Chapter 86
Rimuru wasn't about to stand in a muddy trench playing a guessing game with a vampire. He shook his head slowly.
"Who knows? I gave you my reason. Whether you believe it or not is entirely irrelevant." His voice hardened, the playful lilt vanishing. "But I will make this absolutely clear, Merem Solomon. I am taking that scabbard. Whatever the cost."
"So you truly intend... to start a war with me over this?"
Merem's voice grew tense, the atmospheric pressure around him spiking. He frowned, glancing down at the gilded sheath in his hands.
He fundamentally didn't buy the "sentimental heirloom" excuse. He had already scanned the relic. It was just an ordinary holy artifact. Well, ordinary for King Arthur. There was no active mana flow. No hidden Bounded Fields. No secret treasure maps tucked inside.
So... why? Why was the White Knight willing to bleed for it?
Back in the alley, the boy had clearly wanted to avoid a fight. Merem lifted his gaze, his blue eyes shifting to the Black Princess. Altrouge was hovering nearby, arms crossed, watching the standoff like it was a prime-time drama. Yeah. With her on the board, winning a straight fight was mathematically impossible.
However.
If he sacrificed his Four Great Demon Beasts to stall Altrouge and her grunts, he could definitely escape with the prize. It would hurt like hell, and the mana cost to regenerate the beasts would leave him crippled for months, a luxury he rarely indulged in, but it was a viable option.
He took a slow, calculated step back.
"What are you plotting in that little head of yours?" Rimuru's voice cut through the fog, snapping Merem's focus back. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Merem. May I call you Merem?"
Rimuru tilted his head, the Oni mask giving nothing away. "I can make your Demon Beasts disappear. Permanently."
Merem froze. His entire body locked up.
Back in the alley, his survival instincts had screamed that this boy possessed the conceptual weight to genuinely erase his pets. But he had rationalized it away as paranoia stemming from the unknown. Now? The White Knight was stating it as an absolute fact. He knew how to perma-kill the beasts!
"Wiping out all four might be a bit taxing," Rimuru mused casually. "But deleting one or two? I can manage that without breaking a sweat."
Rimuru's golden eyes shifted, landing dead on Merem's left arm. A vicious, chilling smile bled into his tone. "And out of all your lovely pets, I have a feeling that left arm is particularly precious to you."
"So, here is my guarantee. If you try to run? I'll ignore the rest of the zoo and focus entirely on exterminating the Rat King. For good."
It was a devil's whisper. Merem's head snapped up. He glared at Rimuru, teeth grinding. "If you do that, I will hunt you until the end of time."
"If you walk away with that scabbard, we are already fighting to the death, Merem," Rimuru retorted, completely unfazed. He rolled his shoulders. "I told you. I will reclaim that scabbard at any cost. Even if you sacrifice the Rat King and drag your bleeding stump all the way back to the Burial Agency..."
"I, Leviathan the White Knight, will hunt you to the ends of the earth."
"...What a terrifying speech," Merem finally said, the silence stretching taut between them. "But this is my mission. Try to understand. Killing me won't get you the scabbard, because the one who wants it... the one standing in your way... isn't me."
"Then I'll just annihilate the Burial Agency." Rimuru didn't skip a beat. "They're the only ones who can give you orders, right?"
Merem's face went completely blank. "You lunatic... Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
Even Altrouge wouldn't casually threaten to wipe the Burial Agency off the map!
"You can treat it as a joke if it helps you sleep at night." Rimuru shook his head. "But I mean every word. And I fully intend to make it happen."
He extended his hand. A blade of condensed blood materialized in his grip.
"But reaching that point assumes you actually survive tonight. So. Are you ready to let your companions die?" Rimuru added a cruel, magnanimous cherry on top. "I'll even ask the Princess to sit this one out. Just me against your Four Great Demon Beasts. How's that?"
How's that?!
Merem's expression darkened even further. That wasn't an honorable handicap. It was a targeted threat! If Altrouge intervened and killed the beasts, they would just respawn over time. By insisting on fighting alone, Rimuru was guaranteeing that any beast he killed stayed dead. Trade one, it's a tie. Trade two, Rimuru profits! It was blatant, unapologetic extortion.
Faced with this suffocating pressure, Merem felt his resolve cracking.
He had assumed Rimuru's initial hesitance meant the White Knight was wary of him. But there was no wariness here. Only sheer, unbridled arrogance. From the very beginning, Rimuru hadn't offered a single compromise. No 'If you give it back, I'll let you go.' Just a flat, uncompromising: 'Give it to me, or I will murder you.'
The script is completely upside down, Merem thought, staring dumbly at the scabbard in his hands. I'm the one holding the hostage. Why am I the one being interrogated?!
Seeing Merem trapped in a spiral of hesitation, Rimuru's lips curled upward.
Off to the side, Altrouge clicked her tongue, letting out a silent, exasperated sigh.
After spending so much time with him, she had completely decoded the new White Knight. Yes, he had formidable power and that terrifying devouring trait. But his true weapon, the one he absolutely relished using, was conversation. He dominated the pacing. He set the rhythm. He did it when they argued. He did it during negotiations. He had even done it to her, turning his so-called "Queen" into a glorified figurehead while he dictated all the faction's movements!
He was a master demagogue. He dissected his opponent's psychology and manipulated the board so he held all the initiative before ever throwing a punch.
And right now, Merem Solomon was dancing perfectly to Rimuru's tune.
Altrouge knew exactly how this ended. If the opponent didn't have the sheer manic resolve to flip the table... Rimuru took everything. Winner takes all.
She knew this because Rimuru had confessed it on the walk over. He never intended to fight Merem. For the Dead Apostle Nation plan to work, Rimuru needed to avoid making permanent enemies out of the Ancestors. He had actually prepared a massive stack of bargaining chips to trade for the scabbard. But looking at the board now? Rimuru had completely out-bluffed the Divine Child. He wasn't going to have to spend a single dime.
Sensing the absolute breaking point in Merem's resolve, Rimuru launched his final psychological strike.
"Merem Solomon," Rimuru's voice softened, pivoting from threat to camaraderie. "As fellow members of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, there's no reason for us to shed blood over this. In fact, we share a common goal."
"I don't have a goal," Merem deflected stiffly, gripping the scabbard tighter. "Save your breath. You can't shake me with empty promises."
"Is that so?" Rimuru chuckled, letting the words hang in the air for a tantalizing second. "Then what if I said... I can help you completely liberate..."
He leaned forward.
"...the White Princess, Arcueid Brunestud?"
"!!!!"
Merem's jaw dropped.
"!!!!"
Behind Rimuru, Altrouge's eyes went completely wide.
….
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