The World's Ego

Broken Feathers

Third Person POV

Rudra hummed as he watched from the airship. Velgrynd was currently assessing everything with her <Parallel Existence> and so far, there was no movement from Tempest other than the nation being moved back into the underground labyrinth again.

"Well, this is unexpected. I thought that Demon Lord Rimuru would choose to invade the Empire." Velgrynd hummed in wonder

After awaking under Rudra's control, Yuuki warned them, "Knowing her, she might be up to something. We should probably proceed with caution, Your Majesty."

"Hm... I was planning to thin out their forces and maybe get Veldora first, but for the Demon Lord to stay rooted in her domain..." Rudra hummed as he narrowed his eyes, "Has she caught on to our plan? That we want Veldora for his Dragon Factor or that we know that she is the God's Daughter. Kevin was useful at least. If I had known better, I should have kept him as a chess piece against Velzard. No use lamenting that now. I need to keep the other two under control first."

"What should we do, Your Majesty? If we proceed as planned, there is a risk of getting ambushed." Damrada asks with uncertainty, "And we still need to retrieve Kondou and Hua."

"Hua's Seven Swords can handle things on Dwargon's side." Su explained, already long acknowledged the skills of the seven disciples, even if they were copies from memories long past, "... If we can locate Veldora in the labyrinth and get control over him before Demon Lord Rimuru makes her move-"

Velgrynd stops him and concentrates, a wide grin on her lips, "... Well now, this aura seems quite familiar."

In the vision of her <Parallel Existence>, she sees the auras of the three Primordial Demonesses arriving from the sky along with other individuals that she deemed to not be a threat. However, one familiar yet unfamiliar aura in the sky caught her eyes immediately. It was cloaked in dark feathers, just like that day.

"So she was hiding with the Demon Lord..." Velgrynd's grin widens into a full-blown smirk, "... I still have to teach that one a lesson."

Seeing this change in Velgrynd, Rudra narrows his eyes, "What's wrong, Velgrynd?"

"Oh, nothing!" Velgrynd replied sweetly, "Just an old friend that I would love to beat. I wonder if Hua would be happy to deal with her too."

"You want me to deploy Hua? Kondou is already down there." Rudra asks, resting his chin on his hand

Velgrynd hides the devious smile behind her fan, "... Yes. I'm sure she would love a reunion like this."

Rudra huffs a laugh, "Very well."

He hears Su sighing beside him, "No need for that, Your Majesty. She's already deployed."

Surprisingly, upon checking again, Hua had indeed stepped out of the airship the same moment Velgrynd had sensed Feiyun, Hua was already ready to face against her, all without Rudra's order to move. Something overwrote his domination order on Hua and now she was face-to-face against the unknown entity that they clashed against a year ago.

"Hua always had the tenacity to step up to fight when it comes to that type of opponent, after all..." Su informed him, "I hope you don't let your guard down."

It was an honest warning. The Herrscher of Sentience from that day was no longer the same. After all, she obtained a 'name' and even more powers than she previously had. It was taking most of Su's willpower to not let this leak out of his thoughts as he resists Rudra's Ultimate Skill. Since Rimuru was not moving away from Tempest, it wasn't going to be long before the invasion on Tempest started again, this time on a larger scale. To Su, it wasn't a matter of winning or losing, it was to uncover the truth of the Empire. A truth darker than the instigated war.