Rimuru's Return

Prologue

All of existence was in danger and the people fighting to save it were beginning to realize that what they were doing was not enough to win. Many of the strong had already fallen leaving their people in a state of hopelessness as they looked to the unimaginable carnage laid out before them. As a last resort, the strongest of them all, the True Dragons banded together to land one last strike against the enemy. But there were many major consequences attached to this final joint attack; it was one of self-sacrifice. Velzard, Velgrynd, Veldora, and Rimuru all poured their soul energy together into an unimaginably strong force to wipe out Ivarage. The destruction was incredible, wiping out the surrounding landscape along with the people participating in the battle, but the enemy had been defeated. The victory belonged to those protecting the world, but the costs were great. The battlezone became uninhabitable, shockwaves from that final strike led to the deaths of many people who weren't even near the battlefield, and, of course, the strongest existences of the Cardinal World were lost forever. Even though True Dragons are supposed to never truly die, this is not the case when their Dragon Factor is destroyed, and the immense force unleashed by their souls led to exactly that consequence; or at least that is what most believed at the time and even now.

Multiple versions of what happened arose within the populace, all of them inaccurate in some sense since there were no surviving witnesses or participants of the actual final battle.

One of these viewpoints came from a group loyal to the strongest yet youngest of the four True Dragons, people that still wholeheartedly believed their leader would be reborn one day. The idea of him no longer existing was too hard for them to grasp, so they held on to hope. Centuries turned to millennia as that group and their descendants waited patiently for the return of their ruler, yet no sign of Rimuru's rebirth was evident.

History became myth and legend, warped by time as the stories of the past were passed on from generation to generation. Life went on as humanity repopulated the area that was wiped out, as it became more habitable as time passed, yet the center of the destruction would never recover. 'The Tenma Wastes' was what this area was dubbed, a desert polluted by the aftermath of that battle even all these years later. A place no creature could tread, one devoid of all life, a scar on the world that would remain forever. This is just a surface-level indicator of the damage the world took during the war, whether it be from Ivarge himself or the blow that ended him, it does not matter in the end. The world was weakened, leading to a slew of consequences. Skills became harder to obtain, names of power no longer existed, awakening, whether it be of Demon Lords or Saints could happen but the results were not nearly as impressive, and the rate of otherworlders being drawn to the Cardinal World was reduced greatly. Not just the strength of the world, but the strength of its inhabitants was impacted by that calamity.

All of that leads to the current state of things. Rimuru's followers still exist, but he is more of a legendary or religious figure to them at this point, not being seen much like a person by the descendants of his people. Still holding out hope for his eventual return; their wait is not a foolish one, because they were right all along. Rimuru was greatly weakened by what happened, but his essence still survived, just barely. I, Ciel, his eternal partner, and Manas made sure of that, although we were separated soon after his body was destroyed. That is where you come in child, for you are my current host, binding you to my goal of finding my master. He will be reborn soon, and we will find Rimuru Tempest together.