent in her eyes as she held onto Veldanava's right arm, trying to change his thoughts.

"No! I have to do this. It was my fault that you suffered that day, and have continued to suffer. I must make it right!" Veldanava said firmly as he brought his left hand to hold Lucia's hand and show his determination.

Seeing this, Lucia had nothing else to say. She knew the look in Veldanava's eyes all too well. Seeing that Lucia and Veldanava had finally calmed down and were open to discussion, Rimuru finally spoke up.

"Apart from you joining us, I also want you to give us all the inside information that you have, as well as allow us to convert the Cardinal World into one of our base camps." Rimuru put forward his demand.

"...Do we have any scope of negotiations?" Veldanava asked.

"None." Ciel replied.

"Dear, listen to me. Don't rush this. There's no need to do this. I am completely fine. I don't need the soul core. See. I have been fine for this long, it doesn't bother me at all..." Lucia tried to stop Veldanava from defecting, but Veldanava just put his hand on her right cheek gently, causing her to stop speaking.

"It's alright. Just trust me. And right now, the times are getting turbulent, and the second Chaos War is not far off. Your powers won't be sufficient to even protect yourselves, and the higher Gods would not even provide us any support anything. To them, we are not much different than cannon fodder. Just stronger." Veldanava said while not breaking eye contact with Lucia. Finally, after telling his reason to Lucia, Veldanava turned to look at Rimuru.

"Can you guarantee our safety?" Veldanava asked Rimuru. His reasoning was very simple. Instead of being just one of the many Gods who will fight for the Order, it is better to just defect and be closer to one of the Chaos Lords, the top power off the Chaos side. Not only will he gain Lucia's soul core, but at the same time obtain protection from one of the Chaos Lords. In return, so he had to do was sever all connections he had with the Order, which was quite a good deal.

"Of course. I will protect you. I am already protecting you from Orochi. Orochi is really angry at you, you know. I just barely managed to convince him to not attack you and give us Lucia's soul core, you know?" Rimuru said casually, but Orochi's name caused bad memories to resurface, for both Veldanava and Lucia.

"... Then I guess there is nothing much to discuss. I will tell Guy and the others about this. What about you?" Veldanava asked. Lucia looked at him with a complicated gaze. She understood what Veldanava was thinking, but she was still not sure about what is correct. As such, she did not say much.

"Me? I will be going back to the Chaos Empire for some time. Meet with the other Chaos Lords and prepare for war. Till then, I hope you can take care of everything here." Rimuru said as he stood up.

".... I will." Veldanava replied. After hearing his reply, Rimuru absorbed all the Chaos Energy in the room before opening a portal back to Xyrath. He also sent a mental communication to Diablo about what was discussed and that he would be back in a few months at most.

As soon as Rimuru and Ciel left through the portal, the portal closed and silence filled the room as Veldanava and Lucia were the only two to be left behind.

"... Are you sure that was the correct choice?" Lucia asked.
"... Who knows? Only the future can tell.... Only the future...." Veldanava replied with a smile.

On Xyrath...

As soon as the portal opened, Milia, who was already in the room, came to greet them. The way Milia would just randomly appear and stay besides him reminded Rimuru of Diablo.

"Milord, Lady Ciel, the preparations are all done. We can invite the other Chaos Lords as soon as you wish." Milia said. This was one more thing that Rimuru had told Milia to do. Since Rimuru and Ciel had no idea how the other Chaos Lords were like, it was imperative they got to know each other before the war.

Rimuru nodded and followed Milia to a giant room. The room was well decorated with large chandeliers and an open roof, which was covered by a small curtain of Chaos Energy to isolate it from the rest of the world. In the middle of the room was a large table with nine chairs around it.

"Alright, I will call Chloe over. After that, we can meet them." Ciel said as she mentally communicated with Chloe.

Chloe's POV
Some time ago...

After leaving the castle, I made my way towards Shizue's house. As I made my way towards it, old memories began to resurface. This house used to be on the outskirts of the city, but due to the city expanding, it could already be considered to be in the centre of the city. Despite that, a huge swath of land in the middle of the city was covered with greenery, completely different from the urban landscape around it. This was Shizue's house.

As I made my way inside, I could hear the sound of children laughing, echoing throughout the place. Shizue would often allow kids from the neighborhood to come there and play. I did not hide my aura, so I am sure Shizue realized that I had come. I made my way towards a small wooden cabin, and went to the back of it, and came across the scene that could be seen here everyday. A group of young children, around seven to eight years old were running around the backyard, playing all sorts of game. On the side, sitting on the verandah, overlooking them was Shizue. Seeing me arrive, her eyes deviated from the group of children and landed on me. I smiled and teleported right beside her.

"What brings you here, Chloe? I thought that you had gone to the Land of Chaos with Rimuru." Shizue asked as she continued to look over the children. Chloe then told everything about how a war was on the horizon and that they were preparing for it. Throughout it all, Shizue just silently stared at the children that were laughing around.

"... And that's mainly it. I don't know when it will start, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the war begins in a year. Majority of Tempest's forces were already on high alert. Whether we fight against Veldanava or not now depends on the negotiations."

3rd Person POV

After that, the two continued to chat about various things, before Ciel called for Chloe. Chloe said her goodbye to her and passed through the portal. After the portal closed behind Chloe, Shizue's smile faded and a serious look took over the previous smile.

"Looks like there is another war on the horizon.... *Sigh*... I hope it won't be like our previous world... It's still best to prepare for it." Shizue muttered to herself.

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I hope you guys like it.